Little Women, 2019, movie review

Rating: B

Louisa May Alcott's tale of the four March sisters--Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy--has been visually delighting audiences for over a century.  The first adaptation was a British silent film made in 1917, though it is now lost, but thankfully a silent film featuring Alcott's real home in Concord Massachusetts was filmed in 1918.  Many films has followed since, including the 1949 version I remember watching as a kid with Elizabeth Taylor as Amy.

2018 alone had both a three episode mini series that played on PBS and a limited modern version that came to select screens.  Though, guiltily, my favorite version is the 1978 television series because it has both William Shatner and John de Lancie, James T Kirk and Q on Star Trek, and as a Trek fan it's just so amusing.  There's also a Japanese anime series called Tales of Little Women, which is currently on Amazon Prime with four seasons, and now I need to watch that.

As I write this I'm watching the PBS version, also on Amazon Prime, because I haven't seen it, and it keeps distracting me.  Also, as I prepared for this review I listened to a 19h 37m Audible book read by Barbara Caruso, having never read the original story, and it took a few weeks to get through, which is why this review is late.

This latest incarnation is nice.

And at the moment feeling redundant.

How many retellings do we really need?  Is this version worth a watch?  I mean, it's not like we don't have options.  The 1994 version is also well loved.

Greta Gerwig has made a beautifully shot film.  A few weeks ago I read an article about how this new version is novel simply for combining the past and present through flashbacks.  Obviously they didn't watch the 2018 modern version that employed the same technique with more success.  This 2019 time-period version gets convoluted with all the time jumps, causing confusion at times, specifically during the scene where Beth gets sick.  Knowing the story is a must with differentiating between past and present in parts.  Whereas the modern 2018 version makes the time jumps much more obvious.  Overall the 2019 version is more successful as a film, the modern 2018 version is cheesy with an overly irate Jo with nice sentiments, but in choosing between the two the 2019 version is superior.

Another aspect of this newer version is the treatment of Amy, softening her, where she is usually shown as a complete brat.  Switching between past and present helps.  We see her mature older self early on, her connection with Laurie, verses a concentration on her bratty younger self.  In the book she really is a brat.  But it was interesting listening to the book, because the Amy character really grows during the course of the two novels (Little Women and Good Wives is typically connected as one).  Seeing Amy get a proper treatment is nice.  And honestly, after listening to the book, more so than this new movie, I don't fault Amy at all for getting the European trip.  Jo was such a jerk during that time that she was her own worse enemy.

One of the major issues I have with this movie is the ending, as we get two endings.  Switching between past and present wasn't enough.  By the time the two time lines catch up, we then get the duel ending.  The ending Jo must write to appease the publisher verses the ending Alcott originally wanted for the novel.  It's confusing.  I picked up on the change and verified this movie's ending online, and then talked to my Mom and Sister-in-law about it, both of whom had no idea and thought the publisher ending is the true ending in combination with the other ending.  As far as they are concerned Jo and the Professor still get married, because the movie's ending is so unclear they can decide for themselves what the ending means, therefore eradicating the new ending Greta wanted to portray.  Both can be true, as by the ending we're used to jumping around.

I can get nit-picky about some other things, but will leave it at that.  The acting is strong.  Saoirse Ronan is a great Jo March.  And now that I've made it through the book I want to re-watch this movie to compare more thoroughly book verses film.  And I want to watch all the other versions, including the anime, but honestly who has the time for all that?  Just getting a hold of all the versions would be difficult.  But it would be interesting to compare all the adaptations.

MPAA: Rated PG for thematic elements and brief smoking.

P.S. I'm halfway through the PBS Masterpiece version, and Angela Lansbury is simply the best Aunt March.  She's such a delight.

The Lion King, 2019, mini movie review

Rating: C+

So when's a great time to finally write a review for the latest The Lion King movie? The weekend Maleficent 2 is released. Heh, seems like a great time to me. :P  I'm hoping to see Maleficent early next week, but my Dad saw it yesterday, and the things he had issues with I'll most likely have issues with.

But with that said, I've been struggling with what to rate The Lion King.  While thinking about this post I just went back and lowered Dumbo's score from C+ to C-, and even then I might be a little generous.  That's the problem I have with reviewing!  And my doubts as a reviewer.  I change my mind!  Like when I saw The Last Jedi and I was like, "Oh my goodness!  It was so good!!!  I felt like a kid again!!!!!!!!!  Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"  And then, literally, I finally woke up from the movie high coma a few days later and realized, "What the crap was that!!!!????"  Or the time I gave Austenland a super low rating, out of irritation, and now it's one of my guilty little pleasures.  Because it just is.  It makes me giggle.

So what do I do about The Lion King??  What would I have thought if Disney wasn't out of creativity and remaking everything?  How would I view this new "live action"--*cough* a different form of animation *cough*--movie if the originally drawn feature film didn't exist as comparison?  Would I think higher of it?

The problem with The Lion King (2019) is that The Lion King (1994) does exist.

And I loved the original as a kid.  Sang the songs!  The whole death scene was freaky, but the animation softens the blow.  Making The Lion King look real adds a scary depth that hand drawn animation lightens up.  The meaning is still there, but not so terrifying for children, whom this movie is aimed.  Technically a family film, but still.

Is the movie beautiful?  Yes.  It's gorgeous.  A shot by shot of the original in National Geographic style.  But the movie lost it's charm with the shift to realism.  The facial expressions in the original movie gone.  And this movie proves how sad it is that original animation is being abandoned, a form of story telling that's getting left behind for new technology.

The Lion King 2019 doesn't add anything new.  The song Be Prepared was just bad.  Scary moments are scarier.  And it's such a copy and paste that I have no need to see it again.  Why should I when I own a copy of the original?

MPAA: Rated PG for sequences of violence and peril, and some thematic elements.

Getting Back From a Trip To Tokyo, Surrounding Areas, and the Disney Parks

Tokyo, 2019

Yesterday I flew in from Tokyo Narita airport. 

At the end of last year my Mom and I were talking about trips we could take, and she said she wanted to go to Japan, which she never really desired.  So we planned the trip with my brother Steven and his boyfriend Ty.

Last time when I went with my brother Michael and sister-in-law Krista we rented an apartment.  It made the trip possible, and gave us the experience of being in a residential area.  This time I stayed with my Mom at the Sheraton Grand Tokyo Bay Hotel, right next to the Disney Parks, literally across the street from one of four monorail exits.  Super handy.

The trip itself was eight full days, about half were spent at the Disney parks.

Tokyo Disney

I REALLY appreciate the Tokyo Disney parks all the more now, especially DisneySea.  Last time experiencing the park was a whirlwind.  Two hour train ride there, got into park an hour late, left an hour early so we wouldn't get stranded when rail transportation ends at midnight, and two hour train ride back.  It was zip and flash.  This time I soaked it in and fell in love.

DisneySea is the best.  The. Best.  All the details.  Nuance.  The parks ability to transport you to different Worlds.  Atmosphere.  Perfect balance between shows and rides.  Etc. Etc. Etc.  I'm already missing it on so many levels.

When we went into the city it was fun, but once you get back to Maihama station you're in a Disney bubble.  The music.  Happiness.  Magic.  It's Disney heaven.

Tokyo and About

I didn't get to do as much as I wanted, but with all short trips you must pick and choose.  I shared with my family some of the things I enjoyed last time balanced with new things.  TeamLab Boarderless Museum, Ferris wheel at Palette Town, Giant Gundam, Ginza, Harajuku, Meiji Shrine, Enoshima, and maybe one or two other things I can't remember.

Getting Sick

This is the first trip I caught a bug.  It seemed people everywhere were coughing.  Something was going around, and with close transportation, hand rails, etc, I'm just glad I got sick at the end of the trip verses the beginning.  The second day of the trip was cold with 43 F, real feel 36 F, all day with non-stop rain.  My shoes and socks were soaked.  Six inches of water up my pants.  By the end of the day my teeth were chattering and I had a hard time talking.  I should have gotten sick then.  I made it to the second to last night.

Walking through Tokyo station I found a pharmacy and got Vick throat drops, but couldn't find salt to gargle with.  Thankfully at the hotel restaurant a girl gave me a paper cup with a salt shaker.  Didn't think finding salt would be so difficult.  My throat isn't sore anymore, but I have a pretty bad cough and almost lost my voice coming home.  Ah well, getting sick is one of the dangers in traveling.  I'm been pretty lucky.

We were supposed to go to Mount Takao, which I tried to do last time, on our last day, but when I woke up Wednesday morning I knew that was a bad idea.  So my Mom and I explored Ikspiari, their Downtown Disney/Disney Springs.  And after 6 pm you can buy Disney park tickets for less than $40.  We went in and had a good meal with the boys.  They took off, I didn't want to slow them down, so I watched Fantasmic one last time and the fireworks before heading back to the hotel for a snooze.  Everything didn't quite work out, but it was a nice way to end the trip.

The Round Up

It's just past mid-night (this will post at 6 am MT, so I wrote this from that perspective) and I should get to bed.  It was a wonderful trip.  Went way too fast!!!!  Everyone wanted to stay another week.  I'm ready to sleep away the weekend and kick this cold to the curb.  Blah.  I'm glad to be home, but I loved Tokyo.

New Years Resolutions, Goals, and Possibilities: Don't Be Afraid to Dream Big.

"Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help, and brave enough to ask for it." 

 

~ Anonymous, only because I don't know who deserves the credit. 

New Years Eve.  It's already 2019 in many parts of the World, Japan included.  I just watched a video of fireworks being launched in Tokyo.

I'm so ready for this new year.  There were struggles last year, but many highlights as well, in which I feel very fortunate.  But also, I didn't achieve many of my resolutions this last year.  Didn't walk 1,000 miles.  Didn't blog as often as I wished.  Didn't get music going again on Youtube.  Things happened.  Life happens.  And now I'm ready to retry these goals and add new ones.

The above quote is going to be my theme this year.  Standing alone, that's something I'm really good at.  Asking when I need help, that's something I need to work on, big time.  I have a hard time asking for help, and with certain aspects of my life I really need it.

And I'm going to try that "walk 1,000 miles" goal again.  Really, I'm aiming for 100 miles a month.  I want to get back into Highland dance, as I've let that fall by the wayside.  I bought a 3x4 tap dance board with DVDs, so I want to work through all those.  Learn the guitar.  Get back to playing the piano.  (I'm going to start teaching my Mom piano this week, so that will help me get back into it).  I want to learn to draw.  Self publish books.  Etc.

 

Okay, this is starting to sound crazy, but I need a little crazy right now.

 

I need to believe all things are possible.

I need to believe I'm not over the hill and dreams can still happen.

So I've got a plan.  Taking it bit by bit.  Bite size.

So here's to 2019!!  Good luck with all your goals.