Aleta Nook

I'm not too big a fan of the first one so I don't know what I was thinking paying money to see this. The trailers looked very cheesy and it's true for the actual film. The film looks to be chaotic fun plot-wise, but there is too much going on. The whole Ella plot felt unnecessary. I would sympathize with the motivations of the kids more if they had made the stepdaughter a tad more unlikeable. Lily did come off as a bit of a bully but it often seemed like Harper was just a brat easily annoyed by her stepsister for no reason and the father was just so nice. I found Tess a little annoying too, she still is kinda the judgmental mom she was in the first one and Anna is ok but her relationship with Eric felt a little rushed. The ending is heartwarming I will give it that.

Elio is essentially a messy Lilo and Stitch (even got the names confused). Production and story wise, it's a bit like The Good Dinosaur but just not boring. While, it does have some decent characters like the kind-hearted and sympathetic Elio and the quirky comic relief Glordon, the characters can also be a bit frustrating and underdeveloped (Olga and Grigon respectively). Thankfully, it's not as frustrating as Brave but keep in mind I watched that movie with a lot less empathy than I do now so despite how much I talk about hating that movie, I'm probably biased. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that they should've found a way to streamline both the conflict of finding your tribe and the concept of fulfilling in your role. It seems like it leaned more towards the latter to the point where we never really get a proper arc from Elio that resolves his frustration with not fitting into Earth. But, it also leads to not developing the ambassador and warlord concepts enough. The movie is still an adolescent trying to find itself, especially in the second act. It gets a little better in the third act but there's still some young adult struggles there. It's not, in my opinion, a hilarious movie, which is fine, but the movie is just so forgettable that I can't remember barely any of the comedy nor did I really laugh at any of the jokes except when Olga was pissed that Elio read her emotional state which is probably biased of me because I like that kind of humor. It's also not a very emotional kind of Pixar movie, which again, fine, but I just wish I cared for the characters more. The Sony-style bean mouth is just getting repetitive at this point and imo, never looked great in the first place and really clashes with the unique alien designs they had. I wish Pixar would stop this style because it makes me not want to watch their movies.

Way too much teen drama and jealousy for a kids movie. It makes the tone feel mean-spirited and possibly not enjoyable for kids. Maybe preteens and young teens would get this, but this feels more like a movie for really young kids like under middle school aged yet the characters act more in a way that’s relatable to middle schoolers. Even the villain (who’s a dance teacher) is not good because all she does is shame how someone lives their life all because of her sad puppy dog backstory. Even aside from the conflict, there is not much conflict or plot there and whatever plot or conflict we do have is overstuffed. We just have the usual beats for a children’s movie, Jojo gets her dance group and she wins. Jojo herself is unfunny. The acting is pretty much just one or two facial expressions throughout the entirety of the runtime. Parents are nowhere to be found, not even briefly. Music is mostly forgettable and come out of nowhere, but a few of them are nice to listen to. The other good part is Jojo’s old dance teacher, she’s the only good character in this as she’s just so sweet and provides some wholesomeness to this otherwise mean-spirited film.

The premise is heartwarming and more of a mystery, so it will leave you on the edge of your seat, wanting to know what happens. There's also another story juxtaposed in with the contemporary setting and it's very slow-paced compared to the other story until you get to the end. I still found myself being interested in what was happening with the witches, even though I think it should've been paced a little better. It's mostly talky and not much doing until the last few episodes. The portrayal of the autistic characters were accurate, but some of the treatment, I feel, are outdated by 2023 standards. The portrayal of the harsh teachers and the bullying of autistic people for being different and smart were accurate to my experience, but I don't think kids in high school would insult someone for having an autistic meltdown or "not looking autistic". We are much more accepting of autism and other neurodivergent disorders than in the past. I do like some of the characters. Addie and Maggie are the typical spunky girls, but they're good role models. They're positive people who will never give up on making a change. Frank and Audrey are nice supporting characters. I can't go in depth with Elinor since there will be spoilers. She does seem like a stiff person, but it all makes sense once you finish the season. I don't care for the twin sisters, though. Nina as a character had potential, but not much was done with her. I think more should've been done with the jealousy she has with her sisters and the fact that she caused her sister to get bullied by outing her autism and the strain it put on her relationship with her twin. Instead, that arc was dropped for a contrived typical teen plotline involving her trying to maintain popularity and a fallout with her boyfriend and everything with her gets resolved too quickly. Keedie doesn't really get interesting until the last two episodes, which I won't spoil. She mostly squabbles with her sister over nothing and mainly acts as a mentor for Addie. Jenny was very unlikeable until the end. She has a codependency on Emily, Addie's bully, but she wasn't sympathetic at all. I wanted to yell at her for being so attached to that wench. I do wonder how they're gonna continue this series, though, as I don't feel like there's anything more they need to add.

I was so excited for this game. I thought it would be Yuji Naka's redemption. WRONG! He brought the Sega curse with him! I've seen gameplays of the game and oh boy, did it dispel any interest I have. This game has a lot of the makings of a great game, two protagonists who you can choose between who are dealing with their own issues and anxieties, a simulator element where you raise cute creatures, a really quirky and amazingly designed titular character, and a couple cool power-ups but sadly, the game is barebones, boring and feels very rushed. The puzzles and platforming feel way too simple, the control scheme is tied to one button which can be a hindrance to certain costumes, the Balan's bout thing is so bland and janky. Oh, and there's also a chao garden like element that doesn't really do much besides make your pets stronger or something. I could not care about the story. A lot of times, I was left scratching my head. Why should we care about some depressed farmer trying to attack me because his crop is destroyed? Wasn't the game about the kids? Like why are we helping other people, aren't we supposed to be helping ourselves? Were those wonderworld people helping others too? It felt like two different storylines and the main kids don't get a lot of time to breathe and develop because the game mostly focuses on you battling these guys who have whatever anxiety/depression they have. Like you can't do that, for a game dealing with emotional themes and with it being as story-driven as it is, it should've been a lot deeper with more lore and story to it. Don't just add a few cutscenes introducing characters. God, Mario has a more cohesive story than this. Also why are we feeding our chicken things these teardrop shaped things that probably came from all the Wonderworld characters I don't give a hoot about? That's disgusting! This game is totally all over the place and trash. If you want a better 3D platformer similar to this, play Hat in Time and Mario Odyssey.

I am autistic and Music is barely anything how I or any autistics I know act. The actors that play Kazu and Music overreact, also what kind of parent gives their children those names? Kazu is a Japanese name FYI. The dance sequences are confusing. And the characters use prone restraint as "love" to calm down Music, something that has traumatized and killed autistics. They use prone restraint as an act to make the situation better but it's actually the opposite in real life. Also, Zu and Eboe get together at the end. So expect a predictable happy ending. What's even more confusing is how Music doesn't resent that at all. Any child would resent any kind of remarriage or being part of a new family structure especially autistic children. Sia has apparently consulted with autism speaks, which is probably the three years of research that she meant because MAN does it show. Please do not watch this movie. Do not give it any support. I wish I can bleach my memory from this crapfest. I don't even know why people are praising this absolute abelism. The only good point I would give is probably the music but it's Sia so....

Looks decent though not going to get my hopes up because Sony.

If you're hoping for a good story, this is not it. Imagine a bunch of beautiful music videos strung together.

This film is the most disappointing film I've seen so far of 2020. When I saw the trailer, I thought it didn't look too bad. The art style, premise, and characters looked quirky enough, the song sounded catchy and was quite excited to see it. Unfortunately, what I got was a contrived and quite familiar mess of a film. Besides Jane and the cat, the characters all range from annoying to blandly mediocre. The nanny and Commander Melanoff-I think that's his name, seem like interesting characters with some heart-warming moments but don't get that much time to bond with the kids. The Barnabys are quirky but aren't that different from each other. The baby was obnoxious and didn't act like a baby at all. Instead of the typical talking baby to give her a personality, they make her a bundle of wacky looney tunes animation. I'm just not into that kind of style, it's way too outdated and silly and we have better technology to create more realistic animation. She also disappears mid-way into the film, it's like they didn't know exactly what to do with this character. The parents, while darkly funny, don't act like human beings. They don't bat an eye to whatever danger they're in and all they do is make love. And Tim is the worst anti-hero I've seen since Sequel!Flint Lockwood. And yes, you heard me, I said SEQUEL!FLINT LOCKWOOD! I'm pretending that whatever I watched that Kris Pearn also screwed with was not canon. He is supposed to be the most sensible and mature one but did something idiotic and immature toward the end which I will not spoil but it disregarded his whole character up to that point. He was so mean to the nanny and unlike his siblings, took way too long to warm up to her. I'm assuming that the character is like 13ish so I understand how he would be leery around her because of his life but kids are resilient and naive so I expected him to warm up to her pretty quickly like the rest of his siblings. Jane is voiced beautifully by Alessia Cara and she has a touching song that carries the story. The cat provides some good commentary throughout the film while also being a part of the cast. The storyline is character-driven so I already explained what it's like. Though, I do want to add that it's not much better. There are some cop-out scenes and I feel this film could've done with being a bit longer. It's a fine film to put on for this boring quarantine or if you want to entertain the kids for a bit but there are better movies to watch like Home Alone, A Series of Unfortunate Events, or Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Too angsty for me. Didn't like that sudden dark turn in the middle. Sorry Matthew.