Twelve Films at Christmas - 7 & 8

'He didn't know a wahwah from Akira Kurosawa'. So goes one of Clive James' brilliant lyrics in Pete Atkin's song The Man Who Walked Towards the Music.  This is not strictly relevant to my review of Kurosawa's Rashomon but I'm always game for a bit of soi-disant intellectualism. Anyway, onwards with the review. Rashomon (1950) comes with all the critical baggage of any modern viewing of a Kurosawa movie - the inescapability of assertions of genius. It survives that burden. It is the storytelling equivalent of cubism - a highly influential (take for example The Usual Suspects) exercise in multiple perspectives. 77/100. 

From the monochrome of Rashomon to the garish cartoon tones of Moana. Great animation and catchy tunes allied to a winning narrative make this great fun. Cleverest of its tricks is to make the sea itself a charcter in the plot. Modern animation is a crowded field but this stands up without being a great film. 69/100.