Disney

Film Review – Air (2023)

films, reviews

Rating: 2.5 out of 5.

There’s something to be said about the power of certain actors. One of the only reasons that I wanted to watch this film was because of Viola Davis. She’s such a powerhouse of an actor and could make anything seem great. I guess I also love Jason Bateman but he’s hardly as consistent with his film choices. And Ben Affleck? He’s been doing good things lately but I wasn’t sure that he would be able to make this concept work in the same way he made Argo work. After all, there’s something tricky about an underdog story about one of the biggest brands in the world. How can you make audiences sympathetic towards a billion-dollar company like Nike? It feels like the kind of story that someone like Adam McKay could have done fun things with but Nke would never have risked that.

Continue reading →

Film Review – Peter Pan and Wendy (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

One of the stops on my recent holiday was Moat Brae house in Dumfries. Between 1873 and 1878, author J M Barrie lived in the city and was a frequent visitor to the house. He even suggested that the gardens helped inspire him to create Neverland. In 2019, the house was turned into a museum and it’s absolutely amazing. It left me with a desire to read Barrie’s book again. It also gave me the perfect excuse to watch the latest Disney live-action remake.

Continue reading →

Film Review – Strange World (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Do you remember how Disney finally released an animated film with an openly gay character? You might not because there was basically no marketing campaign for it. Did Strange World purposefully get buried? Did they do it so they could prove that nobody wants “wokeness” in their family films? Probably. The film was quickly labelled a box office bomb and had one of the lowest Disney openings in recent years. I didn’t really know anything about the film when I came to watch it this week because I barely knew it existed. I honestly don’t remember seeing anything about this film and I don’t understand why. I mean, it boasts a cast including the voices of Jake Gyllenhaal, Dennis Quaid and Lucy Lui. You’d think they’d want to make more noise about it. So, were they really hiding it because of the LGBTQ+ representation or is the film just not that good?

Continue reading →

Film Review – Pinocchio (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

In my review of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, I criticised the 2022 Disney version. I haven’t actually watched it. I felt bad enough about it that I actually did this week. I’d originally been planning to watch Everything Everywhere All at Once. I guess that can wait for another week. Instead, I’ll watch Tom Hanks talking to a CGI wooden boy. Even though I know there’s no way that it’ll be as good as del Toro’s version. How could it be?

Continue reading →

Film Review – Disenchanted (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

I never got the love for Disney’s Enchanted because it came out when I was a bit too old to care. It came out when I was at university, so I had other things going on. I don’t think I watched it until a few years ago and it had been really overhyped at that point. I didn’t think it was bad but I’d heard so much praise for it. Yeah, it subverts the traditional Disney fairy tale tropes but it was hardly the best parody. It was fun and Amy Adams is always a joy. I just didn’t think it was so amazing. So, when the sequel was announced, I wasn’t exactly counting down the days until its release. I knew that I’d watch it but I doubted that I’d be that into it.

Continue reading →

Book Review – Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw

books, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

I don’t know what’s happened to me lately. I’ve been on an absolute roll with my reading and have a bit of a review backlog. It’s a really new and great feeling. Especially considering the past few months haven’t gone as I’d expected. I had a few books that I definitely wanted to get through last month and I managed a few of them. Top of the list was this beauty that was published during the month. It just sounded like such a fun Halloween book and I’m a huge fan of the film. But would the book actually be any good?

READ MORE

Film Review – Hocus Pocus 2 (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

As a millennial, I have very strong feelings about the film Hocus Pocus. Especially as I’m not a fan of horror movies. It’s my ultimate Halloween film and I could watch it over and over again. I absolutely love Bette Midler and her performance of ‘I Put A Spell On You’ is iconic. It might not be the best film ever but I think it’s perfect. So, I was in two minds when the sequel was announced. I wanted more from Winnie and her sisters but I didn’t trust Disney to do it well. I had to find out one way or another.

Continue reading →

Film Review – The One And Only Ivan (2020)

films, reviews

Rating: 3 out of 5.

When I read Katherine Applegate’s book The One and Only Ivan last week, I didn’t know it has been adapted into a film. So, it seemed like the perfect choice for my film review this week. It’s an annoyingly common theme within the bookish community that the book always has to be better. That no film adaptation can ever be as good as the written word. I’ve already written a post about how wrong this idea is, so I don’t judge a film until I’ve seen it. Meaning I had to see if this lived up to the book.

Continue reading →

Film Review – Lightyear (2022)

films, reviews

Rating: 2 out of 5.

I intended to post this review earlier this week but it’s been far too hot to do anything. So, I waited until it was a bit cooler. It means that I’m able to actually write something but it also means that it’s been a while since I watched this film. Hopefully, I can remember it enough to get through this. I was pretty excited to watch this. It sounded like the kind of thing for me. Chris Evans, Pixar, upset right-wing mums… it had everything I love. The only thing I wasn’t sure about was how it would all fit together.

Continue reading →

Film Review – Turning Red (2022)

film, reviews

Rating: 4 out of 5.

It isn’t surprising to find out that a certain group of people have turned against Pixar’s latest film release. Those idiots on the internet who don’t like people who look, act and speak differently to them. I’ve seen snippets from reviews say that it is only relevant to a small audience or that it’s unrealistic. Yeah, and I guess Wall-E, Up, and Cars were all super relatable and true to life. The word woke has been tossed around a lot as you would expect. Then there are those who think children shouldn’t be made aware that periods are a thing. I don’t know why I expected anything else but it’s getting boring now. It’s an animated movie for fuck’s sake. There are worse things going on in the world to worry about that.

Continue reading →