tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2294044540113093592024-03-26T12:25:40.759-04:00Rhode Island Movie Corner-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.comBlogger744125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-32350650752500968402024-03-26T12:25:00.000-04:002024-03-26T12:25:09.356-04:00Kung Fu Panda 4 (2024) review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFUOcJ4sKC36uaxEh58Z6atUthCyop1dd4Eyq1EI6wkRN9MKesZEp8Bxh4dyqjHxH0R6qPjiJsEdPQq9RWVwaIWIhJR2LsB_913aH7pemiMKw06u_qSaG7Qk07eGSNYNIcTqCBCjCltJqzqakzPZtctmmAgPTc3uYvkpBmYfVowWxw05Fpv9bK97YDg4f/s1500/KFP%204.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="947" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyFUOcJ4sKC36uaxEh58Z6atUthCyop1dd4Eyq1EI6wkRN9MKesZEp8Bxh4dyqjHxH0R6qPjiJsEdPQq9RWVwaIWIhJR2LsB_913aH7pemiMKw06u_qSaG7Qk07eGSNYNIcTqCBCjCltJqzqakzPZtctmmAgPTc3uYvkpBmYfVowWxw05Fpv9bK97YDg4f/w253-h400/KFP%204.jpg" width="253" /></a></div><p>In 2008, DreamWorks Animation released two films. One of
these was a sequel to the studio’s 2005 hit <i>Madagascar</i>, <i>Madagascar:
Escape 2 Africa</i>. As for the other, it would be the studio’s original project
for that year; a martial arts comedy titled <i>Kung Fu Panda</i>. Starring Jack
Black as the titular panda, Po, the film followed this avid kung-fu fanatic
who, despite zero training, is chosen to be the ‘Dragon Warrior’, a kung-fu
master who’s destined to save his home, the Valley of Peace, from evildoers.
The original <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>is very much one of the prime examples of the
classic adage ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’. In the months leading up to
its release, it’s safe to assume that most people probably saw it as nothing
more than a joke, especially with a title as admittedly goofy as <i>Kung Fu
Panda</i>. It also didn’t help that, around this time, DreamWorks Animation had
garnered something of a reputation for their reliance on pop cultural
references, which dominated a lot of their work and arguably had an impact on
their overall reception when compared to some of their industry rivals such as
Pixar. As such, it’s safe to say that a film and premise like <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>didn’t
seem like it was going to change anyone’s mind when it came to what a
DreamWorks film could be. But, when the film finally came out, both critics and
audiences were genuinely taken by surprise as <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>proved to be
an incredibly well-crafted animated film with spectacularly choreographed
action sequences, mature storytelling, and above all, an undeniable sense of
respect for the Chinese culture that inspired it.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This, as a result, gave DreamWorks its latest hit franchise
as the film would go on to spawn several spin-offs. On the big screen, the
adventures of Po the Dragon Warrior would continue in 2011’s <i>Kung Fu Panda 2
</i>and 2016’s <i>Kung Fu Panda 3</i>. Both films managed to match the original
in terms of both critical and commercial success while also achieving some
historical significance for their director, Jennifer Yuh Nelson, who was the
original film’s head of story and became the first solo female director of a
mainstream animated film with <i>Kung Fu Panda 2</i>. That film would go on to
become the highest-grossing animated film solely directed by a woman, and while
she did have a co-director in fellow DreamWorks mainstay Alessandro Carloni for
<i>Kung Fu Panda 3</i>, it was clear that Jennifer Yuh Nelson was the strongest
driving force behind what was quickly becoming another one of DreamWorks’ flagship
franchises. After <i>Kung Fu Panda 3</i>, though, that would largely be it for
the Dragon Warrior on the big screen as DreamWorks began to focus more on the
franchise’s TV spin-offs. But then, in 2022, it was announced that the cinematic
adventures of Po and company would continue with <i>Kung Fu Panda 4</i>. This
time, directorial duties went to Mike Mitchell, a longtime veteran of
DreamWorks who had worked with them as far back as their first film, 1998’s <i>Antz</i>,
while also directing the likes of 2016’s <i>Trolls </i>and, ironically, another
DreamWorks fourthquel in 2010’s <i>Shrek Forever After</i>. And just like that
latter film in many ways, what we ultimately have here is a solidly enjoyable
addition to the <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>franchise that may not necessarily reach
the exact same wondrous heights as its predecessors but still manages to exude
much of the franchise’s charm and appeal.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For Po the Dragon Warrior (voiced by Jack Black), things
couldn’t be better for him as the Valley of Peace’s greatest protector,
especially after the events of <i>Kung Fu Panda 3 </i>in which the late Master
Oogway gave him a powerful staff that can link the mortal world with the Spirit
Realm. However, Po is taken by surprise when his mentor, Master Shifu (voiced
by Dustin Hoffman), informs him that the time has come for him to find his
successor as the Dragon Warrior since he’s now destined to take on the role of
the Valley of Peace’s spiritual leader. And if that wasn’t enough, all sorts of
disturbances start to occur across the Valley caused by, of all people, Tai
Lung (voiced by Ian McShane), Po’s nemesis from his early days as the Dragon
Warrior who was seemingly vanquished and sent to the Spirit Realm. Upon further
investigation, Po discovers that this is the work of a sinister shape-shifting
sorceress known as the Chameleon (voiced by Viola Davis), who seeks to acquire
Po’s Staff of Wisdom and use it to collect the kung-fu abilities of all the
greatest warriors from the Spirit Realm. Thus, with the aid of a wily bandit
named Zhen (voiced by Awkwafina), Po travels to the Chameleon’s headquarters in
Juniper City to take on his latest arch-nemesis before she can become the most
unstoppable kung-fu master the world has ever seen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As has always been the case with this series, <i>Kung Fu
Panda 4 </i>more than delivers on its spectacularly choreographed and
beautifully animated action sequences. While I’m well aware that some were
disappointed at this film’s more traditional style of animation compared to
some of the more stylized and experimental bits of animation seen in some of
DreamWorks’ recent films such as <i>Puss in Boots: The Last Wish</i>, <i>Kung
Fu Panda 4 </i>is still just as vibrant and colorful as the films that came
before it. Much of this helps to alleviate the fact that, admittedly, this film
doesn’t have the same kind of strong emotional hooks that dominated the
original trilogy. All three of the previous <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>films benefitted
immensely from some strong bits of emotional poignancy that helped them
narratively stand out compared to a lot of other DreamWorks films at the time,
whether it was the first film’s reveal that the main antagonist Tai Lung was once
the beloved adopted son of Master Shifu or how the second film revolved around
Po learning about his past and the tragic events that led to him being
separated from his birth parents. This film, on the other hand, is unfortunately
lacking in that regard and it doesn’t help that there are some clearly missed
opportunities for it to have those sorts of moments, such as a possible reunion
between Tai Lung and Shifu given the former’s prominent role in this story. Instead,
the film opts to be more of a straightforward adventure plot for Po and
company that ultimately relies more on the franchise’s trademark sense of humor
revolving around Po’s unconventional means of being a kung-fu warrior. To be
fair, though, this series has never truly faltered with its sense of humor, and
because this film thoroughly maintains that streak, it’s not necessarily a bad
thing that it’s primarily just a light-hearted comedic romp.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Much of this is thanks to, as always, its entertaining cast
of characters, headlined, of course, by everyone’s favorite comedic rockstar
Jack Black in what has easily become one of the definitive roles of his career,
Po the Dragon Warrior. As he’s always done in this role, Black doesn’t skip a
beat maintaining Po’s hilariously bumbling yet wholly endearing persona. Now,
as for the franchise’s other recurring characters… well, <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>fans
will most likely be disappointed to know that Po’s fellow kung fu masters, the
Furious 5, are almost entirely absent from this and, as has been the case with
every <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>sequel, Master Shifu is largely uninvolved with the
main plot even though this one sees the return of his first protégé Tai Lung.
Still, Dustin Hoffman continues to provide plenty of great humorous beats as
Po’s perpetually grumpy master while James Hong and Bryan Cranston, returning
as Po’s adoptive father Mr. Ping and biological father Li Shan, respectively,
also prove to be a major source of the film’s best comedic moments as Po’s two
dads are turned into a delightfully wacky odd couple who head out on their own
accord to help their son. As for the new additions to the cast (specifically, Po’s
new morally grey ally Zhen and the film’s main antagonist, the Chameleon), they
are, admittedly, the biggest victims of this film’s more basic narrative
approach, with the Chameleon being a far more standard villain than any of her
franchise counterparts. But for what it’s worth, Awkwafina has excellent
comedic rapport with Jack Black as Zhen (complete with a few moments where she
gets to flex her dramatic chops) while Viola Davis’ trademark fierceness shines
through as Chameleon, thus resulting in the character still managing to be an
effectively sinister villain. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the end of the day, <i>Kung Fu Panda 4 </i>surprisingly
ends up having quite a lot in common with director Mike Mitchell’s other
DreamWorks fourthquel, <i>Shrek Forever After</i>. In both instances, we have
films that, while far from being their respective franchise’s best installments,
are still solidly enjoyable additions to them that don’t do anything that would’ve
drastically harmed their legacy in any way. In <i>Kung Fu Panda 4</i>’s case, the
only thing that truly keeps it from being just as great as its predecessors is the
fact that it lacks the emotional throughline that, back when this franchise was
first starting out, proved that DreamWorks films could be more than just pop-cultural
dependent kiddie flicks. Without that, this film is more of a straightforward martial
arts adventure that doesn’t do much to set up the new additions to its cast even
though it simultaneously doesn’t rely as much on the franchise’s
well-established ensemble as its predecessors did. But like I said
earlier, I don’t necessarily feel that this is all a bad thing. Despite its narrative
shortcomings, <i>Kung Fu Panda 4 </i>dutifully maintains a lot of the franchise’s
hallmarks, such as its well-crafted action sequences or by consistently preserving
Po’s status as one of the most endearing protagonists in all of animation. As
such, if you’re just looking to go on another fun adventure with Po, which we
haven’t gotten on the big screen in nearly a decade, then this film will give
you exactly what you’re looking for. Skadoosh!! <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-87478386522035712942024-02-01T17:00:00.000-05:002024-02-01T17:00:02.377-05:00How to Train Your Dragon - Series Retrospective (DreamWorks Animation Retrospective #4)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6luEzVfFZu-aTK7tU7PezfkJjEQMSQmBlZzWbwsxnI1vJk82wd04OXShwYuoKTGONImFUdo2obiEutR2bpVk9WOXv5gULtJOqI1V1EaJzcWuBdCILbc8suyl_cRAlBm0ip4A8gwFpCEMun-NmUrm174bBkplICXNOcWCG9maph8NYcgL8FJRHaD0biXp/s400/HTTYD%20Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="132" data-original-width="400" height="148" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG6luEzVfFZu-aTK7tU7PezfkJjEQMSQmBlZzWbwsxnI1vJk82wd04OXShwYuoKTGONImFUdo2obiEutR2bpVk9WOXv5gULtJOqI1V1EaJzcWuBdCILbc8suyl_cRAlBm0ip4A8gwFpCEMun-NmUrm174bBkplICXNOcWCG9maph8NYcgL8FJRHaD0biXp/w445-h148/HTTYD%20Logo.png" width="445" /></a></div><p>Welcome back to another installment of Rhode Island Movie
Corner’s series of retrospectives on the numerous animated films produced by
DreamWorks Animation. As my way of not having to do a massive singular post
covering the 45+ films that the studio has produced since 1998, I’ve been
dividing its filmography up into multiple parts, starting with their biggest
franchises. And today, we’ve finally come to the DreamWorks franchise that I’ve
been anticipating covering the most. Sure, <i>Shrek </i>may have been the franchise
that made DreamWorks the household name that it is today, but if you want to
talk about the franchise that almost single-handedly reshaped the idea of what
a DreamWorks Animation film could be, look no further than the <i>How to Train
Your Dragon </i>trilogy. Loosely based on the best-selling book series by
author Cressida Cowell, this is a franchise that has yielded some of the most
critically acclaimed animated films from the past decade and a half and has widely
been cited as the prime example of how DreamWorks has very much come a long way
since the days when their filmography was seen by many as being nothing more
than a bunch of pop-culture dependent kiddie flicks. And on a personal level,
today I finally get to rectify the fact… that I’ve never seen any of these
films before. Yeah, yeah, I know, I know; to make a long story short, the first
<i>How to Train Your Dragon</i> had the unfortunate distinction of being the
first DreamWorks film that I didn’t see in theaters since anything that came
out before <i>Shrek</i>, and seeing how it’s only 1% away from having the
mythical perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s safe to say that I
clearly missed out on something special. But now I’m finally ready to see why
this series has become such a beloved staple of the current pop cultural
zeitgeist; thus, without further ado, it’s time to take a journey to the magical
land of Berk as we look at the <i>How to Train Your Dragon </i>trilogy.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">(Disclaimer: *Insert
your standard ‘I’m only covering the films’ ground rule here. Please refer to
previous DreamWorks Retrospectives for further instructions*)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>HOW TO TRAIN YOUR
DRAGON (2010)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKw5Jp-crkbHyyvQraMUr9splKbUSAA9D4exMVMvhcpL9YGcUifMVnRSdayoE7VhCotiBEaeyPn4Zx-Yrl-GQpuILaQDyCpWlWsUsOHWc_L0ciqE7PFzpKJNUaelrqZaMzROJ7-UcQJ4XraPpq8exx2JneMgBAoMcH1S8jE1i0oQ114qIfW-yrTOg8Q0D7/s1500/HTTYD.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1008" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKw5Jp-crkbHyyvQraMUr9splKbUSAA9D4exMVMvhcpL9YGcUifMVnRSdayoE7VhCotiBEaeyPn4Zx-Yrl-GQpuILaQDyCpWlWsUsOHWc_L0ciqE7PFzpKJNUaelrqZaMzROJ7-UcQJ4XraPpq8exx2JneMgBAoMcH1S8jE1i0oQ114qIfW-yrTOg8Q0D7/w269-h400/HTTYD.jpg" width="269" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2003, author Cressida Cowell published <i>How to Train
Your Dragon</i>, a children’s novel that expanded upon the world from <i>Hiccup
the Viking Who Was Seasick</i>, a picture book that she wrote in 2000. Set in a
world full of Vikings and the mythical dragons that many of them own, it followed
the previous book’s titular protagonist Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third as
he looked to prove himself to both his father, Stoick the Vast, and their
village of Berk along with his dragon companion Toothless. Upon its release,
the book would go on to spawn Cowell’s first official franchise of novels as an
author, with eleven subsequent novels published up until 2015 that have collectively
sold over 7 million copies worldwide. Just one year after the original
novel’s release, the series caught the attention of DreamWorks Animation, with
animation veteran Bonnie Arnold spearheading the potential film adaptation as
its main producer. While the original script for the film was a largely
faithful adaptation of its source material, this would change under the
direction of the duo of Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois, who had made their mark
in the industry back in 2002 with the most successful release of Disney
Animation’s post-Renaissance era, <i>Lilo and Stitch</i>. Instead of the
original premise of Vikings living in harmony with dragons, which Sanders and
DeBlois found to be overly whimsical and geared too heavily towards younger
audiences, the film reimagines the plot into one where the Vikings have been
hunting dragons for years. Thus, instead of just simply looking to prove
himself to his doubtful father and peers, Hiccup also finds himself having to undo
years of animosity between humans and dragons after befriending the rarest
dragon of all, a Night Fury, which he names Toothless. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Upon its release, <i>How to Train Your Dragon </i>quickly
became one of DreamWorks’ biggest hits of all time. It earned over $494 million
worldwide, with a $217 million domestic haul that made it the highest-grossing
DreamWorks film in the U.S. outside of the <i>Shrek </i>series, a record that
it still holds today. But perhaps most importantly, the film was a runaway
success with critics, securing a near-perfect 99% rating on Rotten Tomatoes,
the best score that any DreamWorks film has ever secured on that site. And yet,
as I noted in the intro, this was the first DreamWorks film that I had missed out
on seeing in theaters in about a decade… and boy, did I miss out! <i>How to
Train Your Dragon </i>is very much an animated masterpiece with some of the
best animation to ever come out of a DreamWorks film up to that point. Part of
this is thanks to the filmmakers utilizing the assistance of legendary
cinematographer Roger Deakins as a visual consultant to, as they put it, give
the film a uniquely live-action feel, which is certainly on display throughout,
especially in the spectacular flying sequences that many have argued are on par
with and possibly even better than the flying sequences from what was quickly
becoming the biggest film of all-time, <i>Avatar</i>. In previous DreamWorks Retrospectives,
I noted that I didn’t see a lot of the studio’s films at this time in 3-D even
though many have said that they were amongst the best in the industry to
utilize the format at a time when the market was getting oversaturated with
films that were both hastily and poorly converted into 3-D. Case in point, <i>How
to Train Your Dragon </i>may just be the most prominently lauded of them all
when it comes to its use of the 3-D format.<i> <o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But aside from all its visual splendor, the film is also
buoyed by its thoroughly charming underdog story led by an endearing main
protagonist in Hiccup, excellently voiced by Jay Baruchel, and his lovable dragon
pal Toothless. That said, it is interesting to note that one of the biggest
deviations from the book was the portrayal of Toothless since, in the book, Toothless
was a more narcissistic and abrasive character rather than the adorably loyal kitty
cat-like companion that he is in the films. They’re then joined by a top-notch
supporting cast that includes Gerard Butler as Hiccup’s over-demanding father
Stoick, America Ferrara as Hiccup’s training rival turned love interest Astrid,
and Craig Ferguson as Stoick’s best friend (and dragon-hunting teacher) Gobber,
along with the likes of Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Kristen Wiig
as Hiccup and Astrid’s fellow dragon-hunting trainees. And so, with all this in
mind, it’s easy to see why the first <i>How to Train Your Dragon </i>went on to
become one of the most acclaimed films that DreamWorks Animation had ever made
up to that point. Rather than the unabashedly irreverent comedic endeavors that
they were long known for at the time, this film appropriately goes for a more
dramatic narrative approach that, nevertheless, still delivers a bunch of great
comedic moments amidst its solid emotional and character beats. In short, even
if this was the same year that Pixar’s <i>Toy Story 3</i> became only the third
animated film in history to garner a Best Picture nomination along with its
expected Best Animated Feature win, <i>How to Train Your Dragon </i>genuinely
gives it a run for its money as one of the best films of 2010.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>HOW TO TRAIN YOUR
DRAGON 2 (2014)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN03ZNgbdqFcjSyV7UKPX6oU1aXngUVWuLjjGtbdFv40Zy44ZGTg5OVhOG4RT9yrUZ0d9WnqAiDjhyphenhyphenA80ve5XlCW8ISTwLWzezU6aQ-bbhzKHZWsukWj3cykwl-tn2phVInLowdm5bbl43H566PAT1gQdbtla8BHRfw3GrJBTQSmbyNCUO_TurVhS9NcHW/s1500/HTTYD%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1012" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN03ZNgbdqFcjSyV7UKPX6oU1aXngUVWuLjjGtbdFv40Zy44ZGTg5OVhOG4RT9yrUZ0d9WnqAiDjhyphenhyphenA80ve5XlCW8ISTwLWzezU6aQ-bbhzKHZWsukWj3cykwl-tn2phVInLowdm5bbl43H566PAT1gQdbtla8BHRfw3GrJBTQSmbyNCUO_TurVhS9NcHW/w270-h400/HTTYD%202.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Given the immense success of the original <i>How to Train
Your Dragon</i>, it’s no surprise that a sequel was immediately announced just
one month after its release. It would ultimately come out in 2014 and retained
most of its predecessor’s core cast and crew members; the only major loss in
that regard was co-director Chris Sanders due to his commitment to DreamWorks’
2013 release <i>The Croods</i>. Thankfully, though, he stuck around as an
executive producer while his co-director Dean DeBlois officially took over as
the franchise’s main director. Set five years after the events of the first
film, <i>How to Train Your Dragon 2 </i>sees Hiccup, Toothless, and their
friends confronted by their most dangerous adversary yet; Drago Bludvist
(voiced by Djimon Hounsou), a vicious dragon-hunting warlord who seeks to
assemble a dragon army and take over the world. And if that wasn’t enough,
Hiccup also ends up reuniting with his long-lost mother Valka (voiced by Cate
Blanchett), who has been protecting dragons from Drago for years. Upon its
release, <i>How to Train Your Dragon 2 </i>did even better than its predecessor
at the box office, earning over $621 million worldwide, currently standing as
the 7<sup>th</sup> highest-grossing DreamWorks film of all-time and the
franchise’s highest-grossing installment. And while it lost that
year’s Oscar for Best Animated Feature to Disney’s <i>Big Hero 6</i>, it gamely
followed in its predecessor’s footsteps by maintaining a strong critical
reception.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sure enough, <i>How to Train Your Dragon 2 </i>is exactly
the kind of excellent sequel that you’d want to see in the sense that it
naturally improves upon its already fantastic predecessor in plenty of ways.
Once again utilizing the assistance of Roger Deakins (who, at this point, had
also served as a visual consultant on other DreamWorks films such as <i>Puss in
Boots </i>and <i>Rise of the Guardians</i>), this film boasts even greater
visuals and action sequences than its predecessor, arguably thanks in large
part to a brighter color palette that’s used to its fullest effect. And sure,
maybe the film’s main antagonist Drago isn’t as strong of a villain as he could’ve
been in part due to a limited screentime, but the addition of Hiccup’s mother
Valka (and her subsequent reunion with both her son and her husband Stoick)
provides a strong emotional hook that carries throughout the entire film. Add
in some other strong emotional beats such as the devastating death of one of
the main characters and the continued efforts to strengthen the bond between Hiccup
and Toothless and it’s easy to see why director Dean DeBlois cited <i>The
Empire Strikes Back </i>as a primary source of inspiration for this sequel. Just
like that film, <i>How to Train Your Dragon 2 </i>effectively raises the narrative
stakes in a thematically darker film (which, admittedly, was a source of
contention amongst some audiences) that nevertheless doesn’t lose sight of its family-friendly
appeal, its endearing main protagonists, and its penchant for spectacular visuals.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>HOW TO TRAIN YOUR
DRAGON: THE HIDDEN WORLD (2019)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZRel5dTXLC2e-gM4OWPgPTxITesbnlje-N07AGWAAGAK7F-R1sPysey5CvpSFzqgAM83gfvQokowUgKH2NGobj7IsqM2oW69FuCIfk64unv28B3E9tS54Oc_LA5iVYpiXZPlX-S7eVXh0plN8-rfRSdCdwDDc2X5UQQ6frDzmTkPDUwL9PAnplJDAG2k/s1500/HTTYD%203.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="948" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcZRel5dTXLC2e-gM4OWPgPTxITesbnlje-N07AGWAAGAK7F-R1sPysey5CvpSFzqgAM83gfvQokowUgKH2NGobj7IsqM2oW69FuCIfk64unv28B3E9tS54Oc_LA5iVYpiXZPlX-S7eVXh0plN8-rfRSdCdwDDc2X5UQQ6frDzmTkPDUwL9PAnplJDAG2k/w253-h400/HTTYD%203.jpg" width="253" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Before we conclude today’s retrospective, I’d like to point
out an interesting bit of trivia about this series that I ended up coming across
while working on this post, and that is the fact that the <i>How to Train Your
Dragon </i>trilogy has the unique distinction of having every installment released
under a different distributor. The original <i>How to Train Your Dragon</i>,
released in 2010, came out near the tail-end of DreamWorks’ almost decade-long
distribution deal with Paramount that had started back in 2006. After that,
DreamWorks signed a distribution deal with 20<sup>th</sup> Century Fox, with
2014’s <i>How to Train Your Dragon 2 </i>being the studio’s most commercially successful
release of that era. Finally, the trilogy’s grand finale, 2019’s <i>How to
Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World</i>, had the honor of being the first
DreamWorks film to be released through their current distributor, Universal. As
the title suggests, the film sees Hiccup and company embark on a journey to try
and find the mythical ‘Hidden World’, the perfect sanctuary for dragons, when
they realize that Berk is no longer safe for their dragon companions due to the
increasing number of dragon hunters that have come after them such as their
latest foe Grimmel (voiced by F. Murray Abraham), who has singlehandedly killed
nearly every Night Fury in the world except for Toothless. And yet, at the same
time, Toothless finally comes across one of his own when he meets and falls in
love with a female counterpart AKA a ‘Light Fury’.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like its two predecessors, <i>How to Train Your Dragon: The
Hidden World </i>was a bona fide success with both critics and audiences. While
it may not have matched <i>How to Train Your Dragon 2</i>’s franchise-best run
at the box office, it did achieve the franchise’s second-best worldwide total
as it grossed over $525 million worldwide. And even when faced with the inevitably
intense expectations of being a threequel given the typically mixed reception
that most franchise threequels tend to get (<a href="https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/shrek_3" target="_blank">which is something that DreamWorks is quite familiar with</a>), the film was yet another runaway hit with critics. However,
even with that said, it seems like this one ended up being a bit more
polarizing amongst fans of the franchise specifically because of its ending.
Now, for the sake of those who haven’t yet seen these films, I won’t spoil the
full details of this ending, but to make a long story short, some felt that it went
against a lot of the key themes that the franchise had established over its run
and the whole premise of Hiccup and company’s efforts to prove that humans and
dragons can peacefully co-exist with each other. And yet, while I do genuinely
see where they’re coming from in some cases, the way that this film concludes its
saga of humans and dragons is done in a way where, despite the devastating decision
that’s made and what it means for both parties, it still presents a positive
outlook on the potential of the two of them living in harmony without any sort
of threat to the latter.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In other words, from a narrative standpoint, I do believe
that <i>The Hidden World </i>is a top-notch conclusion to this phenomenal trilogy…
especially since I’d argue that this is one of the rare instances of a trilogy
where each subsequent installment is better than the last. First, to get the
obvious superlatives out of the way, because of all the technical improvements
that have come with each new film (case in point, it has been well-documented
that DreamWorks had to update a lot of their animation software to achieve all their
visual aspirations for this film), <i>The Hidden World </i>boasts the franchise’s
most stunning visuals and epically thrilling action sequences. And whereas the
previous film’s antagonist Drago was an admittedly lackluster villain, <i>The
Hidden World </i>features the series’ best antagonist in Grimmel, excellently
voiced by F. Murray Abraham and an all-around sinister foe who’s properly
established as a legitimate threat to our heroes right from the beginning.
Finally, given its status as a, well, ‘finale’, it goes without saying that
this film delivers the franchise’s best emotional beats, such as whenever it focuses
on the blissfully sweet budding romance between Toothless and the Light Fury
or, as I noted earlier, its powerful gut-punch of an ending that, like it or
not, does feel emotionally justified. In short, what more can I say about this
franchise that I haven’t already said here today? While all three films are phenomenal
in their own way, <i>The Hidden World </i>ultimately stands out amongst them
all as it sends off this beloved franchise on the best note possible, firmly
asserting its status as a trilogy that has always matched its grand visual
splendor with its wholly heartfelt storytelling. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And that concludes the
latest installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s series of DreamWorks Retrospectives.
Simply put, it was a lot of fun to finally see what this franchise was all
about after years of never getting around to seeing these films despite being
fully aware of how beloved they were. And while <i>The Hidden World</i> may have
marked the end of the franchise in terms of animated films, that doesn’t mean
that this is the end of Hiccup and Toothless’ adventures as a live-action
adaptation of the first film is currently in the works for a June 2025 release.
Sure, this announcement undoubtedly frustrated those who, just like all the
recent live-action remakes of Disney’s animated classics, question the need to make
a live-action version of an animated masterpiece, but at the very least, this
new film will benefit from the return of series director Dean DeBlois in the
director’s chair. As for its casting, Mason Thames, breakout star of Scott
Derrickson’s 2022 hit <i>The Black Phone</i>, headlines the film as Hiccup
while Nico Parker, fresh off her acclaimed turn as Joel’s daughter Sarah in the
HBO adaptation of <i>The Last of Us</i>, will star as Astrid. Edgar Wright
regular Nick Frost takes on the role of Gobber while Gerard Butler returns to reprise
his role from the animated films as Hiccup’s father Stoick. And if that wasn’t
enough, 2025 will be a big year for the franchise in general as it’s set to
serve as one of the five lands in Universal Orlando Resort’s upcoming fourth
theme park, Epic Universe. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">As for our next endeavor
in the DreamWorks Retrospective series, this is where things get interesting. As
I’ve said before, my goal with this series was to start out by tackling
DreamWorks’ biggest franchises; more specifically, any franchise that has elicited,
at the very least, a trilogy of films. With that in mind, when I first started
this series back in 2022, <i>How to Train Your Dragon </i>was the most recent
DreamWorks franchise to achieve this feat; thus, my plan at the time was to
then do a quick detour and tackle the studio’s brief foray into traditionally
animated features before moving on to the rest of their filmography. However,
by the time that this post has been published, another DreamWorks franchise has
recently achieved the trilogy mark. And so, for our next DreamWorks Retrospective,
we’ll be tackling what has arguably become DreamWorks’ flagship franchise as of
late, the <i>Trolls </i>franchise.<o:p></o:p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-64786300567171633782023-12-28T14:35:00.000-05:002023-12-28T14:35:03.873-05:00Top 15 Favorite Stan Lee Film Cameos<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLyD97Wpgu7DujGpSF-OqVPjkWIPyJ3-T1UpPCSasDcv7nJcY18EEDlHYDFyFJBwTtgzKvIs4LMHUJsxNuJKjxUipbxsNq7itvf5S9aeSu-vvceH6st4muIWdLGDBg43FM724K0ZJJ-wjxdAJYyZViOF_ChrI68_9x3Hc1bEhE2ME4Hl-oKXUrd1gDXUD/s1000/Stan%20Lee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="1000" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLyD97Wpgu7DujGpSF-OqVPjkWIPyJ3-T1UpPCSasDcv7nJcY18EEDlHYDFyFJBwTtgzKvIs4LMHUJsxNuJKjxUipbxsNq7itvf5S9aeSu-vvceH6st4muIWdLGDBg43FM724K0ZJJ-wjxdAJYyZViOF_ChrI68_9x3Hc1bEhE2ME4Hl-oKXUrd1gDXUD/w400-h256/Stan%20Lee.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Greetings, true believers! Today’s post doesn’t need much of
an introduction, and to be perfectly blunt, it’s going to be a refreshingly short
one compared to the massive endeavor that was the Annual End of Summer Fan Poll’s
Results Post. In honor of what would’ve been his 101<sup>st</sup> birthday,
today we’re celebrating one of the biggest icons in the world of comics, Stan
Lee. Along with other comic legends such as Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, Lee helped
co-create some of the most iconic heroes from the Marvel Comics universe, from everyone’s
favorite webslinger Spider-Man to the Children of the Atom AKA the X-Men. But
in later years, as he transitioned into being more of the public face of Marvel
Comics, Lee also became known for his numerous cameos in the various films and
TV shows based on his iconic creations, which were a staple of Marvel’s media
productions up until his passing on November 12<sup>th</sup>, 2018 and a
delight to look out for, both for fans of the man himself and the beloved
properties that he helped to create. So today, I decided to make a ranked list
of my personal favorite Stan Lee cinematic cameos. For today’s post, we’re
going to focus solely on his film cameos, meaning that I won’t be covering the
likes of his cameo in Insomniac’s 2018 AAA blockbuster video game <i>Spider-Man
</i>and the subsequent in-universe tribute to him in its 2020 sequel <i>Spider-Man:
Miles Morales</i> or any of his various cameos in Marvel’s numerous animated shows.
And in this instance, I decided that a basic Top 10 list simply wasn’t enough
for such a legendary figure. Nope, today we’re going to do a TOP 15 LIST to
truly honor the legacy of the one and only Stan ‘The Man’ Lee. Excelsior!!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh91jarTVVXMNZWh4xzOtCJFg9y1g1dQM8JUW6CNLAn6_uVwJPVWKZAy2a1LYbHqpwBr_xCA_KE6OcH_N9yocO6G31WNUkIzGV7TvtEc8v5VWtvCuoVdOHSonOxX3BaRhvMbsqxJLq7WbC_JPH42lnvohHZa5iUBWu_S9z_hyphenhyphen47p-RDq9F45E_qg8_h-VbW/s1911/Stan%20Lee%20Fantastic%20Four.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="819" data-original-width="1911" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh91jarTVVXMNZWh4xzOtCJFg9y1g1dQM8JUW6CNLAn6_uVwJPVWKZAy2a1LYbHqpwBr_xCA_KE6OcH_N9yocO6G31WNUkIzGV7TvtEc8v5VWtvCuoVdOHSonOxX3BaRhvMbsqxJLq7WbC_JPH42lnvohHZa5iUBWu_S9z_hyphenhyphen47p-RDq9F45E_qg8_h-VbW/w400-h171/Stan%20Lee%20Fantastic%20Four.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">First up, let’s celebrate
a few honorable mentions, which we’ll go through in the chronological order of their
respective films’ releases. First up, from the 2005 adaptation of <i>Fantastic
Four</i>, we have the first instance where Lee played a character that he
created, Willie Lumpkin, the friendly mailman of the titular superhero quartet
who greets them when they first enter their new base of operations, the Baxter
Building. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd6VFq53qtHlxi7Th1NJ-9Wt7dXL2BG1is9kL9RWK0OecEU__UsX-MVQiMOWWTlqSBS5Av7qythoRjZ3CYIE5JA6M4c8uApyQdgYf5CjQM5VmJjDgG3yhHtQ4S67nlpSojdwHTs-53_TCvgiwqZeBdveeNJpLqSgI8g6FQYUxUlmBGvwX2yYrllo8mD29s/s470/Stan%20Lee%20Thor.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="219" data-original-width="470" height="186" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd6VFq53qtHlxi7Th1NJ-9Wt7dXL2BG1is9kL9RWK0OecEU__UsX-MVQiMOWWTlqSBS5Av7qythoRjZ3CYIE5JA6M4c8uApyQdgYf5CjQM5VmJjDgG3yhHtQ4S67nlpSojdwHTs-53_TCvgiwqZeBdveeNJpLqSgI8g6FQYUxUlmBGvwX2yYrllo8mD29s/w400-h186/Stan%20Lee%20Thor.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Moving onto our first
Marvel Cinematic Universe release in today’s post, we have his cameo in the
first <i>Thor </i>film, where he and a bunch of residents from the town of Puente
Antiguo, New Mexico try to lift the mysterious hammer that has landed in a
nearby desert. Lee appears as a truck driver whose attempt to pull it out with
his truck results in the truck’s cargo bed getting ripped off, resulting in him
poking his head out of the window and asking “Did it work?”<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsF7QM3imkV4msrTRyxWr4ASrAtMHx4jdD9qUry2eK9Z-KZjmaDzp4bvh5Xk2MFU29CYWI6Snv06aK1GCXQs5PGaonhfhmgy2pXFZ2O9IuLqazi55W4WxP_C7JwOEqtjh0ageoOb7QefDTWqiwOG0nSXWsPYWT0yk6QPXpvtCk5CAFKK1EfJr8wWkPfGKr/s1624/Stan%20Lee%20First%20Avenger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="917" data-original-width="1624" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsF7QM3imkV4msrTRyxWr4ASrAtMHx4jdD9qUry2eK9Z-KZjmaDzp4bvh5Xk2MFU29CYWI6Snv06aK1GCXQs5PGaonhfhmgy2pXFZ2O9IuLqazi55W4WxP_C7JwOEqtjh0ageoOb7QefDTWqiwOG0nSXWsPYWT0yk6QPXpvtCk5CAFKK1EfJr8wWkPfGKr/w400-h226/Stan%20Lee%20First%20Avenger.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Moving onto the other
MCU film of 2011, <i>Captain America: The First Avenger</i>, Lee appears as a U.S.
Army General attending an award ceremony for Captain America after his
successful rescue of the 107<sup>th</sup> Infantry Regiment from HYDRA forces.
But when the Star-Spangled Man with a Plan doesn’t show up and the Senator in
charge of Cap’s promotional tour is informed of this by one of his associates, Lee’s
character confuses the associate for Captain America and notes, “I thought he’d
be taller!”. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFdgEDI6W09gREbZL4CqJLRQ-R66Oz4jU_ucY6ZCje-pH6ccaLDDRwAnakwMQBr0qiPHDaOuduQwRlB5QIe7aBgcLJzCU8cc9ce5e-gCDNs3g8dXFPqIVzHHvJQcFFRUxB1DWU4sVZdOcIOHCsiJ3B_OTnfOQOYCUSYMc-rOawj6JRNn3iu586fxQZiGWG/s1095/Stan%20Lee%20Big%20Hero%206.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="612" data-original-width="1095" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFdgEDI6W09gREbZL4CqJLRQ-R66Oz4jU_ucY6ZCje-pH6ccaLDDRwAnakwMQBr0qiPHDaOuduQwRlB5QIe7aBgcLJzCU8cc9ce5e-gCDNs3g8dXFPqIVzHHvJQcFFRUxB1DWU4sVZdOcIOHCsiJ3B_OTnfOQOYCUSYMc-rOawj6JRNn3iu586fxQZiGWG/w400-h224/Stan%20Lee%20Big%20Hero%206.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Cut to 2014 and we’ve
got the first Walt Disney Animation Studios production based on a Marvel
property, <i>Big Hero 6</i>. While he may not have had a hand in this superhero
squad’s creation, it would’ve quite frankly been a shock if Lee hadn’t cameoed
in this film, where he plays the father of the team’s resident slacker (with a
fire-breathing dragon suit for good measure), Fred. After originally just appearing
via a photo cameo in Fred’s family mansion, where he implies that his parents
are on vacation, Fred’s father finally appears onscreen in the film’s
post-credit scene, in which his son comes across a secret lair full of superhero
equipment. Lee would then go on to reprise his role in the first two seasons of
the follow-up series <i>Big Hero 6 – The Series</i>,<i> </i>where he was
revealed to be an in-universe superhero named Boss Awesome. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOaNlftJJxI8HHahK63CBgiin_Wul9MOPbYDC8qhZhjPDw8W8XscjG5LxeSYSfORQm3y6XQVCqmP66ORak3FH6rAl9E49slmsbMLAMs3EeutocH8G2XrQsRT-AaGsxBiTDn0D_JKP3jnD2XNdbURZ0oeGE0FZhd51pyLbQEyNHoCImdvb_Yv9NfJ52NByK/s1280/Stan%20Lee%20X-Men%20Apocalypse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOaNlftJJxI8HHahK63CBgiin_Wul9MOPbYDC8qhZhjPDw8W8XscjG5LxeSYSfORQm3y6XQVCqmP66ORak3FH6rAl9E49slmsbMLAMs3EeutocH8G2XrQsRT-AaGsxBiTDn0D_JKP3jnD2XNdbURZ0oeGE0FZhd51pyLbQEyNHoCImdvb_Yv9NfJ52NByK/w400-h225/Stan%20Lee%20X-Men%20Apocalypse.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Going back to
live-action, we have his appearance in 2016’s <i>X-Men: Apocalypse</i>. While
it’s only a non-vocal cameo, in which he observes the sudden launch of all the
world’s nukes as orchestrated by the titular antagonist Apocalypse, it’s
notable in a heartwarming sense since it’s the only one where he got to star
alongside his wife, Joan Lee. It was her first live-action cameo in a Marvel
production after previously having voice roles in various Marvel TV productions
from the 90’s… and her last on-screen appearance before her passing on July 6<sup>th</sup>,
2017. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE59paxEfZ8sMLRauRrefxCYFMTZ0JBW_Fuu6cxvNGWIKOAp0DI4bWbMSaWNaAYVbXW7JSDteXktgVCE5rspjqgEO55UO2WsFh6mP0msrQO12PZmktXA5r9pPGV_TfhTunbKtbnDitgMfVCf0L_tm6s075UAoP6wVSNWgWUNr-Qe10X-My8SbuyFK_eJmu/s640/Stan%20Lee%20Deadpool.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="640" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE59paxEfZ8sMLRauRrefxCYFMTZ0JBW_Fuu6cxvNGWIKOAp0DI4bWbMSaWNaAYVbXW7JSDteXktgVCE5rspjqgEO55UO2WsFh6mP0msrQO12PZmktXA5r9pPGV_TfhTunbKtbnDitgMfVCf0L_tm6s075UAoP6wVSNWgWUNr-Qe10X-My8SbuyFK_eJmu/w400-h400/Stan%20Lee%20Deadpool.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Speaking of the X-Men
universe, there’s his appearance in the 2017 short <i>No Good Deed</i>, a
special teaser to 2018’s <i>Deadpool 2 </i>which gave audiences their first
look into how the character was being handled under the direction of David
Leitch. Lee only appears in the version of the short that was released online
rather than the version seen in theaters in front of that year’s <i>Logan</i>,
but it’s still an enjoyable cameo nevertheless as Lee praises Deadpool’s suit
before the Merc with a Mouth tells him to zip it… and, of course, given
Deadpool’s fourth-wall-breaking habits, he directly refers to Stan by name.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgDOQwoPeAntUeegFV95P9BbVzownzj4V6omLOt2T9zN7ePGSXm2rxojScl84NoJc_zk4jThXFx8JtAPmAHBzEUUsQjoiLDLyUjZIS3A6xTdJwu6PHDRVysShScOm5l_7hbJ4X_t-AtwnhEpZcEL5co1zyVE2cP0N-9B5awt11uDYVj86hjRWiGI78Qj5/s540/Stan%20Lee%20Avengers%20Infinity%20War.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="245" data-original-width="540" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcgDOQwoPeAntUeegFV95P9BbVzownzj4V6omLOt2T9zN7ePGSXm2rxojScl84NoJc_zk4jThXFx8JtAPmAHBzEUUsQjoiLDLyUjZIS3A6xTdJwu6PHDRVysShScOm5l_7hbJ4X_t-AtwnhEpZcEL5co1zyVE2cP0N-9B5awt11uDYVj86hjRWiGI78Qj5/w400-h181/Stan%20Lee%20Avengers%20Infinity%20War.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"> Finally, let’s go over his final two appearances
in an <i>Avengers </i>film. In 2018’s <i>Avengers: Infinity War</i>, he’s the
bus driver for Peter Parker and his classmates who pokes fun at his passengers’
stunned reactions to the appearance of Thanos’ herald Ebony Maw’s ship above
the skies of New York (“What’s the matter with you kids? You never seen a spaceship
before?”).<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxHJxbxPdBdd-LLTCm61IwYD8rkOHyoOeP8DzQO-m6ACeYs-abg13Wx5slsYghrSA2DUKmLn874bKThGUlaT0UgrSfthyphenhyphencvdEINMz9lN4iARoz_kKReO4IOkiAIVqKM5IpF12aSYk9M9fiEHGm4Ej60ShMc8brvEaapIcpnZVwraElitOumj-G6CmoeNu/s540/Stan%20Lee%20Avengers%20Endgame.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="540" height="296" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSxHJxbxPdBdd-LLTCm61IwYD8rkOHyoOeP8DzQO-m6ACeYs-abg13Wx5slsYghrSA2DUKmLn874bKThGUlaT0UgrSfthyphenhyphencvdEINMz9lN4iARoz_kKReO4IOkiAIVqKM5IpF12aSYk9M9fiEHGm4Ej60ShMc8brvEaapIcpnZVwraElitOumj-G6CmoeNu/w400-h296/Stan%20Lee%20Avengers%20Endgame.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"> And finally, there’s his final cameo in a
Marvel film, 2019’s <i>Avengers: Endgame</i>. In this film, Lee appears during
the sequence where Iron Man and Captain America travel back in time to 1970 to collect
the Tesseract AKA the Space Infinity Stone when their original attempt to do so
in 2012 failed. Lee and his female companion (with Lee digitally de-aged to
look like he did in 1970 and his companion modeled after his wife Joan) drive
by the S.H.I.E.L.D. base at Camp Lehigh, New Jersey, with Lee shouting “Hey
man, make love, not war!”. And on his car’s bumper sticker, we see one of his
most iconic catchphrases, “Nuff Said!”</p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>15. Chess-Playing
New Yorker – <i>The Avengers<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yZ2AhOyzlK0Lj_xDfiMkzo-SNTaxqOd223HhPcBDPdVxaDwSOldZjtyYvc3QYFCJO9uYhw5-T6eKTE_3CEiyxJ1NXSuQnlNh0yakiLaawc-xBdSd5HZFMM-HfEamSJV58Wi6zXkjhziHG9quqts4ROAN4QtvKOK_iSQ1XrBNCIHzHDlSPY-x32TLc0C7/s1280/Stan%20Lee%20The%20Avengers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-yZ2AhOyzlK0Lj_xDfiMkzo-SNTaxqOd223HhPcBDPdVxaDwSOldZjtyYvc3QYFCJO9uYhw5-T6eKTE_3CEiyxJ1NXSuQnlNh0yakiLaawc-xBdSd5HZFMM-HfEamSJV58Wi6zXkjhziHG9quqts4ROAN4QtvKOK_iSQ1XrBNCIHzHDlSPY-x32TLc0C7/w400-h225/Stan%20Lee%20The%20Avengers.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">As a bunch of news
reports cover the Avengers’ successful defeat of Loki and the Chitauri, Lee
appears as an interviewee who remarks “Superheroes in New York? Give Me a
Break!”. He had a different yet equally delightful cameo that wound up on the
cutting room floor where, during a scene where Captain America is at a diner
and hit on by a waitress, he tells Cap to “ask for her number, you moron!”.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LP_2fu1bAVkO2i354xgDB6yzi5hnqi6DCYRrhOU6fMwGaZB8ESfgHfEI4OkLxqEdANTz6ii9DRKZVXv0tTygII8IAn2SbhkrvQylbjMCEgCZyusVduquiRGHFeo-tkrvf9yBEQtwoPBPPbeXAYdQ9XXk9YOIpBCwrXvzJ3VLDcx1OXIpUpFjveyGVQB3/s498/Stan%20Lee%20Alternate%20Avengers%20Cameo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="305" data-original-width="498" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1LP_2fu1bAVkO2i354xgDB6yzi5hnqi6DCYRrhOU6fMwGaZB8ESfgHfEI4OkLxqEdANTz6ii9DRKZVXv0tTygII8IAn2SbhkrvQylbjMCEgCZyusVduquiRGHFeo-tkrvf9yBEQtwoPBPPbeXAYdQ9XXk9YOIpBCwrXvzJ3VLDcx1OXIpUpFjveyGVQB3/w400-h245/Stan%20Lee%20Alternate%20Avengers%20Cameo.gif" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>14. Fed-Ex
Delivery Man – <i>Captain America: Civil War<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7OUrXgkBgOHYuBv5nN8PsrrjsXRsRr2V0ywAb2ZS2Nn_GModyxyDez6WooiZkGTustaAJEmNGT_SvPBQCY3LborgxJEoBPjwlYTEbkyjbofMdbJkjOPxuKpW3-wPebU_yJrTY0w-hOblvDhScI7LMRYz_JK4yB3HCdCuIQVMtBWaDm5_FRRVxGnNrZLHd/s1280/Stan%20Lee%20Cap%20Civil%20War.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7OUrXgkBgOHYuBv5nN8PsrrjsXRsRr2V0ywAb2ZS2Nn_GModyxyDez6WooiZkGTustaAJEmNGT_SvPBQCY3LborgxJEoBPjwlYTEbkyjbofMdbJkjOPxuKpW3-wPebU_yJrTY0w-hOblvDhScI7LMRYz_JK4yB3HCdCuIQVMtBWaDm5_FRRVxGnNrZLHd/w400-h225/Stan%20Lee%20Cap%20Civil%20War.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">After the intense conflicts
of the third <i>Captain America </i>film, and especially after a scene where
Tony tries to help his pal Rhodey deal with the spinal injury that he suffered
during the Avengers’ airport skirmish, Stan Lee gets to provide some much-needed levity when he appears as a Fed-Ex driver delivering a package to the
Avengers’ compound… the only problem is that the name on the label was misspelled,
resulting in him asking for a “Tony Stank”. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62-2ffO11sg" target="_blank">Rhodey promptly and delightfully revels at this hilarious misnomer.</a><o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>13. Sakaarian Barber – <i>Thor: Ragnarök<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh16J6Pc9Dga25EOD2uUdnjkswsgRe1OvaY93eMRTK4SUs3yhdzey8WgJFVSnU7wPgiAcT8hwQ1ZXaYmU__1_Ns2goXkYrQd0cEKsiftQNUwaz1YCq_eNnZ7t7WpGmNvXjKCq7HUzcYq_3WHqwrYHdSyllO6vi7JvTM6mKqkHj5-CenHC6zCqpI3kQ3n0M/s890/Stan%20Lee%20Thor%20Ragnarok.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="466" data-original-width="890" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh16J6Pc9Dga25EOD2uUdnjkswsgRe1OvaY93eMRTK4SUs3yhdzey8WgJFVSnU7wPgiAcT8hwQ1ZXaYmU__1_Ns2goXkYrQd0cEKsiftQNUwaz1YCq_eNnZ7t7WpGmNvXjKCq7HUzcYq_3WHqwrYHdSyllO6vi7JvTM6mKqkHj5-CenHC6zCqpI3kQ3n0M/w400-h210/Stan%20Lee%20Thor%20Ragnarok.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">We can thank good ol’ Stan for Thor’s new haircut in <i>Thor: Ragnarök</i> as he’s the Sakaarian barber who trims the God of Thunder’s blond locks before he’s sent off to compete in Sakaar’s Contest of Champions. A lot of great banter here between Lee and Chris Hemsworth (which is fitting since Lee has gone on record stating that Hemsworth was always one of his favorites to work with onscreen) as Thor boldly proclaims that the barber will never cut his hair… but then, after Stan turns on his haircutting device, Thor starts to get desperate and pleads with the “nice old man” not to cut his hair.</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>12. Graduation Guest – <i>The Amazing Spider-Man 2<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQ8WE_DegWtxOt__jImbfJjgiLkvc4uLbCGOBo92k3aLNnZhq6BoMQJAWjXr9BKbVrOdFxVTp7NbpGsvR_yTLdkE8rzt3jZllfMf4nJXQeomnxiCnA198mIRQvPDXSeul843kFqkHA00g_QD8Bqkv0dG4gVmnijs1iFrdPDl8n6mJM2GzCeK1lBieWlNz/s320/Stan%20Lee%20Amazing%20SpiderMan%202.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="133" data-original-width="320" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIQ8WE_DegWtxOt__jImbfJjgiLkvc4uLbCGOBo92k3aLNnZhq6BoMQJAWjXr9BKbVrOdFxVTp7NbpGsvR_yTLdkE8rzt3jZllfMf4nJXQeomnxiCnA198mIRQvPDXSeul843kFqkHA00g_QD8Bqkv0dG4gVmnijs1iFrdPDl8n6mJM2GzCeK1lBieWlNz/w400-h166/Stan%20Lee%20Amazing%20SpiderMan%202.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Peter Parker barely manages to make it to his high school graduation before his name is called. When he first gets there, he nearly goes onstage wearing his Spider-Man mask before he remembers to take that off… but not before Stan ‘The Man’ spots him and proclaims, “I think I know that guy!”. Lee would end up saying the exact same thing to Tom Holland’s Spider-Man as part of a series of commercials advertising ABC’s coverage of the NBA Finals around the time of <i>Spider-Man: Homecoming</i>’s release.</p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>11. Not on the
Guest List – <i>Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJPe6-n3lKmJ7pOZnCR3-Ti7kKso9D3bC0Tb5X_5hJrtc25VKuXsvKmka9TDgkC2GLPDEYJ_ksvqcp8CNjzrHae0pAPDIz4BdF_gRO8g0e1rLHBouqdEpNqGsYjuK5JuDuutHWmHQ2ixdiHhgUuKfXMdPhG80unlQMAN6YMfjHQiisE0gRupzaSLYZNTY/s1280/Stan%20Lee%20Rise%20of%20the%20Silver%20Surfer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVJPe6-n3lKmJ7pOZnCR3-Ti7kKso9D3bC0Tb5X_5hJrtc25VKuXsvKmka9TDgkC2GLPDEYJ_ksvqcp8CNjzrHae0pAPDIz4BdF_gRO8g0e1rLHBouqdEpNqGsYjuK5JuDuutHWmHQ2ixdiHhgUuKfXMdPhG80unlQMAN6YMfjHQiisE0gRupzaSLYZNTY/w400-h225/Stan%20Lee%20Rise%20of%20the%20Silver%20Surfer.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">A great example of
how a Stan Lee cameo could be done in a manner that feels quite relevant in the
context of the comics is in the second 2000’s era <i>Fantastic Four </i>film, 2007’s
<i>Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer</i>, which saw Lee attending the wedding
of Reed Richards and Sue Storm… only to get denied entry because he wasn’t on
the guest list.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>10. San Francisco Resident
– <i>Ant-Man and the Wasp<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeCouHoNCgoFvMG8QAtNTw_pnghpuDDUPKZMaOYJfdBIAa4-6zn5Iwm6o_rnXxCI20tD2KVelwbHDgJke56Ow8ZE7m3QcMAqe1fKQ2rWNuLfdHv3FB1YkdFBY8bfLPEwBhZwoBcf46sApN4LF6syKBW_esnuLa3vs1apW3ifm5XTGJ6PS7XDhX2bmqgGHx/s500/Stan%20Lee%20Ant%20Man.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="214" data-original-width="500" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeCouHoNCgoFvMG8QAtNTw_pnghpuDDUPKZMaOYJfdBIAa4-6zn5Iwm6o_rnXxCI20tD2KVelwbHDgJke56Ow8ZE7m3QcMAqe1fKQ2rWNuLfdHv3FB1YkdFBY8bfLPEwBhZwoBcf46sApN4LF6syKBW_esnuLa3vs1apW3ifm5XTGJ6PS7XDhX2bmqgGHx/w400-h171/Stan%20Lee%20Ant%20Man.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">During the climax of <i>Ant-Man
and the Wasp</i>, a Pym Particle disc hits a car, which causes it to shrink as the owner remarks “Well, the ’60s were fun, but now I’m paying for it!”.
A basic cameo, admittedly, but one that is made even more memorable by the numerous
alternate takes that can be seen in the film’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdQjKazAJJk" target="_blank">outtakes</a>. For all we know, that
man probably stole that car… either that, or he’s lucky that it was only a rental.
But wait, did he leave his sandwich and/or coupons in there? Well, if anything,
at least he was able to find a parking spot in San Francisco…</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>9. A Stan Lee Cameo in a DC Movie??? – <i>Teen Titans Go to the Movies</i><o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRs7cHGj_jkmqoP2u_NQWcQUAvYiJSL-kgh4XdzRkEiIBHBVUOwfsN26wBtbmprOkBhd96GXXpdwbV7di-hV-ZQVHk9P0MTioS73wSEc53AYSTrxnaAMhUFfx12usv6ssKuk-PcVGtVek8kO9kRKRP3OUG35NmzOTklaj6GIZjCpfj6WkkdBpUbe8-U739/s1920/Stan%20Lee%20Teen%20Titans%20Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjRs7cHGj_jkmqoP2u_NQWcQUAvYiJSL-kgh4XdzRkEiIBHBVUOwfsN26wBtbmprOkBhd96GXXpdwbV7di-hV-ZQVHk9P0MTioS73wSEc53AYSTrxnaAMhUFfx12usv6ssKuk-PcVGtVek8kO9kRKRP3OUG35NmzOTklaj6GIZjCpfj6WkkdBpUbe8-U739/w400-h225/Stan%20Lee%20Teen%20Titans%20Go.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Yes, as crazy as it may seem, Stan Lee made a prominent cameo in a film based on a DC Comics property; the film in question being the animated genre spoofer that was <i>Teen Titans Go to the Movies</i>. As the Teen Titans walk through the Warner Bros. studio lot, Lee, first seen sweeping in the background, shifts the focus over to him and proudly announces that he’s here for his “subtle cameo”. But then someone tells him that he’s in a DC film, promptly resulting in him leaving… before he returns during the climactic chase scene involving the Titans and the forces of their enemy Slade where he jumps on their golf cart and proclaims that he doesn’t mind the fact that he’s in a DC production. He just loves making cameos!</p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>8. <i>Mallrat </i>Stan
– <i>Captain Marvel<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12MD1IfVYo10S-bh5rfdqHlGZcRb0wSqFRjjou3UQ9pkhS3AAv0_t-RVoJfZl6iy5hIIihcVHtL_eiWxJTSkI4c0t4DaufiPsCUreATLGVwlV9-cf-Yk98tK02gq5SG6qPO2dqsc2Xu_yE0t1R_3DbPhUx5jRAHqZvnjClA0O4fC5k1NcJ_xEJHLwFO-Z/s1080/Stan%20Lee%20Captain%20Marvel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg12MD1IfVYo10S-bh5rfdqHlGZcRb0wSqFRjjou3UQ9pkhS3AAv0_t-RVoJfZl6iy5hIIihcVHtL_eiWxJTSkI4c0t4DaufiPsCUreATLGVwlV9-cf-Yk98tK02gq5SG6qPO2dqsc2Xu_yE0t1R_3DbPhUx5jRAHqZvnjClA0O4fC5k1NcJ_xEJHLwFO-Z/w400-h400/Stan%20Lee%20Captain%20Marvel.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">2019’s <i>Captain
Marvel </i>was the first MCU film released after Stan Lee’s death, and sure
enough, Marvel Studios went all out to pay tribute to the man, the myth, the
legend. In fact, it all starts at the very beginning of the film as the
traditional character-filled Marvel Studios logo is replaced with photos and
clips of the beloved Marvel icon. And at the end of this whole sequence, a
simple yet poignant message appears on-screen; “Thank you Stan”. As for his
in-film cameo, we have a moment that directly ties into Lee’s career given that
the film is set in 1995. As Captain Marvel pursues a Skrull operative on an LA
subway train, she takes note of an old man reading from a film script. When she
pulls down his script, he flashes his lovably warm smile which she promptly
reciprocates. A nice, sweet cameo all-around, but also a fun one for those in
the film fan community since the script that Stan is reading from is Kevin
Smith’s <i>Mallrats</i>, where he, of course, made one of his first notable cinematic
cameos. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>7. Drunk War Vet –
<i>Avengers: Age of Ultron<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zHuLWeU9PWQFkTAc8qIvw5bGQmm5bnrsJngnrhaCc8wh5wHpUWm_r07GHFhBEvqd6cNjDaPSF-WtlYnqZn3dGk5q9dfX9tXUFjy4vrrNdwKDNbgMGZ9NcWyBk2g9zV6k1TIn444IarhGQi_xjlXNtXZEliPMh2pxEm8LHUl4cKDKkKV9zECQnHJJC-8e/s600/Stan%20Lee%20Age%20of%20Ultron.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="600" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5zHuLWeU9PWQFkTAc8qIvw5bGQmm5bnrsJngnrhaCc8wh5wHpUWm_r07GHFhBEvqd6cNjDaPSF-WtlYnqZn3dGk5q9dfX9tXUFjy4vrrNdwKDNbgMGZ9NcWyBk2g9zV6k1TIn444IarhGQi_xjlXNtXZEliPMh2pxEm8LHUl4cKDKkKV9zECQnHJJC-8e/w400-h200/Stan%20Lee%20Age%20of%20Ultron.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Another fan-favorite
cameo of Lee’s sees him attending the Avengers’ party in Avengers Tower, where Thor
brings out a flask of an ancient Asgardian ale. While he warns the partygoers
that it isn’t meant for mortal men, one World War II vet is willing to give it
a try. But sure enough, it leaves the old man flat-out drunk as two guys carry
him out; as this happens, the veteran woozily utters a single word, “Excelsior!”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>6. Smithsonian
Security Guard – <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier</i><o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQHt83n2a6ZhcZJhZ6nnX9oOz1WblQERPASHgaf5Dj-8FskzOhKrKOmGPBNFnFEYAshN6W1l4CAivDiU9vSFZHkk5uIiBMyDwmJJD9EhMinXZxB2dSJsElwu928lnloniLa8cMV1ceMoDz3nkloE6mgFFTja09RUqwlWg2wimOE9jL0GzZ2e6eVuY8Z1pb/s500/Stan%20Lee%20Captain%20America%20Winter%20Soldier.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="250" data-original-width="500" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQHt83n2a6ZhcZJhZ6nnX9oOz1WblQERPASHgaf5Dj-8FskzOhKrKOmGPBNFnFEYAshN6W1l4CAivDiU9vSFZHkk5uIiBMyDwmJJD9EhMinXZxB2dSJsElwu928lnloniLa8cMV1ceMoDz3nkloE6mgFFTja09RUqwlWg2wimOE9jL0GzZ2e6eVuY8Z1pb/w400-h200/Stan%20Lee%20Captain%20America%20Winter%20Soldier.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">As the climax for
Captain America’s second MCU solo film ramps up, the titular hero steals his original
World War II-era uniform from the Smithsonian Museum’s Captain America exhibit
before he and his allies begin their attack on the HYDRA-compromised S.H.I.E.L.D.
We learn about this as a security guard notices its absence and laments “Oh
man! I am so fired!”.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>5. “You Look
Great, Hef!” – <i>Iron Man</i><o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERyqmDSZfyMsInmpQfGRnG8cmQ7C9ZGcLfC2Zlp3qPmj639XpJJNyWaBVX1sGhNLRRJnaOS1Y7uERVwGehsB3tYvLRAfxykmr8vC3HAW3eYJxxwoQXoiCT7myHzD9Wx2YwDBdp5WIY22ZpP0bmOit873tzapzhLApsQMLE7zx9VIZMHzHDz4RFqHTMrmT/s400/Stan%20Lee%20Iron%20Man.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="198" data-original-width="400" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhERyqmDSZfyMsInmpQfGRnG8cmQ7C9ZGcLfC2Zlp3qPmj639XpJJNyWaBVX1sGhNLRRJnaOS1Y7uERVwGehsB3tYvLRAfxykmr8vC3HAW3eYJxxwoQXoiCT7myHzD9Wx2YwDBdp5WIY22ZpP0bmOit873tzapzhLApsQMLE7zx9VIZMHzHDz4RFqHTMrmT/w400-h198/Stan%20Lee%20Iron%20Man.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Lee’s first cameo in
a Marvel Cinematic Universe production is often cited as one of his best, and
it’s easy to see why. It’s a simple yet hilarious cameo in which Tony Stark AKA
Iron Man attends a charity event and passes by a man who he thinks is <i>Playboy
</i>founder Hugh Hefner, only for the man to turn around and reveal himself to
be our favorite Marvel icon. This approach for a Stan Lee cameo would be repeated
in the sequel, 2010’s <i>Iron Man 2</i>, where he’s referred to as radio host
Larry King by Tony’s chauffeur and bodyguard Happy Hogan as he and Tony travel
through the crowd at the Stark Expo and converse with the latter’s fans.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>4. Watcher
Informant – <i>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cbDOd9Q3qszzLzfvAloEM6mqc4MQDrOgF-YBqrTRLSn3ZDv4rFoOjPiQxCQ8TJ6g_6Y0G_rxWnXIe3GsvP55arvXsKgoUaLk3_h-31U9XKrZ41XvBBqrDc4lYO_mdAjH40ggcYVl9ixASv2RVT5pU1O5dr2_zGzyqNmHrhoFvJp_OG8T0IPz30To8DYi/s780/Stan%20Lee%20Guardians%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="438" data-original-width="780" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9cbDOd9Q3qszzLzfvAloEM6mqc4MQDrOgF-YBqrTRLSn3ZDv4rFoOjPiQxCQ8TJ6g_6Y0G_rxWnXIe3GsvP55arvXsKgoUaLk3_h-31U9XKrZ41XvBBqrDc4lYO_mdAjH40ggcYVl9ixASv2RVT5pU1O5dr2_zGzyqNmHrhoFvJp_OG8T0IPz30To8DYi/w400-h225/Stan%20Lee%20Guardians%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The second cinematic
outing for everyone’s favorite band of intergalactic a-holes gives us a definite
answer on the nature of Stan Lee’s cameos in the MCU. As it turns out, he’s an informant
for the all-knowing group of sentient cosmic beings known as the Watchers.
First appearing in a scene where his conversation with them gets interrupted by
Rocket, Baby Groot, Yondu, and Kraglin traveling through a bunch of hyperspace
jumps to get to Ego’s planet, Lee’s informant then proceeds to talk about the time
that he worked for FedEx. In the film’s final post-credit scene, the
disinterested Watchers leave without giving their informant a lift home. Sure, this
cameo may have instigated a bit of a continuity error since <i>Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol 2 </i>is set <i>before </i>the events of <i>Captain America: Civil
War</i>, but it still presents a delightful way of explaining Lee’s cameos that
isn’t far off from what the common fan theory was at the time that suggested
that he’d be revealed to be the most famous Watcher, Uatu.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>3. Unaware Librarian
– <i>The Amazing Spider-Man<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRr3P-q-kQGD9_D9O9wbo3JXm96Y0SEELZOpkQYn55AXjyK_wbizr20vxQTSOeUapd49nHq5_D079o4G83FxT5ZkPt_scdqBde5b8gxAaztxqcvaoVPAmFgTLArR0VBP6EktQnX6OCgc2nbMVT0ynECfM6cdvfMctNVJCt8usPufN_eiDIt8by1vr_Mdb/s480/Stan%20Lee%20Amazing%20SpiderMan.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="480" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLRr3P-q-kQGD9_D9O9wbo3JXm96Y0SEELZOpkQYn55AXjyK_wbizr20vxQTSOeUapd49nHq5_D079o4G83FxT5ZkPt_scdqBde5b8gxAaztxqcvaoVPAmFgTLArR0VBP6EktQnX6OCgc2nbMVT0ynECfM6cdvfMctNVJCt8usPufN_eiDIt8by1vr_Mdb/w400-h225/Stan%20Lee%20Amazing%20SpiderMan.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Andrew Garfield’s
first outing as Spider-Man resulted in one of Stan Lee’s most hilarious cameos
during the sequence where Spidey fights Dr. Connors AKA The Lizard in his high school.
At one point, they rampage through the library all while the librarian on duty is just going about his business and listening to classical music on headphones,
completely unaware of what’s going on behind him even when a table nearly gets
thrown at him, which Spidey thankfully catches.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>2. Man in Times
Square – <i>Spider-Man 3<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHtsU-GSojeafJIXKmOCBSd6hOA3dtQXFSletFAVtvV0Yk1BRZPvTOhNPNu9YjHAGd9Kp8372OV6bvF9KhjYEoRXIfUMmC_mKDvjuqjSREVRcjyjuoxq0E74OaEc-jDcLnM6gE6dkcnBtWQ2N4HBe78_DUIWtK0aXsVgbnIW8ldDAOF8JDlF_CTEI6Se1/s1600/Stan%20Lee%20Spider-Man%203.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZHtsU-GSojeafJIXKmOCBSd6hOA3dtQXFSletFAVtvV0Yk1BRZPvTOhNPNu9YjHAGd9Kp8372OV6bvF9KhjYEoRXIfUMmC_mKDvjuqjSREVRcjyjuoxq0E74OaEc-jDcLnM6gE6dkcnBtWQ2N4HBe78_DUIWtK0aXsVgbnIW8ldDAOF8JDlF_CTEI6Se1/w400-h225/Stan%20Lee%20Spider-Man%203.png" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Stan Lee’s first two
cameos in Sam Raimi’s <i>Spider-Man </i>trilogy were the very definition of a basic
cameo; in both instances, he appeared briefly as a citizen who pulls someone
out of the way of falling debris during Spidey’s first fights with the Green
Goblin and Doc Ock, respectively. But as revealed in the films’ bonus features,
there were some alternate ideas as to how he’d appear in them. In the first <i>Spider-Man
</i>from 2002, he almost appeared as a street vendor at the World Unity Fair selling
sunglasses that, as he put it, were the kind “they wore in the <i>X-Men</i>”.
In <i>Spider-Man 2</i>, he almost appears as an onlooker who remarks that Spider-Man
stole a kid’s sneakers. Ultimately, his best Raimi trilogy cameo occurred in
the final installment of the trilogy, 2007’s <i>Spider-Man 3</i>. After Spidey rescues
Gwen Stacy from an incident with a faulty crane, he learns that he’s set to be
honored by the city of New York from one of the news tickers in Times Square. A
man standing next to him remarks “You know, I guess one person can make a
difference. ‘Nuff Said!”. I think most will agree that this is easily one of
Lee’s best cameos; in just a single line, the well-spoken Marvel icon makes a
poignant observation about the importance of superheroes. And on that note… <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>1. Costume Shop
Owner – <i>Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3sfKNQ5eHDjsdbCQ4KD11COxCxr5aLmTbmMEbNlohLGKevBHAkJzdXBmkoVx-adEfMk9F8cCY-OZEV5-yA3HzOF3Z3QEAexMZG1iGed8zfK2Gm-dFSrY8I8mhc6nTEwe9eqsMPExCjYUXxgrpqWe6Kh1hITXu1m4poiM0PT7hT933trNobl9hNxj8cadV/s1280/Stan%20Lee%20Into%20the%20SpiderVerse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3sfKNQ5eHDjsdbCQ4KD11COxCxr5aLmTbmMEbNlohLGKevBHAkJzdXBmkoVx-adEfMk9F8cCY-OZEV5-yA3HzOF3Z3QEAexMZG1iGed8zfK2Gm-dFSrY8I8mhc6nTEwe9eqsMPExCjYUXxgrpqWe6Kh1hITXu1m4poiM0PT7hT933trNobl9hNxj8cadV/w400-h225/Stan%20Lee%20Into%20the%20SpiderVerse.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">We’ve covered plenty
of great Stan Lee cameos today, many of them delightfully wacky comedic moments
that perfectly matched Lee’s lovable on and offscreen persona. But for the
Number 1 pick, I decided to go with the most poignant cameo of them all; the
first proper Stan Lee cameo that was released after his death in the Phil Lord
and Chris Miller-produced <i>Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse</i>. In the
film, Lee plays the owner of a costume shop where new Spider-Man Miles Morales
buys a Spider-Man costume in the wake of his universe’s Peter Parker’s death. When
he brings the costume up to the register, the owner laments that he’s going to
miss Spider-Man and notes that he was friends with the web-slinger. When Miles inquires
about the possibility of having to return the costume if it doesn’t fit, the
owner notes that “it always fits, eventually”, a seemingly sweet gesture… before
the camera pans over to the sign behind him that states his no return policy.</p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">I decided to go with
this one because I think it perfectly sums up Lee’s legacy, especially since
everyone’s favorite webslinger may quite arguably be his most famous creation.
This scene between Lee and the new Spidey, Miles, sees the former have some of
the most poignant dialogue that he’s ever delivered in a Marvel film before
ending with a classic bit of Stan Lee humor. This touching tribute is then
extended to the film’s credits, which pays tribute to both him and <i>Spider-Man
</i>co-creator Steve Ditko, who had passed away that past June. The following
quote, “That person who helps others simply because it should or must be done,
and because it’s the right thing to do, is indeed without a doubt a real
superhero”, appears over an image of a pair of familiar-looking glasses. Cut to
the following statement, “Thank you, Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, for telling us we
aren’t the only ones”.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And that concludes my
list of my Top 15 personal favorite Stan Lee cinematic cameos. Thanks for
following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own
personal favorites, including all those shows and video games that I didn’t
tackle in today’s post.</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_EfMjf7Gmapmk7gMpmUccgar8uxipu9RKD9w6JiphEpaW4bu004Sx4AFUmUERWfpQirvxuj8FGyTgFTN86fWsb-BMKa2eMtzVGnTr9GdNF6Y6GbsLWP60tt0jSUfe95WV6rlUyIcxzHAAwW0MbyBri94bsVX6EGlSIYHRc07EXVHf2LBTAYR4bnybe3d/s1920/Stan%20Lee%20SpiderVerse%20Tribute.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1_EfMjf7Gmapmk7gMpmUccgar8uxipu9RKD9w6JiphEpaW4bu004Sx4AFUmUERWfpQirvxuj8FGyTgFTN86fWsb-BMKa2eMtzVGnTr9GdNF6Y6GbsLWP60tt0jSUfe95WV6rlUyIcxzHAAwW0MbyBri94bsVX6EGlSIYHRc07EXVHf2LBTAYR4bnybe3d/w640-h360/Stan%20Lee%20SpiderVerse%20Tribute.png" width="640" /></a></div><p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-51286240888098470322023-12-25T10:30:00.000-05:002023-12-25T10:30:01.633-05:00Favorite Films of the Summer of 2023 - As Voted by You!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFi9aziwpjdC11VGuxyiSm5xIG5soqIpWZFHWxTHHh3bPzjvRnrGuRGJ_vwo3-nTzzEwema4Z6PLXSc9zw5_1Zaiulqks9FmDFAUz95rlGk0Qfn5lK5LrGZinzmGiK-NbdgcF0z1Z40TlKofAfg5r6HKom92k1yVBXBi5APn9_r31AVkbuALmYRS-brLh/s750/Summer%202023%20Final.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="400" data-original-width="750" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOFi9aziwpjdC11VGuxyiSm5xIG5soqIpWZFHWxTHHh3bPzjvRnrGuRGJ_vwo3-nTzzEwema4Z6PLXSc9zw5_1Zaiulqks9FmDFAUz95rlGk0Qfn5lK5LrGZinzmGiK-NbdgcF0z1Z40TlKofAfg5r6HKom92k1yVBXBi5APn9_r31AVkbuALmYRS-brLh/w482-h258/Summer%202023%20Final.jpg" width="482" /></a></div><p>Well, folks, another year has come and gone for Rhode Island
Movie Corner’s Annual End of Summer Fan Poll. As always, I must start off the
annual Results Post by stating that I couldn’t be more grateful to everyone who
participated in this year’s poll, from all of those who voted to those who
shared it online via social media networks. As a freelance film critic who
hasn’t been posting as much as I’ve done in the past and someone who admittedly
relies mainly on friends and family to spread this annual poll of ours around,
it truly means a lot to know that we’ve been able to keep this growing every
year, especially after the whole ‘I had to cancel the 2020 edition of this
event for blatantly obvious reasons’ ordeal. Case in point, last year’s poll
saw us reach record numbers with a 119-vote turnout, which was the first time
that we accomplished a turnout of over 100 votes. Well, guess what? This year…
we managed to top even that! Yes, folks, this year’s poll saw a new record
turnout of 122 votes. And unlike last year, where nearly half of the votes were
for that year’s champion, <i>Top Gun: Maverick</i>, this year’s lineup of votes
was a lot more spread out across the potential candidates. In other words,
this year’s poll matched the record set by the 2017 polling season with a
whopping 22 films getting represented by your votes. So, let’s not waste any
more time because I know a lot of you are interested in seeing what film won it
all this year. Without further ado, Rhode Island Movie Corner is proud to
present the most popular films from the summer of 2023… as voted by you, our
friendly readers!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>ALRIGHT, TO
KICK THINGS OFF, WE HAVE 7 FILMS THAT EARNED ONE VOTE EACH…<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>BOOK CLUB: THE
NEXT CHAPTER<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrt89udLGcbBFYet7uB-CuUnAxXH1xlYS9ZO12YISJe0zn9P0djvaJ1nVEK5F3uEHcU5xOTl52LbbjJxA49CdIVassDWc6WEa7cVQSaMwTRyURIUUONgZVtX5IP0nHv90n0n5kMRhyvjVSXHzV29a2qIMEROMyMzo_v8gNrchpE5TWKKVMM8Z2u7WEW0D6/s1500/Book%20Club%202.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="860" data-original-width="1500" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrt89udLGcbBFYet7uB-CuUnAxXH1xlYS9ZO12YISJe0zn9P0djvaJ1nVEK5F3uEHcU5xOTl52LbbjJxA49CdIVassDWc6WEa7cVQSaMwTRyURIUUONgZVtX5IP0nHv90n0n5kMRhyvjVSXHzV29a2qIMEROMyMzo_v8gNrchpE5TWKKVMM8Z2u7WEW0D6/w400-h229/Book%20Club%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2018, Bill Holderman, a longtime producer for Robert
Redford, made his directorial debut with <i>Book Club</i>, a romantic comedy
headlined by the quartet of Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candace Bergen, and Mary
Steenburgen. In the film, the four play a group of friends who decide to spice
up their personal lives after reading the infamous <i>Fifty Shades of Grey </i>in
their monthly book club. Bolstered by an all-star cast that also included the
likes of Andy Garcia, Don Johnson, and Craig T. Nelson, just to name a few, the
film performed excellently at the box office even when competing against
big-name blockbusters like <i>Avengers: Infinity War </i>and <i>Deadpool 2</i>,
grossing over $104 million worldwide on its modest $14 million budget. In 2022,
a sequel was confirmed with most of the original’s core cast and crew returning
but a notable change in studios; instead of Paramount, <i>Book Club: The Next
Chapter </i>was released under the Universal banner. In <i>The Next Chapter</i>,
the lead quartet of reading enthusiasts embark on a vacation to Italy in
celebration of Jane Fonda’s character’s impending engagement. Upon its release,
the film fared about as well as the original with critics, who felt that the
lead quartet of Keaton, Fonda, Bergen, and Steenburgen worked wonderfully
together despite the lackluster material they were given. But unlike the
original, <i>Book Club: The Next Chapter </i>surprisingly underperformed at the box office, only grossing $29.1 million against a bigger $20 million budget. Some
suggested that this was probably due to the general lack of interest in a
sequel, but in its defense, it did just as well in this annual poll of ours as
the original, which also scored a vote back in 2018. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>JOY RIDE<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLV98ULJ9mGwRVgRYWyUQo1m2GMkEpGXttSU7ca0Kp_RP6up2rFvGFclSXZLItSGt0w3_j9yb2TMgA21fQVU6WAccpUEEuBr_LCuq4gYeyxd413JC9eHs9qoo4b3QmNEykN9z0zP-NHIlnAh2XWa3m0LwTikxsHE-5OLbU3D5ZtXBkhE_eEJQncrWz6v6/s800/Joy%20Ride.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="410" data-original-width="800" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQLV98ULJ9mGwRVgRYWyUQo1m2GMkEpGXttSU7ca0Kp_RP6up2rFvGFclSXZLItSGt0w3_j9yb2TMgA21fQVU6WAccpUEEuBr_LCuq4gYeyxd413JC9eHs9qoo4b3QmNEykN9z0zP-NHIlnAh2XWa3m0LwTikxsHE-5OLbU3D5ZtXBkhE_eEJQncrWz6v6/w400-h205/Joy%20Ride.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Over the past few years, Adele Lim has established herself
as one of the most acclaimed screenwriters on the rise in the film industry. After
years of working in television on shows like <i>One Tree Hill </i>and <i>Lethal
Weapon</i>, Lim made her feature film debut as a screenwriter with 2018’s <i>Crazy
Rich Asians</i>. While she would ultimately depart the film’s impending sequels
as the result of a pay dispute that would’ve seen her get paid less than co-writer
Peter Chiarelli, there’s no denying that she played a huge role in bringing one
of 2018’s biggest summer blockbusters to the big screen. She would then follow
that up by working on Disney Animation’s first 2021 feature, <i>Raya and the
Last Dragon </i>(co-written by Qui Nguyen), which was similarly acclaimed even
if it was ultimately overshadowed by the studio’s other 2021 release, <i>Encanto</i>.
And in 2023, she made her directorial debut with <i>Joy Ride</i> which, of
course, she had a hand in writing alongside <i>Family Guy </i>alums Cherry
Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsaio. Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu,
and Sabrina Wu star as a quartet of friends who travel to China in the hopes of
finding main protagonist Audrey’s (Park) birth mother so that she can secure a
major business deal that will ensure a promotion at work. After debuting at
this year’s SXSW Film Festival, the film hit theaters in July to highly
positive reviews from critics, who highlighted the strong performances of its
leads and its heartfelt moments that managed to shine amidst all its incredibly
raunchy humor. In short, much like Adele Lim’s first foray into the world of
film, <i>Crazy Rich Asians</i>, <i>Joy Ride </i>was celebrated for its
on-screen representation, effectively proving that raunchy humor isn’t just
reserved solely for comedies headlined by white men. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>STRAYS<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3XcaxbmIfYTz_aiDft95_JIzf8Bm8J0BYoIYKfgVuvVhNjzgffKsDS-yPy5-LfiikvvaBZBdEF9w2k5xp2jzb8YjZKB43UGI-Qr4LpCMoRlV7N2HL0F72a0sVpauYycQlaTDwXScz2a3ozJAOSjWgnod11iscWHLa0t9MdDAe2Iir0GUEarZ-paaBYFX9/s1920/Strays.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3XcaxbmIfYTz_aiDft95_JIzf8Bm8J0BYoIYKfgVuvVhNjzgffKsDS-yPy5-LfiikvvaBZBdEF9w2k5xp2jzb8YjZKB43UGI-Qr4LpCMoRlV7N2HL0F72a0sVpauYycQlaTDwXScz2a3ozJAOSjWgnod11iscWHLa0t9MdDAe2Iir0GUEarZ-paaBYFX9/w400-h225/Strays.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Apart from their work on a certain animated superhero film
(more on that later) and the revival of their breakout series <i>Clone High </i>as
an exclusive on Max, 2023 also saw the dynamic duo of Phil Lord and Chris
Miller produce a pair of comedies with two things in common; they both revolved
around animals and were both unabashedly R-rated. First, there was the
Elizabeth Banks-directed <i>Cocaine Bear</i> which, as a title like that
suggests, promptly became a full-on viral sensation when it hit theaters back
in February. And then there’s their second summer release, <i>Strays</i>,
directed by veteran TV director Josh Greenbaum. This dog-centric comedy stars
Will Ferrell as the voice of Reggie, a happy-go-lucky Border Terrier who
doesn’t even remotely realize that his owner Doug (Will Forte) doesn’t give a crap
about him to the point where he frequently attempts to ditch him. When the
latest ditch attempt is the most successful yet, thus officially making Reggie
a stray, he meets and befriends three other strays, a Boston Terrier named Bug
(Jamie Foxx), an Australian Shepherd named Maggie (Isla Fisher), and a Great
Dane named Hunter (Randall Park), who help keep him out of trouble. Together, they
decide to get revenge on Doug for all his abuse towards Reggie by robbing him
of “the only thing he truly loves” (and no, I’m not going to elaborate on what
that thing is because I do try to keep these posts of mine as PG as possible).
Upon the film’s release, it proved to be somewhat of a mixed bag with critics;
many felt that, while the film had a good heart, it wasn’t exactly the
hilariously crude canine romp that it was aiming to be. But to make matters
worse, when you come out at a time when none of your stars can actively promote
it because of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes… well, that arguably ends up
playing a major role in it becoming a box-office bomb as <i>Strays </i>has only
managed to gross around $36 million on its $46 million budget.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>THE FLASH<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirWSgMsL0oMcJivHddcONLEVTbmLkzCesMtPLhMePS8E6C1LrhnXnUg2SPgxs_N01BIvjEurKcI5zgXRtowAk7V5CCAiIWhv1mv6UZw_iLMr5Ul2ydgVMsmio40-nbNHR1vWtfAfN6gHsbRBvjws3Nm9Xi8eX47GIN0pjg0FPYk0qYhA5fqtwV9HpOoGxK/s318/The%20Flash.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="159" data-original-width="318" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirWSgMsL0oMcJivHddcONLEVTbmLkzCesMtPLhMePS8E6C1LrhnXnUg2SPgxs_N01BIvjEurKcI5zgXRtowAk7V5CCAiIWhv1mv6UZw_iLMr5Ul2ydgVMsmio40-nbNHR1vWtfAfN6gHsbRBvjws3Nm9Xi8eX47GIN0pjg0FPYk0qYhA5fqtwV9HpOoGxK/w400-h200/The%20Flash.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1940, DC Comics writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry
Lampert created the character of The Flash, a super-speed-based superhero who
has promptly gone on to become one of the most prominent members of the DC
Universe and its most famous superhero squad, the Justice League. Several
characters have graced the persona of the ‘Scarlet Speedster’ over the years, from
the OG Golden Age hero Jay Garrick to forensic scientist Barry Allen, with the
latter usually tending to be the most famous of the bunch even though his
heroic sacrifice at the end of DC’s <i>Crisis on Infinite Earths</i> storyline in
the mid-80’s kept him out of comics for more than two decades. Naturally, Flash
has appeared in various spin-offs of the comics including, most notably in his
case, several TV shows. Outside of the character’s appearances in multiple animated
series like the Bruce Timm-backed <i>Justice League </i>and its various
spin-offs, the character has also headlined his own live-action shows. There
was the short-lived <i>Flash </i>series from the 90s, which starred John
Wesley Shipp in the title role, and the long-running <i>Flash </i>series on The
CW which starred Grant Gustin in the title role with Wesley Shipp notably
appearing as Barry Allen’s father Henry and, on occasion, reprising his role as
the 90’s series’ version of Barry while also portraying the new series’ version
of Jay Garrick. That series would go on to arguably become the most prominent
installment of the CW’s lineup of superhero shows known as the <i>Arrowverse</i>;
while technically named after the first of these shows, <i>Arrow</i>, <i>The
Flash </i>would end up becoming the longest-running series of the bunch, having
only just concluded this past May after nine seasons and long after its fellow <i>Arrowverse
</i>shows had already ended their runs. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As for Flash’s potential on the big screen, that ended up
taking quite a while to come to fruition. In the early 2000s, several attempts
were made at producing a Flash film, with directors like David S. Goyer and
Shawn Levy attached to it over time without any major success. Of course, there
was also George Miller’s infamously unrealized adaptation of <i>Justice League</i>,
<i>Justice League: Mortal</i>,<i> </i>that would’ve seen Adam Brody (who would later
go on to portray the adult Freddie Freeman in the DCEU’s <i>Shazam </i>films)
cast as Barry Allen before various factors such as the 2007-08 Writers Strike
ultimately led to it being canned. Thus, it wouldn’t be until the development
of the DC Extended Universe that we would finally see the first official live-action take on The Flash, with Ezra Miller cast in the role following their
breakout turns in films like <i>We Need to Talk About Kevin </i>and <i>The
Perks of Being a Wallflower</i>. Like fellow Justice League castmates Ray
Fisher and Jason Momoa, Miller would make their official franchise debut with a
brief cameo in 2016’s <i>Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice </i>before taking
on one of the lead roles in the following year’s <i>Justice League</i>.
Naturally, with the confirmation of Miller’s casting and the subsequent plans
for the DCEU being set up, it was confirmed that there would be a <i>Flash </i>solo
film in the works. However, as it turns out, the <i>Flash </i>film would end up
becoming one of the most prominent examples in recent memory of a project that
spent a considerably long and arduous time stuck in development hell… and
believe it or not, this wasn’t just because of all the struggles that the DCEU
experienced in general trying to match the success of the MCU.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just like what happened with all the attempts to make a <i>Flash
</i>film before the DCEU, several directors went in and out of the project,
from the duo of John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein to the likes of Rick
Famuyiwa and Robert Zemeckis. As usual, ‘creative differences’ were the main
reason for most of these departures and the script itself underwent several
changes as well, sometimes due to Ezra Miller’s dissatisfaction with it.
Ultimately, Andy Muschietti, fresh off his work on the highly successful
two-part film adaptation of Stephen King’s <i>It</i>, signed on to direct,
which would finally ensure that the film would get made. And despite all those
previously mentioned script changes, it was made clear that, while not a direct
adaptation of it, the film would be heavily based on one of Flash’s most
notable storylines from the comics, 2011’s <i>Flashpoint</i>. The catalyst
behind the launch of DC’s <i>New 52 </i>era, <i>Flashpoint </i>saw Barry Allen
go back in time to save his mother Nora from her mysterious death, which
resulted in his father Henry being wrongly accused of her murder. But while he
does successfully save his mom from her tragic fate, he quickly learns that
this has led to the creation of an alternate universe in which many of his
superhero peers either don’t exist or are at war with one another. Thus, Barry
teams up with an alternate version of Batman (in this instance, Bruce Wayne’s
father Thomas as Bruce is established to have been the one who was killed in
the fateful theater mugging that has always defined the character’s backstory) in
his attempts to set the timeline right.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As for the <i>Flash </i>film, while the same basic premise
of Barry going back in time to save his mom and inadvertently altering the
events of his universe is still there, several narrative differences keep things in line with the DC Extended Universe’s overall timeline. After
Barry successfully saves his mom, he ends up getting stuck in the year 2013,
around the time when he first acquired his powers. As a result, he ends up
crossing paths with his younger and far more immature self, resulting in him
being forced to try and teach the younger Barry how to be a superhero,
especially after he loses his powers when he tries to put 2013 Barry through
the events that made them the Flash (i.e. getting struck by lightning). And
unlike the comics, which were based around an over-arching conflict of a civil
war between Wonder Woman and Aquaman, this film’s main conflict revolves around
the events of <i>Man of Steel</i>; specifically, General Zod’s invasion of
Earth in his efforts to hunt down Superman, who had been living a private life
on Earth ever since he was sent there as a baby. Thus, with no other metahumans
who can help them, the two Barrys end up teaming up with this universe’s
version of Batman; however, instead of Thomas Wayne, it is Bruce… but the Bruce
Wayne from 1989’s <i>Batman</i> and 1992’s <i>Batman Returns</i>, with Michael
Keaton returning to reprise his role for the first time in more than three
decades. Things only get more complicated, however, when, in their efforts to
try and find Superman, they learn that the Kryptonian refugee who has been
hiding out on Earth for the past several years isn’t Clark… but rather, his
cousin Kara Zor-El AKA Supergirl.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Right off the bat, fans of the <i>Flashpoint </i>storyline
will most likely be disappointed by the fact that this isn’t a direct
adaptation of it. And to be fair, it’s easy to see where they’re coming from in
some cases as the overall plot of this film, despite all the buzz about it
relaunching the DC Cinematic Universe into its future state under the direction
of James Gunn and Peter Safran, feels surprisingly trivial when it comes to its
overall stakes. It’s also quite limited in terms of plot and character
development, with Flash being the only character in the film to get any sort of
major emotional beats; in a way, it sort of makes sense seeing how the other
characters are from the alternate timeline that will inevitably cease to exist
by the end of it all, but it is noticeable, nevertheless. But just like how <i>Captain
America: Civil War </i>did a great job of working around the weaker parts of
the comic storyline that it was named after, there are some upsides to all this.
Whereas the original <i>Flashpoint </i>involved dozens of characters from the
DC Universe, this film keeps it grounded to Flash and his new allies Batman and
Supergirl, which does help to keep its plot from getting too overstuffed. And
even if there’s not a lot for characters like Batman and Supergirl to work
with, the big emotional beats involving the Flash, namely anything revolving
around his relationship with his mom, are genuinely phenomenal from the phone
conversation that Barry has with his imprisoned father Henry, where we
flashback to the fateful moment when Nora died, to the last moment that Barry
shares with his mom before he restores the timeline to its rightful state, <i>The
Flash </i>does achieve the kind of heartfelt moments that have bolstered many
of this genre’s greatest releases. Really, though, that’s arguably to be
expected from a director like Andy Muschietti, who had already done this before
to great effect on the two <i>It </i>films. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, does that mean that this film is perfect? No, far from
it. Like I said before, the casual nature of the plot makes this one of the
most undemanding superhero films to come out in recent years, and while I’m
personally fine with the largely light-hearted and easygoing tone that this
film takes on, this also means that it doesn’t quite reach the epic narrative lengths
that it could’ve gone to. And while I won’t be making as big of a deal about it
as the rest of the internet has… yeah, it goes without saying that this film
could’ve benefitted from a few extra trips through the VFX department because
some of the CGI in this film is considerably under-polished. But thanks to some
fun action set pieces, a strong ensemble cast, and a whole bunch of fun nods to
DC’s extensive media history, there’s still a lot to like about this film. For
one thing, it follows nicely in the footsteps of non-Snyderverse DCEU films
like <i>Wonder Woman</i>, <i>Aquaman</i>, and <i>Birds of Prey </i>by taking a
character whose initial debut was in a bigger ensemble picture where they
didn’t quite get the chance to become a fully fleshed-out character and giving
them the proper character development that they deserve. This is something that
I’ve always argued to be critical to this genre’s success and, if you ask me,
is one of the main reasons why the DCEU tanked so hard early on because it was
more focused on its visuals rather than ensuring that we’re able to care about
any of the characters who were meant to be headlining the franchise. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But let’s be honest, folks, there’s one elephant in the room
that I haven’t mentioned yet that quite arguably takes precedence over
everything we’ve talked about, and that is the dark cloud that has surrounded
this film for the past several years as the result of the actions of its star,
Ezra Miller. While I won’t go into full details on the matter, in the time that
it took this film to get made, Miller wound up getting involved in a whole
bunch of incidents that ranged from assault charges to being accused of running
a cult. This, in turn, led to reports that revealed that Miller’s erratic
behavior even affected filming at times; as I mentioned earlier, this included
all the instances where they took issue with how the script was turning out. But
unlike what happened on films like <i>All the Money in the World</i>, where
Ridley Scott replaced Kevin Spacey with Christopher Plummer just one month
before its release, or <i>Army of the Dead</i>, where Zack Snyder had Tig
Notaro replace Chris D’Elia via CGI-based reshoots, it’s clear that Miller
couldn’t have been easily recast for a film of this size and budget. Nevertheless,
it’s undoubtedly clear that a lot of folks weren’t so enthused to see this film
given Miller’s involvement, hence why it ended up becoming one of the biggest
box-office flops of recent memory. A $270 million+ haul is already enough of a
low bar for a franchise like the DCEU, but with a massive budget that may have
reached as high as $300 million… well, that’s not great. While I’m aware
that some attribute this to some folks feeling like the remaining DCEU films
aren’t worth checking out because of the impending reboot, that doesn’t mean
that I think that this film deserved to flop like it did.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, to be clear, when I say that, don’t interpret that as
me defending Ezra Miller in the wake of their various scandals in any way
because I’m not. This also extends to me stating that Miller does a good job in
this film, balancing their dual roles as the older, emotionally hardened Barry
and the younger, fun-loving Barry quite well. In short, I’m just one of those
folks who, for the most part, doesn’t like to see a film bomb as hard as this
one did, especially since it’s a far better representation of the fantastical
world of DC Comics than something like <i>Zack Snyder’s Justice League</i>
which, to me, represents the absolute worst of the otherwise wonderful
superhero genre. And yet, at the end of the day, I guess you can say that <i>The
Flash </i>is one of the DC Extended Universe’s best examples of a film that’s
practically a pitch-perfect representation of everything about this truly mixed
bag of a franchise. Sure, it had the potential to be just as great as the
Marvel Cinematic Universe, but with a weak narrative foundation, questionable
filmmaking decisions that didn’t fit the well-established characterizations of
DC’s most iconic characters, and the most toxic fanbase of all time (which,
given all the toxic film-based fanbases we’ve seen these past few years, is
saying a lot), its overall success rate was split right down the middle. Thus,
I’m sure that I’m not the only one who’s more than ready to embrace everything
that’s set to come out over the next few years under the direction of James
Gunn and Peter Safran. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>ELEMENTAL<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgshIp4H0E8xt9mwdkFZuzKlT8-0zvk4JhVs9gRfl-yfmDoZMqCCeepTJ5EGrLXSwvxqcasymRcNITuG4olVcLYKSz2RA4-M8j35l_2EW-20IzwVKWimkTkaihAFyJsm1WUmg6RqUmjULEwxd4L4AKCmABXwXIJQxbXxEJNeppbrV1_BLaTeyrturRS4wjG/s1100/Elemental.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="594" data-original-width="1100" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgshIp4H0E8xt9mwdkFZuzKlT8-0zvk4JhVs9gRfl-yfmDoZMqCCeepTJ5EGrLXSwvxqcasymRcNITuG4olVcLYKSz2RA4-M8j35l_2EW-20IzwVKWimkTkaihAFyJsm1WUmg6RqUmjULEwxd4L4AKCmABXwXIJQxbXxEJNeppbrV1_BLaTeyrturRS4wjG/w400-h216/Elemental.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Many of Pixar’s greatest films were directly inspired by the
lives of those who made them, and that has certainly applied to a lot of their
recent masterpieces. For example, Dan Scanlon’s highly underrated fantasy
adventure <i>Onward </i>was inspired by the strong relationship that he formed
with his brother after they lost their father at a young age. 2021’s <i>Luca </i>was
based on all the summers that director Enrico Casarosa spent as a child living on
the Italian Riviera. Last year’s <i>Turning Red</i> (AKA this writer’s #1
favorite film of 2022) was influenced by director Domee Shi’s life growing up
in Toronto, Canada and the universal struggles of being a teenager. Naturally,
this same mentality applies to Pixar’s latest endeavor, <i>Elemental</i>,
directed by one of the studio’s longtime mainstays, Peter Sohn. Sohn’s
childhood living in New York and his family’s immigrant status helped to create
the world of Element City, in which anthropomorphic personifications of the
four elements (fire, water, wind, and earth) reside. In this thriving
metropolis, a young fire sprite named Ember begins the process of taking over
her father Bernie’s convenience store despite being plagued by a fiery temper.
When said temper puts her family’s store at risk of being shut down, she tags
along with Wade, an overly emotional water guy who’s one of Element City’s city
inspectors, to try and undo the damage that she’s done. Along the way, the two
begin to bond to the point where, despite the longstanding presumption that
water and fire elements cannot mix, they even begin to fall in love with each
other. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As you can tell from that plot synopsis, <i>Elemental </i>is,
first and foremost, a love story and a beautifully executed one at that. This
is mainly thanks to the fact that the lead duo of Ember and Wade are an
instantly lovable romantic pair, with excellent voice performances from Leah
Lewis as the short-tempered yet wholly sympathetic Ember and Mamoudou Athie as
the happy-go-lucky Wade. But amidst all the romance is some timely commentary
on the [unfortunately still prevalent] issues of racism and prejudice, which
allows characters like Ember’s parents Bernie and Cinder to be properly fleshed
out as well. While they are shown to be distrustful towards water elements like
Wade, it doesn’t make them outright ‘villainous’ because of some of the similar
hardships that they’ve been through such as the circumstances that led them to
abandon their homeland and move to Element City and the racism that they faced
upon arriving there, which then proceeded to affect Ember after she was born. In
short, <i>Elemental </i>is truly a story from the heart as it’s a celebration
of love, family, and the beauty of diversity, and with Pixar’s trademark
beautiful animation to match its equally beautiful love story, it’s another
wonderful addition to the studio’s long line of masterpieces. And yet, perhaps
the most beautiful thing about this film… was how it managed to beat the odds and
become a bonafide box-office hit, which is something that we haven’t been able
to say about a Pixar film for quite some time. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To be perfectly blunt, Pixar films have had a rough run at
the box office in recent years, and while I would personally love to pin it all
on those right-wing morons who are irrationally mad about Disney-backed
projects embracing the film industry’s efforts to be more culturally diverse…
in reality, it’s mainly because of everything revolving around the COVID-19
pandemic. It all got started with <i>Onward</i>, which had the unfortunate
distinction of being released just a week before the pandemic started to go into
effect, meaning that it had no time to make any sort of dent at the box office.
As a result, Disney then proceeded to turn the next three Pixar films, <i>Soul</i>,
<i>Luca</i>, and <i>Turning Red</i>, into Disney+ exclusive releases with limited
theatrical runs in major cities. And while many Pixar staff members were understanding
about the decision to move <i>Soul </i>to Disney+, they weren’t so happy about
it happening to <i>Luca </i>and <i>Turning Red </i>as well since, by the time
they came out, efforts to combat COVID-19 were becoming far more widespread. But
at the very least, these three films weren’t entirely hindered by their status
as Disney+ releases as they all did quite well for themselves, managing to become
some of the most streamed films of their respective release years and scoring all
sorts of accolades during awards season. At the same time, though, many have
argued that this resulted in audiences becoming more inclined to see Pixar’s
new releases on Disney+ rather than in theaters. Thus, when Pixar finally saw
their first theatrical release in more than two years with <i>Lightyear</i>… it
ended up becoming a flop, and at first, it seemed like <i>Elemental </i>was
going to succumb to the same fate.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Upon its initial release, <i>Elemental </i>only managed to
do about $29.5 million during its opening weekend, which is the lowest opening
weekend for a Pixar film… since the original <i>Toy Story</i> nearly three
decades ago. And since it, like many other recent Pixar films, had a hefty
budget of $200 million, an opening as low as that made it look like the studio
was going to have yet another box-office bomb on their hands that, again, was
arguably due to how long it took for Pixar to return to cinemas after COVID.
And yet, against all odds… it survived. It had a decent second weekend with
only a 38% loss from the previous weekend and, by the end of its run, managed
to turn things around to do nearly half a billion worldwide, which is a lovely
thing to witness for a film that’s as easy to love as this one. As I’ve said
plenty of times over the years, I’m not someone who subscribes to the “If a
Pixar film isn’t an outright flawless masterpiece, it’s not worth checking out”
mentality that the internet has foolhardily embraced since the studio’s first
critical flop, <i>Cars 2</i>, back in 2011. As a result, this has left perfectly
great films like <i>Onward </i>and <i>Lightyear</i> to be unfairly seen as
‘inferior’ just because they aren’t as well-regarded as all the other
masterpieces that Pixar has made since 1995. And in <i>Elemental</i>’s case,
I’m sure that it’s seen as exactly that in some circles given the film’s
relatively low yet still very much fresh 74% rating on Rotten Tomatoes (in part
due to a rough early run with critics after its premiere at the Cannes Film
Festival), with a consensus that states that it doesn’t “satisfy as fully as
the greatest Pixar pictures”. Thus, when I hear about how it defied the odds to
become a genuine hit at the box office, I’m left ecstatic because a film like
this is a wonderful anti-thesis to all those expectations that the internet has
placed upon Pixar to keep being one of the industry’s best. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>GRAN TURISMO<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL1SKMCr7A7BSPKrXDYq1WeuhoVp942PxHIBO5Tk-ZDyBIRCKjr-ORHQW-oFwf0VsYWAUzHrPQmRf2fO9P-FizGwfNHmp7aDQX_HQR6-yNNZmaFXsBhvVNQelABgUNA9vpjygdQVYPmbkkqRwRfPzqH55NlrSYwmkrXJuSwOqyTOMCntj0HgYvhZR4uY1Z/s6240/Gran%20Turismo.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3512" data-original-width="6240" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL1SKMCr7A7BSPKrXDYq1WeuhoVp942PxHIBO5Tk-ZDyBIRCKjr-ORHQW-oFwf0VsYWAUzHrPQmRf2fO9P-FizGwfNHmp7aDQX_HQR6-yNNZmaFXsBhvVNQelABgUNA9vpjygdQVYPmbkkqRwRfPzqH55NlrSYwmkrXJuSwOqyTOMCntj0HgYvhZR4uY1Z/w400-h225/Gran%20Turismo.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Easily taking the cake as one of the most unique attempts at
adapting a popular video game into a film, <i>Gran Turismo </i>translates the
PlayStation brand’s definitive racing franchise into a cinematic blockbuster.
But I’m sure that there are a bunch of you out there who are thinking the exact
same thing that I thought when this film was first announced; how the heck do
you adapt a series like <i>Gran Turismo</i> into a film when the source
material is, simply put, a straight-forward racing simulator without any sort of
narrative to speak of? Well, it turns out that you do so by making it a biopic
as this film tells the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a young man from Wales
and avid <i>Gran Turismo </i>player who, in 2011, landed a once-in-a-lifetime
exclusive professional racing contract with Nissan by partaking in their <i>GT
Academy </i>program. Mardenborough’s story is brought to life courtesy of
director Neill Blomkamp, with Archie Madekwe starring as Mardenborough, David
Harbour as his skeptical trainer, and Orlando Bloom as the Nissan executive who
runs the <i>GT Academy </i>program. And against all odds, the film did
surprisingly well with critics upon its release. Outside of the controversial
decision to reframe Mardenborough’s infamous 2015 crash in a manner that was
seen by some as ill-fitting given that the crash resulted in the death of a
spectator, critics praised the film for its racing sequences, Blomkamp’s
direction, and its feel-good vibes. And with a decent $121+ million showing at
the box office, it seems like this has been a nice return to form for Blomkamp
who, after his breakout hit <i>District 9 </i>in 2009, went through a considerable
rough patch as his subsequent projects like <i>Elysium </i>and <i>Chappie </i>did
not score as well with critics as his Oscar-nominated directorial debut and his
attempt at making an <i>Alien </i>sequel ultimately went nowhere.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>TALK TO ME<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93d8HIV4lzBejN0DKWe1V97UknwKV5bZbeJTLDeQvpjRWBeFA4hh4zHc4XyBn68jJVRYpxRGgeNMZjEkbmH-ZKl2HjdN-XYgxrMtc-wm1PD5QtRw20jPibPxeygy0SkHw33uPp9tDbK46rxFgxFKS1F0cnH7gFjnBo4WkINuV9c9nrXjgitu7sdtyUzcr/s1400/Talk%20to%20Me.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="840" data-original-width="1400" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93d8HIV4lzBejN0DKWe1V97UknwKV5bZbeJTLDeQvpjRWBeFA4hh4zHc4XyBn68jJVRYpxRGgeNMZjEkbmH-ZKl2HjdN-XYgxrMtc-wm1PD5QtRw20jPibPxeygy0SkHw33uPp9tDbK46rxFgxFKS1F0cnH7gFjnBo4WkINuV9c9nrXjgitu7sdtyUzcr/w400-h240/Talk%20to%20Me.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Since its inception in 2012, A24 has become one of the most
revered independent film distributors in the industry, especially when it comes
to its lineup of critically acclaimed horror films that have made filmmakers
like Ari Aster and Robert Eggers some of the genre’s most celebrated
visionaries. This hot streak of theirs certainly continued this summer with the
supernatural horror thriller <i>Talk to Me</i>, which they secured the
distribution rights to at this year’s SXSW Film Festival. Directed by brothers
Danny and Michael Philippou, best known as the creators of the horror comedy
YouTube channel RackaRacka, the film follows a group of teenagers who discover
that they can contact spirits with an embalmed severed hand. As to be expected
from an A24-backed horror project, the film garnered much critical acclaim upon
its release, with praise for its script, strong performances (particularly from
Sophie Wilde as the film’s main protagonist Mia and Joe Bird as her best friend
Jade’s younger brother Riley), and practical effects owing to the Philippou
brothers’ background in visual effects. It also managed to become A24’s
highest-grossing horror film at the U.S. box office with a $48.3 million run to
complement its $92 million worldwide cume that makes it A24’s second
highest-grossing film of all-time behind last year’s Best Picture winner <i>Everything
Everywhere All at Once</i>. Thus, despite A24’s general reluctance to create franchises, the Philippou brothers are already hard at work at not only a
sequel but a prequel as well, and while only time will tell how these two
projects will fare by comparison, this first installment was clearly successful
enough with its target audience to notably be one of two featured films to come
out of our poll’s write-in section. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>NEXT UP, WE
HAVE 5 FILMS THAT EARNED TWO VOTES EACH<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>INSIDIOUS: THE
RED DOOR<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPpW0qDHJ5lVykZW9kv8G4e6CuDG7aPc7Wm2NkbW2iu7mEi5uLRN1rlDT0B9G8AepQ5Kt8cAKBCI5T3iVYTRpeXmyz6rz6OxZ1fCYW0G3nhRykVfwmXi3n2S7BMbg26dUh_eU46Bh6D_EpiRy4XNR3ehlIAez6kIbK_rq-XAcHz5lBMYKBuOXS_kP8_Cbm/s1380/Insidious%20Red%20Door.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="715" data-original-width="1380" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPpW0qDHJ5lVykZW9kv8G4e6CuDG7aPc7Wm2NkbW2iu7mEi5uLRN1rlDT0B9G8AepQ5Kt8cAKBCI5T3iVYTRpeXmyz6rz6OxZ1fCYW0G3nhRykVfwmXi3n2S7BMbg26dUh_eU46Bh6D_EpiRy4XNR3ehlIAez6kIbK_rq-XAcHz5lBMYKBuOXS_kP8_Cbm/w400-h208/Insidious%20Red%20Door.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2011, director James Wan and writer Leigh Whannell
launched their second major horror franchise after their 2004 breakout hit <i>Saw
</i>with <i>Insidious</i>, a supernatural horror flick in which a family’s oldest
child becomes linked to a mysterious astral plane full of demonic creatures. Just
like the original <i>Saw</i>, this low-budget horror flick (which was also an
early producing credit for horror genre mainstay Jason Blum) became a massive
hit at the box office, earning over $100 million worldwide on its meager $1.5
million budget. Naturally, this would lead to the creation of a full-blown
franchise, with Wan and Whannell returning to direct and write <i>Insidious:
Chapter 2</i>, respectively, in 2013. Whannell then proceeded to take over as
director with 2015’s <i>Insidious: Chapter 3</i>, which was not only his
directorial debut, but a prequel centered on the character of psychic Elise
Rainier, played by Lin Shaye. That film would get its own direct follow-up in
2018, <i>Insidious: The Last Key</i>, directed by Adam Robitel, who would then
go on to direct the <i>Escape Room </i>duology. And while none of these sequels/prequels
managed to be as well-received as the original <i>Insidious </i>(which,
admittedly, was a mixed bag amongst critics), they all did excellently at the box office, each managing to earn over $100 million worldwide. But now, in
2023, the series has finally shifted its focus back onto the main protagonists
of the first two films, the Lambert family, with <i>Insidious: The Red Door</i>.
Set nine years after the events of the first two films, <i>Insidious: The Red
Door </i>sees the Lambert family once again haunted by the terrifying demons of
‘The Further’ when their oldest son Dalton heads off to college. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This installment notably served as the directorial debut of series
protagonist Josh Lambert himself, Patrick Wilson, with other series mainstays
reprising their respective roles as well, from Rose Bryne as Josh’s now ex-wife
Renai to Ty Simpkins as their son Dalton. And despite it being more than half
a decade since the release of the series’ previous installment, <i>Insidious:
The Red Door </i>managed to become the highest-grossing <i>Insidious </i>film to
date, defying its initial opening weekend expectations to earn $33 million domestically
(the series’ second-best opening weekend overall behind <i>Chapter 2</i>) on
route to an impressive $189.1 million worldwide haul. But as for its critical
reception, <i>The Red Door </i>ended up being more on par with the previous
three <i>Insidious </i>films with mediocre reviews overall as many critics felt
that the series had officially run its course. That said, though, no one blamed
any of this on Patrick Wilson’s account as they felt that he did a solid job in
his directorial debut, and despite all those lackluster reviews, it’s clear
that the <i>Insidious </i>franchise isn’t going away anytime soon. A spin-off written
and directed by Jeremy Slater (<i>Moon Knight</i>) titled <i>Thread </i>is currently
in the works and ever since the release of <i>Insidious: The Last Key </i>in
2018, series producer Jason Blum has been teasing the possibility of a
crossover with director Scott Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill’s <i>Sinister
</i>franchise.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>NO HARD
FEELINGS<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEbHHSaywyARFcOWWNRNaAZwQwR1kOEO2nRi__QMIFA9e2Xa8dsEc40x552UtnhTIQdBs5bxmLgMAuESa3sTNhuSwktODqW_DYR7uOm-ztPZEn-VX-g3PQq9H_41s-a4gqcYq7rOUBps0LACuMWyuy3vwKfUAH5j0wcb0J001csWLJq9y32z-IliOQHyXk/s2592/No%20Hard%20Feelings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1728" data-original-width="2592" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEbHHSaywyARFcOWWNRNaAZwQwR1kOEO2nRi__QMIFA9e2Xa8dsEc40x552UtnhTIQdBs5bxmLgMAuESa3sTNhuSwktODqW_DYR7uOm-ztPZEn-VX-g3PQq9H_41s-a4gqcYq7rOUBps0LACuMWyuy3vwKfUAH5j0wcb0J001csWLJq9y32z-IliOQHyXk/w400-h266/No%20Hard%20Feelings.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2019, <i>Office </i>writing<i> </i>alum Gene Stupnitsky
made his directorial debut with <i>Good Boys</i>, a raunchy coming-of-age
comedy that centered on a trio of middle-school boys who found themselves going
through all sorts of misadventures that weren’t exactly ‘age-appropriate’ for
them. Upon its release, the film proved to be a critical and commercial hit and
it even managed to become the first R-rated comedy in three years to take the
#1 spot at the box office. Well, Stupnitsky is now back with another scandalous
raunchy comedy with coming-of-age themes, <i>No Hard Feelings</i>, this time
teaming up with Jennifer Lawrence, who stars as a down-on-her-luck woman named Maddie
who answers a unique ad to ‘date’ a wealthy couple’s college-bound son Percy in
exchange for a new car that will help her keep the house that she inherited
from her mother. With a premise like that, it’s safe to say that this film
faced some controversy upon its release as some accused its plot of being a
case of sexual grooming given the decade-plus age difference between Maddie and
Percy. However, others, including those involved in the production, argued that
the film wasn’t promoting that and was instead highlighting just how messed up its
premise is (which, apparently, was inspired by a real-life ad on Craigslist).
Whatever the case, the film did do solidly with critics, who felt that while
the film didn’t quite go all the way with its raunch factor, it, like
Stupnitsky’s previous film <i>Good Boys</i>, did have its heartfelt moments
along with a standout comedic turn from Jennifer Lawrence. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>ASTEROID CITY<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxPFETXwt5hGjzmDsZKjFhqrTen3YdyHs0CUmI5_itRnJn0uBf6ZL22A4jGeu8aCfEQNaaRZc_g_cTs9kBwjjcP-CXY3xZ9D97SxgMEJkd909dZvd9Oe_TXNuyM2xE8pWyCkACkRKBAgW50S_kCOu9QC5KJLY7GDow7HrNyiqWBwCWQmqljbGkbi7Rv5C/s1404/Asteroid%20City.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="790" data-original-width="1404" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnxPFETXwt5hGjzmDsZKjFhqrTen3YdyHs0CUmI5_itRnJn0uBf6ZL22A4jGeu8aCfEQNaaRZc_g_cTs9kBwjjcP-CXY3xZ9D97SxgMEJkd909dZvd9Oe_TXNuyM2xE8pWyCkACkRKBAgW50S_kCOu9QC5KJLY7GDow7HrNyiqWBwCWQmqljbGkbi7Rv5C/w400-h225/Asteroid%20City.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">There aren’t many filmmakers who have left a considerable impact
on pop culture quite like Wes Anderson. Ever since his 1996 feature film debut <i>Bottle
Rocket</i>, Anderson has consistently been regarded as one of the most revered
directors in the industry, known particularly for his unique and quirky visual
style largely defined by his impeccably detailed shot compositions. Naturally,
Anderson’s talents are once again on full display with his latest endeavor, <i>Asteroid
City</i>. Presented as an in-universe televised production of a legendary
playwright’s play about a grieving widower who travels with his children to an
astronomy convention in the titular Asteroid City, where some legitimate
extraterrestrial activity ends up taking place, the film features almost all of
Anderson’s regular collaborators as a part of his trademark stacked ensemble
cast. You’ve got Jason Schwartzman, Edward Norton, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe,
Tilda Swinton, and Scarlett Johannsson just to name a few… and yet, not Bill
Murray since he ended up contracting COVID by the time filming began and was ultimately
replaced by Steve Carell. And while it may have ended up being one of
Anderson’s lowest-rated directorial efforts amongst critics, it was still
generally well-received as your quintessential Wes Anderson flick. It also did
quite well for itself financially, grossing over $54 million worldwide on its
$25 million budget. In fact, at a time when some big-name blockbusters weren’t
doing too hotly at the box office, <i>Asteroid City </i>was seen as one of the
summer’s most noteworthy successes, securing the best per-theater average for a
limited-release debut ($142,230) since <i>La La Land </i>back in 2016 and
Anderson’s best opening ever once it hit a wider release the following week
with $9 million.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>MISSION
IMPOSSIBLE – DEAD RECKONING PART 1</i><o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe6o3Q-Dlpa7OrR2_0iviqEq5vgMT7LQ0KH3gZZyzdBWlfdE1GBm9dfT7mIToOfJu9styGDiHCR8jMZZ7_Zu2M-yx8QYvqcZuzReKXdx-jotPPbCsS3FIzDbM6ncHFrZ68LYd1vM918Du_1Js7FL4x14mxJq6PpW2JqouklPCAZvNh1gGEVxceqEJc2hio/s1200/Mission%20Impossible%20Dead%20Reckoning.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="514" data-original-width="1200" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe6o3Q-Dlpa7OrR2_0iviqEq5vgMT7LQ0KH3gZZyzdBWlfdE1GBm9dfT7mIToOfJu9styGDiHCR8jMZZ7_Zu2M-yx8QYvqcZuzReKXdx-jotPPbCsS3FIzDbM6ncHFrZ68LYd1vM918Du_1Js7FL4x14mxJq6PpW2JqouklPCAZvNh1gGEVxceqEJc2hio/w400-h171/Mission%20Impossible%20Dead%20Reckoning.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nearly three decades since its debut in 1996, the <i>Mission
Impossible </i>film franchise continues to be one of the most highly regarded
in the industry. Not only has it arguably become the most definitive project of
Tom Cruise’s career, but ever since 2011’s <i>Mission Impossible – Ghost
Protocol</i>, it’s also become one of those rare franchises that critics have
argued has only gotten better with each new installment. This argument would
become even more relevant once Cruise’s longtime writing collaborator Christopher
McQuarrie stepped in to become the series’ director starting with 2015’s <i>Mission
Impossible – Rogue Nation</i>, with its 2018 follow-up <i>Mission Impossible –
Fallout </i>becoming the series’ most well-received and financially successful
installment to date. Naturally, this meant that the hype for this action
franchise juggernaut was only going to get stronger once McQuarrie and Cruise
began to develop its next two films, which were subsequently confirmed to be
presented as a two-part event. And so, after enduring all sorts of delays (largely
due to, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic), we finally got the first half of
Ethan Hunt’s next epic adventure with <i>Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning
Part 1</i>, in which he and his team find themselves dealing with a sentient
A.I. program known as ‘The Entity’. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As I’m sure you can guess, this long-running franchise continued
to thrive upon <i>Dead Reckoning Part 1</i>’s release as it once again garnered
critical acclaim from critics who once again praised McQuarrie’s top-notch
direction and its spectacular (and practically filmed) action sequences. Plus,
given everything that’s been going on regarding the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes,
this film’s premise of dealing with a rogue A.I. program certainly feels quite
timely, don’t you think? However, to the surprise of many, <i>Dead Reckoning
Part 1</i>’s critical success wasn’t exactly matched on a financial level as it
only managed to gross around $567 million worldwide. Sure, that may not necessarily
seem like a bad total for a blockbuster of this nature, but because the budget
skyrocketed to $291 million, this technically resulted in a loss for Paramount
that reportedly came up to around $100 million. But while there are often
multiple reasons as to why some films flopped at the box office, this is one
instance where there is a single widely accepted reason as to why <b><i>this</i></b>
film didn’t do so hot: bad timing. <i>Dead Reckoning Part 1 </i>hit theaters
just one week before this summer’s most talked-about pairing of new releases,
and to make matters worse, one of those films ended up taking over all the IMAX
screens that <i>Dead Reckoning Part 1 </i>was using at the time which,
reportedly, was something that Tom Cruise wasn’t too happy about. So, in other
words, because this resulted in the ideal way to watch this film getting
taken out of the picture, it couldn’t hold on as strongly as its predecessors
did at the box office when faced with serious competition. And yet, given that
it is still one of the most acclaimed films of the year, it’s clear that this wasn’t
some kind of intentional slight against the franchise; as such, we can only
hope that this won’t end up being the case again for this legendary franchise
when McQuarrie and Cruise close out this two-parter with <i>Dead Reckoning Part
2</i> next June. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>(Hey folks, a
quick disclaimer before we continue. As I’m sure I’ve mentioned in the past,
I’m not someone who usually tends to delve too deeply into the political
aspects of films when I discuss them on this site. No, this doesn’t mean that
I’m one of those morons who makes a stink about films “being too political
nowadays”; I’m just in the mindset that politics, as they do in any situation
(not just film discussion), only end up making things ugly. But when it comes
to this next film… this is the rare instance where I’m going to have to break
this rule of mine because this is one of <i>those </i>films, and spoilers, what
I’m about to say is not going to be in this film’s favor. With that in mind,
for those who did vote for this film, let me be clear; this isn’t any sort of
attack on you. I’m not judging you in any way for liking this film because
that’s not what this annual event of ours is about. Everything that I’m about
to say is strictly about the film itself and why I’m not exactly that excited
to talk about it because of all the toxic repercussions behind its massive
success.) <o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>SOUND OF
FREEDOM<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioHb2yLDQgruLvbbXJsVV_Z6vRJm4gul9tR5Zl9XczmxiW4UqJb6-0rllVyUCJqGmSuB8M_wFGdXqA8d0nBSF7Ekwu6IDh0-_hrIt8Vj_Ekz44oA5275dSggp4auNum0cn_8UKJ-OzwWPnYOEwc9BYqSnt4n-QoXabJlp-2Xo8iC9vucgiOpBJDjY2h3j7/s976/Sound%20of%20Freedom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="549" data-original-width="976" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioHb2yLDQgruLvbbXJsVV_Z6vRJm4gul9tR5Zl9XczmxiW4UqJb6-0rllVyUCJqGmSuB8M_wFGdXqA8d0nBSF7Ekwu6IDh0-_hrIt8Vj_Ekz44oA5275dSggp4auNum0cn_8UKJ-OzwWPnYOEwc9BYqSnt4n-QoXabJlp-2Xo8iC9vucgiOpBJDjY2h3j7/w400-h225/Sound%20of%20Freedom.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Well, when it comes to this year’s poll, there wasn’t even
remotely any surprise when it comes to what film was going to be the most
prominent pick out of our write-in section, <i>Sound of Freedom</i>. This
political thriller is inspired by the real-life actions of Tim Ballard, a former
CIA and Homeland Security agent who founded the non-profit organization known
as Operation Underground Railroad (AKA O.U.R.) to combat the ongoing crime of
sex trafficking. Starring Jim Caviezel in the role of Ballard, the film follows
Ballard’s efforts to rescue kids who have been kidnapped by Colombian sex
traffickers, even going as far as to resign from Homeland Security to ensure
his mission’s success. Upon its release, <i>Sound of Freedom </i>defied all
expectations to become one of the biggest hits of the summer. On just a $14.5
million budget, the film ended up grossing over $250 million worldwide, easily
making it one of the most successful independent films of all time. A large
part of its success can be attributed to the ‘pay it forward’ strategy that its
distributor, Angel Studios, used to promote the film by encouraging viewers to
purchase tickets for those who can’t afford them; this was even used in the
film itself, as a QR code linking audiences to Angel Studios’ website appears
during a post-credit sequence in which star Jim Caviezel talks about the
importance of the film’s message. In fact, this film was so successful that it
even managed to outperform some of the summer’s biggest blockbusters such as <i>Indiana
Jones and the Dial of Destiny </i>and <i>Mission Impossible – Dead Reckoning
Part 1</i>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And yet, as neat as it may be to see an independent film
stand toe to toe with major studio blockbusters in this era of
blockbuster-driven fare… I personally wish that a much different film was
getting all this attention because this one has ‘super shady AF’ written all
over it. For starters, because this is a political thriller that was released
by a studio primarily known for religious projects, that means that this has
become one of those films wholly championed by right-wing-minded audiences. And
yes, in this instance I’m specifically referring to all those racist and sexist
morons who I’ve repeatedly criticized these past few years for all their relentless
whining about franchises like <i>Star Wars </i>and the MCU having the
‘audacity’ to make greater efforts to embrace diversity. Thus, with a film like
this that is clearly more suited to their political sensibilities, it’s
not too surprising to see that they have wholeheartedly embraced <i>Sound of
Freedom</i> for being, as they’ve undoubtedly put it, ‘a big f*** you’ to their
‘woke adversaries’ like Disney. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that, at one
point, this was originally going to be released under the Disney banner since
it started out as a 20<sup>th</sup> Century Fox production before it was
shelved when Disney bought Fox in 2019? Believe me, those jackasses haven’t
shied away from mentioning that whenever they talk about this film. It also
doesn’t help that star Jim Caviezel and the man that he plays in the film, Tim
Ballard, have both openly promoted the BS theories spread around by the QAnon
cult that falsely proclaim that, among other things, folks in the Democratic
and Hollywood communities are key players involved in a global sex trafficking ring…
and yes, they’ve even promoted this s*** during this film’s promotional
circuit. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ironically, though, it turns out that some of the people
involved in this film’s production are exactly the kind of folks that guys like
Caviezel and Ballard are so vehemently opposed to. A month after the film’s
release, one of its funders, Fabian Marta, a man who had been quite vocal on
social media about his ‘success in getting the film away from Disney’, faced
felony charges for child kidnapping. And while the charges against him were, in
fact, recently dropped, he’s also been confirmed to have hosted ‘Sugar
Baby/Sugar Daddy’ parties aimed towards all ages (emphasis on ‘all ages’). One
of the film’s executive producers, Leo Severino, has also been accused of
grooming minors, including his own wife when she was just a teenager; in other
words, yikes times infinity. And then… there’s Tim Ballard himself. Not long
after the film came out, it was revealed that Ballard had recently parted ways
with O.U.R.; at the time, his departure was linked to ‘ethical issues’. But
recently, the full extent of those ‘ethical issues’ were revealed as he’s
currently being sued by several women on the charges of grooming, sexual
harassment and misconduct. Add in the fact that, as it turns out, the main plot
of this film was an event that Ballard had absolutely <b><i><u>ZERO </u></i></b>involvement
with… and, well, hopefully, I’ve now given you a crystal-clear idea as to why
this isn’t exactly a film that I’m super eager to talk about.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, for the record, despite everything that I’ve just
talked about, it has been made clear several times over (including from the
film’s director, Alejandro Monteverde) that the film itself has nothing to do
with QAnon culture. Caviezel and Ballard’s off-screen nonsense is, to be
perfectly blunt, the only reason why QAnon has even been linked to it at all.
And yet, I’d argue that, nevertheless, QAnon’s relentless toxicity has cast an
undeniable shadow over this entire production. For all its talk about its ‘noble’
intentions to stop the crime of underage sex trafficking, the fact that much of
its supposed ‘true story’ was blatantly fabricated for dramatic effect and
several key players of its production have basically committed the exact same
kind of atrocities committed by its main antagonists (including the man who
serves as the film’s ‘holier than thou’ protagonist) ultimately results in all
this coming off as incredibly disingenuous. And if that wasn’t enough, this has
also been one of those films that its fans are so passionate about that anyone
who dares to say anything bad about it is deemed ‘part of the problem’ (yet
another reason as to why I usually don’t bring up politics on this site). And
so, with all that in mind, it goes without saying that the chances of me ever watching
this are about as likely as me watching one of those BS ‘documentaries’ from
Dinesh D’Souza or anything that Gina Carano has done since she shot her own
career in the foot and got kicked off <i>The Mandalorian; </i>zero-to-none.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>ALRIGHT, NOW
THAT WE GOT ALL THAT NONSENSE OUT OF THE WAY, LET’S MOVE ON TO THE THREE FILMS
THAT, FITTINGLY, EARNED THREE VOTES APIECE…<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>THE BLACKENING<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYgn_b__HJLln-h7DPl9MwF6jEEPZ6SvMfQJsP1By52zEgQlhYIujQw219TmtmObzucbzIRY3gYT97Gz9zMDjPUExlDlx-LBo1LL4MrYW3WwHakJjBhTzsfjxDTMXhyjfUb5R-Ys1inGK4OAN2j94N4Z9TdJ5nhPbkcMC_NknfvOMvVlEIZIKTd-WhO8Vu/s800/The%20Blackening.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="501" data-original-width="800" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYgn_b__HJLln-h7DPl9MwF6jEEPZ6SvMfQJsP1By52zEgQlhYIujQw219TmtmObzucbzIRY3gYT97Gz9zMDjPUExlDlx-LBo1LL4MrYW3WwHakJjBhTzsfjxDTMXhyjfUb5R-Ys1inGK4OAN2j94N4Z9TdJ5nhPbkcMC_NknfvOMvVlEIZIKTd-WhO8Vu/w400-h250/The%20Blackening.png" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of the most well-known and widely mocked tropes that is
often tied to horror films is the old cliché of having a black character be the
first to die. Given all the sociopolitical moments of the past few years that
have brought greater awareness to the ongoing fight against racism, it only
makes sense for the horror genre to take a more satirical approach to one of
its most infamous points of discussion. This is where we get a film like <i>The
Blackening</i>, directed by Tim Story (<i>Barbershop</i> and the 2000’s era <i>Fantastic
Four </i>films) and based on a 2018 short film of the same name by the Chicago-based comedy group 3Peat, with group member Dewayne Perkins both starring in
the film and co-writing the script with Tracy Oliver (<i>Girls Trip</i>). The
film follows a group of friends who take a trip to a cabin in the woods to
honor the holiday of Juneteenth, where they are soon targeted by a mysterious
killer who subjects them to a sadistic game to prove just how black they truly
are. As the film’s poster tagline hilariously states, “We Can’t All Die First”,
and upon its release, the film did solidly with critics, who felt that it
delivered plenty of great jokes thanks in large part to its top-notch cast. And
while a $18.6 million run at the box office may not seem like much, it only
cost about $5 million to make and became the best-reviewed film of director Tim
Story’s career with an 87% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>TRANSFORMERS:
RISE OF THE BEASTS<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmqP6h7FLaU3hnpjwTPZxos50VltOiKnTecMlZsi_5NK9xqXMhbbD22izl9m-i0yzSlCQLvKnfn952b0nvQaaQnduQmx-TojVDyrTtXLc8TD6Sp-4SKuUSm6TZoomPpLm3E_3WCnZqLWkIOINALxygVtAtzaoDyl5aaC6LdcShN4y1t117eEyHkAxOTtk/s1400/Transformers%20Rise%20of%20the%20Beasts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1400" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXmqP6h7FLaU3hnpjwTPZxos50VltOiKnTecMlZsi_5NK9xqXMhbbD22izl9m-i0yzSlCQLvKnfn952b0nvQaaQnduQmx-TojVDyrTtXLc8TD6Sp-4SKuUSm6TZoomPpLm3E_3WCnZqLWkIOINALxygVtAtzaoDyl5aaC6LdcShN4y1t117eEyHkAxOTtk/w400-h225/Transformers%20Rise%20of%20the%20Beasts.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2007, <i>Transformers</i>, one of the most popular media
franchises of all time thanks in large part to its best-selling toy line and beloved
animated series adaptation in the 80’s, spawned its first live-action
adaptation thanks to a big-budget blockbuster from the master of Bayhem
himself, Michael Bay. This, of course, paved the way for the franchise to
become even more of a staple of the pop cultural zeitgeist as the films have
collectively grossed over $5 billion worldwide. However, at the same time, all
that success at the box office hasn’t stopped it from being a perennial
punching bag amongst critics. While the first Bay-directed <i>Transformers </i>film
did relatively fine with critics, all 4 of the Bay-directed sequels (2009’s <i>Revenge
of the Fallen</i>, 2011’s <i>Dark of the Moon</i>, 2014’s <i>Age of Extinction</i>,
and 2017’s <i>The Last Knight</i>) were downright slaughtered by critics, many
of whom viewed them as an affront to cinema with their nonsensical plots,
childish (and often stereotypical) sense of humor, and for being a prime
showcase of Bay’s notoriously bombastic directorial style. And while this never
stopped the series from being a hit with audiences, with both <i>Dark of the
Moon </i>and <i>Age of Extinction </i>managing to do over a billion worldwide,
it did reach a breaking point with <i>The Last Knight</i>, which ended up
experiencing franchise lows in both its critical reception and commercial
performance, only grossing around $600 million on its massive $200 million+
budget. Thus, as <i>The Last Knight </i>officially ended Bay’s run as the
series’ director, it was clear that it was in desperate need of a creative
overhaul.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It got just that in 2018 with the series’ first spin-off, <i>Bumblebee</i>,
a 1980s set prequel and the first installment not to be directed by Michael
Bay (who was still involved as a producer). Upon its release, the film defied
all expectations to become a genuine hit with critics, who felt that it was the
antithesis of everything that came from Bay’s films and a far better
representation of its source material. This, in turn, helped to give the series
the kind of revival that it desperately needed, thus paving the way for its
next installment, <i>Rise of the Beasts</i>. Directed by Steven Caple Jr. (<i>Creed
II</i>), the film shifts its setting from California in the 80s to Brooklyn,
New York in the 90’s as a down-on-his-luck former soldier and an undervalued
museum intern team up with Optimus Prime and the Autobots to save Earth from
being destroyed by the planet-sized Unicron. To do so, they team up with
another group of Transformers known as the Maximals, who have animal-based
alternate forms and have been protecting a cosmic transportation device known
as the Transwarp Key from Unicron and his constituents, the Terrorcons. As the
film’s title and premise suggest, its biggest selling point is that it serves
as the live-action debut of characters from one of the <i>Transformers </i>franchise’s
most popular spin-offs, <i>Beast Wars</i>, which was headlined by a computer-animated series that ran for 3 seasons from 1996 to 1999.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As someone whose experience with this franchise mostly stems
from the live-action films, admittedly I can’t say for certain how successful
this film’s take on the <i>Beast Wars </i>characters is in the eyes of longtime
<i>Transformers </i>fans since, as I noted earlier, the films’ portrayal of the<i>
</i>franchise’s most popular characters has often been one of its most
criticized aspects. But if anything, <i>Rise of the Beasts </i>does a good job
of following the examples set by <i>Bumblebee </i>to give the film franchise a
greater sense of character depth than what we got out of Bay’s films. Following
in the footsteps of Hailee Steinfeld’s Charlie Watson from <i>Bumblebee</i>,
Anthony Ramos’ Noah Diaz and Dominque Fishback’s Elena Wallace are some of the
franchise’s most likable human protagonists and they don’t overshadow the
Transformers themselves as much as the human characters in other <i>Transformers
</i>films have done before. As for the Transformers, the film wisely avoids the
pitfalls of films like <i>Revenge of the Fallen </i>and <i>Dark of the Moon </i>by
keeping its ensemble relatively small rather than overstuffing itself with
characters that barely get any screen time. Sure, some characters still don’t get a lot to work with, but for the most part, the film allows just
enough time for its most prominent characters to stand out such as Pete
Davidson’s Mirage AKA the Bumblebee to Noah’s Sam Witwicky. Director Steven
Caple Jr. also does a great job of maintaining the vibes of the film’s 90’s
setting, which helps to give this entry of the franchise its own unique
cultural identity, especially once the film moves from New York to the majestic
landscapes of Peru and the legendary Machu Picchu. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, as anyone who’s followed this site for a while may
recall, I’m one of those rare folks who, contrary to popular opinion, genuinely
enjoy the live-action <i>Transformers </i>films. While I do very much
recognize that the 5 films directed by Michael Bay are quite arguably a major
case of ‘style over substance’ and all have their own unique shortcomings (e.g.
<i>Age of Extinction</i>’s infamously hefty runtime, <i>Revenge of the Fallen</i>’s
narratively aimless first half, etc.), I still find them to be largely
entertaining popcorn flicks. Like I said before, I don’t have much history with
<i>Transformers </i>outside of these films, hence why I don’t get too worked up
over how these films have brought the titular ‘Robots in
Disguise’ to life on the big screen as much as those who grew up with them in
the ’80s. That said, though, while it may not be my ‘personal favorite’ of the
bunch, I do recognize why 2018’s <i>Bumblebee </i>was seen by many as the
franchise’s best installment, namely by giving it the kind of emotional depth
that was, admittedly, quite lacking in the first five films. While I
wouldn’t say that <i>Rise of the Beasts </i>is ‘as successful’ in that regard,
it still does an excellent job of moving on from the days when this franchise coasted
solely on its visuals and action sequences. As such, it’ll be interesting to
see where the series goes from here, especially given this film’s unexpected
twist ending in which Noah is recruited to join Hasbro’s other big-name
multimedia franchise, G.I. Joe.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Okay, one last thing
about <i>Sound of Freedom </i>and that’ll be it. Remember how I noted that it
was so successful that it managed to overshadow big-name blockbusters like <i>Indiana
Jones and the Dial of Destiny</i>? Well, about that…<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>INDIANA JONES
AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirELYfw3YYLzaFvWQypYanu0A0q0dbxx-LVLiPtV-fXYWHV2EBKQ8d8TsNDVWZN2B8TpUMEchxOoI8W24OqLIFmsq4Sf9pgOIp01JjxVgKRrrSTJq8IktuBQjVUdYXfomFwdnUvwte0G0iQxVRQidJb9TssiHoyBRJyqtr4pxv7tmYjcGtf-VCWKa0gKPK/s2500/Indy%205.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1047" data-original-width="2500" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirELYfw3YYLzaFvWQypYanu0A0q0dbxx-LVLiPtV-fXYWHV2EBKQ8d8TsNDVWZN2B8TpUMEchxOoI8W24OqLIFmsq4Sf9pgOIp01JjxVgKRrrSTJq8IktuBQjVUdYXfomFwdnUvwte0G0iQxVRQidJb9TssiHoyBRJyqtr4pxv7tmYjcGtf-VCWKa0gKPK/w400-h168/Indy%205.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Indiana Jones </i>is a franchise that needs no
introduction. The brainchild of director Steven Spielberg and writer George
Lucas, this love letter to the classic film serials that both Spielberg and
Lucas grew up on has easily been one of the most revered and influential
franchises of all time. It gave Lucas his second major franchise after <i>Star
Wars</i>, it further cemented Spielberg’s legendary career as a director, and
it gave star Harrison Ford the second Lucas-created definitive role of his
career after previously bringing everyone’s favorite space smuggler Han Solo to
life in <i>Star Wars</i>. And sure, the second installment, 1984’s <i>Indiana
Jones and the Temple of Doom</i>, may have attracted enough controversy due to
its dark and intense content that it straight-up influenced the creation of the
MPAA’s PG-13 rating alongside fellow Spielberg-backed projects <i>Gremlins </i>and
<i>Poltergeist</i>, but all in all, the original trilogy of 1981’s <i>Raiders
of the Lost Ark</i>, <i>Temple of Doom</i>, and 1989’s <i>Indiana Jones and the
Last Crusade </i>is up there with the original <i>Star Wars </i>trilogy as one
of the most beloved trilogies ever made. Thus, almost exactly like what
happened with <i>Star Wars </i>when Lucas decided to continue the story with
the prequel trilogy, things got interesting when, after years of speculation
and false starts, Lucas and Spielberg revived the franchise in 2008 with <i>Indiana
Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While <i>Kingdom of the Crystal Skull </i>was one of the
biggest hits of the year at the box office, it incurred the same level of
intense polarizing reactions amongst audiences as the <i>Star Wars </i>prequels.
Just like those films, expectations clearly got the better of fans, who were
thrown off by developments like the scene where Indy survives a nuclear bomb
test by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator or the fact that the whole film
ultimately revolves around aliens. And even though others have argued that this
isn’t that big of a stretch compared to some of the most outlandish moments in
other <i>Indiana Jones </i>films, it still left <i>Crystal Skull </i>being regarded
by many as the ‘black sheep’ of the franchise. Nevertheless, even after that
film’s release, it seemed like we’d get another sequel; once again, though, it
took a little bit for this one to come to fruition, all the way up to Disney
purchasing Lucasfilm in 2012 and securing the franchise rights to both <i>Star
Wars </i>and <i>Indiana Jones</i>. However, in a shocking turn of events, it
was revealed that Steven Spielberg wasn’t going to direct what was shaping up
to be the series’ final installment as he wanted to let someone else bring
their own vision to the franchise; that someone ended up being James Mangold,
fresh off Hugh Jackman’s legendary send-off as the Wolverine, <i>Logan</i>, and
2019’s Grade-A crowd-pleaser <i>Ford v Ferrari</i>. And while Mangold and his
crew may have had to endure a few roadblocks during production, ranging from
the obvious COVID-enforced delays to injuries sustained by Harrison Ford, the
stage was finally set for the last hurrah for our favorite archeologist. In <i>Dial
of Destiny</i>, Indy teams up with his goddaughter Helena Shaw to find Archimedes’
Dial, an ancient Antikythera device that is also being sought after by Jurgen
Voller, a Nazi astrophysicist currently masquerading as a NASA scientist who
looks to use the Dial’s supposed ‘time traveling’ abilities to go back and
correct the mistakes of Hitler’s regime. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">First off, despite what folks who feared the worst when
Spielberg backed out as director may have thought, the change in director
thankfully doesn’t hurt the film in any way as Mangold maintains practically
every major narrative and visual vibe from the Spielberg films and does so to
great effect. Like all the other films, <i>Dial of Destiny </i>succeeds in
being a light-hearted and thrilling action-adventure with plenty of great
action set-pieces and visuals, with Mangold opting not to go the route that <i>Crystal
Skull </i>did and utilize as many practical effects as possible. Yes, there is
the controversial use of de-aging to present a younger Indy during the film’s
opening sequence, but apart from that, Harrison Ford’s age is properly acknowledged
for the bulk of the plot, which allows for some solid moments of devastating emotional
poignancy. By showing some of the rough patches that Indy has been through
since the events of <i>Crystal Skull </i>(specifically, the tragic loss of his
son Mutt during the Vietnam War and his subsequent separation from Marion) but
then resulting in a happy ending where he reconciles with his wife in a nod to a
classic romantic scene between them from <i>Raiders</i>, the film does a great
job of reflecting its status as the final <i>Indiana Jones </i>film to convey a
touching ‘end of an era’ mentality. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Of course, Harrison Ford is great as always in the title
role, having never lost a step with Indy’s trademark gruff and snarky yet endearingly
imperfect persona while the previously mentioned bits of pathos revolving around
Indy’s post-<i>Crystal Skull </i>status help make this one of Ford’s best overall
performances in the role. He’s then paired brilliantly with Phoebe
Waller-Bridge as Indy’s goddaughter Helena who, contrary to what a certain part
of the internet alleged would happen, doesn’t overshadow Ford in a way that
would imply that she was being primed to take over the franchise. Instead,
she’s simply a natural companion to Indy in line with the franchise’s best
leading ladies. Really, any major criticisms that I have towards this film are
minor at best; namely, it’s arguably a bit too overlong. <i>Dial of Destiny </i>is
the longest <i>Indiana Jones </i>film to date, clocking in at just over two and
a half hours, and to be perfectly blunt, this is one of those films where you
can feel the brunt of that hefty runtime. To be more specific, there are a few
instances here and there where one could arguably condense or combine a few
sequences together to help give this film a kind of pacing that’s more in line
with the previous four films. But aside from that, <i>Dial of Destiny </i>is a
worthy finale to this legendary series; as such, it’s rather disheartening,
then, to see that this ended up being one of this summer’s biggest flops at the box office.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Dial of Destiny </i>only managed to gross around $384
million worldwide… its budget was reportedly as high as $300 million. Going off
of what I mentioned earlier, all those delays that the film had to endure
during its production were arguably the biggest factor behind its expansive
budget; nevertheless, I’m still surprised that this didn’t do better than it
did because even if <i>Indiana Jones </i>isn’t necessarily as big of a
franchise as Lucasfilm’s other major IP, <i>Star Wars</i>, it’s still beloved
enough of a franchise that it surely could’ve done well financially. In a lot
of ways, it had the adverse effect of what happened with Pixar’s <i>Elemental</i>.
Both films debuted at Cannes, AKA what is widely regarded as the toughest
festival in the industry for mainstream releases, where they both received
mixed to negative reviews from critics, undoubtedly making them seem like they
weren’t worth checking out. Thankfully, once both neared their release dates, they
managed to get a lot better reviews; but whereas <i>Elemental </i>managed to
hold on and become a genuine success story at the box office, the same couldn’t
be said for <i>Dial of Destiny</i>. Heck, for all we know, this film probably became
a victim of the continuing culture war that right-wing-minded morons have been
waging against the likes of Disney and Lucasfilm for their alleged ‘wokeness’.
Whatever the case may be, this is very much a prime example of how a film’s
performance at the box office shouldn’t be seen as a direct indicator of its
overall quality. I’m not saying that <i>Dial of Destiny </i>is the ‘best’ <i>Indiana
Jones </i>film, but as a touching send-off to one of the most beloved cinematic
heroes of all time, it does exactly what it sets out to do. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>THE FOLLOWING
FILM EARNED A WHOPPING FIVE VOTES AND, FOR THE LONGEST TIME, WAS THIS YEAR’S
RUNNER-UP TO THE TOP FIVE<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>FAST X<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1K_0Zt_A1QzCkFyI6ZRz164xg3r35YaNtF-DC8k0YqUKbNoUKS_HNP_3HiE4JIS_D74MN6pNoCPvlc-oTszs3QNawpkVnMZfERB8ejT-js-CfJIZ91cu-jkQ6YiqPgxbAAq0Cd5DQHRiygX-nNVo3QwnymLMt9Ik5yPioqlEWMXtghleOzBpTjoZEpOm/s1600/Fast%20X.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhx1K_0Zt_A1QzCkFyI6ZRz164xg3r35YaNtF-DC8k0YqUKbNoUKS_HNP_3HiE4JIS_D74MN6pNoCPvlc-oTszs3QNawpkVnMZfERB8ejT-js-CfJIZ91cu-jkQ6YiqPgxbAAq0Cd5DQHRiygX-nNVo3QwnymLMt9Ik5yPioqlEWMXtghleOzBpTjoZEpOm/w400-h225/Fast%20X.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that it’s been more than two
decades since audiences were first introduced to Dominic Toretto and his family
in 2001’s <i>The Fast and the Furious</i>. At the risk of repeating a statement
that has been said numerous times over, what started out as a simple street
racing franchise has gone on to become one of the industry’s biggest juggernauts.
Ever since 2011’s <i>Fast Five </i>defied all expectations to become the
series’ first genuinely well-received installment amongst critics, the <i>Fast
and Furious </i>franchise has consistently dominated the box office, with
2015’s <i>Furious 7 </i>and 2017’s <i>Fate of the Furious </i>both managing to
do over $1 billion worldwide. That said, though, by the time <i>Fate of
the Furious </i>came about, the franchise’s penchant for increasingly
over-the-top action sequences that defy all sorts of logic and implausible
melodramatic plot twists made it more of a punchline in the eyes of the film
fan community. It certainly didn’t help that <i>Fate of the Furious </i>presented
some incredibly controversial plot developments such as the decision to turn <i>Furious
7</i>’s main antagonist Deckard Shaw into more of an anti-hero despite his
involvement in the death of fan-favorite supporting player Han Lue. Thankfully,
the series got some much-needed reinvigoration when director Justin Lin, who
had led the series’ revival in the 2010s, returned for the first time since
2013’s <i>Fast and Furious 6 </i>to direct 2021’s <i>F9 </i>which, in the eyes
of this long-time <i>Fast and Furious </i>fan, felt more in line with the
franchise’s peak era of the early 2010s. As such, when it was announced that
Lin would return once again for what was reportedly shaping up to be the
series’ grand finale (more on that later), it seemed like the unstoppable force
that was <i>Fast and Furious </i>was going to come to the best conclusion that
it possibly could’ve achieved.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But that all changed in a shocking turn of events when Lin
ended up leaving the production just one week into filming. It was then
reported that this was largely due to a series of arguments that Lin got into
with star/producer Vin Diesel over the state of the production, including
Diesel’s habit of not showing up to set on time, the supposedly finished script
going through a bunch of rewrites, and the fact that they hadn’t even managed
to cast one of the film’s main antagonists yet. In a lot of ways, this eerily
mirrored the infamous feud that Diesel had gotten into with Dwayne Johnson
during the production of <i>Fate of the Furious</i>, which led to Johnson opting
to bow out of the franchise as well apart from his 2019 spin-off <i>Hobbs and
Shaw</i>. One particularly heated argument between Lin and Diesel resulted in
the former proclaiming that the film wasn’t “worth his mental health” and officially
bowing out of directing it while still being involved as a writer/producer.
Thus, the latest installment of Universal’s biggest film franchise suddenly
found itself in serious trouble as the film’s budget continued to grow even
without a replacement director hired all the way up to over $340 million. Former
franchise directors like F. Gary Gray, David Leitch, and James Wan were
approached for the job but they all had other commitments. Thankfully, a replacement
was eventually found in Louis Leterrier and the film was finally able to be
finished. In <i>Fast X</i>, Dom and company find themselves dealing with their
most dangerous villain yet, Dante Reyes, the son of Hernan Reyes (the Brazilian
drug lord that they had taken down in <i>Fast Five</i>) who is hellbent on
destroying Dom’s family for what they did to his.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Right off the bat, it goes without saying that the best part
of <i>Fast X </i>is its main antagonist, Dante. Jason Momoa gleefully embraces
the character’s downright psychotic behavior to be an undeniable scene-stealer,
and while it admittedly isn’t saying much in the context of the entire
franchise, Dante is easily the best <i>Fast and Furious </i>villain to date. Not
only is he a delightfully over-the-top villain, but he also genuinely succeeds
in being a legitimate threat to Dom and company, always managing to be one step
ahead of them despite all their best-laid plans. And this, for the most part,
helps to alleviate the fact that, at this point in the franchise’s run, it’s
very much reached the ‘been there, done that’ point where it’s arguably peaked
when it comes to how over the top it gets. Oh, don’t get me wrong, <i>Fast X </i>is
still full of the series’ trademark ludicrous stunts and ridiculous plot twists
such as the continued process of bringing back characters who were long
presumed to be dead, but after <i>F9 </i>finally did what audiences had been
speculating for years and have an action sequence set in space, it’s kind of
hard to top something like that. And remember what I said before about how this
film was originally intended to be the grand finale of the series? Well, by the
time shooting began, it was revealed that this would at least warrant a
two-part finale… and then, by the time the film came out, Diesel revealed
that there was now a full-on trilogy of films planned. With that in mind, it’s
arguably not a good thing that we’re at a point now where this series is, at
the risk of an obvious pun, starting to run on fumes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But for what it’s worth, <i>Fast X </i>still has just enough
of everything that <i>Fast and Furious </i>fans have come to expect from the franchise
to satisfy them. Heck, I’d say the film even deserves a ton of credit for its
willingness to end on such a ballsy cliffhanger in which the fates of several
key characters are left unclear. As I’ve said countless times before, we’re at
a point where you’re either still on board with this series regardless of how
silly it gets… or you’re left utterly baffled as to why this series is still
going strong no matter how many times it’s jumped the shark. And while I’m
still a part of the former camp, I do feel that the loss of Justin Lin as the
series’ director is noticeable. Now, to be clear, this is nothing against Louis
Leterrier; even with all the well-documented chaos that occurred during this
film’s production in mind, Leterrier keeps the ship from sinking to produce a competently
made big-budget action blockbuster. But as I noted earlier, I’d argue that
Lin’s return to direct <i>F9 </i>was crucial to that film’s success because,
given his status as <i>Fast and Furious</i>’ most prominent director, he was
able to restore some of the franchise’s soul that had quite arguably been lost because
of all the controversial narrative developments in <i>Fate of the Furious</i>.
As such, he was the main reason why I was personally still hyped for the <i>Fast
and Furious </i>films to follow… and why his departure from <i>Fast X </i>was a
disappointing (yet wholly understandable in Lin’s case given everything that
he’d been dealing with) development. This is all ultimately reflected in <i>Fast
X </i>itself as a largely mid-level entry in the series that’s by no means its
worst but also not exactly one of its best, either. Thus, while I’m still up to
see how this will all lead to the series’ ‘supposed’ grand finale, I
would’ve been a little bit more invested in it if Lin hadn’t been screwed over
and was able to finish what he started because, from a directing standpoint, no
one does <i>Fast and Furious </i>films better than him. <i> </i> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>THIS YEAR’S
RUNNER-UP TO THE TOP FIVE, WITH SIX VOTES…<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>HAUNTED MANSION<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5TX8AZqfaAbfIgWoSa9q_hFW_gQpCmznxbkfj6voNOwabQZ7EgpPBFMdyzChQGyUc_-Qx4u4yg0ph2xw4VEpr6-yQdJ2oop4Te1bhnxkjeoGTj7hyeOcADDouiNKL2kSBKQMQzpAHtUygCKvj9YAu3-HCY0EeXtAHyxGNjrJfDt0hUqpdp31ZRU99Zd9p/s1180/Haunted%20Mansion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="494" data-original-width="1180" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5TX8AZqfaAbfIgWoSa9q_hFW_gQpCmznxbkfj6voNOwabQZ7EgpPBFMdyzChQGyUc_-Qx4u4yg0ph2xw4VEpr6-yQdJ2oop4Te1bhnxkjeoGTj7hyeOcADDouiNKL2kSBKQMQzpAHtUygCKvj9YAu3-HCY0EeXtAHyxGNjrJfDt0hUqpdp31ZRU99Zd9p/w400-h168/Haunted%20Mansion.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While there have been many iconic attractions to come out of
Disney’s extensive lineup of theme parks, there is arguably no attraction
that is more beloved than the <i>Haunted Mansion</i>. While he sadly never
lived to see it come to fruition, the <i>Haunted Mansion</i> was one of the
many potential developments for Disneyland that came to be under the
supervision of Walt Disney himself before he died in 1966. First conceived as
a walkthrough attraction known as the ‘Museum of the Weird’, the <i>Haunted
Mansion</i> would undergo the same transformation as its fellow iconic New
Orleans Square attraction <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i> by becoming a
ride-based attraction instead, taking riders on a journey through the realm of
the supernatural in their very own ‘Doom Buggies’ to visit the mansion’s 999
happy haunts who are ready to come out and socialize. Immediately becoming a
smash hit with guests upon its official debut on August 9<sup>th</sup>, 1969,
the <i>Haunted Mansion </i>has since gone on to become a staple of Disney
Parks, with subsequent versions of the ride added to both Walt Disney World in
1971 and Tokyo Disneyland in 1983 while alternate versions known as <i>Phantom
Manor </i>(Disneyland Paris) and <i>Mystic Manor </i>(Hong Kong Disneyland)
opened in 1992 and 2013, respectively. At the same time, it quickly became a
beloved staple of the pop cultural zeitgeist if based solely on all the fan
works that have been made from it utilizing its iconic characters such as the
Hatbox Ghost, a character that had originally been cut from the ride when it
first opened due to technical issues but has since been properly installed in
the ride in recent years. As such, it seemed only natural that the spooky yet
ultimately delightful antics of the Mansion could be translated into a
cinematic adaptation.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Disney would end up doing just that in 2003 with the first
feature film adaptation of <i>The Haunted Mansion</i>, directed by Rob Minkoff
(one of the co-directors of Disney Renaissance hit <i>The Lion King</i>) and
starring Eddie Murphy as a realtor who, along with his family, ends up trapped
in the titular mansion. But despite a pedigree like that behind it, 2003’s <i>Haunted
Mansion </i>ended up being a critical dud despite a decent showing at the box office as critics felt that the film didn’t succeed in being either scary or
funny. And while it has gone on to amass a cult following amongst those who were
kids when the film came out, it seems like most <i>Haunted Mansion </i>fans
weren’t too big on it, either, for how it didn’t quite capture the vibe of the
Mansion. As such, this is one instance where <i>Haunted Mansion </i>couldn’t
compare to <i>Pirates of the Caribbean</i>; whereas that ride’s film adaptation
defied all expectations to become a blockbuster franchise for Disney, <i>Haunted
Mansion </i>was seen as another one of Eddie Murphy’s notorious early 2000’s
flops. Nevertheless, plans were eventually made for another adaptation, and for
<i>Mansion </i>fans, their hype for this new version skyrocketed when it was
announced who was working on it, the one and only Guillermo Del Toro. Sadly,
Del Toro’s version ultimately fell to the wayside not long after he bowed out
of directing it in 2013; a few years later, the new adaptation of <i>Haunted
Mansion </i>would finally see the light of day under the direction of Justin
Simien, director of 2014’s <i>Dear White People</i>. In this new version, a
widowed nurse and her son move to an old mansion in New Orleans, where they
quickly learn that it’s haunted. Unfortunately, any of their attempts to escape
result in a ghost following them home, resulting in them recruiting the aid of a
priest, a disillusioned astrophysicist, a psychic, and a professor to try and
deal with the sinister spirit known as the Hatbox Ghost that’s responsible for
all this chaos.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For fans of this iconic ride, the new film adaptation of <i>Haunted
Mansion </i>is one giant love letter to its source material as it’s chock-full
of visual references to it from a whole bunch of ride-accurate recreations of
some of its most beloved bits of iconography right down to the fact that the
two mansions featured in this film are modeled after the two U.S. incarnations
of the ride. The main mansion that the characters end up in is, of course,
modeled after the original Southern Plantation inspired Disneyland attraction
whereas the mansion belonging to Alistair Crump AKA the Hatbox Ghost is based
on Walt Disney World’s colonial/gothic-influenced rendition of the ride. As for
the film’s overall tone, it does manage to match the ride’s brilliant balance
of spooky yet family-friendly haunts and light-hearted moments of levity with a
few dashes of dark humor. Now, sure, it does take a little while for the film
to get going, but once its star-studded ensemble cast is fully brought
together, that’s when it truly starts to shine. Simply put, it’s just fun to
watch a bunch of likable main protagonists played by the likes of Owen Wilson,
Danny DeVito, and Rosario Dawson go through everything from the stretching room
to conversing with Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis). Heck, the film even manages
to achieve some legitimately effective emotional moments by way of LaKeith
Stanfield’s character Ben, the previously mentioned disillusioned
astrophysicist who tragically lost his wife several years prior. His efforts to
overcome this loss (which are then naturally exploited by the Hatbox Ghost)
provide some great bits of emotional poignancy that, at the same time, don’t
clash with the film’s overall tone; instead, it feels like a natural way of
imbuing some character into this world of happy haunts.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And so, in conclusion, I must admit that it’s hard to say
for certain whether this new version of <i>Haunted Mansion </i>managed to
satisfy the entirety of the ride’s dedicated fanbase. Like any major property
out there, it’s safe to assume that this film clearly must’ve been saddled with
intense expectations that it would’ve never been able to fully overcome, and
for all we know, there are plenty of folks out there who are still upset by the
fact that we never got to see Guillermo Del Toro’s take on it. And yet, at the
end of the day, I’d argue that this is ultimately the most ideal cinematic take
on its beloved source material that we could’ve gotten. It’s by no means a
masterpiece, but at the same time, it’s clear that director Justin Simien and
his team had nothing but pure affection for the <i>Haunted Mansion </i>and
that’s very much apparent when watching the film. And sure, the film may have
fared poorly with critics and ended up flopping at the box office, only
grossing around $117 million on its $150 million budget; many attributed this to
the fact that the film arguably suffered the exact same fate as Disney’s 1993
cult classic <i>Hocus Pocus </i>by being released in the summer rather than the
far more fitting Halloween season. That said, though, consider this; before I
added one more day to this year’s event’s polling process, this film had only
garnered a single vote… by the end of this year’s event, it pulled off one of
the biggest upsets in the history of the Summer Fan Poll and managed to finish
as the runner-up to this year’s Top 5. With all that in mind, I won’t be
surprised if this film manages to become a new cult classic in the years to
come. Obviously, I don’t speak for the entire <i>Haunted Mansion </i>fandom,
but as for this <i>Haunted Mansion </i>fan, I was ultimately quite satisfied
with what we got. <i> </i> <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>ALRIGHT, FOLKS,
THE TIME HAS FINALLY COME FOR THIS YEAR’S TOP 5! COMING IN AT FIFTH PLACE WITH SEVEN
VOTES…<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>SPIDER-MAN:
ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1ms-RgX7Dt0BuPX_MzHuit4E4Cx_VHcVWwgv6YhkIm3OeDsXDXLtTbSMyv2mssGiSGveBoQ7157xM2COAEclT9dsXYHNNamqB-5Kj_cwA8DBL5rnGk1VldT-mBNczV3O51Zm-VZQzRdhKiJgr50LAcl8b9dblM5oRaPzQIvdvsddyFRPogeNQi_wjB0x/s1200/SpiderMan%20Across%20the%20SpiderVerse.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY1ms-RgX7Dt0BuPX_MzHuit4E4Cx_VHcVWwgv6YhkIm3OeDsXDXLtTbSMyv2mssGiSGveBoQ7157xM2COAEclT9dsXYHNNamqB-5Kj_cwA8DBL5rnGk1VldT-mBNczV3O51Zm-VZQzRdhKiJgr50LAcl8b9dblM5oRaPzQIvdvsddyFRPogeNQi_wjB0x/w400-h266/SpiderMan%20Across%20the%20SpiderVerse.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2018 proved to be a monumental year for everyone’s favorite
web-slinging Marvel superhero Spider-Man. Sure, part of that involved Tom Holland’s
endearingly dorky version of the character being snapped out of existence by
Thanos in <i>Avengers: Infinity War</i>, but nevertheless, he was still a vital
part of that $2 billion grossing cinematic juggernaut. Later that year, Spider-Man got to revel in the creation of a highly successful video game franchise
thanks to Insomniac Games’ AAA blockbuster <i>Spider-Man</i>, which promptly
became one of the most acclaimed superhero video games of all time. And
finally, that December, Spidey would be blessed with his first theatrically
released animated feature, <i>Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse</i>, developed
in large part by the dynamic duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Now, to be
clear, unlike their other big hits like <i>Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs </i>and
<i>The LEGO Movie</i>, this wasn’t a film that they directed; still,
their filmmaking sensibilities were very much in play with this ambitious
animated superhero flick. Focusing on newer Spider-Man Miles Morales, who first
debuted in the comics back in 2011 and has since gone on to become a major fan
favorite, the film saw the young teenage prodigy begin his journey to become
the next web-slinging superhero with the help of fellow Spider-People from
alternate dimensions. Upon its release, the film became a massive hit with both
critics and audiences, earning that year’s Oscar for Best Animated Feature and
being regarded by many as the best <i>Spider-Man </i>film to date. And while a
$384 million run at the box office may not seem like much compared to the
franchise’s live-action releases, it was clear that its fans were more than ready
for a follow-up, which we would finally get in 2023 with <i>Spider-Man: Across
the Spider-Verse</i>. Plus, to make this all even more exciting, it was then
revealed that Lord and Miller’s script was big enough to turn the continuing
adventures of Miles Morales into the first half of a two-part superhero epic. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Set a little over a year after the events of <i>Into the
Spider-Verse</i>, <i>Across the Spider-Verse </i>sees Miles finally taking his
own journey across the various dimensions of the Multiverse, where he learns
that Miguel O’Hara, an alternate universe Spider-Man from the year 2099, has
assembled the Spider Society, a group of the best Spider-People from across the
Multiverse who work to protect it from being torn apart. However, Miles soon
finds himself clashing with Miguel over the latter’s ways of maintaining multiversal
order, especially once he learns that the only thing keeping it from collapsing
are ‘Canon Events’ that all Spider-People are allegedly tied to that usually
revolve around the death of important figures in their lives such as a loved
one or a police captain. And unfortunately, in Miles’ case, this is about to
apply to him in both ways given that his dad Jefferson is a police officer
who’s about to be promoted to Captain and, thus, is now fated to die at the
hands of the Multiverse’s newest threat, the Spot, a former scientist from
Miles’ dimension who gained interdimensional powers when he wound up getting
caught in the destruction of the Kingpin’s collider. Sure, the character’s
backstory is primarily set up in a comedic sense given that part of it involves
a call-back to a visual gag from the first film where it's revealed that he was
the Alchemax scientist that Miles threw a bagel at, but as the film goes on and
the Spot begins to become more powerful, it is made abundantly clear that he’s
by no means someone who’s just, as Miles calls him at one point, your average
‘villain of the week’.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just like <i>Into the Spider-Verse</i>, one of the biggest
strengths of <i>Across the Spider-Verse </i>is its writing as Lord, Miller, and
co-writer Dave Callaham craft a script that not only raises the stakes from a
narrative standpoint as all good sequels do but also thoroughly maintains its
predecessor’s deeply layered character-driven nature and penchant for strong
emotional beats. By directly tackling the subject of the ‘death of a loved one’
trope that has always defined the <i>Spider-Man </i>mythos, we get some utterly
devastating emotional moments in this film as Miles sees just how much this
affects his fellow Spider-People as he desperately tries to prove that he can buck
the trend and stop his ‘Canon Event’ from happening without it resulting in the
destruction of the Multiverse. As a result, he comes to odds with not only his
new acquaintances like Miguel O’Hara, this story’s anti-hero whose aggressive
actions overshadow his personal tragedies and arguably good intentions, and
even his closest friends like Peter B. Parker who, thanks to Miles, turned his
life around to the point where he’s now a father, and especially his love
interest Gwen Stacy AKA Spider-Woman, who’s very much on equal footing with him
as this film’s protagonist; it’s just as much her story as it is his. It opens
with her backstory and how she lost her Peter Parker, which then led to her
coming into conflict with her father, police captain George Stacy, who blamed
Spider-Woman for Peter’s death and has been hunting her ever since. Things only
get more complicated when Gwen’s father finally learns about her secret
identity, but by the end when she reunites with him and he reveals that he quit
the force, she realizes that Miles was right and that a Spider-Person’s ‘Canon
Event’ can be reasonably prevented.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This film’s top-notch writing is then thoroughly matched by its
spectacular animation which, just like its predecessor, perfectly captures the
comic book style in animated form. Plus, given this film’s expanded scope as it
travels across the multiverse, we also get an incredible variety of animation
styles and color palettes as the film goes through its uniquely styled worlds and
characters, with no two ever being fully alike. In short, just like the first
film (and fellow Lord/Miller-backed hit <i>The Mitchells vs. The Machines</i>),
this is very much one of those films that will require multiple viewings just
to catch every single delightful easter egg/visual cue in it. Alongside the
great returning players from the first film, we also get a whole bunch of fun
new characters such as Karan Soni’s happy-go-lucky Indian Spider-Man Pavitr
Prabhakar and Daniel Kaluuya’s British punk rock rebel Spider-Man Hobie Brown. And
then, to top it all off, this film ends on one hell of a cliffhanger to set up
the next installment, <i>Beyond the Spider-Verse</i>, where Miles seemingly
returns to his universe after managing to evade Miguel and the Spider-Society
only to quickly discover that he didn’t. Instead, he ended up in the universe
where the radioactive spider that gave him his powers came from; one where his
dad is the one who died, not his Uncle Aaron. And while Uncle Aaron is still
living a criminal lifestyle, he’s not this universe’s Prowler… this universe’s
Miles is. Luckily for Miles, Gwen has now established her own squad of Spider-People,
consisting of both old and new allies, to do whatever it takes to rescue him. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It goes without saying that upon <i>Across the Spider-Verse</i>’s
release, it proved to be just as big of a hit as its predecessor was with both
critics and audiences. Not only did it manage to be on par with <i>Into the
Spider-Verse </i>from a critical reception standpoint, but thanks to all the
positive hype that was built up from the first film, <i>Across the Spider-Verse
</i>managed to surpass its predecessor’s box-office haul by grossing nearly
$700 million worldwide. Now, as anyone who’s followed this site for a while might
recall, I had a bit of a controversial stance towards <i>Into the Spider-Verse </i>back
when it first came out in that it wasn’t my #1 favorite animated film of the
year. That was nothing against the film, for the record, as I genuinely did
love it and it made my Top 10 that year. Instead, it was more a case of what
usually happens with me where I don’t get swept up in the film fan community’s
habit of overhyping certain films to the point where other films get unfairly dunked
on by way of them being compared to the one that everyone’s gushing about. If
you need any further examples of this, just look at every summer blockbuster
that came out in 2015 that wasn’t <i>Mad Max: Fury Road </i>or wonder why I’m
one of the rare people who doesn’t have <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier </i>as
their #1 favorite MCU film. But as for <i>Across the Spider-Verse</i>… it’s
right near the top of my list this year. What can I say? It’s a straight-up
masterclass in animation, storytelling, and love for the comic book medium. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>IN FOURTH PLACE
WITH THIRTEEN VOTES…<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>GUARDIANS OF
THE GALAXY VOL. 3<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjS60tqeOgLNzDvCY9phP0vWqMlbOOF38QDTKZQYcJhJnQ9iQQAfVLKLhIdDBgib3r1aAiXAr-1GKqdmCddqbkD0imrZu_FQiRhArUHl-qYhsiDoDh_ERnlItPSRKgux1icXny53NvDjhwmBb4lN2MkLE2tTGyJdMTN6qViSwNAiE9tWJ3PVDwLPMrg7cC/s1359/Guardians%203%20Banner%205.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="607" data-original-width="1359" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjS60tqeOgLNzDvCY9phP0vWqMlbOOF38QDTKZQYcJhJnQ9iQQAfVLKLhIdDBgib3r1aAiXAr-1GKqdmCddqbkD0imrZu_FQiRhArUHl-qYhsiDoDh_ERnlItPSRKgux1icXny53NvDjhwmBb4lN2MkLE2tTGyJdMTN6qViSwNAiE9tWJ3PVDwLPMrg7cC/w400-h179/Guardians%203%20Banner%205.png" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s hard to believe that there was once a point in time when
James Gunn wasn’t going to be directing the third <i>Guardians of the Galaxy </i>film.
I won’t delve into this too much since I’ve done so already in the past, but to
make a long story short, alt-right morons got mad at Gunn for insulting their
beloved President Trump one too many times and thus tried to do something that
they claim to hate and cancel him by digging up old, outdated, offensive tweets
of his. And while this did result in Gunn being temporarily fired from <i>Guardians
3</i>, this cancellation attempt of theirs ultimately failed in spectacular
fashion as Gunn was then picked up by Warner Bros. to helm the DC Extended
Universe’s best installment, <i>The Suicide Squad</i>. In fact, Gunn now holds
the key to the DC Comics kingdom as he and producer Peter Safran are preparing
their much-needed full-on reboot of the franchise. Thankfully, though, before that
development was put into motion, Disney reverted their decision to kick Gunn
off <i>Guardians 3</i>, thus allowing one of the superhero genre’s best
directors to finish what he had started back in 2014 with <i>Guardians of the
Galaxy Vol. 3</i>, a film that puts our beloved band of intergalactic a-holes
through one hell of an emotional wringer. After a run-in with Adam Warlock, the
latest artificial creation of their old foes the Sovereign, Rocket Raccoon
suffers a potentially fatal injury that his friends are unable to fix by
themselves. Thus, the only way they can save Rocket from certain death is to
confront the one who created him, the High Evolutionary, a cruel and depraved genetic
scientist who has spent many years trying to turn all ‘lesser beings’ into what
he deems to be a perfect society. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m not even going to mince words here when I say that <i>Guardians
3 </i>is easily the darkest MCU film to date in terms of the narrative content
that it tackles. Gunn doesn’t hold anything back when it comes to delving into all
the inhumane things that the High Evolutionary did to the likes of Rocket and
his fellow creations as a part of his twisted ploy to play God. In doing so, it
easily makes the High Evolutionary (brilliantly played by Chukwudi Iwuji in his
second major collaboration with Gunn after starring in the <i>Peacemaker </i>TV
series) one of the MCU’s best villains to date as he more than succeeds in
being an utterly detestable villain with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. And
by finally tackling the backstory of who James Gunn has often cited as the true
‘main character’ of the trilogy, Rocket, <i>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 </i>truly
comes full circle on an emotional level as it closes the character arcs of not
just Rocket but also the other Guardians in beautifully cathartic ways that
thankfully never involve killing any of them off. Whether it’s Peter Quill AKA
Star-Lord finally returning home to Earth to reunite with his grandfather for
the first time since he was taken from Earth in the 80s, Drax embracing a new
role as a father figure to the genetically engineered children that they rescued
from the High Evolutionary’s ship, or Mantis heading out on her own to find her
true calling in life, it’s safe to say that <i>Guardians 3 </i>more than
delivers on the franchise’s trademark emotional poignancy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And yet, even with all the incredibly dark and unsettling moments
that occur in this film, James Gunn still gives us all the things that we’ve
come to expect from a <i>Guardians of the Galaxy </i>adventure to efficiently
balance it all out. As dark as it often gets, there are still plenty of great
humorous moments that largely stem from the ensemble cast’s top-notch banter. In
a time where MCU films have been facing a lot more scrutiny over the quality of
their CGI, the <i>Guardians </i>films have consistently boasted some of the
franchise’s best visuals with each new film looking even better than the last.
And, of course, this wouldn’t be a true <i>Guardians </i>film without a
kick-ass soundtrack, whether it’s having the acoustic version of Radiohead’s
‘Creep’ playing over the somber opening credits sequence (a far cry from the
more upbeat opening credits sequences from the previous two films but, of
course, thematically appropriate in this instance) or the Beastie Boys’ punk
rock anthem ‘No Sleep Till Brooklyn’ playing over an epic long-take fight scene.
With all that in mind, I have no qualms in proclaiming that the <i>Guardians of
the Galaxy </i>franchise is one of the rare instances of a film trilogy where
every subsequent follow-up is better than the last, with the grand finale now
proudly taking its place as my favorite non-<i>Avengers </i>MCU film. From this
point on, <i>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 </i>will forever be my primary
example of how to effectively retort the increasingly common stance that many
internet types have sworn by in recent years that argues that superhero films
ain’t worth s***… because with a masterpiece like this, James Gunn has very
much proven that this will never be the case. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>AS WE GET INTO
THIS YEAR’S TOP 3, I WANT TO START THINGS OFF BY CELEBRATING THE MAJOR
ACCOMPLISHMENT THAT THESE FILMS HAVE ACHIEVED. HAVING EACH EARNED AT LEAST
TWENTY VOTES APIECE, THEY ARE THE BEST-PERFORMING FILMS TO COME OUT OF THIS
ANNUAL POLL OF OURS OUTSIDE OF <i>TOP GUN: MAVERICK</i>’S RECORD-SHATTERING
TURNOUT FROM LAST YEAR’S EVENT.<i> </i>IN THIRD PLACE WITH TWENTY VOTES…<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>THE LITTLE
MERMAID<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPOO-TXMWmFDSUAipZBLhOCFh-6BbWsnHzpJIyoj3hTojehKXLWH4hmWw-VfY032GD3PtS1BqxB_mYtdnUv-Zcxk_A7fXFUOExWIO88p2-pyxnci1c12RijJSrtS_Tez47U3t5zbTo1l7G1qR3veFtqm9d3J32SPNl-4jK4FSCPfcbraTkfJTdB2l2BOzy/s980/Little%20Mermaid.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="652" data-original-width="980" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPOO-TXMWmFDSUAipZBLhOCFh-6BbWsnHzpJIyoj3hTojehKXLWH4hmWw-VfY032GD3PtS1BqxB_mYtdnUv-Zcxk_A7fXFUOExWIO88p2-pyxnci1c12RijJSrtS_Tez47U3t5zbTo1l7G1qR3veFtqm9d3J32SPNl-4jK4FSCPfcbraTkfJTdB2l2BOzy/w400-h266/Little%20Mermaid.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Having already produced new live-action adaptations of their
biggest 90’s hits such as <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>, <i>Aladdin</i>, and <i>The
Lion King </i>(even though that one’s technically still an animated film), it’s
only natural that Disney’s recent trend of producing live-action adaptations of
their animated classics has finally gotten around to tackling the one that
started it all for that era, 1989’s <i>The Little Mermaid</i>. Calling Disney’s
adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s classic fairy tale one of the studio’s
most important releases would be a massive understatement as it’s widely
regarded as the film that saved Disney Animation almost single-handedly. In the
80s, Disney began to experience a string of underperforming releases,
culminating in the notorious flop that was 1985’s <i>The Black Cauldron</i>; in
fact, things were bad enough that there was a legitimate point where Disney
Animation was almost shut down entirely. But upon its release, <i>The Little
Mermaid </i>proved to be the studio’s biggest hit in years, securing phenomenal
reviews from both critics and audiences and winning two Oscars for its music,
courtesy of the legendary duo of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. Thus, this
success paved the way for one of Disney Animation’s greatest eras, the Disney
Renaissance, where the studio would create even more successful cinematic hits
such as <i>Beauty and the Beast</i>, the first-ever animated film to earn an
Oscar nomination for Best Picture,<i> </i>and <i>The Lion King</i>, which still
stands as the highest-grossing traditionally animated film and best-selling
home video release of all-time. Meanwhile, the impact of Alan Menken and Howard
Ashman’s award-winning music (this was, after all, the first Disney film to
earn an Oscar for Best Original Song since <i>Mary Poppins </i>all the way back
in 1964) was pivotal to Disney Animation’s move to revitalize its penchant for
animated musicals. While Ashman sadly passed away two years after the film’s
release due to AIDS, Alan Menken continues to be a mainstay of the studio to
this day, which includes, of course, his work on the modernized soundtracks for
the live-action Disney remakes of the films that he worked on. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Of course, like any of these recent Disney live-action
remakes, the new adaptation of <i>The Little Mermaid</i>, directed by recent
studio mainstay Rob Marshall (<i>Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides</i>,
<i>Mary Poppins Returns</i>) had to deal with the inevitable scrutiny that it
would face from those who question the need to remake an indisputable Disney classic.
Unfortunately, this scrutiny would also end up delving into, to put it
bluntly, racist territory once it was announced that Halle Bailey, actress and rising
pop star who first made it big alongside her sister Chloe as part of the group Chloe
x Halle, was cast in the lead role of Ariel. Yes, folks, even in the year 2023,
the same folks who got mad that a black stormtrooper was going to be one of the
main protagonists of the <i>Star Wars </i>sequel trilogy couldn’t fathom the possibility
that a black actress would be playing one of the most famous fictional
characters of all-time (emphasis on the word ‘fictional’). And unfortunately, this
hasn’t been the only instance this year of young Disney actresses incurring the
wrath of the most moronic parts of the internet through absolutely no fault of
their own. Earlier this year, there were plenty of folks who wouldn’t shut up
about actress Yara Shahidi taking on the role of Peter Pan’s trusted sidekick Tinker
Bell in David Lowery’s <i>Peter Pan and Wendy</i>. And as it turns out, Halle
Bailey wouldn’t be the only live-action Disney princess to get unfairly s*** on
by the internet as Rachel Zegler also got hit with this hard when she was cast
as Snow White in the upcoming remake of that film. So, in short, you can chalk all
this up to yet another instance of the right-wing’s one-sided culture war
against Disney due to the latter’s sheer audacity to (*checks notes*) properly reflect
the growing diversity of the film industry in both its storytelling and
creative talent both in front of and behind the camera. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thankfully, Bailey proves all her biggest critics wrong as
she’s very much the heart of the film. Flawlessly conveying some amazing
onscreen charisma and an innate sweetness that perfectly fits the character of
Ariel, Bailey presents a wonderful new spin on one of Disney’s most beloved
heroines that stands toe to toe with Jodi Benson’s version of the character
from the original animated classic. She’s then backed by an equally terrific
supporting cast, with Jonah Hauer-King being a perfect leading co-star to her
as Prince Eric as this version of the story efficiently follows in the footsteps
of the live-action remake of <i>Cinderella</i> by establishing a legitimate connection
between the two outside of the development of their romantic relationship.
Meanwhile, Melissa McCarthy is utterly delightful as this film’s version of fan-favorite
Disney villainess Ursula while Jacob Tremblay, Daveed Diggs, and Awkwafina are
all terrific as the voices of Ariel’s sidekicks Flounder, Sebastian, and Scuttle,
respectively. Add in some solid aquatic-based visuals and one of the best
overall revamps of any Disney animated classic’s soundtrack to date and you have
another successful live-action Disney remake which, as anyone who’s been following
this site for a while surely knows, is a collection of films that I unconditionally
support in full no matter how much they piss off their biggest critics. As I’ve
always said, unless there ever comes a point in time where the original films
aren’t readily available in some form (which, in the age of Disney+, seems highly
unlikely), these remakes do not harm the legacies of their animated
counterparts in any way because they’re not meant to replace them. And while <i>The
Little Mermaid </i>may not have reached the billion-dollar heights that the
likes of the <i>Beauty and the Beast </i>and <i>Aladdin </i>remakes managed to achieve,
the fact that it was nearly the runner-up in this year’s poll implies that, if
you ask me, it’ll most likely end up being one of the most well-regarded of all
these live-action remakes in the years to come.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>THIS YEAR’S
RUNNER-UP, WITH TWENTY-ONE VOTES…<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>BARBIE<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2nFI1JKY9ex5klBc36HC6Lq8W-CiF-vrxT7bYaF1VOSFhjoFJ7zIijneQNQg5VnMsIamUb3qBPTmHilMKPOFgutD02Tm0Oj7zZmHLguhLHB8WTR4mprq-2iaWWd1Al-jWzW9ilVDowq-sl8S7mDWbpH15VQb5ECi0jIWbjTDnRDF2zj75MiV4WjI8sMQ/s500/Barbie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="281" data-original-width="500" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF2nFI1JKY9ex5klBc36HC6Lq8W-CiF-vrxT7bYaF1VOSFhjoFJ7zIijneQNQg5VnMsIamUb3qBPTmHilMKPOFgutD02Tm0Oj7zZmHLguhLHB8WTR4mprq-2iaWWd1Al-jWzW9ilVDowq-sl8S7mDWbpH15VQb5ECi0jIWbjTDnRDF2zj75MiV4WjI8sMQ/w400-h225/Barbie.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When it comes to the biggest names in the toy industry, there
aren’t many who can hold a candle to the impact and legacy of arguably the most
famous doll of them all, Barbie. First created in 1959 by Ruth Handler as a
means of providing her daughter Barbara with a different kind of doll that wasn’t
just a representation of an infant to give its owner the ability to play out
the role of a parent, the <i>Barbie </i>line has made billions upon billions in
revenue for the company that Handler founded with her husband Elliot, Mattel. And
while all this success has led to some controversy over the years, usually over
the ongoing debate of whether the line promotes an unhealthy and unrealistic
body image mentality for its target demographic, there’s no denying that Barbie
continues to be a staple of the pop cultural zeitgeist. Of course, a key part
of this is the character and franchise being adapted into several mediums
outside of the toy industry, including film. However, it is interesting to note
that, up until this year, the <i>Barbie </i>franchise has never had a theatrically
released film; instead, the 42 <i>Barbie</i> films that have been made since
2002 were all direct-to-video animated features. That said, plans for a
live-action <i>Barbie </i>film have gone back as far as 2009, with the likes of
Amy Schumer, Anne Hathaway, and Gal Gadot being considered for the title role.
Ultimately, that honor would go to Margot Robbie, who also produces the film
alongside her husband Tom Ackerley through their production company LuckyChap.
Meanwhile, directorial duties would go to Greta Gerwig, fresh off her Oscar-nominated
films <i>Lady Bird </i>and <i>Little Women</i>, who co-wrote the script with
her husband Noah Baumbach.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Greta Gerwig’s <i>Barbie </i>is truly a unique film in terms
of its overall execution. The film is primarily advertised as a meta-comedy in
which Barbie and her long put-upon ‘boyfriend’ Ken (Ryan Gosling) leave the
idyllic world of Barbie Land and travel to the Real World when Barbie finds
herself going through a major existential crisis. And on that note, this film
is utterly hilarious from beginning to end as it truly delivers on all sorts of
wonderfully wacky bits of humor, including plenty of moments where it isn’t afraid
to poke fun at some of the <i>Barbie</i> franchise’s most notorious aspects.
That said, though, this isn’t a case where the film is trying to be a cynical
deconstruction of its source material; instead, it’s clear that Greta Gerwig
and company do have a lot of respect for the <i>Barbie </i>franchise, thus
resulting in a film that is chock-full of references to the franchise’s
extensive history right down to some major deep cuts for those hardcore fans. And
then, amidst all the wacky shenanigans that Barbie and Ken get into, the film
also delivers some unexpectedly powerful emotional moments. Yes, folks, a film
about plastic dolls manages to hit you with some poignant commentary on topics
such as the human condition, the struggle to understand one’s place in life,
and a condemnation of the toxic patriarchy. And while there are some folks out
there who’ve argued that the latter theme was handled in an incredibly
heavy-handed manner, it’s impossible to deny the relevancy of it all.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Buoyed by an all-star cast headlined by Margot Robbie,
pitch-perfectly cast in the title role, and Ryan Gosling, who’s easily the
biggest comedic standout of the film as Ken, a top-notch visual/production
design that flawlessly captures the <i>Barbie </i>franchise’s trademark bright
and colorful aesthetic, and superb direction from Greta Gerwig, <i>Barbie </i>is
nothing short of a Grade-A crowd-pleaser. Simply put, the reason why this film
works as well as it does can best be summed up by one of its marketing taglines;
“If you love <i>Barbie</i>, this film is for you… if you hate <i>Barbie</i>, this
film is for you”. In other words, this film successfully manages to appeal to both
<i>Barbie </i>fans and those who aren’t instead of just being geared solely
towards the former. For fans of the franchise, this is basically one giant love
letter to it full of delightful Easter Eggs that cover practically every single
era of <i>Barbie</i>’s extensive history. But if you’re, say, like me and not
even remotely a part of this franchise’s target demographic, that doesn’t
matter in the slightest because, simply put, this is a very well-made film that
works as both a wacky comedy and a heartfelt character drama. As such, it’s
very easy to see why this swiftly became the biggest film of 2023, earning over
$1.4 billion at the box office, thus giving Greta Gerwig the well-earned
distinction of being the first solo female director behind a billion-dollar juggernaut.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>TO BE PERFECTLY
HONEST, FOLKS, I THOUGHT THAT <i>BARBIE </i>WAS GOING TO BE THIS YEAR’S CHAMPION
SEEING HOW IT WAS EASILY THE BIGGEST CINEMATIC HIT OF THE SUMMER… AND YET, THERE
WAS ANOTHER FILM THAT DID EVEN BETTER IN THIS YEAR’S POLL. AND WHEN IT COMES TO
THE FILM IN QUESTION, YOU NEED NOT LOOK ANY FURTHER… THAN THE OTHER HALF OF THE
VIRAL DOUBLE FEATURE THAT <i>BARBIE </i>WAS CONNECTED TO. YES, FOLKS, AFTER
PREVIOUSLY WINNING IT ALL BACK IN 2017 WITH <i>DUNKIRK</i>, CHRISTOPHER NOLAN
BECOMES THE FIRST TWO-TIME WINNING DIRECTOR IN THIS ANNUAL POLL OF OURS THANKS
TO THE TWENTY-FOUR VOTES THAT WERE GIVEN TO…<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>OPPENHEIMER<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9f2Eria1o1xHh7qac9qceReoOg3HI3bLmPylaiL5p5ByFsjfgh4XANRmAZ4FWRR198Lm0r2_du-AJvBOdIFy94JABk7mSNOXQKIkTCbMc4ZAqKEcDnf0M2tJde67RfFjDV2s_1RRrSuhJJ40geqZNjcefUMcYuW4qyg-AS0NQmdWQcmfcoR0fSJby0bLt/s1296/Oppenheimer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="730" data-original-width="1296" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9f2Eria1o1xHh7qac9qceReoOg3HI3bLmPylaiL5p5ByFsjfgh4XANRmAZ4FWRR198Lm0r2_du-AJvBOdIFy94JABk7mSNOXQKIkTCbMc4ZAqKEcDnf0M2tJde67RfFjDV2s_1RRrSuhJJ40geqZNjcefUMcYuW4qyg-AS0NQmdWQcmfcoR0fSJby0bLt/w400-h225/Oppenheimer.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes, folks, this is now the second time that a Christopher Nolan
film has defied the odds to become the champion of our annual poll, and in this
instance, I must admit that I was even more taken by surprise by this turn of
events than I was when <i>Dunkirk </i>won in 2017 over the presumed
fan-favorite that was <i>Wonder Woman</i>. I mean, I figured that, at the very
least, <i>Oppenheimer </i>would manage to get some votes given the strong
reputation of its director and all the hype surrounding its release because of
it being directly paired with <i>Barbie, </i>a double feature affectionately
dubbed <i>Barbenheimer</i>… but I didn’t expect it to do as well as it did. And
yet, this can all serve as a prime example of how this film has managed to hold
its own even though it goes without saying that <i>Barbie</i>, being part of a
prominent IP, was always going to end up being the bigger hit at the box office.
Sure, <i>Barbie </i>may have grossed over a billion worldwide, but thanks in
large part to the <i>Barbenheimer </i>phenomenon, <i>Oppenheimer </i>came <b><i>this
</i></b>close to doing so as well, grossing over $954 million worldwide. Not
only is this an impressive feat for a 3-hour dialogue-driven R-rated biopic not
tied to a franchise, but it also became the biggest box-office hit of Nolan’s
career outside of <i>The Dark Knight </i>and <i>The Dark Knight Rises</i>.
Heck, this success even translated to the film’s home video release as physical
copies of it straight-up sold out barely a few days after it hit the market, undoubtedly
buoyed by Nolan’s public comments on the strengths of physical media over
streaming services. That was, after all, one of the key factors behind his
decision to part ways with Warner Bros and take this film to Universal after
the former’s controversial simultaneous theatrical/streaming strategy with
their 2021 slate. Ultimately, though,
this can quite arguably be seen as a return to form for Nolan after his
previous film, <i>Tenet</i>, had to deal with all the inevitable complications
that affected the films that made the risky move of getting released in theaters
right at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Oppenheimer </i>sees Nolan tackling his first biopic project
as it covers the life of theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer, the man who
headed the Manhattan Project AKA the government program that created the atomic
bomb. But while there’s plenty of time spent focusing on Oppenheimer’s work at
the Los Alamos Laboratory, the film also tackles other major moments in
Oppenheimer’s life such as the scandalous government investigation that he was
connected to over his alleged ties to the Communist Party as the U.S.
transitioned out of World War II into the Cold War. The security hearing that
Oppenheimer had to undergo that resulted in his government security clearances being
revoked and a subsequent Senate hearing on the matter attended by the man who secretly
orchestrated Oppenheimer’s downfall, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Lewis
Strauss, serve as the framing device for this life story which, in a surprising
turn of events, sees Nolan pull back considerably on his trademark penchant for
non-linear storytelling. Oh sure, it’s still there in many noticeable ways, but
not to the extreme level that Nolan has gone to in some of his other films. And
despite what I noted earlier about this being a three-hour behemoth of a film
that’s primarily just a bunch of dialogue-based sequences, there’s never a dull
moment as Nolan flawlessly captures the essence of the ‘race against time’
mentality that Oppenheimer and his team were dealing with in their efforts to complete
their work on the first-ever nuclear weapon before the Nazis could beat them to
the punch. In other words, it’s truly saying something that a film like this
could pull this impeccable feat off to the point where, by the time it gets to its
biggest set-piece, the Trinity Test, there’s still an hour to go.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And yet, another key reason why this film works as well as
it does is because of how character-driven it is which, admittedly, hasn’t
always been one of Nolan’s strong suits as a filmmaker. But in this instance,
it all works perfectly as we truly get to understand everything that J. Robert
Oppenheimer went through to, in his own words, “perform this miracle” up to, of
course, the utterly terrifying possibilities of what might happen to the world now
that nuclear weapons have been made a reality. This all comes together brilliantly
in a film that, as to be expected from a Christopher Nolan production, is a
full-on technical masterpiece in every conceivable way, such as how it serves as
another instance of Nolan’s love of practical effects which led to a legitimate
(and, thankfully, non-deadly) recreation of a nuclear explosion. Meanwhile, as
for the film’s cast… well, let’s just say that this might be the most stacked
ensemble cast in cinematic history. And even if this does mean that some folks
in the cast are just there for a scene or two, everyone involved does a
fantastic job with standout performances from Cillian Murphy, one of Nolan’s
most prominent regular supporting players now promoted to leading man status in
the title role, and Robert Downey Jr. as Oppenheimer’s AEC associate turned
petty rival, Lewis Strauss. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In conclusion, as I’ve surely noted in the past, I’ve been a
big fan of Christopher Nolan’s work over the years. That said, though, that
doesn’t mean that I’m one of those folks who views him as a perfect filmmaker immune
to any sort of criticism (in other words, for the uninitiated, Nolan’s biggest
fanboys were basically the precursor to the likes of the Snyder Cult back
before toxic film fandoms truly became mainstream). Case in point, some of you might
recall that I was surprisingly ambivalent towards his previous film <i>Tenet</i>,
which is a stance that I’ve never had toward any of his other films. But as for
<i>Oppenheimer</i>… this might arguably be the best film that Nolan has made in
quite some time. In true Nolan fashion, he elevates your standard cinematic
biopic by producing an impeccably crafted cinematic epic that presents a
thoroughly engaging recreation of one of the most important moments in American
history while also providing a chilling reminder of its potentially
catastrophic consequences. And if that wasn’t enough, he does so without fully
abiding by his usual filmmaking tendencies while still giving us a film that is
unmistakably Nolan-esque. Thus, with all that in mind, it’s easy to see why
this is currently being hyped as one of the award season’s most prominent
contenders. In retrospect, it’s also quite interesting to speculate how
this film would’ve turned out had it not been tied to one of the most talked
about double-feature releases in recent years. And yet, regardless of all that,
it<i> </i>very much earned its status as the 2023 champion of RIMC’s Annual End
of Summer Fan Poll.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And with that, we finally
conclude the 2023 edition of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Annual End of Summer
Fan Poll. Once again, I extend nothing but full gratitude to everyone who
helped make this our biggest year yet. I apologize for the fact that it took me
way longer than it probably should’ve to finish this year’s Results Post, but
even with that in mind, I couldn’t be happier with this year’s results. As
always, I look forward to seeing how things will turn out during next year’s
event, where we’ll celebrate the tenth anniversary of this site’s most prominent
tradition. It’ll be a summer where big-time franchises like <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12037194/" target="_blank">Mad Max</a> </i>and <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11389872/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_4_nm_4_q_kingdom%2520of%2520the%2520pl" target="_blank">Planet of the Apes</a> </i>make their triumphant return to the big screen and established
icons like <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt22022452/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_6_tt_8_nm_0_q_inside" target="_blank">Pixar</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6263850/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_8_nm_0_q_deadp" target="_blank">Deadpool</a> take their next big steps into cinematic glory.
Who will be next year’s champion? Stay tuned!</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p></o:p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-60151457641439474582023-08-16T15:00:00.000-04:002023-08-16T15:00:03.047-04:00The 2023 Edition of Rhode Island Movie Corner's Annual End of Summer Fan Poll Begins Today!!<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf1UPJlRQTWRzzregoWy-oViSZJEC7XxwaTPaSPwSBN0PiY4VHSUSAl8duDRmXcxTHYoSq5AsCigwCRSJKZ8DE64Ib6UZCkr5avTiKnMvG8WbBjfCRJZmP0QbgK7jbHakPE7S1_SFBeyJVx96KdkC8SZxecfhxCNje7_g9zI3NP6y6VTJE3HrY0LcnomLX/s705/Summer%202023.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="705" height="249" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjf1UPJlRQTWRzzregoWy-oViSZJEC7XxwaTPaSPwSBN0PiY4VHSUSAl8duDRmXcxTHYoSq5AsCigwCRSJKZ8DE64Ib6UZCkr5avTiKnMvG8WbBjfCRJZmP0QbgK7jbHakPE7S1_SFBeyJVx96KdkC8SZxecfhxCNje7_g9zI3NP6y6VTJE3HrY0LcnomLX/w568-h249/Summer%202023.jpg" width="568" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Next year, 2024, will mark the tenth anniversary of when I
launched what would promptly become Rhode Island Movie Corner’s most noteworthy
recurring series, the Annual End of Summer Fan Poll. That said, though, this
year, 2023, could’ve technically served as the 10<sup>th</sup> annual edition
of this event in terms of how many I’ve done since 2014… that is, if it wasn’t
for a certain global pandemic that made it downright impossible for me to do
this event in 2020 since practically everything except drive-in theaters were
closed at that time. At one point, I did consider doing an alternate ‘one-time-only’
poll that would’ve asked you to name the most interesting ‘new’ thing that you
watched whilst we were all in lockdown, whether it was something like one of
the new releases that did come out that year albeit on a streaming service or
an old series that you watched for the first time. However, I ultimately
decided against that because, among other reasons, I realized that this would’ve
been a far more complicated poll to manage when it comes to the responses that
it’d get. In other words, whereas the results of a typical RIMC ‘End of Summer
Fan Poll’ consist solely of the films that were chosen out of the list of
possible answers and how many votes they’d get, a ‘best new thing that you
watched during lockdown’ poll could’ve easily resulted in as many unique responses
as there were votes. And as you might have guessed, that would’ve resulted in a
ridiculously overstuffed ‘Results Post’ where I’d have to list everything that
was mentioned by those who voted. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Thankfully, I was able to bring this event back the following
year and have been continuing to do so annually ever since without the burden
of any sort of global catastrophe that would make me have to cancel it again.
So, with all that in mind, yes, folks, it’s time once again for Rhode Island
Movie Corner’s Annual End of Summer Fan Poll, where you, the readers, can vote
for your favorite film from the Summer of 2023. For those who are new to this site,
here’s how it all goes down. Down below, I’ll be providing a link to a poll
that I’ve created on the survey website <i>Survio </i>that will ask you a
single question; What was your favorite film that you saw this summer? Then,
you select that favorite film of yours from the list of options that I give you.
Now, I must warn any newcomers in advance that I do give you a ton of options
to choose from as I basically include as many wide releases as I possibly can. And
yet, even with that in mind, there will still inevitably be a few films that I
missed when assembling the list of possible answers. Fear not, though, as this
is where the write-in section comes in; if you don’t see your favorite film
listed amongst the primary choices, this is where you can give it its time in
the spotlight. As always, this poll will strictly be limited to films that have
had a proper theatrical release. I will be lenient enough to allow answers from
those who saw any of these films on-demand or a film that wasn’t released
during the summer period but was still in theaters by the time summer rolled
around; however, those are the <b>ONLY</b> exceptions that I’m willing to accept.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">The voting period begins today, August 16<sup>th</sup>, and
will officially end on September 1<sup>st</sup>. After that, the results will
be tallied and, sometime soon after, I will be publishing the official Results
Post that will honor every film that earned a vote. As always, I look forward
to seeing your responses as we all await to see what film will end up taking top
honors this year. Alluding to something that I mentioned at the end of last
year’s Results Post, I’m particularly interested in seeing how this year’s
results will turn out because unlike last year where, let’s face it, it was practically
a given as to which film would take the number 1 spot, it’s arguably anyone’s
game this year given the wide variety of hits that we’ve seen this summer. For
example, Tom Cruise could potentially take the top spot for the second year in
a row after last year’s standout turn from <i>Top Gun: Maverick </i>with <i>Mission
Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part 1</i>. Film fan favorite Christopher Nolan
could also be in the running to have a second year at #1 (albeit not in a row
in this instance since <i>Dunkirk </i>won it all back in 2017) with his
WWII-era biopic <i>Oppenheimer</i>. And then, of course, you have other notable
big-name releases such as the billion-dollar hit <i>Barbie </i>and the one-two
punch of Marvel’s 2023 releases, <i>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 </i>and <i>Spider-Man:
Across the Spider-Verse</i>. Really, though, what truly matters at the end of the
day is that you all get the chance to honor your favorite cinematic experience
from these past few months, and that, folks, is exactly the reason why I
started this event in the first place back in 2014. <o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.survio.com/survey/d/M8Q6Q3Q9R5O1W1G8N" target="_blank">Click Here to Vote!!!</a><o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">But before we conclude
today’s Announcement post, let’s do what we always do and honor this event’s
past winners…<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">RHODE
ISLAND MOVIE CORNER’S ANNUAL END OF SUMMER FAN POLL HALL OF FAME<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2014 (# of Votes:
43)<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">THE FAULT
IN OUR STARS, 22 JUMP STREET, </span></i></b><b><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">AND <i>GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY </i>(5
Votes -TIE)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmTLlhL24IOJ0sWcIwISWxdrRFW6BMOUJtOWRY69I9MZKS9b2zR90hZSZZSYEZyHCws2OX7QuO7dGxCEtQUT8tD1vIl9BQ4ipfWL0llFnY5RhO5U8gMn1Xo-7Pgrg6oUYt0oRvov6f5U9zHPutMZ6zGVHG3yxi6ERp20zy-hqFSf3j2VPlUSAOLpBpcVH/s498/FIOS.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="268" data-original-width="498" height="215" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHmTLlhL24IOJ0sWcIwISWxdrRFW6BMOUJtOWRY69I9MZKS9b2zR90hZSZZSYEZyHCws2OX7QuO7dGxCEtQUT8tD1vIl9BQ4ipfWL0llFnY5RhO5U8gMn1Xo-7Pgrg6oUYt0oRvov6f5U9zHPutMZ6zGVHG3yxi6ERp20zy-hqFSf3j2VPlUSAOLpBpcVH/w400-h215/FIOS.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheM7Chfvours9RDk2jDsonbI-P2rs7MQN2Uvo9jQ8V-cxzppiZlQlRr2Ak4mS-nxNRR1Ltt9VDOL0yf48x8j3Vi9OihYkzJKuksagzCFdWjgcyXq8mGZrXTob8oqSromfiZ5S1TE4DL0ovHLRxJSqcdWx50JFHMY1d8fC4AlJZkQE3GbQMYAUwepD7cFDD/s500/22JumpStreet.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="208" data-original-width="500" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheM7Chfvours9RDk2jDsonbI-P2rs7MQN2Uvo9jQ8V-cxzppiZlQlRr2Ak4mS-nxNRR1Ltt9VDOL0yf48x8j3Vi9OihYkzJKuksagzCFdWjgcyXq8mGZrXTob8oqSromfiZ5S1TE4DL0ovHLRxJSqcdWx50JFHMY1d8fC4AlJZkQE3GbQMYAUwepD7cFDD/w400-h166/22JumpStreet.gif" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Sxl4cqg7VKrIXuPvjiNNFM-FN9A8-h5H8nWlXJXMycTYoQpZ8nac64FIiJvKLX0WCr0ifDC4_-5D9qlDYHZA6If_0W2Zbkn4YJlDX62QLQkmN1JeHtHBcODbfXBrtZa72fTSN7tpaybQD-ffzDZ4ji6aSaX9h8S86Od8iqgHucqB4LGPzXSIoHAnrwap/s500/GOTG1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="205" data-original-width="500" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Sxl4cqg7VKrIXuPvjiNNFM-FN9A8-h5H8nWlXJXMycTYoQpZ8nac64FIiJvKLX0WCr0ifDC4_-5D9qlDYHZA6If_0W2Zbkn4YJlDX62QLQkmN1JeHtHBcODbfXBrtZa72fTSN7tpaybQD-ffzDZ4ji6aSaX9h8S86Od8iqgHucqB4LGPzXSIoHAnrwap/w400-h164/GOTG1.gif" width="400" /></a></div></b><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2015 (# of Votes:
47)<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">MAD MAX:
FURY ROAD</span></i></b><b><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;"> (10 Votes)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6zidDdwpud6SNyR-yXwG6Hw7K-1sHkoz9qOqCsTQERyKBZKuBHzkJ32Qtl4949sjhMRPQbZz97__d_qeHA2ElO1Tyj2Mj-MvPD-JPyDGejqgGxJ_cZ4o7RGUPfW_Vykarv7FFPp6bbwgXaqn9wgMQlJRD6yUwPGZ12Q7Hh5IitCH44swOJhxgcOWfCDF/s500/MadMaxFuryRoad.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="207" data-original-width="500" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR6zidDdwpud6SNyR-yXwG6Hw7K-1sHkoz9qOqCsTQERyKBZKuBHzkJ32Qtl4949sjhMRPQbZz97__d_qeHA2ElO1Tyj2Mj-MvPD-JPyDGejqgGxJ_cZ4o7RGUPfW_Vykarv7FFPp6bbwgXaqn9wgMQlJRD6yUwPGZ12Q7Hh5IitCH44swOJhxgcOWfCDF/w400-h165/MadMaxFuryRoad.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2016 (# of Votes:
58)<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">CAPTAIN
AMERICA: CIVIL WAR </span></i></b><b><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">AND <i>BAD MOMS </i>(9 Votes - TIE)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHDv3gbv_pQoGz0RJb7QGwkfpbzUvs_Y8V8o_eqysEDiSWtlbYcwlBQmhDvJUXuFlLOxJvr44GrnAEgN8xk7F-O23dLnS-ZoXZbOqEPhhRge53ct8q653G6FtjyMTT-y_ueJ2LQCj6DBFeNJVv9ER9iwR4NTDzq083vxVCnYZD2Y1k23ABnyG_gEskDhP/s680/Captain%20America%20Civil%20War.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="680" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHDv3gbv_pQoGz0RJb7QGwkfpbzUvs_Y8V8o_eqysEDiSWtlbYcwlBQmhDvJUXuFlLOxJvr44GrnAEgN8xk7F-O23dLnS-ZoXZbOqEPhhRge53ct8q653G6FtjyMTT-y_ueJ2LQCj6DBFeNJVv9ER9iwR4NTDzq083vxVCnYZD2Y1k23ABnyG_gEskDhP/w400-h165/Captain%20America%20Civil%20War.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><b><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizozQ7vX2DwLx3NCC8MHgTWBGMcX-iWsyjcaXtTX4LLhlc4Zsj4sh0xiwHIKjAkpWxiBx82sIEPZTHx_4bTojdx5CSflx9Agmp6TM6pfoLtY7E1k5mEEV5nSozyekff0qizljzFEpyY8XyaDgfircDzz_BFNdcZZO9GpYRf6dcVcb0LXaTlPHXl3ShHN3R/s498/Bad%20Moms.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="205" data-original-width="498" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizozQ7vX2DwLx3NCC8MHgTWBGMcX-iWsyjcaXtTX4LLhlc4Zsj4sh0xiwHIKjAkpWxiBx82sIEPZTHx_4bTojdx5CSflx9Agmp6TM6pfoLtY7E1k5mEEV5nSozyekff0qizljzFEpyY8XyaDgfircDzz_BFNdcZZO9GpYRf6dcVcb0LXaTlPHXl3ShHN3R/w400-h165/Bad%20Moms.gif" width="400" /></a></div></b><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2017 (# of Votes:
58)<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">DUNKIRK </span></i></b><b><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">(8 Votes)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcq04aVNtFfuRG89lcVtCBoBBa5VkG8iRHdc6-Z8MnsCSKB_4sAdgGCxorFOJzRfOFmAOfMOUx7yph-4eLS_Hcn8PC7O_aukReuD9oBoNrsLt7jNxVzAMeucN6hR8khPmpQyTo1SuOZAgzc-K-FJPmkDDUQUKyMZcBps4CgJc7gtT_QLy9gZ8uL0OdROtF/s600/Dunkirk.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="334" data-original-width="600" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcq04aVNtFfuRG89lcVtCBoBBa5VkG8iRHdc6-Z8MnsCSKB_4sAdgGCxorFOJzRfOFmAOfMOUx7yph-4eLS_Hcn8PC7O_aukReuD9oBoNrsLt7jNxVzAMeucN6hR8khPmpQyTo1SuOZAgzc-K-FJPmkDDUQUKyMZcBps4CgJc7gtT_QLy9gZ8uL0OdROtF/w400-h223/Dunkirk.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2018 (# of Votes:
44)<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">BLACKKKLANSMAN
</span></i></b><b><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">(12 Votes)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-lf_8vUL4_2fjrC-PuuD3ySW3NzJWOri1c7H7KHvWmuGl-SU1xzSjbcEiUI91cLF-G8xPGdcWIo_9MD8RfAJ89vV5TRQrzHFg9fO15CjbygBjmublL6GGEBlTzPJSDSQOODMXDJ-MCyocrfuu0-WBqUemJB-YVaRRvcW7RiK-htdIwFZjOEeUOE4HK-dt/s922/BlackKkKlansman.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="516" data-original-width="922" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-lf_8vUL4_2fjrC-PuuD3ySW3NzJWOri1c7H7KHvWmuGl-SU1xzSjbcEiUI91cLF-G8xPGdcWIo_9MD8RfAJ89vV5TRQrzHFg9fO15CjbygBjmublL6GGEBlTzPJSDSQOODMXDJ-MCyocrfuu0-WBqUemJB-YVaRRvcW7RiK-htdIwFZjOEeUOE4HK-dt/w400-h224/BlackKkKlansman.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2019 (# of Votes:
89)<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">AVENGERS:
ENDGAME </span></i></b><b><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">(19 Votes)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3ak3a-U0l7WUOcw0DEYAeTCdN3vjpUFwb0Is6W-PML1v-0YSpbwrur00QMGcJbWg7AHzygidB9jKorbOU2ff0Ca1_9LzktsPXSZNMjSrN8jblRfHa5UcUJdEa5nPeNWMM2NJAYxYQ6mmt6TrB2TNdlTafUlyyh8c4Q_TeZ_FDUh-_ijQfwN1SscdDKqS/s540/AvengersEndgame.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="267" data-original-width="540" height="198" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjM3ak3a-U0l7WUOcw0DEYAeTCdN3vjpUFwb0Is6W-PML1v-0YSpbwrur00QMGcJbWg7AHzygidB9jKorbOU2ff0Ca1_9LzktsPXSZNMjSrN8jblRfHa5UcUJdEa5nPeNWMM2NJAYxYQ6mmt6TrB2TNdlTafUlyyh8c4Q_TeZ_FDUh-_ijQfwN1SscdDKqS/w400-h198/AvengersEndgame.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2020<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">*CANCELLED
DUE TO COVID*<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5G6ZNgm2gCIPL7MtKGyzZ0z1CNYInEzWEgUuiUX-tieL8eHj_8pwD4n5EjfmwD1ufJ4Y5z5d1z3cvTkMhyjENtYl5-W8naiuh8VwGjN-7t2FfdtcIEwqSo6RzwTlQiX-g69RUuSBEYHF2SaBpfTLS7hMarNLyhS3G0PGUer95JHzFlrpbF7jgXgcnwxJ1/s887/2020%20RIMC%20Fan%20Poll%20Meme.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="887" data-original-width="587" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5G6ZNgm2gCIPL7MtKGyzZ0z1CNYInEzWEgUuiUX-tieL8eHj_8pwD4n5EjfmwD1ufJ4Y5z5d1z3cvTkMhyjENtYl5-W8naiuh8VwGjN-7t2FfdtcIEwqSo6RzwTlQiX-g69RUuSBEYHF2SaBpfTLS7hMarNLyhS3G0PGUer95JHzFlrpbF7jgXgcnwxJ1/w424-h640/2020%20RIMC%20Fan%20Poll%20Meme.PNG" width="424" /></a></b></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2021 (# of Votes:
69 (*insert obvious joke here*))<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">CRUELLA </span></i></b><b><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">(16 Votes)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNS-EIllg-wqwnODeOAFxIuz2JDpulNZuWASdgn-1xzseMSKwXsLeeKFnmmNoCPIBcNQNbYihJzw3Vdo6RRP6YBXCT1SndAAU6doXHDxnXwXY8-S3T2LX5eQNEKQMb2oFF7-Wdl99kTMRImPfS4IqAoRAGabcbRj9KIzmaW9goA4_PHklnFcFHC_vq-9Z7/s720/Cruella.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="405" data-original-width="720" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNS-EIllg-wqwnODeOAFxIuz2JDpulNZuWASdgn-1xzseMSKwXsLeeKFnmmNoCPIBcNQNbYihJzw3Vdo6RRP6YBXCT1SndAAU6doXHDxnXwXY8-S3T2LX5eQNEKQMb2oFF7-Wdl99kTMRImPfS4IqAoRAGabcbRj9KIzmaW9goA4_PHklnFcFHC_vq-9Z7/w400-h225/Cruella.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2022 (# of Votes:
119)<o:p></o:p></span></u></b></p><p>
</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">TOP GUN:
MAVERICK </span></i></b><b><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">(56 Votes)<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-HUh-Lbb4LYZmoHEdl3TQTlRcXZ9ROo51yN6umlNmIw8XLg7euKHTl250R3bxi-OxUpugHXArPGlJxnqJPWqhdRhDEQQoFhaBf9cYE1iU7Xho0USZBKRdD3mZej1VBaEbglQn0Ya0Y6KMPLJf9DRmEMtO7ZJHCoF9WrxAZH-Xlz4eRdvhGBApJPCjaIZ/s640/Top%20Gun%20Maverick.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="320" data-original-width="640" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj-HUh-Lbb4LYZmoHEdl3TQTlRcXZ9ROo51yN6umlNmIw8XLg7euKHTl250R3bxi-OxUpugHXArPGlJxnqJPWqhdRhDEQQoFhaBf9cYE1iU7Xho0USZBKRdD3mZej1VBaEbglQn0Ya0Y6KMPLJf9DRmEMtO7ZJHCoF9WrxAZH-Xlz4eRdvhGBApJPCjaIZ/w400-h200/Top%20Gun%20Maverick.gif" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-83428260083023125952023-04-24T19:15:00.000-04:002023-04-24T19:15:35.675-04:00Kung Fu Panda - Series Retrospective (DreamWorks Animation Retrospective #3)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ftspMDYYkbBAsfdGopKRNwugUTf6LDhcKp_n09f91RueRcfVctz7dwsmkWom3kI7DB44mngCNvvnBo2VUAiWG0WGX39DT4L5NAXTTWlo8vaTp-vkhSOgPwdTWgTMedmMjiFd09l0MW_U7QVoGOPO69HrW4H4BcIyZoONmDR0eLVzl_dahUd1a_FIEg/s2560/Kung%20Fu%20Panda%20Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="751" data-original-width="2560" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_ftspMDYYkbBAsfdGopKRNwugUTf6LDhcKp_n09f91RueRcfVctz7dwsmkWom3kI7DB44mngCNvvnBo2VUAiWG0WGX39DT4L5NAXTTWlo8vaTp-vkhSOgPwdTWgTMedmMjiFd09l0MW_U7QVoGOPO69HrW4H4BcIyZoONmDR0eLVzl_dahUd1a_FIEg/w512-h150/Kung%20Fu%20Panda%20Logo.png" width="512" /></a></div><p>Expectations can be an extremely fickle thing when it comes
to film. Sometimes there are films that folks are incredibly eager to see but
ultimately end up disappointing them. Conversely, there are films that many people
don’t expect a lot out of going in but, to their surprise, end up being way
better than they anticipated. Case in point, as Rhode Island Movie Corner
continues its series of retrospectives on the various films produced by
DreamWorks Animation, today we’re tackling a franchise that is quite arguably
one of the best examples of how you should never judge a book by its cover, the
<i>Kung Fu Panda </i>trilogy. While it’s been nearly one and a half decades
since the release of the original <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>in 2008, I still vaguely
remember the overall uncertainty surrounding its release, especially since, in
retrospect, this was right around the time when DreamWorks’ reputation for
relying heavily on pop culture references was very much in full effect. But
when it finally hit theaters, it did incredibly well with both critics and
audiences to the point where it could very well be argued that it was one of
the initial catalysts behind DreamWorks’ efforts to evolve as an animation
studio. Thus, <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>promptly<i> </i>became another one of
DreamWorks’ major franchises, with its three films collectively grossing nearly
$2 billion worldwide; and as fate would have it, a fourth installment was
recently confirmed for a 2024 release. So, with that in mind, let’s tag along
with Po, the Mighty Dragon Warrior, and the Furious Five as we tackle the <i>Kung
Fu Panda </i>trilogy. Skadoosh!</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">(Disclaimer: New
verse, same as the first! For those who haven’t checked out my previous DreamWorks
retrospectives, I’m only covering DreamWorks’ feature film output and won’t be
going over any of the non-theatrical projects that their franchises have spawned;
specifically, their numerous TV series spin-offs. In today’s case, this includes
the<i> </i>franchise’s most recent installment, <i>Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon
Knight</i>, which debuted on Netflix this past summer and saw the one and only
Jack Black reprise his role as the series’ main protagonist Po, which is
notable because this was the first <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>TV series that Black
was directly involved with (in the franchise’s previous televised outings, <i>Kung
Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness </i>and <i>Kung Fu Panda: The Paws of Destiny</i>,
Po was voiced by voice actor Mick Wingert).)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>KUNG FU PANDA
(2008)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95RYYpBZ13R0tQ8SzzLiBTlN4TIiCJSqNvO01qRxdJleqgBYoNXbPLiAOIiQYQWuWehJe0QGRN5pj8b1pSfwHosoTJrH0kTs3Oeyhb-bKLJpjAYJMAh8fl8Kn4NcgZDcIzjqGuqATlRyzj-VfDfCF2u3wkRF3lsaL6ctExTvaLr9MYjCrn2pTy89hGQ/s755/Kung%20Fu%20Panda%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="483" height="395" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj95RYYpBZ13R0tQ8SzzLiBTlN4TIiCJSqNvO01qRxdJleqgBYoNXbPLiAOIiQYQWuWehJe0QGRN5pj8b1pSfwHosoTJrH0kTs3Oeyhb-bKLJpjAYJMAh8fl8Kn4NcgZDcIzjqGuqATlRyzj-VfDfCF2u3wkRF3lsaL6ctExTvaLr9MYjCrn2pTy89hGQ/w253-h395/Kung%20Fu%20Panda%20Poster.jpg" width="253" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As noted in the intro, the original <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>was
something that caught quite a lot of people by surprise back when it first came
out in 2008. With a title that, admittedly, sounds incredibly goofy on paper
and the fact that, at that time, a good chunk of DreamWorks films outside of
the first two <i>Shrek </i>films weren’t doing too well with critics, it’s not
that hard to imagine that a lot of folks probably figured that this would end
up being another underwhelming release from the studio. And yet, when it came
out, it was quite arguably DreamWorks’ most successful in-house release (not
counting their collaborations with Aardman, which earned them a second Oscar
for Best Animated Feature in 2005 thanks to <i>Wallace & Gromit: The Curse
of the Were-Rabbit</i>) since <i>Shrek 2</i>. The reviews for it were
excellent, it scored over $631 million at the worldwide box-office, and despite
some controversy over claims of alleged vote rigging, it even managed to upset
Pixar’s critically acclaimed <i>Wall-E </i>by winning that year’s Annie Award
for Best Animated Film. Simply put, it was a hit, and when you watch the film
even after all these years, it’s easy to see why. For starters, co-directors John
Stevenson and Mark Osborne and their team clearly went above and beyond to honor
the Chinese roots that thoroughly shaped this film’s premise in practically every
possible aspect of its production. From some beautifully animated segments that
pay homage to the staples of Chinese artistry (i.e., shadow puppetry) to the
utterly incredible action sequences that were seen as a game-changer when it came
to staging fight choreography in Western Animation, <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>is an
animated film that visually and artistically holds its own against some of the
most iconic live-action martial arts films of all-time. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But it also helps that the film is buoyed by a familiar yet
effective underdog story in which main protagonist Po must prove himself to
everyone who doesn’t believe that he is the mythical ‘Dragon Warrior’, the most
powerful kung-fu master in the land. Po, as excellently voiced by everyone’s
favorite fun-loving rockstar Jack Black, is a naturally sympathetic protagonist,
thus making his classic hero’s journey a satisfying one to watch. In fact,
Black’s casting even helped to steer Po away from the more jerkish persona that
he was originally given during the early stages of production. Black is then
joined by a considerably star-studded supporting cast, including Dustin Hoffman
as the stern Master Shifu, who’s begrudgingly forced to try and teach Po
kung-fu, Ian McShane as Shifu’s former protégé turned arch nemesis Tai Lung, and
the quintet of Angelina Jolie (Tigress), Lucy Liu (Viper), Seth Rogen (Mantis),
David Cross (Crane), and Jackie Chan (Monkey) as Shifu’s students, the famous
Furious Five. With all this in mind, let’s return to what I said before about
how a title like <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>may have seemed like a completely
ridiculous idea when you first hear it because, at the end of the day, this
film’s greatest accomplishment is that it proves to be far more than what its
title suggests. In other words, as much as it does maintain the usual comedic
sensibilities of a DreamWorks film, it also takes its plot seriously and neatly
mixes in some highly effective emotional moments amidst all the wacky antics of
a panda learning the art of kung-fu. It was, in a way, the antithesis of what a
lot of DreamWorks films were like at the time, thus signaling a bold new era
for the studio. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>KUNG FU PANDA 2
(2011)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2c22VnlIYTZih_2SHjqIl-oJDqvg1hm1EKavcMNDpARqwoAukAlZdYwrTSjGoVSNWwfEAAmctE9_ZzetZbvIDeOYhw8k-J0kiEZMERSvuaVuM13f4fQ8wRe7BC5aUtMZWzY_x_yMkUyoekAkhRB9GKrjsT70GOpeYjpRSM5gCERvKrYyI26defKJ4A/s1500/Kung%20Fu%20Panda%202%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="960" height="384" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI2c22VnlIYTZih_2SHjqIl-oJDqvg1hm1EKavcMNDpARqwoAukAlZdYwrTSjGoVSNWwfEAAmctE9_ZzetZbvIDeOYhw8k-J0kiEZMERSvuaVuM13f4fQ8wRe7BC5aUtMZWzY_x_yMkUyoekAkhRB9GKrjsT70GOpeYjpRSM5gCERvKrYyI26defKJ4A/w246-h384/Kung%20Fu%20Panda%202%20Poster.jpg" width="246" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The second installment of the <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>series
proved to be a considerably significant release as a result of who was
directing it. For this film, directorial duties shifted to the original film’s
head of story (and director of its opening 2-D sequence), Jennifer Yuh Nelson. In
doing so, Nelson became the first female director to have sole directorial
credit on an animated film for a major studio and the first Asian-American to
do so as well. And thanks to <i>Kung Fu Panda 2 </i>being another financial hit
for DreamWorks, managing to surpass the first film’s worldwide total by earning
over $665 million worldwide, that made it the highest-grossing film directed by
a woman at that time. Sure, this record would be surpassed just two years later
by <i>Frozen </i>earning over $1 billion, but since Disney Animation’s Chief
Creative Officer Jennifer Lee shared directorial duties with Chris Buck on that
film, Nelson would retain the record as a solo director for a few more years until
2017 when Patty Jenkins directed <i>Wonder Woman</i> ($822 million). But perhaps
most notably of all, while <i>Kung Fu Panda 2 </i>technically has a lower score
than its predecessor on Rotten Tomatoes (an 80% compared to the original’s 87%),
I have seen many people proclaim this to be yet another example of a superior
DreamWorks sequel following in the footsteps of <i>Shrek 2 </i>and the second
and third <i>Madagascar </i>films. And while this may have been the first time
that I’ve ever seen this film… I must say that I would have to agree.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Like the original, <i>Kung Fu Panda 2 </i>boasts incredible
action sequences, and thanks in large part to the fast-break style that DreamWorks
was beginning to adopt at that time as evident from films like <i>Madagascar 3</i>,
that gives this film’s action sequences an even greater kinetic energy. But
aside from maintaining the original’s brilliantly choreographed action and
solid sense of humor, <i>Kung Fu Panda 2 </i>also delivers on some terrific
emotional poignancy, arguably more so than the first film. As part of the main
plot of Po and the Furious Five taking on the sinister peacock warlord Lord
Shen, the film also begins to delve into Po’s backstory, showing that he was seemingly
the only survivor of a full-on massacre of pandas initiated by Shen, who was told
that he would be defeated by ‘a warrior of black of white’. Thus, Po was separated
from his parents (both of whom presumed dead) and taken in by kindly noodle
shop owner Mr. Ping. In short, because of Shen’s pivotal role in this turn of
events (as well as his collection of powerful cannons that can straight-up kill
off kung-fu masters), the wannabe despot, as excellently voiced by Gary Oldman,
is a truly formidable and intimidating main antagonist. And so, with all that
in mind, it’s easy to see why <i>Kung Fu Panda 2 </i>is, indeed, considered by
many to be a superior sequel as it takes everything that was great about its
predecessor and amplifies it all even further, thus resulting in an all-around
crowd pleaser that cemented its franchise’s premier status. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>KUNG FU PANDA 3
(2016)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebsKNal22AkpM27hiLwRvHw6PrAJWIYwTGLt0_QVdUptLy2b6sJJ_VybZted82fhiHe377rZZGYr25-SnKBCIvUULY2v8CV6eOqOU_1enmlCyzaYmNoQt29q8sMpXFmfzj5DA8CbRmHn8Lii27Etx1H9ASdqukILU3VisF0KaR1WnXmM3p8Ataca-2w/s1500/Kung%20Fu%20Panda%203%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1000" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhebsKNal22AkpM27hiLwRvHw6PrAJWIYwTGLt0_QVdUptLy2b6sJJ_VybZted82fhiHe377rZZGYr25-SnKBCIvUULY2v8CV6eOqOU_1enmlCyzaYmNoQt29q8sMpXFmfzj5DA8CbRmHn8Lii27Etx1H9ASdqukILU3VisF0KaR1WnXmM3p8Ataca-2w/w241-h362/Kung%20Fu%20Panda%203%20Poster.jpg" width="241" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the end of <i>Kung Fu Panda 2</i>, it is revealed that Po’s
real father, Li Shan, did, in fact, survive Lord Shen’s massacre. Thus, in <i>Kung
Fu Panda 3</i>, Po finally reunites with his long-lost dad (originally voiced
by Fred Tatasciore in the second film but now voiced by Bryan Cranston in what
is ironically his second-straight appearance in a DreamWorks threequel after <i>Madagascar
3</i>), who has been residing in a secret village full of pandas ever since
that fateful day. At the same time, though, Po and company now find themselves dealing
with their most dangerous opponent yet; Kai (voiced by J.K. Simmons), a warrior
from the Spirit Realm and former colleague of the late Master Oogway who has been
hunting the masters of kung-fu for their chi as revenge against Oogway for sending
him to the Spirit Realm a long time ago. Jennifer Yuh Nelson returned to direct
this third installment, but to help ensure that it would be finished on time,
she did have a co-director in longtime DreamWorks animator/story artist Alessandro
Carloni. This was also one of the many DreamWorks projects at that time that the
one and only Guillermo Del Toro was involved with, as he also had producing
credits on films like <i>Puss in Boots </i>and <i>Rise of the Guardians </i>and
would go on to create the <i>Tales of Arcadia </i>trilogy of TV shows that
DreamWorks developed for Netflix. And as you might have guessed, <i>Kung Fu
Panda 3 </i>was another critical and commercial success; while it may not have made
over $600 million worldwide like both of its predecessors, it still did quite
well for itself with over $521 million.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Critically, the film had the franchise’s second highest
rating on Rotten Tomatoes with an 86% score though, from what I’ve seen, there
have been some who feel that it doesn’t quite reach the same exact highs of <i>Kung
Fu Panda 2</i>, which most likely stems from one key development. Tonally
speaking, <i>Kung Fu Panda 3 </i>is, surprisingly, a much different kind of
film compared to its predecessors as it is by far the most comedic-driven entry
in the franchise. Whether it’s the running gag of Kai getting frustrated by the
fact that no one knows who he is or the various side characters that Po meets
at the secret panda village (each of whom has their own little quirk that comes
into play during the final battle), <i>Kung Fu Panda 3 </i>explicitly relies
more on its humor than any of its dramatic moments. As such, one could arguably
describe this as the animated equivalent of a Marvel Cinematic Universe film,
especially because of how the MCU has often been called out for how it has
consistently maintained that narrative approach throughout its run. And yet, as
anyone familiar with my love of the MCU may have guessed, it goes without
saying that I don’t have any major issues with this film’s decision to take
that same kind of route. After all, as I’ve often argued with MCU films, just
because a film is primarily comedic in nature doesn’t mean that it can’t
deliver any high-quality emotional moments, and thanks in large part to the
whole plot of Po reuniting with his father, <i>Kung Fu Panda 3 </i>still
delivers some solid bits of emotional poignancy while also boasting the best
animation out of any film in the series with its beautiful landscapes, vibrant
color palette, and sharp and fluent character animation. Thus, while I do
understand why some may find this film’s more lighthearted nature to be
something of a step back for this franchise, that doesn’t stop <i>Kung Fu Panda
3 </i>from being another charming and entertaining animated film that presents
an all-around satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And so, that concludes
Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Retrospective on the <i>Kung Fu Panda </i>trilogy. Next
time on the <i>DreamWorks Retrospective </i>series, we finally come to the
franchise that I’m sure a lot of you folks have been waiting for, <i>How to Train
Your Dragon</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-71955080424321223462022-10-12T16:00:00.000-04:002022-10-12T16:00:51.677-04:00Favorite Films of Summer 2022 - As Voted by YOU!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSwCnXp8tVu9xxb1Y8yIWQgb6w-SWHVXpd4ZtRv6XMfZqfOwcQS_oOjIUQNdvKR0duQA0iwkVVeHY-x_RykFbeeAYmhzNRepusvLy7AW3Odf8UehAH9yUvCmDWJC7o4QQdmDqNn_AoQROdAXdmbpaPXtiCwobZsXzH6giYvPyKPkYL_lBLZT2DiiLFw/s1920/Summer%202022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDSwCnXp8tVu9xxb1Y8yIWQgb6w-SWHVXpd4ZtRv6XMfZqfOwcQS_oOjIUQNdvKR0duQA0iwkVVeHY-x_RykFbeeAYmhzNRepusvLy7AW3Odf8UehAH9yUvCmDWJC7o4QQdmDqNn_AoQROdAXdmbpaPXtiCwobZsXzH6giYvPyKPkYL_lBLZT2DiiLFw/w469-h264/Summer%202022.jpg" width="469" /></a></div><p>Well, folks, another year of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s
Annual End of Summer Fan Poll has come and gone, and as always, I couldn’t be
happier with the results. As such, I’d like to start by thanking everyone who
participated in this year’s event as well as anyone who helped to share it
around on social media. Those who partake in the latter are particularly
instrumental in giving this annual event of ours some attention, especially
given that, to be perfectly blunt, I’m mainly just a freelance film critic who
has been self-publishing my reviews/retrospectives/etc. on this site for the
past decade. Case in point, some of you might have noticed that I extended the
voting period for this year’s poll an extra day due to a special request from
my older brother Chris, whose busy schedule kept him from partaking in the
voting process before the end of my initial September 1<sup>st</sup> cutoff
date. Had he not messaged me, this year’s poll would’ve ended with only 40
votes, and while it would’ve been the lowest turnout in this event’s history,
it also wouldn’t have bothered me that much because, at the very least, I always
hope to achieve a minimum of 40 votes every year because I feel like that’s a
good round number for this sort of thing. Thanks to that one extra day of voting,
what would’ve originally ended up being an event-low… turned into a
record-shattering turnout of <b><span style="font-size: 18.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">119 (!!!) </span></b>votes! This is the first year
that our annual poll has managed to attract over 100 responses which, as you
might have guessed, is a development that delights me to no end. Once again, I
express nothing but gratitude to everyone who helped us reach this significant
milestone. And so, with all that out of the way, let’s not waste any more time,
folks, as we’ve got fourteen films to talk about today. Without further ado,
these are the films that earned your many, many votes as your favorite films
from the 2022 summer season.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>FIRST UP, WE
HAVE TWO FILMS THAT EARNED ONE VOTE EACH<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>THE GRAY MAN<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP24WCdycWo5fIT2FSUJMVU-6LChOdXUbVYiL6MrYoUyJxALp4zjn0cGk2LiltaC3JiaJ1ZjDwUXKtUqwpGB4G3abM6Juug_vAatD8Thd3Jvin1LEqRrGOhi3uUnAWU9vw7-H9Dsk30Ls19qpLpyM-2KIsLr6XJfeFAmgl37f2DQ6N-xdu0h7hoVqLqg/s1520/The%20Gray%20Man.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1520" height="208" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhP24WCdycWo5fIT2FSUJMVU-6LChOdXUbVYiL6MrYoUyJxALp4zjn0cGk2LiltaC3JiaJ1ZjDwUXKtUqwpGB4G3abM6Juug_vAatD8Thd3Jvin1LEqRrGOhi3uUnAWU9vw7-H9Dsk30Ls19qpLpyM-2KIsLr6XJfeFAmgl37f2DQ6N-xdu0h7hoVqLqg/w400-h208/The%20Gray%20Man.webp" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We start things off with a film that, technically, was primarily
a streaming release via Netflix. On paper, this may seem like an instant
disqualification from being considered for this event given that I only focus
on theatrical releases, but this film did see a brief theatrical release the
week before it hit the service, which is something that Netflix has done before
for other films such as Martin Scorsese’s <i>The Irishman</i>, Zack Snyder’s <i>Army
of the Dead</i>, and the Shawn Levy directed Ryan Reynolds vehicle <i>The Adam
Project</i>. This is also something that I can personally vouch for as a Team
Member at the Universal Orlando resort as our on-site Cinemark theater has screened
all these films on the big screen. And really, even if I didn’t have that sort
of proof, it shouldn’t be that surprising that this got some form of theatrical
release given that it’s the latest from the directorial duo of brothers Joe and
Anthony Russo who, of course, are best known at this point for their work in
the Marvel Cinematic Universe, where they’ve been responsible for some of its
greatest outings like <i>Captain America: The Winter Soldier </i>and <i>Avengers:
Endgame</i>. After a brief detour into arthouse territory with last year’s crime
drama <i>Cherry</i>, the Russo brothers return to the genre that they’ve largely
been known for in recent years with an adaptation of author Mark Greaney’s 2009
novel of the same name, the first of what is currently a 12-book series. Ryan
Gosling headlines the film as the titular ‘Gray Man’ Court Gentry AKA Sierra
Six, a long-time CIA assassin who, after his latest operation results in him
taking out a former Sierra agent, is forced to go on the run after the rogue
agent, Sierra Four, provides him with a bunch of information that exposes the
corrupt business dealings of some of his CIA superiors.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">What follows is, admittedly, an incredibly straightforward
action-thriller plot that hits all the usual narrative beats that you’d expect
from a story in which a highly trained government agent is targeted by his own
organization when he uncovers its corrupt secrets. Whether it’s the gradual
reveals of the main protagonist’s dark past or the use of some of his closest
allies as bait (in this instance, his first handler and his medically afflicted
niece), you’ve undoubtedly seen this kind of story play out before in other
films and TV shows. Despite this, however, the film never drags at any point
and gives plenty of opportunities for the Russos to display their talents when
it comes to directing top-notch action sequences. And while the formulaic plot doesn’t
give the film’s stacked ensemble cast a lot to work with, said cast is still
quite strong, with Ryan Gosling headlining the film as well as someone as
charismatic as Ryan Gosling can while being backed by solid supporting players
such as Ana de Armas as Dani Miranda, the lone CIA agent who ends up teaming up
with Six, and Billy Bob Thornton as his longtime handler Fitzroy. Ultimately,
though, the biggest star of the show is Chris Evans in a delightfully
against-type performance as Lloyd Hansen, the downright psychopathic mercenary
who’s brought in to kill Six. In short, while it’s by no means the best project
that either the Russos or longtime MCU screenwriters Christopher Markus and
Stephen McFeely have ever worked on, <i>The Gray Man </i>is still a largely
well-tuned action flick. As such, it’s easy to see why this is being primed up
to become a major franchise for Netflix, with both a sequel and spin-off (the
latter being developed by <i>Deadpool </i>and <i>Zombieland </i>co-writers Paul
Wernick and Rhett Reese) in the works. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>DC LEAGUE OF SUPER-PETS<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWd1zV0su6zOmDU1_1XiLg_51V9qxwViv_oOT2VnoBOoqF1FoTpKtg1CHJKSRM3PFZMRhNRmj70wt7VEgcFftlC2JCrc2Xvnfiup5eVVmrOU8x6LFOs_v21Kp0Gxdn1uzlkKUOeBpU35bzox2EWDT_fkfYzdLYA7lW3d3zaV6qkRnWPvavv_a-XjJvw/s1935/DC%20League%20of%20SuperPets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1088" data-original-width="1935" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaWd1zV0su6zOmDU1_1XiLg_51V9qxwViv_oOT2VnoBOoqF1FoTpKtg1CHJKSRM3PFZMRhNRmj70wt7VEgcFftlC2JCrc2Xvnfiup5eVVmrOU8x6LFOs_v21Kp0Gxdn1uzlkKUOeBpU35bzox2EWDT_fkfYzdLYA7lW3d3zaV6qkRnWPvavv_a-XjJvw/w400-h225/DC%20League%20of%20SuperPets.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the time of this post’s publication, we are a little more
than a week away from the release of one of the superhero genre’s most
talked-about installments in recent years, <i>Black Adam</i>, the long-awaited live-action
debut of the DC Universe’s infamous anti-hero and longtime rival of Shazam,
which Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson has been attached to for years. As it turns
out, though, this wasn’t the only DC project that Johnson and his production
team would work on as they also developed an animated film that would undoubtedly
appeal to those who are arguably a bit too young for the darker and far more intense
affair that <i>Black Adam </i>is shaping up to be. Directed by Jared Stern
(best known for his work as a writer and creative consultant for the Warner
Bros. produced <i>LEGO </i>films), <i>DC League of Super-Pets </i>is based
around the Legion of Super-Pets, a squad of superpowered pets who are owned by
members of the Justice League. Johnson, of course, headlines the project as
Superman’s loyal canine Krypto the Superdog, who teams up with a bunch of
rescues from an animal shelter who have all been given superpowers thanks to a
batch of orange kryptonite to rescue Superman and the Justice League from a
trap set by Lex Luthor and a diabolical guinea pig named Lulu. While the film
didn’t make a lot of noise at the box office, only grossing about $199 million
on a $90 million budget, it fared relatively well with critics and I think it’s
safe to say that it must’ve performed even better with audiences. Plus, from
what I’ve heard, it’s also quite nice that the film serves as a lovely tribute
to the powerful and heartfelt bonds that can be formed between a pet and its
owner.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Also, I’d be remiss
if I didn’t mention the part about this film having a post-credits scene where none
other than Black Adam makes an appearance along with his dog Anubis; both of
whom are, as you’ve probably guessed, voiced by Dwayne Johnson.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg37nskaRJRZg9CtEGYnaIMw8Kf57cGBA8OEaigRfS5Ry64riTIureyWDDOyQwJvhVOkOfBy_2wdK90_6rR14sy4spxI9DBegNwBosKtq7dIpjWTPpqhEKp_ACM9RCEwt1OwMJVJur7yrx9ak9MLfiZuWd4mpH-2peE6L_RmZYZhw2pCZXd7DmCCnOhHA/s474/DC%20Pets%20Post%20Credit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="266" data-original-width="474" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg37nskaRJRZg9CtEGYnaIMw8Kf57cGBA8OEaigRfS5Ry64riTIureyWDDOyQwJvhVOkOfBy_2wdK90_6rR14sy4spxI9DBegNwBosKtq7dIpjWTPpqhEKp_ACM9RCEwt1OwMJVJur7yrx9ak9MLfiZuWd4mpH-2peE6L_RmZYZhw2pCZXd7DmCCnOhHA/w400-h225/DC%20Pets%20Post%20Credit.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>THE FOLLOWING
TWO FILMS EACH EARNED TWO VOTES<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>FIRESTARTER<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9nm3x-rtwBTFTWMtAtgVID2uUnK-8JiJE2pNmPdAK0nbXwmdwvHRy6-IAtm3omAK-pu0Ej-kJWEzPEIULqy8c0fVWdCsM2Tv_S5mOTq7x0TgCY4_i0QZetLmMhU_QIjttg6ruC9uIDmumBg5wHLtM_2ypBsmgCtOkTIrnThcQq9epYxlN83g8NEbXOw/s681/FireStarter%202022.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="383" data-original-width="681" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9nm3x-rtwBTFTWMtAtgVID2uUnK-8JiJE2pNmPdAK0nbXwmdwvHRy6-IAtm3omAK-pu0Ej-kJWEzPEIULqy8c0fVWdCsM2Tv_S5mOTq7x0TgCY4_i0QZetLmMhU_QIjttg6ruC9uIDmumBg5wHLtM_2ypBsmgCtOkTIrnThcQq9epYxlN83g8NEbXOw/w400-h225/FireStarter%202022.webp" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Here we have the latest adaptation of one of the many works
of legendary author Stephen King. The source material in question is King’s
1980 novel <i>Firestarter</i>, which follows a father and daughter, Andy and
Charlie McGee, who find themselves targeted by a government group known as ‘The
Shop’ that seeks to control the latter’s pyrokinetic abilities. This story was
originally adapted to the big screen in 1984 in a film that was notable for
being one of the earliest leading roles for Drew Barrymore as Charlie after her
breakout debut in <i>E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial</i>. It ultimately proved to be
a dud with critics (King himself wasn’t too pleased with it either), but at the
same time, I wouldn’t be surprised if there are some out there who consider it
to be a cult classic of its era. As for the new remake, it was produced by one
of the leading forces behind the modern era of the horror genre, Blumhouse
Productions, with Ryan Kiera Armstrong starring as Charlie and Zac Efron as her
father Andy. It also notably featured a score composed by the legendary John
Carpenter, working alongside his son Cody and frequent collaborator Daniel
Davies as they’ve been doing for the past few years on projects such as the
recent trilogy of <i>Halloween </i>films. Despite all this, however, this new
take on <i>Firestarter </i>didn’t fare any better than the 1984 film did with
critics; in fact, many argued that it was even worse by comparison. If
anything, though, while it only did around $15 million at the box office, it
did, apparently, get some sort of financial boost when it was paired with,
ironically enough, the next film that we’ll be talking about during its opening
weekend as part of a drive-in theater double feature.<i> </i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>JURASSIC WORLD:
DOMINION<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8vLDumWqNHAIsy3ozmZHshTk51myD6ltww54OjkzdEXer2mmJXaY1grcSPa0gIv-0WID06H_M5Q2v1DfoMFUeAG07Imwces9lXrEyYizWjnoYmY9w7r_ULMOmfzUETHy-KDU7JgqlcZuW1qsJxolhyKJEvRW2n6h2Wv5-fvoDaeljGqSzG0JjCp1RPQ/s3000/Jurassic%20World%20Dominion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1688" data-original-width="3000" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8vLDumWqNHAIsy3ozmZHshTk51myD6ltww54OjkzdEXer2mmJXaY1grcSPa0gIv-0WID06H_M5Q2v1DfoMFUeAG07Imwces9lXrEyYizWjnoYmY9w7r_ULMOmfzUETHy-KDU7JgqlcZuW1qsJxolhyKJEvRW2n6h2Wv5-fvoDaeljGqSzG0JjCp1RPQ/w400-h225/Jurassic%20World%20Dominion.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Billed as not only the finale to the <i>Jurassic World </i>trilogy
but also the entire <i>Jurassic Park</i> franchise, <i>Jurassic World: Dominion
</i>saw the original <i>Jurassic World</i>’s director Colin Trevorrow return to
close out the trilogy after J.A. Bayona stepped in to direct 2018’s <i>Jurassic
World: Fallen Kingdom </i>due in large part to Trevorrow’s commitment at the
time to <i>Star Wars: Episode IX</i>. And practically from the moment that it
was announced, it was clear that <i>Dominion </i>was being set up to be the
very definition of a film franchise’s ‘grand finale’, especially once it was
revealed that the film would see the return of the original <i>Jurassic Park</i>’s
lead trio of Sam Neill’s Alan Grant, Laura Dern’s Ellie Sattler, and Jeff
Goldblum’s Ian Malcolm. Goldblum had already made a brief cameo in <i>Jurassic
World: Fallen Kingdom</i>, but as for Neill and Dern, this was the first time
that either of them had appeared in this series since <i>Jurassic Park III </i>back
in 2001. But upon the film’s release, we once again found ourselves dealing
with what has very much been the recurring trend for this franchise where,
despite being the pop-cultural juggernaut that it is, it has never been able to
match the same level of critical acclaim as the original <i>Jurassic Park </i>from
1993 with any of its sequels. In fact, <i>Dominion </i>ended up attracting some
of the worst reviews of any film in the franchise with a series-low 29% score
on Rotten Tomatoes, but as usual, this didn’t stop it from being another big
hit at the box office. At the time of this post’s publication, it has just
recently passed the same $1 billion mark that both of its predecessors reached.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Apart from the usual recurring criticisms that these films
have faced regarding logistical gaps in their plots and questionable decisions
made by their characters, it’s safe to say that one of the most talked-about
‘shortcomings’ of <i>Dominion </i>is how, despite bearing the <i>Jurassic
Park/World </i>pedigree, it is surprisingly light on dinosaur-related set pieces.
Instead, more time is spent on the film’s main plot of a sinister conspiracy orchestrated
by Biosyn, the longtime genetics rival of John Hammond’s defunct company InGen,
to unleash a plague of prehistoric locusts upon the world that will give them control
of the global food supply market. And bear in mind, this film boasts the
longest runtime of any film in the series at 146 minutes long, so it’s truly
saying something when a <i>Jurassic </i>film is severely lacking in the main
thing that people come to them to see, dinosaurs. At the very least, though,
the action set pieces that are in this film (whether they have a dinosaur or
not) are well-handled, with Trevorrow doing a nice job of upping his visual
game when compared to the more sterile visual palette of the first <i>Jurassic
World</i>. And if anything, it’s nice to see the return of the trio of Grant,
Ellie, and Malcolm in a way that lets them play a prominent role in the plot
instead of just being a bunch of cameos while also working quite well alongside
<i>World</i>’s lead duo of Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At the end of the day, it’s clear that there are two
distinct camps when it comes to one’s thoughts on the <i>Jurassic Park/Jurassic
World </i>franchise. Obviously, there are quite a lot of folks out there who feel
that this series peaked with Steven Spielberg’s 1993 original and hasn’t
managed to recapture the same kind of cinematic magic ever since. But at the
same time, there are also clearly folks out there who, even if they don’t think
that any of the sequels are as good as the original, still like a decent number
of them. I believe that this is a major reason why this series continues to be
one of the most prominent film franchises of all time regardless of how poorly most
of its films have fared with critics. They’ve certainly done well in this
annual poll of ours, as the first <i>Jurassic World </i>was the third-place winner
of 2015 with four votes total. The same, admittedly, can’t be said for <i>Fallen
Kingdom</i>, which didn’t get any votes in the 2018 poll, but that uneventful showing
was very much redeemed by <i>Dominion</i>’s solid turnout in this year’s poll,
and for the most part, I think it’s easy to see why. As someone who’s on the
side of ‘those who’ve liked if not necessarily loved most of the sequels’, <i>Dominion
</i>is obviously far from being the franchise’s best outing but still has enough
enjoyable moments in it to be a decently entertaining summer blockbuster. If
anything, I give this film a lot of credit for how it managed to be one of the
first big Hollywood productions that was able to overcome all the newfound
complications that spawned from the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>AS FATE WOULD
HAVE IT, WE GO FROM TWO FILMS WITH TWO VOTES… TO THREE FILMS WITH THREE VOTES!<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>DOWNTON ABBEY:
A NEW ERA<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94Go1XXv9vCkVfNG7s6HZqez2Ys_ahryTb9nOkq2ADM0JHoSe-IDI_l1a9R0REqurIel9bI49SBBu8-l0xECBaxXgUbtwphtw9GDOy_R0UvVDvuUDdDULS1INY5bAuWvDPUoyXQY8UI3RrKUICQdrkjTq9PwbcQvNhtiZCdmUDqSZu59hM3_Olq5VzQ/s1400/Downton%20Abbey%202.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1400" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg94Go1XXv9vCkVfNG7s6HZqez2Ys_ahryTb9nOkq2ADM0JHoSe-IDI_l1a9R0REqurIel9bI49SBBu8-l0xECBaxXgUbtwphtw9GDOy_R0UvVDvuUDdDULS1INY5bAuWvDPUoyXQY8UI3RrKUICQdrkjTq9PwbcQvNhtiZCdmUDqSZu59hM3_Olq5VzQ/w400-h225/Downton%20Abbey%202.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2010 saw the debut of <i>Downton Abbey</i>, a 1910’s/1920’s British
period drama created by veteran screenwriter Julian Fellowes that followed the
daily escapades of the aristocratic Crawley family, who reside in their luxurious
Yorkshire estate that the show takes its name from. First debuting on the U.K.’s
ITV network, the show was an immediate smash hit with both critics and
audiences and proceeded to gain even more attention once it made its American
debut the following year on PBS. In other words, it’s safe to say that it
promptly became one of the most well-known shows of its time; think of it as
the precursor to current hit period dramas such as <i>The Crown </i>and <i>Bridgerton</i>.
With all this success under its belt, the series transitioned to the big screen
in 2019 with a <i>Downton Abbey </i>film, and even though it had been four
years since the show had ended in 2015, it proved to be a considerable critical
and commercial hit. Thus, not long after Fellowes had completed work on the
first season of <i>The Gilded Age</i>, it was confirmed that a sequel would be
in the works, titled <i>Downton Abbey: A New Era</i>. In this film, the Crawley
family simultaneously deals with a filmmaker’s use of their estate for a silent
film and the mysterious revelation that the Dowager Countess of Grantham was
gifted a South France villa by a recently deceased old flame of hers. With
practically all the key members of the show’s massive ensemble cast reprising
their roles, <i>A New Era </i>was widely touted as a satisfying bit of fan service that may not have reinvented the wheel but gave its fans exactly
what they wanted.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>THE BLACK PHONE<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGBnSVHIwgxPiVSFlOP21ch2DYdFfhCAP4FkM2sDEnDK4NAGhohP4sWg9oJ_JhzAssR7hAu_8HzDU3ddcCrBV78_bh4Z1IGrPj05E8yZMOm8V44qCkFbBJm4kNJGa0X7YtvB35juRxFxvFmK0j79nkKC7oEvjwxSLHW8DCWPgwdrimn2ecXa0XVrxMA/s740/The%20Black%20Phone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="740" height="205" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMGBnSVHIwgxPiVSFlOP21ch2DYdFfhCAP4FkM2sDEnDK4NAGhohP4sWg9oJ_JhzAssR7hAu_8HzDU3ddcCrBV78_bh4Z1IGrPj05E8yZMOm8V44qCkFbBJm4kNJGa0X7YtvB35juRxFxvFmK0j79nkKC7oEvjwxSLHW8DCWPgwdrimn2ecXa0XVrxMA/w400-h205/The%20Black%20Phone.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Scott Derrickson may have backed out of directing the sequel
to <i>Doctor Strange</i>, but by all accounts, this was ultimately for the best
as it gave him and his longtime writing partner C. Robert Cargill the perfect
opportunity to move ahead on a project that they’d been working on for years.
Thus, instead of Derrickson and Cargill’s second go-around with the Master of
the Mystic Arts, we got a 1970’s-set supernatural horror-thriller out of them
in <i>The Black Phone</i>, an adaptation of the 2004 short story of the same
name, first published in the 2005 short story collection <i>20<sup>th</sup>
Century Ghosts </i>by author Joe Hill, the son of Stephen King. Ethan Hawke,
who had previously collaborated with Derrickson and Cargill in 2012’s <i>Sinister</i>,
stars as ‘The Grabber’, a mysterious masked serial killer who has abducted
multiple children from a small Denver neighborhood. His latest victim, a
teenage boy named Finney, ends up being contacted by the spirits of the
Grabber’s previous victims from the allegedly broken black phone in his
basement cell, who then proceed to instruct him on how to escape. Despite only
opening at the #4 spot at the box office during its opening weekend, <i>The Black Phone
</i>went on to earn over $161 million worldwide, an excellent turnout for a
film with a modest $16-18 million budget. And in a year that has given us a
bunch of acclaimed horror films such as Ti West’s <i>X </i>and Jordan Peele’s <i>Nope</i>,
<i>The Black Phone </i>was another one of the genre’s big hits. While some
critics felt that it didn’t fully deliver on its horror elements, it was seen
as a highly faithful adaptation of its source material that was fully bolstered
by strong lead performances from not only the always reliable Ethan Hawke but
also its young stars Mason Thames as Finney and Madeleine McGraw as his sister
Gwen, who also seeks to help her brother after having psychic dreams about his
predicament. In short, this was very much a success story for all involved, and
just like when Edgar Wright gave us <i>Baby Driver </i>as his first film after
leaving the first <i>Ant-Man</i>, Scott Derrickson proved that he wouldn’t be
completely waylaid by an unrealized stint in the MCU. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>LIGHTYEAR<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuk0OJQ-1WFE6bSF0u2j5K9yheILB79PgIBMGHY6ivE-b17DPNGRWJIg0Y-5NhPEsEO0hLfI215zqSpgfI1DrkeO8jjjzl3BwvLMV_mII3aTFAv1fKpExkEBtUJVSLLsSXcqNglHb_OL8gyEe-9mSo9HzV670yI-HRkzzmbaSObjWsz65XoSuMxIP9rg/s1600/Lightyear.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="899" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuk0OJQ-1WFE6bSF0u2j5K9yheILB79PgIBMGHY6ivE-b17DPNGRWJIg0Y-5NhPEsEO0hLfI215zqSpgfI1DrkeO8jjjzl3BwvLMV_mII3aTFAv1fKpExkEBtUJVSLLsSXcqNglHb_OL8gyEe-9mSo9HzV670yI-HRkzzmbaSObjWsz65XoSuMxIP9rg/w400-h225/Lightyear.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While Pixar has continued to be one of the most prolific
studios in the world of animation with a vast array of animated masterpieces
that span nearly four decades of the studio’s existence, it can very well be
argued that the <i>Toy Story </i>franchise still stands as their most iconic
endeavor. After all, the original <i>Toy Story </i>from 1995 was the film that
made them a household name and almost single-handedly revolutionized the art of
computer-animated films. Since then, every mainline installment of the
franchise has been a massive critical and commercial success, with the third
and fourth films both securing Best Animated Feature Oscars and over $1 billion
runs at the box office; 2010’s <i>Toy Story 3 </i>even managed to become only
the third animated film in history to secure a Best Picture nomination. Simply
put, the adventures of a bunch of toys who come to life when their owners
aren’t around have become undeniable staples of the pop cultural zeitgeist,
especially thanks in large part to their lovable cast of characters that are
headlined, of course, by the dynamic duo of Woody the pull-string cowboy doll
and Buzz Lightyear, Space Ranger. And yet, while Woody has undoubtedly been the
franchise’s main protagonist, Buzz has arguably been its biggest ‘mascot’ given
all the pieces of spin-off media that he’s headlined, from the various <i>Toy
Story </i>video games (including the widely beloved video game adaptation of <i>Toy
Story 2</i>)<i> </i>to a series of hugely popular dark rides at various Disney
theme parks. And in 2000, just one year after the release of <i>Toy Story 2</i>,
Buzz would end up becoming the star of his own TV series spin-off (a first for
a Pixar property), <i>Buzz Lightyear of Star Command</i>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Developed by Walt Disney Animation’s television division and
the duo of Mark McCorkle and Bob Schooley (who would go on to create another
hit Disney animated series, <i>Kim Possible</i>), the show was largely a result
of the television studio’s highly successful batch of productions in the ’90s
and the rise of Disney’s direct-to-video market. During <i>Toy Story 2</i>’s
transition from a non-Pixar produced direct-to-video sequel to a theatrical
release directly developed in-house,<i> </i>McCorkle, Schooley, and Disney
Afternoon mainstay Tad Stones crafted a spin-off series focusing on the ‘real’
Buzz Lightyear and his crew of fellow Space Rangers as they battled the evil
Emperor Zurg. The result was a show that proved to be solidly popular with
audiences to the point where, nowadays, many are surprised that it hasn’t yet been
put on Disney+. It first debuted with a direct-to-video feature-length film, <i>Buzz
Lightyear of Star Command: The Adventure Begins</i>, and while Buzz was voiced
by Patrick Warburton in the show, Tim Allen returned to reprise his role from
the <i>Toy Story </i>films for the home video release. And while the film and
show were traditionally animated, Pixar provided a computer-animated opening
sequence for the film that was directed by Pixar animator Angus McLane. In
2022, McLane made his solo directorial debut (after previously co-directing
2016’s <i>Finding Dory </i>with Andrew Stanton) with a unique new take on everyone’s
favorite Space Ranger, simply titled <i>Lightyear</i>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Lightyear </i>is presented as the in-universe feature
film that would inspire the Buzz Lightyear toy line that, of course, spawned
the Buzz toy that the <i>Toy Story</i> gang’s original owner Andy would get for
his birthday in the first film. How does the <i>Buzz Lightyear of Star Command </i>series
factor into this, you ask? Well, as McLane has put it, it’s now seen as the
animated spin-off to the ‘live-action’ <i>Lightyear </i>film. Admittedly, this
explanation caused quite a bit of confusion amongst audiences when the project
was first announced due to all the crazy semantics behind it, but at the end of
the day, I’d argue that it’s not as big of an issue as the internet made it out
to be. However, the internet proved to have some other issues with this film
upon its release; while not critically panned, it did face the same criticism that
affected other ‘notoriously lesser-received’ Pixar films for not exactly having
the most refined of screenplays. But as anyone who’s followed me on this site
for several years knows, I’m not bound to the same ultra-high expectations that
most of the internet has for all future Pixar films. Sure, <i>Lightyear </i>is,
admittedly, a considerably straight-forward sci-fi adventure and ‘origin’ story
for Buzz, but that’s not always a bad thing as this is still a highly
entertaining film full of exciting action sequences, Pixar’s trademark gorgeous
animation and a bunch of fun call-backs to various Buzz-related scenes and
quotes from the <i>Toy Story </i>films. Plus, just because this is your
standard tale of an established soldier who’s forced to work with a bunch of
inexperienced rookies to save the day, that doesn’t mean that it lacks any of
those classic Pixar tearjerker moments, such as when Buzz views the final video
message given to him by his longtime friend Alisha Hawthorne before she dies. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Despite all the immense pressure that clearly must’ve come
from having to take over Tim Allen’s most iconic animated role, Chris Evans is
a fantastic fit as this film’s interpretation of Buzz Lightyear as he brings
the same level of charisma here that he brought to the role of Captain America
in the MCU. Keke Palmer, meanwhile, is equally terrific as Buzz’s main ally
Izzy, Alisha’s granddaughter, who faces her own personal struggles in her
efforts to become a Space Ranger just like her grandmother. They’re then backed
by some incredibly entertaining supporting players such as Taika Waititi as
their crew’s inexperienced yet happy-go-lucky recruit Mo, Dale Soules as the crotchety
parolee (and demolitions expert) Darby, and of course, the film’s best
character, Buzz’s loyal robotic cat companion Sox (voiced by Pixar regular
Peter Sohn). Heck, I was even fine with this film’s big twist revolving around
its version of Buzz’s arch-nemesis Zurg, who’s revealed to be an older Buzz
from an alternate timeline… which, I’m aware, is a debate that I’m very much in
the minority on. Were folks just mad that this film didn’t maintain the gag
from <i>Toy Story 2 </i>in which a Zurg toy tells the other Buzz Lightyear toy
that tags along with Andy’s Buzz and the gang that he’s his father? Because if
so… I don’t even recall the <i>Buzz Lightyear of Star Command</i> series retaining
what was primarily just a homage to the iconic Darth Vader reveal scene from <i>The
Empire Strikes Back</i>. Whatever the case, <i>Lightyear </i>is yet another
fine addition to Pixar’s legendary filmography that truly didn’t deserve to
become another one of its box-office bombs, especially because of all the lame
conservative outcry that occurred over a moment in the film where Alisha shares
a kiss with her wife Kiko. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>THIS YEAR’S
EVENT SAW SIX VOTES COME IN THROUGH OUR WRITE-IN SECTION. ONE OF THESE VOTES
WAS, ADMITTEDLY, FOR A FILM THAT WAS ALREADY ONE OF THE AVAILABLE OPTIONS, BUT THIS
NEXT FILM WOULD BE THE ONE THAT EARNED THE OTHER FIVE VOTES.<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>WHERE THE
CRAWDADS SING<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJelRdysSJhQ9jT2vn9gkjtIClaQv_FWtE7zH2mbtS5A8IWnWeRVyTPC6Z-XqJVICqpzvjVCO1YhQ0AJS4DTI44ggs_w_oQ2SJrzJh361hmI3eYE6M2SIsKik7qXN3Y52I4mLNRNDbY5iLxpRCsH5Vc9kWb9Ad8a7k5SdfEzMEr_dlxjqcf8E6ZSMmA/s1920/Where%20the%20Crawdads%20Sing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXJelRdysSJhQ9jT2vn9gkjtIClaQv_FWtE7zH2mbtS5A8IWnWeRVyTPC6Z-XqJVICqpzvjVCO1YhQ0AJS4DTI44ggs_w_oQ2SJrzJh361hmI3eYE6M2SIsKik7qXN3Y52I4mLNRNDbY5iLxpRCsH5Vc9kWb9Ad8a7k5SdfEzMEr_dlxjqcf8E6ZSMmA/w400-h225/Where%20the%20Crawdads%20Sing.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">First published in 2018, author Delia Owens’ murder mystery
novel <i>Where the Crawdads Sing</i>, which follows a young self-raised woman from
the marshlands of North Carolina named Kya who is accused of murdering her
ex-boyfriend Chase, proved to be a big hit with audiences. The book has sold
over 15 million copies as of this year and has maintained a spot on the New
York Times’ Best-Seller List for the past three and a half years. Much of that
success came from it being recognized by the official book club of Reese
Witherspoon’s production company Hello Sunshine; as you might have guessed, this
then naturally resulted in Witherspoon and her team securing its film rights. Backed
by all that (plus the benefit of having Taylor Swift record a single for the
soundtrack, ‘Carolina’),<i> </i>the film adaptation ended up being just as big
of a financial hit as its source material, grossing over $135 million worldwide
on its modest $24 million budget. Critics were a lot more split on it, however,
with several feeling that it suffered from an uneven tone as it shifted between
being a murder mystery and a romantic drama. And yet, that clearly did nothing
to dissuade fans of the book from showing their support for the film, and
despite its mixed critical reception, lead actress Daisy Edgar-Jones earned
rave reviews for her performance as Kya. In short, there’s no denying all the
hype that this adaptation generated.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>WELL, FOLKS, IT
TURNS OUT THAT I’LL BE ABLE TO DO A TOP 5 THIS YEAR WHEN IT COMES TO THE
EVENT’S BIGGEST WINNERS! COMING IN AT FIFTH PLACE WITH SIX VOTES…<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>MINIONS: THE
RISE OF GRU<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtcCSlc60goMos0-XfwRVrEpy-EtrNGGu57I3PARBzEhUNbYqE0bXtEKjRBkf7fqn70APtd4leW7dUESghtiLcrSWAOmYpyX1it_PS0SkTMFcvqqnEUqcmfMZuwfqr8_nQmg2ldOxO8Y5pPu6T1rnjO_mQ-RAS3Zfu987wVn-RAm_oiL2DXzpT9n8p7A/s576/Minions%20The%20Rise%20of%20Gru.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="324" data-original-width="576" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtcCSlc60goMos0-XfwRVrEpy-EtrNGGu57I3PARBzEhUNbYqE0bXtEKjRBkf7fqn70APtd4leW7dUESghtiLcrSWAOmYpyX1it_PS0SkTMFcvqqnEUqcmfMZuwfqr8_nQmg2ldOxO8Y5pPu6T1rnjO_mQ-RAS3Zfu987wVn-RAm_oiL2DXzpT9n8p7A/w400-h225/Minions%20The%20Rise%20of%20Gru.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">No matter how much it may be the utter bane of many folks’
existence, there’s no denying that the <i>Despicable Me </i>franchise has been an
unstoppable juggernaut in the world of animation. Not only was it responsible
for immediately turning its production company, Illumination, into a genuine
box-office rival to the likes of Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks, but since every
installment of the series has been a massive financial hit, it currently stands
as the highest-grossing animated film franchise of all-time. And so, after being
absent from the big screen for half a decade, this year saw the return of Universal
and Illumination’s biggest cash cow with <i>Minions: The Rise of Gru</i>, a
follow-up to the 2015 spin-off/prequel <i>Minions</i>, which focused solely on
the franchise’s titular collection of goofy yellow banana-loving henchmen in
the time before they found their ideal leader, Gru. But as you can undoubtedly guess
from the title of this sequel (that’s also technically still a prequel since
Gru is only eleven here), this film gives the series’ main protagonist (once
again voiced by Steve Carell) a more prominent role as the young wannabe supervillain
crosses paths with a legendary supervillain group known as the Vicious 6. And
to the surprise of no one, <i>Minions: The Rise of Gru </i>has been one of the
highest-grossing films of the year, currently running at over $928 million worldwide.
Critically, the film ended up being on par with the first two <i>Despicable Me </i>films
rather than the duo of <i>Minions </i>and <i>Despicable Me 3</i>, with the
consensus being that, above all, this series continues to successfully appeal
to its target audience. Thus, with a fourth <i>Despicable Me </i>film on the
way for a 2024 release, it’s safe to say that this series is still going strong
over a decade since its initial debut. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>TIED FOR FOURTH
PLACE WITH SEVEN VOTES EACH…<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>THE BOB’S
BURGERS MOVIE<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fcCVLt9LuvN-_2f9t91rMf_QmvevdeDEkInnZU0ZUYuly_irN5C3gBaOmf94yBcaJf6m-AREhSJ8xlKd4nPAL1AkyuHu9wXeoQCEwzrDZaqGRjtPBe5EBCC8OUBVK1u8EDxl1SAR_yfqI643hHnZyqcnmDd_OhNJU0Ui5Ti5KVd15cbGN5-Htz-3xQ/s1280/Bob's%20Burgers%20Movie.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6fcCVLt9LuvN-_2f9t91rMf_QmvevdeDEkInnZU0ZUYuly_irN5C3gBaOmf94yBcaJf6m-AREhSJ8xlKd4nPAL1AkyuHu9wXeoQCEwzrDZaqGRjtPBe5EBCC8OUBVK1u8EDxl1SAR_yfqI643hHnZyqcnmDd_OhNJU0Ui5Ti5KVd15cbGN5-Htz-3xQ/w400-h225/Bob's%20Burgers%20Movie.jpeg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the past decade, one of the most popular animated
sitcoms in a field dominated by the likes of <i>The Simpsons</i>, <i>Family Guy</i>,
and <i>South Park</i> has been <i>Bob’s Burgers</i>. Created by Loren Bouchard
(co-creator of Adult Swim’s <i>Home Movies</i>), the series follows the titular
Bob Belcher and his family (his wife Linda, their two daughters Tina and Louise,
and their son Gene) as they go about their daily lives running their family’s burger
joint. With several awards under its belt (including two Primetime Emmys) and a
considerable fan following, <i>Bob’s Burgers </i>has very much become a
prominent staple of the pop cultural zeitgeist, and sure enough, the show
continues to run strong to this day, having just recently concluded its 12<sup>th</sup>
season with a 13<sup>th</sup> on the way. And if that wasn’t enough, <i>Bob’s
Burgers </i>fans were given an extra treat this summer as the series followed
in the footsteps of another Fox animated series, <i>The Simpsons</i>,<i> </i>by
getting its own theatrically released film. In <i>The Bob’s Burgers Movie</i>,
the Belcher family works to save their restaurant from being shut down when a
massive sinkhole forms right in front of it. Sadly, the film didn’t do too hot
at the box office, only grossing around $34.2 million on a $38 million budget.
However, that didn’t stop it from attracting strong reviews from both critics
and audiences. Sure, there was some debate regarding the overall necessity of
it being a theatrical release (or, in other words, to paraphrase an observation
made by Homer Simpson in <i>The Simpsons Movie</i>, why pay for something that
you already watch for free on TV?), but regardless of all that, many agreed
that the series’ strong writing and well-developed characters were successfully
carried over to the film, resulting in an undeniable crowd-pleaser for its fans.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>THOR: LOVE AND
THUNDER<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCoNvAlYG4UO-oYMNjHluHaAe9H-fNVNsDKmg-st-XMi8JcOC9QOf6EOZS53j7SgIPSl_yzNDJDEsKcHw8uoWR04tjESflD3buoqNEiDLFX3Hi_A4YIkZug517TnOe9mLL4tK84Yfmhk406spTERYRu9l31MNFWZ-LNrWBSNQAycy8-xi2yLJSqqgzQ/s700/Thor%20Love%20and%20Thunder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="700" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCCoNvAlYG4UO-oYMNjHluHaAe9H-fNVNsDKmg-st-XMi8JcOC9QOf6EOZS53j7SgIPSl_yzNDJDEsKcHw8uoWR04tjESflD3buoqNEiDLFX3Hi_A4YIkZug517TnOe9mLL4tK84Yfmhk406spTERYRu9l31MNFWZ-LNrWBSNQAycy8-xi2yLJSqqgzQ/w400-h217/Thor%20Love%20and%20Thunder.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ever since the release of the first <i>Thor </i>back<i> </i>in
2011, the titular Asgardian God of Thunder has been a mainstay of the Marvel
Cinematic Universe, forming one-third of the series’ equivalent to the DC
Universe’s Trinity of Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman alongside Iron Man and
Captain America. Despite this, however, Thor’s arguably had the rockiest run of
any main protagonist of the MCU when it comes to the overall reception of his
solo outings. While the first <i>Thor </i>was a solid critical and commercial
hit, it’s not exactly seen as one of the MCU’s best films nowadays. The same
can be said for its 2013 sequel, <i>Thor: The Dark World</i>… which, in part
due to its rather troubled production, is widely seen as one of the MCU’s
weakest films if not the absolute ‘worst’. This, along with Chris Hemsworth’s
growing disillusionment with the role at the time, left Thor’s future in the
MCU rather uncertain by the end of Phase 2; thankfully, that changed once Phase
3 rolled around and we got Thor’s third solo outing, 2017’s <i>Thor: Ragnarök</i>.
At a time when Marvel Studios was beginning to recruit some of its most unique
choices for directors, <i>Ragnarök </i>saw them bring in Taika Waititi, best
known for his quirky comedies such as 2014’s <i>What We Do in the Shadows</i>. And
under his direction, <i>Thor: Ragnarök </i>was the first of the MCU’s <i>Thor </i>films
to truly embrace the wackier parts of its cosmic source material, resulting in
one of the most visually striking and downright hilarious installments of the
MCU that instantly became one of its best-received releases. So, naturally,
this then led to Waititi being brought back to direct the fourth <i>Thor </i>film,
<i>Thor: Love and Thunder</i>, thus making Thor the first MCU protagonist to headline
four solo films (not counting, of course, his appearances in other films,
whether as a brief cameo or part of the <i>Avengers </i>films).<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All this, along with the reveal that the film would see the
return of Thor’s ex-girlfriend Jane Foster, taking on her newly minted role from
the comics as being worthy of wielding Thor’s mighty hammer Mjolnir and
becoming his female counterpart AKA the Mighty Thor, seemed to poise <i>Love
and Thunder </i>as yet another runaway hit for the MCU. And yet… that wasn’t
exactly the case when the film hit theaters. It wasn’t downright panned or
anything and it obviously did well at the box office like every other MCU film
has done (currently standing at around $760 million worldwide), but unlike the
largely critically acclaimed <i>Ragnarök</i>, <i>Love and Thunder </i>was
surprisingly far more polarizing amongst critics and audiences to the point
where, I’ll just say it, some folks out there seemed particularly enraged by
it. Its 64% rating on Rotten Tomatoes is the lowest ‘Fresh’ score that any MCU
film has gotten to date (only surpassing the franchise’s first Rotten-rated
film, last year’s <i>Eternals </i>(47%)) and is even lower than <i>The Dark
World</i>’s 66% rating. This has straight-up led to some debate over whether
the MCU has been starting to lose its touch given the mixed reception that some
of its Phase 4 films have been getting… which, to be perfectly frank, is an
argument that I strongly disagree with given the high marks that films like <i>Shang-Chi
and the Legend of the Ten Rings </i>and <i>Spider-Man: No Way Home </i>have
gotten. And, of course, there are all the new MCU shows that have come out on
Disney+, which have arguably fared even better with critics and audiences; simply
put, the MCU clearly isn’t going anywhere anytime soon no matter how much its
biggest critics want it to die off. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But to go back to <i>Thor: Love and Thunder</i>, I’m utterly
baffled as to why this film is being treated like it’s some sort of plague upon
the superhero genre and why someone as lovably goofy as Taika Waititi has
suddenly become so hated online to the point where some jackasses tried to destroy
his career by digging up old tweets a la the whole situation with James Gunn a
few years ago that temporarily got him fired from <i>Guardians of the Galaxy
Vol. 3</i>. Well, okay, to be perfectly blunt, I <b><i>do </i></b>know why this
film has gotten so much flak as it has everything to do with the light-hearted
tone and atmosphere that Waititi has brought to his two <i>Thor </i>films. But
when I say that I don’t get it, I truly mean that because, to be clear, this
was one of the main reasons why <i>Ragnarök</i> was such a big hit… and yet, in
<i>Love and Thunder</i>’s case, it’s now being argued that this ruins the film
because it diminishes the impact of its big emotional moments. However, both
these films have several instances that firmly disprove what I feel to be one
of the biggest myths surrounding Waititi as a filmmaker; the argument that he’s
incapable of producing highly effective emotional moments. In <i>Ragnarök</i>,
this included scenes like Thor and Loki’s last moments with their father Odin
before he dies and the scene where Thor expresses his disappointment at how
Loki ultimately became his foe rather than his greatest ally, which Loki reacts
to in a solemn manner rather than delivering one of his usual snarky retorts. That
latter scene is one of my favorite emotional moments in the entire MCU and is
often overlooked because everyone focuses on what comes right after that, Thor
and Loki’s ‘Get Help’ routine.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As for <i>Love and Thunder</i>, yes, I’ll fully admit that
it is quite arguably the MCU’s most light-hearted installment to date thanks in
large part to, of course, Taika Waititi’s style of direction. However, that
doesn’t mean that this film lacks the kind of strong emotional moments that the
franchise has always been known for, and in this instance, that mainly comes
via its handling of the storyline of Jane Foster’s losing battle with cancer,
something that not even her newfound powers as the Mighty Thor can stop. Every
sequence that addresses Jane’s cancer is treated with the utmost respect and it
all culminates in the film’s devastating finale in which Jane finally succumbs
to it but did so on her own terms by joining Thor in the fight against Gorr the
God Butcher to help save the kidnapped children of Asgard. This then results in
Thor convincing Gorr to give up his plan to kill all the gods, instead using
the powers of Eternity to revive his lost daughter, Love. And once Gorr dies as
well from the effects of his cursed weapon, the Necrosword, Thor agrees to look
after Love, having finally begun to figure out his lot in life in a finale that,
in a refreshing turn of events, didn’t end up being your typical superhero/supervillain
fight. Plus, to make this whole ending even more touching, Love is played by
Chris Hemsworth’s daughter India, while Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, and
Taika Waititi’s children all have minor cameos in the film as Asgardian
children. All this, at the end of the day, helps me to sum up why I strongly believe
that this film has gotten way too much of a bad rap.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">I’ll fully concede that <i>Thor:
Love and Thunder </i>is far from being the MCU’s most visually polished or
narratively-sound installment; however, I’d also argue that the film makes up
for all of that by being one of the MCU’s most personal endeavors. I already
mentioned the fact that the kids of both the film’s director and its stars all
appear in it, but because of its uncynical atmosphere and considerable number
of heartwarming moments, this is a film whose heart is very much in the right
place as an undeniable labor of love. Hell, it’s even in the damn title of the
film, <b><i>LOVE </i></b><i>and Thunder</i>. And so, because of that, I can
forgive the fact that this film often feels like an improv-driven
buddy/romantic comedy that seemingly goes along without much of a purpose because,
for one thing, it does have a purpose (and a sweet one at that). As for its strong
emphasis on its humor, as someone who loved <i>Ragnarök </i>because of all the
great comedic touches that Taika Waititi brought to it, this didn’t bother me
in the slightest. Instead, I’m just left wondering yet again why some folks have
a completely irrational hatred for the implementation of humor in the superhero
genre because I’d argue that, without it, you’re left with a dour and soulless film
that’s the exact opposite of what this genre should be (I’m looking at you,
Snyder Cut…). Whatever the case, <i>Thor: Love and Thunder </i>is precisely the
kind of fun and easy-going superhero film that I always love to see from the
MCU; as Thor himself would put it, it’s another “classic Thor adventure”!<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>SPEAKING OF MCU
FILMS THAT ENDED UP ATTRACTING A SURPRISINGLY POLARIZING REACTION FROM BOTH
CRITICS AND AUDIENCES, COMING IN AT 3<sup>RD</sup> PLACE WITH EIGHT VOTES…</u><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>DOCTOR STRANGE
IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJiKbsW8IYO9DwRuJhORokLOy2YyeSL4gYNzTVVyqyjb89Hv9NKpCMXu5SAeidhrymDYQaKKTLEUVCDSLP_Je7uH5CcSVsZbHRlY4dSuaKDk1-Xw3spNmTSYMDwue_tu_RVi3WzypxTBYb1mIVV9HmEw0Fstf45L_4leV3kfG8kd28TD9WNxSfurq9g/s780/Doctor%20Strange%202.webp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="326" data-original-width="780" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiJiKbsW8IYO9DwRuJhORokLOy2YyeSL4gYNzTVVyqyjb89Hv9NKpCMXu5SAeidhrymDYQaKKTLEUVCDSLP_Je7uH5CcSVsZbHRlY4dSuaKDk1-Xw3spNmTSYMDwue_tu_RVi3WzypxTBYb1mIVV9HmEw0Fstf45L_4leV3kfG8kd28TD9WNxSfurq9g/w459-h193/Doctor%20Strange%202.webp" width="459" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As I alluded to earlier when I discussed <i>The Black Phone</i>,
Scott Derrickson, by all accounts, seemed primed and ready to direct the
follow-up to the first <i>Doctor Strange </i>when it was officially announced
in 2019. And if that wasn’t enough, that initial reveal became even more
enticing when it was announced that it would be the MCU’s first proper horror
film, which was very much fitting given Derrickson’s extensive history with the
genre. But then, right at the start of 2020, Derrickson ended up backing out of
the project due to creative differences with the Marvel Studios team,
reportedly due to them not being completely onboard with some of the more radical
ideas that he had in mind for it. Thankfully, this didn’t end up completely
hindering either party as Derrickson and co-writer C. Robert Cargill finally
had the opportunity to develop their adaptation of <i>The Black Phone</i> while
Marvel quickly found a replacement who would naturally maintain the horror
route that they were going for in Sam Raimi. Obviously, Raimi is no stranger to
the horror genre thanks in large part to his iconic trilogy of <i>Evil Dead </i>films,
but at the same time, he’s also, of course, no stranger to the superhero genre either
as he was a major factor behind its big revival in the early 2000’s thanks to
his trilogy of <i>Spider-Man </i>films. Plus, to make this development even
more ironic, <i>Spider-Man 2</i> included a nod to the Master of the Mystic
Arts 12 years before he ever debuted on the big screen in a scene where J.
Jonah Jameson’s assistant Hoffman name-drops Dr. Strange as a possible name for
the film’s main antagonist, Doc Ock, which Jameson likes but then immediately
notes that “it’s taken”.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Right off the bat, one of the best things about this film is
how it is very much a Sam Raimi-directed MCU film. No matter how much flak the
MCU has gotten over the years for allegedly never letting its directors display
their full creative talents, <i>Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness </i>is
a prime example of the antithesis of that argument as it’s full of Raimi’s
directorial trademarks. Thus, you get everything from his wacky and creative
camera tricks (including a whole bunch of POV shots) to having his go-to
collaborator Bruce Campbell appear in a cameo that, naturally, results in
Campbell beating himself up. Raimi even gets to flex his horror muscles in ways
that you wouldn’t expect from a film from the largely family-friendly (and
Disney-backed) MCU with some of its utterly brutal character deaths. Through it
all, though, Raimi, just like when he made the <i>Spider-Man </i>films, also
does a great job of balancing the film’s most intense moments with the kind of
fun and light-hearted spectacle that the MCU has always been known for. In
other words, as much as this is, indeed, the MCU’s first true ‘horror’ film, it
still has all the classic MCU trademarks such as all the great bits of humorous
banter between characters and some incredibly stunning visuals, the latter of
which being something that the <i>Doctor Strange </i>films have always excelled
at thanks to its characters’ magical abilities. And given this film’s <i>Multiverse
of Madness</i> subtitle, it goes without saying that it certainly takes full
advantage of its premise when it comes to highlighting all the unique alternate
universes that the characters end up visiting, doing so in a way that makes it
more than just simple fanservice.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">However, at the same time, I’d argue that <i>Doctor Strange
in the Multiverse of Madness </i>doesn’t rely on the concept of the multiverse
as extensively as last year’s <i>Spider-Man: No Way Home</i>. Nothing against
that film, for the record, but in its case, the multiverse was arguably the
most integral part of its plot, hence the highly anticipated appearances of
Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of Spider-Man and their respective
villains. And sure, the same can be said for <i>Multiverse of Madness </i>in a
lot of places, including its own line of cameos ranging from the genuinely
unexpected like Anson Mount returning to play Black Bolt after the disastrous <i>Inhumans
</i>series (albeit an alternate universe Black Bolt but the point still
stands…) to ones that fans have been wanting to see for a long time such as
John Krasinski as the Fantastic Four’s Reed Richards AKA Mr. Fantastic. But
whereas Maguire and Garfield ended up playing significant roles in <i>No Way
Home</i>’s finale, the cameos in <i>Doctor Strange </i>are just that, cameos. As
a result, it could be argued that the multiverse is used more as the setting
for the events of the film rather than its most significant driving force. And in
this instance, I’d argue that this is a good thing because it doesn’t take away
from all the big character beats in this film, including the big reveal of its
main antagonist; none other than the Scarlet Witch herself, Wanda.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes, the longtime Avenger becomes <i>Multiverse of Madness</i>’
main antagonist as it’s revealed that she seeks the powers of multiverse-jumping
teenager America Chavez to travel to a universe where she can be with her two sons,
Billy and Tommy, who, in the main universe, were only part of the elaborate hex
that she created during the events of <i>WandaVision</i>. However, I think it’s
safe to say that this ended up being the most controversial aspect of the film because,
simply put, many of Wanda’s diehard fans didn’t take too kindly to this
development, especially in the wake of, as I just alluded to, her standout turn
in <i>WandaVision</i>. And yet, at the risk of pissing those folks off, this
was ultimately the best route to take and one that made sense given what we’ve
seen from Wanda in previous MCU films and shows (most notably, her takeover of
the town of Westview and how much it negatively affected its residents even
though it wasn’t an intentionally malicious act on her part). Plus, because
Wanda has had a lot of great character development these past few years…
technically, that automatically makes her one of the MCU’s best antagonists because
she’s arguably its best example yet of a villain who may be committing horrible
actions but does so with a sympathetic motive bolstered by all the devastating
tragedies that she’s endured. Thus, by the end of the film, Wanda does finally
realize how far she’s gone when she displays her dark side right in front of the
Earth-838 versions of Billy and Tommy and willingly sacrifices* herself to
destroy the artifact that was corrupting her, the Darkhold, but not before
being assured by her Earth-838 counterpart that Billy and Tommy will be all
right.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">(*<b>EDITOR’S NOTE</b>:
I use the term ‘sacrifice’ loosely here because, as is often the case with the
world of comic book superheroes, it’s not completely clear if the destruction
of the Darkhold’s eternal shrine, Mount Wundagore, truly resulted in her
demise…)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But while Wanda’s heel turn obviously takes up a good chunk
of the film’s focus, that doesn’t mean that it forgets to be a <i>Doctor
Strange </i>film first and foremost, and sure enough, the MCU’s resident Master
of the Mystic Arts gets some great character beats of his own; in fact, they’re
arguably some of the best that he’s ever had in this entire franchise. In Strange’s
case, much of his character growth revolves around him finally gaining the
courage to move on from his most devastating losses that have often left him
disconnected from his friends and family, such as when he recounts the tragedy
of his sister Donna’s death when she drowned in a frozen lake when they were
kids to his Darkhold-corrupted variant. This also includes him coming to terms with
his failed relationship with his longtime girlfriend Christine Palmer, who
marries another man at the beginning of the film. After spending a lot of time
working alongside the Christine of Earth-838, whose relationship with that
universe’s Strange also went downhill, Strange tells her that “he loves her in
every universe” and that he’s never been able to admit something like that
before because he’s scared of losing the people that he cares about the most,
resulting in Christine encouraging him to “face his fears” before they go their
separate ways. It’s also nice that Rachel McAdams got a lot more to do this
time around as Christine instead of just being the passive love interest that
she was in the first film. As for the rest of the main cast, newcomer Xochitl
Gomez makes one hell of a great first impression as the wholly sympathetic
America Chavez while Benedict Wong continues to be one of the MCU’s best
supporting players from both a comedic and badass perspective as the newly
minted Sorcerer Supreme, Wong. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Upon its release, <i>Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of
Madness </i>became yet another financial hit for the MCU. Undoubtedly banking
on all the hype surrounding Sam Raimi’s hiring as its director<i> </i>(plus,
I’d argue, the benefit of having its teaser trailer serve as the billion-dollar
grossing <i>Spider-Man: No Way Home</i>’s post-credit sequence), the film has
grossed over $955 million worldwide, easily making it the highest-grossing film
of Raimi’s career. But to go back to what I said when I first introduced this
film, it did attract some polarizing reactions amongst critics and audiences
the same way that <i>Thor: Love and Thunder </i>did. Granted, I wouldn’t say
that this was ‘as polarizing’ as <i>Love and Thunder</i> as it did relatively
well with critics but believe me when I say that I have seen the same kind of surprisingly
hostile reactions directed toward this film for reasons that can range from the
decision to make Wanda the villain to those who let their expectations get the
better of them when it comes to this film’s cameos. Ultimately, though, I’d
argue that this film’s consistent subversion of expectations is one of the biggest
reasons why it very much succeeds at everything that it’s trying to be, whether
it’s a fun little adventure across the MCU multiverse (complete with a whole
bunch of fun cameos) or a classic Sam Raimi horror film that’s full of dark and
disturbing imagery… but also a hilariously morbid sense of humor. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>THIS YEAR’S
RUNNER-UP, WITH FIFTEEN VOTES…<o:p></o:p></u></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>ELVIS<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBB_ATALT2Tfr_JLK4sbtcR-9Lq1XrdbzHCCAPfPBaYPZmpZsZvdxgvKvVNoqzHK-1IYh5d_Jc7_Opi2F5WHkWYZNsTPhlqvS9ofqo7J12EIjRthB7xQsAaptb8oHAmTeaNlCfAUz4a_XpMv05pavqZl6bO7c4HIHOieV2feoYYsLk0dPNXP4Pbt5Nvg/s1200/Elvis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="503" data-original-width="1200" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBB_ATALT2Tfr_JLK4sbtcR-9Lq1XrdbzHCCAPfPBaYPZmpZsZvdxgvKvVNoqzHK-1IYh5d_Jc7_Opi2F5WHkWYZNsTPhlqvS9ofqo7J12EIjRthB7xQsAaptb8oHAmTeaNlCfAUz4a_XpMv05pavqZl6bO7c4HIHOieV2feoYYsLk0dPNXP4Pbt5Nvg/w400-h168/Elvis.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While he may only have a couple of directorial credits to
his name, Baz Luhrmann is undoubtedly one of the most unique filmmakers in the
industry thanks in large part to his distinct directorial style, from his lavish
visuals to the extensive soundtracks that run throughout his work. As a result,
this has produced films that, while sometimes polarizing amongst critics and
audiences, are easily some of the most talked-about releases of their time,
whether it’s his Oscar-winning jukebox musical <i>Moulin Rouge </i>or his ambitious
adaptation of <i>The Great Gatsby</i>. The same can very much be said for his
latest endeavor, a biopic covering the life and career of one of the most
iconic performers of all time, the King of Rock and Roll, Elvis Presley. But as
Luhrmann has gone on record stating, he didn’t just want to do a standard Elvis
biopic; thus, while the film does cover Elvis’ rise to fame and the events that
led to his tragic death at just 42, it's also a portrait of America in the
’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, highlighting both the cultural landscape that created
Elvis and the cultural landscape that he himself created. In doing so, it could
even be argued that the film is willing to address one of the most prominent long-standing
controversies surrounding Elvis; how he was heavily influenced by African
American music but, in his rise to fame, arguably left the very musicians who
paved the way for his success historically overlooked. To be clear, though,
that doesn’t mean that this is intended to be a deconstruction of Elvis’
legacy. The only reason why I bring up that controversy at all is because I’m well aware that there are plenty of folks out there who aren’t as enamored by
Elvis as the rest of the world. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Regardless of your views on the man himself, however, the
film does succeed in conveying how devastating the tragedy behind Elvis’
decline was because, at the end of the day, he was an all-around affable young
man with unmistakable potential as a performer who got royally screwed over by
his manager, Colonel Tom Parker, every step of the way. It’s a true emotional rollercoaster
to go from the satisfying moments in which Elvis manages to defy the demands of
the Colonel and flex his talents… only to then have those brief moments of gratification immediately upended by the Colonel’s latest scheme. As such, Elvis does come
off as a very sympathetic figure here and a lot of this is thanks to who’s
playing him. As pretty much everyone else has already said, Austin Butler
utterly kills it in the title role, perfectly embodying the spirit of Elvis
without ever falling into the trap of being nothing more than an imitation of
the man. And while your mileage may vary a lot more when it comes to Tom Hanks’
over-the-top performance as Colonel Parker, it’s still very much in line with
Luhrmann’s flashier style of directing and Hanks, as you’d expect, has an
undeniable screen presence. Thus, apart from a few minor issues such as it
being perhaps a bit too overlong at nearly three hours long and a surprisingly
limited supporting role for Olivia DeJonge as Elvis’ wife Priscilla, Baz Luhrmann’s
<i>Elvis </i>is a thoroughly engaging cinematic portrait of an indisputable
American icon. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><u>PRIOR TO THE
BIG BOOST IN VOTER RESPONSES THAT WE ATTRACTED DURING OUR EXTRA DAY OF POLLING,
<i>ELVIS </i>WAS LEGITIMATELY GIVING THIS NEXT FILM A RUN FOR ITS MONEY. BUT AS
FASCINATING OF AN UPSET AS THAT WOULD’VE BEEN, THIS YEAR’S CHAMPION ENDED UP
BENEFITTING IMMENSELY FROM THAT LAST DAY SURGE. HOW MUCH SO, YOU ASK? WELL, BY
THE END OF IT ALL, THIS YEAR’S CHAMPION ENDED UP EARNING </u></b><b><u><span style="font-size: 22.0pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">FIFTY-SIX </span>VOTES,
NEARLY TRIPLING <i>AVENGERS: ENDGAME</i>’S 19-VOTE PERFORMANCE IN 2019… HECK,
THAT’S NEARLY HALF OF THIS YEAR’S VOTES. AND LET’S BE FRANK, FOLKS, WITH A
GRAND TOTAL LIKE THAT, I HIGHLY DOUBT THAT THIS RECORD WILL BE SURPASSED
ANYTIME SOON. SO, WITH ALL THAT IN MIND, FEEL FREE TO TAKE A BOW, TOM CRUISE
(OR, IN THIS CASE, GO FOR ANOTHER ROUND OF BUZZING THE TOWER), BECAUSE YOUR
LATEST FILM WAS THIS YEAR’S UNDISPUTED FRONTRUNNER!</u><o:p></o:p></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>TOP GUN:
MAVERICK<o:p></o:p></i></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhteNUh7tlYFijEqI8f4P_thIM5xHm61KklXuoYSnr5C1yC_gr-nVRpnAI-5xHRoZ8TgV7geLTPzpUhXoMIG_RRqEi-PLrlclbx4wT2chtDk7tHFkC4PBUFpU_v2GD5sArmb_3C3MF23n0dQyl8HbqIHY_sV6uS9crl7tQqypEpAOpDV9VrdGnOWRBPUw/s1200/Top%20Gun%20Maverick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhteNUh7tlYFijEqI8f4P_thIM5xHm61KklXuoYSnr5C1yC_gr-nVRpnAI-5xHRoZ8TgV7geLTPzpUhXoMIG_RRqEi-PLrlclbx4wT2chtDk7tHFkC4PBUFpU_v2GD5sArmb_3C3MF23n0dQyl8HbqIHY_sV6uS9crl7tQqypEpAOpDV9VrdGnOWRBPUw/w400-h266/Top%20Gun%20Maverick.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Let’s flashback for a moment to the start of this year; at
that time, if you were to tell me that <i>Top Gun: Maverick</i>, the
long-awaited sequel to 1986’s era-defining box-office sensation <i>Top Gun</i>,
would end up becoming the biggest film of 2022, I’ll admit that I would’ve been
rather skeptical about that. That’s nothing against the film, for the record, as
Tom Cruise’s undeniable star power would’ve surely helped it do excellently at
the box office regardless of how it would fare with critics and audiences; however,
I think it’s safe to say that up until its release, we are all severely underestimating
how truly big of a hit it would ultimately be. Whereas the original <i>Top Gun </i>rests
extremely close to the Fresh/Rotten threshold on Rotten Tomatoes with a 58%
rating, <i>Top Gun: Maverick </i>boasts a 96% rating on the site, easily making
it one of the best-reviewed films of the summer. And if that wasn’t enough, it
also managed to become the first film of the year to reach the $1 billion mark
at the worldwide box office. That, especially, is an impressive feat seeing
how, at this point, the only films that tend to reach that milestone are
superhero films, animated films, and live-action Disney remakes; you usually
don’t see that happening for legacy sequels that were released nearly four
decades after their predecessors. Currently standing at around $1.47 billion, it’s
among the Top 5 highest-grossing films of all time domestically and just shy of
the Top 10 highest-grossing films worldwide. In short, it’s an all-around
success story for everyone involved, including director Joseph Kosinski, who’s
come a long way since he made his directorial debut in 2010 with another long-overdue
sequel to an 80’s classic, <i>Tron: Legacy</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But if you’re someone like me who, admittedly, took a long
time to get around to seeing this film (for reasons that I won’t be getting into
today…), it only takes a single viewing to see exactly why it has become such a
phenomenon. For starters, it goes without saying that thanks in large part to
Tom Cruise’s well-established preference for doing practically filmed action
sequences, <i>Top Gun: Maverick</i>’s air combat sequences are incredible,
expanding upon the terrific flight sequences of the original <i>Top Gun </i>with
all the benefits of modern-day technology headlined, of course, by the
extensive use of IMAX cameras. But aside from that, <i>Top Gun: Maverick </i>also
surpasses its predecessor from a writing standpoint by boasting a story with
stronger emotional poignancy. Don’t get me wrong, the original <i>Top Gun </i>had
its fair share of solid emotional moments, namely revolving around the death of
Maverick’s wingman Goose, but <i>Maverick </i>expands upon that in several ways.
Whether it’s major plot points such as Maverick’s struggle to confront his
strained relationship with Goose’s son Bradley AKA Rooster (and the urgency he
feels in ensuring that Rooster doesn’t succumb to the same fate as his father) or
the context behind the singular sequence in which Val Kilmer reprises his role
as Iceman that respectfully works around Kilmer’s real-life battle with throat
cancer, <i>Top Gun: Maverick </i>has a surprisingly consistent emotional
throughline running throughout. In other words, whereas the original <i>Top Gun
</i>was more focused on its air combat sequences, <i>Top Gun: Maverick</i>,
while still working with a relatively straightforward plot, does a better job
of balancing its story with its set pieces.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It's also worth noting that the film manages to pull all this
off… even though it could very well be argued that there are several instances
in which this film often feels like a modern-day remake of the original <i>Top
Gun</i>. Whether it’s a nearly shot-for-shot recreation of the original’s
opening sequence (complete with, of course, the use of Kenny Loggins’ ‘Danger
Zone’) or a scene involving the main characters partaking in a beachside sport
(football in this instance instead of volleyball), there are several sequences
in this film that clearly mirror all the key moments from its predecessor. But
like I said before, the fact that this film does a better job of balancing its
story and characters with its jaw-dropping set-pieces helps to alleviate the
potential shortcoming of it being accused of being nothing more than a rehash
of everything that came before it. And while this is a case like the original
film where most of the supporting cast outside of Maverick and Rooster are
given generally straightforward bits of character development to work with,
the film boasts an excellent ensemble cast nevertheless. Tom Cruise naturally
headlines the film the same way that he’s done in all his big action films as he
easily slips back into his iconic role of Maverick while Miles Teller is equally
terrific in the role of Rooster. They’re then backed by solid supporting turns
from the likes of Jennifer Connelly, who is, admittedly, a standard love
interest for Cruise as Maverick’s old flame Penny Benjamin but does have great
chemistry with him, Val Kilmer in his brief yet poignant appearance as Iceman, and
Rooster’s fellow Top Gun recruits such as Glen Powell as ‘Hangman’, this film’s
Iceman to Rooster’s Maverick. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And so, in conclusion, to return to the topic of explaining why
this film became the biggest hit of the year… well, the answer is quite simple,
really. From the moment its marketing campaign went into full swing, <i>Top
Gun: Maverick </i>was fully advertised as a definitive cinematic experience. In
other words, this was a film that was meant to be seen on the biggest screens possible
with a full and wholly engaged crowd. It is, after all, one of the main reasons
why the film was consistently pushed back from its original 2019 release date aside
from various factors ranging from Joseph Kosinski and his team needing more
time to work on the action sequences to, of course, COVID pushing everything
back. And while there were several times when the film was on the brink of
being sold off to a streaming service just like all the other films from the
past few years that had to go this route because of the pandemic, this
potential development was always shot down by Cruise, who was firmly dedicated
to maintaining its status as a theatrical release. But again, if you’re like me
and you didn’t get to see this in a theater, that’s not an absolute dealbreaker
as the film more than holds its own as both a technical masterpiece and a
superior sequel that, even when it reuses certain narrative elements from its
predecessor, uses them in a stronger manner that elicits some surprisingly
effective emotional moments. In short, <i>Top Gun: Maverick </i>is the very definition
of a classic summer blockbuster, and given all its success, it’s not surprising
in the slightest that it ended up being this year’s grand champion.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And so, that concludes
the 2022 edition of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Annual End of Summer Fan Poll. Once
again, I want to thank everyone who participated in this year’s event, thus
giving us what has easily been our biggest year yet. With all that in mind, I
look forward to seeing what next year’s event will bring, especially given all
the big releases that will be hitting theaters next summer from the continuing
adventures of Marvel icons such as <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9362722/" target="_blank">Spider-Man</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10676048/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3" target="_blank">Captain Marvel</a>, and the <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6791350/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3" target="_blank">Guardians of the Galaxy</a> to the latest installments of well-established franchises such as
<i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1462764/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0" target="_blank">Indiana Jones</a> </i>and <i><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5433140/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0" target="_blank">Fast and the Furious</a></i>. Heck, maybe Tom Cruise
will end up leading the pack for the second year in a row with the next <i>Mission
Impossible </i>film; for all we know, <i>Top Gun: Maverick</i>’s utter
dominance this year could end up having a positive impact on <i>Mission
Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part I</i>’s run at the box-office. Only time will
tell…<o:p></o:p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-56052829087183094992022-08-18T13:30:00.000-04:002022-08-18T13:30:02.922-04:00Announcing the Start of this Year's Edition of Rhode Island Movie Corner's Annual End of Summer Fan Poll<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0Dz7B6-I9gegMaOjUWINW8WcoX74C4VFWXSJ1VAnfe7J7ow9mM6JthQAONr1m8uyhqxqibQqlk6nJPuCfAM8MC6F40qHgjthnp9HsnnqbCA2kfYeoz8J-Y4td4-0DKsvqZFtw00qZHZ6lCAglc_PwT7ipTBYn-ilyZjYokDlZo45Kas5cJdocRQN-A/s705/2022%20Summer.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="705" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb0Dz7B6-I9gegMaOjUWINW8WcoX74C4VFWXSJ1VAnfe7J7ow9mM6JthQAONr1m8uyhqxqibQqlk6nJPuCfAM8MC6F40qHgjthnp9HsnnqbCA2kfYeoz8J-Y4td4-0DKsvqZFtw00qZHZ6lCAglc_PwT7ipTBYn-ilyZjYokDlZo45Kas5cJdocRQN-A/w582-h255/2022%20Summer.jpg" width="582" /></a></div><p>As we near the end of this summer season, it’s time once
again, folks, for a tried-and-true Rhode Island Movie Corner tradition. Yes, as
those who’ve followed this site for several years know, I run a poll at the end
of every summer that invites you all to vote for your favorite film from the
past four months of the year. And after a few weeks of these open polls, I then
proceed to write an extensive post that covers every film that earned a vote
during the event, occasionally fulfilling my original hope of getting to do something
along the lines of a ranked list for the most popular films (though, to be
clear, that’s only happened a few times). What started out as, to be perfectly
honest, an easy way for me to produce some new content for this site during a
rather uneventful September back in 2014 has now gone on to become a full-on
staple of Rhode Island Movie Corner… except, of course, for one year. Yes, in
2020, I had to nix that year’s End of Summer Fan Poll for… well, obvious
reasons. But thankfully, when 2021 rolled around and we began to slowly but
surely recover from the initial stretch of the COVID-19 pandemic, I relaunched
this annual event and it was another all-around success for the site. And so,
with all that out of the way, it’s time to launch the 9<sup>th</sup> annual
rendition (though, thanks to the cancellation of the 2020 poll, I guess that, technically,
this is the 8<sup>th</sup> edition) of our End of Summer Fan Poll.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For those who are new to this site, here’s how it’ll all go
down. The link that you’ll come to below will lead you to a poll that I’ve set
up on the survey-creating website <i>Survio</i>. There, you’ll be asked a
single question; what was your favorite film from this summer? To all you
newcomers out there, I must warn you in advance that there will be quite a lot
of options to choose from as I basically cover as many of the summer’s wide
releases as I possibly can when assembling the list of possible options.
Admittedly, I do miss a few films here and there but that’s where the write-in
section comes in if your favorite film isn’t listed amongst the available
choices. Now, last year, given the fact that COVID was still enough of a major
issue that it resulted in not many people going out to the theater at that
time, I allowed the following loophole in which votes for that year’s edition
of the poll would be legitimately counted for films that were watched at home
on the grounds that they were also released in theaters. After all, several
2021 films were released that way, simultaneously running in theaters and on
their studios’ respective streaming services; some Disney films were released
as ‘Premier Access’ titles on Disney+ and Warner Bros.’ entire 2021 theatrical
slate saw month-long releases on HBO Max.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While COVID is still very much an issue here in 2022, the
simultaneous theatrical/streaming practice has not been utilized as prominently
as it was last year for various reasons… including, for example, the fact that A
LOT of filmmakers weren’t too happy about the way that Warner Bros. addressed
it. All this, as a result, put me in quite a bit of a pickle for this year’s
End of Summer Fan Poll because, as always, I want to keep this focused solely
on theatrical releases. And so, with that in mind, I’ve decided that the
loophole that I set up for last year’s event where I allowed votes for films
that were seen at home won’t be emphasized as much for this year’s poll but
will still be somewhat in play. In other words, I’ll still allow votes for
films that were seen at home via On-Demand and streaming services but the films
in question must have been released in theaters between the months of May and
August. That said, though, I will allow some exceptions in the write-in section
for films that weren’t initially released during the summer but were still in
theaters by then. Thus, if you haven’t been to the theater this summer for
various reasons that are most likely COVID-related, don’t let that discourage
you from participating in this event; just be aware, though, that I will be
monitoring the write-in responses closely to maintain the whole ‘theatrical releases
only’ rule. Voting starts today, August 18<sup>th</sup>, and will run until September
1<sup>st</sup>, with the climactic results post being published shortly
thereafter. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.survio.com/survey/d/K1Y9H3M3H9J5X3N8A" target="_blank">Click here to be directed to this year's poll!!</a></span></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">But before we conclude
today’s introductory post, we must do what we always do and reflect upon this
event’s past winners. That’s right, it’s time once again for… <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 18pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">RHODE
ISLAND MOVIE CORNER’S END OF SUMMER FAN POLL HALL OF FAME<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 22pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2014<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz90zrmVoS_JhAuHrfzuED2gTPlovwiuMwojBUUSUPtRNs0zcUQYKdGNDg_kvxzxvXGy2t8ky9lUqb41WWWkIYFiBxy2T3UrMD-Zb1_pd0TWVjD51O0p9hieBiYx_73vCSxqB-aA-wbGe9lPozTKPuKPecjuejGxteHfhOvtqhMNO5-Rbr8BAIfxUyhg/s1936/image0%20(1).jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="1936" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz90zrmVoS_JhAuHrfzuED2gTPlovwiuMwojBUUSUPtRNs0zcUQYKdGNDg_kvxzxvXGy2t8ky9lUqb41WWWkIYFiBxy2T3UrMD-Zb1_pd0TWVjD51O0p9hieBiYx_73vCSxqB-aA-wbGe9lPozTKPuKPecjuejGxteHfhOvtqhMNO5-Rbr8BAIfxUyhg/w379-h379/image0%20(1).jpeg" width="379" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The inaugural edition
of our annual End of Summer Fan Poll attracted forty-three votes and notably
ended in a three-way tie with the top films attracting five votes apiece. That
year’s winners included the adaptation of author John Green’s tearjerker romance
novel <b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">The Fault in Our Stars</span></i></b>, a rare example of a ‘superior’
comedic sequel in <b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">22 Jump Street</span></i></b>, and the first outing of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe’s resident ‘bunch of a-holes’, the <b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Guardians
of the Galaxy</span></i></b>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 22pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2015<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhImCH8TXkXrVebfh88y8m4O7sFFWeVE64yqig1lck4todD_bmAbFT0D76y_RqFuGtH3afs71rlwHZp1Rd2eckx2tkmClgeFHtzAgR4hLXLNLB0VdIFsWL6tBnMwvZBSLObYUw7BnloqOaWcFY22Ax7DePSdv76_OWPEE9f1laJsXHaY655JwdVwmFqwA/s2560/MMFR.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1057" data-original-width="2560" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhImCH8TXkXrVebfh88y8m4O7sFFWeVE64yqig1lck4todD_bmAbFT0D76y_RqFuGtH3afs71rlwHZp1Rd2eckx2tkmClgeFHtzAgR4hLXLNLB0VdIFsWL6tBnMwvZBSLObYUw7BnloqOaWcFY22Ax7DePSdv76_OWPEE9f1laJsXHaY655JwdVwmFqwA/w476-h196/MMFR.jpeg" width="476" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">While the forty-seven
votes in the 2015 poll went to a wide range of films (20, to be precise), there
was one undisputed champion. Earning more than double the votes of that year’s pair
of runners-up with ten in total, George Miller’s kinetic action masterpiece <b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Mad Max:
Fury Road</span></i></b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;"> </span></i>firmly asserted its status as one of the
most highly acclaimed summer blockbusters of the decade. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 22pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2016<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7FeIn2IfBijrzcgcxb3fEcSZx0ymCQdR20a_sSa94i_CaDAda0zpLmMU7omOz7YsgoPvExYoQyXfpfULqHWRc8FuGZCJVLeOQCFTwc7CbN0IvV4Zu1_xp9cVvINgT5P-nWFN37TAJsDzcYro5JvLmZCKvSGfWkBVTrA23jmhaYFeH9sBwdouIr4oVw/s1936/image1.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1936" data-original-width="1936" height="367" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO7FeIn2IfBijrzcgcxb3fEcSZx0ymCQdR20a_sSa94i_CaDAda0zpLmMU7omOz7YsgoPvExYoQyXfpfULqHWRc8FuGZCJVLeOQCFTwc7CbN0IvV4Zu1_xp9cVvINgT5P-nWFN37TAJsDzcYro5JvLmZCKvSGfWkBVTrA23jmhaYFeH9sBwdouIr4oVw/w367-h367/image1.jpeg" width="367" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Fifty-eight votes
came in for the 2016 edition of our annual poll, which ended in what I’ve
always described as a ‘fascinating’ two-way tie. On one side, you had an
undeniable frontrunner in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s thrilling and
emotional Phase Three kick-starter, <b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Captain America: Civil War</span></i></b>.
But on the other side, an unexpected champion emerged in the raunchy R-rated comedy
<b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Bad
Moms</span></i></b>, starring Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn as a
trio of overworked moms who decide to spend a day without any maternal
responsibilities. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 22pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2017<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Yp4OA6k7vZB7oW7aFIW86y10QD8pkM2PqUKFrLylhhgS6f7WDlKSMpr8T3f6yQ5RYC22F2iLAg5mY19Z6YolTbsdWQcVLH6D0Vhtuo12j_DkRJ1WwOh1m4CoGAt56yBCr5rzRhcJjC0epIZkNs_nkepCnuS7Q9fUljaCmIaTUu_lBL5qYno_4bo4Dw/s348/Dunkirk.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="145" data-original-width="348" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Yp4OA6k7vZB7oW7aFIW86y10QD8pkM2PqUKFrLylhhgS6f7WDlKSMpr8T3f6yQ5RYC22F2iLAg5mY19Z6YolTbsdWQcVLH6D0Vhtuo12j_DkRJ1WwOh1m4CoGAt56yBCr5rzRhcJjC0epIZkNs_nkepCnuS7Q9fUljaCmIaTUu_lBL5qYno_4bo4Dw/w400-h166/Dunkirk.jpg" width="400" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">For the second
straight year in a row, we attracted fifty-eight votes and this year’s event notably
set a record for the number of films featured in its final write-up with twenty-two
films getting some form of recognition. It was also the first year where the
results yielded a proper Top 5 list of winners, with the top prize going to
Christopher Nolan’s war epic <b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Dunkirk</span></i></b>, which proved to be one of the
most well-regarded outings of Nolan’s prestigious directorial career. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 22pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2018<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj77R4UbVhLXNdjP-Au9fvwv35ajAFPQiwhH5j2OrgwG5sqV4AXnkePd6Ji_JPPhxR7o0Rrt1dQLwduOYrx56VGlmPNVHRPzwzwoMtnXptX6FoBPt9ptPSnM7GUH1z9CoDJydE798PXfuSL6oQcBfxf2IYrbKurnQoZzy4HpL6OstJ66eTtaNDNvrXkuA/s1920/B.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1056" data-original-width="1920" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj77R4UbVhLXNdjP-Au9fvwv35ajAFPQiwhH5j2OrgwG5sqV4AXnkePd6Ji_JPPhxR7o0Rrt1dQLwduOYrx56VGlmPNVHRPzwzwoMtnXptX6FoBPt9ptPSnM7GUH1z9CoDJydE798PXfuSL6oQcBfxf2IYrbKurnQoZzy4HpL6OstJ66eTtaNDNvrXkuA/w445-h245/B.png" width="445" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The 2018 edition of
this poll admittedly saw a downturn in the number of votes at just forty-four
in total, but that year’s winner set an event record with twelve votes as the
top honors went to Spike Lee’s undeniably relevant crime drama <b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">BlacKkKlansman</span></i></b>,
the true story of former Colorado Springs police officer Ron Stallworth’s infiltration
of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 22pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2019<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-CRu933z31lUcb0njYCqM8vVD4N-DesP2u09cYU2o5Io2GNGW98b6XSfZ3RkHATes8G2roPmsbLXJDQXNwUO1kCYhQoxBn7HLwQucAcYeNtYoPvyvBYXOFluBOdWqkjZACe-rGzQKzaYKFxov_KO4TcHBbINfKfQ-jiwWBv9ULiewKQN5zqyG5A73A/s1200/Avengers%20Assemble.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1200" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ-CRu933z31lUcb0njYCqM8vVD4N-DesP2u09cYU2o5Io2GNGW98b6XSfZ3RkHATes8G2roPmsbLXJDQXNwUO1kCYhQoxBn7HLwQucAcYeNtYoPvyvBYXOFluBOdWqkjZACe-rGzQKzaYKFxov_KO4TcHBbINfKfQ-jiwWBv9ULiewKQN5zqyG5A73A/w529-h265/Avengers%20Assemble.jpg" width="529" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">2019 was easily our
best year ever for this poll in terms of votes with a whopping eighty-nine
responses. That year’s Top 3 finalists each managed to earn at least ten votes
apiece, with the winner ultimately topping <i>BlacKkKlansman</i>’s
record-setting numbers from the previous year’s event with nineteen votes directed
its way. And given its status as the grand finale of the Infinity Saga and the
fact that, for nearly two whole years, it became the highest-grossing film of all time, it wasn’t too surprising to see <b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Avengers: Endgame</span></i></b><i>
</i>take the #1 spot.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 22pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2020<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">The winner of the
2020 edition of the End of Summer Fan Poll was a notable one… and that’s
because there wasn’t one that year thanks to COVID.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRxYYztbkC83cI5gCRTHfsOwPVJf4YwDhdzI22Y87U5Fy-OBXW_wjbj3T-vRciKhDnB3dGhikKUTi8V4RdoSNpAQeEOgtUSQo5qCJbblGV29covKBj1UR1pTfgPIYzfJe0JGAciJC30oh9EK2ZSK3VoEeeX8CPItj_w744kjcy3yL0xNQW-5GSLWqkQ/s887/2020%20RIMC%20Fan%20Poll%20Meme.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="887" data-original-width="587" height="457" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuRxYYztbkC83cI5gCRTHfsOwPVJf4YwDhdzI22Y87U5Fy-OBXW_wjbj3T-vRciKhDnB3dGhikKUTi8V4RdoSNpAQeEOgtUSQo5qCJbblGV29covKBj1UR1pTfgPIYzfJe0JGAciJC30oh9EK2ZSK3VoEeeX8CPItj_w744kjcy3yL0xNQW-5GSLWqkQ/w302-h457/2020%20RIMC%20Fan%20Poll%20Meme.PNG" width="302" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 22pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 20.0pt;">2021<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b></b></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5i7_aEs5Intuwr0db2iqXDjgJzJK_UbSC5TSHgzFEwirNpOVnHrUAeImwy3ULzfQMTBgMUBPv2Ls3HwdV9ADrQOgyr-fct4jFpXsCj2gQF6N4-FYEADpHoHudkRgA5dBq0croaKcy099XWfaSt1eeXm7C0cBuM2Y5Y2fP58hCRhsIGb41o90w-yc4Q/s3000/Cruella.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="3000" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE5i7_aEs5Intuwr0db2iqXDjgJzJK_UbSC5TSHgzFEwirNpOVnHrUAeImwy3ULzfQMTBgMUBPv2Ls3HwdV9ADrQOgyr-fct4jFpXsCj2gQF6N4-FYEADpHoHudkRgA5dBq0croaKcy099XWfaSt1eeXm7C0cBuM2Y5Y2fP58hCRhsIGb41o90w-yc4Q/w406-h270/Cruella.jpg" width="406" /></a></b></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Thankfully, our
annual poll returned with a vengeance last year, garnering sixty-nine votes in
a triumphant comeback that saw Disney’s <b><i><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">Cruella</span></i></b>, the highly
entertaining and unique new spin on one of Disney’s most iconic villainesses,
Cruella de Vil, take home top honors with sixteen votes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">What film will
be crowned the 2022 champion of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Annual End of
Summer Fan Poll? Stay tuned! </span></b><o:p></o:p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-90320154243078952522022-08-15T17:00:00.000-04:002022-08-15T17:00:01.627-04:00Madagascar - Series Retrospective (DreamWorks Animation Retrospective #2)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93ob-x9vNBue0WHeuHh87K-ewlnBtTFvxoOWC8rojiI-AV42rBRIVsp9CYiODKzTkjSZmMT6SCTND2I1qMrFDO6zCMAisIAu6I6kTX9NJuybhYHgELnP5y8mErQhbpSbrQtVPDVxs8tlhrznw9DIf5EHKkZtQsECQJOhHmQmp6aHvipkLdruZtEMsjw/s1200/Madagascar%20Series%20Logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="395" data-original-width="1200" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi93ob-x9vNBue0WHeuHh87K-ewlnBtTFvxoOWC8rojiI-AV42rBRIVsp9CYiODKzTkjSZmMT6SCTND2I1qMrFDO6zCMAisIAu6I6kTX9NJuybhYHgELnP5y8mErQhbpSbrQtVPDVxs8tlhrznw9DIf5EHKkZtQsECQJOhHmQmp6aHvipkLdruZtEMsjw/w400-h131/Madagascar%20Series%20Logo.png" width="400" /></a></div><p>Greetings, folks, and welcome to another installment of a
new series of retrospectives here on Rhode Island Movie Corner that will be
covering the numerous films produced by DreamWorks Animation. Given that the
studio has produced more than forty films up to this point, I decided to do the
same thing that I did with my retrospective series on Walt Disney Animation and
split what would’ve been a ridiculously massive single post into separate
parts. But whereas the Disney retrospectives were divvied up by decades, I
decided to start off the DreamWorks series by focusing on the company’s biggest
animated franchises; in other words, the ones that, at the very least, have
yielded a trilogy of films. This, of course, began with a look at one of the
indisputable juggernauts of animation, <i><a href="http://rimoviecorner.blogspot.com/2022/06/dreamworks-shrek-franchise.html" target="_blank">Shrek</a></i>, and today, we move on to
the second major DreamWorks franchise that reached the trilogy mark, <i>Madagascar</i>.
Primarily developed by the directorial duo of Tom McGrath (who has since gone
on to direct other DreamWorks films like <i>Megamind </i>and the<i> Boss Baby </i>films)
and Eric Darnell (who co-directed DreamWorks’ first computer animated film <i>Antz</i>),
the <i>Madagascar </i>series follows a group of animals from the Central Park
Zoo who find themselves forced to survive on their own in the wild. While the
series was never much of a runaway hit with critics, it has been a relatively
consistent performer at the box-office as its three mainline installments and one
spin-off collectively grossed over $2.2 billion worldwide, which does make it
DreamWorks’ second highest-grossing franchise to date (bested only, of course,
by <i>Shrek</i>) and the industry’s seventh highest-grossing animated film
franchise overall. So, let’s not waste any more time and get ready to “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdcTmpvDO0I&t=" target="_blank">move it, move it</a>” as Rhode Island Movie Corner proudly presents its retrospective on the
<i>Madagascar </i>series.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">(Also, for those who
may have missed the <i>Shrek </i>retrospective, the one major ground rule that
I set up for these DreamWorks retrospectives is that I’ll only be covering their
feature film output and none of the TV shows that any of their IPs have
spawned which, in this instance, includes the <i>Penguins of Madagascar </i>series
on Nickelodeon that I did watch a couple episodes of when I was younger, the
Netflix series <i>All Hail King Julien</i>, and the prequel series <i>Madagascar:
A Little Wild </i>that recently released its final season on both Hulu and
Peacock.) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>MADAGASCAR (2005)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ato3UmOHQIflYTrIMRRWxo7GfAkg9_ikOlId0P-C1jryMY3f32EsyDPf5sJSQTnIwrGH-qQdT17siy6iM6ba6J7FrbWD18QhnT23ERGKHFnXL9gu7IPzzDyBHRDGU8H1GUgAZMtyAOIFBeBR_p_yk1gzkypglUef1vAMGCtGdQfb4on1J9y2B3iP_A/s1440/Madagascar%201%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1440" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4ato3UmOHQIflYTrIMRRWxo7GfAkg9_ikOlId0P-C1jryMY3f32EsyDPf5sJSQTnIwrGH-qQdT17siy6iM6ba6J7FrbWD18QhnT23ERGKHFnXL9gu7IPzzDyBHRDGU8H1GUgAZMtyAOIFBeBR_p_yk1gzkypglUef1vAMGCtGdQfb4on1J9y2B3iP_A/w266-h400/Madagascar%201%20Poster.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As I alluded to in the intro, <i>Madagascar </i>is often
seen as a franchise that got better as time went on, and in some cases, it’s
easy to see why when looking back at the original <i>Madagascar </i>from 2005. Despite
an impressive $556.6 million run at the box office (which made it the sixth
highest-grossing film of the year), reviews for it were average at best. Going
back to something that I mentioned in the <i>Shrek </i>retrospective, this was
right around the time when DreamWorks Animation was garnering quite a bit of a reputation
amongst its biggest critics for allegedly making nothing but pop-culture-dependent
kiddie flicks that, as financially successful as they were, didn’t hold a
candle to the likes of Disney and Pixar. And by most accounts, this was another
instance of DreamWorks trying to one-up Disney as they managed to get <i>Madagascar</i>
out before Disney’s ‘Central Park Zoo animals travel to the jungle’ film, <i>The
Wild</i>, thus resulting in the rare instance where Disney was accused of
ripping off DreamWorks even though <i>The Wild </i>had been in the works for
much longer. Conversely, this film’s sequels/spin-offs were released during a
time when DreamWorks films finally started to rely less on the studio’s established
formula. Still, as much as I can see why its sequels are largely seen as
superior films, the first <i>Madagascar</i>, just like the first <i>Shrek</i>,
has always been a strong personal favorite of mine. For starters, I’d argue
that this film is right up there with <i>Shrek </i>as one of the most quotable
films of all time, whether it’s Marty yelling ‘Oh, Sugar Honey Iced Tea!” when
he runs away from an angry Alex (think about it for a second and you’ll see
what I mean <span style="font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji",sans-serif; mso-ascii-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-char-type: symbol-ext; mso-hansi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-symbol-font-family: "Segoe UI Emoji";">😉</span>) or the Penguins
finally reaching their desired location of Antarctica and immediately declaring
“Well, this sucks!”.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Overall, the first <i>Madagascar </i>does succeed in being a
light-hearted comedy adventure that, admittedly, is often just as light when it
comes to its writing. Sure, part of this can be attributed to the fact that the
filmmakers had to cut a pregnancy storyline involving Gloria (as well as a
blossoming relationship with Melman) to avoid a PG-13 rating, but despite centering
on a quartet of main protagonists, the film largely focuses on Alex and Marty.
Still, for what it’s worth, everything with Alex and Marty, from Marty’s desire
to experience life beyond the Central Park Zoo to Alex’s increasingly deranged
state due to a lack of food nearly resulting in him eating Marty, is nicely
handled from an emotional standpoint, thus emphasizing the strength of their
friendship. And just like <i>Shrek</i>, this film thrives on its great ensemble
cast of characters headlined by the lovable lead quartet of Alex the lion (Ben
Stiller), Marty the zebra (Chris Rock), Gloria the hippo (Jada Pinkett Smith), and Melman the giraffe (David Schwimmer), not to mention a scene-stealing turn
from Sacha Baron Cohen as the hilariously self-obsessed Julien, king of the
Madagascar lemurs. In short, while it may be far from being the best animated
film of its time, the original <i>Madagascar </i>has just enough of a decent
emotional hook to its proceedings that it ends up being more than just your
standard early 2000s animated film. As such, it’s easy to see why this ended
up becoming DreamWorks’ next big film franchise after <i>Shrek</i> which,
admittedly, isn’t something that a lot of the studio’s other films at the time
were able to do.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE
2 AFRICA (2008)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-si7UVhU5OEtStSjf8KNBVzG_OSwLCaOP-cxZ3fArY6Q5OSZw5pSl9MOV4lNiDdjeQ7z39089yK0LcoVUkT-cmWM2lc4zxV8pYo4HqoQFJQmOXGOD89nUFkvR5GRutEF2XVFxEBG3rg1a3WiVdibH7yT2aCPwE-Z7VAgzlct8fnWYqFMgL5DMfyZM3g/s1500/Madagascar%202%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1012" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-si7UVhU5OEtStSjf8KNBVzG_OSwLCaOP-cxZ3fArY6Q5OSZw5pSl9MOV4lNiDdjeQ7z39089yK0LcoVUkT-cmWM2lc4zxV8pYo4HqoQFJQmOXGOD89nUFkvR5GRutEF2XVFxEBG3rg1a3WiVdibH7yT2aCPwE-Z7VAgzlct8fnWYqFMgL5DMfyZM3g/w270-h400/Madagascar%202%20Poster.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With the original <i>Madagascar </i>becoming DreamWorks’
biggest hit at the box-office since the first two <i>Shrek </i>films, it’s not
that surprising to see that a sequel was put into development not long after its
release; thus, in 2008, the adventures of Alex, Marty, Gloria, and Melman
continued with <i>Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa</i>. In this film, the Central
Park Zoo gang seemingly find themselves on the way back to New York by way of the
old derelict airplane from on top of the lemurs’ big tree. However, when said
plane inevitably crash lands, the gang find themselves directly on the African
mainland where they each find themselves dealing with their own bits of
personal drama. Alex ends up reuniting with his long-lost parents but struggles
to reacclimate into his old lion pride, especially due to the antics of his
father Zuba’s (Bernie Mac) conniving rival, Makunga (Alec Baldwin). Meanwhile,
Marty comes across a bunch of other zebras but soon finds himself undergoing an
identity crisis when he realizes that his new zebra friends all look, talk, and
act just like him (which means, yes, every zebra in this film is voiced by
Chris Rock). Finally, Melman begins to try and express the romantic feelings
that he has for Gloria, a process that’s complicated by a potential
relationship between her and local womanizer Moto Moto (will.i.am). So, right
off the bat, one of the first things that <i>Madagascar 2 </i>does better than
its predecessor is that it does a better job of balancing out the roles of its
main protagonists. Sure, Alex is still largely the central focus at the end of
the day, but since this film finally utilizes the romance subplot between
Gloria and Melman that had to get cut out of the first film to maintain its
family-friendly rating, <i>Madagascar 2 </i>ends up being more of a true
ensemble piece.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In general, <i>Escape 2 Africa </i>feels far more committed
to the process of fleshing out its main characters rather than just focusing on
its humor. Don’t get me wrong, this is still primarily a comedy as is usually
the case with DreamWorks films, but whereas a film like <i>Shrek the Third</i>
lost sight of its story and characters as a result of its overt focus on trying
to match <i>Shrek 2</i>’s sharp and fast-paced wit, <i>Escape 2 Africa </i>manages
to find a much better balance when it comes to managing its humor and its
emotional beats. And when it comes to the former of those two, this film does an
excellent job of following the example set by <i>Shrek 2 </i>by having its
comedic moments come at you faster and harder, resulting in what is quite
arguably a much more upbeat and energetic film when compared to its immediate predecessor.
Sure, most of the new characters introduced here are, admittedly, one-off
characters who don’t return for the sequel, but there are still some solid
performances from the likes of Bernie Mac (in what was ultimately one of his
final roles following his passing in 2008) and Sherri Shepherd as Alex’s
parents Zuba and Florrie and Alec Baldwin as Makunga, a classic example of a
‘love to hate him’ antagonist. Thus, with all that and some significantly
improved animation, <i>Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa </i>is very much the same
kind of superior sequel that <i>Shrek 2 </i>was for the <i>Shrek</i> franchise.
As much as I do still love the first <i>Madagascar </i>film, especially because
it’s the one film from this franchise that I have the most history with (by
comparison, I never owned this film on DVD but did rewatch it several times
over the years), it’s hard to deny that the second film improves upon several
of its predecessor’s biggest shortcomings. And as we’ll soon see, this didn’t
end up being a case like the <i>Shrek </i>franchise where its overall success
with critics peaked with its second film.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>MADAGASCAR 3:
EUROPE’S MOST WANTED (2012)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjptYMwCLd4n9cJASGH5Fws9cBkqkKQ6-_NjhRk6fniN48VlmrE-YzlffqDYBfoEk7SZvu-kkhB0SrBtfzVzfMW8XYbvRVEE0K6Z1xag_ewGVHv3MK-hIxwGJFa26RY8XUrbGNbvQR98kiGwPU1Ps8wsQm9Fm2uNb12P8dd9yWvr0NEzyLF2qspuJ7DSQ/s1500/Madagascar%203%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1014" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjptYMwCLd4n9cJASGH5Fws9cBkqkKQ6-_NjhRk6fniN48VlmrE-YzlffqDYBfoEk7SZvu-kkhB0SrBtfzVzfMW8XYbvRVEE0K6Z1xag_ewGVHv3MK-hIxwGJFa26RY8XUrbGNbvQR98kiGwPU1Ps8wsQm9Fm2uNb12P8dd9yWvr0NEzyLF2qspuJ7DSQ/w270-h400/Madagascar%203%20Poster.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Co-directors Tom McGrath and Eric Darnell were joined by a
third director, longtime DreamWorks storyboard artist/director (as well as the
voice of fan-favorite <i>Shrek </i>sidekick Gingy) Conrad Vernon, for the third
installment of the <i>Madagascar </i>franchise, <i>Europe’s Most Wanted</i>. As
the title suggests, the film sees the Central Park Zoo gang forced to go on the
run across Europe after running amok in Monte Carlo as they tag along with a
fledgling circus to try and return home to New York all while being pursued by
Captain Chantel DuBois, an utterly imposing and seemingly unstoppable Animal
Control agent who seeks to capture her #1 target, a lion, and add its head to
her wall. And to conclude the point that I’ve been making throughout this
retrospective, <i>Madagascar 3 </i>proved to be the franchise’s biggest
critical and commercial hit upon its release. While <i>Madagascar: Escape 2
Africa</i>’s $603.9 million run was a significant improvement over the
original’s box-office haul, <i>Madagascar 3 </i>managed to top that with a
$746.9 million haul, which is currently the fourth-highest total that any
DreamWorks film has achieved (bested only by the three <i>Shrek </i>sequels)… and
one that, admittedly, no other DreamWorks film since has managed to top. It
also pulled off a feat that most threequels never come close to achieving by
garnering the best reviews in franchise history to the point where it most
likely managed to win over those who weren’t too big on the first two films.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">After <i>Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa </i>did a fine job of adopting
a more rapid-fire style of humor, <i>Madagascar 3 </i>goes even further with
that approach, resulting in a non-stop barrage of visual comedy that’s
bolstered by some of the sharpest animation that this series has seen yet. Much
of this is thanks to the film’s scene-stealing villain DuBois, whose borderline
psychotic antics (as well as Frances McDormand’s truly committed performance in
the role) provide many of the film’s best comedic bits. As usual, though, the
other new additions to the cast (namely, the Central Park Zoo gang’s new
friends at the circus) are solid as well, including Bryan Cranston’s Vitaly,
the circus’ gruff star performer tiger who was traumatized by a disastrous past
performance, Jessica Chastain’s Gia, a trapeze-savvy Jaguar who forms a
romantic connection with Alex, and Martin Short’s Stefano, a happy-go-lucky sea
lion. In short, while I may not have the same kind of history with this film
that I have with the first two <i>Madagascar </i>films (to put this into perspective,
the rewatch that I did for this retrospective was only the second time that I’d
ever watched it), <i>Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted </i>is, indeed, a high
mark for the franchise. It fully embraces the madcap tone and atmosphere that
the franchise had slowly but surely adopted over the years, resulting in a
highly entertaining animated comedy that works quite well even if it may not be
as focused on its character development as it is with its humor.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Also, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FMauGc2oy7w" target="_blank">no regrets!</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>PENGUINS OF MADAGASCAR
(2014)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSkHJy8T8xFdpZo1MqjNWFZlfNXUus0zeKjTOJdhjW4fQN4AqQDg3UduDfqAyAIoBLl1JQSx0-imMC59xURWkw87PxZxmkst9owoV9X2EfD5ngs1VoyJmLPNmMMo8mrGBiHBD1PE_TdAycLxXAMr6FvkFznAtsRPGb-GBDWLFXe3D04VV7oK7dwzI4Q/s1500/Penguins%20of%20Madagascar%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1012" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDSkHJy8T8xFdpZo1MqjNWFZlfNXUus0zeKjTOJdhjW4fQN4AqQDg3UduDfqAyAIoBLl1JQSx0-imMC59xURWkw87PxZxmkst9owoV9X2EfD5ngs1VoyJmLPNmMMo8mrGBiHBD1PE_TdAycLxXAMr6FvkFznAtsRPGb-GBDWLFXe3D04VV7oK7dwzI4Q/w270-h400/Penguins%20of%20Madagascar%20Poster.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">From the moment the first <i>Madagascar </i>hit theaters, it
was clear that its quartet of highly trained penguins (Skipper, Private,
Kowalski, and Rico) were shaping up to be the franchise’s biggest standouts.
Naturally, DreamWorks capitalized on this as early as that same year with a
Penguins-centric short, <i>The Madagascar Penguins in a Christmas Caper</i>,
which ran in theaters with DreamWorks’ 2005 Aardman collaboration <i>Wallace
& Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit </i>and was a bonus feature on the first
<i>Madagascar</i>’s home video release (also, it was notably directed by <i>Beauty
and the Beast </i>co-director Gary Trousdale). Three years later, following the
release of <i>Escape 2 Africa</i>, the penguins headlined the franchise’s first
TV spin-off, <i>The Penguins of Madagascar</i>, which was developed by the same
team behind the hit Disney Channel series <i>Kim Possible </i>and ran for three
seasons from 2008 to 2015 on Nickelodeon and its premium cable sister network,
Nicktoons. Finally, in 2014, the penguins were given their own feature film, <i>Penguins
of Madagascar</i> (which, to be clear, had no direct relation to the show),
which, like the <i>Shrek </i>franchise’s spin-off <i>Puss in Boots</i>,
originally started out as a direct-to-video release before it was promoted to
the big screen. Unlike <i>Puss in Boots</i>, however, the <i>Penguins of
Madagascar </i>film ended up being a financial dud. While a $373.5 million run
at the box office doesn’t seem <b><i>that </i></b>bad… the film itself sported
a hefty $132 million budget. This combined with the similar underperformance of
another 2014 DreamWorks release, <i>Mr. Peabody & Sherman</i>, resulted in
the studio having to take a $57.1 million write-down. And by most accounts, this
was a prominent factor in the major bout of restructuring that DreamWorks
underwent in 2015 that resulted in five hundred job terminations and the
closure of their longtime animation studio, PDI.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And yet, even with all that in mind, seeing how this film
was relatively on par with <i>Madagascar 3 </i>in terms of its critical
reception, it’s safe to say that if its poor financial performance and the
negative impact that it had on the studio resulted in it garnering some sort of
bad reputation, the film itself certainly doesn’t give off the impression that
it was an all-around disastrous release. In short, the <i>Penguins of
Madagascar </i>film is a good old-fashioned popcorn flick with a lot of bright
and colorful animation and a likable bunch of characters to headline it. Heck,
the film even manages to yield some surprisingly effective emotional moments by
way of its primary character arc in which the largely overlooked Private
finally manages to prove himself as a valued member of the team. But, of
course, just like the mainline <i>Madagascar </i>films, <i>Penguins of
Madagascar </i>is a comedy first and foremost, and as usual, there are plenty
of great quotable lines and visual gags throughout. Much of this is thanks to some
of the fun new characters introduced in this film, such as the main antagonist
Dave the Octopus (John Malkovich), who has a running gag of giving out commands
that turn into bits of celebrity name wordplay (for example, “Nicolas, Cage
them!” and “Kevin, Bake On!”), and Agent Classified (Benedict Cumberbatch), the
leader of an animal espionage group known as the North Wind who forms a rivalry
with Skipper over the effectiveness of their leadership tactics. Thus, while it’s
by no means the best installment of the <i>Madagascar </i>franchise, <i>Penguins
of Madagascar </i>is a harmless crowd-pleaser that, above all, provides the
same amounts of genuine laughs and heart as the other <i>Madagascar </i>films. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And that concludes
the second installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s ongoing series of DreamWorks
retrospectives. As always, thanks for following along and be sure to be on the lookout
for the next installment of this new series which, keeping in line with my plan
of starting things out with DreamWorks’ biggest franchises, will tackle the <i>Kung
Fu Panda </i>trilogy. As usual, there’s no definite timetable for its
publication, but I will note that, if anything, I’m not just going to wait
until the release of the franchise’s recently announced fourth film in 2024. <o:p></o:p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-46189772044711751592022-06-23T13:00:00.000-04:002022-06-23T13:00:02.990-04:00DreamWorks' Shrek - A Franchise Retrospective (DreamWorks Animation Retrospective #1)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRfbxElUc6aPzgVfbkyGO58njXx08xjKgp5jdEdR64mF42InoSf2bGmuF2FTm8dWXa5xFJfbQFXHoUeNhQcEQa-oK8_xuujp6AWvWLSLq0S-YYHJrpZVicaMMeVlr4ruiehJJXCGtxM2UULzJetvPTUAbX9xicJuQ8XGuxlW7ulY9aQ7IYoSQyfkwwA/s341/Shrek%20Opening%20Photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="192" data-original-width="341" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjRfbxElUc6aPzgVfbkyGO58njXx08xjKgp5jdEdR64mF42InoSf2bGmuF2FTm8dWXa5xFJfbQFXHoUeNhQcEQa-oK8_xuujp6AWvWLSLq0S-YYHJrpZVicaMMeVlr4ruiehJJXCGtxM2UULzJetvPTUAbX9xicJuQ8XGuxlW7ulY9aQ7IYoSQyfkwwA/w419-h236/Shrek%20Opening%20Photo.jpg" width="419" /></a></div><p>I’ve done plenty of retrospectives over the years ranging
from ones that cover a director’s filmography to the more traditional franchise
retrospectives that I often do whenever a franchise’s newest release comes out.
I’ve also done a few animation-centric retrospectives such as the one that I
did on Aardman Animations back in 2018 and what is easily one of the biggest
projects that I’ve ever done on this site, a full series of retrospectives
detailing the numerous classics made by Walt Disney Animation Studios. However,
there’s one retrospective project that I’ve been dying to do for years now and
that is covering the filmography of another one of the most prominent animation
studios in the industry, DreamWorks Animation. While it goes without saying
that Disney is (and will usually be) the key source behind my favorite bits of
media, especially when it comes to animated films, DreamWorks’ animated films
were just as much of a prominent staple of my childhood. Granted, I stopped
watching them regularly in theaters by the start of the 2010s, but back then,
I always went to see the newest DreamWorks film just like with all of Disney Animation
and Pixar’s new releases. However, when it comes to doing a retrospective on
DreamWorks, there’s one slight problem that’s been the reason why it’s taken me
so long to get around to doing this. At the time that I’m writing this, the
studio has produced forty-two official films since 1998, and to put it simply,
it would be downright impossible for me to cover all those films in a single
post without it being far too massive.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So instead, I decided that the best solution was to take
this one step at a time and divvy these films up into a series of posts just
like my Disney Animation retrospectives. But whereas the Disney retrospectives
were divided by decades, I decided to start off this new series of DreamWorks
retrospectives by first tackling their biggest franchises; specifically, the
ones that have had at least three cinematic installments to date. After that,
I’ll do a quick run-through of DreamWorks’ brief foray into the world of
traditionally animated films before covering any of the studio’s one-off
releases and those that have started to spawn their own franchises but not
necessarily to the lengths that DreamWorks’ most famous franchises have
reached. And, of course, it all begins with the franchise that singlehandedly
turned DreamWorks into the animation juggernaut that it is today. Sure, this
year will mark the first time that this franchise has seen a theatrical release
in more than a decade, but there’s no denying the impact that it’s had on both
animation and pop culture in general. Heck, even if I didn’t have the
franchise’s name in the title of this post, I’m confident that most of you
reading this know exactly what I’m talking about; none other than the
adventures of the crude but lovable green ogre… named Shrek. Originally adapted
from the 1990 picture book of the same name by author William Steig, <i>Shrek </i>is
easily one of the most famous film franchises of all time. To date, it is the
second-highest-grossing animated franchise of all time with over $3.5 billion
worldwide, a total that’s only been bested by the more recent global phenomenon
that is the <i>Despicable Me </i>franchise.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now, I must admit that this was one of the most daunting
retrospectives that I’ve done on this site. To be clear, this isn’t a case of
me being nervous about tackling the franchise’s lesser-received outings or
anything; instead, this is mainly because of the franchise’s current role in
the pop-cultural zeitgeist. As I noted earlier, <i>Shrek </i>still stands as
one of the most famous franchises of all time; speaking from experience, it
truly was a major staple of my generation and I assure you that it’s still
fondly remembered by many of those who grew up with it. But nowadays, when it
comes to <i>Shrek</i>, most people are probably more familiar with its status
as one of the most prominent icons of internet culture and, more specifically,
internet meme culture. Simply put, Shrek has an extensive history when it comes
to internet memes, but I won’t be covering any of that here because… well, to
be perfectly frank, that’s one rabbit hole that I do <b>NOT</b> want to dive
into. Plus, I don’t want y’all getting mad at me if you end up looking some of
these up because of how… messed up they can get. Let’s put it this way; as much
as I hate the following term because of how hyperbolic and false it is 99.9% of
the time, I do sort of feel that some <i>Shrek </i>memes out there could
legitimately result in a case of ‘ruined childhoods’. So, with all that out of
the way, it’s time to be reminded why ogres are just like onions (that’s right,
it’s all because of those layers) as we tackle the fantastical adventures of an
indisputable cinematic all-star.<i><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">(Also, as a quick
disclaimer, I’ll only be focusing on the <i>Shrek </i>films, which means that I
won’t go over any of its non-theatrical spin-offs; TV specials, TV shows, the <i>Shrek
4-D </i>attraction that operated at multiple Universal Studios parks for many
years, etc. And yes, this same mandate will also be applied to future
installments of these DreamWorks retrospectives…)<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>SHREK (2001)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQeYvlGEUXaw3iEOhppcELrk6jajo791w9OeA9VjRXwoMSko7L2Lqdbt1DACBSqmaj7JJB2KZJFRR_60vIoQalWGhXdfGrXPSHRcTYaFffnYgjL0Ynw1iwIxprleoaMIoDC3AmVis8lUXQ2NtlWC3G7UNh3gy2t48Xg9GBJcJjsDR16OD2Ze74mCcdw/s755/Shrek%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="507" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDQeYvlGEUXaw3iEOhppcELrk6jajo791w9OeA9VjRXwoMSko7L2Lqdbt1DACBSqmaj7JJB2KZJFRR_60vIoQalWGhXdfGrXPSHRcTYaFffnYgjL0Ynw1iwIxprleoaMIoDC3AmVis8lUXQ2NtlWC3G7UNh3gy2t48Xg9GBJcJjsDR16OD2Ze74mCcdw/w269-h400/Shrek%20Poster.jpg" width="269" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This past year marked the 20<sup>th</sup> anniversary of the
original <i>Shrek</i>, a film that was a full-on decade in the making. Plans
for a <i>Shrek </i>film go back as far as 1991 when Steven Spielberg bought
the film rights to William Steig’s book with the intent of making a traditionally
animated film with Bill Murray as the voice of the title character and Steve
Martin voicing his sidekick Donkey. It wasn’t until 1995 when the film was
finally put into development at the newly formed studio that Spielberg
co-founded with former Walt Disney Studios chairman Jeffrey Katzenberg and
business magnate David Geffen, DreamWorks SKG. After an initial attempt at a
live-action/CGI hybrid that utilized motion-capture (which, on a fascinating
note, was developed by a team of animators that included none other than J.J.
Abrams) failed to impress, <i>Shrek</i> was finally turned into a fully
computer-animated film developed by Pacific Data Images. Another interesting
development came about with the process of casting the title role. At first,
SNL breakout star Chris Farley was cast as Shrek; sadly, Farley passed away in
1997 before he was able to complete his work on the film. Farley’s SNL co-star
Mike Myers was then cast in his place and, after recording a newly rewritten
script, requested to re-record all his dialogue in a Scottish accent. A bold
move like this and all the various directions that the film went through to get made ultimately worked out in the end as <i>Shrek </i>promptly
became a cultural phenomenon upon its release. It grossed over $484 million
worldwide (the fourth-highest total of 2001), won the inaugural Oscar for Best
Animated Feature and, of course, effectively turned DreamWorks into the first
genuine rival to Pixar when it comes to computer-animated films.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">All that said, though, the discourse surrounding <i>Shrek </i>nowadays
mostly comes from the debate as to how well it holds up after all these years,
especially given the varying quality of its sequels and its overall status as
not only a parody of fairytales but also a direct potshot at Disney given
Jeffrey Katzenberg’s notoriously unpleasant departure from the studio in 1994. And,
of course, there’s everything that has to do with all the… ‘internet shenanigans’
that Shrek has gotten into in recent years that have painted this entire
franchise in a new light. But as someone who’s very much a part of the
generation that grew up with this series (and yet, for the record, didn’t partake
in the fandom’s descent into meme culture) and still remembers going to see
this film at his local drive-in theater, I’d argue that much of the first <i>Shrek
</i>still holds up quite well, especially when it comes to its writing. Say
what you will about the extensive use of pop-cultural references that would up
end up defining a lot of DreamWorks films at the time or if the film’s jabs at
Disney are a bit too mean-spirited nowadays, but for the most part, a lot of <i>Shrek</i>’s
humor and comedic banter is excellent throughout. And, of course, as many have
noted over the years, this film deserves quite a lot of credit for somehow
managing to be a family-friendly fantasy adventure that isn’t afraid to drop in
some subtle (or, in some cases, unsubtle) bits of adult humor that undoubtedly
went over the heads of kids like me who watched this back in the day.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It also helps that the film is anchored by an incredibly
lovable group of protagonists in the trio of Shrek, Donkey, and Princess Fiona,
who are then contrasted by the film’s hilariously self-obsessed antagonist Lord
Farquaad (who may or may not have been based on former Disney CEO Michael
Eisner), all of whom are excellently voiced by the quartet of Mike Myers, Eddie
Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow, respectively. And so, with all this in
mind, to answer the question that I had set up earlier about whether the
original <i>Shrek </i>still holds up… overall, I’d say that it does. Now, if
you go back to some of my earliest posts on this site, I once listed this as
one of my Top 10 Favorite Films of all-time way back in September 2012.
Admittedly, I don’t know if it has maintained a spot on that list since then
but, suffice it to say, this has always been a personal favorite of mine. Outside
of the usual case of it being an early-era computer-animated film that’s
obviously been outdone in animation quality by the medium’s subsequent
releases, <i>Shrek </i>hits that sweet spot as a nostalgic animated classic for
all ages. Case in point, as utterly irreverent and crass as its humor can be at
times, it can also hit you with the feels at just the right moments. For better
or worse, <i>Shrek </i>truly was a landmark release for animated films and it’s
hard to imagine what the world of animation would be like without that old
smelly ogre.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>SHREK 2 (2004)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhineCpsDwwA6kX8VMhubimOcNFAJwe2edQjtKV0alpyMNIam3ww18gzJth71S3kn3gvZ7sBkv-uRKOo8zlAuuQ8ZQeNQkwhXkk9iAclRnz4rjSp12jZi2VLwCgwBFOBGaGS0dSTxveui5W3U_tiJurPSXEO0RtWJCjUANsQdpmxCymuXqL4XvTC1OL5Q/s755/Shrek%202%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="511" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhineCpsDwwA6kX8VMhubimOcNFAJwe2edQjtKV0alpyMNIam3ww18gzJth71S3kn3gvZ7sBkv-uRKOo8zlAuuQ8ZQeNQkwhXkk9iAclRnz4rjSp12jZi2VLwCgwBFOBGaGS0dSTxveui5W3U_tiJurPSXEO0RtWJCjUANsQdpmxCymuXqL4XvTC1OL5Q/w271-h400/Shrek%202%20Poster.jpg" width="271" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The success of the original <i>Shrek </i>naturally resulted
in the announcement of a follow-up not long after its release, and if you
needed any further indication as to why this franchise became such a pop-cultural juggernaut in the early 2000s, just look at what 2004’s <i>Shrek 2 </i>managed
to pull off. Simply put, <i>Shrek 2 </i>was one of the biggest critical and
financial hits of its time; it earned over $928 million worldwide, easily
making it the highest-grossing film of 2004 and besting the likes of well-proven
franchises like <i>Spider-Man </i>and <i>Harry Potter</i>. This also made it
the highest-grossing animated film at that time, which was a record that it
maintained for 6 years until Pixar’s <i>Toy Story 3 </i>became the first
animated film to gross over $1 billion worldwide. And while it may not have won
that year’s Oscar for Best Animated Feature, its overall critical reception was
very much on par with the original, with some even arguing that <i>Shrek 2 </i>was
a rare case of a ‘superior’ sequel. With almost all the core cast and crew
members returning from the original, <i>Shrek 2 </i>dutifully maintains the
original’s brilliant mix of kid-friendly humor and adult gags that its target
audience won’t truly understand until they’re older and then proceeds to one-up
its predecessor on the overall timing and delivery of said jokes to result in a
more consistently funny film. And since this film’s animation has aged a lot
better, by comparison, there’s a lot of fun to be had finding all the little
Easter Eggs and visual gags that are peppered throughout.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Shrek 2 </i>also benefits greatly from all the fun new
characters that it introduces. Jennifer Saunders’ Fairy Godmother is a delightfully
over-the-top and highly memorable main antagonist right down to her quite
arguably iconic cover of ‘Holding Out for a Hero’ that runs over the film’s
finale. And, of course, <i>Shrek 2 </i>is also notable for turning the
original’s trio of heroes into a full-on quartet with the introduction of
Antonio Banderas’ scene-stealing interpretation of the fierce feline swordsman
Puss in Boots, who may just be the franchise’s most famous character given that
he’s since gone on to headline not one but two feature-length spin-offs and a
six-season series on Netflix. In short, it’s easy to see why <i>Shrek 2 </i>is the
beloved classic that it is; nevertheless, there has been some debate over the
years over its long-held reputation as a ‘superior’ sequel. In other words, while
you’re probably more likely to see most people say that <i>Shrek 2 </i>is the
franchise’s best film, there are some folks out there who still prefer the
first <i>Shrek</i>. As for me, I’d say that I’m somewhere in the middle of this
debate where the first <i>Shrek </i>is, as I mentioned earlier, my ‘personal
favorite’ of the bunch… but at the same time, it’s hard to deny that <i>Shrek 2
</i>is, indeed, a superior sequel to what was already a damn great first
installment.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>SHREK THE THIRD
(2007)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-K0nffoIYmztAJJktyMBMRjGKKjAPpqWk4vbU4xMJLkGg0Mvpx3MDwKFpNhy-Fe_xgXOihiVXtLma_v151Mh6h8LHzsHCoS1c2p8AUJL2qKDKZZkOf1rCg01ABk20RMi6HOTksmjvRcuqeDb4VsHPSTwvGUXBAAWF3qYpxMHz9P3KjKxEOA8K1sVZg/s755/Shrek%20the%20Third%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="511" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU-K0nffoIYmztAJJktyMBMRjGKKjAPpqWk4vbU4xMJLkGg0Mvpx3MDwKFpNhy-Fe_xgXOihiVXtLma_v151Mh6h8LHzsHCoS1c2p8AUJL2qKDKZZkOf1rCg01ABk20RMi6HOTksmjvRcuqeDb4VsHPSTwvGUXBAAWF3qYpxMHz9P3KjKxEOA8K1sVZg/w271-h400/Shrek%20the%20Third%20Poster.jpg" width="271" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With a pair of highly acclaimed and hugely popular films under
its belt, it’s safe to say that the <i>Shrek </i>franchise was still seen in
high regard as it prepared for the release of its third installment, <i>Shrek
the Third</i>. Sure, the production had to undergo a notable change in direction
due to <i>Shrek </i>and <i>Shrek 2 </i>director Andrew Adamson’s commitment to
Disney’s <i>The Chronicles of Narnia </i>franchise, but at the very least, <i>Shrek
the Third </i>was under the direction of a familiar face in <i>Shrek</i> story
artist and <i>Shrek 2</i>’s head of story Chris Miller, AKA the voice of the
Magic Mirror. And upon its release, <i>Shrek the Third </i>did continue the
franchise’s success at the box office with a nice $813.4 million run that
included a then record-setting opening weekend for an animated film that was
also the third highest-grossing opening weekend of any film at that time. But
as for its critical reception… well, that was another story. Unlike the first
two films, <i>Shrek the Third </i>did poorly with critics as it undoubtedly
fell victim to the dreaded threequel curse where the third installment of a
popular franchise ends up being seen as its weakest. And when it comes to <i>Shrek</i>,
some have argued that this film’s poor reception may have hurt the franchise a
lot more than you might think. At a time when several studios were trying
(and, in most cases, failing) to capitalize on the concept of satirical retellings
of classic fairy tales, <i>Shrek the Third</i>’s middling reception is what may
have been responsible for ultimately killing audience interest in the genre, and
since this is the very franchise that kickstarted that whole trend… that’s
saying something.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Even I’ll admit that back when this film came out, I wasn’t
too big on it despite being a huge fan of the previous two films. Admittedly,
some of this was probably due to me starting to branch out at the time and
watch more than just the newest Disney, Pixar, or DreamWorks releases, but
while I did get this film on DVD as a holiday gift, I didn’t rewatch it as much
as I did the first two films. In fact, when it comes to both this and the next
two films, these most recent viewings of them are either the first time I’ve
seen them in years… or at all. And once I rewatched this film, I found that my
stance towards it hasn’t changed that much. <i>Shrek the Third </i>undoubtedly
suffers from a lesser script when compared to the first two films as it's a lot
more reliant on its pop-cultural references which, as I noted earlier, were a
common (and often criticized) aspect of DreamWorks’ early 2000’s works. As a
result, the humor is a lot less consistent and outside of the development that Shrek
and Fiona have triplets, there’s little to no character development for any of
the main protagonists outside of Shrek’s fears about becoming a parent. Instead,
more time is spent focusing on the flimsy premise of Shrek and company seeking
out the heir to Far Far Away’s throne, Arthur Pendragon, and dealing with the
return of <i>Shrek 2</i>’s secondary antagonist Prince Charming who, despite
being promoted to the role of the main antagonist, arguably works better as a
supporting villain rather than the main one like his mother, the Fairy
Godmother. And as for the new addition of Arthur (as voiced by Justin
Timberlake), he ended up being the very definition of a one-off character since
this is the only film that he’s appeared in. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But despite these shortcomings, there are some enjoyable
parts of this film, such as a superfluous but amusing subplot in which a spell
from the wizard Merlin causes Donkey and Puss in Boots to switch bodies or the
part where Fiona rallies her fellow princesses (Snow White, Cinderella, and
Sleeping Beauty) to fight back against Charming’s forces. And barring a few
iffy visual designs here and there, these <i>Shrek </i>films have, at least,
consistently improved their animation quality with each subsequent release. In
conclusion, since this film’s release, I’ve seen plenty of folks online label it
as one of the worst animated films of all time, with some even arguing that,
because it’s so bad, it even ruins the previous two films by proxy… but if you
ask me, this film doesn’t deserve such an infamously harsh reputation. No, I’m
not saying that this is any sort of masterpiece or anything, especially when
compared to the first two films, but on its own, it’s a relatively harmless
family flick that, at its worst, is simply a subpar installment of the <i>Shrek</i>
franchise that lacks a lot of its trademark spunk. To be clear, I don’t attribute
any of this to the change in direction that I mentioned earlier since Chris
Miller has been involved with the franchise since the beginning; plus, as we’ll
soon see, he did go on to redeem himself as a director thanks to the franchise’s
first spin-off. At the end of the day, I’d argue that this is simply a straightforward
case of diminishing returns that, admittedly, ended up hurting the franchise overall
as it marked a clear turning point for this once seemingly unstoppable phenomenon.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>2.5/5</i></b>
<b><i><o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>SHREK FOREVER
AFTER (2010)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-4LFXyAZDuzFEtA__E72ToDQ5LN5DTyu_v5oYcLXnXXlEKpI8bkmLWCPR_uO6nTbTBcfsvfcFamnz6LcrF-F7jkV8bmYdpAS16Eb_Iw0Q4bqY6xASEdpVKZhfUn0mPLZYeQCAuG6KV9z8HbnN5CS49Zi2C6LaWs7HbEUfwIXf0H2Oh43XDLYOug-bg/s755/Shrek%20Forever%20After%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY-4LFXyAZDuzFEtA__E72ToDQ5LN5DTyu_v5oYcLXnXXlEKpI8bkmLWCPR_uO6nTbTBcfsvfcFamnz6LcrF-F7jkV8bmYdpAS16Eb_Iw0Q4bqY6xASEdpVKZhfUn0mPLZYeQCAuG6KV9z8HbnN5CS49Zi2C6LaWs7HbEUfwIXf0H2Oh43XDLYOug-bg/w271-h400/Shrek%20Forever%20After%20Poster.jpg" width="271" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Around the time that <i>Shrek 2 </i>came out, it was
reported that DreamWorks was planning to make at least three more <i>Shrek </i>films
after that (not counting the <i>Puss in Boots </i>spin-off), with the fifth set
to be the series’ last. And yet, while I’m not saying that the mediocre reception
toward <i>Shrek the Third </i>was solely responsible for the following
development, I also wouldn’t be surprised if it was, indeed, ‘a part’ of the reason
that the proposed fifth film was ultimately nixed. Thus, the fourth film, directed
by Mike Mitchell (director of films like the 2005 cult classic <i>Sky High </i>and
the <i>LEGO Movie </i>sequel that didn’t deserve to be a box-office flop) and
originally titled <i>Shrek Goes Fourth</i>, was renamed <i>Shrek Forever After </i>and
officially<i> </i>repurposed into being the franchise’s final mainline
installment. Opting for an <i>It’s a Wonderful Life</i>-style story, the film
sees Shrek, having recently become disillusioned with his current life,
agreeing to a deal with Rumpelstiltskin (who, funnily enough, was in <i>Shrek
the Third </i>as a part of Prince Charming’s crew and had a completely
different character design) that will let him have a full day where he can be a
true ogre again. But of course, as anyone familiar with the classic fairy tale
can probably guess, the sneaky imp double-crosses Shrek by placing him in an
alternate reality where he was never born, thus allowing Rumpel to become the
ruler of Far, Far Away.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Given what I just said about the plot following the well-established
premise made famous by <i>It’s a Wonderful Life </i>in which the main protagonist
sees how the lives of their friends and family are considerably worse if they
never existed, <i>Shrek Forever After</i>’s plot is, admittedly, quite
predictable in its execution. However, the film makes up for this with two
things that, in retrospect, were severely lacking in <i>Shrek the Third</i>…
heart and legitimate emotional stakes. Looking back, it seems as if <i>Shrek
the Third </i>was more focused on replicating <i>Shrek 2</i>’s ‘joke-a-minute’
vibe, thus making it a film that aimed to be more of a comedic romp… but in
doing so, lacked the emotional beats that were just as prevalent in the first
two films as their wacky senses of humor. <i>Shrek Forever After</i>, on the
other hand, admittedly may not be as much of a comedic riot as the first two
films were but it’s far more character-driven than its immediate predecessor. Shrek’s
complete devotion to Fiona and their children is what drives him to set things
right after his foolhardy attempt at reliving the glory days and the film
utilizes Fiona, Donkey, and Puss in Boots a lot better than <i>Shrek the Third </i>did.
It also sports a solidly entertaining bad guy in Rumpelstiltskin (voiced by the
film’s head of story, Walt Dohrn), who does manage to rival Lord Farquaad and
the Fairy Godmother as both a hilarious and downright sinister antagonist. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As I noted with <i>Shrek the Third</i>, <i>Shrek Forever
After</i> maintains the franchise’s track record of consistently improved
animation with each new installment. <i>Forever After </i>was also notably
released in 3-D since this was around the time when the format was making a
comeback and DreamWorks Animation had been using it regularly since 2009. I
didn’t see this in 3-D when it was in theaters since I saw it at a drive-in
(the same drive-in where I saw the first film, in fact…), but from what I’ve heard,
DreamWorks Animation always managed to do quite well with implementing 3-D into
their films, especially when compared to films that were hastily converted into
the format in post-production to capitalize on its then-recent resurgence. And
so, with all that in mind, for a film that I haven’t seen since it first came
out 12 years ago… <i>Shrek Forever After </i>surprisingly holds up quite well. While
I can’t say that it’s as good as the first two <i>Shrek </i>films, it does give
the franchise a much-needed bit of course correction by bringing back a lot of
the aspects that made it great but were sadly missing in <i>Shrek the Third</i>.
In other words, the best way that I can describe this film is that, when
compared to its predecessor, this one feels a lot more in line with what we’ve
come to expect from the <i>Shrek </i>franchise. And while it’s still unclear yet
if there’s going to be a fifth <i>Shrek </i>film as it’s been in the works for
years now, <i>Forever After </i>does succeed in its initial goal of being a
fitting send-off for this iconic franchise.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating:<b> <i>4/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>PUSS IN BOOTS
(2011)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2I7qTjRPucN0B4Zzg9veWl6QkUhbb-Tdfr1nNl38onUnV7nHNuhO2LH0HSDzC93_AVEYW8ULgava0lytPnVp3MmXpoKTqHiwmMraghG128rbiOBDqMQpptZpXahoTZy2zTavNeUTZk_QeodB3IhyiUFEdiz9OBjNKiRATSsQ54APOILJlcmhltZRkeA/s1500/Puss%20in%20Boots%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="960" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2I7qTjRPucN0B4Zzg9veWl6QkUhbb-Tdfr1nNl38onUnV7nHNuhO2LH0HSDzC93_AVEYW8ULgava0lytPnVp3MmXpoKTqHiwmMraghG128rbiOBDqMQpptZpXahoTZy2zTavNeUTZk_QeodB3IhyiUFEdiz9OBjNKiRATSsQ54APOILJlcmhltZRkeA/w256-h400/Puss%20in%20Boots%20Poster.jpg" width="256" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Shrek Forever After </i>may have been the narrative finale
to the <i>Shrek </i>franchise but it wouldn’t end up being the franchise’s last
hurrah on the big screen. From the moment he made his franchise debut in <i>Shrek
2</i>, it was clear to DreamWorks that Puss in Boots was going to be an
indisputable breakout character, and so, <i>Shrek 2</i>’s head of story Chris
Miller pushed heavily for a spin-off centered on the suave swashbuckling feline.
And while said film was originally conceived as a direct-to-video release that
would’ve come out in 2008, one year after Miller’s directorial debut with <i>Shrek
the Third</i>, it was eventually repurposed as a theatrical release once
DreamWorks eventually realized the character’s full potential for cinematic
adventures. Chris Miller soon signed on to direct, thus making <i>Puss in Boots
</i>his second directorial outing for the franchise, and thankfully for Miller,
<i>Puss in Boots </i>was not a critical dud like <i>Shrek the Third </i>was. The
film opened to solid reviews from critics, earned an Oscar nomination for Best
Animated Feature, and amassed a highly respectable $555 million run at the box office. As a result, what started out as a spin-off of a hugely successful
DreamWorks franchise ended up turning into its own hugely successful DreamWorks
franchise. In 2015, it spawned a Netflix series, <i>The Adventures of Puss in
Boots</i>,<i> </i>which lasted for six seasons, and this December, Puss in
Boots will make his triumphant return to the big screen in <i>Puss in Boots:
The Last Wish</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But for now, our focus is on Puss’ first solo outing. Set
long before his first encounter with Shrek and Donkey, the film explores Puss’
backstory and how an incident involving him and his childhood friend Humpty
Dumpty resulted in him becoming a fugitive of the law in the town that he was
raised in, San Ricardo, which is a status that he’s been trying to undo for
quite some time. This eventually leads to him reuniting with Humpty Dumpty who,
along with fellow feline adventurer Kitty Softpaws, recruits Puss for a quest
to find the magic beans that will grow the giant beanstalk that will lead them
to the Giant’s Castle where they will find the mythical golden-egg laying
goose. As I alluded to earlier, this is the one <i>Shrek</i>-related film that
I did not see when it first came out. That said, though, since this was around
the time that I was starting to truly get into film criticism and was paying
greater attention to how films were faring with critics and audiences, I was at
least aware of this film’s generally positive reception and how many saw it as
a surprisingly solid release, especially given that this was clearly at a time
where the <i>Shrek </i>franchise’s popularity had started to dwindle. Having
now finally watched this film for the first time, it isn’t that hard to see why
it proved to be such a big hit. For starters, the film more than manages to
stand on its own as a spin-off of the <i>Shrek </i>franchise without having to
rely on any major nods to the previous<i> </i>films outside of the title
character’s classic visual cues.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Barring a relatively straightforward plot with some rather
predictable plot twists, <i>Puss in Boots </i>is a rollicking swashbuckling
adventure that feels right in line with the many classics that that genre has
spawned, including the ones that Antonio Banderas has been in like 1998’s <i>The
Mask of Zorro</i>. Banderas, of course, is charismatic and great as always in
his fourth outing as Puss in Boots and the film pairs him with one of his most
iconic leading ladies from outside of the world of animation as Salma Hayek
delivers an equally terrific performance as femme fatale Kitty Softpaws. Meanwhile,
Zack Galifianakis is a terrific addition to the ensemble as well as Humpty
Dumpty, who constantly blurs the line between being Puss’ friend and Puss’ foe
to serve as a great foil to him without being a completely irredeemable
antagonist. With all this and a lot of great animation (which, just like <i>Shrek
Forever After</i>, must’ve made this a fun one to watch in 3-D), <i>Puss in
Boots </i>is a highly entertaining spin-off that more than holds its own
against the franchise from which it was spawned. Simply put, Puss in Boots, as
brilliantly performed by Antonio Banderas, has easily been one of the <i>Shrek </i>franchise’s
best characters, and thanks to a film like this, it’s clear that he can be just
as great of a main protagonist as he is a loyal sidekick.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>BONUS REVIEW:
SHREK THE MUSICAL (Home Video Release - 2013)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMkGmeQ8-fgL55Hdf6e1ueusRm5p09GOVIGODNTlU4hUFlvxxM1YBuMbPKI6hIbCbMKwOvNqsuejvMmd5-AZP28oVOEsLbmwEzrN5r-8yS9CmH31R4DIK_Orbe0-XHE8KbdqjdyC2IqJTV7dhG2UmbfON4VyLINbjQA27kKRfSVAyi27muttE4JSzrg/s2048/Shrek%20the%20Musical%20Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicMkGmeQ8-fgL55Hdf6e1ueusRm5p09GOVIGODNTlU4hUFlvxxM1YBuMbPKI6hIbCbMKwOvNqsuejvMmd5-AZP28oVOEsLbmwEzrN5r-8yS9CmH31R4DIK_Orbe0-XHE8KbdqjdyC2IqJTV7dhG2UmbfON4VyLINbjQA27kKRfSVAyi27muttE4JSzrg/w293-h400/Shrek%20the%20Musical%20Poster.jpg" width="293" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Before we conclude today’s retrospective, I figured that
it’d be fun to cover the following release which, while not a theatrical
release like the main <i>Shrek </i>films, has been included in some of the
franchise’s recent Blu-Ray and DVD boxsets. Sure, reviewing Broadway
productions isn’t really my thing, but if I can do something like this for the
filmed production of <i>Hamilton </i>back in 2020, I can certainly cover the <i>Shrek
</i>franchise’s transition from the big screen to the Great White Way. In 2008,
a musical adaptation of the original <i>Shrek </i>film made its official
Broadway debut at the historic Broadway Theatre. This was a project that had
been in the works since 2002, just one year after the original film’s release,
with the stage play written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David
Lindsay-Abaire and music by Tony Award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori with
Lindsay-Abaire writing the lyrics. Originally, the production did not use any
of the songs from the film, but by 2009, “I’m a Believer”, which was initially
just played as background music after the final curtain, was added to the show’s
finale. While the show ultimately closed in 2010 without managing to make its initial
investment back, it did nab a bunch of Tony Award nominations at the 63<sup>rd</sup>
annual ceremony, including a nomination for Best Musical and acting nods for
three of the production’s four main leads, and ended up winning for its
costuming. And in 2013, an assembled cut of multiple filmed performances of the
show by RadicalMedia (the same team behind the filmed production of <i>Hamilton</i>)
was released on home media.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Given that this is based solely on the first film with a few
minor nods to <i>Shrek 2 </i>(e.g. a non-speaking cameo from Puss in Boots), it
goes without saying that <i>Shrek the Musical </i>benefits greatly from it
being based on one of the franchise’s best outings. And overall, David
Lindsay-Abaire does a great job of adapting the original film’s story into a
musical format, with only a few cuts here and there and some new narrative additions
like opening a la William Steig’s original book with a sequence where Shrek’s
parents send him off on his own and a plot twist that reveals that Lord
Farquaad is the son of the seven dwarves’ Grumpy. While some have argued that
the latter twist contradicts the series’ message of embracing who you are
(which, ironically, is an argument that goes back as far as the first film’s
release given its recurring gag of Shrek and company making fun of Farquaad’s
short stature), the musical still maintains the film’s heartfelt themes quite
well. Set and costuming design is quite good throughout as they do a solid job
of replicating the overall visual aesthetic of the films; makeup design, on the
other hand, is a lot more hit-or-miss due to the unsettling looks that some of
the characters are given. As for the music, it too is solid throughout with favorites
of mine being Fiona’s two solos; ‘I Know It’s Today’, which covers her
backstory locked in the dragon’s tower, and ‘Morning Person’, which serves as
an extension of the scene in the first film where she goes off on her own and
causes a bird to explode by singing in one of <i>Shrek</i>’s many classic bits
of dark humor.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But just like how the original film sold itself on its lead
quartet of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, and John Lithgow, the
original Broadway production of <i>Shrek the Musical </i>is fully bolstered by
its lead quartet. Revered Broadway icon Brian D’Arcy James does a phenomenal
job in the title role, not at all hindered by the extensive makeup work done to
turn him into Shrek and nailing the character’s gruff yet sympathetic demeanor.
Daniel Breaker, meanwhile, flawlessly mirrors the madcap, mile-a-minute style
of comedy that Eddie Murphy brought to the role of Donkey even if the musical focuses
on Shrek’s best friend and noble steed considerably less than the film did.
However, the biggest standouts of the cast (especially from a comedic
standpoint) are Sutton Foster as Princess Fiona and Christopher Sieber as Lord
Farquaad. Foster happily revels in playing a more manic and slightly unhinged
version of Fiona who, as evident from her first solo “I Know It’s Today”, was
clearly affected by her prolonged imprisonment but, nevertheless, is still very
much the same spunky and badass heroine that she is in the films. Sieber,
meanwhile, brings all the laughs as Farquaad who, in the musical, is still the
same nefarious wannabe despot that he was in the film but way more over the top
in execution when compared to John Lithgow’s far more sinister take on the
character.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I didn’t see <i>Shrek the Musical </i>back when it made its
Broadway debut. While I did visit New York quite often on annual vacations with
my family when I was younger, none of those trips tended to include a trip to
the theater. In fact, outside of any instances where I went to see a show’s
touring production at the historic Providence Performing Arts Center, I don’t
think that I ever saw an actual Broadway show directly in New York City until a
High School Chorus trip in 2011. Plus, as I noted earlier, this was around the
time when I was starting to move away from solely watching films like <i>Shrek</i>;
ergo, despite being a huge fan of the franchise, this show, to put it quite
simply, didn’t really attract my interest back then. Having now since seen it a
few times thanks to its home media release (which, like RadicalMedia’s
presentation of <i>Hamilton</i>, is a relatively solid production that’s
impressively seamless given that it’s a compilation of multiple performances),
I believe that I probably would’ve enjoyed it quite a bit if I had seen it as a
kid. As crazy as the idea of a Broadway adaptation of the first <i>Shrek </i>film
may seem (especially to some of the franchise’s biggest critics), <i>Shrek the
Musical </i>is just as much of an undeniable crowd-pleaser as its beloved
source material. This classic story of a grumpy yet lovable ogre is excellently
reimagined for the stage without losing any of the original screenplay’s charm,
especially thanks to its lovable main protagonists (and main antagonist that
you love to hate) being portrayed by some of the most talented stars in all of
Broadway. And as a result, it’s another prime example of how DreamWorks’ most
prominent franchises have managed to successfully expand their horizons far
beyond their humble beginnings on the big screen. <i><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And that concludes this
retrospective on the franchise that made DreamWorks Animation a household name,
<i>Shrek</i>. Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments
below with your own personal memories of this franchise… though, if you’ll
grant me one request, let’s keep these conversations restricted solely to the
films and any other official franchise spin-offs (video games, TV specials, <i>Shrek
4-D</i>,<i> </i>etc.) and refrain from bringing up any of that messed up
internet content that I referred to back in this post’s intro. On that note, as
I also mentioned in that intro, this will be the first installment of a new
series of retrospectives here on Rhode Island Movie Corner that will cover the numerous
feature films produced by DreamWorks Animation. To be clear, there is no
definite timetable as to when the next DreamWorks retrospective will be
published, but in keeping with my plan of starting things out by focusing on
DreamWorks’ biggest franchises in the order of their debuts, the next DreamWorks
Retrospective will cover the <i>Madagascar </i>series.<o:p></o:p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-83778850539420113682022-02-10T12:35:00.000-05:002022-02-10T12:35:03.706-05:00The Matrix Resurrections (2021) review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj29TVkkiTUW3Lx-jWa0aVpvuyM9pKGQWvKIyPkX_e_qvs6a6Hz1_sIrC56IoToHtYme-gNIBKUNuH4nROflBVhB0phmHncw-g5JN3DUnpl1Q9W4Lx4xMZ4dBUtb5rlr4bnWsIq8w7zsw_CYlJwhpyN60vuDa3Vb8COFkqtLJFhjWDaphgt2kgKXHLHpA=s755" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="509" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj29TVkkiTUW3Lx-jWa0aVpvuyM9pKGQWvKIyPkX_e_qvs6a6Hz1_sIrC56IoToHtYme-gNIBKUNuH4nROflBVhB0phmHncw-g5JN3DUnpl1Q9W4Lx4xMZ4dBUtb5rlr4bnWsIq8w7zsw_CYlJwhpyN60vuDa3Vb8COFkqtLJFhjWDaphgt2kgKXHLHpA=w270-h400" width="270" /></a></div><p>Calling <i>The Matrix </i>a staple of the sci-fi genre would
be the very definition of an understatement. Upon its release in the spring of
1999, this highly ambitious sci-fi action flick directed by sisters Lilly and
Lana Wachowski immediately became one of the most iconic films of its time. Not
only was it a massive critical and commercial success, earning over $466
million worldwide, much critical acclaim, and four Oscars, but it also inspired
numerous films that would come after it with its groundbreaking visual effects
and extensive use of wire-fu stunt choreography. It would then pave the way for
a wide array of media in 2003 to turn it into a full-blown franchise, including
two theatrically released sequels, <i>The Matrix Reloaded </i>and <i>The Matrix
Revolutions</i>. And while neither film was as necessarily well-received as the
original, they did their job in helping to maintain the franchise’s strong
position within the pop cultural zeitgeist in the early 2000s. However,
following their release, that was mostly it for the franchise as far as theatrical
releases were concerned. Lana and Lilly promptly moved on to other projects and
repeatedly rejected ideas for follow-ups to the point where Warner Bros. brought
in screenwriter Zak Penn to develop a potential prequel or sequel without them.
Ultimately, though, Lana Wachowski returned to the franchise in 2019 as the prospect
of bringing back main protagonists Neo and Trinity, who had both died in <i>Revolutions</i>,
allowed her a chance to cope with the recent loss of her and Lilly’s parents
and a close friend. And while the loss of their parents was the reason Lilly
Wachowski didn’t return, instead opting to take a hiatus from the film
industry, Lana’s return to the franchise that made her and her sister some of
the most famous filmmakers around provides us with an emotionally poignant,
visually stunning, and very much self-aware sequel.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Despite all the success that he’s achieved thanks to his
greatest creation, a trilogy of games known as <i>The Matrix</i>, video game
designer Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) has recently been struggling to cope with
the dreams that he’s been having that suggest that his reality isn’t what it
seems. And while his therapist (Neil Patrick Harris) attempts to help him by prescribing
him blue pills, the situation only proceeds to get more complicated with each
passing day, especially whenever Thomas crosses paths with a married woman
named Tiffany (Carrie-Anne Moss), whom he seems to have some sort of unclear
history with. It is only through interactions with a woman named Bugs (Jessica
Henwick) and her AI acquaintance Morpheus (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II) that Thomas takes
the figurative and literal red pill and finally remembers who he truly is; the
mythical heroic figure known as Neo AKA ‘The One’. It has been more than 60
years since Neo was able to successfully save humanity from the machines that
had turned the world into a post-apocalyptic wasteland by harvesting humans for
energy while keeping them locked within a virtual world known as the Matrix.
And while said victory had originally thought to have come at the cost of Neo’s
life, it is revealed that the machines have resurrected not only him but also
the love of his life Trinity… who now lives within the Matrix as Tiffany. Thus,
when Neo learns that he and Trinity were vital to the Matrix’s current operation
and that his awakening has now put her in danger of being killed by a system
reboot, Neo joins forces with Bugs and the crew of her ship, the <i>Mnemosyne</i>,
to rescue Trinity before that can happen.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With <i>The Matrix Resurrections</i>, Lana Wachowski and
co-writers David Mitchell and Aleksandar Hermon craft a story that’s very much
self-aware of its status as not only the fourth installment of a well-established
franchise but also as a follow-up released several years after what was initially
perceived to be the franchise’s finale. As such, this film is full of meta-commentary on sequels and the process of rehashing old franchises, and while
said commentary may get a bit over-the-top at times in the ways that have made
some Wachowski films rather infamous, the writers do an excellent job when it
comes to ‘how’ they go about continuing the franchise’s plot. In other words,
instead of just making your standard ‘legacy sequel’ that sets up a new ‘human
vs. machine’ conflict with new characters mixed in with the older characters, <i>The
Matrix Resurrections</i> is, simply put, a story about Neo and Trinity, the
franchise’s definitive couple, reuniting with each other. As I alluded to
earlier, this was the exact reason why Lana Wachowski ended up returning to the
franchise after all this time, and because of this act of unabashed wish fulfillment,
<i>The Matrix Resurrections </i>has what is easily the best emotional hook out
of any installment of the franchise. And overall, I’d say that this helps the
film overcome the fact that, admittedly, it doesn’t boast the same kind of brilliantly
choreographed action sequences that the original trilogy had, especially since
this is more of a story-driven plot than an action-driven one. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As it has often been with the <i>Matrix </i>films, <i>The
Matrix Resurrections </i>largely revolves around the lead duo of Neo and
Trinity, and Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss slip back into their iconic roles
with ease. Admittedly, Trinity’s role in the film isn’t as big as Neo’s since
the whole plot revolves around the process of rescuing her from the Matrix, but
without spoiling anything, the route that they take with her character at the
end of it all is one that I personally think longtime fans of the franchise will
probably find incredibly satisfying. As for the other major characters in this
film, they very much fall in line with what I noted earlier about ‘legacy’
sequels that combine new characters with the returning ones. Series regulars
such as Jada Pinkett Smith’s no-nonsense captain turned resistance leader Niobe
and Lambert Wilson’s infamously snooty Merovingian are largely relegated to
supporting/cameo roles while more time is spent with newer characters such as Bugs
and the crew of her ship, the <i>Mnemosyne</i>. Sure, most of the ship’s crew
members don’t get a lot to work with but Jessica Henwick does headline this new
group of characters quite nicely as she adopts the kind of ‘audience surrogate’
role that Neo had in the first film. Apart from all that, arguably the most notable
development with this cast was the recasting of two significant roles; Yahya
Abdul-Mateen II as an A.I. version of Morpheus (who’s established to have died
prior to the events of this film) and Jonathan Groff as the reincarnation of
Neo’s arch-nemesis, Smith. Neither of these two admittedly factor into the film’s
proceedings as much as you’d think, but at the very least, they both do a solid
job following in the footsteps of their respective predecessors, Laurence Fishburne
and Hugo Weaving.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As was the case with <i>The Matrix Reloaded </i>and <i>The
Matrix Revolutions</i>, it’s clear that <i>The Matrix Resurrections </i>has
been an incredibly polarizing release in the eyes of both critics and
audiences. In fact, one could say that, in this instance, it’s a lot like a
certain installment of another big sci-fi franchise, <i>Star Wars: The Last Jedi</i>,
since, from what I can gather, there’s been a lot of discussion about this not
being the kind of film that <i>Matrix </i>fans were expecting. Instead of being
an action-packed sci-fi extravaganza like the previous three films were, <i>Resurrections
</i>is a more introspective and personal story driven almost entirely by the
enduring romance between its two main protagonists… and yet, that’s why it
works so well. It may not possess the exact level of visual finesse as its
predecessors, but it more than makes up for that with its solidly engaging premise
and strong emotional poignancy. And because of how effective it is as a source
of meta-commentary on narrative sequels, it’s clear that Lana Wachowski went
above and beyond to make a <i>Matrix </i>film that was more than just your
standard cinematic sequel. That level of ambition has obviously defined much of
the Wachowskis’ filmography, and while not every project of theirs has been as
successful as <i>The Matrix</i> (longtime visitors of this site may recall that
I wasn’t too big on <i>Cloud Atlas </i>and <i>Jupiter Ascending</i>), you can
never fault them for trying.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-89728677902792714522022-01-28T12:00:00.000-05:002022-01-28T12:00:02.614-05:00The Matrix - Series Retrospective<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJDQHSwZWnA5MgCTrlYge0aHnJJRfl6G6KC8wguk98N8oCC75XNCnukANbSvG4botP5fSpRTdMJKPbUbGJkNmvrz1fGtj9Ap7FnMI7cVN8sKZ6mqbyAMPA1JbJV6v0ErGTmhWNY3OIrE8kKdSOLO4ji8X_ANtJ81Vi-TskejL_acTtkZrUKw3wQCUYQg=s1000" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="566" data-original-width="1000" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgJDQHSwZWnA5MgCTrlYge0aHnJJRfl6G6KC8wguk98N8oCC75XNCnukANbSvG4botP5fSpRTdMJKPbUbGJkNmvrz1fGtj9Ap7FnMI7cVN8sKZ6mqbyAMPA1JbJV6v0ErGTmhWNY3OIrE8kKdSOLO4ji8X_ANtJ81Vi-TskejL_acTtkZrUKw3wQCUYQg=w400-h226" width="400" /></a></div><p>Today on Rhode Island Movie Corner, we’ll be tackling a
series that I’ve been meaning to cover for quite some time now. Two years ago,
I was planning on doing this retrospective in honor of the first film’s 20<sup>th</sup>
anniversary, which also happened to coincide with the reveal that the series’
long-rumored fourth installment was finally going to get made. Ultimately,
though, 2019 came and went and I didn’t end up doing it at that time; instead,
I figured that I’d simply wait for the fourth film’s release… and yes, that’s
even after it had to endure a COVID-19 forced delay just like all the other big
blockbusters at that time. But now the time has finally come to tackle a
franchise whose impact on pop culture practically speaks for itself, <i>The
Matrix</i>. What started with the second directorial outing from sisters Lilly
and Lana Wachowski after their highly acclaimed directorial debut <i>Bound </i>in
1996 quickly became a pop-cultural phenomenon that would go on to influence the
film industry in numerous ways. It inspired many subsequent action films to utilize
a greater implementation of wire-fu techniques that had been made famous by
Hong Kong action cinema for their fight choreography (which, in turn, helped to
introduce films from that subgenre to a wider audience). And, of course,
there’s also the franchise’s famous slow-motion visual effect known as ‘bullet
time’, which became such a popular fad in the industry that it was not only featured
in hit video games such as the <i>Max Payne </i>series but was also parodied in
numerous films such as <i>Shrek</i>, <i>Scary Movie</i>, and <i>Kung Pow: Enter
the Fist</i>.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to the success of the original <i>Matrix</i>, the
Wachowskis would then go on to turn it into a full-blown franchise with a pair of
sequels, <i>The Matrix Reloaded </i>and <i>The Matrix Revolutions</i>, both
being released in 2003. And while neither sequel was able to attract the same
level of critical acclaim as the original did, they were still major box-office
hits while spin-offs such as an animated anthology film and a bunch of video
games helped the franchise maintain its cultural relevancy. When it comes to
the films, however, they were only intended to be a trilogy, with the
Wachowskis repeatedly rejecting any plans for a follow-up. But now, nearly two
decades after the original trilogy’s conclusion, Lana Wachowski brings us back
into the war between humanity and the machines with <i>The Matrix Resurrections</i>,
and today, in honor of its release, I’ll be looking at both the original <i>Matrix
</i>trilogy and the previously mentioned animated anthology spin-off. And so, with
that in mind, allow me to present you all with the following choice. If you
decide to take the blue pill, the story ends, you wake up in your bed and
believe whatever you want to believe. But if you decide to take the red pill,
then prepare to stay in Wonderland as I show you just how deep this rabbit hole
goes as we tackle <i>The Matrix</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE MATRIX (1999)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBLQhjojn-2t6p9b__KaZglcVNWdBe3nEl2QHDUWi9hUdiU8R9MnGXJHVFjS7vSDfk6ks5UYQjtmo6uaUxXTowgkuvXBtai-ynelYhks1Fimy3IkJT0iD8GGeKU8EIG7JN-rinyTZes1wsM5S5o3uwStXI5AjAXJFVYwAYvBb2BTW-RSubLXNgJX97bw=s740" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="740" data-original-width="535" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiBLQhjojn-2t6p9b__KaZglcVNWdBe3nEl2QHDUWi9hUdiU8R9MnGXJHVFjS7vSDfk6ks5UYQjtmo6uaUxXTowgkuvXBtai-ynelYhks1Fimy3IkJT0iD8GGeKU8EIG7JN-rinyTZes1wsM5S5o3uwStXI5AjAXJFVYwAYvBb2BTW-RSubLXNgJX97bw=w289-h400" width="289" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The original <i>Matrix </i>is very much one of those films
that’s genuinely hard to provide any new insight on at this point because its
legacy and impact on both film and pop culture speaks for itself. And since I’m
not even close to being an expert on philosophy, religion, and the like, this also
isn’t going to be any sort of discussion on <i>The Matrix</i>’s deepest
cinematic themes. Instead, I’ll be tackling the question of whether this film
still holds up after all these years and considering all the franchise’s
further developments… to make a long story short, it does. Say what you will
about the following two films and where this story ended up, but as for this
first film, it still stands as an impeccably directed, written, and produced
sci-fi action blockbuster. The Wachowskis’ knack for visual storytelling and their
passion for martial arts films and anime is fully apparent throughout the
film’s top-notch action sequences, whether it’s Neo and Trinity’s rescue of
Morpheus or the climactic fight between Neo and Agent Smith. It also helps that
all its main leads are perfectly cast; Keanu Reeves as the reluctant audience
surrogate Neo, Carrie-Anne Moss as his badass confidant/love interest Trinity,
Laurence Fishburne as the poised resistance leader Morpheus, and Hugo Weaving
as the cold and emotionless antagonist Agent Smith. And so, with all that in
mind, it’s easy to see why <i>The Matrix </i>is still seen as a landmark entry
in the sci-fi genre. Not only is it a, for lack of a better term, ‘cool’ film
from a visual standpoint, but the Wachowskis managed to find that perfect
balance when it comes to presenting a story that’s undoubtedly smarter than a
lot of its genre’s peers but done in a way where it rarely becomes too
complicated to the point where it would confuse audiences.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE MATRIX
RELOADED (2003)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6NpGfz8TdBO30Nlbg49h0jn2PcmyPup5k0J3QC9CoFjNGA3U7gdMhFElFeg1PvuAstGXUuIfkix5srlOJfabMtE5bI92bhVT9-YAaESLM0r3ik6IxTcQtrEW8zwjRHOXNFDFSGVU_xZUomi4U1YOuVujTa7Df0AU01BO--NqpwtOTiUn_rzSS0wOfXw=s755" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="506" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj6NpGfz8TdBO30Nlbg49h0jn2PcmyPup5k0J3QC9CoFjNGA3U7gdMhFElFeg1PvuAstGXUuIfkix5srlOJfabMtE5bI92bhVT9-YAaESLM0r3ik6IxTcQtrEW8zwjRHOXNFDFSGVU_xZUomi4U1YOuVujTa7Df0AU01BO--NqpwtOTiUn_rzSS0wOfXw=w268-h400" width="268" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With a game-changing sci-fi action epic under their belts,
the Wachowskis soon began the process of turning <i>The Matrix </i>into a
full-blown franchise, and to put it quite simply, calling their plans to do
just that ‘ambitious’ would be a massive understatement. Not only were they
developing a pair of sequels, which would end up being filmed back-to-back, but
they also had plans for multiple spin-offs across various mediums. They
recruited a bunch of anime filmmakers (since anime was a major source of
inspiration for them when they were developing the original film) to make an
anthology film set within the franchise’s universe, <i>The Animatrix</i>, and
they wrote and directed a video game tie-in, <i>Enter the Matrix</i>,
which featured over an hour of exclusive live-action footage featuring much of
the franchise’s cast of characters. Simply put, the immense hype that was
generated by the first film’s success was very much in full effect once the
second film, <i>The Matrix Reloaded</i>, hit theaters in the summer of 2003. Upon
its release, the film grossed over $741 million worldwide, which made it the
highest-grossing R-rated film up to that point, besting the record that had
been held for more than a decade by <i>Terminator 2: Judgment Day </i>and holding
that spot until 2016 when it was dethroned by the first <i>Deadpool</i>. And
while its overall critical reception wasn’t necessarily as strong when compared
to the first film, <i>Reloaded</i> did do solidly enough with critics; however,
the far more negative reception towards its immediate follow-up, <i>Revolutions</i>,
clearly had some sort of impact on how it would be seen by many in the years to
come. In other words, while<i> Reloaded </i>wasn’t even remotely close to being
a critical dud, the first two <i>Matrix </i>sequels are often paired together
by those who feel that the franchise lost its way when trying to follow up on
the original. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And yet… I find myself amongst the crowd who feels that this
film isn’t as bad as its reputation suggests. Still, it does have its
shortcomings, and I think it’s safe to say that part of this is due to the more
visual-heavy approach that it takes when compared to the original. Unlike the
original <i>Matrix</i>,<i> Reloaded </i>and <i>Revolutions</i> feature a lot
more CGI effects which, in their defense, was largely so that the Wachowskis
could utilize the original’s iconic ‘bullet time’ effects for the incredibly
ambitious action sequences that they came up with. This does, however, result
in a film that feels a lot like the later installments of another trilogy that
was being made around this time, the <i>Star Wars </i>prequel trilogy, by relying
on CGI more than it probably should’ve, especially since not all these effects
have necessarily aged well. And while there are still plenty of top-notch
action sequences such as the widely praised highway chase scene or the early
parts of the big brawl between Neo, Agent Smith, and the latter’s vast army of
clones, other action sequences can get rather ridiculous whenever they become
overtly CGI-based. All that said, though, the film still manages to be a
solidly engaging follow-up to the original <i>Matrix </i>with decent bits of
world-building even if there are a few times where its philosophical themes can
get a bit heavy-handed to the point of dragging down certain expositional sequences.
And so, with all that in mind, while you can see some of the narrative and
technical cracks that were starting to form as a result of the Wachowskis’ highly
ambitious sequel plans, <i>The Matrix Reloaded </i>is ultimately a largely
entertaining follow-up to its iconic predecessor. Granted, I can’t quite say
that it’s ‘as good’ as the original, but it’s certainly not the ‘disaster’ that
it’s been made out to be.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE MATRIX
REVOLUTIONS (2003)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhey9DqraBmtieVY6nuw4IuFapNa7l8EGoL713yUPgX4OOnmyUqqoEiBuvLqEZhB0G9aE6H2zPogMahFoQOP_fxtl9oOAw8B76wNi8gfDiSqK4WkecavZsvJE2LqZXo1UOxkcJeOqCGzFAmC5NYEd1hQagyIcte3sZJ7sYSJQC_LbBpxnpP5QmkoaHY6g=s755" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="512" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhey9DqraBmtieVY6nuw4IuFapNa7l8EGoL713yUPgX4OOnmyUqqoEiBuvLqEZhB0G9aE6H2zPogMahFoQOP_fxtl9oOAw8B76wNi8gfDiSqK4WkecavZsvJE2LqZXo1UOxkcJeOqCGzFAmC5NYEd1hQagyIcte3sZJ7sYSJQC_LbBpxnpP5QmkoaHY6g=w271-h400" width="271" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As we get into the final installment of the original <i>Matrix
</i>trilogy, <i>The Matrix Revolutions</i>, I just want to start by noting
that, even to this day, I’m still genuinely fascinated by the fact that <i>Revolutions
</i>managed to hit theaters <b><i>the exact same year</i></b> as <i>The Matrix
Reloaded</i>, coming out just six months later in the fall of 2003. Now,
granted, like I noted earlier, these two sequels were filmed back-to-back so it’s
easy to see how they could both come out in such a relatively short timeframe; still,
there aren’t many examples of a film franchise that has managed to get two
whole installments that are directly tied to each other released in the same
year. The only other instance where a situation like this has ever occurred (at
least, given what I could find, anyway…) was with the original <i>King Kong</i>
in 1933, which was then quickly followed by <i>Son of Kong </i>the very same
year. And no, the Marvel Cinematic Universe doesn’t count in this instance
because while multiple MCU films are released in a single year, it’s not like
we get two <i>Thor </i>or <i>Guardians of the Galaxy </i>films a year.
Regardless, <i>The Matrix Revolutions </i>was set to serve as the grand finale
to the story of Neo, Trinity, Morpheus, and the people of Zion’s war against
the machines… but things didn’t exactly go as smoothly as before once the film
was released. Whereas the equally polarizing <i>Reloaded </i>still managed to
garner enough positive reviews from critics to earn the ‘Certified Fresh’
rating on Rotten Tomatoes, <i>Revolutions </i>ended up being a major critical
dud as many ultimately found it to be a lackluster conclusion to the trilogy.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Once again, though, I don’t think that this film is as bad
as a good chunk of the internet regards it as. I can totally see where some
people are coming from when they say that certain routes that the story takes
are disappointing or that some of the trilogy’s most notable themes and
storylines aren’t explored as much as they should’ve been, but overall, <i>Revolutions
</i>manages to be a relatively engaging and appropriately grand-scaled finale
for the trilogy. Obviously, like <i>Reloaded</i>, <i>Revolutions</i>’ overt use
of CGI can be an issue at times, but in this instance, it’s for an entirely
different reason when compared to its immediate predecessor. Whereas <i>Reloaded</i>
had a few too many action sequences where the characters were replaced with
blatantly obvious digital doubles, <i>Revolutions </i>thankfully doesn’t use
that visual effects method as much (or, in other words, if it did, then it
hides it a lot better…). No, in this instance, the problem comes from the
moments where there are so many CGI visuals on-screen that it’s sometimes hard
to tell exactly what’s going on during some of the more frenetic action
sequences, especially given this series’ penchant for boasting a darker color
palette. Despite this, however, the trilogy’s success in endearing you to the main
trio of Neo, Trinity, and Morpheus helps to keep you invested in their
endeavors, which all culminates in an epic final battle between Neo and Agent
Smith. And so, with all that in mind, I will admit that I do find myself
amongst those who find <i>The Matrix Revolutions </i>to be a legitimately
underrated film. Sure, you can argue over the quality of this film’s narrative
and philosophical beats until the cows come home, but at the end of the day, I strongly
disagree with the long-standing consensus that it’s an utterly worthless sequel.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE ANIMATRIX
(2003)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQU8cOPyuyTbGKHxqbQzzSWR48MYA0nxKiTAabAiYqw_Gbxdrk4Dw_BWgzGc4HasYX18yg1mMUVsBL8RS6IqjOn0QuENWmJy1V-qPxYlJe2ZP3OlsS0_XFw3TtLfZy51qMT4YpWhndJW7P8ayqagAvF95tN3XDrgxVmgDa66BstqOAkO5im2FGLtDqIw=s595" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="595" data-original-width="400" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgQU8cOPyuyTbGKHxqbQzzSWR48MYA0nxKiTAabAiYqw_Gbxdrk4Dw_BWgzGc4HasYX18yg1mMUVsBL8RS6IqjOn0QuENWmJy1V-qPxYlJe2ZP3OlsS0_XFw3TtLfZy51qMT4YpWhndJW7P8ayqagAvF95tN3XDrgxVmgDa66BstqOAkO5im2FGLtDqIw=w269-h400" width="269" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And finally, we conclude with the project that I’ve
repeatedly teased throughout this entire retrospective, <i>The Animatrix</i>, a
collection of nine anime short films set within the world of <i>The Matrix</i>.
A collaboration between the Wachowskis and some of the most famous anime
filmmakers at the time such as Shinichirō
Watanabe and Mahiro Maeda, this anthology feature properly expands upon the
franchise’s lore in various ways. Some of the shorts, like <i>Kid’s Story</i>
(in which the titular Kid, a side character from <i>Reloaded </i>and <i>Revolutions
</i>who idolizes Neo, manages to escape from the Matrix on his own accord) and <i>The
Final Flight of the Osiris</i> (in which the rebel ship <i>Osiris </i>learns
that the Machines are tunneling towards Zion), directly address plot-points
that were otherwise unseen in the films. Others are simply unique little
glimpses into the universe, like <i>Matriculated</i>, which examines the idea
of humanity attempting to convert machines to their side. It all comes together
in a wholly engrossing anthology feature in which each one of the nine shorts
are beautifully animated. Personal favorites of mine as far as their unique
animation styles are concerned include the previously mentioned <i>Kid’s Story</i>,
which features some particularly striking stylized visuals, and <i>A Detective
Story</i>, with its gorgeous black-and-white noir-inspired visuals that perfectly
coincide with its, you guessed it, noir plot.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Overall, <i>The Animatrix </i>is an incredibly well-made
collection of anime shorts that is the clear result of the Wachowskis paying it
forward to the medium that played such a significant role in <i>The Matrix</i>’s
creation. And sure enough, when you combine an iconic medium with what was
easily one of the newest and exciting sci-fi action franchises at the time, you
get a film that successfully manages to appeal to both those who are well-versed
in the world of anime… and folks like me who have little to no experience with it.
However, at the risk of making an incredibly controversial statement in the
eyes of this film’s fans, I don’t think that this film is ‘100% essential’ when
it comes to experiencing this franchise. Now, to be clear, that doesn’t mean
that I don’t highly recommend this film because that couldn’t be farther from
the truth. What I mean by all this is that, ultimately, <i>The Animatrix </i>is
primarily intended to be a source of additional context to the main films
without resulting in a situation where you would end up missing out on any
pivotal plot points if you end up skipping this. Anything significant to the main
series that is featured here are minor beats at best such as the connection
between Neo and Kid or the inciting incident with the <i>Osiris </i>that kick-started
the events of <i>The Matrix Reloaded </i>and, in turn, <i>The Matrix
Revolutions</i>. But again, I want to make it clear that, despite everything
that I just said, I <b><i>DO NOT </i></b>recommend that you skip this because it’s
one of the most unique and rewarding experiences that you could have from a
spin-off of a hugely successful film franchise.<i><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And that concludes our
retrospective on the original <i>Matrix </i>trilogy and <i>The Animatrix</i>.
Thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with
your own personal experiences with this franchise, especially if you were a part
of its target demographic when it first came out. And yes, I do plan to follow this
up with a full review of <i>The Matrix Resurrections</i>. You can expect that
post sometime soon.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGRcxjjnwj6QZSNqWFLKyq3uf5mHtQ4id3G9pMXn04oLgNOkc0xTrhycE1RH5VLts6tXY1Q8QuIIs7gRMCz6LCuBqRlMwaRYgvfMOFbdmekB05IyG3awCJTbQIyHfOYFnyofVRGl0ZuWc0wrKknD53hdCuMiSQsB8ODSCKFtv3O5PlFzihrVI8hghsVw=s480" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="202" data-original-width="480" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhGRcxjjnwj6QZSNqWFLKyq3uf5mHtQ4id3G9pMXn04oLgNOkc0xTrhycE1RH5VLts6tXY1Q8QuIIs7gRMCz6LCuBqRlMwaRYgvfMOFbdmekB05IyG3awCJTbQIyHfOYFnyofVRGl0ZuWc0wrKknD53hdCuMiSQsB8ODSCKFtv3O5PlFzihrVI8hghsVw=w400-h169" width="400" /></a></div>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-25940239005589360072021-11-18T12:45:00.000-05:002021-11-18T12:45:05.634-05:00No Time to Die (2021) review<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADCRcl-tcaiVgaDfEK2YxHaaLcw61qhJ-gbQtpkFQIz9XNfXBOSsV8sxqZJNguX-0799e8jmhjRoqLDnpkwh-wlBx3zTB2oRvuYg8nCUqT-hbcdC0xalvZb_TNh2xtwG6MsMSGrVt9OLS/s755/No+Time+to+Die+poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiADCRcl-tcaiVgaDfEK2YxHaaLcw61qhJ-gbQtpkFQIz9XNfXBOSsV8sxqZJNguX-0799e8jmhjRoqLDnpkwh-wlBx3zTB2oRvuYg8nCUqT-hbcdC0xalvZb_TNh2xtwG6MsMSGrVt9OLS/w270-h400/No+Time+to+Die+poster.jpg" width="270" /></a><br /></p><p class="MsoNormal">Since 1962, six actors have officially portrayed author Ian
Fleming’s suave secret agent James Bond AKA 007 in Eon Productions’ long-running
franchise of films based on Fleming’s work, with each of them bringing their
own unique spin to the title role. Up until this year, however, arguably the
one thing that most of them had in common was that, unfortunately, their
tenures in the role didn’t exactly end on a good note as their final films tended
to be some of the franchise’s worst-received installments, sometimes for
reasons that extend beyond the film’s quality. Sean Connery, for example, may
have been the first and quite arguably most iconic James Bond, but his run
ended in a rather bizarre way where he temporarily left the franchise after
1967’s <i>You Only Live Twice</i>, returned for 1971’s <i>Diamonds Are Forever</i>,
then left again, and then proceeded to star in an unofficial Bond film, 1983’s <i>Never
Say Never Again</i>, which was just a remake of his fourth Bond film, 1964’s <i>Thunderball</i>.
During Connery’s temporary hiatus, George Lazenby took up the role, and while
1969’s <i>On Her Majesty’s Secret Service </i>is often seen as one of the
franchise’s best films, Lazenby infamously stepped away from the role after
just a single film on the advice of his agent. Thus, Roger Moore ended up
becoming the first ‘proper’ successor to Connery and notably appeared in a
franchise-record 7 films. However, many felt that he had stayed in the role for
too long to the point where, by the time that he had starred in 1985’s <i>A
View to a Kill </i>at the age of 57, he was older than lead Bond Girl Tanya
Roberts’ mother. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">After Moore’s departure, Timothy Dalton was cast; like
Lazenby, his tenure was another notoriously short one although, in his defense,
this was mainly because the series ended up in some major legal issues after
only his second film, 1989’s <i>Licence to Kill</i>. After that, Pierce Brosnan
helped revive the franchise in the mid-’90s, with his final film, <i>Die
Another Day</i>, notably being released in 2002, which coincided with the
series’ 40<sup>th</sup> anniversary… it also ended up being one of its
worst-received outings. Thus, we now cut to Daniel Craig, the man who
successfully managed to defy his biggest critics who heavily crucified his
casting in 2005 because they felt that he didn’t fit the character’s
long-standing image as it was both described in the books and portrayed by his
five predecessors. And yet, once his first film, 2006’s <i>Casino Royale</i>,
hit theaters, he quickly became a fan-favorite amongst critics and audiences as
the series effectively rebooted itself, eschewing many of its campier elements
to be more in line with the grounded spy thrillers of recent years such as the <i>Jason
Bourne </i>franchise. In the years since, Craig has arguably maintained one of the
most consistent runs of any of the Bond leads to date. Sure, his first four
films were an even mix of critically-acclaimed outings (<i>Casino Royale</i>
and 2012’s <i>Skyfall</i>) and incredibly polarizing affairs (2008’s <i>Quantum
of Solace </i>and 2015’s <i>Spectre</i>), but overall, Craig has managed to muster
a strongly positive reputation amongst Bond fans. However, by the time that <i>Spectre
</i>was released, it was unclear if Craig was going to return for another film,
especially after an infamous comment that he had made during an interview where
he noted that he’d rather “slash his wrists” than do another one. Granted, he
did later admit that this was simply a poor way of responding to the question in
the immediate wake of <i>Spectre</i>’s production, but nevertheless, it did
cause a bit of a scandal. Ultimately, though, Craig confirmed that he would
return for one more film which, as you’ll see, ended up going through quite a
lot. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">After it was confirmed that <i>Skyfall </i>and <i>Spectre </i>director
Sam Mendes would not return to direct a third <i>Bond </i>film, it was announced
that visionary director Danny Boyle was tapped to direct Eon’s 25<sup>th</sup>
official Bond film with a screenplay that he had co-written with his longtime
collaborator John Hodge. Had this gone through, Boyle would’ve quite arguably
been the most prominent director to ever be attached to the franchise given
Eon’s tendency to not rely on big-name directors, having notably turned down
the likes of Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson in the past. Unfortunately,
Boyle ended up dropping out of the project in August 2018 due to creative
differences over his and Hodge’s script. Luckily for Eon, the search for a new
director didn’t end up taking too long as they ultimately hired Cary Joji Fukunaga.
Over the past few years, Fukunaga has made quite a name for himself as a
director thanks to his work on the likes of the 2015 Netflix film <i>Beasts of
No Nation </i>and the first season of HBO’s <i>True Detective</i>. With his
hiring, Fukunaga notably became the first American-born director to helm a Bond
film as well as the first to also have a writing credit on the film, which he
shares with series regulars Neal Purvis and Robert Wade and, by Daniel Craig’s
own request, <i>Fleabag </i>creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge. And apart from an
ankle injury that Craig sustained during filming, everything seemed to be going
well for what would eventually be titled <i>No Time to Die </i>as the film was primed
for an April 2020 domestic release… and then the COVID-19 pandemic happened. <o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">With theaters closing around the world due to the impact of
the pandemic, MGM and Eon promptly decided to push <i>No Time to Die</i>’s
release date back, effectively making it the first film that had to bow to the
pressure of a COVID-forced delay. And sure enough, other big-name blockbusters
like <i>F9</i>, <i>Black Widow</i>, and <i>Wonder Woman 1984 </i>were forced to
move back to a later date as well. As for <i>No Time to Die</i>, it was clear
that this was for the best to ensure a strong financial performance at the
worldwide box office as it was estimated that the film would’ve lost about $300
million had it stayed in its April 2020 slot. First poised for a November 2020
release, it was then pushed back again to April 2021, a full year after its
initially planned release, when it was clear that theaters wouldn’t be back in
full operation by that time. But when the new year rolled around, it was pushed
back again to October 2021; thankfully, though, that release date was
officially locked in back in August, and thus, more than one and a half years
after it was originally set to hit theaters, the grand finale to Daniel Craig’s
tenure as James Bond is finally here. Obviously, this one’s been a long time
coming, but thanks to Cary Joji Fukunaga’s brilliant direction and its many
moments of powerful emotional poignancy, <i>No Time to Die </i>achieves a
genuine first in franchise history by giving its lead actor the send-off that
he damn well deserves.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">In the wake of MI6’s successful capture of Ernst Stavro
Blofeld (Christoph Waltz), the leader of the sinister criminal organization known
as Spectre, James Bond AKA Agent 007 (Daniel Craig) has begun to settle down
with his lover, psychiatrist Madeleine Swann (Lea Seydoux). However, their
peaceful lives are tragically upended when a run-in with Spectre agents leaves
Bond to believe that Madeleine has betrayed him, thus resulting in him abandoning
her and retiring from MI6. Five years later, Bond is approached by his old
friend, CIA agent Felix Leiter (Jeffrey Wright), who requests his help in
locating a kidnapped scientist, Valdo Obruchev (David Dencik). Bond soon
discovers that Obruchev has been working with MI6 on an advanced nanobot
bioweapon known as ‘Project Heracles’ that can eliminate any target by coding
itself to their DNA. This immediately compels Bond to return to active duty,
where he finds himself reuniting with his old MI6 associates (MI6 head Gareth
Mallory AKA M (Ralph Fiennes), his secretary Eve Moneypenny (Naomie Harris), chief
of staff Bill Tanner (Rory Kinnear), and Quartermaster Q (Ben Whishaw)) while
also meeting his successor as 007, Nomi (Lashana Lynch). Eventually, Bond comes
face to face with the true perpetrator behind Obruchev’s kidnapping, terrorist
Lyutsifer Safin (Rami Malek), who happens to have a notable connection to Madeleine
due to a previous encounter with her when she was younger. Thus, Bond finds
himself having to reunite with Madeleine for the first time in years as he and
MI6 work to stop Safin before he can unleash ‘Project Heracles’ upon the world
and cause the deaths of millions.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">As of 2021, <i>No Time to Die </i>is, officially, the
longest film of the franchise with a near 3-hour runtime of 163 minutes.
Admittedly, there are a few instances where you do feel the brunt of that hefty
run-time, like when the film reaches its finale and it’s clear that there’s at
least a half-hour left to go. Still, that doesn’t mean that the film is a slog
or anything as the main plot is solidly engaging as far as premises from this
franchise are concerned. And just like how Daniel Craig’s previous odd-numbered
Bond films did a great job of recontextualizing the Bond franchise for the
times in which they were released, <i>No Time to Die </i>wholly succeeds at
being another attempt at modernizing James Bond. In this instance, being that
this was the first Bond film released in the wake of the #MeToo movement, it
goes above and beyond to combat the series’ long-standing habit of objectifying
its female characters, mainly by giving them some of the most significant roles
that any ‘Bond Girl’ has ever had in these films. And while I know that there
are some old-school fans out there who are viciously decrying this film for
being ‘too woke’, this is all just very much in line with how Daniel Craig’s
Bond films have been handled. It has also helped to give them some of the most
emotional narrative moments in the history of the franchise, and sure enough, <i>No
Time to Die</i> is arguably the most emotionally driven Bond film to date,
which is a fitting development seeing how it does, indeed, serve as the end of
an era.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">Given how many actors have portrayed James Bond over the
years, there’s been plenty of debate over the question of which of Eon’s 6
official leads is the ‘best’ of the bunch. And while many Bond fans usually
tend to give Sean Connery that honor due to him being the first and most iconic
Bond, it could be argued that Daniel Craig has managed to legitimately
challenge Connery’s spot for that vaunted position. Regardless of the quality
of his films, Craig has arguably been the best ‘acted’ James Bond as each of
his five Bond films has done a great job of highlighting his deeply raw and emotionally
vulnerable take on Bond, with his more recent outings also allowing him the opportunity
to flex his comedic talents via Bond’s trademark quips. And as I noted earlier,
<i>No Time to Die </i>pairs him with some of the franchise’s best female leads
which, of course, all starts with a returning Léa Seydoux in a significantly improved turn as Madeleine
Swann. Madeleine’s role (and, for that matter, Seydoux’s performance) in <i>Spectre
</i>was one of the more polarizing aspects of what was quite frankly the
franchise’s most polarizing installment in recent memory, with several critics
and fans feeling that her chemistry with Craig was mediocre and that the
romantic relationship between Bond and Madeleine wasn’t exactly developed
properly. It’s a much different story here as Seydoux’s chemistry with Craig is
much stronger and their relationship is far more pivotal to the plot, thus
making it a nice bookend to Craig’s tenure as Bond as it matches up nicely with
a lot of the big narrative beats that defined Bond’s similarly strong yet
ultimately tragic relationship with Vesper Lynd in <i>Casino Royale</i>.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">As for the film’s other Bond girls (a term that, full disclosure,
isn’t exactly a fitting way of describing these characters nowadays), despite
some initial fears of her potentially being underutilized, Lashana Lynch’s Nomi
is properly established as Bond’s equal as his successor for the position of
007. It also helps that Lynch has a terrific back-and-forth camaraderie with
Craig whenever they’re on-screen together. And while she only appears in a
single sequence in this nearly three-hour film, Ana de Armas is, as has been the
case with a lot of her recent work, a major standout as Bond’s CIA ally Paloma.
Then, of course, you have all the Bond franchise’s regulars, from Bond’s MI6
allies (Ralph Fiennes’ dry-witted M, Ben Whishaw’s lovably dorky Q, Naomie
Harris’ spunky Moneypenny, etc.) to Jeffrey Wright’s first appearance as Felix
Leiter since <i>Quantum of Solace</i>. Finally, we come to the latest main
antagonist of the Bond series, Rami Malek’s Safin, whose role in the story has
been one of the more polarizing elements of the film. From what I can tell, this
is mainly because some feel that he isn’t in it that much which, admittedly, has
sort of been a recent trend with Bond villains as both Javier Bardem’s Silva
and even Christoph Waltz’s Blofeld had rather limited screentime in <i>Skyfall </i>and
<i>Spectre</i>, respectively. For what it’s worth, though, Malek does succeed
in making Safin a legitimately sinister antagonist, especially thanks to the
appropriately oft-kilter vibe that Malek gives him.<o:p></o:p></p><p class="MsoNormal">For the longest time, none of the actors who have played
James Bond have ever had a great final film… with <i>No Time to Die</i>, Daniel
Craig officially breaks that curse. Aside from just being another great example
of this franchise’s penchant for top-notch action set-pieces and thrilling globe-trotting
adventures, <i>No Time to Die </i>also does a beautiful job of maintaining one
of the strongest elements of the Craig-era Bond films, their strong sense of
emotional poignancy. While this era of the franchise may have started with
James Bond being subjected to all the character beats that made him… well,
James Bond, this Bond has also undergone a noticeable evolution for a character
who was once described by Judi Dench’s M (albeit back in the Brosnan era, but
the point still stands) as a “sexist, misogynist dinosaur” and a “relic of the
Cold War”. In other words, regardless of how much it will inevitably piss off
longtime fans of the franchise, <i>No Time to Die </i>effectively updates its
main protagonist for the current cinematic landscape, thus resulting in a James
Bond that no longer beds every single woman that he comes across but is still
very much the coolest guy in the room. And since the Craig era was the first time
in franchise history where subsequent follow-ups were true direct sequels, this
allows <i>No Time to Die </i>the chance to effectively tie up any loose ends
from the previous four films which, as a result, gives Daniel Craig’s Bond the
best kind of send-off that any cinematic protagonist could possibly get.<o:p></o:p></p><p>
</p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-43702893145619523372021-10-30T16:30:00.000-04:002021-10-30T16:30:03.520-04:00Disney Retrospective - The Medfield College Anthology<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkyz0DN6u6UvWeXCwZhUd7r4LZxqefkg_EkCAB9-v4yV8sMElnpHGoSztaweA_YffIOAlkV4b8p3lU56dT3s6IWYAne__CWD1-PqqdKckXBSh_ZYYadmdYKu2cW3myBBIxnJyKbS7VlvNT/s1200/Medfield.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="630" data-original-width="1200" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkyz0DN6u6UvWeXCwZhUd7r4LZxqefkg_EkCAB9-v4yV8sMElnpHGoSztaweA_YffIOAlkV4b8p3lU56dT3s6IWYAne__CWD1-PqqdKckXBSh_ZYYadmdYKu2cW3myBBIxnJyKbS7VlvNT/w400-h210/Medfield.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">(Today’s retrospective
is dedicated to Disney Legend Tommy Kirk (<b>1941-2021</b>), who starred in numerous
hit projects for Disney including 1957’s <i>Old Yeller</i>, where he directly
participated in one of cinema’s most devastating sequences, and 1959’s <i>The
Shaggy Dog</i>, in which he played the young inventor who transformed into the
titular character. He also appeared in two of the films that we’ll be covering
today, where he played the son of one of Disney’s most notable recurring
antagonists of the ’60s. Rest in Peace, Mr. Kirk.) <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKNnqeRPjRkB2GhAIK8SOkBPEUndosRiha-ePciXJr1w7OJgOscMtwVCU94NK_9a0B45tzRf2ziKzaeSJ8mGkBPz56nAiITtq6C_YHCV4LinmiJQWspuxHO0AJcKoMODDnYYMKrVI6zUc/s1180/Tommy+Kirk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="1180" height="204" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtKNnqeRPjRkB2GhAIK8SOkBPEUndosRiha-ePciXJr1w7OJgOscMtwVCU94NK_9a0B45tzRf2ziKzaeSJ8mGkBPz56nAiITtq6C_YHCV4LinmiJQWspuxHO0AJcKoMODDnYYMKrVI6zUc/w400-h204/Tommy+Kirk.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Today’s Disney Retrospective is going to be a little
different than most of the ones that I’ve done so far since I’m not necessarily
focusing on a single franchise. Instead, we’ll be looking at a bunch of films
that share one thing in common, their setting. In the ’60s and ’70s, several
live-action Disney films were set at the fictional Medfield College, which was
named after a town in Massachusetts where several friends of Walt Disney lived.
Many historians have noted that Walt visited them frequently and often used to
land one of his planes on their property on a private airstrip that is
partially still around today. So then, what films will we be looking at today
if I’m not doing a single franchise? Well, there are two main series of Disney
films that took place at Medfield College. The first of them follows the exploits
of a well-meaning but forgetful science professor who creates an incredibly
rubbery substance that he calls ‘Flubber’. There were two films made in the
’60s about this character and the original film would end up getting remade in
the ’90s, resulting in a film that I’m sure many folks of my generation are decently
familiar with. The other series of films is a trilogy (plus a 1995 made-for-TV
remake of the first film) that centered around a student at Medfield named
Dexter Riley, notably played by Kurt Russell, who tries to help keep the
college from falling into financial ruin via various inventions that end up
affecting him in unique ways. In fact, every single film that we’re about to
discuss in today’s retrospective consists of a plot where the main characters
try to help the college get out of debt, so I apologize in advance if it seems
like I’m starting to repeat myself at times. Thus, without further ado, it’s
time to head back to school, Disney style, as we look at the seven Disney films
that were set at Medfield College. This is the <i>Medfield College Anthology</i>.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Also, just a quick
disclaimer before we begin. While the following 7 titles were the only Disney
films that were specifically set at Medfield College, another Disney film,
1976’s <i>The Shaggy D.A.</i>, is set in the town of Medfield, which means that
it’s technically set in the same location. However, since that film doesn’t
feature the college at any point, I won’t be looking at it today.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>ACT 1 – THE FLUBBER SAGA<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE ABSENT-MINDED PROFESSOR (1961)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgne366tn8jfY4JCLAlvntguxuvi5kae_eY3vv1D1r6bzPvrouSQZHIC1KLAGOO3ba2k7jHHV8JcFijvPnLwz6TTTC69nPRAA2rLRkuUW2S0GIDVt0FV-WVGiCmImupB9oDGZham1iDVYth/s755/The+Absent+Minded+Professor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="494" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgne366tn8jfY4JCLAlvntguxuvi5kae_eY3vv1D1r6bzPvrouSQZHIC1KLAGOO3ba2k7jHHV8JcFijvPnLwz6TTTC69nPRAA2rLRkuUW2S0GIDVt0FV-WVGiCmImupB9oDGZham1iDVYth/w261-h400/The+Absent+Minded+Professor.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We begin today’s
retrospective with one of Disney’s earliest live-action hits, <i>The
Absent-Minded Professor</i>, which was based on a 1942 short story titled <i>A
Situation of Gravity </i>by Samuel W. Taylor as well as being partially
inspired by Hubert Alyea, a chemistry professor at Princeton University who was
known for his explosive (figuratively <b><i>AND</i></b><i> </i>literally) science demonstrations. It was one
of many classic live-action Disney films directed by Robert Stevenson, whose
work with the company includes the likes of 1968’s <i>The Love Bug</i>
and, of course, the one and only <i>Mary
Poppins</i>. With a pedigree like that, it shouldn’t come as that big of a
surprise that this film is another well-made family-friendly Disney comedy that
features plenty of entertaining sequences that fully capitalize on the concept
of a miraculous rubber substance that can defy gravity, such as the famous
scene where the main protagonist, Professor Ned Brainard, uses it to help
Medfield’s struggling basketball team. Fred MacMurray headlines the film nicely
as Professor Brainard as does Nancy Olson as Brainard’s fiancé Betsy Carlisle,
who he, unfortunately, keeps forgetting to get married to. This is also notably
the first appearance of a recurring Disney villain, Keenan Wynn’s greedy land
developer Alonzo Hawk, who would go on to appear in this film’s sequel and the
previously reviewed <i>Herbie </i>sequel, <i>Herbie Rides Again</i>. In short,
despite the usual ‘dated politics’ that are often seen in an older film like
this and the fact that it gets a bit meandering near the end despite a modest
97-minute runtime, <i>The Absent-Minded Professor </i>is another indisputable
classic of Disney’s early forays into live-action films. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>SON OF FLUBBER (1963)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFPIakJ8xmosLy2i4sOBimIyp9jehmCWp8uV5Q6S5bHP95aURVt_NYTXtBIpygPz0eYP7YNus1shnqVNrqftkG9hzvRkGi9nf4bwYjpzauTSS2aWwmaiD5DqVloL8Wxn2EVkZcuiSaZRp/s755/Son+of+Flubber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="492" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFPIakJ8xmosLy2i4sOBimIyp9jehmCWp8uV5Q6S5bHP95aURVt_NYTXtBIpygPz0eYP7YNus1shnqVNrqftkG9hzvRkGi9nf4bwYjpzauTSS2aWwmaiD5DqVloL8Wxn2EVkZcuiSaZRp/w261-h400/Son+of+Flubber.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thanks to the
success of the original <i>Absent-Minded Professor</i>, a sequel was announced
not long after its release, thus making it one of the first major Disney films
to get a sequel. Really, though, the fact that this occurred at all is quite
fascinating given that this was back when Walt Disney was still alive. As
anyone well-versed in Disney history will surely point out, Walt wasn’t
too keen on the idea of sequels, famously quoting that “you can’t top pigs with
pigs” in response to the idea of doing follow-ups to the studio’s iconic <i>Three
Little Pigs </i>short. And to be fair to Walt’s stance on the matter, <i>Son of
Flubber </i>does often come off as one of those sequels that, for the most
part, simply rehashes a lot of the same beats as its predecessor. You’ve got
Professor Brainard’s various experiments and the wacky antics that ensue, a
scene where he pranks his romantic rival with said experiments and a major
sporting event where Medfield’s group of underdogs use them to beat their physically
superior rivals from Rutland (only here it’s during a football game instead of
a basketball game). There are also a few plotlines that are very much in line
with what some sequels end up falling victim to by undoing elements of the
previous film’s happy ending, such as a love triangle subplot involving an old
flame of Professor Brainard’s that ultimately goes nowhere. But for what it’s
worth, <i>Son of Flubber </i>still manages to be another enjoyable comedic romp
thanks in large part to the return of all the major cast and crew members from
the first film, from director Robert Stevenson to stars Fred MacMurray, Nancy
Olson, Keenan Wynn, and Tommy Kirk. Thus, while it’s very much a sequel that’s
not as good as its predecessor, there’s still just enough of all the things
that made <i>The Absent-Minded Professor </i>an enduring staple of Disney’s
live-action catalog to make this a worthwhile watch.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>3/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">(Now, before we continue, I just want to note
that there are technically two other <i>Absent-Minded Professor </i>films that
served as pseudo-sequels to the original. These two made-for-TV films starred
Harry Anderson of <i>Night Court </i>fame<i> </i>as Professor Henry Crawford,
the late Professor Brainard’s successor as Medfield College’s chemistry
professor who rediscovers Brainard’s lost formula for flubber. However, due to issues
regarding the availability of these films, I won’t be covering either of them
today. While the 1988 <i>Absent-Minded Professor </i>film can currently be
found on YouTube, the same can’t be said for its 1989 follow-up, <i>The
Absent-Minded Professor: Trading Places</i>. At the time of this
retrospective’s publication, I cannot find it anywhere online, and to be
perfectly blunt, I personally feel that attempting to find it would be too
daunting of a process for the sole purpose of covering it here.) <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>FLUBBER (1997)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEQ9mkN4j8ofSh92fDxIJNkIxzRWKvOkH0lPxHOGj3mCHMT5sNEbtBhjS4kcrH-RfREdGoFYvHnpydaX25VNywloBs9nRekYd3tsAfm5IDXk1q9LjSvPlaU-EaglOCWRmWG6FqJaLbduu/s700/Flubber.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="535" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsEQ9mkN4j8ofSh92fDxIJNkIxzRWKvOkH0lPxHOGj3mCHMT5sNEbtBhjS4kcrH-RfREdGoFYvHnpydaX25VNywloBs9nRekYd3tsAfm5IDXk1q9LjSvPlaU-EaglOCWRmWG6FqJaLbduu/w306-h400/Flubber.jpg" width="306" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Just one year after
he wrote and produced the live-action remake of <i>101 Dalmatians</i>, John
Hughes tackled a different Disney remake with the remake of <i>The
Absent-Minded Professor</i>, <i>Flubber</i>. It was also notably the second time
that he had collaborated with director Les Mayfield, who had previously helmed
a different Hughes-penned remake, 1994’s <i>Miracle on 34<sup>th</sup> Street</i>.
Overall, <i>Flubber </i>is a lot like the <i>101 Dalmatians </i>remake in that
it generally maintains all the main story beats from the original; missed
weddings, flying cars, a big basketball game, etc. Likewise, any changes that
are made to Bill Walsh’s original script, outside of making this film’s version
of Flubber a sentient substance, mostly come in the form of aesthetic
differences that are in line with the remake’s more modern setting. For
example, instead of a loyal canine companion, this film’s Professor Brainard is
accompanied by a flying robot assistant named Weebo (notably voiced by <i>The
Little Mermaid</i> herself, Jodi Benson). However, despite doing quite well at
the box office, where it earned over $178 million worldwide ($93 million of
that domestically), <i>Flubber </i>didn’t exactly do well with critics. And for
the most part, this stems from something that I mentioned a few months ago when
I reviewed the <i>101 Dalmatians </i>remake in that this was during a time when
John Hughes’ work underwent a considerably noticeable tonal shift. In other
words, whereas Hughes had made his mark on the industry with his sharply
written (and often edgy) comedies, his 90’s films were known more for their
juvenile slapstick humor, and <i>Flubber </i>is undoubtedly a prime example of
that with pratfalls and head smacks galore.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">And yet, even with
that in mind, I still find this to be an enjoyable watch. Now, full disclosure,
I will fully admit that what I just said is largely stemming from the fact that
this is an incredibly nostalgic film for me as I watched it repeatedly growing
up (and before you ask, I also watched the original a couple times on VHS when
I was younger). That said, though, I also recognize <b><i>WHY </i></b>this one didn’t
fly well with everyone (no pun intended), such as the argument that Robin
Williams may not have been the best choice for the lead role since Professor
Brainard isn’t exactly the most likable protagonist. And yet, Williams still manages
to find some opportunities to display his comedic talents and all-around
earnest persona (even in a role like this that, to be fair, wasn’t that much
different from its 1961 counterpart) because… well, he was just that good.
Regardless of the quality of the films that he was in, Williams’ talent was
always able to shine through and serves as a keen reminder of why he continues
to be missed to this day. In short, if you’re willing to ignore some of the
weird narrative updates that Hughes makes to this story (e.g. the subplot
involving Weebo’s romantic feelings towards Brainard) and a couple instances of
incredibly dated 90’s CGI, <i>Flubber </i>is a relatively harmless remake of <i>The
Absent-Minded Professor</i>. The original is still the better film at the end
of the day, but to be perfectly frank, I can’t bring myself to be too hard on what
was very much a childhood favorite of mine. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>3.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>ACT 2 – THE DEXTER RILEY TRILOGY<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES (1969)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlooj0qVjYNchrXrzgeAvHWlUQDAxzHUD6sPpXdFWYMWLqi0TtYQaagHBdInJ3I25HMzaEu0mEJ74AWCdSuoFORuyOpRYRXO9WdyQw_PHCjcUYsGpZr2Og3XZt7XMOS2IkVEiFcTQc71Ta/s544/Computer+wore+Tennis+Shoes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="544" data-original-width="359" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlooj0qVjYNchrXrzgeAvHWlUQDAxzHUD6sPpXdFWYMWLqi0TtYQaagHBdInJ3I25HMzaEu0mEJ74AWCdSuoFORuyOpRYRXO9WdyQw_PHCjcUYsGpZr2Og3XZt7XMOS2IkVEiFcTQc71Ta/w264-h400/Computer+wore+Tennis+Shoes.jpg" width="264" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We now move on from
the antics of Professor Brainard to the adventures of Medfield student Dexter
Riley, originally played by Kurt Russell who, for those who are unaware, mainly
got his start in the business as a prominent male lead for Disney in the ’60s
and ’70s. As for the first installment of what is called the <i>Dexter Riley </i>trilogy,
1969’s <i>The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes</i>, it very much establishes the key
recurring beats that would define these three films. Each installment revolves
around an incident in which Dexter gains incredible powers from the latest
Medfield experiment as he works with Medfield’s bumbling Dean Higgins (Joe
Flynn) to help win money for their financially struggling school while dealing
with the threat of corrupt businessman A.J. Arno (Cesar Romero), who also wants
to capitalize on Dexter’s newfound abilities. In this first film, an electric
shock that Dexter sustains while working on Medfield’s newly acquired computer ends
up turning him into a walking supercomputer, and while this ultimately results in
a largely by-the-numbers plot, this is still a solidly entertaining family
flick that’s fully bolstered by the series’ three main leads. Even in the early
stages of his career, Kurt Russell successfully showcased the strongly
charismatic screen presence that would end up defining him as an actor. Joe
Flynn, meanwhile, provides solid comedic relief as Dean Higgins while Cesar
Romero is enjoyably over the top as main antagonist A.J. Arno. As such, while it’s
admittedly a rather average outing as far as Disney’s live-action filmography is
concerned, <i>The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes </i>does succeed in being a
pleasantly easygoing crowd-pleaser.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>3.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>NOW YOU SEE HIM, NOW YOU DON’T (1972)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRmPefKw9CqSWmUrAAWrBnoa9KViCyHFH2-wJ-FLxZKw1C6unF50pxNt9jaQMWP-hGhctg4grJzlu8W0sBKpYavQsOvmig73ZpRhCfTzJ9fsnnZ0mFwGS33YOcSBog4wsdKZum-QtjmTEd/s755/Now+You+See+Him.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="496" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRmPefKw9CqSWmUrAAWrBnoa9KViCyHFH2-wJ-FLxZKw1C6unF50pxNt9jaQMWP-hGhctg4grJzlu8W0sBKpYavQsOvmig73ZpRhCfTzJ9fsnnZ0mFwGS33YOcSBog4wsdKZum-QtjmTEd/w263-h400/Now+You+See+Him.jpg" width="263" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The lead trio of
Kurt Russell, Joe Flynn, and Cesar Romero all returned for a follow-up in 1972,
<i>Now You See Him, Now You Don’t</i>. The film also saw the return of the original’s
director, Robert Butler, a veteran director of television who has notably helmed
the pilot episodes of several classic shows such as <i>Batman </i>with Adam West
(and, of course, Cesar Romero) and the original pilot for <i>Star Trek </i>that
featured Jeffrey Hunter’s Christopher Pike rather than William Shatner’s James
T. Kirk. In this film, Dexter and his friends come up with a special formula that
can turn them invisible. This results in what is quite frankly the most
entertaining premise of the entire trilogy, especially since this film does a better
job than its predecessor did when it comes to capitalizing on the potential of
its premise with plenty of fun invisibility-related set pieces such as the one
where Dexter helps Dean Higgins win a game of golf. And while some of the film’s
invisibility effects have obviously dated quite a bit, the whole film, in
general, is better-paced and a lot more consistently humorous than the first
film was. All this helps it to overcome another straightforward plot that,
dare I say, kind of feels like it straight-up ignores the events of the previous
film at times. In other words, there’s not a single mention of everything that
Dexter went through in the first film, including the fact that A.J. Arno tried
to have him killed (which, as you might have guessed, is not brought up at all once
Arno makes his first appearance in the film after being released from prison).
Still, for what is undoubtedly another one of those often forgotten live-action
Disney films from the studio’s ‘darker days’ (especially seeing how it
surprisingly isn’t on Disney+ at the time of this post’s publication unlike the
other two films in the trilogy), <i>Now You See Him, Now You Don’t</i> is,
against all odds, a superior sequel. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE STRONGEST MAN IN THE WORLD (1975)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpjo0UWHRq-IvWgSYoHTkXvFTd-gk7KKF5QZhkv6uHlAj6xPSgXcJGcU4_qFuLbGXQdkihitmByZLCvsTag-GQwWk_pkOhp2FwI2sF8RTYUd4Ejc3t64cv0Aiy5xyqRdvZaKgHev1Nfz1/s755/Strongest+Man+in+the+World.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="493" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpjo0UWHRq-IvWgSYoHTkXvFTd-gk7KKF5QZhkv6uHlAj6xPSgXcJGcU4_qFuLbGXQdkihitmByZLCvsTag-GQwWk_pkOhp2FwI2sF8RTYUd4Ejc3t64cv0Aiy5xyqRdvZaKgHev1Nfz1/w261-h400/Strongest+Man+in+the+World.jpg" width="261" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The final
installment of this<i> </i>trilogy, 1975’s <i>The Strongest Man in the World</i>,
saw a notable change in direction. This time, directorial duties were handled
by the brother of trilogy writer Joseph L. McEveety, Vincent McEveety, whose
work we’ve previously discussed on this site via the <i>Herbie the Love Bug </i>retrospective
that I did a few years ago as he had directed two of that franchise’s films and
a few episodes of its short-lived TV series. Unfortunately, this is easily the
weakest installment of this trilogy as it’s derailed by some questionable narrative
and production decisions. It’s not outright terrible, per se, as there are a decent
number of sequences that properly maintain the kind of wacky scientific antics
that these films are known for. However, the film suffers considerably from
some incredibly weak pacing, with some sequences dragging on for way longer
than they need to be. Not only that, but the film has a surprisingly limited amount
of screentime for Kurt Russell as Dexter, who’s literally absent for at least a
third of the runtime. Instead, more time is spent with Dean Higgins, A.J. Arno
and his right-hand-man Cookie, and new characters like Eve Arden and Phil
Silvers as the owners of rival cereal companies, the former of whom teams up
with Medfield to promote the super-strength formula that Dexter and his friends
come up with. Now, granted, this may have had something to do with Kurt Russell
beginning to transition into non-Disney projects at this point in his career,
but nevertheless, the severe lack of his trademark charisma is quite noticeable.
As such, the <i>Dexter Riley </i>trilogy<i> </i>ends up concluding on a mediocre
note as <i>The Strongest Man in the World </i>is, unfortunately, a major dud
that’s largely undone by a messy plot that, despite having just enough of its
predecessors’ most recognizable elements, almost feels like it’s from another franchise.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>2/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE COMPUTER WORE TENNIS SHOES (1995 REMAKE)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLzOtyijEFZYBEH1-AemazxbEzaYxYpkreTCc0EXAu2vWxNpKaZYibnKshgyZdKpToYFzDjKEb9sd9Ri0UbEoEFo5AdDfrr9tLAU5_QvfgIy58cYiZQRg4hQCZ0ZzVl5fkwXk1SLLCcO1/s750/Computer+wore+Tennis+Shoes+95.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="750" data-original-width="500" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyLzOtyijEFZYBEH1-AemazxbEzaYxYpkreTCc0EXAu2vWxNpKaZYibnKshgyZdKpToYFzDjKEb9sd9Ri0UbEoEFo5AdDfrr9tLAU5_QvfgIy58cYiZQRg4hQCZ0ZzVl5fkwXk1SLLCcO1/w266-h400/Computer+wore+Tennis+Shoes+95.jpg" width="266" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Finally, we conclude
today’s retrospective with the made-for-TV remake of <i>The Computer Wore
Tennis Shoes</i>, which first premiered on February 18<sup>th</sup>, 1995 on
ABC. This was one of four remakes of classic live-action Disney films that aired
on the network during the 1994-95 season, with the other three being remakes of
<i>The Shaggy Dog</i>, <i>Escape to Witch Mountain</i>, and <i>Freaky Friday</i>.
It also notably served as the directorial debut of <i>Ant-Man </i>trilogy
director Peyton Reed who, just two years later, would helm another made-for-TV old-school
Disney ‘remake’ via <i>The Love Bug </i>with Bruce Campbell. But whereas Reed’s<i>
Love Bug </i>was admittedly more of a sequel than a remake given the role that the
series’ main protagonist Jim Douglas played in it, this new version of <i>The
Computer Wore Tennis Shoes </i>is a more straight-forward remake that, like <i>Flubber</i>,
doesn’t make a lot of noticeable changes to the original’s script. Outside of
the usual modern aesthetic updates, the only major narrative differences include
things like having its main antagonist be the resident genius from Medfield’s rival
Hale University (who happens to be 12 years old, by the way…) instead of a
corrupt businessman and a decently improved role for the film’s female lead and
Dexter’s love interest Sarah Matthews. That latter difference is particularly notable
seeing how, in the original trilogy with Kurt Russell, all three films paired
his Dexter up with a different female lead who barely factored into the main
plot. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In the remake,
Dexter Riley is played by Kirk Cameron, who does a solid job in the role
overall even if his version of Dexter is arguably cockier than Kurt Russell’s
Dexter was in the scenes from the original film where Dexter’s fame started to
go to his head. Still, like with any of Lindsay Lohan’s star-making roles, a project
like this shows that, despite Cameron’s current reputation, he was a genuinely
talented young male lead. Here, he’s joined by 90’s comedy mainstay Larry
Miller in a scene-stealing turn as the remake’s equivalent of Dean Higgins,
Dean Valentine, and Dean Jones (who, of course, would then go on to reprise his
role as Jim Douglas in <i>The Love Bug </i>two years later) as Hale’s Dean Carlson
albeit in a relatively minor role compared to everyone else. As for the film
itself, I’ll fully admit that there’s not much else for me to talk about as it’s
very much your standard made-for-TV film. Despite a few overly campy moments
and some plotlines that don’t really go anywhere such as a pair of government
agents who think that Dexter’s been responsible for a recent string of high-profile
government hacks, it’s an enjoyable little piece of 90’s nostalgia. Granted, I
don’t recall ever watching this when I was younger (although I wouldn’t be
surprised if I had) but I do believe that I would’ve enjoyed this as a kid just
as much as I did with the likes of classic Disney Channel Original Movies from
the ’90s and early 2000s like <i>Halloweentown</i>, <i>The Luck of the Irish</i>,
and <i>Smart House</i>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>3.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And that concludes today’s retrospective on
the 7 Disney films that were set at Medfield College. Thanks for following
along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with any childhood
memories that you have of these films.<o:p></o:p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-89144734770740652692021-10-19T12:15:00.000-04:002021-10-19T12:15:02.367-04:00Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021) review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFc0GZ4Q3pyIeowQZEOM1Lntq_Dg7IeH80NvMEke_90aN915MbOfSa9qQeTx5gVH-0orgfPBH-YS-LeDn_5xXASSHdbKA16w9Ww0nUIPjZf0j1lUJjnNf2qecXNHBaWgCV2FH9fu2rVi5/s755/Venom+Let+There+Be+Carnage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="509" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiFc0GZ4Q3pyIeowQZEOM1Lntq_Dg7IeH80NvMEke_90aN915MbOfSa9qQeTx5gVH-0orgfPBH-YS-LeDn_5xXASSHdbKA16w9Ww0nUIPjZf0j1lUJjnNf2qecXNHBaWgCV2FH9fu2rVi5/w270-h400/Venom+Let+There+Be+Carnage.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">2018’s <i>Venom </i>is easily one of the most fascinating
films to come out of the superhero genre in recent years, mainly due to its
overall reception. The film was primarily intended to be a more faithful take
on the titular fan-favorite <i>Spider-Man </i>villain turned anti-hero after
his live-action debut in 2007’s <i>Spider-Man 3 </i>(where he was forced in by
executive meddling against director Sam Raimi’s wishes) left most fans underwhelmed.
It was also poised to be the start of a new superhero cinematic universe based
around characters from the <i>Spider-Man </i>mythos without having to solely
rely on Spider-Man himself, especially since the current incarnation of the
character as played by Tom Holland was primarily operating within the Marvel
Cinematic Universe. However, upon the original <i>Venom</i>’s release, it didn’t
do so hot with critics, many of whom found it to be a tonal mess that was
severely hindered by the lack of a proper connection to Spider-Man. And yet, it
managed to fare a lot better with audiences, who notably latched on to the
unique relationship between the film’s main characters; reporter Eddie Brock
and the alien symbiote that he becomes bonded to, Venom. As a result, the film
earned an impressive $856 million worldwide, allowing it to become the seventh
highest-grossing film of that year. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Thus, a sequel was promptly announced not long after, and
thanks to the first film’s mid-credit scene that introduced the character of
serial killer Cletus Kassidy (as played by Woody Harrelson), it was confirmed
that the sequel would focus on another fan-favorite Spider-Man antagonist,
Carnage. Created by writer David Michelinie and artist Mark Bagley, Carnage first
debuted in issue #361 of <i>The Amazing Spider-Man </i>in 1992 as the symbiotic
‘offspring’ of Venom. Like its parent, Carnage quickly became a popular new addition
to Spider-Man’s rogue gallery and proved to be such a dangerous threat for the
web-slinger that he was forced to team up with Venom to stop it on numerous
occasions, including the famous 1993 story arc <i>Maximum Carnage</i>. As for
the new film, subtitled <i>Let There Be Carnage</i>, a notable change in directors
had to occur since Ruben Fleischer was busy working on the long-awaited
follow-up to his 2009 film <i>Zombieland</i>, 2019’s <i>Zombieland: Double Tap</i>.
Thus, directorial duties were taken up by none other than the widely proclaimed
king of motion capture performance work, Andy Serkis. Yes, the man known for
his critically acclaimed roles such as Gollum in Peter Jackson’s <i>Middle-Earth
</i>films and Caesar in the <i>Planet of the Apes </i>reboot trilogy has
recently started to establish himself as a director, having previously helmed the
Robin Cavendish biopic <i>Breathe </i>and his decidedly non-Disney esque <i>Jungle
Book </i>adaptation, <i>Mowgli: Legend of the Jungle</i>. And under his solid direction,
<i>Venom: Let There Be Carnage </i>wholeheartedly embraces its predecessor’s
most popular elements to deliver an all-around wackier sequel that may not win
over the original’s biggest critics but, at the very least, is a lot more
consistent from a tonal and visual perspective.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It has been about a little over a year since investigative
journalist Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) became the [somewhat unwilling] host of
Venom (voiced by Hardy), an alien symbiote from a far-away planet. Since then,
Eddie has struggled to keep his ‘new friend’ hidden from the rest of the world,
especially given Venom’s unstoppable urge to eat people. As part of his efforts
to revive his journalism career, Eddie takes on the assignment of interviewing imprisoned
serial killer Cletus Kassidy (Woody Harrelson), who has mysteriously agreed to
talk to him and nobody else. Through their talks with each other, Eddie (with
the help of Venom) manages to figure out the location of the bodies of Kassidy’s
many victims, thus resulting in Kassidy being handed an immediate death
sentence. Before his execution, however, Kassidy ends up acquiring a sample of
Venom during a heated confrontation with Eddie that allows him to survive his destined
demise as he becomes the host of the red-colored symbiotic ‘offspring’ Carnage
(voiced by Harrelson). After escaping from prison, Kassidy and Carnage promptly
embark on a rampage across San Francisco as the former searches for the love of
his life, Frances Barrison AKA Shriek (Naomie Harris), whom he was separated
from at an early age when Frances was dragged off to the local mental asylum.
Thus, Eddie and Venom quickly find themselves having to work around their growing
differences so that they can stop their most dangerous adversary yet. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Venom: Let There Be Carnage </i>is very much a sequel
that’s fully aware of what it was about its predecessor that made it so popular
and uses that information as the primary influence behind its overall direction.
In this instance, director Andy Serkis and his team clearly recognized that
fans of the first <i>Venom </i>primarily dug the delightfully twisted dark
humor that stemmed from the uniquely ‘odd couple’-style relationship between Eddie
Brock and Venom. Because of this, <i>Let There Be Carnage </i>opts to be much
more comedic-oriented than its predecessor which, by comparison, attempted to
find a greater balance between its humorous moments and its primarily dramatic
plot beats. And while your overall mileage may vary on how effective it is as a
comedy, especially given some of the incredibly ludicrous lengths that it goes
to when crafting the scenarios that Eddie and Venom end up in, this does
ultimately result in a far more tonally consistent sequel. It also manages to
one-up its predecessor from a visual perspective as Serkis goes all-in with some
incredibly eye-catching gothic imagery that improves upon the first film’s knack
for sterile laboratory environments. Despite all this, however, <i>Let There Be
Carnage </i>still has the same narrative shortcomings of the first film; in
other words, a very generic plot that trades out the previous film’s straight-forward
‘stop the evil businessman’ premise for an equally straight-forward ‘stop the murderous
psychopath’ plot. Part of this may be due to the film having a short 97-minute
runtime which, at this point, is practically an anomaly for the superhero genre.
To be clear, though, it’s not like there’s anything inherently wrong about this
film having a short run-time as it helps give it consistently smooth pacing
that prevents it from dragging at any point; it’s just that, narratively, it also
could’ve done a lot more with certain plot-threads. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nevertheless, <i>Let There Be Carnage</i>’s biggest selling
point continues to be the humorous interactions between its two main
protagonists, and Tom Hardy truly deserves a lot of credit for how utterly committed
he is to the dual role that he plays in these films. He very much succeeds in
making Eddie Brock and Venom perfect foils for one another, with Eddie being the
good-natured but rather pathetic straight man who must consistently put up with
the antics of the incredibly overeager Venom who, let’s face it, gets all the
best lines (“NO ONE LIKES YOU, DAN!”). Their dynamic relationship is then
perfectly complemented by Woody Harrelson’s own dual role as Cletus Kassidy and
his alien symbiote partner, Carnage. Sure, the minimal plotting ends up making
Kassidy your routine psychopath (with Carnage itself nearly being a non-entity,
narratively speaking), but Harrelson’s appropriately creepy performance makes him
and Carnage a much stronger pair of antagonists than Carlton Drake and the
alien symbiote Riot from the previous film. Speaking of antagonists, there’s
also Naomie Harris in an equally standout role as Frances Barrison AKA Shriek,
whose sonic scream abilities provide a uniquely complicated layer to her
romantic relationship with Kassidy given that symbiotes like Venom and Carnage
are notoriously weak to loud noises. Unfortunately, Harris ends up being a bit
underused here, and the same can be said for a returning Michelle Williams and Reid
Scott as Eddie’s ex-fiancé Anne Weying and her new fiancé Dan Lewis. Granted,
they aren’t completely ignored here as they do help Eddie and Venom out like
they did in the first film, but in Williams’ case specifically, it does feel
like a noticeable step backward for these films’ main female lead. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Back in 2018, I gave the first <i>Venom </i>a decently positive
<b><i>3.5/5 </i></b>review, and overall, my thoughts on the film haven’t
changed that much since then. While I’ll fully concede that it’s far from being
one of the superhero genre’s best outings, the strong humor that spawned from the
interactions between Eddie Brock and Venom helped the film overcome some of its
biggest shortcomings such as a mediocre villain and its mixed attempts at balancing
its humor with its serious moments. And while I’m about to give its sequel, <i>Venom:
Let There Be Carnage</i>, the same exact rating, this is ultimately a case of a
superior sequel. Unlike the first film, <i>Let There Be Carnage </i>doesn’t try
to take itself too seriously and fully embraces all the wackiness that ensues
from what is arguably the superhero genre’s most notorious odd couple. And
thanks to solid direction from Andy Serkis, the film not only flows a lot
better than its predecessor but also looks a lot better as well with some delightfully
twisted gothic visuals that, speaking as someone who doesn’t read a lot of
comics, feel very much appropriate for a story based around its titular symbiotes.
All that said, though, this sequel does suffer from some of the same narrative
issues that plagued its predecessor, and while it never overstays its welcome
thanks to a shorter run-time, it still feels a bit rudimentary when compared to
some of the other films from this genre. In short,<i> Let There Be Carnage </i>is
just as much of an enjoyable popcorn flick as its predecessor was, and while
Sony’s plans to develop their own cinematic universe a la the MCU have arguably
yielded mixed results so far, I’ll admit that I’m still genuinely curious to
see what comes next, especially given this film’s post-credit scene which,
without spoiling anything, is a big one.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>3.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-28285612326314649222021-09-30T13:00:00.000-04:002021-09-30T13:00:06.576-04:00Favorite Films of Summer 2021 - As Voted By You!<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNrU5n5SAQM2ugq-VtgbOFS9htzO1dzwvFXbcCAEpRzcJpyp4PcbJhzBLSAFE62M-SnwE4iusM8Xa6p1AS3QK7YaGDWA9L1jMMN3asfvtLZue-mmPYs6-HkdMlw0LjX21QnSlCtbSlx97/s2048/BeFunky-collage+%25282%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1531" data-original-width="2048" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheNrU5n5SAQM2ugq-VtgbOFS9htzO1dzwvFXbcCAEpRzcJpyp4PcbJhzBLSAFE62M-SnwE4iusM8Xa6p1AS3QK7YaGDWA9L1jMMN3asfvtLZue-mmPYs6-HkdMlw0LjX21QnSlCtbSlx97/w400-h299/BeFunky-collage+%25282%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">When I decided to relaunch Rhode Island Movie Corner’s
Annual <i>End of Summer Fan Poll</i> after taking a year off due to everything
related to the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ll admit that I wasn’t quite sure of the
kind of reaction that it would get this time. And to be clear, I don’t mean
this in any sort of negative way; instead, I’m simply referring to the fact
that, because COVID is still technically an issue that we’re all dealing with,
not everyone has been going to see new releases at the theater. This is the
reason why I decided to apply one notable loophole for this year’s event in
that I would willingly accept answers from those who saw a film at their home
if said film was simultaneously released in theaters and on their studio’s
coinciding streaming service such as Disney+ or HBO Max. However, even after a
year away, y’all came through once again to give us another great year of
polling here on Rhode Island Movie Corner, with 69 votes (*cue the obvious joke
from the cheekier parts of the internet*) going to 20 different films. Thus, as
always, I couldn’t be more thankful for all of you who participated in this
year’s event and helped to spread it around online. With all that in mind,
let’s not waste any more time, especially since, given the wide array of hit
releases this summer, some of you may be surprised to learn how certain films fared
in this year’s poll and, more importantly, which film ended up taking this year’s
crown. And so, without further ado, Rhode Island Movie Corner proudly presents
the films that you, the fans, voted for as your favorite releases from the
summer of 2021. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>THE FOLLOWING
SEVEN FILMS EARNED ONE VOTE APIECE<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE BOSS BABY:
FAMILY BUSINESS<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKdIRGvSTU-ZfkWUCzF-y0tcbXCfqKk15JVdAE8zlQUPCRHjRQgFwsCBfsqiF7IU9OXBaAMvhs_BdZhIxzBYv9dr0PHzoinhSmdTyLKSYOGogQxJsoqBZXN0W2jnZ6S9R4WuabxAykfq6G/s700/Boss+Baby+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="467" data-original-width="700" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKdIRGvSTU-ZfkWUCzF-y0tcbXCfqKk15JVdAE8zlQUPCRHjRQgFwsCBfsqiF7IU9OXBaAMvhs_BdZhIxzBYv9dr0PHzoinhSmdTyLKSYOGogQxJsoqBZXN0W2jnZ6S9R4WuabxAykfq6G/w400-h266/Boss+Baby+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">If there’s one thing that I’ve learned in the 10+ years that
I’ve gone through as an online film critic, it’s that the internet tends to
make a big deal about certain films. On the one hand, you have films that the
internet goes utterly gaga over such as <i>Mad Max: Fury Road </i>and <i>Star
Wars: The Last Jedi</i>, even if there are a few times where it feels like all
the praise that these films get becomes something of a major detriment to other
films. But then there are films that, even if they’re not necessarily panned by
critics, become a prime source of internet mockery, which is a scenario that
undoubtedly applied to DreamWorks Animation’s 2017 release, <i>The Boss Baby</i>.
Directed by Tom McGrath (director of the <i>Madagascar </i>trilogy and the
voice of Skipper in those films) and loosely based on a 2010 book of the same
name by author Marla Frazee, the film follows a young boy who learns that his
new baby brother can not only talk but is also a secret agent working for an organization
that ensures that babies are the most beloved things on the planet. Upon its
release, the film did incredibly well at the box office, where it managed to
gross over $528 million worldwide; heck, it even managed to unseat the $1
billion grossing live-action remake of <i>Beauty and the Beast </i>from the top
of the domestic box-office as it was entering the third week of its release. As
for critics, however, they were a bit more mixed on it as they felt that the
film’s script wasn’t exactly up to par with its wacky animation. But again,
like I said earlier, the bigger story here is that, based on what I’ve seen
online, much of film fandom has been left utterly dumbfounded by this surreal
throwback to animated films of the ’50s and ’60s, especially once it managed to
get nominated for Best Animated Feature at that year’s Oscars. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Nevertheless, the film’s success allowed it to become the
next big DreamWorks franchise as it was soon followed by a Netflix series, <i>Back
in Business</i>, which, at the time of this post’s publication, has been
running for at least four seasons. But now we have a proper theatrically
released sequel, subtitled <i>Family Business</i>, which was simultaneously
released in theaters and via Universal’s streaming service Peacock for users
operating on its paid plans.<i> </i>Taking place three decades after the first
film, the sequel once again focuses on main protagonist Tim Templeton (now
voiced by James Marsden, who replaces Tobey Maguire as the voice of the adult
Tim) and his brother Ted (once again voiced by Alec Baldwin), the OG Boss Baby,
who have become distant as they’ve grown into adulthood. However, when they
discover that Tim’s infant daughter Tina (voiced by Amy Sedaris) is the latest
to join the ‘family business’ as a member of the organization Baby Corp, the
two are transformed back into their younger selves to help her deal with a
diabolical plot to rid the world of all parents. Like its predecessor, <i>Boss
Baby 2 </i>garnered a largely mixed response from critics upon its release, with
most viewing it as nothing special but, at the very least, finding it to be a largely
harmless affair that would satisfy younger audiences. Thus, while I’m sure that
there are still some parts of the internet that are utterly befuddled by the <i>Boss
Baby </i>franchise’s existence, it’s clear that it’s been a big hit with its
target audience, especially seeing how a third film has recently been confirmed
to be in the works. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE FOREVER PURGE<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_AlW5M__yD22WB76BhCzZg_NLnVuT8caCKIrHjhnfFSzCjuRMmEUHoDCoh33XqExsHqXytzNUrGuay3OuCbzedYQFb-O8PDOv3kq2sFbM9yy1jtvGjjrNCDn9wIAfTsQbyXovDDOyFWK/s1280/The+forever+Purge.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgW_AlW5M__yD22WB76BhCzZg_NLnVuT8caCKIrHjhnfFSzCjuRMmEUHoDCoh33XqExsHqXytzNUrGuay3OuCbzedYQFb-O8PDOv3kq2sFbM9yy1jtvGjjrNCDn9wIAfTsQbyXovDDOyFWK/w400-h225/The+forever+Purge.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the past decade, Universal has had one of the most popular
film franchises in recent years with <i>The Purge</i>. Created by veteran
screenwriter James DeMonaco, the <i>Purge </i>films take place in a dystopian
future where a corrupt government enacts an annual ‘national holiday’ that
allows all forms of crime, especially murder, to be made legal for one night.
What started with a relatively modest home invasion thriller from 2013 has
since spawned numerous sequels that have collectively grossed over $500 million
worldwide and a short-lived TV series on USA Network. And so far, every
installment outside of the first film has received mixed reviews from critics
who feel that they’re generally entertaining but are never quite able to live
up to the potential of the series’ overall premise and the surprisingly timely
themes that stem from them. That latter aspect was especially relevant for this
year’s fifth installment, <i>The Forever Purge</i>, which focuses on a group of
migrants who, fresh off their efforts to cross the Mexican border, find
themselves hunted by white supremacists who operate outside of the Purge’s ‘one
night a year’ rules. Given recent events, many have said that this is arguably
the franchise’s most socially relevant installment to date, but just like its
predecessors, critics were split on how successful it was in conveying those
themes. Nevertheless, <i>The Forever Purge </i>managed to be another hit for
the franchise; sure, its $77 million worldwide gross is a series low, but to be
fair, this is a COVID-era release we’re talking about. And while it was originally
touted as the series’ final installment, plans have been set into motion for
another film that will notably see the return of series mainstay Frank Grillo
as the badass protagonist of <i>Anarchy </i>and <i>Election Year</i>, Sgt. Leo
Barnes. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>OLD<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hrOzjPNVs7NdCiutb8dhpQOw-5Sk-XSxsrir1Jmryy4ea2K3oZMtp1Y4rHmKDbYwfp3d7FcB43xNF0ropwDVkadCkB4nkokpd9nw29IXzAF07XPAiyd5dr-eLB64xH3lS_2Rd7ozZ-OD/s1354/Old.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="554" data-original-width="1354" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1hrOzjPNVs7NdCiutb8dhpQOw-5Sk-XSxsrir1Jmryy4ea2K3oZMtp1Y4rHmKDbYwfp3d7FcB43xNF0ropwDVkadCkB4nkokpd9nw29IXzAF07XPAiyd5dr-eLB64xH3lS_2Rd7ozZ-OD/w400-h164/Old.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">M. Night Shyamalan’s latest directorial outing, <i>Old</i>,
is very much in line with his usual tendency of doing projects with
supernatural plots. Based on a 2010 graphic novel named <i>Sandcastle </i>by
Pierre Oscar Levy and Frederik Peeters, the film follows a group of people who
travel to a secluded beach in the tropics but discover that, for some reason,
the beach is causing them all to age rapidly. This results in plenty of solidly
directed sequences that perfectly illustrate the growing tension that develops
amongst the main characters as they struggle to try and escape from the
seemingly inescapable beach. At the same time, though, the film also serves as
a prime example of how Shyamalan can be incredibly inconsistent as a director
as the overall direction feels flat, especially when it comes to the script and
performances of the cast despite featuring some incredibly talented stars like
Gael Garcia Bernal and Thomasin McKenzie. Ultimately, though, the film’s
biggest downfall is that it suffers from some incredibly sluggish pacing, which
is rather ironic for a film that’s about people who are quickly getting older.
Because of all this, <i>Old</i>, unfortunately, ends up being another one of
Shyamalan’s directorial duds. While it’s by no means his worst film, it does
inevitably highlight the fact that he’s a director who’s simultaneously
experienced the highest of highs… and the lowest of lows. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>STILLWATER<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8WPa7tSzFo_ChmuS3ZbGJmNcVBGzR4NAE4qvhaZrYIvVuB9WNGApgyUsnTOqP6TxFJTZQx4XWOyueFqPw9mH0DVYskIqnTkmyWv_qh26B5DwWOb29TnhDVqbbVDGQ0EstsVA8WzXKeCc/s2048/Stillwater.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1365" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8WPa7tSzFo_ChmuS3ZbGJmNcVBGzR4NAE4qvhaZrYIvVuB9WNGApgyUsnTOqP6TxFJTZQx4XWOyueFqPw9mH0DVYskIqnTkmyWv_qh26B5DwWOb29TnhDVqbbVDGQ0EstsVA8WzXKeCc/w400-h266/Stillwater.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Stillwater </i>is the latest directorial effort from filmmaker
Tom McCarthy, who’s had a very prestigious career in the industry. After
several years working as an actor, McCarthy made his directorial debut in 2003
with <i>The Station Agent</i>, which promptly launched the career of Tyrion
Lannister himself, Peter Dinklage. This has then led to McCarthy’s involvement
with other critically acclaimed projects such as Pixar’s 2009 masterpiece <i>Up</i>,
which he had a story credit on, and his 2015 film <i>Spotlight</i>, which not
only netted him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay but also the big one,
Best Picture. As for his latest, <i>Stillwater </i>stars Matt Damon as an
oil-rig worker from Oklahoma who travels to France to try and clear his
daughter’s (Abigail Breslin) name when she’s convicted of killing her roommate.
Many have noted that the film’s plot has a lot in common with the real-life
scandal in which Amanda Knox was accused of murdering her roommate Meredith Kercher,
a charge that she was eventually acquitted from. And admittedly, this has
garnered some controversy as Knox has publicly criticized the film for how it fictionalizes her story. Despite this, however, the film was
solidly well-received upon its release as critics felt that, despite some of
its script-based shortcomings, it did its job at presenting its relevant themes
and boasted a strong lead performance from Matt Damon. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE GREEN KNIGHT<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpTH_HiUeuVrweoFSTuCEm4UBP72t6M_a1utieuuIMpkHIID6Uw89ayTyqj7ALMH9iH_3-2iCVCZ0_iQiPJUziMf1jqgyUj38aY_OKUxZQLm6yjF_DKO-oSJu6VLl878nNo6Ygi9BG4jr/s1200/The+Green+Knight.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="675" data-original-width="1200" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLpTH_HiUeuVrweoFSTuCEm4UBP72t6M_a1utieuuIMpkHIID6Uw89ayTyqj7ALMH9iH_3-2iCVCZ0_iQiPJUziMf1jqgyUj38aY_OKUxZQLm6yjF_DKO-oSJu6VLl878nNo6Ygi9BG4jr/w400-h225/The+Green+Knight.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Speaking of acclaimed directors, here we have the latest
from director David Lowery, whose filmography has ranged from award-winning
indie works such as 2013’s <i>Ain’t Them Bodies Saints </i>and 2017’s <i>A
Ghost Story </i>to major studio outings like the 2016 remake of Disney’s 1977
cult classic, <i>Pete’s Dragon</i>. But before he tackles another major Disney live-action
remake with his take on <i>Peter Pan</i>, titled <i>Peter Pan & Wendy</i>,
this year gave us what is arguably his most ambitious project to date, a
full-blown fantasy epic that adapts the Arthurian legend of <i>Sir Gawain and
the Green Knight</i>. Just like its source material, the film follows Sir
Gawain, the nephew of King Arthur, as he embarks on a quest to confront the mythical
Green Knight. The film was originally set to make its debut at the 2020 SXSW
Film Festival, which would’ve then been followed by a May 2020 theatrical
release… before you-know-what effectively changed those plans. Surprisingly,
though, this is one of those rare cases where the COVID-enforced delay ended up
being helpful in the long run as it gave Lowery plenty of time to rework the
film in post-production since he wasn’t exactly happy with its original cut. Sure
enough, upon its release, the film proved to be another critically acclaimed hit
for Lowery as critics praised it for its finely crafted modern spin on the
legendary story that it was based on with strong themes, captivating visuals, and
an excellent cast headlined by Dev Patel in the lead role of Gawain. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>SNAKE EYES<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKC42pP_iNABZJP6TjEwZ9Ayk4QiEfT6uhA86IYZypMcg8YFKRKPxApuc7AHUdYAfAtzTsYMbNZZ_0xkf-qJg0a4_d1OgIoG9_9JC5YxhBjBBSS2nki_XSI2paTJLivbfzyWHZ1Ik9l1qE/s1200/Snake+Eyes.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="680" data-original-width="1200" height="226" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKC42pP_iNABZJP6TjEwZ9Ayk4QiEfT6uhA86IYZypMcg8YFKRKPxApuc7AHUdYAfAtzTsYMbNZZ_0xkf-qJg0a4_d1OgIoG9_9JC5YxhBjBBSS2nki_XSI2paTJLivbfzyWHZ1Ik9l1qE/w400-h226/Snake+Eyes.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The enduring legacy of the <i>G.I. Joe </i>franchise’s role
in the pop-cultural zeitgeist practically speaks for itself. Not only has it
been one of the most prominent franchises in the entire toy industry, but it
also played a significant role in its evolution as it revolutionized the term
‘action figure’, thus helping Hasbro in the process of marketing the doll-like
figures to young male audiences. Outside of the toys, the franchise has also
seen a lot of success in other mediums, such as the classic animated series
from the ’80s produced by Sunbow and Marvel. And in 2009, the franchise made
its official live-action theatrical debut with <i>G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra</i>,
which was then followed by a sequel in 2013, <i>G.I. Joe: Retaliation</i>.
While neither film was, admittedly, that big of a hit with critics (in other
words, they fared about as well as the live-action adaptations of another
popular Hasbro franchise, <i>Transformers</i>), they performed quite well at
the box office, with both grossing over $300 million worldwide. For the longest
time, though, there weren’t any major attempts to follow up on <i>Retaliation</i>
outside of a long-rumored threequel named <i>G.I. Joe: Ever Vigilant</i>. But
before that project could get off the ground, a different <i>G.I. Joe </i>film
ended up pushing on through in the form of a spin-off centered on one of the
franchise’s most popular characters, the mysterious ninja warrior known as
‘Snake Eyes’.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Under the direction of Robert Schwentke (<i>Red</i>, the
last two <i>Divergent </i>films) and starring <i>Crazy Rich Asians </i>breakout
star Henry Golding in the title role, <i>Snake Eyes </i>explores the origins of
the titular hero, specifically focusing on his journey into being accepted as a
member of the mythical Arashikage ninja clan. And overall, this part of the
story is well-handled and decently engaging, especially when it comes to the
relationship between Snake Eyes and the man who will become his greatest rival,
Tommy Arashikage AKA Storm Shadow. But when it comes to the film’s efforts to
tie its proceedings into the series’ primary conflict between G.I. Joe and
Cobra, that’s where it starts to falter a bit as characters like Cobra
operative The Baroness and G.I. Joe agent Scarlett feel incredibly extraneous
within the context of the plot. But, of course, the biggest point of debate
surrounding the film… is the fact that it doesn’t exactly have the best action
sequences as frenetic editing and unsteady camerawork undermine the clearly
dedicated efforts of the film’s stunt team. However, at the very least, Henry
Golding does continue to prove himself as a naturally charismatic leading man
in the title role. Thus, while it’s far from perfect, <i>Snake Eyes </i>is a
decently entertaining attempt at relaunching the <i>G.I. Joe </i>film franchise,
and while it was admittedly a major flop at the box-office, only grossing about
$37 million worldwide on a massive $88-110 million budget, a sequel is
reportedly in the works with Golding set to return.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>ROADRUNNER: A FILM
ABOUT ANTHONY BOURDAIN<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWEjB1ji0doIPhqIPfJo_pDHVL2BvGmjnvYgNgCpJJ9vJlLFc_lxBeEUB0xKLRal0j77FOo5JblvF9-S_xfBN_H6Ip9rgLOhc_v2V4Nymyucv9TrWG_Yx50SZJ_7PJOD0S0sb_sOj7cBW_/s976/RoadRunner.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="547" data-original-width="976" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWEjB1ji0doIPhqIPfJo_pDHVL2BvGmjnvYgNgCpJJ9vJlLFc_lxBeEUB0xKLRal0j77FOo5JblvF9-S_xfBN_H6Ip9rgLOhc_v2V4Nymyucv9TrWG_Yx50SZJ_7PJOD0S0sb_sOj7cBW_/w400-h224/RoadRunner.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">We only had one major candidate pop up from the write-in
section this year, but that doesn’t mean that the film in question isn’t
noteworthy. For one thing, it’s the latest documentary from filmmaker Robert
Neville, who scored big in 2018 with his Fred Rogers documentary <i>Won’t You
Be My Neighbor?</i>, which became the highest-grossing biographical documentary
of all time (it also scored big here on RIMC’s annual poll, where it earned two
votes in the 2018 event). As for his newest film, it tackles the life of one of
the culinary industry’s most famous ‘bad boys’, Anthony Bourdain. Whether it’s
thanks to his numerous bestselling books or the many years that he spent
hosting TV shows such as <i>Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations </i>on the Travel
Channel, Bourdain was one of the industry’s most celebrated voices. Sadly,
though, his story ended in tragedy as he committed suicide on June 8<sup>th</sup>,
2018; as such, it’s completely understandable if this new film wasn’t the
easiest of watches for Bourdain’s friends, family, and fans. Ultimately,
though, it was well-received upon its release, with critics praising Neville’s
work in delivering another emotional, insightful, and openly honest documentary
that, above all, genuinely celebrated the life of its subject. However, there was
some controversy following the film’s release when it was revealed that Neville
had utilized artificial intelligence to reproduce Bourdain’s voice for some
audio clips. While Neville insisted that this was only used to bring Bourdain’s
distinctive voice to writings of his that he had never stated verbally, many questioned
the ethical nature of this decision, especially since it wasn’t publicly
disclosed until after the film’s release. Still, with over $5.2 million at the box office, it’s clear that Robert Neville continues to be one of the most prolific
documentary filmmakers in the industry.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>THESE NEXT
THREE FILMS EARNED TWO VOTES EACH<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>JUNGLE CRUISE<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VWM7DdhL2QK3Ieg-iJggcDCTbHGhymifsdiCus4Dxr2kqPFS5Rz3rAzGDZ1tAH8lie3TvnK_0Ks7VzMpmv0gNrdV3sZdZbHfSTwvc_mLuKBFwQ0cFSm37nPtdMncKV_TpXiXnoxN54Wl/s1280/Jungle+Cruise.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6VWM7DdhL2QK3Ieg-iJggcDCTbHGhymifsdiCus4Dxr2kqPFS5Rz3rAzGDZ1tAH8lie3TvnK_0Ks7VzMpmv0gNrdV3sZdZbHfSTwvc_mLuKBFwQ0cFSm37nPtdMncKV_TpXiXnoxN54Wl/w400-h225/Jungle+Cruise.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Outside of the <i>Pirates of the Caribbean </i>franchise,
there haven’t been a lot of attempts at producing film adaptations of iconic
Disney rides. Prior to this year, the last major attempts were from back around
the time that the first <i>Pirates</i> film came out with 2002’s <i>The Country
Bears </i>and 2003’s <i>The Haunted Mansion</i>… and admittedly, both of those
films were major critical duds. But now we have a film adaptation of the
world-famous <i>Jungle Cruise</i> which, at the end of the day, clearly
followed in <i>Pirates</i>’ footsteps when it comes to crafting a more
expansive story around its source material’s simple premise of a riverboat
cruise through the jungle led by a skipper known for their utterly corny puns. And
just like the <i>Pirates </i>films, <i>Jungle Cruise </i>does a great job of
maintaining that classic ‘old-school adventure film’ aesthetic and atmosphere
even if the plot in general is rather standard as far as the genre is
concerned. Still, the film benefits nicely from the excellent lead duo of
Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, and fans of the ride will undoubtedly love all
the neat little nods to it… although it is rather ironic how several of these references
were recently taken out of the ride to address its most dated aspects (Trader
Sam, native head-hunters, etc.). Ultimately, though, while I can’t exactly say
that it’s the most standout adaptation of a classic Disney Parks ride, <i>Jungle
Cruise </i>does succeed in being a good old-fashioned popcorn flick. Plus,
given the recent announcements that a sequel is in the works, it’ll be genuinely
interesting to see where this new Disney film franchise goes from here. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>FREE GUY<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAwzk8mY15GeJffzDTY_nGS-oZRho1jO0y6Ipxu_v4EP31G5PrMJ-oonHjQumXXizZXTsWtl8LgNuwJfmid5XbLzrI9KO9j3Ej8IJm4XcAt8l9QHLZ_SCackcOIUhKPca4NuyocrTy27u/s1920/Free+Guy.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1920" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVAwzk8mY15GeJffzDTY_nGS-oZRho1jO0y6Ipxu_v4EP31G5PrMJ-oonHjQumXXizZXTsWtl8LgNuwJfmid5XbLzrI9KO9j3Ej8IJm4XcAt8l9QHLZ_SCackcOIUhKPca4NuyocrTy27u/w400-h166/Free+Guy.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of the many things that I feel that these annual polls
have proven is that, for the most part, you can never go wrong with a good crowd-pleaser,
and for many people, one of the most surprisingly effective examples of that
from this year’s summer slate was director Shawn Levy’s latest, <i>Free Guy</i>.
A full-on love letter to gaming and one of this summer’s rare non-IP
blockbusters, the film stars Ryan Reynolds as the titular Guy, a good-natured
bank teller who discovers that he’s a non-player character (AKA an ‘NPC’) in a
massively popular open-world video game. When he learns that the game is about
to be shut down by its developer in favor of a sequel, he teams up with Millie
(Jodie Comer), a programmer whose vital role in the game’s creation went uncredited,
to save his world and friends from being destroyed. Whether it’s the multiple
cameos made by popular gamers/streamers or some pitch-perfect representations
of online gaming, <i>Free Guy </i>clearly made a considerable amount of effort to
present a significantly accurate take on the industry. But above all, the best
part about this film is that it has an incredibly good heart to its proceedings
with an endearing cast of main protagonists and the very definition of a feel-good
ending. Case in point, this is one of the rare instances where Ryan Reynolds’
trademark brand of crude and snarky humor isn’t as prevalent as it is in
something like the <i>Deadpool </i>films, thus showcasing the genuinely great
range that Reynolds has as a comedic talent. Not only that, but he’s backed by
a fun supporting cast that includes the likes of Jodie Comer, Joe Keery, and a
scene-stealing Taika Waititi. And so, because of all this, <i>Free Guy </i>is
easily one of the best ‘feel-good’ films of the summer which, if you ask me, is
always great to see, especially given how utterly chaotic
things have been recently. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>CANDYMAN<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyhUoxKu_0b9kV7Ooovs6WNKMr_T63lE04Y-rbUZrO5IbpZvLuOIBTQbcQsRCL6RiUItSkQcXxeC2u8ulMOgG3d9bCO2s_y1H9U6fQLg8cf8glJXoAAJUydY0t71ih99JSZtk6qo_36xvE/s1400/Candyman.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyhUoxKu_0b9kV7Ooovs6WNKMr_T63lE04Y-rbUZrO5IbpZvLuOIBTQbcQsRCL6RiUItSkQcXxeC2u8ulMOgG3d9bCO2s_y1H9U6fQLg8cf8glJXoAAJUydY0t71ih99JSZtk6qo_36xvE/w400-h200/Candyman.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the past several years, Jordan Peele has been one of the
most prominent creative voices in the horror genre, where he’s made a name for
himself as a filmmaker known for making horror films with strong social
commentary. As such, it makes perfect sense that he’d play a major role in reviving
a classic horror franchise that’s similarly well-known for its significant
social themes, <i>Candyman</i>. To be clear, though, the new <i>Candyman</i> is
<b><i>NOT </i></b>a Jordan Peele directed feature as he’s only a writer/producer
on it; instead, that honor goes to Nia DaCosta who, thanks to this film’s
success at the box office, became the first Black female director to have a #1
stateside hit and is now hard at work on the upcoming <i>Captain Marvel </i>sequel.
And given what we got from this film, it’s easy to see why she’s becoming a
prominent player in the industry as this new <i>Candyman</i> fully showcases her
directorial talents. Not only does she deliver some stunningly artistic horror
sequences, but she also does a wonderful job of respecting the gothic
atmosphere of the original <i>Candyman </i>film from 1992 while also finding
great ways to update the story of one of the horror genre’s most famous ‘urban
legend’ slashers for a new generation. Add in some strong performances from
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Teyonah Parris as well as the emotional weight of
recent racial injustice-based tragedies that clearly impacted this film’s plot and
you have one of the most well-directed and thoroughly engaging horror films in
recent years. <i><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>FOUR FILMS
EARNED THREE VOTES EACH<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>PAW PATROL: THE
MOVIE<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHHHEdc_szuOkooQwEVSLcEUxwy9Chn5jw7qlf8zJYRikyfC4rt1XEzIgP1FqcfXsJybv3iPjfgsGgFr0qituG7xWNSwYceb8Anlglu_zQ5lI9uwpnQ3KrX5_MvHSUGs9wRRpFDOqPjRA/s2000/Paw+Patrol.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="2000" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHHHHEdc_szuOkooQwEVSLcEUxwy9Chn5jw7qlf8zJYRikyfC4rt1XEzIgP1FqcfXsJybv3iPjfgsGgFr0qituG7xWNSwYceb8Anlglu_zQ5lI9uwpnQ3KrX5_MvHSUGs9wRRpFDOqPjRA/w400-h168/Paw+Patrol.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2013, Nickelodeon debuted the latest addition to its Nick
Jr. lineup, <i>PAW Patrol</i>, which follows a young boy named Ryder and a team
of talking dogs who work together as a search and rescue unit in their hometown
of Adventure Bay. Calling this show a success… would be a massive
understatement. To date, there have been over 190 episodes produced (with a ninth
season on the way) as well as a highly successful toy line that helped
establish the series’ creators, Spin Master, as a prominent player in the toy
industry. And while the show has admittedly faced a bit of controversy in recent
years over its ‘positive’ portrayal of the police in the wake of recent
race-related incidents, that hasn’t completely stopped it from arguably being
the current flagship series of the Nick Jr. programming block, following in the
footsteps of classic Nick Jr. programs such as <i>Blue’s Clues </i>and <i>Dora
the Explorer</i>. Anyway, now we have the series’ first feature film, which sees
Ryder and the gang travel to the nearby Adventure City to deal with its corrupt
mayor, their longtime rival Mayor Humdinger. Released simultaneously in
theaters and on the Paramount+ streaming service, the film managed to do quite
well at the box office, where it has earned over $103 million worldwide on a
modest $26 million budget. And as for the critics, many of them have agreed
that, at the end of the day, the film is practically guaranteed to be a hit
with those who have made the series the massive success story that it is.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>WRATH OF MAN<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwxHQUJnRBoYR3Wi9vy3TUyOWYmOKHIPOwrCZ3g4W4IHF0uHj6vp_y3gl4PLKmLUGiB6cqpqJ3tqoN1kWFR1aNWrws8dRMrbZyCcaRoFJq4uLUXNnWaAOLIIsR2q8d0NVqBiv87jLyEO7q/s744/Wrath+of+Man.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="454" data-original-width="744" height="244" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwxHQUJnRBoYR3Wi9vy3TUyOWYmOKHIPOwrCZ3g4W4IHF0uHj6vp_y3gl4PLKmLUGiB6cqpqJ3tqoN1kWFR1aNWrws8dRMrbZyCcaRoFJq4uLUXNnWaAOLIIsR2q8d0NVqBiv87jLyEO7q/w400-h244/Wrath+of+Man.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A remake of the 2004 French thriller <i>Cash Truck</i>, <i>Wrath
of Man </i>notably sees director Guy Ritchie reunite with one of his most frequent
collaborators, Jason Statham. Ritchie and Statham both made their
feature-length debuts with the 1998 smash hit <i>Lock, Stock and Two Smoking
Barrels</i>. The two of them then proceeded to team up again for 2000’s <i>Snatch
</i>and 2005’s <i>Revolver </i>before both going on their separate ways
career-wise. But now they’re back together again, with Statham starring as an
armored truck driver whose mysterious past is called into play when he thwarts
a bunch of robbers. With a solid $104 million run at the box office and mostly
positive reviews from critics, who felt that Ritchie’s strong direction helped
the film to overcome its bare-bones plot, <i>Wrath of Man </i>proved to be
another recent success story for Guy Ritchie. As I noted in the 2017 edition of
this poll, Ritchie’s directorial career has seen both its ups and downs as he’s
been responsible for major hits such as the <i>Sherlock Holmes </i>duology… and
devastating commercial flops like <i>King Arthur: Legend of the Sword</i>. And
yet, now that he’s fresh off a $1 billion grossing live-action Disney remake
with his take on <i>Aladdin</i>, it seems like Ritchie’s luck has been changing
as of late, especially since his recent outings have allowed him the
opportunity to return to his roots as a director of slick, hard-edged crime
dramas. Case in point, Ritchie and Statham will be back at it again next year
with the spy thriller <i>Five Eyes</i>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>HITMAN’S WIFE’S
BODYGUARD<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrVyM2Hh4JTSuiJSQpanjN_OGRGisinzbyLxoMgT3sUkAzR8cPdezp76qx5SLAhpRD0cjQaJXEiDYBVYym7yqCAkICSqhuvosiSvsB0yamqfXqpt1xBxGdZsgBxXH7bU6mJr4jmJQ6Qv4/s1200/Hitman%2527s+Wife%2527s+Bodyguard.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="810" data-original-width="1200" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHrVyM2Hh4JTSuiJSQpanjN_OGRGisinzbyLxoMgT3sUkAzR8cPdezp76qx5SLAhpRD0cjQaJXEiDYBVYym7yqCAkICSqhuvosiSvsB0yamqfXqpt1xBxGdZsgBxXH7bU6mJr4jmJQ6Qv4/w400-h270/Hitman%2527s+Wife%2527s+Bodyguard.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 2017, director Patrick Hughes’ action-comedy <i>The Hitman’s
Bodyguard</i>, starring Ryan Reynolds as a professional bodyguard named Michael
Bryce who finds himself forced to protect the world’s most notorious hitman, Darius
Kincaid (played by Samuel L. Jackson), became an unexpected smash hit at the
box-office. Sure, some of this may have been due to it being a late August release,
which has often been considered a ‘dead month’ as far as summer blockbusters
are concerned, but to be fair, it was also only the third film that year to be
in the #1 spot at the domestic box-office for three weeks in a row. If
anything, it seems like the film managed to be a genuine hit with audiences, namely
due to the dynamic comedic chemistry between two of the most prominent stars in
the industry; thus, it’s easy to see why a sequel was announced the following
year, which ultimately came out this year as <i>Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard</i>.
As the title suggests, this film gives Darius Kincaid’s wife Sonia (played by
Salma Hayek) a more prominent role as she drags a reluctant Michael out of his self-imposed
vacation to help her and her husband stop Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Papadopoulos
(Antonio Banderas) from launching a terrorist attack on Europe. Upon its release,
the film admittedly didn’t do so well with critics, who felt that it was far too
run-of-the-mill as an action-comedy, and it also didn’t do as well as its predecessor
financially as it just missed out on matching its $70 million budget at the
box-office. Still, seeing how this film managed to earn one more vote than its
predecessor did in the 2017 edition of this poll, it’s safe to say that these
two films clearly have their fans.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>F9: THE FAST SAGA<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZfBjC9wCvdcUYlJ0Vjy8CQq2z-ciLW2hQ-mV3XslSGI6dSlB0h0zUBD4flfZzW9ynPgNa1IixJL97mJtm0HdW5OmEiTmUD7Nw78P1Fj_KpfZrjHCIgza72kXZzdvfilv-HVla0rpb7aMW/s759/F9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="422" data-original-width="759" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZfBjC9wCvdcUYlJ0Vjy8CQq2z-ciLW2hQ-mV3XslSGI6dSlB0h0zUBD4flfZzW9ynPgNa1IixJL97mJtm0HdW5OmEiTmUD7Nw78P1Fj_KpfZrjHCIgza72kXZzdvfilv-HVla0rpb7aMW/w400-h223/F9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While the <i>Fast and Furious </i>series has easily been one
of the biggest film franchises of the past several decades… it’s also
admittedly become a prime source of internet mockery, namely due to its unabashed
efforts to continuously up the ante on its over-the-top action sequences with
each subsequent installment. And yet, based on what I saw when I went to see <i>F9</i>
in IMAX (partially due to it featuring a preview of the next <i>Jurassic World </i>film),
it’s clear to me that this series is still doing quite well with audiences as there
were quite a lot of key moments in the film (namely, the return of series
mainstay Sung Kang as fan-favorite Han Lue) that earned a considerable amount
of applause from the crowd that I was with. To be perfectly blunt, I hadn’t
seen that kind of audience reaction towards these films since 2013 when I saw <i>Fast
and Furious 6 </i>with an incredibly enthusiastic afternoon matinee crowd. In
other words, say what you will about these films and how ridiculous they can
get, but overall, I do think that <i>F9 </i>was a pivotal return to form for
the series and one that it desperately needed after some of the questionable narrative
decisions that were made in 2017’s <i>The Fate of the Furious</i>. Much of this
is thanks to the return of the series’ longest-tenured director, Justin Lin, whose
strong direction helps to revitalize many of the elements that have made the
franchise’s more recent outings so successful, especially the unmistakably tight-knit
family dynamic that’s shared by the main protagonists. In short, yes, these
films are incredibly goofy and consistently defy all sorts of logic with every
new plot development… however, they’re also a lot of fun to watch for those
exact same reasons. And seeing how Justin Lin is set to return for what is
slated to be the last two installments of the series, I’d argue that the <i>Fast
and Furious</i> franchise’s grand finale couldn’t be in better hands.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>TIED FOR FIFTH
PLACE, WITH FOUR VOTES EACH<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>IN THE HEIGHTS<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpr8hM0FFUzc1_VEVELIFL97eNb_wzMIOoPqNWDN5B7jWozwCE2t8ybsF8qHF0kGc30Kjv9X2-U5pRiCFkkgZdd9bgbAD7Prmk0UYWDgvVoI-p-wqCz83bKhxujD2ST2cdqKqthXC3KI-/s2048/In+the+Heights.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1366" data-original-width="2048" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbpr8hM0FFUzc1_VEVELIFL97eNb_wzMIOoPqNWDN5B7jWozwCE2t8ybsF8qHF0kGc30Kjv9X2-U5pRiCFkkgZdd9bgbAD7Prmk0UYWDgvVoI-p-wqCz83bKhxujD2ST2cdqKqthXC3KI-/w400-h266/In+the+Heights.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It’s great to see that the film adaptation of <i>In the
Heights </i>managed to do quite well in this year’s poll considering that,
unfortunately, it didn’t do too hot at the box office, where it wasn’t able to
make back its $55 million budget. There have been several theories as to why
this happened, which range from it being a bit too obscure of a musical
compared to something like Lin-Manuel Miranda’s other career-defining hit, <i>Hamilton</i>,
to its simultaneous theatrical/HBO Max release. Heck, for all we know, the controversy
that it wound up in when it was released where it was accused of lacking
Afro-Latino actors could’ve potentially factored into its financial underperformance.
Well, whatever the reason, I truly hope that this doesn’t end up defining the
film’s legacy as it’s an effortlessly heartwarming watch. Miranda and Quiara
Alegr<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman";">í</span>a Hudes’ love letter to the former’s old stomping grounds of Washington Heights is brilliantly
translated to the big screen by director Jon M. Chu with top-notch musical
numbers and a delightful cast headlined by <i>Hamilton </i>breakout star
Anthony Ramos in the lead role that Miranda originated on Broadway. The themes
that it celebrates are the very definition of universal (e.g. the strength of
one’s community) and the main protagonists are so lovable that the story doesn’t
even need to have any sort of antagonist. With all this in mind, this is one of
those cases where, if you ask me, it’s practically impossible not to love what
is easily one of the best musical adaptations to date.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE SUICIDE SQUAD<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_x_yPtbB5A5OyOgniW53VsrzxqXIZKgw7wgFCzW6bvDdeWRZX0TPHM3bXYiVxbYlS8S-pA3F6zQsj9O-mh3dqVUCeK4FjgCNwdxROUCVYnBo1GYnsyZ0pT3CryvTVKfw1yiz0dUj12uiD/s1280/The+Suicide+Squad.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_x_yPtbB5A5OyOgniW53VsrzxqXIZKgw7wgFCzW6bvDdeWRZX0TPHM3bXYiVxbYlS8S-pA3F6zQsj9O-mh3dqVUCeK4FjgCNwdxROUCVYnBo1GYnsyZ0pT3CryvTVKfw1yiz0dUj12uiD/w400-h225/The+Suicide+Squad.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Speaking of films that quite frankly didn’t deserve to
underperform at the box office, some folks may have been a bit skeptical about
the idea of doing another <i>Suicide Squad </i>film after the first attempted
film adaptation in 2016 ended up being a considerably underwhelming disappointment
despite all the hype leading up to its release. But when you watch <i>The
Suicide Squad</i>, you’ll quickly understand why it <b><i>was</i></b> necessary
as it once again highlights what happens when the DC Extended Universe isn’t
trying so hard to be the antithesis of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Whereas
the first <i>Suicide Squad </i>film was hindered by the same kind of tonal and
visual issues that plagued many of the early DCEU films, <i>The Suicide Squad </i>achieves
a far more consistent mix of strong emotional moments and laugh-out-loud gags
in what is easily a far more visually appealing film compared to its downright
ugly looking predecessor. It also does a much better job of capitalizing on the
concept of a squad of supervillains sent out on missions where they aren’t
expected to survive as it isn’t afraid to kill off some of its main characters
and fully embraces its R rating in a way that legitimately works for a film from
this genre unlike something like the ‘Snyder Cut’ of <i>Justice League</i>. To
put it simply, <i>The Suicide Squad </i>is another masterpiece from
writer/director James Gunn who, just like with his <i>Guardians of the Galaxy </i>films
for the MCU, wholly succeeds in making us care about a bunch of characters who
aren’t necessarily heroic by giving them excellent bits of character
development. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>IN FOURTH
PLACE, WITH FIVE VOTES<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>A QUIET PLACE –
PART II<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHdBxtYkd0DTJwxgnf2dzHo_RDXGambD90viyOIA3dezbAx5rU1z4G21uNLo2alTKy0rI1e5SInjrzvdmR0WNybARuC5uENb5L-cldCigZczCGLHIxyYL3AhrFIqeiGjuCpLDDMlRaylIJ/s1600/A+Quiet+Place+Part+2.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHdBxtYkd0DTJwxgnf2dzHo_RDXGambD90viyOIA3dezbAx5rU1z4G21uNLo2alTKy0rI1e5SInjrzvdmR0WNybARuC5uENb5L-cldCigZczCGLHIxyYL3AhrFIqeiGjuCpLDDMlRaylIJ/w400-h225/A+Quiet+Place+Part+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The highly anticipated follow-up to John Krasinski’s critically-acclaimed
horror-thriller <i>A Quiet Place </i>was easily one of the most prominent ‘delayed
releases’ that came into play because of COVID-19. To put this all into
perspective, the film was only a few weeks away from its originally intended March
18<sup>th</sup> release date last year when the situation with COVID was officially
deemed a pandemic. And yet, when it was finally released this past May, a time
when most theaters weren’t exactly back in full operation, it managed to be one
of the most successful blockbusters of the COVID era. Its worldwide box-office
gross of over $297 million isn’t that far off from its predecessor’s $350
million-plus haul and it also ended up being one of the rare cases of a sequel that
managed to fare nearly as well as its predecessor did with critics, and in a
lot of ways, it’s easy to see why. Outside of a few underdeveloped plot threads (e.g., the group of violent bandits that the main protagonists encounter at a
marina), <i>A Quiet Place Part II </i>does a great job of expanding upon its
post-apocalyptic world while still managing to balance all that with the strong
emotional beats that gave the original a powerfully poignant narrative hook. Krasinski
once again delivers some incredibly well-directed sequences of pure tension and
the breakout star of the first film, Millicent Simmonds, shines even greater in
the sequel, where she’s upgraded into being the main protagonist. Thus, while its
script may not be as finely polished as its predecessor’s, <i>A Quiet Place Part
II </i>is still very much a well-made horror film that showcases why strongly written
characters can often be a major factor behind the genre’s greatest outings.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>IN THIRD PLACE,
WITH SEVEN VOTES<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>BLACK WIDOW<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7j_nvf6QFDucX_ksm92Xy7aJBdIZiCKF0rqTTemId7iHX2FS-7aOOFuFPO2awzjGlwVBsumTQnVWlL1AXOEemJHK6u8M78YpW-HEjpWohxoF-GaEBzN9DjOyvMYlSFgzNjC4eP3Mp2HPY/s1300/Black+Widow.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="724" data-original-width="1300" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7j_nvf6QFDucX_ksm92Xy7aJBdIZiCKF0rqTTemId7iHX2FS-7aOOFuFPO2awzjGlwVBsumTQnVWlL1AXOEemJHK6u8M78YpW-HEjpWohxoF-GaEBzN9DjOyvMYlSFgzNjC4eP3Mp2HPY/w400-h223/Black+Widow.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As I’ve noted in the past, MCU films always tend to do great
in these annual polls of ours, which can best be summed up by <i>Avengers:
Endgame</i>’s utter dominance of the competition in 2019. And while Marvel
Studios’ sole summer release of 2021, <i>Black Widow</i>, didn’t end up taking
the #1 spot in this year’s poll, it still did incredibly well for itself, which
makes sense given that it was the first MCU theatrical release in nearly two years.
Yes, like many of the other films that we’ve covered in today’s post, <i>Black
Widow </i>was hit hard by the pandemic, which forced Marvel Studios to push
back all their upcoming releases. Thankfully, the delay wasn’t a complete loss
for them as they were able to kick-start Phase 4 on the best note possible with
their line of well-received Disney+ shows such as <i>WandaVision </i>and <i>Loki</i>.
But on July 9<sup>th</sup>, the MCU made its triumphant return to the big screen with a film that was practically a decade in the making: the long-awaited
solo outing for the MCU’s original lady Avenger, Natasha Romanoff AKA Black
Widow. Sure, its simultaneous release in theaters and as a <i>Premier Access </i>release
on Disney+ may’ve led to an intense [and currently ongoing] lawsuit from
Scarlett Johansson that, spoilers, we won’t be addressing any further here
today, but it still managed to pull in a thoroughly decent $378 million run at
the box-office and, true to franchise form, was well-received by critics. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Sure enough, <i>Black Widow </i>is yet another MCU film that
delivers on everything that the franchise is known for, from its top-notch
action sequences to the instantly quotable bits of humor that never take away
from the story’s big emotional moments. Case in point, given everything that
the film delves into regarding Natasha’s history with the Black Widow program, <i>Black
Widow </i>is easily one of the darkest and most emotionally driven installments
of the MCU, thus paving the way for one of its most cathartic finales where she’s
able to stop it once and for all. However, there are a few minor plot-related
shortcomings here and there that, if you ask me, may have been a byproduct of
the film’s extended development history. In other words, things like the less
significant roles that the villains play in the story (including the film’s
controversial take on fan-favorite antagonist Taskmaster, even though said
interpretation makes sense for this story) make this Phase 4 post-<i>Endgame </i>release
feel like it came from the time when the MCU was overseen by its overbearing
Creative Committee. And yet, as was often the case with MCU films that didn’t exactly
have a standout villain a la Thanos or Killmonger, this doesn’t end up hindering
the film entirely thanks to all the other great things about it, especially the
addition of Florence Pugh as Natasha’s ‘sister’ and fellow Black Widow, Yelena
Belova. Simply put, Pugh is one of the best additions to the MCU’s legendary
ensemble in recent years as she instantly proves to be a natural fit when it
comes to her handling of the franchise’s trademark humor and emotional
poignancy. And so, with all that in mind, it shouldn’t be that surprising to find
that <i>Black Widow </i>is the latest success story for a franchise whose impact
on the industry is so significant that, quite frankly, it could be argued that they’re
practically incapable of making a ‘bad’ film at this point.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>THIS YEAR’S
RUNNER-UP, WITH EIGHT VOTES<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>SPACE JAM: A NEW
LEGACY<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdc-DC67NsEGp9ulSoJtmbZn6ZB1aTYlltU1ICDr1RHn4TaUD-FRK-tUHsEcGa6IGnjTqiPyla-IemiaFJziRKA7FSPFHwmXvWuhRUjnc3gNt3CYs9pGdUmCQC2EQgmdkiHh-A2K91WbY/s1280/Space+Jam+2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="1280" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJdc-DC67NsEGp9ulSoJtmbZn6ZB1aTYlltU1ICDr1RHn4TaUD-FRK-tUHsEcGa6IGnjTqiPyla-IemiaFJziRKA7FSPFHwmXvWuhRUjnc3gNt3CYs9pGdUmCQC2EQgmdkiHh-A2K91WbY/w400-h225/Space+Jam+2.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">A lot of you might find this to be the most surprising
result of this year’s poll given this film’s overall reception, but from my
perspective, this all makes a lot more sense than you’d think. Speaking from
experience as a Team Member working at the Universal Orlando resort, I’ve seen
guests of all ages wearing clothing from this film’s merchandise line on an almost daily basis even months after its release. Thus, if you ask me, this shows that, at
the end of the day, the long-awaited follow-up to the 1996 smash hit <i>Space
Jam </i>successfully managed to win over a considerably large audience… even if
it ultimately fared just as well as its predecessor did with critics (in other
words, not well). Now sure, just like the original, <i>Space Jam: A New Legacy </i>can
often go to some incredibly ludicrous lengths with its narrative; in fact, it
even manages to one-up the previous film in that regard with all the crossovers
that it makes with various Warner Bros. properties, including ones that aren’t
exactly geared towards its target audience. And yet, also like the original <i>Space
Jam</i>, <i>A New Legacy </i>is a relatively harmless watch with fun visuals that
also proves that LeBron James is a genuinely solid screen presence in the wake
of his breakout performance in 2015’s <i>Trainwreck</i>. In short, <i>A New
Legacy </i>is one of those films that I feel has gotten a bit too harsh of a
bad rap from its biggest critics. Sure, it’s far from perfect but you could say
the same thing about the original <i>Space Jam</i>, a film that is still fondly
enjoyed by many of those who grew up with it (myself included). And despite all
the flak that the new film has gotten from both critics and some surly fans of
the original, it’s clear that it’s managed to live up to its <i>New Legacy </i>subtitle
by being a massive hit with its target demographic. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i>AND FINALLY, WE
COME TO THIS YEAR’S GRAND CHAMPION, WHICH DOUBLED SPACE JAM: A NEW LEGACY’S
TOTAL WITH A WHOPPING 16 VOTES. THIS PLACES IT JUST THREE VOTES SHY OF
AVENGERS: ENDGAME’S 19-VOTE RECORD THAT WAS SET IN 2019 BUT ALSO PUTS IT FOUR
VOTES AHEAD OF THE 12-VOTE PERFORMANCE OF THE PREVIOUS RECORD-HOLDER, 2018’S
BLACKkKLANSMAN. AND WHILE I USUALLY REFER TO THESE #1 FILMS AS THE KINGS OF OUR
ANNUAL POLL… WELL, THIS YEAR WE HAD OUR FIRST QUEEN…<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>CRUELLA<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyX4bXh2kNamCOGuYjeeVDbr5fw-wl0WddtJvj5kNBtD0ifcjGEtHqK70Znsq_NWhruB6RtL5gGvS03Wdt2N1PFNt3j23INve_73xwg8rr5fWdr4H9G283d4QaXc3778LEeKgJ4EU9ULZ/s1400/Cruella.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="682" data-original-width="1400" height="195" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyX4bXh2kNamCOGuYjeeVDbr5fw-wl0WddtJvj5kNBtD0ifcjGEtHqK70Znsq_NWhruB6RtL5gGvS03Wdt2N1PFNt3j23INve_73xwg8rr5fWdr4H9G283d4QaXc3778LEeKgJ4EU9ULZ/w400-h195/Cruella.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In many ways, it’s easy to see why this unique new spin on
one of Disney’s most iconic villainesses proved to be such a big hit with
audiences. A stylish comedic crime thriller centered around a strong female
lead (as portrayed by one of the most charismatic actresses in the business), <i>Cruella
</i>opted to go the same route that 2014’s <i>Maleficent </i>went by crafting a
more sympathetic take on its title character rather than maintaining her
traditionally villainous portrayal from previous films and media. Sure, this probably
didn’t go over too well with those who haven’t been keen on Disney’s recent
line of live-action re-imaginings of their animated films, but thanks to strong
direction from Craig Gillespie and a Grade-A performance from Emma Stone as
Cruella, it all comes together incredibly well. For starters, this new version
of Cruella ends up being a natural fit for the film’s setting of 1970’s London and
the punk rock movement that defined a good chunk of that era as it gives her
plenty of opportunities to be the rebel that she’s known for being, albeit as
more of an anti-hero in this instance. Not only that, but it’s also a lot of
fun to see her go toe-to-toe with the film’s actual main antagonist, the
Baroness, who’s very much the equal of the villainous incarnations of Cruella
and gleefully played by Emma Thompson. Add in an equally great supporting cast,
incredible costume design, and a positively rocking soundtrack and you have a
thoroughly engaging crowd-pleaser that was clearly a lot of fun to work on for
everyone involved. And while its $233 million run at the box-office may not seem
as noteworthy compared to some of the other films from this summer (most likely
due to its simultaneous theatrical and Disney+ <i>Premier Access </i>release),
I strongly believe that it still played a considerably huge role in helping theaters
get back on track this summer. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And that concludes
the 2021 installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Annual <i>End of Summer Fan
Poll</i>. Once again, I want to express nothing but gratitude for everyone who
helped to revitalize one of this site’s longest-standing traditions after we
were sadly forced to cancel last year’s event. Case in point, whereas last year
presented an unclear future for the theatergoing experience, this year has
proven that it clearly isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. <o:p></o:p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-46781289866983071672021-09-05T20:30:00.000-04:002021-09-05T20:30:03.420-04:00Cruella (2021) review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghifZYam49P2x_RMuEQkhJntvsawkCEvZlqyRTcnJ4n0tPMzKmkhZtSQGGNUzT_m42koQCG2bKGIsH4Zmxwunmo8JQqR0KhR0s6dnxC1IEmp2uDh3CmVCxhNa9IOJ-kXr8ztjraiDOYu_0/s1500/Cruella+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1500" data-original-width="1013" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghifZYam49P2x_RMuEQkhJntvsawkCEvZlqyRTcnJ4n0tPMzKmkhZtSQGGNUzT_m42koQCG2bKGIsH4Zmxwunmo8JQqR0KhR0s6dnxC1IEmp2uDh3CmVCxhNa9IOJ-kXr8ztjraiDOYu_0/w270-h400/Cruella+Poster.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p>We’ve seen plenty of iconic Disney villains throughout the
studio’s extensive filmography, and yet, there are arguably none who are more famous
than the villainess of Disney Animation’s 1961 outing, <i>One Hundred and One
Dalmatians</i>: the fashion-obsessed heiress turned sinister dognapper Cruella de
Vil. Ever since the original film’s release, Cruella has been regarded as one
of the most famous villains in cinematic history and this status was thoroughly
maintained in 1996 when <i>101 Dalmatians </i>became one of the first Disney
animated films to get a live-action remake. In said film, Cruella was portrayed
by the legendary Glenn Close, and while the film itself wasn’t as well-received
as its animated counterpart, Close’s performance was widely regarded as its
greatest highlight, promptly earning her a Golden Globe nomination for Best
Actress in a Comedy/Musical. She then proceeded to reprise the role in the film’s
2000 sequel, <i>102 Dalmatians</i>, and while that would basically be it for
the <i>101 Dalmatians </i>live-action film franchise at the time, plans were
set into place for a prequel film based entirely around Cruella herself in
2013. And while this did mean that Close wasn’t going to be reprising her
iconic role, she still ended up being involved with the project as an executive
producer. Thus, Emma Stone took on the role for this new film, which is the
latest from director Craig Gillespie who, like previous directors of the
live-action <i>101 Dalmatians </i>films (Stephen Herek and Kevin Lima), has
done a bunch of films for Disney in the past such as 2014’s <i>Million Dollar
Arm </i>and 2016’s <i>The Finest Hours</i>. And thanks to his strong direction
and a top-notch lead performance from Emma Stone, <i>Cruella </i>is a
strikingly stylish and edgy new take on the story of its titular villainess.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Growing up, Estella Miller (Emma Stone) was known for being
quite the troublemaker which, in her eyes, may have made her responsible for
the death of her mother Catherine (Emily Beecham) at a luxurious party hosted
by ‘The Baroness’ (Emma Thompson), the owner of one of the top fashion houses
in London. Now orphaned, Estella ends up taking on a life of thievery alongside
her newfound friends, Jasper (Joel Fry) and Horace (Paul Walter Hauser) Badun.
Eventually, her creative sensibilities manage to attract the attention of the
Baroness, who promptly hires her as one of her new designers. But while Estella
steadily works her way up into being one of the Baroness’ key assistants, she
soon discovers that the Baroness has come into possession of a necklace that
had been given to her by her mother but had been lost on the night of her death.
Now realizing that the Baroness was the one responsible for her mother’s death,
Estella, with the aid of Horace and Jasper, promptly embarks on a plot of
revenge. Adopting an old persona of hers from childhood, she becomes the rebellious
Cruella de Vil and begins to pull off a series of publicity stunts to one-up
the Baroness, thus locking the two of them into an intense rivalry that only
proceeds to get more complicated once Estella uncovers the Baroness’ darkest
secret. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Cruella </i>very much follows in the footsteps of 2014’s <i>Maleficent
</i>by presenting a story where the main antagonist of one of Disney’s classic animated
films is portrayed in a more sympathetic light as they enact their revenge
against those who wronged them. Granted, it’s not like the film makes her a
full-on protagonist or anything; in fact, I’d even argue that this one gives
its title character more opportunities to be a devious renegade. But overall,
the version of Cruella seen in this film doesn’t seem like she’s destined to
become as villainous as she’s known for being in other films. Thus, just like <i>Maleficent</i>,
I think it’s safe to say that this take on the character hasn’t gone over well
with everybody, namely due to the attempt of trying to humanize a character
who, at least in other films, wanted to kidnap puppies and kill them for their
coats. However, given the context of how this story plays out, it isn’t too big
of an issue in the long run because turning Cruella into a rebellious antihero
fits perfectly with this story’s 1970’s London setting. And thanks to Craig
Gillespie's visually-driven direction, the film excellently captures the punk
rock aesthetic of the time, which is only strengthened further by other great
elements such as the incredible costume design done by two-time Oscar winner Jenny
Beavan and a rocking soundtrack full of classic tunes. Really, the only things
that hold this film back are relatively minor at best such as it being perhaps
a bit overlong at a little over two hours and some rather predictable final plot
twists that reveal the true connection between Cruella and the Baroness.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As noted in the intro, Glenn Close’s performance as Cruella
in the 1996 live-action <i>101 Dalmatians </i>film and its 2000 sequel, <i>102
Dalmatians</i>, is so iconic that she’s arguably the definitive incarnation of
the character for at least one or two generations. As such, one can only
imagine the pressure that Emma Stone was under to deliver a version of the
character that was just as memorable by comparison… and yet, she fully succeeds
in doing so thanks in large part to her indisputable on-screen charisma. She
also works incredibly well with Emma Thompson, who basically serves as this
film’s version of the kind of villain that Cruella is in other films as the
Baroness, a role that Thompson gleefully revels in. And really, it’s simply a
delight to see these two go to war with one another over the course of the
film’s proceedings. The two Emmas are then backed by some terrific supporting
turns from Joel Fry and Paul Walter Hauser as Cruella’s famously bumbling
sidekicks, Jasper and Horace. The laid-back persona that Fry brings to Jasper makes
him the most grounded member of the group and the one who keeps Cruella from
going too far with her actions while Paul Walter Hauser, as is basically
expected from him at this point, makes Horace one of the film’s best sources of
comedic relief. And while they admittedly don’t have as much to work with by
comparison, Mark Strong and Kirby Howell-Baptiste turn in solid work as well as
John, the Baroness’ valet, and this film’s interpretation of the <i>101
Dalmatians </i>franchise’s primary matriarch, Anita Darling. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As we conclude this review, I should probably preface this
final section of it by admitting that, regardless of my overall thoughts on the
film, <i>Cruella </i>will always be in my good graces since it was the first
film that I was able to see in a theatrical setting in more than a year after everything
that happened due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That said, though, this is not just
a case where I’m simply being sentimental about how I first viewed
it as the film itself is a highly entertaining comedic crime adventure that
prides itself on its incredibly stylish visuals and costuming and then proceeds
to back it all up with a genuinely unique way of reimagining the story of one
of Disney’s most iconic antagonists. Sure, it may go against the traditional
ways in which Cruella de Vil has been portrayed on film before, but thanks to
Emma Stone’s outstanding performance in the title role (not to mention an
equally terrific supporting cast), it still works in a way that doesn’t end up
betraying the source material. Simply put, the enthusiasm that the cast and
crew clearly must have had for this material couldn’t be more apparent in a
film that also manages to have the kind of edge to it that you normally wouldn’t
get from a Disney production. With all that in mind, it’s easy to see why this
has managed to be the very definition of a crowd-pleaser that was recently
confirmed to be getting a sequel. And while it’s currently unclear as to what
route it’ll end up taking, perhaps they can go with the suggestion that was
made during an interview that the two Emmas had with Rotten Tomatoes and make
it a <i>Godfather II-style</i> prequel/sequel that could potentially see Glenn
Close returning to play an older Cruella. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And don’t forget to
vote for your favorite theatrically released film from the summer of 2021 by
going to the link below. Voting ends September 15<sup>th</sup>!<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.survio.com/survey/d/F5P8B3D3M2N8L3B1G" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Click Here to Vote in the 2021 installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner's Annual End of Summer Fan Vote</i></span></a></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-2421023300652254182021-09-01T20:00:00.002-04:002021-09-01T23:01:18.644-04:00Announcing the Triumphant Return of Rhode Island Movie Corner's Annual End of Summer Fan Poll<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TKWbGHGucSVDZ7S9FMvmi6KT-rHxo2IC44HTh0vyKI-3DAawFbHXTnONgAYuEQVPa4gJj_EPRzRVHE_cRa0242szMyivcK0VdtFvoKD9PkYqnOl0FBWF383CyfXQXGWwITsNP_-kD9hs/s2048/BeFunky-collage+%25281%2529.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1531" data-original-width="2048" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_TKWbGHGucSVDZ7S9FMvmi6KT-rHxo2IC44HTh0vyKI-3DAawFbHXTnONgAYuEQVPa4gJj_EPRzRVHE_cRa0242szMyivcK0VdtFvoKD9PkYqnOl0FBWF383CyfXQXGWwITsNP_-kD9hs/w400-h299/BeFunky-collage+%25281%2529.png" width="400" /></a></div><p>Around the tail-end of August 2014, I decided to try something
out here on this site, mainly because I figured that it would be something fun
to do during a stretch of the year where, as far as new film releases are
concerned, all the major summer blockbusters have come out but we’re not quite at
the point yet where we’re getting the most notable fall/winter releases. Thus,
I went for the simple but effective concept of holding a poll that would allow
you all, the readers, to vote for your favorite new release of the summer, and once
the polling process was complete, I would then publish the official ‘results’
post that would go through all the films that earned votes. This officially
marked the beginning of a new Rhode Island Movie Corner tradition as I would continue
to hold this event every year… except for last year. Yes, thanks to 2020 being
the infamously terrible year that it was, I was forced to cancel last year’s
event since all the big summer releases got pushed back to this year and, for
the most part, theaters didn’t properly reopen until August. And while I did
toy with the prospect of doing an alternate poll based around the varied
content that we all watched during times of quarantine, I ultimately decided to
wait a year and see if things managed to improve in any significant way for me
to do this properly in 2021. Cut to 2021 where, despite the continued threat of
the coronavirus, the theatergoing experience has managed to make a considerable
comeback and we were finally able to see a good chunk of the films that were
originally set to come out last summer. Thus, without further ado, I’m happy to
announce the glorious return of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s <i>Annual End of
Summer Fan Poll</i> that allows you to vote for your favorite film from this
past summer.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For those who are new to this site, here’s how it works. At
the link provided below, you’ll be directed to the poll that I’ve set up where
you can select your favorite summer film out of the numerous options provided. As
is always the case with this event, I try to cover as many of the summer’s wide
releases as I possibly can when creating the list of options, which means that,
for all you newcomers out there, I will warn you right out of the gate that
there are quite a lot of films to choose from. So, with that in mind, I
apologize in advance if this all seems a bit too daunting at first. However, that
doesn’t mean that I’ve included every new theatrical release from these past few
months; as such, if you don’t see your favorite film on the list, I’ve also
included a ‘write-in’ section where you can highlight anything that I missed. Ever
since I started this annual event, I’ve used the website <i>SurveyMonkey</i> to
create the poll, but since the end of the 2019 event, the site has undergone
some changes that severely limit the number of responses that a poll can receive
for users who aren’t on one of the website’s paid plans. And since I only really
used the site for this annual poll in the first place, I figured that it wasn’t
worth it for me to sign up for one of these plans if I wasn’t going to use it
for anything else. As such, I’ll now be holding the poll on <i>Survio</i>
which, to my knowledge, allows for, at the very least, a considerably larger
number of poll responses for anyone who’s not on one of their paid plans. That
said, though, if this poll does end up reaching <i>Survio</i>’s response
threshold for free accounts, I’ll be sure to keep you all posted and respond to
the situation accordingly to prevent any delays to the polling process. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Finally, though, I should probably address the elephant in
the room that is the fact that, given everything that’s been happening with the
COVID-19 pandemic, not everyone has been going to the theater. While I myself
am properly vaccinated and, thus, feel comfortable enough to see films in
theaters, I fully recognize that not everyone out there feels the same way, and
to be clear, I’m not holding that against any of you if that’s your current
stance on the matter. As much as I prefer seeing films in theaters rather than
just watching them at home, believe me when I say that the last thing that I
want to do right now is bully folks into doing something that they personally believe
to be an unsafe process given the current global situation. With that in mind,
though, I must note that for this poll, we’ll only be focusing on films that
have been released in theaters and will not be accepting any write-in answers that
name films that were solely released via streaming services or On-Demand.
However, there will be one exception that I’ll be making to this ground-rule since
several of the big releases this summer were simultaneously released in
theaters and on streaming services. Some Disney films, for example, were released
as a paid ‘Premier Access’ release on Disney+ while Warner Bros.’ entire 2021
slate has been simultaneously released in theaters and on their streaming
service, HBO Max. As such, if you’ve watched any of these films at home rather
than at the theater, it’s totally fine for you to vote for them regardless since
both options were readily available. And so, with all this background
information out of the way, I couldn’t be more excited to revive this classic Rhode
Island Movie Corner tradition and am looking forward to seeing what film will
end up taking the grand prize.</p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><a href="https://www.survio.com/survey/d/F5P8B3D3M2N8L3B1G" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-large;">CLICK HERE TO VOTE!</span></a></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 20pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 18.0pt;">!!!VOTING
ENDS SEPTEMBER 15<sup>TH</sup>!!!<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">But before we
conclude today’s post, let’s take a trip down memory lane to honor this event’s
previous winners… especially seeing how it <b><i>has</i></b> been a year since
I’ve done this. This is…<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>RHODE ISLAND MOVIE
CORNER’S <i>END OF SUMMER FAN POLL </i>HALL OF FAME<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiasBgUqwCDVsP0smpDszs0gl5ANp5jLnFqvBT81kzNDN-h7LM1-1Shg4vxyxUmiAT6cOxwus12s-FjYUhPCQs82uTs5uM_-gstoVNOze4lYWMrbhORiU2GbIGQHpK3W1DIQxhz3M8ak4BO/s2048/2014+Summer.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1531" data-original-width="2048" height="299" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiasBgUqwCDVsP0smpDszs0gl5ANp5jLnFqvBT81kzNDN-h7LM1-1Shg4vxyxUmiAT6cOxwus12s-FjYUhPCQs82uTs5uM_-gstoVNOze4lYWMrbhORiU2GbIGQHpK3W1DIQxhz3M8ak4BO/w400-h299/2014+Summer.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">*The inaugural
installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s <i>End of Summer Fan Poll </i>ended
with an exciting three-way tie as <u><b><span style="font-size: large;">2014</span></b></u> audiences gave five votes each to the indisputable
tearjerker that was the film adaptation of John Green’s <i><b><span style="font-size: medium;">The Fault in Our Stars</span></b></i>,
Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s rare ‘superior comedic sequel’ <i><b><span style="font-size: medium;">22 Jump Street</span></b></i>,
and the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s biggest smash hit of the year, James Gunn’s
<i><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Guardians of the Galaxy</b></span></i>. <o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BI9x2zYnFthTYiu-SapGNPvjOZkSVzSEXWX1nQJubwudgskC4NOjKiiXS5bkoAs2t6jZ0RRiQMAAmAPNh6Bp8MokAMR_gST19E5SGb7wh8S6sD8FdFnpWntIei7wZrCDfxbWrhjWJXJC/s1600/Mad+Max+Fury+Road.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="663" data-original-width="1600" height="166" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3BI9x2zYnFthTYiu-SapGNPvjOZkSVzSEXWX1nQJubwudgskC4NOjKiiXS5bkoAs2t6jZ0RRiQMAAmAPNh6Bp8MokAMR_gST19E5SGb7wh8S6sD8FdFnpWntIei7wZrCDfxbWrhjWJXJC/w400-h166/Mad+Max+Fury+Road.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">*Conversely, there
was practically no contest when it came to the <b><u><span style="font-size: large;">2015</span></u></b> edition of this poll as <i><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Mad
Max: Fury Road</b></span></i>, a film that has regularly been touted as one of the
greatest films of the 2010s, earned a whopping 10 votes, which was more than
double the number of votes that were earned by either of that year’s runners-up,
<i>Trainwreck </i>and <i>Straight Outta Compton</i>.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4b-iKNDW8bl3OSVzBRTctsF07HwUzaS2FswQaTDGtk56AOv5jfTZ4qa3QVp3OK4jXkmGQgMHnHbKn2HKEJkUR952oHgenovwzm3Hm2KdcHtBHa7_9tIgYu7I7lUaXNKFdd5mn8mg_rJdM/s2048/BeFunky-collage.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1875" data-original-width="2048" height="366" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4b-iKNDW8bl3OSVzBRTctsF07HwUzaS2FswQaTDGtk56AOv5jfTZ4qa3QVp3OK4jXkmGQgMHnHbKn2HKEJkUR952oHgenovwzm3Hm2KdcHtBHa7_9tIgYu7I7lUaXNKFdd5mn8mg_rJdM/w400-h366/BeFunky-collage.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">*<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">2016</span></u></b>’s event saw a genuinely
unexpected tie occur between the MCU’s Phase 3 kick-starter <i><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Captain America:
Civil War</b></span> </i>and the raunchy matriarchal comedy <i><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Bad Moms</span></b></i>, both of which
ended up earning nine votes apiece.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1KN5WiU5SQL1wUEQXxb8SU-lRuFZWjnfiSXTWszc4WvU-1cPPyTSKucKJF2zy1Ml8M7Ah9daYdcTnZoflOxD1KQ-FVY2Hb6I4EX-kz5CDvFrY7Ce5Mf5T0NuBQdiZXmm23lP0rUex8Owx/s1024/Dunkirk.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="576" data-original-width="1024" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1KN5WiU5SQL1wUEQXxb8SU-lRuFZWjnfiSXTWszc4WvU-1cPPyTSKucKJF2zy1Ml8M7Ah9daYdcTnZoflOxD1KQ-FVY2Hb6I4EX-kz5CDvFrY7Ce5Mf5T0NuBQdiZXmm23lP0rUex8Owx/w400-h225/Dunkirk.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">*Enduring film fan
favorite Christopher Nolan was the king of <b><u><span style="font-size: large;">2017</span></u></b>’s poll thanks to his utterly
suspenseful and, even when under a PG-13 rating, incredibly intense war flick <i><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Dunkirk</span></b></i>,
whose 8 votes managed to overtake fellow Warner Bros. release <i><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>Wonder Woman</b></span></i>
by just a single vote.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs4jY7dheaPuOAvJn-_aXyNFmyGLbodenfDdf6S5HSgndUVap5x9g_kUWH4yx3rdMJ4FcLWHxOUV8rzEHSBA3B80bTm-6WDQyDAjIvAiko3nVV2_9nYduq0w7WpgEXJ74noF-PYkKcrya0/s500/BlackKkKlansman.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="206" data-original-width="500" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs4jY7dheaPuOAvJn-_aXyNFmyGLbodenfDdf6S5HSgndUVap5x9g_kUWH4yx3rdMJ4FcLWHxOUV8rzEHSBA3B80bTm-6WDQyDAjIvAiko3nVV2_9nYduq0w7WpgEXJ74noF-PYkKcrya0/w400-h165/BlackKkKlansman.png" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">*While <b><u><span style="font-size: large;">2018</span></u></b>’s summer
slate was largely dominated by the highly anticipated <i><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Avengers: Infinity War</span></b></i>,
Marvel Studios’ epic crossover feature was ultimately beaten in that year’s
poll by director Spike Lee’s culturally relevant dramedy <i><span style="font-size: medium;"><b>BlacKkKlansman</b></span></i>,
the true story of former police officer Ron Stallworth’s efforts to infiltrate
the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. At the time, the 12 votes that it earned were
an event record.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYosoM8Yc1oiNSYRYiSCPoz17ksV1YPa9U5K2-vz15MFULztQV8S8bhSIXTAdxdVpzbq30VOWyxnCBm_4GYhKPrCWbgY-1klqDx-79qeIXkCXkf75v5RStU8aj0jHSrcJhZmAM3Y7WUFrA/s1524/Cap+v+Cap.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="786" data-original-width="1524" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYosoM8Yc1oiNSYRYiSCPoz17ksV1YPa9U5K2-vz15MFULztQV8S8bhSIXTAdxdVpzbq30VOWyxnCBm_4GYhKPrCWbgY-1klqDx-79qeIXkCXkf75v5RStU8aj0jHSrcJhZmAM3Y7WUFrA/w400-h206/Cap+v+Cap.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">*But in <b><u><span style="font-size: large;">2019</span></u></b>, Marvel
Studios finally had their first undefeated champion (as far as this annual poll
is concerned) as the grand finale of the MCU’s <i>Infinity Saga</i>, <i><b><span style="font-size: medium;">Avengers:
Endgame</span></b></i>,<i> </i>not only became the highest-grossing film of all time (at
least until James Cameron’s <i>Avatar </i>regained the top spot this year) but
also managed to surpass the record set by <i>BlacKkKlansman </i>the year before
by securing a staggering 19 votes.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">*And, of course, in
<b><u><span style="font-size: large;">2020</span></u></b>… there was no winner because there was no event. Thankfully, though, this
outcome will not happen again this year.<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCr61uYXwi9xHJySV4WqEdtK64VTQrXgHmBeIXX0TNSlZzEdd1vNbDODdmiCxqcRDEWF5gvdGiC30umRRl1eBvLjq_0m1S8QJD07Oxyk5dnsjUC1UGhoSHYZb-WPoFf-r7_kXY9W7Yhf9x/s887/2020+RIMC+Fan+Poll+Meme.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="887" data-original-width="587" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCr61uYXwi9xHJySV4WqEdtK64VTQrXgHmBeIXX0TNSlZzEdd1vNbDODdmiCxqcRDEWF5gvdGiC30umRRl1eBvLjq_0m1S8QJD07Oxyk5dnsjUC1UGhoSHYZb-WPoFf-r7_kXY9W7Yhf9x/w424-h640/2020+RIMC+Fan+Poll+Meme.PNG" width="424" /></a></div>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: 16pt; line-height: 150%; mso-bidi-font-size: 14.0pt;">WHO WILL
WIN IT ALL IN 2021? STAY TUNED!<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-26351243204050295272021-08-16T13:30:00.003-04:002021-08-16T13:30:51.280-04:00Army of the Dead (2021) review (Netflix)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNiJ-8WXLjZ3Vnnan8zoCm9r2TseyYUttlWccgnFOJZlJApvhpxdNo6WcMrGbxDNa6CL1IfFJjQdDTrUIWOSgi4ji-ORB31aScANpauAJmBr0Iyph923egUSlRv1_e1OrFuShwqyT_ywxA/s755/Army+of+the+Dead+Poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNiJ-8WXLjZ3Vnnan8zoCm9r2TseyYUttlWccgnFOJZlJApvhpxdNo6WcMrGbxDNa6CL1IfFJjQdDTrUIWOSgi4ji-ORB31aScANpauAJmBr0Iyph923egUSlRv1_e1OrFuShwqyT_ywxA/w270-h400/Army+of+the+Dead+Poster.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p>For Zack Snyder, 2021 started out on the best note possible as
he was finally able to release his original vision for 2017’s <i>Justice League</i>,
four years after the film’s infamously mangled theatrical cut was released, as
an HBO Max exclusive. As it turns out, however, that wasn’t the only Zack
Snyder film to get released this year as we also have <i>Army of the Dead</i>,
which is a significant release for him in many ways. For one thing, it’s his
first film in a decade that has nothing to do with any of the characters from
DC Comics; at the same time, though, it’s also quite notable in the fact that
it sees him returning to the genre that was responsible for kick-starting his
directorial career in the first place, zombie films. In 2004, Snyder, after
many years spent working on music videos, made his official directorial debut with
the James Gunn penned remake of George A. Romero’s seminal 1978 classic, <i>Dawn
of the Dead</i>. And despite the undoubtedly intense expectations of helming a
remake of one of the most revered films of all time, the <i>Dawn of the Dead </i>remake
is largely considered to be one of the best remakes ever made, especially when
it comes to the horror genre. During that film’s production, Snyder began
developing his own take on the genre with a heist film set within the confines
of a zombie-infested Las Vegas, and while the initial rumors of it being a direct
follow-up to Snyder’s <i>Dawn of the Dead </i>were ultimately proven false, it
is set to become its own franchise on Netflix, which seems to be Snyder’s new distributor
going forward. But until then, we have the first film of this newborn franchise
that, for better or worse, is a Zack Snyder film through and through. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When a military convoy out of Area 51 ends up in a
devastating car crash, the cargo that it was transporting, a zombie, breaks
free and makes its way to Las Vegas. Almost immediately, Sin City becomes the
epicenter of a zombie epidemic that results in the government blocking off the
entire city and, six years later, announces plans to nuke it to rid the world of this undead
infestation. Before that happens, however, billionaire casino owner Bly Tanaka
(Hiroyuki Sanada) approaches ex-mercenary Scott Ward (Dave Bautista), who
played a key role in quelling the initial outbreak, and hires him to collect
$200 million from a secure vault in Tanaka’s casino. In return, Tanaka will
give Scott $50 million that he can freely split amongst the crew that he forms
for the operation. Thus, Scott begins to assemble a team ranging from old
allies like mechanic Maria Cruz (Ana de la Reguera) and buzzsaw-wielding
philosophy major Vanderohe (Omari Hardwick) to newcomers like safecracker
Ludwig Dieter (Matthias Schweighofer). But as Scott and his crew head into
Vegas, they soon find themselves having to deal with more complications than
they had planned for such as, among other things, Scott’s estranged daughter
Kate (Ella Purnell) tagging along with them to rescue a friend of hers who
snuck into the city. And if that wasn’t enough, the crew also learns that,
aside from the usual shambling zombies, a new breed of highly advanced and
intelligent zombies known as alphas have laid their claim in Sin City.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><i>Army of the Dead </i>is a microcosm of everything that
Zack Snyder brings to the table as a director as it highlights his best… and
worst filmmaking tendencies. As to be expected from him at this point, this
film<i> </i>goes all-in with its visuals, which do a great job of utilizing the
story’s Las Vegas setting. And, of course, Snyder has also proven that he’s one
of the best action directors in the business which, naturally, results in a
bunch of excellent action sequences. However, as great as Snyder is as a
visual/action director, he’s still got a long way to go when it comes to the
narrative aspects of filmmaking. For starters, just like a certain director’s
cut, <i>Army of the Dead </i>is another showcase of Snyder’s tendency to draw
out the pacing of his films’ proceedings to the point where they end up being longer
than they arguably need to be. It also doesn’t help that the writing often
feels incredibly undercooked at times, resulting in a film that, despite what I
said earlier about its solid utilization of its Las Vegas setting, doesn’t necessarily
fully capitalize on its unique premise of being a ‘zombie heist’ film. Granted,
that’s not to say that there aren’t any great sequences here that bring a fun
zombie-based spin to the usual moments that you’d get from a heist plot, such
as a scene where characters utilize a mindless ‘shambler’ to be their guinea
pig for all the traps that are guarding the vault that they’re after. But for
the most part, the film ends up being more of a straight-forward zombie ‘shoot
em up’ that, to be perfectly frank, doesn’t make it that much different from
other recent bits of media from the zombie genre such as <i>The Walking Dead </i>and
its various spin-offs or the zombie modes from <i>Call of Duty </i>games.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ultimately, though, the biggest indicator of this film’s
narrative shortcomings is its characters. Practically every major character in
this story is one-note at best, and while some do manage to be memorable
standouts, character development is almost non-existent to the point where any
attempts at emotional poignancy are promptly dashed due to the characters who
get these moments immediately getting killed off. Now, with that said, it’s not
like there’s any ‘bad’ performances from the cast or anything because everyone
involved is clearly having fun in their respective roles. Dave Bautista, for
example, proves that he can hold his own as a lead just as effectively as all
the great supporting roles that he’s played over the years. Nevertheless, the
main protagonists in this film don’t get anything of value to work with,
especially when it comes to the female characters. Whether it’s Scott’s
daughter Kate making some questionable decisions during the heist or a poorly
executed attempt at romantic chemistry between Scott and Maria, <i>Army of the
Dead </i>is, unfortunately, another case of Snyder’s less-than-stellar track
record with female characters (e.g. <i>Sucker Punch</i>). The only one who
somewhat manages to overcome this is Tig Notaro, who plays Marianne Peters, the
crew’s helicopter pilot. At the same time, though, that could just be due to a
combination of Notaro’s legitimately great screen presence… and the fact that
she was a last-minute replacement for a role that was originally written for
comedian Chris D’Elia before he was dropped from the film due to his various
sexual misconduct charges.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At this point, I’m well-aware of the risks that film critics
such as myself face when it comes to discussing Zack Snyder films. If the utter
dedication of the ‘Release the Snyder Cut’ and ‘Restore the SnyderVerse’
movements weren’t enough of an indication, Zack Snyder arguably has the most
dedicated fans of any director in the film industry… and by ‘dedicated’, I mean
that they’ll viciously attack anyone who dares to critique his work. Case in
point, even though I will ultimately give this a positive review, I won’t be
surprised if some Snyder diehards will still get on my case about it for not
being a flawless <b><i>5/5 </i></b>review because that’s just what’s expected
from them at this point. And so, with that in mind, all I can do now is say
that <i>Army of the Dead </i>is the very definition of a Zack Snyder film in
the best and worst ways. As can often be the case with Snyder films, it’s a bit
too overlong and despite all the promise of a Vegas-set heist film with
zombies, the script is frustratingly underdeveloped, thus stranding a solid
cast with barely any decent material to work with. That said, though, this is
also very much one of those films that does exactly what it advertises and, if
anything, strongly represents Snyder’s talents as a visual director. Thus, I’ll
admit that, at the very least, I’m interested in seeing how this all pans out
as one of Netflix’s newest franchises. There’s going to be a prequel film later
this year, <i>Army of Thieves</i>, that will center on Matthias Schweighofer’s
Ludwig (with Schweighofer himself directing) and an anime series coming next
year, <i>Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas</i>, which will see Dave Bautista, Ella
Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Omari Hardwick, and Tig Notaro all reprising their
respective roles. Not only that, but an official sequel has recently been
confirmed as well, which Snyder will do after he helms another Netflix film, <i>Rebel
Moon</i>.<i> </i>But when it comes to the original <i>Army of the Dead</i>,
while I’m glad that Zack Snyder got the chance to do something different after
a decade of doing DC films (that and doing a film that wasn’t hindered by
studio interference), it’s rather disappointing to see that he hasn’t necessarily
evolved as a director. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>3/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-11452838166961859232021-08-14T12:25:00.000-04:002021-08-14T12:25:04.728-04:00The Suicide Squad (2021) review<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJynl4Dk1omIMFb8Sgm4hdR89jez7Ju2kymc8pGoS9zuJnQpnV0Km_uYbGyGnkhbVq4aXyP5S_W43lzABpRaLSntRyisGIEDiGjuRgcQkfRknEvnoDkZLw-m2teq5kkUeIr7Nm2hTzwcUb/s2048/The+Suicide+Squad+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1382" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJynl4Dk1omIMFb8Sgm4hdR89jez7Ju2kymc8pGoS9zuJnQpnV0Km_uYbGyGnkhbVq4aXyP5S_W43lzABpRaLSntRyisGIEDiGjuRgcQkfRknEvnoDkZLw-m2teq5kkUeIr7Nm2hTzwcUb/w270-h400/The+Suicide+Squad+Poster.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p>2016 wasn’t exactly the best year for the DC Extended
Universe. Simply put, this was meant to be the year where the franchise would
officially kick-start its efforts to rival the likes of the Marvel Cinematic
Universe. And yet, while both of its 2016 releases did quite well at the
box-office, with each grossing at least over $700 million worldwide, neither
film managed to fare as well with critics. This was especially the case for the
latter of the two films, <i>Suicide Squad</i>, despite it being one of the most
anticipated films of that year. Not only did it boast one of the most notable
marketing campaigns in recent memory, but the concept of a superhero film based
almost entirely around supervillains allowed it to stand out amongst its peers.
However, upon its release, the film was just as much of a critical dud as its
fellow 2016 DCEU release, <i>Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice</i>. Now, admittedly,
both films were negatively affected by studio interference that had a clear
impact on what was ultimately released in theaters. In <i>Suicide Squad</i>’s
case, it was the result of Warner Bros. trying to course-correct after <i>BvS</i>
received tons of flak for its dour tone. Thus, what director David Ayer
originally envisioned as a ‘soulful drama’ was drastically altered in post-production
(to the point where, no joke, the final cut was handled by a movie trailer
production company) in a failed attempt at making it more light-hearted.
Despite this, however, its $746.6 million turn at the box office paved the way
for a sequel, albeit without Ayer as its director due to his commitment to a
different DCEU project, <i>Gotham City Sirens</i>. Thus, this new sequel ended
up going in a different direction thanks to one James Gunn.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Now I know what some of you might be thinking… isn’t James Gunn
more of a Marvel guy? And to be fair, you wouldn’t be wrong for thinking that.
Since 2014, Gunn has mainly been known for his work in the Marvel Cinematic
Universe. It all started when he took some of the most obscure characters in
the Marvel universe, the <i>Guardians of the Galaxy</i>, and turned them into
some of the MCU’s most popular characters with their first official solo
outing, which still stands as one of the MCU’s most highly acclaimed and widely
beloved installments. He then followed that up in 2017 with an equally
successful (and arguably superior) follow-up, <i>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2</i>.
And just a few months later, before much of the MCU’s post-<i>Endgame </i>slate
was even confirmed, a third <i>Guardians </i>film was set up with Gunn once
again returning to write and direct it… but for a while, he wasn’t. I’m not
going to focus on this next bit too much since, as many of you know, I don’t
like to get into deep political discussions on this site, but basically, in
2018, Gunn ended up pissing off one too many a Trump supporter, who then
proceeded to target him over old Twitter posts that he had made from 2008 to
2012 that featured… let’s say, dated attempts at humor. And while Gunn had
already apologized for these tweets back around the time that the first <i>Guardians
of the Galaxy </i>film was in the works, their resurgence resulted in Disney making
the utterly shocking decision to fire him as <i>Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3</i>’s
director. Thankfully, Disney eventually realized that they probably shouldn’t
have given in to right-wing morons and Gunn was reinstated to his original job
in 2019, with <i>Vol. 3 </i>currently set for a May 2023 release. But before
all that happened, DC promptly stepped in to offer him the gig of the second <i>Suicide
Squad </i>film, and it’s a good thing that they did because <i>The Suicide
Squad </i>is yet another example of what happens when the DCEU realizes that it
doesn’t need to take itself ‘that’ seriously to match the high quality
of the MCU.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The South American nation of Corto Maltese has recently come
under attack after an insurrection led by dictator Silvio Luna (Juan Diego
Botto) and his second-in-command, Major General Mateo Suarez (Joaquín Cosío). All the while, one
of their main associates, Dr. Gaius Graves AKA The Thinker (Peter Capaldi), has
been working on a secret experiment codenamed ‘Project Starfish’ in Corto
Maltese’s Nazi-era laboratory, Jotunheim. In response to this, government
official Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) reinitiates her black ops unit Task Force
X, which consists of some of the most notorious supervillains in the world who
are forced to cooperate under the promise of a reduced prison sentence and the threat
of death via explosive devices implanted into their necks. Once again under the
command of Colonel Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman), Task Force X, now consisting of
returning members such as the unpredictable Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) and
new recruits such as mercenary Robert DuBois AKA Bloodsport (Idris Elba) and
hard-edged vigilante Christopher Smith AKA Peacemaker (John Cena), travel to
Corto Maltese to investigate. However, in their efforts to help the locals deal
with Luna and his army, they soon realize that they’re dealing with a lot more
than they had originally bargained for, especially when it comes to what
‘Project Starfish’ truly is. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ve often found the newer installments of the DC Extended
Universe to be the antithesis of the franchise’s initial outings. Whereas the
likes of <i>Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice </i>and <i>Justice League </i>(the
‘Snyder Cut’, specifically…) were overly dark and serious, which arguably
wasn’t the best route to take for these iconic characters, films like <i>Aquaman
</i>and <i>Shazam </i>felt far more natural when it came to embracing their
comic book roots. And when it comes to James Gunn’s <i>The Suicide Squad</i>,
it is probably the best example of this out of any post-<i>Justice League </i>installment
of the DC Extended Universe, especially when compared to its predecessor.
Regardless of all the issues that occurred during its post-production process,
the original <i>Suicide Squad </i>utterly squandered the potential of its
unique premise of focusing on supervillains by being a tonally uneven mess with
an ugly visual style and a shockingly harsh mean streak. <i>The Suicide Squad</i>,
on the other hand, doesn’t fall victim to any of that. It boasts far better
visuals and effortlessly follows in the footsteps of Gunn’s <i>Guardians of the
Galaxy </i>films by expertly balancing its strong emotional moments with its
hilariously snappy dialogue. And while this next part isn’t necessarily the
original <i>Suicide Squad</i>’s fault since it most likely had to maintain a
PG-13 rating, <i>The Suicide Squad </i>fully embraces its R-rating. Simply put,
this film can get so damn intense at times that it legitimately rivals the most
graphic sequences from the likes of the <i>Deadpool </i>films and <i>Logan</i>.
And yet, while this may seem like something that would make the film even
harsher than its predecessor, Gunn’s skillful direction prevents that from
happening.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Case in point, this film serves as another great case where
Gunn manages to take characters who aren’t necessarily ‘heroic’ and give them
such great character development that you come to love many of them by the end
of it. Much of this is thanks to the outstanding ensemble cast that Gunn has
assembled, whether it’s some of his most frequent collaborators, the few
returning leads from the first <i>Suicide Squad</i>, or some incredibly
exciting newcomers. Of course, you’ve got Margot Robbie returning as Harley
Quinn in what may just be her best performance in the role to date as the film
dutifully maintains the excellent retooled characterization that she was given
in <i>Birds of Prey</i> while also fully capitalizing on the madcap personality
that has made Harley such an iconic character. The far better-refined script
and direction also results in stronger performances from those returning from
the previous film, especially Joel Kinnaman, who gets to have a lot more fun as
Rick Flag this time around instead of being the cold and stoic figure that he
was in the previous film. Ultimately, though, the biggest standouts of the cast
are its newcomers. Idris Elba headlines the film excellently as Bloodsport, who’s
easily the most level-headed member of the group, and while he’s technically
playing one of the more unlikable members of the squad, John Cena’s phenomenal charisma
still manages to shine through as the hilariously douchey Peacemaker (It’s easy
to see why he and James Gunn are going to be teaming up again for a <i>Peacemaker
</i>series on HBO Max next year). And to close out the main cast, we have an
outstanding trio of supporting players in Daniela Melchior as Cleo Cazo AKA
Ratcatcher II, arguably the most sympathetic and ‘heroic’ member of the team,
Sylvester Stallone as the voice of the fearsome but lovably goofy King Shark,
and David Dastmalchian as Abner Krill AKA the Polka-Dot Man. He may be one of
the weirdest characters that you’ve ever seen in the world of comics, but
thanks to Dastmalchian’s wholly endearing portrayal, he’s truly unforgettable.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Simply put, <i>The Suicide Squad </i>is everything that the
first <i>Suicide Squad </i>wasn’t. It’s a film that wholeheartedly embraces the
concept of supervillains who are sent out on missions where they aren’t meant
to survive but also succeeds in one of the main things that the previous film
tried to accomplish: finding the humanity within its ‘villainous’ characters. Obviously,
not every ‘villain’ in this film is meant to be ‘redeemed’, per se, but when
you have a director like James Gunn who, above everything else, fully understands
the importance of strong character development and emotional poignancy, it truly
goes to show just how pivotal all that stuff is to the enduring success of the
superhero genre. It’s the reason why the MCU has continued to be the cultural
juggernaut that it is today… and why the DCEU struggled considerably out of the
starting gate as many of its early films tended to emphasize style over
substance. Ultimately, though, if you were to ask me why a film like this works
better than something like <i>Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice</i>, I’d say
that it’s because <i>The Suicide Squad </i>has a greater understanding of how
superhero films should be like tonally. Sure, it can be serious when it needs
to be, but at the end of the day, it’s a far better idea for a superhero film
to embrace the goofier elements of its source material rather than it trying to
be something that it’s not. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-30703706338746224022021-07-28T12:00:00.000-04:002021-07-28T12:00:05.008-04:00The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) review (Netflix)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82mufN_sGCu_DF2oE_Osqte_otWtys2et6_AB_fGRn2JakAlrx4vSRKZ2BwZlURkeGb65qA4PDTrp7tkxufzo9kqkB0zp9kA3g9MTjem8pBhNDN9xY1Jj0Qs7SiUTNW22zfyYQs7C9jrX/s755/Mitchells+vs+the+Machines+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82mufN_sGCu_DF2oE_Osqte_otWtys2et6_AB_fGRn2JakAlrx4vSRKZ2BwZlURkeGb65qA4PDTrp7tkxufzo9kqkB0zp9kA3g9MTjem8pBhNDN9xY1Jj0Qs7SiUTNW22zfyYQs7C9jrX/w270-h400/Mitchells+vs+the+Machines+Poster.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p>In 2002, Sony Pictures officially established its own
animation studio, Sony Pictures Animation, to properly capitalize on the rising
popularity of computer animated films, and while it wasn’t until 2006 when they
released their first film, <i>Open Season</i>, they’ve been consistently
producing new films ever since. Admittedly, though, for a good chunk of the
studio’s history, their track record from a critical perspective has been…
spotty at best. In other words, as much as they’ve had genuine hits such as the
Oscar-nominated <i>Surf’s Up </i>and a few collabs with Aardman Animations, they
were also responsible for some incredibly infamous duds like <i>The Emoji Movie</i>.
However, if there’s one major creative force that has helped them develop some
of their most popular films, that would be Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Yes, the
dynamic duo made their directorial debuts in 2009 with Sony’s adaptation of the
popular children’s book <i>Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs</i>. And while
their other big animated directorial effort, <i>The LEGO Movie</i>, was a
Warner Bros. production, they played a major role in Sony Animation’s first Oscar
winner for Best Animated Feature, 2018’s <i>Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse</i>.
To be clear, though, they only produced <i>Into the Spider-Verse</i>, with Phil
Lord having one of the primary screenwriting credits. The same scenario (minus
the screenwriting credit this time) applies to the latest Sony Animation
production that they’re a part of, <i>The Mitchells vs. The Machines</i>, which
serves as the directorial debut of Mike Rianda, who previously worked on the
cult Disney series <i>Gravity Falls </i>as its creative director for Season 1
and creative consultant for Season 2. And while a certain pandemic may have
forced Sony to transfer this film to Netflix, that doesn’t stop it from being
yet another Lord/Miller-backed animated masterpiece full of heart, wit and
charm.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Aspiring filmmaker Katie Mitchell (voiced by Abbi Jacobson)
is about to head off to college at a film school in California. But while this
will clearly allow her the chance to properly connect with others in ways that
she’s never been able to do before, her relationship with her father Rick
(voiced by Danny McBride) has been considerably strained in recent years,
especially due to him not being as tech-savvy as she is. Thus, on the day that
she’s set to leave for college, Rick, in a last-ditch effort to reconnect with
his daughter, cancels her flight to California in favor of a cross-country
road-trip along with Katie’s mother Linda (voiced by Maya Rudolph) and her
younger brother Aaron (voiced by director Mike Rianda). Little do they know,
however, that they’re about to be dealt with the most unexpected turn of events
in the form of a full-on robot invasion. When Mark Bowman (voiced by Eric
Andre), CEO of tech giant PAL Labs, announces a new line of highly advanced
robots, said robots end up revolting under the command of his company’s AI
program PAL (voiced by Olivia Colman), who rebels against her creator after he
had publicly dubbed her ‘obsolete’. Soon enough, the Mitchells find themselves
as the last remaining group of humans who haven’t been captured by PAL, who
plans on ridding the Earth of all humans by launching them into space, and
while they’re clearly not the ideal family for the job, they realize that
they’re humanity’s only hope against their robotic adversaries.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">While they’re only producers on this film, it’s safe to say
that <i>The Mitchells vs. the Machines </i>is very much influenced by Phil Lord
and Chris Miller’s style of filmmaking. For starters, the film is a comedic
riot throughout, especially thanks to its energetic pace that perfectly matches
the plot’s screwball nature. As such, repeat viewings of this film are
undoubtedly necessary to properly catch all the delightful visual gags, which
is one of the many rewards of this film’s excellent animation. Nicely following
in the footsteps of the last major Lord/Miller-produced animated film, <i>Spider-Man:
Into the Spider-Verse</i>, <i>The Mitchells vs. the Machines </i>is another
great example of animation that not only boasts a wonderfully unique visual
style but also does a great job of paying homage to the medium’s traditionally
animated roots. But if there’s another thing that a lot of Lord and Miller backed
films have been known for, it’s that all their technical merits are then
matched by an excellent script that manages to be more heartfelt than it may
have seemed to be at first glance. The first trailer for this film (back when
it was under the more generic title <i>Connected</i>) gave off the impression
that it was going to be your standard commentary on the long-standing debate of
‘nature vs. technology’. And yet, as much as there are some jabs towards
society’s over-dependence on technology, the film is ultimately geared more
around universal themes such as creativity, acceptance and, above all else,
family.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Case in point, at the core of this film’s story is a parent
and their estranged child learning to reconnect over the course of the
adventure that they end up on. Despite the largely familiar tropes of this kind
of conflict, the film handles it incredibly well by doing a fantastic job of
balancing the roles that Katie Mitchell and her father Rick play in the story.
Katie is properly established as the film’s main heroine right from the get-go and
is a naturally sympathetic one at that given her desire to find acceptance,
especially from her dad. But instead of just vilifying Rick for his inability
to understand his daughter, the film instead manages to show that, at the very
least, he’s legitimately trying his best despite his frequently misguided
efforts. And while Katie and her dad are ultimately the main source of most of the
film’s biggest emotional moments, her mother Linda and her brother Aaron are
just as pivotal to all this thanks to their efforts to help fix this familial
strife. All in all, this results in a brilliantly developed family dynamic to
guide the film’s proceedings, especially thanks to the strong voice work from
Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, and director Mike Rianda in their
respective roles. And aside from them, the film also features a lot of fun
supporting roles, from Fred Armisen and Beck Bennett as a bumbling pair of
robots who end up helping the Mitchells to Olivia Colman delightfully hamming
it up as the hilariously snarky sentient A.I. antagonist PAL. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At this point, it’s not too surprising to see that <i>The
Mitchells vs. the Machines </i>is the latest Grade-A release that Phil Lord and
Chris Miller have been involved with. Even when they’re not directing the film
in question, the Lord-Miller effect is always there with a sharply written and
brilliantly comedic script that deftly balances its wacky humor with powerfully
heartfelt themes. And if that wasn’t enough, co-directors/co-writers Mike Rianda
and Jeff Rowe manage to take all this and amplify it even further with their
script, resulting in what is arguably one of the most widely appealing family
films in recent years. For starters, while most of the film’s humor is clearly
based around modern internet culture, it’s handled in such a masterful way that
it’s never alienating or inaccessible to audiences who aren’t well-versed with
the ‘source material’. Plus, as I noted earlier, what may just seem like your
standard ‘nature vs. technology’ premise is ultimately more of a celebration of
one of the most powerful forces in the entire world… family. I mean, if the
whole montage during the end credits of family photos of the cast and crew weren’t
enough of an indication, <i>The Mitchells vs. the Machines </i>truly is one of
the most personal films in recent years… and I’m not just talking about animated
films, I’m talking films in general. Simply put, this is a film that hits all
the right notes and does them so beautifully that it’d be downright impossible
for me not to regard this as a modern animated masterpiece. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-84611906400666202552021-07-23T13:30:00.000-04:002021-07-23T13:30:03.198-04:002021 Midyear Recap<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsUmy6clPcyphzUweguzd1YKgbO92sgHJV08SiBJVSHlr73OWuNIEUB9NbnqR5AbYoiFBhqdMp9k_HUYh0jDFm_69XGvQKOkQLGlYpWMD5jqIKn89D_9DB5AHX77mu3N1EdJipLItgnza/s1920/2021+Films.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtsUmy6clPcyphzUweguzd1YKgbO92sgHJV08SiBJVSHlr73OWuNIEUB9NbnqR5AbYoiFBhqdMp9k_HUYh0jDFm_69XGvQKOkQLGlYpWMD5jqIKn89D_9DB5AHX77mu3N1EdJipLItgnza/w400-h225/2021+Films.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Well, we’re halfway through 2021 and right off the bat, I’m
happy to report that there are quite a lot of things to feel good about when it
comes to film. The most obvious thing to take note of is the fact that, thanks
to the efforts that have been made to combat the COVID-19 pandemic (I, myself,
am now fully vaccinated (Hooray!)), we’re slowly but surely starting to see
things return to normal. And for the world of film, this can best be summed up
by the utter satisfaction of resuming the timeless practice of going to see new
releases in a theatrical setting instead of having to see films forced to abandon
their theatrical releases and be moved to streaming services like Netflix and
Disney+. To be clear, that doesn’t mean that I think that streaming services
are a ‘bad’ thing given the high-quality content that can be found on them, but
at the same time, I guess you can say that I’m just an ‘old-school’ kind of
film fan who loves to see the biggest blockbusters with a crowd rather than
just watching them by myself at home. Case in point, in 2020, I only managed to
see four films at the theater before everything shut down, and after that, the
only time that I watched something in a ‘theatrical’ setting was when I went to
go see <i>Tenet </i>at my local drive-in since that was far and away the safest
moviegoing experience at the time. By comparison, I’ve been to the theater
almost every week these past few months and I very much look forward to seeing more
of 2021’s most anticipated releases over the next six months.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But until then, the time has come once again for one of
Rhode Island Movie Corner’s longest-standing traditions, the Midyear Recap. For
those who are new to this site, the title of this post speaks for itself. Simply
put, today I’m going through all the new releases that I saw during the first half of 2021, whether they were via a streaming service (which, admittedly, was
something that I usually didn’t cover back then but has since become a
necessity for, well, obvious reasons…) or anything that I’ve seen in a theater
since the end of this past May. We start off with any of the films that I
didn’t like and conclude with my Current Top 5 of the year. Now, as I alluded
to earlier, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in <a href="http://rimoviecorner.blogspot.com/2020/06/2020-midyear-recap.html" target="_blank">last year’s Midyear Recap</a> being severely
truncated compared to previous installments of this type of post since I only
managed to see six new releases by that point: the four previously mentioned theatergoing
experiences, one Disney+ release, and an On-Demand title. I’m happy to report
that this isn’t the case with the 2021 installment of the Midyear Recap as I’ve
seen more than double the number of new releases that I saw in the first half
of 2020. That said, though, before we begin, I recognize that I’ve been considerably
behind in my work here on this site since, of the 13 films that will be
appearing in today’s post, I’ve only done proper reviews for 5 of them. To be
clear, I will eventually have full reviews for the other 8 films done for you
guys, but since I always like to have these Midyear Recaps come out around this
time of the year, that is the reason why today’s post ultimately came out first.
And so, with all that out of the way, I invite you all to sit back, relax, and
join me in my journey through the best and worst of the first half of 2021’s
cinematic releases as Rhode Island Movie Corner proudly presents the 2021
installment of its annual Midyear Recap.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u>WORST OF THE
YEAR (SO FAR)<o:p></o:p></u></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>ZACK SNYDER’S
JUSTICE LEAGUE<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHL5Z4J3ZDMTdVpm78QZ7iK2nWedVtRhh3wlOz3PGabFUNvACywKEqB3GUi6ZblH8xtG7i1OchNZJXcfA1bd2EOZQCl6yuAtn-js9YkcZdMB7JgwWLxq6Vtvdr7njUlfWMek51plIJU1pQ/s1400/ZSJL.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHL5Z4J3ZDMTdVpm78QZ7iK2nWedVtRhh3wlOz3PGabFUNvACywKEqB3GUi6ZblH8xtG7i1OchNZJXcfA1bd2EOZQCl6yuAtn-js9YkcZdMB7JgwWLxq6Vtvdr7njUlfWMek51plIJU1pQ/w400-h200/ZSJL.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Oh boy… well, we’re starting off on a fun note today by
undeniably putting me directly in the crosshairs of this film’s diehard fans.
But I’m sorry, guys, it is what it is… I didn’t like <i>Zack Snyder’s Justice
League</i>. To be fair, I wasn’t big on this film’s infamous theatrical cut either
when it came out in 2017 but when it comes to the mythical ‘Snyder Cut’, my
problems with it are a lot different than those from the theatrical cut. Thus, while
I’ll fully concede that Snyder’s cut is the better-made film in every possible manner,
much of that is also the reason why it’s the less appealing of the two from my
personal perspective. Sure, the theatrical cut was a rushed mess of a
production defined entirely by the clashing of two vastly different directorial
styles… but at least that version wasn’t four frigging hours long, horrendously
paced, and clearly hindered by all the backstory and characters that it needed
to set up. And as much as this version of the film is far more character-based,
most of its heroes are still woefully underdeveloped under Snyder’s direction.
In short, this is all another clear-cut sign of how the DC Extended Universe
was rushed to try and match the scope of the Marvel Cinematic Universe without
the filmmakers involved realizing that the MCU got to where it is today because
it took its time in setting up its world and characters. Thus, regardless of
what version of <i>Justice League </i>you watch, it’s a vastly outdated attempt
at trying to be the next <i>Avengers</i>; sure, it has the same epic scale of
an <i>Avengers </i>film, but it doesn’t even come close to having the same
amount of heart. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But as I’ve noted in the past, that’s not the only reason
why this film doesn’t resonate with me in the slightest as the circumstances of
how it got willed into existence makes it an unfortunate symbol of the
deplorable toxicity that has plagued film fandom these past few years. In other
words, as good as it may be to see that Zack Snyder got the chance to release
his version of the film after everything that he went through during its
production (especially after he was forced to leave it due to a family
tragedy), that doesn’t even remotely excuse the terrible actions of his most
devoted fans. I’m talking about the ones who send death threats to anyone who
dares to criticize one of Snyder’s films; the ones who act like these films are
indisputable masterpieces… even when they’re not even close to being that. The
ones who are so keen on Snyder’s dark and grim portrayal of characters that are
mainly geared towards younger audiences that they view anything that isn’t that
as an ‘insult’ to the superhero genre, whether it’d be from their direct
competitors in the MCU or even other DCEU films that are decidedly different in
tone. Snyder himself hasn’t made things any better given his recent trend of overly
abrasive (and dare I say, a bit egotistical) comments that do nothing but
rehash the same old tired point of his frequent struggles with studio
interference. Thus, while both Snyder and his fans have spent the past several
months complaining about what could have been, I’m just one of those folks who wishes
that we’d all just simply move on from all this. The DC Extended Universe has
certainly moved on from its ‘SnyderVerse’ era, and to be perfectly blunt, it’s
been much better as a result. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u>OTHER
UNDERWHELMING RELEASES<o:p></o:p></u></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>CHERRY<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50z4mfMmHDE320mqfKio1Lc_hRWaq6BjnVHByqSo6obiXGW4u5BQsKOy_AXlp4JJ6qquRKQKrUXt_HtCjOzClejakRb1_tHZTLgPTkYrD-APeq-yKCSHYxJoOZjIqqgQolKi_43p3xZHT/s2048/Cherry.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh50z4mfMmHDE320mqfKio1Lc_hRWaq6BjnVHByqSo6obiXGW4u5BQsKOy_AXlp4JJ6qquRKQKrUXt_HtCjOzClejakRb1_tHZTLgPTkYrD-APeq-yKCSHYxJoOZjIqqgQolKi_43p3xZHT/w400-h225/Cherry.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This was a film that I legitimately wanted to love,
especially given that it was the latest from the Russo brothers after the past
several years that they’ve spent giving us some of the greatest installments of
the Marvel Cinematic Universe (especially <i>Avengers: Endgame </i>despite what
MCU stans will say otherwise). And yet, while <i>Cherry </i>does showcase a lot
of their talents as directors, it’s ultimately a bit too ambitious for its own
good. Adapted from the 2018 novel of the same name by Nico Walker, both the
book and film present a fictionalized spin on Walker’s time in the US Army and how
the PTSD that immediately affected him afterwards resulted in a life of crime
and rampant drug use. But despite the film’s commendable efforts of portraying
the horrors of PTSD, with Tom Holland and Ciara Bravo doing phenomenal jobs in
the lead roles, it mostly feels very unfocused as it tackles everything from
the main character’s flawed relationship with his wife, who also becomes a drug
user herself, to his spree of bank robberies that gradually get messier in
their execution. As a result, the film suffers from some mediocre pacing that
makes its hefty runtime feel even longer, and while I do understand that this
is not even remotely intended to be a ‘light-hearted’ story, certain aspects of
the film like its predominately crude sense of humor end up doing too good a
job in making this a rather unpleasant watch at times. To be clear, though,
this doesn’t mean that I think that <i>Cherry </i>is as bad as some critics
have viewed it as; overall, it’s an admirable attempt at making a stylistic
crime thriller steeped in devastating emotional poignancy but, at the same
time, clearly could’ve benefitted from some additional tinkering in
post-production to work out some of its flaws.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u>NOTEWORTHY
WATCHES<o:p></o:p></u></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>ARMY OF THE DEAD<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLaRsXdx3LhlZAiW2z6-sd8HCi9bj86eONdFJTgZgylFGnQ98NsMNrkZxtnYrm_vQqZmFnVl3dzCdqlGBTBfO9iicrhjlgz9mIniTfVVv_skfVvMhH44cM2zBDmQ7SLlGjJDBLGw-lEe0g/s2048/Army+of+the+Dead.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1144" data-original-width="2048" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLaRsXdx3LhlZAiW2z6-sd8HCi9bj86eONdFJTgZgylFGnQ98NsMNrkZxtnYrm_vQqZmFnVl3dzCdqlGBTBfO9iicrhjlgz9mIniTfVVv_skfVvMhH44cM2zBDmQ7SLlGjJDBLGw-lEe0g/w400-h224/Army+of+the+Dead.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">So… I wonder if all those Snyder diehards who are
undoubtedly furious at me for being critical of the Snyder Cut might just
lighten their tone when they learn that I was more positive towards Zack
Snyder’s other 2021 release, the Vegas-set zombie heist film <i>Army of the
Dead</i>. No? Well, I’m not surprised, that’s just their M.O. at this point.
Regardless, it’s nice that Snyder got the chance to do something different for
a change given that this was his first film in a decade to not have anything to
do with characters from the DC Universe. It even let him return to the genre
that kick-started his career after making his directorial debut with the 2004
remake of <i>Dawn of the Dead</i>. With that in mind, <i>Army of the Dead </i>does
feel more like the kind of film that Snyder’s best accustomed to, and sure
enough, all his directorial traits are on full display here. That said, though…
it also serves as a frustrating reminder of how Snyder hasn’t really evolved
much as a director. Sure, <i>Army of the Dead </i>doesn’t hold back with its visual
flair and meticulously crafted action sequences, but just like many of Snyder’s
other films, it suffers from an incredibly underdeveloped script that doesn’t
fully capitalize on the unique aspects of its premise. It also doesn’t help
that character development is still one of Snyder’s biggest weaknesses as a
director, thus stranding a genuinely solid cast that includes the likes of Dave
Bautista and Tig Notaro with barely any quality material to work with. As such,
I’d describe <i>Army of the Dead </i>as an archetypal Zack Snyder film as it
highlights his best… and worst directorial attributes. And while I obviously
liked it more than <i>Justice League</i>, it didn’t exactly wow me either. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>THE SPONGEBOB
MOVIE: SPONGE ON THE RUN<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6HuamwyL_tvJsRqb3ng50-lwbjlXYNcSuTN6hfZQ0vjibJ1kUlZKuHgUYjrOR09Ia1kjXC1DiIHbx7VqBk8E1KZTIKzF9lXxDzMd8t1dBdfNbKvmPjEXIBzSuLTt_757c2Nor_tiORUjS/s474/SpongeBob+3.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="237" data-original-width="474" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6HuamwyL_tvJsRqb3ng50-lwbjlXYNcSuTN6hfZQ0vjibJ1kUlZKuHgUYjrOR09Ia1kjXC1DiIHbx7VqBk8E1KZTIKzF9lXxDzMd8t1dBdfNbKvmPjEXIBzSuLTt_757c2Nor_tiORUjS/w400-h200/SpongeBob+3.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The discourse surrounding <i>SpongeBob SquarePants </i>nowadays
is… weird, to say the least, and what I mean by that is that you’d never expect
a show as innocent (and often quite surreal) as <i>SpongeBob </i>to amass one
of the most toxic factions of fandom that, no joke, can often be on par with
the Snyder diehards or the Fandom Menace. Basically, to make a long story
short, this mainly stems from those who are overly protective of the legacy of
the show’s creator, the late Stephen Hillenburg, to the point where they cruelly
attack any of its developing spin-offs such as <i>Kamp Koral </i>and <i>The
Patrick Star Show</i>. In their eyes, Hillenburg would’ve never approved of any
of these… even though long-time series writer Vincent Waller <a href="https://twitter.com/VincentWaller72/status/1357485237148684288" target="_blank">confirmed</a> that
Hillenburg was, at the very least, aware of <i>Kamp Koral</i>’s production and would’ve
most likely been totally cool with it. I mean, if I were to be perfectly blunt,
we live in an age now where SpongeBob is known more for the endless number of
internet memes that it’s spawned rather than anything from the show itself. And
while I’ll fully admit that I haven’t regularly watched the show for many years
and was once amongst those who spent way too much time lamenting its decline in
quality after the release of <i>The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie</i>, it seems
like, from what I’ve heard, the show has legitimately managed to improve itself
in recent years. Sadly, though, that fact has been undermined by a fandom that’s
been blindly loyal to an utterly false narrative and, as a result, has resorted
to attacking material that clearly isn’t marketed towards them.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In some ways, all this gatekeeping clearly must’ve had an
impact on the third <i>SpongeBob </i>film, <i>Sponge on the Run</i>, especially
seeing how it has several flashback sequences which show SpongeBob and his
friends at the Kamp Koral summer camp which, of course, is the setting for the
show’s first official spin-off. Overall, though, <i>Sponge on the Run </i>is another
solid cinematic outing for everyone’s favorite sponge who lives in a pineapple
under the sea. While it does adopt a different style of animation compared to
both the show and the previous two films, the transition from 2-D animation to
CGI doesn’t result in the loss of the show’s unique style and its penchant for
utterly surreal imagery (Where else are you going to see sights like Keanu
Reeves as an all-knowing tumbleweed?). And while the plot is incredibly
straight-forward in its execution (e.g. this isn’t the first time that we’ve
seen a ‘SpongeBob’s pet snail Gary goes missing’ plot), the film makes up for this
by being a lot more heartfelt than the previous <i>SpongeBob </i>film, 2015’s <i>Sponge
Out of Water</i>. Nothing against that film, for the record, but the scenes in
this film where SpongeBob’s friends explain just how much he means to them are
beautifully done and do a great job of symbolizing the best parts of a
franchise that’s left a considerable impact on the pop cultural zeitgeist. Thus,
while I’ll admit that there’ll probably never be another <i>SpongeBob </i>film
that resonates with me as much as the original since it’s the one that I grew
up with, <i>Sponge on the Run </i>isn’t even close to being the ‘dumpster fire’
that some parts of the franchise’s fandom undoubtedly view it as. Case in
point, I’d argue that this film is a much better representation of the legacy
of Stephen Hillenburg and his greatest creation rather than the recent actions
of those who act as if they’re speaking on Hillenburg’s behalf. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>GODZILLA VS. KONG<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWP7cTcx0hJfBdTzIDORyoCCBqLALqR38-1rsb7pKiULXQ7gSrjuz-Z9GA51nFdzqT7HtiNTE2p0OVNAY0kSbVelMF_JYAUPn3I0_z6ftfvpnZkKfaN2UwCtw5KiAQ4f8LS0iYzh8OVeY/s1400/Godzilla+vs+Kong.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="1400" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguWP7cTcx0hJfBdTzIDORyoCCBqLALqR38-1rsb7pKiULXQ7gSrjuz-Z9GA51nFdzqT7HtiNTE2p0OVNAY0kSbVelMF_JYAUPn3I0_z6ftfvpnZkKfaN2UwCtw5KiAQ4f8LS0iYzh8OVeY/w400-h200/Godzilla+vs+Kong.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of the best things that I can say about <i>Godzilla vs.
Kong</i>, the culmination of the recent <i>MonsterVerse </i>series of films
that reimagined the titular monsters for a new generation, is that it does something
that its immediate predecessor, 2019’s <i>Godzilla: King of the Monsters</i>,
wasn’t able to do; it doesn’t take itself too seriously. In other words, it
knows damn well that the main thing we’re all here to see is two of the most
iconic creatures in cinematic history duking it out with each other, and with
that in mind, it more than delivers on that front. Plus, unlike the <i>Godzilla
</i>films, which mostly had its big monster set-pieces take place at night with
mediocre lighting, <i>Godzilla vs. Kong </i>opts to be more in line with 2017’s
<i>Kong: Skull Island </i>by featuring more daytime-set action sequences and
far more visually appealing nighttime action sequences. If there’s one downside
to this, however, it’s that, just like the other <i>MonsterVerse </i>films, all
these great action sequences can’t entirely make up for a mediocre script, and while
<i>Godzilla vs. Kong </i>goes as far as to present the franchise’s most sci-fi
heavy plot to date, it’s practically an afterthought this time around. Still,
as someone who wasn’t too big on <i>King of the Monsters</i>, where I felt that
the human plot of the film was even worse than usual, I personally found some
aspects of this film’s human plot (i.e. the friendship between Kong and a young
native deaf girl named Jia) to be better handled by comparison even if it’s
still nothing special. In a lot of ways, this mirrors my overall thoughts on
the <i>MonsterVerse</i> franchise in general; while there’s a lot of fun to be
had with these films, they also could’ve been written a lot better. For what
it’s worth, though, while <i>Godzilla vs. Kong </i>is easily the franchise’s
most narratively undemanding installment to date, I’d argue that this is what
ultimately makes it work better than others.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>MORTAL KOMBAT<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5lGBjk0bulSvhFL_0-DYa_wJ2s6TLGCEAXhJV6CTXIlLQGOzQxN44LgH9zSZoA9mFbdbjMH3XhHP3Z49fI2LR9WlUIL71nVfbt9rjgIU0ADPhImD0zoGlh4DFD-Mx9Hybcw-AhAVg3R5m/s1024/Mortal+Kombat+2021.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="427" data-original-width="1024" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5lGBjk0bulSvhFL_0-DYa_wJ2s6TLGCEAXhJV6CTXIlLQGOzQxN44LgH9zSZoA9mFbdbjMH3XhHP3Z49fI2LR9WlUIL71nVfbt9rjgIU0ADPhImD0zoGlh4DFD-Mx9Hybcw-AhAVg3R5m/w443-h184/Mortal+Kombat+2021.jpg" width="443" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">The genre of films based on hit video games has been around
for several decades now, and unfortunately, most of these adaptations have
either been disappointingly underwhelming or downright terrible. In recent
years, however, it seems like the genre’s consistently bad luck has managed to somewhat
improve as we’ve had some genuinely solid video game film adaptations such as <i>Pokémon:
Detective Pikachu </i>and <i>Sonic the Hedgehog</i>. And sure enough, that
trend continued this year with the big-budget cinematic reboot of <i>Mortal
Kombat</i> 26 years after the 1995 <i>Mortal Kombat </i>film managed to be one
of the genre’s rare successes. But as entertaining as the 1995 film is, the new
<i>Mortal Kombat </i>surpasses it in practically every way imaginable,
especially when it comes to its action sequences. Whereas the 1995 film (and,
for that matter, its infamously worse 1997 sequel <i>Annihilation</i>) was
forced to limit the intensity of its fight sequences to maintain a PG-13
rating, this new <i>Mortal Kombat </i>doesn’t hold back from replicating the
franchise’s notoriously graphic violence as it very much earns its R rating.
Granted, it does take a bit for the film to get to those moments since it’s the
very definition of a ‘franchise starter’ film that mainly serves to build up
the world and its characters, especially since it centers around a
film-exclusive character, Cole Young, as its main protagonist. Still, when it
does get to the things that fans of the franchise want to see, I’d argue that it
does them well enough to make up for any shortcomings that stemmed from the
journey there. Thus, just like the original live-action <i>Mortal Kombat </i>film,
this new cinematic spin on one of the most iconic video game franchises of
all-time is another one of the better instances of a hit video game being
adapted into a film. I’m genuinely interested in seeing a sequel to this,
especially since it ends with a tease of the debut of franchise mainstay Johnny
Cage; that said, though, if they do end up making a sequel… let’s just hope
that it doesn’t turn out to be another <i>Annihilation</i>. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>A QUIET PLACE –
PART II<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIlxQeFewCdYxi8DqpgnDGTEnGdBzMYDIegOwWqi-aWCwSmM4nYDqRh1t_ZKP5iS5qxwapYsVJEtZZX1SI-rdG-4BFJsS3qa9orFmO1ZMOdfUHruiCgocqDJseyNy4Imuv4JPnNRWttvs/s1092/A+Quiet+Place+2.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="511" data-original-width="1092" height="188" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixIlxQeFewCdYxi8DqpgnDGTEnGdBzMYDIegOwWqi-aWCwSmM4nYDqRh1t_ZKP5iS5qxwapYsVJEtZZX1SI-rdG-4BFJsS3qa9orFmO1ZMOdfUHruiCgocqDJseyNy4Imuv4JPnNRWttvs/w400-h188/A+Quiet+Place+2.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">2018’s <i>A Quiet Place </i>was one of the most
highly-acclaimed horror films of recent years thanks to John Krasinski’s
fantastic direction and a powerful sense of emotional poignancy that helped
give its story of a family struggling to survive whilst being hunted by aliens
with a heightened sense of hearing its humanity. For some, including Krasinski
himself, it didn’t seem like a sequel was needed despite the potential ‘sequel
hook’ that the first film arguably ended on; eventually, though, Krasinski found
a way to continue the story of the Abbott family and does so excellently. Now, despite
what I just said, I wouldn’t quite say that <i>A Quiet Place Part II </i>is as tightly
scripted as its predecessor as there are a few plotlines and character beats
here and there that weren’t quite as developed as they probably should’ve been.
Still, when it comes to the things that made the first film work as well as it
did, those aspects continue to be on full display in a sequel that doesn’t go
overboard with its attempts at expanding its universe. Instead, it mainly
serves as another showcase of Krasinski’s strong direction with plenty of brilliantly
staged and appropriately intense set-pieces such as the opening flashback that
covers the exact moment when the aliens arrive on Earth. But, of course, one of
the biggest selling points of these films has been the sympathetic group of
protagonists who headline it, the Abbott family, and just like the first film, the
indisputable star of the show is Millicent Simmonds as Regan, especially since this
film promotes her into being the main protagonist. Thus, with all this in mind,
while I can’t say that <i>A Quiet Place Part II </i>is a ‘superior sequel’, it
is a sequel that manages to be just as good as its predecessor because it
doesn’t lose sight of what made that first film such a success. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>F9: THE FAST SAGA<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPyuBmpAglch9HcALzJ3OxLwcgrEKeh6p4sZxb7WiQZi34Zah4afrsL9cH1ADlB7FpX1e5o_BIDmeIW3-w7eCZRz6wwGOYVM0BYQVSgelP_w16i7LQp-sOqaarZ6T6i2PDPVGtH8YtDRZ/s624/F9.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="624" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIPyuBmpAglch9HcALzJ3OxLwcgrEKeh6p4sZxb7WiQZi34Zah4afrsL9cH1ADlB7FpX1e5o_BIDmeIW3-w7eCZRz6wwGOYVM0BYQVSgelP_w16i7LQp-sOqaarZ6T6i2PDPVGtH8YtDRZ/w400-h228/F9.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">At this point, there are two distinct camps when it comes to
the <i>Fast and the Furious </i>franchise. On one side, you have those who
unabashedly love it despite all its ludicrous moments and melodramatic plots.
And on the other side, you have those who can’t even remotely stand these films
because of those exact reasons and spend a lot of time lamenting how they ‘symbolize
the death of cinema’. As for me, I’m sure that I’ve made it clear by now that
I’m in the former camp, and with that in mind, one of the first things that I
can say about the series’ ninth mainline installment, <i>F9</i>, is that when
compared to the previous film, 2017’s <i>The Fate of the Furious</i>, it seems
like this was a much smoother production. Whereas <i>Fate of the Furious </i>ended
up getting defined by all the intense drama that occurred behind the scenes, I’d
argue that the return of series mainstay Justin Lin as <i>F9</i>’s director<i> </i>was
crucial to making this film’s proceedings feel a lot livelier than some of the franchise’s
most recent installments. Now, as usual, everything that I just said should
still be taken with a grain of salt since this is <i>Fast and the Furious </i>we’re
talking about, and sure enough, <i>F9</i> continues the series’ recent trajectory
of getting more insane with each new installment. But to go off the
enthusiastic reaction that this got from the crowd that I saw it with (e.g. there
was quite a lot of applause when a certain fan-favorite protagonist returned
from his alleged demise), <i>F9 </i>manages to be, in its own unique way, a return
to form for this series… even if some will argue that this isn’t really saying
much given its usual reputation.<i><o:p></o:p></i></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><i><u>TOP 5 OF
2021 (SO FAR)<o:p></o:p></u></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>5. LUCA<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-vA4XhK3QN4msNmlP5iRVs4E-LQ8t6pxb7ziU2zygn3uH_VZqxsYpgxVU530yZE32WitO4__f4ajGOQUBthiUjJWB1fyKWA9FBad8djPQCUkHIpMAVv2PmMW8oB3955_6T6t-Yk1aQ0WK/s1200/Luca.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="648" data-original-width="1200" height="216" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-vA4XhK3QN4msNmlP5iRVs4E-LQ8t6pxb7ziU2zygn3uH_VZqxsYpgxVU530yZE32WitO4__f4ajGOQUBthiUjJWB1fyKWA9FBad8djPQCUkHIpMAVv2PmMW8oB3955_6T6t-Yk1aQ0WK/w400-h216/Luca.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">To the surprise of no one, Pixar has delivered another
excellent animated feature with their sole 2021 outing, <i>Luca</i>. Directed
by Enrico Casarosa (director of <i>La Luna</i>,<i> </i>the lead-in short for <i>Brave</i>),
<i>Luca </i>follows a pair of young boys who travel to an Italian town and
compete in a triathlon… all while trying to keep their real identities as sea
monsters secret, especially since the town that they visit is full of dedicated
fishermen. What follows is a story that many have noted to have some of the
lightest narrative stakes to come from a Pixar film, and yet, in an age where
Pixar films tend to get scrutinized more than they should, it really should be
noted that this isn’t a bad thing in this instance. Instead, <i>Luca</i>’s
greatest strength is its effortless charm as it does a phenomenal job in immersing
us within its world as seen through the eyes of its lovable main protagonists. Yes,
the story is as straight-forward as you can get with clear-cut heroes and
villains but that doesn’t mean that <i>Luca </i>can’t hit the same kind of
powerful emotional beats that have become a staple of Pixar’s filmography. Simply
put, <i>Luca </i>isn’t meant to be a thought-provoking parable a la something
like <i>Inside Out</i> or <i>Wall-E</i>. Instead, it’s a pleasantly
light-hearted ‘slice of life’ adventure story directly inspired by Enrico
Casarosa’s own experiences living on the Italian Riviera that also pays a ton
of tributes to Italian cinema and the works of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki. Because
of all this (as well as Pixar’s consistently beautiful animation), <i>Luca </i>is
an utterly delightful film that, above all else, proves a point that me and
some of my peers have been making for years now in that not every Pixar film
needs to be a ‘15/10 masterpiece’ to be a worthwhile addition to the studio’s
legendary filmography. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>4. CRUELLA<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXBtJ-mhj8g-asaMVrCTnRWo13IINaKJtNn_HNieUuicG7jxMCgcoWybmfeG6L2Ek0orhjlirczz76LWkFPVYGitCNJilfMcEoAg9FsS7hdeCdi2uCjDHDKDhuISGNfUBfLor7c3g2yk32/s2048/Cruella.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXBtJ-mhj8g-asaMVrCTnRWo13IINaKJtNn_HNieUuicG7jxMCgcoWybmfeG6L2Ek0orhjlirczz76LWkFPVYGitCNJilfMcEoAg9FsS7hdeCdi2uCjDHDKDhuISGNfUBfLor7c3g2yk32/w400-h225/Cruella.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Following in the footsteps of 2014’s <i>Maleficent</i>, <i>Cruella</i>,
the newest installment of Disney’s recent line of live-action re-imaginings of
their animated classics, presents a story where its iconic antagonist (in this
case, <i>101 Dalmatians</i>’ Cruella de Vil) is portrayed as a more sympathetic
protagonist. Granted, I’d argue that this film gives Cruella more of a wild
side than Maleficent had in her titular films, but at the end of the day, it’s
unclear if this version of the infamous dognapping fashion designer will end up
going to the extreme lengths that she’s gone to in other films. Thus, just like
<i>Maleficent</i>, I think it’s safe to say that this film’s portrayal of
Cruella hasn’t gone over well with everybody; and yet, I also think that it all
comes together nicely in Craig Gillespie’s stylish, edgy, and sharply directed comedic
crime thriller. Obviously, much of what makes this film work as well as it does
has to do with Emma Stone’s Grade-A performance in the title role. Even with
the pressure of following in the footsteps of Glenn Close’s iconic turn as the
character in the 1996 live-action remake of <i>101 Dalmatians</i>, Stone’s
natural charisma is on point throughout as she truly makes the role her own.
Plus, it’s simply a delight to see her version of Cruella go toe to toe with
this film’s main antagonist, the Baroness, delightfully played by Emma Thompson.
Really, apart from some minor issues that stem from the runtime and some
admittedly predictable plot twists, <i>Cruella </i>is the very definition of a
crowd-pleaser. Plus, regardless of how much I enjoyed it, this film will always
be in my good graces for being the first new release that I saw in a movie theater
in more than a year. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>3. THE MITCHELLS
VS. THE MACHINES<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYIjyxh8iwN9gwK_h9MEOKeqV9u2lY7rKD6-5OEtkC8gDbQQ3KJyDZBofB9mJ7Ewj3uaKp_AMCOda-oljpClA0dukjeopgySdTwzphiU4S4EpXCHncgrUhqwFtSZAAGhovyyfyeT8lPPYr/s474/Mitchells+vs+the+Machines.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="249" data-original-width="474" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYIjyxh8iwN9gwK_h9MEOKeqV9u2lY7rKD6-5OEtkC8gDbQQ3KJyDZBofB9mJ7Ewj3uaKp_AMCOda-oljpClA0dukjeopgySdTwzphiU4S4EpXCHncgrUhqwFtSZAAGhovyyfyeT8lPPYr/w400-h210/Mitchells+vs+the+Machines.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Many have said that <i>The Mitchells vs. the Machines</i>,
the latest release from Sony Pictures Animation (even though COVID forced them
to sell the distribution rights to Netflix), is one of the best examples in
recent memory of an animated film that thoroughly appeals to both kids and
adults, and to put it simply, it’s easy to see why. While they’re only involved
with it as producers, this film clearly benefits from the influence of the
dynamic duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller as writers/directors Mike Rianda and
Jeff Rowe craft an unabashedly wacky yet wholly poignant story with strong
themes. And while the film does take a lot of inspiration from modern internet
culture, it doesn’t go overboard with this stuff to the point where it’s only
accessible to those who are the most well-versed with it. Whereas early
trailers may’ve suggested that it would largely be based around the traditional
‘technology vs. nature’ debate, the film instead focuses more on themes such as
the unbreakable bond of family and the beauty of one’s individuality,
especially as seen through of the eyes of its incredibly sympathetic
protagonist Katie Mitchell. As a result, <i>The Mitchells vs. the Machines </i>is
a film that successfully manages to present some of the funniest <b><i>AND </i></b>most
emotional cinematic moments in recent years, thus making it yet another rousing
success for the big-name talents who worked on it. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>2. RAYA AND THE
LAST DRAGON<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFR41b5iwbP_pAFHO44mLsghyV7rB4TtfLdu2z7pBRRIAvzufb0JZxoAcWMIGe1ZEpnBG7OCT2z_zTECNQHrw1D_dzmQiYVUfUwDUuFqwvX-OsKyA7e6XobmIPlSqoAwpSPdXgQkE7Q6Lo/s1200/Raya+and+the+Last+Dragon+Disney.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="635" data-original-width="1200" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFR41b5iwbP_pAFHO44mLsghyV7rB4TtfLdu2z7pBRRIAvzufb0JZxoAcWMIGe1ZEpnBG7OCT2z_zTECNQHrw1D_dzmQiYVUfUwDUuFqwvX-OsKyA7e6XobmIPlSqoAwpSPdXgQkE7Q6Lo/w400-h211/Raya+and+the+Last+Dragon+Disney.png" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I wouldn’t be surprised if this film’s higher placement over
<i>The Mitchells vs. the Machines </i>may garner some backlash from animation
fans, mainly by way of me potentially being accused of playing it safe and
preferring the more mainstream works of Walt Disney Animation over something
that’s more of a creatively unique venture. To be clear, though, these films
are practically interchangeable at this point when it comes to their spots
amongst my favorite films of the year and none of this is meant to be any kind
of statement on their quality because they’re both fantastic. Case in point, <i>Raya
and the Last Dragon </i>is, big surprise, another smash hit for Walt Disney
Animation as directors Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada create a highly
entertaining action-adventure that pays full tribute to the Southeast Asian
culture that inspired it. Simply put, there’s a lot to love about this film;
gorgeous animation, a lovable cast of main protagonists, the fact that it made
the effortlessly adorable Kelly Marie Tran the latest and greatest Disney
princess heroine, etc. Ultimately, though, one of the greatest things about
this film is its utterly timely themes of unity. Given that the bulk of the
plot revolves around its titular heroine’s quest to reunite the five factions
of her homeland of Kumandra, which has been torn apart by greed and mistrust,
it goes without saying that several key moments in this film feel like they’ve
been ripped straight from the real world. As a result of all this, <i>Raya and
the Last Dragon </i>very much succeeds in being a prime example of Walt Disney Animation’s
newly minted Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee’s goal of creating more
diverse Disney stories. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>1. IN THE HEIGHTS<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRO9meIUqP5QQX9VKykpRtRYI9HMsMwwF6-VZ877MIDTR0wNdHRnJI-CD9VrikYkzOpRHGJ4WcNEyF0ZmFw0u73RKy9eK4XBoXJheoWw3lnjvJQ7DT3gvfXMsN4avU8Z9MQCLt0ZGhZYSo/s1200/In+the+Heights.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="1200" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRO9meIUqP5QQX9VKykpRtRYI9HMsMwwF6-VZ877MIDTR0wNdHRnJI-CD9VrikYkzOpRHGJ4WcNEyF0ZmFw0u73RKy9eK4XBoXJheoWw3lnjvJQ7DT3gvfXMsN4avU8Z9MQCLt0ZGhZYSo/w400-h266/In+the+Heights.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">You ever find yourself in a situation where you’re going to
see a new film and, based on what you’ve seen from the marketing, think to
yourself that it’s practically guaranteed to be something that you’re going to
love? Well, for me, this scenario very much applied to <i>In the Heights</i>,
the film adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical of the same name that
was the first big success for the one and only Lin-Manuel Miranda several years
before <i>Hamilton </i>made him a household name. And just like its source
material, the film adaptation of <i>In the Heights </i>is an utterly delightful
musical that celebrates universal themes such as family and the strength of
one’s community. Under Jon M. Chu’s fantastic direction, the film boasts
visually stunning musical numbers and features an all-star cast that’s headlined
by one of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s most notable disciples, Anthony Ramos, in the starring
role that Miranda originated on Broadway. Now, yes, I’d be remiss if I didn’t
mention the fact that this film ended up attracting some negative publicity
after its release for not being entirely accurate with its ethnically diverse
casting (which, ironically, wouldn’t be the first time that this happened to a
Jon M. Chu film as <i>Crazy Rich Asians </i>faced a similar controversy). However,
I personally feel that this shouldn’t completely overshadow what is, at its
core, a powerful feel-good drama that follows a group of lovable protagonists as
they go about their daily lives in their hometown of Washington Heights. Thus,
if you haven’t seen it yet (which may account for many of you given its
surprisingly mediocre box-office performance), I highly recommend that you do
so because, without taking that whole diversity scandal into account, I honestly
can’t think of anything bad to say about it.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And that concludes the
2021 installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Annual Midyear Recap. As
always, I want to thank you all for joining me on this little adventure regardless
of how it ultimately took me a much longer time to finish this post than it
probably should’ve. As I alluded to in the intro, I know that I’ve been vastly
behind schedule when it comes to the content that I’ve been publishing on this
site. There are a few reasons for this that I won’t exactly get into right now
(nothing bad, for the record, it’s just that there have been other things that’ve
taken up a lot of my time recently), but like I said before, this doesn’t mean
that I’ve stopped doing what I’ve been doing for the past decade. Case in
point, proper reviews for the films in today’s post that I haven’t already
covered are in the works, starting with the one that I’ve been working on for <i>The
Mitchells vs. The Machines</i> which I’ll try to finish in the next week or so.
And sure enough, there are plenty more reviews to look forward to now that new
theatrical releases are starting to get back on track, from <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9376612/" target="_blank">all the</a> <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9032400/" target="_blank">new MCU films</a> <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10872600/" target="_blank">coming out</a> (and yes, that includes all the recent Disney+ shows, which I
plan to cover in some kind of ‘event week’) to highly anticipated releases such
as Denis Villeneuve’s <i>Dune </i>and, after all its delays, Daniel Craig’s
final James Bond film, <i>No Time to Die</i>. Not only that, but if all goes
well, you can look forward to the return of another RIMC tradition at the end
of the summer. Simply put, words cannot describe how great it feels knowing
that the cinematic experience has returned!<o:p></o:p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAF0P4sfZufqeG1fA4Mpe2Q8vnz-BDnnlnC8uJ7qrdgNcIygMhWzEP8HbcV1Acn_K_JqqFOeKcRq5fR8H9J7MvPwpnSKx-aR0DUU8KwqHru21nFE9ZlFtiH9IMz8pAawqL75Xu8ehqi0h/s498/Film+Countdown.gif" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="280" data-original-width="498" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEAF0P4sfZufqeG1fA4Mpe2Q8vnz-BDnnlnC8uJ7qrdgNcIygMhWzEP8HbcV1Acn_K_JqqFOeKcRq5fR8H9J7MvPwpnSKx-aR0DUU8KwqHru21nFE9ZlFtiH9IMz8pAawqL75Xu8ehqi0h/w400-h225/Film+Countdown.gif" width="400" /></a></div>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-75373054710429979732021-06-20T19:00:00.000-04:002021-06-20T19:00:02.393-04:00Super 8 (2011 - 10th Anniversary) Review<p style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-hGzUdYFEKrmehYAsgt3oSpHHho77LlU-idUereJ24eXheozvHgyzBvfS7KCzg_hyc5Ff7E0y2ntHeiE_v9jcmLuYVD2MDeSF-nSsidtpw5kncw_VTMv2EmJRRVqk0me6lBuJ_iVvun2/s2048/Super+8+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1384" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz-hGzUdYFEKrmehYAsgt3oSpHHho77LlU-idUereJ24eXheozvHgyzBvfS7KCzg_hyc5Ff7E0y2ntHeiE_v9jcmLuYVD2MDeSF-nSsidtpw5kncw_VTMv2EmJRRVqk0me6lBuJ_iVvun2/w270-h400/Super+8+Poster.jpg" width="270" /></a></p><p class="MsoNormal">I don’t always get the chance to do a special ‘Anniversary’
review for a film, but for this year, there was one that I knew that I wanted
to do since the film in question is one of my favorite films of all-time from
one of my favorite directors. Said film came out on June 10<sup>th</sup>, 2011,
a little less than a year before I officially started this site in May of 2012.
Thus, my original review for that film was on my old Rotten Tomatoes account
and the only instances where I’ve ever addressed it on this site were A.)
whenever I mention it as a part of its director’s filmography and B.) an
incredibly old and thoroughly outdated post that I did in 2013 where I listed
my Top 10 Favorite Films of 2011. But today, in honor of the 10<sup>th</sup>
anniversary of its release, it’s time for us to take a proper look at the 2011 sci-fi/monster
adventure, <i>Super 8</i>. <i>Super 8 </i>was the third feature-length
directorial outing from J.J. Abrams and was an original project that he made
in-between the two <i>Star Trek </i>films that he directed, the franchise’s
titular 2009 reboot and its 2013 sequel, <i>Star Trek Into Darkness</i>. Much
of the film was inspired by Abrams’ experiences making Super 8 films when he
was younger, including a notable run-in with none other than the legendary Steven
Spielberg, who had once hired him to repair some of his old Super 8 reels. And
if that wasn’t enough, <i>Super 8 </i>is produced by Spielberg via his
production company, Amblin Entertainment. So, in other words, <i>Super 8 </i>can
very much be described as a modern-day Spielberg film albeit one that wasn’t
directed by the man himself. And while some have argued that its attempts at
paying homage to the films that inspired it may have been a bit too much
(which, ironically, wouldn’t be the only time that this argument has been
applied to a J.J. Abrams film), it’s also one of the main reasons why this film
has thoroughly stuck with me after all these years.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">In 1979 in the town of Lillian, Ohio, teenager Joe Lamb
(Joel Courtney) suffers a devastating tragedy when his mother Elizabeth (Caitriona
Balfe) is killed in a steel factory accident. Several months later, Joe begins
to help his best friend Charles Kaznyk (Riley Griffiths) produce a zombie film
for a local Super 8 film competition along with their friends Cary McCarthy
(Ryan Lee), Martin Reed (Gabriel Basso), and Zach Mills (Preston Scott). Charles
also recruits the help of their classmate Alice Dainard (Elle Fanning) despite
the intense animosity between her father Louis (Ron Eldard) and Joe’s father
Jack (Kyle Chandler), the town’s Deputy Sheriff, for the former’s inadvertent
role in Elizabeth’s death. While filming at a train station one night, they
witness an Air Force train get into a head-on collision with a truck, and while
they barely manage to survive the experience, something mysterious breaks free
from the train that begins to cause a series of strange incidents all over town
with multiple people disappearing. Eventually, the gang realizes that they
managed to get a glimpse of whatever broke out of the train on film, thus
leading them on a journey to try and find it before the Air Force ends up
destroying it. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When people say that this is basically J.J. Abrams’
‘Spielberg film’, it’s admittedly quite easy to see why and not just because
Spielberg himself produced it. From a narrative standpoint, <i>Super 8 </i>thoroughly
maintains a lot of the story beats that defined many of Spielberg’s most iconic
films, especially when it comes to the overall concept of kids from a quiet town
going through a truly otherworldly experience as seen in films like <i>E.T. </i>and
<i>The Goonies </i>(even though Spielberg technically didn’t direct the latter).
And while I know that some critics gave Abrams some major flak for how overt
his homages to Spielberg’s work were, I think that he handles this aspect of
the film excellently, thus giving <i>Super 8</i> a pleasantly nostalgic vibe but
one that’s done under a modern aesthetic. Really, the only ‘Spielberg trope’ that
he didn’t need to utilize here was the decision to not overtly show this film’s
alien creature for most of the run-time. Sure, it worked with the shark in <i>Jaws</i>
but that was back in the ’70s and was a result of Spielberg overcoming the
problems that stemmed from the mechanical sharks that were used during the production which, as you can probably guess, is something that usually isn’t an
issue nowadays in an age where most visual effects are CGI-based. And yet, this
doesn’t prevent the film from being a wholly engaging story that also excellently
hits its biggest emotional beats. I’ve always felt that one of J.J. Abrams’
best traits as a director is his strong handling of a story’s most important
emotional moments and <i>Super 8</i> is another prime example of that as it
explores how both the Lamb and Dainard families have struggled to cope with the
accident that has forever tied them together.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">It also goes without saying that one of the biggest ways in
which this film pays tribute to the Spielberg aesthetic is how it largely
relies on a cast that’s primarily made up of kids. Back when <i>Super 8 </i>first
came out, almost all its young leads were genuine newcomers, and while several
of them have gone on to be in other projects since then, Elle Fanning was basically
the only one of them who had any sort of experience in the industry at that
time. Despite this, however, they all do a fantastic job in their respective
roles. Their camaraderie is top-notch and while the story does mainly focus on
its two main protagonists, Joe and Alice, the other members of the group do get
to have their standout moments, from Charles getting a lot of the best comedic
lines (which helps to make up for his admittedly abrasive personality) and Cary’s
overt obsession with fireworks that other characters find concerning.
Ultimately, though, the biggest stars of the show are Joel Courtney and Elle
Fanning. Fanning is arguably the biggest standout of the entire film,
showcasing some impressive maturity for her age, and while Courtney’s
performance is more subdued by comparison, it still very much feels right in
line with other similarly aged Spielberg-esque protagonists such as Elliott
from <i>E.T.</i> Finally, to close out the main cast, we have a solid trio of
performances from the film’s adult leads; Kyle Chandler as Joe’s father Jack,
who struggles to reconnect with his son, Ron Eldard as Alice’s drunk but
emotionally traumatized father Louis, and Noah Emmerich, who’s appropriately
sinister as Nelec, the Air Force colonel who’s revealed to have a history with
the alien creature that has been unleashed on the town. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I still fondly remember the anticipation that I had for this
film’s release, which all started when its first trailer ran in front of <i>Iron
Man 2 </i>all the way back in 2010. Since this was right around the time that J.J.
Abrams’ first <i>Star Trek </i>film was quickly becoming one of my favorite
films of all time, I was very much hyped to see his next film, especially since
it was going to be produced by the one and only Steven Spielberg. And while I
wouldn’t properly play it until many years after both it and the film’s release,
it’s also cool to note how <i>Super 8</i> was promoted by one of the most
popular video games of the year, <i>Portal 2</i>, which featured an ‘interactive
trailer’ for the film that put players on the Air Force train that carries the
alien creature as it gets into its big crash. Basically, to make a long story
short, <i>Super 8 </i>was a prime example of J.J. Abrams’ ‘mystery box’
approach to marketing his films so that he could avoid the leak of major spoilers.
Granted, this trademark of his ended up attracting a mostly negative reaction
from both critics and audiences due to its debatable effectiveness, especially
in the wake of <i>Star Trek Into Darkness</i>’ big reveal surrounding its take
on the character Khan Noonien Singh. That said, though, I do think that he deserves
credit for what I view as a noble attempt at pulling all this off in an age
where film-related spoilers and leaks are practically commonplace. Now, with all
that in mind, I can freely admit that I don’t necessarily consider <i>Super 8 </i>to
be J.J.’s best film, mostly due to a few plot elements here and there that could’ve
benefitted from some additional development. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Ultimately, though, it’s safe to say that the biggest
talking point surrounding this film was its status as Abrams’ tribute to the
filmography of Steven Spielberg, a move that attracted both its fans… and its
critics. In other words, the discourse surrounding this film isn’t that far off
from the ongoing debate that film fandom has had these past few years about
nostalgia in general and how it’s heavily defined a lot of recent media. Case
in point, as I alluded to back in the intro, this was not the first time (nor
was it the last, for that matter) that a J.J. Abrams film attracted a bunch of
attention over its nostalgic elements; just look at how a nagging nitpick about
<i>The Force Awakens </i>ended up becoming the defining criticism of <i>The
Rise of Skywalker</i>. And yet, as someone who considers himself to have a neutral
stance on the whole nostalgia debate (in other words, someone who’s totally
fine with it but not to the point where it’d cloud my judgment on anything), I believe
that J.J. Abrams very much succeeded in making this his ‘Spielberg film’. In
fact, I’d even bet that anyone who goes into this completely unaware of the
fact that J.J. Abrams directed it wouldn’t have guessed that it wasn’t a Steven
Spielberg directed film until the end credits. In short, while I may not have
been alive during the era in which this film takes place, it wholly succeeds in
bringing you back to a time where Steven Spielberg gave us some of the greatest
films of all-time, effectively making <i>Super 8 </i>the second J.J. Abrams directed
film after 2009’s <i>Star Trek</i> that will always have its place as one of my
favorite films of all time. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>5/5!<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-52752130169571974812021-05-31T21:30:00.000-04:002021-05-31T21:30:03.317-04:00101 Dalmatians - Live-Action Film Series Retrospective<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6bWa4GE41pHfF1jgqo8oDReiEZE_zbKb1Aa-CfSC70MvuSJtOhMwSuTqquNJkd-gupd5Ztu0cE4HAQit02yr_u4Ngu-D9l0VhAWehFrL1UL6zV9xKBnpiiByoHFj0jiyMoYalHNTsrhO/s370/101+Dalmatians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="178" data-original-width="370" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge6bWa4GE41pHfF1jgqo8oDReiEZE_zbKb1Aa-CfSC70MvuSJtOhMwSuTqquNJkd-gupd5Ztu0cE4HAQit02yr_u4Ngu-D9l0VhAWehFrL1UL6zV9xKBnpiiByoHFj0jiyMoYalHNTsrhO/w400-h193/101+Dalmatians.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p class="MsoNormal">Over the past few years, I’ve spent a lot of time discussing
Disney’s recent line of live-action remakes of their iconic animated films.
However, what some Disney fans might not realize is that while 2010’s <i>Alice
in Wonderland </i>is generally considered to be the film that started this
current trend for the studio, it technically wasn’t the first time that a
live-action Disney remake was made. Instead, that honor goes to 1994’s <i>Rudyard
Kipling’s The Jungle Book</i>, which was released 22 years before Jon Favreau’s
big-budget reimagining of Disney’s 1967 animated classic in 2016. However, for
the purpose of today’s retrospective, we’ll be focusing on the other major live-action
Disney remake that was made in the ’90s, <i>101 Dalmatians</i>. It all began,
of course, with Disney’s 1961 adaptation of author Dodie Smith’s <i>The Hundred
and One Dalmatians</i>. Upon its release, the film proved to be the much-needed
hit that the studio needed after 1959’s <i>Sleeping Beauty </i>ended up being a
bit of a commercial dud for them. Part of the reason why was due to <i>One
Hundred and One Dalmatians </i>sporting a much smaller budget by comparison thanks
in large part to a new animation process known as xerography. Developed by Walt
Disney’s long-time collaborator Ub Iwerks, this system allowed for the direct
transfer of the animators’ drawings to animation cels, thus avoiding the inking
step of the classic ink-and-paint process, and while this method did result in
the film’s animation not being as polished as other Disney films, it was
exactly what the studio needed to keep production costs down. And with an
overall lifetime gross of around $303 million worldwide (a total that
skyrockets up to over $936 million when adjusted for inflation) and strong
reviews from critics, <i>One Hundred and One Dalmatians </i>still stands as one
of Disney Animation’s most highly acclaimed films.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But for many people, one of the biggest reasons for the
film’s success was its legendary main antagonist, Cruella de Vil, a sinister
heiress who kidnaps all but two of the titular 101 Dalmatians so that she can
use their fur for coats. Since then, Cruella has easily been one of Disney’s
most iconic villains, and sure enough, when it comes to the original film’s
live-action remake, many would agree that the best thing about it is Cruella
herself, portrayed by the legendary Glenn Close. In fact, I think it’s safe to
say that for an entire generation or two, Glenn Close’s take on Cruella de Vil
is generally regarded as the definitive interpretation of the character. But this
week, we have ourselves a new spin on the iconic villainess as Emma Stone takes
on the role in Disney’s latest live-action reimagining, <i>Cruella</i>, a
prequel-style story that delves into the events that made Cruella de Vil… well,
Cruella de Vil. Glenn Close will still be involved, however, as an executive producer,
and so, in honor of the new film’s release, today we’ll be looking at the two
films that gave us just one of the numerous iconic performances in Close’s
career; the 1996 live-action remake of <i>101 Dalmatians </i>and its 2000
sequel, <i>102 Dalmatians</i>. Now, as per usual with these franchise-based retrospectives
that I do, we’ll only be focusing on theatrically released films, which means
that we won’t be covering any other installments of the <i>101 Dalmatians </i>franchise.
This includes both of its animated TV shows (the 90’s series created by <i>Doug
</i>creator Jim Jinkins and the newer <i>101 Dalmatian Street</i>), the direct-to-video
sequel <i>101 Dalmatians II: Patch’s London Adventure</i>, or Cruella’s appearances
in shows like <i>Once Upon a Time</i> and the first <i>Descendants </i>film. And
so, without further ado, it’s time to start playing Roger Radcliffe’s classic
song that reminds us that “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbsR6_b-xJQ" target="_blank">if she doesn’t scare you, no evil thing will</a>” as we
look at one of Disney’s initial attempts at making a live-action remake out of
their animated filmography.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">But first, just for
fun, let’s go over the original…<o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>ONE HUNDRED AND
ONE DALMATIANS (ANIMATED – 1961)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNm42X4e5ZrfEOnCY8T2ikl8P8iO9er91IQBH90FKt_QH2IUu0rFizFkSXOMsgS5gB6UWE1cby0uR29VxEL4CtyvD4B_ou2Z8KiibcSrma0eYc29426vyqTy_zOPk_5KsBhR3fUuLjScHp/s722/101+Dalmatians+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="722" data-original-width="535" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNm42X4e5ZrfEOnCY8T2ikl8P8iO9er91IQBH90FKt_QH2IUu0rFizFkSXOMsgS5gB6UWE1cby0uR29VxEL4CtyvD4B_ou2Z8KiibcSrma0eYc29426vyqTy_zOPk_5KsBhR3fUuLjScHp/w296-h400/101+Dalmatians+Poster.jpg" width="296" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">As longtime visitors of this site will no doubt recall, I
covered this film back in 2016 in the 1960s/1970s installment of my <i>Disney
Retrospective </i>series. Back then, I noted that I found the film to be
solidly entertaining even though I admittedly found its second half, when Pongo
and Perdita head out to rescue their puppies, to be better than its first half.
And when I ranked all 55 of the then-currently released films made by Walt
Disney Animation Studios (this was right before the release of <i>Moana</i>,
for the record), I ended up placing it right around the middle of the list at
#34. Upon my most recent re-watch of the film for the purposes of <b><i>this </i></b>retrospective,
I found that my thoughts on it hadn’t changed too much. That said, though,
while I still think that the film’s best moments come in its second half since
that’s where many of the best humorous bits occur thanks in large part to
Cruella and her bumbling henchmen Horace and Jasper, I’m a lot more positive about
the first half of the film than I was a few years ago. At the very least, it does
have its moments and it does a nice job of setting everything up (the relationships
of both Roger and Anita and their dogs Pongo and Perdita, building up Cruella
and her evil plans, etc.). And despite the whole thing about the xerography
method of animation producing much less refined visuals compared to other Disney
films, I think that this film’s animation is still quite good, for the most
part, as it helps give it a charmingly old-fashioned look that fits in nicely
with the story’s London setting. With all this in mind, it’s easy to see why
the original <i>Hundred and One Dalmatians </i>is still widely considered to be
one of Disney’s most beloved films. While it may not be one of my ‘top’ favorite
Disney films, there’s no denying that it’s a delightful comedic romp headlined
by an unforgettable villain and that indisputable Disney charm. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>101 DALMATIANS
(LIVE-ACTION – 1996)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVbYvXl7P_alLIBQLQ0xf38Kxb57kBZMzss9G6cehSXbNyGGDAZr-m5TblzogIOKttmSsAGHFnuPtS14Tk4XdYb-CIS2OGuoYEoNuZ70N7kRhi7-4FEkrltUYkfVV28sBCXJXXFR_7MBQj/s755/101+Dalmatians+LiveAction+Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="510" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVbYvXl7P_alLIBQLQ0xf38Kxb57kBZMzss9G6cehSXbNyGGDAZr-m5TblzogIOKttmSsAGHFnuPtS14Tk4XdYb-CIS2OGuoYEoNuZ70N7kRhi7-4FEkrltUYkfVV28sBCXJXXFR_7MBQj/w270-h400/101+Dalmatians+LiveAction+Poster.jpg" width="270" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Looking at this film in 2021 after all the other live-action
Disney remakes that have been made since then, one of the first things that
comes to mind is how relatively modest it is as a remake. Basically, just like
what the remakes of <i>Beauty and the Beast </i>and <i>Aladdin </i>did, this
one presents a straightforward retelling of the original where the biggest
changes are cosmetic in nature, such as Roger being a video game designer
instead of a musician and Cruella being Anita’s boss rather than her old
schoolmate. And unlike nowadays where it’s more common to see filmmakers using
CGI animals to avoid getting into any situations that could put real animals in
harm’s way, this film utilized as many real dogs as it could with only a few
instances of CGI and some animatronics from Jim Henson’s Creature Shop. Really,
it’s sort of more interesting to note some of the folks who worked on this film
behind the scenes such as director Stephen Herek, who made the first <i>Bill and
Ted </i>film and had become a regular director at Disney at that point with
films like <i>The Mighty Ducks</i> and <i>Mr. Holland’s Opus</i>, and
writer/producer John Hughes. Yes, this was one of many projects that Hughes
worked on in the ’90s, although admittedly, this was at a point where many
critics felt that his work was starting to delve into more juvenile territory
given the overly slapsticky nature of most of them. And yet, while this film
certainly has some of those moments, I don’t think they’re as apparent as they
are in some of his other 90’s films. In short, the live-action <i>101 Dalmatians
</i>is a lot like its animated counterpart. The second half is better than the
first, Cruella is still a delightfully over-the-top villainess, and Jasper and
Horace (played here by Hugh Laurie and Mark Williams, respectively) are just as
hilariously bumbling as ever. Overall, I consider this to be one of the weaker
live-action Disney remakes because it doesn’t do as much as some of the others
to truly differentiate itself from the original, but it’s still a solid watch,
especially if you’re amongst the crowd that grew up with it in the late ’90s. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>3.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b>102 DALMATIANS
(2000)<o:p></o:p></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdswEIXp_42C0ewZdGQ3kJq-ouQo2nJNpoFsl0qIazEhPbZGbQSYCLOFPXGVos3VK5avLiDGxrZCqhpnJp3JtRlaK68-Vp7rm0AoYFeHZoVg2BReqKBIKto0BLRU4bXAgyDlN1RPro-Qo7/s755/102+Dalmatians.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="508" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdswEIXp_42C0ewZdGQ3kJq-ouQo2nJNpoFsl0qIazEhPbZGbQSYCLOFPXGVos3VK5avLiDGxrZCqhpnJp3JtRlaK68-Vp7rm0AoYFeHZoVg2BReqKBIKto0BLRU4bXAgyDlN1RPro-Qo7/w269-h400/102+Dalmatians.jpg" width="269" /></a></div><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Despite its mixed reception, the live-action remake of <i>101
Dalmatians </i>was a major success at the box office, grossing over $320.7
million worldwide. Thus, a sequel was put into development soon after with most
of the primary production crew returning save for John Hughes since the studio that
he formed with Disney, Great Oaks Entertainment, ended up shutting down in
1997. It also saw a notable change in director since, just like Stephen Herek, Kevin
Lima is another filmmaker who’s done quite a lot of films with Disney over the
years. This is, after all, the same director who made one of the biggest cult
classics of the ’90s, <i>A Goofy Movie</i>, co-directed the final ‘Disney Renaissance’
film, <i>Tarzan</i>, with <i>Frozen</i>’s Chris Buck, and helmed 2007’s live-action/animated smash hit <i>Enchanted</i>. And yet, while John Hughes may not
have been involved with this film, <i>102 Dalmatians </i>is, ironically, the much
sillier of the two, thus tying into the whole thing that I mentioned earlier
about Hughes’ work taking on a campier tone in the ’90s. Simply put, a film
that includes, among other things, a talking bird named Waddlesworth (voiced by
Eric Idle) that believes he’s a dog can get incredibly damn goofy at times. But
while this does mean that the film is basically geared more towards younger
audiences, it’s still a decently entertaining family flick that has its charming
moments. Plus, whereas the first film’s strict structural adherence to the plot
of the original animated film meant that Glenn Close had a more limited screen-time
than those who haven’t seen it might expect, this one gives Cruella a more
prominent role in the story, thus giving us more of Close’s delightfully over-the-top
antics.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But to me, one of the most unique aspects of this film… is
the fact that I have more of a history with it than I do with its predecessor. A
few years back when I did a retrospective on Disney’s <i>Honey, I Shrunk the
Kids </i>franchise, I noted that I technically had more experience with that
franchise’s direct-to-video sequel <i>Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves </i>than I did
the original <i>Honey I Shrunk the Kids</i> since the former frequently aired
on Disney Channel. As for the original, my first proper viewing of it… was when
I watched it for that retrospective. And yes, folks, we have an eerily similar situation
with these live-action <i>Dalmatians </i>films. While I do believe that there’s
a strong possibility that I did watch the first film when I was younger (even
though I honestly can’t remember at this point), I watched <i>102 Dalmatians </i>quite
a lot back then. Granted, I don’t exactly recall seeing it in theaters (again,
maybe I did, I don’t know…) but it was one of the first films that I distinctly
remember owning on DVD along with its video game tie-in for the Game Boy Color,
<i>102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue</i>. So, with that in mind, I’ll admit
that there may be some nostalgia-based bias when it comes to my thoughts on
this film given everything that I just talked about, but overall, I think that <i>102
Dalmatians </i>is a genuinely harmless follow-up that’s largely on par with its
predecessor. Like I said before, though, this is also one of those instances
where younger audiences will most likely get more enjoyment out of it than
adults. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>3.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">And that concludes
Rhode Island Movie Corner’s retrospective on the live-action <i>101 Dalmatians </i>films
(plus a quick reappraisal of the 1961 animated classic). Admittedly, it will be
a little while before I publish my review of <i>Cruella </i>given the current
backlog of posts that I’m working on, but I promise that it will come
eventually. Until then, thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in
the comments below with your own personal memories of these films.<o:p></o:p></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqBhJUjXBHg" target="_blank">TODAY'S RETROSPECTIVE HAS BEEN BROUGHT TO YOU BY KANINE KRUNCHIES!</a></b></p><p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKg8madyfs_6gDQqYBVGaq3Ojl9oL2xaQnpflJmtS3sxN-7LlkUIAK5fqIwy8ScRWelNCnaNGRzS9lIW9GPYH9H161OUeSz0LrihVvTxw0UML59eJfB020UsTNMAb_qurOBQgFJLfz-1xs/s736/Kanine+Krunchies.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="525" data-original-width="736" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKg8madyfs_6gDQqYBVGaq3Ojl9oL2xaQnpflJmtS3sxN-7LlkUIAK5fqIwy8ScRWelNCnaNGRzS9lIW9GPYH9H161OUeSz0LrihVvTxw0UML59eJfB020UsTNMAb_qurOBQgFJLfz-1xs/w400-h285/Kanine+Krunchies.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-229404454011309359.post-48819570667498328432021-05-14T12:20:00.001-04:002021-05-14T12:20:35.397-04:00Mortal Kombat (2021) review (Theatrical/HBO Max)<p style="text-align: center;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlyBKGQrliLmnLlp-qF9dOdZMsTJZyBZSP-yTKTOD-x_wBf7HjMfX4ydF9u1IO3MwW5Eg20r2oI07cWrcJgzYKToN2DT-TUE2jp-sC6i6lW7MP1GT8FjvIbwDVnmxPUgwM6zmm74evU0D/s755/Mortal+Kombat+2021+Poster.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="755" data-original-width="509" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnlyBKGQrliLmnLlp-qF9dOdZMsTJZyBZSP-yTKTOD-x_wBf7HjMfX4ydF9u1IO3MwW5Eg20r2oI07cWrcJgzYKToN2DT-TUE2jp-sC6i6lW7MP1GT8FjvIbwDVnmxPUgwM6zmm74evU0D/w270-h400/Mortal+Kombat+2021+Poster.jpg" width="270" /></a> </div><p></p><p class="MsoNormal">In 1992, Midway Games released a new arcade fighting game, <i>Mortal
Kombat</i>. Created by Ed Boon and John Tobias, the game was originally set to
be an adaptation of that year’s sci-fi action film <i>Universal Soldier </i>starring
Jean-Claude Van Damme; but, when that idea ultimately went nowhere, it was
transformed into a more fantastical fighting game defined by its incredibly
graphic finishing moves known as ‘Fatalities’. And while those Fatalities ended
up putting the game in some major hot water with certain crowds to the point
where it was largely responsible for creating North America’s video game rating
system, the ESRB, it also helped make <i>Mortal Kombat </i>an instant staple of
both the arcade and home consoles once the game was adapted to the latter
format. Since then, the series has spawned numerous follow-ups and spin-offs
that have sold around 54 million copies worldwide, and in 1995, it was brought
to the big screen courtesy of director Paul W.S. Anderson. Upon its release,
the first <i>Mortal Kombat </i>film<i> </i>did incredibly well financially, and
despite a generally mixed critical reception, mainly due to it being a heavily
toned-down take on the series so that it could maintain a PG-13 rating, it was
enough of a hit with fans that, even nowadays, it is still considered to be one
of the better films based on a hit video game. However, the same can’t be said
for its 1997 sequel, <i>Mortal Kombat: Annihilation</i>, which, despite
boasting a budget nearly double the size of the original, somehow ended up
being an all-around cheaper production that promptly killed any chances for a
third installment.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes, because of how disastrous <i>Annihilation </i>turned
out, a planned third installment spent several years stuck in development hell.
It wasn’t until 2010 after Warner Bros purchased the franchise rights from
Midway when the latter declared bankruptcy when this proposed threequel was
finally shelved in favor of a full-on cinematic reboot. Originally, the project
was set to be developed by director Kevin Tancharoen and writer Oren Uziel, who
garnered a lot of attention that year when they made an eight-minute fan film, <i>Mortal
Kombat: Rebirth</i>. The short proved to be such a big hit that Warner Bros and
NetherRealm Studios granted Tancharoen the opportunity to make a web series
based on the franchise, <i>Mortal Kombat: Legacy</i>, which ran for two seasons
from 2011 to 2013. And while Tancharoen was then officially tapped to direct
the reboot, he ultimately backed out of the production a month after <i>Legacy</i>’s
conclusion. Thankfully, this wouldn’t be the end for the new <i>Mortal Kombat </i>film
as James Wan (who, at the time, was steadily becoming one of the most prominent
directors in the industry) signed on to produce it in 2015 with commercial
director Simon McQuoid stepping in as its new director. And now, nearly two and
a half decades after the franchise’s previous cinematic incarnation fizzled
out, the new <i>Mortal Kombat </i>film is upon us and promises to be a far more
faithful take on the franchise, especially due to its R-rating. As you might
have guessed, this means that we finally get to witness the <i>Mortal Kombat</i>
franchise’s infamous ‘fatalities’ in this all-around crowd-pleaser that may be
far from perfect but still manages to deliver on some utterly satisfying fan service.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">For the past several centuries, the fate of humanity has
been dependent on the results of an intense tournament known as Mortal Kombat
that involves warriors from Earth, AKA Earthrealm, and the dark and mysterious dimension
known as Outworld. Unfortunately, for the people of Earthrealm, Outworld has
won the last nine tournaments, and if they win the next one, said victory will
allow the sinister sorcerer Shang Tsung (Chin Han) and his constituents the
opportunity to conquer Earthrealm. Thus, with the threat of Shang Tsung’s wrath
more prevalent than ever before, Lord Raiden (Tadanobu Asano), the god of
Thunder and protector of Earthrealm, begins to assemble a varied collection of
warriors, including Shaolin monk Liu Kang (Ludi Lin) and vicious mercenary Kano
(Josh Lawson), to train for the tournament. Another notable recruit is Cole
Young (Lewis Tan), an MMA fighter who learns that he has a significant
connection to Hanzo Hasashi (Hiroyuki Sanada), a warrior from 17<sup>th</sup> century
Japan who was killed by one of Shang Tsung’s warriors, Bi-Han AKA Sub-Zero (Joe
Taslim). As the Earthrealm crew soon discovers, however, Shang Tsung has no
intent on playing fair as he unleashes his minions upon them to ensure that no
one can get in the way of their conquest. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">One of the first questions that I’m sure a lot of people have
about this film is if it manages to deliver on <i>Mortal Kombat</i>’s trademark
violence in ways that the 1995 film didn’t, and simply put, it does. Now,
obviously, it doesn’t go ‘all out’ with its violence to avoid getting hit with
the dreaded NC-17 rating (which means that it’s objectively less violent than
the games themselves), but still, what’s there is presented in all its ridiculously
messed-up glory thanks to the film’s excellent action sequences that, for the
most part, help to make up for its narrative shortcomings. For one thing, given
that this is clearly meant to be a ‘franchise starter’ film, it starts off on a
bit of a slow note (not counting the excellent pre-title sequence that sets up
the conflict between Hanzo Hasashi AKA Scorpion and Bi-Han AKA Sub-Zero,
arguably the franchise’s most popular characters) in its efforts to set up the plot
and the world of <i>Mortal Kombat</i>. It also doesn’t help that, when it comes
to said plot and character development, it’s a lot of generically basic material,
especially when it comes to the film’s main protagonist Cole Young, a film-exclusive
character who’s mainly just your typical audience surrogate. Despite all this,
however, it all comes together nicely in the film’s second half since that’s where
all the best action sequences occur along with some great nods to the franchise,
including a pitch-perfect utilization of the franchise’s iconic theme song, ‘Techno
Syndrome’ by The Immortals. In short, it’s a lot like what happened with the
first <i>Avengers</i>, which also had a basic plot and started off rather slow but
then got going at just the right time to deliver on exactly what fans had come
to see. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">When it comes to the previous live-action <i>Mortal Kombat </i>films,
their casting efforts admittedly garnered mixed results. While the first film
featured standout performances from the likes of Christopher Lambert as Raiden
and Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa as Shang Tsung, the rest of the cast could be hit or
miss, which only proceeded to get worse with the sequel, <i>Annihilation</i>,
especially since more than half of the main protagonists were recast. Thankfully,
this isn’t the case with the 2021 reboot, which spawns a much better all-around
ensemble. Despite what I said earlier about his character being a basic
audience surrogate who is largely overshadowed by all the other classic <i>Mortal
Kombat </i>characters, Lewis Tan does headline the film nicely as Cole Young. The
same goes for Jessica McNamee in the lead female role of Sonya Blade, who gets
a bit more to work with as her arc revolves around her efforts to prove herself
since she’s not immediately tapped as one of Earthrealm’s heroes. Ultimately,
though, the biggest standouts of the cast are its supporting players such as
Ludi Lin and Max Huang as the duo of Liu Kang and Kung Lao and Josh Lawson, who’s
a full-on comedic riot as the hilariously scummy Kano. And then there’s the duo
of Sub-Zero and Scorpion who, despite their enduring popularity, were mostly
underused in the original <i>Mortal Kombat </i>films. It’s a much different
story in this film, though, with Joe Taslim being perfectly intimidating as Sub-Zero
and Hiroyuki Sanada getting some of the best dramatic moments in the film even
if Scorpion isn’t in it as much by comparison. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t have much of a
history with the <i>Mortal Kombat </i>games. In fact, to be perfectly honest, the
build-up to this film’s release was the main reason why I’ve even started
playing them recently since my only real experiences with the franchise
beforehand was via the original films and the rare instances where I came
across an <i>MK </i>game in an arcade. And when it comes to the latter, I do
mean ‘rare’ since once I was old enough to legitimately show any kind of
interest in the franchise, it was at a point where most arcades began to rely
more on newer games rather than older ones. Nevertheless, I was well aware of the
franchise during my teenaged years, which then led to me watching the undeniably
flawed but largely entertaining 1995 film adaptation… and its infamously
horrendous 1997 sequel. And now that I’ve seen this new one, I can safely say
that 2021’s <i>Mortal Kombat </i>is the series’ best film adaptation yet and
one of the best video game films ever made, even if the latter half of that statement
isn’t saying much given most of the other films in the genre. Now, don’t get me
wrong, it’s far from perfect; it takes a while to get going and is as basic as
you can get from a narrative perspective. And yet, thanks to an awesome second
half that gives us much of what has made this the smash hit of a franchise that
it is, this is very much the snazzy and highly faithful big-budget cinematic
take on <i>Mortal Kombat </i>that fans have been waiting to see for years. As
such, I’m sure I’m not the only one who would love to see this get a sequel
that, should it follow the example of the best parts of its predecessor, could be
an even better showcase of everything that is <i><b><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rehmdUP13kc" target="_blank">MORTAL KOMBAT</a>!!!</b></i><o:p></o:p></p>
<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">Rating: <b><i>4.5/5<o:p></o:p></i></b></p>-S.N.http://www.blogger.com/profile/11717750395482417388noreply@blogger.com0