Joey Jargon – Sack, Animated

Films I’ve Changed My Mind About

Much as the wind can change direction at a given moment, opinions can change just as quickly. Here is a list of films, in no particular order, that I’ve changed my mind about.

It’s a fact of life that opinions change as easily as the wind. This rings true with movies as well. There have been several movies that I’ve seen in the past few years that I liked well enough at first, but that I’ve either liked more or, more often, I’ve liked less.

While this may seem like a weird thing for a film critic to experience, it’s perfectly normal; opinions change, sentiments change, and one film may stand the test of time better than another.

With this in mind, I want to take a look at some of the films that I’ve changed my mind about over the years. If I happen to have a review of the film in question, I’ll provide a link to the original review, and I may provide an updated Sack Score while I’m at it. So without further ado, here are some films I’ve changed my mind about.

Joey Jargon: Random thought about Solo: A Star Wars Story

I was quite glad when this clip (shown above) was released to promote the upcoming Blu-Ray release of Solo: A Star Wars Story. I have had a thought rattling around my head about this scene for months, and I wanted the clip available to illustrate my point: Chewbacca provides his famous nickname, Chewie, in this scene. Several grunts and roars make up his real name, Han tells him he needs a nickname, and Chewie lets out a little bark or yap. I think that that smaller sound would translate out to “Chewie,” since his real name is made out of several longer roars. That’s why his nickname shows up out of nowhere in the next scene; if we all spoke Shyriiwook (the language of the Wookiees), we’d all be in the loop. As I keep thinking over moments from Solo: A Star Wars Story, I’ll be sure to post more thoughts and musings, so strap yourselves in and stay tuned.

I claim no ownership of the video clip above. The video is the property of Lucasfilm Ltd. and the Walt Disney Company.

My Top 10 Films of 2017

The 90th Academy Awards are coming up this Sunday, and we’ll soon see which movies that came out in 2017 were good enough to earn Oscar gold. Unsurprisingly, in the 12 months of 2017, there were good movies, bad movies, and movies that were just … okay. Thankfully, the good ones stood out from the rest. We watched as an Amazon demigoddess battled the God of War during World War I; we witnessed the evacuation of thousands of British troops off a beach in France during World War II; we saw humans and highly-intelligent apes clash for supremacy in a post-apocalyptic world; and we fans of a galaxy far, far away saw our beloved Princess onscreen one last time. Out of the many movies that came out this year, I have formed this, my list of my top 10 favorite movies of 2017.

Continue reading “My Top 10 Films of 2017”

An Update and New Beginning for Sack, Animated

It’s been awhile, hasn’t it, folks? A lot has happened between my review of the season three finale of Star Wars Rebels and now. Most notably, I graduated from college. That’s one of the reasons why I haven’t posted on here lately, but the other is that I have been working to reassess what I want Sack, Animated to be. I still love animation, and I always will, but I don’t want to limit myself so much that I can’t write about other things I’m interested in. And if Sack, Animated remains a site dedicated entirely to reviewing animated films and TV shows, I will be doing just that.

Continue reading “An Update and New Beginning for Sack, Animated”

My Top 10 Films of 2016

Well, the Oscars are this Sunday, folks, which means it’s time for me to list off my favorite movies that came out in 2016.

Just a few things before moving forward: I did not see every film that came out in 2016. To all my readers who check out this blog to read my reviews of animated films and TV shows: I did not see every animated film that came out this year, nor did I see every animated film that is nominated for Best Animated Feature. Also, this list contains films that are decidedly not animated movies; just so you know. To all my friends who happen to be hardcore Marvel fans, I saw Captain America: Civil War, X-Men Apocalypse, and Deadpool, but I did not see Doctor Strange. To all my intense film buff friends: I saw Arrival, La La Land, and several other films buzzing with Oscar anticipation, but I have yet to see Moonlight, Manchester by the Sea, Fences, or Hidden Figures, despite my best efforts to see them. Finally, to anyone else who I forgot to mention: I’m only human, and there are only so many films I can see in a year.

Also, this is not based entirely on how I would rate these films out of 10, but based on how I enjoyed them as an experience and how they have stuck with me since leaving the theater. Your opinions and your lists may vary, and I invite you to share your thoughts in the comments below.

When I started compiling this list, I was concerned that I hadn’t seen enough movies in 2016 to have a complete Top 10 list. To my relief, I successfully remembered at least 15 films that I saw last year, giving me enough films to compile my Top 10 Favorite Movies of 2016:

Continue reading “My Top 10 Films of 2016”

A Brief Explanation of My Rating System

I recently updated the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section of Sack, Animated to include the following information, but I figured I would post this article just in case you don’t get a chance to read that section.

I have written two film reviews and several TV show reviews since I started this blog back in September. But I realized that while I understand my rating system (obviously, because it would be weird if I didn’t understand my own system), the people reading my reviews might not know the mindset I’m in when I make my ratings. Continue reading “A Brief Explanation of My Rating System”

Five things I want from Star Wars Rebels, Season Three

“Star Wars Rebels” logo. Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd. and The Walt Disney Company.

Star Wars Rebels is nearing its mid-season finale on December 10th, and I, for one, am looking forward to these upcoming episodes. However, recent episodes of Rebels have been somewhat lacking, so my excitement is tempered. Looking to the future, both in the short and long term, here are, in no particular order, five things that I want from the rest of Star Wars Rebels season three, as well as the series as a whole:

Continue reading “Five things I want from Star Wars Rebels, Season Three”

Star Wars: The Clone Wars vs. Star Wars Rebels: The Arc Side of the Force

Poster for "Star Wars Rebels" season three. Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd. and The Walt Disney Company. — Poster for “Star Wars Rebels” season three. Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd. and The Walt Disney Company.

The Walt Disney Company not only rules the world, but also a galaxy far, far away. The company’s acquisition of Lucasfilm Ltd. in 2012 brought news of a new series of Star Wars films, which excited many fans the world over. However, this change behind the scenes also brought about the eventual cancellation of the popular animated television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (TCW), which takes place between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, and introduced fan-favorite characters like Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker’s teenaged Jedi apprentice, and clone captain CT-7567, better known as Captain Rex.

Ahsoka Tano (right) and CT-7567 a.k.a. "Captain Rex" (left) in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars." Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd. — Ahsoka Tano (right) and CT-7567 a.k.a. “Captain Rex” (left) in “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” Copyright Lucasfilm Ltd.

TCW ran for five seasons on Cartoon Network, and 13 completed episodes from the planned sixth season, entitled “The Lost Missions,” were made available to stream on Netflix in March 2014. In addition, several unfinished episodes were made available on StarWars.com and unused scripts from the series have served as the basis for comic books and novels. Later that same year, in October 2014, Disney premiered a new Star Wars animated series on DisneyXD, entitled Star Wars Rebels (SWR), which begins five years before A New Hope. This new series follows the crew of the freighter ship The Ghost, which consists of Jedi-in-hiding Kanan Jarrus, pilot Hera Syndulla, warrior Garazeb “Zeb” Orrelios, Mandalorian explosives expert and artist Sabine Wren, and Force-sensitive street orphan Ezra Bridger, as they work to disrupt Imperial activities in the Outer Rim Territories and later become drawn into a larger rebellion that will eventually become The Rebel Alliance seen in the original trilogy.

Continue reading “Star Wars: The Clone Wars vs. Star Wars Rebels: The Arc Side of the Force”

Oh, bother: my thoughts about Disney’s upcoming “Winnie the Pooh” live-action sequel

Winnie the Pooh with Christopher Robin in the Hundred Acre Wood. Copyright The Walt Disney Company

Can we stop calling films like Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland or the upcoming live-action Winnie the Pooh “remakes” or “reboots”? Because that’s not what they are. 2010’s Alice in Wonderland and its 2016 sequel Alice Through the Looking Glass were sequels that counted on the audience’s familiarity with both Lewis Carroll’s original story and Disney’s 1951 animated version. And given the release of the synopsis of the Winnie the Pooh movie coming up in the near future, it looks like this “remake” is going to follow the same path. It’s not a remake or a reboot: it’s a sequel, and I just have one thing to say about this sequel to a story I loved growing up: oh, bother.

Continue reading “Oh, bother: my thoughts about Disney’s upcoming “Winnie the Pooh” live-action *sequel*”

Slight changes for Sack, Animated

I started this blog back in September with the mission statement of reviewing and celebrating animated movies. As you can tell from three of my previous articles, which cover TV shows like South Park and the recently-revived Young Justice, that statement has changed ever so slightly. I am now expanding my blog to cover animation in all of its forms, from films to television shows to all other kinds of animation. The reason for this is that I love seeing where people can take animation with different mediums, and I can’t limit myself to movies for that animation fix. So, be on the lookout for further articles from Sack, Animated, now on a wider range of topics. The Circle of Life continues to move us all, even my blog.