You’re reaction to the first episode is exactly, word for word, my reaction as well. First 30 minutes, I felt they were holding back on the violence for an 18+ show. Then the last 10 minutes came...oh sweet baby Jesus.
I just finished the first episode yesterday. Man, what a premiere. It seemed pretty decent and held a lot of the gore and brutality close to… more its chest (which surprised me, all people talk about is how Robert Kirkman made it and it sticks to his mature style), but THAT ENDING. Daaaamn.
I probably said 25 different variations of "Holy Shit.", "Wait, what?", or "Fuuuck. Noooo."
I've heard the beginning of the series sticks to playing the superhero drama and teenage coming-of-age tropes pretty straight, but it's the underlying antagonist mystery that keeps you going.
(Spoiler)
The show itself is very good, with a few issues. I wasn't that invested in the whole love-triangle subplot, and seeing Mark get into situation after situation of standing up Amber was real annoying. Felt bad for him and equally for Amber. It happened like every episode though and not seeing him win even one of those scheduled moments was frustrating.
The build-up of the Omni-Man plot and mystery was great! You don't really know why he does what he does, though there are some clues laid out if you're attentive. I was so close to guessing his motivation, but was off by a bit. (I thought he was jealous of the other supers, wanting to be - the sole protector - of earth. Nah, it's actually a little god-complex and supremacy he's after.)
I think this plot really pushed aside a lot of other interesting sub-plots and conflicts that were set-up, but the ending montage basically confirms we'll see those continue in Season 2.
(Though I wonder if S2 will retain that level of engagement without a cool main plot)
The last 2 episodes are tense-AF and super action packed. Fantastic.
The animation in this show is stunning. There's some really cool environments, lots of fast-paced and detailed shots, and buckets of well-animated, disgusting gore. I've played my fair share of video games, so I'd say I'm probably a bit desensitized to it, but in this show, my stomach went topsy-turvy every time there was some gory moment. I think it's the detail behind most of it that's so off-putting. Every time was shocking and let out an audible gasp.
The gore and real-mess of it definitely raised the stakes of the show. Plenty of times throughout where I'd be crossing my fingers that a character wouldn't die, since the injuries and a few important character deaths are very much real and can happen at any time.
The cast is the most impressive aspect of this show. Amazon's got a huuuuge budget, wowowow. Plenty of recognizable names for me (though I'm not really familiar with every actor mentioned)
Steven Yeun (Walking Dead, Minari, Okja)
J.K. Simmons (Whiplash, Spider-Man, Korra)
Sandra Oh (Grey's Anatomy, Killing Eve)
Walter Goggins (??? No idea where I've heard of him)
Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2)
Mark Hamill (Star Wars, the best Joker ever)
Kevin Michael Richardson (whole bunch of animated shows)
Andrew Rannells (The Book of Mormon)
Grey DeLisle/Grey Griffin (whole bunch of animated shows)
Khary Payton (Walking Dead)
Zachary Quinto (Star Trek reboots, the 2nd Hitman movie)
Clancy Brown ("Money, Money, Money, aghaghaghagh" -Mr Krabs)
Seth Rogen (how can you not know this man)
Jonathan Groff (Frozen, 2, Hamilton)
Justin Roland (Rick, & Morty, in that order)
Mahershala Ali (Moonlight, Green Book, Luke Cage, lots of stuff)
Jon Hamm (Mad Men, Baby Driver, lotsa stuff)
Lauren Cohan, Michael Cudlitz, Lennie James, Chad L Coleman, Sonequa Martin-Green, Ross Marquand (all Walking Dead)
The Mitchells vs. The Machines. Very good movie, better than I expected, lots of heart-tugging moments, though I've got a few issues with it.
It's a genuinely laugh-out-loud film. Tons of fun punchlines and sight gags.
There's this really fun blend of the 3D CGI of the film and this 2D "Katie-Vision" effect throughout the film. Fun, joyful moments are complemented with sketched-out rainbow trails and sparkles. Sad moments with sad dog faces, broken hearts and storm clouds. It's pretty darn unique and adds lots of charm to the movie. Reminds me of similar things in The Lego Movie or Spider-Verse. (Kinda a Lord/Miller style by this point. That, and jump cuts that mess with the aspect ratio.)
The film is really good-looking. The style and design of the characters is so cool and malleable. They can be very expressive.
Lupin's right. There's a legendary moment where Maya Rudolph kills it as Linda. Pure passionate performance.
Olivia Coleman has a great villain voice. She needs to do that more often (or I need to see more of her villainous roles)
In terms of the bad in this film, I've only got three points, they're relatively small, don't detract from the enjoyment too much:
The movie is a bit long. About 1h50m for the runtime. The plot jumps around to lots of locations and scenes. I feel like it should have been shorter. It was a lot to digest and long to get to important climactic moments.
The writing could be improved. Some of the cutaway jokes fell flat for me. The film has a few cliche dialogue moments and emotional blows that were pretty telegraphed. It's fine to use them, but, it took me out of it when it happened. (the "two characters fighting over a precious, fragile item" near the beginning felt a bit cheap to get to that moment)
Now that I've learned that it's his film, I forgive him somewhat, but having Michael Rianda play Aaron was a strange choice, voice-wise. At worst, he either sounds like a middle-aged man playing a child (which he is) or at best a teenager stuck in an 8-year old's body. It's very hard for me to buy into the character's believability when he doesn't sound like a child. Again, I get that this is his story about family road trips and relationships, but I did not like that casting choice or his take on it.
Oh yeah and Sony brought back the robotic demons of 1998 and it was hilarious and perfectly creepy.
Freakin tense movie. One of the most tense I've seen.
80% of this film had me mouth agape.
Thank God the ending was somewhat cathartic and joyful -- or as much as it can be.
Because this film was a roller-coaster of emotions. Damn, Miles Teller can play the drums. Damn, JK Simmons can be freakin terrifying.
JK Simmons earned his Oscar with this movie, well deserved, and this movie established him as one of my favorite actors.
What, to me, is so interesting about the ending is that, essentially, Fletcher got what he wanted, that his teaching methods of verbal, physical, and mental abuse worked on Andrew and drove him to reach these levels. It's why his dad is seen looking on in almost horror, instead of pride, during his climactic drum solo at the end. And it was this dynamic presented throughout the whole movie that made the relationship between Fletcher and Andrew tense, but the movie's ultimate highlight.
I saw Whiplash.
Freakin tense movie. One of the most tense I've seen.
80% of this film had me mouth agape.
Thank God the ending was s… moreomewhat cathartic and joyful -- or as much as it can be.
Because this film was a roller-coaster of emotions. Damn, Miles Teller can play the drums. Damn, JK Simmons can be freakin terrifying.
Characters: 8/10 (favorites are easily Omni-Man, Robot, Damien Darkblood, and Cecil, though I wasn't as interested in the titular character as I wanted to be, and Amber was terrible)
Voice Acting: 9.5/10 (JK fucking Simmons steals the show, and Steven Yeun is also impressive as Mark. Some great star power in here, including Mark Hamill, Grey DeLisle, Clancy Brown, Kevin Michael Richardson, and a shit ton of TWD alumni)
Romance: 4/10 (did not like Mark and Amber, still feels like there's an out of place love triangle, but did enjoy Robot and Monster Girl, honestly Robot's whole subplot throughout the season was really good and showed off his character)
Story: 7/10 (everything with Omni-Man is tense and great, Robot's subplot was touching, but while there's an overarching plot, it's also a lot of "Monster of the Week" episodes, some minor stuff that felt tacked on, but maybe it will all tie into other seasons)
Action: 8.5/10 (first episode did a fantastic job tricking you with how it was going to depict the fighting, only to go fucking ham in the last part of it. But, my major issue is how inconsistent some of Invincible's powers and abilities are, such as his pain tolerance I guess)
What, to me, is so interesting about the ending is that, essentially, Fletcher got what he wanted
Exactly. It's pretty cool to see Andrew totally drum the fuck out of that finale, standing up for himself and showing up Fletcher, but at the same time, he becomes this unstoppable musical monster, which is exactly what Fletcher pushed him to do in the first place.
So, silver lining for a split-second, as Andrew gets the upper-hand and drums his way out of a bad hand Fletcher dealt him, but then it flips back to Andrew's "love" of drumming and essentially proves Fletcher right. Shiiiiit.
Fun fact for anyone who doesn't know this: Miles Teller can actually play the drums and JK Simmons can actually conduct.
JK Simmons earned his Oscar with this movie, well deserved, and this movie established him as one of my favorite actors.
What, to me, is … moreso interesting about the ending is that, essentially, Fletcher got what he wanted, that his teaching methods of verbal, physical, and mental abuse worked on Andrew and drove him to reach these levels. It's why his dad is seen looking on in almost horror, instead of pride, during his climactic drum solo at the end. And it was this dynamic presented throughout the whole movie that made the relationship between Fletcher and Andrew tense, but the movie's ultimate highlight.
I watched the first two Jeepers Creepers movies. Those are kind of like the first two Alien movies but with a slasher creature hunting people on a road trip. The first one is more suspenseful while the second one is more entertaining and the creature is more expanded.
Those movies were very enjoyable. However, the director of these films is a fucking maniac because he is a child molester. He raped a child who actually starred in one of these films and for some reason, the director was sentenced to prison for ONLY 15 months. That is too fucking short. People like him deserves 50 years behind the cell because this type of decision cannot be made by mistake. His films are the best example of separating the art from the artist. Great movies but fuck this guy. Not gonna bother with the third movie because people say it's terrible.
Bo Burnham's Inside is a refreshing thing that I needed to experience.
His new comedy special came out today (yesterday?) and it's a great introspective piece about loneliness, isolation, new social change and the crazy anxiety-inducing year we've had, filled with awesome visuals, catchy music and silly jokes.
The show is part-stand-up special, part music/skit compilation, part video journal, and part 'loosely narrative' story.
Once again, it pokes at Bo's own insecurities, anxiety, and depression, usually framing it through song (and to some, in relatable fashion). There's still plenty of jokes to go around about himself and the world around him, and if you're a fan of Bo's music then this special is gonna be a treat for you!
The format is a series of clips recorded over the past year, some of them are musical bits, some of them are more personal glimpses at his own stand-up fears and the process of making this special and some of them are fun skits he wrote. I think the way it's all edited and presented provides a much cooler experience than a normal on-stage Stand-up experience -- fitting for Bo. (Not surprising, since I think Bo started making stuff on Youtube before his career)
I don't see him returning to stand-up again, not for a long time, maybe ever, but that's okay.
This was a nice check-in to his progress so far. His singing voice (plus some autotune) is so smooth now.
While it might be a bit pretentious to note the best moments/music of the special [hohoho, yes, twirls moustache], I'm gonna do it anyway because as an entertainment product it's still dang great and the format lends itself to a chapter-by-chapter basis well.
Best bits by tentative title -- Spoilers:
"Healing the World With Comedy"
"White Woman's Instagram" (ironically well-shot)
"Unpaid Intern" Reaction Video (really clever one!!)
"Stuck in a Room"
"Hold Me Accountable"
12:00AM (this one cut deep)
"Don't Kill Yourself"
Let's Play - INSIDE
"Welcome to the Internet" (or, "You")
"All Eyes On Me" (reminiscent of the Kanye Rant, in a great way)
The Ending Song
From a production standpoint, this was a really great film. Most of the shots are from the camera from one specific side of the room, with a few using different angles and close-ups. There's great use of lighting and silhouettes, with plenty of colours illuminating his room or himself in some striking shots. (one shot uses a projector in a great way)
I understand he didn't release his last special Make Happy as an album because he felt it should be consumed all-at-once (or maybe Netflix didn't want it out there for free), but I really hope he releases some of the songs here separately. I can definitely see myself coming back to listen to a few because of their sick beats or emotional significance.
I watched this movie called "No Country for Old Men". This is probably the most confusing film I've ever seen and the most shocking thing about it is that
The bad guy won and lives and the hero just dies.
Can someone actually explain the whole story for me? Or at least its ending because I was completely lost when it faded to black.
I finally finished watching the Indiana Jones trilogy. I watched The Last Crusade a few days ago. This is arguably the best action-adventure franchise I have seen. Why it took me so long to watch this films is beyond me. The franchise is definitely the main inspiration for Tomb Raider and Uncharted. I think my favorite of the trilogy is Temple of Doom. It has the best concept and I just love how dark it is.
Haven't seen the Kingdom of the Crystal. I'll probably skip it cause it doesn't interest me. All I know about it is Shia Lebouf, Indy surviving a nuke bomb by hiding in a fridge and aliens. That's enough for me to not see it.
Pixar's Luca has officially released on Disney Plus so I went ahead and watched it.
The visuals and animation style feel heavily inspired by Aardman's stop motion, with the design of the world and the characters, particularly the way the characters mouths move if that makes any sense, with how they move and morph around the face. The movie is general is just really darn good looking with the water and the architecture. The buildings have this perfect imperfection to them that I really like, where things are uneven and misshapen. I'm also a fan of the sea creature designs. One in particular, who unfortunately did not get much screentime, had see through skin so you could clearly see its insides, which was really fun. They also get really creative with the transitioning between human and monster forms.
While watching, I was surprised that for the most part it's really lighthearted and not incredibly emotional. It's very much a story about friendship and overcoming certain odds. Then just when I thought I was safe, they eventually managed to squeeze some tears out of me. Luca, Alberto and Giulia are great characters. They're really fun, heartwarming and they have some great chemistry with each other. The cast did an excellent job with the voice work.
While I enjoyed the plot and I do think that it ends very strongly, I will say that it doesn't really go anywhere outside the box, so don't go in expecting something revolutionary. It's very much a tale of friendship, just with seamonsters. Tonally it kind of reminds me of a Ghibli film actually.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. I just kind of wish they played around a bit more with the seamonster element and did a bit more with the plot.
Pixar's Luca has officially released on Disney Plus so I went ahead and watched it.
The visuals and animation style feel heavily inspired… more by Aardman's stop motion, with the design of the world and the characters, particularly the way the characters mouths move if that makes any sense, with how they move and morph around the face. The movie is general is just really darn good looking with the water and the architecture. The buildings have this perfect imperfection to them that I really like, where things are uneven and misshapen. I'm also a fan of the sea creature designs. One in particular, who unfortunately did not get much screentime, had see through skin so you could clearly see its insides, which was really fun. They also get really creative with the transitioning between human and monster forms.
While watching, I was surprised that for the most part it's really lighthearted and not incredibly emotional. It's very much a story abou… [view original content]
Finished Slasher season 2 and 3 followed by Black Summer season 2 on Netflix.
Both shows where great I've been avoiding YouTube recomindations of the first 5 minutes preview of Jurassic World : Dominion cause felt like that ruin whst I would expect.
But as for now I can wait for Resident Evil : Infinite Darkness which is right around the corner.
I have high hopes for it cause I don't see Chris Redfield do I would assume won't be actionie as much as Vendetta.
It's also funny when they ad Leon it's a horror but Chris like COD character for REv now I I'm not saying it's a bad thing but...
Resident Evil is a post to be about gore and jump scares.
Felt like a bit of a step down from Season 1's conflict, but the arc about spirits and the Avatar lineage was super interesting.
Unalaq was an interesting antagonist, since he portrayed the "reject modernity, return to tradition"-type character. But unfortunately he went from "The Northern Water Tribe must be taught a lesson" to -- pretty suddenly -- into "hahaha I want to unleash hell on the world, essentially destroying it with my big bad monster friend". Amon at least had a more consistent (and sympathetic) motivation throughout his season.
The introduction of Eska and Desna was fun, if only to see Aubrey Plaza join the cast.
Though I found their betrayal of Unalaq to be pretty late. The dude was going on about world destruction for like 3 episodes already, and they still decided to stand by him.
Love the addition of Kya and Bumi. The latter being a great new source of comic relief, and a nice twist in being the only one of Aang's children to be a non-bender.
Varrick, uh, well, I like him, but I don't like how he's the "ultimate trickster" character. Constantly playing both sides, constantly double-crossing anyone and everyone. I love the whole schtick with his assistant always being nearby, but as a character he was just too all over the place for me to properly pin down.
I also had a love-hate relationship with the Nuk-Tuk plotline of the season. I get that it was to show the corrupting influence of power and fame, and how Bolin resents his friends because of it, but every now and then he did some good with it, only to go right back into "I'm too famous for anyone" mode. Luckily I think he salvaged it in the end, pulling off a great heroic act in ousting Varrick.
Plus, I can't lie, I loved those spoof Water Tribe propaganda films (oh that's definitely getting me on a watchlist).
Pabu and Naga really got the short end of the stick this season. Their presence was pretty limited, and were mostly away from Korra for the whole season.
I loved, loved loved the Avatar Wan episodes. Firstly, because it evoked some superb japanese-watercolour-style art. Second, because it was a great way to show how things were different before the concept of an Avatar was even a thing (and the mystery of "how/who got the first 4 elements?") and Third, because Steven Yeun. Didn't find that out til later, but it's nice.
I liked Jinora's subplot in this season, with her being some super well-attuned spirit guide, and the whole spirit world episodes were neat. I found it a bit cheap that she essentially destroyed the final boss in one hit, but ehhh she's the arbiter of wholesome energy or something.
All in all, this season was actually pretty packed in terms of plot, ah, I nearly forgot to mention the end: It's a really bold move to have the season end on that note.... with Korra losing the ability to revisit her past selves, and essentially ending the Avatar lineage, since this was another case of didn't-get-a-premature-renewal.
I hope they find a way to fix that in another season, since I'm really going to miss the cool cosmic spirit talks and insight into the thousands of years of Avatars -- ESPECIALLY Old Man Aang!
(Ahhh, forgot again, the Iroh appearance was great! Plus the small appearance of Zhao was unexpected but fun. Still think General Zuko - uh, I mean Iroh is strange. Dante Bosco just being Dante Bosco I guess.
Funny, Netflix Canada only has the first two seasons of Korra. Luckily I've got the DVDs.
But, Next I think I'll jump back over to watching Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. Only 2 seasons left in that, and it should be a quick watch.
And they blow up Ratland (and possibly murder) Amy and Brad? Wtf Dreamworks. That was my favourite part of the last season. It's like you want me to hate the villain or something, ugh.
Also, Asher, Dalia and Troy feel like great side characters right now. Too bad they were quickly shoved off for their own safety, while our main characters embark on a new quest.
The visuals and animation are really good, for the most part, though there’s some wonky looking animations that look really weird especially with the photorealistic visuals. The voice acting is about as good as the normal RE voice acting and there’s some fun references sprinkled around. But the writing, both story and dialogue, are just not good lmao. They said the words terror and fear so much that they no longer feel like words to me. Claire, despite being one of the main characters honestly doesn’t really do much at all, while a Leon gets all the action.
It’s much better than any of the live action stuff, but it’s about the same level as the other animated movies, though I honestly enjoyed those a lot more.
Just watched the first episode of Resident Evil : Infinite Darkness last night , and gotta say was pretty awesome.
Even though
The plot of the story takes place in 2006 so this was way before the events of Degeneration ,Damnation, vendetta or other resident evil event out breaks.But anyways it took place in 2006 in the fictional country of Panemstan in a civil war where US forces where fighting .I also noticed some references to the movie Black Hawk down since a UH-60 was shot down and guerrilla fighters were heading to the position just like in that movie.
Then after seeing some US soliders captured or killed and mutilated for display then the dead military combatants turned.The White House outbreak also remind me of the sence of resident evil degeneration when a security operative was going too check on the press secretary and reminding me of that sence of Angela Miller with that zombie in the terminal back degeneration.
Follow by modern day political tensions with China but will stop it from there
True , but at least it got more gore then less action but you probally know this took place way before the other resident evil events and the other animated movies since this took place durning Graham administration since well the President from RE6 was turned.
I did like the plot of story since they also modern references with politics
But with that aside .
Claire Redfield is just doing less dangerous stuff and doing more humanitarian aid unlike her brother and Leon who put themselves on the line combating the infected and corporate entities that are linked to former Umbrella Corporation.
But yes we can all agree he Paul W S Anderson adaptations to resonate people are terrible.
Even though if you look at his live action films extremely carefully he keeps referencing the right wing which was only featured in the umbrella Chronicles when Albert Wesker was typing and data for the T virus which the red queen denied accuses.
So he had Togo to Russia to shut her down.
Followed by the nonstop code Veronica references with the ashford family and Apocalypse and resident evil afterlife with Chris and Claire Redfield which was also a reference to code Veronica.
And the last movies which look like flying demons where also javo s from RE6 which where terribly made sense Janos once injured they’ll grow clowns or wings while injured.
I watched Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness.
It’s okay. I think.
The visuals and animation are really good, for the most part, though t… morehere’s some wonky looking animations that look really weird especially with the photorealistic visuals. The voice acting is about as good as the normal RE voice acting and there’s some fun references sprinkled around. But the writing, both story and dialogue, are just not good lmao. They said the words terror and fear so much that they no longer feel like words to me. Claire, despite being one of the main characters honestly doesn’t really do much at all, while a Leon gets all the action.
It’s much better than any of the live action stuff, but it’s about the same level as the other animated movies, though I honestly enjoyed those a lot more.
Edit: oh, sorry if this is skirting the 'politics' rule here. I don't go too deep into it, just the base level of the show itself.
The short Netflix series "We The People". A Musical (if basic) Civics course about how the laws and legal systems of the USA work.
The show is... Nice when it focuses on individual citizen topics, though it does fall into a consistent pro-gov, rose-coloured, very patriotic pattern. That's definitely because of the subject matter covered (and some of the main executive producers are Barack and Michelle Obama, along with their film production company Higher Ground). Also, the fact that I'm completely unrelated to the country definitely plays a factor in my disconnect.
I could not finish the "I'm an American Citizen!" Episode due to how unrelatable it felt, even if these episodes are only 4 mins long...
The show features a wide variety of artists, composers, directors, and animation styles. If you're not interested in the show for its educational value, the animation is a real treat, along with hearing new material from the Anderson-Lopez bunch, Lin Manuel Miranda or Adam Lambert. The final episode is particularly noteworthy, being a spoken word poem by Amanda Gorman -- not an episode about the government or America's ideals, but about uniting in the face of today's pandemic.
Best animation: "Taxes" & "Federal Vs. State Power"
Best music: "(Link Up) Federal Vs. State Power", "(All Rise) The Courts", & "(Stronger) We The People"
(look up the court case 'Naruto v. Slater" it's insane)
I wanna mention the TV Series Black Summer real quick.
It's a Netflix Action-Zombie-Drama about the start of a post-apocalypse.
It's quite fun, but it's some real weird quirks and faults, and with Season 2 out now (but I've only seen the first episode), they haven't handled/improved it well.
For one thing, basically everyone in this show is stupid. They make tons of terrible decisions; Making noise intentionally at the worst times, not closing doors in a chase, never learning to be skeptical of people, etc. If it's a bad idea, it'll happen.
It's hard to get to know the characters apart from their appearance and general attitude. People very rarely mention their names (or never -- sometimes you only learn it through a one-time title card) and with S2 out now... Well...
Returning characters are totally lost on me. It's been two years since the last season came out and Netflix hasn't prepared for it. No recap video, the show makes a sudden 4-month timeskip to a new location+season. Some characters reappear from S1, but it was only after I looked up the cast did I find that out. One of them even dies and I didn't even realise it was someone important!
Apart from that, the show is enjoyable to watch at times. The action scenes are well-choreographed and many of them use a one-shot camera format. I don't remember much of the latter from Season 1, but I guess that's another reason why I should just restart this anyway and find out.
After watching the animated movie, Wolfwalkers, by Cartoon Saloon I went on to watch their previous film, The Breadwinner, which was actually on my radar long before Wolfwalkers was a thing but I never got around to seeing it.
The Breadwinner follows Parvana, an 11 year old girl living in Kabul, Afghanistan with her father, mother, elder sister and baby brother. After an incident has her father unjustly arrested, her family is without any means of supporting themselves. Due to the Taliban’s rules forbidding women from leaving their home without a male relative present, Parvana decides to disguise herself as a boy in order to earn money to feed her family and pay for her father’s release.
The movie does not hold back when it comes to portraying the sobering realities of living under Taliban ruling during a never ending war, including abuse, child marriage, terrorism, and the general issues women and girls face in the middle east’s misogynistic culture without the need of dumbing down these topics for younger audiences. There is very little subtext and whole lot of text, to the point where there is a specific scene early on that I found uncomfortable to watch in part due to the stellar voice work. While the movie overall isn’t particularly violent or disturbing, there are scenes containing blood and violence, some of which are towards children.
The movie isn’t all doom and gloom, there are still moments of lightheartedness particularly with Parvana’s friend, Shauzia, and their dreams of escaping Kabul and making a life of their own, as well as a fairytale narrated by Parvana that is told throughout the movie. These scenes specifically are great as they help in some colour and vibrancy to the movie as the story is told through the use of pop-up book like visuals.
The voice acting is phenomenal, especially Parvana who goes through a wide range of emotions throughout the movie. She has an incredibly tense moment in the movie by herself that had me struggling to hold back tears.
The only complaint I can possibly think of is that the breaks between the main story and the fairytale might make things a bit confusing if you aren’t paying attention, but even then it’s an “I guess” kind of thing.
The Breadwinner is one of the best animated films I’ve ever seen. It’s a beautiful, sad and at times tragic movie that manages to tell a very grounded and real story, that succeeds on shedding some light on the harsh realities some people in the world face, without having to dumb itself down in order to target younger audiences.
Like all of Cartoon Saloon’s movies, this made no fuckin’ money lmao so if you have Netflix please go watch it.
How on Earth do they stay afloat like seriously. All their stuff is so damn good but they make like no money.
I finally saw Pixar's Onward, and it was a very enjoyable and surprising film.
The story follows Ian, a young Elf, (one of two brothers) who after finding he has magic wizardly powers, attempts to revive his late father for a one-day revival spell. It goes wrong, of course, and the duo must set out on a mighty quest to find another Phoenix Gem needed to complete it.
This movie and it's unique turns in the story really impressed me.
First of all, the setting being this modernized fantasy world was pretty cool. They managed to get some nice imagery and amusing references to the standard fantasy tropes of the various creatures in great ways. Unicorns are feral creatures who live off trash, centaurs have grown soft due to vehicles, as have pixies. And there's a pretty big variety of fantasy creatures throughout.
The pairing of the two heroes -- young Ian and Barley (played pretty well by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) -- actually has a relationship that doesn't have much animosity between the two. It's a very supportive brotherhood -- especially from Barley, the older brother.
Spoiler Territory:
The most impressive bit is that the movie doesn't fall into the common (and highly telegraphed) Jealousy trope. Not once does Barley get jealous of Ian's magic ability, nor is it used to kick off a series of unfortunate hijinks or be the crux of the story. It was really refreshing to see.
The climax of the film takes an interesting twist, and the signature "Pixar is powered by your tears" moment is stand-out surprising as well.
Spoiler Territory:
So basically, as the lesson the main character learns in the film, is that he always wanted to spend time with his dad who he never got to see -- but he realizes that Barley, his older brother, has been the one who has taught him and gave him such a happy life. Teaching him to ride a bike, drive a car on their quest, and just have fun together. So when the time comes that he has to choose between being there when his dad gets revived or not, he doesn't stay!
I found that unique angle to the story really interesting, and definitely got me to shed a few tears.
There's also a moment a few scenes before that, that touches upon loved ones being sick/in the hospital, and how that affects a child. The scene in question is where Barley regrets that he never saw his dad at the hospital one last time, because in all the machines he was hooked up to -- and his sickness -- it made him scared, and he wouldn't enter the room. That was pretty heartbreaking and also a thought-provoking element to include in the film.
My favourite detail of the film has to be where the title is derived from (I guess).
Barley is driving the van at one point, and -- being the huge fantasy fan and casual role-player that he is -- says to put the car into the gear "Onward", and you see the "D" in 'Drive' has been taped over with an "O" for 'Onward', because of course that's the type of thing he'd do. Makes every journey in his van an adventure.
Eh, I thought that was a cute touch to one of the characters.
I recently watched this old film called "12 Angry Men". I'm not a guy who is interested in films pre-1970, I mean I did watch other films like Night of the Living Dead and the original King Kong movie but that's only because they are the ones who popularized the genres which are being kind of overused nowadays, like Kaiju and zombie flicks.
With that being said, 12 Angry Men is the very first 50's film I've ever watched. The movie which defines the decade it came out and I think cannot be made today. Something like this can sound very boring to some movie viewers (Especially the modern ones), including myself but I was interested to see it due to its concept alone. And I think this movie was a complete flawless masterpiece. The acting is perfect, the pacing is well put together, the dialogue is outstanding and there is nothing that bothered me about this film. I think I consider this my favorite film that is filmed in Black and White.
I recently watched this old film called "12 Angry Men". I'm not a guy who is interested in films pre-1970, I mean I did watch other films li… moreke Night of the Living Dead and the original King Kong movie but that's only because they are the ones who popularized the genres which are being kind of overused nowadays, like Kaiju and zombie flicks.
With that being said, 12 Angry Men is the very first 50's film I've ever watched. The movie which defines the decade it came out and I think cannot be made today. Something like this can sound very boring to some movie viewers (Especially the modern ones), including myself but I was interested to see it due to its concept alone. And I think this movie was a complete flawless masterpiece. The acting is perfect, the pacing is well put together, the dialogue is outstanding and there is nothing that bothered me about this film. I think I consider this my favorite film that is filmed in Black and White.
I finished watching Masters of the Universe: Revelations. I've read the first prequel comic that came out but that was as far as I knew anything about the show. I liked the art style of the show, very fresh and clean. Very popular cast (didn't know that Lena Headey and Mark Hamill were also in it). I can't believe I'm saying this, but I like the show, despite having a certain main character not being in the 5 episodes.
So alot of people are hating the show because they killed off He-Man, including the way he was killed off and also that he wasn't shown for most of the 5 episodes but regardless of that I still enjoyed it.
Can't speak about the entire Season yet as they only have 5 episodes out rn.
Excited for this. Didn't think season 8 was that bad but it did feel somewhat underwhelming and rushed. Probably would've been more bothered if I'd watched it not knowing of a new season being made.
Just saw the Netflix film Wish Dragon.
It's an animated feature by Sony Pictures/Columbia. It was good. Just good.
To put it simply, it's basically a modern retelling of Aladdin. Though, while it does have its similarities, really not just that.
The story follows Din, a young man just trying to get by to get through college, in modern day Shanghai. After a couple of strange and unfortunate events, he summons the Wish Dragon called Long, giving him 3 wishes to do as he pleases.
Yes, much like Aladdin, he uses this to chase after a girl, though more in a friendly manner rather than romantic (they were once childhood friends).
Along the way, he gets chased by the mob, and their leader who has the most weirdly bendable, flexible kung-fu legs you'll ever see.
The story here is interesting however in that it features a modern day setting, it has Long constantly pushing the main character to wish for gold and power, even having his own character arc and backstory,, and this has a fun 3rd act climax that pulls off some different things. It touches upon themes of wealth and class, that I really think is used differently than that of Aladdin.
There's a few issues in that the voice acting seems to lack some direction, it really felt like some lines were said without intention, or reference with someone else to bounce off of. (Plus the lip synching can be a bit off/incomplete) However, the animation is a lot of fun, especially towards Long. He's very fluffy, is malleable and can extend in a variety of shapes... the animators has a lot of fun with him (as did John Cho voicing him). He plays the snarky, classist personality really well.
I'd recommend it if you want a fun animated film to put on a rainy day.
The animation in this movie is great, like you mentioned with the mob boss who has this really fluid, snake-like animation that’s really fun to look at. Din has some pretty noodle-y limbs as well when it comes to the slapstick and fighting. It really reminds me of the old timey rubberhose style of animation.
Plus the lip synching can be a bit off/incomplete
Yep, I remember seeing a couple scenes in the movie where it’s clear they were animated with the Chinese dub in mind. It’s super weird since the lip syncing in the rest of the movie follows the English dub.
Just saw the Netflix film Wish Dragon.
It's an animated feature by Sony Pictures/Columbia. It was good. Just good.
To put it simply, it'… mores basically a modern retelling of Aladdin. Though, while it does have its similarities, really not just that.
The story follows Din, a young man just trying to get by to get through college, in modern day Shanghai. After a couple of strange and unfortunate events, he summons the Wish Dragon called Long, giving him 3 wishes to do as he pleases.
Yes, much like Aladdin, he uses this to chase after a girl, though more in a friendly manner rather than romantic (they were once childhood friends).
Along the way, he gets chased by the mob, and their leader who has the most weirdly bendable, flexible kung-fu legs you'll ever see.
The story here is interesting however in that it features a modern day setting, it has Long constantly pushing the main character to wish for gold and power, even having his own … [view original content]
Owl House continues to have a very strong second season with the latest episode being my favourite of the season so far. I have no idea how they managed to jam so much character development into this one episode that other shows would stretch out for as long as possible in a way that didn’t feel rushed but they managed to do it.
Makes me even more annoyed with Disney’s mistreatment of the show.
So I actually saw this episode out of curiosity since people were going crazy over it, and I got to say, Hooty needs to be in jail.
Seriously, he kidnapped a girl and hid her in his basement, attacked King, drugged a woman into unconsciousness, caused a ton of property damage, almost committed manslaughter, and I’m pretty sure that tunnel wasn’t up to code and he didn’t have the proper permits for its construction. He’s going to prison for a long time.
Owl House continues to have a very strong second season with the latest episode being my favourite of the season so far. I have no idea how … morethey managed to jam so much character development into this one episode that other shows would stretch out for as long as possible in a way that didn’t feel rushed but they managed to do it.
Makes me even more annoyed with Disney’s mistreatment of the show.
Comments
You’re reaction to the first episode is exactly, word for word, my reaction as well. First 30 minutes, I felt they were holding back on the violence for an 18+ show. Then the last 10 minutes came...oh sweet baby Jesus.
You’re welcome (I work for them, remember).
I love it so much even just just joined and learned about it
Ooh, nice, it's a great show.
Okay, so, Invincible.
I finished it last night. All I gotta say is...
WHAT THE CLUCK DUDE (lol sorry)
For real, I've got quite a bit to say.
The show itself is very good, with a few issues. I wasn't that invested in the whole love-triangle subplot, and seeing Mark get into situation after situation of standing up Amber was real annoying. Felt bad for him and equally for Amber. It happened like every episode though and not seeing him win even one of those scheduled moments was frustrating.
The build-up of the Omni-Man plot and mystery was great! You don't really know why he does what he does, though there are some clues laid out if you're attentive. I was so close to guessing his motivation, but was off by a bit. (I thought he was jealous of the other supers, wanting to be - the sole protector - of earth. Nah, it's actually a little god-complex and supremacy he's after.)
I think this plot really pushed aside a lot of other interesting sub-plots and conflicts that were set-up, but the ending montage basically confirms we'll see those continue in Season 2.
(Though I wonder if S2 will retain that level of engagement without a cool main plot)
The last 2 episodes are tense-AF and super action packed. Fantastic.
The animation in this show is stunning. There's some really cool environments, lots of fast-paced and detailed shots, and buckets of well-animated, disgusting gore. I've played my fair share of video games, so I'd say I'm probably a bit desensitized to it, but in this show, my stomach went topsy-turvy every time there was some gory moment. I think it's the detail behind most of it that's so off-putting. Every time was shocking and let out an audible gasp.
The gore and real-mess of it definitely raised the stakes of the show. Plenty of times throughout where I'd be crossing my fingers that a character wouldn't die, since the injuries and a few important character deaths are very much real and can happen at any time.
The cast is the most impressive aspect of this show. Amazon's got a huuuuge budget, wowowow. Plenty of recognizable names for me (though I'm not really familiar with every actor mentioned)
The Mitchells vs. The Machines. Very good movie, better than I expected, lots of heart-tugging moments, though I've got a few issues with it.
In terms of the bad in this film, I've only got three points, they're relatively small, don't detract from the enjoyment too much:
Oh yeah and Sony brought back the robotic demons of 1998 and it was hilarious and perfectly creepy.
I saw Whiplash.
Freakin tense movie. One of the most tense I've seen.
80% of this film had me mouth agape.
Thank God the ending was somewhat cathartic and joyful -- or as much as it can be.
Because this film was a roller-coaster of emotions. Damn, Miles Teller can play the drums. Damn, JK Simmons can be freakin terrifying.
JK Simmons earned his Oscar with this movie, well deserved, and this movie established him as one of my favorite actors.
What, to me, is so interesting about the ending is that, essentially, Fletcher got what he wanted, that his teaching methods of verbal, physical, and mental abuse worked on Andrew and drove him to reach these levels. It's why his dad is seen looking on in almost horror, instead of pride, during his climactic drum solo at the end. And it was this dynamic presented throughout the whole movie that made the relationship between Fletcher and Andrew tense, but the movie's ultimate highlight.
Finished Season 1 of Invincible last night.
Overall, probably about an 8/10
Edit: seriously though, fuck Amber.
Exactly. It's pretty cool to see Andrew totally drum the fuck out of that finale, standing up for himself and showing up Fletcher, but at the same time, he becomes this unstoppable musical monster, which is exactly what Fletcher pushed him to do in the first place.
So, silver lining for a split-second, as Andrew gets the upper-hand and drums his way out of a bad hand Fletcher dealt him, but then it flips back to Andrew's "love" of drumming and essentially proves Fletcher right. Shiiiiit.
Fun fact for anyone who doesn't know this: Miles Teller can actually play the drums and JK Simmons can actually conduct.
What We Do In The Shadows (the tv show).
I watched the first two Jeepers Creepers movies. Those are kind of like the first two Alien movies but with a slasher creature hunting people on a road trip. The first one is more suspenseful while the second one is more entertaining and the creature is more expanded.
Those movies were very enjoyable. However, the director of these films is a fucking maniac because he is a child molester. He raped a child who actually starred in one of these films and for some reason, the director was sentenced to prison for ONLY 15 months. That is too fucking short. People like him deserves 50 years behind the cell because this type of decision cannot be made by mistake. His films are the best example of separating the art from the artist. Great movies but fuck this guy. Not gonna bother with the third movie because people say it's terrible.
Bo Burnham's Inside is a refreshing thing that I needed to experience.
His new comedy special came out today (yesterday?) and it's a great introspective piece about loneliness, isolation, new social change and the crazy anxiety-inducing year we've had, filled with awesome visuals, catchy music and silly jokes.
The show is part-stand-up special, part music/skit compilation, part video journal, and part 'loosely narrative' story.
Once again, it pokes at Bo's own insecurities, anxiety, and depression, usually framing it through song (and to some, in relatable fashion). There's still plenty of jokes to go around about himself and the world around him, and if you're a fan of Bo's music then this special is gonna be a treat for you!
The format is a series of clips recorded over the past year, some of them are musical bits, some of them are more personal glimpses at his own stand-up fears and the process of making this special and some of them are fun skits he wrote. I think the way it's all edited and presented provides a much cooler experience than a normal on-stage Stand-up experience -- fitting for Bo. (Not surprising, since I think Bo started making stuff on Youtube before his career)
While it might be a bit pretentious to note the best moments/music of the special [hohoho, yes, twirls moustache], I'm gonna do it anyway because as an entertainment product it's still dang great and the format lends itself to a chapter-by-chapter basis well.
Best bits by tentative title -- Spoilers:
From a production standpoint, this was a really great film. Most of the shots are from the camera from one specific side of the room, with a few using different angles and close-ups. There's great use of lighting and silhouettes, with plenty of colours illuminating his room or himself in some striking shots. (one shot uses a projector in a great way)
I understand he didn't release his last special Make Happy as an album because he felt it should be consumed all-at-once (or maybe Netflix didn't want it out there for free), but I really hope he releases some of the songs here separately. I can definitely see myself coming back to listen to a few because of their sick beats or emotional significance.
I watched this movie called "No Country for Old Men". This is probably the most confusing film I've ever seen and the most shocking thing about it is that
The bad guy won and lives and the hero just dies.
Can someone actually explain the whole story for me? Or at least its ending because I was completely lost when it faded to black.
Just finished watching Netflix Jurassic World Camp Cretaceous season 3 Army Of the dead.
Now army of the dead thanks too my Facebook friend I gotta say was a great zombie flic .
It scored pretty decent on Rotten tomatoes.
This is fun.
I finally finished watching the Indiana Jones trilogy. I watched The Last Crusade a few days ago. This is arguably the best action-adventure franchise I have seen. Why it took me so long to watch this films is beyond me. The franchise is definitely the main inspiration for Tomb Raider and Uncharted. I think my favorite of the trilogy is Temple of Doom. It has the best concept and I just love how dark it is.
Haven't seen the Kingdom of the Crystal. I'll probably skip it cause it doesn't interest me. All I know about it is Shia Lebouf, Indy surviving a nuke bomb by hiding in a fridge and aliens. That's enough for me to not see it.
Pixar's Luca has officially released on Disney Plus so I went ahead and watched it.
The visuals and animation style feel heavily inspired by Aardman's stop motion, with the design of the world and the characters, particularly the way the characters mouths move if that makes any sense, with how they move and morph around the face. The movie is general is just really darn good looking with the water and the architecture. The buildings have this perfect imperfection to them that I really like, where things are uneven and misshapen. I'm also a fan of the sea creature designs. One in particular, who unfortunately did not get much screentime, had see through skin so you could clearly see its insides, which was really fun. They also get really creative with the transitioning between human and monster forms.
While watching, I was surprised that for the most part it's really lighthearted and not incredibly emotional. It's very much a story about friendship and overcoming certain odds. Then just when I thought I was safe, they eventually managed to squeeze some tears out of me. Luca, Alberto and Giulia are great characters. They're really fun, heartwarming and they have some great chemistry with each other. The cast did an excellent job with the voice work.
While I enjoyed the plot and I do think that it ends very strongly, I will say that it doesn't really go anywhere outside the box, so don't go in expecting something revolutionary. It's very much a tale of friendship, just with seamonsters. Tonally it kind of reminds me of a Ghibli film actually.
Overall, I really enjoyed it. I just kind of wish they played around a bit more with the seamonster element and did a bit more with the plot.
Ooh. Just what I was hoping for.
But this reminds me... I still haven't watched Onward yet! (Nor Raya either, oops!)
Finished Slasher season 2 and 3 followed by Black Summer season 2 on Netflix.
Both shows where great I've been avoiding YouTube recomindations of the first 5 minutes preview of Jurassic World : Dominion cause felt like that ruin whst I would expect.
But as for now I can wait for Resident Evil : Infinite Darkness which is right around the corner.
I have high hopes for it cause I don't see Chris Redfield do I would assume won't be actionie as much as Vendetta.
It's also funny when they ad Leon it's a horror but Chris like COD character for REv now I I'm not saying it's a bad thing but...
Resident Evil is a post to be about gore and jump scares.
But with that being said can't wait.
Finished Korra Season 2.
Felt like a bit of a step down from Season 1's conflict, but the arc about spirits and the Avatar lineage was super interesting.
Unalaq was an interesting antagonist, since he portrayed the "reject modernity, return to tradition"-type character. But unfortunately he went from "The Northern Water Tribe must be taught a lesson" to -- pretty suddenly -- into "hahaha I want to unleash hell on the world, essentially destroying it with my big bad monster friend". Amon at least had a more consistent (and sympathetic) motivation throughout his season.
The introduction of Eska and Desna was fun, if only to see Aubrey Plaza join the cast.
Though I found their betrayal of Unalaq to be pretty late. The dude was going on about world destruction for like 3 episodes already, and they still decided to stand by him.
Love the addition of Kya and Bumi. The latter being a great new source of comic relief, and a nice twist in being the only one of Aang's children to be a non-bender.
Varrick, uh, well, I like him, but I don't like how he's the "ultimate trickster" character. Constantly playing both sides, constantly double-crossing anyone and everyone. I love the whole schtick with his assistant always being nearby, but as a character he was just too all over the place for me to properly pin down.
I also had a love-hate relationship with the Nuk-Tuk plotline of the season. I get that it was to show the corrupting influence of power and fame, and how Bolin resents his friends because of it, but every now and then he did some good with it, only to go right back into "I'm too famous for anyone" mode. Luckily I think he salvaged it in the end, pulling off a great heroic act in ousting Varrick.
Plus, I can't lie, I loved those spoof Water Tribe propaganda films (oh that's definitely getting me on a watchlist).
Pabu and Naga really got the short end of the stick this season. Their presence was pretty limited, and were mostly away from Korra for the whole season.
I loved, loved loved the Avatar Wan episodes. Firstly, because it evoked some superb japanese-watercolour-style art. Second, because it was a great way to show how things were different before the concept of an Avatar was even a thing (and the mystery of "how/who got the first 4 elements?") and Third, because Steven Yeun. Didn't find that out til later, but it's nice.
I liked Jinora's subplot in this season, with her being some super well-attuned spirit guide, and the whole spirit world episodes were neat. I found it a bit cheap that she essentially destroyed the final boss in one hit, but ehhh she's the arbiter of wholesome energy or something.
All in all, this season was actually pretty packed in terms of plot, ah, I nearly forgot to mention the end: It's a really bold move to have the season end on that note.... with Korra losing the ability to revisit her past selves, and essentially ending the Avatar lineage, since this was another case of didn't-get-a-premature-renewal.
I hope they find a way to fix that in another season, since I'm really going to miss the cool cosmic spirit talks and insight into the thousands of years of Avatars -- ESPECIALLY Old Man Aang!
(Ahhh, forgot again, the Iroh appearance was great! Plus the small appearance of Zhao was unexpected but fun. Still think General Zuko - uh, I mean Iroh is strange. Dante Bosco just being Dante Bosco I guess.
Funny, Netflix Canada only has the first two seasons of Korra. Luckily I've got the DVDs.
But, Next I think I'll jump back over to watching Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. Only 2 seasons left in that, and it should be a quick watch.
Just watched Fear Street: 1994 part 1 on Netflix and I enjoyed it not only heard 90s music but the storyline and characters where attachable .
Especially the plot of the story.
After a series of brutal slayings, a teen and her friends take on an evil force that's plagued their notorious town for centuries.
Now I'm ready for part 2 of Fear Street : 1778
Just glad I get to see more slasher flickers after finishing Slasher season 3.
Ragnarok! I watched the first season quite a long time ago. Season 2
So I saw the first episode of Season 2 of Kipo.
And they blow up Ratland (and possibly murder) Amy and Brad? Wtf Dreamworks. That was my favourite part of the last season. It's like you want me to hate the villain or something, ugh.
Also, Asher, Dalia and Troy feel like great side characters right now. Too bad they were quickly shoved off for their own safety, while our main characters embark on a new quest.
I watched Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness.
It’s okay. I think.
The visuals and animation are really good, for the most part, though there’s some wonky looking animations that look really weird especially with the photorealistic visuals. The voice acting is about as good as the normal RE voice acting and there’s some fun references sprinkled around. But the writing, both story and dialogue, are just not good lmao. They said the words terror and fear so much that they no longer feel like words to me. Claire, despite being one of the main characters honestly doesn’t really do much at all, while a Leon gets all the action.
It’s much better than any of the live action stuff, but it’s about the same level as the other animated movies, though I honestly enjoyed those a lot more.
Just watched the first episode of Resident Evil : Infinite Darkness last night , and gotta say was pretty awesome.
Even though
The plot of the story takes place in 2006 so this was way before the events of Degeneration ,Damnation, vendetta or other resident evil event out breaks.But anyways it took place in 2006 in the fictional country of Panemstan in a civil war where US forces where fighting .I also noticed some references to the movie Black Hawk down since a UH-60 was shot down and guerrilla fighters were heading to the position just like in that movie.
Then after seeing some US soliders captured or killed and mutilated for display then the dead military combatants turned.The White House outbreak also remind me of the sence of resident evil degeneration when a security operative was going too check on the press secretary and reminding me of that sence of Angela Miller with that zombie in the terminal back degeneration.
Follow by modern day political tensions with China but will stop it from there
“To avoid political discussion”
True , but at least it got more gore then less action but you probally know this took place way before the other resident evil events and the other animated movies since this took place durning Graham administration since well the President from RE6 was turned.
I did like the plot of story since they also modern references with politics
But with that aside .
Claire Redfield is just doing less dangerous stuff and doing more humanitarian aid unlike her brother and Leon who put themselves on the line combating the infected and corporate entities that are linked to former Umbrella Corporation.
But yes we can all agree he Paul W S Anderson adaptations to resonate people are terrible.
Even though if you look at his live action films extremely carefully he keeps referencing the right wing which was only featured in the umbrella Chronicles when Albert Wesker was typing and data for the T virus which the red queen denied accuses.
So he had Togo to Russia to shut her down.
Followed by the nonstop code Veronica references with the ashford family and Apocalypse and resident evil afterlife with Chris and Claire Redfield which was also a reference to code Veronica.
And the last movies which look like flying demons where also javo s from RE6 which where terribly made sense Janos once injured they’ll grow clowns or wings while injured.
But that’s another topic we can leave.
Amazing: a challenge set for different animators, where they all tweaked and came up with their own world for this 3D walking animation.
Here's the 10-minute cut, just 100 entries.
Here's the full 2h45m of thousands of submissions.
Edit: oh, sorry if this is skirting the 'politics' rule here. I don't go too deep into it, just the base level of the show itself.
The short Netflix series "We The People". A Musical (if basic) Civics course about how the laws and legal systems of the USA work.
The show is... Nice when it focuses on individual citizen topics, though it does fall into a consistent pro-gov, rose-coloured, very patriotic pattern. That's definitely because of the subject matter covered (and some of the main executive producers are Barack and Michelle Obama, along with their film production company Higher Ground). Also, the fact that I'm completely unrelated to the country definitely plays a factor in my disconnect.
I could not finish the "I'm an American Citizen!" Episode due to how unrelatable it felt, even if these episodes are only 4 mins long...
The show features a wide variety of artists, composers, directors, and animation styles. If you're not interested in the show for its educational value, the animation is a real treat, along with hearing new material from the Anderson-Lopez bunch, Lin Manuel Miranda or Adam Lambert. The final episode is particularly noteworthy, being a spoken word poem by Amanda Gorman -- not an episode about the government or America's ideals, but about uniting in the face of today's pandemic.
Best animation: "Taxes" & "Federal Vs. State Power"
Best music: "(Link Up) Federal Vs. State Power", "(All Rise) The Courts", & "(Stronger) We The People"
(look up the court case 'Naruto v. Slater" it's insane)
I wanna mention the TV Series Black Summer real quick.
It's a Netflix Action-Zombie-Drama about the start of a post-apocalypse.
It's quite fun, but it's some real weird quirks and faults, and with Season 2 out now (but I've only seen the first episode), they haven't handled/improved it well.
Apart from that, the show is enjoyable to watch at times. The action scenes are well-choreographed and many of them use a one-shot camera format. I don't remember much of the latter from Season 1, but I guess that's another reason why I should just restart this anyway and find out.
After watching the animated movie, Wolfwalkers, by Cartoon Saloon I went on to watch their previous film, The Breadwinner, which was actually on my radar long before Wolfwalkers was a thing but I never got around to seeing it.
The Breadwinner follows Parvana, an 11 year old girl living in Kabul, Afghanistan with her father, mother, elder sister and baby brother. After an incident has her father unjustly arrested, her family is without any means of supporting themselves. Due to the Taliban’s rules forbidding women from leaving their home without a male relative present, Parvana decides to disguise herself as a boy in order to earn money to feed her family and pay for her father’s release.
The movie does not hold back when it comes to portraying the sobering realities of living under Taliban ruling during a never ending war, including abuse, child marriage, terrorism, and the general issues women and girls face in the middle east’s misogynistic culture without the need of dumbing down these topics for younger audiences. There is very little subtext and whole lot of text, to the point where there is a specific scene early on that I found uncomfortable to watch in part due to the stellar voice work. While the movie overall isn’t particularly violent or disturbing, there are scenes containing blood and violence, some of which are towards children.
The movie isn’t all doom and gloom, there are still moments of lightheartedness particularly with Parvana’s friend, Shauzia, and their dreams of escaping Kabul and making a life of their own, as well as a fairytale narrated by Parvana that is told throughout the movie. These scenes specifically are great as they help in some colour and vibrancy to the movie as the story is told through the use of pop-up book like visuals.
The voice acting is phenomenal, especially Parvana who goes through a wide range of emotions throughout the movie. She has an incredibly tense moment in the movie by herself that had me struggling to hold back tears.
The only complaint I can possibly think of is that the breaks between the main story and the fairytale might make things a bit confusing if you aren’t paying attention, but even then it’s an “I guess” kind of thing.
The Breadwinner is one of the best animated films I’ve ever seen. It’s a beautiful, sad and at times tragic movie that manages to tell a very grounded and real story, that succeeds on shedding some light on the harsh realities some people in the world face, without having to dumb itself down in order to target younger audiences.
Like all of Cartoon Saloon’s movies, this made no fuckin’ money lmao so if you have Netflix please go watch it.
How on Earth do they stay afloat like seriously. All their stuff is so damn good but they make like no money.
I finally saw Pixar's Onward, and it was a very enjoyable and surprising film.
The story follows Ian, a young Elf, (one of two brothers) who after finding he has magic wizardly powers, attempts to revive his late father for a one-day revival spell. It goes wrong, of course, and the duo must set out on a mighty quest to find another Phoenix Gem needed to complete it.
This movie and it's unique turns in the story really impressed me.
First of all, the setting being this modernized fantasy world was pretty cool. They managed to get some nice imagery and amusing references to the standard fantasy tropes of the various creatures in great ways. Unicorns are feral creatures who live off trash, centaurs have grown soft due to vehicles, as have pixies. And there's a pretty big variety of fantasy creatures throughout.
The pairing of the two heroes -- young Ian and Barley (played pretty well by Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) -- actually has a relationship that doesn't have much animosity between the two. It's a very supportive brotherhood -- especially from Barley, the older brother.
Spoiler Territory:
The most impressive bit is that the movie doesn't fall into the common (and highly telegraphed) Jealousy trope. Not once does Barley get jealous of Ian's magic ability, nor is it used to kick off a series of unfortunate hijinks or be the crux of the story. It was really refreshing to see.
The climax of the film takes an interesting twist, and the signature "Pixar is powered by your tears" moment is stand-out surprising as well.
Spoiler Territory:
So basically, as the lesson the main character learns in the film, is that he always wanted to spend time with his dad who he never got to see -- but he realizes that Barley, his older brother, has been the one who has taught him and gave him such a happy life. Teaching him to ride a bike, drive a car on their quest, and just have fun together. So when the time comes that he has to choose between being there when his dad gets revived or not, he doesn't stay!
I found that unique angle to the story really interesting, and definitely got me to shed a few tears.
There's also a moment a few scenes before that, that touches upon loved ones being sick/in the hospital, and how that affects a child. The scene in question is where Barley regrets that he never saw his dad at the hospital one last time, because in all the machines he was hooked up to -- and his sickness -- it made him scared, and he wouldn't enter the room. That was pretty heartbreaking and also a thought-provoking element to include in the film.
My favourite detail of the film has to be where the title is derived from (I guess).
Barley is driving the van at one point, and -- being the huge fantasy fan and casual role-player that he is -- says to put the car into the gear "Onward", and you see the "D" in 'Drive' has been taped over with an "O" for 'Onward', because of course that's the type of thing he'd do. Makes every journey in his van an adventure.
Eh, I thought that was a cute touch to one of the characters.
I recently watched this old film called "12 Angry Men". I'm not a guy who is interested in films pre-1970, I mean I did watch other films like Night of the Living Dead and the original King Kong movie but that's only because they are the ones who popularized the genres which are being kind of overused nowadays, like Kaiju and zombie flicks.
With that being said, 12 Angry Men is the very first 50's film I've ever watched. The movie which defines the decade it came out and I think cannot be made today. Something like this can sound very boring to some movie viewers (Especially the modern ones), including myself but I was interested to see it due to its concept alone. And I think this movie was a complete flawless masterpiece. The acting is perfect, the pacing is well put together, the dialogue is outstanding and there is nothing that bothered me about this film. I think I consider this my favorite film that is filmed in Black and White.
12 Angry Men is indeed a classic. I think they did film a remake a few years ago, but I didn't watch it. The original is plenty good enough.
I finished watching Masters of the Universe: Revelations. I've read the first prequel comic that came out but that was as far as I knew anything about the show. I liked the art style of the show, very fresh and clean. Very popular cast (didn't know that Lena Headey and Mark Hamill were also in it). I can't believe I'm saying this, but I like the show, despite having a certain main character not being in the 5 episodes.
So alot of people are hating the show because they killed off He-Man, including the way he was killed off and also that he wasn't shown for most of the 5 episodes but regardless of that I still enjoyed it.
Can't speak about the entire Season yet as they only have 5 episodes out rn.
I don't know if you saw it friend but we've got a new trailer and a release date for Dexter S9.
Excited for this. Didn't think season 8 was that bad but it did feel somewhat underwhelming and rushed. Probably would've been more bothered if I'd watched it not knowing of a new season being made.
Just saw the Netflix film Wish Dragon.
It's an animated feature by Sony Pictures/Columbia. It was good. Just good.
To put it simply, it's basically a modern retelling of Aladdin. Though, while it does have its similarities, really not just that.
The story follows Din, a young man just trying to get by to get through college, in modern day Shanghai. After a couple of strange and unfortunate events, he summons the Wish Dragon called Long, giving him 3 wishes to do as he pleases.
Yes, much like Aladdin, he uses this to chase after a girl, though more in a friendly manner rather than romantic (they were once childhood friends).
Along the way, he gets chased by the mob, and their leader who has the most weirdly bendable, flexible kung-fu legs you'll ever see.
The story here is interesting however in that it features a modern day setting, it has Long constantly pushing the main character to wish for gold and power, even having his own character arc and backstory,, and this has a fun 3rd act climax that pulls off some different things. It touches upon themes of wealth and class, that I really think is used differently than that of Aladdin.
There's a few issues in that the voice acting seems to lack some direction, it really felt like some lines were said without intention, or reference with someone else to bounce off of. (Plus the lip synching can be a bit off/incomplete)
However, the animation is a lot of fun, especially towards Long. He's very fluffy, is malleable and can extend in a variety of shapes... the animators has a lot of fun with him (as did John Cho voicing him). He plays the snarky, classist personality really well.
I'd recommend it if you want a fun animated film to put on a rainy day.
The animation in this movie is great, like you mentioned with the mob boss who has this really fluid, snake-like animation that’s really fun to look at. Din has some pretty noodle-y limbs as well when it comes to the slapstick and fighting. It really reminds me of the old timey rubberhose style of animation.
Yep, I remember seeing a couple scenes in the movie where it’s clear they were animated with the Chinese dub in mind. It’s super weird since the lip syncing in the rest of the movie follows the English dub.
Owl House continues to have a very strong second season with the latest episode being my favourite of the season so far. I have no idea how they managed to jam so much character development into this one episode that other shows would stretch out for as long as possible in a way that didn’t feel rushed but they managed to do it.
Makes me even more annoyed with Disney’s mistreatment of the show.
So I actually saw this episode out of curiosity since people were going crazy over it, and I got to say, Hooty needs to be in jail.
Seriously, he kidnapped a girl and hid her in his basement, attacked King, drugged a woman into unconsciousness, caused a ton of property damage, almost committed manslaughter, and I’m pretty sure that tunnel wasn’t up to code and he didn’t have the proper permits for its construction. He’s going to prison for a long time.