8 A Quiet Place Day One

 

 

It's carried by Lupita, because the narrative doesn't have the strongest punch to really get across its themes.

19 Wish

 Just...copying from my Letterboxd review with a few additions, that will be in italics.

I didn't hate this as much as I expected, but there are some huge flaws.

The rules in this world regarding magic are not set up too well, and that could be easily ignored if the story didn't focus so much around it.

ex. yeah we don't know why Mirabel didn't get a gift from Casita, but the story isn't finding out why and giving us a story about a magic system, the story is about how Mirabel is being poorly treated by people for not being magical. 

It's so funny how Dreamworks last year beat Disney at its own game with a story about wishes.

July - September

Space Jam: A New Legacy

    The Looney Tunes were second fiddle in the franchise they made famous behind a man who could use a bit more work in the acting department (like his predecessor). Not even fun for nostalgia, but interesting visually.

 

Jungle Cruise

    How do you get two charismatic people and make them dull? That takes some kind of talent, talent that didn't go into the CGI. In reality - they probably didn't pay the CGI artists well enough to not work themselves to death. Or perhaps they simply weren't interested in this slog of a story, and I don't blame them. 

The Green Knight

If you don't like metaphor, fantasy, visuals, and things not making sense in a typical narrative structure, you're gonna hate it.

I, however, love those things a whole bunch. So this was right up my alley. Wish they stuck to some aspects of the story in the later parts a little stronger.

Candyman (2021)

    No impression left.

 

Vivo (2021)

    It's nothing special, but the earlier songs are very good. I didn't expect this to be the movie that sticks in my head months later. It had a wonderful set up that devolved into a typical children's movie. This was Sony's second movie to be sold to Netflix in 2021, and how they thought this justified a theatrical release is beyond me. 

The Suicide Squad (2021)

    I already dislike fantasy movies that are aping heavily from wartime films, so this was never going to land with me. I'm not even sure I finished it, so don't consider this a review.

 

Cinderella (2021)

    A lot of the songs are wonderful, just not any covered by the main actress. "Dream Girl" - I'm not sure if it's original, but it's very good. There's many hamfisted social issues that are undercut by many of the casting choices, the humor borders on too skeevy at points, and it's all in all something to kill time.

#9: Trolls: World Tour

Honestly, the first Trolls is underrated on almost every level, except in your local preschool.

It looks beautiful, the music is pretty damn good (Despite about 50% of her movies being musicals, I feel Anna Kendrick as a singer is woefully underrated), and the moral is not one you really see in a kid's movie: "Your happiness depends on you."

With "Onward" being oddly underwhelming, and most animated movies being somewhat in limbo, I wonder what the Oscar race will look like this year.

"Soul" will probably be pushed to November, as I have it on somewhat good authority that "Raya and The Last Dragon" is a bit behind.

But, "Trolls: World Tour". Now we have more musical genre trolls. In a move that would make Millar's Batman proud*, the enemy is a Rock and Roll troll named Barb...whom I love.

This one tried to shove in morals that are just different enough to make this feel unfocused, although I could see what they were attempting to accomplish.

It's a large mash of both "You're not always right", "Stop trying to homogenize us," and "Colonialism is bad, even when we do it.". Even the troll kingdom voiced by black people are like "Hey, you tried to colonize US.". There's even a dance number. Imagine trying to explain the colonization of the Americas to white America with a song. If it was Taylor Swift, they'd listen. Finally.

 *I am vaguely aware of the Batman run where he hated rock and roll.

#5: Birds of Prey

"Why didn't they just do Gotham City Sirens?"

Is something that was said a lot about this movie. Mainly so that people could have Barbara Gordon as Oracle, and less to push Harley onto another girl gang.

My knowledge of comics comes from a handful of Youtube channels, so I didn't know. After seeing this...I do wish we had seen that, simply because A) Catwoman and Poison Ivy are only two new characters.  "Birds" has about 4, and quite a few of them get shafted, partially ignored, and underused.

I had totally forgotten Huntress (Film wise, I have always enjoyed seeing Mary Elizabeth Winstead, and this is no exception) was even in this movie until she was officially name dropped.

One aspect I enjoyed was the score, especially whenever the diamond was mentioned. You hear it specifically when Cassandra (In name only, I'm told, but still, I enjoyed Ella Jay Basco) is in the cop car.

#4: Rocknrolla

I don't normally post the synopsis to movies here, but:

In London, a real-estate scam puts millions of pounds up for grabs, attracting some of the city's scrappiest tough guys and its more established underworld types, all of whom are looking to get rich quick. While the city's seasoned criminals vie for the cash, an unexpected player -- a drugged-out rock 'n' roller presumed to be dead but very much alive -- has a multi-million-dollar prize fall into his hands.

TLDR; A painting goes through several criminal hands, from someone who could probably be your local government representative, to the underground with criminals, to a drug addicted rockstar who faked his death.

Why did I do this?

#3: Missing Link

Eternal Bridesmaid LAIKA finally became the bride at the latest Golden Globe's ceremony. Despite being nominated and invited constantly to lose to Disney around every turn ("Paranorman" was better than "Brave" and you can't change my mind), finally got the better of the Sequel Station by having this movie win over "Frozen 2" and "Toy Story 4".

It's remarkable how similar Lionel Frost looks like his voice actor Hugh Jackman. Just saying.

The first 15 minutes are like...backwards "Smallfoot".

Of course, at heart it is a children's movie, but it's refreshing to see the main character be an outright jackass. A conniving person who wants his own ends. And have the other one essentially be a crass, literal animal. Frankly, everyone's pretty unlikeable or irritating at first, and I don't have a problem watching them.

It's a bit of the same "It's...fine." Vein as "Klaus", though I admit to having a lot more and bigger laughs here. ("Now...hold onto me tightly!" "Are you sure...Adelina's watching.").

It's certainly ambitious visually and Laika's biggest, most creative effort. I just wish it was a little more creative with its story.

#2: Klaus

So #2 was going to be something completely different until Oscar noms hit and I had seen a whopping...0/5 nominees.

Good on Netflix for getting two submissions in, Laika, Dreamworks, and Pixar with 1.

And nothing but "Into the Unknown" for Frozen II...when we all know it should have been "Show Yourself". Whatever.

Onto "Klaus"

My biggest issue with this is that the story is really nothing special. It's the art style and animation that makes it a delight. Sometimes you'll get these bits of super contemporary music that are at complete odds with the actual setting and tone of the story, and I don't care for it.

So much about this reminded me of the underrated modern classic "Arthur Christmas", a movie which never fails to cheer me up, and I wish that had been animated like this.

There really is not a ton to say about this movie besides "it's fine" and "the ending is very sweet." and "Hey J.K Simmons isn't shouting all the time."

I don't dislike it! Though knowing the differences in lighting darker skinned people in cinema, I wonder how this art style would look like with a diverse cast with variations of lighting techniques. 

#1: Dolemite Is My Name

A man steals stories to finally hit the big leagues with a Blaxploitation movie after creating a character.

(Well, yeah, he steals them)

The production value and design of the homes reminds me greatly of my own family when I was a little girl visiting relatives that never updated their interior decorating from the 70s when I was born in the early 90s.

I'm not one to be prudish about crass humor but some of this was quite shocking. The film is rated R though. The jokes aren't even funny, they just rhyme and are crass.

Maybe it's a cultural context I'm missing.

There's a really nice segment where Toney tells Rudy "You can't will yourself into being a moviestar." and Rudy says "Well, I did it to become a comedy star."

There's also a moment where a character goes "I've been directed by Roman Polanski!" and yeah, imagine watching that in a crowd of cinemaphiles. The looks!

But a lot of cinemaphiles value art over humanity so they'd probably clap and applaud. Be better, ya'll!

It's all about a man's determined innovation. Imagine how easier it is in the modern day.

Also, I had no idea this was based on real events or a real story until the end. Maybe it was mentioned at the beginning and I spaced out but I was super surprised to see actual footage from the film.

How About Them Globes? (Golden Globes 2020)

New year, new movies, new award shows, new surprises!


I feel that I heard vague things about "1917" and then it came out of nowhere to win Best Movie, Drama. It seems genuinely interesting, for a war film, and would shake up the other bland offerings on display during the Oscars (Let's be real, a lot of innovative films are not being chosen for Best Picture).


One film that may be nominated is "The Farewell" - After all, the HFPA did give Nora "Awkwafina, blaccent in the streets, Normal Voice on the Stage" Lum the award for Best Actress in A Comedy.

#36: Knives Out

So the mystery is essentially solved before the first hour half, the rest is seeing a bunch of famous people be characters. Some of it's surreal, all of it's interesting.

My notes for this are a mess, forgive me.

People will say that 'the big standout is Chris Evans!' but that's because you're used to seeing him as Captain America or as a baby-eater in "Snowpiercer" or something that no one but dedicated Stans saw.

He's certainly way more compelling than he ever was in a MCU film. There's nothing wrong with him here. Honestly, the standout for me is Toni Collette ("Hereditary", Ari Aster, yes, the man who brought us "Midsommar").

Also, Daniel Craig with a Colonel Sanders type infliction and accent is amazing and I love it.

So, you know how Star Wars films, modern ones, will sprinkle faux progression or mentioning minor that insists the creators are 'woke'?

This is more of a genuine attempt from our old friend Rian Johnson (And yes, I desperately miss him in Star Wars already). It's not far enough because it turns into 'rich white people try to get an immigrant framed for the crime'.

Even the white liberal turns on her. Surprise, right?

#35: Star Wars: Episode 9 - The Rise of Skywalker

I don't think I've heard people ask so much about 'family names' in Star Wars before.

I flat out forgot that new characters were intended to be added. It was a surprise (but a welcome one, to be sure) when Lando showed up, but Zorii and Jannah were negligible presences.

Also I mean, Rose was already there, and they sidelined her. Imagine going through all that abuse because Star Wars fans were so against people of color and women of color in their space movie to be 80% ignored.

It was funny to finally see our sequel trio interact and actually have an adventure...together. Even the bickering was funny. This is the first time I have ever liked C3P-O.

That's the big problem with this franchise, is that JJ listened to the fans for both of his sequel series movies. (Sorta).

Let's introduce a diverse cast, and when adults pitch a fit that boils down to "I hate everyone who doesn't look like me", the series is pretty quickly adjusted to be mostly nostalgia based upon the white characters and their legacy.

Instead of going "Wow, let's explore the concept of an escaped Stormtrooper.", it's "Cool, what if this famous person in the galaxy had an unknown descendant until now."

#34: Cats (2019)

Um.

Okay first off, let's say it - This movie has no plot besides 'Cats introduce themselves to enter 'American Idol', and the reward is death'.

 The production value is lovely.

For the sets. I was genuinely interested in the environment these weird hybrids inhabited. Why is everything a cat pun when there are clearly humans in this world?

There's a segment early on with Jennyanydots and her dancing mice and cockroaches and it all looks just cheap and terrible. I hope the Graphic Patch for the movie updates those in particular, as the rest cannot be saved.

(The mice themselves? Actually adorable!)

The characters themselves...every so often, I'd go "This is okay." and then the characters would turn their heads or their bodies in a particular way and it would just look awful.

I'd wince.


Visibly.


More than once.

Just when you think it's okay-adjacent, you get the rumpled-fur rug look of Idris Elba's Macavity or cat Taylor Swift's chest and it's very distracting.

#33: The Lighthouse

Surprisingly, not the A24 release of this year I had expected to see. I had initially planned to see "The Farewell" but it simply didn't grab me.

Unlike old timey sailor speech, hallucinations, and forni-mermaid-cation.

Another award season, another role in which Willem Dafoe is probably the only nomination for a movie. Remember last year and "At Eternity's Gate"? That was certainly more accessible than this, a rather "Mandy"-ish assortment of a different, secluded life that just might drive one mad.

Yes, it's all black and white, with a lot of striking light sources. The aspect ration is also very akin to an older picture.

This movie can be summed up as 'Who's mad here? Who isn't mad? We're all mad here?'.

I'm not the person who says 'All movies need to adhere to a strict storytelling outline', there are some like this that are just nice to watch, not pretend you understand, but watch for the visuals and wondering just how far down it can go.

Guess we can also give Robert Pattinson props to being much more of a looker now than he ever was in "Twilight".

#32: Frozen II

You know my thoughts on the original movie (They're about 2 posts down) - It's a little muddled and messy in its screenplay but otherwise fine enough.

I had no plan to even see this but the story greatly intrigued me.

 The opening song Queen Iduna sings - "All Is Found" - is going to be overlooked and it's such a shame. It's the best song in the film sung by a character.

(Yep, I like the Panic! At the Disco version of Into The Unknown better)

Ok, I wrote that before seeing the movie, and I'm still kind of right there. The only bad song is the Olaf one and the first one (Home is unused but better). "Lost in The Woods" is great and the weird 80's pop ballad style is hilarious.

As the first movie was very much about Anna, this is about Elsa. Why does she have powers?

In one word - Spite.

In more words, Spoilers Definitely Follow

#31: Frozen (2013)

Disclaimer: I dislike 3/5 of the current Disney Princess movies that are in the official line up.

• "Brave" is a missed opportunity.
• "The Princess and The Frog" is an insult.
• "Moana" kind of has the same issues as "Frozen" regarding the screenplay but it's a lot more tolerable because it doesn't drag.
• "Tangled" is the best. 

This one?

Took America by storm in 2013 because there were two nearly identical white woman models singing songs. Man, these people would not hear a word against this movie. Say "I don't really care because it's a bunch of same-faced white people", and you would be considered the devil.

 I was impressed with the ideas, not the story outline, execution, screenplay or pacing way back in 2013. I am genuinely interested in the sequel later this month, so I decided to put my biases aside and try again.

#29: Little Monsters (2019)

Out of this fall/winter's film (and semi-film) lineup of faves, I had completely forgotten about this one. Of course, I had no idea if it would get a US release.

The hilarity comes from the absurdity of the situation, from usually-child-friendly Josh Gad swearing and mentions of sex addiction to  "There are little kids in the middle of a zombie outbreak".

Which is a great idea, but the wee mites are set dressing for something more interesting that never comes. Much of the movie is situated in one area, there are typical story and character beats.

No one is terrible, the script is underwhelming. I am super interested to know why Lupita Nyong'o picked this project in particular. It's a nice change from her even if it doesn't go all of the way.

I wish it had been a little longer and a little more serious, but it's nice.

Though, there is nothing more on brand at having the US military go into a foriegn land and attempt to kill children.

#28: Ad Astra

What was the last Brad Pitt movie I saw?
Probably "12 Years A Slave" in 2013. But my god, I was not going to miss the opportunity to miss a space movie on the big screen.

 Especially one with Ruth Negga! What was the last movie with her I saw? Probably "Warcraft".

Ooh.

Last year, I caught "2001: A Space Odyssey" In IMAX by myself and it was glorious. This is no "2001", of course, but that doesn't mean it's not good!

It's just a little...unemotional? Extremely conventional?

Despite having such a strong storyline that's purely set up to be emotional. Then again, this is a culture where men are just now being re-allowed to air their feelings out in nonviolent ways, so maybe this will be the film to encourage them to do that. Hell, one of Roy's (The lead, Brad Pitt) big hang ups is that he's so great and accomplished and so much like his father but can't connect to people or, basically, function as a human being, not out of arrogance, but out of deep-seated issues. He's even trained himself with a mantra to not be emotional.

That sounds like a mighty big portion of our population, huh. Except that bit of the population usually leans heavily on the arrogance.

The film looks gorgeous, but it's 2019. That doesn't mean shit anymore. It's the cinematography choices that really stand out, that and the score.

It's such a loaded year on the award front that I think this will even fall flat with Academy voters outside of (well deserved) technicals. Though the sound mixing at points was pretty one-sided toward the ambience and not towards the dialogue.

Spoilers follow.

#27: Steven Universe: The Movie

Beware a court jester spurned.

It's going to be hard to watch season 6 for several reasons;

1: Cartoon Network will do a poor job advertising it and sticking it to a consistent schedule. After all, it's not "Teen Titans Go!" (which has its good qualities).

2: Returning to simpler animation after how fluid and amazing this looked will be hard. This would have been amazing to see. This would have been astonishing to see on the big screen, but the time of television cartoons to cartoon theatrical movies has long ended.

The closest thing was Nickelodeon / Viacom's intended theatrical adaptation of "The Loud House", which has now been pushed to Netflix for...eventually.

"Steven Universe: The Movie" is not hiding how its a rehash of the first 5 seasons of the show and how the main characters relearn their lessons within about an hour. It's trodding old ground, but the introduction of new villain Spinel in all her wacky, malevolent, Harley Quinn-esque fighting is incredible.

I'm not sure who Sarah Stiles is, but good lord, this was the best voice acting I have heard on a show in an insanely long time. The edge of madness, the weight of sadness, that was so impressive.

And they let Steven grow up. I'm happy to see and hear it.

I glance-listened to some of the songs out of context and wasn't terribly impressed until I saw and heard them in the movie. I love "Other Friends" and "Independent Together". Some of the other songs have really interesting instrumental pieces that jump in halfway though, but sadly it doesn't warrant listening to the entire song.

Then there's pieces like "Drift Away" and "Found" that are nothing without the visuals.

Looking Ahead to...Film in 2020

2020!
The decade is done/new! Funny how that works. Most of these movies clearly have no information besides release dates and titles, but I do this every year.

PUSHED BACK, BUT NOT FORGOTTEN.

My Spy's original release date was  August 23rd, the Friday of the week I'm starting this issue, before being pushed back to our old film friend, "Fuck You, It's January".

Of course, Sonic The Hedgehog has been pushed from this November to next February. Not much farther to wait, considering they have to redesign the titular character.

The Gentlemen, yet another STX property in a lackluster year, was pushed from this fall to next January.

For the second year in a row, Artemis Fowl is my most anticipated movie. Not because it was so good, I want to anticipate it again - Because it didn't come out August 9th, 2019, with a pushback to May 29th, 2020.

For the eleventh-thousandth time, The New Mutants has been pushed back to April 3rd, almost two years to the date of it's original release. Will it finally make it to theaters, or be pushed back again  - or even put on Disney+ or Hulu?