Bolden (2019)

Bolden: Directed by Dan Pritzker. With Gary Carr, Erik LaRay Harvey, Ian McShane, Michael Rooker. A mythical account of the life of Buddy Bolden, the first Cornet King of New Orleans.

“Remember back when you were little.you know, back when tall to you was about as high as a mailbox? In those days, Disney animated films (e.g. `Lion Kingu0026#39; and `Beauty and the Beastu0026#39;) were some of the coolest things out there and were movies to watch over and over (much to your parentsu0026#39; chagrin). Now, animated movies arenu0026#39;t exactly the `coolestu0026#39; things to see, but an exception can be made for the uber-hip Pixar movies, the most recent of which being `Finding Nemou0026#39;.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAfter losing all but one of his brood, Marlin (Albert Brooks) an over-protective clown fish that strangely lacks a sense of humor, has resolved to protect his one (slightly disabled) `childu0026#39; remaining, Nemo (Alexander Gould). But disaster strikes as Nemo is taken by a Sydney dentist and plopped into a fish tank where he is comforted by a host of other captive fish (William Dafoe, Vicki Lewis, Allison Janney, et al). But back in the big ocean Down Under, Marlin has resolved to search out his one remaining progeny.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlong the way on his quest, Marlin acquires a tag-along `friendu0026#39;, Dory (Ellen DeGeneres)-a fish with, well, the memory capacity of a fish. The two must surmount hurdles like a group of sharks (Eric Bana, Barry Humphries and Bruce Spence) that have (mostly) sworn off eating other fish, a nasty swarm of jellyfish, a bird-brained flock of seagulls, and others.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis is the bridge! Well, in a way. Back when I was younger, one of my favorite films was `The Incredible Mr. Limpetu0026#39;, which, for the uninitiated, combined live-action with under-the-sea fish animation. What Pixar has done here was bring back that film to my mind and start me thinking, because they have created a wondrous undersea environment (with `normal-lookingu0026#39; fish instead of 1960s animated fish).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMy favorite feature in this movie chock-full of sweet treats must be the sharks. I have always been partial to the shark family, but what has been done in creating three humorous sharks (what a movie concept), just sent paroxysms of laughter through me. Another thing that (mostly) works is Ellen DeGeneresu0026#39; fish (character?) that provides a fairly constant source of laughter with her antics (although a couple gags do wear on the viewer with time). On the whole though, there is not a single bit of shoddy voice-acting or animation in it.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eCompared to `Monsters Inc.u0026#39;, `Finding Nemou0026#39; is something of a revival for Pixar. I like how they have stepped up their efforts to make an altogether pleasing film without any big flaws. The thing that I did not like with `Monstersu0026#39; was the inclusion of a single key (but EXTREMELY annoying) character. Director Andrew Stanton has done an excellent job at making the film work and be (basically) non-annoying to most of the general public (and this critic).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eI suppose life has come full circle-now that I am (relatively) old as a high school graduate, animation is cool again, thanks to high-powered computers, at any rate. `Finding Nemou0026#39; is one heckuva movie and a good one to take anyone you know to, trust me on this-nine out of ten.”