Chuck's Movie Breakdown

        Hey guys, Chuck here, and this is my review of the stop-motion animated series Pokémon Concierge , released on Netflix in December of 2023, and featuring the vocal talents of Karen Fukuhara, Josh Keaton, Imani Hakim, and Lori Alan.          So, the series is centered around a young woman named Haru, who has had a pretty rough set of days prior to the beginning on the series. And now, she's set to begin a new job as the concierge of the Pokémon Resort, which is a tropical hideaway where humans and Pokémon alike can relax, unwind, and have a wonderful vacation. However, before she can ensure that the resort guests can relax, Haru must first learn to relax herself.         Okay, so the first thing I want to note is that this marks the first Pokémon project to be animated using stop-motion. Typically, Pokémon has been animated either in the hand-drawn anime style or with CGI like in Mewtwo Strikes Back - Evolution...

       Hey guys, Chuck here, and this is my review of Cowboy Bebop, the 1998 anime series created by Shinichirō Watanabe, and produced by Sunrise.         The series is set in the distant future, where humanity has colonized space. However, there are still outlaws and criminals, this necessitating a need for bounty hunters known as Cowboys. Enter Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, two bounty hunters aboard a spaceship called the Bebop.  Throughout the series, Spike and Jet are joined by others, such as Faye Valentine, a kickass woman with no memory of her past before reawakening from a fifty-four year cryosleep, Radical Ed, a teen genius and eccentric youth, and Ein the Welsh Corgi.          Also, throughout the series is a television series regarding various bounties throughout the galaxy, with the series being hosted by Punch and Judy, who are a fun source of comedic relief on occasion. But, a recurring threat comes ...

         Hey guys, Chuck here. The other day, I took a look at Rian Johnson's murder mystery Knives Out , which was a financial and critical success for Lionsgate Films. However, even though Lionsgate greenlit a sequel, Netflix wound up buying the rights for a two-film deal for sequels to Knives Out . Today, we'll be taking a look at the first of these sequels: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery , written and directed by Rian Johnson, and starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, along with a cast of newcomers that includes Edward Norton, Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Kate Hudson, Jessica Henwick, Leslie Odom Jr., Madelyn Cline, and Janelle Monáe.          So, this movie involves a tech billionaire named Miles Bron, who has sent puzzle boxes to his circle of friends, including politician Claire Debella, fashion designer Birdie Jay, scientist Lionel Toussaint, and Twitch streamer/men's rights activist Duke Cody. Within the puzzle boxes are inv...

        Hey guys, Chuck here. As many of you are probably aware, I have enjoyed the three films that filmmaker Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in based on the works of Agatha Christie. Interestingly, though, the year 2019 would see writer/director Rian Johnson, the same man behind the polarizing Star Wars: The Last Jedi , would come out with a new kind of murder mystery film which would go on to become its own franchise. Today, we're taking a look at that 2019 film: Knives Out . Released by Lionsgate Films, this movie stars Daniel Craig, Don Johnson, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chris Evans, Ana De Armas, Michael Shannon, Katherine Langford, Jaeden Martell, LaKeith Stanfield, Toni Collette, and Christopher Plummer.          The movie deals with the murder of acclaimed mystery novelist Harlan Thrombey, who is discovered dead with his throat slit. His dead body was discovered the morning after his 85th birthday party, where his children and grandchil...

         Hey guys, Chuck here. And, in the past, I have talked about many of the Pokémon movies. And, while I have talked about a couple decent ones, I thought it best to get into what I consider the definitive trilogy of Pokémon movies, which were the three films released theatrically by Warner Bros. and dubbed by 4Kids Entertainment. So, today, I'm taking a look at Pokémon: The First Movie , released in 1999, Pokémon the Movie 2000, released in 2000, and Pokémon 3: The Movie , released in 2001.          So, Pokémon: The First Movie tells the story of how a group of scientists used a fossil from the ancient Pokémon Mew to create the all-powerful Mewtwo. Unfortunately, Mewtwo has something of an existential crisis, and destroys the laboratory. And, after the lab's destruction, Mewtwo is approached by Team Rocket leader Giovanni, who offers to help Mewtwo control its powers. After working with Giovanni and Team Rocket for some time, Mewtw...

        Hey guys, Chuck here. Well, I think I made it pretty clear that I love anime. Going back to the late '90s, when such programming blocks as Kids' WB and Fox Kids aired English dubs of such anime series as Pokémon, Digimon, Card Captor Sakura, and Monster Rancher . But, in March of 1997, Cartoon Network would launch a programming block on weekday afternoons that would showcase anime for Western audiences in a way that would be beloved for an entire generation of kids and teens. The block was, and still to this day, known as Toonami .           Now, my experience with Toonami wouldn't come until 2001, when Kids' WB had their weekday afternoon block rebranded as Toonami on Kids' WB , which was pretty much just the regular Kids' WB weekday afternoon block, just with Toonami bumpers and such Toonami programming as Sailor Moon and Dragon Ball Z . However, it was around this time when I started watching Cartoon Network, and discovered th...

       Hey guys, Chuck here. Back in April, I made a review of Steven Soderbergh's film Ocean's Eleven, and in that review, I promised to review it's sequel, Ocean's Twelve , in June. Well, it's June, so here it is, my review of Ocean's Twelve, directed by Steven Soderbergh, and starring returning players George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Andy Garcia, Julia Roberts, Elliot Gould, Carl Reiner, Don Cheadle, Eddie Jemison, Casey Affleck, Scott Caan, Bernie Mac, and Shaobo Qin, with newcomers Catherine Zeta-Jones, Vincent Cassell, Eddie Izzard, Robbie Coltrane, Albert Finney, Cherry Jones, and Bruce Willis.            So, some time has passed since Danny Ocean and the guys ripped off millions out of the Bellagio vault in Las Vegas, and things have been pretty quiet for the most part. Unfortunately, Terry Benedict has tracked down Danny and Tess, who are enjoying their anniversary, as Terry wants Danny and the guys to pay back the money ...

         Hey guys, Chuck here, and I just got back from seeing the new movie Bad Boys: Ride or Die . Directed by the returning duo of Adil & Bilal, the fourth entry in the Bad Boys franchise sees the returns of Will Smith, Martin Lawrence, Joe Pantoliano, Vanessa Hudgens, Alexander Ludwig, Jacob Scipio, DJ Khaled, and Paola Nuñez, with newcomers including Tasha Smith, Eric Dane, Ioan Gruffudd, Melanie Liburd, Rhea Seehorn, and Tiffany Haddish.         So, in this movie, we see Detectives Mike Lowery and Marcus Bennett have to investigate a corruption within the Miami Police Department, as their Captain, Conrad Howard, is dead and has been posthumously accused of being in league with the Romanian Mafia. Unfortunately, their investigation goes awry, turning them into fugitives, and forcing them to go outside the law to solve the case and clear their names.           Okay, so there's a ton of action and a t...

         Hey guys, Chuck here. Today, I'm taking a look at Disney's 2016 animated movie Moana , directed by the legendary duo of Ron Clements and John Musker, who of course directed such fantastic Disney animated films as The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Hercules, and Treasure Planet . The cast of Moana  includes Auli'i Cravalho, Dwayne Johnson, Temuera Morrison, Nicole Scherzinger, Jemaine Clement, and Alan Tudyk.         So, the movie tells the story of Moana, who is the daughter of the village chief of the Polynesian island of Motunui. However, unlike the rest of her village, who are happy with life on the island, Moana's heart is drawn towards the sea. As a toddler, Moana finds a rare pounamu stone, which turns out to be the mythical Heart of Te Fiti, which was stolen thousands of years ago from the Polynesian goddess/mother island years before by Maui, a shapeshifting demigod of the wind and sea, who is both a master wayfinder and a tri...

       Hey guys, Chuck here. Back in the '60s and the '70s, the sci-fi genre got several titles that essentially redefined the genre. Star Trek, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Battlestar Galactica, and Star Wars  all released in this era, and showcased a new view of sci-fi as a genre for brilliant storytelling. But, also around this time, a British filmmaker named Ridley Scott made a truly terrifying sci-fi movie that is still celebrated forty-five years later. I am, of course, talking about Alien , the 1979 sci-fi horror film starring Tom Skerritt, Harry Dean Stanton, Sigourney Weaver, Yaphet Kotto, Ian Holm, John Hurt, and Veronica Cartwright.        The movie opens with a commercial spacecraft, the Nostromo,  returning from a routine haul, when the ship's computer, referred to as Mother, awakens its seven crew members: Captain Dallas, Executive Officer Kane, Warrant Officer Ripley, Navigator Lambert, Scienc...