Macee (Juke Bokks)

I never grew up with this movie, but I remember peers at my high school gushing about how it was one of their favorite Christmas films. When I watched it, I thought it was...eh. Will Ferrell was pretty good with the material he was given, but his character wasn't very well developed. The fish-out-of-water antics with Buddy in New York were amusing at first, but as the film continued, the comedy and juvenile nature of Buddy started to get old and irritating. But I suppose I expected a little too much from a movie that began with a burp and fart joke. I don't remember much of the story or characters besides Buddy, his Dad, and their relationship. This movie really burned me out around an hour in. It's not for me, but more power to you if you enjoy it around the Christmas season.

Grease has got to be one of the worst movies I’ve ever sat through. I’ve seen some poor films, but none of them has ever put a bad taste in my mouth quite like Grease did. There’s an uncomfortably perverted, misogynistic aura in the film especially with the T Bird characters; the female characters seem to only serve as points of sexual interest. Not to mention the moments of sexual harassment and near date rape that happen. All the characters, with the exception of Sandy, are uninteresting unlikeable “teenagers”. Sandy isn’t unlikeable, but she certainly isn’t compelling either. Nothing about the film is ever cute or romantic and the ending provides really bad relationship advice. The film doesn’t even spend proper time developing the main couple and instead wastes it by giving unnecessary musical numbers to the unimportant side characters. I didn’t care about these characters’ plights and none of them get any proper development. The ounce of character development Danny gets at the end is quickly canceled out by Sandy’s decision. The only thing I liked about this movie is the animated opening credits. Grease reminds me of everything I hated about high school and it isn’t worth all the hype in my opinion.

Luca is another good movie in Pixar’s great library of films and that’s about it. The characters are cute, the rendering and animation is vibrant with lush greens, blues, and earthy tones, and it’s overall a fun time. I have no big qualms with its writing besides a spoiler detail that I feel goes nowhere or wasn’t well thought out, but it’s still a solid film. However, I do think that there are better Pixar than Luca. If I were to rank it among its 23 other predecessors, Luca would be somewhere around the middle.

Vivo is another great Sony animation installment we have this year. Vivo follows the journey of a kinkajou from Cuba who travels to Miami to deliver an important song to his owner’s beloved friend. The way they handled Vivo’s (and later Gabi’s) motivation to deliver the song is very effective and it makes you root for them to achieve their goals. And I must say, the end result left me teary eyed. My major points of criticism lie within the musical numbers. They have great visuals, serve their purpose of establishing a character, or moving the story forward, but they aren’t very memorable except for Gabi’s song. I also wasn’t too invested with the animals Vivo meets in the Everglades. A minor nitpick is that Vivo talks and communicates with other animals, but not to humans. Some scenes Vivo talks to humans, but they only hear his chirping. Idk it was a little confusing and distracting for me at first. Overall Vivo is great film and I found more compelling than Luca. I give it a 7.5/10.

Me personally, I like the Wiz much more than the 1939 classic. The Wiz is just much more memorable and has such a unique aesthetic and interpretation of these familiar characters and locations. No, the movie is not a masterpiece. It has noticeable problems in its writing and I think the film’s biggest issue is its pacing. It’s 2 hours long, but it should’ve been no longer than an hour and 40 minutes; maybe an hour 50 at the most. Though the music is iconic, some musical numbers either feel unnecessary or overstay their welcome; not to mention questionable camera work during their scenes. I feel Diana Ross’s songs are the weakest parts of the film; you often have to wait for her to finish singing to see the story continue. But even with these issues I have, It’s hard for me to dislike this movie because I find it so charming and creative. For example, the gate to the Emerald City is a vault door, the flying monkeys are a bike gang, and Oz is very metropolitan. Honestly if anyone is curious about this movie you should watch it just to see the sets. The characters are pretty good too; Nipsey Russell’s Tinman has to be one of my favorite parts of the movie. Overall the Wiz has its flaws, but it’s got charm and style too. Just be wary of those who say this movie is terrible, awful or the worst.