Moana

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland












Michael's Movie Grade: A+

Review: Directing team John Musker and Ron Clements helped redefine Disney feature animation with such films as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin. However they may have dine it again here, this film is an incredible mixture of what made previous Disney animated features so good and great new ideas as well . In fact this may stand as their best film and it is one of my favorite post-Walt animated Disney films.

The look of this film is incredible. The designs are very appealing, and the characters are very well animated. On top of this the film has a brilliant combination of CGI and hand drawn animation done through Maui's tattoos (the head of hand drawn animation was Eric Goldberg, who had previously been the supervising animator for the Genie in Aladdin).

The story is also excellent and told through brilliant filmmaking. The story is told using so many great devices. Making the first few villains comic for instance works fantastically. This makes the climax all the more exciting and makes the threat feel much stronger. In fact the whole mixture of comedy and drama is near perfect. The humor is not only quite funny but it always is there in service to the story and characters. The comedy uses a lot of self referential humor, this is not only quite funny but makes the fantasy all the more acceptable by also talking to the cynic in us that recognizes the clichés of this type of story, while not insulting them to the point of where we don't take them seriously enough. All this of course would be wasted if the characters weren't so likable and luckily they are.

The songs in this film are fantastic. They are in a more modern style quite different from what has been used in many previous animated Disney features. However they work perfectly and like many classic Disney films they are completely at the service of the story and characters. They work brilliantly. This is probably the best use of modern style music in a Disney film.

I think this movie does for me, what Frozen did for so many other animation fans (Don't get me wrong I loved Frozen but I am blown away by this film).
 
If you can't guess I liked this movie.

But don't go away we have a short to Review too.

Inner Workings

Michael's Movie Grade:C

Review: Entertaining little cartoon. 

This film a good message and great animation.

However this cartoon seems almost too short and the jokes miss as often as they hit.

Overall an enjoyable little cartoon, but not much more.

-Michael J. Ruhland

I Am Not Ashamed

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland











Michael's Movie Grade:B

Review: Good character study.


When this movie really works is when it is simply a character study of Rachel. This character is very relatable and likable. Her struggles are very much like are own struggles, and even non-religious people could relate to her yearning to be excepted. This film does a great job at letting us feel what the character is feeling.

On the downside this film features some clumsy acting and a group of bullies are very poorly written. I also have to say saying someone knows Shakespeare real well because they can quote the whole "All the World's a Stage" silique from As You Like It is quite clumsy writing. That shouldn't be a big fault but it is repeated too much this small fault gets very annoying.

While some may criticize this film without seeing it, because they are offended that a movie would use this tragedy for Christian propaganda. It is done in very good taste. Neither the Christian message nor the tragedy are forced into this movie and both are treated with the upmost respect. In fact the ending is extremely moving and will allow some who understandably have trouble with this films faults to forgive them.

Trolls

Review written by Michael J. Ruhland


















Michael's Movie Grade:B

Review: Very fun movie.

What really makes this movie work so well is the characters and the visuals. The characters, could have easily been boring and two dimensional. Poppy isn't just an obnoxiously happy character, and Branch is not just an overly depressed character. I am not going to say they are complex characters, but they are well thought out and very likable. The visuals are great,  including both design, and animation. The characters have a likable look to them and the world around them looks really cool. The characters are also very well animated and come to life through it. This film is just a joy to look at.

On the downside, most of the songs feel like they are here because they are popular, not because they fit the story. In fact most of them feel quite out of place here. Also the story is often very preditible.

Overall, just a very fun movie.

-Michael J. Ruhland

El Jeremias

Review Written By Michael J. Ruhland



















Michael's Movie Grade:A-

Review: Fantastic movie that is both funny and moving.

As I have mentioned before, one of the many things I love about movies is when, I discover something great that I completely did not except. I just went to this film because I felt like seeing something different from what I have seen in theaters lately, and a Spanish-langue Mexican movie, nobody I know has mentioned felt like just the ticket. I got in just a few minutes before the previews started, and discovered I was the only one in the theater. I began to wonder if I had chosen the right movie to see. That fear was soon quieted. In the first few minutes I found myself laughing and enjoy these characters.

Nearly everything about this movie was great. Martian Castro (his film debut) is a very talented child actor, the whole cast is great in fact, the humor is very funny, the drama is quite touching and the film has a great and very important message, about family, childhood and life in general. There were few predictable moments, when I knew what was going to happen, but with how good the rest of the movie was this was just a nitpick.

This movie was the feature film directorial debut of Anwar Safa. I recommend seeing this film and keeping a track of this director in the future.

-Michael J. Ruhland