IF (2024) Thoughts

Image credit (Wikipedia)

• I consider the Imaginary Friend Retirement Home in IF an Extension of “Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends”. What would happen if a kid like Mac forgot about his imaginary friend further down the line starting from adolescence to adulthood? What would his imaginary friend’s reaction be like?

• Also Foster’s doesn’t have the monopoly on imaginary friend plotlines. A film like IF could make a different variation of this plotline too.

• -Theme: Reconnecting to your inner child and rediscovering imagination through imaginary friends.

• Favorite scenes: The group dance scene and Blossom dance scene. the painting scene.

• Throwback to 80’s, 90’s and early 2000’s family films.

• Theme: Nurturing creativity and imagination.

• Full of heartwarming moments.

Criticisms:

• I would have preferred trained voice actors for the voice of imaginary friends then celebrity voices.
• The worldbuilding is underdeveloped with minimal information for imaginary friends’ backstories. Should Krasinski chose to make this film into an animated series, Fixing the worldbuilding should be a priority. Maybe the animated series should be like an anthology where each episode focuses on a different imaginary friend reminiscing about their adventures with their kid.
• I would have like to have seen more full scenes of imaginary friends reconnecting with their kids instead of a quick montage near the end.

I recommend catching IF in theaters and watching it with your family.

Those families with small children will definitely get some enjoyment from it.

Thoughts on the Boy and the Heron (2023)

Congratulations to the Studio Ghibli for the Boy and The Heron’s Win for Best Animated Feature 2024.

Image credit: posterboyle20 (Ebay)

I watched the film in Japanese with English subtitles so I can’t comment on the English Dub.

• The film score by Joe Hisashi is haunting yet whimsical.
• There are homages to Miyazaki’s previous works scattered throughout the film which some viewers will recognize and appreciate.
• The fish gutting scene is a visceral image.
• The storyline is more character driven and thematic so some story elements won’t make immediate sense until after repeated viewings.
• It deals with themes of grief& loss, legacy, along with life & death.
• The heron’s movements are fluid.
• A passing reference to the novel ” How do you live” is mentioned.
• The relationship between Mahiro and his new step mom could’ve been futher developed.
• The wooden building blocks are great metaphor creation & destruction.

Definitely recommend checking this film out in theaters either in subtitled or English dubbed! https://gkids.com/films/the-boy-and-the-heron/tickets/

Ranking the Mission Impossible films 1-7

Image Credit: Amazon Mission Impossible 6-Movie Collection

Image Credit: Amazon

I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of Tom Cruise however, I do have respect for him as an actor. I enjoy some of his films like Legend and the Mission Impossible Franchise. I saw an episode of the Mission Impossible Tv series by Bruce Geller. The story was moving too slow for my taste so I couldn’t get invested into the show.

Mission Impossible the movie series starts off on slow with the first entry but improves over time getting bigger and more ambitious with each new entry. This is my ranking of the Mission Impossible Films. Once the second part of Dead Reckoning comes out, I’ll add it to this list.

7. Mission Impossible (1996)

6. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1 ( 7th film)

5. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (4th film)

4. Mission Impossible: Fallout (6th film)

3. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation (5th film)

2. Mission Impossible III

1. Mission Impossible II

A Fairytale After All (2022)

Image Credit: Erik Peter Carlson distributed by Amazon Prime

Synopsis: Sky is a teenage outcast that is transported to a fantastical fairytale world called Celestia where she must save the kingdom from an evil witch.

This ambitious film was written and directed by Eric Peter Carlson. He wanted to replicate the magic of classic Disney films and Jim Henson films like Labryinth. I applaud his effort however, he should’ve done more work on the story; It needed more expansion for character development and world building.

Pros:

I enjoyed the animation done for the storybook prologue and the brief scene in the Fourth Wall song.

The puppets were well-crafted and the puppeteers did a fantastic job bringing them to life.

A few of the songs were good. My favorites were: “Leave me be”, “Home”, “Fourth Wall”,

and “See You Again”

I liked the dresses for Geneva and Madame Mizarabel.

Brian Hull is amazing as Thumbkin.

The relationship between Sky and her father was movie’s highlight especially their duet of “See you Again”.

Cons:

There is set up but no pay off for Geneva’s capture by Mirazabel. If she had been successful in her escape where would she go and for long?

For the story to be futher fleshed out,it would be necessary for the movie to be around 2 hours instead of an hour and twelve minutes.

The begining has a slow burn build up from the real world to Celestia. Some viewers would be tempted to fast forward this section to reach the movie’s fantasy land portion.

I hope the slip on a banna peel transport to Celestia is a joke. It’s an ineffective device to transport between worlds.

In the movie, It is made unclear whether Sky/Princess Geneva are the same person.

What happened to Geneva’s brother during her absence?

Also Sky’s trip to Celestia wasn’t a dream since she has a portal key to move between worlds.

The story is confusing to follow due to the lack of structure and rules in Celestia.

A Fairytale After All is a good effort with its beautiful constumes, animation, fluffy puppets and a few standout music pieces however, the short runtime along with its underdeveloped characters, lack of structure in world-building of Celestia and confusing storyline make the film rewatchable only for specific sequences but not the overall film.

Most Anticipated 2024 Films by Month

Next year’s slate of films gives the audience plenty to watch. Here’s my list of movies to look out for:

January 12th

Mean Girls The Musical

Trailer Credit: Paramount Pictures

February :

Argylle (2/1)

Argylle (2/1) Universal Pictures

Lisa Frankenstein (2/8)

Trailer Credit: Focus Features

Orion and The Dark Feb 2nd Screenplay by Charlie Kaufman 

Based on Emma Yarlett’s book of the same name

Distributed by Netflix Owned by Dreamworks

March:

Dune Part 2 (3/1)

Trailer credit: Warner Brothers

Kung Fu Panda 4 (3/8)

Trailer Credit: Universal Pictures

Ghostbusters Frozen Empire (3/29)

Trailer credit: Sony & Ghostbusters Youtube channel

April 12th

Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire

Trailer credit: Warner Brothers

IF (5/17)

Trailer credit: Paramount Pictures

Inside Out 2 (6/12)

Other films that don’t have a trailer yet: The Tiger’s Apprentice, Deadpool 3, Ballerina, Beetlejuice 2, Venom 3 (maybe), Harold& the Purple Crayon, Wicked (musical) movie, Somic 3, War of Rohirrim (Animated), White Bird, Inside the Yellow Cocoon

Celebrating Eloise Films(Eloise at the Plaza and Eloise at Christmastime)

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Eloise at the Plaza and Eloise at Christmas from Handmade films. It was these films along with the Suite Life of Zack and Cody that made hotel life as a child seem exciting and magical.

I have definitely seen Eloise at Christmastime more than the first film since it aired on tv during the holiday season. I just rewatched both of these films and they’re great however Eloise at Christmastime is more rewatchable. The cast for both of these films is perfect. Especially the sidecharacters such as Bill, Sir Wilkes, Maggie, and Mrs. Thornton. Not to mention that Sofia Vassilieva’s portrayal of Eloise was absolute perfection.

Film image via Wikipedia

Eloise at the Plaza takes cues from the book but has two storylines: Mrs. Daniel and her daughter Molly’s debutante ball and the Prince of Kushin with his son Leo. These storylines don’t mesh well together. I was more invested in the Plaza  staff preparing the hotel for the Prince of Kushin’s visit and being the venue for the trade conference. I wish there was an epilogue scene where the audience got to see a glimpse of that convention happening at the Plaza. Also seeing Leon and Eloise’s friendship develope was heartwarming to witness. My favorite scenes are the tour of New York and the planetarium where Leon and his father reconnect.

The debutante storyline could have been removed or made into a separate short film. 

Film image from Wikipedia

Eloise at Christmastime is a staple holiday classic. In this film, the storyline is about Christmas at the Plaza and the introduction of Mr. Peabody’s daughter, Rachel. I enjoyed seeing the relationship between Mr.Peabody and Rachel because not only does it add to the film’s worldbuilding and lore; their father daughter relationship is compelling and believable. Also Rachel and Bill have the best romantic chemistry. The other subplots help flesh out the story too: Sir Wilkes and Nanny trying to get each other Christmas gifts and Mrs. Thornton’s backstory about her son Edgar.

Check out both films either on Amazon Prime, other streaming services, or on DVD!

Happy 20th Anniversary to the Eloise films!