Frozen (2013 film)

Inspired by Hans Christian Andersen’s fairy tale The Snow Queen, Frozen is the story of a young princess who treks through rugged mountains during a cold winter to retrieve her estranged sister who was responsible for the cold winter through her icy powers. Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee and screenplay by Lee from a story by Buck, Lee, and Shane Morris, the film is a tale of sisterhood where a young princess tries to save her older sister from herself with the help of a mountain man, a reindeer, and a snowman. Featuring the voices of Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, and Santino Fontana. Frozen is a dazzling and heart-warming film from Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee.

The film plays into the relationship between two sisters as the eldest is born with powers to produce snow and ice as she is afraid to hurt her younger sister leading to a schism between the two prompting the younger to get her back home. While it is a film about sisters, it is also a film about love between these two women as the eldest in Elsa (Idina Menzel) wants to protect Anna (Kristen Bell) from herself as she had accidentally hit ice at Anna when they were kids and cut herself off to protect her. Yet, Anna has no memory of that incident as she is confused by their estrangement until they come together for Elsa’s coronation ceremony where problems emerge where Elsa turns the kingdom into ice and isolates herself in her own castle. Anna wants to get Elsa back home with some help yet things become complicated when it is clear how dangerous Elsa has become to herself and to Anna.

Jennifer Lee’s screenplay takes it time to explore the troubled relationship between Elsa and Anna where Elsa’s icy powers are the real problem as they’re forced to live in isolation in their castle for much of their life as they would also deal with the death of their parents separately. When Elsa comes of age to become queen, she has a hard time dealing with the responsibilities that she has to face as well as controlling her powers as she is being exposed to the people in her kingdom. Even as Anna falls for a prince named Hans (Santino Fontana) while a duke (Alan Tudyk) from a neighboring country wants to do business with her only to plot Elsa’s assassination once her powers are exposed. When Anna goes to find Elsa, she gets the help of the mountain man Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), his reindeer Sven, and a living snowman named Olaf (Josh Gad). Yet, the forces such as the Duke of Weselton would try to complicate things as well as Elsa’s own powers as she continuously shuts herself off from the people that really cared about her.

The direction of Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck is truly astonishing not just in its visual setting but also in the animation as it blends hand-drawn animation and 3D computer animation. With its team of animators, the film has this wide canvas to create this land that Elsa and Anna live in as well as what it would look like in the winter time. Much of it involve some wide shots and scenery to play into that world where it includes some unique lighting schemes to play into the mood of the film as Elsa’s emotions is the catalyst for her powers. There’s also some medium shots and close-ups into the way Lee and Buck wanted to frame the characters including some of the elements of love in the way Anna falls for Hans. Some of it is presented in a comical manner as characters like Sven and Olaf are comic figures yet they do help drive the story as it relates to the concept of love and being there for one another.

There’s also some dazzling sequences that play into a sense of action as it’s driven by emotion where the mixture of the animation styles manage to work very seamlessly. Especially in the film’s climax where it plays into the world that the sisters had lived in as well as the forces who want to stop Elsa for their own reasons. Much of the compositions of that sequence as well as what is at stake comes into play as it maintains that theme of love and sisterhood. Overall, Lee and Buck creates a truly exhilarating and touching film about the love of two sisters.

Editor Jeff Draheim does brilliant work with the editing with its use of montages, jump-cuts, and other rhythmic cuts to play into the humor and drama. Production designer David Womersley and art director Michael Giamo do amazing work with the design of the castles and places the characters go to. Sound designer Odin Benitez does fantastic work with the sound from the way ice sounds when it cracks and the way some of Elsa‘s powers are shot from her hands. The film’s music by Christophe Beck is superb for its bombastic orchestral score to play with the film‘s adventurous tone while the songs by Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez is just incredible for the way it helps tell the story as songs like Let It Go, Do You Want to Build a Snowman?, For the First Time in Forever, In Summer, and many others doesn’t just give the film a musical feel but also has more to say as it is a true highlight of the film as the songs themselves are great in their own.

The voice casting by Jamie Sparer Roberts is excellent as it features some notable small voice roles Maurice LaMarche and Jennifer Lee as Elsa and Anna’s parents, Chris Williams as the very funny trading post manager Oaken, Maia Wilson as a troll Anna meets in Bulda, and Ciaran Hinds as an elderly troll in Grand Pabbie who reveals a lot about Elsa’s powers and how she can control it. Alan Tudyk is terrific as the scheming Duke of Weselton who wants to gain power of some of Arendelle’s commerce while planning to have Elsa killed later on. Santino Fontana is superb as Prince Hans of the Southern Isles who woos Anna into being engaged with him as he would try to save her. In the voices of the young Elsa and Anna, respectively, there’s Eva Bell and Spencer Lacey Ganus as the 8 and 12 year old versions of Elsa while Livvy Stubenrauch does the voice of the 5-year old Anna while Katie Lopez and Agatha Lee Monn provide the singing versions of the 5 and 9 year old versions of Anna.

Josh Gad is a total delight as the snowman Olaf as this snowman who wants to experience summertime as well as being a comic relief with some nice commentary about love and its power. Jonathan Groff is amazing as Kristoff as this mountain man who provides ice to Arendelle as he reluctantly helps out Anna with his reindeer Sven, who is a fantastic companion, as he would introduce Anna to the trolls that he had been raised by. Idina Menzel is brilliant as Elsa as this troubled young woman who has powers to create ice as she tries to shut herself off so that she wouldn’t hurt anyone as Menzel also provides a lot of weight into her singing as she makes Elsa a truly engaging character. Finally, there’s Kristen Bell in a remarkable performance as Anna as Elsa’s younger sister who just wants to help and reach out to Elsa unaware of what Elsa can do as Bell’s determination, anguish, and exuberance in her singing just makes Anna a very complex character.

Frozen is a truly outstanding film from Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee as well as the team of Disney Animation Studios. Not only is it a musical that is very soaring with its songs but also with a strong story that can captivate audiences of any age. Especially as it is an animation film that can dazzle cinephiles but also astonish children while having something profound to say about sisterhood and love. In the end, Frozen is a phenomenal film from Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee.

© thevoid99 2014

The Rocker (2008 film)

Originally Written and Posted at Epinions.com on 12/16/09 w/ Additional Edits & Revisions.

Directed by Peter Cattaneo and screenplay by Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky from a story by Ryan Jafee, The Rocker tells the story of a drummer from a mid-80s glam-metal band who was left behind by his band as his life twenty years later has become one big failure. When his nephew asks him to join his band, the drummer suddenly gets a second chance to live his dream to become a rock star. Starring Rainn Wilson, Christina Applegate, Teddy Geiger, Emma Stone, Josh Gad, Jane Lynch, Jeff Garlin, Will Arnett, Fred Armisen, Bradley Cooper, Howard Hesseman, Demitri Martin, and Jason Sudeikis. The Rocker is a funny, rocking film from Peter Cattaneo and company.

The film is a simple story of a drummer from now very popular metal band called Vesuvius whose life of misery has him moving in with his sister and befriending his nephew who is in a band that needed a drummer. By playing their high school prom gig, he becomes a member of the band with much reluctance from his new bandmates where a notorious Internet clip gets them attention. The band called A.D.D. suddenly becomes famous where one of the band member's mother joins the tour, the band become successful as the drummer called Fish (Rainn Wilson) deals with his new chance as well as the old demons in his past where he is offered the chance to open for his former band.

While the film has elements similar to the 2003 Richard Linklater film School of Rock about an adult wanting to rock with young kids. The film is about a man's unfortunate situations about his old band becoming big as he's left living a life that is mediocre and dull. When he's given a second chance, he is hoping to do all the things he wanted to do as a rock star. Yet, the character of Fish is more than just some guy finally living his dream but someone who really cares about his band mates by helping Curtis (Teddy Geiger) on the directions of the songs, help Amelia (Emma Stone) with her own image, and his nephew Matt (Josh Gadd) in his shyness. While the script does follow certain plot formulas, it's array of humor and love of rock does make it worthwhile.

Director Peter Cattaneo does a fine job with the direction though it's mostly average in terms of compositions and settings. Yet, he does make the film quite energetic and fun while a lot of the film is shot in Toronto with a few locations in Cleveland including the Rock N' Roll Hall of Fame museum. For a lot of the performance sequences, Cattaneo succeeds in knowing what to shoot as he gives each actor a chance to shine while showcasing what happens with most big rock concerts once audiences get to see Vesuvius live in the film's climatic ending. Despite some formulaic ideas with the script and lack of fresh ideas, Cattaneo does create a solid film that is funny and entertaining to watch.

Cinematographer Anthony B. Richmond does pretty good work with the film's darkened look with moments of grain in the shoot in order to make the film look a little grimy but also polished. Editor Brad E. Wilhite does a nice job with the film's editing in giving it a nice, leisurely-paced feel while speeding up a bit for some of the film's wilder moments. Production designer Brandt Gordon and set decorator Clive Thomasson does a good job in the look of the clubs, the tour bus, and places that the characters go to. Costume designer Christopher Hargadon does excellent work in the looks of 80s rock star clothing in the film's early sequence along with modern clothes and dresses for Emma Stone. Sound editor Andrew DeCristofaro does very good work with the atmosphere of the rock shows and interaction with the audience.

The music by Chad Fischer is mostly a mixture of melodic-pop and rock as it serves as the songs he created for the fictional band A.D.D., a lot of which are sung by Teddy Geiger. The songs are pretty good while the songs Fischer wrote for the fictional band Vesuvius is reminiscent of 80s hard rock while Geiger and Fischer do a pretty good cover of Poison's Nothin' But A Good Time that works in conveying the spirit of the film.

The casting by Julie Ashton is wonderfully with cameo appearances from the likes of comedy actor Demitri Martin as a pretentious video director, Jane Krakowski as Fish's ex-girlfriend, Howard Hesseman as A.D.D.'s tour bus driver, Lonny Ross as Fish's replacement in Vesuvius, and as Vesuvius, Bradley Cooper, Fred Armisen, and Will Arnett. Another notable cameo that gives the film a bit of humor, though he's only in one scene, is original Beatles drummer Pete Best as a guy in the bus stop reading Rolling Stone. Other notable small roles include Brittany Allen as an A.D.D. fan who has a crush on Matt, Jonathan Malen as A.D.D.'s original drummer, Keir Gilchrist as a drum machine kid, Samantha Weinstein as Matt's sister, and Jon Glaser as Vesuvius' manager are memorable.

Jason Sudeikis is very good as A.D.D.'s scheming manager who tries to get rid of Fish in making the band bigger. Jeff Garlin is funny as Matt's dad who is excited to see Fish be a rock star again while Jane Lynch is really good as Fish's no-nonsense sister despite not given much to do. Josh Gad is great as Fish's nephew and keyboardist Matt who is funny with some of his sleeping antics along with his shyness where he's helped by Emma Stone in a funny kissing scene. Emma Stone is really good as Amelia, the band's nonchalant bassist who rarely smiles while is often grossed out by Fish's antics while displaying a sweet persona to her role. Teddy Geiger is also good as Curtis, the band's brooding lead singer and guitarist who is trying to deal with fame while coming to terms about what making music is really all about.

Christina Applegate is excellent in a wonderful supporting role as Curtis' mother Kim who joins the band on tour after Fish gets in trouble while revealing her own past as a rocker in which she connects with Fish. The film's most fantastic performance truly goes to Rainn Wilson as Fish, the drummer who gets a second chance in living his dream. Wilson's performance is definitely funny in the way he reacts to all things uncool or to his former band while doing lots of dumb things that are very funny. At the same time, Wilson also shows range as an actor in scenes where he helps everyone else as it's definitely a great role for the comedy actor.

While it's not a perfect film, The Rocker is indeed a funny, entertaining film from Peter Cattaneo and company with a hilarious performance from Rainn Wilson. Fans of rock films will no doubt enjoy this film for its music and sense of humor while it also has something that fans of low-brow comedies can enjoy. It may not have the brilliance of films like School of Rock, Almost Famous, or High Fidelity, The Rocker is still a film that is worth watching while letting rock fans rock out.

© thevoid99 2013