Chuck's Movie Breakdown

       Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, it's hard to imagine a Disney Channel movie that inspired millennials and Gen Z'ers alike would be turning twenty years old this year, but here we are. High School Musical , directed by Hocus Pocus  director Kenny Ortega, aired on Disney Channel back in 2006, and stars Zac Efron, Vanessa Hudgens, Corbin Bleu, Ashley Tisdale, Monique Coleman, Lucas Grabeel, Olesya Rulin, Bart Johnson, and Alyson Reed.         The movie opens at a ski lodge in Utah on New Year's Eve, where high school juniors Troy Bolton and Gabriella Montez are picked to sing a karaoke duet together, and prove to be pretty damn phenomenal. After New Year's, Troy, who is the basketball star of East High in New Mexico, is getting his teammates ready for the championship game against the East High Wildcats' rivals, the West High Knights. It's at this time that we see that Gabriella has transferred to East High, and is invited by Academic De...

       Hey guys, Chuck here. And, in honor of the thirtieth anniversary of the original Broadway musical by Jonathan Larson, this is my review of the 2005 film adaptation of Rent , directed by Chris Columbus, and starring Rosario Dawson, Anthony Rapp, Adam Pascal, Taye Diggs, Jesse L. Martin, Wilson Jermaine Heredia, Idina Menzel, and Tracie Thoms.        The movie opens on Christmas Eve in the year 1989, and focuses on roommates Mark Cohen, a filmmaker who has chosen to stop making scripted material and start filming documentary style, and Roger Davis, a former rock star who is struggling with the HIV virus, which also took the life of Roger's girlfriend April. Mark and Roger live in a loft on the top floor of an apartment building on the corner of 11th Street and Avenue B, which is part of New York City's Alphabet City section of East Village. Formerly residing in the lift with Mark and Roger were Mark's ex-girlfriend Maureen Johnson, who left h...

       Hey guys, Chuck here. And, I just got back from seeing DC Studios' new film Clayface , directed by James Watkins, and starring Tom Rhys Harries, Naomi Ackie, Max Minghella, and Eddie Marsan.        Set in Gotham City, Clayface follows Matt Hagen, a rising actor who volunteers for an experimental procedure to fix his disfigured face, only to discover his body has become remade into one made of living clay, and he himself is becoming a polymorph capable of changing his body into anything or anyone.          Now, I will say that while Clayface has elements of body horror due to Matt's newfound abilities, the film itself is more of a tragedy. We see Matt go from being on top, to being on the bottom because of his disfigurement, to using his new abilities to get even with those who wronged him. But, while it's easy to empathize with him, it's not done to the point where we don't eventually want to see his be stopped by B...

       Hey guys, Chuck here. Street Fighter , directed by Kitao Sakurai, marks the third live-action adaptation of the iconic fighting game franchise by Capcom, and stars Noah Centineo, Andrew Koji, Callina Liang, Joe "Roman Reigns" Anoa'i, David Dastmalchian, Mel Jarnson, Cody Rhodes, Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Olivier Richters, Eric André, Rayna Vallandingham, Andrew Schultz, Vidyut Jammwal, Don Lee, and Jason Momoa.        Set in 1993, six years after Ryu won the first World Warriors Tournament in 1987, the power hungry leader of Shadaloo, M. Bison, decides to host a second World Warriors Tournament in Metrolao City. Among the roster of fighters this time is Ryu's friend, Ken Masters, who is up against the best fighters in the world, such as Guile, Vega, Balrog, Zangief, Joe, and Dhalsim. But, the tournament itself is a trap, not only by Bison, but by the demonic warrior Akuma, who seeks to fight the ultimate opponent.       ...

      Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, fans have waited decades to see Tim Burton do a take on The Addams Family , and we got it in the form of a Netflix series. Wednesday , developed by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, stars Jenna Ortega as a teenaged Wednesday Addams, and also features the likes of Gwendoline Christie, Emma Myers, Christina Ricci, Steve Buscemi, Billie Piper, and as the remaining members of the Addams Family: Catherine Zeta-Jones as Morticia, Luis Guzmán as Gomez, Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley, Fred Armisen as Uncle Fester, and Joanna Lumley as Grandmama.        So, the series opens on an ordinary high school where, after pulling her brother Pugsley out of a locker, Wednesday Addams gets revenge by dropping two bags of piranha into the pool during a swim team practice, leading to her expulsion. This prompts her parents, Gomez and Morticia, to send her to their alma mater: the boarding school Nevermore Academy. During her time at Nevermore, Wedne...

       Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, I just went to check out DreamWorks Animation's new movie Forgotten Island , which features the voice talents of H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, and Lea Salonga.          Set in the '90s, Forgotten Island follows the story of Jo and Raissa, two lifelong friends in the Philippines who are about to part ways, as Raissa is preparing to travel to America to attend college at CalTech. However, the night before Raissa is set to leave, the two girls find a sand dollar, which opens the portal to the land of Nakali, where they find they had a hell of an adventure, but wake up unable to remember it. Can they regain their memories, find the portal key, and return home, or will the island consume their most precious memories?         Okay, so, the island of Nakali, as well as the many mythical creatures that inhabit it, a come from Filipino mythology, and all real...