NaPoWriMo 2021 Recap

Tags

Lists

It’s amazing how National Poetry Writing Month feels way too long when in the middle of it and way too short when it’s over. But I can’t deny the sense of accomplishment I feel on the other side, clearing out my backlog of films to review and writing a host of new poems. I felt like I had less time this year to devote to the writing, so I hope the quality didn’t suffer too much. I also find it interesting (and a total coincidence) that my favorite films reviewed were the two animated ones that bookended the month. Sadly, I did miss two days, but I’m surprised I was able to keep up as well as I did. For anyone else who missed a day, here’s a recap listing the films/poems for NaPoWriMo 2021:

April 1 – Soul (2020) – List-Worthy

April 2 – A Hidden Life (2019) – List Runner-Up

April 3 – Ocean Waves (1993) – Honorable Mention

April 4 – missed due to Easter

April 5 – The Vast of Night (2020) – List Runner-Up

April 6 – The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (1927) – Honorable Mention

April 7 – Clemency (2019) – Honorable Mention

April 8 – At Eternity’s Gate (2018) – Honorable Mention

April 9 – Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) – List Runner-Up

April 10 – A Song to Remember (1945) – List Runner-Up

April 11 – Fatal Attraction (1987) – List Runner-Up

April 12 – Cocoon (1985) – List Runner-Up (also a VC Pick)

April 13 – Outbreak (1995) – List Runner-Up

April 14 – Chappaquiddick (2017) – List Runner-Up

April 15 – Over the Moon (2020) – List Runner-Up

April 16 – The Big Year (2011) – List-Worthy

April 17 – Ad Astra (2019) – Honorable Mention

April 18 – Resistance (2020) – List Runner-Up (my personal favorite poem this month)

April 19 – Runaway Bride (1999) – List Runner-Up (tied for most likes)

April 20 – Don’t Let Go (2019) – List Runner-Up

April 21 – Platoon (1986) – List Runner-Up

April 22 – The Harvey Girls (1946) – Honorable Mention

April 23 – missed

April 24 – Mean Girls (2004) – List-Worthy

April 25 – Cloverfield (2008) – Honorable Mention

April 26 – Total Recall (1990) – List Runner-Up (also a Blindspot)

April 27 – News of the World (2020) – List-Worthy

April 28 – Yellow Rose (2019) – List Runner-Up

April 29 – Infinity Chamber (2017) – List Runner-Up

April 30 – The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021) – List-Worthy (my favorite movie of the month and tied for most likes)

A huge thank-you to everyone who read, liked, followed, and commented throughout the month, as well as the NaPoWriMo website that provided so many great daily prompts! I would still write even if it were just for me, but it warms my heart that others out there in cyberspace enjoy it too. I still plan to continue posting, just at a more relaxed schedule. Now I’m looking forward to NaPoWriMo 2022, when I’ll finally be free of school! Until then….

The Mitchells vs. the Machines (2021)

Tags

Animation, Comedy, Family, Sci-fi

(I almost decided to skip this last day of NaPoWriMo, being late once again, but it’s still April 30 on the West Coast, I suppose. The last prompt of April was for a poem giving directions, so mine is meant to lead to a happy family.)

There are many forks to family,
Where the road splits east and west,
Every one a chance to grow a bond
Or leave it cold and unexpressed.

Will you raise your voice or calm it,
Eye your child or your phone,
Repeat the things they want to hear
Or speak opinions of your own?

Take a left at dream-supporting,
Take a right at honesty,
And the forks will prove a straighter line
Than anyone on earth can see.
_____________________________

MPA rating:  PG

Rarely do I watch a Netflix movie so soon after it is released, but I’ve been eager to see The Mitchells vs the Machines ever since it was known as Connected and supposedly coming out last year as a non-Netflix movie. And I don’t mind it being sold to a streaming giant (thanks again, COVID) since it allowed me to watch a fantastic movie from the comfort of my home. The warm-hearted, hyperkinetic love child of Gravity Falls writers (Mike Rianda, Jeff Rowe, who also directed together), The Lego Movie’s producers (Christopher Lord, Phil Miller), and Into the Spider-Verse’s animation company (Sony Pictures Animation), The Mitchells vs. the Machines is an animated blast making full use of the talents behind it.

On the surface, The Mitchells vs. the Machines could easily have lapsed into one-note laziness, its plot boiling down to “dysfunctional family must deal with robot apocalypse.” On top of that, it really does embrace a ton of cliches, from the stressed father-daughter relationship, to the main character’s “I’m different from everyone else” monologue, to the villain saying “I already have” when they’re told they’ll never get away with it. It’s really a testament to the writing that the film is so consistently hilarious and the characters so well-realized that its strengths completely outshine the apparent weaknesses.

Honestly, this movie made me laugh harder and more often than any other in recent memory, thanks to its sly repeated gags, social commentary, and cultural self-awareness. I have long been a fan of Gravity Falls so it’s about time its writers were given an even bigger budget with which to play. My love for animation was further fed by the wondrous 2D-3D mix that Into the Spider-verse pioneered; it’s not quite as frenetic as that film’s comic book extravagance (which I think is a good thing), though it still includes imaginary, sketch-like flourishes to highlight how the movie-loving Katie Mitchell sees the world. Plus, the soundtrack is awesome, culminating especially in the action climax.

Abbi Jacobson does a fine job as Katie, but Danny McBride as her dad, Maya Rudolph as her mom, and Olivia Colman as the AI taking over the world are pitch-perfect casting. (Rudolph’s Linda Mitchell also gets the greatest mother beast mode scene in film history.) And as I said, the script is filled with huge heart to go with its constant jokes, stressing the power of familial bonds and subverting the usual trope of only the parent needing to grow to improve the strained relationship. I can’t wait to see The Mitchells vs. the Machines again, and I sincerely hope this creative team can deliver more gems like this one.

Best line: (Katie, after her dad locks the car doors) “Yeah, that’ll keep the robots out.”
(Dad) “Hey, you don’t know. Maybe locks are the robots’ weakness.”
(Mom) “Guys, can’t we all just be terrified together as a family?”

and

(Dr. Mark Bowman, the Steve Jobs-ish creator of the AI) “I’m sorry about causing the whole machine uprising. It’s almost like stealing people’s data and giving it to a hyper-intelligent AI as part of an unregulated tech monopoly was a bad thing.”

Rank:  List-Worthy

© 2021 S.G. Liput
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