Month: October 2022

Wendell & Wild review

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

Happy Halloween everyone! Henry Selick is known for directing beloved stop motion animated movies like the Nightmare Before Christmas and Coraline and his new film Wendell & Wild was the first film he’s directed in 13 years. It is about two demons named Wendell & Wild that come to the world of the living to make a deal with a trouble teenager Kat who has just become a hell maiden. This film is rated pg-13 which is rare for an animated movie but there are a bunch of scenes that earned that rating.  

Spoiler alert: I think my main problem is that there is so much going on in this movie. One subplot involves Wendell & Wild trying to start their own amusement park. There’s a prison company that wants to tear down the town that’s may also be tied to a brewery fire conspiracy. There’s also this demon hunter janitor that Sister Helley helps out that reminds me a lot of Ansem the Wise from KH2. As you can see there is a lot this film juggles. I did like the use of hair cream that brings people back to life. It’s a very unique plot device.

I really liked the characters in this movie. All of them have great personalities, character designs, and great voices to go with them such as Ving Rhames, James Hong and of course Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele. The duo Wendell & Wild were big stand outs of course but the character I personally think stood out the most was Angela Bassett as Sister Helley. She acts as a very wise and caring mother figure towards Kat and the relationship between them is great. I did notice on my 2nd viewing that the character animation looked very similar to stop motion legend Will Vinton. Speaking of animation, the stop motion animation like most stop motion movies is also great with a lot of great visuals. One of my favorite visuals was the amusement park that’s located on top of a giant demon’s belly. Another favorite visual was the giant shadow version of Kat that’s made out of all her memories. It’s an awesome design that needs to be seen to believe.

Wendell & Wild has great animation, great characters, and great scary but fun moments. Pretty much everything that makes a great stop motion horror film. It there’s any scary good fun movie to watch tonight on Halloween Wendell & Wild is the perfect one for you.

Verdict:

+Great characters

+Great animation

+Hair cream

-Complicated story

Score: A-

My Top 5 Favorite Monkey Island Games

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

I love the Pirates of the Caribbean ride at Disneyland, I love the Humongous Entertainment point and click adventure games. Put them both together and you get one of my favorite video game series of all time, Monkey Island. Now that I’ve played Return of Monkey Island, I’ve decided to list my top 5 favorite games in the series. I have not played Tales of Monkey Island but even if I did it probably be last place since I’m not a huge Telltale fan.

5. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge: I know some people love this one but I honestly didn’t. Traveling between three different islands while neat, suffers from tedious backtracking especially if you forgot something you need. The puzzles also felt a bit too difficult (especially the finger puzzle). It also felt a bit too cynical and mean spirited.  

4. Escape from Monkey Island: This was the first game in the series I played so ranking is sort of higher is mostly based on nostalgia. I also played the ps2 version of the game so it was easier to navigate. The CGI is very dated and the monkey combat stuff at the end was bad but still has the witty charm of the other games.

3. The Secret of Monkey Island: Like most first games in a game series, Secret is the simplest of the series but it wonderfully established the world, the characters, the comedy, and the story. The puzzles were well done and the music is also really good especially Ghost Ship Shuffle. The creator Ron Gilbert (who also worked at Humongous Entertainment) said this game is like if you got of the Disney ride and he was right.

2. The Curse of Monkey Island: This was the game that grabbed my interest and I was so lucky to buy it on steam a few years ago. I love the 2d art style that anyone could mistake it for an animated movie and every background is a work of art. This is also probably the funniest of the games (the punchline with Skull Island is hilarious). This is the pinnacle Monkey Island experience with the best puzzles, music, and humor. A pitch perfect adventure game.

1. Return to Monkey Island: I’ll be honest, both Curse and Return are neck to neck and could switch at any time but since this is the most recent one, I’ve decided to place it at number 1. The storybook art style is really nice to look at and the animation is really great. The game is also easy to control, Guybrush is a lot faster, and the puzzles were not frustrating. This game really felt like a love letter to not just the Monkey Island series but also to the point and click genre.

What’s your favorite Monkey Island game?

The Owl House season 2 review

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

The first episode of The Owl House season 3 has premiered so I’ve decided to give you my late thoughts on season 2. This review does contain spoilers so check out the 2nd season first. Season 2 begins right after the season finale of season 1. Because the portal was destroyed Luz needs to finds a way to get home. I honestly can’t think of a single bad episode from this season heck most of them would will up my top 10 favorite episodes list. What I also love is that each episode either progresses the story or shows the outcome of the previous episode. I don’t think there’s a single episode I would consider filler. Favorite episodes include Knock Knock Knocking on Hooty’s Door, Eclipse Lake, Follies at the Coven Day Parade, and the finale King’s Tide.

All the main and supporting characters get a lot of great character development and everyone gets at least one or two episodes to shine. I was surprised at King’s development especially in the finale. Season 2 really managed to make me despise Emperor Belos and Odalia Blight. I also liked the new characters introduced. Hunter is a nice addition; sure, his redemption did feel obvious but I think his arc was very well done. Eda’s childhood friend Raine Whispers was really likable who’s also the very first Disney non-binary character. The new villain the Collector was both adorable, hilarious and creepy and I’m really looking forward to see that they do with this character. Now I want to talk about Lumity who have pretty much become one of my favorite romantic relationships in fiction. My god these two are so adorable together.

Not only was season 2 of The Owl House just as good as the first season, it was even better. It is a shame that season 3 will just be only three-hour long episodes but I still can’t wait to see what happens next.

My Top 10 Favorite Cartoon Network Shows

Posted on by jacobsonbblog

Today marks the 30th anniversary of Cartoon Network, a channel that I grew up watching. To celebrate I’ve decided to share my top 10 favorite Cartoon Network shows. This has been a list that I never got around to making or had a reason to until now. I am not counting shows from Kids WB, Teletoon, or Adult Swim. This is also my personal opinion.

Honorable Mentions: Codename Kids Next Door, Mad, Ok Ko Let’s Be Heroes, Apple and Onion

10. Chowder: This show is ridiculously bonkers and has some of the greatest fourth wall jokes ever. The car wash gag is something to be seen to believe. The food is both creative and kind of delicious. I also really like the pattern animation technique used on the character’s clothing. It’s a simple but very unique detail.

9. The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy: There are lot of scenes that flew over my mind as a kid. For example, one scene involves Grim holding an acorn for an old squirrel, I used to think he was just being a softy when really, he was trying to take his soul. This show is both creepy, funny and I’m surprised Tim Burton never did an adaption.

8. Craig of the Creek: There’s a great sense of childhood innocence here. All of the kids in the creek are all very likable, and have unique personalities. This show also handles diversity wonderfully and respecifully.

7. Genndy Tartakovsky’s Star Wars: Clone Wars: Not the CGI one fyi. This is Genndy Tartakovsky’s best work next to Primal. The action is great and the animation. The best part was General Grevious’s amazing introduction who was a legit threatening villain unlike in the movie. 

6. Regular Show: This show is like Seinfeld if taken to the extreme. The characters are fun and the situations they get into are crazy. It’s only low because of that damn love triangle (who dumps their girlfriend during their friend’s wedding?!).

5. We Bare Bears: The best way to describe this show is if you combined Paddington and Seinfeld. All three bears are very likable, funny, and have unique personalities thanks to their wonderfully casted voice actors. Ice Bear has always been my favorite since episode 1.

4. Infinity Train: I love how each season has a different protagonist each one has a well written character arc. The carts the characters travel though are all unique. It honestly feels like a video game. My favorite season is still season 1.

3. Over the Garden Wall: There is such a great sense of the Autumn season present throughout the show. The world Wirt and Greg explore is dripping with atmosphere with beautiful backgrounds and eerie music. Fitting that I’m sharing this list in October because this is the perfect month to watch this miniseries.

2. Steven Universe: Unless you’ve been living under a rock (pun intended) you probably know how much I love this show so I won’t repeat myself too much. Great characters, beautiful animation, catchy songs, and amazing LGBT representation.

1. Ed Edd n Eddy: This is also my favorite cartoon of all time. The three Ed’s are great, the animation is wacky, and the comedy is hilarious. Is it perfect? No, there are some bad episodes, but it was the show that introduce me to CN and the one my brother and I were obsessed with as kids.

What are your favorite Cartoon Network shows?