Movie Review The My Little Pony Movie

The My Little Pony Movie (2017) 

Directed by Jason Thiessen

Written by Meghan McCarthy, Rita Hsiao, Michael Vogel 

Starring Uzo Udoba, Ashleigh Ball, Emily Blunt, Kristen Chenoweth, Taye Diggs 

Release Date October 6th, 2017 

Having seen the unique and oddly fascinating documentary Bronies a few years back, I have been trying to come to terms with the adult fans of My Little Pony. Is this simply large scale trolling or are these grown men for real in their pony based fandom? Oddly, I don’t feel like either of the Brony documentaries that have been released in the past couple of years have answered my question. I still don’t get what it is that grown men see in My Little Pony.

I definitely see what my 5 year old Goddaughter, Charlotte, finds appealing about the series. My Little Pony combines pretty, colorful, talking horses with a very simple, easy to digest moral in each episode of the series. Charlotte’s favorite color is pink and there is a character in the series named Pinkie Pie, it’s a pretty natural fit for her as yet unformed taste and intellect. That brings me back to the Bronies. Having now sat through My Little Pony The Movie, their interest in this series remains a bafflement to me.

My Little Pony The Movie is centered around the very first Festival of Friendship in which our heroine, Princess Twilight Sparkle, is charged with demonstrating why friendship is the greatest thing ever. Twilight has planned an epic festival featuring a performance by none other than pop star pony Songbird Serenade (real life pop star Sia). As we join the story, Twilight is nervously preparing for a meeting with her fellow pony princesses. She’s hoping to ask them to use their magic to move the sun and the moon to just the right places in the sky to light up the festival.

Unfortunately, Twilight’s plan is thwarted by an attack by an evil baddie known as The Storm King (Live Schreiber) and his top henchman, a former pony kingdom member, Tempest Shadow (Emily Blunt). The Storm King hopes to steal the magic from the Princess Ponies so he can use to take control of the weather and by extension take over all of Equestria. It will be up to Princess Twilight and her pals, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Spike the Dragon, to unite the surrounding pony kingdoms to stop The Storm King and his evil plot.

Find my full length Review in the Geeks Community on Vocal 

Movie Review RV

RV (2006) 

Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld

Written by Geoff Rodkey 

Starring Robin Williams, Cheryl Hines, Jeff Daniels, Kristen Chenoweth, Josh Hutcherson

Release Date April 28th, 2006

Published April 28th, 2006 

Robin Williams stopped being cool around the time he cleaned up and got off drugs. That is a horrible thing to say but it's true, his maniac comic genius was fueled by cocaine and though at times it was too far out it was often remarkably, vibrantly, brilliant and he has only rarely captured that brilliance since getting cleaned up.

I'm glad he got off drugs, it saved his life. And that maniac part of Williams is still there occasionally, especially in his most recent comedy special on HBO in 2003. In movies those occasions of Wiliams' brilliance have become few and far between. Reduced now to the neutered family comedy genre like his once brilliant colleague Eddie Murphy, Williams stars in R.V, a mainstream machine meant to convert safe forced comic melodrama into cash.

In R.V Williams stars as Bob Munro, father to two ungrateful kids, daughter Cassie (JoJo Levesque) and son Carl (Josh Hutcherson) and husband to a loving stay at home wife Jamie (Cheryl Hines). Sad that his family has grown so far apart that they watch TV in four different rooms and I.M each other that dinner is ready. He launches a plan to bring the family close again.

Canceling a planned vacation in Hawaii, Bob puts the vacation funds into renting an R.V for a cross country family camping trip. What Bob doesn't mention to the family is that part of the trip includes a stop in Colorado for a business meeting.

If you guessed that along the way the family reconnects, lessons are learned and hugs shared, congratulations, you've seen a movie before. Predictable doesn't begin to describe the plot of R.V. Golly do you think Bob's secret business meeting will drive a wedge in the family? Do you think that maybe that weirdo family headed up by the mugging duo of Jeff Daniels and Kristen Chenoweth will turn out to be good people and great friends?

Garsh!

Director Barry Sonnenfeld has hit a rather unexpected career low. After Get Shorty and two pretty good Men In Black movies, Sonnenfeld seemed to have a golden touch. However, having been away from directing since the last Men In Black film, Sonnenfeld's golden touch has turned to lead. Lead that Sonnenfeld and Williams use to pound home every predictable slapstick joke.

As much as I dislike R.V I must admit to a few laughs all of which come from Williams whose hard work does occasionally wring laughs from this lame script. That hint of mania behind William's eyes is still there and when he isn't suppressing it in an ill-fitting dyspeptic character like Bob, he can't help but let loose a few non-sequiturs. Robin Williams is a comic genius. That madness is still there just below the surface. That madness that makes him a brilliant, at times uncontrollable comic whirling dervish, still simmers inside him. Movies like R.V do not bring out his best side but when he finds the right project he will back.