Tag: publishing

‘Zack Snyder’s Justice League’ Review

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By: Amanda Guarragi

After following the #ReleaseTheSnyderCut movement since the beginning, no viewing experience has felt as satisfying as this one. After years of fighting, for the version of a film that meant so much to so many people and campaigning on behalf of our director, we finally have the Justice League as it was fully intended. This film is everything that we all hoped it would be. As a fan, and as a critic, Zack Snyder’s Justice League will be considered a monumental film because of the movement surrounding it and it is an emotional watch for those who are closely associated to it.

When you watch a Zack Snyder film, you automatically know what you are getting yourself into. From the opening sequence of Zack Snyder’s Justice League, you could feel that this was HIS film. We all know that Snyder is very meticulous when it comes to accurately depicting the source material and elevating the story through his own ideas. When Snyder gave us Man of Steel and Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (Ultimate Edition), they both had a similar tone. The tone is carried out in this film but there is a much more emotional element that is tied to these characters.

Courtesy of The Stone Quarry

At the very beginning of this film, we feel immense loss, as Snyder picked up right after the events of Batman v. Superman. Almost instantly, we are taken back to the emotions we all felt when watching that for the first time. It sets the tone for the whole film.

Will Superman return?

How will the Son of Krypton rise again?

The film is broken into several parts. There is so much backstory that is attached to each of these characters – especially Cyborg (Ray Fisher) – that we get to see. For a four-hour film, the pacing of it did not seem to drag at all, it doesn’t feel like it is being stretched out to fill the runtime.

Snyder begins this journey with Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) as he attempts to assemble these metahumans to form the team. It is time to actually face the fact, that Ben Affleck, is a fantastic Batman. It’s always difficult to balance Bruce Wayne/Batman but Snyder and Affleck are a perfect duo to give us a very memorable portrayal. It also sets up the pacing of the story quite well, as we see Bruce on his own mission to find Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), Barry Allen (Ezra Miller) and Victor Stone (Ray Fisher) in order to defend Earth from a possible threat.

Courtesy of The Stone Quarry

Snyder then takes us back to Themyscira, as the Amazons guard the mother box from an incoming threat. What is so incredible about this entire sequence is the power Snyder pulls out from the Amazons. It is incredible to see how these women have been developed. Whether it be their power stance, their fighting words, or their badass armour, all you see is their strength shining through. There are moments with Queen Hippolyta that will make you incredibly emotional because of our attachment to Themyscira, courtesy of Patty Jenkins in Wonder Woman (2017). We see more development of Aquaman, The Flash and Cyborg. Snyder’s storytelling allows you to understand them on a human level first, and then show what they’re capable of. He really knows how to balance the two in order to make an emotional impact, in such a short time.

Snyder does focus on the emotional connection to Superman through the eyes of Lois Lane (Amy Adams) and Martha Kent (Diane Lane) by showing how they have been processing their grief. Because of Lois and Martha, we understand how tragic this loss is for them vs. the world losing him. Again, Snyder brings it to a very human level of processing grief, instead of keeping Superman as a global figure. The humanity that is shown, creates an intimacy with Clark as a well-rounded human being and proves that he is more than just the symbol. This is where his character development comes full circle and he isn’t even on screen.

Courtesy of The Stone Quarry

Snyder then puts more focus on a character that is considered the heart of the team and when you watch this film, you will understand why. We all know what Cyborg is capable of, but seeing it, the way Snyder wanted him to be presented in a live-action format was something else entirely. Snyder dives into the center of Cyborg and how he is structured as a machine. While he shows us this, we see Stone’s trauma and humanity through his emotional backstory. That is why he’s the heart of the league. Stone is trying to live again, he is trying to find his purpose to feel human again. He is the piece of the jigsaw puzzle, connecting the league in order to stop the incoming threat.

Courtesy of The Stone Quarry

The incoming threat in question? Spikey Steppenwolf, Dasaad and Darkseid, were all crafted so well. The special effects in Zack Snyder’s Justice League was fantastic. During the entire history lesson, which is narrated by Diana Prince (Gal Gadot), I was in awe. It was so detailed and what worked so well is that they explained the mother boxes in detail. So for those who don’t know much about them, they will understand what could possibly happen. There are plenty of surprises in the history lesson and when you see Darkseid in action, you are going to want to see more of him in future films.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is everything and more. How Snyder managed to exceed our expectations in making a massive comic book film with legendary characters is beyond me. Everything you loved about his first two instalments of the unofficial Superman trilogy is combined and expanded upon in this film. Not only does Snyder know Superman extremely well, he brings out the best characterizations from every member. You can tell that he put his heart and soul in this film. For those who have been with the movement since day one, or to the naysayers who are starting to get excited, this movie will leave you wanting more of the world that he has created.

‘Yes Day’ Review

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By: Amanda Guarragi

We have all experienced missed opportunities because we didn’t say ‘Yes’. We sometimes look back on our lives and regret dismissing certain opportunities because they didn’t feel right at the time. Depending on how adventurous you are, majority of people say ‘yes’, when they are eager to try something new. In Yes Day, we see Allison (Jennifer Garner) and Carlos (Edgar Ramirez) fall in love with each other because of their zest for life. At the beginning of their marriage, they went on adventures in the middle of the day, without a care in the world. Then… they had children and entered the world of ‘No‘.

Yes Day shows the shift from being a couple to being parents quite well. Children are a huge responsibility and once you have a child, or three in their case, your time and attention is no longer on the relationship. Allison and Carlos agree to do the ‘Yes Day’ challenge for 24 hours, where they have to say yes to everything. It is a fun concept with really wild moments throughout and the family dynamic worked really well. The Torres family go on their little adventure for the day and end up in situations they never would have imagined.

Courtesy of Matt Kennedy/Netflix Film

It was also great to see how there are different approaches to parenting and we see that when certain decisions are being made. For their children, Katie (Jenna Ortega), Nando (Julian Lerner), Ellie (Everly Carganilla) they all wanted the freedom to do what they want at a very young age. The main conflict of this film is that Katie wanted to go to a music festival, at fourteen with her close friend, without parental supervision. Now, we all know what happens at music festivals and her mom, does not want her to go at all. After a day of saying, ‘yes’ and realizing that her mother, is actually really fun and just wants the best for her kids, Katie ends up doing the mature thing.

Yes Day is a lot of fun, even with some pacing issues, it still has plenty of teachable moments for parents and children. The cast had great chemistry and they all brought something special to the table. The film drops on Netflix, Friday, March 12th and I challenge you to have a ‘Yes Day’ of your own this Friday! Say ‘yes’ to pampering yourself, for taking some time off and more importantly to have one day of fun! It is a light, wholesome film that is definitely needed to loosen everyone up during these crazy times.

Raya and the Last Dragon Review

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By: Amanda Guarragi

Raya and the Last Dragon is pure magic. From the second we meet young Raya (Kelly Marie Tran) and her father, Chief Benja (Daniel Dae Kim) there is an instant connection to them. The father/daughter storylines always get me emotional and incredibly invested in the story. Raya learned so much from her father, from fighting techniques, to leadership, to uniting people. The story is quite simple, Raya must go on a quest to retrieve five pieces of a whole, in order to unify Kumandra and bring the dragons back. In doing so, Raya meets such fun, wonderful characters along the way, that make the adventure so engaging!

The beauty of Raya and the Last Dragon is South Asian representation. On Raya’s quest, we learn so much about her culture and traditions. The animation was stunning and the score that accompanied the film, especially during action sequences, worked incredibly well. Raya, ventures out to find the last dragon with her sidekick Tuk-Tuk (who is the first cute character we fall in love with) and we get to explore each kingdom with her. Along the way, Raya finds Sisu (Awkwafina), Tong (Benedict Wong), Boun (Izaac Wang) and Little Noi (Thalia Tran). All of these characters have all lost someone dear to them because of the Drunn, which are sinister monsters that threatened their land.

Featuring Kelly Marie Tran as the voice of Raya and Awkwafina as the voice of Sisu, Walt Disney Animation Studios’ “Raya and the Last Dragon” will be in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access on March 5, 2021. © 2021 Disney. All Rights Reserved.

As Raya meets these new characters, she has to learn to trust them and that is the message of this story. With the addition of each new character, Raya learns a lot from her new friends and takes the first step in putting her trust in someone else. After losing her father, to the Drunn, she couldn’t trust anyone else in the kingdom and travelled alone. The film has a great message and a lesson to be learned about how to trust again. This entire voice cast did a fantastic job and the animation for their characters was so great! They came together as a family, to help each other through the grieving and they delivered such heartfelt moments.

Raya and the Last Dragon is absolutely delightful and will make you fall in love with all the characters. What impressed me the most about Raya, was the fighting sequences because of how sleek they were. The combination of martial art techniques were used so effectively and added so much to Raya’s character. Many people will appreciate this story and what Walt Disney Animation did with it. They couldn’t have picked a better voice cast to bring this story to life. Awkwafina was such a knockout as Sisu and she should definitely do more animated films!

Raya and the Last Dragon drops on Disney Plus premier access on March 5th!

I Care A Lot Review

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By: Amanda Guarragi

As we all know, films can be a representation of society. Which means, that there can be genuinely good people as protagonists, or morally flawed, complex and bad people as protagonists. Some films want to showcase these disturbed protagonists with ideologies that counter the government or any system put in place. I Care a Lot introduced us to Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike), a court assigned legal guardian, to the elderly, in their time of need. What Grayson does, is take hold of her clients assets and drains them of their savings. Could there be people out there who do this? Well, we sure as hell found out in this film.

This film shows the perseverance and ambition in achieving the American Dream. Grayson had been poor her whole life and in her eyes, the only way to gain more of a financial status is by cheating the system. Rosamund Pike was perfectly cast as Grayson, no one else could have played this role. Pike has mastered the role of a morally conflicted woman, with a flawed perception of society, who eventually executes the ideas in her head, in a very disturbing way. Sure, Pike only has Amy Dunne as a character that can be referred to, but Marla Grayson is in that tier performance wise. If Pike is so good delivering these roles to us, then why don’t we have her in more films that center on a layered protagonist such as this one?

The film had such a great cast. Pike, obviously steals the spotlight but Eiza Gonzalez, Peter Dinklage, Chris Messina and Dianne Wiest all went toe-to-toe with her. Pike was great on her own, with her vape pen, and famous smirk that showed, she was thinking about the next five steps. Even though Gonzalez had a small role, her chemistry with Pike was a stand out. When Pike shared scenes with Wiest, Dinklage and Messina, they all presented different levels of power and she matched all of them. It is an exciting watch because the cast elevated the script in every way. The plot twists were placed in the right spots and it didn’t lose its footing, until the third act.

I Care a Lot has a really twisted perception of the meaning of a court appointed legal guardian. Even though Marla Grayson does some very questionable things, we can still understand where she is coming from. Again, it is not sympathizing with the flawed protagonist, it is more so enjoying the performances of these bad people and hoping they get paid their due. It is a humorous thriller, with many exciting scenes, strong pieces of dialogue and multiple endings that will leave you stunned. The film is purely a showcase for how talented this cast is and a reminder that Rosamund Pike is a force to be reckoned with.

Cowboys Review

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By: Amanda Guarragi

Cowboys is a modern-day western with a deeply touching family story, that will give you some form of hope, in regards to parenting. Steve Zahn plays Troy, a troubled father who only has good intentions for his son. Troy has recently separated from his wife Sarah (Jillian Bell) over many issues. The film is structured incredibly well as the use of flashbacks is integrated to add more depth to the story, as Troy takes his son Jo (Sasha Knight) out for a camping trip. We see that Sarah is having a very hard time accepting that her trans son wants to live his authentic self.

It was really interesting to see how each parent approached the idea of their child transitioning into their authentic self. We see that Troy respects his son’s wishes and treats him as he would like to be treated. Whereas Sarah struggles with the idea of transitioning, or of feeling outside of your body. Sarah forces Jo to wear dresses and to act like a little girl, essentially forcing these gender norms upon her. It got to the point in the film that Troy couldn’t bear to see his son treated so horribly in his own house, so he plans to take him away from Sarah.

What we see on the surface is that Troy is trying to be the best father that he can be to his son. We see the father/son bond early on in the film and that is what stole my heart. If children are fortunate enough to have a parent who treats them with respect and allows them to be their true self, then it’s a beautiful thing to see. This film also gives audiences another lens to look through. Sometimes adults don’t realize what their children are going through because of their own busy schedules. They don’t notice that their child might be reaching it out without actually doing so. Parents need to be more aware of what their children are showing them, without using their words because sometimes it can be difficult to articulate.

Cowboys is a an important watch because of how candid the conversations are about a young boy knowing who he wanted to be. He was young enough to know how he was feeling and everyone should respect that. It’s a beautiful film that explores family relationships, trans lives and overall acceptance. The performances from Steve Zahn and Sasha Knight were fantastic and their dynamic will warm your heart. It is always lovely to see a father/son relationship on screen that is so wholesome and loving. The film was a pleasant surprise and is definitely a must-watch.