My Review of The Lizzie Borden Chronicles (2015, Lifetime Series)

 

Written by Gregory Small And Richard Blaney And Barbara Nance And Jason Grote And David Simkins

Directed by Steven Kay And Russell Mulcahy And Howard Deutch And Constantine Makris

Lizzie: "Lizzie Borden took an axe, she gave her mother 40 whacks; when she saw what she had done, she gave her father 41." 

Last week, I reviewed the TV movie from 2014 and curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to watch the Lifetime TV series. Fortunately, it was only one season and eight episodes. This was something of a mixed bag.

Picking up on a post trial for Lizzie Borden (Christina Ricci) and her sister, Emma (Clea DuVall), things between the siblings were well and truly tested between them. They were women, free of their parents and husbands but Lizzie was largely seen as an oddity with the community of Fall River.

Getting away with parricide did little to sate Lizzie's clear bloodlust. Throughout the eight episode show, Lizzie managed to stack up quite the body count. Most of her victims were people who unwisely went out of their way to antagonise both her and Emma. Some of them arguably even deserved Lizzie's wrath.

This show did try and didn't really succeed in trying to frame Lizzie as a bit of a feminist icon. She used murder to rescue dogs from their cruel owners, children from abusive parents and a working girl from her pimp. She'd also kill some people she initially helped as well.

Then there's her relationship with Emma. As the show progressed, they became more distant and sabotaging Emma's chance of marriage definitely didn't help Lizzie. Michelle Fairley did appear as Boston gangster matriarch Aideen Trotwood. She's one of the few characters to pose a genuine threat to Lizzie but she's introduced a bit too late in the day.

It's clear as day that Lifetime wanted this to run for a few seasons. The premise of serial killer Lizzie Borden murdering her way through her hometown had some potential but it lost a bit of steam as it went on. Christina Ricci was the best thing about it.

- The most prominent male character was Cole Hauser's Charlie Siringo. He's a thorn for the Borden sisters until he wasn't.

- While the TV movie avoided anything Sapphic, the show very briefly teased the idea of Lizzie and Adele (Kimberly-Sue Murray).

- Lizzie and Emma's half brother, William (Andrew Howard) seemed like he was going to be a prominent antagonist but was killed off in the first episode.

- Chronology: Not long after the trial in 1893. Lizzie moved to another town in the penultimate episode while Emma was sectioned.

The Lizzie Borden Chronicles was a marginally better follow up to Lizzie Borden Took An Ax but only marginally. It loses steam towards the end and Christina Ricci's best efforts and natural charm can only do so much to keep it watchable.

Rating: 5 out of 10 

My Review of Lanterns: "Trust Fall"

 

Written by Vanessa Baden Kelly And Chris Mundy

Directed by James Hawes

John: "I'm sorry, gentlemen but you're about to torture a man who don't know shit."

Second episode in and we've got a winner here. For those who were right to be concerned that this show might be too grounded for its own good, this episode should give a lot of relief.

The Manhunters are the big threat to the season and they could literally be anyone. John got a hell of a history refresher on them when he ended up being taken by Antaan (Paul Ben-Victor). The latter didn't trust Hal but he didnt do a lot to win John's trust either.

Already I've seen online speculation that Antaan might be Atrocitus and right now, I'm definitely not ruling that possibility out. He very well could be. He definitely has a similar backstory to the infamous villain. I could see it being a mid season reveal if that's the case.

Keeping with John, this episode had Hal attempting to teach him how to fly. John created a cute little bird that lasted most of the episode, even when John didn't have the ring on him. John also had the chance to retrieve Hal's Lantern and suit and even feed Earl. I was rather surprised upon learning what Earl. Let's just say that Earl's the type of pet you'd expect Poison Ivy to have rather than Hal.

Then there's Hal himself. I am loving this version of the character. Kyle Chandler has done a great job in making Hal into a likable asshole. This episode he was stealing corpses, interrupting meetings, getting himself shot by William Macon's men and ending things by paying a certain character a visit.

The certain character being Sinestro (Ulrich Thomsen), currently imprisoned on Oa. The latter might have had one scene but he left a great impression. He did little to get under Hal's skin by alluding to John being a bigger threat to him than the Manhunters. I could really feel the history between the pair of them.

- Kerry likes to read and she's from Gotham. Is she related to Kate Kane, given they share a surname? Who is William's benefactor?

- MCU Disney+ shows could learn a lesson because we didn't have to wait for the finale to see Hal in his suit.

- Mogo was mentioned. He formed part of Hal's password. I'm also loving this odd rapport between Hal and Billy.

- Zoe was revealing a lot to John about her motives for being married to William. Will she turn out to be a Manhunter?

- Hal noticed the lack of patients when he was being discharged.

- Chronology: 2016 Rushville and Oa for the final scene between Hal and Sinestro.

Trust Fall really hit the ground running. We got a lot of lore in this one and the Hal/John dynamic continues to be a joy to watch. The Manhunters plot has me gripped.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Toy Story 5 (2026)

 

Written by Andrew Stanton And Kenna Harris

Directed by Andrew Stanton 

Woody: "I don't know, Jessie. Toys are for play, but tech... is for everything."

And I've now come to the finish of this movie series and it's been a blast. Four really great previous and a rather decent spin off movie to boot. Did this fifth entry keep up the momentum? It sure did.

Once again, the toys (except a certain few) are owned by Bonnie Anderson (Scarlett Spears) and Jessie has assumed the deputy role in order to keep Bonnie entertained and the other toys in line. It's a natural for Jessie's character. Also, this was very much Jessie's movie. 

We had an opening flashback to Jessie's own history with her former kid, Emily. With the arrival of frog themed tablet named LilyPad (Greta Lee), Jessie now had to deal with Bonnie wanting friends and getting upset when her attempts to connect with other girls didn't initially pan out.

Early enough into the movie, both Jessie and Bullseye ended up on a farm. Jessie befriended the very real horse, Daffodil and an odd girl named Blaze Manoukian (Mykal-Michelle Harris), who loved animals and still played with toys. It's pretty clear that Blaze would be the perfect friend for Bonnie and it was up to Jessie to try and get the two to make friends while working through her own issues.

Jessie had a good rapport with new toys such camera Snappy (Shelby Rabara), Atlas (Craig Robinson) and toilet training toy, Smarty Pants (Conan O'Brien). They're a lively bunch of characters, with the latter helping Jessie to get over her issues with technology.

Speaking of technology, let's talk about LilyPad. She started off being rather antagonistic towards Jessie and enjoyed messing with both Woody and Buzz as well. As the movie went along, she realised she got it wrong with Bonnie and even helped save the day with the use of a whole army of Buzz Lightyear toys to boot.

By the end of the movie, Bonnie and Blaze ended up becoming the best of friends and there was a peace of sorts between toys and technology. Yes, it's a little simplistic, Woody hasn't too much to do, the Buzz/Jessie romance could've had more to it but overall, there's a lot to recommend here.

- A credit scene revealed that Zurg was alive. If that's not the main plot for the inevitable sixth movie, what will be?

- Woody had a bald spot, Forky/Spoon were married as were Buzz/Jessie and the latter found out that Emily named hsd daughter after her.

- Standout music: Taylor Swift's I Knew It, I Knew You.

- Chronology: Not that long from the fourth movie.

Toy Story 5 had all the right ideas for trying to tell a story about the pitfalls of children being dependent on modern tech. It fumbled the idea a bit but it's an engaging entry with a nice focus on Jessie and LilyPad made for an amusing antagonist of sorts.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Lightyear (2022)

 

Written by Angus MacLane And Matthew Aldrich And Jason Headley

Directed by Angus MacLane 

Zurg: "I'm going back, Buzz! I'm going to matter again! And you will have never existed... So... Prepare to Die."

Buzz: "Not today, Zurg!"

Before I watch the fifth Toy Story movie, there was this movie to watch. Yup, Buzz Lightyear got himself a solo outing and on top of that, he also got to be voiced by Chris Evans to boot.

Yes, this one was a film within a film where Buzz was a real life Space Ranger who had missions of his own to complete. He also had a best friend named Alisha Hawthorne (Uzo Aduba) and she was a great friend to have. 

However due to various time shifts, Buzz kept seeing Alisha at different points in her life. There was a point where Alisha married another woman and then there was Izzy Hawthorne (Keke Palmer). Yes, Buzz had gotten to the point where Alisha had a fully grown granddaughter who wanted to be just like Alisha.

Throw in a robotic cat named Sox (Peter Sohn) and some crew members such as Mo Morrison (Taika Waititi) and Darby Steel (Dale Soules) and this was something of a motley crew of characters. As a team, they're a fun bunch that take a while to fully work well together.

As for the villain of the piece. It's Zurg. No, wait, it's an older version of Buzz himself and he's voiced by Josh Brolin. Older Buzz wanted to change the events of the movie itself. Younger Buzz having learned some lessons here, well he didn't want to change anything.

Things played out in an expected manner. Buzz and company saved the day, older Buzz was defeated and a new team was formed to go off and take on new missions with the Space Ranger Corps being revived. It's a satisfying ending for this crew.

- Credit scene did reveal that Zurg actually survived. That wasn't too shocking.

- I'm not surprised that there were complaints about Alisha having a wife. I am annoyed because it was a subplot that was handled well and the movie didn't deserve negative press for it.

- Standout music: Boston's Smokin'.

- Chronology: Set in a far away future setting. At some point, sandwiches become very different and with less bread.

While I definitely would rank it lower than any of the movies from its parents series, Lightyear (2022) in itself was a perfectly decent movie. It told a simple enough adventure, had some likable supporting characters and overall, I found it fine.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Toy Story 4 (2019)

 

Written by John Lasseter And Andrew Stanton And Josh Cooley And Valerie LaPointe And Rashida Jones And Will McCormack And Martin Hynes And Stephany Folsom

Directed by Josh Cooley

Rex: "Does this mean... Woody's a lost toy?"

Buzz: "He's not lost. Not anymore. To infinity..."

Woody: "...and beyond."

I genuinely thought with the third movie that this movie series had come to a natural ending. However this fourth movie proved there was a lot more to tell.

Remember in the first two movies that Bo Peep was more of a supporting player but then she was absent for the third one? Well, she returned for this movie and in a much bigger role that would ultimately challenge Woody's stance on being an owned toy for good.

The film opened with a flashback that had Woody unsuccessfully trying to stop Bo Peep from being sold off after Molly had grown bored of her. Nearly a decade later, it had emerged that Bo Peep and her sheep had become a lost toy and it was something that Bo Peep liked a lot. It was something that of course caused some tension with her and Woody.

What brought Bo Peep and Woody back into each others lives was of course Bonnie (Madeleine McGraw) and her parents taking a road trip and Woody trying to stop Bonnie's newly made toy Forky (Tony Hale) from wanting to be in trash. It's an amusing enough subplot with Woody confessing his whole toy history to Forky. It didn't initially help that much as Forky didn't want to be a toy.

Woody and Forky's antics did lead them to the "villain" of the piece - Gabby Gabby (Christina Hendricks) and her creepy puppet minions. Gabby Gabby was more a nuanced baddie in the sense that she never mistreated Forky, took Woody's voice box to improve her odds of getting a new kid and ultimately succeeded with the latter after making peace with everyone else. There's no proper comeuppance for her at all, except for a brief rejection by the granddaughter of an antique shop owner named Harmony (Lila Sage Bromley).

As for the rest of the movie, Buzz took on the leadership role during Woody's absence and once again, he led a rescue mission. There was some speed bumps with duck and rabbit duo named Ducky (Keegan Michael-Key) and Bunny (Jordan Peele) and motorcyclist toy Duke Caboom (Keanu Reeves) but they're fun characters to watch overall.

Now, I think the most divisive but of this movie was Woody's decision to become a lost toy. He certainly did for love with Bo Peep and there's something rather touching in handing over the reins to Jessie but I'm a bit mixed on this decision. I didn't love it, in spite of my enjoyment of the movie.

- Bo Peep's sheep were called Billy, Goat and Gruff. It was a three headed sheep. I thought Giggle McDimples (Ally Maki) was a fun supporting character for Bo Peep.

- There's voice roles for Patricia Arquette, Jay Hernandez, Bill Hader, Flea (Red Hot Chilli Peppers), June Squibb, Carol Burnett and Mel Brooks to name a few.

- Standout music: Randy Newman's I Can't Let You Throw Yourself Away.

- Chronology: Not long from the third movie but also nine years since Woody and Bo Peep last saw each other.

If Toy Story 4 happened to be the weakest of the bunch, then it's still a rather top notch movie with some great new characters added into the mix. Woody's new fate, it's a mixed bag for me, I won't lie but not enough to down vote this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Toy Story 3 (2010)

 

Written by Michael Arndt And John Lasseter And Andrew Stanton And Lee Unkrich

Directed by Lee Unkrich

Woody: "So long ... partner."

Confession time. Last night was the first time I have watched this movie and after seeing it, I can actually see why the likes of Quentin Tarantino thought it was the right one to end this series on. It felt like the perfect final chapter.

The movie started off with Andy going to college. Instead of going to Molly, the plan for Woody, Buzz and company was to be put in a box and sent to the attic. It was a plan that everyone seemed somewhat on board with. Of course, plan tend to go awry.

Instead of heading to the attic, Woody, Buzz and company ended up in Sunnyside Daycare Centre where they were the playthings of sone really rambunctious children. That wasn't the worst part but it was still pretty bad.

The worst part was the villain of the piece. A stuffed bear named Lotso (Ned Beatty) had been rejected by his owner, ended up at Sunnyside and made it his mission to assert a hierarchy. This included henchmen like Ken (Michael Keaton) and Big Baby (Woody Smith). Ken getting involved with Barbie (Jodi Benson) did give him a last minute redemptive arc.

Lotso on the other hand was somewhat harder to redeem. Being replaced by his owner did a number on him and he was quite scary in parts. Although the worst thing he actually did was have Buzz reset to his factory settings for a good portion of the movie. Buzz being returned to his usual self did make for a fun use of the Spanish language.

As for the rest of the movie, there's something quietly heartbreaking about Andy making the grown up decision to give his toys to Bonnie (Emily Hahn). It's a real changing of the guard moment between the two. On the other hand, the movie did a good job in setting Bonnie up as a new owner for Woody, Buzz and company.

- Bonnie's toys included Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton), Trixie (Kristen Schaal), Dolly (Bonnie Hunt), Buttercup (Jeff Garlin), Peas-In-A-Pods (Charlie Bright, Amber Krone and Brianna Maiwand) and Chuckles (Bud Luckey).

- Sid became a garbage collector, there's romantic tension between Buzz and Jessie and the likes of Bo Peep and Wheezy weren't present.

- Standout music: Randy Newman's We Belong Together.

- Chronology: Andy was now off to college, so it was over a decade since the previous movie.

Toy Story 3 felt like the perfect ending to this entire saga. A beautiful closing to a wonderful film. Okay, I've got two movies and a prequel to watch but this was perfect. I love it.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Toy Story 2 (1999)

 

Written by Andrew Stanton And Rita Hsiao And Doug Chamberlin And Chris Webb And John Lasseter And Pete Docter And Ash Brannon

Directed by John Lasseter

Jessie (to Woody): "You never forget kids like Emily, or Andy, but they forget you."

My memory might be a lot more hazy because it's definitely been a long while since I've seen this movie. It practically felt like I was watching a new movie. 

Anyways, we've got Woody, Buzz and company having moved into a new home with their owner Andy, his mother, baby sister and dog, Buster. There's an infamous scene in this movie that's been meme'd to death that really packed a punch.

Yes, it's the scene where Woody's arm ripped and Andy suddenly didn't want to play with him anymore. This film was heavy in pointing out that children get older, lose interest in their toys and that even toys don't last forever. It's not subtle but it's definitely effective.

Woody's attempts to rescue a penguin toy named Wheezy (Joe Ranft) put him in the cross hairs of toy collector, Al McWhiggin (Wayne Knight). The presence of Al introduced characters such as Jessie the cowgirl doll (Joan Cusack), prospector doll Stinky Pete (Kelsey Grammer) and horse Bullseye. It turns out that Woody was rather famous and these new characters made up his Roundup gang.

In some ways, this movie had a reverse dynamic between Woody and Buzz. The latter mobilised everyone into trying to find Woody. There's a subplot involving another Buzz toy and the villain, Evil Emperor Zurg (Andrew Stanton) that's a little undercooked but amusing.

Getting back to Woody - I really loved his dynamic with Jessie, Stinky Pete and Bullseye. Jessie in particular was a fun foil for Woody and Stinky Pete turned out to be a better villain than Al if I'm being honest. Stinky Pete also got a rather fitting comeuppance while Jessie and Bullseye got a new home.

- Heimlich (Joe Ranft) and Flik (Dave Foley) from A Bug's Life both appeared during the credits.

- We met Mrs. Potato Head, some aliens and Tour Guide Barbie in this movie.

- Standout music: Sarah McLachlan's When She Loved Me.

- Chronology: A few months from the first movie, despite the four year release gaps between them.

Toy Story 2 turned out to be a very good sequel. I liked learning more about Woody's past and this was a great debut for Jessie as a character. Woody and Buzz's friendship was another strong point of the movie.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Toy Story (1995)

Written by Joss Whedon And Andrew Stanton And Joel Cohen And Alec Sokolow And John Lasseter And Pete Docter And Joe Ranft

Directed by John Lassiter

Buzz: "Excuse me, I think the word you're searching for is "Space Ranger"."

Woody: "The word I'm searching for - I can't say, because there's preschool toys present."

I have been meaning to review this particular movie series but first, a confession. I've only seen the first two movies and that was a long time. Not only do I need to refresh my memory on them but I've got three other film and a prequel movie to watch. What fun.

I do have good memories of seeing this one when I was younger. It's such a simple idea. There's a boy named Andy Davis (John Morris). He's just turned six and he's got a lot of toys. His favourite being a cowboy named Woody (Tom Hanks). This was something both Woody and the other toys were aware of.

The other toys being Bo Peep (Annie Potts), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Slinky Dog (Jim Varney), piggy bank Hamm (John Ratzenberger), binoculars Lenny (Joe Ranft) and Rex (Wallace Shawn) to name a few. You can tell there's some slight resentment towards Woody being the favourite. Then there's Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen). His arrival changed everything.

The arrival of Buzz put Woody in second place as Andy suddenly had a new favourite toy. Woody couldn't get his head around the idea of being replaced and had Buzz thrown out the window. Woody would end up having the same done to him. That's where things got interesting.

Both Woody and Buzz clashed a lot in a bid to get back to Andy but for a good portion of the movie, both of them were at the mercy of the toy destroying Sid Phillips (Erik von Detten). I forgot how much of an evil terror Sid was as a character and there's something rather horrifying in seeing the creations he made out of his own toys. He did get a much deserved comeuppance though.

As for Woody and Buzz, both of them came to some big realisations and both knew they needed to work together in order to reunite with both Andy and their fellow toys. They very nearly didn't and when they did, it certainly felt earned.

- Buzz's implied "replacement" at the end of the film was of course a puppy.

- This movie had a hint of romance between Woody and Bo Peep but the arrival of a certain character from the next film onwards put a stop to that.

- Standout music: Randy Newman's You've Got A Friend In Me.

- Chronology: Set during Andy's sixth birthday, a family move (Laurie Metcalf voiced Andy's mother) and Christmas.

I really do love Toy Story. It's such a delight film with a simple story, an unlikely friendship and a genuinely heartfelt bunch of moments as well as a few slightly uncomfortable ones. To the sequels (and prequel) and beyond.

Rating: 8 out of 10