Ferdinand (2017) Movie Review

January 18, 2018 Steve Baqqi

Ferdinand had the misfortune of having a premiere date sandwiched right between two House of Mouse Behemoths, Coco, and The Last Jedi. It is, however, the former film that Ferdinand will probably be compared to, given that Coco was a brilliant re-imagination of Mexican culture with nuisance, humor, sadness, and depth. Comparing Ferdinand to Coco is almost unfair, as Ferdinand is almost everything that Coco is not. Ferdinand doesn’t even attempt to explore Spanish culture or bullfighting, other than some face value for humor or to service the plot. Ferdinand is a simplistic, but well-crafted animated film about a bull who doesn't want to fight.

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Coco (2017) Movie Review

December 9, 2017 Steve Baqqi

Since Disney purchased Pixar in 2006, Pixar films have played it safe by focusing on sequels rather than creating original stories. Remember, the films Ratatouille, Wall-E, and Up were in development before Pixar’s acquisition. This is not to say that there haven’t been excellent, original Pixar stories like Inside Out, but otherwise, Pixar’s filmography has been filled with sequels and average original stories like The Good Dinosaur. Famed animator and one of Pixar’s decorated leaders, John Lasseter, took a recent six-month leave of absence due to sexual assault accusations. Some Mexican people were upset that Disney had tried to trademark their revered cultural holiday Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead), in order to sell merchandise and others still were upset that the film seemed to rip off The Book of Life. The stage was set for Coco to fail spectacularly, but the film succeeds with its vibrant visuals, strong emotional core, and fantastical adventure to the Land of the Dead.

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The Secret Life of Pets (2016) Movie Review

July 17, 2016 Steve Baqqi

The Secret Life of Pets has a simple but rather interesting premise, “What do your pets do when you’re not around?”. The film, made by Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me, Minions), features an all-star cast led by Louis C.K., Eric Stonestreet, and Kevin Hart. Despite the potential to be great, The Secret Life of Pets is exactly as it’s billed, a wild adventure through New York City featuring talking animals that’s entertaining but has little else to offer.

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Zootopia (2016) Movie Review

March 26, 2016 Steve Baqqi

I’m an ardent fan of both Disney and Pixar’s animated films. The original “Disney Renaissance” coincided with my childhood; as did Pixar’s meteoric rise to rival Disney before the former’s acquisition by the latter. So it’s no surprise to me that Zootopia is easily the best film I’ve seen so far this year. Perhaps that’s because it's one of two new films I’ve seen thus far...but still! Disney has made another fantastic film that will only continue to bolster the “Second Disney Renaissance”. Zootopia is a fast paced, exciting, and funny animated film with a surprising amount of depth.

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The Good Dinosaur (2015) Movie Review

December 7, 2015 Steve Baqqi

Once again, Pixar has me feigning indifference after a turbulent emotional journey (claiming something is in my eye). They are experts at playing heartstrings, the worst offender being Toy Story 3, but The Good Dinosaur isn’t too far behind. The film actually marks the first time that Pixar has released two films in a calendar year (Inside Out being the other). Not to imply that this film suffered from a lack of quality due to this. The Good Dinosaur is another extremely well produced Pixar movie, but it’s not as great as their best films. It’s a simple, but effective, coming of age tale about a young dinosaur and his unlikely human companion.

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