"In the end, the only person who got really screwed was Sting."

August 7, 2017 2:58 PM

"The mystery of time is such that some of the truly hidden gems of cinema do not fully bloom until all of the historical context surrounding their creation can be stitched together and applauded for the sheer impossibility of the mission and the absurdity of the serpentine path taken to get there. As it turns out, the story on screen and the story of the creation of the story on screen can find a groove so completely and utterly in-sync that the only option is to stand a generous distance back from the epicenter and say "Let's ignore for a second that you literally have groove in your title and ponder longingly that there is no other word that can describe the other-timedness of .... THIS""

Mikey Neumann of Movies With Mikey talks about The Emperor's New Groove.
Movies with Mikey is a video celebration of what makes movies great
GIVE THAT MAN AN EMMY.

posted by the man of twists and turns (18 comments total)

That was really quite good and I do not regret watching it.
posted by brennen at 3:44 PM on August 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

For starters, our cat's name is Yzma, which gives you an idea of the place this movie has in our family's heart. Second, I appreciate his rant about how art forms (ie. 2D animation) become outdated, but isn't it important to point out that we do have these works still available to us? I know well-educated people who will not watch a black and white movie or a movie made before 1970. I just cannot understand this kind of aversion.
posted by No Robots at 4:05 PM on August 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

The one that really piqued my interest was his analysis of Serenity (and by extension Firefly) as essentially the story of people who lose constantly.
posted by the man of twists and turns at 4:18 PM on August 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

I... think I agree with him? But the video was so rambling and disjointed I turned it off halfway through, did some other stuff, then went back to watch the rest because, hey, no sense wasting the ten minutes already put it into it. Argh, his rambling has infected me!

Anyway, I miss classical animation. And he's right that movies with too much CGI tend to devalue themselves, because the fighting robots and exploding cities blur into a mass of animated unrealness with real people occasionally running through the shots. I've no idea what was going on at Disney Animation back in '99 that let them make such a drastic course correction on a movie in the middle of production, but whatever it was we should thank them for letting The Emperor's New Groove somehow sneak through. It doesn't seem like the kind of pitch that would get greenlighted on its own.
posted by Kevin Street at 4:50 PM on August 7, 2017 [4 favorites]

Wow, the John Wick review that's linked in The Verge article is much better. When he gets his style under control he really can make a point.
posted by Kevin Street at 5:23 PM on August 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

Previously.
posted by No Robots at 5:43 PM on August 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

When he gets his style under control he really can make a point.

Yeah, most of these are a bit too frenetic, even if there is some good stuff in there. The John Wick one was quite good.
posted by Bringer Tom at 6:51 PM on August 7, 2017

Mikey is really excellent at this. Nearly every installment is worth watching. I particularly recommend the Grand Budapest Hotel one. Speaking as a former professional film critic, he's got the goods.

(Disclosure: Mikey's my pal and we have had adventures together. But honestly, if I didn't think what he's doing was any good, I just wouldn't comment.)
posted by jscalzi at 10:00 PM on August 7, 2017 [3 favorites]

No link to his actual channel?

I love reviews. Book, movie, art, food, fashion reviews: I love them all. My ex-husband once told me that I should go to CalArts for their Critical Studies MA because I'm so critical. I think he meant it as an insult but I think of it as a dream.

I love the way Mikey strings together a couple dozens influences into a coherent meta-narrative. He's amazing! His review of The Iron Giant actually made me cry.

When has a movie review ever made me cry? Oh, right, NEVER.
posted by blessedlyndie at 11:06 PM on August 7, 2017 [1 favorite]

I could not really follow the video myself but it looks like the source for most of the images was not credited.

They come from The Sweatbox, a great unpublished document(ary) about the making of the Emperor's New Groove and how Sting participated in it.

You can watch the doc here
posted by haemanu at 11:08 PM on August 7, 2017 [3 favorites]

I'm gonna try to prove that The Fifth Element should be your third favorite Die Hard movie
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:52 PM on August 7, 2017 [2 favorites]

I saw this movie as an exchange student in Germany, where it was called Ein Königreich für ein Lama (A Kingdom for a Llama). The only movie title translation I liked better was Ey Mann, wo is’ mein Auto? Third place was Meine Braut, ihr Vater und ich.
posted by lauranesson at 1:55 AM on August 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

I thought this was going to be an interpretation of Quadrophenia
posted by thelonius at 4:26 AM on August 8, 2017

Does he ever take a breath?
posted by Philofacts at 11:43 AM on August 8, 2017

It's literally the YouTube style. Folding Ideas goes into a good deep dive on how it came about and what the parameters are.
posted by Deoridhe at 12:07 PM on August 8, 2017 [4 favorites]

In the immortal words of Percy Blakeney, "Sink me!" Watched a few of his reviews, and, as an ADD sufferer I could comfortably grok his style. Which is great, because some of his videos I have watched (among others, Groove and Wick) were really quite perceptive. I like the fact that Mikey's twitchy style and presentation avoid any real echoes of pretension (as the visuals and his music choices make it seem like a twitchy wannabe edgelord 12 year old with a brill computer, After Effects, and a fast internet connection and no friends edited them). And I am not unhappy with that.

Never saw one before this thread. I have seen several since. Element is next, as soon as my slowass connection updates Overwatch so I can play tonight.

So (seriously).... Thanks Metafilter!
posted by Samizdata at 11:14 PM on August 8, 2017

Okay, now comes the (non-serious) Thanks Metafilter!

I almost choked to death laughing at Element, it is 1:43 a.m. I should be playing Overwatch and garnering Summer Games loot boxes, but NOOOOO, Metafilter has to make me get engaged with a hilarious intelligent SLYT.

And why am I pissed?

WHY AM I PISSED!

who cares
VAGUELY FRENCH!

Seriously, people, supergreen all the way down.
posted by Samizdata at 11:43 PM on August 8, 2017 [1 favorite]

Alfonso Cuaron directing The Prisoner of Azkaban is a key contributor to why good movies are good now
posted by the man of twists and turns at 8:55 AM on August 9, 2017