It's time I think. I've been reviewing Godzilla movies since maybe 2016 and these are the final 4 I need to review. I was actually kind of impressed and very pleased with Godzilla Vs. Megaguirus, the movie strangely doesn't follow after Godzilla 2000 despite the same design being used, where the military have designed a literal black hole firing satellite (UN approved no doubt I'm sure) to finally rid the world of Godzilla but births a new monster from a mutated dragonfly. What's neat is that the dragonfly goes through several phases before becoming a kaiju sized one, with a gnarly design and pretty wicked abilities, able to make supersonic sounds to shatter entire city blocks, takes some Orga inspiration by absorbing Godzilla's energy, and is even able to fire it's own photon blast. It may take awhile for the monster goodness to start, but I feel this actually has a very good human story, with Major Tsujimori having a bit of a vendetta against Japan's cultural ambassador and recruits a bit of a self employed inventor named Kudo to help out with the satellite. Albeit I could only get my hands on the dubbed version but the physical performances shine, with Tsujimori being a hard edged but still sympathetic woman who is good at her job for a reason whereas Kudo could not be more of a laidback normal ass dude, he's kind of wisecracking and doesn't take much seriously yet I was enjoying every moment he was on screen. It's really not often Godzilla movies have such a everyman character, in fact the movie does a lot I have never seen before in any Godzilla movie. You can tell this was a very competently directed movie, they knew how to film their kaiju scenes, they even experiment with a lot of visual techniques never seen before and while they don't always work flawlessly I can't hate seeing a bit of innovation and can forgive this special effects team implementing it in the modern day, it never gets dull and once the monster scenes get going they go until almost the end credits. I genuinely didn't expect it to be bad, but considering this is an entry I hear precisely zero people talk about I expected it to be a decent Godzilla film but what I got was a damn good Godzilla film in my estimation. The concept of the story, the effects, the human element, I really can't find much to hate. The only slight I would say about the movie is it kinda jumps between characters and for awhile you're not really sure who the real main character and focus is, but it rectifies that fairly quick. I really hope this movie gets a bit more attention both from the public and the Godzilla fanbase, and let this be a sign of good things to come for this week, fingers crossed. I give it a full 4 stars, 8/10, and part one of a duology comes up tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 14, 2023
Saturday, February 11, 2023
Metalocalypse: Season 4
BETRAYAL!! Adult Swim, what the fuck?!
Again! Agaaaaainnnn?? Boy do I know how to pick the winners. Fucking yet another show that I love that got axed before it could have been completed properly! Okay fine, maybe I should have put more research in but the result would have been the same! I'm fucking pissed off, let's talk about it. All things considered beyond bullshit and demons, this is one last solid season. Again, not really the route I would have expected because the remaining 12 episodes (back to the 11 minute format) are more one off stories but have threads and underlying elements that come into play. More weirdness with the broadcasting dates too, it took over a year for the actual finale to come out, the final episode ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and then quite an ambitious task was taken by making the finale a full fledged 45 minute opera! Yeah no horseshit, musical storytelling nonstop, a bold move to say the friggin' least here. Christ the only other time I personally have witnessed a metal opera was the album Nostradamus from Judas Priest, which I personally enjoyed a good deal, but I'm more accepting of musicals to begin with so I fully appreciate the time and effort into making this 45 minute epic. But good lord there are many loose ends to tie up and yet it also ends on a pretty satisfactory note, you obviously want more but it didn't kick you square in the groin and say, "Fuck you piece of shit, you're not getting any resolution here!" it truthfully ends well with the exception of the cliffhanger obviously for the next season. What blows my mind and makes this strike two if not three for Adult Swim is that Brendon Small the main force behind the voices, music, and production actually was in talks and even raised the funds necessary for a proper final season after the opera special was made but Adult Swim flat out declined it leading him to so far call it a day on Dethklok. Are you taking the fucking piss mate?? It was there! The series was there! The budget was there! No, of course not, fuck you Dude, you're not getting a 5th season! Cocksucking son of a bitch!! Bring back Metalocalypse or I put you in the camel clutch and break your back, and make you hemble, and FACK your ass! Ooh I'm gonna need some death metal so I can actually calm down a notch! And no I am never letting it go, I don't forgive shit in life. Bastard, swine, smartasses! I could utter every savage curse word that there is but it wouldn't be enough, so I'm gonna try my damndest to move on and talk about the show. Runner up episodes first, Diversityklok where the band is accused of being a racism and they take measures to disprove that ending of course with ludicrous deaths. Writersklok that introduces us to Abigail Remeltindrinc as the band's new producer coming in to kick their asses into shape leading to a turbulent vacation for the band. But my absolute favorite is Going Downklok, where the band travel once more to the dark depths of the sea to record and uh...a kind of cabin fever takes hold, won't say anything further but I was rolling laughing. Also, zip on the lip for the plot of the opera of course cause we don't talk too much finale plot around here regardless of show but I did like it, the musical score was excellent and while the lyrics aren't that Broadway level of well written it has some shining moments and tells the story concisely. The show has never dropped in quality severely or felt like filler in any capacity, the characters and scenarios are fun, the music is solid as steel, the animation quality only improves as the series progresses, the writing crafts this world of high satire at first but doesn't feel obligated to constantly point it out, the overarching or more I should say under the surface plot holds intrigue and makes you want to know more. It is a very good show, a surprise to be sure but a welcome one in my life, for anybody with a dark but good sense of humor and who would call themselves a metal fan this is a recommend. It certainly is not for everyone but I enjoyed it and am happy and proud to say I've watched it. I know society still might view metal music and it's fans as problematic or even a threat to one thing or another, but in my brief odyssey to these lands of smoke and lightning, heavy metal thunder, and riffs that will stay in my mind for a long while to come, I see many good folk with good taste in music who I'm thrilled to say unto you, for those about to rock I salute you. 4 stars, 8.5/10, and that hopefully is not the end for this series in the future.
Again! Agaaaaainnnn?? Boy do I know how to pick the winners. Fucking yet another show that I love that got axed before it could have been completed properly! Okay fine, maybe I should have put more research in but the result would have been the same! I'm fucking pissed off, let's talk about it. All things considered beyond bullshit and demons, this is one last solid season. Again, not really the route I would have expected because the remaining 12 episodes (back to the 11 minute format) are more one off stories but have threads and underlying elements that come into play. More weirdness with the broadcasting dates too, it took over a year for the actual finale to come out, the final episode ends on a bit of a cliffhanger and then quite an ambitious task was taken by making the finale a full fledged 45 minute opera! Yeah no horseshit, musical storytelling nonstop, a bold move to say the friggin' least here. Christ the only other time I personally have witnessed a metal opera was the album Nostradamus from Judas Priest, which I personally enjoyed a good deal, but I'm more accepting of musicals to begin with so I fully appreciate the time and effort into making this 45 minute epic. But good lord there are many loose ends to tie up and yet it also ends on a pretty satisfactory note, you obviously want more but it didn't kick you square in the groin and say, "Fuck you piece of shit, you're not getting any resolution here!" it truthfully ends well with the exception of the cliffhanger obviously for the next season. What blows my mind and makes this strike two if not three for Adult Swim is that Brendon Small the main force behind the voices, music, and production actually was in talks and even raised the funds necessary for a proper final season after the opera special was made but Adult Swim flat out declined it leading him to so far call it a day on Dethklok. Are you taking the fucking piss mate?? It was there! The series was there! The budget was there! No, of course not, fuck you Dude, you're not getting a 5th season! Cocksucking son of a bitch!! Bring back Metalocalypse or I put you in the camel clutch and break your back, and make you hemble, and FACK your ass! Ooh I'm gonna need some death metal so I can actually calm down a notch! And no I am never letting it go, I don't forgive shit in life. Bastard, swine, smartasses! I could utter every savage curse word that there is but it wouldn't be enough, so I'm gonna try my damndest to move on and talk about the show. Runner up episodes first, Diversityklok where the band is accused of being a racism and they take measures to disprove that ending of course with ludicrous deaths. Writersklok that introduces us to Abigail Remeltindrinc as the band's new producer coming in to kick their asses into shape leading to a turbulent vacation for the band. But my absolute favorite is Going Downklok, where the band travel once more to the dark depths of the sea to record and uh...a kind of cabin fever takes hold, won't say anything further but I was rolling laughing. Also, zip on the lip for the plot of the opera of course cause we don't talk too much finale plot around here regardless of show but I did like it, the musical score was excellent and while the lyrics aren't that Broadway level of well written it has some shining moments and tells the story concisely. The show has never dropped in quality severely or felt like filler in any capacity, the characters and scenarios are fun, the music is solid as steel, the animation quality only improves as the series progresses, the writing crafts this world of high satire at first but doesn't feel obligated to constantly point it out, the overarching or more I should say under the surface plot holds intrigue and makes you want to know more. It is a very good show, a surprise to be sure but a welcome one in my life, for anybody with a dark but good sense of humor and who would call themselves a metal fan this is a recommend. It certainly is not for everyone but I enjoyed it and am happy and proud to say I've watched it. I know society still might view metal music and it's fans as problematic or even a threat to one thing or another, but in my brief odyssey to these lands of smoke and lightning, heavy metal thunder, and riffs that will stay in my mind for a long while to come, I see many good folk with good taste in music who I'm thrilled to say unto you, for those about to rock I salute you. 4 stars, 8.5/10, and that hopefully is not the end for this series in the future.
Friday, February 10, 2023
Metalocalypse: Season 3
I gotta tell you, I ain't got a clue where the final season will go.
Bit of a reset to just batshit one off episodes, and I'm not fully against that by a long shot but it does raise many questions for the final finale. Aside from that though, good season! I found this to be kind of a more introspective season for Dethklok, a good chunk of the episodes even if it's not the main subject matter tends to deal with each band members history, grievances, and emotional baggage. Skwisgaar tries to find his real father, Toki seeks a lady woman companion, Pickles goes through rehab and confronts demons of his past, even Murderface is humbled a fair bit to where he just wants to be part of the band and live contently. I'm actually surprised we don't get much on Nathan's point of view, and that sucks just a notch cause if I have a favorite, and I do, it would be Nathan! Hell, this season goes full musical at times with the bandmates staring off into the middle distance and singing their feelings, further compounding that fact. But it's a bit of escapism at the end of the day and the episodes are still just as good. I know my definite favorite, but here's some runner ups. Tributeklok, where the band goes through that phase of getting back to their roots and realizing it isn't as grand as they remember, love the quickfire jokes and the usual over the top horrid deaths. Dethhealth, this episode is wild with so much nutty weirdness to make the humor even better than it is and the fact that a death metal band gets sensitive around the word dying is gold. But the best is believe it or not a Christmas episode Dethmas, mainly because it just goes against every tradition of a Christmas special and seeing the band seethe at Christmas brought me joy to know I've been recognized. Though I do agree with their more morbid brutal interpretation of Christmas staples, maybe I am too hard on that holiday......nah! I think the show is getting to me though, I was waiting for gory death to descend to this buncha' jackass hip hop jagoffs. So satisfying when it did. Don't be jagoffs kids, be good people. And my voice may be unconciously dropping a few octaves but I chalk that up to my normal grumpiness. Also weird as hell tangent here but up until episode 8, at least on the HBO Max the censoring has been kinda off and on, sometimes it's bleeped sometimes it's not, come episode 8 animated tig ol' bitties for all! It's very random and I have no clue why. Not complaining though (Because I don't mind, not that I oggle 2D calcium cannons you sick little monkies!). I have a theory or two but nothing concrete as to what is to come next time, if anything I'm bummed we're approaching the end for the apocalypse of the metals. But metal never goes quietly into that good night and rages against the dying of the light from the womb to the tomb. 4 stars, 8/10!
Bit of a reset to just batshit one off episodes, and I'm not fully against that by a long shot but it does raise many questions for the final finale. Aside from that though, good season! I found this to be kind of a more introspective season for Dethklok, a good chunk of the episodes even if it's not the main subject matter tends to deal with each band members history, grievances, and emotional baggage. Skwisgaar tries to find his real father, Toki seeks a lady woman companion, Pickles goes through rehab and confronts demons of his past, even Murderface is humbled a fair bit to where he just wants to be part of the band and live contently. I'm actually surprised we don't get much on Nathan's point of view, and that sucks just a notch cause if I have a favorite, and I do, it would be Nathan! Hell, this season goes full musical at times with the bandmates staring off into the middle distance and singing their feelings, further compounding that fact. But it's a bit of escapism at the end of the day and the episodes are still just as good. I know my definite favorite, but here's some runner ups. Tributeklok, where the band goes through that phase of getting back to their roots and realizing it isn't as grand as they remember, love the quickfire jokes and the usual over the top horrid deaths. Dethhealth, this episode is wild with so much nutty weirdness to make the humor even better than it is and the fact that a death metal band gets sensitive around the word dying is gold. But the best is believe it or not a Christmas episode Dethmas, mainly because it just goes against every tradition of a Christmas special and seeing the band seethe at Christmas brought me joy to know I've been recognized. Though I do agree with their more morbid brutal interpretation of Christmas staples, maybe I am too hard on that holiday......nah! I think the show is getting to me though, I was waiting for gory death to descend to this buncha' jackass hip hop jagoffs. So satisfying when it did. Don't be jagoffs kids, be good people. And my voice may be unconciously dropping a few octaves but I chalk that up to my normal grumpiness. Also weird as hell tangent here but up until episode 8, at least on the HBO Max the censoring has been kinda off and on, sometimes it's bleeped sometimes it's not, come episode 8 animated tig ol' bitties for all! It's very random and I have no clue why. Not complaining though (Because I don't mind, not that I oggle 2D calcium cannons you sick little monkies!). I have a theory or two but nothing concrete as to what is to come next time, if anything I'm bummed we're approaching the end for the apocalypse of the metals. But metal never goes quietly into that good night and rages against the dying of the light from the womb to the tomb. 4 stars, 8/10!
Thursday, February 9, 2023
Metalocalypse: Season 2
Okay, wow holy shit we get some more plot!
Talk about a season that starts one place and ends in another! Definite improvements have been made throughout, and I would say the second season is better than the last. So after the attempt on the band's life and the notion of something more to the strange Mr. Salacia, it's business as usual for Dethklok with mayhem, death, and metal music making. But something I appreciate is you can tell the game has changed and that this season is building up to something, with strands from the last season still cropping up, like Edgar Jomfru and the masked assassin out for revenge, the usual board meeting shadow leaders, and a new faction called the Revengencers out for Dethklok too. It's not all serious happenings, but I like how they string the events along to where you never really forget the threat but also where you can't still enjoy the madness of the episode. From fashion designing, to more family matters, Nathan becoming governor of Florida, to attempts at romance, the show still boasts tons of variety throughout and continues it's style of humor. Something that clicked for me is, besides the grisly shock comedy bits most of the laughs come from simple conversation. It really reminds me of Looney Tunes where you can have the slapstick but the true humor shines through interaction and dialogue, with the personalities of the band clashing. They spend more time it seems together, along with how the writers give such unique personalities and it never gets dull. Better budget this time around, with more involved setpieces and greater detail. Voice cast still slays it, and what a shock to see Malcolm McDowell appear as this Rasputin looking motherfucker on the shadow council that's pretty sick! Also shoutout to Charles Foster (not Kane) Ofdensen, what a brilliant move to take this kind of nothing character and make him the coolest one! Favorite episode besides the finale I'd say is Dethfashion, the punches kept on coming and I was busting with laughter right up to the credits. I dare not spoil the finale but even I was kinda surprised how well it was executed where you know no one is going to bite the bullet but there is that tension still, it's almost very akin to the siege on Hogwarts, yet it never felt out of left field or forced to have this dramatic climax. I applaud the creators and animators for the effort they put into it! I'm truthfully not sure if that episode can be topped in terms of season finales but I'll be excitedly awaiting the next one. Great season, the show is growing on me more, and next season is the longest so we'll see what new spore of metal mayhem awaits us. 4 stars, 8.5/10!
Talk about a season that starts one place and ends in another! Definite improvements have been made throughout, and I would say the second season is better than the last. So after the attempt on the band's life and the notion of something more to the strange Mr. Salacia, it's business as usual for Dethklok with mayhem, death, and metal music making. But something I appreciate is you can tell the game has changed and that this season is building up to something, with strands from the last season still cropping up, like Edgar Jomfru and the masked assassin out for revenge, the usual board meeting shadow leaders, and a new faction called the Revengencers out for Dethklok too. It's not all serious happenings, but I like how they string the events along to where you never really forget the threat but also where you can't still enjoy the madness of the episode. From fashion designing, to more family matters, Nathan becoming governor of Florida, to attempts at romance, the show still boasts tons of variety throughout and continues it's style of humor. Something that clicked for me is, besides the grisly shock comedy bits most of the laughs come from simple conversation. It really reminds me of Looney Tunes where you can have the slapstick but the true humor shines through interaction and dialogue, with the personalities of the band clashing. They spend more time it seems together, along with how the writers give such unique personalities and it never gets dull. Better budget this time around, with more involved setpieces and greater detail. Voice cast still slays it, and what a shock to see Malcolm McDowell appear as this Rasputin looking motherfucker on the shadow council that's pretty sick! Also shoutout to Charles Foster (not Kane) Ofdensen, what a brilliant move to take this kind of nothing character and make him the coolest one! Favorite episode besides the finale I'd say is Dethfashion, the punches kept on coming and I was busting with laughter right up to the credits. I dare not spoil the finale but even I was kinda surprised how well it was executed where you know no one is going to bite the bullet but there is that tension still, it's almost very akin to the siege on Hogwarts, yet it never felt out of left field or forced to have this dramatic climax. I applaud the creators and animators for the effort they put into it! I'm truthfully not sure if that episode can be topped in terms of season finales but I'll be excitedly awaiting the next one. Great season, the show is growing on me more, and next season is the longest so we'll see what new spore of metal mayhem awaits us. 4 stars, 8.5/10!
Wednesday, February 8, 2023
Metalocalypse: Season 1
Nothing gets you in the mood preparing for Valentine's Day like DEATH METAL.
This was a very spur of the moment series I was watching, really just to see what it was all about cause I'll be truthful I have never heard anyone talk about this show or knew anything about it. And this was out around the same time as Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Squidbillies, with me maybe seeing a few seconds tops until this year. Another oddity is the show started in 2006 with only 4 seasons to it's name with almost every episode being 11 minutes long, and there was a huge time gap of 3 years between the third and last season before it was cancelled in 2013. Adult Swim man, that is a whole different beast of programme broadcasting! And it is as off the wall as all their other original shows. Centered on the biggest band in the whole world (how I wish it was true here) death metal quintet Dethklok comprised of vocalist Nathan Explosion, guitarists Toki Wartooth and Skwisgaar Skwigelf, bassist William Murderface, and on drums Pickles. The series so far is just a pure hyperbole soaked parody of metal bands, the U.S. government, the entertainment industry, and death. Unless you have a stiff stomach, I fully recommend not eating while viewing this show. It's actually a bit difficult to review, because like I said the episodes are just bite sized pieces, there's no real plot besides a super secret board room trying to eliminate Dethklok, but honestly I think you can say that about every Adult Swim show so consider this more an awareness PSA of this series and all the madness within. Now with me still very much a novice metalhead, with no hard exposure to death metal music, I only got some of the references but I feel this is a series where you don't have to know the music to enjoy it. If you have a sick ass sense of humor, and want something lavishly ludicrous seeped in blood, with head thrashing bits of music, and an art style while basic and not well funded has backgrounds worthy of any metal album cover at times, then this is for you. Not of course to say the animation is bad and bash it, it's detailed in the backgrounds, it's gruesome in it's cartoonish violence, and the animation team knows how to work well with very little. Maybe it's more a stylistic choice than a budget constraint, what do I know. But the writers man, they crafted something very good here. The humor is ludicrous and more often based on visceral death, but the choices made for dialogue, sound effects, the fact the censor noise is a guitar distort noise, they did put thought into all of it. The parody is almost palpable with this Big Brother government wanting people to remain dumb and obese, where every problem imaginable stems from Dethklok, and every episode they bring a new expert to form a plan to break the band. It's not even a veiled flaming fuck yourself to the PMRC three ring circus of horseshit that happened in the 80s, an event that still enrages me that taxpaying citizen's money was wasted and would have been better used to wipe their ass with. Obviously because the show was made in the early 2000s it simultaneously mocks and yet preserves that paparazzi obsessed corner of media that still needs to die brutally in this day and age. And last but not least is the absurd view of death metal bands, metal fans, and the culture at large but the show never degrades it or anything, you can tell the creators were indeed fans of the genre, with some easter eggs thrown in for good measure. It really does revel in the metal while having some fun with it. No small part to this series is the voice cast with Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha together voicing the band which is actually really impressive especially if they kept swapping voices in scenes, with reoccuring voices aplenty from Mark Hamill (Hell yeah.), we of course get some metal performers in there like George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, Kirk and James from Metallica, and King Diamond himself which is great and really cool they were down to do some voices for a handful of episodes. And while I'm on the subject of sound, again I must state I haven't waded into the waters of death metal and while I know the songs showcased are probably more on the exaggerated side, but I could get into this genre. I really, really liked the music! Props to you Brendon for these brutal songs! I kinda need more angry music in my life for those brief periods of human hating, furniture abusing, cussing galore of a maelstrom until I'm back to normal. Favorite episode? I give it to Dethfam, it had me rolling the whole way through and it sheds some backstory on the bandmates! And I'm pretty stoked to jump right into season 2 I gotta say, I know by no stretch it's for everybody but I very much enjoyed it and wanted to spread the word about. A simple but good start to the show, 4 stars, solid 8/10!
This was a very spur of the moment series I was watching, really just to see what it was all about cause I'll be truthful I have never heard anyone talk about this show or knew anything about it. And this was out around the same time as Robot Chicken, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and Squidbillies, with me maybe seeing a few seconds tops until this year. Another oddity is the show started in 2006 with only 4 seasons to it's name with almost every episode being 11 minutes long, and there was a huge time gap of 3 years between the third and last season before it was cancelled in 2013. Adult Swim man, that is a whole different beast of programme broadcasting! And it is as off the wall as all their other original shows. Centered on the biggest band in the whole world (how I wish it was true here) death metal quintet Dethklok comprised of vocalist Nathan Explosion, guitarists Toki Wartooth and Skwisgaar Skwigelf, bassist William Murderface, and on drums Pickles. The series so far is just a pure hyperbole soaked parody of metal bands, the U.S. government, the entertainment industry, and death. Unless you have a stiff stomach, I fully recommend not eating while viewing this show. It's actually a bit difficult to review, because like I said the episodes are just bite sized pieces, there's no real plot besides a super secret board room trying to eliminate Dethklok, but honestly I think you can say that about every Adult Swim show so consider this more an awareness PSA of this series and all the madness within. Now with me still very much a novice metalhead, with no hard exposure to death metal music, I only got some of the references but I feel this is a series where you don't have to know the music to enjoy it. If you have a sick ass sense of humor, and want something lavishly ludicrous seeped in blood, with head thrashing bits of music, and an art style while basic and not well funded has backgrounds worthy of any metal album cover at times, then this is for you. Not of course to say the animation is bad and bash it, it's detailed in the backgrounds, it's gruesome in it's cartoonish violence, and the animation team knows how to work well with very little. Maybe it's more a stylistic choice than a budget constraint, what do I know. But the writers man, they crafted something very good here. The humor is ludicrous and more often based on visceral death, but the choices made for dialogue, sound effects, the fact the censor noise is a guitar distort noise, they did put thought into all of it. The parody is almost palpable with this Big Brother government wanting people to remain dumb and obese, where every problem imaginable stems from Dethklok, and every episode they bring a new expert to form a plan to break the band. It's not even a veiled flaming fuck yourself to the PMRC three ring circus of horseshit that happened in the 80s, an event that still enrages me that taxpaying citizen's money was wasted and would have been better used to wipe their ass with. Obviously because the show was made in the early 2000s it simultaneously mocks and yet preserves that paparazzi obsessed corner of media that still needs to die brutally in this day and age. And last but not least is the absurd view of death metal bands, metal fans, and the culture at large but the show never degrades it or anything, you can tell the creators were indeed fans of the genre, with some easter eggs thrown in for good measure. It really does revel in the metal while having some fun with it. No small part to this series is the voice cast with Brendon Small and Tommy Blacha together voicing the band which is actually really impressive especially if they kept swapping voices in scenes, with reoccuring voices aplenty from Mark Hamill (Hell yeah.), we of course get some metal performers in there like George "Corpsegrinder" Fisher, Kirk and James from Metallica, and King Diamond himself which is great and really cool they were down to do some voices for a handful of episodes. And while I'm on the subject of sound, again I must state I haven't waded into the waters of death metal and while I know the songs showcased are probably more on the exaggerated side, but I could get into this genre. I really, really liked the music! Props to you Brendon for these brutal songs! I kinda need more angry music in my life for those brief periods of human hating, furniture abusing, cussing galore of a maelstrom until I'm back to normal. Favorite episode? I give it to Dethfam, it had me rolling the whole way through and it sheds some backstory on the bandmates! And I'm pretty stoked to jump right into season 2 I gotta say, I know by no stretch it's for everybody but I very much enjoyed it and wanted to spread the word about. A simple but good start to the show, 4 stars, solid 8/10!
Thursday, February 2, 2023
Luca
This really had no damn reason to be as good as it is.
I have not heard anything about this movie at all, and I simply have to ask what in the cinnamon toast fuck is wrong with people? We have ourselves another modern Pixar classic, no doubt in production during the middle of a global pandemic, with a simple yet endearing story and not one single person I know of talked about it??? How do you fuck that up?! Granted yes, even I, when I first heard the premise and saw promotional material I thought it would be okay. Just this neat little story of a young sea monster child named Luca who akin to another sea faring youngster from Disney gains a fascination with the surface world, but no voices or souls need to be sold off here cause when sea monsters touch dry land they become human, and quickly Luca makes friends, learns about the surface more, and enters a race to win a Vespa to travel the world. The first thing I gotta say is, you show off-y bastards Pixar, like when it gets to the point I'm honestly pissed right the hell off how good a movie looks and you continue to barrage me with stunning environments, lavish color, and just unbelievable visuals do you really expect me to just not gush about it?? I adore just the revelry in the culture, language, and architecture of Italy, I'm all for that kind of thing! Even with movies like Encanto, wasn't too wild about the movie but goddamn did I love seeing the culture of a south american/hispanic family. But the big reason I feel the movie works as good as it does is the characters. The writers really and I mean really got the mannerisms and intellect of kids down in this! Luca is good kid at heart, he has daydreams, he has to build up the nerve to do certain things, and he has doubts but an openness to voice his feelings. Alberto is another sea monster who entices Luca to the surface, who has baggage of his own and thinks he knows everything in that teen sort of way, much more extroverted and yet reserved for reasons the movie explains, but undeniable friends to the end. Guilia, little red haired girl who's got some attitude and just a dash of overdramatic, I'm sold! She's class, obviously because she is our human window to our protagonist we spend a lot of time with her, getting to know her family and situation, her goals of winning the race herself, they do mighty good giving these characters emotions and identity. It's very easy to get involved and while I'll say the ending isn't a complete bummer, it does dip into that bittersweetness which if you've been here long enough you know that kind of shit is my jam. The music, good God the music had me before the movie even began, it's easily one of the best soundtracks to a Pixar film and in my estimation the music from them only gets better with each film. And the movie doesn't really go down any trope paths, it flirts with it but skirts clear thank Christ. I really can't complain about anything in this movie except the villain, mainly cause he's just an enormous sack of shit who is so hateable to the point where there was a moment where I was like, if this movie has him get gutted by a harpoon in a back alley I'm giving this movie a 20/10, but it's intentional from the filmmakers so I can't mark against it. Like I am reallllyyy flip flopping between a 9 and a 10 here guys! I'll give it a 9/10, it's not Soul kind of flawless but it's so close it's not even funny. Full 4 stars, could not recommend it greater, for God's sake spread the word about this movie. It's just the movie I needed and it capped off the week quite nicely. See you next week everybody!
I have not heard anything about this movie at all, and I simply have to ask what in the cinnamon toast fuck is wrong with people? We have ourselves another modern Pixar classic, no doubt in production during the middle of a global pandemic, with a simple yet endearing story and not one single person I know of talked about it??? How do you fuck that up?! Granted yes, even I, when I first heard the premise and saw promotional material I thought it would be okay. Just this neat little story of a young sea monster child named Luca who akin to another sea faring youngster from Disney gains a fascination with the surface world, but no voices or souls need to be sold off here cause when sea monsters touch dry land they become human, and quickly Luca makes friends, learns about the surface more, and enters a race to win a Vespa to travel the world. The first thing I gotta say is, you show off-y bastards Pixar, like when it gets to the point I'm honestly pissed right the hell off how good a movie looks and you continue to barrage me with stunning environments, lavish color, and just unbelievable visuals do you really expect me to just not gush about it?? I adore just the revelry in the culture, language, and architecture of Italy, I'm all for that kind of thing! Even with movies like Encanto, wasn't too wild about the movie but goddamn did I love seeing the culture of a south american/hispanic family. But the big reason I feel the movie works as good as it does is the characters. The writers really and I mean really got the mannerisms and intellect of kids down in this! Luca is good kid at heart, he has daydreams, he has to build up the nerve to do certain things, and he has doubts but an openness to voice his feelings. Alberto is another sea monster who entices Luca to the surface, who has baggage of his own and thinks he knows everything in that teen sort of way, much more extroverted and yet reserved for reasons the movie explains, but undeniable friends to the end. Guilia, little red haired girl who's got some attitude and just a dash of overdramatic, I'm sold! She's class, obviously because she is our human window to our protagonist we spend a lot of time with her, getting to know her family and situation, her goals of winning the race herself, they do mighty good giving these characters emotions and identity. It's very easy to get involved and while I'll say the ending isn't a complete bummer, it does dip into that bittersweetness which if you've been here long enough you know that kind of shit is my jam. The music, good God the music had me before the movie even began, it's easily one of the best soundtracks to a Pixar film and in my estimation the music from them only gets better with each film. And the movie doesn't really go down any trope paths, it flirts with it but skirts clear thank Christ. I really can't complain about anything in this movie except the villain, mainly cause he's just an enormous sack of shit who is so hateable to the point where there was a moment where I was like, if this movie has him get gutted by a harpoon in a back alley I'm giving this movie a 20/10, but it's intentional from the filmmakers so I can't mark against it. Like I am reallllyyy flip flopping between a 9 and a 10 here guys! I'll give it a 9/10, it's not Soul kind of flawless but it's so close it's not even funny. Full 4 stars, could not recommend it greater, for God's sake spread the word about this movie. It's just the movie I needed and it capped off the week quite nicely. See you next week everybody!
Wednesday, February 1, 2023
Monsters Inc.
A movie like this really makes me appreciate the art of 3D animated films.
Again, for a movie that's over 20 years old it hasn't aged a day. Taking a very neat and original idea of monsters working in a factory setting to supply power through screams, Monsters Inc. is definitely one of the high notes of Pixar in my opinion. John Goodman and Billy Crystal play working partners/roomates Sully and Mike who as their day to day work life proceeds gets vastly interrupted by the appearance of a young girl in the monster world leading them to try to get her home safe. Something I realized is Pixar has this style to their movies where regardless of the world you are introduced to and regardless of plot within that world, you roll with it completely. You really do not need great detail because the picture they paint works and is easily understandable. A monster filled city, screams supply power, they believe children are akin to walking nuclear fallout, they even throw out a tidbit of there being a power supply crisis, but again you don't need reasoning as to why it is the way it is. And the story moves at a great pace for a 90 minute film, with no scene seeming like filler or something that shouldn't be in the final cut. The monster designs are very creative, colorful, and memorable with simple personalities and good performances. I don't need to tell you John Goodman is really good in this movie, he just works so effortlessly and he has that charm about him in every role, and what a remarkable computer engine they had to animate Sully convincingly cause hair is friggin' impossible to animate correctly. Billy Crystal is a good comic foil to John's straight man persona, with fast line reads, jokes thrown in along the way, and yeah you can argue he's a bit of a dick to want to dump this kid anywhere but he's never unlikable or too much to impede your enjoyment. It's great to see Steve Buscemi and John together again in a picture, and what a perfect voice for this slinking evil monster Randall, and again unbelievable praise to the animators for getting a character who can camouflage look flawless. Mary Gibbs as little Boo, God help me this girl is like a terminal overdose of pwecious cuteness, now that being said I would massacre trillions for her and I dare even say it is impossible to not like this character. Plus the fact the filmmakers had to just follow her around with recording equipment to get her unintelligible speech in the movie just cracks me up. Also shoutout to Jennifer Tilly, marvellous as always to see her and a wonderful character design akin to Clash Of The Titans. Talking of which, I'd be a fool not to bring up the restaurant Harryhausen, because I'm me and I'm a nerd for this kind of stuff, watch his special effect riddled movies for God's sake! But yeah, visually the movie is so colorful and inventive and it genuinely does look spot on even today. The comedy works but I also feel again it's not a major part of the movie, it occasionally made me laugh but the story and the characters are why this movie is still as loved today. I surprisingly was quoting a fair bit of it even though I haven't seen the movie in the better part of almost 20 years, so clearly it leaves an impact. I very much enjoyed this film and had a real good time revisiting it. All in all I give it 4 stars, 8/10, and we're jumping ahead to the not too distant past for one more Pixar picture tomorrow.
Again, for a movie that's over 20 years old it hasn't aged a day. Taking a very neat and original idea of monsters working in a factory setting to supply power through screams, Monsters Inc. is definitely one of the high notes of Pixar in my opinion. John Goodman and Billy Crystal play working partners/roomates Sully and Mike who as their day to day work life proceeds gets vastly interrupted by the appearance of a young girl in the monster world leading them to try to get her home safe. Something I realized is Pixar has this style to their movies where regardless of the world you are introduced to and regardless of plot within that world, you roll with it completely. You really do not need great detail because the picture they paint works and is easily understandable. A monster filled city, screams supply power, they believe children are akin to walking nuclear fallout, they even throw out a tidbit of there being a power supply crisis, but again you don't need reasoning as to why it is the way it is. And the story moves at a great pace for a 90 minute film, with no scene seeming like filler or something that shouldn't be in the final cut. The monster designs are very creative, colorful, and memorable with simple personalities and good performances. I don't need to tell you John Goodman is really good in this movie, he just works so effortlessly and he has that charm about him in every role, and what a remarkable computer engine they had to animate Sully convincingly cause hair is friggin' impossible to animate correctly. Billy Crystal is a good comic foil to John's straight man persona, with fast line reads, jokes thrown in along the way, and yeah you can argue he's a bit of a dick to want to dump this kid anywhere but he's never unlikable or too much to impede your enjoyment. It's great to see Steve Buscemi and John together again in a picture, and what a perfect voice for this slinking evil monster Randall, and again unbelievable praise to the animators for getting a character who can camouflage look flawless. Mary Gibbs as little Boo, God help me this girl is like a terminal overdose of pwecious cuteness, now that being said I would massacre trillions for her and I dare even say it is impossible to not like this character. Plus the fact the filmmakers had to just follow her around with recording equipment to get her unintelligible speech in the movie just cracks me up. Also shoutout to Jennifer Tilly, marvellous as always to see her and a wonderful character design akin to Clash Of The Titans. Talking of which, I'd be a fool not to bring up the restaurant Harryhausen, because I'm me and I'm a nerd for this kind of stuff, watch his special effect riddled movies for God's sake! But yeah, visually the movie is so colorful and inventive and it genuinely does look spot on even today. The comedy works but I also feel again it's not a major part of the movie, it occasionally made me laugh but the story and the characters are why this movie is still as loved today. I surprisingly was quoting a fair bit of it even though I haven't seen the movie in the better part of almost 20 years, so clearly it leaves an impact. I very much enjoyed this film and had a real good time revisiting it. All in all I give it 4 stars, 8/10, and we're jumping ahead to the not too distant past for one more Pixar picture tomorrow.
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