Before we get to that, let's talk about the first film of my catch up, "Paddington 2."
"Paddington 2" came out last year during the heat of Oscar season on January 12th, a little less than 2 weeks before nominations were announced. I will playing Oscar catch up as well as beginning the process of watching the nominated Independent Spirit Award films, and full disclosure, watching "Call Me By Your Name" over and over. I saw the praise for P2, wondered if I needed to see the original, and decided to pass.
As the year went on, the Oscars happened, and people were still talking about "Paddington 2," as a sort of antidote to what we had just experienced. I did start watching 2018 films, starting with "Annihilation," "Ready Player One," "Lean on Pete" and "Final Portrait." It was an early start for me.
Last night, I watched "Paddington 2" and I enjoyed it, but not to the extent that others did. Maybe I needed to see the original, maybe I should have watched it back in January.
To me, it is certainly a children's movie...or a family movie, if you will...and it is certainly a cute story. The acting is superb, the visual effects are good...but it only scratched the emotional surface for me.
I think it's ok to talk spoilers, but I will try to be a bit vague. When Sally Hawkins has a "Shape of Water, 2" moment (you see where I'm going people?) there is an underwater moment between her character and Paddington. I could sense the beginnings of feelings, but because I wasn't really invested in what was happening, I didn't quite get there. As the credits were rolling, and the final "twist" also neglected to elicit real emotions from me I though about how "Toy Story 3" did that much better.
Now, I had never seen the first 2 "Toy Story" movies until the day before I saw the 3rd one, so there wasn't a long period of built up nostalgia to take me across the feelings finish line.
This makes me wonder two things.
1. Are early release films as good as we think? Or are we so exhausted from the Oscars that anything relatively good and not your typical Oscar bait that our opinions are subjective.
As I have worked on my Top 10 throughout the year the films I mentioned earlier all had a place in my Top 10. Now, they are off the list. I do play to rewatch them, although I wasn't quite set on revisiting "Ready Player One." But that's mostly due to fear that I will be chastised for awarding a film starring T.J. Miller, an actor who has been accused of sexual assault, which he and his wife vehemently deny.
2. How good are the Visual Effects for "Paddington 2?"
We all know that "Toy Story 3" had superb visual effects, but what about P2? The only real shot the film has at this point at being nominated for an Oscar is in this category. Looking at the list (see below) there is honestly nothing that stands out as a must win. I'm guessing that "Black Panther" will get in, but what about "Avengers," "Ant-Man," "Aquaman?" Could it be a Superhero movie stacked category? Maybe. From what I've seen, I think "First Man" and "Isle of Dogs" should certainly be considered. I was actually underwhelmed by the effects in "A Quiet Place," but don't be surprised if it gets in.
More on this later.
“Aquaman”
“Avengers: Infinity War”
“Black Panther”
“Bumblebee”
“Christopher Robin”
“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald”
“First Man”
“Incredibles 2”
“Isle of Dogs”
“Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”
“Mary Poppins Returns”
“Mission: Impossible – Fallout”
“Mortal Engines”
“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms”
“Paddington 2”
“A Quiet Place”
“Ready Player One”
“Solo: A Star Wars Story”
“Welcome to Marwen”
Finally, I really want to add "Three Identical Strangers," which showed up yesterday, to my 12 Days of Christmas Catch Up, but I have no clue what to take off. Maybe "The Mule." Although Indiewire posted an extremely positive review, the others have been mediocre at best. Let's throw it on there for now. I'm also planning to watch "The Princess Bride" for the first time next week as well as "A Diva's Christmas Carol." Going to save that one for when I'm home with the parents.
Vice
Three Identical Strangers
We the Animals
A Kid Like Jake
Happy As Lazzaro
Vox Lux
The Mule
Mary Poppins Returns
Ben is Back
Free Solo
You Were Never Really Here
Colette
TV
The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Pose
A Kid Like Jake
Happy As Lazzaro
Vox Lux
The Mule
Mary Poppins Returns
Ben is Back
Free Solo
You Were Never Really Here
Colette
TV
The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Pose
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