YM Y10 Reviews - Triple XXX

[YM!]

I know it's been a long road but we are back in action for Y10. As we wait for Part 2 of the year, I want to something special while the January through June reviews come in. Like @Rorschach and @4815162342, I'll be going back to reread old film this year. I want people to send in a film for recommendations for me to read, which can be one of your own films or someone else’s films. I've got my own special reread list in the works with a re-review for one of the films coming around the sametime as January.

 

January should be up sometime today or tomorrow. 

[MCKillswitch123]

1 hour ago, YM! said:

I know it's been a long road but we are back in action for Y10. As we wait for Part 2 of the year, I want to something special while the January through June reviews come in. Like @Rorschach and @4815162342, I'll be going back to reread old film this year. I want people to send in a film for recommendations for me to read, which can be one of your own films or someone else’s films. I've got my own special reread list in the works with a re-review for one of the films coming around the sametime as January.

 

January should be up sometime today or tomorrow. 

 

Gonna send recommendations the same way as in the Rory thread

 

Film by me: Warmth, Y9

Films by others: Lord of the Flies by @Alpha, Y2; And the Band Played On... by @4815162342, Y2

[cookie]

Film by me: The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Year 1

Films by others: Birdwing by @Blankments, Year 7; Yin by @SLAM!, Year 5

[Rorschach]

Film by me: Bambi: A Life in the Woods, Y5

Film by others: XJ-9: Rebirth, by @Ezen Baklattan, Y6; War of the Gods, by @Xillix, Y2

[Reddroast]

Film by me starlight.

Film by others the elsagate movie @Xillix

 

[YM!]

Wow, it has been three months since I posted. Sorry about that school has been hectic, reviews for Q1 dropping very shortly as they are already finished. Now, I would like to introduce a special new category in this one. As we all know, Expand Dong has been awarded to the cream of the crop (4.5/5 or higher) with various other cute or cringey memes, but in this case I will be introducing a sibling to the Dong award, that you will see in reviews.

Spoiler

 

The Spicy Sauce Award - This goes to film that just have the sauce. For those of you not Gen-Z or just do not know, sauce is the equivalent of having swagger or a particular sense of heightened charisma. I give this award to movies that just have that dog in them, and really grabs me. This award is possible from any film of almost any rating.

 

Edited March 7 by YM!

[YM!]

January

 

Sony v Nintendo

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A highly informative and well-paced documentary of how Sony became a gaming titan. Do find it interesting how Nintendo underestimating the power of disc gaming, ended up being a mainstay over cartridges, even for Nintendo’s Wii line. Not as impactful as Flightless Bird but still highly solid.
 

3.5/5

 

Money Heist

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Kind of disappointed in this one. Was very excited to see Spielberg cook with a heist movie, and the cast bounces well off each other having a natural rapport, but unfortunately the direction that Spielberg normally excels in is lacking. While that might not be a turnoff or detract from the film, it’s not enough to elevate and stand out. The script also unfortunately is not strong enough to help the film either. Money Heist does it’s job but missing key elements of a heist for success.

 

2.5/5
 

Tailypo

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Ooooweeee, love me some Lager Pictures horror, and Tailypo is no exception. It’s a fun ride with an evil cat like monster haunting a lead and his animals, leading to scary horror sequences and themes of selfishness really help. It’s just so much fun you guys.
 

4/5

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But does it have the sauce?

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Yes!

 

 

Toppings: A Pizza Romance

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It’s very odd to have chosen Euphoria and The Idol helmer Sam Levinson here, as his usual sensibility and style seem drowned out for a more surreal and sweet PG-13 comedy. However, Toppings fails to create a satisfying romance between the two leads or a funny comedy out of the absurd premise of guys delivering pizzas to find love where it takes you out of the film. This leaves Toppings without room to fully execute its premise. That said, the leads do their best and a joke or two gets a chuckle from me. Sadly, this movie needed more time in the oven.
 

1.5/5

Operation Finality

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I had a lot of fun with this one. Yes, the story is predictable and do think some downtime in between scenes would really help this movie shine, (also I think maybe a PDF of that would help it read better), it is a gorey and thrilling sci-fi action led well by Michael B. Jordan and the fast pace makes it for a thrilling ride.
 

3.5/5

 

[YM!]

February

 

Room 131

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The Poison and Wine series was a CAYOM staple, known for its loud and proud LGBTQ focus and intense romance scenes. Though it can get crazy and didn’t gel with me at first, I’ve come to admire them a lot as I got older and farther into the game.  I watched Saltburn recently and my most common thought was this is like Poison and Wine but sauceless. 

So how does Room 131 holdup? Honestly, pretty well. Might even be the best of the series. What I really admire about this one is the sense of rawness and personal touches that elevate the movie throughout especially with an ending I’ll be thinking about for a while. The film shines through the eyes of our lead Jordan, who Pico Alexander really nails the performance on bringing in a lot of layers to this character. 

I’m going to leave this one ungraded for right now. Not so much because of not knowing what to grade but rather this experience will stick with me throughout the game year. It’s great to see the return of O$corp Pictures. 

 

Spoiler

It does have the sauce though!

 

The Legend of Hollis Brown

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Pretty solid western romance. You get Eastwood vibing, you get a nice romance with him and Bassett and you get some nice drama with it. It’s a good time and probably your grandparents favorite movie of the year.
 

3.5/5

A Ghost's Tail

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Tbh don’t get why this was a PG-13. I think both financially and narrative purposes it makes more sense as a PG movie, and an odd choice considering the director. And I do feel perhaps it’s a bit too sweet for its own good. However, it’s competently acted and paced, so I have no real qualms with it. A Ghost Tail, is a fine dramedy and makes for a good February matinee.
 

2.5/5

 

March

 

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile

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Think Klonoa should do the best of the March films at the box office. The friendship between the two leads is charming enough to grab the attention of kids and adults, with some pretty frenetic action sequences bringing into mind last year’s Kirby. However, the problem with this movie lies within two issues - one like the IRL Mario, it feels more like you’re watching a video game being played with one big boss fight onto the next with little time to grow or make the characters interesting outside of a fun vocal performance or two and the second is a major third act twist that fails mainly because it’s an abrupt halt for the sake of adhering to the video game it’s based on and while it’s interesting in execution given the world of dreams it doesn’t pull off as smoothly as hoped. That said, think this is a fine movie for families over the Spring period.
 

2.5/5

Gran Turimso 2

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Don’t have much to say about this one other than it does its job as a good racing flick about perseverance. Nothing more nothing less. A Gran 2rimso title would have netted it an extra .5/5 though.

 

3/5
 

Lions and Dragons

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If Klonoa was this March’s Boss Baby, Lions and Dragons is the Smurfs: The Lost Village. It’s probably simpler for kids to understand than Klonoa but it’s clearly just for the under 12 crowd. Which of course, doesn’t make it a bad movie but there’s very little for those outside the audience as characters don’t really form an attachment, the plot just sort of exists and the story is too slight for its own good. However, the folks at Zimmer Pictures should know that there is another animation from them that I really dug more than this, that arrives in September and might put a smile on their face.
 

1.5/5

 

[Hiccup23]

Thanks for the review!!🌶️🌶️🌶️🥵

[YM!]

April

 

Crusi'n' World

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Can’t really say much else. It is a fun enough time killer with cool visuals and moon racing. Nothing more - nothing less.

 

3/5

The Enormous Radio

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Got to say, this one really surprised me. Based on the New Yorker short story and romance films of the forties and fifties, The Enormous Radio is a really engaging romantic drama about a couple, so expertly played by Ben Foster and Scarlett Johansson about a magical radio that allows people to hear others' conversations. What starts off as a husband and wife snooping and having fun with it, into a tale of obsession and one’s own authenticity in which Scarlett shines as the lead Irene. Though like Rory said, the ending is a bit abrupt but it is still a great tale.

 

4/5

 

Sauce tho?

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Indeed!

 

 

Penpal

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I was not expecting to cry last night when I read this. Penpal is one of Lager Pictures’ high-profile releases based on the novel of a Reddit creepypasta. As we know, Lager has had ease of turning these Reddit stories into strong masterpieces like Y6’s Borusca and quaint gems like the unnerving Little Brave Bugs, with this project being in development hell for years. It was fitting this came out this year, because for the ten game years Lager Pictures has been around - it is by far my favorite and likely a shoo-in for Best Picture this year.

Expertly directed by David Robert Mitchell, Penpal weaves a tragedy-riddled mystery in which the various aspect ratio changes help deliver the different periods of life Dathan is at, all while maintaining a foreboding and anxious feel whilst telling a powerful story about obsession and closure and the link between them. Owen Teague is by far the standout here, as he is able to capture the lead Dathan by showing a young man who must confront his trauma-filled past in order to find peace in his present. However, I love-love-loved the role of Kate Seigel as Dathan’s Mom, who sacrificed everything to keep her son safe at the risk of their relationship giving the film a great emotional core and a lot of nuances. Maybe something shouldn’t be confronted, but Penpal reminds us to in order to conquer trauma we must face our past head on and try to make the best of it. The ending truly gutted me and is one I will remember for years. Got to get that novel.
Also, yes - this is DONG worthy.
 

Spoiler

5/5

 

 

[YM!]

May is dropping tonight, finishing up the reviews as we speak. Also, will give Room 131 its score verdict.

[YM!]

Room 131 Verdict

Spoiler

After much deliberation on Room 131, we would like to cordially give it a score of 3.5/5. Yes, it very much is like the PaW series where you are on board or not within the first few paragraphs and in this case, I was really into it and did appreciate the rawness of it all and was won over by the ambition.
 

May

 

Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas

Spoiler

MCK, you missed out bigly on excluding the legendary scene of Big Smoke ordering his giant ass order. Anyways, I enjoyed San Andreas a lot (both the game and the movie) and is a solid step-up from the predecessor in that it captures the chaotic feel of GTA. However, I did feel somewhat underwhelmed with the narrative in that I do feel that some of the scenes in the montages could have made for great sequences. I do really like this movie but it just feels like something was missing. Fans will certainly love it and I look forward to more tales with the GTA world.

3/5
 

Time After Time

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Time After Time is a nice quaint little sci-fi romp with a cute romance and a fun premise of time-traveling, celebrating the life of H.J. Wells and a satirical criticism on the lack of connection in the modern world. Do think with a bit more polish and time to build up the romance and develop more of the commentary, I would have loved it more. However, I still really dug the ride.

3/5
 

Doraemon

Spoiler

Shame I didn’t really care for this one. While I have no familiarity with the Doraemon cartoon and did find the concept of Doraemon being there to help people grow, I wasn’t charmed by the movie mainly due to its massive tonal shifts which takes away from the film and the emotional moments land like thuds. (like Rory said, it is quite odd for not just the director choice but the live action characters act more cartoony than the CGI Doraemon).

2/5
 

The Set-Up

Spoiler

Man, Lana Condor must be swimming in dough as she is likely to have a big box office weekend this Memorial Day weekend with two big films on his roster: The Siege of Savage and the delightful The Set-Up. Claire Scanlon delivers a delightful teen rom-com but diverts expectations of the traditional romantic comedy and focuses on the messiness of high school relationships and while they might not last, it is important to find yourself and grow yourself first and I think that is a great message overall. Good job, Cookie Pictures.

3.5/5
 

12 Angry Veggies: A VeggieTales Movie

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Gotta say I was surprised at the (o)RANGE of this film and was a solid PRODUC(E)tion. Overall, it is an apPEALing time for young kids and families. LET(tuce) digest that the morals may be a bit PrEACHy but that is VeggieTales for you, so not really on GARDE(n) about it. This installment SPROUTed out nicely versus its predecessor. I cannot think of any more fruit or veggie puns and this is where the review ends but I RELISHed the opportunity for a pun or two.

3/5
 

 

[YM!]

June

 

Old Men Walking

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Okay, this is a fun enough comedy from the Happy Madison crew. It is a fun enough comedy for the summer, which has big stars pretending to be teens.
3/5
 

Flesh

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Probably one of the better Fossil Record Pictures film, thanks to its imaginative premise and great thrills. The choice of voice actors being unknown fits for the project but I do wish there was more to the human side of things which drags when not dealing with dino chaos. Overall, a good time.
3/5

 

LittleBigPlanet

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My thoughts on this are similar to Klonoa. A fun enough video game movie for kids but fails to provide anything for the over 10 audience and while breezy enough, the themes and the main character fall flat for lack of characterization.
2.5/5
 

Berserk: The Golden Age

Spoiler

This really is just Lager Pictures’ year and we are just living in it. Fresh off of Y5’s Fantasia: The Third Dimension, Lager Pictures’ animation division joins forces with Zack Snyder leading the fray and SpiderVerse-like aesthetics to craft a new adventure based on the gritty and gore-y anime. Berserk succeeds in crafting arguably some of (if not, the top dog) the best animated action sequences in CAYOM which is not afraid to show how bloody and brutal it gets but also weaving a strong narrative with our main leads in Darce Montgomery’s Guts and Sophia Lillis’ Casca who manages to not only grow in a world of bloodshed but to find a sense of identity and purpose as well after dealing with immense trauma in a world where you must kill or be killed. It also does not shy away from a lot of the more unsavory natures of the world, which makes the various monsters demise much more satisfying. Do think my only qualm is one character, though really cool is an odd placement to the narrative but I do not care because this dude is cool. Anyways, Berserk: The Golden Age rules!
 

Spoiler

4.5/5

 

The Secret That Love Brings

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It is definitely an improvement from the original, but yeah not much else to say about this other than it being a serviceable romance.
2.5/5
 

 

[YM!]

July

 

Ping

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Cute enough time-killer for the sub-10 demographic, but feels derivative of a lot of other animated family films that came out recently, especially Migration.
2/5
 

51

Spoiler

Man, does this movie feel exploitative. The found footage aspect was a bad decision as not only does it provide little for the audience to attach too but also showcases more on the abuse of children than anything else.
1/5

Freedom Day

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Hey, this is better than Ready Player One. This fun little horror flick manages to be an engaging take on some of the horrors of VR whilst using a small budget to their advantage. It is a good time at the cinema.
3/5

Second Dimension: Battle for North Kingdom

Spoiler

Though it does suffer a bit from replaying familiar fantasy genre tropes, the second Second Dimension manages to improve from its predecessor mainly in large to a more digestible format, some great action sequences and an ensemble of characters who play well off each other. Was pleasantly surprised with Erin Kellymann’s Marianne character - who was once a sidekick character who gets a strong arc in the sequel as one of the main leads. In fact, the women characters in this get a lot more to do and really drive the film. I look forward to the third installment.
3/5
 

The Furby Movie

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Though it also falls within the same category of generic kids movie as Ping, I was briefly more charmed with Furby’s fleeting bits of chaos and empathy. 
2.5/5
 

Lifeguards

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Hot and horny lifeguards do the bare minimum in providing laughs and thrills in this average summer rom-com.
2/5
 

The Lottery

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Gotta say, didn’t dig this one as much as The Enormous Radio sadly. The Lottery weaves a tale based on blind devotion to tradition which leads to great tragedy and harm and the ensemble does well, however I do think like Rory pointed out not only does the runtime feel oddly brief but the buildup on Bill and the family in the aftermath feels oddly rushed and lessen some of the impact. It’s still a good flick, just somewhat flawed.
3/5
 

Wii Sports: Vacation on Wuhu Island

Spoiler

The Wii series of CAYOM is an odd duck of video game movies. There’s no real plot in the games so the movies either stay true to that core of plotless and aimless or just go batshit crazy. Wuhu Island was sadly the latter, lacking something entertaining to make the sports shenanigans feel interesting.
1.5/5
 

 

Edited March 20 by YM!

[YM!]

August

 

Tornado

Spoiler

The tornado movie does its job on destruction and scope but lacking everywhere else.

2.5/5 
 

Tatiana’s Journey

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My thoughts on Titania’s Journey pretty much align with when I read it first. Overall, it’s an improvement over Mighty Fall as it is more streamlined and is more confident in both characters as our trio of Thiago, Jane and Allyarah are engaging to follow. I do like the parallels and romance between Jane and Allyarah who get strong arcs that are interesting foils to each other. The other characters though not getting much to work with are pretty fun and I do like Hakana’s arc and the incel Allyarah almost was with. Wasn’t impressed with The Trudicator though, as she is a abusive monster but think she could be more threatening.

3.5/5
 

A Walk in the London Rain 

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London Rain is a great movie, from its breezy runtime to the emotional story of Vanessa (played excellently by Sennott) coming to terms with her own sexuality. It is such a nice vibe to for the end of the summer.
4/5
 

Spoiler

 

Six Souls

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Six Souls is a serviceable late-summer horror flick which should help with its target audience, but unfortunately, the ending did not stick the landing.
2/5
 

Burnout: Revenge

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Robert Rodriguez’s sense of direction and capability of strong action sequences, helps makes the Burnout sequel become a memorable thrill ride of the late summer period. It definitely is an improvement over the predecessor.
3/5
 

[YM!]

September

 

Providence 

Spoiler

Though I did find the story somewhat lacking, it is great to have another James Wan joint. The sense of the thrilling action sequences, to how the visuals pop up to dazzle on the screen, and the contrast of how war funds technology is pretty good stuff right here. The Salamander designs themselves are also delightfully weird and eerie to them and the reveal of having their own society and sophistication were nice twists. A great kickoff for Labor Day weekend.
3.5/5
 

Smile

Spoiler

I really dug Smile. Though I am vaguely familiar with the books as a youth, I was impressed by the more naturalistic aspect of the movie focusing more on how our lead grows over the timeframe than say a set narrative - like the book itself. This is definitely a strong start for Zimmer Pictures and I look forward to see what else they offer in the future. It is a pretty chill coming of age movie that I think people will really dig.
3.5/5

Spoiler

 

9/11: Never Forget

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9/11: Never Forget manages to be a touching soliloquy to those who died in the tragedy, forgoing a political stance to highlight those who have been hurt and the victims of this, combining it with distinct use of rotoscoping animation.
3.5/5
 

Adam and Cindy ft. Cersei, in Guinea Piggest

Spoiler

The lettuce’s freshness was not enough to save the crossover. However, it was an improvement over the previous Guinea Pig movies. RIP Arya, she would be proud that the series got its ending on a high note. 
1.5/5
 

Fishergirls

Spoiler

Probably my favorite of the Fossil Record movies thus far, and the best that came from the studio. The choice to use an animation style similar to that of Loving Vincent, really helps the seas and forest really pop onto the screen. It also handles its feminist themes with grace, although not the most subtle, to really driver forth the narrative and the leads quest for their own autonomy. Hope to see more like this in the future from the studio.
3.5/5
 

Kris’ Plan

Spoiler

Wasn’t impressed with the QAnon Under the Sea sci-fi thriller. Despite an inventive landscape, the thriller aspect and overall dramatic core flounders to make an impact or do anything interesting with it.
2.5/5
 

[YM!]

2 more films to read.

 

Top 25 then Oct-Dec reviews tomorrow.

[YM!]

17 hours ago, YM! said:

2 more films to read.

 

Top 25 then Oct-Dec reviews tomorrow.

It is coming!

[YM!]

It has been great year of movies from everyone this year, and it is honor to continue this game with friends old and new over the years in this game. Without further ado, it is time for us to start the fire - a celebration of ten game years with this year's top 25. Dishonorable Mentions and Honorable Mentions dropping within the next 5-10 minutes:

 

[YM!]

Dishonorable Mentions: Sometimes, a film doesn't come out right, which is not of fault of our talented writers here as we all make misfires. These ten films are sadly the weakest of the year, listed below in alphabetical order.

 

Spoiler

51
Adam and Cindy ft. Cersei, in: Guinea Piggest

Doraemon
Lions and Dragons
MBW: The Second Monster Bug Wars

Meme Run

Red Flag

Six Souls
Toppings: A Pizza Romance
Wii Sports Resort: Vacation on Wuhu Island