Uncategorized

Rachel’s Big Movie Update (Over 35 Movies)

| Rachel's Reviews

Hi friends! I hope you are doing well and having a nice holiday week. Lately I must admit I have let written reviews get a little away from me. Aside from the Moana 2 review and blind spot I haven’t done much since the beginning of November. Sorry about that but I have been posting reviews onto rotten tomatoes mostly through doing live streams on my youtube channel. Make sure you are subscribed to get all of my content here. I also post all of my out of theater reactions for both theatre and film on my instagram so make sure you are following me there as well here.

I also recently posted my Worst Movies of 2024 video and will have much more end of the year content coming up.

All that said let me catch you all up on everything I’ve been watching.
Here we go

Animation-

Let’s start with animated films. Memoir of a Snail has incredible animation by Adam Elliot but is so dour and sad it’s tough to watch. I admired it but it’s heavy-handed imo. Flow is a sweet and peaceful film that has a realistic feel without losing its artistry or unique aestethic. I was so pleased to get to interview its director Gints Zilbalodis which you can find here. Spellbound is a disappointment especially given all the talent that’s involved. Ends up being just another generic bland offering from Netflix. I talked about it with the rotoscopers here. Wallace and Gromit: Vengence Most Fowl was a delightful entry from Aardman which I enjoyed as much as their previous film Ware Rabbit. Sonic the Hedgehog 3 starts to take itself a little too seriously trying to be the next superhero movie but the characters are still so cute and Jim Carey is fun enough as 2 villains that it’s a fun watch (my least favorite of the 3 but still decent.) Mufasa: The Lion King has all the expected problems of a prequel explaining stuff we don’t care about and providing almost no entertainment for kids. Do kids really care about a supposed love triangle between Scar, Mufasa and Sarabi? This critic didn’t. I think my expectations were too high for The Lord of the Rings: The War of Rohirrim and it ended up just being a run-of-the-mill high fantasy anime with a few Lord of the Rings elements tagged on. Disappointing. Almost a Christmas Story is a delightful short on Disney Plus with the friendship between an owl and a little girl in New York City. That Christmas is endearing with Richard Curtis’ talent of merging different stories together to tell an entertaining story. Hitpig wastes a talented voicecast and premise with unfunny jokes and a story that goes nowhere and finally The Night Before Christmas in Wonderland is an enchantingly animated story of Santa Claus meets Wonderland. Definitely a hidden gem for 2024.

Comedies-

According to the Golden Globes Heretic is considered a comedy, which is bonkers but it does have a good Jar Jar Binks joke. This isn’t perfect but I really liked the performances and it spoke to me and my life experience so I’d recommend it. I did a whole podcast on it with my friend Rebecca which you can find here. Red One had potential to be a fun holiday action film but the poor filmmaking and lack of witty banter put it on the naughty list. Hot Frosty, on the other hand, took its zany premise and had a good time with it. Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point had the family feels but not enough story to leave a lasting impression. Dear Santa took its uncomfortable premise of a child selling his soul to the devil and does nothing funny with it. It’s one of the worst movies of the year. Nutcrackers is conventional but endearing. Kiss Me Kate Live on Stage left me wondering why anyone thought this production was proshot worthy? Y2K had nostalgia in droves but needed more laughs and scares to be effective. A Sudden Case of Christmas is well-meaning but dull. I watched The Fabulous Four on a plane and it was passable but fails to utilize its talented 4 cast as well as it could. Nightbitch will be comforting to stressed out Moms but I found it unpleasant and lacking in real insight beyond being a Mom is hard. I knew that! The End is a musical with little to no plot and no memorable songs. Finally Hard Truths is an exhausting watch but Marianne Jean-Baptiste is so good it’s worth seeing for her performance alone.

Dramas

The most impressive of the Oscar bait dramas I saw is The Brutalist a sweeping nearly 4 hour epic about a man and the American dream. One watches it and marvels such a film can still be made in 2024. Wicked gave me everything I wanted from the musical adaptation with 2 dynamic lead performances and some great songs. I’m still not convinced it needed to be 2 movies but I was entertained. I talked about it with my friend Jacks here. Gladiator II had enough spectacle and gravitas to entertain me but I’m not a die-hard fan of the original (it’s alright but not a particular favorite.) Nickel Boys made me nauseous with its first person shooting style and I left the screening early. I also felt the style oddly made it harder for me to imagine what the characters were going through (maybe because I was nauseous) than easier. The Snow Sister is a beautiful but sad holiday tale out of Norway that is worth a watch. Sing Sing is well-acted but lacks the emotional punch I was hoping for. Nosferatu is stunning to look at and director Robert Eggers most approachable film. If you like the Dracula story you’ll probably like this movie. All the performances are also excellent as is the cinematography. Mary takes some narrative risks but I liked the fresh take on the Virgin Mary story. Red Rooms is gorgeously filmed thriller that any true crime fans will find chilling and mesmerizing. The Room Next Door may not be top-tier Pedro Almadovar but the performances from Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton are great and it ends up being a insightful friendship story. A Complete Unknown is a standard musician biopic with lots of Bob Dylan songs and a great performance from Timothee Chalamet. All We Imagine as Light is an intimate and moving slice of life type story of 2 women in India and their various love stories. Very well acted and beautifully shot. Worth your time. Finally Babygirl is a movie with a lot of sexy scenes but no emotional connection between the couple. Nicole Kidman’s character made no sense and so it didn’t thrill me the way it wants to.

So there we have it! My thoughts on all the movies I’ve seen in the last few months! In the New Year I should get back to writing more long-form reviews but hopefully you find this post helpful. Thanks so much!

Make sure you check out the patreon for perks, exclusive reviews and to be part of our monthly events and watch alongs. Find out more here.

2025 Blind Spot Picks

| Rachel's Reviews

Hi friends! I’m excited to announce the 2025 Blind Spot picks! This will be my 10th year doing monthly blind spot reviews but will be my 2nd year with the podcast component with my friend Manda. What a joy it has been talking about these films with her each month and it was so much fun to make our selections for 2025 together (and gratifying that she enjoyed the experience enough to want to continue.)

The announcement for next years films starts at around 29 min mark after the ad.

As is usually the case we tried to have a variety in our Blind Spot picks with some classics, cult classics, critical darlings, and commercial hits in a variety of genres and styles. Here’s what we came up with for 2025:

Jan- DR NO by director Terence Young

James Bond is a franchise I have a lot of blind spots for. I have seen the recent Daniel Craig and Pierce Brosnan films but that’s about it. With this gap it only makes sense to start with the first film and watch Dr No starring Sean Connery as our suave Agent 007

Feb- PUNCH DRUNK LOVE by director Paul Thomas Anderson

As a comedian I must admit I am not a big fan of Adam Sandler. Most of his comedies have been miserable experiences and it caused me to not take him seriously as an actor especially before I became a critic. I know he has been highly praised in more serious roles including his turn in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love. I know it has some quirky attributes so I’m looking forward to seeing it.

March- XANADU by director Robert Greenwald


Of course you all know I am very forgiving of musicals- even bad musicals. Therefore, I thought it would be fun to finally watch the cult classic much-maligned musical from 1980 Xanadu. I know my friend Stanford thinks it’s one of the worst movies ever made so that has me intrigued!

April- A ROOM IN TOWN by director Jacques Demy

By this point I have seen the high profile movies by Jacques Demy so I thought it would be fun to dive a little deeper into his filmography with A Room in Town. We may also do Umbrellas of Cherbourg to introduce Manda to that one. I’ve heard this one described as a “cinematic cousin” to Cherbourg so that’s promising. Either way it’s sure to be beautiful.

May- HEATHERS by director Michael Lehmann

Heathers is an interesting blind spot because it’s a rare case where I have actually seen the musical adaptation twice before seeing the movie. I’ve seen the proshot from 2022 and saw a live production of it this year. It should be very interesting to see the differences with the musical and what makes this very dark horror comedy work as a movie and 1989 cult classic.

June- RUSH by director Ron Howard

One of the reasons I love doing this Blind Spot series is it helps me find time to see movies I missed that I’ve heard good things about. Such an example is Rush, which I didn’t see back in 2013 but heard is really entertaining. It should be a fun star-studded movie to start off the summer months.

July- BELL, BOOK AND CANDLE by director Richard Quine

I’ve heard a lot about Bell, Book and Candle over the years. Particularly as it was the name of Cassie’s shop in the show Good Witch which I covered for Hallmarkies Podcast. I’ve heard about it but just never had the chance to see it so this should be a lot of fun to check off my list.

Aug- FIGHT CLUB, PANIC ROOM directed by David Fincher

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Because his movies are so violent I actually have a lot of David Fincher blind spots. In August we are going to double up (Manda had seen Fight Club) and cover Fight Club and Panic Room. I know especially Fight Club is quite iconic so it should be fun to talk about both films with my friend.

 Sept- WUTHERING HEIGHTS directed by William Wyler

I must admit I am not the biggest fan of Wuthering Heights as a novel so I haven’t been that motivated to see all the film adaptations over the years. There have been so many and I’ve seen several of them but I have never seen the iconic 1939 version by director William Wyler. 1939 was one of the most amazing years for film so will be interesting to see how this stands up to other movies like The Wizard of Oz, Stagecoach and Gone with the Wind.

Oct- POLTERGEIST directed by Tobe Hooper

One of the blessings of this Blind Spot series is I’ve been able to check off a lot of horror classics off of my list usually in October. Next year it will be Poltergeist which I know some people think Steven Spielberg actually directed but he was a writer and producer of the film and given a story credit. I’ve heard it’s not too scary so hopefully won’t be too much for me.

Nov- I AM LOVE directed by Luca Guadagnino

Director Luca Guadagnino has become one of the most highly praised and significant directors of our age and I Am Love is one of his earlier films I still haven’t seen. I love Tilda Swinton and the premise sounds intriguing. She learned to speak Russian and Italian for the movie so that’s impressive.

Dec- KISS KISS, BANG BANG directed by Shane Black

Given my work with Hallmarkies Podcast it’s getting increasingly difficult to find holiday blind spots I do have. One director who almost always sets his movies at Christmas is Shane Black so our 2025 final pick is his comedy crime movie Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang. I’m honestly not the biggest fan of Black’s style (for example, reviewed Lethal Weapon for this series which he wrote, and I didn’t love.) However, I am excited to see a young Robert Downey Jr in Kiss Kiss and it will hopefully be a nice break from the rom-coms I typically watch in December.

So there you have it! Our 2025 Blind Spot picks! What do you think of these picks? Do you think we have a good variety? Are they favorites of yours? Let us know! I’m so happy to be doing this series with my friend so please subscribe and keep an eye out each month for our episodes as well as my monthly posts. Enjoy!

Make sure you check out the patreon for perks, exclusive reviews and to be part of our monthly events and watch alongs. Find out more here.

BLIND SPOT 107: IT HAPPENED ON 5TH AVE

| Rachel's Reviews

Merry Christmas! I hope you are all having a wonderful Christmas day. I am having a chance to get some rest and feel rejuvenated after a very stressful last 3 months. Covering all the Christmas movies for Hallmarkies Podcast and getting Oscar screeners watched was a daunting task combined with everything I have to do to make a living and be a theatre critic. Anyway, I’m glad to have a quiet Christmas and some time to think about the wonderful year of 2024.

One of my favorite parts of 2024 is beginning a podcast arm to this monthly Blind Spot series with my friend Manda. Not only do I get to check movies off my list but I get to talk about them with one of my best friends. It has truly been a joy. Our final film for the year is the 1947 classic It Happened on 5th Ave.

It’s interesting because it seems like this film has quite a following from folks who love classic films, particularly TCM buffs. On one hand I can see why because it can be quite charming and speaks to themes of equity and friendship that still ring true today. However, it’s also a little surprising because it lacks huge star power and  doesn’t have the emotional punch of many films of its era. It particularly reminded me of a Frank Capra film like Meet John Doe or Mr Deeds Goes to Town. In fact, as I was researching for the podcast I learned this film was at first planned for Capra but he ended up doing It’s a Wonderful Life instead.

I’m a sucker for a friendship story and that was my favorite aspect of It Happened on 5th Ave. I love the idea of these interlopers all becoming friends through sharing this mansion together- even the actual owner in disguise becomes friends with this group of people. That’s a lovely concept. I just wanted the filmmakers to do more with it. It all felt relatively sitcom-like failing to get the emotional intensity to make it truly memorable.

Still It Happened on 5th Ave was pleasant enough and I think you will enjoy Manda and my discussion in the video above. Let me know what you think of this classic and what are some of your favorite Capra-esque Hollywood films?

Make sure you check out the patreon for perks, exclusive reviews and to be part of our monthly events and watch alongs. Find out more here.

MOANA 2 OR YOU’RE NOT WELCOME FOR THIS SEQUEL… (DISNEY MOVIE 63) (SPOILER FREE)

| Rachel's Reviews

I don’t think anyone would argue that Walt Disney Animation Studios is going through a rough patch the last few years. Films like Wish and Strange World have failed to connect with viewers while Encanto and Raya and the Last Dragon were victims of the pandemic. With this track record it makes sense for them to return not only to the extremely profitable sequels of the 2010s but to their huge hit Moana from 2016. I have no doubt Moana 2 will be highly profitable for them especially given that it was originally going to be an animated series for Disney Plus; however, whether it is good is another question.

I have been more forgiving on some of these sequels when compared to other animation fans and critics. You can read my review of Frozen 2 and Ralph Breaks the Internet here. I went into this screening for Moana 2 with an open mind and even did a video about the reason I had to be optimistic

Unfortunately all my high hopes were for naught because Moana 2 proves to be another misfire from a studio that seems to have truly lost their way particularly in the story department.

Without giving spoilers it’s hard to talk about the particulars of the story but basically Moana is sent on a mission to find other human settlers. I realize Moana’s island nation is a fictional land but my understanding is it was within the bounds of Polynesia. While there are some more isolated islands in this area it’s unlikely they would have absolutely no interaction with other humans. It was like they were on an alien planet instead of a fake island on Earth. It reminded me of Themyscira in Wonder Woman which is just a bizarre way to approach a story like this.

Things get even weirder when a long sequence is spent in the underworld facing off against a goddess Matangi. I realize Maui was a demi-god in the first film but that was just one character on an otherwise relatable journey. This doesn’t even have worldbuilding that we can understand or connect with. If we don’t understand the world she’s facing how are we supposed to feel tension or any stakes from this kind of villain?

As the movie goes on the plot becomes more convoluted and the challenges Moana faces more confusing. Things aren’t helped by Moana surrounding herself with a troupe of supposedly quirky characters that only distract from her relationship with Maui and go nowhere leading to frustration rather than pleasantness.

Compounded on to these problems is the constant remember berries from the original film. They even have lines about how Moana has to see ‘how far I’ll go.’ Yes exact lines from the first film are repeated expecting to get a response. Characters like the kakamora resurface for no reason except they are in the first film and pretty much all the songs are warmed over retreads of the original songs. For example, instead of “How Far I’ll Go” in the first film we get “Beyond” in this. Instead of “You’re Welcome” we get “Can I Get a Chee Hoo?” in this. Come on Disney you can do better than this!

At least when Disney used to do a rare sequel it would try and be something different. For example, Rescuers Down Under moved all the events to Australia with a completely different tone, setting, villain and everything else than the original. In this you even have a cameo I won’t spoil as if to say ‘see we brought him/her back too…’

In the end Moana 2 is a convoluted mess when it tries to tell a new story and a bland forgettable retread when it leans on the original. Basically it’s a Disney sequel I will quickly forget about which is very disappointing as I really did enjoy the first film. Oh well. Hopefully they can be inspired by the work of their contempories and climb out of this hole. I am sure this film will make a boatload of money so I suppose they will at least have that to buoy their spirits. Either way it’s certainly not getting a recommendation from me.

Frown Worthy

BLIND SPOT 106: MONTY PYTHON’S THE MEANING OF LIFE

| Rachel's Reviews

Hi everyone! I figured with the stress of the election everyone could use a laugh in November so it would be fun to have a comedy blind spot pick for this month. I love Monty Python and the Holy Grail, but I’m very sensitive to vomit scenes so had avoided their final film Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life. Now I have seen it and was right to be nervous about the vomit scene- it is a doozy! However, it is also very memorable and while uneven the film has enough laughs to be worth a recommendation. Here is our episode on the film:

Both Manda and I agreed the middle of the film is the strongest especially a series set in war with a very funny gag about the soldiers giving their captain inappropriate gifts for a battlefield (like a grandfather clock!)

There are other jokes that either go on too long or fall flat for a modern audience but I do appreciate the irreverence of all of the pieces. It doesn’t feel safe or scrubbed clean like much comedy does today and even the vomit scene is exhilarating for how bold and crazy it is.

I would definitely recommend other Monty Python films and episodes over this one but if you’ve seen those than give this a watch. It’s wild but entertainingly so.

Smile Worthy

 

Make sure you check out the patreon for perks, exclusive reviews and to be part of our monthly events and watch alongs. Find out more here.

Blind Spot 101: THE MAGNIFICENT AMBERSONS (1942)

| Rachel's Reviews

Every so often with this blind spot series the backstory behind a film is more interesting than the actual film itself. Nowhere is that  more true than for The Magnificent Ambersons from 1942. In a weird way the fact the film was basically stolen from Orson Welles and edited within an inch of its life by RKO makes it more memorable than it might have ever ever normally been. I suppose that is hard to say because we can’t view his original vision which was 40 minutes longer with a different ending but it certainly couldn’t have been as vanilla and bland as the finished product the studio came up with.

Manda and I have recorded our episode on this film and we had a great time together because we are good friends and always do but it really is not a film that stood out to either of us. You can see Welles’ craft with the camera and there are some good acting scenes but it lacks the melodrama you want from a dishy family soap opera like this should be. It’s more like Meet Me in St Louis than Giant but without the catchy tunes or romance.

The best parts of the movie come from Agnes Moorehead who plays Fanny the Aunt of selfish young man George who is trampled on and abused until she finally has it in the famous boiler room speech. It is definitely the most memorable moment of the film.

Another memorable scene comes when George realizes he can make more money at the chemical plant than as a lawyer and he walks around the factories bemoaning what has happened to his beloved class of people and family money. Most of the rest is pretty forgettable.

It’s very sad what RKO did to Welles especially when you understand that he was down in Brazil filming a movie as part of the Good Neighbor Program which was working to court goodwill with the South and Latin American neighbors and to keep them on our side. Here he was literally doing something patriotic for the world-at-large and was repaid by losing any say in the film he’d worked so hard on. It’s too bad they didn’t have a Save the Welles Cut situation back then because I know all of us classic film fans would love to see it.

If you haven’t seen The Magnificent Ambersons I think it is worth seeing as a piece of film history and for Moorehead’s performance but that’s about it. Like I said, it’s more interesting for the backstory than the film itself. It’s too bad but it sometimes happens even today.

Make sure you check out the patreon for perks, exclusive reviews and to be part of our monthly events and watch alongs. Find out more here. 

‘BOOK CLUB: THE NEXT CHAPTER’ and LOVE AGAIN’ or Just OK Rom-coms are Great to See Again in Theaters

| Rachel's Reviews

Most people know I’m in the business of loving and talking about romantic comedies for my living. I love the genre and for many years Hollywood has been underserving the market making very few feature film rom-coms and forcing the audience to turn to TV movie providers like Hallmark (Check out Hallmarkies Podcast here) and streamers like Netflix. Fortunately over the last year and a half we’ve seen a bit of a rom-com renaissance and I’m here for it even when the results are imperfect but engaging films (even when they are outright bad I want more rom-coms please!!)

Our latest entries come in the form of a sequel Book Club: The Next Chapter and a remake of a German film (SMS für Dich) called Love Again. Neither of these films are masterpieces but I had enough fun to recommend both of them particularly for fans of the genre.

Love Again

Let’s start with Love Again– a new rom-com starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Sam Heughan with an extended cameo from Celine Dion. Jonas plays a woman who loses her boyfriend in a bizarrely staged accident at the beginning of the film. To deal with her grief she starts texting her boyfriend’s old number and Heughan plays a journalist who just happens to get this number as his new work phone. He becomes fascinated with the woman writing the messages and they meet and you can fill in the blanks.

This is the same plot we got in a Hallmark movie called The Christmas Promise, which was much better, and I highly recommend.

Nevertheless, I thought Jonas and Heughan had a spark when they were together and even though this is totally a rom-com that could be a horror movie it still overall charmed me and I thought everything with Celine Dion was cute. I love the idea of people falling in love over their words. Maybe it’s because I have a fantasy of someone falling in love with me and my words (ridiculous I know) but movies are about fantasy and I have fun seeing it played out (I think it would have been better if Heughan’s character had texted her back so they were both involved with the communication not just her.)

I wish Love Again was made better. The editing is weird, the comedy and tonal shifts are clunky. It was shot in London but they make it pretend to be New York, which makes scenes like an opera house that’s not the Met odd. I honestly think the Hallmark movie I mentioned above is more well made than Love Again but I had enough fun with it to overcome its flaws. I think fans of the genre will see what they are going for with the movie and have a good time with it.

I also have a soft spot in my heart for Celine Dion after attending her concert got me through a tough time in 2006.

6 out of 10

Smile Worthy

Book Club: The Next Chapter

Next up we have the sequel to 2018’s Book Club, which I enjoyed back then and I felt the same way about this new installment. Honestly I feel like a review for this movie is pretty simple. If you see the poster and trailer and it looks appealing you will enjoy this movie. It delivers exactly what it promises and isn’t that what we ask of our movies?

Book Club: The Next Chapter promises a  senior gal-pal adventure throughout Italy with lots of shenanigans and friendship and that’s what it gives us. I do think it is a little too long and would be better at the TV movie 90 minute length but this group of women are charming and I enjoyed being with them once again.

Jane Fonda’s character Vivian is the focus of this entry with her bachelorette party taking the women to Italy- first Tuscany, than Rome and Venice. Italy has been a favorite location for rom-coms lately with Hallmark going there multiple times last year (we joke on the podcast that the only place you are allowed to fall in love is Ireland and Italy these days and this movie continues that trend.) However, there certainly is a reason these movies go to Italy so often- it’s a beautiful and romantic country both in its nature, art, food and architecture.

Candice Bergen gets the most broad comedy of the bunch with Mary Steenburgen and Diane Keaton having more weighty serious stories but they are all sweet and endearing. The men of the film all do a fine job as mostly arm candy for our leading ladies (Andy Garcia is got to be the most handsome man over 60 I’ve ever seen.) I do think Giancarlo Giannini is under-used as the local Italian police officer. I love him so much in A Walk in the Clouds (so underrated!) and would have loved to have seen him get more to do here.

All that said if you are in the mood for a light comedy with some dynamic actresses who feel like genuine friends than Book Club: The Next Chapter is a great choice. It is brilliant they released it over Mother’s Day weekend because it’s an ideal movie to watch with your mother and grandmother if they are still with you and have a laugh together. I wish my grandma was still here. She would have loved that.

7 out of 10

Smile Worthy

If you like what I do please consider supporting me on patreon. There’s some great perks and I sure appreciate it https://www.patreon.com/hallmarkies

 

 

My 2023 Blind Spot Picks

| Rachel's Reviews

Hi everyone! It’s that time again. Time to pick my blind spot picks for the next year. Since I started the series in 2016, each month I watch a popular film I have never seen. I try to make it not just austere film twitter picks but some cult classics, and popular films I just happen to have not seen. It’s a lot of fun and something I really enjoy doing each month.

So here goes for 2023!

January- The Raid


Even though I have never seen The Raid or its sequel I know I have seen its influence in many recent action films. Starring martial artist Iko Uwais from what I’ve heard this film is light on plot but high on incredible fight choreography. Sounds good to me.

February- It’s Love I’m After

I love screwball comedies but most of them I’ve seen at least once. That’s why this hidden gem, It’s Love I’m After, caught my attention. It not only stars a young Bette Davis but has Leslie Howard and Olivia de Havilland 2 years before Gone with the Wind! In the movie de Havilland plays an obsessed fangirl of Howard who after he plays Romeo is convinced he’s her dream man. Sounds fun for February

March- Slap Shot

I do love a good sports movie and one article I read described Slap Shot as the greatest sports movie ever made! High praise! I know it is more rough around the edges than some inspirational sports movies but that could be a lot of fun. I’m always up for Paul Newman so it should be good for March!

April- Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles

I must admit when the Sight and Sound poll came out last month I had never heard f its number one spot. I guess it’s a film school favorite and I’ve never been to film school! Jeanne Dielman is a really long film about a housewife and I’m told there’s a really long scene of her peeling potatoes. Well, I better see what all the fuss is about in April

May-National Lampoons  Vacation

Of course being a Christmas person I’ve seen the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation many times but never the original from 1983. I must admit I haven’t had the best luck with 80s comedies in this series but let’s hope this one surprises.

June- Tokyo Story

I had never seen a film by Yasujirō Ozu before until we covered Late Spring on The Criterion Project. I really enjoyed that episode and movie so it inspired me to watch his most famous film Tokyo Story for this year’s blind spot. It’s about parents visiting their sophisticated children and if it’s as good as Late Spring I will really enjoy it. 

July- Face/Off


Set your faces to stun but I’ve never seen the campy classic Face/Off starring John Travolta and Nicolas Cage. Directed by John Woo with a lot of moxie both actors have to play each other which should be a lot of fun.

August- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty

I know critics were mixed on Walter Mitty but it’s one of those films I always wanted to see but have never gotten around to it. The search for meaning Walter goes on seems appealing and I like Ben Stiller in other roles!  It will be great for the end of Summer.

September- Out of Sight

I know when Hustlers came out everyone was shocked I’d never seen Out of Sight. Let’s fix that. I like J Lo and George Clooney and am a big fan of director Steven Soderbergh’s first Oceans 11 movie so it should be great.

October- Trick R Treat

Each year I try to challenge myself with a horror classic I haven’t seen. So far I’ve done Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream etc. This year I am watching the 2007 new classic Trick R Treat. It looks pretty scary but I’ve been told by friends I trust it isn’t that bad. We’ll see!

November- A Fistful of Dollars


There are a lot of westerns I could put on this blind spot list but one of the most iconic ones I haven’t seen is 1964’s Fistful of Dollars. Directed by Sergio Leone it has influenced many other films and has a classic performance from Clint Eastwood.

December- Trading Places

Trading Places (1983) | MUBI
Like I said, I haven’t had great luck in this project with 80s comedies but I’m running out of Christmas movies I haven’t seen. 1983’s Trading Places has a devoted following and I’m always up for a subversive funny comedy. Let’s see how it goes.

So there you have it. Let me know what you think of my picks!

If you enjoy what I do please consider supporting at patreon where you can get tons of fun perks. https://www.patreon.com/hallmarkies

[REVIEW] ‘Turning Red’: Pixar’s Puberty Metaphor Turns Sour (Maybe Mild Spoilers)

| Rachel's Reviews

Going into 2022 one of my most anticipated movies of the year was the latest Pixar film Turning Red. In fact, when it was first announced at the Disney investor presentation I made the promotional image of Mei Lee and her panda my wallpaper on my phone because I thought it looked so charming.

Unfortunately now I have seen Turning Red I must own to being very disappointed by the film and in fact it is the first Pixar film I’ve outright disliked (yes even Cars 2 has a bonkers sensibility I mildly enjoy). I even watched it a second time just to make sure of my response and yep this one isn’t for me.

Let’s talk about the positives. First, I like the idea of a family film trying to tackle puberty and anxiety in an honest and straight-forward way. How they succeeded at that is another question but I am sure there will be a lot of people who will connect with Mei Lee and her family’s journey. I also love the representation and seeing not only a Chinese-Canadian family but also Mei’s diverse friend group.

Also the animation is outstanding as is usually the case with Pixar. I know its received lots of chatter online, but I enjoyed the anime feel especially with the eyes and transformation of the characters from human to animal. The fur on panda Mei is so lush and cuddly that I’m sure it will be the source of many plush Disney toys to come.

Part of my problem with Turning Red I must own to my aversion for whiney teen coming of age movies to begin with. Movies that others love like The Edge of Seventeen I find insufferable and annoying. If you love those kind of stories you’ll probably enjoy Turning Red more than I did.

But my personal taste aside, while bold, the whole metaphor Turning Red uses didn’t really work. The idea is Mei Lee comes from a family where upon her first period the girls turn into a red panda when they are upset. While the concept of a period making someone ‘turn red’ is a bit on the nose it could have been effective but the story has problems.

First of all, the mother, Ming, is unhinged and unreasonable. For example, in one scene she lambasts a convenience store clerk Mei has a crush on because Mei has drawings of him in her sketchbook. Not only would this be incredibly embarrassing it doesn’t make sense. Why should he be responsible for her drawings/crush and is her liking someone a character flaw? How could she possibly feel this is a correct response to a basic life experience? Also if you knew this was going to happen wouldn’t you try to prepare your daughter a little bit?

Mei is also a lot of personality and what some will find endearing I often found grating.

Such strange behavior made me annoyed with the characters and then the fighting between Mom and daughter got old real fast. But beyond that the metaphor doesn’t really work. So she turns into a panda when she starts her period but there’s a whole ritual that makes the panda go away? I realize this is a magical realism story but just inventing rituals for cultures and religion (Mei’s family owns and operates a temple) is a strange choice and then the plot of her becoming a party attraction for a bully’s birthday mixed in with the family drama fell flat.

The thing is none of the inspirations for the panda are within Mei’s control. She gets her period- can’t control. She deals with anxiety and emotions- can’t control. She goes through puberty- can’t control. Teens will relate to this but unfortunately they don’t have a ritual that will stop all of these tough things. Mei decides to embrace the panda but all of us normal people don’t get that choice. It’s happening whether we like it or not. Evidently Mei’s mother has been suppressing her panda for years but then why was the ritual necessary? The ritual allows her to bring it back when she wants to? But then again how does that connect with actual teen struggles who can’t make their ‘pandas’ come and go when they want?

It seems like most critics didn’t mind this murky metaphor but it bothered me and kept me from fully embracing the film. I also didn’t connect with the humor of Turning Red or the focus on 2002 boy band called 4*TOWN. It’s a shame they set the movie in 2002 because an Asian KPOP type band like BTS would have been a fun way to bring in the culture rather than just generic boy band.

At the end of the day, I admire what director Domee Shi was going for with Turning Red but the script lets down that ambitious premise making for more of a mess than a masterpiece.  I hope you all enjoy it more than I did but this puberty metaphor gets a pass from me.

5 out of 10

Frown Worthy

PS- Turning Red should still have been played in theaters!