Disney movies ranked (vlog recommendations)

Ever since watching Mulan I think I may be on a Disney kick and have been digging into my Disney DVD collection for some re-watches; I just rewatched Jungle Book recently and it was better than I remembered. Will likely blog about it more to come.

Also I found some YouTubers who ranked Disney animated movies -- one I liked was Justin Watches Movies' video where the vlogger discusses and ranks all 58 (!) Disney full length theatrical films. Some of my favorites are in the to 10 so I think I agree with all of the ranks (except those I haven't seen of course). I'm not sure how I feel about the highly-ranked Sleeping Beauty; I remember it being colorful with some great musical sequences but other than that I don't remember much about it at all to rank it. Hmm...might need to re-evaluate it sometime.

In Brian's video (blow), Brian does a really great job using a drag-and-drop feature to place the cover artwork in selected rows according to favorites. I haven't ever seen any other YouTuber do that so this was pretty cool. I don't think I agree with his high rankings of Dumbo and Fantasia, though. I have never liked Fantasia. I agree with him on Pater Pan, though - that's one I just don't get. I can't imagine liking it while having to endure the "red man" song, which is really bothersome tome.

Kathleen (video below), also does a drag-and-drop ranking. I think I would agree with almost all of the selections except I haven't seen many of the movies including Hercules; will have to watch them one some time. I would probably place 101 Dalmatians higher because I really like that one. 101, Pinnochio and Zootopia are probably my favorites so I'd rank them higher.

New on Blu-Ray: Hitchcock 4 Film Set

A new blu-ray / 4K pack of 4 films has been released. I probably will not pick up the set since I have two of the films (The Birds and Rear Window) already in my collection. 

One of the vloggers I recently discovered is Films At Home. Recent videos include an unboxing and a review of Vertigo (embedded below). 

I ***may*** give Vertigo another watch one day (I really don't like that movie - it's one of my least-favorite of both Hitchcock and Stewart's!) 

 Unboxing and First Impressions of the new set:

   

 Review of Vertigo:

 

Mulan - the original one not the new one

Over the weekend I watched Mulan for the first time - the original animated feature, not the new one for $30 on the Disney Plus streaming service. It was really entertaining, my first time learning about the centuries-old Chinese story about the warrior who is a woman posing as a man. The DVD I purchased has a commentary track and bonus features, so one day I will check those out more as well. The film includes many moments where characters talk about the traditional gender roles and customs of the times, which I don't is common in many Disneys.  The movie certainly had plenty of comic relief from the talking dragon (Eddie Murphy), and I liked the cricket who doesn't speak but has some funny moments. It does seem very "Americanized" and "Disney-fied" but I suppose that's the point of it. 

The new Mulan seems to take on a more serious and darker tone without any songs or talking dragon (review from CNN.com here), but I won't be seeing it until the price comes down. 

Is Physical Media Dying?

During the pandemic I have been discovering some interesting YouTube vloggers, and I will share some of the videos in the coming days that really impressed me. 

I like Cereal at Midnight's video about the state of physical media (it was filmed about a year ago).

The vlogger talks about how physical media isn't dead--which is encouraging because I have so many DVDs and blu rays!

Call of the Wild (2020)

I rented this on Redbox last month - it was one of the new films released right before quarantine that I was most looking forward to seeing --- and I really enjoyed it, most especially the scenery which filled me with awe from my urban abode. I really felt transported to that period in time and felt as if I were journeying with the main dog character Buck - fully CGI. The GCI of the animals was one thing that I was concerned about since I  really enjoy seeing real animals in epic adventure stories (IE Milo & Otis, Homeward Bound, etc). But the character of Buck, and his personality, really grew on me and won me over. I was also worried there would be an excess of poop and flatulence jokes but mercifully there is none, which is refreshing. I enjoyed the mail delivery sequences and made me think of the days when sled dogs carried the mail. I liked the cast including Harrison Ford who is good. And I thought one of the characters who abuses Buck was played by Michael Shannon but I double checked and apparently it is another actor (who does resemble him a bit). 

I really wish the DVD contained some making-of features, or a commentary track (there's nothing extra on the disc I rented). Maybe one day. 

I was really curious about the location and sets because the views and scenery were so incredible. After doing a bit of research I found that most all of it was done with GCI and nothing was filmed in Canada or on location. Wow, I was completely fooled on this; the effects team did a pretty impressive job. 

Nevertheless, I did feel inspired to want to get out into nature more.

I think this movie was meant for a viewer like me who has not read the book nor seen any other film versions. I think it captures the essence of the story in my opinion, and would recommend it.

Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)

This movie was available on Redbox recently and I decided to rent it for a night and rewatch it (after about 30 years). I had remembered some parts but not everything - I specifically remember the two lead slackers mispronouncing Socrates as So-Crates, which I thought was hilarious when I was in eighth grade. After all these years I really enjoyed this now-classic, which seems to hold up for the most part with the exception of a couple of unfortunate homophobic and sexist jokes. But there is alot I enjoyed; I really liked the ending at the school when they do their report - I had forgotten most of that sequence and it was cool to see again. Some of the time travel elements were a bit confusing to me and seemed like plot holes - for example if they become legends in the future, then why was there ever a need for them to fix their present situation? Oh well, I might have missed something so I won't question too much. As long as they had the time machine to bring back all the historical figures, the rest of the movie worked for me. 

There was a sequel from 1991 that I watched years ago as well, but have completely forgotten everything about it. I'd probably watch them both again sometime as a double feature.

And apparently there is a new, third movie that is coming out soon that I'm honestly not too excited about, but I heard an interview with the cast and they made it sound like it's fun so maybe I'll give it a watch some time.

Update: some other bloggers I follow have seen the new movie. I'll post the links here until I have a chance to see it myself.

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