July 13, 2020 by Nostra - 1 Comment

Hamilton (2020) – Review

Hype for a certain piece of entertainment can be dangerous. There may come a time when your expectations are so high that something can only disappoint. The play Hamilton, which is about one of the “founding fathers” of America, is something I had heard a lot of praise for in several podcasts. The play was always sold out and ticket prices were astronomical. And considering the subject, I had reservations. When the soundtrack was released I may have played it, but didn’t give it my full attention and that was it. I couldn’t imagine that this play was really that special. When Hamilton appeared on Disney+ last week, I had to see it, however, to finally give this piece my full attention and to form an opinion for myself about this historic musical. And I’m glad I did. Continue reading →

April 30, 2020 by Nostra - 1 Comment

Onward (2020) – Review

The current corona crisis has not only changed daily life, the impact on the film industry is also enormous. Film companies can no longer make new films and titles that are about to be released are postponed, sometimes even by a year. Other titles, the films that are not blockbusters, will appear on VOD platforms without ever seeing the cinema (or only very shortly before the closure of cinemas). One of those titles was Pixar’s Onward, which was recently available for rent in America and is now available on Disney. Continue reading →

December 17, 2019 by Nostra - 0 comments

One Day at Disney (2019) – Review

Since the worldwide release of Disney+, the service releases new content every week. The amount cannot be compared with, for example, Netflix (it is much less) and the strategy is different (weekly release of new episodes from, for example, The Mandalorian, Forky Asks a Question or The Imagineering Story instead of releasing whole seasons), but the service tries to ensure that you return regularly. The documentary One Day at Disney was recently released, which covers a part of the book One Day at Disney Making Magic Every Day and can be seen as a companion piece. Ultimately, it is intended that more individual episodes follow. Disney is known for its magic, but does this documentary also capture that? Continue reading →

March 1, 2016 by Nostra - 4 Comments

Zootopia (2016) – Review

Recensie Zootopia

It’s always exciting when a studio releases a new movie which isn’t a sequel. Releasing such a movie can be a risk (Gods of Egypt is a good example), because making films is not cheap, especially when they are completely computer generated. Disney has been on a roll lately with Wreck-it-Ralph, Frozen and Big Hero 6 (and of course the Pixar movies), so it was exciting to see what they would bring with Zootopia. Continue reading →

January 30, 2014 by Nostra - 16 Comments

Frozen (2013)

Review Frozen

I used to love watching animated movies. If there was a new one I just had to check it out as soon as possible. But something has changed and I’m not sure what it is. Even though every year has some great animated movies, there are a ton of horrible ones. I guess I have seen too many bad ones to be excited about what is being released. Last year I could not be bothered to check out movies like Planes or Turbo because the concept behind them just felt like marketing and nothing more. Movies just to sell toys. Still I did watch some animated movies. One of them was Epic and that film disappointed me and probably also made me a bit more cautious. Still I was quite intrigued by the teaser trailer for Frozen and since this is a Disney movie it could be good. Tangled was a lot of fun, so chances were this one would be enjoyable too. My trip to the cinema confirmed my hopes. Continue reading →

April 17, 2012 by Nostra - 15 Comments

The Sweatbox (2005)

You might be looking at that poster and wonder if you might have missed a Disney movie. Don’t worry, you haven’t. This was the original title of the Emperor’s New Groove. It is a documentary that was only shown once publicly after which Disney decided to put it in the vault. Somehow a work copy has found its way on the internet (at the time of writing is still available on Vimeo) and I couldn’t pass the chance to watch something Disney doesn’t want people to see. Continue reading →

November 1, 2011 by Nostra - 3 Comments

Waking Sleeping Beauty (2009)

For me Disney movies were a big part of growing up. Of course you watched a lot of other cartoons, but those long movies were fun to watch. I can remember watching Robin Hood at school or collecting stickers from The Great Mouse Detective. As a kid you felt the magic these movies had and couldn’t get enough of them. I’m still a big fan of them now (although I don’t watch them as much any more), but there was a time when the animation studios had a lot of trouble. The quality of their movies was getting worse and there were talks of a takeover and splitting up the company. Something needed to be done to get everything on the rails again. Sleeping Beauty shows what was done between 1984 and 1994, a period in which Disney managed to get back on top with movies like Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King. Continue reading →

March 31, 2011 by Nostra - 0 comments

Tron: Legacy (2010)

Tron: Legacy was a movie that had a lot of promotion. Disney had high expectations of the sequel to the 1982 original and threw a lot of money at marketing the film. It was almost impossible to not know the movie was coming. If you didn’t see the posters, you would see the toys, the games or other products. Even when I bought my Nokia N8 it had some clips of the movie installed on it. The phone also appeared in the film itself, so it’s logical, but it does show the reach Disney has to get you to notice this film. Luckily I don’t judge movies based on their marketing and promotion, because if I would have done that this movie would have surely received a 10. Of course the most important question is whether or not Tron: Legacy is a good movie. Continue reading →

January 12, 2011 by Nostra - 3 Comments

Tangled (2010)

Tangled is based on the brothers Grimm story of Rapunzel. Disney has taken this original story and modified it heavily. Rapunzel’s hair is magical and can give back youth and heal wounds when a magical song is sung. Rapunzel also doesn’t stay in her tower as long as was the case in the original story and there is no prince involved.
Did Disney change too much of the story or has it managed to give it a nice new twist to give it a breath of fresh air? Continue reading →