Antonio Tambornino

For a show that's moving at a brisk speed, nothing about it feels rushed, or as though we're getting a production salad. From the writing, to the acting, set pieces, props, animated sequences--I refer to how they brought the bending to life--, choreography, the directors usually knew what they wanted, and the didn't bend at the knee. The monoloques don't feel as though we're suddenly being beat over the head with them from out of nowhere, the actors almost convince you they aren't starring at green screens for half the show, many of the characters we remember from the animated series still deliver with endearment and charm. The world is brought to life beyond just being animated with computers. This show doesn't look or feel like the filmmakers relied mostly on OpenAI to stitch it together.

The majority of the cast is almost as memorable as Paul Giamatti. He manages to come off as someone who clearly knows his stuff, but empathy is not his strongest hand. There is a wave for nostalgia currently, and The Holdovers manages to be a piece that is as much of a shout out to cinema from the 70s as something that can be its own piece. The characters sound very much inspired by Jeremiah Chechik's creations. Their interactions are edgy, some of them can't seem to have a good attitude about anything, a few of them even seem eager to start fights as though they have little else to do. That being typed the film has heart. There's room to care about these characters and watch them better appreciate their circumstance and come to an understanding about each other, a sort of very grounded melodramatic version of the grim reaper who has to babysit children. Having typed that, the movie rarely, if ever, is funny. Heartwarming, most certainly, but comedic, not the majority of the time. Would it be worth seeing in theatres? Only if you're already out and there's nothing else of interest to see. It is the kind of movie you watch almost any night, not just with family, not just during a particular season. Some movies manage to be peices of good quality entertainment and can also be wallpaper. This movie is not one of those. You won't regret seeing it.

I've only seen the first 10 minutes of this movie so take this with a grain of salt but what I have seen is impressive and nothing short of Dennis Villenueve magic. Casual movie watchers will be impressed with the spectacle, while fans of Dune should immediately pick up on the message Frank wove together for his book in the 60s. Something some critics are not picking up on is because of how much detail is packed into Dune, Dennis probably felt his job was to deliver with the white savior narrative without offending anyone, and thus far it seems he has accomplished that, and furthermore, by now I'm astonished, and a little appalled, film critics out there aren't paying attention to the homage to anime. Anime filmmakers have managed to make their works zany in such manner that is different and refreshing from how western animation can be known to be zanny. Dennis also delivers with his own sublte but impressive homage to anime with the spectacle he provides within the first 5 minutes, a certain level of zanyness that he uses as a crowd pleasure as his part one eventually builds to a satisfying cliffhanger.

Directed at the crowd that was too young to watch the movies from either franchise that inspired the first Alien vs Predator, and it shows. Instead of getting a movie that provided stealth, real Hitchcock-style terror, and intrigue, and the drama of who would last the longest during a hunt-then-kill premise, we have a digitally animated brawl no doubt inspired by the craze for virtual fighting games. It also kills me that the same crowd that hands each other awards for crafty, skilled-movie-making would award this film for best visual effects, but refuses to acknowledge good acting even when the make up on said actor is digital and not physical. For what it is, it's still decent entertainment.

A star-studded, A-list cast, but that trend didn't start with Brian Singer's X-Men. This movie did almost single-handedly give us the age of the Marvel movie that we're in. The themes it tackles might seem to some as though delivered with broad strokes, because that's to allow room to introduce some of the franchise's stronger characters, including: Magneto, Wolverine, Jean Grey, even to some extent Mystique. The visual effects may look dated today, but at least the visuals didn't overwhelm the tone that Bryan Singer, Kevin Feige, and FOX were going for. This is more than just a comicbook, super hero movie. It also isn't exactly light entertainment. The opening scene with the young Eric Lehnsherr is evidence enough of that.

This film suffers from odd casting and lack of editing. It was more interesting when the giant with the gruff vocals wasn't narrating half of it with lines written more for comic relief than for expository and narration. Where it gets more engaging, even entertaining at times, is the relationship between Holy Short and Commander Root.

Very silly without being irritating or crass in places, while giving proper attention to key moments. It was also properly marketed: the latest blatant rip-off of Jaws staring Jason Slatham, while also opening new opportunities to explore in science fiction.

Steampunk is intriguing, if not always the most appealing. This film suffers not from lack of originality, nor pacing, but from editing. The people behind Mortal Engines have given as such films as The Lord of the Rings, The Lovely Bones, King Kong, the recent Tin Tin adaptations, and assumed this film had momentum before it began. They gave us a fun and interesting looking piece that was simply too long.

For those watching quality, serialized animated stories in the 90s and the 00s, the original Ben 10 series came out at the perfect time. It, along with Avatar: The Last Airbender, demonstrated not only a paragon of quality, serialized animated telling that was previously thought to solely exist in content from outside the U S, it encouraged its audience to think, giving American consumers a quality TV show for viewers beyond young adults not seen since 1980s Gundam and RoboTech. Yup, it's that good.