Movie Review: Barbie A Perfect Christmas

Barbie A Perfect Christmas 

Barbie Entertainment, Technicolor, USA, 2011. 

Christmas is coming and Barbie, Skipper, Stacie and Chelsea are going to a rock concert in New York. In the spirit of modern times Skipper is a blogger. She also composes songs and wants that some band would play them but she will not let Barbie help. Stormy weather causes trouble and their flight has to land at Rochester. They have continue the trip by car. They get lost and end up in small Tannenbaum Inn. Perky Inn keeper Christie Clauson welcomes them to Christmas party. 

Skipper & Barbie

Going to Tannenbaum Inn

Christie Clauson

There are also elves, well not actually. There are just neighbours named the Elifs. They are strangely lot interested in wrapping gifts though. The girls play with dogs, play snow games and arrange a concert. 

Awww

This is not going to end well

Barbie tries to be optimistic but can she promise a perfect Christmas to her sisters if they can't get to New York? There is also rivalry between the sisters, as Skipper wants to be as perfect as Barbie and Chelsea is being overlooked by Stacie. 

It is a cutesy Christmas movie. Cheesy too, but that comes with the premise. This Barbie-story comes with a message about being together with close ones on Christmas. Extra cuteness points are given to doggies with antlers! And... A SQUIRREL! It's fun for kids probably, cute and nice Christmas entertainment for them. But for an older viewer the story is too mild to rise above an average Barbie film.

There is also a short film "Barbie: A Camping We Will Go." Barbie and her sisters go to forest and their dog Taffy makes friends with a skunk.

But where is Ken? He wasn't mentioned in either of Barbie's Christmas movies.

Rating: Average

Voice actors: Diana Kaarina, Jennifer Waris, Rachel Harrison, Nevada Brandt, Lauren Lavoie, Danielle Bessler, Ashlyn Drummond, Lucia Vecchio, Maryke Hendrikse, Allie Feder, Aidan Drummond, Alistair Abell, Patricia Drake, Chiara Zanni

Shameless Pile Keeps on Growing: My New Furry Pals

It has been busy two weeks, and I haven't had much time to watch movies. So let's show some popular culture themed (or not) mascots and plushes that I have managed to find in thrift stores (except for Piggy) during the passing year.

Here's happy-looking Gingerbread Man from "Shrek."

Mr. Bean in pajamas, Blossom of The Powerpuff Girls, Ewok Wicket W. Warrick and Dora the Explorer.

There can never be too many Barbababas.

Here are some characters created by Finnish children's author Mauri Kunnas. Sleepwalking Mr. Hakkarainen and Martha from Doghill.

Spongebob Squarepands and Patrick seem to have fun.

On the other hand Asterix, Scotty and Elmo seem to have a small grudge.

Some gaming themed toys: Fruit Ninja- mascots, Angry Birds Piggy (movie version) and Wario.

And as a happy coincidence Sharky found his mother, Mommy Shark.

Clowns seem to be in fashion so here's Clown Smurf and Krusty the Clown.

And because it's Halloween here's also vampire Count Von Count.

Shameless Pile Keeps on Growing: Master of Puppets Edition

Here are little friends I have found in various second-hand shops:

Sharky (he likes shark films)

Smurf and Smurfette

Mike, Sulley, Crash Bandicoot and little Shrek

Bananas in Pyjamas

Three ALFs

Then something different.

This is a weird action figure I found on a shelf of recycling store. My best guess is that this is a Battle Troll knock-off:

Maybe I'll call him "CyberTroll" or "The Trollinator"

Here's The Trollinator with his Troll Doll friends:

Movie Review: Casper

Casper

Universal Pictures, Amblin Entertainment, Harvey Entertainment Company, USA, 1995.

Based on the comics and cartoons created by Seymour Reit and Joe Oriolo.

Greedy Carrigan Crittenden's (Cathy Moriarty) inherits an old Whipstaff manor from her father. There is a treasure hidden in the manor. She travels there with her lawyer Dibs (Eric Idle). By the way, Cathy Moriarty looks a lot like Faye Dunaway.

Dibs and Carrigan

The manor is the home of Casper the Friendly Ghost (voiced by Malachi Pearson) but also his three misbehaving ghost uncles Stretch (Joe Alaskey), Stinkie (Brad Garrett), Fatso (John Kassir) live there. Carrigan and Dibs flee in terror!

Casper

Father Guido Sarducci (comedian Don Novello) fails in exorcising the ghosts. Also Dan Aykroyd fails. Casper is lonely. He tips Carrigan to call ghost shrink (i.e. paranormal therapist) Dr. James Harvey (Bill Pullman). Dr. Harvey has daughter Kat (Christina Ricci) whom Casper wants to meet. Maybe she would like to be friends? Kat does not believe in ghosts and thinks that her dad is nuts.

Kat

James

James and the Ghostly Trio

The Ghostly Trio tries to scare the Harveys away but Casper becomes Kat's friend. Also James learns to know the three ghosts who are more goofy jesters than scary spectres. However Kat has to throw in a Halloween party for her school class and search for treasure with Casper while Carrigan and Dibs are causing ruckus.

Casper and Kat

The story combines goofy cartoon-style ghost fun with issues of loneliness and coping with death and loss. James is interested in ghosts so that he could contact his dead wife, Kat is lonely because they have to move often and Casper yearns to remember how it was to be a living boy. Christina Ricci shines as young heroine and Bill Pullman as his goofy father. Also the character of Casper is cute. Carrigan and Dibbs on the other hand are characters that the movie could do without.

It is striking that the villain Carrigan is so undercharacterized person. Her dad was a benefactor who bequeathed his properties to various animal protection charities, but he left her greedy daughter only a rotting house. I mean if her father was such a saint, what made Carrigan such a cold person? Maybe her dad neglected her because of his business? Or maybe he did not buy her a pony? Even the Ghostly Trio learns redeeming qualities towards the end of the story, but Carrigan is just plain sneering villain. It is not that the villains in children's movies necessarily need some deep backstories but the Disney-villain style handling of Carrigan has dissonance with the rest of the film's quite sentimental themes.

Not that the film isn't fun and entertaining but the seams are visible. Also the cameos in the beginning are a bit gratuitous. It feels that it would have worked better if it had chosen either the goofy cartoonish adventure approach or the touching and sentimental drama approach. For the positive aspects I have to give "Casper" an above average rating although there were many scenes that were out of place or did not work as they should have.

Rating: Good

Starring: Chauncey Leopardi, Spencer Vrooman, Malachi Pearson, Cathy Moriarty, Eric Idle, Ben Stein, Don Novello , Fred Rogers, Terry Murphy, Bill Pullman, Christina Ricci, Ernestine Mercer, Doug Bruckner, Joe Nipote, Joe Alaskey, Brad Garrett, John Kassir, Garette Ratliff Henson, Jessica Wesson, Wesley Thompson, Michael Dubrow, J.J. Anderson, Jess Harnell, Michael McCarty, Micah Winkelspecht, Mike Simmrin, Amy Brenneman, Devon Sawa, Janette Andrade, Dan Aykroyd, Rodney Dangerfield, Clint Eastwood, Mel Gibson, Elise Main, Tony Stef'Ano

Director: Brad Silberling

Movie Review: CJ7

CJ7 (Cheung gong 7 hou) 

Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, Beijing Film Studio, China Film Group, Star Overseas, Hong Kong, China, 2008. 

Dicky Chow (Jiao Xu who is girl acting as boy) is a poor kid living with his father Ti (Stephen Chow). Ti works hard to pay Dicky's education in elite school. Dicky is bullied at school by Johnny (Huang Lei) and his gang but big girl Maggie (Yong Hua Han) begins to protects him. His father teaches him to be honest and brave so that Dicky can be someday respected member of society. Their housing conditions are much like the ones in Chaplin's "The Kid" and killing cockroaches is fun leisure activity.

Dicky Chow

Ti

Dicky sees a robot dog and begins to yearn for one. They can not buy the dog because they are poor. UFO has landed in scrap yard where Ti searches for new shoes for the kid. The aliens leave behind a funny green ball. Ti thinks it is a toy and brings it home. The ball starts to act strange and Dicky is scared. The ball is space alien dog CJ7 (the name is a pun of Chinese space rocket Shenzhou 7). Dicky thinks it is sophisticated alien toy dog. CJ7 can turn rotten apples back to fresh and can repair broken things. 

Dicky wants a robot dog

CJ7

Most teachers are harsh but there is nice teacher Miss Yuen (Yuqi Zhang). Dicky tries to use CJ7:s skills to cheat on school tests. He could also be the best athlete ever. As the plot fails Dicky vents his anger on CJ7. Luckily the poor thing has the resiliency of "Flubber." However Dicky later regrets being cruel to CJ7 and they become friends again.

Miss Yuen and Mr. Cao

Chinese comedies are weird. Their mood usually swings wildly from sentimental scenes to surreal action to 'Mo lei tau' (makes no sense) wacky comedy and to tragic moments. "CJ7" alternates between semi-realistic style and cartoon style slapstick, toilet humour and sweet "E.T." style sentimentality. However there are some cultural barriers that may have prevented this from becoming a hit movie in the west. For example the methods for disciplining kids differ from what is nowadays acceptable in the west, in one scene father puts Dicky into a closet for making a racket. Still there is warmth and love between Dicky and his dad, it is just that the culture is different. The film teaches kids the importance of moral, ethics, hard work and love. Being a children's movie and being too weird for an usual family film, "CJ7" flopped in the west. In Asia the movie was a moderate success. And why not, although there are many hit or miss jokes the film is fun and also touching in the end.

Lots of CJ7s

Stephen Chow is undoubtedly one of the highest profile Hong Kong comedy actors and directors. After his films "Shaolin Soccer" and "Kung Fu Hustle" he gained popularity in the west also. Stephen Chow stays bit on the side this time and the real star is talented child actor Jiao Xu.

Rating: Good

Starring: Stephen Chow, Jiao Xu, Lei Huang, Yuqi Zhang (as Kitty Zhang), Chi Chung Lam (as Tze Chung Lam), Shing-Cheung Lee (as Sheung Ching Lee), Wen Xue Yao, Min Hun Fung, Yong Hua Han, Yu Lei, Zhong You Jin, Qian Lin Hu, Yi Ying Cheng, Yi Jia Lao, Hao Yang, Wen Hao Song, Hao Nan Zhu, Gang Hui Zhang, Qing Dong, Hao Hao Chen ,Qian Shen, Jia He Shi, Lu Yang Yu, Hang-Sang Poon, Shun-Yee Yuen 
Director: Stephen Chow

Lohikäärme Justus ja Taikuri Savinen

Lohikäärme Justus ja Taikuri Savinen 

(rough translations: "Justus the Dragon" and "Clay the Magician") 

YLE, Finland 1977-1991.

Introducing classic Finnish children's TV shows from 1970-90s! 

"Justus the Dragon" and "Clay the Magician" are nostalgic clay animations made for children and shown originally in Finnish TV. The DVD contains 8 episodes of "Lohikäärme Justus" (1983) (translated: Justus the Dragon), five episodes of "Justus maailmalla" (1991) (translated: Justus goes abroad) and five episodes (of total of 15) of "Taikuri Savinen" (1978) (translated: Clay the Magician). The series were animated by Tuula Pukkila. Unfortunately there are no English subs. All series fully utilize the properties of modelling clay and the characters can curl themselves into a ball or disc.

Both series were voiced by Erkki Thil (all episodes) and also Riitta Räty (some episodes of "Justus goes abroad.") 

Other animations by Pukkila include clay animation "Pallerot" (Small Spheres), quite experimental show that has small spheres dancing and forming flowers and other objects. Sadly "Pallerot" is nowadays quite forgotten series. 

Justus the Dragon (Lohikäärme Justus)

"Justus the Dragon" was scripted by Lea Himberg. It is the story of small friendly dragon whose wings have not yet grown. Justus changes colour depending on his mood. Justus lives in mountains with his friends Mountain Goat and group of intelligent flowers. The series has themes of friendship and helping others.

Justus and the flowers

Mountain Goat

1. Justus can't fly (Justus ei osaa lentää)
Justus practises flying but his wings have not yet grown. Two other dragons fly away for dragon convention. His friends Mountain Goat and the flowers cheer up the sad dragon.

Adult dragons

2. Justus gets sick (Justus sairastuu)
Justus goes swimming and catches cold. Mountain Goat goes to find medicine.

3. Justus and little people (Justus ja pikkuihmiset)
Justus and Mountain Goat hide when humans arrive to mountains. Two kids are lost in the mountains and need help.

Little people

4. Justus exercises (Justus voimistelee)
Justus wants to fly so he straightens his muscles.

Justus exercises

5. The quarreling flowers (Kukkien Tora)
Sun is shining and the flowers argue who will get most of the sun light. Justin sings a song for them.

Justus plays a song

6. New friend (Uusi ystävä)
Justus meets caterpillars and butterflies. Mountain goat gets a girlfriend but Justus is jealous.

7. The return of the dragons (Lohikäärmeiden paluu)
The other dragons return but both have injuries from flight accidents. They bring flight manual to Justus.

8. Justus flies (Justus lentää)
Justus finally gets his wings.

New wings!

Justus Goes Abroad (Justus maailmalla)

A sequel series to "Justus the Dragon." Now Justus can fly so he goes to explore the world. He meets different people who are often first afraid of him, but soon they become friends. This series has more human characters and more variable backgrounds.

1. Justus goes abroad (Justus lähtee maailmalle)
Friends of Justus warn him not to get in trouble when he flies to explore the world. Justus does not listen.

2. Justus in the land of windmills (Justus tuulimyllyjen maassa)
Air pollution makes Justus temporarily blind and he has to land in Netherlands. He gets caught in windmill but the locals help him.

Dutch people

3. Justus and snow (Justus ja lumi)
It is cold and Justus falls into a snowdrift. Two skiers help him.

4. Justus in Peru (Justus Perussa)
Justus goes to Machu Picchu where he first gets cold shoulder. There are strange earthquakes but Justus saves the day.

Peruvian people

5. Justus goes to foreign mountains (Justus lähtee vieraille vuorille)
An old lady asks what it is like around the world. Justus finds mountains with other dragons.


Clay the Magician (Taikuri Savinen)

"Clay the Magician" stories have ecological themes. Clay tries to maintain the balance of humans and nature. Clay's spells do not always go as wished but luckily he has a magic ball that helps. Being made earlier than "Justus" the animation style is not yet as refined and the human characters look very much the same.

Clay the Magician

1. Elmo the animal searcher (Elmu eläinten etsijä)
Elmo tries to find animals but does not find any. Clay creates a tree that is full of animals.

Clay and Elmo

2. Rick the trekker (Riku retkeilijä)
Clay's bunny friend is stuck in an empty can. The forest is full of trash left by Rick.

Clay and bunny

Rick throws trash in the forest

3. Tate the road builder (Tate tientekijä)
Tate is building a road that goes over foxes nest. Clay intervenes and suggests an alternative route.

Tate builds the road

4. Noise barrier (Meluvalli)
The road traffic is noisy and disturbs the animals. Clay must create noise barrier. However he first misunderstands the concept: the barrier is not supposed to be noisy.

5. Dream about city (Uni kaupungista)
The bunny has a nightmare about city without trees and flowers. The dream seems to be accurate. Clay paints the gray houses more colourful.

Bunny in grey city

Happy citizens