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amyjo-1111
Reviews
The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Beyond nostalgic
I was 10-yrs-old when this masterpiece was released and it left the most wonderful impression on me. I'm 40 now and this film is so embedded in my heart that I literally just started ugly crying when the last scene of Jack and Sally came on. The waves of nostalgia hit me so hard. As a child of the 90s, watching it for the first time, I'd never seen anything like it. It was magical. I'd always been fascinated with stop-motion and I was amazed by how the movie was made out of tangible materials. And on top of everything, I was obsessed with spooky, Halloween, ghostly things my entire childhood. Like, checking out every spooky book in the library, telling my cousins and friends ghost stories every chance I got.... obsessed. So this movie hit the mark for me in every way. I felt like it was made just for me. Tim Burton was a dream come true for a kid like me. The only other movie I'd seen that was comparable at the time was Beetlejuice, and I was in awe of that one too. What else is there to say? Tim Burton is a genius, and the collaboration with Danny Elfman who is also a genius... just out of this world magical. A match made in heaven (or hell in Burton's movies. Hehe) So amazing to hear Elfman's voice. Just beautiful. And Catherine O'Hara gave such an outstanding performance as well. This movie is perfection. 30 years later and, in many ways, it surpasses animation today. Burton payed such close attention to every detail. This film will never be outdated visually. And of course... the storyline has depth and is quite moving. This movie defines the expression "total package". And Jack Skellington is welcome to leave one on my doorstep any day. Now if only Burton would make a part 2... I would probably explode with joy. Oh well. A girl can dream...
The Bear: Fishes (2023)
One of the most realistic depictions of mental illness I've ever seen.
Clearly, mental illness runs in the family and wow, this episode did a genius job of unpacking that. Mom most likely has Bipolar Disorder and it seems that Mikey inherited it. Both are obviously self-medicating. Carmy and Nat are dealing with their own symptoms simply from being raised around extremely mentally ill relatives. The genius of this episode is the dynamics of all of it, between everyone. What especially interests me is why Nat can't stop herself from asking her mom if she's ok and triggering her mom, even though she knows better. It kind of makes me wonder if part of her is doing that on purpose? Like it's her own passive aggressive way of asserting some control in an environment that constantly makes her feel powerless. And then she plays innocent? Interesting psychology there. I do think she has a good heart. She's just perhaps not as harmless and innocent as she tries to appear. Or maybe she is. Who knows. This family is as complicated as the dishes they prepare.
Clearly, cooking is a real art in this family, to the point of madness. There's a fine line between genius and insanity, as they say. They are the bears. And also mad chefs.
And then there are the tender moments sprinkled throughout. The moments of sanity that provide a breath of fresh air. The quiet, beautiful, loving conversations in the corners. It's a family of contradictions... rational one second and irrational the next. They can be so loving and genuine, but also so angry and hateful. They are ruled by emotion. They're passionate. These people are not monsters, they're just human. And Italian.
The Bear: Braciole (2022)
Wow. All the feels.
The way this whole episode was put together, especially the absolutely perfect ending... it was just so incredibly moving. Just beautiful! It was so touching to see the softer, more humble side of the characters and how some loose ends were closed at the end... all of the reveals were really perfect and brought everything together. Again, I can't express enough how very emotional and touching this ending was. Families are complicated. Grief is complicated. We can all relate. Not gonna lie, I was ugly crying by the end! Kudos to the writers and the amazing cast. About to start Season 2. Really looking forward to seeing what's next.
The English: Cherished (2022)
I ugly cried.
One of the best finales of any show I've ever seen. For some reason, this episode struck me to my core and I sobbed. Like, cried my SOUL out. The script, acting, cinematography, music... it was all just perfectly matched to create this POWERFUL mixed emotional cocktail of EVERY kind of love (friendship, romantic, parental, spiritual, eternal, transcendant etc.) and EVERY kind of pain (letting go, grief, injustice, tragedy, etc.) This episode pulls the entire show together. It is everything a finale should be. The only other show that's ever made me cry like that is This is Us, probably because it takes a similar approach of tying everything together and combining the love and pain of life all at once. Both of these shows remind us that when you combine love and pain, you get meaning and beauty. Basically, what these shows have in common is genius writing. And great acting. Particularly the acting in The English, and especially in this episode... just PHENOMENAL!!!