Chuck's Movie Breakdown

           Hey guys, Chuck here, and I hope you guys had a great week this past week. For me, it's been an insanely busy one, but with 12 Reviews of Christmas on the horizon, I definitely have a lot to look forward to. However, before we wrap up the month of November, let's take a look at one of my favorite action franchises from Disney and producer Jerry Bruckheimer: National Treasure.           Directed by Jon Turtletaub, the original National Treasure was released in 2004, and its sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets was released in 2007. Both films were headlined by Nicolas Cage as Benjamin Franklin Gates, or Ben Gates for short, as he follows a trail of clues leading to a treasure of great significance to American history. Also leading the franchise along with Cage are Jon Voight, Diane Kruger, Justin Bartha, and Harvey Keitel.            So, let's start with the first National Treasure, ...

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and this is easily one of the most difficult reviews I've ever done. Apocalypse Now is a 1979 war epic directed by Francis Ford Coppola, and loosely inspired by the Joseph Conrad novella Heart of Darkness . Coppola, in a bid to update the original story's themes of British Imperialism, changes the setting to the jungles of Vietnam during the Vietnam War. However, the reason I find this movie to be difficult to review is due to the fact that it's a journey into the mind of a US soldier who has faced the genuine insanity of the war in Vietnam. But, because I appreciate all of my readers, I'm going to do my best. So, here's Apocalypse Now.          So, the movie focuses on Capt. Ben Willard, who has returned to Vietnam after struggling to return to life in the US after his first tour. After an all-night drinking bender, Willard is taken to the field headquarters in Nha Trang, where Lieutenant General R. Corma...

          Hey guys, Chuck here, and this is something I have been wanting to discuss for a few weeks now. In the most recent Doctor Who special, titled The Power of the Doctor , viewers witnessed the regeneration from the previous incarnation of the shape-shifting, time-traveling Doctor, who was portrayed by actress Jodie Whittaker. Now, many assumed that, given the casting announcement of Ncuti Gatwa, and his name is pronounced "shoo-tee" by the way, we would see the 30 year old Rwandan-Scottish actor take over the role. Surprisingly, what we saw instead was a regeneration from Jodie Whittaker to David Tennant, who previously portrayed the Tenth Doctor from 2005-2010, reprising the role for the 50th anniversary special in 2013. However, this time it's not the Tenth Doctor that Tennant is portraying this time, but the Fourteenth.           So, what the hell is going on here? Why is a previous actor playing a new incarnation of the D...

          Happy Friday, everybody. Chuck here, and we're taking a look at Disenchanted , the 2022 sequel to 2007's Enchanted . This film just released on Disney+, and sees the returns of actors Amy Adams, Patrick Dempsey, James Marsden, and Idina Menzel, and they are joined by newcomers like Maya Rudolph, Yvette Nicole Brown, Jayma Mays, Gabriella Baldacchino, Oscar Nunez, and Kolton Stewart. Meanwhile, in addition to returning producers Barry Sonnenfeld and Barry Josephson, we have a new director in the form of Adam Shankman, who is best known for directing Disney films like The Pacifier and Bedtime Stories , as well as big screen adaptations of the stage musicals Hairspray, which also featured James Marsden,   and Rock of Ages.          So, it's been ten years since the events of the first Enchanted, and Giselle is happily married to Robert, making her the stepmother of his now teenage daughter Morgan. On top of that, Giselle and ...

            Hey guys, Chuck here, and it is with a heavy heart that I post today's review. This past Thursday, the world tragically lost voice actor Kevin Conroy. Now, of you don't know his name, you will probably know the one superhero he's most famous for being the voice of: Batman. From cartoons to video games, heck even playing a live-action version of the character during the DC/CW crossover event Crisis on Infinite Earths , this man was for '90s kids what Adam West was for children of the '60s and '70s: the definitive Batman. But, his tenure as the Dark Knight started with an animated Saturday Morning cartoon series simply known as Batman: The Animated Series.   Now, admittedly, I'm using the name Batman: The Animated Series as a blanket title for two different cartoon series: Batman: The Animated Series , which is later re-titled The Adventures of Batman & Robin , and The New Batman Adventures. The former would get its start on the Fox ...

           Hey guys, Chuck here, and well, the clue in my last post was a hint at today's review, where we wrap up, until next November at least, the Hunger Games franchise with the two-part film adaptation of Suzanne Collins' Mockingjay . Once again directed by Francis Lawrence, this movie sees the return of Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Sam Claflin, Jeffrey Wright, Paula Malcolmson, Stanley Tucci, Willow Shields, Jena Malone, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Donald Sutherland, with newcomers including the likes of Mahershala Ali, Natalie Dormer, Wes Chatham, Elden Hensen, Patina Miller, Stef Dawson, and Julianne Moore, with minor roles by Gwendoline Christie and Robert Knepper.           So, Part One starts off with Katniss Everdeen in District 13, where one of the higher-ranking soldiers, Boggs, takes her to meet with the leader of the rebel underground based in District 13....

         Hey guys, Chuck here, and today, I would like to discuss why hand-drawn animation is still important. It is a sad truth that in today's cinematic landscape, the hand-drawn style that many children of the 90's and prior grew to love is no longer relevant, and is most often overlooked in favor of computer animation.          This is unfortunate as, for a majority of my childhood, hand-drawn animation was the go-to with most every film studio, specifically Disney. When I was born, Disney had released the third film of the Disney Renaissance just one month prior, Beauty and the Beast, in theaters. And it would go on to receive the Oscar nomination for Best Picture. It didn't win, of course, but how awesome that it was nominated. Heck, most of my favorite animated films were hand-drawn films. And hand-drawn animation goes all the way back to the old black-and-white cartoons of yesteryear. Walt Disney, himself, staked the future of hi...

           Hey guys, Chuck here, and I just went to see the new movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , the newest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This movie is the sequel to the 2018 film Black Panther , and sees the African nation of Wakanda, still mourning the loss of King T'Challa, facing a new threat from Namor and his people from the Mesoamerican undersea kingdom of Talokan.           Now, one thing that I was most concerned about was how Marvel and director Ryan Coogler would handle the death of actor Chadwick Boseman, who of course portrayed T'Challa throughout Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And, I think their handling of his passing was very tasteful, and the way they went about writing T'Challa out of the franchise was very powerful and I absolutely love how they did it. I won't lie, I definitely shed a few tears watching the opening segment of the movie.           I ...

          Hey guys, Chuck here. Back in March, we took a look at the 2012 film The Hunger Games in honor of the film's tenth anniversary. Today, I'd like to take a look at the 2013 sequel: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire , based on the Suzanne Collins novel Catching Fire , and directed this time by Francis Lawrence, a director we've discussed throughout the year with my reviews of his films I Am Legend with Will Smith and Constantine with Keanu Reeves. The cast of this movie sees the returns of Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz, Willow Shields, Paula Malcolmson, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, and Donald Sutherland, with newcomers including Philip Seymour Hoffman, Sam Claflin, Jeffrey Wright, Amanda Plummer, and Jena Malone.          So, several months after returning to District 12, Katniss Everdeen is suffering from PTSD due to her time in the arena during the 74th annual Hun...

           Hey guys, Chuck here, and with just a few days until the release of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, I thought it would be neat to take a look at the most recent Disney+ original series from Marvel Studios: She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, starring Tatiana Maslany, Josh Segarra, Ginger Gonzaga, Renee Elise Goldsberry, and Jameela Jamil, with guest appearances by Mark Ruffalo, Tim Roth, Benedict Wong, and Charlie Cox.            So, the series is a superhero legal comedy centered around Jennifer Walters, a Los Angeles based lawyer and cousin to Bruce Banner. One day, while driving together, the two end up in an accident and Bruce's blood gets mixed into Jennifer's bloodstream, which turns her into a new form of Hulk, later referred to by the media as She-Hulk. Bruce works with Jen to train her on the struggles of being a Hulk, but she proves herself to have more of a grasp of control of her transformations than he previously...