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Reviews
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023)
Setting a New Benchmark for Both Superhero Movies and Animation
Just like its predecessor, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is an absolute masterpiece and revolutionizes what an animated movie can be. The biggest standout is its absolutely breathtaking yet somehow seamless blending of a wide variety of animation and filmmaking styles. So many frames of this film are truly jaw-dropping (particularly the scenes involving Gwen and The Spot, which look like they came from an art museum at points), but the film isn't just a pretty face. The wide cast of characters, both new and from the previous films, are a delight to follow, with Miles, Gwen, and Spider-Punk being the true standouts, with their respective voice actors doing a great job as well. The story and humor are equally as strong as the first film, but this film further explores what it means to be Spider-Man and how we find our place in a complex, messy world. Furthermore, Daniel Pemberton's score is absolutely phenomenal again and Metro Boomin's original music is a welcome addition as well. I truly cannot praise this film enough and everyone involved, from the directors and writers to the animators and story boarders. We need more of this in both animation and Hollywood in general, and I truly cannot wait til Beyond the Spider-Verse comes out next year. This is a must watch and, once again, transforms the entire genre of superhero movies and the medium of animation...AGAIN.
The Last of Us: Long, Long Time (2023)
Holy crap, talk about improving on something already great
As someone who has played the game and knew of Bill's backstory, I was not expecting something this emotional and gut wrenching. Neil Druckmann knew showing the deeper love between Bill and Frank made for far better television than simply Bill, Joel, and Ellie finding parts and him giving the duo their car, which was far better suited for a video game. This, on the other hand, was suited for the medium of TV. The Last of Us continues to do everything that other video game adaptations fail, by both expanding its universe and characters. This was an amazing episode of what continues to be an amazing show, and can only hope for more as the season goes on.
The Last of Us: Infected (2023)
Another phenomenal episode that shows, yes, video games can translate to filmed entertainment
One thing that has particularly impressed me in the first couple of episodes of The Last of Us, outside of the acting and effects, is the way the showrunners and directors take advantage of the medium and the strengths of the game. They choose to focus expanding the dystopian world, how they got to where they are now, the details in the settings, gripping tension, and the subtle intricacies of human emotion. If the show is able to keep up with these strengths while also telling the basic plot of the first game in a well-done manner while expanding on the universe, The Last of Us is bound to become, hands down, the best video game to film/tv adaptation of all-time and one of HBO's premier works out of an arsenal of legendary shows.
Atlanta: The Goof Who Sat by the Door (2022)
Oh My Gawrsh
Glover hits it out of the park again with another excellent episode of what has been a big bounce back season for Atlanta. It's a shame it's the last season. This mockumentary style episode recounting the making of A Goofy Movie and the first black CEO of Disney is absolutely hilarious yet also thought provoking and one of the best this show has ever offered. Truly surreal yet grounded and wildly entertaining. Bringing back BAN, the Goofy hats, etc. Were hilarious references and the whole episode is just so well-done you'd think it was real. A truly brilliant episode that will never make me think of A Goofy Movie the same again.
Blonde (2022)
Disgusting Misery Porn in a Pretentious 3 Hour Package
Blonde is a painful movie to sit through thanks to multiple factors, the first and worst of which being the focused subject matter. The film chooses to focus exclusively on Monroe's continuous suffering and exploitation by every person she was surrounded by, which makes the film feel smut-like, monotonous, and, ironically, exploitative itself. It reduces Monroe down to an abused sex symbol with daddy issues, rather than an actual human with character and depth beyond that. Additionally, with this harrowing subject matter in mind, Blonde is disgustingly long and should've had over an hour of its runtime cut, as scenes feel overly repetitive and there is not remotely enough depth to justify the length. Lastly, combined with the aforementioned is the pretension in the direction and writing. The film's entire style is distracting and attention-seeking, using certain visuals (which on their own are beautiful) over and over again, while not justifying their continuous presence enough. Ana De Armas gives a great performance as Marilyn and is a saving grace at times, but ironically the entire film feels like it's just abusing her for her beauty and body, rather than her acting ability, which I know from Blade Runner 2049 and Knives Out can be amazing on its own. In the end, Blonde is a miserable, interminable, and honestly regressive film that only a sick sadist would find entertaining, empowering, or impactful. Do not waste your time with it.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Gang's Still in Ireland (2021)
Definitely some of the show's best stuff in the past few seasons
Both of the two Ireland episodes were truly some of the best stuff Sunny has produced in years, but the second episode stands out just a wee bit above the first one. Absolutely loved every plot line for each character (especially Charlie's and Dennis') and they're back to their old antics again in a new place. Really looking forward to the rest of what this season has to offer, cause if the two Ireland episodes are any indication, the rest is sure to be a blast.
It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia: The Gang Replaces Dee With a Monkey (2021)
A solid Sunny episode and return to form
It's nothing truly outstanding in terms of Sunny quality, but it's a solid episode and much more in line with the absurdity of the past 14 seasons. Dee's subplot was a way less interesting than the rest of the gang's with the odd CG monkey, but that side of the story was really great. In general, the gang needs to venture more outside of Paddy's this season though and I hope the Ireland story will let that happen.