“There’s no reason to become alarmed, and we hope you’ll enjoy the rest of your flight. By the way, is there anyone on board who knows how to fly a plane?”
The new film 42 about the great Jackie Robinson is really quite wonderful. It’s reminiscent of A League of Their Own, with the same humor and a surprisingly charming supporting cast. Of course it’s much heavier and there’s plenty of uncomfortable N-word moments. But I suspect families will watch and love this film for generations.
Harrison Ford definitely steals the show as Branch Rickey, the man who signs Jackie to the Dodgers. It’s a subtle, loving, and hilarious performance which once again reminds us why he’s been a household name for decades. It’s not quite as memorable as Tom Hanks’ Jimmy Dugan (“There’s no crying in baseball!”), but it definitely makes this film worth seeing again and again.
Not long ago I discovered my love for solo, multitrack a capella performances (see Matt Mullholland). This one is pretty awesome. Not only is he a great singer, but he sings about the lives of Disney princesses after the films end. Hilarious.
If you saw Wreck-it Ralph, I hope you also got there early enough to see the Disney animated short Paperman. Actually, hold up. If you haven’t seen Wreck-it Ralph, find a way to see it immediately. I don’t care if the closest theater playing it is 150 miles away. I promise it will be worth it.
But if you’d still like to wait until it’s released for purchase, you can breathe easy knowing you can watch Paperman on the interwebz for free. It has incredibly beautiful animation and an equally charming story. Disney has been putting out top-notch work the last few years and I can’t get enough.
After several years of waiting, I finally saw the first installment of The Hobbit. Even with all the anticipation and the anxiety about the story being broken up into three films, it was truly excellent. The magic and fun of the story are easily captured and the epic scale of the original trilogy is well maintained.
Especially wonderful is the opening scene, showing an interaction between Bilbo and Frodo just moments before The Fellowship of the Ring begins. It’s a perfect nod to the trilogy we all love and shows how this new series of films will fit right in. And the very best part is the magnificent Martin Freeman, portraying the simple, yet courageous Bilbo as we always imagined.
My name is Lynn Fisher and I am an artist and designer out of Chandler, Arizona.
By day, I design for meltmedia, an interactive web agency out of Tempe. By night, I paint, create, and blog things I find intriguing and beautiful.
I try to keep my work fun, reflecting my inner nerd and bringing humor to otherwise serious topics. I also love watching reruns of Top Chef, quoting the Office, and drinking obscene amounts of diet soda.
