Update Blog - 12/23/23 (Patreon)

Yes, the Holidays are just around the corner, and like many people, I'm not sure if I'm ready for the craziness that comes with the end-of-the-year festivities. While I am glad that I was able to be finished with all of the animated films I have to review for the rest of the year, my time is now limited for the rest I need to work on, including the anticipated Top 5 Best & Worst of 2023. Now there will be a lot more plans with friends and family that will be taking priority and I'm hoping I'll be able to have some work done before it's time to upload it. I was admittedly overwhelmed by how there will be so much to do in a short amount of time, but I did managed to plan things out for myself to make it easier to know what I'm doing and an estimate time for when I get things done. With that said, here's my week in terms of work.

- Released my vlog review of Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: Cabin Fever: This is what I had to change some of my plans for in order to include this review. With so much happening in my life with the holidays to plan, the most I could do is make a vlog review to speed up the production of this one. As a result, I'm actually happy that the review itself turned out nice. But especially, it was quite a surprise to see that I actually enjoyed the film, a first for me with these Diary of a Wimpy Kid animated movies. It's true that, on its own, it's just a typical Christmas special with not-so-great animation, but by the standards of these features, this is an unexpected upgrade where it does have more heart, and the characters are not only playful with their personalities, but some can be likable. Even Greg has a bit of charm after being a jerk in the previous films. Will I be watching this again for the Christmases to come? Honestly, no. But I do appreciate that these movies are able to improve upon themselves, and even if the chances of them getting better from here are slim, there is a bit of hope that maybe the next ones won't be so bad.

- Created and released my review of Migration: Like I said before, I was very lucky that I was able to get to see this movie early so that the review can be done sooner and more time for me to prepare for the holidays and get ahead on the next videos to come. That was my personal plus with this. When it comes to the movie itself, on the other hand, well...it's pretty much what you'd expect. I'd say it's comparable to PAW Patrol: The Mighty Movie in the way that this leaves no surprises on what it is as a mainstream kids' movie. There's nothing that it tries that's new (except for maybe adapting Benjamin Renner's style to CG, which does help a bit to look nice), but at the same time, there's nothing that I hate about it either. Like the other Illumination films, it plays it safe, it sticks to what it knows best, and the result is fine for what it is. It's a harmless feature that I can easily see the kids enjoying it. There's nothing that I can say that I hate about it (although Gwen does give me a bit of that Scrappy Doo vibe), but it is self-aware of what it is and does enough to be passable.

- Working on the Top 5 Best & Worst Animated Films of 2023: The year is almost over, so that honestly puts a bit more pressure on me to get this video done soon. But, like I said, I don't have a lot of time to get production going with this because now Christmas is taking over where I have to do some shopping, have some family time, and have some holiday parties with friends. I did get worried that I won't be able to have this finished on time. However, after looking at the big picture of what's actually going on with my plans, I think I'll be able to have this ready before the year is over. Despite my schedule, I was able to complete the writing, did all the recordings and filming, and I'm now in the editing process. The biggest challenge was working on the opening with all the different clips to use to summarize the year, but the rest will be easy-going and now I have more confidence that I won't be late for this one. I'll be sure to make the hype for this one worth it!

And that is what I've done with my videos this week. Since Christmas is coming very soon, I'll be taking a break so that I'll be spending time with my loved ones and then I'll be sure to have the Top 5 prepared soon. As for you all, I wish you all a happy holidays and that you spend your final days of 2023 with some happiness and love. You all deserve the best and some joy in your lifes :) Have a wonderful Christmas and holidays, and until next time...

See ya later, dudes!