Looking Back at the Films of 2023 Finale - Wonka, Migration, The Iron Claw, and Ferrari

 

Alright, it's finale time! Let's straight to it!

Why Didn't I See Wonka?

It's because I kept forgetting about it. Honest truth, I kept forgetting this was a thing. Then when I did remember all that kept coming to my mind was "Why do we need an origin story for Willy Wonka? Didn't we get that with Tim Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory?"

What is Wonka?

Wonka is a musical fantasy movie and acts as an origin story of the character of Willy Wonka from Roald Dahl's classic 1964 book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Production was done by The Rolad Dahl Story Company, Village Roadshow Pictures, Heyday Films, Domain Entertainment, Québec Production, and Services Tax Credit with Warner Bros. Pictures doing distribution. Paul King directed and also wrote the story alongside Simon Farnaby.

The story is, Willy Wonka arrives at the Galéries Gourment in the hopes of starting his own chocolate shop. But some setbacks and some greedy competition are trying to stop those dreams from becoming a reality.

My Thoughts

The Good: One good thing was there was some pretty good themes here. Such as a entrepreneurship, corruption, and the classic little guy vs. the big greedy bad guys. It's not deep, but it does add a good layer to the movie. Another thing I liked was yes, the movie was clearly made for kids, no doubt about that. But adults can watch and won't feel like it's a chore to get through it with their children. I also felt like the movie struck a good balance. They definitely added their own twist, but they also burrowed from the old material as well. Which was a good call on their part. Because had they not found this balance, there's a good chance this could've just been Wonka in name only. The last thing I'll credit is Timothée Chalamet's performance. While not at the same level as Gene Wilder and Johnny Deep, Timothée was really good in the role. Not only did he make it his own, but you can tell he was having fun in the role of Willy Wonka.

The Bad: I've got nothing.

The Okay: There were two gray areas, one being the CGI. Sometimes it was fine, nothing to really complain about. Other times it's very noticeable. Then there's the humor. Some jokes and gags work, some really missed the mark.

Final Verdict: Good.

Why Didn't I See Migration?

Just a general lack of interest, and that's pretty much it.

What is Migration?

Migration is an animated adventure comedy movie, that's produced by Illumination and Universal Studios, with Universal also doing distribution. The movie was written by Mike White with directing by Benjamin Renner.

The story is, an overprotective mallard named Mack refuses to let his family leave their New England pond. After a having a talk with Uncle Dan, Mack changes his mind and they head out to Jamaica. But the journey won't be so easy when there's somethings trying to kill you.

My Thoughts

The Good: One pro is the pacing. It goes be pretty quick but we don't loose any story. It's a nice breeze to get through. There's also the humor. Some jokes don't land, like how there's a poop joke, but other than that, there's still some good jokes here. I would say eight times out of ten I was laughing and having a good time. Now to move onto the animation. While they are third place behind the likes of Pixar and DreamWorks, Illumination has shown they're just as good when it comes to 3D animation. There's a lot of times when it looks stunning. Such as sunset and nighttime settings, I thought those looked great. The last aspect goes to the cast. They didn't win any awards, but they were really good, even the child actors did a good job. All of them provided some entertainment and they had a good chemistry with each other.

The Bad: Nothing here.

The Okay: Now the movie is predictable but, if any of you have read a lot of my reviews then you know my philosophy is even if your story is predictable, the least you can do is make it a very entertaining, make staring from point A to point B fun. And this movie did. It's not perfect but I still had a good time.

Final Verdict: Good.

Why Didn't I See The Iron Claw?

Now I was planning to see this. Because why not? I've reviewed pro wrestling movies before. Granted one was god awful and the other one was criminally underrated, but still. Sadly my theater didn't get it until much later.

What is The Iron Claw?

The Iron Claw is biographical sports drama film based on the pro wrestling family, The Von Erichs. It was produced by Access Entertainment, BBC Film, and House Productions with distribution by A24. It was written and directed by Sean Durkin.

The story is, brothers Kevin, David, Kerry, and Mike wrestle for their father's promotion World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW). First there's success, but as time goes on tragedy after tragedy follows them.

My Thoughts

The Good: One praise I'll give is a very similar praise I gave to Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler. That being, you don't have to be a pro wrestling fan to enjoy this. Sure, pro wrestling does play a big part in the movie, but the true focus is on the family. Which is what the movie felt like, a tragic family drama with the backdrop being professional wrestling. Speaking of the family, the film does a spectacular job with character work. We really get to know the brothers as people. So when one of them die, you actually feel sad. I also want to praise the story. Yes, it's dark, very dark given the themes such as suicide, but despite everything we are given a bittersweet, but hopeful ending. Sure if you knew the story of the Von Erichs, then you saw it coming, but it's just refreshing to see. Which now brings me to my last praise and I can't believe I'm saying it but, Zac Efron stills the show. I'm not joking, if you haven't seen this you'll be blown away by how good Efron is. It's absolutely crazy how Zac knocks it out of the park in the role of Kevin Von Erich. It's such an insane sight to see how at one point we (myself included) just saw him as Troy from High School Musical, to now saying he should win an Oscar for his performance.

The Bad: Nothing for here.

The Okay: The only slight issue stems from somethings were glossed over. One is the movie doesn't really touch on the success that the Von Erichs experienced. Another being is the WWF (now WWE) is on the rise and spells trouble for the families' company, but it's brought up in what I believe was only two sentences? However I think a lot of it can be forgiven because Durkin wrote such a strong story.

Final Verdict: A Must Watch!

Why Didn't I See Ferrari?

Because sadly there wasn't a showing. Which sucks because I like a lot of Michael Mann's work. Heat being an obvious but fantastic choice when mentioning his best stuff.

What is Ferrari?

Ferrari is a biographical sports drama film based on the 1991 biography Enzo Ferrari: The Man, the Cars, the Races, the Machine by motorsports journalists Brock Yates. Companies such as Forward Press, Storyteller Productions, Lady Bacardi Media, and STX Entertainment produced with Neon distributing. Michael Mann directed while Troy Kennedy Martin wrote the story.

My Thoughts

The Good: First let's start off with the cinematography. This is a beautiful looking movie. It truly captures the 1950s. Then we have Michael Mann's directing. While the script isn't without its faults, Mann still does a good job making sure he brought his all. The last good thing I'll say for this section is Adam Driver was really good. It takes some time to get use to the accent he's using, but much like Mann's directing, Driver manages to bring a great performance to the film, which really helps bring up the movie's quality even if it's by a small margin.

The Bad: I've don't have anything for this section.

The Okay: There's three slight issues. One being the pacing. Sometimes things can be pretty slow. Then there's the visual effects. Now there were a few times when they were pretty good. But then there's some bad ones. One being a crash that sadly killed people, the aftermath was done well, but the CGI was so bad it unfortunately took me out of the moment. Then there's the story. Now I get they primarily focused on Enzo and not so much on the racing aspect. That's not a bad route to take but, I think they should've found a balance between his life and the racing, that way the divide response might have lessened.

Final Verdict: Okay.

That's all for now. Come back on Thursday, Jan 2nd, for my list of my most anticipated movies of 2025. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day, have a Happy New Year, and let's hope 2025 is not only great for cinema, but a great year overall.

Nosferatu (2024) Review

 

Nosferatu is a gothic horror movie and a remake of the 1922 silent film of the same name. Maiden Voyage Pictures, Studio 8, and Birch Hill Road Entertainment made it, while Focus Features distributed. The film is written and directed by the brilliant Robert Eggers.

The story is, in 1838 Wisborg, Germany a woman is being stalked by a great evil that's infatuated with her. Now a group of people must find a way to stop this sinister force not only for the woman's sake, but for Wisborg as well.

Initial Reaction

Now if you read my Most Anticipated list, then you'd know I was looking forward to this not because I'm a fan of the original 1922 film, but more of I'm a fan of Robert Eggers' work.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

If there's one slight issue it comes from the passage of time. You know days have gone by but it's hard to pinpoint how many. It's not something that'll really bring down the movie's quality, but once you notice it it is kinda hard to forget. However I do feel as though you can still forgive the film for this because there are worse things that could've happened to damage the quality.

Pros

Now to get to some praising. Let's start off with the special effects. The practical effects are amazing. The crew did a top notch job and I hope they not only get more work, but also tons of praise. And if there was CGI used, they did a good job covering it up or make it look unnoticeable, either way, again, top notch job. Then there's our villain Count Orlok. With some vampire movies there'll be some humanity left in the vampire, not with Count Orlok. He's a return to pure evil. I dare say he could be evil incarnate. Even when he's not on-screen you still feel his presence. Which brings me to the performances. I'll admit I have a tendency to play favorites, but this cast, all of them were spectacular. There's tons of scenes where they have to change emotions within the snap of a finger in that same exact scene and they nail it.  Or in Bill Skarsgård's case, just disappear into the Count Orlok makeup. And I mean that. I completely forgot that was him. I hope this vast at least gets a nomination because if not that'll be criminal. My last praise goes to Robert Eggers' directing. Once again Eggers does a fantastic job with how his films look. Robert made a beautifully dark looking film, the gothic imagery was done great justice and if you love that style, then you won't be disappointed with what Eggers does.

If you plan to see this, then it'll be a great way to end your 2024 movie year. Don't waste anytime, go see this.

My final rating is, A MUST WATCH!

Okay, that's going to do it for me. Come back on Monday, Dec 30th, for the finale part of Looking Back at the Films of 2023. And I got a stacked card for that one. Wonka, Migration, The Iron Claw, and Ferrari. It's gonna be a fun one. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and go see Nosferatu.

Underrated Films - The Ref

 

The Ref is a black comedy Christmas crime movie that was produced by Touchstone Pictures and Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer Productions, with distribution done by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. It was written by Richard LaGravenese and Mark Weiss, while Ted Demme directing.

The story is, Gus is a criminal on the run and winds up having take a bickering couple hostage. Being fed up with the arguing Gus acts as their marriage counselor or in this case a referee. But things are gonna get more complicated when the husband's family comes by for Christmas dinner.

Why It's Underrated

Now when it initial came it did receive tons of positive reviews but sadly bombed at the box office. It did manage find a wider audience thanks to home media and tv, but since then it just doesn't have any airings anymore. Which really sucks. I could see this being aired along side other alternative Christmas flicks like Bad Santa.

My Thoughts

One great aspect is the pacing. Now it's not real long to begin with, only clocking in at an hour and thirty-seven minutes. But from beginning to middle to end the movie just keeps going and never slows down, but we're still giving plenty of story and we don't miss out on anything.

Now onto the performances. Usually I'd pick a favorite but I actually enjoyed everyone in this regardless of how pick their role is. Their delivery is one point, they play off each other greatly, and overall there's not one bad performance to be had. The cast is great.

The next thing I'll touch on is the comedy. While you'll get some physical stuff you'll mainly be laughing at the dialogue. Seriously, some of the stuff people say is way more funnier than what they do. My favorite line is "I thought mothers were sweet and nice a-a-and patient. I know loan sharks who are more forgiving than you. Your husband ain't dead, lady. He's hiding".

The last thing I'll praise is how this really dives into the characters. Yes they have goofy moments, but we also get some really good serious stuff with them as well. There's one scene where there's bits of comedy, but it's mainly everyone getting everything off their chests, just letting out all of their frustrations. It's moments like that where we actually come to appreciate the characters, or for one character come to hate.

While I only discovered this film recently I've immediately found a new Christmas movie to watch as a tradition for the season.

My final rating is, A MUST WATCH!

That's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Dec 26th for my review of Robert Eggers' version of Nosferatu. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Oh, and have a Merry Christmas Eve and even Merrier Christmas! 🎄

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 Review

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is an action-adventure comedy movie based on the Sonic video game franchise and is the third installment of the film series. Paramount Pictures, Sega Sammy Group, Original Film, Marza Animation Planet, and Blur Studio did production with Paramount Pictures also distributing. Pat Casey, Josh Miller, and John Whittington wrote the story, with Jeff Fowler once again directing.

The story is, Sonic and his family were celebrating the anniversary of when he first came to Earth, this moment of peace is interrupted when the organization G.U.N. ask for their help. Things aren't going to be easy as Shadow proves himself as not only powerful, but determined to get his revenge.

Initial Reaction

Now having seeing and enjoying both movies I obviously wanted to see the third. Even more so because my boy Shadow was finally gonna make his big screen debut.

Cons

I've got nothing.

Middle Ground

Now the gray area stems from the story. Now, don't get me wrong, it's still very good. If you ever played the games that influenced this, those being Sonic Adventure 2 and Shadow the Hedgehog, then you'll likely love the story. For me, they did kinda rush somethings primarily Shadow's resolve during the final battle. Although maybe that's because this is a movie where sometimes they don't have runtimes that go over two hours, where as video games you can have be as long as you want. Oh, speaking of story, stay for the credit scenes. Especially the mid-credit scene. It gives you tiny clue of the fourth movie and a fan favorite makes an appearance.

Pros

Alright now let's get to the good stuff. First let's get through some of my more quicker praises because some of them will be the same things as my praises for the previous entries. One being the CGI. Once again the VFX team does a tremendous job. They continue to have a winning streak. Whether it'd be the films or the Knuckles miniseries, the CGI is great. Then there's the humor. Now some jokes didn't really work, but me and the audience I saw this with we were laughing and having a good time. We especially laughed at the Robotniks and whatever antics they did. Which now brings me to the action. Whatever action you saw in the trailers, it's there and it's really exciting to see on the big screen, but those trailers only touched on the first act and a tiny portions of the second and third. Speaking of the third act, oh boy, did fans both old and young loved what happened. You guys know me, I don't give spoilers, but if any of played Sonic Adventure 2, they there's 99.99% chance you know what I'm talking about, and yes, it did look awesome in live-action. Now onto performances. Once again Ben Schwartz is awesome as Sonic, he continues to kill it. Along with the regular cast we've come to love since the first movie. Or in the case of Idris Elba since the second, but I digress. And of course Jim Carrey knocked it out of the park. Whether you love or hate these movies, Jim's performance remains consistently great. But what about Keanu Reeves as Shadow? Well, whatever positive reviews who've heard about his performance, I'm here to say it's all true. He was amazing and he was great as Shadow. I had a big grin on my face whenever he was on screen, and I hope we get more of him. Then there's the tone. This is slightly more darker than the previous films. It's nothing too extreme but there quite a lot of intense moments. Which makes sense when you bring in Shadow and you heavily focus on his backstory. The last thing I'll credit is Jeff Fowler's directing. I have liked what he's done as a director for this series before, but here he really stepped up his game. This is probably the most style he's ever put and I loved it.

Surprisingly we now have three, THREE good live-action Sonic movies. Never in a million years did I ever think that would happen but here we are.

My final rating is, Good.

Okay, that's all for now. Come back on Monday, Dec 23rd, for my Underrated Films review of The Ref. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Kraven the Hunter Review

 

Kraven the Hunter is a comic book movie based on the Marvel Comics' character of the same name. It serves as the sixth installment of Sony's Spider-Man Universe. Production was done by Marvel Entertainment, Columbia Pictures, TSG Entertainment II, Arad Productions, and Matt Tolmach Productions with distribution by Sony Pictures Releasing. Richard Wenk, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway wrote the story, while J.C. Chandor directed.

The story is, when Sergei Kravinoff was young we was saved from a vicious lion attack and granted special abilities. Many years later, he goes by Kraven, where he hunts and kills criminals. Little does he know his actions will lead to him having to save his brother.

Initial Reaction

Now Kraven isn't one of my favorite Spidey villains, I know funny thing to say considering I love Kraven's Last Hunt, but I've always been more of a fan of the likes of Green Goblin, Doctor Octopus, Carnage, and even The Lizard. Regardless of that, I was still curious about the movie so I decided to give it a shot.

Cons

My only complaint was with the villains. They're just not that interesting. Sure they've got cool action moments, but they're characters are pretty bland.

Middle Ground

One gray area came with the CGI. Some parts weren't too bad, other parts were pretty ruff. Then there's the pacing. Ninety percent of the time it's pretty good, nothing to complain about. But there were times where I almost felt that two hour runtime. Then there's the story. Honestly I don't know why so many took issues with it. Now I'm not gonna overly praise it, clearly obvious considering where I've placed it in this review. But I'll admit it's not really all that special. It's just a standard kidnapped and go save story. Nothing insulting or anything. Although I do admit the dialogue can be clunky.

Pros

There's two good things to Kraven. One being the action. If you like your action scenes violent, then the movie's got you covered on that aspect. Then there's Aaron Taylor-Johnson's performance. While the script isn't the greatest thing ever, Aaron manages to bring out some really good acting. While we'll all have our disagreements on this movie, I do believe we can agree that Aaron is the best part.

So I think I've made it obvious I don't think this is the worst thing to come from Sony's cinematic universe. That crown still belongs to Madame Web. But I do admit it's not perfect.

My final rating is, Okay.

So that's all for now. Come back on Saturday, Dec 21st, for my review of Sonic the Hedgehog 3. I can't wait for that one. My boy Shadow is FINALLY gonna be on the big screen! Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt Review

 

With Kraven the Hunter right around the corner, it only made sense to review one of the characters best story.

Kraven's Last Hunt (formerly called Fearful Symmetry: Kraven's Last Hunt before the Fearful Symmetry part was dropped from the title) was a 1987 storyline published in order of Web of Spider-Man (1985) #31, The Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #293, The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #131, Web of Spider-Man (1985) #32, The Amazing Spider-Man (1976) #294, and The Spectacular Spider-Man (1976) #132. The story arc was written by one of my many favorites, J.M. DeMatteis and drawn by Mike Zeck.

The story is, Kraven has hunted and killed every animal known to man, expect one, Spider-Man. To prove once and for all he's his master, Kraven not only shoots and buries Spider-Man, but dons his costume and fights his villains. With this level of insanity, it's gonna be one crazy final confrontation between The Wall-Crawler and the Emperor of the Wild.

• Negatives

I've got nothing.

• Mix

Nope, nothing here either.

• Positives

One thing that you'll love about this is it's pacing. I read this in one day and in only a couple of minutes. The story just goes by quickly primarily because DeMatteis doesn't waste a single page on something pointless.

Then there's Mike Zeck's art. While he's not on top favorites list Mike's art is really good. The best aspect of it the shifting emotions. Mike shows a character's full expression with just four panels. One example is this sequence.

To give full context Mary-Jane isn't in the best state of mind right now, I'll give full details for the story portion. So we see at first she's killing the rat because like said previously she's not in the right state of mind. But then in the third panel we see she's regretting what she did, and in the last panel she's running away in disgust. And that's only one of many masterfully done moments. Then when it's not being like that then there's moments where it just looks awesome. Like this!

If you say you don't want this as a wallpaper then you're lying to both me and yourself.

The last thing I'll praise is the story, OH MY GOD THE STORY! Years prior of reading this I never would've guessed that Spider-Man would work in a psychological thriller until I read this, and years later it's still amazing. There's many fantastic aspects of the story so I'm gonna go through them. One being we get four different psychological perspectives. We've got Kraven being driven mad because of his constant feelings of failure. Spider-Man is going through some things because he has this fear of the grave. A second villain is going crazy because of his fear of the outside world and thinks he's in a better place living in the sewers. And the reason for MJ not being in a good place is because Spidey's been gone longer than usual and she's worried her husband (yeah remember when these two were married and it gave us get stories?) is either missing or worse dead. Now what about Kraven? His name is in the title so how is he as the villain? Now I haven't read too many Kraven stories but even I know this is the craziest he's ever been. How crazy? Well because of the feeling of failure has driven him insane Kraven believes that Spider-Man is some sort of mystical creature and he wants to prove he's superior by not only killing him and wearing his costume (or skin as he puts it), but also believes if takes some sort of mysterious cocktail of drugs that'll make him even stronger...yeah he's gone off the deep end here. So if you like your villains crazy, this one's got you covered. Now why should you like this story? It sounds depressing. Well yeah, it's a dark story, but it's not gonna leave you feeling miserable. How? Well Spider-Man is naturally shakened up by the events. He's clearly anger by what Kraven has done, but he doesn't allow himself to become cruel. He still goes out and tries his best. A matter of fact throughout the story he doesn't allow himself to be broken not only because he's supposed to be the hero, but because of the love he has for Mary-Jane. Might be a little clichéd but it works. So while it's dark it gives you hope at the end.

I love Kraven's Last Hunt, it's in my top list and I could re-read this after the review, even though I just read it like two hours ago.

My final rating is, A MUST READ!

Man this was a fun one. Due come back on Saturday, Dec 14th, for my review of Kraven the Hunter. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.

Classic Film Night - Home Alone

 

Well it's the Christmas season again, which means at best you'll get two Christmas movie reviews at best from me, like the previous times. Yeah I would review more but there's so many other great non-Christmas stuff to review. Sorry, maybe next year will be different. Anyways, enough of this intro, let's get to it.

Home Alone is a comedy movie and the first installment of the franchise. 20th Century Fox and Hughes Entertainment did production with distribution done by 20th Century Fox. The late great John Hughes wrote the movie while Chris Columbus directed.

The story is, after having their alarm clocks disabled by a heavy wind, the McCallister family is in a rush to get to the airport to a have Christmas vacation in Paris. During the confusion, they forgot something, or in this case someone, their youngest son Kevin. While loving having the place all to himself, he soon realizes two burglars have broke in. Now Kevin must defend his home.

My Thoughts

One spectacular aspect is the performances from Macaulay Culkin, Joe Pesci, and Daniel Stern. As far as child actors go Macaulay Culkin has the best and his performance in this still iconic to this day. And it's one of the many child acting a lot of young actors and actresses should study and learn from. Then there's Joe Pesci and Daniel Stern. It's funny, I'm fully aware that Pesci has done comedic roles before. Other than Home Alone another that comes to mind is My Cousin Vinny. But it's just funny to see him act like this when he's mostly known for his crime movies like Goodfellas. Then there's Daniel Stern, and if they ever make another unnecessary Home Alone sequel and have Marv in it, they have to get Daniel Stern. Nobody else can play the guy but him.

Now onto the humor. Sadly in this day and age slapstick is frowned upon when it comes to comedy. But Home Alone has the better examples of slapstick. Why? Because what a lot of people mess up on is the timing! Slapstick is not only about people getting hit, but it's all about the timing, and Home Alone has excellent timing. But when there's no slapstick happening there's also some really good dialogue too. Such as "Damn. How can you give Kris Kringle a parking ticket on Christmas Eve? What's next, rabies shots for the Easter Bunny?"

The one thing I never really appreciated about this movie until I got older was Chris Columbus' directing. While I don't have him as my top favorites, I do admit he's very good at directing. And he gave this movie a wonderful look to it. Home Alone looks great.

The last thing I'll praise is this movie speaks to kids. We've all had those moments where we think our family doesn't like us, is out to get us, we're mad at them for a day or two, and we wish we were by ourselves. Be honest and admit it, you had those moments as a kid. Or maybe you weren't pissed with them and you were left home alone and all you want to do is scream loudly, run around the house and flail your arms in the air. I might have done that once or twice as a kid. With that stuff out of the way there's a message to this movie. Where yes it's about family. Kevin does have a moment where he realizes he misses his parents and siblings. But what made the message worked was it wasn't forced and nobody, be it kid or adult, are gonna feel like they were being talked down to.

Home Alone is one of the many Christmas classics to watch during the holiday season. Even I love watching this movie whether Christmas is around the corner, days away, or we just now entered December.

My final rating is, A MUST WATCH!

That's going to do it for me. Come back on Thursday, Dec 12th, for my review of Spider-Man: Kraven's Last Hunt. All in celebration of the upcoming Kraven the Hunter movie. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day.