Red Prime Shard: Dora and the Lost City of Gold - Review

So I watched two special double length episodes of Dora the Explorer before going to see the movie Dora and the Lost City of Gold, and I was going to see this movie regardless of the reception since I found it absolutely absurd that Nickelodeon wanted to replicate the videos that CollageHumor made with Ariel Winter that made fun of the idea of a more mature live action Dora the Explorer movie being made.  I was going to see it anyway and I know I would like it ironically just because of those CollageHumor videos and also AOK’s Dora the Grown Up videos, but what I was NOT expecting was the movie to get GOOD REVIEWS and even more so, it’s CERTIFIED FRESH on Rotten Tomatoes!  So I went into this movie even more unexpectedly due to it. (Click "Read More" for the full review.)

Green Phoenix - Star Wars: A New Hope Review

It's Star Wars.

I don't think I need to go into too much detail as to the cultural and historical significance behind the first episode in this cinematic saga. It is the first true blockbuster and the film which, along with Jaws, helped to create the modern summer movie season.

After last week's editorial on the Machete Order, I thought it would be fun to examine all of the films in the Order from a critical standpoint. I will be skipping every other week (with the occasional literary suggestion or editorial) and will also have to give myself some time in October for the "Halloween" review season.

So let's start our Star Wars run with the first film in the Machete Order, Episode 4: A New Hope.

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Green Phoenix - The Car Review

On a Saturday a few years back, my family and I were watching MeTV, a Chicago-based television station specializing in classic television shows and movies. That night, I was introduced to a show which has quickly become a personal favorite.

Svengoolie is a hosted horror movie show, in the style of Elvira or Dr. Creep. The host, the titular Svengoolie, takes a comedic take on B-movie, classic horror, and science fiction movies. The show is an absolute blast and I highly recommend that you guys check out the show when you get the chance.

But the first time I ever came across Svengoolie, he was hosting a rather campy killer car movie from 1977.

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Green Phoenix - The Lion King (1994) Review

In 1988, during a promotional tour for Oliver and Company in Europe, a meeting was held between Jeffrey Katzenberg, Roy E. Disney, and Peter Schneider to discuss future projects for The Walt Disney Studios.

Among the projects discussed was a desire by the three to create an animated film set in Africa. The project was handed over to the vice-president of creative affiars, Charlie Fink, who developed the project further. Katzenberg would later add his elements, creating a coming of age story and some elements that he would later credit to his own life.

In 1991, the film, tentatively called King of the Jungle, was put into production, though many animators and directors wanted to work on Pocahontas (which was considered the more prestigious and likely to be successful of the two) instead, with The Lion King representing the lesser of the two projects.

In spite of that; by 1994, King of the Jungle, now renamed The Lion King was released to critical and financial acclaim and has since gone down in history as among Disney's greatest animated films. With a "live-action" adaptation of the film expected for later this year, I felt it only fair to take a look at this legendary picture to see if it still holds up.

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Green Phoenix - Dune (1984) Review

 

Based on the best-selling novel by Frank Herbert, Dune has been widely regarded by many as the one book that would be impossible to effectively adapt into film. Published in 1965, Dune became an instant best-seller and a staple of the science fiction genre; which meant that efforts to adapt it into cinema began almost instantly.

The first serious attempt to adapt Dune began in 1973, when a consortium of French filmmakers and producers hired on Alejandro Jodorowsky. Despite a great deal of enthusiasm and a star-studded cast, the story quickly ballooned into a 10-14 hour epic and the funding quickly dried up.

The next attempt occured in 1976, when Dino De Laurentiis bought the film rights from the consortium. He began looking for directors, with considerations given to Ridley Scott (who thought to hire on H.R. Giger and split the book into two films) before finally settling on David Lynch, whose vision was eventually manipulated to such a degree that he would later deny the film entirely.

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Green Phoenix - Aladdin (1992) Review

• A Walt Disney Pictures Production
• Produced and Directed by Ron Clements & John Musker
• MPAA Rating: G
• Running Time: 90 Minutes

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BACKGROUND

In 1988, Disney lyricists Howard Ashman and Alan Menken proposed a musical adaptation of The Book of One-Thousand and One Nights. Though initially rejected in favor of an adaptation of a Hans Christian Andersen fable called The Little Mermaid, the two would continue to develop the idea through 1989 and 1990.

Following Ashman’s death in 1991, The Walt Disney Animation Studios found itself riding high off the recent financial and critical successes of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast and ready to begin production on Ashman’s passion project.

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