I’m a huge fan of Pixar, and I think the argument can be made that they have the best record of any film company ever, based on average quality, and financial success rates. I do not however, have an issue seeing Pixar’s flaws, and from the moment I saw the trailer for Onward, I thought “Well, that’s gonna be a dud.”
Onward in someways seemed to diverge from what I was used to from Pixar, of the 21 previous films, 16 of them had main characters that were animals/objects/emotions, and while Onward isn’t about humans, they’re human-lite. Other than Brave (and perhaps you’d argue Coco, but that’s a religious and philosophical debate for another post) none had featured magic, and this was the first film to not have some connection with ‘Earth.’
I don’t exactly know how to to describe it, but there was a lack of interest on my part, and if I didn’t have a 3 year-old, I probably would have skipped the film. But, I do have a 3 year-old, and he wanted to see unicorns eating trash, and so my wife and I took him on Saturday, and the three of us loved this film.
Now, one of the things that has become something of a Pixar staple, In the last 15 years, you could argue that it’s been their defining trait, has been their ability to make you adults sad, and in that way, this film was totally Pixar. I’m a bit of a crier as it is, but my wife isn’t, and she was choking up a couple times during the film. But one of the other things that Pixar does well, is they make you sad and then make you happy again, and this didn’t fail to deliver.
I don’t really think I need to go into spoilers, so please note that all of what I’m about to tell you, is in the trailers.
The film is about two brothers who go on a quest two finish a spell that brings their father back to life for a day, and because they have half completed the spell at the beginning, it’s a race against the clock. It’s a story about family, something Pixar has done an pretty incredible job with on a few occasions. (See what I did there? Incredible job?)
This film has fun, and adventure, plenty of laughs, and as I mentioned before, tears. It’s a great time start to finish. I do want to mention something that it accomplishes, which no animated film has ever done before, and it’s a super mild spoiler. There is a scene in which they’re dealing with a great height, and there are some live action films in which I have gotten a sick to my stomach feeling due to my own fear of heights (The Walk did it in the trailer alone), and this film had me feeling that flip-floppy vertigo feeling for about a minute. That may sound like a complaint, but it should really be a testament to how invested I was in the story.
As far as ranking this with other Pixar films, I would say it’s in the top third, I don’t know if it’s as good as Toy Story 3, WALL-E, Up, or Inside Out, but it’s certainly better than all of the Cars films, Brave, and The Good Dinosaur.
As a father of a nearly four year old boy, I often have to do things that I don’t want to do, or watch things that I don’t want to watch. At Christmas, I had to take him to see Cats, because he was obsessed (to be fair, he saw me showing the trailer to my wife and saying ‘they look so creepy’ and thought we were going to see a horror film). Occasionally, I go see something that doesn’t look good to me, and then ends up being good. Sonic is such an occasion.
When the first trailer came out, I like everyone else, thought that the design for the character looked absolutely awful. Here’s a side by side comparison between the original, horrifying, design for Sonic and the much better and more character accurate redesign, present in the final film…
Good Lord, that’s unsettling…
MUUUUUUCH better!
When they redesigned Sonic, I wasn’t as relieved as everyone else, because while the design looked awful, nothing about the story being shown in any of the trailers looked good to me. I used to play the games, and watch the cartoons, and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why you would bring Sonic to Earth. Sonic is a freedom fighter, fighting the tyrannical scientist Dr. Robotnik, and freeing enslaved animals, the trailers didn’t seem to resemble that at all.
I’m going to go pretty light on SPOILERS , but obviously there may be some, so head’s up.
Sonic comes from the world that is essentially what we’re used to seeing in the video games, he came to Earth to hide from the Echidna who want to take his power. He’s given golden rings which help him transport. *(Editors Note: Sonic’s world is called Mobius! BOOM! OUT NERDED! -Paul) Then he hides out on Earth for a decade, until he accidentally reveals himself to James Marsden’s Tom . The government hire’s Robotnik to find him, and the movie really begins. It’s a buddy comedy between Sonic and Tom, as they try to get Sonic to safety.
Ultimately, two things managed to overcome my skepticism towards this film. The first is that it’s very fun, the humor is good, the action is pretty good, and it’s just enjoyable. The second is, while Sonic is stuck on Earth the entire time, it is clear that the world of Sonic does exist, and if the series moves forward, I think we’ll see more of it. This almost could play off as a prequel to the games, especially since Jim Carrey’s Dr. Robotnik doesn’t fully resemble the game’s Robotnik until the end of the movie. If this is a step into the Sonic-verse, and we get more into it, I’m all for it.
What are you doing with your life, Jim Carrey?
They definitely managed to capture the feel of Sonic, and that was more important than the setting, at least at this stage in the franchise (it definitely sets up a sequel, and as the number 1 video game movie opening in history, we’re likely to get one). If you go in with an open mind, and ready to have some fun, you’ll enjoy Sonic.
On this very special episode of “The World’s Best Podcast”, Tim Cuff makes his triumphant return to the show! Tim was one of the original co-hosts of “The World’s Best Podcast” and helped make the podcast the success that it is today! What better occasion to have Tim return to the show, than to join up with me to review “Birds of Prey”? The film focuses on Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn, who’s trying to survive the brutal Gotham underworld after her break up with The Joker. Harley allies herself with other classic DC characters like Black Canary, Huntress, and Det. Rene Montoya to take on the vicious Gotham crime boss, Black Mask. Tim and I are both DC mega-fans, so it’s been great to see the DCEU (or The Worlds of DC) get back on track with movies like Aquaman, SHAZAM!, and of course, JOKER. Does “Birds of Prey” continue DC’s winning streak or do we have another Suicide Squad on our hands? Check out the episode to find out! Enjoy! FULL SPOILERS!
Listen here: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/22616693 Or subscribe on Stitcher, Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Deezer, Podchaser, Castbox, Podcast Addict, Google Podcasts, & Apple Podcasts/ITunes…
Thanks for reading and listening! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again!
On this episode of The World’s Best Podcast, I reviews the highly anticipated final installment in The Skywalker Saga, Star Wars: Episode IX The Rise of Skywalker. A movie over 40 years in the making. I think this episode should just speak for itself. Huge SPOILERS! Thanks for listening! Enjoy!
Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, which go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again!
Much like the killer robots we see in these films, The Terminator franchise refuses to die. That’s right, folks! Arnold Schwarzenegger and Linda Hamilton have returned to kick Terminator ass and blow shit up in the latest entry in the iconic action series. Director Tim Miller (Deadpool) and Producer James Cameron chose to ignore the previous sequels and pick up right where T2 left off. Does Dark Fate return the franchise to the glory days of Terminator 2: Judgment Day? Or is this another failed attempt to revive a tired film series? Find out here in my review of, Terminator: Dark Fate!
Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, which go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again!
-Paul
We’re also continuing our attempt to bring attention to fundraising for cancer research and support for people fighting cancer and their families. At the beginning of the episode, we announced that we’d calling attention to a great charity dedicated to fighting colon cancer. The organization is Colon Cancer Coalition of Boston, you can check out their website right here: https://donate.coloncancercoalition.org/Boston Where you can make donations and find out about upcoming events! Make sure you donate and support #teammichelle 💩 (Michelle’s favorite emoji!)
We’re also trying to raise money directly for the family of Michelle Fabri, who recently lost her fight with colon cancer. Every donation, no matter how small helps, so check out their Go Fund Me page: https://www.gofundme.com/f/michellefabri
JOKER, the highly anticipated new film from director Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix has hit theaters! The movie is already receiving rave reviews, with many critics declaring the movie a shoe in for Academy Award nominations for Best Picture and Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix. The early buzz has praised Phoenix’s tour de force performance as a broken man’s decent into madness and his transformation into the legendary Clown Prince Of Crime! But does it live up to the hype? That’s exactly what Ryan and I discuss in the latest episode of The World’s Best Podcast! The Joker is one of the best characters in all of fiction and the film asks provocative questions about society, mental health, and morality. Does the film live up to its lofty ambitions? Where does this Joker rank among the other classic performances of the character? Can you tell a Joker story without Batman? We answer all these questions and more! Listen and enjoy!
Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter @PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again!
We have a real treat on this week’s episode of The World’s Best Podcast, Paul Sr. returns to the show to help me review the long awaited IT: Chapter 2! This was by far one of my most anticipated movies of the year, so I was really psyched to see this one. We wanted to wait a little while to drop this episode, mostly to give people plenty of time to see the movie because we go FULL SPOILERS for this review. Paul Sr. and I had a lot of fun talking about the twists and turns, the big scares, and our favorite characters in this follow up to 2017’s hit movie IT. We even chat about some of the upcoming movies we saw trailers for during the screening. Bottom line: we had a blast seeing the movie and we had a blast recording this episode! So whether you’ve seen the movie or not, come join us for some fun and ridiculous hijinx, as well as our usual bickering! Enjoy listening to this extra spooky episode! Thanks!
Thanks for listening! Follow me on Twitter@PJWrightWBM or type Worlds Best Media into the search bar, you can also like and follow us on our Facebook page; World’s Best Media. Those likes and follows, as well as iTunes reviews, go a long way to supporting World’s Best Media. We really appreciate the loyalty and support shown to us by our fans, so thanks again!
Get excited, folks! Because this week will feature not one, but TWO episodes of “The World’s Best Podcast”! In the first of the two AWESOME podcasts to come out this week, I review the latest film by iconic filmmaker, Quentin Tarantino: Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood! Tarantino is without question on of the greatest living directors. But for me, personally, he is part of a very small group of directors that, in my eyes, can do no know wrong. When Quentin Tarantino has a new movie coming out, I don’t need to know the plot, who’s in it, or even the goddamn title. There’s a new Tarantino out? I’m there!
This just one man’s opinion, because I know he has his critics, but I fucking adore his movies! What can I say?
Having said that, as you’ll hear in the podcast, this by far Tarantino’s weakest film. That’s not to say the movie’s bad. It isn’t. I enjoyed the hell of of it. Tarantino’s worst movie is still better than 99 out of 100 other films. The look of the film is wonderful. The movie manages to capture that “old Hollywood” look in spectacular fashion.
Let’s not forget, Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt are two of the most watchable leading men on the big screen. A lot of the film’s fun comes from their relationship and DiCaprio and Pitt’s talent carry the film. Anyway, I’ve rambled on long enough, you can listen to my full review posted below. I try to keep things somewhat vague at the beginning of the episode, in case you haven’t seen the movie yet, but I give you fair warning before we go into FULL SPOILERS.
This is the first of TWO podcast I’ll be posting this week. The next episode is going to focus on some very cool, returning and new, superhero TV and film projects. We’re going to give you the scoop on this year’s Arrowverse MEGA Crossover, which is by far their most ambitious to date: an adaptation or arguably the biggest superhero crossover of all time, Crisis On Infinite Earths! We’ll also be discussing the trailer for Titans Season 2, and much more.
You can listen to my review of Once Upon A Time In… Hollywood, right here or listen and subscribe on Spreaker, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts/iTunes and coming soon,Spotify: https://www.spreaker.com/episode/18747335
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I love the direct to Blu-Ray and Digital DC Animated Movies. There’ve been some real classics to come out of these projects. Movies like Batman: Year One, The Dark Knight Returns: The Deluxe Edition, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox, and Batman: Under The Red Hood, just to name a few. While there have been some enjoyable standouts, there hasn’t been a real homerun from these films in a while. Though Batman: Hush may not knock it out of the park, it comes damn near close. Based on the classic Batman run by writer Jeph Loeb (Batman: The Long Halloween) with art by the legendary Jim Lee (Justice League, X-Men), Batman: Hush does a great job of adapting this seminal Batman tale while still fitting the movie into the animated continuity (or DCAU) that DC created beginning with Justice League: War. The result is a pretty damn good movie that is less of a mystery and more of a tragic romance. Which may irk some fans, but I’ll get into more of that in a moment.
I’ve heard some people complain about the animation in these films lately. Critics say that copying the general aesthetic of The New 52 and attempting to adhere to a visual continuity, makes each of these movies feel overly similar and blocky. Well, that issue isn’t completely absent from this film, but there are some notable efforts to step up to quality of the animation. Some shots feature fantastic little details that immediately draw your eyes. How someone’s eyes and face move before something dramatic is about to happen, the way a fight move is pulled off, small moments scattered throughout the film that make it feel as if the animators were going the extra mile and it shows.
The real highlight of the movie is the relationship between Batman and Catwoman. It’s so rare to see Batman in a successful and a functioning relationship. I should mention that Selina doesn’t know that Bruce is Batman at the beginning of the story.
It’s only when things begin to get serious that he reveals himself to be Bruce Wayne. In fact, there is a funny scene when he brings her to the Batcave for the first time and she’s enthusiastically greeted by Dick in the Nightwing uniform without his mask and Alfred attempting to serve her tea. When she‘s surprised to realize that Dick and Alfred know that she’s Selina Kyle. She even half jokingly asks “Does everyone know who I am?“ Dick blurts out “No, just us and Damian.” Selena asks “Who’s Damian?”, “Oh he’s Bruce’s son… He’s Robin.” Replies Dick with an awkward look on his face. It’s easy to see how being an intimate part of Bruce’s life isn’t so simple, which is why he and Selena are so perfect for one another. He is drawn to Selina as both Batman and Bruce Wayne and that’s where the key to their success of the relationship lies.
If Bruce and Selina are out on a date and The Bat Signal appears in the sky, Bruce doesn’t have to make up some bullshit excuse. She’s more than capable of coming along with him to stop whatever threat he’s facing and it even feels like a natural part of their “date night” that they both seem to get off on. Catwoman may have been staying on the straight and narrow, but she loves this world, she loves being part of a good fight. In fact, I think if she was dating Bruce and he didn’t have the Batman aspect to his life, the relationship wouldn’t work. Selina needs those kind of thrills.The film is mature enough to acknowledge that this relationship wouldn’t have worked if it began when they were younger. Maybe there would’ve been an intense fling, but nothing more. They’ve both matured, changed, and they both want different things than they did years before. It’s at this point in their lives that they’re ready to be together as both Bruce Wayne/Batman and Selina Kyle/Catwoman.
When comparing the graphic novel to the film, it’s important to remember that the Batman: Hush graphic novel is a mystery at it’s heart. Who is Hush? Why are they doing this? Well the movie managed to do a great job with staying relatively faithful to the source material, while still managing to surprising fans of the graphic novel. Love it or hate it. Many of the iconic moments from the comic book are present in the film. Some are even slightly improved upon. However, there is one classic scene from Batman: Hush that was adapted to the film, but (without going into SPOILERS) the scene felt like it needed to be a little bit longer. I was impressed how Hush managed to both surprise those of us who’ve read the comic book, while still being faithful to the source material in a unique way. To say much more would be a SPOILER, but you’ll know what I’m talking about when you see it. You may think you know where the story is going, you may think you know the identity of Hush (and maybe you’re right), but things play out just different enough to make things fun, interesting, and surprising.
The final fight between Batman and Hush is particularly well animated, well choreographed, and thrilling. The animation of the fight has a very dynamic quality. Batman employs one of my favorite tactics of his, that we’ve seen in animation and comics many times, but almost never in live-action: He gets in the villains head to gain the upper hand. He plays mind games with his opponents and that’s used here to great effect. Batman use his genius, his ability to manipulate the psychosis of the villain he’s facing, to exploit their fears, insecurities, and weaknesses to give him that extra edge for the win. Batman’s greatest weapon is his intellect.
The combination of the surprising reveal of Hush’s identity, the fantastic animation, and Batman using his intellect to exploit the mental and emotional weaknesses of his opponent, make this for a pretty memorable final battle.
It should be noted that Selina Kyle/Catwoman is a notorious criminal and accomplished superhero in her own right. However, Batman can be such a larger than life figure, that it would be easy to make even the strongest of women look like a damsel in distress in one of his stories. The film does a great job of avoiding problems like this. Selina is her own woman. Her choices are not defined by Bruce’s choices. She doesn’t necessarily need his help to get out of some of the most serious jams she finds herself in throughout the movie. Particularly in the climax of the film, Selina finds herself in a very precarious life and death situation. I’m fairly certain she would’ve been fine, whether Batman showed up or not. The storytellers did a phenomenal job making her an interesting capable character.
At the end of the day this is still a love story between Batman and Catwoman. The sad realization of how, at least in this point in their lives, that love story is also a tragedy. Bruce lets Selina in, in a way we rarely see from this character. There comes a point in the story, when Bruce makes a decision that looks like madness to Selina. In fact, it would look like madness too many of us in the audience. Once the threat has been neutralized and the villain dealt with, Selina has an epiphany. She realizes that no matter how much she loves Bruce, no matter how much she changes for him, no matter how much more she’s willingto change for him, he won’t change himself.
There are things he will not become. There are lines he cannot cross. Because of that Selina will always come in second place to Bruce. She willing to let herself evolve with this relationship, but she realizes that in the end, Bruce is an immovable object she’ll break herself against. It’s profound, it’s sad, and it’s veryBatman.
Batman: Hush is a flawed, but solid Batman mystery/adventure with a fantastic romance story, great fight scenes, some stand out bits of animation, and some surprisingly thought-provoking character and story elements. Some things land better than others and I think the film may have benefited from another 20 minutes or so of storytelling to help flesh out some of it’s more interesting ideas. The climax in particular feels like it comes out of nowhere, when there should’ve been a bit more tension and build up to Batman‘s final confrontation with Hush. Whether you’ve read the original graphic novel or not, this movie will still keep you guessing.
While not the complete return to form I was hoping for from Warner Bros/DC Animation after the strong combination of The Death of Superman/Reign of the Supermen, I’d say this is still a MUST WATCH for any Batman fan!
On this episode of The World’s Best Podcast, we review one of my most anticipated movies of the summer and the latest film to feature everyone’s favorite wallcrawler: Spider-Man: Far From Home. As the final film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Phase 3 of films, we go over the action sequences, the villains, the friends and foes in Peter Parker’s life, and all the twists and turns along the way.
Peter feels a deep sense of loss after Tony’s death.
Losing another surrogate father drives many of Peter’s choices.
Peter has to reconcile the man he is, the man Tony saw him as, and the hero he wants to be.
This movie has some HUGE revelations and twists, so I recommend avoiding SPOILERS at all cost before seeing this film. But after you see the movie, come on back and listen to our awesome breakdown of this kick ass superhero flick! Listen here or subscribe on Spreaker, Stitcher, Google Podcasts, iHeartRadio, and ITunes:
… is the ONLY official poster for the film I put up with this article. What a shitty, shitty poster. All the other art here is the work of some incredibly talented artists I found online. STEP UP YOU GAME, SONY!
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