Truth and Lies: Monica and Bill (2019, USA) | Rating: 3.5/5
Not sure if Hulu was expiring this and the next entry, but I started off the new year with a couple of journalistic documentary specials (or whatever). Most people who were alive in the 90s know about the infamous Clinton scandal that led to his impeachment. This incident led to so many jokes from various comedy outlets like Saturday Night Live that wouldn't be acceptable today in the #metoo era. I was a kid when this situation happened, but I remember almost vividly how it impacted our country. It was definitely a huge scandal for a president. It was nice seeing a look back on the story after a couple decades and realizing that the public didn't give Monica any type of support. She was young and impressionable and former President Clinton was definitely in the wrong. This special definitely shows the error of society's victim blaming ways and opened my own eyes on details that I didn't know, such as Clinton's womanizing habits prior to his presidency. Of course, I was just a child then and didn't understand the whole logistics of cheating, aside from it being a bad thing. It's definitely an informative special for those who are in the same position as myself, but I'm sure others would enjoy it as well as a lesson in listening to victims of sexual misconduct.
Last Days of Richard Pryor (2020, USA) | Rating: 3.5/5
I have a small inkling that I've actually seen this when it aired on TV, but my memory was a little fuzzy and I ended up watching it anyway. Much like the in depth special about Monica and Bill, I wanted to learn more about the late legendary comedian Richard Pryor. I knew that he had fallen in an all too familiar fate that comedians face which is becoming a victim of mental health (and drugs). I was very young when Mr. Pryor was popular in cinema, but I remember enjoying what contributions he gave to stand-up and opening doors to comedians of color. To hear that this highly successful comedian's journey get cut short in such a way was truly eye opening and sad. Of course, back then not many took drug abuse that seriously and were ignorant to mental health issues. Like many others, especially fans and admirers, I had to wonder what would've happened if people took his problems seriously as he didn't hide that he had an addiction problem and severe despression. At the same time, it seemed as though he didn't want to get better when it came to drugs, which makes things very complicated. While die hard fans might not think that this collection of interviews and archival footage brought anything new to the table, casual consumers of media and younger fans can learn something about this very talented individual.
Let's Scare Julie (2019, USA) | Rating: 1.5/5
If you're familiar with my work here on this lovely blog, you would know that I enjoy bad horror movies with hopes that it'll be entertaining. If you're new here, hi...I enjoy trash sometimes. This movie falls into my "judging a movie by its cover" and...yeah, it was not good. It started off at least a little bit interesting with this group of girls just being annoying teenage girls. They start talking about playing a prank on their friend and it goes downhill from there: in execution and plot. I admit that I didn't give this movie my full attention, but it honestly didn't try to keep it either. Yes, there are bad movies that at least attempt to keep my attention, but this one...I couldn't even tell you any character names or describe the movie in detail from beginning to end. Like most reviewers, I guess I can somewhat admire its unique filmmaking techniques, but it doesn't save the quality of the content, especially these bland characters.
Soul (2020, USA) | Rating: 3.5/5
If you haven't heard, animation companies have a problem with black and brown people representation and many of my friends have pointed this out through several examples of them being transformed into animals or whatever for most of the movie such as The Princess and the Frog, Brother Bear, The Emperor's New Groove, and Spies in Disguise. Many fans worried that this movie would be another contribution to this problem and...it sadly did. Yes, I did enjoy this movie and the message was very inspiring for any age group, but especially adults that have been burdened by life (and this pandemic). It definitely isn't the best of Pixar, but it isn't the worst either. Sadly, I'm not surprised that our main character Joe Gardner doesn't stay human for majority of the movie. I predicted that he would mostly be a soul being, but...*spoiler* he's a cat. Nonetheless, the movie was enjoyable, but I can't wait until we can have more black and brown representation without transformation in animation.
Avenger Dogs Christmas (2020, USA) | Rating: 1.5/5
This was a terrible animated Christmas movie that my friend/co-worker saw while shelving DVDs. After reading the ridiculous description and being thoroughly terrified of the cover art, I had a mighty need to watch this with her. If I watched this on my own, I would...probably still be amused, but I would definitely be questioning my choices. With a friend making snarky commentary with you over Discord, it made the movie all the more entertaining! I don't know what child would find this enjoyable and if they did, the parents would be in sheer agony on how awful every aspect of this movie is. Every decision made with this movie is highly questionable. The animation is below subpar for a 2020 movie, most of the characters are voiced by one person, they reuse at least 90% of the scenes, the editing is non-sensical, the subtitles are a little off at times, and there's a scene one of the characters says another character's lines, then responds. This is definitely one of those so bad it's kinda good only if you watch it with a group of friends to make fun of it type of movie. I had the pleasure of being the first and last person to check out this movie from work as one of the children's librarians decided to immediately remove it from the collection and the potential first to rate it on IMDb.
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