I'm so hype and ready to see Wendell and Wild for a lot of reasons. But one of them is that it's stop-motion animation which is always amazing, but another reason why I'm happy to check out this new animated horror special is because of the black presence in it. Being that the main protagonist is this punk-wearing alternative black girl which is something you don’t see a lot when it comes to black female characters or those that think black girls and women can't be goth or punk or apart of any subculture were a good portion of it is white. But also seeing more black characters in horror related content were they don’t automatically die within the first 5 minutes also being main protags is something I'm definitely here for. Seriously I'm always ready to see more variety of blackness in animation that isn’t stereotypical.

(via GIPHY)

The Bad Guys (2022) review:

A SURPRISINGLY FUN NEW DREAMWORKS MOVIE!

review by: francis

I had no expectations for this movie at all. The trailer and maybe even the marketing isn’t making me feel interested in watching. But I still had to watch it ‘cause I’m a DreamWorks fan.

Surprisingly, it was such a fun watch. I did not expect to be laughing a lot because of the movie. It was really funny and I enjoyed the action scenes and the heist thing in the movie. But the thing that I enjoyed the most is the animation style. The visuals of the movie were really incredible and I loved it! I was wondering if this is the Spider-verse effect? ‘Cause ever since it came out, it influenced the animation industry a lot. And it’s a good thing!

All of the characters were great! But that policewoman stole my attention.

Overall, it was a good movie with a great theme. At first, I was conflicted if I like the ending or not. The gang already learned to be good but then that snake happened. I actually got mad. But when I think about it, it was a good decision that they learned to be good without forgetting the people that means to them.

I have one issue though: I still can’t wrap around my head how their world works? Humans and talking animals co-exist in society. Okay… that seems odd but since it’s a cartoon, I get it. But why are some animals, animals in that movie especially that cat? Why can’t that cat talk like the others then?

I’ll rate “The Bad Guys” a 3/5 👍

I do think that I’ll probably forget that this movie existed. It’s just not that memorable to me. DreamWorks has been a little underwhelming over the past few years. It’s almost like they’re losing their spirit and they’re not who they were before. But I’m excited about the new Puss in Boots movie.

Movie Info:

Rating: PG

Genre: Kids & Family, Animation, Adventure, Comedy

Directed By: Pierre Perifel

Release Date: April 22, 2022

Watch the trailer here!

i don't know what this movie genre is called, but it's my favourite movie genre

something something puss trying to outrun the literal personification of death for the whole movie whilst perrito walks around always wearing the sock his family literally tried to drown him in as a sweater, something something accepting that life is short and literally growing into your own mortality and making the most out of the hand youve been dealt

NOPE

i have not stopped thinking about this movie since i saw it

alt i.d from @sherbertdab ! thank you!

Puss In Boots (2011) / Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022) 🐱

An insane moment

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio versus all the other iterations that have come out recently really exemplifies the issue that at a fundamental level the desire to roll out A list actor filled cash grabs of live action remakes of old movies does not understand the nature of media. Certain forms of art- and I feel that I cannot stress this enough- do not mesh well onto a different form of art. Sometimes they can, and it’s wonderful, but very often I’m finding that a lot of remakes are missing the point of how animation is its own medium, stop motion is its own medium, video games and books and even television vs movies are all their own mediums. You really have to know when you’re making something if this is the right form of it, because if not it ends up looking cheep despite the millions of dollars spent to create the whole fucking thing. And a little bit of love and creativity doesn’t hurt either. I think studios to a large degree underestimate how much the creator’s passion imbued in a film translates through the screen to an audience, because we really can feel it. Sure, we all watch shitty TV and moves once in a while, but when something actually moving comes around there’s never any doubt of how masterful it is. And you just don’t ever really get that with soulless billion dollar remakes. Anyways Guillermo del Toro fucking rocks and everybody should go watch Pinocchio. 

Literally mind-blowing that people think Nope 2022 is ableist for having a character (Mary Jo Elliott) portray the fictional counterpart to the real life Charla Nash, because they thought her inclusion in the movie as a disfigured woman was for the "shock value" of her face, and that the audience is supposed to find her appearance scary.

Like. Literally how do you miss the point that much?

The horror is not that she is disfigured.

You're not supposed to find her scary.

You're not supposed to be horrified at her appearance.

You're supposed to be horrified that she was victimized by a system that neither cared for the safety of her and her costars as human beings, or about the animals they were working with.

an abusive system that chose to put people and wild animals in close contact and stressful situations for entertainment and profit,

that as one of only two survivors of the attack, Mary Jo is once again a victim of the same system that is attempting to exploit wild animals for the sake of spectacle, but instead of tv producers, it's her fellow survivor continuing to perpetrate the cycle,

the one person who should have been able to understand the danger, the one person who should have realized just how badly this could go wrong, and instead he's embracing the danger, thinking he's special, that he's lucky, that he was "chosen" because he escaped the Gordy's Home attack physically unscathed where the others were ripped apart and died.

We are not meant to find Mary Jo Elliot / Charla Nash scary or horrifying because of their injuries.

We are supposed to be horrified at what she was put through for the sake of entertainment,

the pain and trauma she was put through because other people thought themselves capable of controlling a wild animal,

And the fact that here she is, once again, being subjected to the same horror, only this time it's at the hand of a friend who should have known better, having lived through the same attack.

We, the audience, The Viewers if you will, are not supposed to find Mary Jo Elliot / Charla Nash horrifying for her scars-- we are meant to be horrifed in how she gained those scars.

The entire premise of Nope is a commentary on the exploitation of animals and people for entertainment and the inherent danger therein, and inviting the audience into researching the real history Charla Nash's attack by Travis the Chimp is literally just a way to show this is not just a horror movie, these things happen in real life and we need to stop this from happening again

Like. This movie is as against the exotic pet trade as you can possibly get, especially because this is still very much a problem today, chimpanzees and other primates are still legal to own in almost half of the United States,

the 2011 Zanesville "Zoo Escape" is right there,

And oh look! A quick Google search pulls of an NBC video from June 23rd, 2021 , of someone who owned a Chimpanzee for 17 years having her 50 year old daughter viciously attacked and having to lock herself and her bleeding daughter in the basement so she could call 911 and direct police to do a headshot on the chimpanzee so they could get medical attention.

Like.

This is not a cheap "haha, disfigured people are scary villains and we're showing her for the shock value"

this is literally a horror story about what this woman lived through and is being put through again by someone she should have been able to trust,

and a lesson that things need to change, because this is not just a single incident that happened decades in the past, this is happening right now, and it's going to keep happening until we enact real change to protect people and animals from suffering.

if we were to look at it through a racial lens, I do find it very interesting that Jupe’s wife is white. that the audience at Star Lasso are majorly white. that he’s basically robbing the Haywoods, a black family, of their horses to feed them to an alien creature for white people’s entertainment. that he was the token asian adoptee in sitcom as a child. the model minority. fitting himself back into a system that used and failed him as a child, so he can find some semblance of respect and power as an adult man, only to still be swallowed up whole.

DEL TORO PINOCCHIO: A Beautiful and Moving piece of Art and Story.

Yesterday I just got finished watching Guillermo Del Toro's long-awaited latest and newest interpretation of the classic Pinocchio tale. And I truly loved it so much at how much depth was put into this movie, also this might sound controversial but I think this version of Pinocchio is far way better than Disney Pinocchio. Like no joke I seriously believe Del Toro's take on this classic story that has been through many different adaptations is better than the Disney one, be it their recent live-action remake or the one from the 40s, which I've never cared for at all even as a young kid.

But this stop motion animated iteration is definitely something that deserves to be seen.

One of the many aspects I enjoyed about this Pinocchio is how it showed Geppetto's bond and strong love for his son Carlo before his untimely death, really focusing on the father & son relationship between the two which I think adds so much more extra weight to Geppetto pain and on why he made Pinocchio in the first place due to his deeply ridden grief over wanting his son to came back to him.

Also another thing I loved about this version of Pinocchio is its handlement of the lying message and how its isn't just clear cut black & white with it and leans mostly in this gray-area when it comes to it. The unapologetic showcasing of emerging Fascist Italy with Mussolini and the way it tackles nationalism.

Not to mention its messages and heartfelt, touching meanings on Death, grief, and loss. From the incredible stop-motion animation artsy to the very nice and at least to me, really good-sounding original written songs/music to the movie. Also, the fact that this movie made me a little bit teary-eyed towards its ending which rarely happens to me when it comes to movies except for a few occasions. But seriously this latest interpretation of Pinocchio by Guillermo Del Toro is an immediate must-watch without a doubt.

TURNING RED (2022)

SUMMARY: Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house in this animated dark comedy.

mod Z is surprised he’s never heard of this before because it looks pretty interesting with an original premise and Mia Goth has the top billing which is always fun.

Are you excited for the upcoming The Bad Guys Christmas Special? I'm manifesting this for the show. I need this. We need a mistletoe kiss!! Full-res | Commission

Diane Foxington - The Bad Guys

Fun fact: her name is Ellen Fox in the source material (the original book series).