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Redbelt **1/2
Roman de gare **1/2
Son of Rambow **1/2
Speed Racer [review coming soon]
Still Life ****
Iron Man ***
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A Collection of 2007 Academy Award Nominated Short Films
The Hottie and the Nottie
I'm Not There
Over Her Dead Body
Paddle to the Sea
The Red Balloon
Silent Ozu: Three Family Comedies (Criterion Eclipse #10)
Teeth
Twister: Special Edition
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Charlton Heston (1924-2008)
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The Top 50 Movies of the Past Ten Years (1997-2006)
Bong Joon-ho, director of The Host
Mark Polish, Michael Polish & Billy Bob Thornton
My latest blog entries at cinematical.com
The 'Mexican New Wave'
Interview with Singaporian Filmmaker Djinn
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Not Quite a Memoir: Of Films, Books, the World, by Judy Stone
James Agee: The Library of America Collection, by James Agee
Just Making Movies, by Ronald L. Davis
Guide to Essential Movies, by Joe Leydon
Cecil B. DeMille's Hollywood, by Robert S. Birchard
Profoundly Disturbing, by Joe Bob Briggs
A Third Face, by Samuel Fuller
Dark Lover, by Emily Leider
Agee on Film, by James Agee
Lulu in Hollywood, by Louise Brooks
Negative Space, by Manny Farber
5001 Nights at the Movies, by Pauline Kael
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The online film magazine Combustible Celluloid offers new movie reviews, DVD reviews, film reviews, actor interviews, actress interviews, director interviews, film books and all things cinema related for the thoughtful and passionate. Online for ten years! Over 3000 reviews!

 
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© 1997-2008 Combustible Celluloid



The Little Mermaid: Special Edition (1989)

Rating: 3 1/2 Stars (out of 4)

Win-Fin Situation

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy The Little Mermaid on DVD

Disney's The Little Mermaid, based loosely on the Hans Christian Andersen story and directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, probably doesn't look like much today. Up to then, Disney releases like The Fox and the Hound (1981), The Black Cauldron (1985), The Great Mouse Detective (1986) and Oliver & Company (1988) failed to excite many patrons or critics. The Little Mermaid ended Disney's long slump, became a blockbuster and started the company back up the ladder to power. A dynamic, Caribbean-flavored score by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken (Little Shop of Horrors) and an adorable heroine -- with a bell-clear singing voice -- helped pump some energy into the project. The tale introduces us to Ariel (voiced by Jodi Benson), the rebellious daughter of King Triton, fascinated by all things from the surface world. She makes a pact with evil Ursula (voiced by Pat Carroll), swapping her fins for legs, but losing her voice in the process, so that she can meet her dream boy. The film comes with the usual band of cute supporting characters, but none so delightful as the crab Sebastian (voiced Samuel E. Wright) who sings "Under the Sea" and "Kiss the Girl." Legendary comic Buddy Hackett also provides some humor as Scuttle, a seagull who "translates" the surface world for Ariel. The film even graced several year-end top ten lists, including Richard Corliss' and Gene Siskel's. (There was also a critical call for a Best Picture nomination, which did not happen.) The animation has not aged particularly well, and the once-stunning artwork now seems a bit crude in the face of today's computer-assisted stuff, but this is still a great entertainment and a welcome addition to any Disney library.

DVD Details: Disney's limited-edition, 2-disc set comes with lots of extras including the usual games for kids, plus previews, deleted scenes and other featurettes. One interesting one tells about the abandoned Disneyland ride, and provides a very cool 3D computer representation of what the ride would have been like. Best of all is a beautiful, wordless new 7-minute animated short, The Little Matchgirl (also based on an Andersen tale) from director Roger Allers (The Lion King, Open Season). On the downside, teen pop singer Ashley Tisdale performs a homogenized version of "Kiss the Girl" in a video for her fans.

Starring: (voices) Jodi Benson, Samuel E. Wright, Rene Auberjonois, Christopher Daniel Barnes, Pat Carroll, Paddi Edwards, Buddy Hackett, Jason Marin, Kenneth Mars, Edie McClurg, Will Ryan, Ben Wright
Written by: Roger Allers, Howard Ashman, Ron Clements, John Musker, based on a story by Hans Christian Andersen
Directed by: Ron Clements, John Musker
MPAA Rating: G
Running Time: 83 minutes
Date: October 24, 2006

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