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BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Klaus (2019) in Movies

Jul 28, 2020 (Updated Dec 24, 2020)  
Klaus (2019)
Klaus (2019)
2019 | Adventure, Animation, Comedy
Visually Interesting - with strong voice performances
We have seen the Origin story of Santa Claus many times and in many ways over the years, so it was with some trepidation that the BankoMarquis ventured forth to check out the Netflix original film KLAUS which covers some very similar territory.

And I need not worry, for KLAUS is a visually interesting film with some very good voice performances that elevates a (relatively) by-the-book story into quite a delightful film experience.

Directed and Written by Sergio Pablos - a veteran animator with credits like Disney’s Tarzan, Despicable Me, Rio and Smallfoot - KLAUS tells the tale of…Jesper, a mailman who is also a privileged youth who’s lackluster ways runs him afoul of his father and he is banished to a remote, Northern country where her runs afoul of…KLAUS.

And…you can probably figure out where the story goes from there, but it is not the story - or the destination - that matters, it is the journey. And…what a wonderful journey it is.

Let’s start with the best part - this film is GORGEOUS to look at. Pablos uses hand drawn animation with lighting techniques taken from digital animation and the result is crisp, clean and stunning to look at. I will watch this film again, just to look at the visuals.

As for the voice casting - it is stellar - with one, small quibble. The great J.K. Simmon is…well…GREAT as Klaus. His deep baritone voice is perfect for the enigmatic hermit that is hiding secrets - and a heart of gold. Rashida Jones, Will Sasso, Norm MacDonald and the always brilliant Joan Cusack add their tremendous voices to the proceedings very well. My only quibble is with the work of Jason Schwartzman as Jesper, the character we follow throughout the film. I found his voice and character grating at times (I know this is on purpose, so Schwartzman did a good job in his work) but, I would have liked to have Pablos “tone down” the lead character just a bit.

But that is a “quibble” in a very entertaining movie that is a wonderful family film that can be enjoyed on different levels - and for different reasons - by children and adults alike.

Letter Grade: A-

8 Stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
MirrorMask (2005)
MirrorMask (2005)
2005 | Drama, Family, Sci-Fi
9
8.0 (6 Ratings)
Movie Rating
The Mirror World of Weirdness
Now, I will admit that even though I have read many of Neil Gaiman's works, I had never heard of this movie before, until just recently and I must admit that I really enjoyed this movie a lot! What was the most interesting thing to me about this movie was that the drawings that Helena had drawn throughout the film was none other than Dave McKean's drawings, who was well known for doing a lot of the artwork for Neil Gaiman's books! I loved the way that the drawings provided a haunting and surreal atmosphere for the film as I found myself either being memorized by the imagery (the scenes with the City of Lights were beautiful) or being frightened by the imagery (the scenes with the sphinx cats really creep me out). I also loved the fact that this film is somewhat of a spiritual successor to "Labyrinth," another film from the Jim Henson Company, as both films dealt with the main character having problems with their families and once they enter another world, they have to save the people who resemble their family members from whatever dark force happens to come upon them. The actors and the actresses in this film were fantastic, with my favorite character being Valentine as he was played wonderfully by Jason Barry and he really brought so much humor to the film. I also loved Stephanie Leonidas' portrayal of Helena as she is shown to be a spunky girl who doesn't seem to be afraid of the frightening world she ends up in and it really makes me get into her character.

The only problem that I had with this film was that the story tend to get a little confusing at times to the point where I don't exactly know what is quite going on with the characters. Like for instance, the movie didn't really explain about what kind of condition Helena's mother had that caused her to go to the hospital in the first place and even though it wouldn't be a major part of the film, I still would like to know what kind of disease Helena's mother had that would be so dangerous to her health.

Overall, "Mirrormask" is a fantastic and surreal film that anyone who is a huge fan of Neil Gaiman's works or surreal movies in general will definitely enjoy for many years to come!
  
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On the Way to the Wedding (Bridgertons, #8)
On the Way to the Wedding (Bridgertons, #8)
Julia Quinn | 2006 | Fiction & Poetry, Romance
9
7.7 (3 Ratings)
Book Rating
Another brilliantly written Bridgerton book. This one has all the elements of a thriller. Blackmail, treason, someone showing up to stop a wedding by proposing to the bride, what more could you want in a book?
This book follows Gregory and his pursuit of love, which he firmly believes in, thanks to all seven of his siblings being married and blissfully happy and in love with their chosen spouses. We start the book as he runs into a wedding and proposes to the bride and the chapter ends before we find out both who it is and what she says. It takes about half the book to find out who the bride is, and then another few chapters to find out her answer. The suspense kept me reading as I needed to find out what happened.
This book, although obviously similar to the rest of the series, was a lot faster paced and reminded me more of a thriller (without the darkness of a thriller) with the situations that the characters found themselves in.
I think that Gregory’s story may have moved up to one of my favourite Bridgerton books, although this seems to change with every book I read from the series. But this definitely seemed more like the type of book I usually read and I loved every minute of it.
As I started reading, I realised that the previous seven books didn’t really tell us a lot about Gregory, and I would put him in the same category as Francesca was when I started reading When He Was Wicked. But it was good to read about him and learn about his character so late on in the series as it meant that you didn’t really have any preconceptions about his character and how you believe he should behave in the pursuit of love which happened with all of his other siblings (again with exception of Francesca).
I really will be sad to say goodbye to this family when I read the final book in the Bridgerton series, but I hope that the Netflix adaption stays true to the tones of the books and that we get an adaptation of each book as I believe they will work very well on screen as well as in print.