Trolls Band Together (2023) - Movie Review

This feels like a step backwards for this franchise. After expanding beyond pop music into all sorts of different genres in Trolls World Tour, going back to just pop music feels like it's making the film's world smaller, which isn't ideal if they're going to even bother making another one to begin with. That they likely did it just so that they could cash in on boy band nostalgia, with star Justin Timberlake’s history with NSYNC being both figuratively and literally invoked in this film, doesn’t help.

But hey, my first interaction with this franchise involved plenty of scepticism, and not only did I like the first film, I liked the second one even more so. Well, while I still had fun with this latest entry, I am definitely starting to wonder if this was all that necessary.

Trolls World Tour (2020) - Movie Review

Well, after being pleasantly surprised by the first Trolls movie back in 2016, I’m definitely going into this one with higher expectations. I mean, you promise me metal Trolls, you better deliver metal Trolls. There’s also where this production sits within the larger clusterfuck that is how the cinema industry has been adjusting (and, in some cases, failing to adjust) to lockdown conditions, given it became a bit of a line-in-the-sand situation between NBCUniversal and the American (and Chinese) owned chain of AMC Theatres. Basically, even before getting into the film proper, this is already something of a game changer for the industry. Not sure I can say the same about the content, but rest assured, this is still all kinds of worth checking out.

Wonder Wheel (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: Marked woman Carolina (Juno Temple), after leaving her mob husband, returns to Coney Island to be with her father Humpty Rannell (Jim Belushi), his wife Ginny (Kate Winslet) and her son Richie (Jack Gore). At the same time, Ginny starts an extra-marital affair with lifeguard Mickey (Justin Timberlake), giving her a newfound sense of happiness about her life. However, that happiness may be short-lived once he catches the eye of Carolina, and Ginny’s mental state is about to take a turn for the worst.

 

Trolls (2016) - Movie Review

Well, in-between our obsession with comic book heroes and bitching about mostly female casts in movies, we seem to have to tumbled all the way back into the 80’s. How else do you explain the number of doll/action figure movies we’ve gotten this year? What’s more, we seem to have latched onto the 80’s anything-counts-as-inspiration mindset without really taking the time and effort to properly incorporate them into something them young people today would like. Case in point, Jem And The Holograms, which was about as jarringly anachronistic as it gets without any bloody reason for it. Then we have today’s subject… and if the sight of twerking trolls from the advertising didn’t turn your stomach, then quite frankly, I need whatever industrial-strength medication you’re on because I could certainly use it. So, yeah, I’m not expecting anything good from this. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Please prove me wrong.

Top 20 Todd's Pop Song Reviews

In the interest of full disclosure, the reason why my other Top Lists for this month so far have started the way they have is one of proper honesty. It’s a chance for me to air out whatever legitimate grievances I may have with a creator before setting them aside to highlight their strengths, in honour of my own views concerning the separation of issues with creator and issues with creation. This… is an exception to that rule. Call it petty, and in a way it is, but there’s a very prominent bruise on my grey matter thanks to a certain conversation I had on Twitter with Todd. Something about not only being attacked by someone whose work you regularly watch to get away from these very situations, but to have his fans join in and support him while doing so, will probably never sit right with me any time soon. It was an issue tangentially connected to GamerGate, further proving that the whole debate just seems to bring the ugliness out of everyone, and I won’t go into it any further here. Just know that, as I get into today’s list, I am still somewhat irrationally holding something against the guy personally. I set out to highlight a wide(ish) spectrum of reviewers with Meta Month, and what better way to illustrate that than with a guy who, despite me finding him extremely funny and insightful in places, has shown himself to be a bit of a dick IRL. Anyway, discarding that for now, here’s my Top 20 list of the best Todd’s Pop Song Reviews.