I wondered where the swelling orchestra was here — the build to those lines is one of the most gorgeous passages in the score — but would it have overpowered her voice?

This weekend I've enjoyed some exclamatory entertainments.

Also, another reason the "Toy Story 2" ending works is because it provides a funny resolution to a minor plot point — Wheezy the penguin needing to be fixed was the accidental catalyst for the whole misadventure in the first place, and having his repaired self sing with Robert Goulet's voice was a nice punchline.

As a side note about how often the dance party ending's been used in both live-action and animation, there are TWO movies, "Ella Enchanted" and "Chicken Little", that have the cast cover "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" at the end…and they were released in less than a two-year time span.

Good point.

This is pretty much all that the "Beauty and the Beast" remake is selling itself upon!

Not to mention the filmmakers often faced studio interference once their projects were up and running more often than not…

Yeah, it really is a sameness issue. The Disney musical formula is similarly stale, which was why when Pixar and "Shrek" went in different directions it was so exciting at the time.

"Robots" was 4 years after "Shrek", but it is one of the better uses of this trope.

One thing I wish people would do is that if they feel the need to criticize something, at least do it in a way that doesn't subtly or obviously put down those who enjoy it.

"Doctor Who", I think — at least right now, the Twelfth Doctor era — strikes a good balance between the episodic and serialized approaches. Last season was mostly two-parters, but most of them could be enjoyed on their own without needing to fuss with the larger "Hybrid" arc. And while the season before that spent…

Also, kids' shows. My niece and nephew are pretty big on PBS Kids stuff, and especially for families that don't have cable (especially higher tier packages) it 's probably pretty vital. One reason "Sesame Street" had to go into the HBO partnership, IIRC, was money issues, and if even that's not immune to funding…

I'm not so ambitious as you but rock on. I'm still plugging away at some lists myself…

I think one reason I enjoyed the Anchorman films but can't get into other riff-heavy comedies was that the setting ( a whimsical variant on the 1970s/early 1980s) focused them somewhat and was genuinely distinctive.

Well, I read Ms. Marvel Volume 6 on Friday, the stretch that includes her tie-in storyline to "Civil War II". I can see why the sales for this title took a hit; the artwork wasn't as good most of the time, and as good as G. Willow Wilson's writing is, it didn't come to a dramatically satisfying wrap-up. I'm…

This hasn't been an easy year for anyone who loves pop or high culture. I haven't felt such a personal twinge from so many such deaths since 1989-1990. Over the course of those years, Mel Blanc, Jim Henson, and Roald Dahl passed away in turn. I was just a preteen then, but I knew those three had contributed so much…

I liked this one more than you Alasdair (though not as much as "The Husbands of River Song", which I loved), but kudos for your thoughtful review. I think it helps on my end that so many Twelfth Doctor stories seem to have tough denouements (at least for him personally) that I cherish the ones where he ends up — if…

"Happy New Year, Charlie Brown" is one of the better 1980s "Peanuts" specials, but boy is that ending tough on Charlie Brown. With all the talk about how many more risks animated/children's programs are able to take these days, it's interesting to consider just how often the "Peanuts" specials get away with…

Not incidentally, BBC America's just switched over this morning to 24/7 newWho episodes from now until the wee hours of Monday morning to hype the special. Plus, the finale of the "Power of the Daleks" reconstruction will air Saturday night, and the Classic Era serial "City of Death" is available for free on demand…

I caught the Fathom Events screening last month, but I have been DVRing the original episodes too, half-watching them for an alternative to the usual daytime TV fluff. The Daleks are certainly the highlight of the animation.