Halloweentown

The plot: On Halloween, The Piper family is visited by their whimsically odd grandmother Aggie (Debbie Reynolds!). The eldest, Marnie, overhears a conversation between her mother and grandmother in which she discovers:

-Grandma Aggie is a witch, as is Marnie. Her mother is also a witch, but has chosen to live in the mortal world and raise her children as normal humans. 

-Something mysterious and sinister is happening in Halloweentown, an alternate universe where a community of friendly fantasy creatures live free from human's discrimination. Aggie asks for the mom's help, but she declines.

Grandma returns to Halloweentown, with Marnie and her younger brother Dylan secretly following her onto the return bus. Sophie, the youngest sibling, follows Marnie and Dylan. With the help of  the super-friendly and not at all ominous Mayor, they make their way to Grandma's house.

Before Aggie can begin to teach Marnie about witchcraft, as well as have the children assist in defeating the evil power, mom shows up and attempts to bring the children home. While attempting to leave Halloweentown, Aggie and their mother wind up battling the evil power, and are put out of commission. Now it is up to the Piper kids to rescue their family and save Halloweentown.

My thoughts: I don't remember that many Disney Channel Original Movies, but I remember this one. Halloween for me, and most kids, was one of the best nights of the year. To have a movie that takes place in a town where monsters are real (but friendly), and it's Halloween all the time? Genius. And although The Nightmare Before Christmas did this first (to great effect), these are two very different movies in my mind. Anyways...

The script itself is mediocre, but the story is interesting. The pace is pretty good. The sight gags are fun, as well as anytime the movie explores the world of Halloweentown.

this sight gag and the Lon Chaney reference both made me very happy.

Probably my biggest complaint is the special effects. This is the first Disney Channel movie to use CGI, given the fantasy nature of the film, and it's real iffy sometimes. There are some practical effects being used (Yay!), and even when the practical effects aren't great they are still better than the CGI. I can't be too harsh because I'm sure they had a small budget. And most of it was probably used getting Debbie Reynolds.

Speaking of the actors, everyone seems to be having a good time. Again, all of the characters are likable. The brother was a stick-in-the-mud, but I ended up liking him by the end. The mom and the Mayor (Judith Hoag and Robin Thomas, respectively) are clearly having fun, as well as committing to their roles. I've always found that if you want to sell your world of high fantasy or science-fiction to an audience, you best get some decent and committed actors to assist with the audience's willing suspension of disbelief. And these two do well in that respect.

Debbie Reynolds is obviously having a blast, and is the highlight of the film. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Debbie Reynolds, she is most known for playing Kathy in Singin' in the Rain. And if you have not seen Singin' in the Rain, what are you doing still reading this blog? Go. Watch Singin' in the Rain. I'll wait.

the best.

Halloweentown is definitely a good setup for some sequels to happen. And guess what? There are sequels! But I will get to those when I get to those.

This was a long one. Sorry.

Next: The Future!

Brink!

Plot: Andy "Brink" Brinker and his friends all enjoy in-line skating. While their rivals, Team X-Bladz (Yup, that's what they're called) are professionally sponsored, Brink's crew are "Soul Skaters". This means they skate for fun instead of money. Because you can't just say you skate for fun if you can make up a silly term for it.  

Brink finds out that his family is having some money troubles, and secretly joins Team Money to help. His friends find out (of course) and are mad at him. Through the magic of plot convenience, the Soul-Skater gang challenge Team Money -specifically Brink- to a race. The leader of Team Money sabotages the race because he's a dick. One of Brink's friends gets injured and now the Soul Train is super mad at Brink.

Brink has a talk with his dad, then quits Team Money and makes nice with his friends. The newly reformed Soul Skaters compete against Team Money and are victorious because of course they are. Hooray for fun!

My thoughts: Is it predictable? Yes, very much so. Is it fun? Yes, very much so.

None of the actors are terrible, and actually do pretty well whenever the script dips into melodrama. The father in particular is excellent, and the lead is so positive and high-spirited that you cannot help but like him. He was also the voice of Sid in Toy Story! So now you know that. 

In fact, almost every character is incredibly likable. Even the skaters from Team Money are not that bad, only their leader. Who is a villainous little shit. 

The skating scenes are handled very well. It captures the motion and energy of the sport, without giving me a headache. You see, in the last few years movies have developed a tendency to have its audience not entirely be able to make out what is happening during an action scene. It gives those scenes a nice "you are there" feel.

Not like this old junk. Pick up the pace, would you?

Having been made before the popularization of split-second edits and shaky camera work, Brink! is resigned to showing how actual skill is involved in aggressive inline skating, and that many of the actors are performing these stunts themselves.

Overall, I ended up enjoying it for what it was. It's formulaic as all-get-out, but it has such heart and a good message ("You are defined by the company you keep and how well you keep it, not by what you happen to do"). If you happen to stumble across it, give it a try.

Next up: Halloweentown.