Favorite films

Recent reviews

• 

  Pluto and the Armadillo 1943

  Added

  Originally intended for inclusion in Saludos Amigos, this short sees Mickey and Pluto get off a plane in the rainforest during a pit stop on their journey through Brazil. Antics ensue when an armadillo is mistaken for Pluto's ball. The two befriend after Pluto is relieved to discover that the round bouncy object he popped wasn't the shelled mammal.

  Pluto's probably my least favorite out of the classic Disney shorts characters and was no more tolerable to me than usual here. This short is weaker than any of the four segments that made it into Saludos Amigos, thus that film remains more interesting without it.

• 

  Human Nature 2001

  Added

  There are two distinct periods in Charlie Kaufman’s cinematic oeuvre. Firstly, there’s the era in which Spike Jonze and Michael Gondry brought his screenplays to life. Then there’s the following era where Kaufman directs his writing. While sharing many of the same themes, these two periods of his career are quite distinct in their tone. Early Kaufman still has the melancholy and cynical humanism that he’s today known for, but it’s turned heavily down in favor of surrealist comedy. I’m…

• 

  The Reluctant Dragon 1941

  Added

  This curio is a “tour” of the Walt Disney Studios, or so it claims. In truth, most interior shots were filmed on sound stages. Robert Benchley explores the sprawling campus with the intent to pitch a film based on the story “The Reluctant Dragon”. While trying to locate Walt he gets sidetracked by everything from animators screening him a Goofy “How To” cartoon, to foley artists recording over footage of Casey Jr., to storyboarders presenting an animatic for a tale…

• 

  Donald in Mathmagic Land 1959

  Added

  Like many, I first viewed this in math class long ago. Far from a masterpiece on an artistic level, it is nevertheless one on an educational level.

  It depicts and describes the applications of mathematics extremely well, illustrating that math is everywhere. Math is more than just numbers on a page, it is in our music, art, and architecture. It's in chess and billiards, and it's in the designs of nature itself.

  As we've had generations of Americans ask what the point of math in public education even is, we perhaps need the messaging of this short now more than ever.