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Film reviews

Inside Out 2 Review

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It’s been nine years since the first Inside Out opened. The first one established a foundation, and this one elevates the experience to a whole new level. Inside Out 2 takes a deeper dive into emotions and all kinds of growth. This film has stellar animation galore. I walked out of the movie feeling mesmerized by the story which deeply connected to my own emotions. A combination of happiness, sadness, loneliness, and anxiousness were all swimming in my head. Inside Out 2 brings out strong feelings of empathy in a beautiful and poetic way.

The voices of the characters are back this time around. Each of them displays the emotions of the human, Riley, whose voice is played by Kensington Tallman. The emotions continue to thrive in this film. They are Joy (voiced by Amy Poehler), Sadness (voiced by Phyllis Smith), Anger (voiced by Lewis Black), Fear (voiced by Tony Hale), Disgust (voiced by Liza Lapira), and Anxiety (voiced by Maya Hawke). These characters are all in their appropriate places for Riley, who is now in her teenage years, and off to Hockey camp. Given Riley is going through puberty, the characters hit some plateaus. There is a new world of challenges which portrayed like pieces of a puzzle which is falling apart.

The themes related to growing up combine into a unique creative adventure that I found exhilarating. There are scenes in which Riley is mentally discouraged as well as new paths she discovers to tackle new feelings. I appreciated the purity in the scenes which effectively portrayed the process of growing up. It made me think of The Toy Story franchise. As the child got older in that franchise, more challenges leading to new adventures came along, and opened even more doors. Joy takes the lead as the hero and navigates her way through various tough issues throughout the film. Anger plays a starring role in some parts and these strong emotions do not always see eye-to-eye.

With Riley being at a hockey camp, I felt the film’s writing was built on a strong foundation that allowed it to soar to newheights. Since Riley is not in one place as much as she was in the first film, she is now in a world with different people and diverse interaction. This gives the characters lots of ways to express their emotions. Riley’s self-esteem is the part that really brings out the positive feelings in Inside Out 2.

Ask yourself how you are feeling. Ask yourself if you are feeling up. Ask yourself if you are feeling down. No matter what emotions you’re feeling there is a wonderful message inside Inside Out 2. I enjoyed thinking about the characters and their feelings. Since audiences already know these feelings have a purpose, the story is very relatable. There are also moments in the film where the characters find themselves in hysterics which adds to the fun. In addition to the laughs, plenty of growth occurs in this invigorating animated film. Three out of four stars for Inside Out 2. 

Film reviews

MoviePass, MovieCrash Review

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This was a concept I lived for and thrived in when it first found its popularity. A membership that allowed me to see as many movies as I wanted to for as low as ten dollars a month. A membership that made going to the movies cost-effective. There is more to the story though. MoviePass, MovieCrash is a documentary that is realistic and speaks the truth of where the flops of the program, company, and membership of MoviePass started to happen. There may have been a volume of growth with the rise of memberships, but it lost its direction in becoming sustainable.

Directed by Muta’Ali Muhammad, MoviePass, MovieCrash dives into the early days of the creation of MoviePass. It then follows its years of rising and falling. Throughout the film, the depths of profits, struggles, and moving parts of the company are revealed to create a portrait of a module that just did not work. With interviews of many insiders including the main founders, Ted Farnsworth and Mitch Lowe, it’s clear to see the dynamics of business and vision went in many directions. The original founders were Stacy Spikes and Hamet Watt, who then passed it down to Farnsworth and Lowe. Their reputation of faith and personality they built the business on did not find common ground. The film is honest along the lines of seeing the plateaus, yet  what definitely spoke was the rising numbers. The increases kept happening while problems kept being put on the backburner.

With conflicts not finding prioritization, MoviePass, MovieCrash hurts in hearing the truth of what many of the workers, fans, and visionaries went through in terms of all the disasters that occurred as a result. One was sponsorship from AMC Theatres who actually despised MoviePass. Another issue was that there were not enough tools to make the membership cards. Finally, there were not enough resources to handle the amount of traffic from incoming customer complaints when issues in cinemas came up for the members of MoviePass.

When they interviewed the fans, the raves and addictions to countless movies were true, but when the errors happened, they made it clear that it felt like a never-ending nightmare. I can relate to this because I had these same problems when I had the membership. Then when AMC A-list came out, I resorted to that, as I was able to get free movies in premium formats. I could get up to 3 free movies a day. MoviePass only allowed one film a day in no premium formats. The cost-effectiveness for amazing movie memories was not there with a MoviePassmembership. There were only additional headaches as the frequent technicalities due to poor management continued and escalated.

MoviePass, MovieCrash created a culture where money and profit always come first. When studios spend millions of dollars in advertisements, it makes sense why MoviePass had all its plateaus. It had nothing much to offer for its audience. A free movie is nice, but did they have the profits to throw in concession items? Did they can add more premium formats? Why were there glitches in the apps with all the summer releases in 2018? MoviePass, MovieCrash depicts the boiling turmoil of making movie moments less enjoyable when it results in problems all around. The minds of Lowe and Farnsworth were the ones that had meaning. They knew what they were doing, but they did not pay attention to the rising problems on the side of actual operations while they were still hitting it big with their memberships. MoviePass, MovieCrash throws in the truth of the frustration to the many people (including myself) and the reasons for all of the suffrage of the membership. 

A riveting documentary that makes the audience think of the business sides of memberships. The  cinema world still must explore ways to put audiences in physical seats. The true catastrophe of the MoviePass membership debacle boils this issue to the bone. It does it in terms of politics, favoritism, corruption, connections, and the finding no satisfaction in the experience. It feels like a truth that the world truly knows already, but its presentation displays the anarchy of it all. Three out of four stars.

Film reviews

The Watchers Review

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From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan’s daughter Ishana Shyamalan, The Watchers has promising value. It displays a layout for terror where audiences would have to use their minds. It has a setting where the direction is unique. It has an area where terror may lead the audience to shiver. Sadly, it is not that amazing. Ishana’s dad produced the film. It feels like a film that was in her father’s direction. It is a tail of lacking components that lack surreal emotions.

Ishana’s father knows how to tie connections into his films. He does so in contrast to what is lost and found. There is that element tied into The Watchers. My conflict is how detrimental the film feels. There is confusion that begins at the top of the film.

The film focuses on Mina (played by Dakota Fanning). She is an artist trying to find her roots. She finds herself in Western Ireland. A car crash puts her in a forest that is in great danger. Mina is not alone. She finds shelter in a mysterious bunker with three other survivors. Those three characters are Madeline (played by Olwen Fouere), Ciara (played by Georgina Campbell), and Daniel (played by Oliver Finnegan). The bunker has a glass wall and an electronic light used for the night hours. Mina realizes that she is an additional one hiding from the creatures in the forest. They are called The Watchers. They rise above the ground. The bunker is the only place of shelter. How long can Mina, Madeline, Ciara, and Daniel hide though?

There is that element where noises bring the creatures to have powers. The Watchers feel repetitive, especially with a franchise already going along these lines with A Quiet Place. The Watchers take this direction with grains of salt to create a more euphoric atmosphere. It does not work well. It is a dynamic of four survivors putting together a puzzle as to why they are all stuck in the bunker.

I did not feel scared of The Watchers. I had a few moments where I jumped and was surprised. Even the tactics of the film,trying to be unsettling, did not feel that way either. The only moment where I was scared was by the creatures being seen as wendigos. That is what made me think the film is going in a fairytale aspect of scares. Its presentation was still lacking.

It is a thriller about continued boredom. The Watchers try to bring in all the evil for suspense with little explanation. It tries to blindside its audience in characterizations with misdirection of trust. There is that idea that one of the survivors may have a demonic side to what is going on. The logic is a mess surrounding the puzzle of The Watchers.

The idea is promising, but the quality is the problem. The Watchers feels like a blend of previous ideas from previous projects thrown into a film of just over ninety minutes. Some may enjoy its plot, some may be confused, and some may find it hit or miss. Two out of four stars for The Watchers.