"Alastor is a villain because he chained poor Husk 🥺"

I think you all forget THIS is the Husk that made the deal with Alastor:

The Husk that was so careless and selfish that was gambling SOULS, to the point he gambled his own soul away to save his powers.

HIIIII okay so I’ve recently found your fanfics a Puss in boots, and I’ve officially become obsessed just the way you write the characters and the Settings that they are in are so good and like the way you enter angst is so good. The one thing I do wanna see though no hate your literally amazing is maybe Puss in the wrong I like dynamic where death realizes he’s wrong for his past action reflects because that is so strong and I love that we love a good redemption, but I would also like to see Puss maybe Being a little too mean or biased, or assuming not out of being mean or wrong, but out of like trauma, his past experiences with dad, have now shaped his choices towards him, and he realizes how much it’s affecting the way he treats him I don’t know I’m just babbling at this point but anyways much love and support. Please keep fighting writing,living and much love.

Bumbleb33_s - my a03 name

Hi! First off, thank you so much! It fills my heart with joy to hear someone enjoy my work so much 💖 And honestly that’s a route I’ve purposefully avoided going with my fics because I like Puss so much and he did nothing to deserve all the traumatic stuff Death put him through, BUT, that being said, I did actually recently come up with an idea that would fit in with Puss being meaner to him than he deserves now that you bring it up. I doubt I’ll end up actually writing it out since I don’t have the time, but the basic idea is that the reason Death did what he did was because he knew Puss would die if he didn’t step in.

Like, I found out that Death only popped up at times that Puss could very well die (except probably the cave), like when Puss is drinking at the bar after the talk with Dr. Mendez (he could well have drunk himself to death with that “heaviest cream”), when he’s leaving Jack Horner’s with the map and flaming arrows are being shot at him, the battle where Jack is shooting unicorn horns, and the final battle. And maybe he knew the only way to get Puss to truly value his final life instead of relying on more and eventually tearing through those as well, was to teach him what true fear felt like, and challenge him the way he did.

BUT, since Death isn’t actually allowed to interfere to extend lives (going purely by the rules of this fic), and this would fall under that umbrella, he couldn’t make it seems like that was his goal, instead acting like he was insulted and wanted to just torment Puss before killing him out of spite.

THEN he needs Puss’ help with something really important, otherwise bad stuff would happen to a lot of people (like a continent getting destroyed or something, idk, lol), and Puss only agrees after Death signs a pact that he won't hurt Puss or his friends. Now, since Puss isn’t afraid that Death will kill him at the drop of a hat, he feels a lot more free to say whatever he wants, which is usually some kind of jab at Death’s character (like “I’ll handle this one and nicely ask for directions, because I believe that were it up to you you’d probably threaten them at sickle point, since that seems to be how you solve your problems.”, “Yes, we could actually try to win the challenge, but why do that when you can just unfairly overpower them with your godly powers like you did with me?”, “Stand back, you’ll just give them nightmares with nothing more than your stunning personality.” etc) as a way to get back at his tormentor.

Death can’t defend his actions though, as he can’t let Puss know the truth. That he actually really admired and respected Puss (and still does), which is why he stuck his neck out in the first place. And also Death is a nice person in general, and basically just played the part of an evil jerk when dealing with Puss before. So he just takes it.

BUT THEN Puss notices how Death acts throughout their quest/journey (especially when he thinks Puss isn’t looking/paying attention). That he’s actually kind, considerate, and cares about others’ feelings (even something like a bug, helping it by flipping it over when it’s stuck on it’s back, and putting a baby bird back in its nest that got tipped, etc), and tries to figure out how that made any sense at all, considering what he put Puss through just a few weeks prior.

Eventually he does figure it out though (maybe right after the end of the adventure, when everything is resolved), putting Death’s actions through the lens of what seems to be his actual personality and moral compass. When confronting Death about it, Death urges him to stop, to not say what he’s thinking, but he can’t actually stop Puss, and when the words are out in the open Death gets in trouble with the higher powers.

Not wanting Death to be punished for what he did to him, since he now knew why he did it, Puss maybe goes through some trials to get an audience with said higher powers, and works his charms to get Death off the hook. Then they become friends or fall in love or something, the end~

Puss in Boots Thoughts

I enjoyed Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. Some thoughts below, though I never saw the other Puss in Boots movies. (Contains lots of spoilers).

-It made so much since for Perrito's character type to be a dog. One of the best things about dogs is how they live in the moment. They're always so joyous when they're around their loved ones, so making him a scruffy little dog was the best choice.

-Death was a great character, alarmingly chilling for a "kid's movie." The whistling was a good touch too, and my favorite line of his was about how he's not speaking metaphorically, poetically, etc. Death doesn't always need to be a metaphor. It's scary enough as is, and his presence was felt throughout the whole film.

-I wondered how Kitty knew Puss didn't show up to the wedding if she didn't either. Was that answered in another movie, or was she lying to save face and make him feel better? Did she just hear he hadn't shown up? I wasn't sure, but I overall liked their dynamic. It felt surprisingly mature and developed.

-Perrito's backstory (and the way it was told) really surprised me. This honestly felt like the darkest part of the movie to me. Death is universal, but what happened to Perrito isn't. I felt that on some level he knew the truth of what had happened to him - hence his insistence on being a therapy dog, "it's okay to be sad," etc., but that didn't stop him from loving the family/owners that tried to kill him. That relationship is probably one of the most complicated in the movie.

-Goldi's story felt the most predictable to me, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it and feeling a little teary over the rescue of Baby Bear even though I knew where it was headed. I liked her design too.

-Overall, I think the plot line of the whole movie was pretty predictable, but hey, it's Puss in Boots. One thing that surprised me was I thought Puss and Kitty would agree to give the wish to Perrito at the end, the "one who deserved it most" kind of thing. But that never came up, and Perrito was content without the wish till the end.

-Another aspect that surprised me was Horner staying despicable to the end, and his story seemed to be "some people can't be redeemed." I like this concept for a kid's movie. As heart-warming as the thought that all people have good inside and can "see the light" to be "morally saved" is, I've never been sure how realistic that is. Some people are megalomaniacs, just genuinely bad people. It doesn't mean they're the incarnations of evil, but it does often mean they're going to use the wish for themselves no matter what.

It was a good first episode. There's always some growing pains before they lock down the dynamic, but this was a solid introduction to what's coming down the pipeline. Murph and Emily successfully broke my heart the most. One's marriage is crumbling and the other's just a really traumatized child. Lou and Ally character's are pretty great and seem to have the most plot going on ATM. That voice Lou's doing is such a choice. Zac and Siobhan need more time before we can fully sink our teeth in. PIB is entertaining, but that's all we got so far. And while I'm desperately trying to block out Siobhan's intro, beyond the stressful horror, Rosamund didn't give us a lot character wise. Looking forward to getting stressed out by the rest of the season.

I was a big fan of this first episode! There was a lot of interesting stuff intro'd with all the new PCs (and I really got a sense of like...Once Upon a Time but competent lol). I already went through my thoughts a bit in the recap for the week but here are some more casual thoughts on everyone.

(1) Rosamund: Roz seems to have retained a lot of her princess niceties and demeanor which is honestly impressive considering her entire Situation. I'm wondering if this is going to be a Ruby style arc where she turns jaded eventually or if she's just going be Like This the whole time. A sunshine-y character in a crapsack world is always an interesting contrast. Also, we kind of started and ended with her since Pinocchio was warned that someone was coming for her. I'm curious if the fairy who cursed her is the same fairy that Pinocchio met.

(2) Ger: Brennan does this really cool thing where the end of the world is happening but you're like, "Oh no! This character cheated on this other character!" The human drama stuff feels just as weighty and often more weighty than the life or death stuff. That's how I feel about Ger's whole situation. He's really a dude in need of some serious self-reflection and I'm charmed by how pathetic he is. The issues he's having with his wife are so grounded in reality, even though they involve conversations that start, "Remember who we started dating when I was a frog?" Can't wait to see more of him--and hopefully Elodie at some point too. Where is she Brennan???

(3) Tim: Once again, everything with the Gander is totally messed up. I really hate the idea of accidentally stumbling into a kind of eldritch pact. You're right that there's a very clear plot hook with him and his mission with the book. From the way it was framed, it almost seems like the book has the "correct" or at least more wholesome versions of the tales in it somehow. Or is a gateway to where those versions exist? Because Brennan said it was their town but without the flooding and Jack looked like how he "was meant to be" or something like that. A lot to think about.

(Sidenote: Me and my friend were joking about whether the bad guy this season was going to be capitalism, or the church and my halfway joking answer is capitalism in the form of some version of the Disney Corporation lol.)

(4) Puss: I don't have a lot to say about Puss that I haven't already said in my recap but I love Zac putting his all into his cat mannerisms and I really love this grounded look at what would actually happen after the Puss in Boots story. Looking forward to getting more info.

(5) Red: Yikesssssssssssssssssssss. Emily just went for the jugular right away, huh? As usual, no notes Ms. Axford. I think it's super cool they mixed the Red story and the Big Bad Wolf story. I wonder if/when we're going to get details on how it went down with her grandma because we never got that. I feel like Emily might steal the emotional killshot crown from Siobhan for me this season.

(6) Pinocchio: OK first of all, no one can say Lou doesn't commit to the bit. Second of all, as I said in my recap and at the top in Roz's section, there's clearly something afoot here. Why does Pinocchio’s stepmom want Roz kept safe? And who even is she? My pet theory (based on very little info to be fair) is that she's Cinderella herself somehow but she could very easily be lots of other people (one of the stepsisters is a guess I didn't mention in my recap). Clearly, we're missing a ton of puzzle pieces here so I'm eager to get more. Also, I’m gonna be so mad when Lou is having a super emotional scene and he’s talking Like That. You monster.

One last thing: I'm curious about the timeline here. Since Roz has been asleep for 100 years it seems, how does that slot in with everything else? How long has this plan involving her been in motion. If Sleeping Beauty happened 100 years ago, when did—for instance--the Cinderella story happen (if it happened)?

OK, that’s what I got. Looking forward to the next ep on Wed!

puss in boots/the last wish spoilers ahead

if you have not watched the movie, you should, its so cool. however please just skip this post and blacklist the spoiler tag if you can.

ok so this movie somehow is so actiony anf fun while still having good use of themes in a literary sense i guess. the backgrounds and general art direction was so beautiful. like it was sooo cool.

puss learning not to fear commitment or death was an amazing arc for him to go through

but it isn't only puss who has an arc either. mostly everyone who wants the wish has some sort of development over time too.

might as well start off with the exception of the wish wanters, Jack Horner. Definitely an interesting source to pull from for a Villain. The fact that he is from a nusery rhyme instead of a full fairytale is also brought up. He is a spoilt boy alright and the 2nd most threatening villain I guess. Funny how theres a villain in both movies called Jack lol.

the dog (forgot his new name, i am not the best with those sorry). subjected to the horrors but is clueless. a very good therapy dog. I like him.

Uh i guess next kitty softpaws. not much to say. she does some cool stuff. probably wrong to say this, but i just find it funny how her conflict with puss is because he ran away from their wedding, idk why sorry.

To finish off the wish wanters, Goldi(locks) <3 <3 <3 >//w//<. Her story as an orphan is so sad and her goal of getting her original family is just very sad and quite impactful. I love how she realises her family was the one who adopted her and helping her. The found family trope is just ydheiebeusj yeah i like it very much. I'm not giving the bears their own paragraph, but I like how they all have their own traits and personality and all have their dynamics with each other (including goldi). I also adore how they accept that Goldi wants to reunite with her most likely deceased parents. However she still gives that up to save her family and realises the thing i said sentences ago (sorry this post is just rambles not very organised). Her voice is so uhh idk how to describe it, but i love it. Everything about her is so pretty, her hair, her face, her dress, her most likely stolen jewelery, it just makes me GRHEKVEJOVSHOVHIWVCJDJGSUCWJNGSUXB. I love her. Kissing her rn....

finishing off, Death. that guy. The physical form of it, nothing metaphorical about it. Definitely very threatening. The fact they don't appear again after the first fight until puss is adventuring again is a neat detail and could most likely be analysed more by higher skilled people in that sort of thing. The resolution for him was pretty good. You can't kill death but you can accept it.

I don't understand number scales so I will give it a "pretty Amazing so cool Has pretty girl" out of Perfect i guess

Might make a follow up post with the other stuff I noticed I guess in the next few days mayeb

Fell family dynamic in a Shrek au sounds hilarious

if you've read the shrek fic that exists (dont ask me why it does) you will notice that gangrel is farquaad. he's trying to get married to one up his ex aversa, who dumped him because she figured out she's a lesbian

this AU started because of the sentence "grima would sing i need a hero from shrek 2" and i kept imagining him as the fairy godmother. if you may. imagine. robin and chrom, both half dragons, go to plegia to meet robin's family. validar is king of Far Far Away. aversa is crown princess.

grima is still the fairy godmother. they're all still trying to do the whole "awaken grima" thing, except robin has... already accepted his dragon side? he's married to a manakete? he has wings and everything?

grima is confused. validar is confused. grima only met chrom after his first husband gangrel "mysteriously disappeared" and chrom was in peak depression era by spending too long alone in self imposed exile. it was a messy relationship. chrom died in suspect circumstances he's a zombie now it's fine.

so like. robin already HAS his happily ever after. validar decides one thing. to truly bring about the grima he wishes to see - robin needs to get divorced. aversa is in on it because she is, in fact, mad that he got married before she did.

(PLEASE imagine risen king chrom as prince charming in this i beg of you. morgan is also here because i just cant get rid of em. please imagine the scene where the fairy godmother takes prince charming to mcdonalds with grima rkc and morgan.)

validar and aversa are playing nice with gritted teeth and just preparing the death cult shit in the background trying to kill chrom via looney tunes shenanigans (owain is puss in boots it just works).

it's so weird because. the apocalypse just. averted itself. chrom and robin met BEFORE they both hit their midlife crises and had an incredibly toxic relationship and they're well adjusted and in love and it's healthy and fine. the future children are just kicking around trying to figure out what the FUCK they did for this to just happen

there's so much here it's not like shrek at all outside the very basic framework that spiralled out of control but these wack versions of the characters are just very neat to think about.

robin crucially does NOT know his family runs a death cult about him. he THINKS he has the regular fiona backstory of "i was born a monster so my family sealed me away" but what actually happened is that "his family recognized that he is their god reborn and sealed him away so no one could kill him until he became of age to perform the awakening"

i'm just rambling here. spitballed lore from chats with anakha and salem is also "grima officiates weddings AND is a divorce lawyer" because it's really fucking funny. he will give you a happy ending that slowly crumbles before your eyes until you're divorcing your prince 10 years later and you think its your own fault but grima deliberately picked out the prince charming who will woo you at first but his minor character quirks will slowly grate on you and escalate with your annoyance

grima WOULD sing i need a hero. after the shrek 2 of this au grima starts crying at chrobin's genuine love and he tries to rekindle his relationship with rkc. morgan gets a raise and three months paid vacation.

Puss In Boots: The Last Wish

“Puss In Boots: The Last Wish” is a movie that was getting amazing reviews, and after watching it, I liked it but didn’t love it as everyone else did.

Puss In Boots has always lived a carefree life and enjoyed being a legend. When he dies for the eighth time, he’s informed that he only has one life left. After an intense run-in with someone he thinks is a bounty hunter, Puss runs off to find The Wishing Star to try and get his lives back. The only problem is that a few other people are looking for The Wishing Star too.

I was already going to watch this movie since I was looking for an excuse to review the “Shrek” franchise, but when I heard this movie was getting rave reviews, I knew I had to check it out. After watching the movie, I thought it was great! I loved a lot about it, but I don’t see why everyone is calling this the best DreamWorks movie of all time. So, right off the bat, when I first watched the trailers for this movie, I immediately noticed that the animation style and frame rate were similar to “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse”. I love this new style of animation, but I fear that if too many movies use it, it’s not going to be something special for “Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse” anymore. I mean, DreamWorks already did a similar style with their “The Bad Guys” movie. Still, I think it works well because of how dynamic the fight sequences were. Animating on twos really gives you that extra frame to soak in the cool action poses during each fight scene. I also like it thematically because it was stated that the decision was made for it to resemble storybook illustrations. One of my criticisms of the last “Puss In Boots” movie was how uninspired the storybook characters were. I’m happy to say that in this movie, all of the characters were utilized creatively. I love Florence Pugh in anything she’s in and she’s fantastic as Goldilocks. I wish there was a bit more time to dive into her character because her motivation seemed a little weak. Like, I get that she wants to find her real parents, but I think it would’ve been more powerful to see her want that throughout the whole movie rather than it being revealed near the very end. Maybe have her haunted by vague images of her parents throughout the movie so that we know she has this obsession that blinds her from seeing that her real family was the bears all along. Jack Horner was a nursery rhyme I didn’t know about. The only reference to it I knew was that one Graybles episode of “Adventure Time”. I thought the character was funny at times, but not all the time. I also think that John Mulaney’s voice didn’t match the character super well. I wish he had changed his voice up a little, but that’s a nitpick. The stand-out character had to be Death. He genuinely looks terrifying and I’m not saying “for a kids’ movie”. He is just terrifying. Plain and simple. He switches from teasing, yet calculated, to a feral monster on the drop of a dime. I love his aesthetic so much. His creepy whistling is such a great inclusion as well. I know that if I ever heard that whistling in the middle of a dark forest, I would crap my pants. His introduction was genuinely unnerving as well. The way he throws Puss off his game was masterfully done. It immediately made me understand why Puss ran away from a fight for the first time. I just wish he was in the movie more. It seemed like Death was just an afterthought. I get that he’s always supposed to be looming, but a character like that deserves more screen time. Instead of splitting screen time with a bunch of underdeveloped characters, I would’ve much preferred to have Death be the only antagonist and explore him much more. I had so many questions about him like: How does he work in the “Shrek” universe? We’ve seen a lot of characters die in the Shrek universe like King Harold. Was Death there to pick him up? A lot of interpretations of Death have it so that he can’t interfere with or kill the victim, only pick up the soul after death. Why is this Death allowed to fight Puss head-on? More exploration of this character would’ve satisfied these thoughts. The dog, Perrito, got on my nerves a bit. I know a lot of people said they thought the dog was going to annoy them, but was just the right amount. I disagree. He felt too one-note for me. I know he’s supposed to be relentlessly optimistic to combat everyone’s cynicism, but he’s still a one-note character at the end of the day. Also, I saw a lot of people write about how sad it was that he couldn’t grasp how sad his backstory was. Personally, I think if it’s not bothering him, then it’s not as tragic. Still, I enjoyed how this movie tastefully tied back to the other “Shrek” characters. I loved seeing Gingy, Pinocchio, and even Shrek and Donkey. I know people were complaining about the ending and how the Far Far Away tease makes it so that this movie doesn’t stand on its own. Personally, I think it was a great ending. Now that I know these filmmakers can make something of this caliber, it’s exciting to think about how they can apply it to “Shrek” himself. It’s also exciting to just get teased about new “Shrek” content after so many years. These “Puss In Boots” movies are, by nature, spin-off movies, which means they don’t stand on their own. They’re built off of the framework of another movie, which means they’re connected. I get wanting a movie this good to be its own thing, but that doesn’t mean any connective tissues are a bad thing. All in all, I had a ton of fun with this movie, but I didn’t think it was the masterpiece everyone says it was. It’s still definitely worth the watch.

★★★★

Watched on January 11th, 2023

The Little Things I Love About ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE

Just like the one I did for PUSS IN BOOTS: THE LAST WISH, and just like the one I did for STRANGE WORLD, here's a little list of particular little details I loved in a detail-packed... Like, literally jampacked movie... SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE:

So far, I have only seen this movie once all the way through in theaters, caught multiple sections over and over at my movie theater job, and again in full on Blu-ray once. I've watched and rewatched sections since, always finding cool stuff. I may revisit the post and update it, too, like I did w/ the previous ones.

Also, MASSIVE SPOILERS ahead... Just in case you still haven't seen this months-old movie...

Much like the first SPIDER-VERSE... Tons of stuff to catch in the glitching opening logos. Logo/design p0rn aaaaall around.

There's already a lot to love in the opening Medieval Vulture attack set-piece, but my favorite detail? As an Italian-American? "Ciao, ragazza!" Complete with the parchment paper script "Bye, girl!" accompanying it. Any elementary school-age kid watching this now knows a little Italian, that's cool!

Lyla's first scene in the movie. Whichever version, too, whether it's the fist-bump or the selfie... I love how she just glitches and zips in and out, while Miguel keeps asking her in vain to call for back-up. Just an out-of-nowhere display of what kind of quirky relationship these two have...

Many have written about the scenes of Gwen and her father, Captain George Stacy, and how they hit very close to home. In that, they perfectly mirror some folks' experiences with coming out. Myself included, whether it's Miles or Gwen... It's even more effective with Gwen, because there are a lot of not-so-subtle hints that she could be a trans girl. (i.e. the dad having a trans flag on his uniform, Gwen having a "protect trans kid" flag, her room turning into trans flag pastel colors when she reconnects with her father at the end of the movie, etc.) I feel it's twice as hard-hitting in the opening action sequence because Captain Stacy has no idea the white-and-pink Spider-Woman is his daughter, loathes Spider-Woman for not-unfounded reasons (he's rightfully upset that Peter Parker is dead) but is taking it way too far (revenge territory), and he's also a cop. Here's this girl trying to reason with a hardened gun-wielding tough guy, who even fires the gun, prompting Gwen to remove the mask... And all the little complexities in the animated acting on George's face, the shock of his daughter being Spider-Woman, mixed with his grief over Parker's death and his sheer anger... It's maybe a minute or two, but goddamn did these animators go off. That's what anchors these movies amidst all the nerd/reference-stuff, spectacle, and dynamic changing art styles.

And to elaborate on this... This is basically a movie about a queer kid running off, without a home, while another one tries to find their people and be with them... Not prepared for the gatekeeping that's ahead... and some of us queers either experience something like those specific things or have a feeling of not belonging. (I also really dig how Jessica Drew is almost like a surrogate mother for Gwen, a parent of sorts who takes her in after showing her father who she is. Almost, as her protectiveness soon starts to wear off and gives way to sarcastic coldness after Gwen pays Miles a visit.) And the little nuances of both of their struggles trying to make it in this truly "elite" Spider-Society. It works perfectly through either Miles' lens or Gwen's.

Lots of graphic design and logos in that short convenience store scene, too. Lots for someone like me to look for.

The Spot seems to have linework going on inside him, of his anatomy and structure... Not dissimilar to the Xerography process used by Disney for animated productions from 1960 to 1985, and how the process overriding the clean-up animation process meant that you saw lots of rough linework, sketches, and planning inside of the characters. Like the rawness of the drawings preserved in the finished films. That technique is often paid homage to in other animated works, such as Tomm Moore's Irish triptych films that he did for Cartoon Saloon.

Much was written about, especially because one of the trailers showed this gag, Rio Morales snapping her finger upon hearing that Miles got a lower grade in Spanish class. A little after that, while Jeff is speaking, the look on her face. How utterly INSULTED she is- Again, just, ooh, great animated acting all around.

"Maybe get off the kid's a-

The first universe Spot visits, love that it's very 2D-looking and very, *very* comic book, a hint of pulp and Art Deco and '60s modern rolled into one... before giving us Venomverse (oh I'm sorry, SUMC) and LEGO.

Much of the Morales' rooftop party scene is just jam-packed to the moon and back with all these little writing nuances, tying in all this stuff about being a teen who is hiding something, reasoning with one's well-meaning but very controlling parents, all the humor and drama that stems from that. All that awkwardness, the embarrassment, how the guests play off of all of that, etc.

Miles pursuing The Spot whilst trying to talk to him... I mean, the entire Mumbattan sequence alone mops the floor w/ maybe 95% of superhero movies made in the last 5 years, but... This scene in particular, where the two are flying through a bunch of intricately-designed and planned buildings full of people with all these swooping camera angles- GO HARD they did.

Hobie's universe particularly referencing the ransom note letterforms that made up the cover of the iconic Sex Pistols album NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, HERE'S THE SEX PISTOLS. They leaned *hard* on early punk from the '70s, more so than any other era, and that's so damn cool.

The subtle animated acting from Gwen during Miguel's warning to Miles about disrupting canon. All the inner-conflict over believing in it or not. And even before that, too, particularly in the aftermath of the Mumbattan Alchemax building collapsing onto the bridge.

And during that whole scene, as the different Spiders start to surround Miles, I like how Hobie is more turned to the side than facing Miles directly, unlike the other Spiders. That's just seconds before it's made clear that Hobie is on Miles' side.

The super-widescreen, Panavision-esque aspect ratio change when - during the whole Spider Society chase - Miles lands on Widow and is confronted by Web-Slinger. Really channeling the spaghetti Westerns, even if that bit has been done before, its use here - very clever.

"SNITCH!"

Miles' smirk when he begins to use his electric charge power to knock Miguel off of him, right before he's about to tell him - and by extension everyone who ever doubted him or told him he can't do what's right or what he desires - off.

The "Go Home Machine" literally being an elaborate spider, itself, inside a nest. Everything, right down to the machinery, all spider-themed. Simply going ALL OUT. Also that scanner that Miguel angrily rips out of the console... What a hilariously excessive work of art that thing is, and we only really see it for like 5 seconds.

Like I said, will likely add more, and this probably read more like yet another review of this film that I really, really love. I apologize for that, lol.

Alright i puss in boots, i have a whole lot of feelings about it, so buckle up! This is gonna be long, YOU'VE BEEN WARNED!!

So im a very grand dreamworks fan, they where one of my main inspiration on why i want to become an animator, through my whole life, on 2020 i got incredibly hyperfixated on dreamworks as a studio (their history, production of their movies yadayada) that hyperfixation has followed me to beginnings of 2022 so im very god damn attached to this studio (cuz autism) so man i got so emotional when i saw the new intro i started tearing up aaaa, okay now onto the movie.

After the universal buy of dreamworks i was very fucking worried about the future of the animation studio, so much so that i really just accepted httyd 3 as their last movie, they went out with a bang i sated to myself, and i wasn't much more re-comforted when their first movie after the buy was abominable, is a nice movie yes! But it has that illumination-e feeling of being just a safe product (regarding its story, thr animation is fucking gorgeous) and then it came trolls world tour (sure was okay) the boss baby sequel, the croods 2 (i actually really liked this one it was very funny and creative!) Spirit untamed (what a sick joke! I mean the animation is pretty and all but ive always hated the spirit series bc of shiting all over the og movie, sorry im salty abt this one) But then! The bad guys came out!! And it was such a fun and creative and beautiful movie!! Having such an awesome art, so dynamic and cool the mix of 2d and 3d it was just so cool! and such a fun story and it was just soo good!!! And it gave me so much hope for the future of the studio!! Specially after seeing the trailer for the puss in boots movie!! Seeing that dreamworks is also taking this more experimental approach to animation made me sososo happy!! And yk i was going to watch puss in boots only for the animation before, i didnt really tough it would have much of a deep story i was contempt with just watching a silly goofy movie with beautiful animation!

And don't get me wrong the first puss in boots haves very good story and the emotional moments landed pretty well!! I just didn't think dreamworks would do that kind of stuff anymore (due to what they've been putting out lately being mainly funny silly movies [wich theres nothing wrong with!!]) BUT HOLY CHEESE N RISE!! Through this movie, if i wasn't tearing up about how cool and beautiful the animation and the fight scenes where, i was tearing up about gato's conflict with his fear of death and his relationship with kitty and fucking seeing gato's past life with shrek and donky and man im so emotional about this

And also the music it was soo good i absolutely adored the motif for the death and the little "dreamworks motif"™ at the end it was so beautiful

And the character design!!!! Omg it was soo good, DEATH HOLLY MOLLY DEATH he looked sooo goood it was so fucking scary and cool!!! And his weapon!!!!! And then theres the little dog he was soo cute, and the other guy that i forgot his name!! And goldi and the three bears!!!!

Speaking of which i also really fucking loved goldi and the three bears' acr and their interactions where absolutely delightful and nice!! And i really loved their ending

And perrito's and kitty's story, and the final confrontation of gato and death!!! And aaaa it was all so beautiful and awesome and cool and dazzling, and then the ending of perrito, kitty, and gato going to far far away, and the scene at the beginning of the first fight of gato and death!!! It was soooo sooo cool, the colors and the lightning IN GENERAL ALLL OF THE FIGHT SCENES WHERE SO AWESOME!!!

And man the little scene of gato remembering his mom giving him the boots, i was so nice guck i cant believe how attached im to these freacking characters

And like dude the colors where so vibrant and aaa this movie was just so beautiful!!! Im so happy and sad and im just a mess of emotions due to this movie it makes me so happy for the future of dreamworks animation, and mainstream animation in general, because and i cannot stress enough, animation is not a genera for kids, is an art form, just as versatile and beautiful as any other.

Anyways this movie was pretty epic probably my favorite from this decade with gillermo del toro's pinocchio and i for once, can't wait what the future will get us :]

[Hot-take Review] Puss in Boots : The Last Wish

Disclaimer: i've started this review some weeks ago just after i've seen the movie (november 27th)

I've watched this movie in preview some days ago and i absolutely wanted to do a little review about it. Normally there's no spoilers in this post, i will do a more complete review (with spoilers this time) when i would have re-watched it. Also a little disclaimer, this is my first public movie review ever.

Ok now back to the movie. First of all, i didn't want to go watch it. I had personal reasons for that and frankly i wasn't fond of the first movie. To me it was "meh", like it was kind of fun but nothing exceptional. However i finally accepted to give it a try, even if i wasn't excepting anything from this movie.

Aaaaand i loved it. I was into it from the start to the end.

Compared to the first movie, it's more mature and well constructed. No really bad childish jokes, or just a few here and there i must say it didn't marked me (unlike in the first movie were it really bored me). Also the characters are truly well developed and the characters designs are neat. I think if Dreamworks keep up with hybrid animation (like we also saw in "The Bad Guys") and with that kind of good scenarios we'll have gems.

Animation: 9/10

They really did a great job with the hybrid animation. The slow frame rate moments were interesting and i like that they only used it during dynamic fights. It was a little disturbing at first but i got used to it.

The artistic direction (management?) is absolutely incredible, the colors and textures are beautiful. Also the atmosphere is often amazing, but in some scenes the brights colors are just too much. With textured surfaces (like fur for example) it tend to work well, but for flat tints the result was kind of weird and even giving an impression of collage. Sometimes some colors are almost neon, which can hurt to see when the all decor is like that. Sometimes you can see it was on purpose but other times it just gave the impression that it was badly handled.

Of course it's what i remember, i've seen it once some days ago and had to re-watch the trailers to be able to put words on my impressions. So to me the visual is incredible despite some little mistakes.

Scenario: 8.5/10

Really well balanced and incredibly well managed with that much characters development in parallels from one another. The base subject (death and how to confront it) are really well treated and the global message as "classic" as it is (you have to settle for what you already have) is well shown and in differents ways. The only flaws to me are some lines of dialogue who are useless, common or even clichés (in the bad way) as well as some little scenario "easy options". But nothing that, at first viewing, stopped me to fully enjoy this movie. I also liked the really highlighted subtext about egoism and envy.

Characters: 9/10

The characters are truly endearing (even those you wouldn't think so) and most importantly, like i said before, very well developed. Nothing is created, they just used the good basics of a good constructed character and some good clichés to deepen it with a good scenario and interesting subjects who where deeply treated. This good character development is also allowed by the presence of two "static" characters, so those who stay loyal to their principles from beginning to end. This type of process permit to make the others characters evolve around them and tho highlight their change, i've found it truly well used in this movie. Also the relationships between the characters are well handled. There is a different type of relationships showned : friendship, love, family and self relationship.

Conclusion:

8.6/10

One of my new favorite Dreamworks movie. Also as a animation student i would love to work on this kind of movie, i'm so happy to see this kind of animation with a big studio like Dreamworks. I will definitely go watch it again and i totally recomand it!