What to Watch This Weekend: July 24, 2020

The Social Justice Drama With Tough Issues And Amazing Acting: Clemency (Digital, Redbox)
An outstanding cast led by Alfre Woodard, Clemency brings tough social issues to the big screen.  Woodard plays a state sanctioned executioner who must confront her own demons that connect her to the men she is authorized to execute. Clemency is available for free at pretty much all major digital retailers so make sure to check this one out!  For more information, check out our story!

The Star Studded Animation Documentary: Spike & Mike: Animation Outlaws (Digital)

Spike & Mike: Animation Outlaws is an animated documentary that highlights some amazing animators and animation, and what these two did for the overall community.  For more information, check out our review!

The Unconventional Musical Drama: Fisherman's Friends (Digital)
Fisherman's Friends reels you in and hits the right notes, with its great music, relatable and likable characters, and heartwarming story.  For more information, check out our review!

The Young Adult Light-Hearted Nostalgia Trip: The Kissing Booth 2 (Netflix)
expect exactly what you expect for all teenage love drama and the two hour runtime will just breeze by.  And even if you are punching your first ticket to the kissing booth and going in blind-folded, you will find an enjoyable teenage romantic dramady.  For more information, check out our review!

The Irreverent Soon To Be Parenting Comedy: The Babysplitters (Digital)

The Babysplitters delivers a hilarious, unconventional comedy with a fantastic cast, frank dialogue, and laugh-out-loud situations.  For more information, check out our review!

The Gritty, Stylish Chinese Crime Noir: The Wild Goose Lake (Digital)

The Wild Goose Lake is a gritty, stylish Chinese crime drama with some beautiful cinematography, strong characters, and a slow burning story.  It won't be for everyone because of this, but there is plenty to admire about this film.  For more information, check out our review!

For The Martial Arts Enthusiast: Ip Man 4: The Finale (Netflix)

Ip Man 4 finishes the epic story of Master Ip Man, with a wonderful love letter to classic martial arts film, with the exaggerated scenarios and amazing fights that you would expect from the Wing Chun master.  For more information, check out our review!

The Historical Action Film About An Important and Fearless Woman: Harriet (HBO, Redbox)

Harriet tells the compelling story of an influential woman with Oscar-worthy acting, an exciting and heartbreaking script, and a stellar score.  For more information, check out our review!

Spike & Mike: Animation Outlaws Review: An Animated Look At Some Animated Animators

Release date: July 15, 2020
Running time: 67 minutes

Spike & Mike: Animation Outlaws is an interview style documentary film about two hippie friends who set out to create a first of its kind animation festival and end up helping to start the rise of the animation industry and launch the careers of the artist and directors who run it.  It is really a remarkable story, that these two passionate animators were able to start a recognized festival that gave money, exposure, and a platform to so many up and coming animators.  The film has interviews with many people whose lives were touched by this pair, and it is really fun to see during this relatively short documentary..  

The main selling point of this film is the fantastic animation and the talent behind it.  The film showcases much of the animation that the pair were known to promote.  Some of these are very well known and some are far more obscure.  But they are all original and interesting to watch.  And the cameos that are featured in the documentary are a joy to see.  The film features some amazing animators and celebrities, from Seth Green, to Weird Al, to Mike Judge, the film is a who's who of famous animators.  And the animation itself is a joy to watch.  There are so many clips of obscure, obscene, and shocking animation that anyone who is interested in this area will have a ton to see.  And there is so much showcased that you are bound to find something that is new or interesting.  

And the documentary does a great job of showcasing what Spike and Mike did for the animation community.  Many of these famous names got their start doing these festivals.  Spike and Mike would often pay to promote lesser known animators, and pay to take their work to the next level such as by colorizing it.  Spike and Mike would also promote animators despite race, locale, or gender.  One interviewee made a point of stating that the pair would promote female animators when not many people were.  If there is a criticism with this documentary, it that there is not enough backstory on the famous animators themselves.  I feel like you get glimpses of their personalities and stage personas, but not enough backstory to really get a sense of who they were.  And the film definitely had the space for it as the documentary is a relatively short 67 minutes long.  More on Spike and Mike and more animation examples would have been fine by me.  But when your criticism of a documentary is that you just wanted more, that is usually a good sign.

Spike & Mike: Animation Outlaws is an animated documentary that highlights some amazing animators and animation, and what these two did for the overall community.

Watch it.

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