Update Blog - 5/1/21 (Patreon)

Since I am starting to include major Netflix movies on my list of what animated films to review for AniMat's Reviews, I might as well start big with releasing two reviews of their latest features. But in better news, I can happily report that my health has gotten significantly better and my voice is fully back to normal. If not, then it's about 95% good. So, the good news for me is that it has gotten better since I was sick. So, with that said, here's what's been happening with me this week.

- Released my review of Arlo the Alligator Boy: This was a very mixed feelings kind of movie for me. I can see both sides where a lot of great work was put into it, but I can also see the type of soulless purpose the movie has for Netflix. On one hand, there are some things I really like about it. The animation can be really good and supply some wonderful 2D visuals that people have been begging to see on the big screen for years, the voice acting is surprisingly solid and very well done and even the songs, while not original, are well executed to the point that some are still stuck in my head. However, I can't help but see how the movie wants to be so many other things than just be its own identity, making its purpose feel disingenuous. I can see some Muppet Movie, I can see some Gumball, I can see some SpongeBob and many have pointed out that they see some Elf in there too (which I'm surprised I didn't see that myself, that is so true!). Overall, I'd say the best way to describe it is a set of great music videos attached to a mediocre movie. Maybe it'll serve better as a pilot once the show comes out, but for now, this will not be the way to return to NYC through an animated film.

- Released my review of The Mitchells vs. The Machines: I was lucky to have one of my patrons messaging me that Netflix was doing some RSVP public early screening of the movie last week. Sure, I had to delay my podcast, but for the sake of crafting an early review, how could I say no to the opportunity? Sure, it was a challenge when making it because some of the materials like clips and the soundtrack were not released yet and my throat wasn't fully healed when I recorded the narration, but it was all worth it to talk about a fun movie in time with the feature's release. The story may be the typically bland family road trip movie (if you don't include the robot apocalypse), but this is some of the most fun I've had watching a Sony animated movie since Surf's Up and Spider-Verse. What surprised me the most is by how funny the film is. I knew this was a comedy, but I was not expecting to laugh as much as I did and continuously get invested to see what's the next great gag. Too bad that we won't get to see this on the big screen, because I can see how this would've benefited well through that experience, but either way, I'm certainly one of those people that enjoyed my trip.

- Writing & Recording the new Top 10: Outside of reviews, the big project of the week was developing the upcoming Top 10 video. It took a few days and rewatching several movies for research, but I think I managed to settle with a list that I am happy with and have started to take shape on it. I am pretty well in advance with what I needed to do, including finishing the script and as you are reading this, I'm working on recording my lines during the weekend so that next week, I'll be putting this all together in editing. There might be a chance that the list could change while editing to see if the big picture and fit well all together, but this is to say that this video is going well and will most likely be a great comeback to me making Top 10s. I'm sure a lot of people do miss those in my channel.

And that should be it for the updates I have. I'm sure you all had fun with having 2 reviews a week, but now with this new month, things will get back to normal and just be posting weekly videos. I still have plenty of major projects in store, so I better get going in making them happen. Good thing that I can use my voice again to bring that magic to life ;) So, until next time...

See ya later, dudes!