Argylle – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2024 film Argylle.

Story

At first, the story feels insultingly simple and a little over-the-top. Once the twists start coming in, the inconsistencies not only make sense but are quite clever. There’s a lot of little details sprinkled throughout that telegraph the twists but doesn’t feel cheap.

Score: 1

Characters

The problem with Matthew Vaughn, the director, is that his characters are very over-the-top and it often feels forced. I did like that the worlds of fiction and reality merged. The downside to it is that some character stories are obvious early on.

That being said, this movie is filled with actors who ooze charisma and at no point is watching them boring.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

Pure cheese that covers up a lot of world building and story. The dialogue sometimes feels like it’s there to be quippy, but it’s always doing three things at once and it’s frankly amazing.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

This is a surreal action movie and no one does over-the-top action like Vaughn. It’s so pretty and ridiculous that you can only love or hate it.

The soundtrack is spectacular and the score does everything right.

Score: 1

Fun

Once I remembered what sort of movie I was watching, I greatly enjoyed it. Jen and my mother in-law loved it too. That ice skating scene was so much fun.

It’s fun and clever.

Score: 1

Overall

If you like your spy movies dark, gritty, and realistic, this isn’t for you. This is a big action homage to Romancing the Stone with all the twists, turns, and ridiculousness the director is known for.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

The Marvels – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film The Marvels.

Story

The structure was very similar to other Marvel films, but managed to make it feel fresh. There was an almost origin story feel to it. I liked how it managed to include some heavy topics like colonialism, racism, and death, while still including the light humorous moments.

There were a few things that felt rushed or out of place. The second bangle’s fate was glossed over and a few other things that I think could have been clearer. It leaves the audience with a feeling like they missed something, even if they’ve watched all the tv shows and movies.

Score: 0.5

Characters

I think Miss Marvel is my favourite MCU character and she’s amazing in this. It was great to see the contrast between the stoic soldier of Captain Marvel and the fangirling Miss Marvel.

The only thing that really bothered me was how Miss Marvel couldn’t follow the technobabble. She’s genre savvy enough that she should have gotten it and if felt like a cheap gag and reason to explain it to the audience.

Score: 1

Dialogue

I’d love to know how much of Miss Marvel’s fan-babble was scripted and how much was just the actress. Either way, the dialogue was clear, punchy, and handled emotion well.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The special effects and space backgrounds were beautiful and the costumes were great. The real star was the choreography, which was spectacular.

The music was strong and entangled the three characters well.

Score: 1

Fun

I’ve been looking forward to this movie since they announced it and was sad I missed it in theatres (Colds and RSV stopped us). I was not disappointed; it had everything I wanted in a movie and a little extra.

The three characters are great and I look forward to seeing more of them. The rest of the family loved it too.

Score: 1

Overall

This is what a Marvel movie should be and with a lot of their recent releases, it felt like they had forgotten how to have fun. Humour, emotion, and heavy topics are handled perfectly and transitioned naturally, making for a satisfying film. If that’s not enough, the fight choreography is utterly breathtaking.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Totally Killer – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Totally Killer.

Story

A fascinating homage to both time travel and slasher movies. The story is well thought-out and avoids a lot of over explanation of time travel.

Score: 1

Characters

The characters are an interesting mish-mash of tropes. The 1987 group seem cartoony at first, but then remind me heavily of the way people behaved in my high school years (ten years later but still similar).

They managed to have a nice balance between the façade of the character and who they really are, using the quiet moments after the murders for character depth.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The dialogue is peppered with science fiction references and digs at the innocence of the eighties. The complete insensitivity of 1980s vs the much more progressive ideas of the 2020’s.

There’s also a few really funny lines.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The visuals were not as stylised as I feel they should have been, but the sets, costumes, and makeup were perfect.

I would have liked more music from the time period and the score was little bland.

Score: 0.5

Fun

The movie is a lot of fun and fits great with both time travel and slasher films. It’s not scary but I still wouldn’t watch it with the kids. It’s first and foremost a dark comedy and works great in that sense.

Score: 1

Overall

A dark comedy with time travel, generational humour, and lots of 80’s nostalgia. It’s fun, funny, and a great mash up of the two genres.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Elemental – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Elemental.

Story

The trailers made this look like a trope-y rom-com rip-off of Zootopia. What it is instead is a wonderful story of immigration and family. The elements together in a big city is used well and not as a gimmick but a metaphor.

Score: 1

Characters

The two main charactes are animated in very traditional proportions and that’s unfortunate and stereotypical.

Their personalities are much better however and don’t fall into stereotypes too much. It did feel a little odd that neither of them had friends.

The rest of the characters and cast are fun and fairly well fleshed out.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

There are so many element puns that I can’t wait to rewatch and catch more.

The dialogue was very honest to their emotions and simplified. I liked the micro-aggressions from the well-meaning family, it gave the story some needed grounding.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The animation was amazing. Lighting, colour, detail, backgrounds, all beautiful. I loved the line art look of the fire people.

One of the fun parts of watching things with subtitles is seeing how they describe the music. Accorting to the subtitles, the music was “[Emotion] New Age music”. It was however extremely well done and worked perfectly with the tone and feel of the world.

Score: 1

Fun

This was fun in every concievable way. The 6yo said it was good but not great and the three year old concured.

The rest of the family loved it and I think it’s one of my top Pixar movies. Definitely going to want to rewatch this one.

Score: 1

Overall

The movie takes the story of an immigrant family and wraps it into a magical world of elements. The emotions are authentic and story compelling. It’s colourful, fun, and easy to watch.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Kiki’s Delivery Service – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 1989 film Kiki’s Delivery Service.

Story

We bought a newer blu-ray of the movie which means I think this is the third version I’ve watched. I originally had seen the American dub where Jiji is able to talk at the end of the movie, and then I’d seen the subtitled version which was quite different. The newest version with dubs is a good mix of the two and is more faithful to the original concept.

The story is simple, calm, and very relatable.

Score: 1

Characters

Kiki is young and unsure of herself and honestly, I feel that. I would not have felt comfortable leaving home at 13. The characters she meets along the way are borderline cliche but the movie might have been the source of some. From the stoic but big hearted baker to the friendly old woman and the deep artist. They are fun and sympathetic.

Score: 1

Dialogue

I assumed the weird laughing was a cultural thing but I didn’t notice it in any other Japan’s media. A lot of the laughter is at Kiki being young and innocent and it’s a little jarring.

I like my sarcastic black cats as much as the next guy, but I found Jiji a little annoying.

I did like the ridiculously awkward flirting and the deep but understandable advice from the painter.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The visuals were stunning as usual and the movement of the characters was spot on. It was a little funny to see the sketch of the crows and Kiki being more detailed than the art in the film.

The music was great. I remembered some jarring sounds and weird music, but either it was removed or I imagined it.

Score: 1

Fun

This was fairly relaxing, there are a few moments where I expected worse but overall it’s a lot of fun. The kids loved this one as did the adults.

Score: 1

Overall

A wonderful movie with a poignant message. Growing up is hard but worth it.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Ponyo – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2008 film Ponyo.

Story

A fascinating take on the little mermaid story. It’s interesting how love is treated as deep affection instead of romance.

Score: 1

Characters

The characters are adorable and I love how the movements of the 5 year olds are so realistic.

Score: 1

Dialogue

It’s hard to judge the dialogue since there’s technically two sets. The translated text which was the subtitles and the actual spoken dialogue. We watched this on streaming so we couldn’t choose the proper subtitles.

Both versions were interesting, but I think the spoken dialogue was simplified for western audiences.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The film was stunning and utterly beautiful.

The music was awesome.

Score: 1

Fun

I have this weird instinct with Miyazaki movies that make me stress out the whole first watching. Other than Princess Mononoke, there’s no reason for that worry.

Beyond that it was really fun.

Score: 1

Overall

A beautiful and fun retelling of The Little Mermaid story. It’s filled with all the charm, humour, and amazing art that’s expected of a Miyazaki film.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2023 film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

Story

This story felt like every D&D campaign I’ve read from Wizard of the Coast without being derivative, bland, or predictable.

There was a lot of worldbuilding and character set up, and I loved every second of it.

Score: 1

Characters

The characters are well defined in their quick backstory introductions, but I’m not sure how well someone who doesn’t know the game would understand what they can do. (My father-in-law was as confused as Doric why Edgin was useful.) Having not played much of the system after 3.5 edition, I spent a long time trying to figure out what they could do and what their classes were.

The actors were perfect in their roles and the character development was better than most D&D sessions.

Score: 0.5

Dialogue

This was the perfect balance between epic and cheesy. The dialogue was perfectly delivered.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The dedication to practical effects was a welcome change. They filmed a real volcano!? Everything was stunning and I liked that the spells weren’t too flashy or overdone. It gave the world a sort of grounding that made it feel more realistic.

The music was a great combination of epic fantasy (honouring scores like Lord of the Rings) and of action. I liked the slight Celtic flair to it.

Score: 1

Fun

This was fun from one end to the other. My daughter complained there were no dungeons or dragons at the beginning, but loved it once they got to the Underdark.

I enjoyed this immensely and can’t wait to re-watch it.

Score: 1

Overall

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves toes the line between catering to long time fans and being accessible to casual movie goers. It doesn’t always succeed, but it does a fantastic job overall. This is an excellent adventure movie with wonderful characters. More then worth watching several times.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

The Final Girls – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2015 film The Final Girls.

Story

Inventive and heartwrenching while still staying true to what a slasher film is all about. The start is a little slow but necessary and the rest just zooms by delightfully.

Score: 1

Characters

The main character is a little dispondant for most of the movie and that means the rest of the cast have to bring the personality until they die. That dynamic could have made us not care for her but the writers made sure to add enough developement and emotional moments to make her taking control of the narrative to feel deserved and exciting.

The rest of the cast is a wonderful mix of tropes and works really well.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The movie was at it’s best when it leaned into the emotional moments or the slasher tropes. The rest of movie’s dialogue feels like it was trying too hard to be normal.

Score: 0.5

Visuals and Music

The slasher moments are extremely well done considering it’s PG and the camera work is amazing. The final confrontation scene is spectacular and wonderfully stylistic.

The diegetic music was used with great effect and emotion while the soundtrack was a little bland but worked really well.

Score: 1

Fun

I object to this being considered a timeloop movie since it’s not really a big part of it but more of a short gag.

That being said, this is an extremely fun movie that did a great job pulling at my heartstrings.

Score: 1

Overall

A true love letter to the spirit of slasher films with a fun twist. The slasher aspects are extremely well done and managed to still have effect despite being PG. The true joy of the movie is the emotional heart and journey of mourning a parent.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

Story

An epic playing on emotion, colonialism, family, and politics. There were a few flashback style sections that I didn’t like, why are you showing me what happened 30 minutes ago? But that’s not enough to cast a shadow on the impressive story.

Score: 1

Characters

There are a lot of characters and unfortunately without watching the first one again, I forgot who a few of them are. That being said, the arcs are satisfying and I didn’t feel cheated in anyone’s story and that’s impressive.

Score: 1

Dialogue

The movie was sadder without T’Challa’s quips. He had a charisma in his delivery that was amazing. That being said, the movie was a wonderful mixture of high drama, epic, and action dialogue.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The movie was beautiful, great special effects, choreography, and cinematography, when I could see it. We have a 4k OLED TV with excellent contrast and brightness, but a good 10-25% of the movie was so dark we could barely see.

The music is epic and amazing. I liked that the sirens sang something that sounded vaguely like a sea shanty.

Score: 0.5

Fun

The kids were bored in the emotional parts, and that made it harder to get into the emotion.

For the adults, we all agreed that it was both entertaining and thought provoking. I’d watch this again for that balance and to catch all the details I missed.

Score: 1

Overall

An emotional and sweeping story that takes the time to grieve Chadwick Boseman without losing itself in loss. There are some wonderful themes and ideas. This is a proper epic superhero movie.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5

Disenchanted – JenEric Movie Review

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Hello Cinephiles,

Today we’re talking about the 2022 film Disenchanted.

Story

This is a fantastic take on an alternate reality/wish style story. While the first one’s emotion was all tied up in the conflict between “jaded” and “fairytale” love, this one is all about not being happy and finding your place.

Each character is treated to their own character arc and it’s solidly built. The story did feel like it had been developed as a TV show and then shrunk down into a movie and I think some of the emotion and story ideas could have been better served with a longer runtime.

Score: 0.5

Characters

The casting for Morgan was scary impressive. I had to double check that it wasn’t the same actress. Amy Adams made me, once again, wonder why we don’t see her in more musical roles. I also now want to see her play more villains.

The rest of the cast did an excellent job.

Score: 1

Dialogue

Extremely believable, I like that they leaned into the dissonance between the fairytale language and modern day.

I also really appreciated Amy Adams arguing with herself and the Gollum-style camera work.

Score: 1

Visuals and Music

The scenery and camerawork felt smaller than the first one. The dance numbers smaller but more intricate. It’s a beautiful set and great acting, but shows they didn’t have the budget for massive set pieces.

They thankfully gave Idina Menzel something to sing in this one. I loved the music and I’m glad there was more of it.

Score: 1

Fun

There’s a certain melancholy in this one compared to the first, but it’s somehow more optimistic. Love isn’t a magical uncertain thing, it’s a certainty and the characters never seem to doubt it.

The entire family was glued to the screen and enjoyed it.

Score: 1

Overall

There’s a grandness missing compared to the first, but it still has all the heart, warmth, and magic. The music is excellent and Amy Adams is a fantastic villain.

This was a joyful addition to the first movie and was just as enchanting.

Final Score: 4.5 Stars out of 5