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Monday, December 7, 2015

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang


        I am very familiar with some names in the credits of this movie. First and foremost it is an Ian Fleming book. Secondly Albert R. Broccoli produces it. Ken Adams is even the production designer. Oh yea one more biggie. Gert Frobe plays the head villain. (Aka Goldfinger) He is argued to be the greatest villain in the history of the James Bond Franchise. 

This is however a Disney film. Therefore I should compare it to other Disney films. It is a live action Disney musical so lets stick to just those films for now shall we? This film precedes films like Pete's Dragon and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. It follows such films however as Mary Poppins and Song of the South. This is not one of my all time favorites.  

My first complaint is that it is too long. At two hours and twenty-five minutes I needed an entire morning off to see it. It even comes complete with intermission. (I needed one.) I will say however that it tells a complete story and no scenes are unnecessary. I just wonder how many kids today will have the attention span to get through it. I know films made back it its day (1968) were long but this is ridiculous. Every thing before the intermission was well paced and enjoyable. The pacing however seemed to grind to a halt after that. When the final credits came it was none too soon. I raced my Netflix DVD to the mailbox to get it in the noon pick up. 

             This movie did have it advantages though. The cinematography was fantastic. The costumes were amazing and the kids at the center of the story were as cute as a button. I laughed many times while watching it and even began to sing along. So it filled the requirements of a good family film. I was however enamored with the film and in my opinion it never really took flight. Heck it barley floated my boat for that matter and that is what a good film should do. 

             Perhaps the fault is with in me and I don’t have the patience to enjoy an older film such as this. The other possibility is that it just is not my morning. With today being the 8th straight day of rain in the forecast I need a little pick me up. I also need a descent day job. That way I wont be watching movies every morning. I am definitely getting more critical lately. If you don’t believe me just look at my last few reviews. 

                                                                                                                                                                                       Grade C-

No comments:

A note from an editor!

Hi Matthew,


Thank you for the time and effort you put into this piece, especially on a Saturday morning. I can tell you definitely took good notes of everything that was going on during the event!


We still have some work to do before this piece is ready to print. Your piece has a lot of information, but it doesn’t sound like a news article. What was the point of his speech/presentation? Why was he addressing this audience? What is Vanguard? What does the company do – who does it serve? You spend a lot of time narrating (for example, how he was injured), but did not report on the purpose of the event. You can maybe mention his appearance/joking about it in a sentence or two, but do not take several paragraphs to do so. Also, I like how you mentioned where the name “Vanguard” comes from.


There are a lot of spelling errors in this piece – make sure you proof read each sentence carefully.


I know I am getting back to you a little later I hoped, and I’m sorry about that! But if you have time tonight, please go through my suggestions and try to rework your piece. You can send me what you have tonight/tomorrow morning. Please bring a copy of it to the meeting tomorrow and we will discuss it further from there.


Once again, thanks for your hard work and promptness! Remember this is a learning process, and we are all part of the Waltonian team!


Talk to you soon!


Ten Most pathetic movie stars that still have careers.

(In A - B -C Order)


1. Hayden Christensen


2. Tom Crusie


3. Kevin Costner


4. Keeanu Reeves


5. Denise Richards


6. Adam Sandler


7. Arnold Schwarzenegger


8. William Shatner


9. Sylvester Stalloan


10. John Claude Van dahm