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I've seen better, I've seen worse. This movie isn't bad, but it's not terrifying either. Interesting premise. The thing it gets right is the suffocating feeling a teenager experiences with obsessive, overbearing parents. That dynamic is very well portrayed. One or two mild jump scares, but mostly it just focuses on the imagery of the creature. No real gore, just a few slash wounds. Worth watching once, but an overall middling horror film. Feels like it was geared to a younger audience, but couldn't reach them because of the R rating.

If you like seeing the main character lose every fight he's in, get beat to hell each time, and then have 5 minute internal monologues sobbing about how weak he is, over and over and over again, this is the show for you! Every tough-acting main character that you're meant to like is incapable of fighting for more than 10 seconds, the main 3 spend the vast majority of the show laying on the ground gasping and dying and monologuing. Oh, and there's a coffeeshop. That's literally the summary of Tokyo Ghoul. Pass.

*Spoiler Free* Boogiepop & Others feels like a drunk, philosophical dorm room conversation in college- occasionally interesting, but not really all that much of any substance being brought to the table. First two story arcs were excellent, went downhill rapidly after that. I realize it's an anthology, but even thru the arc-shared characters, there didn't seem to be any overarching theme to it. The final arc felt interminable, and never really had a cogent point to make. Just abstract, mild weirdness and a little bland danger to keep the story moving. Was glad when it was over. Highly enjoyed the first arc though. The bad: There's a "monster of the week" type motif, a generic paramilitary/science agency, and the titular character, but rarely are they tied together in a meaningfuly way. Drags in places. Struggles to find a thematic point to its own existence. Boogiepop is a classic Deus Ex Machina, removing any semse of real danger or tension. Boogiepop & Others feels more like a slice-of-life drama with mild supernatural elements. The characters are indistinguishable, there's rarely any real investment in the story, and the characters are static. The good: The first two story arcs are much better, particularly the first one. More character development, and a fascinating look into who Boogiepop is, as well as in depth personal interactions they have with someone. Still not wildly exciting, but it wasn't meant to be- this is no shonen adventure. Verdict: worth watching for the experience, but there are much better, similar shows out there. ("Everything Is F" for instance, strikes a similar laconic, slice of life tone, but still has character development and mystery enough to keep you riveted) Note, I have not seen the original Boogiepop Phantom, so I can't compare the two.

Let me preface this by saying I've seen and enjoyed all of Disney's animated films, including Pixar, from Snow White to Luca. My kid loves Disney, and for most part, I've enjoyed it too. I'm not some miserable prude who turns off a film at something I disagree with. Onward had gay references, many of their films have capable female heroines, and I've liked each film until this one. My first advice, is to not read my review, but read the five star reviews first. "Diverse" "representation" "justice" "disenfranchised". They say what I say, except they're eating it up with a spoon. Then come back to my review. Save your money, this is one long, boring, derivative, pandering, woke social justice environmental sermon. Underage gay teens awkwardly shoe-horned in at every opportunity, interacial marriage rammed down your throat from the beginning scenes, hamfisted climate change allegories. To top it off, it's not even interesting. It's essentially Indiana Jones meets Jules Verne, with more "women are all swaggering badasses who can do everything better than the befuddled men" scenes crammed together than any film in recent memory. There's social programming in place of a plot, or script. The world is boring, the story is boring. Save your money, there's a reason this bombed.

If you want headache-inducingly frantic, exhaustingly ADHD, cringe anime about puberty, to watch with your 6 year old, look no further. Yes the hamfisted metaphor has people convinced it's an after-school special about periods, which it is, heavily 😎 ,but the larger plot is about puberty and the conflicted mother/daughter strain it all causes. The style is supposed to evoke kawaii-style anime films for girls, made just accesible enough for American streamers. Each scene is a series of stylized rapid jumo cuts, morphing "emoji" faces on the otherwise normal faces, and an almost militant checkbox of the required diversity to get Oscar consideration. Now I'm not a cranky old guy by trade, but Pixar has carefully curated and established a finely honed image and audience expectations along with that image. What parents have come to expect is a refreshingly apolitical, imaginitive, every-day fantasy film that tackles some of life's harder, more complex subjects with a delicate, reassuring hand. Their films celebrate and immerse in different cultures (Coco, Luca) in a fascinating and enjoyable way, handle difficult themes as letting go after a loved one's loss, (Up, Onward) feeling irrelevant and left behind (Toy Story), the importance of family nd being true to yourself (Incredibles, Inside Out) etc. Diverse though these are, Pixar audiences have been lead to expect a basic set of asthetics and style that are the reason Pixar has become such a powerhouse in animation. Turning Red is a story about a 13 year old girl, who feels her mother's smothering is blurring the lines between them. They run the temple honoring their ancestors in Toronto, CA. The temple of the red panda. One day at school, the young girl turns embarassedly unto a "smelly, gross" giant red panda, and everyone in her life mistakenly thinks she's started her period. She discovers she can control the panda persona by suppressing her wild emotions. Her mother brings pads to the school, offers tampons in the shower, and hilarity ensues. Having said all that, there is nothing overtly offensive, or vulgar in this film. However, Pixar has established themselves with a target audience, and when the subject manner steps so far over that audience'sittle heads, there is bound to be some questioning. If they even can pay attention. My daughter who has seen every Pixar movie made, glazed over for a few minutes, and then wandered away to olay in another room, hardly getting past the first loudly frantic, supoosedly humorous scene where the girls strike poses, and decide they like a boy band. If your daughter is bordering on pubescence, (it would also help her understand the presentation if she's Chinese to begin with, but we work with what we have.) and enjoys loud, kawaii anime, this will delight her. Other audiences will likely feel overwhelmed, and spend the first half trying to get used to the rapidfire jumpcuts of saccharine cuteness. This movie is the cinematic equivalent of an ADHD, Chinese adolescent on just a bit too much caffeine. Nothing overly objectionable, but it makes me want to grab a midol, and I'm a father....