Pocahontas

Success often breeds ambition. Ambition often breeds hubris. And hubris leads to mistakes--or at the very least overreaching. The phenomenal success of the previous three movies from Disney may have contributed to the vexing problem that is this film. It’s not particularly bad, but there are so many issues with this work that it is somewhat distracting even as you are viewing it. For instance, the tone is very uneven; the underlying story is so serious--the viewer would have to be a total ignoramus not to recognize that--that even attempts at comic relief seem strange and inappropriate. This seems like a movie that would have been better if they had just played it straight. The question of historical accuracy--or lack thereof--hangs over every frame of the production. Clearly, the producers got plenty of native input, and their hearts were in the right place, but you can still forgive those who see in this piece a total historical whitewashing. Meanwhile, on relatively mundane levels, the movie, as a movie, has many hit or miss elements. The animation is beautiful, to be sure. The songs are mostly nothing special, though "Colors of the Wind" does stand out. The cute little animal characters, as noted before, don’t really belong here; you almost sense they’re in the story to provide cover, to let the filmmakers claim it’s just a kids movie after all. Last but not least, the question of how these people can even talk to each other is largely glossed over. (Clearly, some story elements are compacted timewise.) To be sure, this is a movie, a fictionalization of the true tale, and therefore there’s room for artistic license. But this viewer can’t say that that liberty was taken in the service of something great. It's an attempt at something special, but ultimately one that did not hit the mark. 

Brave

Why isn’t this movie considered racist? Is it only because the over-the-top character portrayals feature blue-eyed people? You may ponder that enigma at your leisure as you watch this one--and you probably should watch it, since this is an effective, well-done work of cinema, one of the better recent efforts to come out of the Pixar mold. While there is a bit of that usual Disney corn pone--the stuff that always threatens to ruin anything released under their banner--the rest of the film is an involving story of family tension, fairy tale fun, and just enough comedy to keep things light. Oh, and don’t you change, Merida--you’re exactly the girl you need to be.

Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown

What have I learned from the movies? That every single queen in the history of England has looked exactly like Judi Dench. As for this movie, the notable performance comes from Billy Connolly, who brings much fire, energy and depth to the role of Victoria's deeply loved Scottish servant, John Brown. He's bang up, and the film's message--that compassion and caring know no bounds of propriety--is ever welcome.