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Winnie the Pooh (2011)
Cute, and Kid Approved, but some adults may grumble
This movie definitely captures some of the magic and whimsicalness of the original classic, while also injecting a lot of modern humor and pacing, The result is a lot of laughs, a well written story that feels right at home in the 100 acre woods, but some moments where the characters aren't quite "in character". Rabbit going full military Sargent, kanga worrying about her age.. just a few moments like that where adults may go "huh, that's maybe not quite right." But I dont think kids will think anything of it.
The weak point for me was the voice acting. Pooh was really good, so was tiger. Owl was ok, and so was piglet. Everyone else was ROUGH and pretty painful to listen to the whole way through. Worst offender is by far was Christopher Robin. I dont know if they chose someone too young, or the british accent was too strong, but it felt way off.
For kids though, they probably wont know the difference, and I wont knock this too bad for that. But just because your kid thinks it's flawless, doesnt mean it's perfect though :). I mean I would know I loved Baby Geniuses 2 as a kid.
Arrival (2016)
What am I missing here?
I found this to be a pretty dull and boring watch, but not so dull that I turned away. The acting was honestly good, Amy Adams was convincing. But I felt like the character that was written for her was sooo boring and uninteresting. They did try to make her interesting through "flashbacks" but these confused me about her character more than anything. What was her purpose, what motivates her, what is she thinking? The movie definitely attempts to give her depth, but it left me raising my hand to ask more questions, only to slowly put my hand down as I realized I was so uninterested, I didnt care to learn the answer.
And then you know, the plot. I just never felt like the plot was ever moving in any meaningful direction. Important plot points revolved around what the humans were doing, but not really the aliens at all. It was the embodiment of the patrick meme - "They are just standing there, menacingly!" Except that was the whole movie, patrick freaking out. I never once got any clear idea of what each event and scene was leading us toward, things kind of just happened. And they happened dully, slowly, without humor, and in dimly lit rooms.
And for me, the payoff at the end wasnt quite worth the journey. It was well thought out, it was clever, but it wasnt at all satisfying when the stakes were never convincingly established. I have a few more specific gripes there as well, but no way to share them without giving spoilers.
I dont think this is a 1 star movie, but I definitely understand where those reviews are coming from. What I dont understand are how people can look at this slog of a film and go "muah, it is a mastapiece!" Because it aint.
Chainsaw Man: Gunfire (2022)
Not a perfect show, but this is a perfect episode
Sitting here after finishing this episode in total shock. Episode 1 of Invincible levels of shock. This took everything I knew about the world, the pecking order, and the distribution of power, and flipped it on its head. Absolutely bonkers that an episode like this is buried rather deeply in the season, but they've done something clever here. They spent the first 7 episodes lulling you into a sense of relative understanding of the world, only to increase the shock of seeing your hero's utterly outmatched.
Definitely not a perfect show by any stretch, but this might be the perfect episode oe for this show - if you catch my drift.
The Santa Clause (1994)
A family Christmas classic that has aged well
It has been almost 30 years since this movie came out - yet it hasn't lost a bit of it's charm. For me this is one of Tim Allen's iconic roles, and has moved this work into the realm of a Christmas classic. There is enough here for both kids and adults, making this a "gather the family together" type film.
At it's core, this is an origin story, which are not always my favorite types of stories because you have to "wait" for the payoff of the character becoming who you already know them to be. Here is just the same - we dont get "Santa" in the whole movie, we have to patiently wait for Alan (Tim Allen) to transform from his grouchy, witty self into the loving Kris Kringle. But this doesn't feel like a chore at all, the movie is filled with laughs, and each scene purposefully marches us on toward that goal. The subplot of Alan's trying to connect with his son Charlie adds a layer of relatability to an otherwise unrelatable story, and helps pull you in to care about these characters and their journey.
As a kid I was not bored by this progression, there was enough here to capture my attention and my imagination. And of course Alan's whit and the overall charm of this movie were enough to keep me hooked as an adult that watched this movie every Christmas as a kid.
Elvis (2022)
Inspiring, well acted, and as glamorous as it was supposed to be
I dont have a ton of words to say about this movie, but I can give it this compliment - it inspired interest in me about Elvis and left me wanting to learn more. Which by that metric, means this was a successful biopic.
If you weren't aware you were in a Baz Luhrmann film, you learn pretty quickly once things kick off. The start of this movie is as disorienting as stepping off a quiet street right into a Las Vegas casino. But he does slow things down, scenes fall into place and a linear narrative emerges.
I dont know if it was because I was so unfamiliar with the subject matter, or if I am just partial Baz's "all over the place" style, but I really enjoyed this film pretty much start to finish.
Also, Austin Butler was sensational. He's playing Elvis, his job was to steal the show, and he did it. No doubt his performance definitely elevated my opinion of the movie, but also my overall interest in Elvis as a person.
Not all the casting was great though - for me Tom Hanks always felt a little "off" in his role. Love Hanks, but I dont believe for a second they couldnt have found someone better suited for that role.
If you are not a fan of Baz's style, than you will not like a lot of how Elivs' story is pieced together. He definitely wants you to know that he is the director, and takes every opportunity to remind you. But if you are a fan (like me), and are even passively interested in the subject matter, I think start to finish there is enough here to keep your attention.
Im Westen nichts Neues (2022)
The modern WW1 movie we needed
As someone who didnt read the book or watch the original movie, I cant really do any sort of analysis on this film v previous works. But as a fan of war films overall, my thirst for a movie that captures the grittiness, dirtiness, and hopelessness of World War 1 has at last been quenched.
Notably - quenched in a way that 1917 did not satisfy.
While 1917 was a story that happened to take place in WW1, I never felt it was a "WW1 Story", or even a war story. It felt like a work of art first and a war movie second.
This movie on the other hand is a WW1 story first and foremost. The entire existence of these characters and their fate is bound in the circumstances that WW1; the decisions of just a few prideful monarchs and leaders, has brought upon them. There is no escape for these characters. The only victory is on an individual level, in surviving the fight until the final bell dings.
The common trope in war movies is to play with the good-guy bad-guy idea and just flip it on its head - "oh you thought America was the good guy but surprise look what these soldiers are doing to so and so, see everyone is bad, war is bad," etc etc.
What I like about this film is how the premise itself subverts that troupe, and we dont even have to put any thought into it from the get-go. We follow Germans after all, the aggressors, the typical "bad guys". We learn immedietly they are humans fighting humans. This of course is true of any historical war - but this wasn't just an aspect of WW1, it was the very nature of thing.
The "good guys" in this movie is not any one side, it is just the characters we know. We know them because they were chosen to be the subjects, there is no other reason, nothing else miraculous about them. They are interesting because we learn about them. And there is something kind of remarkable about that.
The movie falls short of spectacular for me on a couple points - the main one was the ending feeling a little "cheap" in how it was done. Wont elaborate any further to stay spoiler free. I know it needed to happen, just the cheap nature of it was not of my liking.
Secondly at times I felt maybe they leaned too heavily into the "Art" of the film: slow pans, framing, characters dramatically standing still for long periods- idk this one is harder to put my finger on, but there were times where I was just like "ok alright I get it".
Overall, I think this is a must see for any war fan film, no-brainer if you have seen the original.
The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992)
Charming & Funny
As someone who did not grow up on the Muppets and watched this movie for the first time 30 years after its release date, I am giving this opinion without the slightest tinge of nostalgia-shaded lenses: it is a good movie!
There are moments of legitimate scariness (specifically, the build up to the Marley's appearance), but they are not over the top and back off quickly. The final spirit scene could for sure have been scarier if they wanted it to, but they found a good balance.
There are moments of humor, but never descending into slapstick goofiness. The narrating muppets contribute to a lot of the humor, but they pull away at the right moments.
All of this, coupled with a great performance by Michail Caine give this movie just enough seriousness and soul to be memorable. Caine pulls off the pacing of Scrouge's transformation perfectly, and it felt natural (not forced).
To nitpick, I didnt find the songs to really be all that memorable, but they were enjoyable I suppose (again, remember I am coming at this with no nostalgia bias). I also found the "message" of Christmas the film was trying to communicate get lost in a lot of non-specific, but nice sounding language - "love", "hope", "giving thanks". Felt like the script was going to great lengths to avoid the "G" word. But again, Im nitpicking.
Great film, this one will be added to the shelf for our daughter to watch when she's older.