Green Phoenix - Goldfinger Review

 

Hey everybody, its time once again to return to our slow review of the entire James Bond franchise. Over the next three weeks, we will cover another two films in the series (with a book review in between) before moving on and taking yet another break to focus on other subjects. This week, we turn our sights to the film that is widely considered among the best Bond films of all time and the one that truly helped make the James Bond franchise into what it is today.

Released in 1964, Goldfinger was based Ian Fleming's seventh novel of the same name. The film in may ways finalized the formula for the Bond films that would follow and has become a sort of benchmark for the franchise. Even if it wasn't the first film in the series, Goldfinger has managed to carve a place for itself with James Bond franchise as the first quintessential Bond films and has become mandatory viewing for anyone, even with it still possessing some of the more troubling cultural norms which were all to common in films of that era, which I will touch upon in the larger review.

But I am excited and do enjoy watching this film so as you can imagine, the review will be largely positive. Let's take a look at Goldfinger, the third film in the James Bond franchise.

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Green Phoenix - Clear and Present Danger Review

Towards the end of last year, I had the pleasure of introducing the second episode of my Let's Talk... series of articles by speaking upon my opinions of adapting the Jack Ryanverse series of books by Tom Clancy. In that article, I mentioned my absolute adoration for the 90s Tom Clancy trilogy of films. Now I've written about The Hunt for Red October and Patriot Games previously, so we have only one film left to go.

Released in 1994, Clear and Present Danger has always been a strange film when compared to the other two. One part political thriller and one part military action film, I found Clear and Present Danger the most difficult of the three films to get invested in personally, though the film sees the return of a stunning cast, as well as the introduction of Willem Dafoe as John Clark, a character to actually plays a fairly significant role in the Tom Clancy universe.

Despite being a financial success, this film would mark the end of the Tom Clancy film series until the release of the failed rebooted franchise in 2002's The Sum of All Fears, which I don't have to tell you isn't a very good film and was clearly impacted by the cultural fallout from 9/11.

Which now that I think about it, could really be a summation of the entire Tom Clancy cinematic history. A franchise of excellent political and military thrillers, done in by the inexorable shifting of global politics that drive their stories into obsolescence.

At least...that's what I was going to say until the days leading into the January 6th Capitol Insurrection showed me that apparently a movie about a lone government official combating unconstitutional and illegal activities perpetrated from the very highest offices of government for a personal agenda weren't completely ridiculous. This review was delayed weeks by the change in my review format as well as the shifting sands of the American political climate. It all coalesced to make me reconsider my position on the relevancy of Tom Clancy in an age where internal clear and present dangers are very real and far more deadly than even fiction can come up with.

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Green Phoenix - Soul (2020) Review

 

 THIS ARTICLE SHOULD'VE BEEN RELEASED ON JANUARY 15TH. DUE TO SOME SORT OF ERROR, IT WAS NOT PUBLISHED AS SCHEDULED.

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Welcome everybody to my first proper film review of 2021.

Last week would've been the release of my review for Tom Clancy's 1994 film Clear and Present Danger but 2020 decided that it had a few more surprises left for the world and had to deliver them into 2021's hands. Suffice it to say, that review will be released in a couple weeks time once it has been re-contextualized to fit a post-Insurrection world.

Until then, the new plan is to start our reviews off with one of the few newly released films from the holiday season. Originally intended for a theatrical release, the global societal prolapse that was the coronavirus pandemic forced Disney/Pixar's Soul to be billed as the first Disney+ original film, a representation of what I believe may end up becoming the future of film releases even after theaters finally open back up once this pandemic eventually peters out.

This film was something of a mystery for quite a while. I enjoy learning about upcoming releases for films many years in advance and Soul was one of those films that was announced years ago, but was kept very much under the radar. But now that it is out, I have the wonderful opportunity to explore Pixar's latest emotional piece and see how it stands among Pixar's prodigious lineup.

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Green Phoenix - 2020 in Review

HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!

And good riddance to hot garbage, I say. This year was a trying time for all of us and it is my sincere hope that my articles might have done something to provide entertainment or education for my readership.

As we enter 2021 with, hopefully, brighter expectations than 2020, I would like to take a quick analytical look-back on 2020 in terms of my articles and viewership. Though this year was far from ordinary, perhaps there remains things that I can improve upon and aid in making 2021 a better year than the shit-show we were given in 2020.

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Green Phoenix - Let's Talk...The Rankin/Bass Cinematic Universe

  

Merry Christmas everybody!

As this year finally comes to a close, I figured that I would end the year with a little bit of fun by discussing a topic that was on my mind all the way since last December. The Rankin/Bass Christmas specials have long become a staple of the season, being almost mandatory viewing for everyone despite an almost universally acknowledge lack of quality.

The stop motion animated company was founded in 1960 by Arthur Rankin Jr. and Jules Bass. And until their demise in 1987, the company released dozens of cheap animated Christmas specials that have become icons of the holidays. Starting with Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in 1964 and lasting until The Wind in the Willow in 1987, the company released numerous animated specials over its tenure.

With this in mind, I began to wonder about the interconnection of some of these Christmas specials. Thanks to Marvel and Disney, the idea of a cinematic universe is incredibly commonplace. But what if I told you that Rankin/Bass may have unintentionally created a Christmas cinematic universe back in the 1970s?

The more I looked into it, the more I just had to talk about it. So Let's Talk...The Rankin/Bass Cinematic Universe.

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Green Phoenix - They Shall Not Grow Old Review

 

My initial plan for this review was to have it released two weeks ago, on the 13th of November. My reasoning was largely symbolic, as the 11th is the anniversary of the Armistice which ended the first half of the greatest and most impactful war in human history thus far. However there ended up being other reviews and delays which had to be taken which ended up messing with my schedule and plans; but at least I was able to give a somewhat symbolic gesture with releasing this review the day after Thanksgiving.

This year is coming to a close, and it has truly been a trying year. Next week will begin my December break and this is to be my last review of the year. To that end, I can think of no more proper send-off for this year than to speak on a film that I not only enjoy but deeply respect for what it sought to accomplish.

Released on the anniversary of the 100th year following Armistice, They Shall Not Grow Old brought Peter Jackson's filmmaking talents to bear against the memories of the First World War. Utilizing revolutionary digital effects and restoration techniques, Jackson and his team sought to bring the lives and tribulations of soldiers from both sides of the trenches into vivid detail. What WingNut Films shows is both stunning in its humanity and in its horror and as we give thanks for all that we have, perhaps we can use this occasion to also give thanks to those souls who are with us no longer.

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Green Phoenix - The Nightmare Before Christmas Review

Happy Halloween everybody!

I was struggling to figure out what would be the best film to review for the season. While I absolutely could have done your standard horror film, those films have never really been my thing. I can certainly appreciate the nuances and subtext and many classic horror films but for this particular Halloween, I think I will go for a more light-hearted fare.

First developed as a poem by Tim Burton in 1982, The Nightmare Before Christmas would stew at the back of Burton's mind throughout the 1980s; the director slowly developing a name for himself with films like Batman (1989) and Beetlejuice (1988). In 1990, Burton approached Disney, slowly coming into its own with its animation department, with the idea to adapt his poem into a stop-motion animated movie, inspired by animated shorts like the Rankin-Bass Christmas specials. Disney accepted the idea under their Touchstone Pictures production company, which catered to those films which were considered more "grown-up" than was appropriate for the Disney brand.

As Burton was busy with the production of his sequel to Batman, Batman Returns, he got his friend Henry Selick to direct The Nightmare Before Christmas, which released in 1993 as an enormous financial and critical success. And in the decades have followed, the popularity of this movie has only gotten stronger, with The Nightmare Before Christmas now being considered a cult classic. the film helped to not only solidify Burton's unique visual aesthetic but paved the way for future high-budget stop-motion animated feature films. Films like Coraline, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Paranorman owe so very much to their spiritual ancestor.

But how good is this movie? Does its influence on the modern zeitgeist far out shadow its standalone presence?

Let's take a look and find out.

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Green Phoenix - Patriot Games Review

I am so excited to finally get a chance to review Patriot Games. When I decided to do a review of the Tom Clancy trilogy of films, this was the reason I ultimately decided to do it. I make no secret of my love for this film in particular and honestly just want to give it the most amount of love and affection that I can honestly give it. So much so, that I've actually given myself two weeks to work on this review rather than the usual one week and decided to leave this as something of a birthday present to myself.

Released in 1992 as the sequel to the 1990 film  The Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games was itself an adaptation of Tom Clancy's 1987 bestselling novel. Though disavowed by Clancy for being too different from his original story, the film was critically and commercially well-received upon its release, considered a much more emotional and engaging viewing experience when compared to the much slower The Hunt For Red October.

While the general consensus of the film post-release has leaned towards its many differences to the source material, the quality of its set pieces and strength of performances, especially by Harrison Ford, has endeared this film in the hearts of many, myself included. With the opportunity to sing the praises of this film and share it with a wider audience now available to me, I cannot wait to go into a deeper dive with the film that I believe to be the best of the Clancy adaptations.

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Green Phoenix - From Russia with Love Review

Released one year after Dr. No, 1963's From Russia with Love drops many of the more science fiction and exploitative elements from Dr. No in favor of a more grounded and realistic James Bond outing, at least for the time. 

 

Back again with yet another look at the James Bond franchise. This time, we turn our attention to the second entry in the series. Where Dr. No was a prototype for the James Bond formula, it is really From Russia with Love that would become the benchmark for future entries in the series. It showed the series creators what worked from Dr. No and what truly needed to be workshopped.

 

With that in mind, let's take a look at From Russia with Love and see if its better or worse than its prototypical predecessor.

 

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Green Phoenix - Building Better Backstories V

So this editorial was always going to be a real pain in my ass. For one, it seems to have become culturally "cool" to rip into the Star Wars sequel trilogy and mock it relentlessly without taking into account any of the positive traits that the series does possess. And there are a few truly positive elements of the sequel trilogy that I think need to be given their due credit, especially if we are going to try and improve upon the franchise. The trilogy has some truly inspired cinematic and narrative moments that, if properly explored, would've been absolutely inspired.

That being said, I would be lying if I didn't understand and at the very least agree that the Star Wars sequel trilogy overall wasn't a steaming hot mess almost from the word go. Which is a damn shame because the acquisition by Disney had all the hallmarks of being a momentous achievement and a chance to restart the series from all of the enormous weight of the Legends canon; that is the Star Wars material released independent of the Lucas-era films up until the Disney acquisition.

I've known ever since the release of The Rise of Skywalker that some kind of Building Better Backstories was going to be necessary for the sequel trilogy, but I also struggled to figure out how best to fix the franchise.

It will be difficult, but I think I have a solution. It may not contain many specific narrative elements, but we will take a look at what went wrong, what they could've used, and how that might have worked for a better trilogy overall.

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Green Phoenix - Dr. No Review

 

Last week, I discussed several times how the character of Jack Ryan, from Tom Clancy's most popular works, is a bit of a parody and critique of the 1960s spy archetype best exemplified by the likes of James Bond. 

Following that review, I figured that it might be rather interesting to take a closer look at the titular spy's movie franchise to see whether or not this groundbreaking franchise still holds up.

Now I want to be fully transparent and admit that I grew up watching the James Bond series with my mother, so this has always been a franchise that has possessed something of a soft spot with me. I absolutely recognize that, especially among the older movies, the series has some very questionable and dated narrative and character decisions. And I will not hesitate to judge the film with that in mind.

All this being said, I feel like we obviously should begin our look into the James Bond franchise with the first film in the series. Released in 1962 and based of the 1958 Ian Fleming novel of the same name, Dr. No created nearly every precedent that the series would become infamous for. But even if it began the formula, does it do that formula as well as the rest of the series?

Let's find out.

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Green Phoenix - The Hunt for Red October (1990) Review

 

The works of Tom Clancy have long been held as the pinnacle of Cold War and post-Cold War era political thrillers. While the works of Tom Clancy are known these days primarily for the Rainbow Six series of video games; during the 1990s, audiences were gifted with a trilogy of very high quality films. Filled with A-cast celebrities and featuring the highlights of late Cold War era politics and intrigue, the Jack Ryan trilogy, as it might sometimes be known, all started with 1984's The Hunt for Red October.

NOTE: I consider Sum of All Fears and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit to be reboots and not sequels.

Based on Tom Clancy's debut novel of the same name, the book and film achieved phenomenal success and catapulted Clancy to international notoriety. Clancy's masterful integration of hardcore science fiction and political thrillers created a tense exploration of the minds of two men. One, an infamous Soviet submarine Captain, and the other a former US marine turned CIA analyst. The struggle to understand each other's motives outside of direct communication and in direct contrast of the interest of their respective home nations create a true sense of thrill and anxiety.

But does the film hold up after nearly 30 years? Are the performances as good as I remember them from when I was growing up? And is the story just as exhilarating with the Cold War now only a fleeting memory in the mind of most moviegoers?

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Green Phoenix - Beauty and the Beast (1991) Review

I want to apologize to everyone for the two-week delay in releasing this review. Two weeks ago was TrotCon, a convention that I regularly participate in as a guest, and due to the fallout of COVID-19, I needed to dedicate a great deal of my time and focus to the convention and couldn't finish this article with the level of quality that I expect of myself. As to why I had to delay last week, well...

...Accidentally deleting an entire article the night before you have to publish it fucking sucks.

But all that aside, I am happy to finally present a review of one of the most well-regarded Disney films in cinematic history.

In 1991, Disney found themselves at a crossroads in terms of their Renaissance. 1989's The Little Mermaid had been a massive success that seemed to revitalize public interest in Disney animation, while 1990's The Rescuers Down Under was largely ignored in terms of public interest, due to lack of interest from Disney marketing (though the film would maintain a strong public interest and fanbase on VHS). It was in this environment that Disney released Beauty and the Beast.

To say that this film has a prodigious legacy and reputation is the greatest of understatements. The New York Film Festival gave an unfinished rough-cut of the film a standing ovation. And the film would go on to be the first animated film to ever be nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

But does the film still deserve that indelible reputation? Let's take a look at Walt Disney Pictures' Beauty and the Beast and find out.

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Green Phoenix - When Dinosaurs Roamed America Review

I've been wanting to cover more documentaries in my articles and the month-long break gave me the perfect opportunity to think long and hard about what documentary I would absolutely love to discuss. As I mentioned in my Walking With Dinosaurs review, dinosaur documentaries just absolutely consumed my childhood and teenage years. I always tried to catch some new show on Discovery or Science channel when they were on, maybe National Geographic or Animal Planet, and for the most part, they were fun but kind of samey. Few ever reached the same standard of quality that Walking With Dinosaurs achieved.

But there was one documentary that I remember growing up that hit all the right emotional and educational beats while maintaining a level of CG quality that I actually think surpassed Walking With Dinosaurs. So it is with immense joy that I take a serious look at a seriously underrated dinosaur documentary.

Released on Discovery Channel on July 15, 2001, When Dinosaurs Roamed America brings us back to the Mesozoic Era, focusing exclusively on dinosaurs that lived in the area that would eventually become the United States.

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Green Phoenix - 8 Amazing Non-Disney Animated Film Tracks

Let's be completely honest. When you think of animated music, it is almost a guarantee that the first song you will think of is likely produced by the Walt Disney Company. Ever since the Disney Renaissance of the 1980s and 1990s, the company has had a nearly undefeated stranglehold on the cultural zeitgeist when it comes to animated musicals. So prevalent is this perception that many of the non-Disney animated films from that period, like Fox Animation's Anastasia, are often thought of as Disney films by audiences.

So this got me thinking. Why don't I spend an article going over some of my personal favorite non-Disney animated musical scores? I can give some attention to some songs or movies that maybe don't get thought about as much as they should, and it gives me a chance to geek out about some of my favorite film tracks.

A win-win if ever I've heard it.

So after the break and a quick overview of the rules for this countdown, we will take a look at 8 incredible non-Disney animated film tracks.

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Green Phoenix - Disney's Hunchback of Notre Dame Review

In the latter half of the 1990s, the Walt Disney Company's animation department had just passed the zenith of its power. Fresh off the heels of a string of monumental successes with films like Aladdin, The Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast, Disney executives were absolutely certain that Disney animation could do no wrong, even in spite of the politics going-on behind the scenes, and began pushing heavily on their next big animation projects.

The Disney Renaissance had to continue, right?

First there was an adaptation of the story of Pocahontas, the Native American woman whose association with the Jamestown Colony had reached the annals of American legend which was released in 1995. It had to be good. This was the film that everyone wanted to be apart of, not The Lion King.

Reviews for the film were...lackluster at best. People criticized the appropriation of Native culture and the animation, which looked far too different from the last Disney outing featuring animated humans (Aladdin). The film made money, but for the first time, Disney executives realized that success wasn't a guarantee. Success was riding on their next big project.

So Disney pulled all the stops on their adaptation of Victor Hugo's most famous story after Les Misérables. They got the directing duo behind one of their biggest animated success The Lion King, they got Alan Menken on music, they got some of the best voice actors in the business.

1996's The Hunchback of Notre Dame was definitely going to be a hit...right?

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Green Phoenix - Dr. Stone (Season 1) Review

Before my passion for filmmaking and film criticism had fully crystallized, I was absolutely obsessed with science, technology, and mathematics. I've always fancied myself as a futurist, looking towards the latest scientific and technological advancements and imagining how our world could be improved by the widespread introduction of certain technologies.

This passion played heavily into my love of science fiction and alternate history, and it makes me deeply excited about any form of hard science fiction.

So when I saw advertisements on Crunchyroll for a new shonen anime early last year whose main protagonist wasn't a muscle-bound meathead, but a scrawny scientific genius struggling to rebuild a collapsed world. I was immediately hooked on the concept.

I ended up watching the show, spellbound at the portrayal of not only science and technology, but the depth of the characters, the moral philosophies and ideologies at play in the background, and a genuinely excellent mix of personality and humor from nearly every orifice of the show.

In truth, I wanted to talk about this show last year, but I wanted to finish the show in its entirety and make sure that we would, in fact, receive a second season. But it is, so...

...let's talk about the first season of Dr. Stone, one of my favorite animes in recent memory.

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Green Phoenix - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Review

Welp, I guess its time to sit on this rowdy bucking horse.

I have always loved the Indiana Jones franchise, especially when I was a child. So when I heard that the series was going to release the fourth film in 2008, my 14-year-old ass literally strong-armed my family into coming to the theater with me. The fact that I was the only person in the theater in a complete Indiana Jones cosplay was just the icing on the cake (if my sisters could dress up for Harry Potter films, then I could be Indiana Jones in the theater). This just goes to show just how obsessed as I was about the Indiana Jones franchise growing up and how the fourth film was going to be absolutely amazing if I had to wait nearly a decade and a half to get the next installment.

...yeah. It was alright.

Even when I was a 14-year-old who liked almost everything (I hadn't yet developed my critical credentials and experience yet), I could tell that there was something decidedly "meh" about this film overall. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot to like about it, but it is definitely the black sheep of the franchise.

The fact that a fifth film has been announced for July of 2022, of course, has me excited, but I feel like maybe we need to take a look back at the fourth film in the franchise to see if we can learn what we should and shouldn't do in an Indiana Jones movie.

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Green Phoenix - Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Review

As stated in my Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom review, the Indiana Jones franchise was originally pitched as a trilogy of stand-alone films. Following the mixed reception of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Spielberg and Lucas elected to make the third film in the trilogy more traditional and in line with the first film the franchise.

This resulted in the release of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade in 1989. The film in the franchise that is easily my favorite and honestly the entire reason why I decided to take a look at the Indiana Jones franchise in its entirety.

Bringing back many of the powerhouse cast from Raiders of the Lost Ark and adding in the overwhelming charisma of Sean Connery, otherwise known as James Motherfucking Bond, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade is widely considered to be the perfect Indiana Jones movie.

But does that hold up on a more analytical level? I may love this movie subjectively, but when taking a look at the more generalized elements of effects, music, characters and story; does Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade really deserve its place as the most popular of the franchise?

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Green Phoenix - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Review

The Indiana Jones franchise was originally pitched by George Lucas as a trilogy of films, much in the style of adventure serials of the 1940s. Raiders of the Lost Ark was a tremendous success, popularizing and revolutionizing the fantasy adventure genre in much the same way that Star Wars had revolutionized science fiction film. And so with that success in mind, Director Steven Spielberg and Producer George Lucas set about working on the next film in the trilogy.

When Lucas conceived of Temple of Doom, he imagined the film would stand within the Indiana Jones franchise much like The Empire Strikes Back stood within the Star Wars saga. The darker and grittier middle child that was more experimental and adult-oriented. Something that could steer the direction of the entire future franchise down an unexpected course, despite the intention of each film to be standalone adventures.

But where The Empire Strikes Back succeeded in its dark tone, Temple of Doom was much more controversial. The film was too dark for many audiences and especially the MPAA, who refused to give the film a PG rating. Knowing that an R-rating would kill the film in its cradle, Spielberg and Lucas worked with the MPAA to design an entirely new rating system, creating the PG-13 rating.

Temple of Doom's legacy within the Indiana Jones franchise remains a black sheep. Its middling performance revealed that it was more than the pure spectacle that drew audiences into the franchise. But was it deserving of its lukewarm reception?

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