And the winner is…

Hello!  As many of you might know, we have been doing a poll for the past couple of months to find out what series of movies that I am going to do next...The results are in, and IT’S A TIE!  And. before you ask, I do not have the wrong envelope.  I tried contacting the accounting firm of Ernst & Young but got a busy signal...So, I had to have a former math teacher on retainer to tabulate...Here are the actual results:

• Ernest (33%)
• Rogers and Hamerstein (33%)
• Die Hard (17%)
• Titanic (17%)
• The Disney sequels (0%)
• Herbie (0%)
• Muppets (0%)

Is it just me, or does it seem that the race was a 2-way blow-out?  So, you might be wondering what I will do to fix the tie.  If it was up to me, I would just choose the one I wanted.  But, since I’m a nice person, I’m not going to do that.  Instead, I’m going to have all of you vote again on what series to do.  I am going to do things a little differently.  Below is a link to an online google form where you can cast your vote.  The poll will officially end on November 12.   If there was another tie, the poll will go on for longer.  So, I hope you take the time to fill out the online form.  Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™ 

Mr. Bee

Rogers and Hammerstein VS Earnest - Google Forms 

copyright 2017 Mr. Bee Studio International All rights belong to Mr. Bee and webmaster Wesley M. and if anybody breaks this copyright they will have to spend ten years as my personal slave, and thanks for your understanding.  

The Land Before Time XIV: Journey of the Brave: Mr. Bee’s Review

 

We are finally here!!  After three long years, we have finally made it to the last Land Before Time movie (to date).  First off, I don’t want to waste too much time, but let us all remember the torment that I have put myself through these last three years.  To review, listed below are the first thirteen movies in the series

• Great
• Pretty bad
• Meh
• Awful
• A little better than the last one
• A Western
• Aliens!!!!
• Follow that Bird with Dinosaurs
• Fish Food
• He has a Dad?
• As an Added Bonus, Twenty Little Dinosaurs
• Poor Message for Children Mixed with a Bad Woody Allen Impression
• The Worst Ever

Now that we have those painful memories out of the way, let’s begin with number 14.  

Background:

In November of 2014, a mere three months after I embarked on what turned into the worst decision of my life, Yahoo news released an article of Universal’s upcoming movies.  On said list, was the fourteenth installment in this franchise.  I didn’t find out about it until the following February while perusing a list of Land Before Time films on wikipedia (now called The Land Before Time franchise).  When I saw Land Before Time XIV on the list, I was hoping that some idiot just posted on wiki as a  troll and it would soon be taken down.  Unfortunately, I was wrong.  The trailer was released a few months later and was called “The Land Before Time: The Journey of the Brave”

Plot:

The movie is about Littlefoot’s Dad coming to The Great Valley for a visit.  But his herd shows up without him.  Apparently he was trapped in a volcano eruption and the herd left him behind.  As per usual, it’s up to our five heroes to risk their lives to try to rescue Littlefoot’s dad.  

Opinion:

One thing of note is that Kiefer Sutherland must have got a better agent as he does not reprise his role as Littlefoot’s dad.  Reba McEntire, on the other hand, needs to fire her agent as she is a slightly annoying add-on dinosaur in this movie.  The animation is not horrible.  And get ready to hear me say this; the songs are not horrible.  The voice acting, however, is pretty dismal.  The story is painfully predictable.  This movie would fall into the “harmless” category because it may be good for small children.  Everything else though, unless they want to continue the series, would point to them being better off to skip it.  Overall, I give this movie 2-out-of-5 stars.  Meh.

The tv Series

In 2007 and early 2008, there was a tv series.  As I promised in my introductory blog in August of 2014 - boy, that seems like a lifetime ago - I said that I  would do a short review of the tv series in the review of the last movie.  I am a man of my word - even if it takes me three years to follow through.  It aired on Cartoon Network.  If you’re wondering what happens when the idiots running Universal combine with the idiots running Cartoon Network,well, the tv series is what you would expect - pretty dismal.  It has a theme song that is a little bit catchy.  It also has two new dinosaurs - Chomper and another new one called Ruby.  Ruby has no introduction and how Chomper got back into the Great Valley is never explained.  Both characters are in the last movie unintroduced as well.  They apparently want to cram at least two musical numbers into a 22-minute show.  Judging by the first episode, it’s pretty apparent why it only ran for one season.  

An Open Letter to Universal Executives:

Dear Universal Executives,

I hope that I’m not breaking the restraining order you have against me.  On behalf of film fans, dinosaur fans, and the very few die-hard Land Before Time fans, PLEASE, I beg of you to take your mind off of the money bin and, for once, pay attention to creativity and end the Land Before Time series.  You had a good run in studio executive terms.  But, it’s time to end the franchise.  If you can’t keep your eyes off the money bin, I do have one suggestion for your next movie.  SPOILER ALERT - it involves an asteroid!

Sincerely,

Mr. Bee

Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™    

 

       

copyright 2017 Mr. Bee Studio International All rights belong to Mr. Bee and webmaster Wesley M. and if anybody breaks this copyright they will have to spend ten years as my personal slave, and thanks for your understanding. 

images courtesy of Comcast Corporation Nina Soden - WordPress.com  and AT&T Inc.

An American Tale - Mr Bee’s review

It has been 3 years since I started this blog and since then all of my volunteer staff have aged 30 years ! Throughout this 3 years I must admit that I have made many improvements. One improvement which I will make in October is reviewing NO MORE Land Before Time movies !! I also have some ideas that will hopefully make this blog better for everyone. What is the best way to celebrate this really big milestone? Well the last 2 years I have reviewed a movie that Don Bluth has made. The movie that I have chosen is An American Tale . Fun Fact : If it wasn’t for this movie , none of the LBT movies would not be in existence ( that could be either good or bad ).  Shall we begin?

Background:   

In 1982 Don Bluth released The Secret of NIMH and the movie was a success critically but financially it caused Don Bluth’s entire company to go into bankruptcy ( that's a bit of a problem )  

But thankfully Steven Spielburg put in the money for Don Bluth to make another movie and Universal would distribute it. Judging by reports from both parties involved , Spielburg and Bluth got equal amount of control. Fun Fact : This movie is the first animated movie that Universal released since Pinnochio in Outer Space in the 1960’s . Judging from clips I saw on you-tube , it seemed pretty bad. But don’t be too surprised as this is the same company that “green lit “ a LBT movie with aliens!  

Plot :

The movie is about a Russian family of mice that migrate to America because supposedly there are no cats there ( tell that to my pet cat ). But on the voyage to the US their youngest son Fievel gets lost . Consequently Fievel and his family are looking to be reunited. There is also a sub thought of eliminating cats in America.

Opinion :

This movie is not too bad ! The story is great, albeit a bit predictable. Most of the characters are memorable but there are a few like the villain, who unfortunately , that I forget almost instantly. The songs are great. My three personal favorites, or songs, that are the most likely to stick in your head are “There are no cats in America,” “Never say Never,” and “Somewhere Out There”.  The animation is superb! Also all the voice actors do an amazing job! Unfortunately, I have one major criticism for this movie, the subplot, about getting rid of cats, is really weak . In fact I found myself feeling bored throughout most of the movie. I felt that it needed a lot more touch ups. So I, unfortunately, give  An American Tale 3 out of 5 stars.   I would, however,  recommend this movie and it is pretty good for all ages.

Thank you for joining me for the last 3 years! Starting next month a new era will begin for this blog. And remember to vote for the next series that I review . The rules can be found in an earlier blog.

Thanks once again for reading my blog for the last 3 years , I am forever in your debt of gratitude!  Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™ 

Mr.Bee

copyright 2017 Mr. Bee Studio International All rights belong to Mr. Bee and webmaster Wesley M. and if anybody breaks this copyright they will have to spend ten years as my personal slave, and thanks for your understanding.  

images courtesy of  Comcast Corporation and 

Mango Bollywood respectively.

The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends

We are almost there!  After this one, there is only one more left in The Land Before Times series! Of course, if we were still in 2014 when I first started this  dumbest idea, it’d be another story (let’s all pretend we are in 2014). Let’s begin!

Background:

As usual with these,  there are no behind the scenes facts. Honestly, I’d be putting more time into this movie than the people in production did if I included details and background.  Moving on...

Plot:

Our heroes  Littlefoot , Ducky, Cera , Petrie, and Spike meet up with these weird idiotic made-up dinosaurs called the ¨yellow bellies “and our 5 heroes need to help them find their herd.

Opinion:

There is not much good in this movie , but I will do my best . The background music is not awful and Littlefoot´s singing voice is surprisingly not that bad. Now letś get to the really bad stuff . The plot is painfully predictable. The humor is cringeworthy , and the songs, as usual, are bad and Universal  has gotten so desperate that they made up a new species of dinosaur!  The animation has gotten a serious downgrade to the point that it is the worst animation in the entire series. This movie has gotten so bad that even hardcore fans of the entire series cannot watch this. Overall, this movie earns the golden garbage can award in a landslide! Have a wonderful summer everyone! I will still be posting a blog every now and then. Good night and Bee Happy!™

Mr.Bee

 

copyright 2017 Mr. Bee Studio International All rights belong to Mr. Bee and webmaster Wesley M. and if anybody breaks this copyright they will have to spend ten years as my personal slave, and thanks for your understanding. 

Zoolander

Welcome!  This is my official review of Zoolander - my end of the year “winner” to review...And it’s not even taken me until December this year.

Background:

This movie was originally supposed to be rated R for crude humor, but the studio filed an appeal to get the rating dropped down to a PG13 rating (which explains a lot).  This movie was released in late September or early October of 2001, and it featured shots of the Twin Towers, but in the wake of 9/11, they edited the towers out of the final edit.  This movie was actually banned in Malaysia due to how the country was portrayed.

Plot:

Ben Stiller plays Derek Zoolander, a hopelessly dim-witted male fashion model who decides to leave the industry to focus on humanitarian efforts.  He is feeling pressure from the new talent, Hansel (played by Owen Wilson).  Will Ferrell plays the villain, fashion mogul Mugato, who has a plot to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia to deregulate the fashion industry.  Mugato tries to manipulate Derek to do the deed.  

Opinion:

Let’s start with the good stuff.  I’m not a huge fan of Ben Stiller.  I like some of his movies.  He did, however, give a solid performance here as did Wilson and Ferrell.  The cinematography was interesting in a good way.  The film was well-edited.  Now let’s get to the many flaws of this movie.  The assasination plot of a prime minister was a tad uncomfortable for me and I’m sure others.  The low-brow humor, for the most part, is bad.  There are few of their many jokes that actually hit their marks.  The ending was a high-point, but by that point my mind was pretty much numb.  The plot tends to be all over the place.  The music is early 2000s music - a bad decade for music.  I have been trying to figure out why this movie has a cult following.  Maybe it’s the lead actors and their  draw.  I ultimately think that the appeal is the way that the beginning of the millenia was satirized that makes it endearing to many.  Unfortunately, it fell on deaf ears because I just didn’t get it.  So, unfortunately, I have to give Zoolander 1 star.  

Remember to vote for my next series.

Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™ 

Mr.Bee

 

copyright 2017 Mr. Bee Studio International All rights belong to Mr. Bee and webmaster Wesley M. and if anybody breaks this copyright they will have to spend ten years as my personal slave, and thanks for your understanding. 

 images courtesy of Viacom Inc. and Fiction Foundry - Fandom  respectively.

The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers

The Land Before Time series is almost done!  After this one, we only have 2 to go!  So as not to delay this much-delayed review (and completion of a fool’s errand) any longer, let’s get right to it.

Background:

Like with the other movies, I have not found any behind-the-scenes facts.  I guess since the film-makers didn’t put any special bonus features on the DVD, I didn’t bother with any special facts.  

Plot:

The movie centers around Petri practicing his families’ routine for a strange holiday called “The Great Day of the Flyers”.  You can put this holiday into an ever-expansive list of stupid holidays made for cinema right up there with Life Day in the Star Wars Holiday Special.  They also came up with a new character named Guido, who for some reason, does a Woody Allen impression.  Guido doesn’t know where he belongs.  So, he tries to fit in with the other characters.  

Opinion:

Let’s start with the good stuff (shouldn’t take long).  The character animation is passable.  The score is good.  What is not good, is the CGI backgrounds (even by 2006 standards).  The songs are aweful.  The voice acting is pretty dismal.  And, by the way, I have NO idea why Guido does a Woody Allen impression.  The plot is predictable mainly because you have seen it done millions of time - and 50% of them have done it better.  The message is not well conceived or excecuted.  Let me explain (spoiler alert): Petri is having trouble flying with his group.  Towards the end of the movie, Guido asks why Petri doesn’t just be himself.  That is all fine-and-good.  But, at ceremony, his family is doing the routine while Petri just starts doing his own thing.  And everyone else just follows along not the least-bit mad at him.  As a matter of fact, some people are enjoying it!  You CAN NOT do that!  Now I’m in chorus.  What this movie is trying to tell me is that if I don’t like the song they are singing, I can just start singing my own song, and the entire chorus - including my teacher - will just start singing along with me.  That is not okay.  Now, granted, you need to put a little of yourself into all that you do, but this is going to the extreme!  Generally, I would say that this movie like this harmless.  But, for the message alone, I would not show this movie to my kids.  The rest of this movie is 1-2 stars.  But the message alone sinks it to the infamous Golden Garbage Can status.  By the way, you can now vote for what series I am to do next.  I have posted the rules in an earlier blog.  Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™

Mr.Bee

copyright 2017 Mr. Bee Studio International All rights belong to Mr. Bee and webmaster Wesley M. and if anybody breaks this copyright they will have to spend ten years as my personal slave, and thanks for your understanding.

The Academy Votes to Possibly Ignore the “Little-Guy”

*This blog was originally written on April 13, 2017 but was delayed due to issues.  

Enjoy,

Mr. Bee

Last Friday the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences announced some rule changes for the 90th Oscars which will happen early next year.  Most of the rules make sense.  However, the rule that got many annoyed was the rule with the animation category.  The nominations are decided by the people who work in the animation industry.  With the exception of best picture, it works like that in all the other categories.  This system is not perfect because people may vote for their friends - as one academy member may have admitted when she said.  “I gave it to [How to Train Your Dragon 2] because I liked the movie and I like the people who worked on the movie.” However, for reasons unknown, the academy has decided to scrap this system specifically for the Animated Feature category.  

To help you understand problem with this decision, I will give you a brief history of the academy as it relates to animation.  The Best Animated (short subject) was developed five years after the creation of the Oscars.  Incidentally, the first winner was Flowers and Trees, which was the first first ever color cartoon.  Then, a few years later, Walt Disney released the first American animated movie to be released - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  However, for Snow White, the academy decided to award Disney a “special” award - much like a participation trophy (They later awarded the same thing to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Toy Story).  Around thirty years later, Disney released The Jungle Book (I’m mentioning Disney a lot!), and it was the academy president Gregory Peck’s favorite movie that year.  He campaigned very hard to get it nominated for Best Picture.  The Academy thought that animated movies had no place being nominated in that category.  Then in 1991, Disney released Beauty and the Beast (over 60 years after the initial Oscars Ceremony), and Beauty and the Beast was nominated for Best Picture.  It ultimately lost to Silence of the Lambs.  And then, in 2002, they finally added an animation category.  Incidentally, the first winner in the category was Shrek.  In 2010, Pixar’s Up was nominated for Best Picture only to lose to The Hurt Locker.  The next year, Toy Story 3 was nominated for Best Picture but lost to the King’s Speech.  Now, you are caught up to speed.  

Here is another longstanding Oscar “rule” that I disagree with.  The academy does not consider voice acting as acting thus making them ineligible for an Oscar. This rule discredits all voice actors and diminishes their art.  In many respects, this rule may be why many people consider voice acting the butt of many jokes.  Acting genius, Mel Blanc, never got an honorary or competitive Oscar in his life-time, and that is tragic since Looney Tunes has had a dramatic influence on cartoons to this day.  

The crux of the problem for me with this change is that the animation branch at the academy has nominated some pretty good films.  And some of them are foreign or independent.  And for many of these films, they NEED that nomination to get credibility and eyeballs in America.  The academy is blatant with their prejudice towards animation.  Every year The Hollywood Reporter interviews many academy voters to see who they voted for.  Here are some of their quotes:

  

“I liked them all about the same, so I decided not to vote.”

“I have seen none of them. I have no interest whatsoever. That ended when I was 6. My son dragged me to a few when he was 6; I would seat him and go outside and make phone calls.”

“I never got a chance to watch those screeners. There were so many films to watch and I just had to pick and choose.”

There are some academy members that do think that animation is a legitimate medium, and they have told the interviewer as much.  You can find them on your own if you’d like.

Overall, I feel that this rule change will probably get rid of the independent and foreign movies from being nominated and deny the chance for many  great movies to be recognized.  And, given the many beliefs on animation, you could end up seeing Ice Age movies and Hotel Transylvania 2 being nominated - and that’s not acceptable. Granted, these movies are commercial successes, but they are NOT award-worthy and are largely written just to make a buck.  There are enough great projects out there that deserve recognition for their craft that shouldn’t get ignored.  This new rule jeopardizes them.  Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™

Mr.Bee
copyright 2017 Mr. Bee Studio International All rights belong to Mr. Bee and webmaster Wesley M. and if anybody breaks this copyright they will have to spend ten years as my personal slave, and thanks for your understanding.