Tag: Movie Review

Cheaper to Remake ‘By the Dozen’ with a Different Type of Baker

Nearly everyone will have some memory of Steve Martin’s version of Cheaper by the Dozen; to come in fresh might help with the rating, but even that’s a stretch.

Cheaper by the Dozen (2022) - IMDbAvailable to watch on Disney Plus

Disney’s remake of Cheaper by the Dozen is not for anyone who has a fondness for the 1950s original or the pair starring Steve Martin. He plays Tom Baker, the patriarch, attempting to balance the life of a parent and football coach. The latter included a cast of well-known talents from popular 90s and early 00 television shows, namely Tom Welling and Hilary Duff, which made tuning into a must. Other notables include Liliana Mumy who was the voice of Lilo (and Stitch).

With this latest, it’s hard to tell who wants to be the breakout star because, by default, to keep track of a dozen modern day talents (some from Disney’s in-house pool and others curated) means being able to watch the screenplay from Kenya Barris and Jennifer Rice-Genzuk Henry. They’re putting pages from the original book (allegedly), the previous films, The Brady Bunch and The Loud House into a blender in hopes nobody would recognise where they’re drawing ideas from. 

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When Meilin is “Turning Red” in PIXAR’s latest…

This tale is tailored towards an audience already familiar with works like Paddington the Bear.

Turning Red poster.jpgAfter the tremendous success with the animated short Bao in the awards circuit, Domee Shi and Julia Cho developed Turning Red as PIXAR’s next film. What’s created isn’t too different from past films, namely Brave, but in this case, we’re seeing a story set in modern times and in Toronto, Canada no less!

It’s tough to live up to a parent’s expectations. Dealing with overprotective mothers is perhaps the hardest and this film hits a very familiar tone faced by most during their childhood. And what’s shown isn’t necessarily restricted to just her, but also for anyone growing up in a Chinese family. It’s not about the cultural barriers, but also in honouring traditions. The screenplay nails those aspects down because I’ve lived through much of it myself! 

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(How the) World Ends at Camp Z, A Movie Review

The best segments in The World Ends at Camp Z are in how this outbreak started and why it was let to run its course.

World Ends at Camp Z (2022) - IMDbNow available on Amazon Prime

Just how The World Ends at Camp Z boils down to how to survive the pandemic, and if love can save many a splendored thing. This modestly budgeted Canadian thriller has a few bits to like. For one thing, it stars Age of the Living Dead‘s Anne-Carolyne Binette in the lead role. She plays Vanessa, a lawyer sent to convince the owners of a summer campsite to sell. Julian (Dean Persons) isn’t interested. He’s running his uncle’s operation and is doing a fine job at it until Aaron (Michael Czemerys) arrives and brings his entourage of “investors” along. They’re more like party goers and we get a story that nearly treads on Friday the 13th territory. Thankfully, this work doesn’t copy from any particular camping horror trope.

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The Matrix Resurrections Missed Opportunity

This fourth film feels more like a cowboy western than anything else.

The Matrix Resurrections.jpg

By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Spoiler Alert

To bring back The Matrix nearly 20 years later with Matrix Resurrections has fans wondering what happened in the meantime? There were two video games (one considered canon) and a spinoff animated anthology. The leads Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss said they’d love to revisit this franchise, and they’ve aged a lot. As for whether that’s important to the Architect (the enemy), it’s hard to say. That leader is gone.

Their feelings for each other is eternal, and is hard to comprehend by a hive mind. There’s no way to describe in code or an algorithm the concept of love. Their synergy is very different from others as apparently, it can help power the simulation.

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Disney’s Encanto Can Only Last So Long…

The future lies with how Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz) has to right all that’s wrong in her home in Disney’s Encanto.

EncantoWalt Disney Animation Studios continuing plan to explore other cultures through their films has always been enlightening even though they aren’t always educational. Their latest, Encanto, is a mixed bag of wonder created by a committee.

Byron Howard, Jared Bush and Charise Castro Smith introduce us to a latino world where mysticism is still practised. The backstory reveals how the Madrigal family became the town’s founders and protectors. A magical hacienda (called a Casita in the film) emerged out of the candle and it’s been protecting this clan for generations, so long as it keeps burning. It’s easy to ignore one factual problem of living in the middle of nowhere and nothing has been said further about those pesky conquistadores.

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From Book to Film and Beyond! Poupelle of Chimney Town

Poupelle of Chimney Town may well share similiarities with other films, like Urinetown, and thankfully how it wraps up is very different!

Poupelle of Chimney Town Film Poster – GenkinahitoScreening at Spark Film Festival 2022

The cinematic adaptation of Akihiro Nishino’s picture book, Poupelle of Chimney Town (映画 えんとつ町のプペル), is a wonder to behold. Its vibrant and highly detailed backgrounds spotlight a world not too different from Victorian Age Paris, and here, the skies are forever clouded by industry. Instead of a city covered in soot, the life we find on the streets is brought alive with autumn colours.

Who we are following in this film is Lubicchi (Mana Ashida). This boy lost his father some years ago, and on Halloween, a mysterious golem made of garbage emerges from the sewers and finds the boy by a quirk of fate. Its design is amazing, and some may think it’s a robot. Plus, this animated work is only scratching the surface of how this story can be retold as a Broadway play, perhaps in the style of Les Miserables. The fact that’s in the works (teasers can be found on YouTube) has me excited to see how many more songs are going to be offered.

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