Musical

Sing: Thriller

/ / Short Films
  • Title: Sing: Thriller
  • IMDb: link

Sing: Thriller

Given the multiple allegations of the singer sexually abusing children, one could argue on whether or not creating a children’s short around one of Michael Jackson‘s most famous songs is in good taste. That said, judging the short on its own, Sing: Thriller offers a simple setup to allow the cast of the Sing films to perform “Thriller” twice, first on-stage as part of their latest show and later in Buster’s (Matthew McConaughey) hallucination with each casting the regulars as zombies dancing to the music. Both offer a fun Halloween kid-level creepiness which has the benefit of bringing in both fans from the animated films and those seeking a bit of 80s nostalgia as well.

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The Inventor

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Inventor
  • IMDb: link

The Inventor

Even if it does get a bit schmaltzy in its final act ending in a questionable musical number, 2023’s The Inventor still has much to offer in the stop-motion animation that explores the life of Leonardo da Vinci (Stephen Fry) first in Rome and later in France where his experiments and inventions struggle against the expectations and demands of his patrons. Leonardo finds a kindred spirit in Princess Marguerite (Daisy Ridley) who shares his dreams in creating an ideal city, although her brother Francis I (Gauthier Battoue) is more concerned with his inventor creating ways for the king to show off to other rulers.

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The Lion King

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: The Lion King
  • IMDb: link

The Lion King

It’s the circle of life. Returning to theaters for the film’s 30th anniversary, The Lion King tells the story of young Simba (Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Matthew Broderick) and his journey following the death of his father (James Earl Jones) and the pride being taken over by Simba’s villainous uncle Scar (Jeremy Irons) and his hyenas (Whoopi Goldberg, Cheech Marin, and Jim Cummings) responsible for Mufasa‘s death and Simba’s exile.

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Flower Drum Song

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Flower Drum Song
  • IMDb: link

Flower Drum Song

Adapted from the Broadway musical of the same name, Flower Drum Song became the first contemporary Asian-American story featuring an Asian cast produced as a major Hollywood feature film. Like the play, the movie met with mixed responses with some praising Hollywood focusing on Asian-American characters while others took issue with Asian stereotypes, casting both Japanese and Chinese actors for the Chinese roles, and some problematic lyrics (also causing major productions of the play to halt for decades). In 2008 the film was added to National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as culturally significant, so significant it took Hollywood three decades to release another major film centered around, and starring, predominantly Asian leads.

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The Little Mermaid

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Little Mermaid (2023)
  • IMDb: link

The Little Mermaid

The latest unnecessary live-action Disney remake cast Halle Bailey as mermaid princess Ariel who dreams of visiting the surface world despite her father’s (Javier Bardem) distrust of humans. While not the most awkward adaptation Disney has tried, there’s nothing in this version of The Little Mermaid that doesn’t feel like a pale comparison to the original 1989 animated-film whose theme of a girl giving up her own voice for love I’ve always found a bit problematic.

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