Monster High the Movie

6/10

(Not my demographic but my curiosity gets the best of me.) In this new movie on Nickelodeon and Paramount+ inspired by the popular doll line, half-werewolf/half-human  Clawdeen Wolf (played by Miia Harris; not a typo, there's two i's), who has to hide in the human world, is invited to attend Monster High, but must keep her human side secret or face expulsion.

This is your typical just-okay kids film. Also, a typical Nick channel film in that it's not quite a Disney Channel film. (I know the Disney movies aren't high cinema but there is always that little bit of budget and promising young acting talent that can be found in them.) All the background monster characters are just actors in very basic-looking bright color makeup. The story relies a little too heavily on the Clawdeen and her roommate Draculaura's personal crises. As a children's film this could've tried to have a little more fun and and take itself less seriously. The adult monsters' prejudice and overbearingness is laid on pretty thick. Though, I do give the filmmakers credit for not going the basic children's film route and adding a tinge of darkness to it. The ending wraps things up a little too quickly and neatly.

The movie does have it's fun points. There are a few good jokes in this that did more with the element of the macabre than expected for Nickelodeon. The most entertaining part is the smart but socially awkward, on account of being created fifteen days ago, Frankie Stein (Ceci Balagot). Their lines always sparkle.

Balagot really stands out as the best actress in a sea of actors that are decent but don't shine. Kyle Selig has his moments as one of their teachers. On the other hand, the guy who plays Clawdeen's dad delivers the only truly weak performance in this.

There are songs in this; they're are alright. Not bad but not memorable either.

I know I listed a bunch of cons about this, but it is a perfectly serviceable film for your children. Nor is it something that will aggravate if they rewatch it multiple times. 

Werewolf by Night

9.5/10

In this Marvel Halloween special on Disney+ based on the comic of the same name, a group of monster hunters are summoned for a competition to secede their late leader as the possessor of the powerful Bloodstone. However, there are a couple hunters whose priorities are a little different...

Wow! Marvel's first special knocks it out of the park. It's especially impressive that besides a couple shorts, this is the first directing job from popular film composer Michael Giacchino (that theme from the beginning of Up, that's him.) The action is pretty good. I know a dozen people have already mentioned it, but this is the most violent Marvel offering (not counting Marvel TV) to date being helped by the black-and-white color scheme of the movie.

Humor's pretty good too. A nice touch to this is that the monster hunting society is populated by a bunch of eccentrics, the higher ups being particularly weird, providing some unexpected, fun bits. I think the character of Elsa Bloodstone (played by The Nevers' Laura Donnelly), the daughter of the former leader, is probably my favorite in this as she's the straight man and gives some decent reactions and pushbacks to the insanity around her.

Werewolf by Night looks great, going with a 30's/40's appearance. Some of the outfits, sets, and props are just really impressive looking. The werewolf outfit in this, however isn't as good as what your imagination can come up in. The torso's too puffy and evokes the impression of the actor wearing a wool coat. (On the plus side there is one really strong monster design in this.) In terms of cinematography, this may be the best I've seen a movie replicate the appearance of a different age. Only downside is that like early movies, the camera focus isn't always 100%, especially with the backgrounds.  The blurriness may get to some people.

If there are any other cons about this, the fact that this is only only fifty-two minutes means limited time to build the lead characters of Elsa and hunter Jack Russell (Gael Garcia Bernal). You do get enough to understand the characters, but there is also some having-to-fill-in-the-blanks that may annoy some people. Some may also wish that the ending be a little less open.

Highly recommended, this is a unique and very fun film that looks superb.

See How They Run

7/10

In See How They Run, Inspector Stoppard (played by Sam Rockwell) and Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan) investigate a murder in the 1950's at a theater where Agatha Christie's new play The Mousetrap is performed.

This is a decent, but not standout movie. Remember The Radioland Murders? This is a lot like that. The story is fairly entertaining and has fun playing with the conventions of an old-fashioned murder mystery and an actual famous Christie play (The Mousetrap has the record for longest run in a theater). Though the solution to the mystery isn't groundbreaking, the movie does a good job with the twists and turns.   

However,  a lot of the dialogue and humor is just okay. (I can see why Disney, which ended up with the film after the acquirement of Searchlight Pictures, has given so little advertising for this; even the Bob's Burgers Movie had more love.) I only laughed out loud once. Some of the dialogue parts feel like they run too long without much going on besides people talking. That having been said, the final act definitely brings up the energy and is the most interesting part. 

Cast is good. Though Rockwell makes for a solid detective, it's Ronan who steals the show. as she has this humor and liveliness about her. Tim Key also does a great job as their superior, and the three have a strong dynamic together. Unfortunately, all the effort of the film goes into the cop part. The suspects, and there are several, just aren't that interesting or distinct.

Kinda recommended. Not something you need to pay a lot of money to see, but makes for a fine just-have-fun movie. Rockwell and Ronan's dynamic and the finale are definitely of value. 

Cobra Kai- Season 5

10/10

This season Daniel LaRusso (played by Ralph Macchio) is determined to stop Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) from spreading the influence of Cobra Kai far and wide.

After the highly entertaining previous season, which surpassed the second and third seasons, I'm happy to say that this keeps up the level of quality. The season is full of surprises, good comedy and dialogue, and great action and acting. (Also set-wise, I like the look of the new state-of-the-art Cobra Kai facility in this and Silver's house.)

I think the writers heard the criticism of how the show can spin its wheels a bit with the characters, and I'm happy to say that there is a LOT of character growth here. A lot of parts feel like they have an endgame and characters are finally working through their issues. I especially felt troubled Cobra Kai fighter Tory (Jessie/Bunk'd's Peyton List) had some especially strong development and storyline this time around. One of the few characters who are still mired in their issues that have been plaguing them is Danny, whose hatred towards Silver and Cobra Kai is consuming him more than ever. He's been doing it since season one, but I'm surprisingly not tired of it like I was the last few seasons. It's really because it feels like the show is nearing the finish line with his issues. The writers are finally addressing how toxic and self-destructive they have become for Danny, and they feel less repetitive because the show is finally hitting the nail on the head with what truly made Danny this way: it's never been just Cobra Kai, but his hatred toward Terry Silver and what he did to him in the third Karate Kid film. Also, the writers even managed to make Stingray (Richard Jewel's Paul Walter Hauser), who annoyed me previously, actually tolerable and sympathetic.

The show also cuts down on the repetitive team drama here by focusing more on the adults, again like the writers realized they've dried up the well with the teen's dojo-on-dojo high rivalries and were giving us some relief. Speaking of the adults, it was a great idea to make Chozen (Yuji Okumoto), Danny's rival-turned-ally from the second KK film be a full cast member this season. He turns out to the be the funniest character, an interesting combo of sincerity and intensity. 

Also if you're tired of the aimlessness of some of the conflict in seasons two and three, you won't find it here. Season five exactly knows where it's going. Silver is kinda a supervillain here with a main plan, and it's refreshing how more focused and efficient he is than Kreese. After three seasons of the guy as main villain, it's nice to go with someone else. (You don't get much Kreese, but he does shine in the scenes he does have.) Silver is one of the best elements here with his charisma, intelligence, manipulativeness, and sheer psychosis. You also get a new ally of Silver in the form of a Korean karate instructor named Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim). The actress immediately cinches the role the moment you hear her speak, bringing an energized, sinister confidence. 

If I had any issues with this, it's that the show finally addresses the background of Kreese and Silver learning their style of karate under their mentor who was name dropped in the third film, and it's just not at all as interesting as what your imagination could have come up with. 

Highly recommended. It's a really good time.

Barbarian

6/10

In this new horror film, Tess (played by Krypton's Georgina Campbell) books a B&B in Detroit. It is soon evident that something not right is going on at the location.

This is one of those movies where it is best to keep things vague. Barbarian does a wonderful job of keeping you guessing about what's going on and surprising you. There are some pretty bold, scary moments not to mention the general uncomfortableness you feel from trying the messed up clues the characters find. You also get a good cast and some pretty good set design/scenery.

If you're the person who likes some horror but have limits to what content you'll watch, be forewarned that this gets messed up.

However, despite some real horror highs in this, I'm not rating this higher because this is also one of the greatest examples of one of horror film's greatest weaknesses: terrible/arbitrary character decisions. The trailer may make you think Tess is immediately thrown into her situation, but NO, she has plenty of time to get out of Dodge. Common sense is often thrown out the window. The dialogue for those situations can be fairly bad at points too (though there is some great strong dialogue in this as well.) Not to mention that there are some big logistical plot holes. This is also like American Horror Story in that once all is revealed the movie loses some glamour as the answer to the mystery simply isn't as interesting or original as what your imagination could concoct.

This is the sort of movie where people's mileage will vary considerably. Some people will love the stuff in this that does work, but others won't be able to see past the flaws in this.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection

 

8/10

This collection contains ALL thirteen TMNT games from Konami during the 80's/90's TMNT craze.

This is a nice collection. I appreciate how comprehensive it is. As you may or may not know, games were harder back then and a lot of these can be pretty challenging especially for today's generation having grown accustomed to instant saving and not knowing the frustration of having been sent back to the beginning of the game. Not that I'm complaining about the way things are now. I don't want to go back. I can't go back, man! I don't have the patience anymore! Which, is why I'm happy to say that this game has enhancements. You can save any game whenever you like and rewind your gameplay. Most importantly, the collection allows you to automatically unlock any bonus options that were available for the game before, but now you don't have to input codes to do it. This makes a lot of games easier with such options as easy or god modes, extra lives, etc. Remember, you usually only get what was already in the system. The original TMNT game for the NES is still hard as all get out and there were no codes to make it easier. (Though the developers for this collection were nice enough to add an option to remove flickering and slow down for what it's worth.) 

The game also includes aesthetically pleasing strategy guides you can pull up and a ton of bonus material, including box art, game music and concept art, and screenshots from ALL the cartoon shows. Unfortunately, you don't get the opening themes for any of the shows.

Not loving the main menu. When you toggle between games the background moves, and I can see it causing motion sickness for some. Also, the backgrounds use artwork from the very original black-and-white comics. I don't think that this was the right choice, since the majority of the games are themed around the first cartoon.

Individual game reviews:

(NOTE: The three Tournament Fighters games are all completely different with different rosters.)

Arcade:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- 8/10

The one that invented the TMNT beat 'em up formula, this is one of the best ones. Colorful with a specific visual personality. Complete with fun villains.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time- 8/10

Improves upon the gameplay of the first game and the time travel theme adds some new level ideas to a series that was already beginning to repeat itself. Though this looks better, I admit it doesn't have quite as many of the special little details that the original had.

NES:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- 4/10 

This is one of the few games I didn't beat, because of its difficulty. (I didn't even bother getting to the infamous dam level that many a child remembers.) It's too bad, since there was genuine creativity and good ideas in this. I also liked the fact that the villains look different and more intimidating. (Apparently, the game developers based the look off of the original comics.) One wonders what the future home consoles games could've been if they stuck to platformers instead of beat 'em ups.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game- 7/10

Since this version of the arcade game is on an 8-bit system, it's a massive visual downgrade that can't match the original and the fights take a lot longer. On the plus side, the game does a surprising job of being as detailed as it can and was definitely doing its best when replicating the visuals. This has two additional levels featuring some clever new villains.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: The Manhattan Project- 7/10

Number 3 has the reputation of being the overlooked and unappreciated one due to its being released so close to Turtles in Time. And yeah, it does deserve the reputation of also being a good game. Free of having to replicate a source, this game is able to work with what suits the functions of the NES best. Gameplay is stronger here. Backgrounds may not be as detailed, but there are some nice thematic-style moments in this. The developers were aware of the potential fatigue of the games, and they provided genuine effort when coming up with new level areas and ways to freshen up battles with previously appearing bosses.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournament Fighters- 5/10

Fun fact: this one of the very few tournament fighters made for the NES. The fighting works better than expected, plus there's a fun Smash Bros.-esque weapon that's appears, but as a whole the gameplay isn't that fun. Unsurprisingly, it has the smallest roster.

Game Boy:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Fall of the Foot Clan- 6/10

Nice to see at least a few other platformers on the list. Unfortunately, way too many enemies are thrown at you. It's exhausting. That being said, gameplay and graphics aren't half bad ,and I still beat it in a short amount of time. I'm especially pleased that you can knock the bosses' projectiles back at them, and you can just automatically select which level you want from the get go.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: Back from the Sewers- 6.5/10

They still throw enemies at you in some points, but gameplay and graphics are improved in this. Though, this has the worst Foot Soldier designs of all the games. They look like aliens.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III: Radical Rescue- 8/10

One of the most unique of the games. This has Metroidvania level design, in that it's one big interconnected map. This also has the strongest visuals and fairest difficulty of the GB titles. The game's still hard, but it doesn't feel unfair. This is the only game where you start with only one turtle and have to free the others or where each turtle has special abilities. I didn't complete this one, since I don't have the patience for the exploration being interrupted by constant death, but I admire it for what it accomplished.

SNES:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles IV: Turtles in Time- 8/10

A lot of people say this is stronger than the arcade version, and I agree, though I don't think it's by as wide a margin as some people say. Though they had cut a lot of the spoken dialogue, the game looks and plays practically as well as the original. Plus, you get several new bosses, including the very unique Shredder fight where you have to throw your opponents at the screen, and a more interesting-looking hoverboard level. The one con in this is that the final boss is fairly weak and so much less of a challenge than the arcade one. (The level select option doesn't appear to be working. Hopefully this will be fixed in a patch.)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournamet Fighters- 6.5

Definitely the strongest of the three with the best character selection, graphics and moves. However, the gameplay still doesn't excel.

Sega Genesis:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist- 7/10

This is sort of an alternative version of Turtles in Time, which incorporates various elements from the game. This has fewer, but longer levels. The graphic aren't as good as found in arcade or SNES, and the fighting takes longer (you'll learn to hate the white Foot Soldiers which take forever to destroy.) However, the game is still entertaining to play, and it is only the only Turtles game to have a boss gauntlet or to feature Tatsu from the first two movies.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Tournamet Fighters- 5.5

Okay, I guess. This has some decent character and background design, but the gameplay, character roster, and graphics don't compare to the SNES. I do like that this is the only game where you can play as April and she has a different design than the yellow jumpsuit.

Overall, recommended. Yeah, the games are dated, but they're a fun glimpse into a past and a treasure trove for fans of the original TMNT cartoon. You might want to pace yourself playing these, though. Bad guys are reused A TON, and one can only take so many Foot Soldiers and Rock Soldiers.

Fall

8/10

After a tragic event in her past, mountain climber Becky Connor (played by Shazam's Grace Caroline Currey) is left in a cloud of depression. Hoping to snap her out of it, her friend Shiloh Hunter (Runaways' Virginia Gardner) takes her on a climb up a two thousand foot decommissioned television tower. Things go wrong (naturally, or there wouldn't be a movie) and they end up stuck at the top.

This is one of your basic hero/heroes-are-stuck-in-an-isolated, dangerous-place films, like The Reef and Frozen. (NO, not that Frozen. I'm talking about a film that came a few years earlier. Between that and Descendants, Disney is showing an annoying tendency of stealing movie titles.) I wouldn't say the plot brings anything revolutionary, but it is a very well-made film. People with acrophobia should avoid this at all costs. I have never seen a movie evoke a specific phobia as much as this film. I was kept in constant discomfort, worried for the two women. After constantly seeing them moving about the top of the tower, I was thinking "Why don't they have their hands wrapped around the pole at all times?!" That's how drawn in I'd gotten.

At first, I thought this had to be all done via green screen. (The shots of the ground below are obviously digitally added.) But, I kept asking myself, how are they getting the light to be so natural? It was driving me nuts, so I looked it up. Turns out they filmed a good part of this on an actual hundred foot tower. I applaud the director, because it must've been pretty difficult to film some of the shots in this. I've got nothing but respect for him.

My only big criticism is that this basically copies a plot point from a similar film.

Overall, recommended, again unless it may trigger you. Even if you're a little acrophobic, be wary. This is a well made film. I wouldn't say it's distinct enough to see immediately in theaters, but it's definitely a good suspense flick.