2013 was not a very good year for films:
-Gravity was my number 2 film this year
-The underrated About Time and documentary Stories We Tell
However a weak year with one immensely popular film:
Frozen
Directed by Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee
Screenplay by Jennifer Lee
Voices by Kristen Bell; Idina Menzel; Jonathan Graff; and Josh Gadd
Stop rolling your eyes. I know the song sung by Menzel as Elsa Let It Go has been played to death. And yes Frozen has been a marketing overkill. However break it down and just step back a bit. This film deserves the number 1 spot....
-The script is maybe the best script of that year. It is very clean and straight up good vs evil. Love of family. A lost soul who finds love. Kindness vs greed. And also lets not forget magic. It makes you feel good.
-Music. Let It Go was overplayed, but do not forget...it is a very meaningful song as per the script.
There were other wonderful songs and all relevant to the script. Do You Want To Build A Snowman....I Summer... Fixer Upper. Face it after seeing the film you are singing one of the songs from this film. Speaking of singing...
-Not only great voice work but the same voices are singing. Yes we know Gadd can sing and Menzel can sing.....but how about that Kristen Bell as Anna!!! Who knew she could sing!!!
-The look!!! I think when dealing with Frozen...with all the great music and the wonderful story ...the animation can be overlooked. Most notably: The final showdown....the snow coming down looks so good you can almost feel the cold coming off the screen. Also that wonderful look of Elsa's purple cape providing a wonderful sharp contrast to the white snow.
Again....in all the over marketing...and over playing of Let It Go...do not forget the magic of it all.
Now for fun and not so fun facts:
- The highest grossing film of all time as of 2014 it was at 1.097 billion dollars
-Anna is 18 in the film while Elsa and Kristoff are 21 and Hans is 23
-Based on a Hans Christian Anderson story.
-Menzel tried out for the part of Rapunzel in Tangled. even though she did not get the part they kept her tapes and offered her Elsa two years later.
-Speaking of Rapunzel. Rapunzel and Eugene were at the opening of the gates for the coronation.
4 1/2 stars for Frozen. Clearly the best film of 2014.
From the shadows as always thanks for your time.
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