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FlickFilosopher.com

film criticism by maryann johanson | handcrafted since 1997

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family/kids

Peter Rabbit 2 (aka Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway) movie review: carrot and shtick

Fri, Jul 30, 2021
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Cynical sequel — you know, for kids! — doubles down on the nihilistic money-grubbing of the original. Thinks that being clever and meta about its own disenchantment will win us over. It does not.

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Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts 2021 green light

Oscar Nominated Animated Shorts 2021 (93rd Academy Awards) review

Thu, Apr 15, 2021
2 comments

I don’t see how the astonishing “Opera,” by Erick Oh, doesn’t win the Oscar for Best Animated Short. This is a stupendous achievement, a cartoon clockwork depicting life, the universe, and everything.

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Raya and the Last Dragon movie review: warrior princess

Sun, Mar 28, 2021
10 comments

The Disney paradigm is hard at play again here, its familiarity offset by its inspiration in Southeast Asian culture and mythology. Sweepingly told, gorgeously animated, and audaciously optimistic.

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H Is for Happiness movie review: Q is for Quirk, F is for Forced

Tue, Sep 22, 2020
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Offbeat portrait of an unconventional girl is all over the place, sometimes detouring into the cringeworthy, as it tries to depict the emotional familial confusion its tween protagonist is navigating.

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Mulan (2020) movie review: girl (and film) at war with the world

Fri, Sep 11, 2020
11 comments

Acceptably inoffensive, if less than wholly engaging. At least Liu’s strong, stately Mulan is a wonderful role model for girls who aren’t much interested in conformity and adhering to expectations.

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The Secret Garden movie review: weedy with misplaced eeriness

Fri, Aug 07, 2020
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Pointless adaptation of the beloved children’s novel soaked in a gothic spookiness that seems to deliberately misunderstand the story. Neither literal enough nor magical enough. My heart was unmoved.

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My Spy movie review: and you can keep him, little girl

Thu, Jun 25, 2020
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A “family” comedy about nuclear terrorism, the incompetent CIA agent on the case, and his 9-year-old sidekick. Desperately unfunny, thoroughly misjudged. We are in the worst and the dumbest timeline.

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Artemis Fowl movie review: falls foul of itself

Sun, Jun 14, 2020
5 comments

A disaster of a kids’ fantasy caper; feels like it’s making up the plot as it goes. A mishmash of manufactured wonder: characters barely sketched, action seemingly setting up future DisneyWorld rides.

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Scoob! movie review: Scooby dooby don’t

Tue, May 19, 2020
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A spectacularly scattershot, pandering mess of pulp junk, cheap-looking animation, and poisonous gender dynamics. A charmless cash-grab that can’t be bothered with the slightest stab at originality.

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Trolls: World Tour movie review: a cinematic Rubicon by dint of pandemic coincidence

Tue, Apr 07, 2020
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As pastel and glittery as its predecessor, with a silliness more glorious and less forced. Sweet, smart, sincere… but it doesn’t deserve to be carrying the future of movies on its little shoulders.

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