Weekly Roundup Episode 6: V-Day Weekend Flicks
Source: IMDB
Welcome to another episode of Weekly Roundup! Hope everyone had a great Valentines Day and Presidents Day weekend, let's talk about more 2020 releases shall we?
To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You Grade: D
Believe it or not: I kind of enjoyed To All The Boys I've Loved Before. May not be the best chick flick nor was it good, but it was enjoyably average for what it was. So you can understand why I came forward to watching the sequel, just in time for Valentines Day. Well unfortunately this sequel is painfully dull, as I had a hard time enjoying much of it to be quite honest. You know what I always say about sequels: If it's not needed, don't make it. In this case you can clearly tell the writers had a troubling time, trying to find ways to continue the story they created, which I don't blame them because how can you continue a story when the purpose has already been filled?! Ok you introduced another past crush of Lara Jean's (Lana Condor) past life, but honestly who cares anymore?! She's happily in a relationship with Peter (Noah Centineo) now, if she was continuing her search for love then I can understand why I should still be interested in her past crushes, but now I don't care anymore because she found someone. I find Lara Jean and Peter's relationship to be dreadfully boring, as the triumphs and struggles of their relationship can be amusing to one whom has a toddler’s mentality. "I hope I'll be good at this girlfriend stuff." "Next time tell me if you want pizza, don't let your friend buy it, that's not cool." "Why were you comforting your ex, when she's going through problems at home? That's cheating, we should breakup right now.".... This is what happens when you have nothing left in your tank. Also Lara Jeans Dad side plot of getting back into a relationship, why was it started but never finished?! I would rather have watched her father get back on the saddle of love, than watching a completely dull experience from Lara Jean, Peter, and Lara's past crush. You have a character worth exploring more, but no let's watch Lara Jean in a FaceBook video tutorial making cupcakes... That sounds like fun. The moral message of this film is flat out insulting. Cheat on your loved one and if cheating feels wrong, then he/she is the one... What selfish punk wrote this trash?! What are you five?! Overall, To All The Boys: P.S. I Still Love You is bad and I don't recommend this film at all.
Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon Grade: B
Aardman is back with it's first ever full length feature sequel with Shaun the Sheep. Shaun the Sheep Movie was not only a great film, but went on to be an Oscar nominated film. I've loved Aardman animation ever since I was a kid, so of course any new release is a treat for me. I found the sequel to be adorable, not as superior to the original, but still an enjoyable time for adults and especially children. The film is beautifully animated once again, just seeks to amaze me every time how these true artists perfect their craft, with a great amount of time, effort, and especially patience. The characters were once again lovable and enjoyable, joined by new friends along the way. Shaun the Sheep's new extraterrestrial pal was cute, I've seen many characters in film that resemble one like him, but still fun to watch with Shaun. I enjoyed the antagonists in this film, found them quite hilarious. The Farmer was probably one that stands out the most in terms of comedy, this character was so freaking funny man. I love his whole schemes of trying to earn a great amount of money, to buy a new tractor with his scam idea. I found the whole story to be formulated with any other story of this nature, as the tropes felt too familiar for my taste. The humor of this film is quite delightful once again, featuring many charming moments of comedy that'll make anyone smile and laugh. I think this sequel is a charming delightful film that'll create a nice evening for families. Overall, Shaun the Sheep: Farmageddon is a solid film and I do recommend checking this one out on Netflix.
Buffaloed Grade: C+
Looking at the coming soon section of my Flixster app, a film called Buffaloed popped up as the title was quite interesting. Watched about five seconds of the trailer as I was already hooked, due to the fact this film took place in my hometown of Buffalo, NY. I wanted this to be in theaters, but since it went to V.O.D. I can at least watch it in my own home at least. I felt this film captured the essence of the city and townspeople accurately. Like I recognize these worn down buildings, the architecture of the local houses I used to live in, and people in my hometown absolutely talked like that, so it was nice to see the film maker behind this film get the nature of this city correctly. Could they have explored more towns and places?! Surely they can, there are many Buffalonian jokes they could've attempted other than Anchor Bar and Buffalo Bills, but surely maybe with a larger budget it could've been possible. I thought Zoey Deutch playing the lead Peg had a pretty good performance and was the best character in the entire film. Her drive for the hustle was quite impressive, the only time I wasn't on her side was scamming people on the streets during Bills games, but other than that a solid protagonist. Buffaloed taught me solid information about debt collecting that I never knew much about, so it was refreshing to see a film teach me something while watching. I also found the comedy material to be solid, especially in the beginning, where Peg is making fun of the people in Buffalo towards their loyalty to the disappointment of the Buffalo Bills and how people in Buffalo have a terrible diet... Been preaching that one for years. My flaws with this film is around the middle and some in the end, where the film loses it's drive of interest. It felt like they were stuck, as I just got bored with some of the run time. You can also say some of the cliches and familiar tropes you see often with stories of this nature. This film may not be Buffalo 66’ but for what it is was, an enjoyably average film and I hope more films explore this location in the near future. Overall, Buffaloed is enjoyably fine and I do recommend checking this one out for rental. -Mitch Smietana