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EXPRESSO BONGO (1959) – Blu-ray Review

The many musical performances, both in-world and integrated, are good (particularly a tightly coordinated split screen number) and the music itself is even better.  Director/producer Val Guest, for all his potshots taken at the coffee shop “rebellion” of the youth set, does a formidable of depicting the budding scene and the neon-y, urban and modernized world surrounding it.  The film is never better than when the kids get to groovin’ on the dance floor.  It’s the newfangled widescreen frame a-hoppin’ and a-boppin’.  Clearly, the espresso- or, er, “expresso”- is freely flowing!
Blu-rayEThe 1950's0 Comments

ENCANTO – Film Review

Encanto represents a kind of pinnacle in that the subtle expressions and movements of the characters serve to tell us more about them than their dialogue or larger expressions and movements.  In this, Encanto’s performances are more like that of live-action narrative filmmaking than that typical of animated features.  This is fully in keeping with the “illusion of life” aspiration and tradition at the center of every great Disney animated film since Snow White, and worthy of celebration.  Simply, Encanto, in its commitment to nuance, boasts some of the best character animation ever committed to the screen.
2021Current ReviewsE0 Comments