Lego Batman Movie Review

February 10, 2017February 10, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

Back in 2014 there was a surprise little movie that took the world by storm called The Lego Movie. Going into it I thought it would be a pun-filled toy movie but it actually was a visually gorgeous, funny, heartfelt treatise on the way children play and think. The Lego Movie showed the randomness of a child’s brain and it had an emotional story between a father and a son that nobody was expecting. It was also so beautiful the way everything flowed like a world of legos really would. In my opinion, The Lego Movie is one of the best animated films of the last 5 years.

So, it was with great anticipation that I went to see the spin-off film The Lego Batman Movie today. The trailers have been hilarious and as I am not the biggest Batman fan I was looking forward to seeing everyone else’s sacred franchise taken down a few pegs. And the result? While I do not think it is as good as The Lego Movie, it is still an entertaining spoof comedy movie that I think any animation or comic book movie fan will enjoy.

The best thing about Lego Batman Movie is the pacing. The jokes start literally before the WB logo and they never stop. This version of Batman is dry, sarcastic and lonely. Most of the movie is various characters like Robin, Barbara Gordon and Alfred trying to get through to him and make him lower his pride to admit he needs help. Robin voiced by Michael Cera is Bruce Wayne’s ward Dick Grayson and is energetic and clingy. Of course, this rubs Batman the wrong way!

But the main thrust of the film is from Zach Galifianakis’ Joker who is upset with Batman because he won’t admit they are arch-rivals and need each other. You get some especially good jokes about Batman v Superman and other Batman versions within the interactions with Joker.

The jokes come quick in Lego Batman Movie and Will Arnett is amazing in the role but they also pack in quite a bit of story into the 104 minute run time. There’s a lot of action and literally every Warner Bros character I could think of.

The animation was also bright and colorful and a lot of fun to watch. The only problem is it lacked the flow of legos that we had in the Lego Movie. When Emmet in Lego Movie would dive into water the waves looked like legos. You don’t really get that here. I guess that’s fine because it is a comic book world where Lego Movie was more of a fantasy world, but I was more dazzled by Lego Movie’s animation.

Also, there’s something about The Lego Movie that felt more memorable. Maybe it’s partly me not being that big of a Batman fan. It felt enjoyable but not something that will stick with me for years to come like Lego Movie did. It’s more of a solid entertaining animated comedy rather than a game changer.

But those are a small criticisms to a very good film. Your entire family will like it and it was certainly nice to see something self-aware and humorous from the world of comic book films and DC.

If you see it let me know what you think. How does it compare with Lego Movie to you?

Overall Grade- B+

Surf’s Up 2: Wave Mania Review

February 4, 2017May 17, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

There are some projects that are just bad ideas. You get the most brilliant writers around and they might be passable films but the ideas are bad. Surf’s Up 2: WaveMania is one of those films. It’s just a bad idea from beginning to end. It’s such a bad idea that Sony, the studio behind Smurf’s 2 and the Emoji Movie, didn’t even have the confidence to release it in the theater. It is an absolutely atrocious film in every way including the fact it stinks up a charming original film.

After all, Surf’s Up was nominated for an Oscar back in 2007. It was a unique little animated mockumentary about a Antarctic penguin who dreams of becoming a professional surfer. It’s not the greatest movie ever made but for what it is, it is an enjoyable watch. The writing is particularly good as it pokes fun at sports documentaries and movies.

Unfortunately all of the appeal of the original film is lost in this terrible sequel. The problems start with the premise. WWE stars play a group called The Hang 5 that Cody idolizes. This doesn’t jive with the original documentary because then his motivation was surfing not the Hang 5.

Even if I ignore that continuity problem, the premise is terrible. The Hang 5 are voiced by WWE wrestlers including John Cena, The Undertaker, Triple H and more. This stunt casting does nothing for the story except for to provide a couple of inside jokes that I did not understand.

Cody does hardly any surfing in the movie and it feels like it keeps reinventing itself every 10 minutes. One minute it is Indiana Jones, another it is Mission Impossible or Point Break. The list could go on. None of these characters have any charisma or personality

Jeremy Shada steps in for Shia LaBeoulf as Cody and you can tell. All of the voice acting feels bored but it is tough since the characters aren’t written in an interesting or satisfying way.

About 1/3rd of way through they are in the desert looking for some clue and I had no idea what they were doing with it but not in a good way. For most of it I was extremely bored and disengaged and I didn’t laugh at all

Normally I would be able to recommend something like this to kids but I really can’t here. There is absoloutely nothing for a child’s intellect or creativity in all of this nonsense.

The animation isn’t even very good. It looks cheap because it was cheap.

I feel like I should have more to say on Surf’s Up 2 but I honestly don’t. It wasn’t funny, engaging, well executed or anything like the original film.

I just have to say to the WWE= get the heck out of my animated film!

Overall Grade- D-

Sundance 2017 Recap

February 2, 2017February 17, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

So, last week I attended the Sundance Film Festival for the first time. Last year I went to one movie at the festival but this was my first year actually attending. I would have updated you guys sooner but I’ve been very sick.

As far as the festival as a whole it was a good experience. I’m not sure if I will want to do it again because all the driving definitely got old. I’m not used to driving into Salt Lake every single day and it gave me a renewed appreciation for the people do that commute each day. It would make me nuts!

I ended up seeing 10 movies. One film, Band Aid, that I wanted to see I arrived within the 15 minute window before the movie starts and they had given my spot away. This was very frustrating as I had left plenty of time but there were 3 accidents slowing things down.

The 10 movies I did see break down like this:

My Life as a Zucchini- I reviewed this film so you have a pretty good idea of what I thought. It’s a very unusual film. Most adult animation isn’t as adorable as this one, which make it feel different. There are shocking story elements but also sweet moments. I can see why some love this film because the animation is amazing and it is refreshing to see something so unique. Still, I personally didn’t love it but liked it. Overall Grade- B
Lady Macbeth- This movie was glossy garbage. Set up as a corset ripping gothic thriller it was laughably bad. The cinematography is beautiful and the lead performance isn’t half bad but there is no chemistry between her and the man she is with. They keep making nonsensical choices and the direction makes odd choices in the guise of art. Like a tense scene will be punctuated by a long look at a cat staring at the camera. Even the fact these 2 people are together makes no sense. Tough to like a romantic thriller with little to no romance. My audience was laughing at supposedly tense scenes. Overall Grade- D-
STEP- The highlight of the festival. This amazing documentary tells the story of 4 high school seniors who have been part of a special inner-city Baltimore charter school. The step competition is merely a footnote to the journey the girls go on. You get to know their families and love the girls so much. The school counselors and teachers work together to save each of these young women. It was inspiring and will make you feel good about the world for a change. I LOVED it! It reminded me of Hoop Dreams. Put it on your calendar for this year. Overall Grade A+
RISE- This was actually 3 episodes of a docu-series about the Native American struggle particularly with the Dakota Pipeline. It was fine and they had good intentions; however, it felt pretty propagandish to me and these kind of political message documentaries aren’t my favorite. It was neat after the screening to hear from the participants and one man sang a Native song. That was better than the movie! Overall Grade- C
Animation Spotlight- I was kind of disappointed by these animated shorts. There were a couple clever shorts but for the most part they were underwhelming and felt derivative of other surrealists like Don Hertzfeldt. They all felt like I had seen better versions by better artists, and so it just ended up being boring. This was a big disappointment as I love animated shorts. Overall Grade- C-
The Good Postman- A wonderful documentary about a man in Bulgaria who decides to do something about the Syrian refugee problem he sees all around him, so he decides to run for mayor. His opponent is hilarious and the characters are delightful. It manages to make important points while still remaining light and cheerful. Could be tighter but still very enjoyable documentary. Overall Grade- B+
Wilson- I was nervous about seeing this because of the content, which is quite strong. However, it’s not one of those comedies that has profanity just to be shocking. At its core it’s actually kind of a sweet story about a man with some seriously strange quirks! Great performances by Laura Dern and Woody Harrelson make it a heart-warming experience. It was lot better than I thought it would be. Overall Grade- B+
The Hero- This is a film where the lead performance is great but the movie he’s in is average. Sam Elliott is terrific as an aging Western movie star (brilliant casting) who finds out he has cancer. The dialogue is well written particularly between Nick Offerman as his best friend and Sam. The romance; however, did not work for me at all and felt extremely contrived and predictable with no chemistry between the couple. Overall Grade- B-
The Yellow Birds- This movie tackles a lot with a brutal story about a group of soldiers in Iraq. Alden Ehrenreich and Ty Sheridan were both great and the cinematography is stunning. It is very impressive how they pulled off the war scenes on such a small budget. Jennifer Aniston is also fantastic as Sheridan’s mother. Unfortunately the movie is held back by using a non-linear timeline so it jumps all over the place from when they first met to overcoming PTSD. The big reveal was shocking but I think it would have been more so with a traditional timeline. Overall Grade- B-
Rebel in the Rye- Fairly standard but impressive biopic about JD Salinger. Nicholas Holt is very good in the lead role and the journey of his writing is well portrayed. His personal descent into isolation was less well done and didn’t feel accurate. Kevin Spacey is fantastic as his teacher who inspires him to write Catcher in the Rye. Overall Grade- B

So the highlight of the festival was definitely STEP and low point Lady Macbeth.

On Thursday I went and saw Silence because I didn’t get into Band Aid. I hated Silence and can read my review of that film here.

Do any of these films sound interesting to you? There were a bunch at Sundance I didn’t get a chance to see but heard great things about like Wind River, Ghost Story and Mudbound. It will be great to see those when they get released to the mainstream.

My Sundance 2017 Preview

January 18, 2017 | Rachel's Reviews

It might seem crazy but this year is my first time attending in mass the Sundance Film Festival! Last year I went as a guest of rotoscopers.com to review the film Snowtime and interview the creators but I didn’t really attend the festival. This will be my first time really attending every day and I’m very excited!

The reason I have been reticent to attend in the past is the lack of ratings for the films. Sundance films are more artistic in nature and so I worried I would be wasting my money on films I wouldn’t want to see content-wise. Well, this year I figured I’d give it a shot and if a film is super bad I can always leave. Nothing ventured, nothing gained right? 🙂

Make sure you follow me on snapcat @smilingldsgirl and on other social media because I will update throughout the days on how my experience is going and what I think about the films I see. But I thought it would be fun to give you a preview of what I am seeing.

My Life as a Zucchini-

The first and probably most highly anticipated is the animated film My Life as a Zucchini. This is a stop motion animated Swiss film about a little boy who deals with his grief while becoming a part of a new group home.

Lady Macbeth-

I’m a little nervous about this one because it looks pretty steamy but I love Macbeth so much and I thought it looked like a good film. The tagline is “Alfred Hitchcock meets Wuthering Heights” caught my interest. I would share the trailer but it is very spoilery and so I’d rather you not see it. The movie is about a shut in in 1865 who is basically kept inside by her husband. She meets and falls in love with a servant and the story goes from there.

STEP-

This is a documentary about a group of high school seniors from Baltimore who are part of a step dance team and their struggles to get into college and compete.

RISE-

Billed as a docuseries, RISE is 3 episodes about the struggle of Native Americans and indigenous citizens. There is a Q and A after so I hope it is good! I see both RISE and Step on my birthday so another reason to hope they are good.

Animation Spotlight-

Of course I had to see this. It is 10 shorts in a variety of styles and subject matter. I think they will be pretty great!

The Good Postman-

A documentary about a Bulgarian man who helps the Syrian refugees who are coming into his town.

Band Aid-

This has an engaging cast and it looks like it could be a fun dramedy. It is described as about “a couple who can’t stop fighting embark on a last-ditch effort to save their marriage: turning their fights into songs and starting a band”. I hope it will be good! Could it be 2017’s Sing Street?

The Hero-

This film is about an aging western movie star played by Sam Eliot who gets a cancer diagnosis and has to face his life. It looks like it could be very sweet.

The Yellow Birds-

This Iraq war story was mostly sold to me on the people behind it. It is written by David Lowery who did Pete’s Dragon, which I loved and stars Alden Ehrenreich and Tye Sheridan who I also love. Jennifer Aniston plays Sheridan’s Mom which I can’t really imagine but I’m looking forward to it.

Rebel in the Rye-

I don’t know much about this one but it stars Nicholas Holt and is about JD Salinger before he wrote Catcher in the Rye.

I had a ticket for Wilson staring Woody Harrelson but after seeing the trailer it really doesn’t look like my thing, so I think I will try and exchange it.

So there you have it! Do any of my selections intrigue you? I wanted to see A Ghost Story which is directed by David Lowery but it is at the same time as Yellow Birds so I picked the latter.

I’m definitely the most excited for My Life as a Zucchini and the animation spotlight! I hope they are great!

Cheers to Indy filmmakers!

New vs Old Beauty and the Beast Singing

December 31, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

So today we got our first clip of Emma Watson singing in the new Beauty and the Beast remake. I have put both new and old together side-by-side on this video, so it is easy to compare the two.

What do you think of the new version? It sounds younger with more of a pop feel to it. I am a Broadway girl so I prefer the original more mature sound but I don’t hate the new style. It could work for a younger, more realistic, timid Belle.

So far with this Beauty and the Beast remake I’ve been pretty meh on everything I’ve seen. The only thing I’ve really hated is the household objects especially Mrs Potts.

I’m very nervous about this film but hopefully it will be great like Cinderella or solid like Jungle Book. Fingers crossed.

What do you think of the singing clip and other things you’ve seen from it?

My Most Anticipated Films of 2017

December 30, 2016December 30, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

It’s that time of the year already where we do our end of the year lists. This includes looking forward to 2017 and the movies to come. I have come up with my most anticipated movies of 2017 list. After being so disappointed in 2016 by most of my selections and other blockbusters I approach this list cautiously. Unfortunately it is hard to put indies on this list because I simply haven’t heard of them yet. I am sure in 2017 there will be gems brought to my attention like Love and Freindship and Sing Street. But for now here are my most anticipated.

15. Wonder Woman- I list this very cautiously as some of the director’s comments have made me nervous and DC has continuously let me down. But if we could get a great female superhero movie that would be so cool. Fingers crossed

14. Kong Skull Island- I was impressed with the trailer and the cast looks great. I hope it is fun with engaging characters and good special effects. I’m skeptical but hopeful

13. The Zookeepers Wife- The premise for this World War 2 drama looks intriguing and I love Jessica Chastain so sign me up!

12. Loving Vincent/The Breadwinner- both of these films will be released sometime in 2017 and I can’t wait. I always root for the indie animation and these look special. Loving Vincent is made up of 65,000 oil on canvaas paintings! The Breadwinner is from the team behind Song of the Sea and that’s enough to get me on board.

11. Spiderman Homecoming- I loved Spiderman in Civil War and he looked great in the trailer. I like that it is a high school story with kids who look age appropriate. Only thing I’m not sold on is the villain.

10. Born in China- Disneynature returns with this story of the pandas. I love the Disneynature films and I am excited for them to explore the pandas. It will definitely be adorable. You can count on that.

9. Thor Ragnarok- I love the director who did Hunt for the Wilderpeople and What we Do in the Shadows. I want this Marvel movie to be hilarious and I want to see our leads interact like the maniacs they are. I love Hemsworth and Ruffalo and it looks so joyous so it should be really fun.

8. Murder on the Orient Express- Kenneth Branagh is directing this take on the Agatha Christy novel. They have a terrific cast and I hope it will be an enjoyable mystery. We don’t get those every day!

7. Paddington 2- I love the first Paddington so much and the entire team is back for the sequel. I hope this is charming and well done

6. Dunkirk- I can’t wait to see Christopher Nolan’s take on the WW2 film.

5. Guardians of the Galaxy 2- I LOVED the trailer for this and I am kind of obsessed with Baby Groot. It all looks like so much fun and you can bet I will be purchasing that soundtrack!

4. Lego Batman Movie- Another film I loved the trailers. They were hilarious especially the one where they go over the history of Bruce/Batman. I hope it is visually inventive and the story is good. They shouldn’t just become too focused on the jokes

3. Coco- An original Pixar musical centered around Day of the Dead? Yes please! I love the cast announcement and the artwork I have seen.

2. Star Wars Ep 8- After being disappointed with Rogue One I am entering this one a bit more cautiously but I am very excited to see the next chapter in the story. I want to know the answers to questions surrounding Rey, Finn, Po and BB8. Mostly I just can’t wait to see these characters again!

1 War of the Planet of the Apes- I’ve loved both of the previous films and this one looks intense and awesome. I loved the trailer and seeing Cesar and the apes get into war with the humans should be pretty epic.

So that is my list. What about you? What are you anticipating for the year? Let me know in the comments section.

Here is my youtube video on it

I’m Depressed About 2017 Animation

October 18, 2016October 18, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

Since I started this blog in 2014 I have had a goal to see every animated film released in the year. For the most part this has been an awesome experience with even the bad films giving some context to help really appreciate the good.

But I’m seriously debating about whether I should reconsider my goal for 2017. 2016 has been a stellar year for animation with great films coming from big studios and indies alike.

2017 what are we getting…

Yes, I get it. Any movie can be good but a talking mafia baby movie? It just sounds so awful and the trailer was one of the worst I’ve ever seen. It’s honestly reminding me of 9 Lives but less creative and the animation looks atrocious. It seems like an SNL skit of a bad movie come to life. It reminded me of the Jack and Jill trailer where you just sit baffled at how this actually is happening. I mean who saw Baby Geniuses and thought ‘we need that in 2017’ but make him a mob boss baby? And can we put that person in jail?

And what else do we have to look forward too? (heavy sarcasm in that sentence)

Well, really only 3 films right now. I am looking forward to Coco from Pixar. It’s a musical with a Day of the Dead theme and that has huge potential for creativity. (And yes they have done The Book of Life but I think if we have a million Christmas movies we can have more than one Day of the Dead movie).

I am also looking forward to Lego Batman as I loved The Lego Movie and the trailers were amazing.

The Breadwinner from the studio that brought us Song of the Sea has potential and My Little Pony could actually be a commercially successful 2D film and I really like the Friendship is Magic TV show.

I also don’t hate the Cars movies like some so Cars 3 could be good. I’m hoping it will be better than Cars 2, which I don’t hate but don’t love either. I mean it is kind of sad when Cars 3 is one of my more hopeful entries of the year…

So really I have Lego Batman, Coco and Breadwinner in the excited for camp. My Little Pony and Cars 3 in the ‘I hope it will be good’ camp. Not much to hang my hat on for the year…

That’s about all the good I have to say. Let’s go over some of the other gems that have me depressed. In addition to Boss Baby we have:

Blazing Samurai- which has a giant cats butt on the poster and from the team that brought us the recent bomb Max Steel..

Captain Underpants- yes the studio that once brought us Prince of Egypt has sunk to talking babies and a Captain Underpants movie. I’m depressed

Ferdinand- I don’t know if this will really happen in 2017. We haven’t seen any concept art or a poster or anything about it

Despicable Me 3- You guys know how much I dislike the minions and their yellow annoyingness all over everything. Now we get another entry in the highly overrated Despicable Me series

Emoji Movie: Express Yourself- Yes the horrors continue with the emoji movie. We have a character in a major studio animated film named Poop Daddy. Let that sink in for a second. Plus the female character Jailbreak is a complete copy of Lego Movie’s Wyldstyle

Lego Ninjago Movie- The short for this before Storks was completely forgettable and lame. It seriously lessened any enthusiasm I was feeling for this movie.

Nut Job 2- The original was horrible and so the fact this sequel is happening brings me even more into depression. And it was supposed to come out in 2016 which isn’t a good sign

Smurfs: the Lost Village- This has potential but I’m not a fan of Sony Animation in general and I hated the 2 recent live action films.

The Star- This is evidently a nativity movie but I don’t know much about it I must admit. I guess it could be good.

So yeah, forgive me while I go into a corner and cry at what I have to look forward to in 2017…Sure there may be a few pleasant surprises in there but right now I am feeling extremely discouraged about it.

But then when Kubo and the 2 Strings makes 67 million and Ice Age 5 makes 404 million worldwide I guess we get the movies we deserve.

sad-mickey