"The Princess and the Frog" - Disney's return to traditional animation... and Disney Princesses

The Princess and the Frog is Disney's newest Disney Princess film. As a kid, when Tiana (Elizabeth Dampier) heard the story of the princess and the frog, she was uninterested in meeting a prince, and even less interested in kissing a frog. Her dream is to own a restaurant, which she shares with her father James (Terrence Howard). When she grows up (and is now voiced by Anika Noni Rose), her father is dead, and she works as a waitress in New Orleans, trying to save up enough money to purchase a building to make into a restaurant; however, she seems to not have any time or desire for fun. She eventually comes up with the money... or so it would seem. She's been outbid and has a limited time to come up with the remaining money or she'll lose the property. Meanwhile, Prince Naveen (Bruno Campos) has recently made his way into town. Naveen mooched off of his rich parents and didn't do a thing for himself, thus he was abandoned. His plan is to marry a princess and live off of her. However, he is turned into a frog by the voodoo priest Doctor "Shadow-Man" Facilier (Keith David), who prays on the weakness of others to get what he wants. Naveen's butler, Lawrence (Peter Bartlett), who is fed up with Naveen, meets Facilier and is turned into the prince as part of a plan concocted by Facilier. However, rich Charlotte "Lottie" La Bouff (Jennifer Cody) has fallen in love with Naveen and wants to marry him; Lawrence, disguised as Naveen, plans to marry her. On the flip side, the real Naveen sees Tiana in a princess costume, and asks for a kiss in exchange for the money to fund her dream restaurant... but since Tiana isn't really a princess, she is turned into a frog instead! A series of events sends them to the bayou, where they learn about Mama Odie (Jenifer Lewis), who may have the power to make the two human again, and they team up with Louis the alligator (Michael-Leon Wooley) who also wants to be human so he can play professional jazz, as well as Ray the firefly (Jim Cummings), who has fallen in love with a star he thinks is another firefly.

John Goodman voices Charlotte's father Eli "Big Daddy" La Bouff, and Oprah Winfrey voiced Tiana's mother Eudora.

Allow me to start off this review with a little history lesson. In 1937, Walt Disney Pictures created a legendary film... the first ever full-length animated film, and the first ever Disney Princess film... Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. (It's recently been re-released to DVD and Blu-Ray.) They continued with such features including Cinderella (1950) and Sleeping Beauty (1959). The 1990s was known to some as "The Disney Renaissance", including films such as The Little Mermaid (1989), Aladdin (1992), Pocahontas (1995), Mulan (1998), and the at-the-time highest grossing animated film (and still highest for traditional animation), The Lion King (1994). In early 2000, the term "Disney Princess" was coined, as a franchise that included (respectively) Snow White, Cinderella, Princess Aurora, Ariel, Jasmine, Pocahontas, and Mulan, and was largely used for merchandising opportunities. Looks like Disney's found another gold mine, huh?

... Well, not exactly.

In 1995, Pixar Animation Studios created the first ever feature-length computer animated film, Toy Story. Yeah, I don't need to explain, you've read all this before in my review for the double-feature. While many moviegoers saw this as a new advancement, others saw it as a downfall - soon, alongside Pixar, other companies started doing computer animated films as well. A notable example is DreamWorks, best known for the Shrek franchise, with their first picture Antz (1998), and I think they've only done two traditionally animated features (The Road to El Dorado and Spirit). Fox Animation Studios, known for 2-D films such as Anastasia (1997), closed down and merged with Blue Sky studios to do CGI films too, notably the Ice Age franchise as well as Robots (2005) and Horton Hears a Who! (2008) and the upcoming The Lorax (2012). Combine that was Sony Pictures Animation films such as Open Season (2006) and their most recent picture Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009), and you've got yourself a new era. Eventually, Pixar's Finding Nemo (2003) overtook The Lion King as the highest grossing animated film, which itself was overtaken by DreamWorks' Shrek 2 (2004) which is now the fourth-highest grossing film domestically unadjusted for ticket inflation. Even this year, DreamWorks' Monsters vs. Aliens was the highest-grossing film of the spring and is still one of the top films of the year, Sony's Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs took the #1 spot for two consecutive weeks (Pixar's Up nearly did the same thing), and Blue Sky's Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs is now the third-highest grossing film on the foreign front as well as the third-highest grossing film domestically to have never hit #1. Monsters vs. Aliens, Up, and Ice Age 3 are living proof that 3-D is the new 2-D.

Eventually, Disney saw little profit in sticking to traditional 2-D animation, therefore they announced Home on the Range (2004) to be their last traditionally animated film (as if to prove their point, it bombed at the box office). So Disney decided to make their own independent CGI films such as Chicken Little (2005), Meet the Robinsons (2007), and Bolt (2008). Could this be the end of American-made theatrical 2-D animated films?

... For awhile, it seems so, but not anymore. The Princess and the Frog is Disney's return to traditional 2-D animation! Now that I've finished boring you with the history lesson, it's on to the actual review.

I had been waiting for this film for so long... and now it's finally here. The only other Disney Princess film I've ever seen on the big screen was Mulan. I had forgotten what 2-D animation looked like on the big screen (well, American animation, since I did see Ponyo earlier this year). What else is there to say? I loved everything about this film! The animation, the music, the characters, the slapstick gags... this is perfect! I know I'm changing my mind again, but this is my new favorite film of 2009, and with just three weeks left, this is gonna be hard to top! On top of it all, Tiana is a great example of a Disney Princess... the early Princesses were too reliant on their princes. Only Jasmine and Mulan seemed to be independent (well, not so much Jasmine... in a way, Aladdin did save her, but it's more figurative, and I just liked her attitude mostly) and strong role models... now we have a new one. Tiana's only drawbacks were that she is a workaholic who doesn't believe in fun, but it's understandable because that was how she was raised, and she was determined to see to it that her dream came true, and I won't spoil the rest for the two people who can't figure it out. Also, at one point during the film, she was sad when she saw what she thought was Naveen turned human again and actually believed that he had deserted her even though Mama Odie blatantly stated that when Naveen's curse was broken, Tiana's would be too, and she was still a frog (Ray even points that out shortly before that scene begins). It was also fun spotting references to other Disney films, such as Princess dolls on a shelf, but there were some references I think I made up, such as Louis saying "I couldn't figure out the topography... or the geography" or something like that, which immediately made me think of the Genie's line from Aladdin "I'm history! No wait, I'm mythology!" It's also worth noting that Tiana is the first black Disney princess, and the first African-American one. But don't worry - this film is not going to receive the Song of the South treatment.

The film got a G rating, however, there's some stuff to look out for, mainly violence. Most of it was just slapstick, but anyway: after Tiana is turned into a frog, she and Naveen float on balloons, which are popped on a tree branch and chased by cranes and alligators through the swamp. Louis gets hit with many thorns, which Ray pulls out of him. Shadow-Man has many creepy silhouettes that seem to be able to grab things and have him actually hold them. In a few scenes, the frogs say that "They're not covered in slime - it's actually mucous". Shadow-Man almost uses voodoo magic and sticks a pin in Lawrence/Naveen, but ultimately fails. In a flashback, Louis mentions he tried to play jazz for a band, but they shot at him. Guns are seen recurring throughout the film, usually in Louis' mind (at one point, we see what looks like silhouettes of men with guns, but it's really just musical instruments). Shadow-Man also mentions needing frog blood for something. Shadow-Man steps on Ray, but I won't reveal his outcome. As for sexual content... there's some subtle stuff. Charlotte's dress shows her cleavage, and she shoves tissues in it at one point and pulls on it when she mentions how beautiful she is. After Naveen asks Tiana for a kiss, she says, "Just one kiss?" Naveen says, "Well, if it leaves you hungry for more, then..." and licks his lips (we saw that in the trailer). Several bottles of champagne are present, and there's some name-calling such as "stick-in-the-mud".

Should you see it? Well, do you like Disney Princesses? Do you miss 2-D traditional animation? Do you like animated musicals? Are you a fan of any of the VAs (many of them have done Broadway shows, so you may recognize their singing voices) or composer Randy Newman? If the answer to any of those questions was "Yes", then by all means... SEE IT. You will not regret it.

"Everybody's Fine"... well, except David...

Everybody's Fine is a holiday remake on the 1990 Italian film of the same name. Frank Goode (Robert DeNiro) is an old widower who is usually visited by his four kids (David Goode, who is now an artist in New York, Rosie Goode [Kate Beckinsale] who works at an advertising company in Chicago, Robert Goode [Sam Rockwell] who is a musician in Denver, and Rosie Goode [Drew Barrymore] who is a dancer in Las Vegas) every year, but they all canceled on him. Therefore, he decides to pay a visit to each of them. The catch is that he has a condition where he can't fly in a plane, so he is forced to take buses, metros, trains, and even hitch a ride with a trucker. But what happens when David doesn't show up to answer the door, or reply to any of Frank's phone calls? And what's with the rest of his family? Why did they cancel? And what are they hiding?

Lucian Maisel also plays Amy's son Jack. Her husband Jeff is played by Damian Young.

At first, it just seemed like a typical Christmas movie, but it has its interesting twists. As usual, I prefer not to spoil them unless asked privately. I sort of guessed what happened to David, but not in detail. I actually didn't know that this was a remake until I saw it in the closing credits - I would like to check out the original. The David subplot is somewhat emotional, and it starts to reveal itself as the film goes along (you hear phone calls among the kids), but nonetheless, it ends as a feel-good Christmas movie.

The film got a good PG-13 rating, nothing really exaggerated and it could very well work as a family movie. I'm not sure what's prominent, I guess drug use since Frank must take prescription medication, and something else I won't talk about. There's also miscellaneous drinking and smoking, but it's nothing major. Robert attempts to smoke before Frank stops him (he says he made the mistake himself and quit). The only real violent act is Frank running into a man who is seemingly homeless, and he offers him some money, but then he tries to steal his wallet. They get into a brief fight, and while the other man doesn't make off with anything, he smashes Frank's vial of pills with his foot and runs off. Frank attempts to salvage what he can of it and takes the crumbs of the pills throughout the film. Upon his return home, Frank decides to take a plane, and right before a storm, he uses the bathroom. The plane starts to wobble and the pilot tells everyone to fasten their seatbelts, but Frank is on the toilet and appears to be about to vomit (clutching his stomach and covering his mouth), but he blacks out before we see what happened to him (he is later seen waking up from a hospital bed). The closest thing to sexual content in this film is a woman passing Frank and asking "Do you want to see my leg?" as she begins to lift her dress up (we don't see anything), but Frank responds with "Do you want to see mine?" and she walks off. Frank's fountain is a sculpture of a boy holding his penis (from which water comes out, but it doesn't look realistic). Don't worry about Rosie - we never see her do any explicit dancing. As Frank blacks out on the plane, he has a vision of his kids as kids in a picnic, but with their current adult mindset. Rosie says she's "not sure if she likes men or women", which could imply that she is bisexual. Frank also says a string of swear/religious words (something like "F**k s**t d**m Jesus Christ!") after failing to hit a golf ball further than Jack.

If you like Christmas movies, someone in the cast, or films about family bonding and separation, then this is the film for you. Stay tuned during the closing credits for two sets of photos: One set is photos Frank took on his trip, and the other appears to be some of the photos Frank took when his kids were young.

"Old Dogs" - all laughs and no plot but not a dull film

Old Dogs is a Disney family comedy staring Robin Williams and John Travolta as Dan and Charlie, respectively. Dan and Charlie are two co-workers who are best friends. In the year 2002, Dan met a woman named Vicki (Kelly Preston) and they were briefly married, but fast-forward to 2009 and Vicki shows up again to show Dan that they had two 7-year-old kids. Vicki is being sent to jail for chaining herself to a gate during a protest, leaving Dan to take care of the kids. He enlists the help of Charlie, but after unwittingly making a deal with Nishimura Corp. (the Japanese company they work for) that could get him promoted, he must make the decision to move to Tokyo or stay with the kids.

Seth Green also plays Ralph, a younger colleague of Charlie and Dan.

I'm sure you already know how it's going to end... but on the other hand, you probably don't exactly know how it's going to end, so I'll keep it secret. (All I'll say is you saw some of it in the trailer, but I won't say what part.) Anyway, the first part of the film practically has no plot and just seems like a flimsy excuse for a series of slapstick events to occur, but that doesn't mean it isn't funny. Seeing the poor reviews for this film as well as the fact that it failed to make it into the top 3 (which were older releases The Twilight Saga: New Moon, The Blind Side, and 2012) made me a little skeptical about it, but I enjoyed the film, if only because I don't think I've seen John Travolta or Robin Williams in a live-action comedy film in while (I know Robin Williams was in World's Greatest Dad but that didn't come to our area) where they weren't overdressed (so Robin Williams as Theodore Roosevelt in the Night at the Museum films and John Travolta as a woman in Hairspray don't count). I also was aware that this is Bernie Mac's actual final film (even though Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa and Soul Men from 2008 were advertised as such), but was disappointed when he didn't have a very large role, as well as lack of a tribute for him (it just says, "In Loving Memory of Bernie Mac and Jett Travolta" during the credits, whereas Soul Men had a picture of him that said goodbye to him on the final frame after the credits).

The film got a PG rating, and the most objectionable thing was entirely off-screen and not mentioned: Dan and Vicki had drunk sex during their vacation and had kids. Two workers (one played by Luis Guzman) mix up Charlie and Dan's pills, causing them (especially Dan) to be mixed up (and later everyone). Vicki wears a cleavage tops in a few scenes in the first half of the film, and Dan is seen in his underwear in the shower. Dan later struggles to answer his kids' question "Where do babies come from?". Charlie, Dan, and Ralph sneak into a zoo, and a gorilla tosses a tire at Charlie, knocking him out. The gorilla grabs Ralph and won't let him go, but Charlie and Dan run off into the penguin area, where the penguins attack them. Dan also kicks a ball at a child, which hits him in the face.

Well, if you just want to see a string of slapstick events, this is the film for you. Stay tuned during the closing credits for a funny little scene.

"The Blind Side" - I can't fully judge this due to my "Blind Side"

The Blind Side is a sports drama based on the novelized true story The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game by Michael Lewis. Michael Oher (Quinton Aaron) is an 18-year-old male who has been enrolled in many different high schools and his GPA is a 0.6 due to his failure to answer any questions on tests. He is practically homeless and resides in a broken foster home - he hasn't seen his mother in ages and his father passed away, and little else is known about him - many of his records have not been recovered. However, he has a knack for playing sports, especially football, and is somewhat more experienced in that area than any book/knowledge area. One day, Michael goes to a Christian school that takes him in, and he is greeted by a kid named S.J. Touhy (Jae Head), son of home designer Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock) and restauranteer Sean Touhy (Tim McGraw). The Touhys take Michael in to live with him, and they tutor and take care of him until his grades improve enough for spring football... but as his grades improve, he is invited to several colleges. What will he choose, and how will it affect the Touhys? How will he excel in football? And who is really benefiting from this, Michael or Leigh? In a subplot, the Toughy's teen daughter Collins (Lily Collins) wishes to become a cheerleader.

So I first saw the trailer to this film before Shorts (personally, I think that's a strange choice of a film to put this trailer before, due to the vast difference in demographics) back in August. It looked pretty interesting, but cheesy. Later, after walking into a bookstore, I learned that Michael Oher actually made it into the NFL. That greatly aroused my curiosity. I eagerly waited for this film, and when I saw it, my expectations were met. This is personally my favorite film of the year (replacing Whip It as my #1, which, ironically, is also about sports). I literally cried during the first half, especially when we found out about his mother. I definitely want to read the book, but I recently heard the real Michael Oher did not like the film because he thought it was an insult to his skills prior to being taken in by the Touhys. I figured as much that it was an exaggeration for artistic purposes. As much as I enjoyed it, however, I feel it did have its flaws. For one, I'm not the biggest sports expert, and much of the last half of the film focused a bit more on football than the characters. My mind sorta just wandered when they went into detail about it, except for the parts about "Cover his blind side!" and "Protect them the way you would your family!" (using other terms for football). As well, they sort of glossed over Collins' subplot, making her role in the movie more minor than the average subplot or supporting character. Nonetheless, a great movie, and definitely one I would buy (I heard it is being considered for an Oscar, and I'd like to see it win one).

The film got a PG-13 rating, and as you'd expect from a sports film, you can expect football-related violence. Michael and S.J. also crash a car, with Michael having blood on his arm and S.J. being okay (turns out Michael took most of the blow). As his broken foster home, Michael attacls a thug, who points a gun at him, triggering a memory of his past (not sure if I should tell you about it, may spoil too much). As for sexuality, Leigh Anne wears some cleavage-bearing tops in some scenes, and is hit on indirectly by the thugs at Michael's foster home. The word "tit" is used twice, once in reference to a "titty bar" and the other as part of an instruction for blocking in football (Michael is told to put his hands "between [the other player's] tits"), and when Michael starts looking at college girls, Leigh Anne says that if he impregnates a girl, she will drive up there and cut off his penis. Much of the drug use is spoilers, but I'll talk about it privately.

If you're into sports movies, dramas, sports dramas, or Sandra Bullock, definitely check this out. It will wipe All About Steve right out of your head and will redeem Sandra Bullock if you are one of the many who despised that film. (Note that this is Sandra Bullock's biggest opening weekend, the previous one being The Proposal from earlier this year, and remained #2 at the box office behind The Twilight Saga: New Moon for two weeks in a row, with a rare increase in its second weekend while New Moon dropped 70%. There's a chance that this weekend it could actually top New Moon's weekend gross.) And stay tuned during the credits for a set of aftermath photos.