The Secret of N.I.M.H. Review

        The 80s in terms of animation had a massive shift. Disney had a brief period that encompassed that decade that has been commonly called the Dark Age. A moment in time when the animation studio was almost close to being dissolved. Additionally, animation was moving in a direction where the quality was downward trending and being cheap to make. One animator that was part of the Disney Animation crew left and formed his own independent studio. Don Bluth is the most important filmmaker in terms of cartoons and giving Disney a good competition. Here’s what I think of his feature debut. 

1. Don Bluth

        Just like Ralph Bakshi having a distinct voice, Don Bluth is the same with his animation style. Born in El Paso and living in Utah, he watched and inevitably worked at Disney as one of their animators. He had a hand in animating Sleeping Beauty and the animation hybrid Pete’s Dragon. He jumped from working with Disney and animating for television when he assisted with The Archie Show and Sabrina the Teenage Witch. 

        Disney’s The Fox and The Hound was Bluth’s last film with the studio. Having grown discontent with the artistic control that was shifting and the changing of the studio’s animation practice, Bluth decided to forge his own path and create his own studio. It would be a recurring thing where he would start a company but ultimately create a new one due to being cash strapped. While his movies were well received, it didn’t make enough box office revenue where his studio was sustainable. 

        One last tidbit is that he revolutionized video games. I was not aware that he had a hand in an Arcade game known as Dragon’s Lair. It was literally the most unorthodox game that came out during the days of Pac-Man and Donkey Kong. It didn’t rely on pixelated graphics like its arcade brethren but used animation. The way to control or win the game is to guide the hero using quick movements that were shown on the screen to advance. One wrong move and, well what do you expect? Nowadays, games use this method called a quick-time event. At the time, it was revolutionary.

2. Mrs. Brisby and the Rats of N.I.M.H.

        Based on the children’s book with the same premise and different name, even Disney was considering adapting the novel but turned it down. At the time, they had already released a mouse movie called The Rescuers. N.I.M.H. is the exact opposite of what Disney had produced at the time. Even more so, the fact that it was an independent feature that had a major studio distributing it says a lot. 

        We mostly follow the story of Mrs. Brisby, an intelligent mouse who tries to cure her sickened son. She’s thrown into a fantastic adventure where she interacts with other intelligent speaking animals and learns that they were products of NIMH. What I love about the movie is Brisby as a character. We first see her as a single mother raising her kids, one of them being under the weather with pneumonia. 

        She’s the rare example of a female protagonist that manages to be strong. It’s just her and her family that gives her the emotional baggage she has. At the start we see her getting medicine for her son who has pneumonia. A chance encounter with a crow named Jeremy starts her adventure to be an unlikely hero. When she’s with her family, Auntie Shrew helps her out with her kids. There’s one thing that I noticed that to me at least was different with other animated movies is that Auntie tells Brisby that she must grow up. It’s a recurring thing that we see what Brisby goes through, and she’s scared out of her mind. One thing that is the film’s best moment is her arc, from growing scared to inevitable being courageous. 

        Aside from her developmental growth, the movie is imbued with science and mysticism. We see moments when intelligent rats steal electricity from the farmer’s home to develop their own methods of energy. And from that point forward, we get to understand just who the rats are with their newly gifted intelligence. The whole dynamic has the science vs nature aspect to it since we see with Brisby that the rats have grown smart enough where they’re debating to either move or stay. 

        More so with we get an understanding as to who exactly NIMH is. I’ve dug around to find more info on the book and the author based his book on the studies of John Calhoun. Who studied on mice and rat dynamics when he worked for the National Institute of Mental Health. That explains what NIMH stands for in the movie and what’s interesting is that they are treated as a looming threat. Just scientists who give the animals some drug, for what purpose we don't know. 

        Speaking of threats, this film doesn’t hold anything back in terms of animation whenever there is something that endangers Brisby or the rats. The level of fear and unknown is the film’s other strong point. Like when Mrs. Brisby encounters a guard named Brutus and it gets real when the rat swings his spear at her. The film doesn’t shy away from the characters getting hurt. They bleed and near the end there’s a final fight that gets brutal for its time. 

        The moment between Brisby and a rat named Justin going into the farmer’s house might be the best moment when displaying Brisby’s fear. They have medicine to knock out the cat. Brisby is scared but Justin tells her that she must do it. This is the thing that is very rare for any animated film showing the emotional stakes that the main character is going through. The level of investment with this character is astounding since she’s being put through the ringer with everything going on. 

3. Legacy

        The film was a modest success, but I still think it’s one of the best animated films of the 80s. Given what was coming out before and during the time, it was game changing since it legitimately challenged Disney by being more mature. From there, Bluth got the attention from Steven Spielberg. It only made sense for an established director to try and dabble with animation. From there, this is around the time where both Bluth and Spielberg produced An American Tail and The Land Before Time. They were box-office hits and further cemented Bluth as an animator with a voice. 

        Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything that delved into why Spielberg and Bluth parted ways. From the late 80s through the 90s, Bluth struggled and made films that were just middle of the road or just bad. The box office revenues shrunk to a considerable degree since the product didn’t reflect Bluth’s style. It wasn’t until he made a partnership with 20th Century Fox that he made the animated adaptation of Anastasia. From there, his career was over after his following film Titan A.E. bombed and effectively killed the animation studio. 

        For some inexplicable reason there’s a sequel to The Secret of N.I.M.H. that came out during the late 90s. Bluth had no involvement with it and it obviously shows. I’ve seen pieces of it in small batches and man, I just feel bad for the fans of the first movie be so incensed and offended that this is a sequel to a beloved film. It wouldn’t be his only film to be made into sequels, and I’m curious to know if he ever got residuals from them. 

4. Overall

        The Secret of N.I.M.H. is one of the best animated films of the 80s. Even rivalling whatever Disney put out at that time. 

Wizards (1977) Review

        I’m back, talk about a big break. To be honest for talking films for this month, I had no idea what kind of movies to talk about. I ultimately settled on animated films that weren’t Disney, but it was the topic of what movie to start. Particularly animated films by Ralph Bakshi, I had wanted to talk about his feature debut. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the movie on streaming not even for rent on Amazon Prime. So with that, here’s what I think about Ralph Bakshi’s Wizards.

1. Ralph Bakshi

        To get an understanding of the movie, we must talk about Ralph Bakshi. Not to inundate the whole review with a thorough lens but his background is interesting. Born from British occupied section of Palestine then emigrating to the United States, Bakshi got his start on television as an animator. He eventually advanced with his career and started his own company, doing various commercials and contracted for some shows. 

        His feature debut Fritz the Cat was based on the underground comic of the same name by artist/writer Robert Crumb. It was marketed as the first X-Rated animated film to be released. I’ve only seen snippets of the film in various places, but it’s mostly a parody of the social climate of what was happening in the US back in the 60s. It immediately made itself known that animation wasn’t just for kids but for adults as well. 

        Bakshi practically made a name for himself with his style that included making fun of the social commentary that was relevant at the time by using animals. Sometimes even using moments of rotoscope in an animated film. That means drawing on a strip film to be animated instead of just hand drawing it. He was a product of the times. His career spanned between the early 70s to the early 90s but I believe that he was the first instance of an animated director having a voice in his work. 

2. World of “Wizard”

        I specifically chose Wizards because the way the movie looked visually interesting to me. Seeing how the film was different than its animated counterparts also drew me in. With that, we see that the film takes place years after a nuclear war had nearly wiped out all of humanity. Earth is now inhabited by mythical creatures like fairies, dwarves, and elves as the new intelligent life. Although they are divided. 

        We follow Avatar and his group including a hybrid named Elinor and a warrior Weehawk as they travel to stop Avatar’s evil twin Blackwolf. It’s about as basic plot wise but the story is probably dense. Everything is fleshed out at the very start with the use of storyboard stills which looks like it came from an illustrated book. The way its used is gives us a break from the action and to detail what’s happening, since the film’s budget was only around 2 million. 

        The characters are interesting, especially Avatar. He’s the main character and throughout the movie, nothing goes right with everything around him. We see him being a gifted wizard who trains his fairy friend. What I like about Avatar is that he usually doesn’t fight back when he and his group are confronted by danger. Only ever when he conjure up something as a last resort. I was surprised to learn that Mark Hamill appeared and it was his first film literally prior to Star Wars. 

        The animation is the main highlight. Something about Bakshi’s style is sort of new to me since I understand that I’m being repetitive, is different. No one in their right state of mind would ever put anything violent in an animated movie like having a character get shot and have exit wounds to show for it. Especially how it’s not in an exploitive sense where a whole limb gets blown open.

        To me, its interesting to have a world that is mostly dominated by mythical creatures and imbue it with technology. In the beginning, it’s made clear that technology is frowned upon among the mythical creatures. All the while Blackwolf uses a projector for psychological warfare. When you watch it, there’s loads of Nazi stuff. Swastikas galore, although its used to highlight the main villain and his army. 

        I think the main thing with that use of propaganda is that it’s the film’s theme. The villain uses the propaganda to motivate his army since their incompetent. Additionally, they use the old war footage to stun the opposing soldiers since they can’t comprehend it. Conversely, when the heroes are captured and they’re trying to get free, the fairy king believes that the main heroes are the villains since they heard it through Blackwolf. 

        If there is one thing that I find curious is that the character on the poster isn’t the main character. One would think that it is, but Necron 99 does start out as a goon for the main bad guy. I think it’s genius since the character is a robot and has that unorthodox look of what we think a robot could be. Way back during my college years, I saw that poster used as another poster during the University’s student run convention. 

3. Overall

        With Ralph Bakshi, you’re either going to love or hate his style. With Wizards, it was interesting since it’s a different kind of animated movie to come out. Especially at a time when Disney owned that area. 

The Wrestler Review

        I think everyone’s first exposure to wrestling is whenever WWE is on. Mind you, it is a sport but the actual wrestlers with personalities practically represent wrestling as a whole. There are movies where wrestlers are either action stars or comedic ones. With this one, this one is interesting from a sports movie standpoint. And the first Darren Aronofsky movie that I’ve talked about. So let’s get to it. 

1. Washed-Out

        So yeah, this is the first time that I’ve talked about a Darren Aronofsky film. My first exposure of him was during High School of all places. I want to say that the school was having a dance and to kill time for those who didn’t go, my teacher put on Aronofsky’s film debut Pi as the movie to watch. I think it was the first time where I watched a movie be so esoteric in terms of having it be psychologically driven. Someday I’ll rewatch Pi, but the first movie I sat through was his take on the story of Noah from the bible. 

        Anyways, The Wrestler is considered his best work from the perspective that it’s actor was in the same predicament thematically speaking. We follow Randy whose stage name is The Ram. When we see him, he’s getting ready for an amateur match at an elementary gym. What I think is probably a wise choice is that we see audio of his past matches with a wall of posters and magazine articles of who he’s fighting against. 

        We see him do small matches since he’s still a recognizable name from his past. After he suffers a heart attack, he’s informed that he has to retire. The moments when he’s outside the ring is almost tragic and endearing. We learn that he’s not making enough and moonlights in a local supermarket. My favorite aesthetic of when we follow Randy outside the ring is how it’s shot. Most of the time, it’s filmed like it’s a documentary. 

        With the occasional shaky camera like someone is holding and moving a camera instead of it being set. The illusion gives us a sort of pulled curtains approach of seeing Randy being a regular guy who just happens to wrestle. His personal life is interesting since he’s also trying to reestablish a strained relationship with his daughter. What I love is that the movie never goes to show his highs but shows just what he goes through and how he’s trying to adjust. 

        Might as well talk about how wrestling is in the movie. Part of it is grounded where, just like Raging Bull, the action is inside the ring instead of it being shown to the crowd. As well as having shots from outside the ring to the upper decks. The touches where Randy is slowly getting up or is trying to gain his composure. Hearing the wrestlers and even the referee ask The Ram if he’s ok is practically an emphasis on the movie’s end that everyone is generally worried about him. 

        One factor that makes his wrestling more interesting is the use of theatrics. Prior to his match, he puts in a small razor blade underneath the medical tape he uses. I honestly thought that he was going to injure a wrestler to win a match. No, my shortsightedness got the best of me. With all the matches staged, Randy uses the tiny blade to scar himself to make the hits he’s getting feel like its injuring him. 

        Aside from following Randy trying to recapture that stardom, we also follow his friend who’s an adult entertainer. We first see Cassidy getting harassed by her cliental, which prompts Randy to stand up for her. The moments when we see them together is bleak at best. Randy wants a companion, but with Cassidy she can’t date someone since it goes against her profession. I think the use of both characters is to show how far they’ve been at their careers. They’re not where they are and its mostly just how its representative of the inevitable. What I mean is that they’re washouts, the prime of their life is gone. 

        The one moment that practically signify this moment is when Randy’s agent has him do a meet and greet along with other fellow wrestlers. And it’s the most depressing thing to see, since there’s few fans that take a picture and we see just how the other wrestlers are dejected. Along with the merch that they have which included video cassettes. The level of uncomfortableness is deafening since we see Randy looking at the others and just for a moment realize where he’s at. 

2. Legacy

        The film was a critical darling, it appeared in multiple best films list of 2008. More so that both Mickey Rourke and Marissa Tomei were nominated at the Academy Awards. While they didn’t win, it further cemented just how great their performance were. While doing some more research, I was actually intrigued that Rourke got injured while filming. Additionally, how he gained respect to actual wrestlers doing their profession. Believing that it was all pre-choreographed and not taking into consideration that the real wrestlers train and put in so much time into their craft

3. Overall

        The Wrestler is probably the best sports film of the

early 2000s. 

Jerry Maguire Review

        This is an interesting one. Given how the movies we’ve seen show athletes from kids, players and Olympic athletes, I think I’ve reached full circle in terms of who the main character does. I would never think a movie about a sports agent would be an engaging one. For any professional athlete, they need an agent to help them get a wage and a job. Some casual sports fans aren’t aware of the inner machinations of it, but then again maybe even the die-hards. Jerry Maguire peels back the unknown layer of sports and shows it. 

1. Jerry

        This is the first movie that I’ve seen from director Cameron Crowe. He originally started as a screenwriter before directing. His made some hits that I’ve been trying to make time to watch like: Singles, Almost Famous and Vanilla Sky. Ultimately, I’ll get to them to see what they’re about. Anyways, let’s talk about the movie. 

        One last thing, the movie is loosely based on an actual sports agent named Leigh Steinberg whose client Tim McDonald was experiencing free agency at the time. So, we follow Jerry who’s an experienced agent with loads of clients from a variety of leagues. His main job is to make sure that the players are paid and have endorsement deals. While visiting an injured client, his son tells Jerry which makes him have an epiphany. 

        Jerry writes a manifesto that ultimately gets him fired but inspires a co-worker to join him. Meanwhile, Maguire’s client Rod Tidwell is trying to get his agent to negotiate a better contract. In one way, the film is a sports movie and a rom com. It’s a sports movie that shows the side of the game where there’s a lot of behind-the-scenes negotiations. While obviously a movie, it shows just how agents lack the empathetic approach to athletes. 

        Maguire is the one where he develops into one when he tries to help his only client. The best moment is when both he and Rod are trying to figure out how to get the contract he deserves. It’s hilarious and very tense since there are moments when it can be like walking to a powder keg. Especially when Tidwell’s wife gets involved and we see the situation where Rod is coming from. 

        It’s a feat in of itself to have a movie be both two different genres’ while also not feel too conflicting. What I mean is that totally it’s set, there’s no whiplash of Jerry doing one thing and another that isn’t jarring. So, with the co-worker that joins Maguire, develops feelings towards him. Dorothy is the one co-worker who’s with Jerry when their business is just not working. The one scene that exemplifies this is when Maguire visits an upcoming Rookie. Not knowing that the rookie signed with a rival after having an relatable bond with the father. 

        To me, the movie is about the balance between having empathetic relationships and having transactional relationships. The movie does it well to show that Jerry is struggling with that. He’s so used to having relationships with players where it’s just business. Even his first relationship wasn’t anything of note. The breakup scene at the NFL draft is hilarious. The first scene when Jerry and Rod talk over the phone is the example of the movie. 

        As much as we see Jerry’s problems and how he navigates through it. We do see moments with Dorothy when she’s at an all-women’s meeting at her sister’s house. I think when we see the multiple problems they have with men in general, Dorothy tries to be different and has the benefit of the doubt of sticking with and eventually marrying Jerry. Her son is something else, the one moment when he talks to Maguire is heartfelt and apparently ad-libbed on the spot. 

2. “Show Me the Money”

        No surprise that the movie is chock-full of catchy phrases. I think when people here the phrases in any media or elsewhere, they have no idea that the phrases appeared in this movie first. My first experience when the line “You complete me” was uttered in The Dark Knight. It just shows how Cameron Crowe basically added a series of words for situations to come up. 

        The best one is in the beginning just after Jerry presents his mission statement to his company. When talking to Rod, it’s an example of a situation gradually building up. And it represents the movie. Basically, Jerry is stuck in a conversation with Tidwell and the agent notices his phone is slowly losing the players who’ve been on hold. The conversation is about Tidwell’s contract and how Jerry will help him. Culminating on the famous catchphrase. It’s the film’s best scene and represents the problem Jerry has going for him. 

3. Overall

        Jerry Maguire is one of those feel-good movies where you want to root for him. And see just how much goes to getting a player paid.

A League of Their Own Review

        The 90s is probably the only time where the sports genre has been experimental. What I mean is that, you had variety stemming through kid-centric sports movies like The Mighty Ducks trilogy and The Sandlot.  Additionally, basketball movies started to explode with He Got Game and White Men Can’t Jump. Hell, Space Jam is now considered a cult-classic due in part with how big Michael Jordan was from a pop-culture point of view.  I think out of all of the sports films of the decade, A League of Their Own is probably the one that’s The best one. 

1. No Crying

        Part of this movie is historical and the other is purely made for entertainment. The last part doesn’t derail the film at any point. I wasn’t aware that a lot of athletes playing professionally during World War 2 were drafted for combat. I’ve looked into it deeper and in the NFL, some teams temporarily merged due to teams having few players to be competitive. In the MLB, most of the ballplayers went into combat. 

        With that, we follow Dottie who goes to Cooperstown, NY to attend the Baseball Hall of Fame for her contributions to the game. Mostly shown via flashback, we see her and younger sister Kit get invited to play in a new women’s league. As well as following the newly assembled Rockford Peaches season being led by the drunkard manager Jimmy. That guy is something else, I’ll elaborate more on him in a moment. 

        To say that this film has a great assemblage of characters is one thing. None of them feel wasted and all of them have that endearing edge to them where they’re all likeable. For only appearing a few minutes, Don Lovitz’ character is hilarious. Obviously, he’s a comedian, but just how he’s quick and easily short-tempered. I love how he’s willing to leave our main characters when they scoff at him when he’s visiting their barn.

        The movie is true to its core an underdog story, but in some nuance way where it’s not by the numbers. You know like when they have a win streak and then suffer through the inevitable losing streak. What makes the movie work is that everyone’s got something to prove. It’s alluded to in the beginning, but I’ll talk about that in a moment. With the new league starting their inaugural season, some of the spectators scoff and mock most of the players. 

        It’s shown when the women must wear the uniforms that seem impractical for playing. This was back at the time when women got the wrong end of the stick sometimes, right down to wearing skirts while playing ball. There’s even a moment when one of the players slide into one of the bases and gets her thigh bruised badly. 

        While talking about the main theme of the movie, the characters practically represent the idea. None more so than Tom Hanks’ character. As I’ve said before, no actor had a massive string of successes than Tom Hanks. He gets top billing than his co-actors, which shows just how much of a draw he was at the time. 

        Watching him play the washed up player turned manager is a sight to see. At first he’s not invested, but within the season Dottie helps him at least give one iota of a care. The best scene involving him is the most memorable and quotable. Even funnier is that we don’t even see the ensuing play that gets him riled up. Just seeing him rip and shout at the young player is hilarious since he’s frustrated at the mess he’s in. My personal favorite moment is when he finally shuts up the player’s son. The only time we see a child disciplined the right way. 

        Lastly, as the movie gets going, we see that Kit is internally jealous at her older sister. So much so that the younger sister gets traded on the eve of the Championship series. I think some people are upset with the way the movie ended, specifically how Dottie let Kit finally have her moment. It was never about having a definite winner in Dottie’s point of view, but on the idea of finally breaking out. As I mentioned before that moment was teased when Older Dottie talks to her grandsons just before she takes off.

2. Legacy

        The movie was a hit, and I will definitely say that the film is one of the best sports movies of the 90s. It was unorthodox to have a movie be loosely based on a sporting event that happened. When films show a different side of history, those are the ones that I find fascinating since they add on to the history of sport. I wouldn’t have known they were the precursors to other Women’s professional leagues. As well as how Americans dealt with War and having something to keep their mind of it. 

        When it celebrated it’s 20th anniversary, most of the surviving players reunited in Cooperstown and a softball game was played. Little did I know that there were spinoffs that appeared on TV after the film was made. From what I gathered; a series of the same name only last for about five episodes aired on CBS. And just last year, Amazon released a reboot series of the same name, while it lasted longer than the former, it appears to only have 12 episodes as of now.  

3. Overall

        A League of Their Own is one of the best Sports films I’ve seen. There’s nothing more to elaborate.