janinebroschat Reviews

Midnight Mass: Book III: Proverbs (2021) Season 1, Episode 3

Scene that will make you ugly cry

[10/10 · 20 November 2022]

I've watched this series all the way through several times over, at this point, and this episode, here, and the exchange between Leeza and Joe.... is the white-hot, blistering emotional center of this story. The sharp, perfect distillation of the theme. There are other events and moments which are obviously more of the conventionally literary narrative climax, but this is the good stuff. Robert Longstreet will tear your heart out of your chest and stomp it into the ground with his reaction to Leeza's dialogue. You will crawl into his skin and live those moments with him.

This series will pay you back in abundance for going along for the ride.

Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs (2019)

Far From Perfect But Very Effective For What it Is

[8/10 · 7 January 2022]

I will forever grieve the audience this movie lost because of it's poor marketing. It's got a few too many pop songs and the plot is predictable, but that isn't a deal breaker for me when you have a concept as interesting as this one. The story fully commits to its theme, resulting in some very sincere moments. My favorites are Merlin's conversation with his dwarf self and Snow White saying, "He likes you more than he likes me," to her magical shoes.

I almost feel like Red Shoes engages with its concept in a more interesting way than Shrek, which is what many people have compared it to. Because, unlike Shrek's Fiona, Snow White isn't uncomfortable in her own skin, and that's something I'd like to see more of in animated female characters, especially ones who don't fit into the body size ideal.

If more people would give it a chance, I think they'd find a family film that's filling a gap that has gone too long unfilled.