Tag Archives: Kristen Bell

Frozen II (2019)

Posted on by
Reply

Frozen II
Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Writer: Jennifer Lee
Based on (or rather inspired by): Hans Christian Andersen‘s fairy tale The Snow Queen
Sequel to: Frozen
Cast: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Sterling K. Brown, Evan Rachel Wood, Alfred Molina, Martha Plimpton, Jason Ritter, Rachel Matthews, Jeremy Sisto, Alan Tudyk, Ciarán Hinds
Seen on: 18.12.2019

Content Note: (critical treatment of) colonialism, racism

Plot:
Anna (Kirsten Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) lifted the curse off Arendelle and Elsa has risen to the throne, making an excellent queen. But when things finally seem to be okay, a voice starts calling Elsa – a voice only she can hear. It beckons her, but it’s only after strange – and threatening – things start happening in Arendelle that Elsa resolves to go. She knows she has to find a forest that used to be the kingdom of Northuldra and the place where her own grandfather was killed by the natives. And Anna knows that she will not let her sister go on any mission alone anymore. So they start making their way north together with Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), Sven, and Olaf (Josh Gad) to rediscover history.

Frozen II feels very in tune with the first Frozen film, though personally I found the music not quite up to snuff. No matter, though, because the themes the film tackles more than make up for it: surprisingly heavy for a children’s film, they still handle them mostly well.

The film poster showing the main characters and smaller Elsa doing some ice magic.

[SPOILERS]

Continue reading →

You Again (2010)

Posted on by
Reply

You Again
Director: Andy Fickman
Writer: Moe Jelline
Cast: Kristen Bell, Jamie Lee Curtis, Sigourney Weaver, Odette Annable, Victor Garber, Betty White, James Wolk, Kristin Chenoweth, Sean Wing, Kyle Bornheimer, William Brent, Christine Lakin, Meagan Holder, Patrick Duffy
Seen on: 10.6.2019

Plot:
Marni (Kristen Bell) was not particularly popular in high school, and that’s putting it mildly. Her main tormentor was Joanna (Odette Annable). Marni thought that she left all of this behind her – until she finds out that her brother (James Wolk) just got engaged to Joanna. The Joanna now seems all kindness and charity, but Marni doesn’t believe this new Joanna one bit and is dead-set on exposing who she really is. Things get even more heated when Joanna’s aunt Ramona (Sigourney Weaver) shows up – and turns out to be the former best friend turned enemy of Marni’s mother Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis).

You Again was okay to watch, but – despite the really awesome cast – nothing more than that.

The film poster showing Gail (Jamie Lee Curtis), Marni (Kristen Bell), Ramona (Sigourney Weaver) and Joanna (Odette Annable), each holding a phote of one of the other women that is ripped apart. In the middle is Grandma Bunny (Betty White) trying to hold it all together.
Continue reading →

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

Posted on by
Reply

Ralph Breaks the Internet
Director: Phil Johnston, Rich Moore
Writer: Phil Johnston, Pamela Ribon
Sequel to: Wreck-It Ralph
Cast: John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Gal Gadot, Taraji P. Henson, Jack McBrayer, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Alfred Molina, Ed O’Neill, Sean Giambrone, Flula Borg, Timothy Simons, li Wong, June Squibb, Dianna Agron, Jason Mantzoukas, Vin Diesel, Nicole Scherzinger, Irene Bedard, Kristen Bell, Jodi Benson, Auli’i Cravalho, Jennifer Hale, Kate Higgins, Linda Larkin, Kelly Macdonald, Idina Menzel, Mandy Moore, Paige O’Hara, Pamela Ribon, Anika Noni Rose, Ming-Na Wen
Seen on: 30.1.2019
1-gif-review

Plot:
The arcade is going rather well and Ralph (John C. Reilly) and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman) enjoy being best friends. But Vanellope is starting to get increasingly bored with the limitations of her game. When Ralph tries to help, things don’t go as he planned and Vanellope finds herself with a broken game. In an attempt to find the necessary replacement, Ralph and Vanellope go into the internet – which opens a whole new world for them. But one that isn’t without its pitfalls, either.

Wreck-It Ralph was already a whole lot of fun, and Ralph Breaks the Internet did take things up a notch for me – simply because the internet is much more my area of “expertise” than computer games. I really, really enjoyed it.

The film poster showing Ralph standing on a wife sign that floats through a city filled with social media icons. Vanellope is standing on his shoulder.
Continue reading →

Veronica Mars (2014)

Posted on by
Reply

Veronica Mars
Director: Rob Thomas
Writer: Rob Thomas, Diane Ruggiero-Wright
Sequel to: the Veronica Mars TV show
Cast: Kristen Bell, Jason Dohring, Enrico Colantoni, Chris Lowell, Percy Daggs III, Tina Majorino, Krysten Ritter, Martin Starr, Gaby Hoffmann, Andrea Estella, Jerry O’Connell, Francis Capra, Ryan Hansen
Seen on: 18.10.2018
1-gif-review

Plot:
Veronica (Kristen Bell) made it out of Neptune, California. She is now a lawyer in New York and in a relationship with Piz (Chris Lowell). But when her high school friend slash big love Logan (Jason Dohring) calls and asks for her help, Veronica returns. Logan’s girlfriend Bonnie (Andrea Estella) and Logan is being accused of the crime. Not wanting to get into deep, Veronica just agrees to help Logan find a good lawyer, but keeping the distance is easier said than done.

Veronica Mars (the movie) does offer some closure that was lacking in Veronica Mars (the TV show), but other than that, it doesn’t really have much to offer. For fans of the series, it will be a must see, for everybody else it’s definitely not.

The film poster showing Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell) holding a huge camera.
Continue reading →

The Disaster Artist (2017)

Posted on by
1

The Disaster Artist
Director: James Franco
Writer: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber
Based on: Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell‘s book of the same name
Cast: James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Ari Graynor, Alison Brie, Jacki Weaver, Paul Scheer, Zac Efron, Josh Hutcherson, June Diane Raphael, Megan Mullally, Jason Mantzoukas, Sharon Stone, Melanie Griffith, Hannibal Buress, Bob Odenkirk, Randall Park, Dree Hemingway, Zoey Deutch, Ike Barinholtz, Kevin Smith, Keegan-Michael Key, Adam Scott, Danny McBride, Kristen Bell, J.J. Abrams, Lizzy Caplan, Judd Apatow, Zach Braff, Bryan Cranston, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Greg Sestero, Tommy Wiseau
Seen on: 26.1.2017
1-gif-review

Plot:
Greg Sestero (Dave Franco) dreams of being an actor and making it big. In one of his acting classes, he meets Tommy Wiseau (James Franco). Tommy is a strange guy, but Greg is struck by his mysterious charisma and generall weirdness. They become unlikely friends. And since Tommy seems to have a lot of money, he can offer Greg a chance that he wouldn’t otherwise get: they should go to Hollywood together, stardom is sure to follow. But when it doesn’t, Tommy makes a new plan: he will make a film himself for them and then their film is going to make them famous.

The Disaster Artist is fun to watch, at least if you can take a huge James Franco ego project, because that’s what it is, too. Mostly it’s a good story that kept me glued to the screen.

Continue reading →

Olaf’s Frozen Adventure (2017)

Posted on by
Reply

Olaf’s Frozen Adventure
Director: Kevin Deters, Stevie Wermers
Writer: Jac Schaeffer, Brian Kesinger
Sequel to: Frozen
Cast: Josh Gad, Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell, Jonathan Groff, Chris Williams, John de Lancie
Seen on: 9.12.2017

Plot:
Anna (Kristen Bell) and Elsa (Idina Menzel) are getting ready to celebrate their first Christmas since the gates reopenend. Olaf (Josh Gad) wants to do his part, so he enlists the help of Sven to find out about the most important holiday traditions in Arendelle.

I liked Frozen, but I thought that Olaf’s Frozen Adventure was really bad. The music wasn’t even close to the quality of Frozen, the message of the entire thing was weird and at 20 minutes, it felt so incredibly long, it should have been impossible to feel that long. In short, to say that I disliked it, is putting it way too mildly.

Zootopia (2016)

Posted on by
Reply

Zootopia
Director: Byron Howard, Rich Moore, Jared Bush
Writer: Jared Bush, Phil Johnston
Cast: Ginnifer Goodwin, Jason Bateman, Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, Nate Torrence, Bonnie Hunt, Don Lake, Tommy Chong, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Alan Tudyk, Shakira, Kristen Bell (in a small cameo)
Seen on: 13.3.2016

Plot:
Judy Hopps (Ginnifer Goodwin) has always dreamed of becoming a police officer. And although there has never been a bunny police officer before, she fights her way through the academy and into active duty in the capital – only to be relegated to doling out parking tickets. But even then she promptly finds con man Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman), although she can’t actually arrest him. But when carnivores start going crazy and threaten the peace of Zootropolis, Judy realize that there are bigger fish to fry – and that she needs Nick’s help to catch them.

Zootopia is a sweet, funny, entertaining film that might not be quite as progressive as it thinks it is. But that’s debatable and it certainly is very good to watch.

zootopia

[SPOILERS]

Continue reading →

Frozen (2013)

Posted on by
3

Frozen
Director: Chris Buck, Jennifer Lee
Writer: Jennifer Lee
Based on (or rather inspired by): Hans Christian Andersen‘s fairy tale The Snow Queen
Cast: Kristen Bell, Idina Menzel, Jonathan Groff, Josh Gad, Santino Fontana, Alan Tudyk, Ciarán Hinds

Plot:
Anna (Kristen Bell) and her sister Ella (Idina Menzel) were really close until Ella accidentally hurt Anna with her magic power that controls snow and ice. As a precaution their parents, the king and queen, effectively isolate Ella completely, much to Anna’s chagrin who doesn’t remember anything about the power. After their parents die, Ella is supposed to take over but things go out of hand and Anna finds herself on a mission to save not only Ella, but their entire kingdom with Kristoff (Jonathan Groff).

Frozen is beautifully animated, funny and very sweet. The plot is nice as well and surprisingly feminist. And to round things off, the music was really nice.

Frozen

Continue reading →

Movie 43 (2013)

Posted on by
3

Movie 43 (it’s a comedy anthology with the following segments)
Writer (for the most parts): Rocky Russo, Jeremy Sosenko, Steve Baker
The Thread (in the European version, that’s the framing device; in the US, I gather, it’s a different story)
Director: Bob Odenkirk
Cast: Devin Eash, Adam Cagley, Mark L. Young
The Catch
Director: Peter Farrelly
Cast: Kate Winslet, Hugh Jackman
Homeschooled
Director: Will Graham
Cast: Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Jeremy Allen White
The Proposition
Director: Steve Carr
Cast: Chris Pratt, Anna Faris
Veronica
Director: Griffin Dunne
Cast: Kieran Culkin, Emma Stone
iBabe
Director: Steven Brill
Cast: Richard Gere, Kate Bosworth, Aasif Mandvi, Jack McBrayer
Superhero Speed Dating
Director: James Duffy
Cast: Justin Long, Jason Sudeikis, Uma Thurman, Kristen Bell, Bobby Cannavale, Leslie Bibb, John Hodgman
Machine Kids
Director: Jonathan van Tulleken
Writer: Jonathan van Tulleken
Middleschool Date
Director: Elizabeth Banks
Cast: Chloe Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Patrick Warburton, Matt Walsh
Tampax
Director: Patrik Forsberg
Writer: Patrik Forsberg
Happy Birthday
Director: Brett Ratner
Cast: Johnny Knoxville, Seann William Scott, Gerard Butler
Truth or Dare
Director: Peter Farrelly, Patrik Forsberg
Cast: Stephen Merchant, Halle Berry
Victory’s Glory
Director: Rusty Cundieff
Cast: Terrence Howard
Beezel
Director: James Gunn
Cast: Elizabeth Banks, Josh Duhamel

Plot:
Calvin (Mark L. Young) and his best friend JJ (Adam Cagley) wanted to trick his little brother Baxter (Devin Eash) by making him look for a supposedly banned film that doesn’t actually exist – Movie 43. But Baxter actually finds something, and as they move from clip to clip they come ever closer to the truth.

People, heed my warning. I thought that a movie with that cast couldn’t possible be as bad as the trailer. “There must be something there,” I thought. “Something redeeming. It can’t possibly be all dick jokes, scatological humor and misanthropy?” Now I laugh in the face of my naivité. Because that really is all there is to this film: people behaving like disgusting assholes and we’re supposed to laugh about it. And all that remains after seeing the film is a question: Why? Why would anybody want to make such a film? Why are any of the actors involved in this? Why would anybody think that shit is funny? WHYYYYY????

movie-43

Continue reading →

Burlesque (2010)

Posted on by
2

Burlesque is the newest movie by Steve Antin, starring Cher, Christina Aguilera, Cam Gigandet, Stanley Tucci, Eric Dane, Alan Cumming, Kristen Bell and Peter Gallagher.

Plot:
Small town girl Ali (Christina Aguilera) moves to L.A. to make it big as a singer/dancer. She ends up in a Burlesque bar owned by Tess (Cher), former Burlesque dancer/singer and her ex-husband (Peter Gallagher). Ali gets to know the barkeeper Jack (Cam Gigandet) and with his help she basically hires herself – as a waitress, at least at first.

The movie is about as bad as you imagine it to be. Which means don’t-spend-your-money-on-it bad. But with a fast-forward button at hand, it might be worth to spend your time on it.

Continue reading →