Miscellaneous Movie Musings the Sequel

[Gemini Cricket]

Originally Posted by Snowflake

Hilarious and spot on commentary on youtube.

Steve Hayes is the Tired Old Queen at the Movies and he is fabulous!

Here's his take on Auntie Mame

Lifeboat is hilarious, great impressions of Hitch and Tallulah.

I love this guy!

Good find!
Funny stuff.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Originally Posted by Snowflake

Here's his take on Auntie Mame

Ah, Auntie Mame. My most beloved and favorite movie ever! Now I'm all melty just thinking about it.

[Ghoulish Delight]

So for 90% of the movie, Disney's first black princess was neither black nor a princess.

Princess & the Frog was alright. The animation was lovely, the characters were eminently watchable and likable. And nothing was offensively dumb. But the whole package was just kinda blah. The plot was kinda half assed, they never explained the motivations well. Shadow Man's plan was very underpants gnome-ish. "Step 1, turn this guy into a frog and this guy into a fake prince. Step 2 ???. Step 3 Profit". Meanwhile, why exactly did she fall in love with the prince? He was sort of charistmatic and was gonna front her the restaurant money. Other than that, she never seemed all that impressed with him.

Music entirely unmemorable.

I did enjoy it. Not as much as Lilo & Stitch or Emperor's New Groove, but more than Hunchback or Pocahontas or Tarzan. I'd have to rewatch Hercules, which I do recall enjoying but don't remember very well to compare.

[katiesue]

The book it's based on is called "The Frog Prince" which makes a whole lot more sense. The title made no sense to me either after watching the movie. I did like it.

Hercules is still one of my favorites. And Mulan.

[innerSpaceman]

Wow, HATE Hercules. Will never re-watch it. Princess and the Frog was utterly forgettable, and have already forgotten it exists so I can't rewatch it.

Love Tarzan. One of the best ever. Pocahontas is great, with a few noticeable flaws. Hunchback is deeply flawed with a few elements of greatness. And I keep meaning to rewatch Emperor's New Groove because I just didn't get it, but am fairly convinced I missed something special.

[Alex]

I'd put Princess and the Frog down around Tarzan in terms of utter forgetfulness (and both have the trait of all the music in the movie sounding the same). Have never seen Hunchback, Hercules, or Pocahontas.

[JWBear]

We watched Grey Gardens with Jessica Tandy and Drew Barrymore last night. I have the urge to talk like Little Edie... "So I think this is the best report for today."

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Based on your current avatar, I had a feeling you'd seen Grey Gardens recently.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

I loved the characterization of Tiana and Ray specifically, though Tiana did get a bit repetitive after a while. Lotti was surprisingly likable even as she teetered near villain status. Voice, visual, fit with the era, etc, all pretty cool.

Everything else wasn't all that fantastic, but enjoyable. Visually, very nice, though quite a bit felt too derivative to me. I guess at this point they can't do much without it feeling like an echo of something else. I did love the feel of the era and the stylized parts were awesome. The shadow stuff was fun, scary without being too scary for kids.

SPOILERS AHEAD, it's an old movie and I'm too lazy for tags.

Some parts were downright muddy, swamp or not. Why does the prince not propose? Because she cares about her restaurant? Didn't he already say he wanted to make her dream come true? I didn't get that scene at all.

I have no idea what Tiana or anyone else would see in the prince. There wasn't nearly enough actual wooing. Half a dance, one sideways look, that's it? The mincing scene made him look pitiable, not lovable. Of course he was gorgeous in human form...

Why didn't Lotti just get her dad to bankroll Tiana's restaurant venture in the first place? She wouldn't even have to tell him what the cash was for. Hell, she could have at least given Tiana a better job. Huge plot hole. The more I think about it, it's almost as if the movie is pandering to all the spoiled rich kids that feed the studio cash by making a brat into a lovable good guy for very little reason. Again, I dug her character design and the voice was fantastic, but this is an especially tough sell, especially in light of my last gripe...

They completely ignored the original Brothers Grimm story. I would have been satisfied if the storybook within the movie were the actual story, but it wasn't, at all. In The Frog Prince she doesn't even have to kiss the frog, and while no one remembers that (including me, to be honest), there's the actual STORY to it, having to do with a spoiled brat learning to honor her promises.

Anyway, the more I pick at it the more I dislike it, though there really was some good stuff in there, like the voodoo swamp queen and Evangeline and the songs were fine if not very memorable (except for Almost There, I did think that was genuinely great).

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by Cadaverous Pallor

IWhy does the prince not propose? Because she cares about her restaurant? Didn't he already say he wanted to make her dream come true? I didn't get that scene at all.

Because he learned that she needed the money by the next day. He had earlier said he'd marry her and work with her to save money, but since she needed the money immediately his only choice was to marry Lotti (thus getting instant access to money) and give it to Tiana.