Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) | REVIEW

Miles Morales as Spider-Man (voiced by Shameik Moore) in Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation’s SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE.

Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers, and Justin K. Thompson — Screenplay by Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, and Dave Callaham.

With 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, a vast team of storytellers caught lightning in a bottle, as they managed to make a film that not only captured what makes superhero and Spider-man films so electric and fun to watch, but they had also made an animated film with a groundbreaking animation style. At the same time, they managed to introduce the world to Miles Morales — a once lesser-known Spider-Man — in a way that made him an instant fan favorite. Into the Spider-Verse is one of the best animated films of the 2010s and arguably the century at the time of writing. Since then, a lot has happened. The idea of a multiverse film has become so mainstream that the Academy Awards has even given Best Picture to a multiverse-focused film. To add to that, we even got a live-action Spider-Man multiverse film with Spider-Man: No Way Home. It would be totally understandable to think that the idea of multiverse storytelling is played out and that no one is clamoring for more Spider-People. Thus, recapturing that same lightning in a bottle was not anywhere close to being simple. And yet, that is exactly what has happened with Across the Spider-Verse, the direct sequel to the 2018 animated hit. Across the Spider-Verse is not just more of the same.

Continue reading “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (2023) | REVIEW”

Additional Bite-Sized Reviews, Early 2022: ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye,’ ‘The Afterparty,’ and More

Christopher Miller’s The Afterparty is available on APPLE TV+ right now. – Photo: Apple TV+.

In this edition of my recurring movie and television catch-up article series titled ‘Additional Bite-Sized Reviews,’ I take a look at one of the start of the year’s best shows, and I also give you my thoughts on a (currently) Oscar-nominated film. So, get comfortable, and get ready to read my thoughts on things like Apple TV+’s latest gem and the film that very well could earn Jessica Chastain her first Academy Award tonight.

Continue reading “Additional Bite-Sized Reviews, Early 2022: ‘The Eyes of Tammy Faye,’ ‘The Afterparty,’ and More”

REVIEW: The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

The Mitchell family (voiced by Maya Rudolph, Abbi Jacobson, Michael Rianda, and Danny McBride) in THE MITCHELLS vs. THE MACHINES — Photo: Sony Pictures Animation / Netflix.

Directed by Michael Rianda (Gravity Falls) — Screenplay by Mike Rianda & Jeff Rowe.

Sometimes it’s difficult to really gauge whether or not the hype for a film is justified or not. From the outset, what I had heard about The Mitchells vs. The Machines sounded really good. The premise was neat, I liked what I had seen of its animation style in trailers, but I wasn’t sure if it would work as a total package once I finally felt ready to sit down and watch the film, which had been on my watchlist for quite some time. The reactions that I had heard from my peers also made it sound like far and away one of the best animated films in years, which was overwhelming information that I didn’t know what to do with at that moment since I was a little bit too busy when it was released. I ended up waiting a considerable amount of time before I finally watched it, which meant that when I finally felt the urge to start up Netflix and watch their Lord & Miller-produced animated hit, the hype had sort of died down at least a little bit. So, having now seen the film, do I think the hype was justified? Well, yeah. Though I was trepidatious initially, the film more than won me over.

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Han Solo is getting a solo film – Dagobah Day #3

I'm Jeffrey Rex' Dagobah Day

Welcome back to Dagobah!

Dagobah Day is a recurring opinion piece / news post on all things Star Wars. This time on Dagobah, I go over the details of the Anthology Film that was just announced a couple of days ago (July 7th 2015), and the actors that could play a ‘young’ Han Solo. Also, I wonder, what do they mean by ‘young’? Continue reading “Han Solo is getting a solo film – Dagobah Day #3”