Reviews

I have been waiting for a Black Panther movie for years and this film did not disappoint me. This movie is perfect. In fact, I think it's the best Marvel film to date. Everything about the movie is perfect. The cast is amazing, the make-up was brilliant, the costumes were gorgeous, the music was outstanding and the action scenes were so well done. Marvel has raised the bar. Let's hope they can keep this up. Black Panther is a film for the ages.

I just want to say that if people like Emma Waston, that's fine but if you're a huge fan of hers, I suggest you don't read this review.

Now I love the original animated Beauty and the Beast so I knew this movie wouldn't live up to the original. With that being said, this new movie does have some merits. The CGI in this movie is rather good and the scenery is beautiful. I also love what they did with the castle. In a way, the castle feels alive too and I thought that was a great twist. The costumes are also really gorgeous.

As for acting, everyone delivers a great performance save for one actress who I'll get to in a minute. Luke Evans was stellar as Gaston. You can tell he was enjoying himself and was amazing. Josh Gad of course was funny as always. Ewan McGregor did a rather good job as Lumiere and Ian McKellan was a pretty decent Cogsworth. You also have Stanley Tucci, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Audra McDonald and Emma Thompson also giving it their all. Now as for the Beast, he was decent. I haven't seen Dan Stevens in anything but this and I thought he did an okay job. He could have been better but I thought he was fine.

But the worst part of this movie is Emma Watson.

Again, if you like Emma that is fine but she was not the right choice of Belle. Not only do they not even try to make her look like Belle but she doesn't feel like Belle. She tries to deliver classic Belle lines but it sounds like she doesn't trust the lines. She feels so awkward and stiff. Every line feels beyond forced and nothing about it feels organic. And the biggest issue is her singing voice. I know Emma isn't a trained singer but even so, that doesn't really change the fact that she cannot hold a tune. She's boring, bland and just all around dull.

If you are dying to see this movie, I say go for it but I really think you're better waiting for the DVD.

Moana is a fantastic movie. I have been looking forward to this movie even since I had heard of its release and I was not disappointed.

Directed by Ron Clements and John Musker, the team who brought us the Little Mermaid and Aladdin, Moana tells the tale of a young Polynesian woman named Moana who feels like she's being called to something out in the great unknown.

Not only is the movie gorgeous to look at but the story is strong and the characters are great. Moana is fleshed out, given strengths and weaknesses. We also get to see her overcome her shortcomings and save the day. Moana is voiced by newcomer Auli'i Cravalho who not only did a good job with the acting but also with the singing. Her voice is fantastic! She teams up with Maui, a fallen demi-god, who is voiced by Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson and it's obvious the character was made just for him. While a bit of a braggart, he is very funny and likable.

The songs in this movie are also very gorgeous, taking inspiration from Polynesian culture. The songs were written by Opetaia Foai, Mark Macina and Lin-Manuel Miranda of Hamilton fame. They fit with the setting perfectly and the songs are bursting with raw emotion.

I highly recommend this movie to anyone who loves Disney and loves mythology. I cannot recommend it enough.

Wow.

This miniseries is fantastic. You won't be able to find anything remotely like it on TV. Not only is it well animated but the story is extremely engaging with interesting and unique characters that keep your attention. I must tip my hat to the people who created this wonderful series. Their hard word paid off.

Over the Garden Wall is a dark, surrealist horror cartoon that focuses on two boys: Wirt and his little brother Greg. After getting lost on Halloween night, they two of them stumble into the Unknown. They struggle to get back home and avoid the Beast.

I will say this. As much as I love this series, I do not recommend it for little kids. Under ten years old, do not let them watch it.

This cartoon is extremely dark but it has it's silly moments and some heartwarming scenes. I think what also really makes this series so great is the songs. At least every episode has at least one song and all of them of great.

If you love surrealist animation as well as interesting and engaging stories, I highly recommend Over the Garden Wall.

Okay, I'm all for taking a classic tale and retelling it. It has been done extremely well (e.g O Brother Where Art Thou) and Disney has made millions on taking classic tales and giving them a different spin.

Then you have the Nutcracker in 3D.

I'm not sure where this idea came from. The original story seems to be glossed over completely. Yes, there is a Nutcracker in the story but he isn't really much of a hero. It's not that this idea couldn't have been done will but it gets bogged down with some much uselessness.

First, Albert Einstein is in this movie. Yeah, that makes sense! Kids love German-born theoretical physicists! Then, we get the beautiful Nutcracker music that is given extremely awful lyrics. Add some racist caricatures, a heavyset character that is only there for fat shaming, Nazi rats (not joking) and loads of plot points that go nowhere.

Now this is suppose to be a kids movie right? Well I don't know about you but I wouldn't show this too kids. In fact, I wouldn't show this too anyone. It's way to dark and terrifying for kids to enjoy while it also too nonsensical and pointless for adults. Maybe if they had tried to do an original story inside of tacking on the Nutcracker characters, it could have been somewhat decent.

So in short, skip this CGI, surrealist nightmare.