Author: Caillou Pettis

After proving himself to be the worst postman at the academy, a postman named Jesper Johansson (voice of Jason Schwartzman) is posted to a frozen town in the North where he discovers Santa Claus (voice of J.K. Simmons) is hiding out.

Ah, yes, animated movies. Some of my all-time favorites if I am going to be honest. Although I do not frequently watch them, there is no denying that I love them. In fact, my favorite film of all of 2016 was Travis Knight’s excellent and emotionally powerful stop-motion feature Kubo and the Two Strings.

That’s not to say that there are not some bad animated movies (I’m looking at you The Emoji Movie) but there are plenty of great ones out there to watch and enjoy. Funny enough, I have not seen too many animated features set around the Christmas holiday, so I was excited to see what Sergio Pablos’ directorial debut Klaus would have to offer. Firstly, I adore Christmas movies. My favorite one of all time is still to this day National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. My family and I watch that film at least once every single year near Christmas Day. It is a hilarious and fun tradition for us.

Second, the praise for this movie was pretty high, with some calling it an instant classic. Now that I have seen it, I can say that Klaus is a decent, above average animated movie but is not groundbreaking in any way. This is quite a cute and fun movie that has a great message at its core but it does suffer from some issues along its way.

The animation here however is truly phenomenal. It reminded me a lot of the way last year’s incredible Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse was animated. Everything looks absolutely beautiful and Klaus uses an extremely unique and fresh style of animation that makes its imagery pop even more. I wish that more animated movies looked like this. Sometimes we will see our lead character Jesper have a certain look on his face and the way it is animated is genius.

When it comes to its issues though, the story was one that I was not all that interested in for a long while. Gratefully, the third act picked up steam immensely and things finally started to get interesting, but for a large portion of the film, I was not always invested in what was going on. In fact, there were some sequences in which I was just flat out bored.

Also, the humor is a bit of a mixed bag for me. There were times in Klaus where I was genuinely having a great time and laughing, but there were also some times in which I found the humor to be a complete miss.

Something that did honestly surprise me about this film was its emotional impact and core it has. It sneaks up on you and doesn’t reveal itself until the third act, but when it is revealed, it actually kind of hits hard. I was not expecting it and it will definitely pull at the heartstrings of many viewers all around the world.

This is not a masterwork of a film, but it is also not a disaster. It is a decent movie that is greatly benefited by its beautiful animation, its emotional messages, and it does at times make you laugh.

Although Klaus takes a while for its story to get interesting, it is saved by its breathtaking animation and emotional message at its core.

When a crime novelist dies just after his eighty fifth birthday, an inquisitive detective arrives at his estate to investigate. He soon sifts through a web of red herrings and self-serving lies to uncover the truth behind the writer’s untimely demise.

Murder mysteries and crime shows/movies are the subject of fascination by millions of people all around the world. There is just something highly intriguing about murder mysteries and attempting to guess who the culprit is. Throughout the years, there have been many movies and television programs that have a “whodunnit” premise. One of the most famous examples of this is a show from the 1980s called Unsolved Mysteries and was hosted by Robert Stack.

Even quite recently we had a new film adaptation of the Agatha Christie story Murder on the Orient Express directed by Kenneth Branagh, which was met with a mixed to negative response from both critics and audiences. What am I getting at here? Whodunnit stories are extremely interesting for people and they are always a blast to watch. I know for sure I enjoy watching them, which is one of the many reasons I was excited for Rian Johnson’s latest feature Knives Out.

Johnson is not only an incredibly talented director, but he is a skillful writer as well. It never fails to amaze me how amazing his writing and direction is in every one of his films, particularly Brick and the tremendously controversial Star Wars: The Last Jedi. In my opinion, though, Johnson really knows how to make a gripping story, and direct it with ease, and I can happily say that Knives Out is no exception.

Before going to see this picture, I had heard all over social media and from various friends online that this was a great film, and I believed it, but I was really not ready for how good it was going to be. Let’s just talk about one of the best things in the film right off the bat – the acting. Knives Out has one of the biggest ensemble casts in cinema in quite some time. From Chris Evans, Toni Collette, Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Michael Shannon just to name a few, there is no doubting the talent on camera. There are even some recently well known faces in here such as Ana de Armas, known for her role in Blade Runner 2049 and Jaeden Martell known for It.

And even though I thought every single actor involved brought their A game and did a truly fantastic job in every single scene, the true standout here is without a doubt Armas. I have been familiar with a few of her films in the past, such as the aforementioned Blade Runner 2049, and I know how talented she is, but her performance in this movie genuinely blew me away.

She is so raw and believable in this role and gets the job done perfectly. There are some sequences in which she has to show quite a bit of emotion as well, and she makes it look easy. In fact, there is one scene early on where she cries, and it looked one hundred percent authentic.

Now, one of the actors I was most excited to see in this film was Toni Collette, as I think that she is one of the most talented actresses of all time. Not only do I think that she delivered one of the greatest performances ever in Ari Aster’s 2018 horror feature Hereditary, but I also think that Hereditary is the greatest film ever made. Although Collette does do a good job in Knives Out, she barely gets any screen time.

In fact, a large portion of the cast does get depressingly underused here which is a shame since the cast is so massive and so talented. Instead, the film makes the decision to primarily focus on Armas and Craig. That is okay, but I just wish we could have gotten more out of the highly impressive cast.

It is also gorgeously shot by Steve Yedlin, who has served as the director of photography on every single one of Johnson’s films to this day. While this is not Yedlin’s best looking film (that for me would have to be the previously mentioned The Last Jedi), this is still an absolutely mesmerizing film that he shot with plenty of skill.

But perhaps my favorite element of this picture was the script and the many twists and turns it has up its sleeve. As somebody that has seen hundreds of movies in their lifetime, sometimes it can just be so easy to predict where certain plot points are going to go, especially mystery movies like this. But I have to say, I was totally wrong about my predictions for the story here. There is a point in the film in which most people are going to think one thing, and then later on, it gets flipped on you. I would honestly be surprised if there are some people that see Knives Out and they actually correctly predict what happens in the story. It is a wild and immensely satisfying thrill-ride that I am not going to forget any time soon.

Knives Out is a wild and exhilarating thrill-ride with an incredibly talented cast and solidifies Rian Johnson as a highly skillful writer/director.

Elsa the Snow Queen (voice of Idina Menzel) and her sister Anna (voice of Kristen Bell) embark on an adventure far away from the kingdom of Arendelle with the assistance of friends Kristoff (voice of Jonathan Groff), Olaf (voice of Josh Gad), and Sven.

When the original 2013 Frozen film was released, it was one of the biggest and most surprising Disney successes of all time. The film, made on a budget of $150 million, managed to rake in $1.276 billion at the box office, making it one of the most profitable Disney animated features ever released.

Many people all around the world fell in love with the characters of Elsa, Anna, Olaf, Kristoff, Sven and company, and of course, one of the biggest praises for Frozen was its songs. In particular, the now infamous “Let It Go”, sung by Idina Menzel, which every parent has probably heard countless times over. The songs in that film were a smash hit with a lot of them being some of the most famous Disney songs to date.

But at the centre of the film was a big heart and a terrific story to tell with an incredibly touching moral of the story – family is important. It was a message that a lot of young kids could take note of and that is one of the many reasons why I genuinely adore Frozen. It has the heart, the surprisingly emotional moments, it has the greatly funny moments, and of course, the amazing music.

Topping a film like that in a sequel is no easy task, but I can happily say that Chris Buck and Jennifer Lee’s Frozen II comes quite close. As they directed the original film, they definitely know what they are doing with the film and story. This is a highly satisfying sequel that was certainly worth the six year wait.

In the original film, it took me about twenty minutes or so to get invested in the story, but once I did, I thought it was extremely exciting. With Frozen II, however, I was invested right from the beginning. The film starts off with a bang with “Some Things Never Change”, which is sure to be yet another hit song. Even though this picture’s story is greatly interesting, as this one delves into Elsa’s origins, where she comes from and how she got her powers and what they mean, the stakes this time did not feel as high.

The first time around, Elsa managed to freeze all of Arendelle and almost caused an everlasting winter to freeze everybody and the story felt like a big race against the clock which made for some riveting and tense moments. While Frozen II has a more thought-provoking and character driven story, which I appreciate, it just did not feel as gripping as the original.

Now let’s talk about those songs – they are, yet again, amazing. Although I personally don’t think that any song on this soundtrack is going to reach “Let It Go” levels of fame, there are absolutely a few songs that are going to be quite big indeed, and listening to them as the story progresses makes them even more enjoyable to listen to. Some of my personal favorites include the aforementioned “Some Things Never Change”, “Into the Unknown”, and “Show Yourself”.

The animation team most certainly deserves a pat on the back as well. There were a few shots in particular in the film that looked like it used real scenery instead of animation. It was that gorgeous to look at. The scenery and animation that you saw in the trailers is just scratching the surface.

Similar to the first, this movie gratefully has its fair share of comedic elements as well. However, I did not find myself laughing as much as I wish I did. There were some times where the jokes landed completely, but some of the jokes fell completely flat for me, and some even came off a bit too strong.

Also, I couldn’t help but feel like some of the character choices that were made in the final act felt a bit out of character. One character in particular makes a decision that just felt like it came completely out of left field and almost as if the filmmakers did not know how to resolve the conflict without doing what they ended up doing.

But all in all, Frozen II is not only a great sequel, but a great film that will entertain families across the world. It is such a wholesome movie that you can feel good while watching, and movies like that do not come too often these days.

Frozen II is a sequel well worth the wait, as it contains an interesting and emotional story, has breathtaking animation, and even more catchy and fun songs.

The Irishman Review. In the 1950s, truck driver Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) gets involved with Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci) and his Pennsylvania crime family. As Sheeran climbs the ranks to become a top hit man, he also goes to work for Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino) — a powerful Teamster tied to organized crime.

To say that Martin Scorsese is a legendary and inspirational filmmaker would be an incredibly massive understatement to say the absolute least. He has helmed some of the most iconic drama pictures of all time including 1976’s Taxi Driver, 1980’s Raging Bull and 1990’s Goodfellas to name just a few.

His movies have always been highly influential to a whole plethora of filmmakers all around the world and his films have even inspired me. There is always something important he wants to say in each and every single one of his movies and he almost always does this in a brilliant and profound way.

The hype surrounding his newest feature film The Irishman, his follow-up to Silence, was incredible. I had heard so many people on social media hail this picture as one of the greatest of the decade and a film that will inspire a whole new generation of filmmakers to come. Now that I have seen it, I can gleefully report that The Irishman is indeed an incredible, expertly written and directed film that tells a character driven story.

That is one thing viewers need to know right off the bat when it comes to The Irishman – this is absolutely, one hundred percent, a character study. Please, do not go into this film expecting it to be an action-filled extravaganza, because if you do, you will be immensely disappointed and you will miss what the movie actually is. This is a movie that wants to tell the story of these three men Frank Sheeran, Russell Bufalino and Jimmy Hoffa. It does that excellently.

Something that struck me after my viewing was how depressing this movie is. As soon as the end credits appeared, it was as if I was hit with a wave of sadness. Not because I had just watched a movie I did not like, because I did like this movie. No, it was because I had just watched a movie that was told so beautifully with so much skill and contained characters so real and well-written, that, when certain plot points occur, they hit you hard and they feel real.

Any picture starring Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino sounds like an amazing ride, and it sure was. These three deliver some of their all-time best performances in The Irishman believe it or not. These are actors that I have been familiar with for my whole life, yet, while I was watching this film, I never once saw De Niro, Pesci, or Pacino. I saw their characters. Their acting is so raw and powerful in this movie that they honestly deserve awards recognition.

Let’s talk about the thing that almost everybody is talking about when it comes to this picture – the running time. The Irishman has a total running time of two hundred and nine minutes. That is essentially a three and a half hour long movie. Watching anything that long can be a daunting task, and to be fair with you, I genuinely think that The Irishman‘s running time was quite unnecessary.

There could have been big portions taken out of the final cut, and I honestly think that the movie would have told the same story. The first two acts of this movie were so interesting and brilliant, but when it came down to the third act, my interest was slowly but surely starting to dwindle, and I think that the running time could have been trimmed down significantly.

The Irishman is yet another jaw-droppingly intense and profoundly exhilarating picture from Martin Scorsese that is boosted by its three lead performances.

A screenwriter named Joe Link (Mason Heidger) known for ripoff “mockbusters” asks his successful former colleague Melanie Banks (KateLynn E. Newberry) for feedback on his first serious script.

When it comes to short films, they can be tough to criticize mainly because they do not have nearly as much screen time as feature films, and in feature films, a story can be deeply fleshed out with a lot of time to develop its characters, explore its themes, and tell a compelling story overall.

Shorts can be a bit of a mixed bag. Some that are five to ten minutes long can either be surprisingly effective that contains an exceptionally good story with characters that I can get invested in by the end. On the other hand, some shorts can feel relatively empty and flat, due to its lesser running time. At the end of the day, every filmmaker wants to make something that they are proud of, and they want to create something that everybody can enjoy.

Chris Stuckmann’s Notes from Melanie, his second short film following the success of his 2017 festival hit Auditorium 6, is a remarkably effective picture that manages to get you invested in its characters, make you laugh, and maybe even get a bit emotional.

When it comes to the positives here, the acting is definitely one of the strongest aspects. Mason Heidger portrays Joe Link, a screenwriter who is infamous for writing “mockbusters” – films that parody big budget films with a similar title. He makes a ton of films that nobody truly appreciates such as “Alien Stalker”, “Jurassic Universe”, and “Mission: Possibly – Really Hard”.

Although others do not appreciate his work, he views them as movies he is proud of. He is happy that he made these movies, and he shows it by hanging up a framed screenshot of one of his films receiving a perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which he surely photoshopped, and is a great easter egg for eagle eyed viewers.

But my favorite performance here comes from KateLynn E. Newberry, who portrays the titular Melanie. Even though I have never seen any of Newberry’s work in the past, from the moment she came on screen, it felt as if I were watching a legendary actress at work. The way she delivers her dialogue and the emotion and power she puts into every scene is amazing, and it becomes entertaining to just watch her act on screen because she is just so good.

It is also an impressively written and directed film as well. In fact, the writing is one of the best elements on display here. The movie can be extremely self-aware of film tropes at times and when Stuckmann pokes fun at this, it always makes for a good laugh, but never takes away from the film’s story as a whole. As I touched upon at the beginning, Notes from Melanie does not shy away from having a couple emotional beats as well, and they were quite effective.

In terms of negatives, it would have been nice to get to know more about the characters and to have just a little bit more character development. We get to know a bit about them, but it is only through the use of dialogue, and I wish we had seen a bit more visual storytelling.

Also, some sequences use computer-generated imagery and some shots just did not look quite right. It is not necessarily bad, it just looks a bit jarring and it is noticeable. Finally,  the cinematography, while mostly good, does have a few missteps. Some frames have the tops of the actors heads cut off for a few seconds, and the lighting in some of these scenes could have been a bit better, as there were a few moments where the details in the actors’ faces did not quite pop.

But overall, this is an incredibly well-done short film that has a highly hilarious story to tell and proves that Stuckmann is an up and coming filmmaker to take notice of.

Notes from Melanie is a highly effective short film that boasts great acting, a clever and witty script, and is a great display of Chris Stuckmann’s writing/directing talent.