Lily

Such a heartfelt and adorable movie! Heavier than I thought it was going to be, but REALLY funny. I loved Turning Red, and I feel like the humor is somewhat similar with exaggerated expressions and kids doing crazy things. My only criticism is that, although the plot is pretty dark, you don’t feel it quite so much because the directors were trying too hard to make the villains and intensity kid-friendly, not letting you sit with the sadness for very long (not as deeply moving as The Lion King or Lilo and Stitch, for example), and the pacing is a bit rushed. That being said, I would absolutely recommend this movie. It’s really a love letter to everyone who’s ever used fantasy as an escape from the real world.

I love movies that really lean into writing as an art. The poetic style is beautiful and so fitting for a character like Nevena. One of the most unique and memorable films I’ve ever seen.

This one left a hole in my heart. One of those brilliant films that you’ll love but can barely stomach.

Astoundingly bad. Even worse than I thought it would be, and my bar was on the floor. Have you ever watched a movie and felt like the entire thing was trailer bait? That’s what this was. Horrible pacing, like they were just trying to speedrun the original to keep an iPad kid’s short attention span engaged. Weirdly repetitive. The scenes and plot points they switched around actively made the movie worse. Horrible tone consistency. Every emotional scene had to be undercut by an attempt at humor, even (spoilers, if anyone actually cares) the scene they seem to have taken from Stitch has a Glitch in which Stitch temporarily DIES. They also didn’t even include the Ugly Duckling book or “I’m lost”, one of the most emotional moments in the original film. Two of the worst trends I’ve seen in recent shows and movies aimed toward kids is the demise of “show, don’t tell” and not allowing things to unfold or sink in. Kids may not have the experience and general knowledge of adults, but they’re capable of understanding stories and themes without dumbing them down. Movies like The Lion King and the original L&S are great partly because we grow to understand them better as we age. Even Be Prepared, as complicated as the lyrics are from a child’s perspective, is easy to understand because he SHOWS what he means. Everyone’s always complaining about children’s decreasing attention spans and academic performance rates, then turning around and giving them the most chaotic, hollow, and mindless media ever. The cherry on top of this nothingburger movie was that they tried to take the high road by altering the core message of “… No one gets left behind or forgotten” by adding “But also don’t leave ✨yourself✨ behind”, having Nani give up custody of Lilo and going to college. It’s a… somewhat decent idea in theory—no kid should have to sacrifice their life to take care of another—but Nani fought so hard in the original to keep Lilo because she WANTED to, even when it was an uphill battle and even when she was exhausted. She did clearly feel an obligation to do it as well, but Lilo was her world just as Nani was Lilo’s. They tried to make Lilo more emotionally mature in this movie than in the original, comforting Nani multiple times, but it feels so forced and kind of horrible to say “don’t forget about your own wellbeing!” while writing a much younger sibling emotionally supporting an older one, especially when no one knew what would happen to Lilo for most of the movie. Edited to add: I also think it’s funny how the “savior” in this movie is supposed to be Nani’s not-boyfriend David’s mom, who takes in Lilo, when SHE was the one who blew up their situation by taking Lilo to the dog shelter and getting her Stitch. Yeah, Nani wasn’t even involved this time, and was rightfully pissed that her NEIGHBOR GAVE HER LITTLE SISTER A DESTRUCTIVE PET without her knowledge!! When that neighbor already KNEW about and even commented on their struggles! There’s honestly so much more I could say about this movie but I’m tired of talking or thinking about it. Don’t waste your time or ruin your mood by seeing this.

The fact this movie has such a low RT rating is a travesty. My mom and I watch this every single year and it just gets better and better! It’s a classic for a reason. So much atmosphere, not a line of dialogue wasted, lovable characters, timeless humor, great story and pacing. All the characters are so iconic, even the side characters like the bullies, the guy dressed up like the Devil and his jealous wife! And of course the songs are to DIE for.

I really like the concept of this show, and I enjoy watching it and exploring all the beautiful and interesting places the contestants have to offer, but it’s a bit ridiculous that contestants rate each other. That’s completely biased, and some of them are truly ugly, irritating and condescending people. This show needs to bring in hotel owners/interior designers or even just random couples that don’t have an agenda of their own that will affect their scoring. I haven’t watched any other competition show in which contests score each other because that’s just... a really weird way to do things, and the drama gets old when it’s so obvious they’re nitpicking and lying just to win.

The actors were incredible, and I loved the first hour and 15 minutes, but after that... it went downhill, and the ending was pretty awful. The buildup was pretty good imo, so I was disappointed by the abrupt “non-ending.” I did like the creepiness of the movie and the characters like I said—Brooklynn, Finn, and the Governess were amazing, and the nanny was SO GOOD. Her expressions were so scary and intense! Overall, I liked it a lot except for the weird and confusing cut-off, and a lot of the scenes in the trailers were changed or deleted, even the main promo ones like Miles choking up that spider. The book had such a cool ending too.