Barbie

I'll be damned, it was just the remedy I needed!

After such a well, depressing end for Oppenheimer I was amazed at how Barbie was able to pull me out of this existential crisis by presenting an existential crisis on the screen. I am not telling you a thing about this plot, no way, I would be robbing you like taking candy away from a baby. The best way I can describe it is it takes bits of Toy Story 3, The Lego Movie, adds an awful lot of reality and a good dose of satire, and is precisely NOTHING like the movie you would expect. It keeps changing tracks, flipping and twisting ideas that would be incredibly predictable and cliche and makes something new. It is easily one of the most intelligent, introspective, and funny movies not of this year but just that I've ever seen in my time. It almost made me cry once with a scene right out of Pixar's Soul and then it absolutely made me shed a single tear at the end. Good God almighty no wonder the trailer barely shows anything cause how do you sell this movie? Cause on the surface there's a lot of poking at the patriarchy, how Barbieland functions, the identities of our characters but then....if you give just a little bit of thought to it you plunge deep under the surface and I mean deeeeep. Margot Robbie can you do no wrong? Flawless, heartfelt, a ray of hope and sunshine in my life. Ryan Gosling, man I'm almost jealous of you getting this part because what a wild ride it is this journey for Ken and even when he's kinda being an ass you can tell he's far from doing it intentionally which just makes it funny. This movie revels in the lavishly ludicrous and yet touches on life, identity, and changes in the most simplistic yet enlightened way. I'm not saying it's a film entirely for adults much akin to Soul, kids can watch and enjoy it but I feel we're more talking a teenage to adult range. It really just had no right being as good as it is, and I know people will howl "woke" (like it frigging means anything) but I did not find it pandering, insincere, or pushing for something. It kinda just lays it out like it is in reality without shouting for extremist change. I loved it, I thought it was amazing, buuuut do I give it a 10/10? Ohhh I don't know, I feel I need to watch it again and yeah we're gonna do a round two of this Barbinheimer phenomenon. So for now a 9/10, 4 golden stars, and two thumbs way way up! We shall see who truly wins this battle of wills and wits, and remember my friends future events such as these will affect you in the future.

In Retrospect: Isle Of Dogs

Yes, it's finally out!!

It's felt like forever but Isle Of Dogs has finally hit video and I still love it! It's still just as entertaining, endearing, and funny as before and I would gladly buy it again. I know I talked about the animation before good lord, it is unreal how they pull off this animation! Stop motion is already pretty hard and very meticulous, but they just blow it out of the water with camera movements, environmental effects, large scale animation. It's just ridiculous how good this turned out, you really have to appreciate the work and craftsmanship these people did. It's such a good movie for pretty much any age group, and I notice that stop motion films in particular can be enjoyed by all, which is odd because it's such a rare medium and you think most older people would stay away from it but think of any movie that has had extensive if not complete stop motion effects in them, and ask yourself would you still watch it 20 years down the road. Nightmare Before Christmas, Corpse Bride, King Kong, Mighty Joe Young, Isle Of Dogs,The Lego Movie, any Willis O'Brien or Ray Harryhausen film! It's all done so well and everyone can enjoy it! I had such fun watching this movie again, and I know it is timeless. The usage of Japanese backdrops and culture add a lot to the movie, which you know I'm a fan of. I mean the movie is practically gift wrapped for me, so how could I not love it? I know the film only got a limited release in theaters but now, you have no excuse to go out and watch it now. Seriously, give it a shot.

And apparently our buisness in Japan is not over. I mean it never will be over, but we got one more movie this week set in Japan. So join me for trouble in Tokyo with the Teen Titans.

In Retrospect: Lady Bird

I get it more now on the second go.

Lady Bird is a movie about life, identity, and acceptance. It's a very good movie and that while I feel came just a touch late in my life, in some respects it still holds great truth at this point of my life. And I think this movie could be seen 100 years from now and still hit people close to home. I understood the greater emotion to it all and that's what the movie's drive is, emotion. The character's while still thinking, logical beings are guided and driven by emotion. Christine wants to be recognized as an individual, Lady Bird, and yet falls into following others and not doing what she wants to do until the end. It made me think an awful lot about my teenage years and honestly this movie wasn't that far off, I was emotional, I was trying to figure stuff out, I was not appreciative of certain people and things but I got better at life and not taking things for what they are. The movie is an important movie, and one that should be seen regardless of age or other factors in life. The ending kind of puzzled me the first time seeing it in the theater, she wanted to go to New York, she got there, achieved what she wanted and I thought the credits would start rolling not long after she walked out of the subway station. So why keep going until she calls her mom and then end? It's like in The Graduate how the ending keeps going after a point where every other movie would stop. Well, realizing more of the emotions and motivation for Christine on further viewing made the ending makes sense, she accepts the person she is and not the person she wants to be, she is Christine and not Lady Bird. She accepts it, but still remains who she is almost as if Christine and Lady Bird were synonymous. Now that may seem odd, it's the same person so why act like they are different yet the same? Names are really the most arbitrary thing to a human being besides, well....the human being. She realized regardless of whether her name is Christine or Lady Bird, she is who she is so there was no reason for Lady Bird to still be her name. It's a clever and meaningful ending to her character. I for one am happy to see this movie again and will no doubt give more insight in future viewings.

Isle Of Dogs

It was totally worth the wait. Like damn.

Guys, this film hit every checkbox that equals great film for me. Wes Anderson, check. All star cast, check. Film set in Japan with their culture and language in abundance, quadruple check. Stop motion animation, double check. I mean, what more do you want? 10 stars! A+! Just all the details, and the look, and the charm made this movie great to me. The story follows a young boy by the name of Atari who travels to an abandoned island composed of trash and dogs forcibly removed from the city in the hopes of finding his own best friend. We meet several dogs who help the boy along, and a grand odyssey commences. Apparently I was the only one who got the off-beat damn near subtle humor, cause no one was laughing in that theatre but me. Which is a shame cause Wes Anderson does make these sort of off-beat comedy movies with his own twist of adventure, drama, and romance. And I love the fact the film takes place in Japan, it's heavily influental all throughout. The art style is presented, present subcultures, the score is all from a style of japanese music, the language is heard throughout making it a semi-foreign film because only the dogs and one human character speak in english, it's such a fascinating example. I've never seen a movie like this before! And all the characters are great, I love the designs, and the voice acting is ridiculously good. I almost daresay it's better than Kubo And The Two Strings, you know how much I praised and loved that movie! And yet Isle Of Dogs surpasses that very high bar, with a compelling story that takes notes from several movies. I saw you nod to Citizen Kane and The Magnigicent Seven (which was also remade from a japanese film Seven Samurai, funny how life goes). It's just such a great film and I really must pursue more of Wes Anderson's work, I've only ever seen this and Moonrise Kingdom both of which I deeply loved. I highly urge you to go see this movie if you can, and I cannot wait to own it. You owe it to yourself to see a movie about man's best friend.

And this week we see some movies from my favorite animated series of all time.

Lady Bird

You know, for the highest rated and all around best reviewed movie on Rotten Tomatoes.....it was good.

Now don't get me wrong, Lady Bird is a very endearing, very well made, and just plain nice movie, I very much enjoyed the film and thought it was a very faithful and interesting movie that still rings true to late teenage years for most people. I mean the movie can be summed up in about two sentences. Lady Bird is your everyday, ordinary girl mainly living her life. She goes to a catholic high school, makes friends, finds romance, deals with her family, and all around is trying to progress through life. Bam. Easy plot, but so well done. Like, this movie legitamately feels like the life of a teenage girl like she was a real person. Saoirse Ronan is excellent in this movie, and I actually do look forward to seeing more from her in the future, she just nails it in this movie. You feel for this girl, can identify with her, and really wish for her to succeed in life. Now whether this movie can be described as an independent (because I refuse to call it 'Indie') is up to debate, but I love the look of the film. It's very basic in camera movement, but in terms of style, use of color, and environments it gets an A+ very easily from me on visuals. I don't know, for such a simple movie it had so much heart, and intelligence to it, there are few to no cliches in the movie, and honestly I only have one problem with the movie. The ending. Now let me clear this up, not the actual ending. Well....kinda. Basically the movie could have ended perfectly at several different points! Like, there was at least 4 or 5 instances where the credits could have rolled and I would have been very satisfied. But the film just keeps...sort of, meandering on and ends right the hell out of nowhere and it kinda hurt the film. I thought Return Of The King had a severe case of multiple endings disorder, this reaches a whole new level! The movie ends on a fairly basic and just all around "Eh." moment, and it could have done better! Did I still like the movie? Yeah! Do I recommend you watch it? Very highly, yes. It is a very good movie, not perfect, but very well done and an important movie to see, regardless of age, gender, or current standing in life. Will it win awards? Yeah. Do I still love Lady Bird? Without a doubt. But let me know how you thought the movie was, until next time good friends.