That was probably the most suspenseful documentary I've ever seen, even though I knew the outcome from the start. I hope we continue seeing more brave souls like Mr. Snowden step forward and call govenments and agencies out on their complete abuse of power.
Robot Dreams is the kind of movie that will really re-affirm my love for the animation medium. What sets it apart for me is the storytelling style is more like an actual piece of cinema than most animations. Pablo Berger's directing chops are on full display here.
There is also a very impressive amount of detail in nearly every shot. There's obviously the city shots which have detailed backgrounds, but what really caught me off guard is a scene which depicts electronic repair. I'm no expert on that subject, but I do know enough to see that the animation team carefully studied reference material and I wouldn't be surprised if we got a true to life display of it. They didn't need to do that, the movie would've carried on just fine had they cut some corners, but they didn't. That is just one of the many ways Robot Dreams tells me that it was a labor of love.
I have to agree with many reviews that the ending has a lot of weight, and is unexpected for a movie like this.
I'm glad this got nominated for Best Animated Feature, and I do think it should've won as well, but that's how the Academy tends to be. Regardless, this is easily my favorite movie of 2024 so far, and I hope Pablo Berger considers doing more animated projects like this, I think his presence in the genre would be very valuable.
The second feature from film collective Crazy Pictures, UFO Sweden definitely is a step up from their first (The Unthinkable, 2018).
We find a more mature writing style, one that lends itself well to a deeper story rather than an effects reel.
CP has a tendency to write protagonists that are hard to root for. Unlike most, I don't think that necessarily makes for a worse movie, but I did find myself questioning the motivations for certain decisions made by the main character.
I was impressed with the acting, especially that of Jesper Barkselius and Sara Shirpey.
For a modern Swedish film, it's a cut above, and I recommend it. Crazy Pictures has more maturing to do, but they're headed in the right direction. I'm excited for whatever comes next.
This movie didn't need a sequel, but I was hoping if it was gonna get one, it wouldn't be as GOD AWFUL as this one. Yikes.
I have a lot of thoughts about this movie and it's pretty much all positive. Mutant Mayhem is a winner.
First, hats off to the entire animation department. This is even more proof that we're in a new age of 3D/CGI animated movies. I know a lot of people are going to compare this to Spider-verse, which in essence is fair because this is yet another "on two's" style animated movie. That said, I don't think they are very similar stylistically other than that. Mutant Mayhem employs thicker, bolder textures and looks almost claymated, whereas Spider-verse uses thinner, sharper lines and lends a lot more inspiration from comics.
Voice cast killed it, including Rogen. The turtles feel like they're actual teenagers in this movie which is refreshing. Superfly (Ice Cube) was a great villain with plenty of range. Mondo Gecko (Paul Rudd) also deserves a special shoutout for being a very likable character.
Went in without knowing Trent Reznor made the soundtrack but it immediately stood out to me as a high point for the movie, the licensed tracks especially never felt out of place, quite the opposite.
I think the only thing I would criticize this movie for would be the storyline, it's not remarkable or new, even for the turtles. This being said it's hard for me to put fault on that when the movie is casually self-aware about this. It's also not annoying or self-referential like I was expecting, since many movies like this are.
If you're a Tutrtles fan you're already watching this, but for those who are fairly unfamiliar with the franchise (like me), this is an origin story and you won't feel out of place watching it. I'm stoked for any potential sequel!
Dreamworks is capable of making excellent stuff, like "The Bad Guys". But every so often they turn around and drop something like this on us.
There's almost nothing good to say about this. The only good aspects of "A Very Bad Holiday" are only there thanks to the source material. It's pretty clear to me that the budget for this was very strained, and I'm sure it was rushed as well.
The story makes no sense, the characters look like they're need their joints lubricated, and while I can understand not going with the all-star cast for a short christmas special, the acting that was delivered left a lot to be desired.
I'm glad Dreamworks seems to enjoy this IP and are making more things with it, but in order for it to be good, it needs a certain level of love and care put into it (that includes giving the project a reasonable budget). Unfortunately, love and care was sorely lacking here.
Better luck next time.
I can't speak on how historically accurate this movie is because I didn't follow Amy's life or career at any point really. I think her voice was great and she could certainly knock out some tunes, that's about as far as my knowledge goes on her.
With that said, nothing about the footage stood out to me as astounding or particularly creative, which could be a conscious choice as to not "get in the way" of the story, although I do tend to prefer a little bit of visual flair regardless.
On the whole, this movie certainly left me with a lot to think about, and that to me points to a well-made piece of art. I do think Amy Winehouse deserves a proper biopic and so I hope this did her justice, but again I simply do not know.
I recommend giving this a watch if you're even mildly interested, but I would advise anyone with drug related trauma to carefully consider whether you should. Back to Black doesn't pull its punches, as one should expect.
Not sure what to make of this one, I like some of what they fleshed out from the original story, for instance, Valenti is not a total villain here, and actually cares about Lyle on some level. I found that a lot of the time the film falls flat on its face and can even be kind of hard to watch. Examples include any time that cat emoted, as well as the "montage" or more appropriately, fancam of moments from the movie itself during its emotional climax.
The animation was surprisingly endearing for a live-action remake so I'll give it that at least. On the whole, I'm just bummed about the missed potential, this could have been much, much better if it weren't for these very avoidable mistakes.
"Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)" (henceforth referred to as "FNAF" in the review) walks a fine line, but still manages to entertain.
I want to get one of the most common critiques of this movie squared away before I get into it; no, FNAF is not scary, because it couldn't be.
The main demographic of the FNAF franchise are young children. This makes it not impossible, but a terrible business move to make it R-rated. Firstly, parents would be outraged (despite the fact that it's entirely on them which movie they bring their children to watch). Kids would also use any method they could to watch it despite such a rating. These reasons would create a lot of bad press for the movie, causing it to lose sales. With that, the final and probably main reason it doesn't have a higher age rating is that the movie would lose a ton of potential sales by excluding its largest demographic. Aiming for a "medium" age rating like PG-13 subjects the film to limitations in terms of how violent and scary it can be, but Universal (rightly in my opinion) deemed it necessary to maximize viewership.
I was fully aware of this being the case when I went to watch the film, and while I would have loved to see an R-rated version of FNAF, I completely understand the reasoning behind it not being so. That is the foundation I'm writing this review on.
FNAF is both cheesy and silly, but finds time to ground itself. The cinematography is average, but the props are excellent. They follow the source material very well and look sufficiently realistic.
The writing and acting are the main things stopping FNAF from completely surpassing my expectations. Sometimes these factors make the film stumble.
I find the most redeeming quality of FNAF is its entertainment value. I had so much fun watching it, especially with my friends, who were both able to provide important context for the lore, and provide lots of laughs at the most bizarre parts.
I'm only a passive enjoyer of the source material in that I've watched some people play the games on YouTube and the like. Without any prior context I think this film might be a miss for most people, because it can be hard to follow the reasoning for certain characters decisions without understanding the lore behind the franchise first. On the other hand, I think it was appropriate to go this route as many if not most of the viewers will likely be familiar with the source material, and going the other way might leave them disappointed instead.
I couldn't imagine the challenge of abiding to all the necessary limitations of making this film, and I have a lot of respect for the crew for doing what they did with what they could. It could be a lot better, even with these limitations, but it surpassed my expectations well.
Normally I wouldn't give a movie like this such a high score, it didn't actually blow me away in the sense that a cult classic feature film would. But where it really shone for me was with the artstyle and the voice acting. It's only been a few hours since I watched it and I think I'll be rewatching it a short while after posting this review.
It's yet another example of kids entertainment being done right, because anyone can enjoy it just like a kid would.
