It's been three years since I stopped caring about the MCU. After so many disappointments, an onslaught of too many movies to keep track of, that all looked boring, had nothing to say, and could never commit to their premises, I was done. Aside from Guardians 3, I had no reason to come back.
But with Thunderbolts*, my curiosity got the best of me, and I'm so pleased to say this was what I wanted from the future of the…
We don't get many absurdist comedies lately, do we? Well, Hundreds of Beavers is a pretty good one. It's very densely-packed with blink-and-you'll-miss-it jokes and intricate running gags that build on each other, and for how low budget it is, it's shot so inventively especially in the second half. There's a lot of standout elements here like the great orchestral score, the immensely charming mascot costumes and puppets used for the animals, and the overt Looney Tunes and video game…
The Village Bride is one of my favorite bits of Star Wars media in decades. It's so distant from the rest of the franchise, and yet, so innately Star Wars. It's probably my favorite depiction of the mystical side of the Force, and easily one of the most genuinely touching and emotional explorations of the impact Order 66 left on its survivors. The animation is stunning, the music is haunting, the story is tight, and the central character arc is perfectly executed. I've watched this short countless times and the third act still hits every single time, damn near perfection.
Story-wise, Auu's Song is a pretty straight-forward but still cute "child is taken in by a jedi" tale. On an animation level, holy shit this is one of the prettiest things I've ever seen. Triggerfish went insanely hard here, there are so many little details, everything is so bright and colorful and tactile, the filmmaking techniques are so creative and fresh, the landscapes feel like they go on for miles, the expressions on the characters are adorable, and that singing sequence is stunning. This is a gorgeous short, one that should be required viewing for anyone into animation. Triggerfish knocked it out of the fucking park.
