Tuesday, December 29, 2020
Monday, December 28, 2020
Soul Mr. Bee’s Short Review
Hello and welcome,
Many of you may know that I am a huge Pixar fan. If you remember one of my very early blogs, when I counted down my top 10 favorite Disney movies, you will know that I put all the Pixar movies at number 3. During that time when I made that list Inside Out had just been released and I had not yet seen it, but when I did, I immediately fell in love with it, and now if I were to do an updated list I might include it in its own place separate from the rest of the Pixar movies (If I were to do the list again I would also exclude Cars 2).
The director of Inside Out, Pete Docter (since 2018 he is also the Chief Creative Officer), decided to make a movie about what happens to your soul after death which is kind of crazy, but I said the same thing about a movie that takes place inside a human brain. Looking at how Inside Out turned out I was interested in this movie and thought if anyone can do a concept such as this, Docter could. With that out of the way, let’s begin.
Plot
Joe (Jamie Foxx) is a middle school music teacher who right after getting a major gig falls down a manhole and dies. He manages to get separated from others going to “The Great Beyond” and ends up in “The Great Before” and he meets an unborn soul called “22” (Tina Fey). Joe is determined to get back to Earth and that is everything I can say about the plot without giving away spoilers.
Opinion
Let’s begin with the animation. The animation is Pixar so of course, it is fantastic but there are some very unique designs in the afterlife and even with a little 2D (2D was probably created on a computer and not in traditional hand drawing).
The characters are fun and engaging and will be destined to rank very high with the other great Pixar characters.
The music is done by the one and only John Baptiste (bandleader for the Late Show and other projects), therefore it is automatically great.
Now the story is very hard to give my opinion on without giving spoilers. But let’s just say that it is one of those movies where you think you know where it is going and what its message is but then it goes away from that. However, with that said, it is fantastically done and has a universal message that everyone should hear. On a side note, they did make a conscious effort to be sensitive to all religions. Overall, Soul ranks toward the top of the Pixar catalog. If you are wondering if it is as good as Inside Out I am not going that far yet but I will say that it is the best-animated movie that I have seen this year (of course 2020 has been limited). I will say that everyone should watch Soul at least once and I am proud to give it the highest rating I can give which is 5 Gold Stars.
Thank you to everyone that has read or watched any of my content this year. I hope that I have brought you a little bit of joy in this tough year. I have a lot more things planned for the new year and with that said, I wish you all a very Happy New Year!
Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™
Mr. Bee
Sunday, December 27, 2020
Wonder Women 1984 Mr. Bee’s short review
Hello, and welcome. One of my most anticipated movies of the year has been Wonder Woman 1984. You can imagine my disappointment when this movie was delayed and delayed due to this little thing called a pandemic. (Most of my other anticipated movies of this year have been delayed till next year and we will see how many of them will actually make their release date). Warner Bros. decided to give me a Christmas present when they decided to release Wonder Woman 1984 day and date (meaning same day) in theaters and on HBO Max. I would be remiss if I failed to mention the lasting impact of this decision and Warners Bros. to release all of their 2021 movies in a similar fashion as this could be disastrous for the movie theaters. With that being said it is probably best to get to my review now and leave that discussion for another day.
Plot
Wonder Woman aka Diana Prince (Gal Gadot)
is living during the 1980s more or less incognito but she comes across a magical stone that will grant you your heart’s desire. The stone winds up in the hands of an evil businessman, Maxwell Lord (Pedro Pascal). Wonder Woman now needs to get the stone back before the world ends. This is the most basic plot summary without giving any spoilers.
Opinion
Overall, I loved this movie, but that is not to say I loved everything about it. Gal Gadot is wonderful as Wonder Woman and I also loved to see Chris Pine back as Steve Trevor as their chemistry worked well. The other actors did a fine job as well, especially Kristen Wiig as Barbara Minerva.
On the technical side, this movie is fantastic. You see great visual effects with Wonder Woman’s lasso, particularly in one scene when she lassos a bolt of lightning (remember, it is a comic book movie)
With all of that out of the way, I do have a few criticisms and unfortunately, they are major. Kristen Wiig’s transformation into the cheetah is kind of forced and it would have been a lot better if they had introduced her in this movie and her transformation in the next movie, that way her arc of going from good to evil would have left a strong impression on the audience. (This is not a spoiler because it is in the trailer). My next major criticism is rather hard to do without giving too much away, but let just say that a major scene toward the end of the movie with Wonder Woman and Steve is extremely rough. Overall I give Wonder Woman 1984 4.5 stars.
Some of you might be wondering which way I would recommend that you see this movie. The question is a lot more complicated during a pandemic because it all depends on your comfort level. If you happen to live in an area where movie theatres are open (I do not) it might be worth the risk as this is a movie that is made for the big screen. But if you do not then HBO Max is probably your only option I would advise that you to watch it on the best TV in your home, I did not do this movie any favor by watching it on my computer screen.
Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™
Mr. Bee
Thursday, December 24, 2020
Ernest Saves Christmas Mr. Bee’s Review
Hello and welcome,
If you have been a reader since 2018, or before, you may remember in my introductory blog to the Ernest movies I mentioned that only one of them I have seen more than twice, that is the movie at hand. Just to clarify one thing, I have seen this movie way more than twice as it is a bit of a Christmas tradition in my home, hence I may have a little bit of nostalgia for it. But with that out of the way, let me begin.
Background
This movie was released in 1988, a little bit over a year after the release of “Ernest Goes To Camp.” This movie was directed by John Cherry again. The movie was a moderate box office success making $28 million on a $6 million budget, (not including the marketing and adjusting for inflation).
Plot
Santa Claus (Douglas Seale) is retiring and he travels to Orlando, Fl to find a replacement. While Ernest (Jim Varney) is transporting Santa in his taxi they meet a very troubled teenage runaway named Pamela Trento (Noelle Parker). Ernest takes Santa to a children’s museum to meet a children’s performer named Joe Carruthers (Oliver Clark) who Santa believes would make a good successor. Unfortunately, Santa left his sack in Ernest’s car which is now back in the shop. It is now up to Ernest to retrieve the sack and help Santa to convince Joe to take on the role of Santa by 7:00 P.M. on Christmas eve. There is also a sub-plot with Chuck and Bobby (Gailard Sartain and Bill Byrge respectively) who are the airport baggage handlers who are stuck with Santa’s reindeer.
Opinion
Let’s get some of the bad stuff out of the way first. This movie is kind of predictable, however, one probably does not go into an Ernest movie expecting a masterful plot. With the Chuck and Bobby subplot, they did a better job than the last one as they actually connected it with the main storyline, but it was only with a slight improvement as a good chunk could be cut without problems. With Joe as the new Santa we do not see much character development, granted what we do see is not bad. The visual effects, particularly at the climax, look extremely dated but to be fair this movie was made on a $6 million budget which is low even for a 1980’s film.
On a side note, is it just me or Santa Claus getting arrested becoming a cliche in Christmas movies? However, I am not criticizing this movie outright because as far as I know, this is one of the first ones to do it after Miracle on 34th St.
With this out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff. Douglas Seale’s performance as Santa is fantastic as he is one of the few actors that captures the traditional characteristics of Santa. (If his voice sounds familiar, it is because he also played the Sultan in Aladdin). The comedy, for the most part, lands with only a few duds. (Most of the duds tend to be in the Chuck and Bobby subplot).
Overall this movie a good and fun holiday film. It is not a holiday masterpiece in the same category as “It’s A Wonderful Life,” but I don’t think it sets out to be that. I give “Ernest Saves Christmas” four out of five stars. And for those keeping score, if I were to rank all of the Ernest movies I have reviewed so so far, this one would be at the top, and “Dr. Otto” would be at the bottom.
Thank you all for reading this and on behalf of all of us at Mr. Bee’s Brilliant Movie Buzz, have a very merry Christmas.
Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™
Mr.Bee
