Reasons why ‘Luca’ will be forever compared to ‘Call Me By Your Name’
1. The two movies are set in Italy about two male friends who pal and bike around and have awakenings together. In both films, same male characters are hiding a secret from the world.
2. Is Luca named after Luca Guadigno, director of ‘Call Me Your Name?’
3. Doesn’t Luca look like a young a pre-teen Timothee Chalamet?
4. Luca is voiced by Jack Dylan Grazer, who plays the Elio-like character in ‘We Are What We Are,’ which is a HBO series also set in Italy, and is directed by … guess who?
Seriously, though. I thoroughly enjoyed the film. You know why? This film has a nice, simple, relatable human story that anyone can understand, and more importantly, feel. Some of these cartoon films are so fantastical when, really, you just want a story that hits your core. The film more than satisfies in that department. I fell in love with the characters, and shed a tear or two. It’s really all I need.
‘Encore,’ on Disney Plus is a bit of a weird show, and it (mostly) works for me. It’s part musical, part reality, part bizarro. The premise – basically a reunion show for high school theater kids who have to re-mount a show they did in their youth, with them reprising the roles they played then. This produces odd reactions – for the most part we get a bunch of middle-aged people trying to recapture youth, as they try to reconcile with what might have beens, and then add to that the pressure of mounting a show in five days. Of course, a lot of them are out of shape, so there is a bit of a struggle there, but by golly you are with them and triumph as they persevere. At times, there seems to be too much going on, and even other times, it feels a bit cruel – as we see them realize that a lot of their dreams have not been fulfilled, and they try to redeem themselves for performance, but you know (and they say) they have to go back to their boring hum drum life. I like the musical parts in different ways, although, it was odd to see a middle aged person play ‘Annie’ int hat red laced costume. When a Hackensack high School reprises ‘Grease.’ we see now a fat and balding Danny Zucko doing a hand jive. The musical nerd in me is satisfied, and there is enough reality drama there. But, some episodes are tough watches, as you can tell their musicalities have faded. but, I like this show quite a lot – I feel invested in all these people, and want them to succeed. I wish they released all in one, so you can binge, instead of releasing them week by week – I am four episodes in and want more, more, more.
‘A Whole New World,’ in my opinion, is one of the most beautiful songs in the Disney canon. It certainly is one of my favorites. I am certainly not alone in thinking this, as it is the one and only Disney theme song that has won the Grammy for ‘Song of the Year.’ Moreover, it has the all the elements of what a perfect songs is for a musical. I always love songs when two people first meet each other, and this song captures that moment precisely, and Tim Rice’s lyrics open up two fold: on one end, it’s a literal (magic carpet) ride akin to a lovers’ ‘first date,’ but at the same time it is also a metaphor to a start of a relationship: it’s a whole new world, we are falling in love. Lea Salonga and Brad Kane sing the song flawlessly, perfectly expressing the exhilaration, the anticipation, the promise of a first romance. I don’t think I am wrong if I declare their version will be listened to long after I am gone. And while the original ‘pop’ version is a lesser, Regina Belle and Peabo Bryson both were able to capture in their own way the essence of a song.
Whenever someone asks me what my favorite Disney cartoon is, I always say ‘Beauty And The Beast,’ and when asked why, I always say that it is because I think it is the most romantic of all the titles. So of course I have been interested in the ‘live action’ version of it that’s coming up, although really, there’s a part of me that thinks the original must be preserved (and I am not even the biggest animated film fan) But Disney will always be the money hungry Disney, so recycle recycle, recycle!
Luha Thoughts 