The Lunchbox Review

The Lunchbox is a wonderfully simple tale of two people who connect through a lunchbox exchange. I really enjoyed this film because it felt very fresh and original. Usually with stories like this, two people meet in an unexpected way and get to know each other through various coincidental circumstances and “fall in love” by the end of the movie, but not this film. I enjoyed that this film was purely about the friendship of these two people learning about each other’s lives through short notes exchanged through a lunchbox that wasn't even brought to the right location. The visuals were very simple, but were completely focused around the lunchbox that served as an emotional element to the film. Every time you see the lunchbox on screen you observe how each character is reacting to it and their emotional state. For example, at the beginning when the main character receives the lunchbox, he is confused but as the film continues on, you see the excitement in his face when he receives the lunchbox because he knows it means that he gets to communicate to his new friend. I enjoyed the relationship conflict the characters had in their own lives of feeling lonely in some way. The man was living alone and was depressed while the woman felt neglected and unappreciated by her husband, thus they immediately bonded and helped each other through difficult times without ever really seeing each other. I felt the film ended on a very satisfying note, where both characters were confidently independent with their choices as the women decided to leave her husband and live a new life and the man comes out of his depression states and enjoys life more. What a beautiful film! 

Spirited Away Review

I know that many will disagree with me, but I honestly did not like Spirited Away very much. Many compare this film to Disney’s Alice in Wonderland where a young female protagonist enters into a mystical world filled with unique and beautiful creatures. Honestly this story format just feels like an excuse to show an assortment of beautiful character designs and animations, but not much else. The characters and animations are truly and wonderfully designed, especially No-Face who was easily the most visually interesting and fun character. The scene where No-Face is eating everything and everyone in sight was a very fun and intense scene and I love the way his character was animated as he chased after Chihiro. I also enjoyed Haku’s character because his dragon design was very awesome and his character was very mysterious yet very genuine as he was always trying to protect Chihiro. But honestly, every other character annoyed me from start to finish. Many people commented on how Chihiro’s character really changed and matured by the end of the film but I honestly felt she stayed the same and the characters around her were the ones changing. Chihiro annoyed me at the beginning of the film and she annoyed me at the end. I just feel like there isn’t much of a plot, it’s just Chihiro doing a bunch of miscellaneous tasks just so she can find and save her parents from being pigs? What? The film also felt really, really long and boring. I just didn’t find the bathhouse setting to be very interesting and it felt like the characters were there forever. I really wanted to like this film, but I just…didn’t. To be fair, I’m not really a fan of Alice in Wonderland because of its character driven-story intention of, so I was mostly likely destined to not like this film. I just didn’t take much from Spirited Away and maybe with another viewing I will get more out of it, but for now I found it to be an overlong (annoying) character-driven story with beautiful characters and animations.

A Letter to Momo Review

From the animated films that we have watched thus far, I enjoyed A Letter to Momo the most. I believe the film had a nice balance of realism and mystical elements. I found Momo to be a very relatable character that struggles with self-identity and the loss of a loved one. Momo is struggling to identify herself after moving to Shio, Japan on top of dealing with the loss of her father who wrote her an unfinished letter. Momo’s internal struggle is very apparent throughout the film but thankfully she receives some friendship and comfort from her “demon” friends. These 3 demonic characters are distinct in their own goofy and charming kind of way. My favorite was the demon who stuck out his tongue all the time and looked kind of like Gollum from Lord of the Rings. He was a great character and brought more of the light-hearted elements of the film. One of my favorite scenes was when Momo is on the moped riding through the storm with a swarm of her demonic friends to save her mother protecting her from the rain. The imagery was very magical in that scene but the emotion and motivation was very human and real. I really loved the recurring scenes in the film where Momo wants to jump off the bridge with the other kids but she struggles with her own fear and self-doubt. In the end, after Momo has had some closure with her dead father via a spiritual communication through the letter, Momo finally has the confidence and freedom to jump off the bridge and have fun with her new friends. That is wonderful symbolism, and it really shows how much Momo’s character has changed for the better from the beginning of the film compared to the end.

Babette's Feast Review

Babette’s Feast is a very simple, yet beautiful film. I was very worried that I was going to be very bored with this film when it started with two sisters in a small village taking part in their daily routines of going to Church, cooking, and spending time with their father. I was pleasantly surprised when the film jumped forward in time and introduced Babette’s character into the setting. The majority of the film is Babette preparing a French feast for her sisters of the church and the rest of the small village because Babette won the lottery and wanted to do something good with the money. That might sound incredibly boring, but it was actually very fascinating and beautiful. Prior to the feast, all the villagers would do is complain and argue about very insignificant problems and the sisters were beginning to be very frustrated. But as Babette cooked and served each dish to the villagers, their complaints turned into compliments, laughter, and pure joy. That just comes to show that one person can be a positive influence to those around him/her if that individual has good intentions of doing the right thing. The dishes that Babette cooked looked absolutely incredible in terms of presentation and taste! My mouth was watering numerous times through out the film because I really wanted to eat what they were eating. I enjoyed how the French General is the only character to really comment on how well-made and tasty the food is as all the other villagers were afraid the food would taste terribly. I loved the scene at the end of the film when Babette reveals to the sisters that she spent ALL of the money she won in the lottery on that feast just because she wanted to do something nice for the people she cared about. That scene was a beautiful and humbling moment of humanity, which made me really really enjoy this film.

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory Review

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory has to be one of the most interesting movies ever made. Every time I watch this film, I am thoroughly intrigued by the humor, the atmosphere, and the characters. Honestly, if anyone else besides Gene Wilder played Willy Wonka then I really don’t think the film would be near as successful or entertaining as it is. Wilder’s condescending humor is absolutely fantastic and perfectly timed through out the movie. Wonka’s unenthusiastic line after Augustus falls into the chocolate river “Help, police. Murder” makes me laugh every single time. It had been awhile since I saw the film so I honestly forgot how hilarious the movie was until we watched it. I really enjoy watching all of the sets come to life in this film as well. The best scene in the film is when they explore and taste all of the candy by the chocolate river because you really feel like you can taste everything the characters taste. The film has a genius way to provide a message to children about parental respect, humbleness, and bad habits. Each character is easily defined with a great visual representation of their bad habits from Augustus Gloops obesity, to Veruca’s fancy fur coat attire, to Charlie’s simple sweater/jeans combo. Both Charlie and Grandpa Joe have great on-screen chemistry that helps give the perfect amount of heart to the film perfectly portrayed in the “I’ve Got a Golden Ticket” dance number. Like I said, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a very intriguing film from it’s unique humor, wonderful atmosphere, and entertaining characters.

The Book of Life Review

The Book of Life absolutely surprised me. This animated film follows the classic tale of two friends who both compete for the love a beautiful women while dealing with moments of courage, failure, and trying to live up to life's expectations. The animation, the music, the colors, the characters…everything was Beautiful. The film's pace is incredibly fast, energetic, and really really fun. The film's atmosphere consistently changes reflecting the emotion of each and every scene from bright, beautiful, and bold colors during the happy moments to a cold, dark, and colorless atmosphere during the sad moments. The music adapts many familiar songs with a bit more of a Hispanic touch. The characters are very fun and very memorable, especially Diego Luna as the character Manolo, the man trying to win the heart of the lovely Maria, voiced by Zoe Saldana. Speaking of Maria, I appreciated that the film actually doesn't make her a stereotypical "damsel in distress" character but instead makes her a independent, skilled fighter, and strong-willed character. Channing Tatum plays the other lead as the courageous Joaquin, although (despite still providing a decently fun performance) I feel the main reason he was casted in this movie was to bring more people to theater seats. The character animations are very unique as they are digitally composed with a puppet-esque aesthetic and each and every one of the specific character designs are easily distinguishable from each other. While the movie consistently strives for humor as much as heart, I didn't find myself always laughing at the jokes. With that being said, I couldn't stop smiling through out the entire film. This is definitely the surprise movie of the year for me currently. Children will absolutely adore this film and will immediately be immersed in the wonderful character designs and fast-paced story that will keep kids with attention disabilities completely engaged in the film. The film also has multiple themes of finding the courage to be yourself, showing respect to the female figures in your life, and the importance of family and friendships. Personally, I believe The Book of Life gives The Lego Movie a run for it's money, though it likely won't make nearly as much, which is a shame. There need to be more children films like this coming to theaters. The Book of Life is a visually stunning film that will grab your attention from start to finish with it's incredibly fun story and uniquely wonderful characters.