Reviews

I wish the filmmakers could see beyond their disgust for one person enough to explore the broad scope of this. Understandings of Consent, the BdSM community itself and a history of Armie Hammer himself are all missing from this piece. Sadly it undermines the presentation and makes it feel like an editorial for victims and their disgust for the lifestyle. I feel sorry for the BDSM community who understands consent and what that entails. I also feel sorry for the filmmakers who were unable to look beyond their own bias and discomfort for what for some is a conceptual fantasy created equally with two concerning adult partners.

As a purely fluff piece - it's fun, bright spirited, and enjoyable for families. A movie that has all of the elements you'd want represented from Super Mario bros video games, and as a bonus, it also showcases Mario cart and donkey kong junior. The animation is strong, the worlds are exactly like the video games and truly fun moments for kids. The runtime is great and the movie moves along without pause.

AND I expect better, higher quality movie making.

The voice acting in this movie is so lazy. Chris Pratt is forgettable-anyone could have done better voicing such a beloved character. Princess Peach is the same - voice acting is boring and fairly emotionless. The worst voice acting belongs to Seth's terrible Donkey Kong junior - not a single attempt to make an actual character voice, just Seth's normal voice slapped on Donkey Kong. Toad's voice acting is also meatless and without any real jokes.

The script is mostly empty and there is little to no attempt at character motivation, organic character decision making - for example, why Princess Peach tells Mario he can come with her to save her kingdom. Almost every opportunity to make a joke is skipped. None of the characters have stated goals aside from King Koppa.

And saddest of all to me, there is no attempt to create backstory or give context to these beloved worlds and characters.

This is one of those rare films that gives hope in the darkness of places. Fraiser's performance is both honest, heartbreaking and challenging simultaneously. The direction is solid and the character beats are moving and surprising. Every moment isn't perfect but boy is it a great journey to be on as an audience members. Touching and sad, with clear themes and genuine performances. Nice to see human stories like this in the space again.

The cinematography is interesting without taking away from the actors. The writing is stronger than much we see today, without reaching the level of genius. Watch it!

I'm a fan of Del Toro and this series would seem to check a lot of fandom boxes. The plots and curiosities are interesting, many of them timely without taking themselves too seriously.

The Production design is at his usual quality and overall the makeup effects are great. There is like many things these days - too much reliance of CG, that is most acceptable, rarely great.

The hardest thing to swallow in this show is the scripts. Not the plot lines but the dialogue constructed of sentences no one would say in real life that clearly the actors struggle to deliver with any kind of sincerity. Nearly all of the dialogue explains the events to the audience as if we were toddlers while also tell you long winded backstories of characters we don't care about yet.

Fun concepts poor writing in execution.

This is a heavy handed, badly written movie that manages to make its talented cast look like amateurs. The VFX are too overstated and over used in place of real magic, focus on cast chemistry and deeper character work. None of the important moments are earned while dialogue forces the themes and subtext down our throats. Nothing happens organically and you never know what any person's intention or stakes are.

The casting is interesting and the real locations are beautiful.

Like Percy Jackson and the Dark is Rising - the filmmakers missed the true subtlety and compelling nature of the original material.

I'd tell recommend reading the book instead of watching this film.

Overall this film has it's cute moments, there are genuinely funny bits that made me laugh and I the film looks well made enough to convey the large studio production that it is.

It is a rom-com and as such I am not holding it to a higher standard of an intellectual drama. Having said that, the 2 leads have little to no chemistry, proving that casting people because of their sexuality does not automatically mean it will be better. Luke MacFarland is charming, witty at times with little-to-no help from the script. Billy on the other hand, delivers a flat performance playing himself on screen and showcasing once again that he is not an actor.

There is an underlying hatred in the writing against the bisexual community that I believed we were moving away from in society. Sadly, this movies proves me wrong. The trans people and other queer characters (many of color) have and are included in their jokes and treated with a level of dignity. The bi character is consistently a sad stereotype that is the butt of jokes, Billy manages to poke fun at the entirety of the bi community and its goals for its own legitimacy. Billy even adds in a rant about how Freddy Mercury was gay not bi. Why a gay person still feels the need to tear down other members of the LGBTQ community, I cannot figure out, but it left a bad taste in my mouth.

I will not make comments on the stereotypes of gay men throughout this picture, nor the rom com tropes because I believe that the movie deserves to do the same kinds of things that straight rom coms have done for so many years.

Some of the best dialogue we've seen in anything, tv and film, in years. The CGI, though like many shows overused is reasonably good for tv. There are at least two shots per episode that are sweeping fly overs way too wide for a tv show which keep making me think "who are these shots for" since you can't see anything even on a 55 inch tv. To be fair, many shows have been guilty of cinematography like this of late.

Cast is good and many of the leads have great chemistry. Someone not familiar with the books is likely to have a hard time getting their bearings. The opening 20 mins of the pilot is confusing, at best and they've done a poor job of establishing the tension between the races. On the other hand, great scene work and dialogue gives you compelling insight into cultures.

Story is a bit all over the place 3 episodes in.

As fun as a nostalgia romp could be. Love all the references and yes this is the same genius as Who Framed Roger Rabbit.

Do not love taking recognizable voices and making them the leads - John and Andy are not Chip and Dale nor did they make any effort to make their voices into character voices. This is laziness in animation at its best and has been rampant in the animation space for years. Voice acting is not the same thing as taking celebrities and having them do the voices.

Fortunately this movie isn't hindered by the above.

A beautiful story about ordinary magic, love and family. Great themes, characters and yes wonderful color.

I was not swept up in the ultra realistic backgrounds - a direction Walt Disney Animation seemed to follow in the footsteps of Disney Pixar. I've never cared for it in either studio. Animation is moving art and should celebrate itself as such.

Many of the songs are brilliantly written, a few of them I'm adding to the Disney history of catchy ones. I found myself wishing Lin Manuel Miranda had a lyricist on this one. The messiness of some of the poetry of the songs is particularly obvious because of the films reliance on them to explain story beats.

Overall, a fun, colorful and character driven musical romp of Disney magic.

The cast is great - no surprise. The structure, style and story lacks a point of view that creates a generic narrative of a white guy failing upwards while ignoring the depth, intrigue and complexity of the relationships present. If you love the actors, you can forgive the disinterested ride.

Why did they bother? What is the point of making an outstanding series into a mediocre live action reboot? What could they possibly add or do better than the original. Netflix decided it needed to spend money to find out.

Overall well made, edited and the stories are compelling. I do not share other people's views that it should have been "trauma porn" as these things can often be. My real critique is that the filmmaker seemed unwilling to offend in the presentation. It didn't feel raw but sterile and too polished. An example of this is the unwillingness of this film to use the word "cult" when referring to these ministries.

Interesting premise. Fun escape rooms and sets. What happened with this script.

I have never been so offended as an audience to be treated like I am too stupid to understand what I'm watching happen - so because I'm a stupid audience member I need to have what I'm watched explained at literally ever possible moment.

Who thought literally any of the dialogue was necessary OR that these performances were acceptable. And some of these actors are really great in other work.

I don't understand how a studio thought this script that took 4 people to write was anything close to ready to be a movie.

I don't appreciate that the filmmaker in this doc overlooks well known films like THE COVE, TRASHED and many other incredibly poignant docs that explore in depth the same subject matter. Having said that, anyway to spread the barbaric, real, devastating effects humans are having on the Oceanic ecosystem is relevant. In terms of direction and editing, it's a bit scattered and random in its approach.

Note: This review is about the filmmaking, not the politics of this piece. This docuseries is a well-constructed, evidence-backed account to show the full landscape of this terrible collection of events. Woody Allen's own words and contradictions are illustrated along with the in-depth journalism and police investigations that apply to the events discussed. Furthermore this documentary talks about the public perspective and how that influences, and the larger cultures that surround these acts. This is doc, unlike Leaving Neverland, is NOT just two interviews and some drone shots. The filmmakers seem to hold themselves to the highest standards in their work and approach.

The cinematography is better than many docs. The Subject matter is well told and east to understand. Most importantly it gives reasonable solutions to humanity's current fate.

This is the one to watch. Carefully constructed and never waste a scene or moment. Accept none of the films that follows in its footsteps.

Like Willy Wonka, this remake feels unnecessary, uninspired and replaces really storytelling with mediocre CGI. Sadly, Anne Hathaway just cannot inspire the same innate fear, as her predecessor Angelica Houston.

Yes, The Muppets have struggled since Jim Henson's death. This show has some truly hilarious moments and jokes. The celebrities can be hit or miss. I do agree that Kermit's new voice is still finding it. I'm guessing it is still finding its footing as a series. Like the original Muppet Show, I'm sure there will be as many misses as there are rofl moments.

This is a surprise. Deeper acting and nuance rarely scene in comedies with an expected courage to confront childhood trauma and how adults treat children.