Holiday films

Since it's the holiday season, this list was inevitable (plus we didn't make one last year). Obviously, most of these are films we grew up watching every Christmas so a lot of them have sentimental and nostalgic value. Some have more to do with the holiday spirit than others. With this list we'd also like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

1. It's a Wonderful Life. Was there ever any doubt? It's our other favourite movie. The message is universal, the worth of a human being. We absolutely love this film, you will laugh and cry simultaneously. This movie should definitely make you feel the holiday spirit.

2. The Apartment. Although this film's subject matter isn't particularly Christmas-y, we had to put it as #2, because it's one of our favourite movies ever. The themes can be applied all year round as well, but it happens during the holiday season. Essentially the film is about how to be a decent person. 

3. Nightmare Before Christmas. Of course! The songs are amazing, the animation breathtaking, the characters kooky and lovable and the story is endearing. Yeah, we get it, the storyline is similar to Grinch... but this was our childhood movie! The joy of the main character is really contagious too.

4. Edward Scissorhands. Tim Burton is really into Christmas, right? For obvious reasons. This is one of the most beautiful films ever made. This is one of the few movies where the outer qualities left a greater impression on us than the story and characters, though we love those as well. This film possesses the power to make one quite emotional simply because of the combination of cinematography and music.

5. Die Hard. DUH!! How could anyone in the world make a holiday movie list without this film?!?! It was one of our favourite films growing up and it's still a tradition to watch it at least during Christmas in our household. As one meme very accurately put it "It ain't Christmas until I've seen Hans Gruber fall off Nakatomi Plaza".

6. Lady and the Tramp. This was the very first Disney movie we saw, and since it was on Christmas Day we naturally associated this film with Christmas. It starts and ends with holiday celebrations so we think it qualifies. In addition, that still is like straight out of a post card.

7. Tokyo Godfathers. This film was very heartwarming and also, delightfully quirky. This is a great movie to watch during the holidays. This film should make you empathize in particular with people who are marginalized in society. That should be the essence of Christmas, right? Caring for people who are worse off than you.

8. The Shop Around the Corner. Who doesn't like James Stewart? This film is made for ordinary people about ordinary people, which is pretty rare, especially considering the genre. It's a small movie but very heartfelt. The Yuletide setting also gives it some extra mirth.

9. Batman Returns. We know, we know, it's our third Burton but he has a ton of holiday films! This movie divides people since it's a pretty glorious mess of a film. Despite its problems, we do love this movie. The Christmas decorations don't hurt either.

10. Meet John Doe. This is a pretty unknown gem from Capra. It's exactly what one would expect from his films: an idealistic message of hope and humanity. If you like older movies, you should check this out, simply because the lead actors are truly great. The ending has the most to do with Christmas.

11. The Muppet Christmas Carol. We needed to include at least one version of this classic tale in this list. This version is funny and heartwarming, so why not include it? Also, the music is quite memorable and the casting is brilliant. 

And as a bonus, we always like watching the Christmas special of The Office. It is definitely the best conclusion to pretty much any series. Extras was very good as well, but if we had to pick, we'd certainly go with this one. You cannot be in a bad mood after seeing it.

Disney, retrospectively

Beauty and the Beast (1991)

In our opinion, this is the best film Disney has ever made. We might have hardly anything negative to say about the original theatrical release (we won't even discuss the atrocity that is the special edition, since, much like the Star Wars prequels, it does not exist in our universe). You should be familiar with our 'retrospectively' format if you have read our previous post. 

The characters

     Belle is probably the first fully independent female character from their animated repertoire. We've already described some of her traits here since she is one of our favourites. She gets bad rap for standing up for herself and "being too mean". We don't really understand this. Apparently what women should be, is Jasmine; to have attitude and be hot, but have zero significance or impact storywise, except through the man's merits (this is not a diss on Jasmine's character, but more on that in our next 'retrospectively'). There's a reason she's on our favourite characters list, and that is because she's awesome. She's really mature, and it's refreshing that her goal was not to get married, but to have adventures. Romance was just a by-product of that for her. The only criticism we have has nothing to do with her persona, but with her character design, or more appropriately, the design of all Disney heroines. All the women are drawn in the same generic, interchangeable way, to a T (more on this in a later blogpost). 

      Beast can also be found from a favourite list. His character's arc reminds us that of Mr. Darcy's, as his journey is in some respects similar to his (more on that later). He's definitely the most intricate and interesting hero from Disney, as his storyline is more complicated than the others'. Not only does he undergo a literal transformation but more importantly, his character experiences a change as well. He has received some unjustified criticism of being abusive, but we perceive that his abrasiveness emanates from his self-loathing and is not a part of his personality. His character is particularly magnificent when contrasted with the next dude.

     Gaston can be found from our list of villains, that's how much we love this movie: the three main characters are on all of our favourites lists. He's the quintessential entitled asshole. It comes across in so many ways, for example how he constantly keeps touching Belle without permission, and even at one point almost molests her by trying to forcefully kiss her. Another scene where his entitlement is perfectly demonstrated is before the proposal when Gaston has invited the whole village to the wedding, and has single-handedly arranged it without Belle's knowledge or consent. It's a scene of Austenesque proportions, and the similarities between Gaston and the high-handed Mr. Thorpe are striking. But what gives Gaston some more edge as a villain is how far he will go in his entitlement.

     The minor characters add valuable and needed light-heartedness, comic relief and heart to the story. They also act as important catalysts in the story. We love each and everyone of them.

The story

     At its core it is a love story, and a pretty great one at that. There has been much commentary on the alleged 'Stockholm syndrome issue'. It's total BS. Perhaps this conviction is based on the odious midquel (we urge you to stay away from it) that completely destroys everything that is so brilliant about the original . First things first, Belle does not put up with Beast's shit, nor is she obsessed about fixing him. The minute he scares her, she's gone. She only returns because she's a decent human being (she could've just left him wounded in the woods). Even then, she doesn't take any of his crap, and that is exactly what triggers the change in Beast. That's when Belle begins to like him and see him in a new light. Now what does that remind you of? Could it possibly be Austen's masterpiece? 

     We absolutely love that they took a different approach to the original fairytale. We never liked how Beast guilt-tripped and kept pestering Belle in the original story and in the subsequent adaptations of the fairytale. Those are things that Gaston would do, and in fact, does do. Here we come to one of our favourite themes in the film: the contrast between Gaston and Beast. There's the obvious allegory concerning their appearances and characters (how society perceives beauty etc.) but it's quite self-evident and has been widely understood so we didn't think to expand on it. 

     The contrast we would like to focus on is regarding the issue of entitlement. Although initially Beast literally has Belle in captivity, in the end, he has to let her go because of the change he has gone through and because he loves her, and love isn't supposed to manifest itself as ownership. Gaston, on the other hand, grows more and more possessive as the story progresses. As a result, he would not let Belle go, but metaphorically would rather force her to captivity as his trophy. 

Miscellaneous

     The music is amazing, Menken and Ashman really outdid themselves. The animation is breathtaking too, and the opening sequence is probably as picturesque as it can get. Also, the animation gets so vivid at times that you forget it's not live-action. We're sorry y'all English speakers, but we think the Finnish dub is simply superior (as it is the case with 90s Disney animations for us). The most notable improvements would be Gaston, Beast and Mrs. Potts. Plus they made the very smart choice of not disclosing the age of Beast when he was first transformed (10 years?? WTF, Disney?!)

Quality sisterhoods

It's about high time we dedicate a list for female friendships. It's not that surprising to discover that there is a lack of friendships between women in Hollywood. After all, women should only be interested in competing for men's attention, right? But the main reason however is the shortage of female roles per project. This is what we managed to scrape up, and they are awesome. We want more because we need them since girls and women alike need to see that women are not at war with each other but that we should, and we can co-operate and work together.

1. Thelma and Louise from Thelma&Louise. Of course! What else could anyone have as #1? It's a classic. The whole point of the film is their friendship, and their unwavering loyalty to each other. 

2. Leslie and Ann from Parks&Recreation. This came so close to a tie, since the whole point of the show was their friendship as well. It has everything that a deep and close friendship has; talking about everything and quarreling about insignificant things, and laughing at those quarrels afterwards.

3. Meryl and Milly from Trigun. Ha, didn't expect anime here, did you? Neither did we. But they really ignore all the stereotypes here. They're a really good example of two totally different personalities being friends and supporting each other unconditionally. Plus, they kick ass together.

4. Scarlett and Melanie from Gone With the Wind. Yeah, Scarlett doesn't exactly identify Melanie as her friend in the beginning, but that's just because she's a tad resentful. They work together great though, and Melanie's patience makes up for Scarlett's hostility. And in the end, Scarlett does realise how important their friendship is.

5. Esther and Ada from Bleak House. This is a really positive portrayal of female friendship, and it's not uncommon to find those from period dramas. We picked this one especially because there is so much interaction between them. And it's just nice to see female friendships with no animosity whatsoever in them.

6. Susan and Nancy from Spy. It's great to have such a comedic friendship between women. These two really give a rebuttal to that "women aren't funny" falsehood. But they also share a very sweet camaraderie.

7. Molly and Cynthia from Wives&Daughters. Another period drama, what a shocker! Here we have another example of women of completely different tempers forming a close friendship. In addition, it's really nice to see that although you might care about the same person, it doesn't make you competitors.

8. Joy and Sadness from Inside Out. They don't start out as friends, but because they have to learn how to work together they become such. This is a very good film for children to watch, not only because it portrays female friendship in a positive light, but also the psychology is quite realistic and important for kids to see. 

9. Roz and Daphne from Frasier. First of all, it's pretty awesome to see a woman being sexually active and that it's shown in a mostly positive manner. Plus Daphne's kookiness is great. They don't interact that much together, but when they do, it's legendary.

10. Mary and Elsie from Gosford Park. Their relationship is quite brief, but it's established almost immediately so we thought there was enough material. There is nothing out-of-the-ordinary here, but the contrast between the other female relationships (especially those of the upper class) is very stark. Plus, isn't that the whole point, that there shouldn't be anything extraordinary about women being friends?

Pick of the month

A Patch of Blue (1965, Guy Green)

This rather naive but nonetheless sweet and touching movie is worthwhile checking out. It might not blow your mind or anything, but for its time we imagine it could have been quite groundbreaking. We prefer this over Guess Who's Coming to Dinner? First and foremost because of the personality of Elizabeth Hartman's character. We thought the daughter in the aforementioned film to be pretty dull and one-dimensional (but Katharine Hepburn, as usual, rocks). We really like the two main characters in this film, and they constitute the heart and soul of the movie. Don't expect this to dive too deeply into racism or social justice issues, although it does deal with them a little. After all, at its core it is about two marginalised people finding compassion from each other. It's Sidney Poitier, folks! You shouldn't need other incentives, go watch it!

Adorable animated creatures

Right, this is a very straightforward list. Basically, it's animated characters that we find cute. You'll only find one human character here because frankly, we tend to find animated animals cuter.

1. Dumbo from Dumbo. Just look at that bundle of joy and tell us that your heart ain't melting.  If there was a cute-o-meter, he'd score the highest, that being the Dumbo.

2. Toothless from How to Train Your Dragon. He was definitely the best part of the film. The movie itself we found mediocre, but man, Toothless was the cutest dragon ever.

3. Dug from Up. "I just met you, and I LOVE you". Once again, our favourite part of the movie. 

"I was hiding under your porch because I love you."

4. Baby rat from Spirited Away. This little rodent and his winged friend, if real, would make people swoon from an overload of cuteness.

5. Mei from My Neighbour Totoro. She is truly an adorable little human. Especially when she is trying to catch tadpoles.

6. Calcifer from Howl's Moving Castle. Okay, we've got a lot of Miyazaki here, but what can we say?!??! The man is a master of cuteness (not to mention a genius).  We never thought it possible to make fire cute.

7. The grey puppy/Lady from Lady and the Tramp. We see the little grey puppy only at the very end, so we put Lady here as well because she made a puppy that was cute as hell. It's just that the grey puppy totally reminds us of our oldest nephew. This is what he would be like if he was a dog.

8. Bambi from Bambi. Who didn't think Bambi was cute as a kid? With those wobbly hooves and gigantic baby deer eyes. Utter cuteness.

9. Stitch from Lilo & Stitch. This alien from outer space absolutely stole our hearts. He can be pretty disruptive, but at least he'll look cute while destroying your house.

10. Jiji from Kiki's Delivery Service. He is the cutest cat EVER. He's the reason we wanted a black cat.

Eight feminist lessons Princess Leia taught us as kids

This character was our childhood hero. She even surpassed Ripley for us, probably because of her ability to kick ass in combination with her witty comebacks. It should be pretty obvious to anyone who reads our blog that we absolutely love the original trilogy, despite its problems. We've never found the sometimes corny dialogue/acting, plot holes, incompetent Storm Troopers or even Ewoks to be stumblingblocks for us. We actually find those ridiculous things rather enjoyable. The purpose of this post is not to investigate the issues of the originals (of which the biggest for us is obviously lack of representation, be it women or ethnicities) or to look at the films retrospectively, with a critical eye, to see what we see now, but rather to explore what good influences we got from the only woman in the galaxy.     


1. Women can be leaders. You see Leia giving orders in the "strategy room" in the second film, rallying the troops and giving the final order. As children, we thought that was evidence of her leadership and power. It was important for us to see that women make good leaders. Especially since you don't see very many women being leaders in children's films, even today.

2. Women don't need validation from men (or anyone, for that matter). There's no particular moment from the films that we picked, but it's in general just her entire personality. She doesn't need the men's approval nor does she seek their permission to do stuff or be who she is. That always got us pumped.

3. Women are not a prize. There are few phrases we dislike more than the often uttered "he gets the girl". So basically, this awesome female character that has been doing things on her own, having attitude, great comebacks, and just generally contributing to the film in a mostly positive manner, is reduced into a romantic interest and in the end the thing that matters the most or makes the biggest difference is who she ends up with. When we were kids, we read a lot of fantasy and if you read fantasy or watched fantasy films, you know the drill. The boy needs to finish a quest and in the end "he gets the girl". Like a bonus. Here, it didn't actually happen. Sure, it had romance, but that's the thing - Leia didn't end up with Luke. Instead, she went with the person she actually had chemistry with and who was a more equal match to her. All in all, Leia would be just fine without Han Solo. But the question is, would we?

4. Women aren't limited by their gender. One of the things we loved about Leia was her ability to detach herself emotionally in a stressful situation and accomplish the necessary. This doesn't go to say that people who are more emotional are somehow weaker ('cause the other one of us is definitely more emotional), but we have noticed in children's media that women who show their feelings openly have more representation. Leia is actually quite reserved and that's important to see for young girls who are the same. She can also hold a gun and shoot just as well as her male counterparts.

5. Women don't need to conform. Just 'cause you're a princess, doesn't mean you have to be a damsel in distress. This lesson comes mainly because of our background. We grew up in a pretty conservative environment, so a lot of what we heard was that women could only have one role to fill. It was really empowering  and important for us to see that women can do what men do, even if it was just that one woman, and that there's more to being a woman. 

6. Women can take initiative. There are many instances when Leia proves that you don't simply have to sit around and wait, but that you can take charge. Our favourite moment of this kind was when Leia got the gang out of the cell block by blowing a hole in the wall while the men were bickering.

7. Women's motivation can be whatever they want/choose it to be. As girls, we always thought that Leia's main objective was to save the people of the galaxy (even with her so-called detour in RotJ to save Han Solo). She's a freaking ambassador as well and works in politics. How cool is that?!?!? Once again, our background is the reason this was so important to us; we realised that we can be motivated by the common good and not just by finding a spouse and having children. There's nothing wrong wanting those things, but it's pretty toxic to raise girls to think that those should be their only worthwhile goals in life. 

8. Women don't need saving and can liberate themselves. This doesn't mean that she can't accept help. We all need a helping hand sometime in our lives. There is nothing shameful about needing help. To us, this point was perfectly demonstrated in probably the most controversial entry on this list. We are, of course, talking about the infamous scene in Jabba's party boat. What we remember from this scene was Leia killing her enslaver. Golden bikini or not. As a side note, we think it's kinda creepy that people would find Leia sexy when she's in chains against her will. What consenting adults do in privacy is none of our business, but it's quite disturbing if one is turned on by lack of consent. In that case, one wouldn't be Han Solo, but Jabba The Perv. 

  

Disney, retrospectively

We figured it's time to look back at our childhood Disney classics, and since we're 80's kids, we consumed most Disney's popular renaissance films. We still watch them annually and enjoy them. We have tons of nostalgia for these movies, but as we've matured we have started to notice some discrepancies and some things that pose serious problems for us. This is an exposé of how we watch these films as adults. That does not go to say though that we don't love them anymore, because we do. We love Disney. On to the first one.

The Little Mermaid (1989)

We'll kick off with our thoughts on the characters.

Ariel: It's imperative to say that she was the first proactive princess from Disney, she was the one whose decisions and actions forwarded the story. Right, we have always thought that she was kind of an airhead, even as children. Who falls in love before even talking to the person? Although considering Disney's track record, it doesn't really surprise us. Maybe that's why they made her a teenager... But let's face it, there's no way to make it less ridiculous. Well, then on to her character's arc. Yeah, she learns absolutely nothing and gets everything she wants in the end. Bless her heart, we still love her. We would totally understand why someone might get frustrated with her though.

Triton: If there was a 'worst single dad' award, he'd get it. Okay, did his wife just die or something? Because how can a father of SIX daughters not know how to deal with an angsty, hormonal teenage girl? Plus, the whole "getting angry because my daughter isn't there to worship and sing my praises" thing is a bit iffy. We almost forgot to mention his completely unreasonable fit of rage, which results in destroying Ariel's most precious collection. Chill out! It's only a teenager's crush, have some perspective. In the light of his horrible parenting skills, you sort of understand the thoughtless rebellion of Ariel. Maybe only Triton was meant to develop as a character as in the end he learns to be more tolerant and relaxed. But sill, letting your daughter marry at 16?!? Just no. Even with his faults, he is a much more interesting character than Ariel.

Eric: The generic. There's nothing more to add. We suppose you could have the hots for someone much worse (ie. the tedious prince club from the early Disney trilogy).

Ursula: We love her, she's such great fun to watch. She's got the attitude and the song. An enjoyable villain.

Minor characters (Sebastian, Flounder and Scuttle): They were/are our favourites and a big part of why we still like this movie. Eg. the dynamics between them and all the comedy they create work so well.

The story: Simple and entertaining. Perhaps the biggest issue we have with the movie is its ending. The whole "you need to change yourself for a man" and getting married at 16. 16!!! The story isn't very faithful to the original fairytale, but this is the one aspect they decided to keep? We can't deny that we think that those are pretty poisonous things to promote to children. There's nothing wrong with liking boys and thinking about boys (in fact, it's pretty awesome that Ariel works as an empowering figure for those girls), but hell, no girl should be contemplating on getting married at the age of 16. It's fine to think about marriage etc, but actually wanting to get married at 16?? Not healthy. The good thing is, that if parents have taught their kids anything about how to watch movies, they will take it as it is, a movie. We certainly did.

There are scenes we really like, for instance, the market/town scene. The music and imagery work really well, and give you a glimpse of what the relationship actually could be (the one and only time). And then of course the music is the best part. We dare you to not sing along.

We think that sometimes when people discuss children's movies it seems that they would want kids to have "perfect" entertainment. Where all the characters are role models for them and always do the right thing. We think that children are much smarter than adults sometimes give them credit for, and underestimating their abilities to look at things critically will deprive them of experiences that will help them to develop that quality. It's important for kids to realise that it's okay to like problematic media, as long as you recognise the issues. Obviously, kids won't think in those terms, but they are able to spot faults or problems in the story and characters. The main point is, that you shouldn't let media raise your children; that's a job for parents. Lastly, it's weird that Ariel is some kind of a sex-symbol for men, right? 16, people. It's creepy.