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The worst animated film I have personally ever seen is Romeo and Juliet: Sealed With a Kiss.
The greatest animated film I have personally ever seen is Disney's Bambi.
My favorite animated film(s) of all time are both The Iron Giant and The Prince of Egypt.
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American Experience: Alexander Hamilton (2007)
Could have been better
I honestly feel like I learned more about Hamilton through outside sources. The most interesting part about this documentary was about his early career on the island of Nevis. Other than that, all other information presented in this documentary was very run-of-the-mill textbook information, they even got one bit wrong: Martha Washington didn't really name a feral tomcat after Hamilton, that was a rumor made up by British loyalists to defame him.
It felt very underwhelming, and even lazy, to have the actors sitting down requoting letters and rarely recreating the events described. I was also taken back by the actor playing Hamilton doing a vague British accent, the guy was from the Caribbean, his father was Scottish and his mother was of French-British descent, I seriously doubt he would have had a British accent.
There are a lot of things that this documentary does not address, some really cool facts that I honestly believe is worth mentioning when discussing the life of Alexander Hamilton. Such as:
They could have mentioned the hurricane that destroyed Hamilton's hometown, and it was his recording of the devastation that blew people away by his sheer brilliance at writing that convinced them to help him get on a boat to America for a proper education.
They could have mentioned how Hamilton stayed with Hercules Mulligan, an Irish immigrant and tailor, who helped Hamilton get into college upon arriving in New York. Mulligan's brother was affiliated with Crugers, whom Hamilton worked for on Nevis, so it's likely that Hamilton made plans ahead of time to stay with Mulligan through those connections. It was through Mulligan, as well, that Hamilton came to understand the American desire for revolution.
They could have also mentioned that Hamilton suffered from reoccurring Malaria; and from the winter of 1777 and almost all of January 1778, Hamilton suffered a near deadly fever that he thankfully overcame.
They could have mentioned the powerful friendship he shared with the Marquis de Lafayette (who Washington had introduced to Hamilton since he was fluent in French and Lafayette was still not very good at English)
They could have mentioned his relationship with John Laurens. Poor dear rash Laurens.
They could have mentioned how, at one point, Hamilton was so incredibly smitten after his time spent with Elizabeth Schuyler's that he forgot the password to get back into camp (I'm not kidding he wrote about this in a letter).
They could have mentioned how the letter describing his preference in women, as well as the letter where he writes "I hate congress... I hate myself" were both his letters to John Laurens, and that last letter also basically said "I hate everything but I could never hate you." Why didn't they mention Laurens?
They could have mentioned how upon returning home from the war, he immediately fell ill, possibly a combination of physical fatigue and also trauma from the war.
They could have mentioned how devastated he was when he received the letter of John Laurens' unexpected death in 1982. Why didn't they mention Laurens?
They could have mentioned how Hamilton never had a close relationship with anyone after losing Laurens. They seriously should have mentioned Laurens, why didn't they mention Laurens???
They could have mentioned his friendship with James Madison in the 1780s before Madison started to leave Hamilton due to differing politics, and was totally against Hamilton by the 1790s.
They could have mentioned the Yellow Fever epidemic in Philedelphia of 1793 when both Alexander and his wife Elizabeth contracted the sickness but overcame it.
They could have gone more in depth about the history of Aaron Burr and Hamilton's rivalry. They bring it up only when they talk about the Election of 1800, but their history goes back further than that.
They could have mentioned how Duels were outlawed everywhere, including New Jersey, except the punishment for it was less severe there (it warrants the death penalty everywhere else).
They could have mentioned how much of a good loving father he was to all of his 8 children, even becoming nurse-like whenever one of them was sick.
They could have gone more in depth into how Philip Hamilton's death affected the family. Their second oldest child, Angelica, was traumatized by the loss and mentally reverted back to being a child who still believed Philip was alive. When Eliza gave birth to their 8th and last child, they named him after their deceased son.
They could have mentioned his relationship with the Schuyler's: Philip, Angelica, and Peggy.
They could have mentioned his dying words to his wife "Remember you are a Christian".
They could have mentioned how in his final hours of life, Eliza gathered all of his children into the room and let him look upon them one last time.
They could have mention some of the little silly things Hamilton did in his life, like dare Goveneur Morris to pat President Washington on the back to greet him, which the poor man did and was given a cold stare that he described made him want to sink into the floor. Or how he had a neighbor who owned a pet monkey that Hamilton and Madison liked to visit and feed grapes. Or the time President Washington invited both him and Jefferson to accompany him on a fishing trip and it probably sucked ass.
There was so much more to this man that this documentary did not cover. It's really wasted opportunity. It mostly really really bothers me that they passed off John Laurens as "a fellow soldier", when the letters exchanged between the two men implies so much more between them. At the end of the day, this documentary really wasn't that bad, but was very standard and uninspiring, which is not Hamilton at all the guy was absolutely fascinating.
The Animated Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1998)
Mind-boggling.
A year ago, I was with a buddy browsing through the "Animated Films For Children" section of Netflix, to see what kind of trash we could get a good laugh at. We stumbled upon this film and thought the picture looked sort of anime-ish. We decided we'd check it out and were not prepared for what we got. My friend couldn't take much more of it beyond the first 3 minutes, so I ended up watching the rest by myself. My gosh. I don't have the right words to describe how hilariously bad this film is. The dialogue is trash, the story is all over the place and makes no sense, there's nothing remotely interesting or likable about any of the characters, and the animation is beyond wonky and jerky that I found myself laughing it more than the "comedy". And, despite both Tom and Finn being little kids, the character designs make them both look like teenagers (especially Finn). And the other characters' designs look really unappealing when you put them all side by side; some are very cartoon-ish looking, and some look more like comic-book/anime rip off spawns drawn by people who just wanted to go home that day. And the voice acting is... not great. It's not the worst, but it definitely isn't great.
The musical segments (yes, this film has musical segments, and LOTS of them) have possibly the most bland song writing I have ever heard. And everyone's singing voice is different from their normal voices. There are a lot of films that do this that aren't bad, but none of them ever sounded this jarring. Every song is complete nothingness, and all sound the same. The only thing that kept my attention in those segments were the terrible choreography and jerky animation, as well as how unfitting the music went with the scene it was placed in. For example, there is a funeral scene (it's not a real funeral, though, I'm not entirely sure what it is... hell I don't think even the movie knows what it is) in this film that has a musical segment and it is the second funniest scene in the entire film, only to be beaten out by the song that immediately (and I'm serious when I say 'immediately') follows.
There are also bizarre cut-away fantasy segments that do nothing but lengthen the film's run time. There are also countless moments, that I can't tell if it's the writer's, editor's, director's, or animator's fault, that make you question what's even going on. And I won't give away the ending, but just so you know, wow does it take a weird turn. I felt dumbfounded. It is such a bizarre way to end... anything. I haven't even scratched the surface of this mind-boggling film-trash. There is so much wrong that went into this film that it's remarkable. This is on the same level of The Room in terms of so being bad it's good. I highly recommend it to those who enjoy subjecting themselves to terrible films. Watch it with your buddies, share a few drinks, and have some laughs at something so incredibly dumb-founding that it's not worth subjecting to young, impressionable rugrats.