Chimpanzee

Before I post my review for the 2012 DisneyNature documentary Chimpanzee, an announcement: Now's the time for me to announce that until Saturday, December 13th, I won't be on Letterboxd as frequently. It's vacation time; I'll explain later why I'll be even more preoccupied with other things than the previous times I was on vacation. I still hope to post some reviews, but they won't be daily by any means-the next one won't be for a few days.

The review for Chimpanzee: 
 

Now felt like the time to see another DisneyNature documentary. A few have been viewed; as I always say when diving into that world, the more serious, “adult” sort of nature documentaries (such as the ones narrated by Sir David Attenborough) are more my speed. That said, what DisneyNature does is still good and full of great footage of animals & the worlds they inhabit. The narration from celebrities can be too goofy at times and/or cloying-I can comprehend that it’s for an all-ages audience and to list a specific example, I’d be fine with my four nephews & one niece viewing something like Chimpanzee.

Chimpanzee follows a young member of the species named Oscar. The viewer follows his clan as we see the stunning jungle habitat they reside in (the Tai National Forest in Ivory Coast), feuds w/ other clans, some peril, etc. Along the way, educational facts are presented. As I’ve stated in other reviews, the assumption is that more than one chimpanzee was used as “Oscar.” Other nature documentaries do craft narratives, after all. It is wacky that they decided to have a villain named… SCAR.

Celebrities always provide the narration; in this case, it was… Tim Allen. I know, a controversial figure now but he was fine as a narrator. At one point, he does impersonate Tim “The Toolman” Taylor; perhaps those in power wanted him to do that to placate audiences. My carping, re: certain details of these documentaries don’t mean that I don’t like them as infrequent viewing or that they don’t have anything to educate/entertain me, let alone Joe Q. and Jane Public. While not theatrical releases anymore, DisneyNature still makes these documentaries. It won’t be a future project to view all of them—but that doesn’t mean rare viewings won’t occur.

Carry On Jack

Carry on Jack (1964)

Runtime: 90 minutes

Directed by: Gerald Thomas

Starring: Bernard Cribbins, Juliet Mills, Kenneth Williams, Charles Hawtry, Donald Houston

From:Anglo-Amalagated Film Distributors

It’s actually been years since I’d seen a Carry On movie from the 60’s. Yeah, those aren’t watched that often anymore and many from the 60’s were already witnessed by me. The same, I was happy to see one of the films that I have on DVD as part of a set purchased long ago; furthermore, I’m sure the Dr. Who fans will like that this starred Bernard Cribbins as the lead. Who knows what you guys will think of his name: ALBERT POOP-DECKER.

Yes, this had the randy and bawdy humor you’d expect from the franchise, albeit less frequently than typical. The setting is naval in general and specifically, the time of Horatio Nelson-the opening shows him passing away, establishing the year as 1805. It involves the War of the Third Coalition-the particulars aren’t important but it was Britain and several other countries versus France/Spain and several areas that would later become a part of Germany. Poop-Decker is inept but is forced to become part of the crew of the ship Venus. Juliet Mills cosplays as a guy to find a long-lost love.

An important detail: of course, the setting and plot wouldn’t easily allow for the inclusion of the distaff regulars to the franchise: Hattie Jacques, Joan Sims, etc. However, Jim Dale only appears for a few minutes and only two other regulars appear-at least they were Kenneth Williams and Charles Hawtrey, portraying exactly the sort of archetypes you’d expect. Be that as it may, two familiar character actors make their only appearance in this universe: Donald Houston and Cecil Parker.

While atypical, the film was still silly and still entertained me. Nice ship sets was an asset, as was the inclusion of pirates in the final act. It won’t be all those months later that I finally see another Carry On picture-however, what I’ll select for next time should be more the archetypical movie you’d expect.

Something Wicked This Way Comes

Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983)

Runtime: 95 minutes

Directed by: Jack Clayton

Starring: Jason Robards, Jonathan Pryce, Diane Ladd (RIP), Royal Dano, Vidal Peterson, Shawn Carson

From: Disney

A belated RIP to Diane Ladd. In the upcoming month or two, there’s more than one person who’s passed away this year that I need to tip my cap to. As I’m subscribed to Disney+ for December, I’ve only seen some of Ladd’s movies-this was a small yet important role-and until its addition to the platform two months ago, this movie was infamously hard to track down.

I’m fascinated by this era of Disney where they weren’t quite sure what they were doing in the world of cinema and they didn’t have subsidiary companies like Touchstone or Hollywood Pictures to release pictures not meant for a family audience, that’s how we had oddball films (like this, Return to Oz and The Watcher in the Woods, which I hope Disney+ adds one day) that tried to be of a darker tone from the Disney label.

In this tale where a Mr. Dark brings an ominous carnival to a bucolic small Illinois town during an October at least 100 years ago, the talent involved was impressive. An adaptation of a Ray Bradbury novel, the stars included Ladd, Jason Robards (as a really old father; the movie stresses that point), Royal Dano, Pam Grier in a supporting role, and Jonathan Pryce as Mr. Dark. This was in gestation for years-Bryna Productions was the production company, meaning Kirk Douglas was involved. James Horner provided a proper whimsical score-it wasn’t the original soundtrack, but more on that later-and the rural setting was pleasant.

Regrettably, I only liked rather than loved the film-perhaps if there had been childhood viewings, a different tune would be whistled. Like with Watcher, this had production issues, reshoots, an unhappy Disney, and other drama which undoubtedly did harm to the potential this had. The idea that this carnival grants the told & untold desires of the town’s residents (only of course it’s of the Faustian bargain variety) is a swell one, and I’m sure the book is better. The presumption is that the overblown special effects finale were part of the reshoots. Be that as it may, it was still a movie I liked. The town’s setting is pleasant, as was the carnival-aside from the whole evil aspect thing.

The cinematography was quality; that was due to future De Palma chief cinematographer Stephen H. Burum. Pryce did a nice job; somewhere in the multiverse are versions where either Peter O’Toole or Christopher Lee would have been Mr. Dark. Disney wanted to save money, you see, so they cast a talented actor, but one who was almost always in the world of theater at the time. The film’s from the perspective of two young boys; the actors and the characters were both fine, not intolerable to follow.

A shame that there were those issues, those reshoots, the replacing of the original Georges Delerue score (from a short listen on YouTube, it is more ominous) and other problems. There are still nice practical effects and a few effective scares as well. Plenty do love the movie more than moi-for their sakes, I’m glad the film is on Disney+. The Blu release was a limited exclusive deal back in ’21 as part of a now-defunct program—the prices on eBay are as expensive as you would expect. There are rumors of an upcoming remake; now this is the sort of movie that does need one… if they don’t screw it up with various tropes and movements I’m not a fan of in modern cinema.