A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

It's only fitting. We did Halloween and Christmas, and really Thanksgiving is the only other one I celebrate.

While there are many Peanuts specials, this one occured about 7 years after The Great Pumpkin so we're fully into the 70s here and the quality in my opinion hasn't diminished. The animation style is just as classic and still carries that exquisite fall atmosphere, the cast while different still does very fine work and we actually get to see a lot more of Peppermint Pattie and Marcie who are underrated characters to me, the music is still good ol' Vince but a lot more funky and shockingly we even hear him sing in this one which is awesome, it's just a simple but still entertaining special. Charlie Brown is feeling a bit depressed and overwhelmed after several of his friends invite themselves over for Thanksgiving dinner leading to a bit of a mad rush to make sure everyone is happy and fed, but instead of a usual menu of food they come up with stuff like jelly beans, pretzel sticks, popcorn, and toast. Sign me up, that sounds great! And once again the stand out moment goes to Linus with a very heartfelt grace before they eat, and it's happy endings for all. I know this isn't one that gets brought up a lot, but a Charlie Brown special is always going to be a bit of fun and since they're short, it's quick and easy entertainment for kiddos when they come over to visit and eat. Very simple, but very good. 4 stars, 7.5/10 from me! I'm gonna watch some Mystery Science Theater and no doubt fall asleep from the itis. See you next month everybody!

Spider-Man Into The Spiderverse

Yeah after all the hype and seeing the new Miles Morales game I figured this was the first stop to better understand it all.

I mean, for a character that hasn't even been around for a decade and yet even for a non-Marvel fan to know how beloved such a character is like Miles Morales is kind of rare. But how was the movie? Pretty good. I still say Isle Of Dogs should have won at the Oscars, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't like this movie. It's just such a fresh take on the superhero genre and if anything fun and light to where people of all ages can enjoy it. I have to say it already got me just by bringing up so much of the Sam Raimi movies which I watched as a kid and was my first exposure to the character, and after that I was rolling with everything. So our story starts with Miles as he goes about his daily life before the ususal radioactive spider, yadda yadda, you know this but things get crazy and things get nuts, when a cross dimensional experiment occurs and pulls 5 parallel universe spider people into Miles' world and they have to go save the day and get everyone not so far from home. Fun plot, but still has it's moments. It's a lot for Miles sometimes and the movie doesn't shrug off the emotional bits for any of the characters, I mean after all that was kind of the main thing about Spider-Man, a superhero with a relatable life and dilemmas, to which this movie sticks with. I'm not entirely sure how they picked the incarnations of the various web slinging crimefighters but I like it. We got Spider Gwen which is cool, easily my favorite of the bunch the all black trenchcoat wearing Spider Noir, friggin' anime girl with mech suit included (Nice!), and the pig. I don't think I need to say much more about the pig. We also get a good medley of villains, with Kingpin who I know zero about and Doc Ock who I know a bit about and is voiced by complete wife material Kathryn Hahn. Oh my. There's a lot to talk about in this movie so I'll keep it brief but there's at least 2 more points I want to make. I dreaded the animation style, the first time I ever experienced this dropped frame rate style was in Tron Uprising, because of course it was, and...I hated it. I could not for the life of me get over it. It looked so stilted, unnatural, and a touch lazy if I was being unusually cruel. Yet surprisingly, I barely even noticed it here it looks so fluid and has that rich comic book look to it, text boxes and all so I am honest to God thrilled I didn't hate it and maybe it will grow on me in other media. The soundtrack while very modern and almost entirely unknown to me still worked, though you can bet your ass when Biggie Smalls and the f***ing St. Elmo's Fire theme started playing I was jammin' like nobody's business. And yeah, we have to talk about Stan. Turns out I was wrong about the Teen Titans Go movie and this was the last one he had, and holy hell even to a person like me it still cut a bit. Just because I'm not exactly the biggest fan of Marvel or the MCU doesn't mean that I don't like Stan Lee, I have too much respect and admiration for the man to do such a thing. He always said that anyone could wear the suit, and the message at the end that anyone can be a superhero is incredibly true even if you're not inspired by the stories superheroes have. One of my favorite reviewers, like ever, said that superheroes are the modern day knight errants. They go out and do good deeds, help people, and right wrongs. And I will fully say there is not enough stories out there about the positive impact of superheroes, it's either about heroes punching one another or some ultra super mega earth shattering event, and that just isn't the right thing to focus on. This movie did it right though. And really and truly, it has my deepest respect for that. 4 stars, 8/10, I'll see you tomorrow.

Millennium Actress

Something different but 120% worth your time.

My third film from director Satoshi Kon and there's only one more to review after this, but I will go on the record and say this nearly toppled Tokyo Godfathers as my favorite of his. You know how much I love that movie. But Millennium Actress very much like Perfect Blue is such a different and unique beast in the spectrum of anime and movies period, centering around an interview of an acclaimed actress named Chiyoko from a now bygone studio as we see her career and thusly her life while she tries to find the one who got away and took her heart with them. It sounds like a movie that could be made just as easily in live action but there is no way in hell that it could have an ounce of the character, style, and visuals potrayed here. Sweet beautiful gods, directors wish they could have transitions as good as this movie! I mean, wow. And really that's the biggest reason to watch this movie though the story is engaging and the characters work incredibly well, this movie has such a visual flare and zest. The interview crew consisting of just two people are interwoven in her story, you see this JVC tape camera in the 1940s, you see the interviewer interact with Chiyoko and influence the flow of the story. But it's not all literal, you see that they just go off on tangents and make believe like kids would do as she tells chapters of her life. I can't name another movie that has ever done that before or since and this movie came out in 2001 so it's nearly 20 years old and it could have been released last year, it looks that good. The animation style is grounded but still has those dashes of color and movement that warrant it to be animated, which lends more personality to the film. The score is sublime, very rarely used but when a big moment happens and something important occurs it is excellent, like buy that on a CD right damn now! The voice cast is on point, with 3 different actresses playing Chiyoko and all bring a new edge to the character as it should be since we see her from a very young girl to a silver haired woman. The film even ended perfectly just like I wanted it to, that never happens very often. I may give this a 10/10. Yes, Tokyo Godfathers is my favorite but the quality and storytelling has to really be given gold stars across the board. I can't think of even a single thing that seemed off to me let alone a bad element of the production. Screw it, 10/10! 4 stars, check it out! I have such an appreciation and love for this movie, and I genuinely hope others do too. Sometimes a walk down memory lane is a journey of a lifetime.

Die Another Day

It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but that ain't saying much.

I was incredibly shocked at how much I was slightly enjoying Die Another Day, some of the dialogue was really good, some bits of action were pretty damn cool, and while the movie is an absolute hot mess it's not my most hated Bond film. The plot is a bit mad but it has elements that were taken and done correctly in the Craig films, with Bond being captured and tortured for well over a year in North Korea before being traded for an army official that Bond is quite strongly feeling like going after though his 00 status has been cut, he soon meets up with a NSA agent named Jinx as they try to stop the powerful businessman Gustav Graves and his solar lazer called Icarus. I honestly don't know where to begin with this movie. It has some real stupid stuff in it, but there are a few elements which aren't half bad. Yes the CG is laughably terrible almost Spy Kids level quality, but the car chase on the ice with two gadget filled cars is pretty amazing if criminally short. Yes the plot and characters are absurd at times, but the actors don't do a bad job and look like they're having a bit of fun. It's such a mixed bag. Brosnan could have went out on a stronger note but he does okay in this last movie. Halle Berry isn't terrible and genuinely looks happy to be in a Bond film and I quite liked her character, she seemed to be so much more the spy than James oddly enough. Toby Stephens is actually really good in this movie but his character just makes you want to...drink. Rick Yune does pretty well as the henchman and has a cool look if nothing else though again it's bizarre. This film gets brutal though man, I mean daaamn people got all up in arms over Licence To Kill but this movie makes that look like the friggin' Care Bears. Licence To Kill had a quick shot of an exploding head and a shooting of a corpse, but this movie has dismemberment, throat stabbing, lazers blasting through people's heads, it's pretty gruesome and dark at times. Why though, I don't know. God I have such conflicted opinions on this, on one hand it's way too out there for a Bond film and severely hurts the series, but on the other hand it has some decent moments and isn't a complete dumpster fire. So the big question right now is, do I like it more than Thunderball? Well Thunderball got a 5/10 from me and to be perfectly honest Die Another Day gave me a bit more entertainment. So I will give what many consider to be the worst Bond film a 5.5/10, 2.5 stars, you can skip it and I won't blame you but at the same time it has a few highlights. I will however say that after hearing Queen Elizabeth II attended the premiere of this movie, even I feel I have to apologize to Her Majesty for this and I didn't do a thing on this movie. I remember when I rented this from Blockbuster back in the day one night, and I got maybe 10-15 minutes into the movie and I fell right asleep, I had to have been 7 maybe even 8 years old and I don't think I really watched it again after that the next morning and I couldn't remember a damn thing that happened in that movie. So this has been my first viewing in 17 years, and I feel I can go a lot longer than that until my next viewing of this movie. Annnnd that's where we will stop, I hate it too but until the week that No Time To Die premieres this is the end for the James Bond reviews and really the Daniel Craig films are a reboot anyway so it works that way as well. It was a real blast to go through all of them and finally talk about a series that I've been watching just as long as Star Wars or any Jim Carrey movie so I hope you've enjoyed it. I shall attempt to get something out before the month is over and I'm giving myself a personal Christmas gift this f***tacular year, and I'm not reviewing a damn thing in December that has anything to do with cheer, joy, or good will toward men. There will only be dark music in my domain.

The World Is Not Enough

Better than the last?

Eh, it's kind of a toss up. Tomorrow Never Dies is just a bit of action entertainment to watch on a lazy afternoon this one is more standard Bond fare. It's very well done and story wise is the best of the Brosnan era, with Bond protecting an oil tycoon's daughter after he is murdered by a rogue criminal only to slowly fall for the woman and hunt down her father's killer. I would say this is Brosnan's best performance, mainly because he has more material to work with and can occasionally prod more emotional levels while still having his classic Bond persona present. Sophie Marceau is great as Elektra King, sort of a combo of Tracey and Tania with a dash of Fiona Vulpe, she is lovely in this movie and has a big impact on the series' standards. Robert Carlyle makes for an interesting villain as Renard if only because of his relationship with Elektra and I do quite like the whole backstory that he got shot in the head but didn't die and the bullet is killing off all his senses slowly while making him stronger, that's kinda cool. I may get some good grief over this but I don't hate Denise Richards as Christmas Jones, yeah it's silly to think she could be a nuclear physicist and her line delivery isn't always top notch but I've seen worse in this series and she's barely in the movie until past the halfway mark. She never annoyed me or made me roll my eyes, she was just there so I never took great issue with her. I quite like how M has a more prominent role in this and actually gets dragged into the danger, it helps up the stakes and get you more invested near the end. The action is more lax this time around though that pre-title sequence is great, but it's really not that kind of Bond film and it's more about Bond and Renard's relationship with Elektra which is handled very well. It's never dull and I guess I do enjoy it more than the last movie. I'd give it a solid 8/10 this time around. I somehow doubt the next movie will do as well, if good at all but we shall wait and see as I review the movie that put the Bond franchise on hold for many years, Die Another Day.

Tomorrow Never Dies

Another fine addition.

I think I liked Tomorrow Never Dies more than the next movie, not that I hated The World Is Not Enough by any means but when I was younger this or Goldeneye were always my first picks if I wanted to watch a Bond movie. It certainly had enough action to entertain me for two hours, and I really like the characters and plot too. Bond is quickly assigned a mission to investigate a sunken british ship and soon connects it to a media mogul intent on starting World War 3 between China and Britain which he would capitalize on with his media group. Certainly a very different type of Bond villain, more Rupert Murdoch if anything but still quite a lot of fun to watch, in no short part due to Jonathan Pryce's wonderful performance. We add yet another favorite Bond girl with Wai Len played by Michelle Yeoh, who is all sorts of badass and awesome in this movie and makes a great ally for Bond. Pierce Brosnan does fine work yet again but honestly he kind of already cemented his Bond in the first movie. Really every actor whether main player or side bit is awesome, with particular favorites going to Dr. Kaufman played by Vincent Shiavelli who is just so funny to me but you can still treat him very seriously, and Admiral Roebuck played by Geoffrey Palmer and the only reason I loved seeing him is because he was in one of the best BBC series created ever, As Time Goes By starring right alongside with Judi Dench and I just had my little fan moment with them on screen again and I can safely say I was beyond devastated hearing of his passing. The action is still very high like in the last one while still having time for story and character moments, it's so far been a perfect balance act between the two with the pre-title sequence and the newspaper building pursuit easily being my favorite action scenes though the climax is pretty good as well and the car chase tops them all in this movie. It's very well made despite the reported madhouse of production after the unfortunate death of Cubby Broccoli and MGM pushing hard for the next Bond movie to come out, the product is still high quality and while releasing in close proximity of Titanic did very well. It's another high ranking movie for me, and I'd give it a solid 7.5/10, another 3 star picture. Next time the last Bond movie before the new millenium began.

Goldeneye

My first James Bond film.

Am I going to be biased? Yep! I can't help it, I have such fond memories of this movie and even arguably more so with the game, but this is a mighty fine entry in the Bond series and is loved by countless individuals. After the 6 year hiatus, we got a big overhaul with an all new cast, producers, director, and the end of the Cold War made a huge impact to say the least. Pierce Brosnan was already familiar to a spy role in the hit television series Remington Steele, and is my personal favorite Bond but his performance is just the right blend between sly quips, espionage, and action. Izabella Scorupco is one of my favorite Bond girls as Natalya Simonova, and could be the best match with Bond for this era. Sean Bean is one of the best Bond villains, having a more strong connection between Bond and easily has one of the best scenes in the whole flippin' series. Hell all the villains are god tier henchmen in this movie, each with a colorful and fun personality. Gottfried John is more the straight man to the more crazy henchmen but has a great screen prescence, Famke Jannsen is...Jesus I cannot believe I got away watching her in this movie when I was a kid but she does look like she's having the time of her life playing Xenia, and Alan Cumming is always awesome and is probably my favorite of them all. Even the MI6 regulars got switched up, mainly with M being played by Dame Judi Dench, and yes she was my M so it will be endlessly great to see her in more movies to come, Samantha Bond is wonderful as Miss Moneypenny but I can't decide if I like her or Lois Maxwell more just yet, thankfully Q is still the same and in my opinion is at his absolute best in this era. It's a wonderful, even glorious roll call of actors. It's way more the action movie this time around but when am I ever gonna complain about that? From the pre-title sequence to the end credits, the action is incredibly executed and keeps the pacing of the film perfect. But what's the story? Well Bond is brought in to investigate the use of a Soviet satellite known as Goldeneye by a criminal organization and must stop it before it is put to use against London. The film really takes advantage of the post Cold War climate and fully brings the series into the modern age, with great settings in Russia and well crafted sets throughout. This is an amazing Bond film and is the contender for the best Bond film ever once I get to my list making, every aspect of the production is great, the story is fun and interesting, the cast is a dream, and I am very nostalgic for this movie. I'm such a geek I busted out my VHS tapes for Goldeneye, Tomorrow Never Dies, and The World Is Not Enough which were the only Bond movies I saw or owned for quite a good few years before I saw Connery or Moore's films, so I'm incredibly biased towards this era but honestly I've taken grievance with "official" Bond movie rankings and no doubt mine will be viewed in a similar light but it's my reviews and opinions, and I fully respect a difference of opinion. Nevertheless 4 stars, 10/10, I am such a fanboy for this movie and am proud of it! Join me next time for Tomorrow Never Dies.