So, just watched Frozen, I think the hype backlash has died down, what do you guys think of it?
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My wife saw it in theaters with a friend and loved it. Consequently, I heard "Let it Go" a LOT for a while, as everyone and their dog reposted various renditions of the song. Once I actually saw it though, I must admit that I was impressed. Disney has finally stepped a bit outside their traditional mold and made a movie about the love of siblings, instead of a silly "true love" fairy tale again. It's funny and cute, and the music is quite catchy, so I give it a thumbs up. Plus, my 3 year-old son sang "Let it go" while he was sitting on the toilet trying to poop, so that instantly made my day.
Oh dear god that thread was just aggravating.IceForce said:
I hope you don't mind, but I got bored and put your post through several levels of Google Translate. This was the result.
"I saw my wife and watch a movie with friends and their lovers. Because I hear "to" a lot of time, each dog is to buy different versions of the song. When I saw this, and I will admit that I was very impressed. Disney finally step out of tradition and make a movie about the love we have for you, but this is not a "true" story. It's funny and interesting, and the music is one, so I can give a big finger. Also, this song, 3-year-old son, "Let him go," while sitting on the toilet trying to shit, so as soon as I did today."Nigh Invulnerable said:
I am easily amused.
OT: I saw it, didn't think much of it. It's just not for me. I'm not too big on musicals or Disney.
That being said, it was nice to not have the entire thing be about needing to get married. I did find it kind of annoying that it did still pair Anna up.
As someone who loves love stories, but is sick to death of romance stories, I *love* it! My new favorite movie, in fact.
After my first viewing of the movie I thought it was *really good*. And the more I thought about it (and with successive viewings) it just got better.
BtW, my fave song from the movie isn't "Let it Go", but the reprise to "For the First Time in Forever" (the duet sung by Anna & Elsa in Elsa's ice palace).
After my first viewing of the movie I thought it was *really good*. And the more I thought about it (and with successive viewings) it just got better.
BtW, my fave song from the movie isn't "Let it Go", but the reprise to "For the First Time in Forever" (the duet sung by Anna & Elsa in Elsa's ice palace).
I ended up seeing it three times the week it came out, completely by accident. A couple of weeks before it came out, I told several of my friends I'd see it with them the first Saturday it was out. It came out on a Wednesday and my boyfriend wanted to see it with me, and we saw it. Two days later on Black Friday I was in a different town with my parents and THEY wanted to see it, so I watched it with them. Then the next day on Saturday, I went with my friends as I'd promised them two weeks prior.
And I loved it every time. As far as my spoiler-free feelings, I was really worried about it when I first saw the trailers but was pleasantly surprised. Olaf the snowman could potentially have been very annoying, but he wasn't. The film used all its characters to their fullest, and told the story it wanted without reverting to any overly-long or drawn out sideplots. While the sideplots were there (the encounter at the trading post, for example) they weren't too long and pretty much always accomplished something for the plot.
My only major complaint is that while I LOVED most of the individual songs in the movie, it felt like the songs were very isolated from the score, and the styles didn't always jive. The first song sets a really intense mood for the music, and sounds folksy but in a badass way. Then you've got "Do You Want to Build a Snowman," which I also love, but the style is just completely different, being a regular musical number rather than an intense power-ballad on the raw power of the mountain. And then they never really go back to any of the moods or musical motifs in the first song.
And I don't recall hearing any motifs from any of the songs being repeated in the score. In Beauty and the Beast, you can hear motifs from the musical numbers within the plain instrumental score as it goes. You can hear the melody of "Be Our Guest" as Belle is exploring the castle, and random chords from "Beauty and the Beast" are scattered throughout emotional moments as well. The orchestral score and the musical numbers are one and the same, but in Frozen I felt like they were very isolated from each other. And I don't remember thinking the same thing about Tangled, so I think it's just a problem with how the music was handled for this movie. I think part of their problem was just spanning so many musical styles--you start with the opening folk ballad, then go into Broadway style musical numbers, then end with a chanty kind of song that sounds like the Avatar soundtrack. They all sound GOOD, but when put together in a movie they seemed to lack a certain unity.
And as for my spoiler feelings:
So, yeah. Basically, I feel like Frozen is definitely a winner for Disney. I feel like it's too early to be calling this a "new golden age" for Disney animation, but if they can keep this up I feel like we can get there. And I really hope we do. For all the cynicism people have for Disney these days, I think the reaction to Frozen has proven that no matter how much we are aware they're an entertainment company, a good portion of us still have that little optimist inside that links Disney's movies with a very specific kind of joy and wonder, and that we still want to see that joy and wonder when they can offer it.
And I loved it every time. As far as my spoiler-free feelings, I was really worried about it when I first saw the trailers but was pleasantly surprised. Olaf the snowman could potentially have been very annoying, but he wasn't. The film used all its characters to their fullest, and told the story it wanted without reverting to any overly-long or drawn out sideplots. While the sideplots were there (the encounter at the trading post, for example) they weren't too long and pretty much always accomplished something for the plot.
My only major complaint is that while I LOVED most of the individual songs in the movie, it felt like the songs were very isolated from the score, and the styles didn't always jive. The first song sets a really intense mood for the music, and sounds folksy but in a badass way. Then you've got "Do You Want to Build a Snowman," which I also love, but the style is just completely different, being a regular musical number rather than an intense power-ballad on the raw power of the mountain. And then they never really go back to any of the moods or musical motifs in the first song.
And I don't recall hearing any motifs from any of the songs being repeated in the score. In Beauty and the Beast, you can hear motifs from the musical numbers within the plain instrumental score as it goes. You can hear the melody of "Be Our Guest" as Belle is exploring the castle, and random chords from "Beauty and the Beast" are scattered throughout emotional moments as well. The orchestral score and the musical numbers are one and the same, but in Frozen I felt like they were very isolated from each other. And I don't remember thinking the same thing about Tangled, so I think it's just a problem with how the music was handled for this movie. I think part of their problem was just spanning so many musical styles--you start with the opening folk ballad, then go into Broadway style musical numbers, then end with a chanty kind of song that sounds like the Avatar soundtrack. They all sound GOOD, but when put together in a movie they seemed to lack a certain unity.
And as for my spoiler feelings:
I loved how many different aspects of the typical "Disney Princess" story they shook up. They could have stopped at girl being the hero, but they didn't. They could have stopped at princess actually becoming a QUEEN with responsibilities but they didn't. They could have stopped at scolding a character for wanting to marry a man she just met and they didn't. No, they didn't stop until they had COMPLETELY upended one of the most consistent myths about love that Disney has unwittingly perpetuated the last 80 years: that "true love" can only be romantic love. Disney has always touted "true love" as being the love between lovers, and while they have never really disparaged the love between a family, they haven't really done a good job at addressing familial love since Lilo and Stitch. And here they not only made a story about familial love, but they out and out made the statement that love for your family is just as powerful and fulfilling as romantic love.
They also broke their habit of making the "main villain" the most conniving-looking person in the room. Sure they had that Weasletown guy, but he was just the distraction. Along with the whole "true love is only between lovers" thing, another message Disney has unintentionally bandied about is the idea that the villain always looks evil. While visual shorthand is an integral part of telling a story in animation, especially a kid's story, if your goal is to moralize children then one lesson you should avoid teaching them is that you can always spot a villain by how they look. Just because somebody looks nice doesn't mean they are nice. They did absolutely NOTHING to give Hans away until he revealed himself to Anna. No evil chortle, no slant of the eyebrow, no evil look in his eye while nobody is looking. Nothing. And while I did feel like the movie was missing a villain up until that point and had a feeling Anna's little meeting with him wasn't going to go well, it was still satisfyingly shocking when he did reveal himself.
They also broke their habit of making the "main villain" the most conniving-looking person in the room. Sure they had that Weasletown guy, but he was just the distraction. Along with the whole "true love is only between lovers" thing, another message Disney has unintentionally bandied about is the idea that the villain always looks evil. While visual shorthand is an integral part of telling a story in animation, especially a kid's story, if your goal is to moralize children then one lesson you should avoid teaching them is that you can always spot a villain by how they look. Just because somebody looks nice doesn't mean they are nice. They did absolutely NOTHING to give Hans away until he revealed himself to Anna. No evil chortle, no slant of the eyebrow, no evil look in his eye while nobody is looking. Nothing. And while I did feel like the movie was missing a villain up until that point and had a feeling Anna's little meeting with him wasn't going to go well, it was still satisfyingly shocking when he did reveal himself.
So, yeah. Basically, I feel like Frozen is definitely a winner for Disney. I feel like it's too early to be calling this a "new golden age" for Disney animation, but if they can keep this up I feel like we can get there. And I really hope we do. For all the cynicism people have for Disney these days, I think the reaction to Frozen has proven that no matter how much we are aware they're an entertainment company, a good portion of us still have that little optimist inside that links Disney's movies with a very specific kind of joy and wonder, and that we still want to see that joy and wonder when they can offer it.
I thought it was really good. I like how it's kinda subversive when it comes to the usual themes Disney, or hell, most studios that make movies involving princesses like to use.
The musical score is also fantastic. It's definitely not for everyone. (One of the guys I saw it with doesn't really care for musicals) But I definitely enjoyed it.
Overall, great movie.
For example, Elsa questioning how Anna just met some prince and wants to get married to him in the same day. Or how the charming prince is in fact, a backstabbing villain.
The musical score is also fantastic. It's definitely not for everyone. (One of the guys I saw it with doesn't really care for musicals) But I definitely enjoyed it.
Overall, great movie.
I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's got fun songs, pretty environments, good humor, solid writing, and it's one of the only Disney princess movies that doesn't have any uncomfortable moral undercurrents as far as I could tell. The only real problem I have with this movie is the extremely bland character designs. For contrast, one of the early pieces of concept art of the "Ice Queen" had her wearing a coat made of living ermine:
That fact that we were denied something that awesome causes me pain.
That fact that we were denied something that awesome causes me pain.
Insofar as recent Disney movies are concerned, I liked The Frog Princess and Wreck-It Ralph more, but still thought Frozen was a great movie. My issues was the uneven pacing, and the trolls annoyed me, but overall I enjoyed it. Also loved the subversions of classic fairy tale tropes.
Frozen was an amazing movie for what it DIDN'T do wrong, while still doing things right.
What I mean by that is...
Frozen could have EASILY been another 'crappy, sexist, Disney, princess movie'.
But, it wasn't.
The talking snowman COULD have been the most annoying character since Donkey or Na'vi.
But, he wasn't.
The 'we're gonna turn tropes on their head' COULD have come across as a bitter, sarcastic, jab at 'classic' Disney.
But they weren't, it was just a well executed 'gotcha'.
The score was great.
The voice acting was fantastic.
The graphic style felt like it belong.
The story was solid.
Even most of the 'Oscar bait' musical numbers weren't that bad.
Overall:
The best 'Disney' film since Lilo & Stitch.
-Unless you count Pixar stuff.
What I mean by that is...
Frozen could have EASILY been another 'crappy, sexist, Disney, princess movie'.
But, it wasn't.
The talking snowman COULD have been the most annoying character since Donkey or Na'vi.
But, he wasn't.
The 'we're gonna turn tropes on their head' COULD have come across as a bitter, sarcastic, jab at 'classic' Disney.
But they weren't, it was just a well executed 'gotcha'.
The score was great.
The voice acting was fantastic.
The graphic style felt like it belong.
The story was solid.
Even most of the 'Oscar bait' musical numbers weren't that bad.
Overall:
The best 'Disney' film since Lilo & Stitch.
-Unless you count Pixar stuff.
It was a decent enough little movie, good fun and perfect for the little kids, nothing stupendous though.
I kinda wish they could have just made a straight up adaption of "The Snow Queen" though as I think that could have made a much more interesting and touching story than this in my opinion.
I kinda wish they could have just made a straight up adaption of "The Snow Queen" though as I think that could have made a much more interesting and touching story than this in my opinion.
Personally, I loved almost everything about it. The only thing I didn't actually like was the music. *dodges brick* Okay, hear me out on this: the reason I don't like the music is not from an technical level (I actually quite enjoyed most of the songs on their own), it is the fact that musicals are something that I just can't personally get into. There is something about the way musicals blend soliloquy, dialogue, monologue, and other such stuff that it takes me out of the movie. If anything, this is most noticeable in movies that I actually like, where I am invested enough in the narrative to give a damn about breaks in strict narrative flow. When a musical number comes on, especially when it is between two or more characters, I am left wondering, "Are they actually communicating this way?" The best way I could equate it to something else is once during an episode of the Simpsons, they did a Hamlet story and Moe/Claudius makes a mistake and overhears Bart's/Hamlet's soliloquy mid story. It is just a weird way I think about narrative that can make it difficult to enjoy musicals sometimes.
That isn't to say that I don't enjoy some musical numbers, but they are almost exclusively someone communicating their feelings to themselves for the benefit of the audience. My favorite is actually Hellfire from the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
That isn't to say that I don't enjoy some musical numbers, but they are almost exclusively someone communicating their feelings to themselves for the benefit of the audience. My favorite is actually Hellfire from the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
I... didn't enjoy it all that much, I mean, don't get me wrong, its a good film (course it is, it's Disney) but... I dunno, it's just kinda meh to me. It really didn't help that it was so hyped up that it would upstage Jesus slicing bread on a skateboard. I thought to myself "There is absolutely no way this movie is as good as everybody is saying" and, well, I wasn't wrong. Besides, I can't be the only one thinking that Disney not making a princess fall in love at first sight isn't really all that revolutionary, or even new to frozen, am I?
Overall, it was a good movie, but not a great one. I enjoyed say, Muppet's Most Wanted a hell of a lot more than I did this, and I would argue that movie had a better soundtrack too. because Bret McKenzie.
Overall, it was a good movie, but not a great one. I enjoyed say, Muppet's Most Wanted a hell of a lot more than I did this, and I would argue that movie had a better soundtrack too. because Bret McKenzie.
Eh, I thought it was alright, but probably the weakest Disney film of the "New Era." Chesire Cat did a much better critique of the film than I can, and he mostly hits on all the points I felt about the movie, too. But I didn't hate it as much as he did. I just don't understand why everyone thought it was so subversive. People praise it more being a Disney movie that focuses on familial love rather than romantic when... you know, Wreck-it Ralph came out last year? And was about friendship, with only a secondary romance? No? We're just... gonna forget that and praise Disney's subversion of a formula it only paid lip service to to begin with?
I really didn't think much of it. It's not bad, but it's not good. It's just... there.
I grew up on Disney, and it certainly isn't up to the standard of Toy Story, Hercules, Mulan, Aladdin, etc, etc. I thought the story was very jumpy, the characters were very shallow/easily predictable. It didn't have a *WOW* factor. To be honest, it seemed to just cruise along, happy in the knowledge that it knew what it is and that's what it's going for, par the course.
It was very simple. I guess I just expect more.
And the songs! Christ! Worst part of the movie, easily. They absolutely felt shoe-horned in, as though the creators went, "right, we've got this song, let's squeeze it in riiiight... here! And repeat it a few times intermittently so the audience don't forget she's sad (or whatever)".
I've definitely seen worse movies, but this is something I'm happy to forgo in my Disney collection.
Edit: The best part of the movie- the stupid snowman, who I was certain I was going to hate. He was actually quite a redeeming part of the movie.
I grew up on Disney, and it certainly isn't up to the standard of Toy Story, Hercules, Mulan, Aladdin, etc, etc. I thought the story was very jumpy, the characters were very shallow/easily predictable. It didn't have a *WOW* factor. To be honest, it seemed to just cruise along, happy in the knowledge that it knew what it is and that's what it's going for, par the course.
It was very simple. I guess I just expect more.
And the songs! Christ! Worst part of the movie, easily. They absolutely felt shoe-horned in, as though the creators went, "right, we've got this song, let's squeeze it in riiiight... here! And repeat it a few times intermittently so the audience don't forget she's sad (or whatever)".
I've definitely seen worse movies, but this is something I'm happy to forgo in my Disney collection.
Edit: The best part of the movie- the stupid snowman, who I was certain I was going to hate. He was actually quite a redeeming part of the movie.
It was a good movie to be honest, I liked it quite a bit and thought the music was pretty good. My only complaint is it felt rather short; Up the mountain, down the mountain, end.
loved it myself.
refreshing story. great songs and good twist.
the quality of films has taken an upturn since Pixar came over and are showing disney how its done again
refreshing story. great songs and good twist.
the quality of films has taken an upturn since Pixar came over and are showing disney how its done again
I rather like it a lot; it gave us a fresh twist on the princess Disney story and i like how it focused more on sibling love than the usual love they gives us. Though, the relationship between Anna and Christoph was cute.
One of the biggest problems i had with the film was its pacing. The pacing throughout the movie felt off, like it couldn't decide to quicken the pace or slow down; it would have benefited with extra months of fine tuning. Maybe with this experimental movie disney will take more chances again, because I want another hunchback of notre dame-quse damn it!
Was this movie worth the hype and deserving of an oscar?
Hype: Mostly
Oscar: certainly not
One of the biggest problems i had with the film was its pacing. The pacing throughout the movie felt off, like it couldn't decide to quicken the pace or slow down; it would have benefited with extra months of fine tuning. Maybe with this experimental movie disney will take more chances again, because I want another hunchback of notre dame-quse damn it!
Was this movie worth the hype and deserving of an oscar?
Hype: Mostly
Oscar: certainly not
Meh.
I always feel a bit silly crtiticising kid's entertainment. I'm 26, and male to boot in this case. That stuff not made for me and any criticisms I might have could probably be countered with "Well, the kids liked it that way."
The snowman was annoying. The trolls were annoying. Several of the songs were annoying.
Yes, 'Let It Go' was cool and the twist was cool. There was some genuinely good misdirection there.
I felt the climax was hugely lacking. It felt... anti-climactic and over almost as soon as it began.
Also, the whole "Love fixes everything... literally" was silly. But once again, maybe the target audience of little girls thinks that stuff is the best, so who am I to object?
I get why people like this movie. I do. The subversions and the progressive stuff. Totally cool. I have not the slightest problem with that. But I don't think those things automatically make a good movie.
I always feel a bit silly crtiticising kid's entertainment. I'm 26, and male to boot in this case. That stuff not made for me and any criticisms I might have could probably be countered with "Well, the kids liked it that way."
The snowman was annoying. The trolls were annoying. Several of the songs were annoying.
Yes, 'Let It Go' was cool and the twist was cool. There was some genuinely good misdirection there.
I felt the climax was hugely lacking. It felt... anti-climactic and over almost as soon as it began.
Also, the whole "Love fixes everything... literally" was silly. But once again, maybe the target audience of little girls thinks that stuff is the best, so who am I to object?
I get why people like this movie. I do. The subversions and the progressive stuff. Totally cool. I have not the slightest problem with that. But I don't think those things automatically make a good movie.