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The Prince of Egypt: Live from the West End (2023)
This is the eleventh plague!
I came into watching this with high hopes. The introduction had some promise, but continued to fall flat as the show continued. Odd choices and liberties with a story line really have no place with a classic, historic account like that of Moses. They might as well have made a musical adaptation of Schindler's List taking place in a circus tent. I found it that offensive.
Some of the musical numbers were delivered well, but others lacked cohesion. They skipped over one of my favorite numbers: "Messing with the Big Boys, Now" and added in much weaker songs that didn't carry the story or add to the characters.
Some of the dance numbers were fun to watch and I enjoyed the costumes. The backdrops felt like cop-outs to making stage props. For example, during the scene where the eight plagues come about (frogs to darkness) some video is just projected on the screen. I realize that it was rushed through the movie as well, but it seemed even more like the musical was considering the plagues as a passing thought than it was. Even during the Seder, we give the plagues more time from the Haggadah - and having little kids, the Haggadah we use is a comic book (please don't judge)!
The characters get a complete rewrite with the Pharaoh and Moses being henpecked, them being the girly BFFs, and Pharaoh and Moses both being weak in character and roles of the story. At the end, the godless priest saves the story by hypnotizing Egyptians into walking to their deaths in an unseen, barely mentioned, Red Sea while Pharaoh helps Moses escape.
It felt like a DEI alphabet of heresy that is as offensive as it is long.
Happy Death Day (2017)
Thriller At It's Peak Enjoyment
The humor, wit, clever twists and thrills made this an instant favorite! As others have stated, it's like Groundhog Day meets Friday the Thirteenth, but it has really good character development (like Groundhog Day) and is very well edited so that the movie is compelling enough to keep interest and provide hearty twists.
It was like the thrill and fun of riding a roller coaster.
The Black Phone (2021)
Good acting and creepy twists
The more Blumhouse pictures I watch, the more impressed I am at how well they do their character development. Each of their movies seems to center around the growth and change of the characters - namely, the effect of trauma.
In this case, the black phone os a conduit to fear and redemption. The main characters play off of each other in a chess-like match of brutal strength and intelligent providence.
The only character that felt artificial was the boys father - Especially at the end. Even the jobless nutcase conspiracy theorist was acceptable and brought a few humerus twists to the plot.
I enjoyed it about as much as Happy Death Day, which is saying a lot.
Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022)
Lack of depth of the other sequels
I'd rank this just a tad lower than the last Despicable Me. The minions were as funny as ever, but when little Gru treats them inconsiderately, and blames and fires them for his mistake, he doesn't suffer the consequence.
Having Gru kidnapped and the minions come out to save him felt like a strained attempt to recreate a Toy Story plot.
I feel that children movies should either silly (like Pee Week's Great Adventure) without a moral lesson, or should have a cohesive lesson throughout. When the lesson is loosely applied, like this movie had, it tends to teach kids they can treat each other (and family members) like crap and it will all work out fine in the end without strain on the relationship.
Not a horrible movie, but not great by any means. 3/5.
Click (2006)
It's disturbing because it's true
How many parents have said "where did the time go?" "Just yesterday she was a little girl and now she's getting married." or "I wish I spent time with my family instead of my dead-end career."
It's sort of like "It's a Wonderful Life", but looking back in time at the value lost by not being present instead of at the present value lost by not existing.
I can attest that over a decade of my life was lost in a flash of office work. When my business dissolved and I woke up to the world around me and realized what I had missed out on from my children having grown and my marriage in disrepair, my response was a feeling of grief and loss.
Watching this movie merely touched me because of how close to home it was. I wonder if others are disturbed from this film because they have similar lives but are in denial of it.