Soul

 

10/10

The newest Pixar movie Soul, out on Disney+ and without the $30 charge Mulan had, is about Joe (voiced by Jaimie Foxx), a music teacher whose dream is to become a professional jazz pianist. When he finally gets his big break, he accidentally falls down a manhole and becomes a soul in the afterlife. In my opinion, this is one of the best movies the studio has ever made and that's saying something.

This movie was co-directed by Pete Docter, who was also responsible for Inside Out, and like that film it is surprisingly philosophical and introspective, even more so. This movie looks at what a person's purpose in life is and what drives them. Yet, it is all wrapped up in an entertaining audience-friendly story with a decent cast.

Tina Fey does a good job as the other lead 22, a pre-born soul who isn't interested in becoming alive, but it's Foxx who is the heart and, pun not intended, soul of the movie. He just brings such life to Joe and his hopes and dreams. 

Color me impressed with the sheer amount of creativity put into the appearance of the nonphysical realm. A lot of this truly feels otherworldly, including an emphasis on the blue/purple color scheme that you don't see in other films. And the designs for the beings in charge of this world are equally distinct, going a two-dimensional liney/UPA style. Also, I loved the detail of the textures in the real world. The walls of Joe's classroom looked practically real to me.

If there is any issue with this, it's that this is more likely to entertain adults than the child target audience. The whole film is very talky, plot heavy, and mature in its message. I watched this with my nephews and they both lost interest. (One could also argue that Joe's  difference of opinion with his mom (Phylicia Rashad) who wants him to stop chasing his dream and get a steady job is a little formulaic, but it's handled well.)

Overall, this is highly recommended. This is just one of those rare films that is truly excellent. 

The Mandalorian- Season 2

10/10

In season 2, The Mandalorian (played by Pedro Pascal) continues his quest to bring The Child to the Jedi. This was as good as the first one.

This continues to be an excellent  show with almost cinema-quality appearance and entertaining action, stories, and characters. I appreciate that whereas the first season was sort of one big long tease that didn't answer any of its mysteries or questions, this one is payoff city. Plus, fans will be pleased to see a lot more fan service to the wider Star Wars universe here. But, it doesn't feel shoved in or pulls you out of the story. If you're unfamiliar with various characters or references from the various movies or animated television programs, don't worry. The show manages to introduce them without expecting you to be already familiar. The story is from the Mandalorian's viewpoint, and he's new to much of the people and places he's visited. 

Again, the show consists of stand-alone episodes, but there is a stronger connecting thread between them this time around. There is a greater emphasis on the supporting players. 

The one weak spot here, the same as before, is that this show's homage to westerns and samurai films can at times be a little too obvious. 

Highly recommended. This was another round of great storytelling.   

The Holiday Movies That Made US

 

8/10

This spin-off of The Movies That Made Us, which itself was a spin-off of The Toys That Made Us. looks at the creation of the Christmas films Elf and The Nightmare Before Christmas (sorry, no Christmas Story or Muppets Christmas Carol). It's only two episodes. I wouldn't be surprised if this was a four episode order that got split into two seasons and we'll see the second one around Halloween. 

I liked this. Like MTMU, this provides some interesting factoids about the films, including struggles to get them made, all packaged in a well paced and fun format. 

Just be forewarned, that this doesn't snag a lot of the big names, such as Will Ferrell, Tim Burton, or John Favreau, but we still get a lot of faces behind the films' creation. Also, you do get a heap of Oingo Boingo's Danny Elfman, so there's that. 

Overall, if you liked the previous shows, I think you'll like this. 

Big Mouth- Season 4

8/10

The show continues to follow a bunch of middle schoolers going through puberty. I found this again to be consistently funny with a great run of jokes (and the occasional song). 

There are some interesting new things they try here, including having a several episode arc at summer camp, which has its own specific supporting characters. This season is definitely the darkest, but I mean that in a good way as many of the main characters go through compelling personal struggles.

I'm really enjoying Missy's hormone monstress Mona (voiced by Westworld's Thandie Newton) who was introduced near the end of last season. Newton's casting was surprising as she doesn't have a comedy background, but she kills it as an intense and half-crazed being of passion. Jay (Jason Mantzoukas) and Lola (the show's co-creator Nick Kroll) start dating, which was a great idea since they're both such delightfully weird trainwrecks.   

Unfortunately, several of the show's supporting characters felt pushed to the side. Though considering the wide cast, I guess it can't be helped. Also, Missy (voiced by Jenny Slate and and later replaced by Ayo Edebin due to the bad optics of having a black girl voiced by a white actress) doesn't have enough showtime as the rest of the main cast. Although, she does get some good material as she deals with her racial identity. 

I found that the show's new character Tito the Anxiety Mosquito (Lydia Bamford) feels a little too reminiscent of the role of the Shame Wizard, not to mention that TIto doesn't have as entertaining a personality.

The show with its focus on burgeoning sexuality continues to push the envelope on what you can get away with on television. Heck, by now it's ripped the envelope into shreds. Every season the show tries to up what it can get away with, and I kind of felt that this was the season that the show has be told "Just because you can doesn't mean you should." Season 4 discusses finger stuff between middle schoolers, and yeah they're animated and voiced by adults, but we didn't need this. 

This show isn't for the squeamish or those not fan of really R-rated humor, but otherwise I recommend it as it's one of the funniest comedies out there right now.

Nobody Sleeps in the Woods Tonight

7/10

This is a Polish homage (originally titled W lesie dziś nie zaśnie nikt) to classic slasher films. In it, a group of teens at a technology/social media detoxification camp go on a camping trip where they encounter a dangerous killer. This was decent. 

Admittedly, This doesn't do a lot to differentiate itself from other slasher films, but it is a competently handled film. Like I said, this this is an homage. I read that the director Bartosz M. Kowalski created this movie because Poland never had a slasher film. Here, he's created a shrine to the basic tenets of the horror subgenre.

The movie has a sense of humor about itself, particularly the first half. There are a couple good bits. However, this isn't a full comedy. The second half gets dark. When things get violent, things get VIOLENT. Gore hounds will have a lot of fun with this; there are some very creative kills.  

The murderer design is delightfully grotesque. It's partially humorous, being a type that feels like it's parodying 80's horror. (Though this might possibly be due to a low budget than the director's intent.) But, the design is also unsettling as you see it in action as the killer does terrible things. (Sort of like if you saw a Garbage Pail Kid come to life and killing people.)  

Though I found this fun, the movie could've been stronger. The second half feels stretched out. The movie also gives all the teen protagonists backstories and personal struggles. Unfortunately, all of them feel like tropes that have been done before. This should've just stuck to the killing. No one is watching this type of movie for character-driven story. (This isn't Stephen King.)     

I recommend this. Though not great, it's interesting.

Fargo- Season 4

9/10

Whereas season 3 was the most recently set story in the series, this season is set the farthest back in 1950s Kansas City, Missouri. In it, we follow the simmering conflict between Italian and African American crime organizations, which soon draws in a mixed-race family who own a funeral home,  two outlaws, and an odd nurse. Last season had been a letdown, so I was so pleased to see the show return to form for this great season.

What we get is an interesting look inside what it is to pursue the American Dream or the illusion of the American dream and the tragic inability of groups, be they ethnic, racial, or religious, to identify with each other even if they're under the same boot. Given that this is Fargo, this is naturally told with the show's trademark combination of moments of unforgettable dialogue, characters, dark humor, and violence. Though, bare in mind that the show has the same tendency it always had of having some killings feel arbitrary. I found that creator Noah Hawley was able to find the right balance between depicting the racism of the time and being a piece of entertainment. 

This season has the same strength I thought season 2 had: a large cast, which kept things busy and managed to prevent the show from feeling drawn out. That having been said, there are parts where the flow could have been smoother. (The brunt of focus is on the mobsters.) This season's primary protagonist Ethelrida Smutney (played by Emyri Crutchfield) felt like and her family needed more screentime. The nurse Oraetta Mayflower (Jessie Buckley) felt like her story was spread too thin (usually in small bits). What makes this worse is that you could predict several points where her story went an episode or two ahead.

Again, the show looks great, maintaining a film-like auteur-heavy quality. I won't spoil it, but the episode East/West in particular takes an interesting visual choice. The music remains superb. 

The cast, including the likes of Chris Rock, Ben Whishaw, Timothy Olyphant, and Jason Schwatzman, is strong across the board. There are so many fine characters and performances, I don't have time to mention them all.

I highly recommend this. This is just some engrossing stuff. (P.S. When you get to the last episode, make sure you don't immediately turn it off when the credits start.) 

Little Hope

 

7/10

This is the second entry in the Dark Pictures anthology, a series of short horror, interactive story games from Supermassive Games, which themselves are a spiritual successor to the hit Until Dawn. In this story, a group of five passengers in a bus crash find themselves stranded in the abandoned Massachusetts ghost town of Little Hope. Soon, spooky stuff related to the town's witch trial history starts happening. Though I found the game generally fun, I didn't like this as much as its predecessors. 

Gameplay:

To it's credit, the game finally is the first to have completely polished controls. There is no hypersensitive motion sensor like in Until Dawn (many of you may not have had an issue, but I've got slightly shaky hands), or uber-hard and possibly buggy heart rate monitor segment from Dark Pictures' Man of Medan where you've got to press buttons in rhythm with your heart rate. The monitor is back, but now it's fair and beatable. Admittedly, I think Supermassive made several of the QTE segments too easy. I never found those unreasonable in the past games, I just wanted the game to be fair, not to remove the challenge.

One of the biggest complaints about Man of Medan was that you're pottering around an abandoned ship for quite some time. Here the game is better paced with various changes in set pieces. Unfortunately, there is a lot of walking around darkly lit roads and forest areas that aren't that much more exciting than ship corridors. 

Of course, what makes the game is your decisions and how they affect the story and the anticipation of whether you made the right choices. However, one of the ways your characters died felt a little like a cheat. Didn't feel like it was something anyone could figure out or see coming. 

Also,  this is the third game in which the "run" button just makes you walks slightly, and I do mean slightly, quicker. I wished Supermassive either actually let us run or gave up on the button altogether.

Graphics:

Game looks pretty good. (Though I can't say the face work is the best for the PS4). Little Hope is an appropriately creepy-looking place. The cinematic quality is strong with a slick way of panning between characters when the game requires you to immediately switch them. There is some impressively nightmarish creature design.

However, like Man of Medan, this game is too darkly lit. It's such a pain to see where you're going half the time.

Story:

I think the story might be the biggest issue I had with this. I started off really liking it, but my appreciation diminished as the game went on. It has a great opening and the story seemed promising. Though the subject of witch trials has gotten a little predictable in how they play out by now (think The Crucible, kinda), I appreciated that the delivery was well done. However, I soon realized the plot had a very cyclical nature. It'd put you through one type of similar scenario followed by the other type of similar scenario. The ending was kind of disappointing. I felt like it cheated you out of your investment in the story. 

I think Supermassive is starting to suffer from character fatigue, as the characters aren't quite as interesting in the last two games. The couple in the not-yet-defined relationship felt particularly basic.

Cast:

As is the course, the game has a fine cast, who did the motion capture as well as voice acting. My favorite was Alex Ivanovici as a slightly controlling college professor.

I originally wasn't the biggest fan of Dark Pictures' host Pip Torrens (from Preacher). However, his character The Curator has grown on me. I guess I initially wanted someone more sinister, but I grew to appreciate his wry playfulness.

Music:

I really liked the music in this. Sets the mood. No complaints.

Conclusion:

I've seen a lot of people online say this was better than Man of Medan. I guess I'm in the minority. I felt that the game, especially the characters, left more of an impression. (LH has the better gameplay, though, no argument.) I really wanted more out of the story. That having been said, I still recommend this. It's not as strong as the previous games, but it's still an interesting playthrough and still scratches that itch if you need more of these type of games.