Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio – Movie Review

TL;DR – A work of art that hits on every emotional level from start to finish.    

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Netflix service that viewed this film.

Pinocchio but just a puppet.

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio Review

Some names instantly intrigue you when you hear they are attached to a project. Which is entirely what happened when I heard that Guillermo del Toro was going to make a Pinocchio film. This alone was enough to interest me. Then you discover that it will be an animated film, not just that, a stop-motion animation film, and the masters of puppets, The Jim Henson Company, will produce it. Well, that is a combination that could not be missed, and I am fundamentally glad I watched it.   

 So to set the scene, master craftsman Geppetto (David Bradley) lost his only child Calro (Gregory Mann), during the Great War when he was only ten years old. A stray bomb destroyed the church that they were working in, and it is a loss that he has never recovered from. Sometime later, Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor), a travelling cricket, came to live in the tree planted at Carlo’s grave and watched as a drunk Geppetto laments over his lost son. But as that is happening, some old spirits from the forest who typically ignore humanity hear the pleas of the grieving father and when he cuts down the pine tree that was planted at the grave to turn it into a puppet. So The Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) looks over the creation and then brings that puppet Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) to life.   

Continue reading
Advertisement

Ghostbusters: Afterlife – Movie Review

TL;DR –  It unravelled a bit at the end, but I enjoyed the ride up till then.   

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Post-Credit Scene – There is a mid and post-credit scene

Disclosure – I paid for the Amazon Prime service that viewed this film

The family sit on a broken car.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife Review

With our next catch-up film, we get to go back to a movie released on New Year’s Day in 2022. I had meant to watch this well before this, but there was a lot of toxicity around the film building up to release, which put me off a bit, and it never worked into the schedule until now. But what failed at Halloween is now ready at Christmas, and it is time to dive in.  

So to set the scene, on a stormy night at Shandor Mining Co., a man leads an invisible entity back to his farm. He tries to catch it, but the power fails, and the creature attacks before he can recover. With his death, his farm in Summerville, Oklahoma, reverts to his estranged daughter Callie Spengler (Carrie Coon), who is in financial struggle and moves out there with her daughter Phoebe Spengler (Mckenna Grace) and son Trevor Spengler (Finn Wolfhard). They were hoping to be able to sell the place, but nothing is straightforward, and they have to stay for a while. Things are going okay, but for the daily earthquakes with no source. That is until Phoebe finds her grandfather’s old ghost trap, and she, her friend Podcast (Logan Kim), and teacher Gary Grooberson (Paul Rudd) open it up and let out a coming doom.  

Continue reading

TV Review – Carmen Sandiego: Season One

TL;DR – This is everything a Carmen Sandiego series needed to be, fun, informative, full of beautiful animation, and a cast giving their all.  

Score – 4.5 out of 5 stars

Carmen Sandiego: Season One. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review

I grew up in the age before the internet, yes there was a time even before the internet yelled at you when you wanted to log on. It was an era when you would get games on floppy disks, both big and small, and it was here where I first met the elusive Carmen Sandiego. She was the final boss in an epic quest that took you from the streets of Reykjavik to Sydney and everywhere in-between as you hunted down VILE and recovered the stolen artefacts. When you have one of the touchstones of your first forays into the world of media getting another reboot, you tend to go in cautiously. However, I needn’t of worried because this was a joy from start to finish.    

So to set the scene, we open as Interpol agents Chase Devineaux (Rafael Petardi) and Julia Argent (Charlet Chung) run down the list of places Carmen (Gina Rodriguez) has recently hit, Art Galleries, Banks, … an amusement park …? The only clue she leaves is her presence in all red, announcing to the world who just robbed you. Well tonight she is in Poitiers, France, and the agents will stop at nothing to bring her in, but see Carmen is a master at what she does, and she has a little help thanks to Player (Finn Wolfhard). After a quick escape, Carmen makes it to the train only to be intercepted by Crackle (Michael Goldsmith) someone from her past. Well, since they have a lot of time on their hands before they reach Paris, Carmen relates to him the important story about how she became the world’s greatest thief. Now from here, we will be looking at the season as a whole so there will be [SPOILERS] ahead.

Continue reading

TV Review – Stranger Things: Trick or Treat, Fool

TL;DR – Today we learn that even when people are not the worst, they can still disappoint you

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Stranger Things

Review

It’s Halloween in the quaint town of Hawkins, and with the season there is a time for everything,
a time to make friends and a time to lose them,
a time to make promises and a time to forget them,
a time to get dressed into costume and a time to realise maybe don’t do that at school,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to say hello to a girl in the woods and a time to get hit in the head with a half-cooked squirrel,
a time to reach out and a time to miss the response,
a time to be bold and a time to run away from the all oppressive shadow in the sky,
a time to forget the past and a time to be defined by it,
a time to hold on for dear life and a time to let go,
a time to eat Eggo Waffles™ and a time to channel surf,
a time to wear all denim and a time to do literally any other fashion choice
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
a time to come together as a team and a time to be just the absolute worst, I mean come on Ted (Joe Chrest) The Russians, really, get it together.

Continue reading

TV Review – Stranger Things: MADMAX

TL;DR – It is a joy to be back in the world, because there is an attention to detail and understanding that you just do get very often

Score – 4 out of 5 stars

Stranger Things

Review

Oh Stranger Things, you were a revelation in Season One (see review), with an amazing cast and intertwining storylines that even with starkly different tones it still worked together as a whole. As well as this, it nailed both the films it was paying homage to, and the 1980s in general. So it has been just over a year since Season One, so today we will jump in and start our look at Season Two, and please be prepared as there may be some [SPOILERS] in this review.

Continue reading

Movie Review – It (It: Chapter 1) (2017)

TL;DR – No No NO No NO Nope Oh Hell NO

Score – 3.5 out of 5 stars

It. Image Credit: Warner Bros.

Review
So originally I wasn’t going to go see It, as the week it premiered I was up to my neck with essays to grade, as well as this, I’ve never really been a fan of horror films in general. However, last week a good friend of mine wanted to go see It, so what the hell, what’s the worst that could happen … Now to make a couple of things clear before we start, I haven’t seen the original miniseries, nor read the book, so I can’t tell you how good of an adaptation this is, though given we are talking about Tim Curry and Stephen King I am going to assume there is a very high barrier this film needed to meet, which not all Stephen King adaptations this year have met, yes I’m looking at you The Dark Tower (see review). As well as this, as I said I am not a fan of the horror film genre in general, so that has probably affected how I looked at It.

Continue reading

TV Review – Stranger Things

TL;DR –  Engaging, Emotional, Tense, and about the most 80s thing you could ever watch, but boy should you ever watch it.

Score – 4.5/5 Stars

Stranger Things. Image Credit: Netflix.

Review

Stranger Things is a weirdly wonderful TV show, it is a complex web of 80s references, homages to films of that era, and call backs to the classics of the horror genre. All of that could have been done as a ham-fisted cash grab, banking on nostalgia over substance, *cough* Transformers *cough*, instead it is a well-crafted story with real talent, both in front and behind the camera, that draws you in at every moment. Now as I am reviewing the entire season at once there will undoubtedly be spoilers ahead, so if you have not seen Stranger Things yet, beware, and maybe come back once you have watched it.

Continue reading