Author Archives: Doc

A Complete Unknown

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I do like Bob Dylan, but I would not say that I love him. I enjoy some of his music and I got to enjoy him more when he became part of the Traveling Wilburys in the late 1980s. Even so, I was looking forward to this biopic A Complete Unknown from director James Mangold and starring Timothée Chalamet.

I had an undeniably good time with this movie as I was completely entertained.

This film takes a look at Dylan’s life and career spanning from 1961 until 1964. The first part of the film is the typical musical biopic with many of the same beats that you see in all of these, but, in the second part of the film, the story becomes less about Bob Dylan and his genius at writing and creating music, and more about his change from the basic folk music style into something more electric, which caused a great deal of anxiety among the folk community and the fans of the world.

If you excuse the pun, Timothée Chalamet is electric with his performance of the enigmatic musician. He absolutely becomes Bob Dylan and he does an amazing job here, as Chalamet not only acts, but he plays the guitar and sings the songs. And he does all of this with a wonderful proficiency that never breaks the illusion that he is building as Bob Dylan. It is an Oscar-worthy performance in my opinion.

The cast around Chalamet is sensational too. Edward Norton as Pete Seeger does a fantastic job as Dylan’s mentor before he pulls away when Dylan added electric guitar to his repertoire. Boyd Holbrook has a precious few scenes that he completely dominates as Johnny Cash. Scoot McNairy played a sick and unable to talk Woody Guthrie, an idol to Dylan and someone who inspired Dylan to push on. Monica Barbaro played folk singer Joan Baez, who carried on an affair with Dylan but struggled with some of his choices and Elle Fanning played Dylan’s girlfriend Sylvie, whose performance was fine, but whose character did not make a lot of sense and so was the weakest part of an amazing film.

The music of Bob Dylan (and a few others) was used brilliantly to keep the energy of the film flying through most of the two hour and twenty minute runtime. I could not stop tapping my toes or singing under my breath with the music as we got all of Bob Dylan’s classics from the time period (one of my favorites- Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door came out in 1973).

Admittedly, we do not go into too much depth of the characters in the film. We do not learn anything about Bob Dylan that wasn’t common knowledge, but I do not think that was a negative necessarily. There is an aura around Bob Dylan and this movie definitely creates that aura around Timothée Chalamet.

I loved this movie and I think it has a chance to make the top 10 of the year in a few days when I make the list. It is certainly going to find its way on the top 30 list for sure. I found this thoroughly entertaining and engrossing and I loved hearing this music. I was impressed with the performances, with Chalamet standing out as a major success.

4.85 stars

Elton John: Never Too Late

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Elton John is one of the greatest musicians from the 1970s and early ’80s, and there have been several versions about his life from A Life in Song to Rocketman. The latest Elton John documentary came to Disney + this month called Elton John: Never Too Late.

Fans of Elton John should love this documentary. The music is a highlight as they use some of his greatest songs as a soundtrack for the doc. There are moments in Elton John’s life that could have had more details developed within the doc.

Some of my own personal favorite parts of the doc included the section involving John Lennon, the details surrounding Elton John’s suicide attempt and his initial relationship with Bernie Taupin.

I also enjoyed how the doc used animated sections to visualize a series of interviews or tape recording that were used in the doc for the first time. Some of the pain from Elton John’s life was tough to hear and I appreciate how he was willing to go into the story for the doc.

I did enjoy the new song, ‘Never Too Late’ with Brandi Carlile, that played over the credits of the documentary.

This was an engaging documentary, but it could have gone into more depth than it did. However, it does touch on some things that are intriguing and the music is fantastic.

3.85 stars

A Different Man

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As the year is coming to an end, I went to Fandango At Home to see if I could find several films that I missed during 2024. I picked up a few rentals to watch over the next couple of days. The first one I watched was A Different Man, an A24 film starring Sebastian Stan and directed by Aaron Schimberg.

According to IMDB, “Aspiring actor Edward (Sebastian Stan) undergoes a radical medical procedure to drastically transform his appearance, but his new dream face quickly turns into a nightmare as he loses out on the role he was born to play and becomes obsessed with reclaiming what was lost.“

There are many A24 films that are like this one, though different. There are wild, bizarre situations that seem to be taken in a normal, typical way. In this case, there is a sci-fi technique that led to Edward, who had Neurofibromatosis- a genetic condition that sees tumors grow on the body, to fixing his face, and it just was a way to change his appearance in the film.

Stan was excellent as the twitchy, malformed Edward. His change of facial appearance did not truly change him at all. It just opened some areas up to Edward, but he was just as uncertain and shaky as he ever was.

Adam Pearson played Oswald, another misshapen man, who brought himself into the play Edward was working in and kind of took over the stage. Pearson was amazing in the role and he had a complex character who seemed to be trying to take over the play while still being extremely likable.

Renate Reinsve played Ingrid, the playwright who had lived next door to Edward, gave a fantastic performance. She was very compelling with her relationship with Edward and Oswald.

I thought this was a very interesting film that was difficult to watch at times. The scenes where the tumors were being peeled off Edward’s face was horrific. Still, it is interesting that the film clearly is saying that the looks were not going to make everything better and that Edward regretted his decision in the end. Sebastian Stan did a great job in this role.

3.75 stars

What If…? S3 E3

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Spoilers

“What If The Red Guardian Stopped The Winter Soldier”

One of the strength of the What If show is taking characters who would not usually work together or you may not expect to be together. Episode one had Sam Wilson and Bruce Banner. Episode two was Agatha and Kingo. Now, we get Red Guardian and Winter Soldier.

David Harbour is a gem. His work as the Red Guardian is so silly and over the top that it works, especially when paired with the stoic, more quiet Winter Soldier. This is clearly a “buddy cop” style of episode with the two main protagonists being pursued by Bill Foster, aka Goliath, once again voiced by Laurence Fishburne.

The pairing kicks off when Red Guardian prevents the Winter Soldier from killing Howard Stark and his wife as we see in Captain America: Civil War, and then they wind up thrust together into Las Vegas.

This was the episode from where they dropped a clip after last year’s season two, hinting to us that season three was closer than we thought.

They had some nice moments between Red Guardian and Bucky too, as the episode was more than just a bunch of action strung together. The scene where Red Guardian helps Bucky remember about Coney Island was very sweet, and it was obviously important to Bucky.

I found it odd that Oscar nominated America Ferrara did a voice of a secondary side character, Ranger Morales who teamed up with Bill Foster to chase after Red Guardian and Winter Soldier. That seemed to be a huge casting for such a minor character who, as far as I know, has no connection in Marvel Comics (After some research, I discovered there was an Agent Morales who worked for SHIELD that perhaps this character was based upon).

I love how What If…? has been using different styles to tell their stories. First episode was a Kaiju/monster story, episode two was Old Hollywood and this is a buddy cop tale. It shows the variety that the show can present effectively.

Season Three Episodes So Far

E2 What If Agatha Went to Hollywood?

E3 What If The Red Guardian Stopped The Winter Soldier

E1 What If the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?

2024 Year in Review: I Am Groot Voice Acting Award

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This has been a big year for animation and that means this was going to be a tough award to pick. Of course, it is not just animation for a voice over. It could be a character on a show in a helmet that you never see their face. It could be a mo-cap character. There are a ton of choices.

“I am Groot” Voice Acting Award

Previous Winners:  Robin Williams (Aladdin- honorary), Auli’i Cravalho (Moana), Andy Serkis (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes),  Josh Brolin (Avengers: Infinity War), Ryan Reynolds (Detective Pikachu), Pedro Pascal (The Mandalorian), Jeffrey Wright and Chadwick Boseman (What If…?), Antonio Banderas (Puss in Boots: The Last Wish), Bradley Cooper (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3)

Runners-Up: Let’s start off with one of the toughest jobs of the year. Chris Hemsworth did the voice of Orion Pax/Optimus Prime and had to step into the shoes of iconic EYG Hall of Famer Peter Cullin. And he did a tremendous job in Transformers One. Another film with big shoes to fill was Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Noa was a new protagonist voiced by Owen Teague, who took over the franchise from Andy Serkis. Tom Hardy was the best part of Venom: The Last Dance as he was the voice of Venom as well as Eddie Brock. The Wild Robot had two great performances from Lupita Nyong’o as Roz and Pedro Pascal as Fink. Hamish Linklater was our new animated Batman in Prime’s Batman: The Caped Crusader. Maya Hawke was awesome as the voice of the antagonist in Inside Out 2, Anxiety. Just today, we heard Kathryn Hahn return to the role of Agatha Harkness in one of the best episodes of What If…? ever, and her voice brought the power of this character. Mark Hamill is an iconic voice actor and he continued as Skeletor in Masters of the Universe: Revolutions. Lenore Zann delivered one of the most powerful lines in all of animation this year when she said “I can’t feel you” as Rogue clutched Gambit’s dead body at the end of episode five of X-Men ’97. Alison Sealy-Smith was exceptional in X-Men ’97 as Storm. To be fair, there are so many possible choices from X-Men ’97 because that show was epic.

This year’s winner is also from the show, X-Men ’97.

AJ LoCascio, as Gambit (X-Men’97)

“The name’s Gambit. Remember it.“

He was only in half of the season of X-Men ’97, but he absolutely killed it. Then, episode five of the show is one of the best episodes of TV this entire year. Gambit was at the center of that show and was the massive emotional beat.

200% Wolf

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This was an animated movie that I missed during its theatrical run this year despite it being in our area. I spotted it on Disney + and figured it would be a nice film to add to the list of movies I saw this year.

As I was on Disney +, I discovered that this is actually a sequel to a movie called 100% Wolf, which I had never heard of before but had been released in 2020. It is also on Disney +, but I did not watch it, deciding to go with just this movie.

According to IMDB, “Heroic poodle Freddy Lupin has everything it takes to lead his werewolf pack. Except respect. If only he were more… wolfish. But when a wayward wish transforms him into a werewolf and deposits a mischievous moon sprite on earth, Freddy must restore the cosmic order before earth and moon collide. Oops. One thing’s for sure – Freddy will never question being a poodle again.”

This movie was fine. It was an enjoyable enough film. It looked great and the character designs were cool.

It was funny and clever. It would be a wonderful family film to share during the holiday season.

3.5 stars

2024 Year in Review: The Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year

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On the other side of the Gomers, you have the films that you have high expectations for but they just don’t reach them. Films you anticipated and when they release, you feel that pit in your stomach telling you that this just was not what you had hoped.

The Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year 

Previous Winners:  In the Heart of the Sea, The Snowman, Amazing Spider-Man 2, After Earth, Dark Knight Rises, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Batman v. Superman, Christopher Robin, IT: Chapter Two, Tenet, Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins, Halloween Ends, Next Goal Wins

This year’s runners-up: Early in the year, I thought the trailers for Argylle were remarkably fun and that this would be a sure thing. Nope. This was such a letdown. Another film I had hopes for were Lisa Frankenstein, but I hated this movie. It will certainly have a place on the worst films of the year. Many people liked Challengers, but I found it to be dull and nowhere near what I had expected. I liked Moana 2, but I had thought it would be better than it was. Juror #2 was a film that I had heard positives about and that I was looking forward to it, but this was a trudge to get through.

This year’s Spider-Man 3 Disappointment of the Year is…

Gladiator 2

Another movie that was not horrendous, but just was not very good, and when you are a sequel to an Oscar winning classic, not very good is a real disappointment.

And… sharks. Come on.

2024 Year in Review: The Gomers for the Biggest Surprise

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2024 had plenty of films that fell into the middle of the range between good and bad. Honestly, however, it had a bunch of films that were surprises too. Thus, we have this year’s Gomer Award being quite a challenge to present. There are so many potential choices.

The Gomer for the Biggest Surprise

Previous Gomer Award Winners:  The Gift, Ferdinand, Edge of Tomorrow, We’re the Millers, The Campaign, Ouija: Origin of Evil, Bumblebee, Crawl, Greenland, Free Guy, Deadstream, Totally Killer

Here are the runners-up:

First off, Late Night with the Devil from David Dastmalchian was a huge surprise because it just was something that I had not heard much from. I did hear Kevin Smith mention it on an episode of Fatman Beyond, but still. for it to be one of the best of the year, who saw that coming? Then, since I disliked the original film, who would have guessed that a new version of Roadhouse starring Jake Gyllenhaal that went immediately to streaming would be any good. It was and I couldn’t believe it. Another one that was a reboot of sort from a movie that I did not like was Twisters. No way that was a film I was going to enjoy and yet I did. Abigail was a surprise until I realized that Alishia Weir was the star. I knew it was going great after that. Hit Man was another I saw on streaming that had no right to be as good as it was. It’s the second film on the list from Glen Powell. Sharks in Paris? No way that was anything other than a member of the worst movies of the year list, right? Wrong. Under Paris was a lot of fun and way better than it should have been. Longlegs provided one of those shocking moments in the theater when you discover that Nicolas Cage was going to go over the top and still be awesome. I spoke about how much I was surprised that I enjoyed The Best Christmas Pageant Ever as I was trying to find an award for Best X-Mas Movie. Skincare? Another one that had no appeal to me that turned out to be fully entertaining. Strange Darling was weird, but really wonderfully constructed and engaging.

Yet after all of this, one film was the biggest surprise of the year. Spoiler for an upcoming Batman and Robin Award for Rottenness winner, this film one of the worst trailers of all time and nearly caused me to skip the film. Little did I know that this is probably a top 10 film of the year (certainly in consideration, at least).

Transformers One

This was an amazing movie and was one of the best animated films of the year. I never thought making Optimus and Megatron friends when they were younger would work. They weren’t Charles Xavier and Magneto, and yet this was done so well that everything made perfect sense. After so many years of utterly hating Transformers films, loving this one, especially after that horrendous trailer, was totally unexpected… and thus a Gomer winner.

PS: Interestingly enough, this is the second Transformers movie to win this award, with Bumblebee being the other. The original Transformers movies brought the bar so far down that I have trouble seeing them as a positive thing.

What If Final List of episodes

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I will be keeping track of the What If episodes through season three and I will end up doing an overall episode list of my rankings of all 26 episodes of the series.

Season One

E9 What If… The Watcher Broke His Oath?

E4 What If… Doctor Strange Lost his Heart instead of his Hands?

E2 What If… T’Challa became a Star-Lord?

E8 What If… Ultron Won?

E5 What If…Zombies?

E7 What If… Thor was an Only Child?

E1 What If… Captain Carter were the First Avenger?

E3 What If… The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes

E6 What If… Killmonger Had Rescued Tony Stark?

Season Two

E8  ”What If… the Avengers Assembled in 1602?”

E3  ”What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”

E1  “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”

E5  ”What If… Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper”

E9  ”What If… Strange Supreme Intervened?“

E6  ”What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?”

E7  ”What If…Hela Found the Ten Rings?”

E2  “What If… Peter Quill Fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”

E4  ”What If… Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?”

Season Three

E2 What If Agatha Went to Hollywood?

E7 What If the Watcher Disappeared?

E3 What If The Red Guardian stopped The Winter Soldier?

E8 What If… What If?

E6 What If 1872?

E5 What If the Emergence Destroyed the Earth?

E1 What If the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?

E4 What If Howard the Duck Got Hitched?

Total List of What If…? Episodes

26. S1 E6 What If… Killmonger Had Rescued Tony Stark?

25. S3 E4 What If Howard the Duck Got Hitched?

24. S1 E7 What If… Thor was an Only Child?

23. S2 E4  What If… Iron Man Crashed into the Grandmaster?

22. S1 E3 What If… The World Lost Its Mightiest Heroes

21. S3 E1 What If the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?

20. S1 E1 What If… Captain Carter were the First Avenger?

19. S2 E2  What If… Peter Quill Fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?

18. S2 E7  What If…Hela Found the Ten Rings?

17. S3 E5 What If the Emergence Destroyed the Earth?

16. S3 E6 What If 1872?

15. S2 E9  What If… Strange Supreme Intervened?

14. S2 E5  What If… Captain Carter Fought the Hydra Stomper

13. S3 E8 What If… What If?

12. S3 E3 What If The Red Guardian stopped The Winter Soldier?

11. S2 E6  What If…Kahhori Reshaped the World?

10. S3 E7 What If the Watcher Disappeared?

9. S1 E5 What If…Zombies?

8. S1 E2 What If… T’Challa became a Star-Lord?

7. S1 E8 What If… Ultron Won?

6. S2 E1  What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?

5. S2 E3  ”What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”

4. S2 E8  ”What If… the Avengers Assembled in 1602?”

3. S1 E9 What If… The Watcher Broke His Oath?

2. S3 E2 What If Agatha Went to Hollywood?

  1. S1 E4 What If… Doctor Strange Lost his Heart instead of his Hands?

What If…? S3 E2

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Spoilers

“What If Agatha Went to Hollywood?”

Now that’s more like it.

While I liked the previous What If…? episode of season three, I did not love it. Season two I ADORED just about everything about this one.

Agatha Harkness and Kingo? Who knew that I needed that in my life?

Golden Age of Hollywood with Agatha making a gigantic, cosmic blockbuster with Howard Stark (and the ever quippy Jarvis) is amazing, but to tie that into Agatha’s latest plot to grab power for herself by way of stealing the power of the growing Celestial inside the earth, Tiamut, is on another level.

There is a dance battle, literally, between Agatha and Kingo. All the while Howard Stark is shouting out some of the funniest dialogue you are ever going to hear.

“I want Busby Berkeley to see this and contemplate being a realtor“

“Will they dance? They will!“

“That chemistry was hotter than the Hindenburg.“

“Is that some kind of euphonism? Are you two a thing now?”

Howard Stark and Jarvis made the perfect Old Hollywood director behind the scenes for this What If…? episode. The quips delivered wonderfully by both Dominic Cooper and James D’Arcy. Jarvis’s initial dry wit fit beautifully in the insanity that was going on around him in this episode.

The fact is this… Kathryn Hahn is a master. She ahs taken this secondary (maybe even tertiary) character of Agatha Harkness and made her something special. Kathryn Hahn’s aura is all over this episode and she just dominated every minute, and she had amazing chemistry with Kumail Nanjiani. These two characters worked so well with one another and who saw that coming?

The dance routine was brilliant. I loved it. The design of Celestial Agatha was beautifully perfect. Her battle with Arishem the Judge was a great call back to WandaVision. The end speech from Kingo targeted what was missing inside Agatha all along.

This episode is very meta with several behind the scenes comments and a reference to Cecil B. DeMille. For me, this all worked so well that I just sat on my couch with a big smile on my face the entire time.

I would put this episode of What If…? right at the top of the series along with the season one Dr. Strange episode, the season two Christmas and 1602 episodes. Certainly the best of season three so far and potentially one of the best of the entire run.

Season Order So Far

E2 What If Agatha Went to Hollywood?

E1 What If the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?

Silo S2 E6

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Spoilers

“Barricades”

Silo streamed its sixth episode the other day and things continue to be happening. This episode spent most of the time in our original silo, with only a few minutes at the end of the episode with Juliette and Solo.

Sheriff Billings takes a stand after finally getting to be able to talk to Shirley, Knox and Walker. He showed himself that he was willing to follow the law and not worry about whose side he is on. He also seemed to discover that his shakes from the Syndrome were gone despite not taking his herbs for days. What does this mean for the people of the silo? Is it just one more lie that has been used to maintain the status quo?

Bernard is feeling like he is losing control of things as the revolt below him in the silo has been picking up steam and his attempt to starve them out has failed. He realized that he has lost the sheriff, who is going to follow the law and not just blindly follow what he says.

Things are going to go crazy when Juliette is able to return to her original silo. It’s coming…

Blink

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Disney + streamed this documentary entitled Blink, which is basically a travelogue film of a family with a tragic twist. Three of the four children of the Pelletier family are diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic disorder that causes those with it to eventually go blind. In order to help their children log their visual memory, their parents, Sébastien and Édith, take their children on a year long trip around the world to do a bucket list.

The film then followed the family across the world to do things such as explore the rainforest or drink juice on a camel in Egypt or hike across the Himalayas.

Much of the travel aspect of the film was things that we saw before, but the real moments of this was the interactions between the family members and the moments where they approached the idea of being blind.

One of the toughest moments came when Édith realized that her youngest child, Laurent, did not understand what it meant to be blind. She handled it in as kind of a way as possible, but the boy’s reaction and responses were heartbreaking.

There was another moment where the family was on a cable car and it broke down, trapping them for hours. It got dark, it rained, they had little to no water. The inadvertent metaphor for being trapped in this cable car as everything went dark around them was almost to cruel to believe. It was the most harrowing moment on the trip that the family had to face.

It is definitely a challenging watch as the reality of what these children will be facing is always under the surface of what they were doing. Yet, it was able to maintain the joy and hope life can offer.

This is a very compelling documentary.

3.8 stars

Dexter: Original Sin E1-3

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Spoilers

“And in the Beginning…”

“Kid in a Candy Store”

“Miami Vice”

I watched Dexter on and off when it was one. The season with John Lithgow was one of the best seasons of TV ever. But I did not watch much of the last few years of the show nor did I watch the return series from a few years ago. I liked Dexter, but I did not go out of my way for him.

When I spotted this new series, Dexter: Original Sin, on Prime, I was interested. Telling the story of how things started off with Dexter and his Dark Passenger seemed like a great story, and the use of Michael C. Hall as the narrator worked in a lot of different ways.

Of course, the casting of Dexter and Debra would be key to any series and I think this new show got them right with Dexter being played by Patrick Gibson and Debra was played by Molly Brown. Both seem to fit these characters without being just an imitation of the originals.

We have a living Harry Morgan here as well with the one and only Christian Slater taking that role of Dexter’s adoptive father. He is on the force, but we know that Dexter’s murders would eventually take their toll on Harry. Harry’s rules are a major part in the character of Dexter’s life and code, no matter how bizarre it was.

Sarah Michelle Geller is on this show too as Tanya Martin, Dexter’s first boss at the Miami Metro and is the CSI chief. It’s cool to see Buffy once again, but she is just listed as a “special guest star” so I do not know what that means.

Dexter is an excellent character, a heroic one who would feed his darker impulses by killing people who were bad. Yes, there is all kinds of morally grey area in here. Yes, Dexter is not really a hero. Yet, he does seem to be more than just another serial killer. The influence of Harry is clearly the reason for that.

At this point, Dexter has been dumping his two kills in a swampy area with some alligators. Thing is … at the end of E3, an arm was left floating. Obviously, Dexter will develop a better manner of body disposal that he takes into the future with him. We will see how he avoids the trouble with the arm (because obviously he is getting away with it).

I liked these first three episodes. It did take a little while to remember about the characters from the original series and how they are used here, but it was fun getting through it. I will continue to watch this series and may even give a chance to the new Dexter series called Dexter: Resurrections coming in 2025.

Mufasa: The Lion King

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When the 2019 Lion King “live-action” remake broke the billion dollar club at the box office, you should have known that we were getting something more. My guess is that Mufasa: The Lion King will not be the same kind of demand.

Mufasa: The Lion King from Disney came out this weekend. The film was directed by Barry Jenkins and featured a “live-action” cast of CGI animals in a CGI generated African land. How this could be considered a “live-action” film is up for an argument.

Unfortunately, I did not like the 2019 remake of the Lion King and I am not a huge fan of this new film either. I do think that this film is better than the 2019 version. Specifically because this film does a better job of avoiding the uncanny valley of the 2019 film. Those lion characters in 2019 did not show us any emotion on their faces at all, lacking any ability to emote, making them all seem very distant from the audience. That is considerably better with this movie.

In fact, the strength of Mufasa: The Lion King is easily the CGI. This film looks absolutely gorgeous and it has some of the most realistic artwork that you are ever going to see in a film. In fact, I could see people claiming that some of these animals were real and not contrived on an artist’s board.

I did have some major issues with Mufasa: The Lion King, most notably that there was not much new in the story. It was basically the origin story of Mufasa and Scar as the two lions went on an adventure and met other characters from the original Lion King. Not much else.

There was a devise used to tell the story with Rafiki (John Kani) telling the story to Simba’s daughter Kiara (Blue Ivy Carter), Timon (Billy Eichner) and Pumbaa (Seth Rogan) which was a total waste of time. Nothing that happened in this framing device was funny or worth taking away from the main story.

I also thought that the sound mixing was horrendous. Perhaps this is the theater I was in, but I had trouble hearing a lot of the dialogue because the music in the background was playing so loudly or dominating the moment of the scene. Speaking of the music, I did not find any of the songs interesting or song that I would remember later. Even the songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda were unremarkable. They were fine when watching it, but there is not one song that I can recall as of this minute.

Mufasa: The Lion King had its moments for sure. It is a stunning accomplishment of visual arts, but there just seems to be little else that makes this an important story to tell. While it is not a waste of time, it is anything but a great movie.

2.8 stars

Sonic the Hedgehog 3

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The Sonic the Hedgehog trilogy is a pretty decent trilogy, as the third film in the franchise debuted this weekend.

I liked this movie, although, to be fair, it felt very much like the last one, with the arrival of Knuckles. This time, we get Shadow and the beats are similar to the previous film.

According to IMDB, “Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails reunite against a powerful new adversary, Shadow, a mysterious villain with powers unlike anything they have faced before. With their abilities outmatched in every way, Team Sonic must seek out an unlikely alliance in hopes of stopping Shadow and protecting the planet.“

Shadow is voiced by Keanu Reaves and he does a solid job as the villain. The film does take a different step at first with the use of Doctor Robotnik, played once again by the amazing and manic Jim Carrey, who also plays Robotnik’s grandpa, Gerald Robotnik. Carrey feels as if he is always having the time of his life playing this character as he has a free and compelling flow to everything he does as Robotnik.

The action and the CGI are all top notch, and the final act of the film was filled with tension and unexpected action. It is just that everything seemed very familiar leading up to it.

Since I am not familiar with the video game or Sonic’s general world, watching the post credit scenes did nothing for me. I bet this is the way that others feel at the end of Marvel Studios movies when I am flipping out over some reveal of a character. Both post credit scenes were definitely designed for fans of the video game. That is okay.

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 is better than it had a right to be. It was fun, had a lot of humor and was an exciting family friendly adventure with a good message. Jim Carrey is outstanding as always and the rest of the returning actors feel comfortable and confident in their roles.

3.75 stars