January 4, 2025 • 24 mins
What if your favorite movie could turn into a slightly disappointing experience just because of a trailer that gave away too much? Join me, Lluvia, as I bring you on a cinematic journey through my top 10 films of 2024, kicking off with the suspense-filled "Speak No Evil." While James McAvoy’s performance was nothing short of captivating, the movie stumbled due to spoilers and frustrating character flaws. And what happens when nostalgia meets comedy? "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" races in with beloved characters like Sonic, Knuckles, and Tails, but the film leans heavily on Jim Carrey’s comedic antics, which at times overshadow the heart of the storyline. Yet, both films still managed to create unforgettable theatrical experiences worth discussing.
On the other side of the cinematic spectrum, some movies offer delightful surprises and heartfelt emotions. "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever" is a touching tale of six mischievous siblings who unexpectedly create the most memorable Christmas pageant, leaving audiences deeply moved. Then there’s "Your Monster," which weaves romance and a hint of horror with actress Laura Franco befriending a monster from her closet. This film speaks to the journey of self-discovery and confidence, resonating with personal struggles and triumphs. These films deliver profound messages and leave lasting impressions, proving that sometimes, the most unexpected stories are the ones that stay with you.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 0 (00:00):
Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set
out to answer the age-oldquestion is the book really
always better than the movie?
I'm Yuvia, an actress and booklover based out of New York City
, and today I will be countingdown my top 10 favorite films of
2024 that I saw in theaters.
So again, I am focusing onfilms that I saw in theaters,
(00:21):
because I can just go to my AMCapp and look at everything that
I watched in the past year and Ireally have no other way of
keeping track other than, likethrough a spreadsheet, which is
fine, but I'm not going to lie,I would forget to input every
single film that I saw.
So just having it digitally isjust easier for me.
But let's go ahead and getstarted.
Number 10 is Speak no Evil.
(00:44):
So this film is a horror filmthriller, and it follows a
family who's invited to spend awhole weekend in a lonely home
in the British country Britishor Irish Might be, maybe it's
Scottish, it's one of.
It's a UK countryside but asthe weekend progresses, they
realize that a dark side lieswithin the family who invited
(01:06):
them, and I really enjoyed thisfilm.
I think I mainly enjoyed itbecause of the performances,
mainly of James McAvoy.
James McAvoy is just a beastand, yeah, he did such a great
job in this role.
I think the film's biggestdownfall was its trailers.
Its trailers revealed so muchand there was things that should
(01:28):
have been plot twists thatweren't, because the trailer
gave them away.
So if you've seen the trailer,you've honestly seen all the
major plot twists.
You're not going to be shockedor surprised by anything that
gets presented, but it was stilla fun time overall.
So I really really hate inhorror films when characters
make dumb decisions.
(01:48):
That just that I just can'tlike.
What makes a horror film scaryto me is if a character makes a
smart decision.
That or what they think is asmart decision or what they
think is the right decision, andmaybe it backfires on them,
because I feel like that's whatwe would all try to do if we
were stuck in a horror film,like we would try to get out
with our lives and we would bemaking decisions that we think
(02:10):
would keep us alive and we mightend up making a mistake or
choosing the wrong thing.
But you know, so the one thingabout this film that was really
really annoying that was like ohmy gosh, was like the, the
father character, like the wifekept being like I'm getting
weird vibes, we need to leave,and he kept being like no,
they're our friends, they wouldnever do that.
(02:31):
Like he just kept makingexcuses and these people are
acting obviously not normal andhe just like keeps writing like
she, like the wife wants toleave, like after a few, a few
hours after they arrive, andthey end up staying the whole
weekend because the father islike really like no, it's fine,
they're they're, they're just alittle different, but it's, it's
like bro, no, like can you, canyou?
(02:54):
Like not, and just listen toyour wife and leave, like what
is wrong with you?
Then you wouldn't have you know, had the things that happened
to you happen.
So anyway, I think that waslike the main annoyance is just
like the father character wasjust such a man in that sense of
like no, I'm right, you'rewrong, you and your womanly
(03:14):
intuition is wrong.
So, yeah, so that was the onlything, but it was still a fun
time.
Number nine is Sonic theHedgehog 3.
So in this third installment ofthe Sonic the Hedgehog series,
sonic, knuckles and Tailsreunite again to fight a new
adversary named Shadow, who is amysterious villain, with powers
(03:34):
unlike anything they've facedbefore and with their abilities
outmatched, team Sonic has toseek out an unlikely alliance.
So I will say the first twoSonic films held a lot of
nostalgia for me.
I remember playing Sonic withmy brother growing up.
I was always Tails, becauseTails was player two and of
course he's the older brother sohe got to always be player one,
(03:57):
but it's fine.
So he was always Sonic and Iwas always Tails.
And then my mom gifted him theKnuckles video game for
Christmas one year so we got toplay as Knuckles as well.
That one was a one person game,so by we I mean him and I just
had to sit back and watch.
But it was.
I had a lot of fun playingthose games and I have a lot of
good memories playing thosegames.
(04:18):
But I don't know much of theSonic lore outside of the Sonic
the Hedgehog and the Knucklesvideo game.
Like I don't know any otherSonic video games beyond that.
I didn't watch the Sonic theHedgehog TV series so I'm not
like too familiar.
This is this third film we gotinto the lore that I'm not
familiar with.
Like I don't know who Shadow is.
I've seen him but I don't knowwho he is, but that being said,
(04:51):
it was still a fun time.
I really really enjoyed it.
I think the Sonic films are agreat example of how to make a
film that's aimed for kids butcan still appeal to people of
all ages, and how to do thatwell.
I really really enjoyed it.
I had a fun time watching itand, in my opinion, the film's
the biggest downfall for thisfilm was just the amount of Jim
Carrey.
I don't hate Jim Carrey by anymeans, but he was playing Dr
Robotnik and a differentcharacter in this film, so we
had Jim Carrey playing twocharacters and they like he was
(05:14):
really really really having itup more than usual and I feel
like that detract.
Like the, the filmmakers reliedso much on Jim Carrey being Jim
Carrey and his Jim Carreycomedy that it kind of detracted
from the main storyline ofSonic Tails Knuckles going up
against Shadow, which was that,because when the four of them
(05:35):
were fighting that was reallycool and exciting.
So I kind of wish it had beenmore about Sonic and company and
less about Dr Robotnik and JimCarrey in general.
Number eight and I know I'mgonna get crap about this one
for Moshi because I put it solow on the list, but number
eight for me is Wicked.
I really really did like thisfilm.
I thought Ariana Grande andCynthia Erivo were wonderful as
(06:00):
Glinda and Elphaba respectively.
The world building of the filmwas gorgeous.
It was stunning the littleEaster eggs that they
incorporated, the way theyexpanded the story of Wicked to
make some moments longer andclearer.
Obviously, with a musical,you're stuck to the constraints
(06:25):
of the musical, the runtime ofthe musical, so some events
happen really, really fast.
So there have been some partsof the musical where people are
like that was a really suddenchange.
So John Chu really took theopportunity to flesh out those
moments so that when a changehappened, it happened
organically as opposed to oh, itwas supposed to happen because
(06:46):
we reached this part of the show.
So I really really doappreciate everything that he
did Just for me.
I did start to feel the lengthof this film.
Towards the end of it I just Ireally started getting antsy and
I was like we're still sittinghere and we still have Defying
Gravity to go, plus other songsbefore then.
(07:09):
So I really really did start tofeel really, really antsy and
anxious and, yeah, I thinkthat's kind of what slowed it
down for me.
But I understand why it wasexpanded upon.
I understand why the second,why it was split into two parts
and why each part is going to belike three hours long.
So in total it's going to belike a six hour long musical,
(07:30):
which is like wild to thinkabout.
But it makes sense.
I completely understand whythey did it.
Just, I did start feeling theruntime in a way that I don't
feel it when I'm watching theactual theater production.
Number seven is Transformers 1.
And again, this is a greatexample of a film that's aimed
(07:50):
for kids, that's actually reallywell done and can appeal to a
wide variety of audiences.
And I will say this one mighthave a special place in my heart
because we saw this one in ElPaso when we went during one of
our visits to visit family, andso we watched it with my
sister-in-law and her boyfriendand her best friend, and then we
(08:11):
watched it with mybrother-in-law and our
goddaughter Emma.
She's our oldest niece andshe's the only one old enough to
go to the movies.
So she was like really excitedto go and it was so cute.
Like it was my brother-in-lawand then Emma, then Orlando and
then me.
So it was just like so cutegetting to hear her giggle
(08:34):
throughout the film.
That was just adorable and shereally loved that acetone.
So, yeah, just some goodmemories watching this film.
But overall, apart from that,this story, this tells the
origin story of Optimus Primeand Megatron.
They were originally friendsand then at some point during
the course of this film it'srevealed how they became enemies
(08:57):
, and this is an origin storythat I was not familiar with.
I enjoy some of theTransformers films not
everything, but they're fun andI really enjoyed this origin
story.
And I agree with Orlando interms of like, because we were
talking about how there are,like, other films that tell
(09:17):
origin stories and it's justlike we know the story and they
still manage to screw it upsomehow or make it really boring
or make it really basic.
And this film really kept itreally exciting, just visually
exciting, and it was genuinelyfunny.
And I mean my niece enjoyed it.
She was the only one there thatwas a child.
Everyone else that watched itwas an adult and it was really,
(09:39):
really, really all the adultsenjoyed it as well.
So that was a really, reallygreat origin story of Optimus
Prime and Megatron.
Number six is Abigail.
So this story follows a groupof criminals who kidnap the
ballerina daughter of a powerfulunderworld figure.
They retreat to an isolatedmansion unaware that they're
(09:59):
locked up with a little girl whois actually not a normal little
girl.
Locked up with a little girlwho is actually not a normal
little girl.
So this was done by the sameteam who did Ready or Not, which
came out, I want to say, in2019, and it stars Samara
Weaving and it's her charactermarries into a family, and
anyone who marries into thisfamily they have to have a game
night and if a particular gameis selected, then everyone in
(10:23):
that family has to sacrifice thenew bride or groom, depending
on who got married, and it was awhole lot of fun.
This one continues to add on.
It's not a sequel, but you cansee the similarities, like you
can tell that this was made bythe same team and, honestly, it
was a lot of fun.
I don't like gory films andthis was gory, but I think it
(10:45):
helps that, like the blood andthe gore was cartoony, it wasn't
realistic, so I was able tohandle it just fine, but it was
a lot of fun.
It was genuinely funny Likethere were so many good
one-liners in this film and it'sa good time.
It's a chillingly good time, soI had a fun.
This is not usually a genrethat I go for, but I had a lot
(11:08):
of fun watching this and I yeah,I recommend it.
Number five is A Quiet Place DayOne, and so this is technically
the.
It's the third film in theQuiet Place series, but it's
technically a prequel.
It's, I mean, it's called QuietPlace Day One.
This tells us what happened theday that the aliens took over,
(11:30):
and it follows specifically ayoung woman named Sam, played by
Lupita Nyong'o, who findsherself trapped in New York City
during the early stages of thealien invasion.
And again, this is just a greatexample of keeping that tension
.
We know like the first QuietPlace film takes place about a
(11:51):
year, a year and a half, beforethe after sorry, after the
events of this one.
So we know what the monstersare.
We were that's not going to bea plot twist, if you've seen it
it's.
We know how they work.
We know the gist of the film,like what you need to do in
order to survive, but this filmis such a great example of
(12:13):
knowing all that and expandingon the story and finding ways to
keep it exciting and and tense,like this was.
This is such a great film, likethe performances by Lupita
Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn werefantastic, but I really, really,
really have to applaud thefilmmakers who found a way to
keep this, this idea that caneasily go stale, if I'm being
(12:35):
honest, and keeping it fresh and, like I said it's even though I
know the story, we know what'sgoing to happen.
Eventually, it was still a.
It still kept me on my toes.
It still kept me very tense.
I was still not sure the maincharacters were going to make it
out of this.
It really really finds a way tokeep you excited and engaged
(12:56):
and I just I have nothing butgood things.
I think this might be myfavorite entry in the in the
Quiet Place series, which isasking a lot considering, like I
said, we already.
We have the premise, we knowthe premise there's, we know
what's going to happen, likethere's really no way to shock
us.
So they did it.
They just focused on theatmosphere and they did a very,
(13:17):
very good job of it and I reallydo appreciate the message that
it sent.
It found a way to send a reallygood message despite this
really tense, thrilling film, sohighly recommend it.
Number four is the BestChristmas Pageant Ever.
So in this film nobody is readyfor the mayhem and surprises
that ensue when six of the worstyoungsters disrupt the town's
(13:41):
yearly Christmas performance.
So this film follows a group ofsix siblings.
They are awful.
Like no one in this town canstand them.
They are bullies, they aretroublemakers, they are just the
worst children you could everimagine.
But they really want to be apart of the Christmas pageant
and they force themselves intothis pageant.
(14:02):
They forced themselves into thelead roles and out of that
comes a very unexpected or, asthe title tells you, the best
Christmas pageant ever.
This one we kind of watched on awhim.
Again, it was.
It was.
We watched this one in November, so a little bit before the
Christmas season.
But I love Christmas, orlandoloves Christmas.
So we start celebratingChristmas Like we.
(14:22):
We start getting everythingready Like as soon as Halloween
is over.
We don't care.
But this one was again.
It's been a while since we'dbeen to the movies.
There wasn't really anything wewanted to watch.
I saw this one and I was like Imean, it's Christmas, let's
just check it out.
We really didn't know if we hadnever heard about it.
So we were going in blind, wedidn't know if it was going to
be good or bad.
We had no expectations and wewere, honestly, very pleasantly
(14:51):
surprised by the outcome of it.
Now I will say there are a lotof religious undertones in this
film and that is enough to turnsome people off to it.
I completely understand that,and if this isn't for you, it's
not for you.
But if you can overlook thereligious messaging of it, I
think you'll be happilysurprised to discover a
beautiful, heartwarming filmthat I know who the target
(15:11):
audience is.
It's again the target audienceis people that fall for any
Christian message out there, andthe ultimate message of the
film, unfortunately, I think,will go completely over their
heads, which is very sad for meto say, but I think it will.
But, that being said, it didn'tgo over mine or Orlando's head,
and we were pleasantlysurprised at how beautifully
(15:34):
told the story was, the message,and both of us were not
expecting to be choked up at theclimax of the film or I guess
that's the falling action or theresolution at this point.
But yeah, we were watching it,we were really into it and then,
as we were discussing it.
After we watched it, we werelike I got really choked up at
(15:55):
that part.
I wasn't expecting to, and Iwas like me too.
So it is an absolute beautifulfilm.
Again, I completely understandif the religious messaging is
enough for you to not want towatch this, but if you don't
mind it or you can overlook it,I would say try giving it a shot
, because it is a beautiful filmwith a beautiful message and
(16:16):
it's unexpectedly heartwarming.
Number three is your Monster.
I had never heard of this film,ever Never heard of it.
My roommate was the one thatwas like I want to go watch it.
Do you want to go watch it withme?
And I was like I love going tothe movies.
So yes and yeah.
So I ended up watching thiswith her and we both really
(16:37):
really enjoyed it.
And this story focuses on LauraFranco, who is an actress.
Her life falls apart, but she'sable to find her voice when she
meets a terrifying yet weirdlycharming monster living in her
closet.
This is a romantic comedy witha little bit of horror, about
(16:59):
falling in love with your innerrage, and that's the tagline for
the film about falling in lovewith your inner rage, and that's
the tagline for the film, aboutfalling in love with your inner
rage, and that's exactly whatshe learns to do.
She learns to find her voice,she learns to not be a doormat.
And I had a really, really,really good time with this film
and there was a lot that I couldrelate to as an actress.
Laura Franco is an actress.
(17:22):
She's struggling to make it andshe's going on auditions and
she sees who gets the lead roleand you can't help feeling you.
Yeah, just I could relate to itas an actress, and laura is a
lot like me personality way.
She's very soft-spoken, shekeeps things to herself, she
doesn't want to want to fightbattles, whether they need,
(17:44):
whether they should be fought ornot, and by the end, she finds
that voice and she's able toexpress herself.
This film is just so much funand it's so like the concept of
the monster and what it standsfor.
But yeah, it's fun.
It's just so much fun and Ireally, really enjoyed it and I,
(18:04):
you know, I have noticed thatafter watching this film.
I'm not keeping things tomyself.
I keep some things to myself,but now I'm like I think people
are starting to see another sideof me, because I'm just like.
This is how I feel and I'm notgoing to hide it and I don't
care if it pisses you off.
So you know, the message ofthis film really did get to me.
So good job.
(18:24):
It's just so much fun and ifyou are a theater nerd, I think
you'll like it because there'slike this again, as an actress,
I really related to certainaspects of it.
You know, she goes to thisaudition and she sees like this
beautiful actress walk up to thecasting director and she just
(18:44):
is like so natural at like theschmoozing and she's just so
beautiful and I get it.
I get it.
Sometimes it feels like that'swho always beats me out for the
role and there's a lot that goesinto casting.
Yes, but sometimes that's whatyour mind tells you.
Oh, she got it because she's somuch better at schmoozing with
casting directors than I am.
(19:05):
Oh, she got it because look athow gorgeous she is and I'm not
as gorgeous as she is.
So there's things like thatthat I really related to and
broke my heart.
But then Laura finds her innervoice and she comes out fighting
, and that's what I started todo after this film came out.
Number two goes to Americanfiction.
So I did talk about this on thepodcast with book club friends
(19:27):
Raymond and Chantel.
Chantel did prefer Erasure andRaymond and I preferred American
Fiction.
But honestly, check outAmerican Fiction.
Whether or not you decide toread Erasure although you should
American Fiction is just it'sjust so good and so funny.
Absolutely loved it.
I didn't know this was based ona book.
(19:48):
I just saw the trailer and Isaw Jeffrey.
This was actually the firstfilm I saw in 2024, but I saw
Jeffrey Wright and I saw that itwas funny.
Like the trailer immediatelysold me and as soon as I saw the
trailer I was like I want towatch that film.
So bad.
And I was not disappointed.
It is so good.
So check it out for yourself.
And my number one pick it'sgoing to come as a big surprise
(20:12):
to people, probably, and a lotof people.
I think it's going to be acontroversial pick for number
one, but I do want to prefacethis by saying that this film is
number one because of thesubject matter and how much that
subject matter meant to me, ormeant to me as a kid and
continues to mean to me now, andthat is Butterfly in the Sky.
(20:34):
Butterfly in the Sky is adocumentary about reading
Rainbow.
Reading Rainbow was myeverything as a kid growing up.
That show is what got me tolove reading.
Lavar Burt to this day, I think,is the only celebrity I can
think of.
There's so many celebritiesthat I love and admire and I'm
going to be like starstruck whenI meet them, but LeVar Burton,
(20:58):
that's going to be starstruckLike, whenever I meet that man.
That is going to be the moststarstruck I'm ever going to be,
because there's no one who hasimpacted my life.
There's no other celebrity thathas impacted my life as much as
(21:18):
LeVar Burton did and I like,when I meet him, I think I'm
going to cry, like I'm not goingto know what to say to him.
Like that, like I'm going to bestar strong, like everyone else
that I'm excited to meet.
I feel like I'll be able likeespecially if I meet them on
film sets and stuff like if I'mcast in something, I'll be able
to keep it professional.
Not gonna lie, I don't knowthat I'll be able to keep it
professional with LeVar Burton.
I'm gonna freak out so much,but anyway, yes, butterfly in
(21:39):
the Sky is a documentary thattells the story of Breeding
Rainbow.
It tells the story of thebroadcasters, educators and
filmmakers who believe enough inthis show and believe that they
could inspire a love of readingin kids to bring this show to
life.
And the same old story thatwe're still getting today.
There was people that wantedthe show canceled because the
(22:03):
books they were picking werejust giving kids unrealistic
expectations.
And there's a really funnymoment in the film in which one
of the women that was in chargeof bringing Reading Rainbow to
life as they're gettingcomplaints from parents of like
you can't pick these books.
Like these, you're getting kids.
Well, it wasn't just parents,it was like parents and the
(22:24):
station PBS of all places werelike you can't be choosing these
books.
Like kids are going to startbelieving that these things are
are real in terms of like, if itwas like a story of, like a kid
that turned into a dragon orsomething.
And so she she holds a focusgroup with kids and she reads
the book and she's having afocus group and then she asks
the kids do any of you thinkthat you could actually turn
(22:45):
into a fish like the maincharacter in the?
And there's just completesilence from the kids and then
one little girl raises her handand just says it's a story.
It's like, yeah, we like kidsare so much smarter than we give
them credit for, and so thisdetails a story of like making
this show entertaining for kids,keeping like making it engaging
(23:06):
for them, but also not liketalking down to them, because
kids are so much smarter than wethink they are.
And you know, it also talksabout LeVar Burton and how hard
he had to fight to just be himauthentically.
This was at a time in whichthere were not a lot of Black
men hosting especially kidsshows, so it was really
important for him, like if hewanted to have an Afro, that
(23:29):
they let him have an Afro whenhe pierced his ears.
It was really important for him, like if he wanted to have an
afro, that they let him have anafro when he pierced his ears.
It was really important that helet them, that they let him
keep his earrings in, that theyrequest not to take them out,
and how he was so willing asmuch as he loved being the host
of Reading Rainbow, he was sowilling to walk away from it if
they were not willing to let himbe an authentic representation
(23:51):
of the Black man that he is.
So, yeah, that is why that's mynumber one pick and again, I
know it might be controversial,but it just reading Rainbow just
meant so much to me growing up,and LaFar Burton means so much
to me and that's why there couldnot have been any other pick
for number one for me.
So that is it for this episodeof books versus movies.
(24:13):
I don't know what's coming atyou, but keep tuning in.
I have I'm currently readingseveral books that I need to
finish before I can let you knowwhat I'm bringing to the
podcast next time.
But keep tuning in and I'mlooking forward to a really
exciting 2025.
See you next time.
Welcome to Books vs Movies, the podcast where I set
out to answer the age-oldquestion is the book really
always better than the movie?
I'm Yuvia, an actress and booklover based out of New York City
, and today I will be countingdown my top 10 favorite films of
2024 that I saw in theaters.
So again, I am focusing onfilms that I saw in theaters,
(00:21):
because I can just go to my AMCapp and look at everything that
I watched in the past year and Ireally have no other way of
keeping track other than, likethrough a spreadsheet, which is
fine, but I'm not going to lie,I would forget to input every
single film that I saw.
So just having it digitally isjust easier for me.
But let's go ahead and getstarted.
Number 10 is Speak no Evil.
(00:44):
So this film is a horror filmthriller, and it follows a
family who's invited to spend awhole weekend in a lonely home
in the British country Britishor Irish Might be, maybe it's
Scottish, it's one of.
It's a UK countryside but asthe weekend progresses, they
realize that a dark side lieswithin the family who invited
(01:06):
them, and I really enjoyed thisfilm.
I think I mainly enjoyed itbecause of the performances,
mainly of James McAvoy.
James McAvoy is just a beastand, yeah, he did such a great
job in this role.
I think the film's biggestdownfall was its trailers.
Its trailers revealed so muchand there was things that should
(01:28):
have been plot twists thatweren't, because the trailer
gave them away.
So if you've seen the trailer,you've honestly seen all the
major plot twists.
You're not going to be shockedor surprised by anything that
gets presented, but it was stilla fun time overall.
So I really really hate inhorror films when characters
make dumb decisions.
(01:48):
That just that I just can'tlike.
What makes a horror film scaryto me is if a character makes a
smart decision.
That or what they think is asmart decision or what they
think is the right decision, andmaybe it backfires on them,
because I feel like that's whatwe would all try to do if we
were stuck in a horror film,like we would try to get out
with our lives and we would bemaking decisions that we think
(02:10):
would keep us alive and we mightend up making a mistake or
choosing the wrong thing.
But you know, so the one thingabout this film that was really
really annoying that was like ohmy gosh, was like the, the
father character, like the wifekept being like I'm getting
weird vibes, we need to leave,and he kept being like no,
they're our friends, they wouldnever do that.
(02:31):
Like he just kept makingexcuses and these people are
acting obviously not normal andhe just like keeps writing like
she, like the wife wants toleave, like after a few, a few
hours after they arrive, andthey end up staying the whole
weekend because the father islike really like no, it's fine,
they're they're, they're just alittle different, but it's, it's
like bro, no, like can you, canyou?
(02:54):
Like not, and just listen toyour wife and leave, like what
is wrong with you?
Then you wouldn't have you know, had the things that happened
to you happen.
So anyway, I think that waslike the main annoyance is just
like the father character wasjust such a man in that sense of
like no, I'm right, you'rewrong, you and your womanly
(03:14):
intuition is wrong.
So, yeah, so that was the onlything, but it was still a fun
time.
Number nine is Sonic theHedgehog 3.
So in this third installment ofthe Sonic the Hedgehog series,
sonic, knuckles and Tailsreunite again to fight a new
adversary named Shadow, who is amysterious villain, with powers
(03:34):
unlike anything they've facedbefore and with their abilities
outmatched, team Sonic has toseek out an unlikely alliance.
So I will say the first twoSonic films held a lot of
nostalgia for me.
I remember playing Sonic withmy brother growing up.
I was always Tails, becauseTails was player two and of
course he's the older brother sohe got to always be player one,
(03:57):
but it's fine.
So he was always Sonic and Iwas always Tails.
And then my mom gifted him theKnuckles video game for
Christmas one year so we got toplay as Knuckles as well.
That one was a one person game,so by we I mean him and I just
had to sit back and watch.
But it was.
I had a lot of fun playingthose games and I have a lot of
good memories playing thosegames.
(04:18):
But I don't know much of theSonic lore outside of the Sonic
the Hedgehog and the Knucklesvideo game.
Like I don't know any otherSonic video games beyond that.
I didn't watch the Sonic theHedgehog TV series so I'm not
like too familiar.
This is this third film we gotinto the lore that I'm not
familiar with.
Like I don't know who Shadow is.
I've seen him but I don't knowwho he is, but that being said,
(04:51):
it was still a fun time.
I really really enjoyed it.
I think the Sonic films are agreat example of how to make a
film that's aimed for kids butcan still appeal to people of
all ages, and how to do thatwell.
I really really enjoyed it.
I had a fun time watching itand, in my opinion, the film's
the biggest downfall for thisfilm was just the amount of Jim
Carrey.
I don't hate Jim Carrey by anymeans, but he was playing Dr
Robotnik and a differentcharacter in this film, so we
had Jim Carrey playing twocharacters and they like he was
(05:14):
really really really having itup more than usual and I feel
like that detract.
Like the, the filmmakers reliedso much on Jim Carrey being Jim
Carrey and his Jim Carreycomedy that it kind of detracted
from the main storyline ofSonic Tails Knuckles going up
against Shadow, which was that,because when the four of them
(05:35):
were fighting that was reallycool and exciting.
So I kind of wish it had beenmore about Sonic and company and
less about Dr Robotnik and JimCarrey in general.
Number eight and I know I'mgonna get crap about this one
for Moshi because I put it solow on the list, but number
eight for me is Wicked.
I really really did like thisfilm.
I thought Ariana Grande andCynthia Erivo were wonderful as
(06:00):
Glinda and Elphaba respectively.
The world building of the filmwas gorgeous.
It was stunning the littleEaster eggs that they
incorporated, the way theyexpanded the story of Wicked to
make some moments longer andclearer.
Obviously, with a musical,you're stuck to the constraints
(06:25):
of the musical, the runtime ofthe musical, so some events
happen really, really fast.
So there have been some partsof the musical where people are
like that was a really suddenchange.
So John Chu really took theopportunity to flesh out those
moments so that when a changehappened, it happened
organically as opposed to oh, itwas supposed to happen because
(06:46):
we reached this part of the show.
So I really really doappreciate everything that he
did Just for me.
I did start to feel the lengthof this film.
Towards the end of it I just Ireally started getting antsy and
I was like we're still sittinghere and we still have Defying
Gravity to go, plus other songsbefore then.
(07:09):
So I really really did start tofeel really, really antsy and
anxious and, yeah, I thinkthat's kind of what slowed it
down for me.
But I understand why it wasexpanded upon.
I understand why the second,why it was split into two parts
and why each part is going to belike three hours long.
So in total it's going to belike a six hour long musical,
(07:30):
which is like wild to thinkabout.
But it makes sense.
I completely understand whythey did it.
Just, I did start feeling theruntime in a way that I don't
feel it when I'm watching theactual theater production.
Number seven is Transformers 1.
And again, this is a greatexample of a film that's aimed
(07:50):
for kids, that's actually reallywell done and can appeal to a
wide variety of audiences.
And I will say this one mighthave a special place in my heart
because we saw this one in ElPaso when we went during one of
our visits to visit family, andso we watched it with my
sister-in-law and her boyfriendand her best friend, and then we
(08:11):
watched it with mybrother-in-law and our
goddaughter Emma.
She's our oldest niece andshe's the only one old enough to
go to the movies.
So she was like really excitedto go and it was so cute.
Like it was my brother-in-lawand then Emma, then Orlando and
then me.
So it was just like so cutegetting to hear her giggle
(08:34):
throughout the film.
That was just adorable and shereally loved that acetone.
So, yeah, just some goodmemories watching this film.
But overall, apart from that,this story, this tells the
origin story of Optimus Primeand Megatron.
They were originally friendsand then at some point during
the course of this film it'srevealed how they became enemies
(08:57):
, and this is an origin storythat I was not familiar with.
I enjoy some of theTransformers films not
everything, but they're fun andI really enjoyed this origin
story.
And I agree with Orlando interms of like, because we were
talking about how there are,like, other films that tell
(09:17):
origin stories and it's justlike we know the story and they
still manage to screw it upsomehow or make it really boring
or make it really basic.
And this film really kept itreally exciting, just visually
exciting, and it was genuinelyfunny.
And I mean my niece enjoyed it.
She was the only one there thatwas a child.
Everyone else that watched itwas an adult and it was really,
(09:39):
really, really all the adultsenjoyed it as well.
So that was a really, reallygreat origin story of Optimus
Prime and Megatron.
Number six is Abigail.
So this story follows a groupof criminals who kidnap the
ballerina daughter of a powerfulunderworld figure.
They retreat to an isolatedmansion unaware that they're
(09:59):
locked up with a little girl whois actually not a normal little
girl.
Locked up with a little girlwho is actually not a normal
little girl.
So this was done by the sameteam who did Ready or Not, which
came out, I want to say, in2019, and it stars Samara
Weaving and it's her charactermarries into a family, and
anyone who marries into thisfamily they have to have a game
night and if a particular gameis selected, then everyone in
(10:23):
that family has to sacrifice thenew bride or groom, depending
on who got married, and it was awhole lot of fun.
This one continues to add on.
It's not a sequel, but you cansee the similarities, like you
can tell that this was made bythe same team and, honestly, it
was a lot of fun.
I don't like gory films andthis was gory, but I think it
(10:45):
helps that, like the blood andthe gore was cartoony, it wasn't
realistic, so I was able tohandle it just fine, but it was
a lot of fun.
It was genuinely funny Likethere were so many good
one-liners in this film and it'sa good time.
It's a chillingly good time, soI had a fun.
This is not usually a genrethat I go for, but I had a lot
(11:08):
of fun watching this and I yeah,I recommend it.
Number five is A Quiet Place DayOne, and so this is technically
the.
It's the third film in theQuiet Place series, but it's
technically a prequel.
It's, I mean, it's called QuietPlace Day One.
This tells us what happened theday that the aliens took over,
(11:30):
and it follows specifically ayoung woman named Sam, played by
Lupita Nyong'o, who findsherself trapped in New York City
during the early stages of thealien invasion.
And again, this is just a greatexample of keeping that tension
.
We know like the first QuietPlace film takes place about a
(11:51):
year, a year and a half, beforethe after sorry, after the
events of this one.
So we know what the monstersare.
We were that's not going to bea plot twist, if you've seen it
it's.
We know how they work.
We know the gist of the film,like what you need to do in
order to survive, but this filmis such a great example of
(12:13):
knowing all that and expandingon the story and finding ways to
keep it exciting and and tense,like this was.
This is such a great film, likethe performances by Lupita
Nyong'o and Joseph Quinn werefantastic, but I really, really,
really have to applaud thefilmmakers who found a way to
keep this, this idea that caneasily go stale, if I'm being
(12:35):
honest, and keeping it fresh and, like I said it's even though I
know the story, we know what'sgoing to happen.
Eventually, it was still a.
It still kept me on my toes.
It still kept me very tense.
I was still not sure the maincharacters were going to make it
out of this.
It really really finds a way tokeep you excited and engaged
(12:56):
and I just I have nothing butgood things.
I think this might be myfavorite entry in the in the
Quiet Place series, which isasking a lot considering, like I
said, we already.
We have the premise, we knowthe premise there's, we know
what's going to happen, likethere's really no way to shock
us.
So they did it.
They just focused on theatmosphere and they did a very,
(13:17):
very good job of it and I reallydo appreciate the message that
it sent.
It found a way to send a reallygood message despite this
really tense, thrilling film, sohighly recommend it.
Number four is the BestChristmas Pageant Ever.
So in this film nobody is readyfor the mayhem and surprises
that ensue when six of the worstyoungsters disrupt the town's
(13:41):
yearly Christmas performance.
So this film follows a group ofsix siblings.
They are awful.
Like no one in this town canstand them.
They are bullies, they aretroublemakers, they are just the
worst children you could everimagine.
But they really want to be apart of the Christmas pageant
and they force themselves intothis pageant.
(14:02):
They forced themselves into thelead roles and out of that
comes a very unexpected or, asthe title tells you, the best
Christmas pageant ever.
This one we kind of watched on awhim.
Again, it was.
It was.
We watched this one in November, so a little bit before the
Christmas season.
But I love Christmas, orlandoloves Christmas.
So we start celebratingChristmas Like we.
(14:22):
We start getting everythingready Like as soon as Halloween
is over.
We don't care.
But this one was again.
It's been a while since we'dbeen to the movies.
There wasn't really anything wewanted to watch.
I saw this one and I was like Imean, it's Christmas, let's
just check it out.
We really didn't know if we hadnever heard about it.
So we were going in blind, wedidn't know if it was going to
be good or bad.
We had no expectations and wewere, honestly, very pleasantly
(14:51):
surprised by the outcome of it.
Now I will say there are a lotof religious undertones in this
film and that is enough to turnsome people off to it.
I completely understand that,and if this isn't for you, it's
not for you.
But if you can overlook thereligious messaging of it, I
think you'll be happilysurprised to discover a
beautiful, heartwarming filmthat I know who the target
(15:11):
audience is.
It's again the target audienceis people that fall for any
Christian message out there, andthe ultimate message of the
film, unfortunately, I think,will go completely over their
heads, which is very sad for meto say, but I think it will.
But, that being said, it didn'tgo over mine or Orlando's head,
and we were pleasantlysurprised at how beautifully
(15:34):
told the story was, the message,and both of us were not
expecting to be choked up at theclimax of the film or I guess
that's the falling action or theresolution at this point.
But yeah, we were watching it,we were really into it and then,
as we were discussing it.
After we watched it, we werelike I got really choked up at
(15:55):
that part.
I wasn't expecting to, and Iwas like me too.
So it is an absolute beautifulfilm.
Again, I completely understandif the religious messaging is
enough for you to not want towatch this, but if you don't
mind it or you can overlook it,I would say try giving it a shot
, because it is a beautiful filmwith a beautiful message and
(16:16):
it's unexpectedly heartwarming.
Number three is your Monster.
I had never heard of this film,ever Never heard of it.
My roommate was the one thatwas like I want to go watch it.
Do you want to go watch it withme?
And I was like I love going tothe movies.
So yes and yeah.
So I ended up watching thiswith her and we both really
(16:37):
really enjoyed it.
And this story focuses on LauraFranco, who is an actress.
Her life falls apart, but she'sable to find her voice when she
meets a terrifying yet weirdlycharming monster living in her
closet.
This is a romantic comedy witha little bit of horror, about
(16:59):
falling in love with your innerrage, and that's the tagline for
the film about falling in lovewith your inner rage, and that's
the tagline for the film, aboutfalling in love with your inner
rage, and that's exactly whatshe learns to do.
She learns to find her voice,she learns to not be a doormat.
And I had a really, really,really good time with this film
and there was a lot that I couldrelate to as an actress.
Laura Franco is an actress.
(17:22):
She's struggling to make it andshe's going on auditions and
she sees who gets the lead roleand you can't help feeling you.
Yeah, just I could relate to itas an actress, and laura is a
lot like me personality way.
She's very soft-spoken, shekeeps things to herself, she
doesn't want to want to fightbattles, whether they need,
(17:44):
whether they should be fought ornot, and by the end, she finds
that voice and she's able toexpress herself.
This film is just so much funand it's so like the concept of
the monster and what it standsfor.
But yeah, it's fun.
It's just so much fun and Ireally, really enjoyed it and I,
(18:04):
you know, I have noticed thatafter watching this film.
I'm not keeping things tomyself.
I keep some things to myself,but now I'm like I think people
are starting to see another sideof me, because I'm just like.
This is how I feel and I'm notgoing to hide it and I don't
care if it pisses you off.
So you know, the message ofthis film really did get to me.
So good job.
(18:24):
It's just so much fun and ifyou are a theater nerd, I think
you'll like it because there'slike this again, as an actress,
I really related to certainaspects of it.
You know, she goes to thisaudition and she sees like this
beautiful actress walk up to thecasting director and she just
(18:44):
is like so natural at like theschmoozing and she's just so
beautiful and I get it.
I get it.
Sometimes it feels like that'swho always beats me out for the
role and there's a lot that goesinto casting.
Yes, but sometimes that's whatyour mind tells you.
Oh, she got it because she's somuch better at schmoozing with
casting directors than I am.
(19:05):
Oh, she got it because look athow gorgeous she is and I'm not
as gorgeous as she is.
So there's things like thatthat I really related to and
broke my heart.
But then Laura finds her innervoice and she comes out fighting
, and that's what I started todo after this film came out.
Number two goes to Americanfiction.
So I did talk about this on thepodcast with book club friends
(19:27):
Raymond and Chantel.
Chantel did prefer Erasure andRaymond and I preferred American
Fiction.
But honestly, check outAmerican Fiction.
Whether or not you decide toread Erasure although you should
American Fiction is just it'sjust so good and so funny.
Absolutely loved it.
I didn't know this was based ona book.
(19:48):
I just saw the trailer and Isaw Jeffrey.
This was actually the firstfilm I saw in 2024, but I saw
Jeffrey Wright and I saw that itwas funny.
Like the trailer immediatelysold me and as soon as I saw the
trailer I was like I want towatch that film.
So bad.
And I was not disappointed.
It is so good.
So check it out for yourself.
And my number one pick it'sgoing to come as a big surprise
(20:12):
to people, probably, and a lotof people.
I think it's going to be acontroversial pick for number
one, but I do want to prefacethis by saying that this film is
number one because of thesubject matter and how much that
subject matter meant to me, ormeant to me as a kid and
continues to mean to me now, andthat is Butterfly in the Sky.
(20:34):
Butterfly in the Sky is adocumentary about reading
Rainbow.
Reading Rainbow was myeverything as a kid growing up.
That show is what got me tolove reading.
Lavar Burt to this day, I think,is the only celebrity I can
think of.
There's so many celebritiesthat I love and admire and I'm
going to be like starstruck whenI meet them, but LeVar Burton,
(20:58):
that's going to be starstruckLike, whenever I meet that man.
That is going to be the moststarstruck I'm ever going to be,
because there's no one who hasimpacted my life.
There's no other celebrity thathas impacted my life as much as
(21:18):
LeVar Burton did and I like,when I meet him, I think I'm
going to cry, like I'm not goingto know what to say to him.
Like that, like I'm going to bestar strong, like everyone else
that I'm excited to meet.
I feel like I'll be able likeespecially if I meet them on
film sets and stuff like if I'mcast in something, I'll be able
to keep it professional.
Not gonna lie, I don't knowthat I'll be able to keep it
professional with LeVar Burton.
I'm gonna freak out so much,but anyway, yes, butterfly in
(21:39):
the Sky is a documentary thattells the story of Breeding
Rainbow.
It tells the story of thebroadcasters, educators and
filmmakers who believe enough inthis show and believe that they
could inspire a love of readingin kids to bring this show to
life.
And the same old story thatwe're still getting today.
There was people that wantedthe show canceled because the
(22:03):
books they were picking werejust giving kids unrealistic
expectations.
And there's a really funnymoment in the film in which one
of the women that was in chargeof bringing Reading Rainbow to
life as they're gettingcomplaints from parents of like
you can't pick these books.
Like these, you're getting kids.
Well, it wasn't just parents,it was like parents and the
(22:24):
station PBS of all places werelike you can't be choosing these
books.
Like kids are going to startbelieving that these things are
are real in terms of like, if itwas like a story of, like a kid
that turned into a dragon orsomething.
And so she she holds a focusgroup with kids and she reads
the book and she's having afocus group and then she asks
the kids do any of you thinkthat you could actually turn
(22:45):
into a fish like the maincharacter in the?
And there's just completesilence from the kids and then
one little girl raises her handand just says it's a story.
It's like, yeah, we like kidsare so much smarter than we give
them credit for, and so thisdetails a story of like making
this show entertaining for kids,keeping like making it engaging
(23:06):
for them, but also not liketalking down to them, because
kids are so much smarter than wethink they are.
And you know, it also talksabout LeVar Burton and how hard
he had to fight to just be himauthentically.
This was at a time in whichthere were not a lot of Black
men hosting especially kidsshows, so it was really
important for him, like if hewanted to have an Afro, that
(23:29):
they let him have an Afro whenhe pierced his ears.
It was really important for him, like if he wanted to have an
afro, that they let him have anafro when he pierced his ears.
It was really important that helet them, that they let him
keep his earrings in, that theyrequest not to take them out,
and how he was so willing asmuch as he loved being the host
of Reading Rainbow, he was sowilling to walk away from it if
they were not willing to let himbe an authentic representation
(23:51):
of the Black man that he is.
So, yeah, that is why that's mynumber one pick and again, I
know it might be controversial,but it just reading Rainbow just
meant so much to me growing up,and LaFar Burton means so much
to me and that's why there couldnot have been any other pick
for number one for me.
So that is it for this episodeof books versus movies.
(24:13):
I don't know what's coming atyou, but keep tuning in.
I have I'm currently readingseveral books that I need to
finish before I can let you knowwhat I'm bringing to the
podcast next time.
But keep tuning in and I'mlooking forward to a really
exciting 2025.
See you next time.
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