Three recent films and a music video

As I said before, it's Oscar-qualifying time, and I'm trying to see 50 feature films in the space of two months - that's about 1 film a day, which is fine.  I love watching feature films, however, I also have to run my business and make my own films, so my time has to be tightly regulated if I want to keep up that pace.  I'm only going to comment on three recent films of special interest, because I don't want to waste your time with the boring stuff.

"Mary Poppins Returns" is a very entertaining bit of nostalgia, it's full of wonderful music and great fantasy.  There are some surprise (not any more, I guess...) cameos from Angela Lansbury, Meryl Streep and a dancing Dick Van Dyke.

However, I believe Lin-Manuel Miranda is totally miscast as a rapping Cockney lamplighter, and his singing is not that great.  Emily Blunt is very acceptable as Mary Poppins, but she's no Julie Andrews. 

I brought my 6-year-old son with me, and at first he was bored, but once he keyed in to the characters and fantasy, he was hooked on this film, even though it runs over two hours. 

"Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again" is a total disaster.  The plot was hard to follow because it kept jumping between the two timelines and to characters that I had trouble identifying - very confusing.  The songs were so-so and they didn't pick many recognizable ABBA songs.  Unfortunately, the actors here do the singing, and they just can't compete with ABBA.

And the ending reveals a 72-year-old Cher, singing the big climax number, which didn't really knock me out.  The film may be perfect for 16-year-old girls and old ABBA fans, but for me it was a waste of time. 

Finally, I just saw "The Grinch" in a cinema, and I truly loved it.  The sets, characters, humor, story, all worked very well.  I'm still a big fan of Chuck Jones' TV version with the voice of Boris Karloff, but I believe this version is better, just because graphically it's more impressive.

My one complaint is the way they put rap music in a classic children's Christmas tale - it totally took the mood of a wacky Dr. Seuss fantasy to the urban streets of the Bronx.  But if you can put up with that, go see "The Grinch". 

Now I have one weird request - I've just finished a wonderful music video called "Wicked World" for a young genius musician named Matt Jaffe.  It's a terrific song, but Matt has no way to promote it and get it on the air.  If there's anybody out there with musical connections - P.R. people or music industry contacts, please let me know.  Matt's a young talent on the rise who just needs to get his music seen and heard.  If you have some advice, please contact me at:   studio@plymptoons.com

Thanks,

Bill P.