#3: The Mitchells vs The Machines

 Ooh here is another movie I was hyped for that turned out to be "pretty damn good".

Cut out the first 30 minutes, condense it to about 15. This thing is way too long, almost 2 hours, and the first 30 it's not emotion, it's just uncomfortable bickering. The second half is both touching and frightening in equal measure. If you thought the scene in "Incredibles 2" was potentially seizure-inducing, this would have popped your eyeballs off if this got a theatrical release.

 Pay special attention to the sound editing.

There's a lot of nice voice work - Olivia Coleman is the cell phone, and a lot of comedians are the robots. My favorites were Michael Rianda as Aaron and Eric Andre as Mark. 

Interestingly, despite having listened to over 65 hours of "The Adventure Zone", I couldn't pick out who Griffin McElroy voiced.

It uses the same painterly/tech style of "Spider-verse", as both are from Sony Pictures Animation, and there are lots of little animated touches that infect the visual storytelling. Most of it's charming and fun, but very busy.

I feel this could be a grower of a movie. No franchise potential (but Sony will try, I'm sure) but extremely rewatchable.

#2: Raya and The Last Dragon

The movie simply doesn't go all the way in it's main aspect.

• What has the Druun's impact been on this world besides just turning people into stone? You can see bits of it, but it's not enough explanation during, essentially, an apocalypse.
•  3 out of 5 countries were just about destroyed. We no longer see any civilization in Heart, Tail, and it's dying in Spine. Think about it; It's probably because Fang and Talon are surrounded by bodies of water. There could have been a fabulous moral of needing others to survive to tie into the trust moral (Note how  there are talks about Fang needing to expand to survive, and needing the gems and Sisu to do so safely) but it's not here.
  

 

Book Look: Take Back the Block by Chrystal D. Giles

 A young boy works to stop the destruction and gentrification of his neighborhood.

This is an insightful middle-grade novel that doesn't shy away from sociopolitical aspects - gentrification and the black identity, police brutality, and black history are key themes. There are arguments amongst both the adults and the children about what should be done, with varying levels of privilege amongst each.

The dialogue is authentic - Mainly because a black woman wrote this book.

It is deeply thorough about research, self-education, and civic duty, while still being lighthearted.

The Animal Crossing Villager Birthday Conundrum

 Fun fact:

Animal Crossing villagers have birthdays. Most people don't know that.

So what happens when the player character shares a birthday with a villager?

I share a birthday with Marcel (Dec. 31) so I got to live this out firsthand recently: 

Book Look: The Unlikely Adventures of the Shergill Sisters by Balli Kaur Jaswal

 

 

It's literally 800 e-book pages of unpacking various traumas and abuses - both past and present- faced by 3 sisters as they travel through India to honor the last wishes of their mother.

 

 It's a gently sloping hill from funny to "Oh wow that's pretty heavy" and it makes me think about my life, despite not having most of the experiences.

Jaswal really has a lovely writing style that's just descriptive enough to keep the story moving.

#15: Over The Moon

 I think this may be the first movie in my memory I've seen that comes from China that's CG. I know they exist, but they never quite had a wide enough reach into the US market for me to find them easily.

The closest may be...China's approval of "Kung Fu Panda"? If there are any you know of, please let me know!

This is about a girl named Fei Fei, who loves science and mythology in (sort of) equal measure. She has technical prowess enough for about 10 minutes and then is all pro-myth, which is fine.

This Blog is Not Dead

 There just haven't been too many things I want to watch. Remember; I'm not a real big TV person. 

There's another book review in the pipeline if I can stop rolling my eyes long enough to get through all 1000 pages. 

I can at least give you an oversight on the 2 movies I have watched since August;

 

Oh yes, and the one show. I'll lead with the show; "Harley Quinn" on HBO Max / DC Universe / Whatever is damn good.