Belle

7/10

In this new anime film Belle, painfully shy Suzu creates an avatar in the immersive virtual reality cyberscape U. Her new persona Belle becomes a popular web singer. It is in U she becomes acquainted with the beast-like Dragon who's wanted by U's self-appointed security force for causing destruction. She becomes curious about the mysterious figure and tries to find him. Belle is one of those imperfect films that has many great parts to it, but it isn't able to pull everything into a compelling whole. 

Admittedly, this feels like a rehash of various previous concepts from director Mamoru Hosoda, consisting of the digital world (Digimon/Summer Wars), young love (The Girl who Leapt Through Time/Summer Wars), and beast guys (The Boy and the Beast/Wolf Children). However, this manages to stand on its own. Although U feels like it very similar to the cyber world from Summer Wars, which I think has a better design, the U does manage to stand out and feel different. The movie features a surprisingly strong critique of internet culture and celebrity. In fact, I liked some of the brief substory parts about the social media world over Suzu's story.   

Hosoda manages to produce strong characterization with a large cast. It's not uncommon for anime to focus on a character struggling with their personal issues, but the plot has a solid backstory for why Suzu is the way she is. There are many touching moments in this. 

In case you haven't figured out yet, this movie about a character named Belle and and a beast-like character is a clear allusion to the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. Admittedly, there are points in the film where they adhere a little too closely too the tale and feels a bit obvious, but ultimately the movie isn't married to the concept when it comes to the endgame. I was taken by surprised by what the movie was really going for, and I congratulate it for that. 

The movie's strengths can be its weaknesses. There are TOO many characters, though they've all got personality, and too much stuff going on that stretches things out. The movie doesn't need to be two hours and one minute. I got bored with parts, especially the hundredth scene of Suzu being insecure. (I'm looking at this from a film pacing perspective. I confess that this may be unfair to a movie looking at a character with mental health issues, as anxiety and self-doubt can be an overwhelming experience, and the movie was trying to convey that.) They also could've cut down on the high school relationship stuff. (Again, I may be too hard. This appears to be aimed at a younger, and probably a female audience, and as a 38-year old male, I wasn't the target audience.) 

I applaud Hosoda for the message of the film, but the ending has it's flaws. Like the film as a whole, it goes on too long. When you think it's over, nope there's more. This is one of those movies that can both over explain or under explain. The ending is definitely in the latter category as you'll be left with questions. Actions won't necessarily make sense. (To be fair, this may be a cultural difference situation.)

Character movement in this is really fluid. I have mixed feelings about the design of U. There are character or scenery designs I wasn't a big fan of (a lot of U is just tall skyscrapers), but there are other designs I really like, including the Dragon's home base and the look of Belle. Suzu's songs in this I can't say I remember them after, but they ain't too shabby.  

This is one of the movies where mileage will vary. Some of you will probably be bored, especially if you're not into a lot of those anime teen dramas that seem to be all the rage right now in Japan. Others will love the story and world of U. And, there'll be people like me in the middle. A pity Hosoda couldn't craft something more condensed and stable, for there are parts that truly shine and hint at a film that could've truly been great. 

Centaurworld- Season 2 (Final?)

8/10

In the second, and I thiiiiiiink... final season, Horse (voiced by Kimiko Glenn) and her friends try to recruit a centaur army in order to fight the the Nowhere King (Brian Stokes Mitchell) and his army of minotaurs. 

The show returns with its same brand of wacky, weird comedy. Basically for every two funny jokes, there's one that crashes, is too weird, or both. Again, there are parts where the weirdness can be too much. It doesn't feel quite as concentrated (they mostly cut out the talking butt and tail stuff), but there is still a lot of it. Still wished they cut down on Durple (How I Met Your Mother's Josh Radnor) being in-your-face simple-minded and Ched (Chris Diamantopoulous) constantly being angry at Horse. Like last season, they get old fast. (No complaints about kleptomaniac Glendale (show creator Megan Dong); she's golden.) 

The show keeps its greatest strength: the interesting balance between the Centaurworld and human worlds, comedy and seriousness, and lightheartedness and darkness. To be honest, I was lot more a fan of the saner, more serious stuff. The life blood of this is the friendship between the separated Horse and the human Rider (Jessie Mueller). Kimiko Glenn does a wonderful job of making you feel for a talking horse. The backstory of the villain the Nowhere King is surprisingly really well thought out, original, and dark and dramatic for a children's show.  

The seventy minute finale is truly something. It really feels like one of the most substantial and complete finales to a kids' show I've seen.

Parents be forewarned that going back to that whole darkness thing I've been mentioning there are two moments in the last episode that you may feel are too dark for your kids. I'm not trying to be thin-skinned here. That time Disney's postponement of and then adding a warning for that one episode with a scene of violence I thought was overt worrying and overkill on the network's part. Here, however... I know that Netflix is more hands off when it comes to children's programming content when compared to some channels, but I was genuinely shocked with what they allowed here.

Admittedly, there's some pacing issues. The show really pushed the episodic stories and pushed a lot of the important exposition to the very end. The mysterious and simply named Woman (Lea Salonga), who's important to the backstory and had been well woven into the last season, feels completely forgotten until the very end. Even then, it feels like she got scenes cut for time. Something was missing with how she moved from point A to point B.

Songs here aren't as good as last season. A few good ones, but there isn't the consistency in quality that the last season had.

Kinda recommended. This show will frankly be too weird for a lot of people. I liked this, but I preferred the whole more than some of the individual parts and can totally understand why many people wouldn't be able to make it through that. Still, a lot of other people will like the weirdness and story. For those already fans, the finale completely delivers. 

Snoopy Presents For Auld Lang Syne

7/10

In the first Peanuts special in a decade (found on Apple+), Lucy (voiced by Isabella Leo) becomes depressed after her grandma cancels her Christmas visit and decides to lift her spirits by throwing a New Year's Eve party.  

Peanuts has already tackled, and sometimes retackled, all the major holidays before (there's three other Christmas specials besides the first one), but it makes sense for them to revisit New Year's. The original special was decent, but doesn't leave that much of an impression (how much of it do you remember?), and is up there with the less memorable and less shown holiday specials alongside Arbor Day and Memorial Day. Heck, the Arbor Day one shines more than the New Year's one. (I also feel guilty now that the Memorial Day one has pretty much been forgotten. Was it a bit dry and the humor a little off? Sure. But, the heart was in the right place, gosh darn it!)  

The special is decent. It has one of the most heartfelt endings of all the Peanuts specials. It was also a nice change of pace to make the main focus Lucy. Yes, she's one of the main Peanuts characters, but if you look at ALL the specials, she's rarely ever the lead. She adds to what's going on, but the story is rarely about her. You really do feel her insecurities in this. You also get a subplot about Snoopy's siblings visiting that's a little sweet.

However, not every joke in this lands. The special doesn't quite have that classic Peanuts delivery and pacing. Also, NO RERUN!!! For the unfamiliar, he's Linus and Lucy's younger brother. He hasn't been in that many specials or shows, but during the last five or so years of the strips in the 90's he basically became Schultz's favorite character to write about. (I bothered to keep reading in the 90's for I am a true follow of Peanuts!, unlike you false believers!) He's a fun character, and they totally act like he doesn't exist. You even just see Linus and Lucy's stockings on the mantle. The animation company that created this used  Rerun in those two recent Snoopy shows, they know who he is. (Order of the Knights of Rerun we ride at dawn to smite the infidels in the name of our patron saint!) What really makes this frustration is that this special includes the far more ancillary Tapioca Pudding (Harley Ruznisky) who first and last appeared in 1986 and unlike Rerun has never, ever been in a special before.

Really liked the character animation. I don't think that the squiggly line appearance of the characters from the strip have ever been so accurately replicated. I don't know how I feel about the backgrounds. I like how colorful and striking they are, but the lack of solid lines on a lot of thingsfeels a little off.

Kinda recommended; imperfect but touching. It's not one of the the top Peanuts specials, but it's in the upper third or so. (Glory be to Rerun!) 

Sing 2

7.5/10

In the sequel, koala Buster Moon (voiced by Matthew McConaughey) takes his theater colleagues to the big city to put on an equally big show.

Admittedly, the movie rehashes the basic plot points of the first one. The animals try to put on a performance but face obstacles, Buster makes things difficult for himself by telling a lie, and all the performers have to deal with their own personal struggles.

Also, the various storylines either go very quickly (the subplot about reclusive lion music star Clay Calloway (Bono) really feels like the script is trying to break a record for speeding through the plot beats) or feel stretched out (too much time is given to wolf financial backer/antagonist Mr. Crystal (Bobby Canavale)).

However when you get down to it, the story is told decently enough and has a general sense of fun throughout. The big show they're creating really is imaginative, eye-catching, and well thought out. I would love to see something like that if it existed in reality.

Cast remains strong. (McConaughey really feels like he's giving his all to voice a character and not just do his regular style.) The three new characters brought in, Black Panther's Leititia Wright's Nooshy, a street dancing cat, the aforementioned Calloway, and Crystal's daughter (Halsey). Credit should especially be given to Halsey who's a singer and doesn't usually act. Like McConaughey, she's really playing a character, and when she sings, it feels like she's singing as her character and not herself. I am disappointed that Buster's sheep friend from the last film didn't return, but the cast is already crowded as is.

I was impressed with the animation. The designs of the flashy and/or ornate city buildings look really good. Surprisingly good direction and storyboarding. Many a non-verbal movement and shot feels well-thought out; much is said without a single word a times.

The song selections for this jukebox musical are all pretty good.

Kinda recommended. I can't say this is one of the most robust children's movies made. Nor does it do much to differentiate itself from it's predecessor. However if your kids liked the first, they'll probably like this. This movie feels like it came from a good place and it's a decent time waster. 

The 355

5.5/10

In The 355, several female spies become involved in the hunt for a weapon.

For most of the movie, I was going to go with a 7/10 for this. Admittedly, a lot of the dialogue/plot scenes felt by-the-numbers/tepid (never downright awful, just so-so). Plus, Pennyworth's Jason Flemyng (a good actor who really should be in more stuff) shows promise as a main villain only to be completely wasted.

But, the action scenes were pretty darn good; kept my attention. There was one line I rather liked and a couple plot points that surprised. The main cast was good across the board.

Then the very ending came. It was so ham-fisted, didn't make a lot of sense, and was insulting. Totally not worth sitting through the weaker parts and the two hour, four minute runtime.

Not recommended. Yeah, the action's good, but the ending isn't worth it for watching what was until that point just an okay movie anyways. 

Doctor Who- Eve of the Daleks

9/10

In this latest Doctor Who New Years special, the Doctor (played by Jodie Whittaker) and her companions find themselves trapped with the Daleks in a Groundhog's Day situation (yeah, for a show about time travel that's been around since the 60s, I'm surprised that they haven't done this yet) where time resets each time they're killed.

People may be getting tired of current showrunner Chris Chibnall using the Daleks for each New Years special, but they work pretty well as foes for this scenario. If the whole story involves people dying and you need someone for quick kills, the Daleks are the right fit. The show makes good use of their tactical expertise in this more than the average DW episode. 

This is probably one of the most fun and humorous episodes from Chibnall's run. The real strength of this is the two guest characters: grumpy Sarah (Aisling Bea) and awkward, good-natured Nick (Adjani Salmon). They're really the stars of this and not the Doctor & Co. They're both really entertaining and well characterized. The Doctor's newest companion Dan Lewis (John Bishop) is the standout of the regular cast here. He continues to be the most humorous and likable of the gang, and Bishop really sells the character. It's too bad that he'll probably be gone soon due to an upcoming showrunner change (at least it's traditional for companions to change; they might surprise us).

Recommended. This was just an all-around well-done story.

Reno 911!: The Hunt for Qanon

7/10

In this special on Paramount+ (yeah... special is what they're calling it; it's feature film length, but they called the two hour long South Parks "movies"), the deputies of Reno go on a cruise hosting a Qanon convention in order to serve a summons to Q.

It's been a while since I saw the show (and I never saw the Quibi season), but this definitely feels like the weirdest, most out there entry in Reno 911. I was initially into it, because it was different and some of the absurdities are pretty fun. However, the sheer randomness wears thin after a while and it doesn't end when you think it would. The special is only an hour and twenty-five minutes, but it feels a lot longer. (Since Reno 911! relies on improv with basic story setups, several scenes don't feel like they work because the concepts weren't robust enough. The weakest part is definitely the scenes involving the crew of the ship; they feel random and shoved-in and the actors felt the weakest at improv.)

Though uneven, when HfQ is funny, it's really, really funny. The last few seasons of Reno 911!'s original run did feel like they were running out of steam, but this feels like a real return to form. (Again, haven't seen the Quibi episodes. No idea whether they were funny or not.) The first two scenes were HILARIOUS!

The talented main cast all still have that improv magic that made the show. Regular face Patton Oswalt, who was even in the last film (because really, this is a film, not a special Paramount+!), returns as a Q member. He's pretty good in this. He's got a subplot with Wendi McLendon-Covey's Deputy Clementine Johnson and they have excellent chemistry together.

Ian Roberts as Sgt. Jack Declan, who was in season six and the Qibi run, returns. He's got the same issue that he had in his first season: he just isn't given enough time. The guy can be funny (see the mail sketch, one of the highlights of the disappointing season six), but it feels like either the writers who come up with the sketches don't assign enough for him to do, or he just doesn't speak up enough. If you liked Brooklyn Nine-Nine's Joe Lo Truglio as Deputy Frank Salvatore Rizzo, who also appeared in the same seasons as Declan, he isn't returning for this.  

How does this compare to the last film? I like this better. Don't get me wrong, HfQ is uneven, but I felt the jokes were stronger and it definitely leaves an impression. The last film had funny subplot sketches, but the main storyline was pretty lackluster. 

Kinda recommended. If you're a fan of Reno 911!, you'll probably like this, but the lack of direction and sheer over-the-topness may turn some people off, including possibly some fans who feel it doesn't match the feel of the show. Still, I'd say everyone will laugh at least once at this.