Some delightful animation and segments… but why did it have to be so shouty and incoherent?
Category: Capsule
Invented a new genre, and also perfected it. A brilliant concept and exploration of humanity’s boundaries. Groundhog Day is a conceptual and screenwriting masterpiece that entertains and inspires (even if I’m not crazy about Andie MacDowell or some of the creepy romcom undercurrents)
I would be lying if I said there was no appeal in adora-creepy beaver puppets chasing around trashy college kids and turning them into human-beaver-zombie hybrids, and a script built around corny one-liners.
A nearly-good, super-lofi, Linklater-ish, hangout movie. Script is meh but cast is fine, and it’s genuinely nice to look at (especially the pizza-making montage). Wanted more from the romance and the ending.
An super-indie, ensemble, intertwining college romance in 3 (or more) parts. Not much of the way in payoff, but it has a strong script, and the cast chemistry works, plus there’s a bittersweet magnetism to the affair.
Delectable when it’s mean in the first half (especially Sarah Michelle Gellar), but loses steam with inert twists and stabs at pathos, plus the tonally bizarre finale
Categories
A Bucket of Blood (1959)
Pretty thoughtful B-movie with a compelling premise and solid lead performance. Honestly I might be underselling it.
If the mystical plot and flat villain don’t shine as much as the first 2, the incredibly stylized and thrilling visuals more than make up for it.
The plot isn’t as spry or epic as part 1, but the villain is amazing and visuals are stunning, with a truly epic conclusion.
You find the weirdest stuff on Amazon prime, but I’m all about the subgenre of barely-animated living storybooks, barebones though they are as “films.”
My daughters and I are pretty into Leo Lionni, an influential and accomplished picture book author-artist, even though his art definitely surpasses his storytelling instincts.