The Toasty Critic Takes a Vacation

Good morning to all of you film lovers.  I will probably just go through a run down of films that I have seen lately, with maybe some snippets of brief reviews of them.  I have taken a long break.  And I understand that this is something I did not intend on doing.  Sometimes life throws curves at us that we do not realize are happening to us until they are already upon us.  Suffice it to say, I have had some family issues that have come to my attention and needed to get back to those first.  They aren't completely over, but I am going to resolve to be more active this year and hopefully get this blog off the ground.  So here I am.  And I am back.

Films that I have watched recently.  I realize that some of these are already on DVD.

Kubo and the Two Strings - From the Makers of Boxtrolls, Coraline and Paranorman, it is a beautiful film of a child who can magically manipulate his world.  The stop motion animation is beautiful as are the characters.  And the lead character tells his tales through Origami, which may be self-congratulatory, but it works like Preston Sturges Sullivan's Travels.  There is a beauty in their art and they don't mind the world seeing it. With the voices of Matthew McConaughey, Charlize Theron and Ralph Fiennes. This film is perfectly toasty.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - Sometimes you face a movie that seems so daunting that youa re nor sure whether or not you can discuss it without receiving a ton of hate mail, or a ton of praise. Or sometimes you receive both. What I am going to say is that the film is well worth watching and as most critics who have liked it agree, the last act is incredibly rewarding. Just be prepared for your child, especially if your child is younger, to be shocked at the outcome of the movie, even though Episode IV should have given you a big clue as to what was going to happen here. There are two different CGI characters who are surprising. I will not spoil the last one. But the first one I will saw that I was disappointed by the CGI representation of Peter Cushing. They couldn't convey the presence he held in A New Hope.  And graphics made it look like he was literally the Walking Dead.  Maybe the Walking Dead should take notes here. This film is mostly toasty.

Finding Dory - Pixar knows how to tell a story for certain. And they are very good at connecting to an audiences emotions. Spoiler alert : The part that I found the most touching is when Dory was going from being lost as a young fish, to an adolescent fish and then to an adult fish.  And the mantra just keep swimming takes on a whole level of pain when you hear it.  There are just so many different ways that this portion of the film resonated with me.  It is definitely worth a watch.  And I will always love Pixar after the way that even the movie Up connected with my daughter when she was only 3 years old.  What I will say is that while there are moments of true beauty in this film, I fell like some of the heart of it all was missing. I don't know why. I don't have a good answer.  Ellen Degeneres and Albert Brooks reprise their roles.  Ed O'Neil as a cranky septopus (have to watch to find out), Eugene Levy and Diane Keaton also have roles.  This film is lukewarm toast.

Sing - I am of a mixed mind about this film.  There is a part of me that just loves this film.  There are some great touching moments with the characters.  When Johnny connects with his dad about his love for music and singing, and you can see his father's pride.  The hilarious inventiveness of Rosita the pi, and mom of countless piglets, is wonderful.  The desire to be true to your art with Ash the Porcupine.  And Meena the Elephant has to overcome her shyness by just singing.  I have to admit that I just enjoyed it from beginning to end.  But now I hate myself because it makes me feel like I should be watching the Voice, or any of those other singing talent programs.  I hate reality TV.  And for that I feel like Sing makes me want to take a long bath.  This film is mostly toasty.

I was thinking there would be more. And hopefully after I get a look at some of the other films that are out there, especially as this is awards season, I will have something more substantial to review. Hope all of you are having a wonderful 2017 so far And keep it toasty out there . . . even in the rain.