Sight Unseen: March 18, 2005

Continuing the Friday series of reviews of movies I haven't seen.

Ice Princess
Another Disney-on-ice production.
In the course of 90-some minutes, Michelle Trachtenberg is transformed from a stumbling gosling (making use of her yip of surprise that served so well on Buffy) into a graceful swan on skates. The title is pure Disney (they love movies about princesses), and not since the 1980 USA Olympic hockey team (and the subsequent Disney movie, Miracle), has there been such a Cinderella story on ice. While there’s bound to be friction between characters that will require more smoothing over than a Zamboni can handle, don’t expect any Tonya Harding-style violence.
One sentence review: This movie stinks on ice.


The Ring Two
What is a blog if not a place to voice one’s inconsequential opinion to the world. I did not care for The Ring. I didn’t mind that it was a remake of a superior Japanese film (Ringu). I minded that the American version included a gratuitous scene of animal abuse that was disturbing and completely ridiculous. The scene in question takes place on a ferry. Naomi Watts sees a horse in a pen being transported aboard the boat, and she decides to harass the horse by sticking her hand in the crate. When the horse gets agitated, Watts continues the blatant mistreatment of the poor creature until it breaks free and jumps overboard—preferring suicide to being subjected to further abuse. I watched the scene in the theater and thought, “Is this character supposed to be mentally retarded or something?” If an animal is becoming distressed by your presence, most people would be smart enough to walk away—unless they enjoy torturing animals as this character obviously did.
What animals will be abused in this blandly-titled sequel?