![]() Going back to the days of my childhood, I was one kid who would happily sit down and watch any 'Peanuts' specials TV would have to offer. While 'Great Pumpkin' and 'Charlie Brown Christmas' are titles everyone's familiar with, I was a bit deeper with things like 'Race for your Life, Charlie Brown', and even a really deep one called 'Why, Charlie Brown, Why?' involving a new girl in town who has to deal with Leukemia. When it came to a 2015 movie adaptation of something as retro as 'Peanuts', of course, I feared the worst. The typical tends to be one of two painfully repetitive tropes (sometimes both). On one hand, they might try to "update" things as to what the studio thinks is "cool" - see 'Alvin and the Chipmunks'. On the other, you might get a fish out of water story involving fantasy characters in our world - see 'Smurfs'. But thankfully, the trailer for this ended up showing basically none of that. The only thing that has really changed here is the CG animated style. But what's truly amazing about it is that it's perhaps the most basic storyline Charlie Brown has ever really been through. The film opens with a bit of 'Peanuts' fan service. It opens in wintertime where we see the kids skating, and we see all of our favourites sort of doing their things. But then Charlie Brown (Noah Schnapp) enters the scene, trying to fly a kite while it's snowing, crashing into a tree, and the kid couldn't be introduced in a much better way. The rest of the gang gets distracted by a moving van that happens to be right across the street from Charlie Brown's house. Enter "The Little Red-Haired Girl" (Francesca Capaldi); the girl he ends up having an everlasting crush on. He wants to talk to her, but he's ultimately too shy, thinking she's something potentially too good for him. So the basic plot of the movie is simply Charlie Brown trying to do what it takes in order to win the Little Red-Haired Girl's heart. She has been a mainstay in 'Peanuts' for decades now, and this is sort of a more positive take on his feelings for her. Charlie Brown has to learn a lot about himself throughout the process here as well, whereas, in older specials, things were much more simplified and you just had a nervous boy with a crush. His faithful dog, Snoopy (the one and only Bill Melendez) helps him along the way as well, but he's got his own story going on with the origins of his ongoing battle with the Red Baron. In many ways, especially between the Red-Haired Girl and the Red Baron, this movie provides perhaps the best way to introduce the Peanuts gang to today's youth. On a personal level, I really, thoroughly enjoy this movie. While its most definite aim is at kids, there is something about the overall simplicity of it that I can't help but admire. It's incredibly respectful to the work of Charles Schulz, and does nothing to try to "make it hip". It was as though the creators watched every 'Peanuts' special and said "nothing that goes beyond any of this!" A good example is the fact that throughout the film, we see the kids using their home phones, still attached to their cords, and there's no sign of cell phone technology. Details like that really make things fit what 'Peanuts' is supposed to be. I truly admire the fact that they stayed true to Schulz's work. This has become one of my go-to movies for times of feeling blue, or inadequate. It's a bit nostalgic, considering it reflects a lot of those old 'Peanuts' TV specials. But more importantly, and as cheesy as it might sound, it just provides this ray of sunshine to the day. This is one of those nice little slice of life movies, it shows kids just being kids, it goes to no extremes with anything, and it just plain feels like 'Peanuts' should. This is one of those movies I can openly recommend to anyone. There's really nothing bad I can say about it. More than anything else, it's that final message the film has that some people could use sometimes. Otherwise, it's just a nice, warm throwback to those good old 'Peanuts' specials we all remember and love.
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![]() We all have a few titles that are on our radar, but if ever brought up to anyone, are met with something along the lines of "what in the Hell are you talking about?". One of these for me, is 'Son of Rambow'. Generally, if I mention it, people wonder if I've ever even SEEN any bit of the 'First Blood/Rambo' series (which I basically haven't, but at least I can make it a project for the site). Moving on, perhaps it might interest newcomers that this is where both Will Poulter ('We're the Millers'/'Maze Runner'/'The Revenant') and Bill Milner ('X-Men: First Class'/'Dunkirk') got their respective starts as kids. The film follows the young and innocent Will Proudfoot (Milner) who belongs to the Plymouth Brethren church along with his mother (Jessica Hynes). The religion comes with the strictest of rules, one of which involves never watching any form of entertainment. One day, in class, he's sent out to the hall, as the class is about to watch a documentary. Here, another trouble-making, bad influence of a boy, Lee Carter (Poulter) gets thrown out of class, and the pair meet, only to break a fish bowl, getting them both into trouble. Lee makes a deal that he will take the punishment and "torture" for Will's dead father's watch, and Will acting as stunt man for the film Lee wants to make for the Screen Test Young Film-Makers' Competition. One day, when Lee brings Will to his house, he makes him hide from his brother, Lawrence (Ed Westwick). While in hiding, Will ends up watching 'First Blood', and becomes inspired to help Lee with his film. The pair form an unlikely friendship, but with the catch that Will has to keep this friendship hidden from his mother. This reminds me of some of my old friends, although they weren't nearly as bad as Lee Carter. I was a pretty innocent kid, but still managed to get into trouble with these other kids. Sometimes they weren't allowed over, and I got introduced to things like smoking, and other rebellious, boyish things, and none of it was particularly "good". But despite these guys being bad kids, we still had deep conversation, and fun times. Somehow, this brings a sort of dark nostalgia to the table. Back to the film, the main focus is the friendship between Will and Lee, but there are some of other sides to this story. In their home lives each boy is dealing with a very deep personal matter. Will has to deal with the irritating Brother Joshua of the Brethren, who has an obvious thing for his mother, and seems to be slowly replacing his father. Meanwhile, Lee has to deal with his ignorant brother, Lawrence, but is completely misguided with the thought that Lawrence is the only person in his life who really cares for him. I appreciate how the film takes the time to delve into these personal problems, as those are what make for the best conversation between two unlikely friends. It's so easy to brush off a kid you don't like, but you might empathize with their story if you just take the time to listen. Last and, honestly, probably least, there's the French exchange student, Didier Revol (Jules Sitruk). This kid rolls up to the school, becomes instantly popular (based on 80s punk/pop/WTF fashion), and it feels like he got lost on his way to another movie but decided to stick around and see the sights. Eventually, we get that he has this whole other side story about the toxicity that popularity can bring, and it does eventually blend into Will and Lee's story as he wants to help them with the movie. Of course this also leads to rivalries and such, which may or may not get in the way of the project Lee wants to do. Didier serves his purpose, and a valuable lesson is learned through him, but there was still something about him that felt altogether unnecessary (in other words, the film totally could have still worked with his absence, unless there was something vital I missed). This is another one of those movies I have a soft spot for based on the subject matter of imagination going towards filmmaking. Another such example is 'Be Kind, Rewind' or 'Brigsby Bear'; films that aren't necessarily golden in quality, but definitely show an appreciation for film and creativity while adding a healthy does of friendships and just plain good old warmth. This also takes place somewhere in the 80s, so the soundtrack is pretty full with nostalgic pop hits. If nothing else, it's pretty interesting to see these kids (namely Poulter) in their beginnings, both actually delivering really good performances. I consider this a feel-good movie as a whole, and well worth checking out... that is, if you can find it. ![]() Back in 1994, 'The Little Rascals' was released as part of a nostalgic movie trend for the time. This was based on a show called 'Our Gang'; a series of short films that ran between the 1920s to 1940s. When aired on television in 1955, the name was changed to 'The Little Rascals', and stories involved a gang of kids and their neighbourhood adventures. It was pure, childhood innocence, and the '94 film was something I felt captured the spirit of it all to deliver to my generation (and younger). As the film opens, we are introduced one by one to the gang. While us kids were pretty new to this gang, I can still remember my parents getting a kick out of these new versions of old characters they could remember from their own childhoods. Leading the gang is Spanky (Travis Tedford), and things play on the old boy's clubhouse tradition of "no girls allowed" with the "He-Man Woman Haters Club". Now, before we get too crazy here, we need to bear a few things in mind. One, this was what boys being boys was back then - girls had "cooties", and they didn't think much of us either. Second, the name of this club is a setup for a payoff later on, as the film's basic lesson (spoiler alert) is that men and women can be equals. And finally, this is all directed by a woman named Penelope Spheeris. Anyway, Spanky arranges a meeting in which the gang is to find out who is going to drive for them in the upcoming Soap Box Derby go-kart race. The driver ends up being Alfalfa (Bug Hall), but he's not even in the meeting. Instead, he's off with a girl he's smitten for named Darla (Brittany Ashton Holmes), and trying to win her over. The gang catches him, and to them, liking girls is forbidden. They are further upset by Alfalfa inviting her to their clubhouse for a picnic lunch. The gang soon ends up pulling some pranks on the pair, and eventually Darla becomes sick of Alfalfa. So what's she do? Crash the go-kart through the clubhouse wall and start a fire, which subsequently demolishes the clubhouse. Alfalfa gets punished by the gang, ordered to stay and guard the go-kart day and night, while Darla runs off with some rich kid named Waldo (Blake McIver Ewing). The film's main story is the balance between Alfalfa trying to win Darla back, and the rest of the gang trying to raise money to repair their clubhouse. So things are really very basic here, and it makes for a nice little slice of life movie for the youngins. 'The Little Rascals' concept seems to be something that kind of went out with this movie though, so I'm not altogether sure how present-day kids would enjoy it. It can be nostalgic in a way, but once again, there's a lot of cringe that comes with it too. Unfortunately, I see it as one of those movies that's a little stuck in its time. But being what it is, it still has a lot of that childhood charm to it, and it still made me laugh at a few odd parts. The stars of this show, in my opinion, are definitely Buckwheat (Ross Bagley) and Porky (Zachary Mabry). If anyone remembers anything at all from this movie, it's probably Buckwheat's pickle song (aka "I've got two pickles"). These two play pretty well off each other, and you get the air of them being pals in real life; at least during filming. The bit that gets me, as corny as it is, is Buckwheat asking Porky for the number for 911. It's a really old and lame joke, but the way they deliver it cracks me up. I think it's them and the rest of the gang who really make this movie worth watching as opposed to any of the film's lead characters. Along with that, you have a few good celeb cameos pup up like Lea Thompson, Mel Brooks, Whoopi Goldberg, Reba McEntire, George Wendt and yes, even Donald Trump as the rich kid's Dad Over on Rotten Tomatoes, this is one of the more fascinating titles one can see. While a tiny handful of critics have it held back at a lousy 23%, an audience of 100,000+ gives it a generous 70%. This is a movie that can certainly hold its own. From my perspective, I think it's pretty simple. This is a movie that's totally aimed at kids, especially for its time, and it's not something that really needs to be read into that much. They did a good job at capturing the spirit of 'Our Gang', it has some funny moments despite how cheesy it can be, and I daresay the message it has about it by the end is something that's still pretty damn relevant. It's surprising, but f I'm being honest, I think this movie could act as a good way to show your 6-year-old what equality is all about. |
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