Monday, January 31, 2022
Sunday, January 23, 2022
Vivo Mr. Bee’s Review
Hello and welcome,
2021 was a big year for Lin-Manuel Miranda. Back in June, we got the film adaptation of his 1st big musical In the Heights, and in November his feature directorial debut Tick, Tick... Boom! In the field of Animation is Encanto from Disney which came out for thanksgiving (or on Disney+ for Christmas). In between all that we have today’s subject which is Vivo from Sony Pictures Animation and Netflix (on a side note, if Miranda gets an Oscar for any of these movies mentioned, he will have an EGOT). With that out of the way, let’s begin
Background
The movie’s origins date back to 2010 when DreamWorks approached Lin- Manuel Miranda with a pitch of a film following the success of in the Heights, but due to a restructuring in 2015 the project was dropped (it was still pre-Hamilton but not by much). In 2016 Sony acquired the project from DreamWorks and fast-tracked it, with Kirk DeMicco directing, and it was going to be released theatrically back in June but on April 26 Sony announced the cancellation of the film's theatrical release and licensed the film to Netflix and release it in August (I bet you can guess why Sony did that).
Plot
In Havana, Cuba, Andrés (Juan de Marcos González) and his kinkajou Vivo (Lin-Manuel Miranda) play music together. Andrés receives a letter from an old friend Marta Sandoval (Gloria Estefan), informing him that she is retiring from her singing career and offers him a chance to reconnect in Miami, Florida. This gives Andrés the chance he hopes for to finally tell Marta how he feels about her through a song he wrote just for her. Vivo, happy with their life in Cuba, is reluctant to help Andrés and leaves in a huff. The next morning, it is discovered Andrés has died in his sleep. A funeral service is held in the plaza, with Andrés' niece Rosa (Zoe Saldana) and her daughter Gabi (Ynairaly Simo) who live in Key West, Florida. Ashamed of his earlier reluctance, Vivo vows to get Marta to hear Andrés' song. He stows away with Gabi and Rosa on their trip home and Gabi is thrilled when she discovers Vivo hiding in her stuff and when she finds Andrés's song she agrees to help Vivo deliver the song.
Opinion
To start off, the animation is excellent with every scene vibrant and flowing with creativity especially with the musical numbers which are the highlights of the film. As for the plot, it is true that the story is very predictable, however, it is not uncommon for a musical as often the story is just a vehicle for the music. Obviously, there has to be a balance and I think this movie has that.
As for the characters, for the most part, I like all of them. However, at first, I did Gabi not and I just found her annoying, but upon rewatching the movie, she grew on me. However I can not say the same thing about her song “My Own Drum,” although musically it’s not bad, I just don't care for that style of Music (ironically that’s the catchiest one in the movie). The rest of the songs are fantastic but would you expect anything less from Lin-Manuel Miranda? Overall, Vivo is a fun and entertaining musical and it is one of my favorites from Sony Animation (Spider-Verse is still my favorite). I give Vivo 4 and a half out of 5 stars.
Goodnight, and Bee Happy!™
Mr.Bee
Sunday, January 9, 2022
Encanto -Mr.Bee’s Review
Hello and welcome,
When Encanto was officially announced at Disney’s Investor Day a year ago I was won over right there and then. Think about it, it’s a Disney animated musical with songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda and one of the directors who also did Zootopia and Tangled so it is safe to assume high expectations. The only question is did it meet my expectations? well let’s begin
Background
In 2016 the then head John Lasseter had presented the idea to Lin-Manuel Miranda for a musical about Colombian culture and soon after that the co-Director of Zootopia Byron Howard and the screenwriter Jared Bush for Zootopia was on board to Direct.
Disney hired several cultural experts as consultants on the film which became the "Colombian Cultural Trust." In 2018 the production team visited Colombia on a research trip. There was going to be a 2nd trip in March of 2020 but I think you can guess why that did not happen so instead the trip was virtual, on a side note in between that time Lasseter was replaced by Jennifer Lee.
Plot
The Madrigal family lives hidden in the mountains of Colombia, in a magical house, in a wondrous, charming place called an Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique magical gift with the exception of one Mirabel (Stephanie Beatriz). Because of that Mirabel is looked down upon by the other's but when she discovers that the magic is fading Mirabel decides to take it upon herself to save Encanto.
Opinion
To start off, the animation is gorgeous and everything about it is excellent. I love that the house is its own character and the animators did a remarkable job at making the house expressive. I also like the designs, particularly Mirabel whose design is very unique compared to the other Disney princesses/heroines. Mirabel is pretty yet not overly sexualized, oh and I may be wrong, but I think she is the 1st Disney heroine with glasses. Mirabel might be one of the most relatable Disney leads because we all feel different and looked down upon sometimes (usually not to that extreme). The other family members all have a moment to shine quite literally. That’s the trouble with a big cast of characters; only a handful can become two-dimensional characters without the movie being 5 hours long. The songs I'm sure are instant Disney classics.
Overall Encanto did meet my expectations because I was hoping for a worthy addition to the Disney catalog and that’s what I got so I’m proud to give it 5 out 5 stars if you have not seen it yet after you're done reading this go to Disney+ and Watch it. I believe it is still playing in some theatres so you might still have the opportunity to see it on the big screen.
Goodnight and Bee Happy™
Mr. Bee
Diary of a Wimpy Kid (2021) Mr.Bee’s Review
Hello and welcome,
Just to be clear, I’m not a fan of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid franchise although it was very popular during my time in late Elementary and Middle school so it was unavoidable. I do have a basic understanding of the franchise (and I mean very basic) because I did watch the 1st movie (Live action) somewhere between my last year of middle school and 1st year of high school but all I really remember of it was thinking that was just ok. Given the fact that it has been almost a decade ago and heaven knows what I might think of now! I still haven't read any of the books. With that out of the way, let’s begin.
Background
This movie has a very complicated development (almost like my 6th-grade year) but I will do my best. In 2012 Jeff Kinney, the author of the books, said an animated film based on Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Cabin Fever was a good possibility. That movie soon became a half-hour TV special. In 2018 it became an animated series and that may have had something to do with the last Live-action film being a box office bomb. When Disney bought Fox 2019 the series was going to be a Disney+ original and then it finally became a movie again. Oh, by the way, it is now based on the 1st book. The rest, as they say, is history (did you get all that? there is going to be a test).
Plot
Greg Heffley (Brady Noon) is about to enter middle school with his best friend Rowley Jefferson (Ethan William Childress) and he gets advice from his older brother on how to "survive" middle school and scares Greg in the process. The first day of school arrives and both Greg and Rowley are shunned by the majority of the students and that's about it for the plot if you can call it a plot. The movie basically follows Greg and Rowley through the 1st quarter I guess?
Opinion
Let’s get this out of the way. First off, Jeff Kinney’s art style doesn't translate well in CGI as all the characters look weird and some of them end up looking like filmmakers decision to go Dumpster diving at The Muppets Studio
Let’s move on to the story, or more accurately, stories. I do like episodic nature and it does kind of work as a slice of life story. Now for the characters, Greg Heffley is supposed to be like Charlie Brown where nothing ever goes right for him. Charlie Brown however is very likable but now just Imagine if Charlie Brown had the personality of Lucy and that is what Greg is, a Jerk, and I really don't know why Rowley is friends with him. I have another comparison to Peanuts which is one of the many things that works for Peanuts is that all the characters talk like little adults and the actual adults, who you never see, talk with "Wah Wa Wa Wah Wa Wa." but here we have the opposite which does not work and what you now have is a lot of useless adults.
Overall, Diary of a Wimpy Kid is a mean-spirited movie. I will be lying if I said I had a good time. I debated on my rating but it just barely escaped the Golden Garbage Can Award so that means that I give it 1 out 5 stars. If you like it great, but as for me I will rather go through middle school again,
Goodnight and Bee Happy™
Mr. Bee
Sunday, January 2, 2022
The Boss Baby: Family Business -Mr.Bee’s Review
Hello and welcome,
It is no secret that I didn't like The Boss Baby (as in the 1st one ). To be fair, it is not the worst movie ever, but it is just bad, so I was not looking forward to reviewing the sequel, actually in fact I was downright dreading it, and that is part of the reason why I am just now reviewing it. Also, My schedule has been a little crazy recently but I'm a man of my word so let’s begin
Background
To be honest, it is surprisingly not to find much of anything for background and the only things I found is that the movie was announced in May 2017 and Tom McGrath returned as director (can go IMB or I didn't know the beginning and/or end credits for that one). I could talk about the release date but if you're surprised that it was delayed and/or the way it was released (that being simultaneously in theaters and on Peacock) you have been living under a rock for the last 2 years and I highly recommended go back under the rock (oh, do you have enough room for 2?). So it’s best to go on
Plot
Tim and Ted (James Marsden and Alec Baldwin, respectively) are now fully grown. Tim lives with his wife Carol (Eva Longoria) and their two daughters, 7-year-old Tabitha (Ariana Greenblatt) and infant Tina (Amy Sedaris). As for Ted, he is a successful CEO who is never around for Tim. Tabitha is showing more grown-up behavior and one night, while Tim is wondering about the person his daughter is becoming, he hears something coming from Tina's room. He discovers that Tina is from BabyCorp like Ted was and she has been assigned to get Ted for a special mission. Tim refuses to call Ted, saying that he will never come. However, Tina leaves a fake voicemail for Ted persuading him to come. Tina introduces the brothers to a new formula that will allow them to turn back into children for 48 hours in order to infiltrate Tabitha's school and figure out what Dr. Erwin Armstrong (Jeff Goldblum) is planning.
Opinion
Despite all of the problems I have, the animation is not one of them, and for this movie, the same animation looks good but maybe a little too Cartoony for my liking, but I can't fault the Talent at DreamWorks. Some of the designs are pretty unique, particularly in the school. The humor is for the most part Juvenile, or should I say “Babyish” (sorry I couldn't resist), however surprisingly there are a good number of jokes I did laugh at. Now for the storyline, there was no way around it the story is a stupid convoluted mess and I really can’t say anything more. Now we move on to the characters. I don't really have much to say except that the father-daughter dynamic is very well-developed, but it did get a little weird (to say the least). Jeff Goldblum is as entertaining as ever. The message basically is that you are only a child once so make the most of it. As a 20 something adult, I can get behind the message but I could have used a lot more subtlety.
Overall, The Boss Baby: Family Business is not a good movie, but shockingly not a bad one. It is just meh, meaning that it gets a 2 out of 5 stars. It is, however, a massive improvement over the first movie. When the inevitable 3rd movie comes out I may call that one good but can't say for sure but I do know one thing, I’m no longer dreading it.
Goodnight and Bee Happy™
Mr. Bee
Spirit Untamed -Mr.Bee’s Review
Hello and welcome,
Do you, by any chance, remember the 2002 DreamWorks movie Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron? It made a decent profit and got ok reviews but in my opinion, it is just ok. You can forget everything said because the film I am reviewing today, Spirit Untamed, has very little to do with the first movie other than the title. This movie is instead based on a spin-off series on Netflix: Spirit Riding Free and even written by show’s creator Aury Wallington. In case you're curious, I did watch an episode of the show in preparation for this review and it was not bad and I can think of a lot worse ways of spending 22 minutes, but I'm not in a rush to binge-watch it. With that out of the way, let’s begin
Background
I should let you know that I did not do a lot of research on this movie and what I did do I gave you all of it in the intro (whoops). So, I guess you can send a stampede after me.
Plot
A young girl named Lucky (Isabela Merced) lives with her aunt Cora (Julianne Moore) and her grandfather in a city somewhere on the east coast. However, after Lucky lets a squirrel into their house and ruins her grandfather’s campaign party (I can think of a lot worse ways to ruin a campaign) she and Cora head to the western town of Miradero where they will stay with Lucky's father Jim (Jake Gyllenhaal). On the train over, Lucky notices a Kiger Mustang running with his herd, and the next day, Lucky goes to a corral where she sees the same horse being abused by a man named Hendricks (Walton Goggins) and she decides to call the horse Spirit. Lucky sneaks out at night and she finds Spirit and his herd together but is interrupted by Hendricks and his men, who capture all the horses, except Spirit, and take them off in a train. It is now up to Lucky and her new friends, Pru (Marsai Martin) and Abigail (Mckenna Grace) to save the day
Opinion
To start off, while you can definitely tell that this was made with a much lower budget (30 million to be exact) than a usual DreamWorks movie, the animation looks pretty good regardless. The story is not bad but it is extremely predictable. Surprisingly, I liked all the characters, but the filmmakers are trying very hard to get you invested primarily in the horse's story. However, they are not trying hard enough because all I see are horses and not well-developed characters. (for the record I’m not advocating making the horses talk, far from it). All of that equals out to a movie that is just ok, which is basically my opinion on the entire franchise, so I give Spirit Untamed 3 out of 5 stars.
Goodnight and Bee Happy™
Mr. Bee
