Nimona (2023) - Movie Review

Blue Sky Studios deserved better. I had given them a lot of flak for stuff like the Ice Age series and the Rio series, but their last two features not only showed drastic improvement from that standard, but showed that they had carved out their own niche in the modern animation market. Ferdinand had its growing pains, but still had some solid messaging, and Spies In Disguise only built on them further to make something even better. At long last, they found their (in my opinion) much-needed lane for today's family films with some strong pacifist messaging.

Then Disney bought out Blue Sky’s parent company 21^st Century Fox, repeatedly delayed their next feature, and then outright cancelled it along with Blue Sky Studios as a whole. The company that thinks digging up the graves of their previous successes, and that a new coat of CGI paint will cover the smell of stale corpse that is being paraded in front of audiences for profit, is a sound business strategy, but allowing a studio to continue operation and produce media that, just maybe, people might actually want to watch isn’t.

But out of the ashes of Blue Sky, this film still managed to take flight. Picked up by Annapurna Pictures, with animation by DNEG (who proved their salt as a dedicated animation studio with Ron’s Gone Wrong and Entergalactic), and Spies In Disguise directors Nick Bruno and Troy Quane (who were originally slated for the helm before Blue Sky got shuttered) brought back in. That this whole production exists as a manifestation of hubris and spite against the conglomerate that tried to stop it from being made, quite frankly, has already earned my respect. But hoo boy, did it not stop earning it from there.

Fingernails (2023) - Movie Review

Back in 2015, I reviewed a film called The Lobster. It was early days for this blog, and indeed one of the first reviews I’ve put together that I would describe as a proper ‘deep dive’, and… yeah, it is very much a snapshot of where I was at that point in time. As a writer, it showed me still figuring out my own style and being able to break down my own thoughts regarding film, but as a person, it was from when I was both single and still trying to figure out where exactly my sexuality landed on the broader spectrum. Writing about love when you have limited and contentious experience with it comes across pretty damn clear, or at least it does for me reading it back nowadays.

Venom (2018) - Movie Review

The plot: Investigative reporter Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) suspects that something is going on at Life Foundation, run by the ostensibly altruistic Carlton Drake (Riz Ahmed). However, after an attempt to sneak into the Foundation goes awry, Eddie makes his way home... only to find that something has come with him. Now bonded to an alien organism that calls itself Venom, he sets out to get to the bottom of Drake's plans before the entire city, and the entire world, are put in jeopardy.

Una (2017) - Movie Review

The plot: Una (Rooney Mara) tracks down Ray (Ben Mendelsohn) to his workplace. As they talk, they discuss their past history together, how their lives turned out since they last spoke, and how Ray was in a sexual relationship with Una when she was only 13 years old. However, whatever Una’s reasons for wanting to see Ray again, it seems that she is driven by more than just anger.