Ok, so I know this was to reaveal Arcade Fire's version of "Baby Mine". Which is great, but I took out tow different things from this. The first was the absolute cute fest that was Dumbo playing with his mom. The second was a first real look at Michael Keaton's quick shift to villain. Both of these things has me screaming, "Just take my money already!" Really though, I've had Captain Marvel tickets for what? Like a month or two now? This film is at the end of this month, & I need to see no more. Take my money please. I officially can't wait. Anyway, prepare yourself for absolute cuteness, & check this out while we impatiently wait for tickets to finally go on sale.
Dumbo Behind The Scenes Video
I loved this behind the scenes video. Mainly because it gave me a whole new outlook on this film. The first thing besides all the new glimpses was the blue between whYs actually real & what's CGI. I couldn't believe all the actual set pieces & extras I was seeing. Looking like they might've found a great blend of CGI & real elements to create that perfect realistic fantasy. The other thing that hit me is when they were talking about how Tim Burton really understands this element & these characters. The sort of abnormal characters that they are. It immediately made me think of another Burton circus in the form of Big Top PeeWee . Love or hate the film, he captured the reality of circus life so well. It made me for the first time think he might have been the perfect pick for this. We won't know for sure until March 29th, but with this I'm more excited for this one than I was before watching. What do y'all think? Is Dumbo on your must-see list? Do you have faith in Tim Burton with this one? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Mixed Feels When It Comes To First Real Look At "Aladdin"
I'm battling with myself on this one. I absolutely love the original animated Aladdin to the point one of my daughters are named Jasmine. It's probably my personal favorite of all the classics. That said, I knew I'd be particularly hard on the live action version coming this year. While the first pics were a pleasant surprise, I've been impatiently waiting for an actual trailer to give this some real contrast. In comes this special look from last night. Now there's a lot more pluses for me here than minuses. The backdrops are amazing. From the deserts, to Agrabah, all the way to the Cave of Wonders, I was awestruck. Aladdin himself totally looks the part. Jasmine is absolutely gorgeous. Even the quick look at the flying carpet was amazingly on point. The bad part is the minuses here are really big minuses. Jafar didn't come off half as menacing as his animated counterpart, & that's a really big thing. To me your hero's story is only as powerful as the portrayal of its villain, & even though it was just a small piece, I wasn't buying in at all. Even worse though was the long awaited reveal of the often imitated, never duplicated Genie of the lamp. I have my fingers & toes crossed that this feeling will go away, but big blue Will Smith just took me right out of this. I've never had a major actor's appearance pull me out of something like this did. The bad part, is I'm not sure if even a recast would fix this problem. The more I thought about it, I'd almost say we needed a full CGI character just voiced. Maybe it's the fact that personalizing him doesn't really work. I'm not sure, but whatever it is, it's just not working with me. Sad it falls short for me in two of its biggest, most pivotal roles. What do y'all think though? Put it in the comments, like, & share
The Magic Behind The "Mary Poppins Returns" Bathtub Scene
This is why I love practical special effects so much! If you don't like knowing how the magic happens, don't watch this behind the scenes footage for the Mary Poppins Returns bathtub scene. For those as intrigued as myself in how they pull this stuff off without computers, this is definitely for you. I know you've at least seen this scene in the many trailers if you haven't seen the film yet. And if you're like me you just wrote it off to modern CGI effects. That said, I was ecstatic to find out I was wrong. This is what I used to love most about pre-CGI movie making. You had to just figure it out, & usually go through some pretty extensive means to pull things off. I'm not going to go into the house, you'll have to watch the short video for that. However, I will say I want this setup. This scene all the sudden looks like it was a blast to shoot. Not only that I can't wait for the BluRay release, just to see how much of this film was shot like this. Amazing! Or, practically perfect in every way, case being. What do y'all think though? Were you as blown away by this as I was? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Live Action "Hunchback of Notre Dame" Is In The Works At Disney
Disney's live action remakes are taking a turn to th darkside with Hunchback of Notre Dame reportedly in the works. This came from Deadline Hollywood via Variety. The film has Tony Award winnig playwright David Henry Hwang attached to write the script with well known Alan Menkin & Stephen Schwartz tackling the music. Mandeville Films is set to produce, along with Josh Gad who is also heavily rumored for the main role. I'm very excited about this one. Throughout the years Hunchback of Notre Dame has become one of my favorite animated films. One that, much like The Black Cauldron , I think it's popularity suffers from it's rather dark material more than anything. I however absolutely loved the pull no punches storytelling it displayed. It's reported this isn't a major priority for Disney right now as they're gearing up for Aladdin, Lion King, & Dumbo . It's definitely one for me though. I'll be waiting impatiently for any more in this as it develops. What do y'all think though? Are y'all excited about live action Quasimodo? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
EW's First Look At "Aladdin" Might Have Just Realized My Greatest Fears
We have our first look at Guy Ritchie's live-action Aladdin, & it's looking & sounding more street rat than prince. I'm gonna focus on the pluses first. Mena Massoud & Naomi Scott look absolutely amazing as Aladdin & Jasmine. Just like they were ripped straight out of the animated classic. Second, the proposed mixture of lands & culture to Agrabah, giving it a Middle Eastern & Asian feel really intrigues me. It sets it in a fully imagined place. For me that adds to the fantasy of it all. Third, is probably one of the strangest parts, Guy Ritchie. Even though I thought it was a very strange choice at first, Aladdin is a very fast paced, chase film. That's actually right in Guy's wheelhouse, & I think he can really knock this one out the park. Alright, now I'll address the big blue elephant in the room. I was very worried when they cast Will Smith in Robin William's iconic role as the Genie. Not because of Smith himself, I've actually loved this guy since his Fresh Prince of Bel-Air days, & even before them for that matter. Just knowing Smith's character, I had a feeling I knew where this was going to wind up. First strike was straight out of Ritchie's mouth with, “I like the fact that our Genie has an ego and is a little bit vain and he cares about how he’s presented because he’s been doing this for a very long time.” The words ego & vain just immediately suck the fun out the whole character for me. And if that didn't work, we're also going to get some tired hip-hop from Will Smith to go along. Who mentions there hasn't been a hip hop flavor in the Disney universe yet. Well, there hasn't been any heavy metal either, & there might just be a reason for that. The third strike came with the actual look of the Genie, but I'm putting a hold on that one for now. Only because I'm convinced there's a level of CGI that will be involved in post that doesn't make the EW pics. At least I'm hoping so. If I'm wrong it just looks like Will Smith with a funny top knot. So, all in all there's three wishes answered, & three thrown right back in my face. These are just still pics & a synopsis as well. My reserves could be wrong, & this could blow us all away. Here's hoping at least, as Aladdin is one of, if not my all time favorite of the classics. What do y'all think though? I'd love to hear it. Put it in the comments, like, & share.
"Lady and The Tramp" Will Really Be Live-Action, Using Real Dogs!
This'll be interesting. The debate for whether the upcoming live-action Lion King being actually live-action or still animated will not be crossing over to Lady & the Tramp. According to a Collider exclusive the remake of the animated classic, coming to the Disney+ streaming service, will be using actual live dogs. In an interview with one of the only human character actors in the film he dropped this little tidbit, along with the film itself being a period piece. He went on to describe the movie as an enhanced version of the original, with the humans a little more fleshed out. Also, mentioning it's a little more grown up & sophisticated, compared to its predecessor. I was actually pretty curious as to how this was going to go in the first place. Lady & the Tramp is one of those films that even though it works great animated, I know they'll have to take liberties to add some more substance. The most intriguing thing about all this though, is obviously the use of real live dogs. I'm guessing they'll talk like the animals in Babe did, with CGI mouths in post, but this actually gets me more curious for some behind the scenes more than anything. Not only just them getting these animals to work, that always amazes me, but even more so for the inevitable blooper reel. The film is currently in production by Charlie Bean of The Lego Ninjago Movie & will Star Tessa Thompson & Justin Theroux in the lead roles. All aside, what do y'all think about this awesome news of actual live-action dogs for the now totally actual live-action Lady & the Tramp? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
First Look At Live Action "Aladdin" With New Teaser Trailer
Between trying to get ready in this new place, hurricanes, & just life stuff, I feel like I've been missing a lot. Even though I'm not fully back on track though, I said I wouldn't miss the big stuff, & this is pretty big. A couple of days ago Will Smith put out the poster for the upcoming Aladdin . I've been noticing a pattern. The poster release has usually been followed within a day or two by a trailer. So, last night I had about gave up, when I got a notification in bed that sure enough it was here. I wasn't expecting much, the movie doesn't come out until May 24th 2019, but I was looking forward to it after seeing the poster. It was basically an upgraded version of the original animated poster. Now the trailer. It's impossible to make any real decisions on these small teasers, but this one had three things that really stuck out. Aladdin was an instantly a classic for me when it released. This familiarity gives us a little more to work with in these quick looks. Out of my three standouts, we've got one bad & two good. So, I'll start with the bad. I wasn't really digging the reflection shot of Agrabah. I don't know why offhand, I just wasn't that impressed with the model. I thought the Cave of Wonders looked amazing though! Right after it bit down though, I remembered the original teaser. I immediately thought there is only one way this trailer can end to make me fully happy. Sure enough, we get that shot of Aladdin walking up on the lamp for the first time. Loved it! So one trivial, don't really care dislike. Followed by two amazing "love its" all in the course of a minute & twenty-eight seconds. A lot of which is the title. Which looks really good by the way. Once again, paying homage to the classic, but having a distinctive new, real feel as well. Very impressed, especially for just a teaser. I know it won't happen, but part of me wants them to hold off on Will Smith's Genie until I'm actually in the theater. Anyway great teaser in my book, what'd y'all think? Put it in the comments, like & share.
"Mary Poppins Returns" Official Trailer Debuted!!
I'm officially super excited for Mary Poppins Returns after this trailer. They made sure to show you this has a little of everything you loved from the original. This gives a real look into what to expect from the upcoming sequel. It seems much in same ballpark as this year's Christopher Robin . As it looks like it's really going to deal with growing up, & forgetting what's important while lost in your grownup world. Which is also basically the original theme, totally forgetting your children while wrapped up in the complications of life. Mary Poppins pops in right when she's needed the most. With music, dancing, magic, & a little trip to an animated world. Writing all this brings me to my biggest 2 concerns. Are we just going through the motions of what has already been done? Just playing on nostalgia? And if not can Mary Poppins really return from 1964? Will this film work in 2018 with a mass audience? The first is the one that concerns me the most. This trailer looks more like a remake than a sequel. In fact, if you were to turn off the sound, I'd argue some would just think it was a remake. Putting that major concern aside though, I thought the trailer was amazing. Everyone looked perfect in their roles, the animation looked absolutely amazing, & it totally captured the spirit of the original Mary Poppins . There is a chance this just feels rehashed, but to judge just by this trailer alone, December 19th has a lot of potential to be great. I'm curious to hear what y'all think though? Put it in the comments, like, & share.
Ewan McGregor Interviews The Stuffed Cast Of "Christopher Robin" & More Featurettes
Just when you thought you were safe from any more featurettes, Disney has delivered 3 more for August 3rd's Christopher Robin. I put them in the order I enjoyed them. The first being a pretty entertaining interview between Ewan McGregor & his stuffed costars. I gotta give Eeyore most entertaining, but Tigger & Pooh hold their own as well. The second one collects Pooh's wisdom from some previous trailers, & highlights it. Considering that's been my favorite part of them so far, this totally works for me. It is leaning towards the style of the third though, I mentioned this on the last featurette that was released. I'm not liking the pattern of throwing out these whole minute to 2 minute scenes like in this third video. It could just be me, but seeing the whole scene not cut up, kinda takes me out of that part when it plays. Love the scene, don't get me wrong. I would just choose to see it in its whole with the whole film. Anyway, what are y'all's thoughts on this newest collection of featurettes? Put 'em in the comments, like, & share.
"Christopher Robin" Extended Look Is Filled With Pooh Wisdom
As with every other trailer for Christopher Robin , I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this extended look. The wisdom of Pooh is just great throughout this whole thing. My only real concern is if they're showing us too much of it. I really hope they're saving some quips that are just as good, or even better than what they've showed us now so far. They're getting to the point where if they don't have your money yet, you're probably just not that into Winnie the Pooh. All in all though, that's kinda how I'm getting with all these extended peeks. Luckily, most of it is from other trailers, but this will be the third film in a row with a full scene or two I've already seen. Honestly, it takes a little away from me. Which seems crazy, as they're primarily scenes we've basically seen. Usually just all chopped up throughout a course of trailers. I guess when it's like that & spread out over the course of trailers, it gets trickier to put it all together. Anyway, back to this actual extended look. Putting aside the fact that I don't need to see anymore, I loved every second. They had my money after the first trailer, & every bit of this peek had me smiling. I can't wait! What do y'all think? Is this silly ol bear in your future or not? Also, what do y'all think of this new pattern of extended sneak peeks? Put it in the comments, like, & share.