retrolord

After seeing the minor disappointment that was Chicago I thought this movie was going to be a little better. Boy was I wrong, this movie was way better.

From the opening song the main character Tracy was instantly likeable, And each character was also likable in their own way. Whether they be likeably good or evil. The actors also look like they're having fun and that's very much required if the movie wants to have a fun tone( I mean look at the DVD cover). Speaking of tone, the movie goes for a 60's theme which I can't help but adore. But even though it is a fun movie it doesn't mean that it's too fun to be serious because this movie also has a little message about race interrogation and it handles it perfectly. But what's a movie musical without songs. Well these songs are all bangers. I even recall myself dancing to some of the songs and that's when you know that you've some great songs.

All in all, this movie was just what I needed after Chicago. If you're looking for some fun and great songs, then you just need a little Hairspray.

I just watched this movie and I gotta say, it's both good and okay at the same time. The okay part is the plot of this movie. It's kinda hard to follow, I actually recall looking at my phone at some points and as a movie lover that's not a good sign. Another downside to this movie is the characters. These characters are not very likeable. Some characters try to make you feel sympathetic for them but backfire on their attempts later on in the movie. Some characters are just despicable the whole movie through. And for some characters I can't even tell whose side they're on. I think the only characters I sorta felt sorry for was the husband and the woman who got hanged. At least I believe she didn't mean to do whatever she did to get this punishment. But there is one positive thing to this movie and that's the musical numbers. These are the highlights of the movie and I paid attention to every single song. The music is well orchestrated, the choreography is wonderful and often times pretty impressive for what they did, the aesthetics and scenery is creative and unique, the songs overall are catchy and gave me some golden age musical vibes that I appreciate, and the actors really do their best to sing these songs and they sound fantastic. But unfortunately the plot just seems to interrupt the fantastic parts and just gives us more complicated story and unlikeable characters which I got tired of quickly.

Long story short, this is an okay movie with a great musical hidden in-between the plot and characters.

Before I give my review I'd like to say a little something about myself. I love Hand-drawn animation. For those who are new to Earth, hand-drawn or traditional animation is animation done with pencil and paper( ex. Snow White, Little Mermaid, Lion King 1994.) I'm also a huge fan of live action/ traditional animation hybrids (ex. Space Jam, Three Caballeros, and the best movie ever made, Who Framed Roger Rabbit.) Unfortunately with CGI as the norm, I doubt we'll ever see something like those again.

Now on to my review. It was pretty good.... when it was about Tom and Jerry. Yeah, this movie actually gets Tom and Jerry's antics right despite the limitations of the real world. They also manage to get most of the classic characters in there, there's even a hilarious Droopy cameo. I also like the references of classics jokes they used. And thankfully, Tom and Jerry don't talk in this movie (well except for that one scene where Tom tries to impress a girl cat by singing but that doesn't count.) This may sound like this is a good movie and that would be true... if it was about Tom and Jerry. Unfortunately, like The Smurfs, Alvin & the Chipmunks, and the Dumbo remake, this movie would rather the story be about the boring humans rather than the characters in the title. Don't let any plot synopsis fool you, this movie is really about Chloe Grace Moretz's character (I completely forgot her character's name) and her silly hotel job and occasionally Tom and Jerry pop up. Chloe plays her character fine but I really don't care for her in this movie, I just wanna see Tom and Jerry. And Michael Pena's character ( also forgot his character's name) is a drag. Seriously, couldn't he take one joke. He's a terrible and boring villain as well. Another thing that brings this movie down is when it stops trying to be a faithful Tom and Jerry cartoon and starts being a modern kids comedy. Everything from the pop culture references, fart jokes, and the mention of TikTok severely date this movie. In fact, in one scene where Tom, no joke, starts flossing, a part of me died inside. If they just sticked with timeless humor this could've worked. I watched this film on HBO Max two days ago and I already forgot most of what happened and that can only get worse as time continues. But now it's time for the biggest downer, the animation. Before I get personal, I just to say I appreciate what the animators were trying to do with stylized CGI looking like hand-drawn animation. I also sorta like the fact that all the animals in this movie are animated in this style so our title characters don't feel left out. But I just don't get why CGI is trying to look hand-drawn. I mean it looked good in Peanuts, Spiderverse, and Captain Underpants, but this is just getting ridiculous. Why can't these American studios who clearly have the time and the money just make a stinking hand-drawn film. And thanks to this film, I fear that more hybrids will follow this style instead of just taking the easy route and make it actually hand-drawn. Oh well, here's to hoping that either Disney, Don Bluth, or even one of the many streaming services can bring back hand-drawn animation in America. Either that, or someone like me will.

Like all the rest of you, I am really, really, really getting sick of these Disney live-action remakes. I mean I haven't seen any new ones since Beauty and the Beast (2017) and I feel I made the right call cause the remakes just seemed to get worse and worse. That is until I saw the trailer for this movie. I don't know what it was but something just grabbed my curiosity, so I decided to go against my better judgement and watch this movie when it would be available. Well I just finished it and here's what I have to say... It's alright, but not the best remake. Lets just start off with the positives. First off, the plot. I'll give this movie credit I was not bored. In fact I'd say this plot is actually kind of fun, and for a Disney live-action remake that's a huge positive. The humor was hit or miss. The jokes themselves were pretty mild, I think I only laughed once in this movie. I feel the real humor comes from just how weird and zany this world is, rather than what they say. And seeing how this is a meta movie I must talk about the references and in-jokes and cameos. They're good but self-aware jokes can only get you so far. Yet I will admit that some jokes were clever, not funny but clever.

However there is one big problem I have with this movie, the animation. Most notably the animation on the main 2D characters. When I first heard this movie would continue what Roger Rabbit did in terms of animation hybrids I got excited thinking that this might be the return of 2d animation from Disney. But unfortunately they must've thought the Tom and Jerry movie was on to something and instead gave us this cheap looking cel-shaded cgi that's meant to trick us into thinking it's 2d but it just comes across as unnatural. It sucks because apparently all the 2d background characters were done in actual 2d, not very well but still it was 2d. Thankfully Disney confirmed they will properly return to actual 2d animation soon so that's a relief.

And that's all I have to say. I don't love this movie but I don't hate it like the other remakes. I guess that's why my rating is 5/10, it's half and half for me. While I still wish they used actual 2d animation, I will give kudos to the director for actually putting creativity into this movie, which is something I can not say for the rest of the awful live-action remakes from Disney (except for Christopher Robin, now that's the best Disney live-action remake.)

We all know the Disney Renaissance started with the Little Mermaid and ended with Tarzan but the way I see it, it started with this and ended with Winnie the Pooh (not including Dinosaur, Chicken Little, Bolt, and Tangled.) It's a shame the Great Mouse Detective isn't talked about in best Disney movie lists. This movie is Renaissance material. It's got interesting characters, a frightening yet clever villain, a compelling story, great action scenes, a bit of CGI, a perfect cast, and moments that will stick with you forever. If you haven't seen this movie I highly recommend this. If you have seen it when you were a kid but your kid hasn't seen it then stop replaying Frozen and show them this instead.

You heard the title right. Those Simpsons may have predicted the future many times and got it right but there's one thing they lied about for 30 years, they're the longest running cartoon in the world. Now The Simpsons were on air for 30 years, much longer than cartoons now. But after some web surfing I found out that the original Looney Tunes shorts aired from 1930 to 1969, a total of 39 years(39 FRICKEN YEARS) that's 9 years more than the the Simpsons. And they're not even the second longest running cartoon. Scooby-Doo is 50 years old, Tom and Jerry are 79, and Mickey Mouse just celebrated his 91st birthday and the Simpsons are only 30. So they are 5th longest running cartoon. And to make matters worse everybody thinks they are instantly the best cartoon when they're not even close to being the best. Now cartoons like the Looney Tunes, Scooby-Doo, Tom & Jerry, Ren & Stimpy, even Spongebob can be qualified as the best but not the Simpsons. And to make matters even worse they are now inescapable. Everywhere I go there they are. Anything cartoon related in the Guinness Book of World Records deals with the Simpsons, when I look up longest running educational tv show on Google Images I see a picture of the Simpsons alongside Sesame Street( which is 100 times better), and when I look up best cartoon characters/ series, guess who's number one? That's right, Mr. Big Yellow Stupid head and his family. Now I will be fair on the first few seasons because without those we wouldn't have the Shinning or the glorious Steamed Hams. But after that it took a turn for the worse. Everything got bad, Bart forgot how sincere and kind he was and turned into an all out jerk, Marge and Lisa( who I actually like) were voted the worst Simpsons characters, Homer doesn't give a dang about his life and is as dumb as a doorknob, the violence level boosted by a lot, and they are just not funny anymore. If you agree with me then don't stay silent, let your voice be heard. Spread the truth. Start a riot, invade Fox studios, and end this abomination before they go on forever. Hurry before it's too late.

Although I still have yet to read the Railway Series books, nothing beats this show. This is the only show that I fully pay attention to. It has everything, a fictional universe, intriguing characters, and a big impact on history. I was there for all the changes. I saw the shift from models to CGI, I heard Thomas speak for the first time, and I saw characters come and go and return. And here's something else, I'm 15 and I still ask for Thomas Wooden Railway toys to play with so I can recreate stories and make my own. Don't judge me. But the problem is this show doesn't get enough respect. I remember watching Thomas on PBS Kids, and guess what, they only aired it once a day. That's it. And Nick. Jr is doing the same thing. I need more Thomas. All in all, Thomas the Tank Engine is my favorite TV show to date. But, I'm still waiting for a theatrical movie where Lady returns. Come on, HIT I'm waiting. Anyone else?