The Many Adventures Of Winnie The Pooh

As with everyone no doubt, I'm very happy to see Christopher Robin this Friday. But what makes so many people love Winnie The Pooh?

Well, the books are classics and written to where anyone can enjoy reading them. These cartoons started as just shorts before they were compiled into one movie and it's done so well you never probably knew. This was one of my favorite Disney tapes when I was young along with The Aristocats, The Jungle Book, and Toy Story so to me and no doubt many many others, they grew up watching Winnie The Pooh. And the joy and love I feel has never diminished over the years. So since the movie is in fact several shorts, each one simple and fun, plot is not necessarily important. Just adventures and happenings in the Hundred Acre Wood with Pooh and all his friends, told incredibly well with an abundance of fourth wall breaks, endearing characters, and a very slow and relaxed pace. I've made a theory that you can tell a lot about a person from who their favorite character is from Looney Tunes, Seasame Street, and Winnie The Pooh, because those are like childhood 101 everyone has watched these things at a young age and made an impression on them. And for the record mine are Taz, Cookie Monster, and Eeyore. These shows stick with us, we all have fond memories of them, and they can still be remembered with affection and fondness. For such a simple idea of a child and his stuffed animals as friends going on adventures, it hits home and is so endearing. The animation style is sketchy bringing storybook pictures to mind, the voices are memorable and wonderful, the stories are fun and can entertain adults, the humor again is basic but hard not to love. My absolute favorite joke which I dare not spoil, is found when you first meet Piglet and it is all due to the fact I never realized the joke until I was way older. It absolutely kills me. There's a wonderful Pink Elephants dream sequence which I loved as a kid and I think I may love it more now, the animation is so well done and the song is catchy. In fact, all the songs are great and I catch myself humming or singing them even now. The only bad thing I could ever say is, I feel they mixed the endings up. The last part, or short of the movie is totally fine but the one before that has a perfect ending that leads to the ending which is easily the best scene in the movie. I know it's nitpicking at best, but I honestly felt it would have worked better! You go from a lovely fun time high, to a very contemplative and deep low. The ending I won't lie, emotionally wrecks me. It's kind of hard to watch because it acknowledges the depressing truth of life, which I sincerely hope the new movie delves into because it would elevate it from a very good family film to one of the best. But we got one more venture into the Hundred Acre Wood before then, so I'll see you soon.

Teen Titans Go To The Movies

Even though it took all day to finally see it, it was still worth it.

I love Teen Titans Go, and their new movie is awesome. In the same vein of The Lego Batman Movie poking fun and satirizing many tropes of superhero films while still telling a good story, I find it just as enjoyable as The Lego Batman Movie. Not better, but just as enjoyable. So we catch up with the team and they are trying to get a movie made about them to be seen as real superheroes and not just a joke. Through several attempts and with no luck they meet a new adversary, Slade who tries to pull a Nygmatech and hypnotize people through a superhero film leading the Teen Titans to leap into action! So much to love in this movie, easter eggs galore, awesome comedy, the animation is so crisp and fresh I want my walls to wear it, voice cast is on point as usual with a surprise guest appearance by Will Arnett as Slade (though I really wanted him to be Batman again) and one more hysterical surprise guest appearance, coupled with so much more to love. In fact, I can only say one bad thing about the movie. They do not credit the original duo that made the Teen Titans theme song. They credit Danny Elfman and John Williams for their iconic scores, and yet no love for Puffy AmiYumi! The Batman and Superman themes play for 5 seconds each, and the Teen Titans theme is played constantly yet you bastards can't give credit to that awesome band?? Fffffffffff-I digress. Beyond that, great movie! Any movie that beats the crap out of Shia LaBeouf.....10/10. 10/10. 100/100! Best film! BEST FILM. Recommended to all but more importantly a certain group. All you fanboys and borderline trolls who constantly belittle Teen Titans Go and praise the original awesome show. I love Teen Titans, in the future I wish to review the whole series because it is so excellent. I also love Teen Titans Go and can appreciate and enjoy what it is, and never look down upon it because it's different. You need to go see this movie. Because this movie, is what will save the original Teen Titans. Tara Strong posted on Twitter that the original show will return if the movie does well, because it shows people want more Titans. So...in a way, this movie could be the finale of Teen Titans Go. I don't think I need to explain further, just go read my Solo review if you don't quite get it. This movie is great, and I will buy it when it hits video.

See you next week good friends.

Teen Titans Trouble In Tokyo

This is how it happened. This is how the Teen Titans ended.

After several seasons and the conclusion of the original Teen Titans show back in the day, they created one more adventure to end the series. Did it succeed? This wasn't the grand finale, the climax culminating through years of television like they are doing with Steven Universe, the show ended and on a quite somber and unclear setting. People wondered if that was really the end, and the movie doesn't really conclude anything from the series but gives one last fun adventure with the Titans. Released 8 months after the series ended, the Titans are attacked by a mysterious villain that soon leads the group to Tokyo to find out the mastermind behind it all. And the movie is very, very good even if you did not grow up watching the show. The movie is very self contained, and can be enjoyed by all though I do urge you to watch the show because it is well worth your time. All the original cast is present, the excellent and clearly anime inspired animation style brings a really sleek and wonderful view of Tokyo, they delve heavily into Japanese pop culture ranging from kaiju movies with a giant monster resembling Titanosaurus attacking the Titans, not one but two Akira references one more subtle than the other, the police force helmets look like Ultraman, plus a quite hilarious karoake and sushi scene makes it even more enjoyable to me now than when I was 11 years old. I really loved the series and the movie when I was a kid and to revisit it brings back good memories. It's a nostalgia trip for sure, but the movie has it's own merits and is not solely banking on fond memories. The story is good, the characters are wonderful and they show growth from the first episode of the show, the humor is good and I greatly enjoyed the movie, plus it has a long awaited moment for fans of the show leading to quite a rough scene to sit through. It's such a good scene, it gives weight to these character's interactions and it's like well....for lack of a better word if The Dark Knight level of conversations met a Lost In Translation situation. Dude. It's like...really, really good. Teen Titans was a show renowned for it's perfect mixing of humor, and more deep moments. Nowadays you see it all the time, Adventure Time, Steven Universe, but Teen Titans for a lot of kids showed that a cartoon show can be serious, it can talk about character dilemmas, it can go to more mature themes, that's why so many people held it near and dear to their hearts. And probably why most of them think Teen Titans Go is the worst thing invented since nazism, seriously I have never heard so much almost universal hatred and ill will towards a show, let alone a cartoon in my life. And I just don't get it. I love Teen Titans Go, it's a lighthearted comedic romp with comic book characters. Is it as good as the old show? Absolutely not. Is it still entertaining and a good show? Of course! Which is why I'm psyched to see the new movie tomorrow, cause we could have a Lego Batman Movie situation here again with great animation, witty writing, and could be just as good as this movie. But that will come tomorrow so until then, mata ne minasan!

BONUS: In Retrospect: Ready Player One

I totally forgot about it coming out!

And now I get to pause on every excruciating frame of film and nerd the hell out! Life is pretty good right now. And the movie still holds up and is still pretty awesome! Noticed some more cool stuff, appreciated the story and excellent effects, and of course had fun. I mean it's kinda hard for a massive geek like me to not enjoy a movie such as this, and the inner cinema snob in me is pleased too. I see you Citizen Kane reference, and any film that pays tribute to Stanley Kubrick is clearly a masterpiece of cinema. So even I cannot say even nitpicky things about this movie. It's just that good! And you can feel the love, and passion, and admiration for film, games, and music from that special period of time in the 1980s. It was a whole new fronteir back then, and despite the slight cold war worries, a pretty excellent time to be alive. I myself have a great love for that era and wish I could have lived through it. And the good news is I can still buy Tab in 2029! But the true message of the movie speaks volumes to me, and reality IS the only place you can get a decent meal, so I am going to make some hot pockets and play Nintendo because I'm just in that special mood today.

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.

Ip Man 3

I think with this movie it all depends on perspective whether it is better than the last or not.

I personally think it does, it adds more risk which thusly leads to more intense and kinda stressful fight scenes cause you're not sure what will happen, very important character developments, and has one of the oddest pairings of fighters in history. So we fast forward quite a few years, Ip Man's son is all grown up, his father is still teaching in Hong Kong, but trouble starts brewing when a gang of thugs led by, I swear I am not lying, Mike Tyson start harassing people for their property including Ip Man's younger son's school which turns serious after his young son is kidnapped. Meanwhile, it is soon discovered Ip Man's wife actually has cervical cancer, leading to a pretty rough viewing especially if you have known people close to you who have had cancer. This is the aspect that makes the film better than the last in my opinion. Because we've always had the same actress Lynn Hung as his wife, they don't pull a Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor and have a different actress each movie, and whether or not they planned all 3 movies out in advance or not it works. Because the family element of his life has always been there, his wife tries to keep him home so they can live their life together though he always gets spirited away in events, he tries to balance work and home but fails, especially in this movie it seems their marriage is pushed to the breaking point until she grows more and more sick leading him to spend more and more time with her which is very sweet and a nice change of pace. You know he loves her and wants to be there, but the world has different plans and he is an upstanding guy so he tries to help when he can. There's one scene, I believe not long after he finds out she has cancer and he's sitting out in public, and you can tell this man is contemplating the future of his life without her in it. It's such a very brief scene but it does so much. I know some people have this issue with foreign films of, well I don't know their acting styles so I can't tell if the performance is good. That does not apply here. It's crushing to see this couple go through the worst situation possible, and to see them so emotionally revealed. I think they chose wisely focusing on the family side of Ip Man's life so prominently, though of course there is still many confrontations. Which just throws me off even more cause there is such a powerful story being told just between a man and his wife, and then here comes Mike Tyson herding these hoodlums and challenging Ip Man to a fight. And while it is interesting to see a no bars fight between one hell of a boxer, and a grandmaster of martial arts without all the regulations of a legit boxing match seen in the last movie, it just feels odd. It doesn't hurt the film, but you do ask questions as to why. But ours is not to reason why, ours is but to watch and buy. And all these movies are worth buying if this is your style of movie. I figured it fit the action standard of a summer movie, while discussing a genre of film that I greatly enjoy and admire though I have seen in reality very little. I know there are countless kung fu and mixed martial arts movies out there, some definitely worth seeing, so I wanted to share a more less known movie series that could be interesting and entertaining to watch for even a casual movie lover.

Next week, is sort of a mixed bag. It's either gonna be 1 or 2 In Retrospect reviews with 2 movie reviews including one coming out in theaters next Friday. May have some controversial opinions about the new movie for some, but hopefully you will not hold that against me.

Ip Man 2

I think I would say this film is better than the first.

So the story picks up not long after the first with Ip Man living in British occupied Hong Kong where he begins a new school and starts taking pupils. He encounters various other Masters, and through altercations with one's students they form a rivalry which soon turns to respect and understanding. And a boxing event is announced which leads to the clashing of two styles, western boxing and eastern martial arts with Ip Man fighting not for superiority but for respect. And you may notice a....shall we say a specific pattern with this movie. Now granted, film is a langauge that surpasses all barriers, and no idea is truly original. And while the factual events happened decades before, this film combines plot from Rocky 1 through 4! Two fighters form a rivalry, they rematch while hero's wife is preggers, rivals become friends and find mutual respect for one another, one friend dies in a fight and the other must avenge him. They even do a slow-mo run for crying out loud. But does that hinder my enjoyment of the movie? Actually no, you feel this palpable passion to see Ip Man win this fight. And the fights really up the ante this time around, being much more elaborate in the use of objects and even camera placement. There is one scene I especially admire where Ip Man explains to one of his pupils the importance and values of Wing Chun, cementing even more his calm, nonviolent, and all around kind demeanor. Which is why in my opinion, they casted Donnie Yen perfectly, he really is one of the nicest people you will meet like, ever. Plus they throw in a few familiar faces from the first movie, which is always appreciated. It's just a really good movie, a little more or less action depending on your point of view, but worth your time nevertheless. But we got one more, so let's see if the 3rd ends on a high note.