Netflix Instant: Movie & TV Picks - Underrated Disney Edition!

Lately, I've been working long hours and haven't been able to go out a lot, so that's made me get in a moved where I want to watch some harmless, and not too thematically heavy movies. Just so happens that most of these have been Disney movies that I've either not seen since my time in the Motherland (Mexico) or just in a long time.

My picks today will focus on three of those from what is known as the "Post-Renaissance" era. These are all movies that came out in the late 90's/early 00's in the wake of the more popular movies like THE LION KING, but that might have been aimed more towards boys or were not successful in the box office or both.

Check them out below!

SAVING MR. BANKS Trailer Drops!

Growing up with Disney films, it's hard to believe that some of the studio's most beloved classic almost never got made. The documentary, WAKING SLEEPING BEAUTY, showed the struggles of the Disney's animation studio in the 80s. And now, we have a dramatization of the real life events around Walt Disney (Tom Hanks) trying to secure the rights to Mary Poppins from author P. L. Travers (Emma Thompson).

Though this isn't some instance of an author being stingy and hard to work with. As the trailer shows, Travers has a deep personal connection her novel, and doesn't want anyone to hack it up to pieces just to make a profit.

Check the trailer courtesy of AOL after the break.

The MONSTERS UNIVERSITY Trailer is very OK

Pixar has been on a bit of a slide as of the last few years. Some would argue that this has happened since TOY STORY 2 remake TOY STORY 3 came out. With CARS 2 and BRAVE, I'm afraid that Pixar is getting too Disney-fied. When I heard that there was a prequel to MONSTERS, INC, I was skeptical, and now that there's a new UK trailer out, I'm still skeptical. Check it out below.

Sportsball Bowl Trailer Watch: THE LONE RANGER

I hope the beer and buffalo wings are flowing right now for you! If you're not into the actual Super Bowl game, good thing there is always plenty of funny commercials and new movie trailers to keep your interest.  Here's your first trailer drop for today... Johnny Depp in the western version of PIRATES, I mean THE LONE RANGER.





THE LONE RANGER comes out July 3rd, 2013. It is directed by Gore Verbinski. It stars Armie Hammer, Johnny Depp, Helena Bonham Carter, and Tom Wilkinson.


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Disney buys out LucasFilm LTD; George Lucas proves he somehow still had integrity left to sell

If anyone knows me, they might know that I've become a little tired with the Star Wars saga's place in pop-culture as of now. And while I was really apathetic about the prequels, the way that the franchise has been handled during the CLONE WARS carton era has been terrible. The marketing and merchandising side of things has gone out of their way to mash up Star Wars with everything from Angry Birds to putting Chewie, Yoda and Boba Fett on just about every piece of merchandise possible for a quick buck. Darth Vader has into a rapping buffoon (remember when he was one of the most fearsome villains in movies?), and the original trilogy is being remade into something completely different thanks to CGI "enhancements." But that's a rant for another day.

Thanks to Business Wire, it seems that George Lucas has decided that his precious Star Wars is worth $4.05 B which what the Walt Disney Company will be paying for the rights to one of the biggest franchises in the world. There are lots of other of other details such as the stock options and what not, but the big shock here is that despite what we have all heard before, there will be a sequel trilogy starting with Episode 7 in 2015 at some point with Episodes 8 and 9 coming in later years.

This is very interesting in the sense that George Lucas has always had his fingers in the franchise for better and for worse. Despite what any press release says, I am curious to see exactly what his role will be in the direction of the franchise from this point forward. On a very good note, I wonder how or if we will be able to have access to the original trilogy without the Special Edition enhancements on Blu Ray now. This also means that between the acquisition of Marvel, Disney is poised to have some of the biggest properties in the world and properties in the world. For the grizzly details, please follow the links to Business Wire above for the full press release.

EDIT: We have a video from YouTube where Lucas discusses the future of the franchise.

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WRECK IT RALPH Trailer and Game!

Javi here. I realize that WRECK IT RALPH might seem like a bit of a WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT clone, but I don't care. Video games have been a constant presence in my life even if the last system I've owned was a Game Boy DS and that was only so I could play Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger. Either way, this trailer had me super giddy during the scene where all of the villains are hanging out. Seriously, Kano just chilling in the background is just as great as seeing Bowser and Dr. Eggman together.  In addition! You can totally play the actual game that the in-universe game where Wreck It Ralph comes from! Check out the trailer and a link to the site after the jump.

A Non-Parody Trailer For THE MUPPETS!

With some of the most clever and nerdy marketing behind the movie, Disney has finally decided to show us a more traditional trailer for the upcoming THE MUPPETS movie starring Jason Segel and Amy Adams. There's not much to say about this one, I'm just glad that we're now getting a glimpse into the plot of the movie and a seemingly endless string of minor celebrity cameos. Now, just watch it and let it brighten your day.

THE MUPPETS comes out November 23, 2011 and it's directed by James Bobin. It stars Jason Segel, Amy Adams, Chris Cooper, Kermit The Frog, Miss Piggy, Gonzo, Fonzie, and Animal. Tweet

D23 Expo: Two new Pixar projects announced!

The D23 Expo is happening this weekend, and some pretty big announcements have surfaced from the Expo already.There are two new Pixar projects in the works that follow BRAVE, which is slated to be released June 2012, and the sequel to MONSTERS, INC. titled MONSTERS UNIVERSITY, which is scheduled to be released June 21st, 2013.

First, there's an untitled dinosaur movie which will explore the question, "What if that life-changing asteroid missed the Earth?"  Longtime Pixar vet, Bob Peterson, has been named director.  Peterson has most recently been a writer on FINDING NEMO and UP.  He also co-directed UP with Pete Doctor, and he even voiced the character, Dug the dog, who everyone adores.

A Pixar fan noticed these storyboards while watching some behind the scenes footage for UP.

The idea that dinosaurs never became extinct is such an interesting and exciting concept to explore, and I find it pretty ironically hilarious that this movie, which I would assume would play with the concepts of evolution of a species, is scheduled to come out during the 2013 holiday season.  I can already hear the controversy now.


The second announcement is another movie that will "explores the inside of the human mind".  Peter Doctor will helm the project and is set to be released May 2014.  Now whether the script will "explore" the mind like the magic school bus or INCEPTION is yet to be seen.  Hopefully the story will fall somewhere in between.


So, could Pixar strike gold again with these two movies?  Thoughts?

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Holy Digital Monkeys Batman! It's the a new Daft Punk video for Tron Legacy.

For anyone that knows me, they know that I go through faces of musical discovery. About a year ago was my folk/Americana phase, then it was noise/drone metal, and this time it seems to be electronic music. I've been loving everything with a drum machine and synths that's NOT chillwave bullsh*t that's the Gorilla Vs Bear crowd love so much. So with that I'm pretty excited for the new Tron:Legacy soundtrack featuring none other than Daft Punk. If the recent Social Network soundtrack is anything to go by, this will probably be amazing. Without further ado, I show you the new video called "Derezzed":




I will say this has my excitement peaked for both the movie and the soundtrack so much I went ahead and pre-ordered it. You can go here for the album's site.  Tron Legacy comes out on December 17, 2010 in all sorts of delicious 3D and 2D formats.

Waking Sleeping Beauty- She said

As a child of the early 90s, my memories are full of Disney. I remember seeing the animated cartoons on the big screen, which were some of the first movies I saw in theaters, and being absolutely captivated by their stories. After all the movies, I always wanted the soundtrack, backpack and coloring books right away! I never wanted to leave those fairytale worlds. To many of us, Disney has always been an animation giant. However, as the documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty shows, the road toward their golden era of animation was long, arduous and bumpy.


In the late 70s, there was this dividing line within the animators at Disney. You had the classic animators who were about to retire, then there were fresh faced kids full of bright ideas. Even though they had the talent, Disney was not thought of for their animation. The released an animated movie about every four years. This led to many, many fails at the box office culminating with the flop of The Black Cauldron. Throughout this time, there was constant power struggle of egos from the head honchos: Roy Disney, Jeff Kratzenberg, Mike Eisner, and Frank Wells. Through disagreements, power shifts, failed experiments and outside forces an unbelievable chain of events happened which led us to some of the greatest and most successful animated movies ever made.

This documentary by Don Hahn is phenomenal. The archive footage and videos used give an insight to the lives and minds from the animators all the way up to Roy Disney. Also, there are A LOT of people involved during this era, and Hahn does an amazing job of keeping the names of who we’re seeing or who’s talking on the screen, which makes this movie very user friendly. It also shows some very hilarious archival caricatures of certain meetings and bosses that add to the playfulness of the animators.

I was scared that this documentary might tarnish notions I had about the Disney studios, but it just reinforced the fact that Disney at the end of the day is still just another business. Not everyone is going to agree or get along, but they still have to produce a product.

This is my favorite movie I’ve seen at the Dallas International Film Festival thus far. Now, I am a little biased because I do love Disney, but it was fascinating to see a back story from a company that had such a profound impact on my generation. If you’ve ever had any interest in Disney, go see this film. (Also, they mention this little start-up company towards the end…called Pixar. Maybe a Pixar documentary could be in the works about changing the face of animation?)