Movie Review - Turning Red

Director: Domee Shi
Genre: Family/ Animation/ Adventure/ Comedy
Runtime: 100 minutes
Year: 2022
Starring: Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Hyein Park, Orion Lee, Wai Ching Ho, Tristan Allerick Chen
 
Description: A 13-year-old girl named Meilin (Rosalie Chiang) turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets too excited.

Review: Pixar has always had that edge over its competitors. Not only because of the high quality of their animations and stories, but also because of the way they know how to tap into difficult subjects. Whether it is the complex human mind or soul: Pixar knows how to deal with it. But how do they do it when it comes to puberty?
The short answer is: mediocre. This is mainly because the writers did not focus on just the subject of puberty but dragged in a whole lot. The metaphors in “Turning Red” are almost innumerable, if you feel like delving into them. If you don’t, you’ll see a very pleasant animated adventure about a girl who turns into a giant red panda when she lets her emotions run wild.
The thirteen-year-old Chinese-Canadian Meilin lives with her overprotective parents in the Toronto of 2002. Her mother in particular does not allow her daughter much freedom. In turn, Meilin feels a great responsibility to make her parents proud. Meanwhile, hormones are coursing through Meilin’s body. She is preoccupied with boys and swooing over her favorite boy band 4-Town. She is also quite hyper and hysterical, to the point of being irritating.
Meilin wakes up one morning, walks to the bathroom with sleepy eyes and gets the shock of her life when she catches a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She has turned into a big red panda. In amusing dialogue, her mother thinks her first period has occurred. Her good intentions cause Meilin even more embarrassment. And for even more emotion, which awakens the red panda within herself.
“Turning Red” is the first full-length animated feature for director Domee Shi, who made her debut at Pixar with the animated short “Bao, about a lively dim sum. What is special is that almost the entire main crew of this production consists of women. Even more extraordinary that this should be worth mention anno 2022. Shi, along with her co-screenwriter Juli Show, drew from her own life and formed Meilin from her own experience and personality.  
Visuall, Pixar breaks new ground. Even thought it revolves around a Chinese family, there is a slight alignment with the Japanese animation style. The clumsy body proportions of the characters and the almost pastel-colored softness of the backgrounds are also special.
This urge to experiment is also reflected in the themes that are fired at the audience in a rather confusing manner. As if puberty were not enough, Shi and Sho also cram in themes such as the traditional Asian family relationship, friendship, being who you are, cherishing your own emotions and demanding parents. So it’s jam-packed, although the meager elaboration doesn’t get in the way of the action moments.
There appears to be a reason for Meilin’s special transformation and this guarantees both comic and exciting moments. The climax takes place at a concert by the band 4-Town, whose music was written by Billie Eilish and her borther Finneas. With “Turning Red”, Pixar and Disney attempt to address taboos, albeit very carefully. Unfortunately it was completely successful.

Rating: 3/ 5

Top 5 Thursday: TV Gal Pals

Well, sisters before misters. I have the two best girlfriends in the world, but what about our favorite friends on TV, the best gal pals? Here is my pick, my five favorite TV gal pals.

5. Robin Sherbatsky & Lily Aldrin (“How I Met Your Mother”)

Lily and Robin are both not the mother in the title, but they are still best friends. As fans we have gotten to see their friendship grow. While Lily has been in a long term relationship with Marshall and Robin has had a couple of boyfriends, the two always leaned on each other.

 

 

4. Brooke Davis & Peyton Sawyer (“One Tree Hill”)

From the beginning, Brooke and Peyton have been best friends. Brooke is a popular cheerleader and Peyton started out that way too. But there is more to both of them. Both have artistic qualities, Peyton with music and her art and Brooke in fashion. Although very different from each other in how they look at life, both have relied on each other.

 

 

3. Jess Day & Cece Parekh (“New Girl”)

Cece and Jess met as children. They always stayed friends, even when they both chose a complete different path in life. Cece and Jess have been through plenty together and they are overprotective over each other. Cece would never let any guy hurt Jess and Jess helps Cece always making her feel great about herself.

 

 

2. Meredith Grey & Cristina Yang (“Grey’s Anatomy”)

Meredith and Cristina have been friends since the first episode. They are each other’s ‘person’. This started when Cristina needed to fill out her medical release forms and she put Meredith down as her emergency contact. There are not mushy about their friendship, but they will always be there for each other.

 

 

1. Monica Gellar, Rachel Green and Phoebe Buffay (“Friends”)

This is actually a group of six,, but just the girls it’s three. And many people say that three is a bad number in a friendship, but I disagree. I also am part of a group of three and it’s perfect. And Monica, Rachel and Phoebe proof it too. All so different, but understanding towards each other and always there for one another.

 

 

They Almost Made the Top 5: Ann Perkins & Leslie Knope (“Parks & Recreation), Penny, Amy & Bernadetta (“The Big Bang Theory”), Aria, Emily, Hanna & Spencer (“Pretty Little Liars”)

100 Movie Challenge 2016 - # 6: Sideways

Director: Alexander Payne

Genre: Drama/ Comedy

Runtime: 124 minutes

Year: 2004

Starring: Paul Giamatti, Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh

Description: Two men reaching middle age (Paul Giamattis, Thomas Hade Church) with not much to show but disappointment, embark on a week long road trip through California's wine country, just as one is about to take a trip down the aisle.

Review: When “Sideways” is released, director Alexander Payne is relatively unknown in Hollywood. He has made praiseworthy films “About Schmidt” and “Election”. “Sideways” is a great follow up. We follow two friends who spend a week in the Californian wine area. It’s a very simple set up, which results and a realistic and convincing film.

Jack is about to get married and takes his buddy Miles on a trip to the Californian wine area. It is his last week as a ‘free man’ and Jack takes that very seriously. The two are very different. Jack is an actor, mostly for commercials, a ladies man and someone who enjoys life to the fullest. Miles is a depressed newly divorced failed writer, who spends his days teaching English and enjoying wine.

As a real wine expert Miles wants to teach Jack to enjoy the perfect Pinot or Cabernet and protects him from cheap Merlot. Miles has it all planned out: a week of wine tasting, fine dining, a little golf and enjoying the nice weather. Off course the weekend goes a little different as planned, because Jack has set a goal to find a nice girl to have some fun with. And he wants Miles to do the same. They meet Maya and her friend Stephanie, both wine lovers as well. Jack and Stephanie have an instant connection, but Miles and Maya’s bond is of a different caliber.

“Sideways” is a beautiful drama, but also a delightful comedy. The balance between these two genres is perfect and none of it is overdone. A film that manages to make you feel for and with the characters for over two hours and you share their happiness and pain. “Sideways” is an endearing and honest film. Because the main characters are people you can relate to, so we’re all rooting for a happy ending. Director Payne manages to avoid certain clichés.

Paul Giamatti is great in “Sideways”. You just want to hug his character and tell him everything is going to be okay. Thomas Haden Church, Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh all perform very well.

“Sideways” is in a way a coming of age film, but then with men that are a little bit older. A definite must see.

Rating: 4,5/ 5