Death (2019)

Criminally short but great.




I was thoroughly shocked I wasn't aware of this little short, I am hardcore for The Sandman and even more hardcore for his older sister, and it surprised me even more to learn this only came out 3 years ago but then again life got thrown into a whirlpool quite quick so I'll cut me some slack. I was expecting before doing any real brief research a 30 something minute adaptation of one of Neil Gaiman's stories, but what I got was a 17 minute original story of an artist who is severely having a rough time before meeting a quite sweet girl who obliges to pose for him, before big bombshell here folks, friggin' cutie pie yumness over there, she's Death. I am trying really reallyyyy hard here not to just devolve into just obscene gushing over this woman, I am physically attempting to contain my immeasurable joy in seeing her and my neverending crush on this lovely lady. She has my heart in this world and the next, it is her above anyone else, and I am a shamelessly wholesome Dude stating facts. I gotta go now. Color me impressed with how much good stuff they put in this absurdly short film, you get a real solid grasp on our painter Vincent, his life, his passion for art, and how he manifests his inner demons. I really can see so many people just getting it, you know? They know what it's like, they have been there before, it's very easily relatable. The animation is very good as well, with how lighting and atmosphere changes so quick, the abandoned streets of Gotham (Represent!), the character designs I see bits of anime influence but this is very much the standard quality of DC animated projects, it sorta reminded me of a mix between Batman Year One and Throne Of Atlantis. And I gotta admit I've never been able to quantify the voice I hear in my head when I read The Sandman books and come across Death, but Jamie Chung pretty rock solid choice I very much liked her vocal performance here. Leonardo Nam gets that emotional drama through in a short period and while I saw that ending coming a substantial mile away it didn't detract at all from his last minutes of acting. Talking of which, wow that was so cool! Amazing how far we've come with animation. And can you believe, you can watch the whole thing on the YouTubes, no charge! Worth the time in my opinion. I give it 4 stars, 9/10! The only reason it isn't 10/10 is because it's just too damn short. Yet what a strangely accurate portrayal of life, short yet filled with so much, joy and sadness, the facing of death around you before your own time comes, the pursuit of things you love. Here one minute. Gone the next. But you get what everyone gets, you get a lifetime.

Big Hero 6

Yeah it only took me 4 years to finally see this movie.

And you know what sucks? I was all for seeing it, and I didn't know a thing about the movie. Didn't see a trailer, didn't see one bit of promotional material besides a poster. So what took so long? No idea. Life perhaps. But after finally seeing it in it's entirety how was it? Pretty outstanding to be honest. Sure the film is very comic book-y but since it was adapted from a manga it makes sense. Hiro Hamada lives in the quite frankly beautiful and amazing city of San Fransokyo (though I always just call it San Fran-Tokyo) in the year 2032. Hiro is a boy genius and is tempted to join his older brother's science institute but after a fire and the loss of his brother, Hiro for lack of better words falls into a depression until he meets a medical robot developed by his brother named Baymax who soon uncover a mysterious villain who caused the fire claiming his brother's life, leading Hiro and Baymax to become super heroes with the help of his friends. Told you it was comic book-y, they even refer to it as an origin story! Where to begin with the positives? Well the city is gorgeous, taking the best examples of art and architecture from San Francisco and Tokyo and melding it perfectly, though I see more Japanese influence but hey brownie points for that guys. The characters are all really dang good, Hiro and his friends are all fleshed out and given personalities though honestly evennthough they are self proclaimed nerds, they are highschool stereotypes. Jock, cheerleader, punk, geek, and your normal kid but that doesn't take anything from their character, all the voice actors give a lot to their parts and make it their own. My personal favorites being Baymax, Honey Lemon, and Aunt Cass, dear sweet Christmas they bring me such joy! And while the story is kinda been done, the variety of location and characters make it feel fresh and original. The movie is fun and wonderful from beginning to end, and if you ever wanted to know what I look like look no further than Baymax. It is almost too close, just subtract the karate and medical knowledge and bam, you got me! It's a great movie, but we got 3 more movies better than this, so join me tomorrow where we look at the acclaimed WALL-E.