This week on See It or Skip It, the group chat is loud, and the popcorn is hot. I’m joined by UFCA Members Rebecca Frost from the Geekshow Podcast and TV Show In Space, plus local film Geek Chaz Campbell Evans. Join in on the fun as we cover the new Pixar movie “Hoppers” with an interview from the cast, plus the new Frankenstein film “The Bride”, Netflix’s “War Machine”, and the Sundance documentary “Andre is an Idiot”. Grab your popcorn, the new episode starts now.

In Theaters

Hoppers (PG-13)

Just when you think the glory days of Pixar may be winding down, a film like this shows up to bring back hope. Hoppers centers around a young woman fighting to save a local pond that she and her Grandmother used to visit. She is always looking for ways to help wildlife and animals, but also fighting the corporate greed and government overreach that threaten to destroy ecosystems. When she discovers her college has built a way for her to communicate with wildlife, namely Beavers, by transporting her consciousness into a robotic beaver, Mabel will have to convince the King Beaver to help in her cause to save their home.

This may be both the funniest and at times scariest film Pixar has made to date. I loved the messages of kindness and looking out for people and animals alike, that the world seems small until you take a step back and look at the bigger picture, and how much community plays a part in our local areas.

Voice performances across the board are great. There is a very surprising special voice cameo that will shock you when you see it in the end credits. The animation is beautiful, taking a more anime style with its action that works great with the story here. What I really admire too is this story not going for the easy emotions, but focusing on the story first, and trusting the audience to be able to put pieces together and still hit that traditional emotional height that Pixar is known for.

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The Bride (R)

Taking a page out of the “Joker” playbook, “The Bride” stars Jessie Buckley as a woman left for dead in a horrible, violent encounter, who is then dug up and brought back to life by “Frank” also known as Frankenstein, played by Christian Bale, with the help of a new mad scientist played by Annette Bening. From there, the film goes everywhere from being a “Bonnie and Clyde” on-the-run story to just madness, much in the vein of Natural Born Killers or the latest Joker movie.

While I don’t see myself going back to this anytime soon, I admire the big swings taken here and the original storytelling that we all have been clamoring to see in Hollywood. In the end, those concepts just could not come to life due to the poor assembly of each part weaving into the next. The performances work in this story, but can feel a bit overeggagerative and unfocused.

Overall, “The Bride” takes bold moves in its story, but falls apart in its execution.

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What’s Streaming?

War Machine (R)

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André Is an Idiot

See It or Skip It? See It

Did you see any of the shows reviewed this weekend? Leave a comment if so, and make sure to follow us on all our social media platforms and listen to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and more.