The Bad Guys - Suave, charming, and a little crazy

 

For rent on Apple TV, Amazon, YouTube, and Google Play 

    Recently, I posted a blog entry discussing my reaction to the trailer for the upcoming animated film, Luck. I reminded my beautiful readers of how most Western animation is under the delusion that its only audience is young children. Films such as Toy Story, Zootopia, and just about anything made by Brad Bird have successfully proven the folly of this mindset. Today's subject, The Bad Guys, may not break the ceiling of universal appreciation for both kids and adults. Still, despite being incredibly formulaic, it has just enough good charm and contagious energy to almost surpass it and deliver an entertaining ride. Sometimes, you don't need to be great; just fun! 

    The story follows a group of friends, the bad guys, the most notorious criminals in town, and the best thieves in the business. They happen to be anthropomorphic animals traditionally seen as vicious and dangerous, so they just decide to embrace that without attempting to do or be anything else, not unlike how Nicholas Wilde felt about himself in Zootopia. While amid a heist, the pack leader, Mr.Wolf, seems to have a stroke of conscience and finds himself interested in actually changing sides and becoming...well...good. Along with most other people, his crew has difficulty believing in his desire to change. But a select few people are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, including the Mayor, Diane Foxington (an anthropomorphic Fox). Is Mr. Wolf's desire to be better genuine, or is there a grander scheme at play? 

    The film can best be described as a fun amalgamation of Zootopia meets Ocean's Eleven with a little bit of Loony Toons for good measure: it has a solid and valid message about perception and perspective while delivering a fun and insane heist adventure. While it can sometimes be described as a bit hyper, it's rarely to the point that you can't follow what's happening. It's charming silliness for energy, not merely distracting your kids while you make a sandwich (although it will likely serve that function just fine). 

    The characters are likable, energetic, and feature pleasant personalities. Especially Mayor Diane Foxington, my winner of the film's MVP award. I won't spoil exactly how, but I will say that it's beyond excellent, earning the film many bonus points. 

    The animation style is incredibly gorgeous. The lighting, character designs, and textures retain a charming and enjoyable presentation. 

    While I enjoyed most aspects of the film, it's not without its significant flaws. As I mentioned before, the story is incredibly formulaic, to the point that most plot twists are pretty easy to see coming a mile away. Not to mention specific story turns that have been done to death so much that it's practically like clockwork. Even though it delivered the overly done cliches very well, they're still overly done cliches. This cycle can only maintain itself for so long. 

    The Bad Guys isn't the most original or nuanced animated work out there, but it is a solid work that delivers some fun laughs and a heartwarming story about friendship and the pleasant feelings that come from doing good. If nothing else, it'll put you in the right mood. 

    Give it a shot. 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading. 

Trailer Reaction - Luck

 

    Have you ever seen a video on the internet and become so fascinated with it that you watched it well over five times in a single day, and you can't really explain why? That happened to me recently with the ninety-five-second teaser trailer for the upcoming animated film, Luck, due to premiere on Apple TV+ later this August. 

    The trailer isn't all that incredible, but it is surprisingly captivating. It reminded me of the first teaser trailer for Zootopia: a single long take of a prominent character providing the central theme and plot of the film and showcasing the kind of storytelling style intended. In this case, an adorable black cat, voiced by Simon Pegg, drops some knowledge about luck and its cultural interpretations. Specifically how black cats are considered incredibly lucky in Scottland as opposed to most other parts of the world. His name's Bob, by the way. After providing us with a tour of the Land of Luck, Bob mentions how humans have never visited the place, only to be accidentally pushed across the room by a suddenly opening door and for a young human woman to step inside, totally confused at her whereabouts. 

    The film doesn't look all that different from most typical Western-released animated movies: bright colors, comedic tone, exaggerated designs, etc. Most audiences would brush them off as nothing more than visual aids for babysitters (and in many cases, they are). Not to say that the movie looks terrible, only that Western animated movies have been traditionally and incredibly formulaic. Western animation has been (and still is) under the delusion that it's only for children and could never be taken seriously as a storytelling medium outside of the six to twelve demographic. 

    In the case of Luck, while its visuals seem to retain that unfortunate expectation of animated movies here in the West, the concept behind the story sounds much more profound than one might expect. It almost sounds like a concept that PIXAR would explore, and there is a good reason for that. 

    One of the film's producers is John Lassater, one of the forefathers of PIXAR and the primary creative mind behind Toy Story. I would be remiss not to mention his fall from grace in recent years with accusations of sexual misconduct, which is both unfortunate and annoying. Even so, whatever else can be said about him as a person, there is no denying that he knows how to engage an audience (both young and old) with animation. In that way, he's similar to how I view Tom Cruise: I may never want to meet him in person, but I'm confident I'll be incredibly entertained with his work. 

    Incidentally, this is a perfect example of why I believe in the importance of separating art from the artist. Regardless of the validity of the accusations, it is unfair to hold them against the rest of the film. And while director Peggy Holmes along with writers Kiel Murray, Jonathan Aibel, and Glenn Berger, may not have the most promising of resumes (I'm looking at you, Monster Trucks), it is bad form to immediately assume we know what we may be in for with this movie. 

    Despite the overabundance of terrible one-dimensional works of animated media that seem to dominate western animation, we're still occasionally peppered with a few pleasant surprises here and there. Again, consider Toy Story and Zootopia as examples. While I have no expectations for this little piece of animated curiosity, I am hopeful for some kind of pleasant surprise.  We shall find out soon enough come August. 

    Check out the trailer for yourself at the link below. 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading. 

Luck trailer

The Lost City - In Search of Better Jokes

Streaming on Paramount + 

For rent on Amazon 

    Something about the modern age has put a stranglehold on comedy, and it's only getting worse. In an age seemingly too overtly run by social media, comedy struggles to figure out what's still funny. Consequently, this causes modern comedic films to try and push non-jokes (like the ever so dreadful "awkward moment" humor plaguing modern comedy) as genuine knee-slappers, resulting in audiences waiting for a punchline that never shows up. Sure, there can be a few well-deserved chuckles here and there, but the overall presentation can become an unintentional drag if there's not enough silly energy to go around. 

    This, you may have surmised, is the aptest description I can give today's subject, The Lost City: a comedy that has a funny idea with talented performers delivering funny energy. Still, for some reason that I can't quite pinpoint, the film itself doesn't feel wholeheartedly funny. At least not as much as it ought to be nor thinks itself to be. 

    The story follows Loretta Sage (Sandra Bullock), a recently widowed romance novelist promoting (rather apathetically) her latest book about long-lost ancient cities featuring her famous romanticly involved characters. One of whom is famously portrayed by her long-time cover model Alan (Channing Tatum). Loretta simply wants to get through the promotion and end the series, as she is still grieving the loss of her husband. Things take an unexpected turn when she is kidnapped by an eccentric millionaire named Abigale Fairfax (Daniel Radcliffe), who wants her help to find an ancient treasure from her latest book. Loretta's late husband, an archeologist, studied the legend of an ancient treasure known as the Crown of Fire, and some details made it into Loretta's story. Loretta suddenly finds herself on an island where the treasure is believed to be hidden. Alan, feeling guilty over some choice words exchanged before her kidnapping, decides to try and rescue her himself. The movie then turns into a typical mishmashed retread of Romancing The Stone meets Galaxy Quest, only not as funny, clever, or nuanced as either of those classics. 

    From my somewhat cynical tone, you might suspect that I didn't think the movie was all that funny. Well, the truth is that while I wasn't a fan of the overall style of humor, I did find moments here and there that were worthy of a decent chuckle. The talented cast delivered most of those moments and succeeded in delivering some good silliness despite the lackluster writing they had to work with. 

    Daniel Radcliffe is probably the film's highlight, as he delivers the most energetic and entertaining villain performance yet. Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum have solid chemistry and deliver some genuine comedic energy. There's also a brief appearance with Brad Pitt that is too short-lived. 

    In a nutshell, these performances might have been better served in a better movie. While the performers are doing their best, the material therein doesn't feel substantial enough to warrant any reaction other than, "well, that just happened." The rest of the movie feels too hollow and safe for its own good. 

    The Lost City needed to be much sillier than its directors felt comfortable with, the script needed to fine-tune its jokes a bit more, and Hollywood really needs to stop pretending it knows what counts as "funny." If you need a quick and reasonably pleasant distraction for about two hours and have exhausted all other options, this may suffice just enough. 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading. 

Book Update 5/11/22

My beautiful readers, 

    Pricing for the book has been finalized, and pre-orders will be made available soon. 

    Come See The Light will be found on most book retailer sites (links will be provided in the coming week or two) and will be made available for the following prices: 

eBook - $16.99 

Paperback - $20.95 

Hardcover - $24.95 

    This is the lowest I can reasonably charge for the book considering printing costs and wholesale retailer discounts. 

    The official review for the book at onlinebookclub.org is still pending and will be posted probably sometime in June. 

    Production for the commercial is still underway and will be featured on YouTube and Hulu sometime this summer. 

    Thank you all for your support and patience. I hope you are as excited about the book release as I am. Please stay tuned for further updates. 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading. 

BOOK UPDATE: 5/8/22

 My beautiful readers,

    As of this writing, my upcoming novel, Come See The Light, is in the process of uploading to my account on IngramSpark: a self-publishing platform that will distribute my book in both print and digital form. Once both the paperback and hardcover versions have been fully approved, the book will be available for pre-order at your favorite book outlets. 

    Some of you who regularly shop at Barns & Noble may have already seen my book on their website for pre-order. I must advise you to please resist doing so for the time being. 

    The reason is simple: there was a miscommunication regarding the price. 

    Currently, my book is listed as available for pre-order for $75. This is not my intended price! 

    I have taken steps to instruct IngramSpark to relist my book at a much more reasonable price of $32.95. While this price is not my first choice, it is the lowest I can realistically list the book while ensuring the best retailer wholesale discount possible. 

    At least for now, my goal is not profit; it is to gain readership. 

    At the very least, I shall ensure that this price will remain the same for both the paperback and hardcover versions. 

    I will gladly share any further pre-order details with you all sometime after May 13th, when the correct price is scheduled to go into effect. 

    I thank you all for your patience and excitement. I hope you are as excited about this event as I am. 

Ladies & gentlemen, I am TheNorm; thank you all for reading.