Kubo and the Two Strings

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Kubo and the Two Strings!

Original image located here. Accessed 28th July 2017

I.....for once, am at a lost for words. So i just boil down what it was like seeing this film to a single word:

Awestruck.

Yep it's been a while since I've seen a movie to have such an impact but seriously: I think i may have to reconsider my list of favorites and make a prominent space for this one. So many good things with this movie I don't know where to begin. The direction is masterful, the animation quality staggering (moreso when one remembers this is stop-animation) and the heart is enormous.
In fact what are you doing still reading this inane post? Go and watch it. NOW.

Good Will Hunting

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Good Will Hunting!

Original image located here. Accessed 21st July 2017

In the years since this movie, the careers of both Ben Affleck and Matt Damon have gone through ups and downs and have even become punchlines. But once upon a time, they were two young actors who figured the only way to get anywhere was to write their own script. And clearly it worked.

As for the movie itself, there's something to be said about a character who has potential but does not (or is unwilling to) realise it. There's something to be said about a movie that is clearly baiting for an Oscar that has so much cussing in it. There's something to be said for a movie that has excellent performances all around (one of which won a well-deserved Oscar). And there's something to be said about a movie that connects with it's audience. I will admit that i can see some of myself in the titular character and if a movie can do that, then it must've done something right
Also, Happy Birthday Robin T__T

Spiderman: Homecoming

And this week's Friday night movie has been.....Spiderman: Homecoming!

Original image located here. Accessed 14th July 2017

Marvel may have 'borrowed' the rights to make a Spiderman movie from Sony so what now? Are they going to show them how to do it properly?
Sarcasm aside, this is the sixth Spiderman movie so is there anything that can be done with this character?

Apparently so. Yes this is the Marvel formula applied to a teen movie and yes it delivers what we all kind of expect from this studio by now, but it works! Better still, we have an interesting villain (something Marvel has often struggled with), we have Tony Stark being a mentor as opposed to an irresponsible jerk (helped considerably by RDJ's performance), and we have Spiderman taken seriously. It may be doomed to remain trapped in the shadow of the Sam Raimi films but it does it;s own thing, adds something new to the mythos and the MCU and is a decent film in it's own right - a difficult balancing act to say the least but it works.

So when's the Infinity War duology coming then?

Beauty and the Beast

 And this week's Friday night movie has been... Beauty and the Beast (2017)!

Original image located here. Accessed 7th July 2017

Hooo boy, how this one made me cautious in my approach.
Let it be known that Beauty and the Beast is my favourite of the Disney Renaissance so I wasn't exactly eager to see this new version. What was wrong with the original that warranted a second go (besides a cash grab?). Still I was open to the possibility of being surprised.....

I think it's fair to say that this movie will be one of those that will polarize people: The kind that attract detractors and supporters who will defend it with unusual fervor. Me? Well I didn't think this movie was a complete disaster, but i came away underwhelmed.
Okay, so sure the movie was visually interesting and the art direction was engaging and some of the new stuff worked (I particularly liked that Harpsichord) but there's something about this movie that leaves a nasty taste in the mouth.

You see, one selling point of this movie was that addressed some of the plot holes of the original. Not a bad choice but there were times when i felt like it was the sole point of the movie. Or, as another critic put it, it was like the movie was written by someone on the internet who wanted to say "I'm Smarter Than a Disney Movie!" - and in that case, you're still being patronized to. Thus, in the haste to correct the plot holes, it seems the script forgot to work on some of the more important elements. Consequently some of the more important parts (ie Belle's imprisonment and Beast letting Belle go) come across as abrupt - and this movie is longer than the original!

I'm also not fond of the Beast either: He seems far too much of a jerk and looks far too much like a satyr than that wonderful creation of the original. But the original was purely a creation of 2d animation so the question remains: What can you do in live action that hasn't already been done better elsewhere?
So in the end, it's not a disaster but I'll stick with the original thank you very much