Hello folks, welcome to the last 2013 edition of Five for the Fifth!



As is customary for this monthly feature, I get to post five random news item, observation, trailer, actor/director spotlight, etc. and then turn it over to you to share your take on that given topic. You can see the previous five-for-the-fifth posts here.

1. Today happens to be Walt Disney‘s birthday. He would’ve turned 112. As Disney’s animated feature FROZEN (read Terrence’s review) broke box office record over the five-day Thanksgiving period with $93 mil and I’m going to Saving Mr. Banks screening next week, Mr. Disney is never far from Hollywood and moviegoers.

I grew up watching Disney Princess movies and to this day I’m still fond of Disney films, with Tangled being the latest one. Though there are awesome animated features now from Pixar and Dreamworks, I still love watching those classic Disney movies, especially Snow White & The Seven Dwarfs, Cinderella and my all time fave: Sleeping Beauty.

What are YOUR favorite Disney (not-counting Pixar) movies?



2. Inspired by my recent viewing of Spike Jonze’s HER, I initially wanted to make this as a Question of the Week post but it works here too. I was blown away by how affected I was by this film. I’ve mentioned in this post that I really dug Joaquin Phoenix’s soulful performance, but I also have to give Scarlett Johansson credit for her voice acting. You can hear her in the trailer below:

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I think most people often associate voice acting in animated films and surely there have been some terrific ones year after year. But in the case of Scarlett as an operating system in HER (as well as Benedict Cumberbatch as the Dragon Smaug in The Hobbit 2), they’re lending an indelible presence in a live-action film with just their voice. I’d think that voice acting is as challenging — if not more — than normal acting. This is what the actress said about the voice acting process per Indiewire:

” … what I thought was going to be four days of recording turned into a really involved process. At times, I would even record with Joaquin, who really made himself available in an amazing way … Then sometimes I would do sessions with Spike where I would act opposite him, or I would act opposite the playback just to see how that was. But it was a very different experience from being on set.”

It made me think that perhaps there should be a separate award category for this as it really takes a special skill to pull this off and it not only enrich a film but it could be a crucial factor in the film’s success.

What do you think about this? Should voice acting be considered by major awards like Oscar?



3. A movie marketing campaign can be relentless in an annoying way but in the case of Anchorman 2, I think it’s fun and hilarious!

Will Ferrell as Ron Burgundy joined the KXMB evening newscast in Bismarck, North Dakota in character. I don’t know how the real anchors can keep a straight face throughout, but it was a hoot! Clad in his signature burgundy suit, Ferrell didn’t even crack a smile or giggle in the entire 30-min segment. Check it out:



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What do you think about Anchorman 2’s marketing campaign? Are you excited for the movie?

4. I came across a couple of British film projects that piqued my interest this week. One is a short film and the other a period drama set in Cornwall. Both of them feature some of my fave Brits, natch!

Out of Darkness is a short film by Manjinder Virk (check out this interview w/ the director). It won Best Drama & Best of Fest at ASFF2013 and it’s also made Official selection at 57th BFI London Film Festival. Naturally the casting of Tom Hiddleston got my attention, but it’s also got Riz Ahmed who impressed me in The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Check out the trailer below:



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A true tale of love, liberty and scandal amongst the Edwardian artists’ colony in Cornwall

I just found out about this project two days ago, but I’m glad I did. It’s SO my kind of movie! I’ve grown to like Dominic Cooper over the years and Dan Stevens is yet another Jane Austen alum I’ve been hoping to see more of. He’s won me over since that chopping-wood-in-the-rain scene in BBC’s Sense & Sensibility [girls you know which one 😉 ]. Oh and his co-star Hattie Morahan who played Elinor in that miniseries is in this, too. I’m a sucker for these kinds of films, especially set on location in the UK. This movie is released in January in the US, boy I’d wish that Summer would arrive in February! The only thing is this trailer gives a bit too much away.



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Thoughts on either one of the projects above?



5. Now for the last question, I’m going to focus on Holiday movies. To be honest with you, I actually don’t have a movie tradition that I watch during any holiday, whether it’s Christmas, Easter or whatever. I don’t know why but I just never have such a tradition at any point of my life.

I think the only Christmas-themed movie I wouldn’t mind watching once a year is Love, Actually. There are just so many memorable scenes in that movie and the music is lovely. Thankfully it’s on Netflix so maybe this month I might get my hubby to see it with me as he’s never seen it!

Well, now my last question to you is: Favorite holiday-themed movie?



That’s it for the last 2013 edition of Five for the Fifth, folks. I invite you to take part & answer at least one of the questions above.

