The film has some interesting themes I haven't seen in quite awhile, like I said in the title, there were some more corrupt city councils in UK in the 90s that made similar situations a practice. I don't think it happens anymore but it's always good to have someone you trust to have power of attorney after a certain age like 65. Regarding the film, Peter's good as usual but Pike really brought it she was so vile, she needs to make alot more actions films. The suspense and sound design really connected and the runtime did not feel long at all. The ending was a little unrealistic otherwise 8/10 easy.
Reviews
8 Reviews
Bill & Ted Face the Music
(2020)
Disappointing ending... Spoilers
1 September 2020
Warning: Spoilers
The main problem with this film is of course the ending. As a person invested in this franchise for neigh on 1 and a half scores (30 years since initial watch) there was some disappointment in the plot, structure and conclusion of the film.
This film rehashes the time travel plot to collect historical figures from the first film, but without the any iconic fish out of water resonance to build their characters. The film also rehashes 2nd film's plot. The second film had some directing and performance issues but it's strength relied on the several new memorable characters and unpredictable plot structure, the rehash here shows failure to add anything new or even memorable.
Characterwise Billy and her wardrobe was a little ott and a comedian like Kristen Schaal was under-utilised. The conclusion was the worst aspect of the film, the promise of the two great ones Bill and Ted saving the Universe was now transferred to their daughters. I have seen this plot far better executed in many other places, Johnathan Hickman's Fantastic Four comic book run was the best version.
There were positives, in the first 2/3's of the film the returning characters are where the strength of the film lies, especially where they ended up at points in their lives; Deacon, Missy, Death and Future Bill and Ted's. That last 3rd is where the Universe unravelled. Luckily they mentioned alternate timelines so I can imagine the old Evan Dorkin comic book series (which feels more like a true sequel series) is canon. I guess watch it since most people seem to like it. Maybe it'll grow on me over time...
This film rehashes the time travel plot to collect historical figures from the first film, but without the any iconic fish out of water resonance to build their characters. The film also rehashes 2nd film's plot. The second film had some directing and performance issues but it's strength relied on the several new memorable characters and unpredictable plot structure, the rehash here shows failure to add anything new or even memorable.
Characterwise Billy and her wardrobe was a little ott and a comedian like Kristen Schaal was under-utilised. The conclusion was the worst aspect of the film, the promise of the two great ones Bill and Ted saving the Universe was now transferred to their daughters. I have seen this plot far better executed in many other places, Johnathan Hickman's Fantastic Four comic book run was the best version.
There were positives, in the first 2/3's of the film the returning characters are where the strength of the film lies, especially where they ended up at points in their lives; Deacon, Missy, Death and Future Bill and Ted's. That last 3rd is where the Universe unravelled. Luckily they mentioned alternate timelines so I can imagine the old Evan Dorkin comic book series (which feels more like a true sequel series) is canon. I guess watch it since most people seem to like it. Maybe it'll grow on me over time...
Samurai Marathon
(2019)
One day the Samurai decide to go out on a healthy run... what could go wrong...
7 May 2020
I pretty much enjoyed this flick. It was a pretty simple story, bunch of ppl wanted to go on a healthy run, they all have their reasons, the local Lord wants everyone to be at peak physical condition after seeing the incoming westerners and their weapons, promises the winner a gift/request of their choice. Then drama. Especially that last half hour when the stakes get high and the direction gets intense. As a film its pretty engaging, as a Samurai film not like Blade of the Immortal level of swordplay, the characters feel pretty tragic and likeable. I give it my 9/10 because 6 is way too low, 8 is more accurate.
World Building Character Building on par with Avatar TLA
26 January 2020
The characters and world is pretty awesome, hopefully more people see this because everything from ModFrogs to Scooter Skunks have their own subculture and it's really cool and I hope we get lots of stuff from this world.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix
(2019)
A Pretty Decent X-Men Film
6 June 2019
Simon Kinberg is known for his screenplays and here as a first time director his directing was quite good, especially the beginning space scene, I wouldn't mind watching an entire space film made by him, you can tell he really likes them. The action pieces are frantic but he makes it really good and easy to follow, which is quite a feat considering how crazy it gets. He really knows how to direct the core cast in emotional scenes, something Singer wasn't fantastic with. He also uses Hans Zimmer's score which is good and a welcome change. Story is decent, it has some good themes going and some interesting character growth. I'd say the problem would be some of the connections between plot points, theres only a couple but a quick rewrite would have fixed it. I'm actually kind of suprised by some of the counter-programming online by people who've clearly not watched the film and say the acting was bad on this review page. It also seems kind pointless Disney wouldn't allow the Universe to have any new sequels anyway (Deadpool and New Mutants not withstanding) and MCU said the first new X-Men film from MCU won't come out for five years. The reshootswise I believe Kinberg said that he had to reshoot the final fight scene because it was too similar to another superhero films final fight scene. I think that's a shame, his space faring scene were superb and probably would have elevated the film more. In Conclusion directing, acting, action was very good screenplay connections is an issue but the pros outweigh the cons. 7.5/10
Stan & Ollie
(2018)
Steve Coogan was so clear and Transformative for this Role
22 December 2018
The highest praise I can give this film is is how well the characterisations were written, Stan and the wives specifically. The wives would normally be more of a one dimensional mantlepiece in these roles, they just hate each other and it's played for laughs. But they were given complex relationships and their changing attitudes as different dramatic moments occur in their lives to show their actual personalities and their complex feelings for their lifestyles. Steve Coogan probably had the best written part and definitely deserves at least a nomination. He had the body mannerisms, the physical comedy, the humour we'd recognise in the character Stan. In Stan the person we see an engaging performance of someone coming to terms with betrayal, regret, and forgiveness and especially moving on. His charater had the kinds of highs and lows that seem to reflect an entire lifetime. I also want to mention the theatre agent, though a small role, was pretty funny. But there are some flaws in the film.
The plot lacked some dramatic tension, there was a few too little conflict just travelling forward from this section of the tour to the next. It would be interesting to see the actual publicity they had done with the regular obstacles they would face in that time period, just showing how the business would have functioned then would just have been more period. John C. Reilly, or his character was fleshed out as much as I had hoped. The Prosthetics might have been responsible, it felt alot of the time you can't really see the acting through it until the ending (which was done well) and the body language wasn't really down. Comparing the dance sequence at the beginning with the original dance sequence seen in the credits his movements were toned down and lacked the dexterity that i would have personally hoped for. Either way it's a 7/10 for me and an award for Steve Coogan.
The plot lacked some dramatic tension, there was a few too little conflict just travelling forward from this section of the tour to the next. It would be interesting to see the actual publicity they had done with the regular obstacles they would face in that time period, just showing how the business would have functioned then would just have been more period. John C. Reilly, or his character was fleshed out as much as I had hoped. The Prosthetics might have been responsible, it felt alot of the time you can't really see the acting through it until the ending (which was done well) and the body language wasn't really down. Comparing the dance sequence at the beginning with the original dance sequence seen in the credits his movements were toned down and lacked the dexterity that i would have personally hoped for. Either way it's a 7/10 for me and an award for Steve Coogan.
What's with all the hatin?
13 September 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I loved the first, atmospheric, original, creative no cheezy pointless predictable boy meets girl plot lines (like seriously there's far too many, if not at least a sideplot), a Goat that taught me the importance of always being prepared, the animations stylised, and it took u through this unmistakable Rashomonesque adventure, to me the ending fell apart because it abandoned its slow reveal and went into hyperdrive but in the end I;d still give the original 9.5 purely because of its ingenuity.
Now this movie, I felt cautious, one the trailer doesn't do it any justice, and 2 there's the Hansel and Gretel plot line making me fear the worst a love plot line with Red and 3 can Haden do a good job as minor spoiler
Anne? All these issues are resolved for me, Haden's fine, there's no ridiculous plot line and most importantly the trailer pales in comparison. Now I'll admit the film had its problems, the pacing is bordering on ADD, it can't regurgitate Rashomon again, and there's a hell of a lot of ideas packed into this film it barely gives you time to process, but once u do process the writing the ideas the interpretives are all stylised well. The comedy's there, the thought is there, the characterisations there and the film has a far better resolution than the original film.
Personally I want to see a third, they always have great villains, ideas, and the pacing needs to return to a slower style, and if the filmmakers are reading this bring back some intrigue, i know u guys are ingenious enough to do it in a different and stylised way, take it out of the third man or something and the Goat is still my hero!
Now this movie, I felt cautious, one the trailer doesn't do it any justice, and 2 there's the Hansel and Gretel plot line making me fear the worst a love plot line with Red and 3 can Haden do a good job as minor spoiler
Anne? All these issues are resolved for me, Haden's fine, there's no ridiculous plot line and most importantly the trailer pales in comparison. Now I'll admit the film had its problems, the pacing is bordering on ADD, it can't regurgitate Rashomon again, and there's a hell of a lot of ideas packed into this film it barely gives you time to process, but once u do process the writing the ideas the interpretives are all stylised well. The comedy's there, the thought is there, the characterisations there and the film has a far better resolution than the original film.
Personally I want to see a third, they always have great villains, ideas, and the pacing needs to return to a slower style, and if the filmmakers are reading this bring back some intrigue, i know u guys are ingenious enough to do it in a different and stylised way, take it out of the third man or something and the Goat is still my hero!
Garfield's Fun Fest
(2008 Video)
I'm gonna have to be the only one to defend this, but someones gotta do it!
14 August 2009
A lot of people hate this CG series but personally i love it, the second is the best no doubt about it, but many people hate it for their own reason but i love it so i feel i should put out my reasons for it.
I'll say the first one was pretty weak because it was the first in the series, the pacing was slow, and the characters were floaty like a children's cgi morning show, but it had a lot of redeeming features. Garfield and co were practically meta-fictional, characters self aware of their place as meta-fictional characters and using a pretty creative way to emphasize this, they went to work in the morning and took pictures of themselves and decolourised it and added captions to make it a more authentic newspaper strip. Garfield and co worked with other newspaper characters, obscure yet recognizable public domain characters almost inter-textually and finally Garfield felt old and tired because he felt he was doing the same old jokes over and over again. Basically acknowledging criticism a lot of people have about the strips from time to time, and eventually he goes into the real world with Odie ala Wizard of OZ and with the help of three friends comes back to the real world, cleaver but not a perfect art but i didn't expect it for a first attempt straight to DVD movie.
This one Fun Fest was surprisingly good, using the laid out plot structure of the first movie, a heavy handed morale Garfield has to learn by the end of the film, Garfield cares more about being funny and neglects his gf, he feels like he's lost his comedic powers and goes on a road trip with Odie to a legendary place up in the clouds where he gets this magic water from an old master to get powerful comedic powers, does this remind u anyone, why yes its Goku from Dragonball!!!! But it even goes as far to explain the psychology of successful and failing comedians, finally the story ends with the best engaging well stage pov shot all finale with one of the best tango scenes i have ever seen, let alone straight to DVD. It was gud it was really gud, really good. I think more people should watch this, just the end scene.
The third one Pet Force came out and it was OK, It started off pretty well, funny surprisingly, pacing was faster like the second and a lot of gags running through, but halfway through the movie it fell kinda flat, they ran out of ideas I think, it needed a subplot and didn't focus the morale as hard (this time not engaging with life) to strengthen the narrative engagement, they were just fighting and blah blah more gags (tho funny) it needed a subplot or something, otherwise it should have been a 30-40 min episode, but u can see the directorial styles improving per episode.
Either way u look at it I say second one is the best, so for fans with affinities for cats that have a tendency to self narrate, watch it.
I'll say the first one was pretty weak because it was the first in the series, the pacing was slow, and the characters were floaty like a children's cgi morning show, but it had a lot of redeeming features. Garfield and co were practically meta-fictional, characters self aware of their place as meta-fictional characters and using a pretty creative way to emphasize this, they went to work in the morning and took pictures of themselves and decolourised it and added captions to make it a more authentic newspaper strip. Garfield and co worked with other newspaper characters, obscure yet recognizable public domain characters almost inter-textually and finally Garfield felt old and tired because he felt he was doing the same old jokes over and over again. Basically acknowledging criticism a lot of people have about the strips from time to time, and eventually he goes into the real world with Odie ala Wizard of OZ and with the help of three friends comes back to the real world, cleaver but not a perfect art but i didn't expect it for a first attempt straight to DVD movie.
This one Fun Fest was surprisingly good, using the laid out plot structure of the first movie, a heavy handed morale Garfield has to learn by the end of the film, Garfield cares more about being funny and neglects his gf, he feels like he's lost his comedic powers and goes on a road trip with Odie to a legendary place up in the clouds where he gets this magic water from an old master to get powerful comedic powers, does this remind u anyone, why yes its Goku from Dragonball!!!! But it even goes as far to explain the psychology of successful and failing comedians, finally the story ends with the best engaging well stage pov shot all finale with one of the best tango scenes i have ever seen, let alone straight to DVD. It was gud it was really gud, really good. I think more people should watch this, just the end scene.
The third one Pet Force came out and it was OK, It started off pretty well, funny surprisingly, pacing was faster like the second and a lot of gags running through, but halfway through the movie it fell kinda flat, they ran out of ideas I think, it needed a subplot and didn't focus the morale as hard (this time not engaging with life) to strengthen the narrative engagement, they were just fighting and blah blah more gags (tho funny) it needed a subplot or something, otherwise it should have been a 30-40 min episode, but u can see the directorial styles improving per episode.
Either way u look at it I say second one is the best, so for fans with affinities for cats that have a tendency to self narrate, watch it.
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