Geek Girl Riot delivers the goods on The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the latest trailers, and soothing toons in the only way they know how—with Riotous consequences! Bonus! Scroll down for new reviews for for Suzume, Showing Up, and Renfield.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Sherin, Julian, and Renee kick off the show by talking about The Super Mario Bros. Movie, the bombastic adaptation of the beloved video game franchise. Sherin says, “The Super Mario Bros. Movie is going to be exciting for families to watch together. It’s also so Easter egg-driven and so full of joy for the fans of all of the Mario games.” Let’s-a-go watch it in theaters now!
What’s Up, Trailers?!
So many trailers dropped lately that this episode is bursting at the seams with our thoughts on ’em. Our Rioters start the conversation with Blue Beetle and compare how it holds up to the many, many, many iterations floating in the DC Universe.
Then they switch over to Across the Spider-Verse, the hotly anticipated new animated Miles Morales chapter. We don’t think we could get any more hyped for this one but Sherin, Renee, and Julian are about to crank it up to eleven.
Next up, our hosts explore the new Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny trailer, which has some interesting choices—but hey, when Indy calls, we all get roped into watching, right?
Star Wars Celebration
We can’t talk about new trailers without shouting out Ahsoka, who is finally getting her own show—we love to cheer on this wild wicked warrior! That leads our Rioters into the news from the recent Star Wars Celebration, highlighting what they’re looking forward to and what they want to see light up the galaxy next.
Soothing Toons
Alex jumps on with Sherin to revisit some soothing toons. They share some of the properties that make their hearts happy, including The Way of the Househusband, Kotaro Lives Alone, Steven Universe, and more!
Suzume
In theaters Friday, April 14
reviewed by Julian Lytle / reviewed by Sherin Nicole
Suzume is a wonderfully told story about a teenage girl named Suzume. After seeing a beautiful young man, she ends up on an adventure to save Japan by quelling restless spirits that cause disasters around the country. It’s also about a girl growing up and dealing with her grief and loneliness from her past, along with being a love story and about finding a family. It juggles all these things very well, along with very stunning animation. The film is able to balance the quiet parts along with big set pieces along with humor, and deep emotional drama. The animation is very fluid and captures emotion, and I mean the little things. That’s what impressed me so much in this. The detail is all throughout. The color palette in this film is also very warm and bright, which draws you in and leads your focus throughout the film. I prefer watching subtitled, so the voice acting in Japanese is very good, but I can’t tell you how well the English dub voice actors have done. Makoto Shinkai has crafted a fantastic anime that I feel anyone who sees it will enjoy. –Julian Lytle
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From Makoto Shinkai (writer/director of Your Name), the new anime feature Suzume questions the weight of memory, how it reshapes us, and the ways it stagnates. The titular character is a high school girl whose mother died in a natural disaster she can’t quite recall—other than vague memories of a twilit dreamscape. Suzume’s life is mundane until she meets a ‘flower boy’ on the road to school. His name is Souta and he has a special gift for closing mystical doors. That’s where the action begins, as the two try to save Japan from a giant Spirit Worm seeking to destroy our world from the realm beyond—with the help or maybe the hindrance of an adorable cat-spirit called Daijin. The filmmakers spin metaphors of keys, doors, cats, and memory as a force that must be faced to be kept safe, into animated poetry. Making Suzume a film we easily connect with. And it is gorgeously realized, snappily paced, and well-written to enhance the experience. I’m going to watch it twice (and again). –Sherin Nicole
Watch the Trailer
Suzume | OFFICIAL TRAILER
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Showing Up
In theaters Friday, April 14
reviewed by Julian Lytle
Michelle Williams plays Lizzy in Kelly Reichardt’s new film Showing Up. Lizzy is a sculptor who, while trying to prepare for a solo art show while also dealing with her relationships with family, work, and friends. This intimate and quirky art world comedy won’t make you burst out laughing, but it is pretty hilarious. The two central performances that center this film are Williams’ Lizzy and Hong Chau’s Jo, as two friends and rivals in the art world. It’s this push and pull with Lizzy’s envy at Jo’s success and also respect and admiration of her work that drives this film. Lizzy is driven to complete her work even though it seems like everything gets in her way -even having hot water to shower every day. The film has an inviting and vintage look at times. The lighting and sets really help make this world feel real. As a person that’s been in and out of the fine art world along with attending art school, I can say I’m probably a perfect audience for this film as it hit some very specific things in its humor. I was tickled the entire runtime. It’s already one of my favorite films of the spring.
A24 Website: https://a24films.com/films/showing-up
Renfield
In theaters Friday, April 14
reviewed by Sherin Nicole / reviewed by Julian Lytle
For as long as we’ve known the legend of Dracula there has been a Renfield. He is the bug eating toady who serves as the blood-drinker’s familiar. Similar to the writers of Grendel and Wicked before him, telling the story from the other side must have inspired Robert Kirkman, the writer behind The Walking Dead and Invincible comics. Kirkman came up with the story, then handed it off to Ryan Ridley for scripting, and Chris McKay took directing duties. What emerges is a macabre horror-comedy without malice but fueled by melancholy and light fluffy blood. Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) ain’t happy with his life. How can he be? He’s in a codependent relationship with an unyielding narcissist. At least that’s what he tells his support group. The central conceit here—the parallel between life with Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and toxic relationships—gives RENFIELD lots to work with. I can say without snark, the creatives are proud of themselves. Making this movie must have been a better time than Mardi Gras on New Year’s Eve. And it shows. RENFIELD is relentless madness in a spinning tilt-a-whirl of blood-gushing death BUT with giggles. Picture it, we have Nick Cage as Trump as Dracula. Hoult is Renfield as Hugh Grant in all of his rom-coms. Then Awkwafina joins them as a cop who wants the world to ‘stop playing with her’ but still has a sense of justice. Our beloved Shohreh Aghdashloo shows up as a Mean Mommie Mobster, while Ben Schwartz goes HAM as her incompetent but lucky son. Take that mixture, add that relentless blood-fueled madness and (as I also mentioned) try not to do the giggling. I don’t know if I liked RENFIELD but I didn’t leave the theater mad at it. –Sherin Nicole
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So I’m going to be completely honest with you all, this isn’t an amazing movie, yet it is very entertaining and it believes in what it’s doing. Renfield takes the Dracula story and puts the focus on his familiar/servant Renfield as in the modern times, is no longer enjoying his servant life under the abusive Count Dracula. Renfield longs for a life among the living and no longer brings people to their slaughter to his vampiric master. Nicholas Hoult plays the title character while Nick Cage plays Dracula with such joy that it’s one of the main reasons to see this film. Awkwafina plays Rebecca Quincy, a police officer who gets drawn into this because she’s trying to take down a crime family in New Orleans. The story and script are uneven, especially with the police stuff, but the fight scenes are done very well, and the blood and gore are so over the top that it reminds me of Nickelodeon slime more than blood. For me, this movie was fun and felt like a high-budget TROMA film, and it knew it and doubled down. It’s just an honest fun movie, yet it’s also one that might be best waiting until streaming in the future. –Julian Lytle
Official Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | #RenfieldMovie
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Tune in to Geek Girl Riot on idobi Radio every Tuesday at 11pm ET / 8pm PT for your dose of late-night geekery.
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