A bit of random is just that... a few random thoughts that have been hanging out in my head. It could be a rant, opinion, or something I think is really cool.
As someone who listens to an insane amount of music, it is probably a surprise to absolutely no one that I use Spotify...A LOT. I am too cheap to spend out the money for premium...so I hear ads. I don't mind it except for when it freezes up and then I have to restart the app (especially on my laptop...takes forever). I usually tune out most advertisements that they play. I really like it when they promote new artists or recommended...but the point of telling anyone any of this is that there is a series of ads that I absolutely can not stand and make me want to scream: The State Farm song covers.
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Image Credit: Animationmagazine.net |
The Willoughbys, adapted from the book by Lois Lowery, is an animated comedy released on Netflix earlier this year. I have attempted to write this review several times. I just can't seem to decide how I feel about it. The film is very much one of those that you will either really like or really hate...or just be left confused. While watching, several flaws stick out to me, however when given time to settle (and lets be honest, forget certain things) it doesn't seem as bad. I usually avoid reading reviews done by others until I have finished mine to prevent my opinion from being tainted, but due to how conflicted I felt (and because they kept appearing in my sns feeds), I decided to take a peek at what others thought. It didn't help. I have watched The Willoughbys twice now. I try to watch each film I review at least three times. I don't want to watch it again though. That probably says everything you need to know about it.
So, what do I like about it that is keeping me from saying it is awful? Two things: the animation and Ricky Gervais. I loved the animation. There was a thread texture to everything, that ties in with the story and looks very unique. The film is very bright and the use of colors was fantastic. Ricky Gervais as the cat/narrator was a perfect fit. His delivery combined with the animation of the cat was my favorite thing about this film. It did not surprise me to see mostly gifs featuring the cat when I was looking for images to use in this post.
Now, what's so bad about The Willoughbys? The story is adapted from a book that I have not read. I do not know how true to it the film is. So please keep that in mind as I talk about the story. Granted...I am unsure if it was the story or the pacing that caused more problems. We start off the film with a backstory to how the parents got together and how they deal with their kids and how the siblings get along. Then we start with the main story that goes back and forth between being very slow and super fast and takes time to have scattered moments that seem pointless. Was there not enough story to make an hour and a half film with or did they just cut too much from the book?
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I'm sure no one is surprised the cat was my favorite...right? |
The main problem I had with the pacing was that it was super slow during things that were not vital to the story. Then, of course, the important stuff was rushed through. Each character has super unique personalities, but none are given an opportunity to truly shine or grow (at least not at a realistic pace). This led me to feel apathetic to them for the most part. The parents are absolutely awful but not in the typical awful parents in a children's film way. This is probably where my perspective being older than the intended audience ruins things.
Don't get me wrong. I love films that do feature awful parents/families. Matilda and James and The Giant Peach are two of my favorite childhood films. However, the justice served in those films was much more satisfying. The Willoughbys is just sad (more realistic..but still).
As I already mentioned, I have watched this movie twice and have no plans of intentionally sitting down to watch it again. Will I play it in the background sometime? Possibly.
Rating: ✬✬✬✬✬✩✩✩✩✩
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Infinite Loop GIF By Doze Studio |
Yes...once again I mish-mashed things together. The people who know me well know exactly what this name means and how much better it represents me. Now the only problem left to face was all the broken links that I would have to update. I don't wanna deal with that. So...the blogger address stays the same, but the name and domain get the new name. This means that all old skuggidrago.blogspot links will still work and redirect properly.
Wondermajica is intended to be a bit more personal. No schedule, no set series. Just complete and utter controlled chaos😆. As I adjust to a new layout, there are bound to be hiccups and I still need to update ALL of the pages. However, this fresh start feels right and I look forward to sharing more of myself and the things I wanted to talk about...but didn't.
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