Movie Review: Sky High

Movie Review: Sky High                                                                                                             7-12-17

This movie is best described by many as a cross between The Incredibles and Harry Potter. Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) is the son of legendary superheroes Commander (Kurt Russell) and Jetstream (Kelly Preston). He attends Sky High, a high-tech high school where superpower-wielding teenagers will be molded into either heroes or sidekicks. With no apparent powers, however, Will seems destined to become a sidekick. But as he discovers his true strengths, he'll also learn that it takes loyalty and teamwork to become a true hero!

Sky High has the record of being my 50th movie review! This underrated gem has top-notch acting, a superb and innovative plot, suitable effects for a superhero film, a memorable score from Michael Giacchino, and likable characters. In a similar fashion to The Incredibles, there are no well-known superheroes from the likes of Marvel or DC, but instead, many of the characters in the movie have superpowers reminiscent of real superheroes you'd see in comic books and big-budget blockbuster movies. Layla Williams, for example, has botanical powers like Poison Ivy (a Batman villain).

Another thing to appreciate about Sky High is the amount of celebrity appearances in the movie. We have Lynda Carter, the original Wonder Woman, as Principal Powers...

Kevin McDonald as Mr. Medulla, a super-genius chemistry teacher...

If you ask me, I think Sky High deserved more attention than Descendants.

Cloris Leachman as Nurse Spex, the school's nurse with X-Ray vision...

And Dave Foley as All-American Boy, who was originally Commander's sidekick many years ago.

There's even a hilarious cameo from Tom Kenny, best known as the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants!

I personally wish there was a sequel to this movie, as there are some more questions that could be answered. Who's parents are the other sidekicks like Layla, Magenta, Ethan, and Zach? Could Magenta turn into any other animals besides a guinea pig? Could Ethan get injured or bruised when stepped on in his liquid state? Is there a limit to how many clones Penny Lent (the African-American cheerleader who's secretly aligned with Gwen Grayson) could make of herself? What are names of other heroes/sidekicks that didn't get names, like this female student who could turn into a bouncy ball?

Never the less, Sky High is an enjoyable superhero film the entire family can watch together again and again.

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Oscarless Cartoons Part 1

Oscarless Cartoons Part 1: The Wise Little Hen (1934)
 

This was one of the many Silly Symphonies shorts, which were a series of cartoons Walt Disney Productions would produce that would be the stepping grounds for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, Fantasia, Dumbo, and Bambi. Most of these cartoons were based on classic fairy tales and fables like The Three Little Pigs, The Grasshopper and the Ants, The Ugly Duckling, and The Tortoise and the Hare. Today, we're talking about The Wise Little Hen, based on the classic fable 'The Little Red Hen'.

In this cartoon, a hen is looking for someone to help her plant her corn. She asks a pig named Peter and a duck named Donald, but they both declined, stating they have belly aches. Instead, the hen, with the help of her chicks, plants the corn herself.

She then asks the pig and duck to harvest the corn, but once again, they decline. Once again, the hen harvests the corn herself with her chicks and bakes the corn into delicious food, like corn bread and corn-on-the-cob.

When Peter and Donald see the hen again, they hallucinate, thinking that they would have to work. However the hen asks them to help eat her corn, and they are more than eager to do so. However, the hen gives them a picnic basket with medicine for their 'tummy aches'.

This cartoon is notable for featuring the very first appearance of Donald Duck. In this short, Donald lives on a small boat, which explains why he wears that sailor suit. However, he looks much more duck-like then he is today.

Donald would soon end up appearing in more cartoons alongside Mickey Mouse, and by the end of the 1930s, Donald Duck proved to be more popular than Mickey Mouse! Peter Pig, however, never became as big of a hit.
That's all I have to say about this week's Oscarless Cartoon. Tune in next week when I talk about another famous cartoon duck: Daffy Duck in The Great Piggy Bank Robbery!

Movie Review: Despicable Me 3

Movie Review: Despicable Me 3                                                                                              7-3-17

In the third installment from the hugely successful Despicable Me franchise, Gru gets fired from the Anti-Villain League after failing to catch former 80s TV star Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker). Gru also discovers he has a twin brother named Dru (Steve Carall, who also voices Dru), and he tells Gru that their father was one of the greatest villains of all time. Dru convinces Gru into going back into thieving again, but Gru is now a father and a husband. Meanwhile, Balthazar Bratt wants to get revenge on Hollywood for cancelling his show, and plans on destroying Hollywood with a giant robot.

Back in April, I stated that I'm not the biggest fan of the Despicable Me franchise. However, I tolerate them because my dad love the Despicable Me movies. As for Despicable Me 3, the film is better than Minions, but weaker than the previous DM movies. One complaint I have with the movie is that there are four plots going on at once, and can be confusing at times: One of these is the Minions going back into villainy and getting arrested.

I also wished the girls, Margo, Edith, and Agnes, were older than in the previous films, aged up by the very least five years. At least there's some fan art of the girls if they became older. I personally wanted this to happen because in Toy Story 3 and How To Train Your Dragon 2, the characters became older than in the previous films.

Never the less, Despicable Me 3 is a thrill ride that the fans of the franchise will enjoy, but may be disappointing to some.

Rating: 3 stars out of 5

As to which sequel this year was better (Cars 3 or DM3), I honestly have to go with Cars 3. Despite not being a Cars fan, I honestly have to choose Cars 3 because I feel at times, Despicable Me 3 tries too much to remind us of the previous films, a similar problem Shrek Forever After had. Cars 3, however, feels like its own movie, and serves as an apology letter for disappointing fans with Cars 2. However. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Movie Review: Cars 3

Movie Review: Cars 3                                                                                                               6-18-17

 

In the third installment of the Cars franchise, Lightning McQueen faces competition with a newer high-tech race car named Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer), who puts McQueen's title as champ in jeopardy. Now McQueen has to be trained by a new character named Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo) so he can be trained to beat Jackson Storm.

Congratulations, Pixar. You have officially redeemed the Cars franchise. Along with gorgeous animation, Cars 3 has kept the original characters in tact with a compelling story, as well as an interesting new character named Cruz Ramirez. She may not be much, but Cruz ranks among Merida from Brave and Joy from Inside Out as one of the best female leads in a recent Pixar film.

Another thing to appreciate about Cars 3 is that Mater isn't in the movie that much as opposed to previous films. However, when he is in the film, Mater provides some good jokes.

There are also scenes that poke fun at Cars merchandise, as Cars merchandise makes tons of money in real life.

The McQueen merchandise is in the background.

In conclusion, Cars 3 is a movie fans of the Cars franchise can enjoy with their parents from beginning to end.

Rating: 3 and a half stars out of 5

In unrelated news, I have another project in the works! Starting August 9th, for the next several weeks, I will list where each Pokemon would live if they existed in our world. I loosely based it off of Pokemon In Our Biomes on Tumblr.

http://mewistheancestor.tumblr.com/post/113851261886/all-pok%C3%A9mon-in-our-biomes-posts

This project will be split into these eleven sections. 

North American Pokemon

South American Pokemon

African Pokemon

European Pokemon

Asian Pokemon

Australian Pokemon

Antarctic Pokemon

Worldwide Pokemon

Domestic Pokemon

Extinct Pokemon

Banned Pokemon

Because there are so many different species of Pokemon, I split Worldwide, Domestic, Extinct, and Banned Pokemon all into two parts. That makes a grand total of 15 Pokemon lists.

I'll start off with the most difficult that I had to write, Banned Pokémon, on August 9th.

Movie Review: Field of Dreams

Movie Review: Field of Dreams                                                                                              6-17-17

 

Fields of Dreams is about a middle-aged Iowa-based father named Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner). Every evening in his family's corn field, he keeps hearing a voice that says "If you build it, he will come". Ray, who had a passion for baseball growing up, discovers that he must build a baseball field to reunite with his deceased father. However, that means he has to destroy his corn field, which is how his family makes money. Ray's wife Annie (Amy Madigon) thinks he's cracked, but one night, a stranger in a baseball uniform comes over, and he happens to be famous baseball player Shoeless Joe Jackson. Soon, more baseball players from the past pop up. However, there's a catch: Only Ray, Annie, and their daughter Karen can see them, but others cannot. Facing financial troubles, Ray has to seek a retired book author to help keep his home.

No what do I think of this movie? Well, the cinematography is decent, the sets feel life-like and American, the story stays true to the book it's based on, 'Shoeless Joe', James Horner's score is emotional and engaging, and the characters are all likable and unique. Karen (played by Gaby Hoffman), Ray's daughter in the film, is adorable, and James Earl Jones's character is hilarious as Terrence Mann, a retired radical author.

With all this said, Field of Dreams is a perfect movie to watch on Father's Day.

Rating: The perfect rating of 5 stars

PLUS 5 baseballs ️️️️️

Oscarless Animated Films Part 10

Oscarless Animated Films Part 10: Arthur Christmas (2011)

Aardman's first movie since Flushed Away, and their second CGI movie after Flushed Away, tells the story of Santa's youngest son, Arthur, who noticed that Santa forgot to deliver one present: a bicycle for a young girl in England! Now it's up to Arthur, Grandsanta, and a stowaway elf, to deliver the present to her by Christmas morning.

After disbanding from DreamWorks in 2007, Aardman hired Sarah Smith, who worked on the TV series I Am Not An Animal, to help reinvent what Aardman already knew. Her goal was to help make a film that would keep up with the times.

The idea for the film came from Smith's friend Peter Baynham. He asked himself 'How exactly does Santa pull off the delivery of nearly 2 billion presents around the world in just twelve hours?' That's where the inspiration for the film's story came from.

During production of Arthur Christmas, Sarah Smith was pregnant with her first daughter. This caused Smith to be bedridden for two months, but that didn't slow down production. The Aardman crew brought Sarah Smith in on an Ikea bed into the editing room where Smith would point to storyboards and continue directing.

When Smith gave birth, a healthy baby girl was born; Her name was Grace, and she was two when Arthur Christmas premiered. Grace's first word was affectionately 'Arthur'.

While Arthur Christmas may not look like an Aardman film, it still has the heart, wit, humor, and storytelling we have been grown attached to from the studio that gave us Chicken Run.

Also like previous Aardman films, there's a slew of likable characters. My favorite is Grandsanta because both of us (me and Grandsanta) prefer old-school techniques over modern technology.

That's Grandsanta on the left.

Also, like previous Aardman films, Arthur Christmas has quite a few good jokes. My personal favorite is this scene.

I honestly think it's unfair that Arthur Christmas got snubbed for the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. I would choose this movie over the rather sub-par and confusing Rango. Instead, Arthur Christmas won the Annie Award for Best Voice Acting, the Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Animated Film, and the San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Animated Film.
Well, I guess that covers Oscarless Animated Features. However, I'm not done yet! On July 7th, I will start a new series talking about ten animated short films that did not get the Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Subject! Instead of being in random order, however, these cartoons will be talked about in chronological order.

Oscarless Animated Films Part 9

Oscarless Animated Films Part 9: Ponyo (2008)

Loosely based on Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, Ponyo tells the story of a young goldfish and her quest to become a human. The fish is rescued from a glass jar by a boy named Sosuke. Sosuke and the fish, who he names Ponyo, fall in love. Ponyo's father is a wizard and, against his orders, Ponyo uses her father's magic to become human. This disrupts the natural harmony of the world, and to restore order, Sosuke must pass a test to prove his love for Ponyo.

Although this movie is aimed at younger children, there is plenty for older viewers to appreciate, such as beautiful 2D sequences of the magical undersea world. It almost looks like what would happen if My Neighbor Totoro and Finding Nemo had a baby!

There are also lots of aquatic creatures that will amuse ichthyologists, including moon jellies, an octopus, a spider crab, and even some extinct fish!

There's also a sense of pollution awareness that kids will understand, much like other Ghibli films.

That's Ponyo's father, Fujimoto, on the bottom.

It should also be noted that this movie used over 170,000 drawings!

It's also been reported that director Hayao Miyazaki wanted to make a Ponyo 2, but producer Toshio Suzuki convinced him to do The Wind Rises instead. Little did they know that it would be the final film Miyazaki would direct.

As much as I respect The Secret of Kells, I honestly liked Ponyo a little better because I felt 'Kells' wasn't too family friendly. I also think Ponyo should've been nominated instead of 'Kells'. But now that makes me wonder: If The Secret of Kells would not get the Oscar nomination for Best Animated Feature, would Song of the Sea be snubbed, too?
That's all I have to say about this week's Oscarless Animated Feature. Tune in next week when we celebrate Christmas a bit early with Aardman's greatly underrated Arthur Christmas!