Marked with spoilers, not because I’m really spoiling much of anything (although I suppose I do give away the final scene of a seven-year-old Disney film) but because I went long and sentimental/self-reflective on this one and I don’t want to gum up everyone’s t/l if I can help it. Also for those who are triggered by these kinds of things, I talk about the death of a beloved animal in pretty stark detail. I know I avoid reading that…

Saw the Ang Lee version back in college but barely it (to the point of being surprised to now read that the inadvertent pregnancy storyline and, to a slightly lesser extent, the older relative who’s more savvy than they initially let on are retained from the ‘93 film). Has the general shape of a farce but very few actual laughs, instead settling for a nonchalantly of the moment, generally affable vibe and checking assorted representational boxes. Of the four…

Going on eighteen years now of trying (and failing) to see what others see as especially noteworthy about this rather cynical franchise extender where notably few of the key principals returned beyond producer Andrew MacDonald and some below-the-line department heads. There even seems to be even a small consensus amongst my mutuals that it improves upon the original which, having just rewatched the two films a week apart… an absolutely baffling take, IMHO. Think the Intacto dude is doing an…

When I was a little kid, growing up solidly middle class, I had a lot of toys. But my parents, mindful of the expanding clutter that comes from the accumulation of “stuff,” presented me with an ultimatum: if I went long enough without playing with my toys then I’d have to get rid of them before I could get any new ones. They didn’t care what I did with them: throw them out, sell them at a yard sale, give…

Pick. A. Fucking. Metaphor. Diana as a wild horse that can’t be tamed. Diana as beautiful but dumb pheasants, bred to be killed. Diana as currency being ed between men. Diana as a P.O.W. (Princess of Wales, clever that). Diana as Anne Boleyn (literally conversing with her ghost and sharing horror stories about their respective husbands). And that’s not even counting all the torturous business with Diana’s obsession with her father’s ratty old jacket, contrasted with the gowns she’s instructed…