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In case you haven’t seen the intro from my entry dated
1/26/19 (it’s in my archives whenever you want to read it), I’m no longer going
to review every single movie I see. I’m
going to review one, with the occasional bonus, and just give ratings for the
rest from now on (unless I decide to pick it up again in the future). You can always ask me why I gave the ratings
for the films without reviews though (via comments or the e-mail addresses
under the ‘About Me’ section).
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Soul G/VG
Welcome back, Pixar!
The last movie I really liked from the studio was Inside Out from 2015 and before that it was Toy Story 3 from 2010. Yes,
I have liked some entries in between, but none I can call great. Besides the two I mentioned, Pixar’s best
include Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo,
The Incredibles, and Ratatouille. It might be premature to say so, but I think
this latest offering could be added to that list. It is currently available on Disney+ for no
additional cost. In it, a middle-aged
music teacher ends up heading towards “The Great Beyond” after an accident, but
somehow evades it and ends up in “The Great Before”---a place where “souls” are
given personalities before entering Earth.
All the teacher, who desires being a musician above all, wants is
another chance at a life he feels was unfulfilled and somewhat gets that chance
while learning more along the way (as characters in these films often do). This film is amazing to behold at times,
imaginative at that, and manages to be thoroughly entertaining (with
representation to boot); it’s funny sometimes too. The ultimate message may go over the younger
set’s heads, but they can absolutely still watch it while their parents/elders
can enjoy it as well (as this is arguably more for the adults). Come awards season, I won’t be surprised if
this snags a few wins (maybe even disappointed if otherwise). 12/26/2020
Bonus review:
Making and Unmaking
Shaun Rose reached out to me a while ago on social media
about checking out his film, Upstate
Story, and writing a review for it (you can check it out in the archives---www.abcreviewarchive.blogspot.com). We have since become friends on social media,
which is where I was informed of this new documentary available on YouTube (as
is Upstate Story; links provided
below). I’m always asked via social
media to review films and am usually up to the task, but I often don’t like the
films I’m asked to watch and I always tell the filmmaker(s) I’ll be completely
honest before going through with it. Upstate Story was one I actually liked,
it being an entertaining slice-of-life/realist picture that I feel deserved
more exposure. I do suggest you watch Upstate Story (and hopefully you’ll like
it) before checking this out, not only because it references that film a bit,
but also because why would you care about seeing a documentary on an
independent filmmaker you know nothing about?
This makes a good companion piece to that film, both being roughly an
hour, making it a 2-hour double feature, and I’m sure you’ve wasted the same
amount of time (or more) watching worse.
It chronicles mostly the endurance of making Upstate Story as well as other projects the multi-hyphenate Shaun,
who exhibits the demeanor of a serious filmmaker while also having a sense of
humor, worked on to no avail. Mr. Rose,
I have a feeling you could be on to bigger and greater things with the right
budget and/or distributor. In the
meantime, you all can possibly help make that happen by checking out his two
films and spreading the word! 12/20/2020
Upstate Story: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_klJBcnORZo]
Making and Unmaking: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRKftjb-jKM]
Other
movies I've seen and their ratings (see above):
The Call (2020) >>>OK
(Netflix;
In Korean with subtitles)
The Haunting of
Margam Castle >>>B
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey >>>EH/OK
(Netflix)
The Midnight Sky >>>EH
(Netflix)
---Sean O.
12/27/2020
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