Hello all,
As I add yet another year onto my age today, I thought I would take the opportunity to indulge myself by seeing the newer versions of childhood favorites. Growing up, I actually was given some of the original collections of the comic versions of The Peanuts that my dad owned as a kid himself. I even remember watching some of the specials growing up, I even watched the great pumpkin this year for halloween and even dressed up as it’s main character Charlie Brown.
When I was older, I remember seeing the Pierce Brosnan James Bond movies, and even watching some of the olders once again with my folks. When Daniel Craig became bond, I honestly did enjoy his films, even if Quantum of Solace was off for the most part. So, how do the newest versions of childhood favorites hold up the films of old? Let’s find out shall we?
The Peanuts Movie Review
Plot Summary - During the winter, a new little red haired girl moves into the house across from Charlie Brown (Noah Schnapp), the local kid known for his bad luck and his inability to succeed. When Charlie Brown talks to his friend and psychiatrist Lucy (Hadley Belle Miller), she tells him to be more confident in order to win her over. With the help of his friends and loyal dog, Charlie Brown attempts to redefine himself and succeed in the end.
Pros - Honestly, I really did like pretty much everything about this movie. The voice casting is dead on, the animation is beautiful as it’s basically 2D Characters on a 3D plain, with gorgeous colours and cinematography, with even little touches of some the original hand drawn animations layered in as well. They even do this cool thing where they have the odd speech bubble hand drawn, and daydreaming and reminiscing that’s shown with black and white animation in the style of the original comics. The even include clever little callbacks to some of the original cartoons.
Cons - Nah, I got nothing for this one.
Final Score - 10/10
This is a heartfelt, well made film, that captures everything about the originals that made them timeless. It’s one of the best adaptations I have ever seen in my entire life. You should go see this movie even if you aren’t a fan of the originals like me.
Side Note: There’s a little Ice Age short film that plays before the movie, all it does is prove that the ice age films have drastically run out of ideas.
Spectre Movie Review
Plot Summary - After a rogue mission in Mexico, James Bond (Daniel Craig) finds himself chasing after a mysterious organization. When the current M (Ralph Fiennes) grounds Bond, he goes on the lamb, all while racing against the plan of the new Joint Intelligence Service C (Andrew Scott) who plans a new co operative intelligence service while also killing the 00 program.
Pros - The cast does a fine job. Craig is one of the best bonds, Ralph Fiennes as M is a wonderful follow up to Judi Dench, Q and Moneypenny get more screen time and do well with it. Lea Seydoux as Madeleine Swann is a good bond girl, managing to stand on her own in the story as well. The film looks really cool too, capturing the cool look and feel of the various places featured in the movie.
Cons - The biggest problem in this film are the villains. Christoph Waltz and Dave Bautista are fine actors, but this film, badly underutilized them. Christoph Waltz shows up twice in the film for a grand total of what feels like barely thirty minutes, and all he does is torture Bond a couple of times. But the absolute worst crime though, is that David Bautista, who was fantastic in Guardians of the Galaxy as the stone serious Drax, only shows up three times, and only says ONE DAMN WORD OF DIALOGUE! One word. Sure, he has a cool entrance, a cool chase scene, and a badass fight scene, but other than that there’s not a single unique thing about him that they could’ve made up with by having him talk! I was so disappointed by it, and I honestly feel bad for the two of them. I think they only other complaint I have is that the plot is standard but entertaining 007 formula, even if it does remind me of MI5: Rogue Nation though.
Final Score - 7/10
The rest of the film makes up for the massively disappointing villains and formulaic plot. It is a good movie on it’s own merits, but such a letdown after skyfall.
Overall, today was a good day, and the movies I saw were good as well. I want to try and see The Room on Monday but that’s a bit of a maybe at the moment. I might also try and catch up on some of the films I missed in the past few weeks.
Until then, I’ll see you folks at the movies.
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