Back Row Seating

Ah, childhood. So much fun, what with the majesty of staying up all night, not caring about health or the well-being of others beyond my immediate sphere of external understanding, and giant Pokémon gods stealing mothers and using them to fulfill the fever dream of a tiny girl. Yes, that means it's time to check out the third Pokémon film! one of the most baller films of my childhood, right there nestled along with Digimon: The Movie and Spy Kids. Does it hold up? Heck if I know; we'll just have to rewatch it- that's what we do here!

Ah, yes; everybody loves tier lists! Maybe even auditory ones! We're gonna take a look back at all the films we covered in 2022, starting all the way back with Encanto and concluding with Strange World, as well as everything in between. What were the stars? the let-downs? Which films have I adjusted my opinions on since we checked it out on the podcast? Only time will tell, or perhaps this very episode will tell. So join us for another bout of filmmaking review as we take a victory lap around 2022 and prepare for another year of wonderful films!

We're off to discover some strange worlds! and as a lifelong lover of sci-fi adventure animation (Titan A.E. and Atlantis, to name a couple) I'm very thrilled to check out Disney next magical romp! Plus, there's supposed to be a dog in there somewhere; what's not to love, already, about this film? We're gonna find out, that's for sure!

It's a hard knock life, for- Oh wait.

We love pattern-seeking here on the Back Row Seating podcast, so when a film we've previously watched gets a musical adaptation adapted into film, it's time to jump at the chance! So how will this compare to the original film? The portrayal of child neglect has changed dramatically in the last twenty-something years; surely they're not gonna have Matlida et al. facing legitimate dangers, right?

Right?

Throwback to my days in Catholic school! It's time to flip through the last twenty years and check out Dreamworks' magnum opus, quite possibly; we're heading to biblical Egypt for IMAX vistas, and non-Judean voices as we recover our memories of one of my childhood favorites. The soundtrack certainly remains a banger, but we'll check out everything else to find out if the Prince has actually become a King! So sit back, and enjoy this magical romp through the Egyptian landscape!

Playing in the background simply to have sound, I discovered this gem in a series of passthroughs in front of my television; and oh my goodness, it this film pretty out of this world. Featuring a lead who LOVES her dog, but not enough to actually find him, to a hunk-a-dunk who LOVES dogs, and is basically Superman for dogs, but also not enough to actually find the dog- instead they choose to fall back in love. Couldn't that have waited? Hell no! It's a Lifetime movie, not Taken.

Pour on some eggnog, folks; this is gonna be a fun ride.

Returning to the monde of French cinema, we're going to check out this sort-of adaptation of a beloved children's classic! "Sort-of" because it's more a story about the story, interestingly enough, so we're already in for an exciting time! Will it take me back to my childhood? or keep me in my adult-view of critiquing films endlessly? Only time, specifically a hundred or so minutes, will tell!

But I bet you weren't expecting this! Halloween, the holiday, is almost upon us, and one of my mother's favorite holiday films is Halloween, the movie. So while I've not seen any of these, it's time for me to be schooled in the art of late-70's horror, particularly of the John Carpenter variety. But camp abounds, as well as older-than-teenage actors; how will I enjoy this horror classic? 

Ah yes, we're here to continue trilogies and chew bubble gum. Pressing on with Tim Burton's stop-motion "Halloween" films, we're gonna travel back to the Regency for a good ol' love story! Just one with revenants, of course; what else were you expecting? Having quite enjoyed Nightmare Before Christmas, I'm excited to check this one out, and see if it can't check some of my hopeless romantic check boxes out while it's at it (spoilers, it does, sort of). 

Continuing our not-Halloween Halloween films, we're just gonna prance on over to some spoopy foreign films! and what better than a film from Denmark! Seriously though, as a hardcore introvert, this film is about at socially terrifying as anything else, and that's all before the psychological horror begins. For being a box office disappointment, it does have glowing reviews, so perhaps this will be my kind of film after all.

Raise your stamppot!