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MasterChiefrei
Reviews
Majo no Tabitabi (2020)
All over the place
Out the gate I could empathize with Elaina and was on board. Animation is beautiful, fluid, and it's an open enough concept to where possibilities are endless. Even though I like variety pick a struggle. Or rather I wish the story was more consistent when it comes to how it approaches...well anything. I don't mind dark themes and levity inbetween but it's so randomly done that it borders on whiplash. Sadly after the first couple of episodes I started to dislike Elaina and her lack of depth and empathy. Maybe that's the point because the story becomes self aware in one episode. If she had redeeming qualities, got over herself, or developed at all it wouldn't be an issue. Also the comedy is all over the place and doesn't land. It's like they threw random tropes in a hat and picked a weird theme per not dark episode. In the end I could care less about the main character, her inflated self importance, or her shallow journey. She tries to say she cares about the people in her life or that they matter but as the viewer I didn't buy it. Thankfully it's fairly short but even so a waste of time. If you've watched nearly all the anime available or want to see how not to write a story watch this.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2012)
Best surprise in a long time
I'm going to first point out that I was so skeptical of this show I was bashing it before the premier. The 80s cartoon is near and dear to my heart and I can quote the first live action movie from beginning to end. The last installments gave me no hope that the turtles would ever have a deserved reboot. All I can say is shame on me. One night I was bored and decided "Let's see the train wreck this is bound to be." Not only was a I wrong but ended up laughing at the jokes and smiling like I had seen my old friends again. I have a couple issues with the reboot but nothing that ruins the overall production. What made me skeptical and groan in the beginning was knowing it would be computer generated. Having watched all the current episodes it's easy to see where cg is possibly the better medium for TMNT. Especially in the facial region. What I like right away *as stated by another reviewer* is the differences in their appearance and personalities. I recently rewatched quite a bit of the 80s cartoon and agree their personas didn't reflect teenagers but much older and mature. Heck, even Raphael didn't have the attitude he's known for and was fairly calm. Also the voice actors seem more appropriate with their designated turtle than the old. Granted I still love the original best Rob Paulsen is better suited as Donatello than Raphael. Another thing to be mentioned is they got the pairings *as far as we've seen* correct. Leo and Ralph clash since they have strong personalities competing for the same thing. *to be the leader* Whereas Mikey and Don mesh well and tend to get along, though they sometimes egg the other on. It was really awesome to see the chemistry there. I'm interested to see how they utilize April's younger approach and if they bring in my other favorite, Casey Jones, into the mix. I'll admit, I feel silly still watching kid shows but between most of the stupidity *cough* "Honey boo boo" *cough* on cable nowadays I'll take TMNT in a heartbeat. No matter my age I'll always love these characters and it's comforting to see them finally being portrayed well. This show may not be for everyone but this hardcore fan is more than content. Now if they could just say cowabunga instead of booyakasha...
Joyful Noise (2012)
Awkward
A friend of mine and I were watching this movie together so she and I could both confirm how awkward a lot of the scenes were. We started the movie with a positive attitude and couldn't wait to see how Latifah and Dolly handled together. The beginning started out OK but got awkward fast. Spoilers start here.
The funeral didn't feel like anyone had a strong attachment to the chorus lead and was tossed away quickly once a new one was appointed. Then the random one night stand between the two choir members and him dying felt pointless and unnecessary. There wasn't a feel of remorse or care for the people in the church. We felt sympathetic to more and more of the shops closing but didn't see where the church winning at regionals would solve the problem. The relationship between Latifah's daughter and Dolly's grandson was also awkward and their actions didn't feel appropriate. Not as in adult but their attitudes didn't come off as natural. The only character we felt a connection to was Latifah's son who was quirky and adorable. Otherwise the plot and characters were very weak. Time after time we turned to each other in discomfort from all the awkward scenes the movie felt was necessary to move the "plot" along. I'm glad we didn't go see this movie in theaters like we wanted because it would have been a waste of money and chances are we would have walked out. The "fight" scene we had looked forward to was sort of funny but was extremely fake so it fell short of expectations. Eventually we decided to skip to the musical scenes because that's really the only reason to watch this. Latifah sings beautifully and Dolly didn't disappoint but the director needs to examine their mistakes because this was not a good movie. The choreography was also very laughable in a bad way. We even predicted the choir was going to pull a "Sister Act 2" by pulling off their robes and singing an updated song in order to survive. It made us want to turn off the movie and watch Sister Act instead since that actually was well done music and character wise. Can't really compare the two. All in all if you're bored and nothing is on t.v then by all means watch this film. It was a big disappointment and I'm surprised by the reviews who were way more generous than needed. Normally I'm not very critical and do like dumb movies but this is one I don't really want to see again, even for just the music.
Bridesmaids (2011)
If you enjoyed this there's obviously something wrong
Alright, I am a woman and based on the ads I was excited to see this movie. Not only did it look like a decent cast but normally you don't see a mostly female based movie bent on being funny. After finally getting to see it on DVD I'm practically thanking God I didn't waste my money to see it in the theater. My comedy ranges quite a bit from Jackass, Idiocracy, Hot Fuzz, The Bird Cage, and so on. I don't really have a specific genre of comedy that I'm limited to. Granted I don't laugh at everything but I still keep an open mind and surely didn't think this movie would be so bad. To be honest I wasn't able to watch the whole movie and neither could my mom and step dad. Thirty minutes into it I said, "We'll give it another ten minutes and if it doesn't take a better turn we're taking it out." My step dad replied, "End it now!" Needless to say this movie didn't own up to the ads nor was it funny. I didn't connect with any of the characters and couldn't feel sorry for Annie since she made everything uncomfortable. A lot of scenes dragged on and any attempts at being sentimental or sweet came off cheap and shallow. Once I saw Tim Heidecker as the bride's future husband I knew something was up. The only reason I'd see this movie again is if the Rifftrax crew got up the courage to actually watch it. I can only hope this isn't where our future comedy movies are headed but if so I'm sticking to what we've got and going to hope for the best. I can't say I'm surprised some people actually thought this movie was funny since there are the less than intelligent people who enjoy Tim and Eric. Bad writing. Bad acting. Toilet movie. And I'm being nice.
Cloverfield (2008)
Rifftrax is the only sane reason to watch Cloverfield
People can try to save this movie or claim it's masterful in obscure ways but really guys...unless you're a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and their ability to make almost any movie watchable skip this. We know within the first forty seconds of the film that the characters we meet from now on are going to die. When I know a character isn't going to make it out alive I don't go the extra mile to care about them. Even if I didn't know their fate I still wouldn't have cared because none of them exhibited emotions or dialog I found memorable or could relate to. Not to mention I absolutely hated Hud who should have been killed off right away but maybe his death towards the end was more satisfactory. But I felt it was cruel of the director to make us endure his less than intelligent narrations and constant "DUDE", "Are you OK" when clearly that person isn't, and my personal favorite "Brah". I would have liked this movie more if they had gradually or even eventually released information about what the monster was, where it came from, and how much it cost to get the monsters from Dead Space to make a cameo? And more importantly how getting bitten by the monster makes you bleed from your eyes and explode. You never actually learn any of these things that might have made the monster or situation more terrifying. I'm so glad I watched the Mike, Bill, and Kevin version because I would have changed the channel halfway through the party scene. One of my favorite quotes from the former Mystery Science Theater 3000 gang is "Ah! Uh you're about an hour late monster" "We're only 18 minutes into the movie, Mike" "...I stand by my statement."