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Fire and Ice
Jun. 22nd, 2025 04:39 pmTubi suggested Fire and Ice to me, and as a fantasy lover, I couldn't resist!
But, IMHO, while I was prepared for a lot of scantily clad people (Frank Frazetta just hates pants ;-D), I wasn't prepared for the straight up racism with the subhumans. It was just very, very bad. The rotoscoping was beautiful, and although simple stories were okay, the plot was just too simple for my liking. It was nice that Princess Teegra is a capable gal and not a damsel in distress, and the fantasy world is interesting, but it was all surprisingly ho-hum for the feature length. Honestly, watching Saturday morning cartoons would be more interesting :-D
I also couldn't get over the fact that when Prince Nekron is using his ice powers--well, he's pretty much having an O! It really hasn't aged well.
Bonus trivia: Thomas Kinkade and James Gurney did the backgrounds.
But, IMHO, while I was prepared for a lot of scantily clad people (Frank Frazetta just hates pants ;-D), I wasn't prepared for the straight up racism with the subhumans. It was just very, very bad. The rotoscoping was beautiful, and although simple stories were okay, the plot was just too simple for my liking. It was nice that Princess Teegra is a capable gal and not a damsel in distress, and the fantasy world is interesting, but it was all surprisingly ho-hum for the feature length. Honestly, watching Saturday morning cartoons would be more interesting :-D
I also couldn't get over the fact that when Prince Nekron is using his ice powers--well, he's pretty much having an O! It really hasn't aged well.
Bonus trivia: Thomas Kinkade and James Gurney did the backgrounds.
Spellbound
Mar. 21st, 2025 10:31 amI watched Spellbound without watching the trailer and it was absolutely delightful! All your favourite fairy tale elements are there, but with a big twist--a topic that even Sesame Street couldn't tackle for children. I wondered why this movie wasn't on the big screen, but I can see why...it's got great animation, great voice acting, great everything...but that twist...is well done, but a big screen release would attract criticism IMHO. Watch it regardless :-)
The Sassy Black Woman Trope
Feb. 11th, 2025 09:51 amHere's another interesting video for Black History Month. As an avid cartoon watcher, I know there's a lot of influence from minstrelry and Blackface, but the Sapphire stereotype was entirely new to me. I've certainly noticed it though! As a writer, I always try to be conscious of these stereotypes so I'm not carrying them into the future.
I've been wanting to watch Sing for years and finally crossed it off my watchlist tonight. It was cute, but just didn't resonate as much with me as I thought it would. The stakes were really low in the plot and there were a lot of characters. YMMV!
Wangan Midnight
Apr. 28th, 2024 09:45 amAfter watching Initial D, we started another series called Wangan Midnight, based on a manga and also loosely based on the famous real life Mid Night Racing Team. One season of the anime was made, which can be watched on YouTube.
I didn't enjoy the series as much as Initial D and noped out around episode 15. It just wasn't interesting anymore to me and every episode felt the same despite the excellent rendering of the cars and race scenes. Part of the problem, according to a little Googling, is there were clear storyline beginnings and endings in the manga while the anime globs everything together. For example, one of the problems in the first few episodes is that main character Akio is skipping school to race. By episode 15 I was still wondering why that hadn't been resolved as more characters (and cars) entered the show :-D
The animation is just okay. It's not the most expressive animation and Akio and Reina basically have the same face, but Reina has longer hair. The rendering of the cars is fantastic but it's just lacking narrative cohesion that would make it more enjoyable for me. The characters, whether they are drivers, tuners or mechanics, are just so obsessed with racing that that's all their is to their characters. Obsession as a theme can be interesting, but there's never that tension or conflict to keep a viewer hooked.
I didn't enjoy the series as much as Initial D and noped out around episode 15. It just wasn't interesting anymore to me and every episode felt the same despite the excellent rendering of the cars and race scenes. Part of the problem, according to a little Googling, is there were clear storyline beginnings and endings in the manga while the anime globs everything together. For example, one of the problems in the first few episodes is that main character Akio is skipping school to race. By episode 15 I was still wondering why that hadn't been resolved as more characters (and cars) entered the show :-D
The animation is just okay. It's not the most expressive animation and Akio and Reina basically have the same face, but Reina has longer hair. The rendering of the cars is fantastic but it's just lacking narrative cohesion that would make it more enjoyable for me. The characters, whether they are drivers, tuners or mechanics, are just so obsessed with racing that that's all their is to their characters. Obsession as a theme can be interesting, but there's never that tension or conflict to keep a viewer hooked.
That's a wrap!
Apr. 28th, 2024 09:22 amI finally wrapped up My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic five years after the show ended. S9 never arrived on Netflix and I didn't want to watch it on Prime because Jeff Bezos doesn't need any more of my money. Somehow, the last season ended up on YouTube and I binged right away!
Season 8 wasn't my favorite--the school of friendship really felt too much like a Harry Potter fan fiction crossover with ponies but there were some good episodes. Season 9 felt like a mixed bag as well--it's always weird when the writers make the ponies do something out of character and zap years of character growth. Although it lacked the charm and humour of earlier seasons, the villian story arc was pretty good and I was surprised the show actually touched on Daring Do and Dr. Caballeron stealing artifacts while Ahuizotl bemoaned his inability to protect his culture.
The last episode was sweet and satisfying, so that's all I really could ask of the series after so many years :-)
Season 8 wasn't my favorite--the school of friendship really felt too much like a Harry Potter fan fiction crossover with ponies but there were some good episodes. Season 9 felt like a mixed bag as well--it's always weird when the writers make the ponies do something out of character and zap years of character growth. Although it lacked the charm and humour of earlier seasons, the villian story arc was pretty good and I was surprised the show actually touched on Daring Do and Dr. Caballeron stealing artifacts while Ahuizotl bemoaned his inability to protect his culture.
The last episode was sweet and satisfying, so that's all I really could ask of the series after so many years :-)
Princess Monoke and Spirited Away
Apr. 8th, 2024 09:00 amThere's a big gap in my animation watch list and it's embarrassing to say I've never watched a Studio Ghibli movie from start to finish until recently, except for Pom Poko. Fortunately in today's world, that's easy to fix.
The main thing I noticed about both films, and I'm sure I'll continue to notice, is how unique the character designs and storytelling are. One would be hard pressed to find a squirmy, worm infested boar in a Disney or Pixar film. There's a layer of authenticity and creativity which is so refreshing for me as a viewer. The movies are definitely for older children and up--both of these would have scared me as five year old.
There's also a sense of characters "just as they are". For example, in Princess Monoke, there are many groups and individuals all with different goals and sometimes good intentions. I was sure Lady Eboshi was the villain, until I discovered that she rescued women from brothels and was kind to lepers. I'm so used to the good/evil binary that I found myself thinking deeply about struggles the characters faced in the movie.
Spirited Away, as a newer movie, had more polished animation and again, I fell in love with the different character designs of the monsters and spirits young protagonist Chihiro encounters. Simply being spirits does not make them "bad", although they are kind of jerks to Chihiro. Most child characters in movies have something going for them like smarts or charisma, but Chihiro has neither. She's just a ten year old girl doing what ten year olds will do. She makes mistakes and learns from them. Her capacity to care for others and determination to help those she loves carries her throughout her journey.
The main thing I noticed about both films, and I'm sure I'll continue to notice, is how unique the character designs and storytelling are. One would be hard pressed to find a squirmy, worm infested boar in a Disney or Pixar film. There's a layer of authenticity and creativity which is so refreshing for me as a viewer. The movies are definitely for older children and up--both of these would have scared me as five year old.
There's also a sense of characters "just as they are". For example, in Princess Monoke, there are many groups and individuals all with different goals and sometimes good intentions. I was sure Lady Eboshi was the villain, until I discovered that she rescued women from brothels and was kind to lepers. I'm so used to the good/evil binary that I found myself thinking deeply about struggles the characters faced in the movie.
Spirited Away, as a newer movie, had more polished animation and again, I fell in love with the different character designs of the monsters and spirits young protagonist Chihiro encounters. Simply being spirits does not make them "bad", although they are kind of jerks to Chihiro. Most child characters in movies have something going for them like smarts or charisma, but Chihiro has neither. She's just a ten year old girl doing what ten year olds will do. She makes mistakes and learns from them. Her capacity to care for others and determination to help those she loves carries her throughout her journey.
We were obsessed--and I mean obsessed--with an anime series called Initial D. Although I fell asleep during the first couple of episodes, that wasn't an indicator of how awesome the series it would turn out to be. If you like stories about people coming together for a common goal, rooting for underdogs, and characters discovering new skills, this is really a series which has it all, even a bit of romance. Plus, a ripping soundtrack the budgies absolutely loved.
Basically, Initial D is about street racing in mountain passes and the friendships and rivalries that spring up as competitors as main character Takumi wipes away his competition. There are loads of characters and I found the easiest way to remember them was by which car or team they drove. The animation plus the story also improved with each season, so if you're thinking the first season is rather poorly rendered, take hope it gets better. The writing was amazing, with plots are as twisty and turny as Akina's mountain passes. There were whole races spanning 4-5 episodes, hence why chores went undone and bedtimes were missed while we absorbed all six seasons and some extras.
Basically, Initial D is about street racing in mountain passes and the friendships and rivalries that spring up as competitors as main character Takumi wipes away his competition. There are loads of characters and I found the easiest way to remember them was by which car or team they drove. The animation plus the story also improved with each season, so if you're thinking the first season is rather poorly rendered, take hope it gets better. The writing was amazing, with plots are as twisty and turny as Akina's mountain passes. There were whole races spanning 4-5 episodes, hence why chores went undone and bedtimes were missed while we absorbed all six seasons and some extras.
Star Trek: Lower Decks
Jul. 5th, 2023 07:30 pmA bit late to the game, we watched the first season of Star Trek: Lower Decks and loved it! We just started season 2 as well. We've been wanting to watch it for ages but didn't want to subscribe to another streaming service. Then we found out, too late, that Crave is ditching all the Star Trek shows except Strange New Worlds. Crave is bundled with TELUS and it's like...how did we not know? Noooo!
Anyway, we may not have enough time to watch Picard but we wanted to watch Lower Decks far more. The stories are so affectionate with the source material and it's so laugh out loud funny. I feel action and humour have really been missing from Star Trek and I appreciate how this uh--workplace comedy?--finds joy and excitement in everyday crew life.
Anyway, we may not have enough time to watch Picard but we wanted to watch Lower Decks far more. The stories are so affectionate with the source material and it's so laugh out loud funny. I feel action and humour have really been missing from Star Trek and I appreciate how this uh--workplace comedy?--finds joy and excitement in everyday crew life.
It's been forever since we watched an anime, and Campfire Cooking in Another World with my Absurd Skill was recommended to us by friends. Hubs loved it; I can take it or leave it. It's just okay to me. The episodes are very slow-paced and repetitive and the cooking jokes get kind of stale. We watched it with subtitles. I expected more for a fish out of water-type scenario.
Friday Nifty Link
Jan. 22nd, 2021 04:29 pmI saw a short version of this clip on FB, but fortunately I found a longer version on YouTube. Neat! You never know where inspiration will come from...or be referenced!
BNA: Brand New Animal
Aug. 26th, 2020 09:38 pmWe're not exactly anime connoisseurs, so I don't know how BNA stacks up against other shows. I suspect there are a lot of tropes and plot elements common to other animes and although it was a bit predictable at times, I would have been all over this show if I was a teenager again :-D It's colourful, action-packed and entertaining and really tells a good story.
The viewer travels with schoolgirl Michiru Kagemori as she flees the human world for Anima City after she randomly transforms into an anthropomorphic tanuki or "beastman". Anima City is a purpose built refuge for beastmen who live side by side in a mostly peaceful, but imperfect, existence. She arrives during the city's anniversary celebrations and meets a wolfman, Shirou Ogami, who is a protector of beastmen and the city. The beastmen can appear human or anthropomorphic. The story quickly changes from fish out of water to a funny buddy cop conundrum as Michiru tags along and investigates crimes with Shirou. As she uncovers different parts of Anima City, she also uncovers an twisty, turny conspiracy.
The viewer travels with schoolgirl Michiru Kagemori as she flees the human world for Anima City after she randomly transforms into an anthropomorphic tanuki or "beastman". Anima City is a purpose built refuge for beastmen who live side by side in a mostly peaceful, but imperfect, existence. She arrives during the city's anniversary celebrations and meets a wolfman, Shirou Ogami, who is a protector of beastmen and the city. The beastmen can appear human or anthropomorphic. The story quickly changes from fish out of water to a funny buddy cop conundrum as Michiru tags along and investigates crimes with Shirou. As she uncovers different parts of Anima City, she also uncovers an twisty, turny conspiracy.
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas
Aug. 2nd, 2020 12:17 pmI watched this movie in June when I wasn't feeling too well and I had to beg off an afternoon from work. I was tired but I was stuck in that "too awake to sleep, too tired to stay awake" stupid mode. While the 3D monsters haven't held up all that well (you can see this in the trailer), the story and animation certainly do. Unfortunately this was another Dreamworks movie that flopped at the box office and one wonders if it was just a preference for Disney films. Nowadays, people get both studios mixed up all the time. Seventeen years ago it was a different story IIRC.
The voice cast of Brad Pitt (Sinbad), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Marina), Michelle Pfeiffer (Eris) and Joseph Fiennes (Proteus) were all great choices. Michelle Pfeiffer brought a sexy kind of evil to the Eris, the goddess of discord. Like The Road to El Dorado, there seems to be a couple of old Hollywood homages in the movie and I loved how they kept the action rolling rolling rolling as Sinbad adventures to save his friend and, eventually, win the heart of Marina. There's a great story about redemption, change and friendship.
The voice cast of Brad Pitt (Sinbad), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Marina), Michelle Pfeiffer (Eris) and Joseph Fiennes (Proteus) were all great choices. Michelle Pfeiffer brought a sexy kind of evil to the Eris, the goddess of discord. Like The Road to El Dorado, there seems to be a couple of old Hollywood homages in the movie and I loved how they kept the action rolling rolling rolling as Sinbad adventures to save his friend and, eventually, win the heart of Marina. There's a great story about redemption, change and friendship.
The Road to El Dorado
Aug. 1st, 2020 08:18 pmHere's another Dreamworks cartoon that I can cross of my movie bucket list. It's easy to see Dreamworks inching towards making a Disney quality cartoon with this homage to Bob Hope and Bing Crosby's buddy adventure movies. There's great chemistry between Kenneth Branagh (Miguel) and Kevin Kline (Tulio). They are two con artists who end up on a journey to the Americas and are mistaken for gods by the local inhabitants. The story seems predictable until it's now...and I liked how a friendship problem was solved in the end (yay, friendship!). There are some really catchy songs by Elton John and Tim Rice and the animation is so fluid and appealing except for...Miguel's face. I don't know what it is about the rendering. Eyes too big? Face lacking expression? It creeped me out.
Anyway, there's something for everyone--adventure, romance, music, comedy--I'm not sure why it flopped at the box office twenty years ago.
Anyway, there's something for everyone--adventure, romance, music, comedy--I'm not sure why it flopped at the box office twenty years ago.
Castlevania
Jul. 15th, 2020 10:19 amCastlevania is up to season 3 on Netflix and I'm not sure what the next season will bring. S3 is one of those awkward middle seasons where there's a lull in the story and action.
Although I knew of the Castlevania games, I really didn't know what the story was about, so season 1 was a little confusing. It assumes one knows a little about Dracula, his wife, his son, the Belmont family and Speakers.
There is a lot of action and the anime style suits it well. S2 was a nailbiter as main characters Trevor, Sypha and Alucard battle Dracula and his armies. S3, as I mentioned, was a little dull, but it focuses on the female vampires and vampires in other countries. Another thing that made S3 hard to watch was that it seemed to be entirely made of Trevor Belmont spewing insults. It was ugly to watch Alucard and Hector being abused, often gratuitously IMHO :/
Although I knew of the Castlevania games, I really didn't know what the story was about, so season 1 was a little confusing. It assumes one knows a little about Dracula, his wife, his son, the Belmont family and Speakers.
There is a lot of action and the anime style suits it well. S2 was a nailbiter as main characters Trevor, Sypha and Alucard battle Dracula and his armies. S3, as I mentioned, was a little dull, but it focuses on the female vampires and vampires in other countries. Another thing that made S3 hard to watch was that it seemed to be entirely made of Trevor Belmont spewing insults. It was ugly to watch Alucard and Hector being abused, often gratuitously IMHO :/
Genesis StoryTime
Jul. 7th, 2020 05:40 pmJust plunking this here in case I forget again. I remember watching this as a kid and it was fascinating to watch the stories draw! Apparently it was a purely North American phenomenon.
https://tedium.co/2018/04/05/genesis-storytime-cable-channel-history/
https://tedium.co/2018/04/05/genesis-storytime-cable-channel-history/
Peter Rabbit
Apr. 16th, 2020 10:51 amWe love cartoons and somehow we missed Peter Rabbit in theatres. It was slightly controversial for making a beloved literary character into a jerk and it is more Bugs Bunny than Beatrix Potter. It's perfectly acceptable family entertainment if you don't mind some fart jokes and a little violence. Sony's cartoons aren't quite PIXAR level in terms of story, but the fur textures and blended animation was really well done as well as expressive. The movie is loaded with pop songs and in some ways it's PETER RABBIT EXTREME!!! but one does have to stay relevant with the young folks. There's always the books, the ballet and the 90s The World of Peter Rabbit and Friends...there's plenty of Peter to go around. I liked the parts where the movie was true to Beatrix Potter's illustrations, such as when Benjamin hides under a flower pot and Peter slips under a fence gate.
We watched it a few days ago because we needed something silly and carefree. The slapstick and sight gags were awesome--there was even an homage to stepping on rakes. The next morning I realized it was all about toxic masculinity. Grumpy Old Farmer McGregor has a heart attack after catching Peter and a new rabbit-hating McGregor soon shows up, Thomas. He soon becomes charmed by country life and next door neighbour Bea, who is the protector of Benjamin Bunny, Peter and his three sisters. Thomas and Peter literally battle for Bea's affections until things escalate and neither cares about what Bea wants. Eventually Peter realizes that his behaviour has endangered his sisters and cousin and makes amends.
I think it's a rare story, especially for a children's movie, that shows a character changing so fundamentally while still retaining their personality. Yes, Peter is a jerk, but he's also clever and loves his family. He experiences deep remorse for the suffering he has caused and has a good heart. That's the kind of teachable moment that's missing these days. Either characters are too lucky or too clever or too this or too that. Peter grows and changes and it's rewarding.
The movie puts the spotlight on Peter's sisters which was always missing from the books. Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-Tail are triplets and you know...sisters are going to squabble! Flopsy is the narrator and "oldest", Mopsy is the ever suffering middle child and Cotton-Tail, perhaps appropriately voiced by Daisy Ridley, has a warrior heart.
We watched it a few days ago because we needed something silly and carefree. The slapstick and sight gags were awesome--there was even an homage to stepping on rakes. The next morning I realized it was all about toxic masculinity. Grumpy Old Farmer McGregor has a heart attack after catching Peter and a new rabbit-hating McGregor soon shows up, Thomas. He soon becomes charmed by country life and next door neighbour Bea, who is the protector of Benjamin Bunny, Peter and his three sisters. Thomas and Peter literally battle for Bea's affections until things escalate and neither cares about what Bea wants. Eventually Peter realizes that his behaviour has endangered his sisters and cousin and makes amends.
I think it's a rare story, especially for a children's movie, that shows a character changing so fundamentally while still retaining their personality. Yes, Peter is a jerk, but he's also clever and loves his family. He experiences deep remorse for the suffering he has caused and has a good heart. That's the kind of teachable moment that's missing these days. Either characters are too lucky or too clever or too this or too that. Peter grows and changes and it's rewarding.
The movie puts the spotlight on Peter's sisters which was always missing from the books. Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-Tail are triplets and you know...sisters are going to squabble! Flopsy is the narrator and "oldest", Mopsy is the ever suffering middle child and Cotton-Tail, perhaps appropriately voiced by Daisy Ridley, has a warrior heart.
Beastars is another new Netflix series that we recently finished watching. I wasn't too fond of it--hubs liked it a lot. Most Netflix series have a slow burn to them...Beastars had such a slow burn that it failed to ignite anything within me. I stuck it out, but the first few episodes made me fall asleep. IMHO, it is unevenly paced with cliffhangers, short bursts of action after much internal dialogs and I sure didn't like the rapey vibes of episodes 9 and 10. I don't know how closely the cartoon adheres to the manga written and illustrated by Paru Itagaki, but it's 2020 and I'm done with gratuitous rapey vibes in media.
It would be easy to call Beastars a thinkier Zootopia and in some ways it is. The main setting is Cherryton Academy, where carnivores and herbivores learn and live together. It's not always a harmonious existence however, especially after a herbivore named Tem is murdered. The plot is really all over the place but the main point of view is from a sensitive, thoughtful wolf named Legoshi who befriends the school star, a red deer named Louis. Both are drawn together by their relationships with Haru, a dwarf rabbit who is kind of a loner.
The series left me mostly confused--what's a Beastar? What's the point? Why is it jumping from concept to concept so much? For me, Beastars lacked a cohesive narrative and one has to look really deep as each character struggles with their predetermined biology. This series gets a meh from me, but YMMV!
The trailer below is stop motion animated, but the series is traditional looking CGI animation.
It would be easy to call Beastars a thinkier Zootopia and in some ways it is. The main setting is Cherryton Academy, where carnivores and herbivores learn and live together. It's not always a harmonious existence however, especially after a herbivore named Tem is murdered. The plot is really all over the place but the main point of view is from a sensitive, thoughtful wolf named Legoshi who befriends the school star, a red deer named Louis. Both are drawn together by their relationships with Haru, a dwarf rabbit who is kind of a loner.
The series left me mostly confused--what's a Beastar? What's the point? Why is it jumping from concept to concept so much? For me, Beastars lacked a cohesive narrative and one has to look really deep as each character struggles with their predetermined biology. This series gets a meh from me, but YMMV!
The trailer below is stop motion animated, but the series is traditional looking CGI animation.
