Warning: The following program and subsequent review contains mature language and adult themes. It is not suitable for viewers under 18.
The story behind Hazbin Hotel is a fascinating one, created Vivienne Medrano (aka Vivziepop), the author and artist of the webcomic Zoophobia, this animated pilot was the culmination of several years of work done by herself, several friends and freelance assistants and a hell of a lot of donations through Patreon. This and a combination of supplementary comics for background and interaction with the fans through Twitch and Twitter to drum up support and interest. Well this pilot went like gangbusters, becoming one, if not the most popular independent animated show to grace Youtube with 40 million views on its upload date alone, even getting official redubs in French and Japanese. And less than a year later it was announced that it would be picked up by the production company A24. Not bad, not bad at all.
But what about the pilot that kicked this all off? Well you can simply watch it here:
Or you can read my long-ass review and analysis. Speaking of which, let’s get to it.
The Grandest Bookshop in the World is a children’s fantasy novel by Amelia Mellor, it’s actually a fictionalized version of a real Australian family and the bookstore they lived in during the 1890’s. In 1893, in the city of Melbourne, Australia the Cole family run the Cole Book Arcade, a quite literally magical place filled books of all sorts, sweet shops, tea rooms, toy stores and other curios to enchant the soul and stimulate the imagination. But when two of the children Pearl and Valentine (or Vally as he’s often referred to) discover that their father has entered into a Faustian deal with a dark and mysterious stranger they engage in a series of games to not only save their home but their father’s life as well. Aided not only by the other members of the family but staff members of the Arcade, they hope to save the grandest bookshop in the world.
As I mentioned before, this is a fictionalized story of the real Cole family of Melbourne who really did live in a book arcade who staffed it with people from all over the world and filled it with as many wonders as they could. Reading the author’s notes at the end of the book about the family and their patriarch actually shows how few creative liberties were done for the story, it’s genuinely surprising. In fact, the biggest fictional piece is the presence of magic, since the story is primarily told from the perspective of the young Pearl magic is treated in a matter-of-fact sort of way. It’s kind of funny that even on the precipice of a new century, when the telephone and the electric light are still new and innovative, magic is treated with the same wonder and astonishment even as part of everyday life.
Amelia Mellor does a spectacular job bringing the book arcade to life, later setting up the impending sense of dread as the shops decay the longer the games continue. The games are filled with puzzles and riddles that both the characters and reader must figure out, it actually reminds me a lot of the Deltora Quest books I read in my youth, author Emily Rodda also snuck puzzles in for the reader to figure out. But Ms. Mellor’s true talent is in the writing of the Cole family themselves, eccentric and at times dysfunctional but above all else, loving. She perfectly captures the point of view of the two Cole children battling not only for their family’s life and home but for their own memories too, as terrifying as some of the challenges are nothing comes close to the horror of the main character’s minds slowly slipping away.
The Grandest Bookshop in the World is an engaging read, not just for the grade school demographic but for grownups as well. It teaches the reader to marvel not only at the grandiose but the miniscule as well. To be bold and treasure life and all that it gives you, that grief can’t be shied away from but can be healed through love. And to remember that rainbows appear when the gloom of the storm and the warmth of the sun come together. And while fleeting, can come back just as beautiful and inspirational as before.
“You were doing these reviews in February.”“Hey, I’ve been busy!”
Anyway, last time on-
“Really? Since the pandemic you haven’t had a moment to yourself? For Pete’s sake you took all of August off.”“Shut. Up. Snake in the Grass!”
Anyway, last time on Gargoyles, Elisa’s younger brother started working for Xanatos, Jackal and Hyena got arrested, the Trio got a helicopter and Spoiler Warning: it never shows up again. Now let’s get on with the recap.
Enola Holmes is the latest young adult mystery film based on the Enola Holmes Mysteries novels by Nancy Springer. It was directed by Harry Bradbeer and stars Millie Bobby Brown as the titular character, it also stars Helena Bonham-Carter, Louis Partridge, Fiona Shaw, Frances de la Tour with Adeel Akhtar as Inspector Lestrade, Sam Caflin as the elder Holmes brother Mycroft and Henry Cavill as Sherlock Holmes.
Dragon’s Dogma is the newest original anime from Netflix and is based on the Capcom game of the same name. It was directed by Shinya Sugai and its English dub features Greg Chun, Erica Mendez, Christina Vee with David Lodge returning to voice the dragon he played in the game.
The story follows a simple villager Ethan (Greg Chun) embarking on a quest to slay the dragon that destroyed his home, murdered his wife and unborn child and took his heart, now an Arisen he’s aided by a mysterious magical woman known as a Pawn (Erica Mendez) he travels the land slaying other monstrosities until he can reach his goal and enact his vengeance.
The Devil All the Time is a psychological thriller based on the novel by Donald Ray Pollock and released on Netflix. It was directed and co-written by Antonio Campos and stars Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Sebastian Stan, Haley Bennett, Eliza Scanlan, Mia Wasikowska, Jason Clarke and Robert Pattison.
Mulan directed by Niki Caro, is a war drama and the latest of Disney’s live-action remakes. It stars Liu Yifei as the titular Mulan and features Donnie Yen, Jason Scott Lee, Yonson An, Gong Li, Tzi Ma, Rosalind Chao and Jet Li.
As you are no doubt aware, the movie took a long time to release, originally scheduled for November 2018. Then reshoots moved it’s October 2019 to March 2020, then August, until Covid-19 pandemic forced them to release it through their streaming service Disney+ (with a 30 dollar purchase to boot). Combine this Liu Yifei’s pro-police statement during the recent Hong Kong protests, the fact that this would not be a musical, removing a lot of the features and characters from the animated film and Disney’s extensive work with Chinese cinema to make it more acceptable for Chinese audiences, or more accurately, what the Chinese government says is more acceptable for Chinese audiences.
Well, to say this movie had an uphill battle would be an understatement.
The history of the Paper Mario series of games is an interesting one, dating back a good twenty years ago. Released as sort of last hurrah for the Nintendo 64, the game follows the classic Mario story mold as our heroic plumber goes to rescue Princess Peach from the clutches of his nemesis Bowser. The game however put a spin on this and made the game an RPG rather than the more traditional 2D side-scrolling platformer while the story was told in chapters like a book (one example of how the “Paper” element was used). Mario was traveling all over the Mushroom Kingdom, fighting alongside a bevy of diverse partners who not only assist Mario in combat but allow for more exploration in the world, taking on even more diverse enemies and overall making the whole Mario universe feel more grand and more lived in.
This extended in in the 2004 sequel Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door; the RPG elements are expanded upon allowing players the opportunity to complete the game in a multitude of different ways. Partner characters were further fleshed out and more could be done with them, the world was even further expanded upon as Mario finds himself in exploring new lands and the stakes are raised as our hero now battles not only a shadowy organization bent on world domination but a threat that dates back a thousand years.
With the series now twenty years old and six games in total a lot fans are asking, what happened?
Artemis Fowl is a science fiction adventure film based on the book series by Eoin Colfer an is directed by Kenneth Branaugh. It stars Ferdia Shaw as the titular character as well as Lara McDonnell, Nonso Anozie, Josh Gad, Tamara Smart, Nikesh Patel, Colin Farrell and Judi Dench.
I admit that I’ve never read the books, I was aware of them based on the title but my review will have to be based on what I’ve seen here.
Streets of Rage 4 is the latest entry from Sega’s beat ’em up series released way back in the early 90’s and is an excellent throwback to the genre. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m only a slightly good gamer and though I’ve never played any of the previous Streets of Rage games I have pumped my fair share of quarters into beat ’em ups in the past.
No joke, this was my jam for many a year.
So transitioning into this game was fairly simple.
Matt the Media Hunter 