Category Archives: Movies & Multimedia

Movie Review: The Iron Claw

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NO SPOILERS

Iron Claw was one of my favorite movies to have come out last year in 2023. Based on a true story, the Von Erichs were a prominent wrestling family that thrived on their ranch in Texas.

This movie has a strong emphasis on family and the bond of brothers, all intertwined in the toxicity of obsession within the sport of wrestling. There were 5 sons in this movie, all of which are destined, by their father, to become something great. This is obviously very toxic yet the brother’s will to survive not just their father but the expectations the world had on the great, wrestling family, does not seep into their relationships with one another.

Zac Efron plays Kevin Von Erich, whose connection to his brothers and emphasis on family is his main will to live. The family battle health conditions, expressing emotions whether as a man or a repressed woman, and learning how to live for yourself.

My review: personally, I’m not a huge fan of sports movies but I really liked this one since sports weren’t the main focus, I would reccomend if you liked: Everything Everywhere all at Once, Waves, Hereditary, and The Little Prince.

Iron Claw is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library.

Inside Out 2: A Character Review of “Anxiety”

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Inside Out 2, depicts the inner workings of a young girl Riley’s brain using emotions as characters. As a teen, the portrayal of one particular emotion “anxiety,” a cornerstone of teen emotion, intrigued me. A well thought-out depiction can help those who struggle with anxiety feel more understood.

Anxiety is shown as small and thin. She has a wide, unsure smile, has huge eyes, and has hair arranged like a troll doll. When Anxiety and the other new characters join the headquarters of Riley’s brain, there is immediate tension between her and Joy.

Riley goes away on a three-day hockey camp and wants to be liked by the girls. She wants to impress the coach to make the high school hockey team. Joy wants her to focus on spending time with friends and being her usual kind and goofy self. Anxiety takes Riley’s goals, makes them seem very hard, works tirelessly to make sure that they happen, while simultaneously changing the beliefs Riley has about herself. Before Anxiety, Riley believed that she was good enough. But after Anxiety appeared, Riley believed that she wasn’t. I felt that the conflict between Anxiety and Joy was pretty accurate. When we experience joy, it comes with a feeling of contentment. Anxiety doesn’t let us feel content. It keeps us out of present moment and launches us into a situation that doesn’t yet exist.

To prepare Riley, Anxiety asks a group of workers in Riley’s brain to draw potential scenarios and outcomes. They draw her missing a goal, falling on her face etc. To counteract, Joy drew positive images for Riley, like her scoring, making friends, being chosen for the team. However, in the end, Anxiety’s efforts were stronger than Joy’s. I found this to be relatable. One anxious thought truly holds more power than 99 positive thoughts.

The height of Riley’s anxiety appeared in the form of an intense panic attack. Riley was fidgeting, sweating, having trouble breathing. Inside her brain, Anxiety was creating a tornado of panic. I felt that this depiction of panic attack was perfect because of the connection between the body and the brain and how what originally starts as being negative thoughts, translates to a full physical experience. Riley was able to get through the panic attack by deep breathing, which in reality is one of the perfect things to do when you are going through panic attack. When her panic attack ended, Anxiety finally stopped moving, was worn down, and started crying. That is what happens when anxiety takes over, it is exhausting and leads to feeling lethargic and unmotivated.

I appreciate that, in the movie, anxiety was not depicted as a bad emotion, but as a feeling that has a purpose and intends to help keep us safe. Accepting that anxiety in moderation can be powerful in self-acceptance. I feel the audience will leave with better understanding of anxiety, with more compassion for themselves.

Inside Out 2 Movie Review

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Remember that one super funny movie with emotions as characters that you watched as a kid! Well, that movie now has a sequel: Inside Out 2. I recently watched this movie, and I had a blast. In this movie review, I will be giving a summary of the movie as well as my opinion on it. There may be some light spoilers!

The movie starts out by reintroducing the main character, Riley, as a teen. She loves hanging out with her friends, going to school, and playing hockey. We are also reintroduced to the characters of Joy, Anger, Disgust, Fear, and Sadness. However, trouble is stirred when all of a sudden, new emotions enter the hub. Anxiety, Ennui, Embarrassment and Envy come in as the new emotions of adolescence. Each of these emotions have their own vibe and personality, which I thought was super funny.

The movie goes on, and eventually, Anxiety takes on a more power-hungry role. She starts wanting to control of all of Riley’s actions, and actually throws out the original emotions. This is the start of a series of unfortunate events. Without going into too much detail, the original emotions are forced to find a way back, even facing the fact that maybe they just aren’t emotions of a teenager anymore. Maybe they are no longer meant to be part of Riley’s life. This part of the movie was really sad for me, but it also opened my eyes and made me realized that this movie is extremely relatable to teens.

The original emotions find their way back to headquarters, but Anxiety is going nuts. She ends up going so crazy that she is unable to control herself, which is pretty accurate to panic attacks that teenagers are exposed to. Joy helps heal Anxiety, and at the end of the movie, the emotions are all living harmoniously.

Overall, I thought this movie was amazing and would rate it a 5/5. It is interesting seeing how I watched this movie as a kid, now I am a teenager, and I still feel that I connected to it. It also kind of brings out and heals my inner child. If you haven’t already, I would recommend watching this movie.

The Fall Guy

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Similar to his work on the Deadpool films and Bullet Train, David Leitch brings comedic energy and intense action in his new movie, The Fall Guy. Starring Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers and Emily Blunt as Jody Moreno, this new film brings emotional moments along with “dumb-fun” action sequences.

The Fall Guy is a must-watch for all audiences, whether you are looking for a break from “superhero fatigue” or just want to experience something new.

Spoiler-Free Synopsis from Rotten Tomatoes: He’s a stuntman, and like everyone in the stunt community, he gets blown up, shot, crashed, thrown through windows and dropped from the highest of heights, all for our entertainment. And now, fresh off an almost career-ending accident, this working-class hero has to track down a missing movie star, solve a conspiracy and try to win back the love of his life while still doing his day job. What could possibly go right?

While the standout performances by the main actors Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are the main draws to watch the film, other characters also shine. Personally, I believe that the character of Dan Tucker, played by Winston Duke, was a clear standout. Duke’s character stole the show whenever he was on screen. His role as Seavers’ “wingman” and reliable partner made him a very likable character. On the opposite side of the spectrum, the film also includes detestable villains. Their unlikability encourages the viewer to root against them, making the ending much more satisfying.

In addition to the stellar score, 2 song choices in particular stand out. The song “I Was Made for Lovin’ You” is included in many scenes in the movie, performed by both KISS and YUNGBLUD. Additionally, I enjoyed the inclusion of Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now) performed by Phil Collins.

A review of this film would not be complete without recognizing the stunt work. The car “cannon roll” included early on in the film has broken the world record for most rolls in a car with 8.5 rolls (previously held by the film Casino Royale with 7 rolls.

There are many other notable stunts, but I believe that those should be watched and not spoiled.

(Image from the right extracted from an article by ign.com)

Overall, the combination of record-breaking stunts, music choice, and characters makes The Fall Guy a must-watch. I highly recommend viewing the movie in theaters before you watch it on streaming services.

Enola Holmes 1 & 2

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I have known Millie Bobby Brown since she starred in Stranger Things. Although I didn’t watch her there, I did watch her in Enola Holmes. I had never actually watched or read the Sherlock Holmes series, though I’ve been wanting to. Sherlock Holmes just seemed like a big commitment, being such a long series in books and shows, that Enola Holmes seemed more intriguing. Enola Holmes was a Netflix movie series starring Millie Bobby Brown as the protagonist. There are currently two movies out so I’ll talk about both of them in this. 

Enola Holmes is about Sherlock’s younger sister who does her best to make a name for herself without the reputation or help of her older brothers, Sherlock and Mycroft. In the first movie, she begins her journey in search of her mother who went missing, trying to avoid her brothers in order to prove her independence. Here she meets a recurring character named Tewkesbury, whom she helps throughout the movie, multitasking in helping Tewkesbury and discovering clues left by her mother. She finds clues relating to women’s rights but does not find her mother. While she may not have completed her first goal, she does end up gaining the support from Tewkesbury, who proves to be important to Enola’s future endeavors.

In the second movie, Enola takes on her first real request as an established detective. She is asked to help find another missing person relating to the real story of the Matchgirls Strike. In the end she teams up with Sherlock and Tewkesbury to solve the mystery. Here she also gains a new interaction with her mother in fighting for women’s rights alongside other women in the film. As the films go along, they grow in intensity and the danger becomes even larger. 

I really enjoyed the Enola Holmes films. I ended up watching them both in one sitting, wanting to see what other adventures were left in store. As obvious as this may sound, I was very fond of the mystery aspect. The name Holmes is often related to mysteries and such, but because I’ve been so out of tune with mysteries, this was a nice dip into the pool of the genre. Whether or not this kind of problem solving would be accurate, I’m unsure, but it was fun to watch anyways. I liked the use of word problems and scrabble. I probably would have never figured it out but it was great to watch the clues come together. 

From the first film, I really liked the focus on problem solving and escaping danger throughout the movie. I liked to see the establishment of Enola’s character; a young girl who is independent but still naive to the real dangers of the world. I liked seeing her figure things out by herself, growing as a person but still keeping her cheeky and clever personality. In the second film, I really liked the further establishment of Enola’s relationships, with both Tewkesbury and Sherlock. The first film focused more on Enola and who she is and her own power, but the second shows how it’s okay to accept help and that it’s okay to need help. I was happy to see more characters developed in the second film in relation to Enola and I also liked the connection the film had to the historically accurate Matchgirls Strike. In both films, I liked to see the actual mysteries and the action that came with them. They induced a fun amount of suspense that had me reacting in my seat. But I especially loved the problem solving portions of them. I always enjoy a nice challenge, and while I couldn’t keep up with the wit of the Holmes’ siblings, it was entertaining to see it all come together. 

I found the Enola Holmes movies really enjoyable. All the aspects ranging from the plot, to the characters, to the action, and to the problem solving were enjoyable to see come to life. There is actually a book series for Enola Holmes that the films are inspired by. Since this is a multi book series, I hope that there will be future movies. I look forward to the creation of a third film (or more) and definitely recommend these movies to start with! 

-Nicole R.

Movie Review: The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

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**this review will contain spoilers**

I would say I’m a hunger games fan as I had not only read the series once but twice and I’ve watched each movie a countless number of times. I actually had read the The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes before I went to go watch the movie to fully prepare myself for what was going to come.

The book follows along with Coriolanus Snow, now known as President Snow of Panem. Viewers get to see his progression of how he becomes associated within the Capitol and what sets him to later become President. Coriolanus Snow would be perceivably an outlier within the Capitol with his family being relatively poor, his parents dead, him living with only his cousin Tigris and grandmother also known as Grandma’am.

Coriolanus Snow is picked to become a mentor in the iconic and annual, 10th Hunger Games. Dean Highbottom, the creator of the Hunger Games assigns all 24 mentors to the 24 tributes; Snow ends up pairing with performer, Lucy Gray Baird from District 12. Lucy Gray is seen as this eccentric character especially at her reaping ceremony with her wearing this rainbow dress, stuffing a snake down the mayor’s daughter, singing, it goes on. Snow hopes that Lucy Gray’s entertainment will come of value for those in the Capitol to enjoy her presence and sponsor her throughout the Games.

As the Games commence, tributes are slowly killed off one by one within this arena and a victor is left, being Lucy Gray. After the games, Lucy Gray is returned to District 12 to continue her performative personality by singing with her band, The Covey. However, Snow is left to become a Peacekeeper because it was found that he had cheated within the games to help Lucy Gray win. He is originally sent to District 8 but manages to switch his post to District 12 in hopes to see Lucy Gray and rekindle the romance that was evident when the Games commenced.

Now with both Lucy Gray and Snow in District 12 they live out this fantasy of a perfect life between the two of them but Snow gets caught up in troubles he’s made–lies, cheating, murders, etc. Lucy Gray and Snow head out to a cabin near a lake to settle for the night as they trek to leave District 12 and escape to a place without Capitol control but all the troubles Snow has been caught up in are slowly being pieced together by Lucy Gray. Lucy Gray makes up an excuse to leave the cabin and Snow feels suspicious and tries to find her but she has fled. He goes crazy being fed up with this paranoia and knowing he lost the one person who he had trusted.

Snow’s journey has just started as he returns back to the Capitol and to presume the life that he always strived to get. With his close friend, Sejanus Plinth dead, the Plinths take Snow under their wing as almost like a “replacement” son. Snow now heir to the Plinth fortune, he has an opportunity to truly succeed in the Capitol life which is evident he does so in the trilogy where he is the President of Panem.

That was a brief summary of the movie, but there is so much more that hasn’t been said. I think the only way to truly understand is just by watching the movie itself, especially with it being 2 and a half hours long. I will say even knowing the plot of the movie beforehand didn’t prepare for seeing it come to life and I felt emotionally attached for days on end. FYI there are a few jump scares so just stay prepared!! Honestly, you don’t need to watch the other Hunger Games movies before this one but it would be recommended because it gives you the background you would want to know to fully understand the little hints and details within The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.

-Madison C.

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. 

The Great Gatsby Movie Review

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I first heard of this movie when listening to Lana Del Rey’s song, “Young and Beautiful,” which features all throughout the Great Gatsby. I know it’s recommended to read the book first and watch the movie after, but it was too late for me to resist when it began playing on my TV.  

The Great Gatsby is a classic novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald with themes of love and letting go of and holding on to the past. In 2013, a movie rendition was released starring Tobey Maguire as Nick Carraway and Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby. The movie begins with Nick Carraway at a doctor’s appointment where he begins to write about how he became friends with Gatsby. Gatsby is a rich business man that throws parties for everyone and anyone who wishes to stop by. No one really knows who he is, but when Nick is invited personally to Gatsby’s party he finds out who he is and all his secrets.

The Great Gatsby was a pretty good movie, although I cannot say how accurate it is to the book. Nick acted as the storyteller throughout the film which changed how the story progressed and how information was revealed. I really liked the way Nick told the story and how it correlated to the way it was filmed. It was fun to piece together the puzzle when new information was revealed as the story went on, since it’s told through Nick’s point of view. I found it interesting that it was an outsider’s point of view, showing the thoughts and emotions of a person who would usually be considered the side character. I also loved to see how helpless Nick was to Gatsby, and how even though Nick was the one to always be there for Gatsby, Nick was still pushed to the side and never was the important one. I loved how Nick found his sense of purpose and want, no longer just the simple side character, but someone with depth and a more interesting life.

Another thing I liked was how this story was not your usual romance. I liked how it didn’t have the same happily ever after that most stories and movies today chase. The only thing I can say without giving away too much, is that The Great Gatsby is a tragedy. For most characters in the movie, their endings are not what most would consider happy; the best it got was bittersweet. It was very shocking to see their endings, especially when Gatsby, the main character and name of the title, didn’t actually get what he wanted in the end. While some may find sad, tragic endings disappointing, I found these to be very fitting and enjoyable to see. 

I thought The Great Gatsby was a great movie. I really enjoyed how it was told and the plot overall. Despite this movie having been released over ten years ago, it was a superb movie that hopefully captured the full story of the classic novel properly. Now after having seen The Great Gatsby, I’m excited to get the chance to read it. I think that this movie is great for older audiences and recommend it to those in that age group, so they fully understand the little details in the storyline. 

-Nicole R.

The Great Gatsby is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. 

The Spider Within: A Spider-Verse Story

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THE SPIDER WITHIN: A SPIDER-VERSE STORY is a newly released short film that is based within Sony’s animated Spiderman universe.

While many believed that the film would simply promote Spiderman: Beyond the Spiderverse, the third entry in the series, the film is entirely separate with its own story and themes. 

In the climax of the film, Miles sees his torn mask across his room and becomes overwhelmed with his past failures. His anxieties eventually become too great, and physically manifest themselves into a giant spider. The color palette shifts to a red tone as Miles attempts to battle his stress head-on in a stunningly animated sequence. The combination of the constant clicking noises from the spider and the dark music also helps create a tense atmosphere. Like the previous two full-length movies, this short film shares the same style of bright cell-shaded animation.

Throughout the film, Miles’ anxiety is represented in a variety of ways. In addition to the physical monster, Miles’ spider-sense accidentally triggers, even though there is nothing that poses any danger to him. This false alarm was directly caused by Miles’ current state of uneasiness. 

Even as Spiderman, Miles Morales is not safe from the daily stresses of being a good student and son. The film promotes mental health awareness by showing that everyone can become overwhelmed. Miles resolves his issue by opening up to his father about his problems.

Many who struggle with similar mental health issues often do not seek help, whether it’s due to fear or pride. However, the example of Miles shows that even “strong” people can benefit from help. Less than a week after the short film’s release, it has already raised over  $5½ million dollars to the Kevin Love Fund.

Movie Review: Fried Green Tomatoes

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SPOILER FREE

The movie Fried Green Tomatoes proved to be a surprisingly enjoyable watch for me. I started the movie without a clue what it was about, only that it was going to be leaving Netflix soon, but just 20 minutes in I was crying. This movie is centered on the female bond, among other things, and follows the story of two female relationships: Ruth and Idgie from the 1920s, and Ninny and Evelyn in the 1980s.

Evelyn, a modern housewife of the 80s, struggles with her self-esteem. She and her husband, Ed, move near a senior living facility on the account of Ed’s aunt, who can’t seem to tolerate Evelyn and kicks her out of her room. In dismay, Evelyn waits for Ed in the visitor space when she meets an old woman named Ninny. Ninny tells Evelyn a story of when she was younger about two women, Ruth and Idgie, who against all odds formed a beautiful relationship that got each other during the Great Depression.

My review: This is a film where the connection between two people is so strong that it does not need to be explicitly declared or necessarily lead to something more physical. I know that there are disputes that the original book was more heavily focused on the romance of the story and this movie had a great deal of lesbian erasure but I genuinely think that this movie on its own stands to be a great piece of work. It is not a story where the message is written out plainly for all to see, which is why I like it so much. It is also very easy to watch, you might think that it would be confusing since it’s an old movie but I found myself completely immersed. Overall, I would recommend it if you liked La La Land, The Florida Project, Call Me By Your Name, or anything by Greta Gerwig.

Fried Green Tomatoes is available for checkout from the Mission Viejo Library. 

Dune 2 Movie Review

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Hey y’all! So Dune Part 2 was in theaters, and it’s pretty amazing. 

Dune Part 2 (2024) is, of course, a sequel to Dune (2021). Both Dune movies are adaptations of the first book in the Dune series by Frank Herbert, which is a sci-fi series following the remaining members of the Atreides family. Dune inspired other works of science fiction, such as Star Wars.

The second movie continues the story of Dune, following Paul Atreides. It tries to stay as faithful to the original book by as possible. As someone who has read most of the first book, I can confirm that it’s very accurate to the original novel. The movie only changes a few things and cuts out some more minor, dialogue-heavy scenes. Dune Part 2 also provides an amazing sense of scale, which is something that I feel the book sort of struggles with, and I think that makes the movie a great companion to the book.

Overall, I’d say it’s a great adaptation, especially considering the first book is about 900 pages. I would recommend finishing the book first, but I didn’t do that for either movie and there’s still a ton of bonus information you get in the book. And if you’re like me and you stop reading the book for a year or two, the movie is a great refresher if you’re more than halfway through.