Review: SKETCH is a Fantastic, Heartfelt, Imaginative Adventure and One of the Best Films of The Summer — GeekTyrant

6 days ago

I went into Sketch thinking it would be a cute, family-friendly diversion, something along the lines of the lighthearted summer movies I grew up with. The trailers looked fun, the concept seemed charming, and I was expecting a good time.
What I wasn't expecting was to walk out of it thinking, 'This might be one of my favorite movies of the year.' It's imaginative, surprisingly emotional, and it's just a blast to watch from start to finish. While I enjoyed films like The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Superman , Sketch was a far superior film in story and character development.
The story centers on a young girl named Amber, played wonderfully by newcomer Bianca Belle, who's struggling with a recent family loss. Her way of processing grief is… unconventional, as she pours her emotions into a sketchbook, drawing strange, violent, and often monster-filled images.
It's therapeutic for her, at least until the sketchbook falls into a mysterious pond and her creations literally come to life. Chaos follows, and Amber, her brother, and their father must find a way to wrangle the creatures before the whole town becomes an art project gone nightmarishly wrong.
The film has a ton of energy, bouncing between whimsical family adventure and darker emotional beats without ever losing its balance. Tony Hale gives a strong, grounded performance as the father desperately trying to hold his family together, while D'Arcy Carden and the rest of the cast including Kue Lawrence, Kalon Cox, Jaxen Kenner, and Genesis Rose Brown, fit perfectly into this quirky world.
It's rare to see child actors handle material that's both funny and emotionally heavy so convincingly, but this cast nails it.
What makes Sketch stand out is how it weaves a heartfelt exploration of mental health and trauma into a creature feature. It's not just about wacky monster hijinks (though those are great); it's about a family confronting grief head-on, even when the grief has claws and teeth.
Writer-director Seth Worley, making his feature debut, shows an impressive ability to balance humor and heart. His approach feels like the lovechild of Amblin-era Spielberg, Joe Dante mischief, and Pixar's emotional punch, blended together into something fresh.
Visually, the film pops. The monsters are creepy, yes, but also playful in a way that makes them accessible for younger audiences. It's the kind of movie that kids will enjoy for the spectacle, but as they grow older, they'll realize just how deeply layered it really is.
The animation work is impressive, with creature designs that feel both unique and lovingly handmade, and the editing keeps the pace snappy without sacrificing emotional depth.
Watching Sketch in the theater, I couldn't help but feel frustrated that so few people were there to see it. This is exactly the kind of original, unique movie that audiences always say they want, yet it's struggling to get noticed in a market dominated by sequels and reboots.
Worley's film isn't riding on a famous IP or an A-list ensemble, it's driven by its strong story, its wonderful characters, and the passion behind it. That's rare, and it's worth celebrating.
More than anything, Sketch reminded me of the movies I grew up with in the '80s and '90s, those slightly dark but endlessly rewatchable family adventures that stick with you for years. It's smart, funny, adventruous and heartfelt. It also inspires creativity.
If you're looking for a summer movie that will make you laugh, tug at your heart, and leave you grinning on the way out, go see Sketch . Bring your kids, your friends, your parents, anyone who loves a good story told with passion and imagination.
This is the kind of movie that doesn't just entertain you in the moment; it stays with you, nudging you to look at your own 'monsters' a little differently. We could all use more movies like this.

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13 Times Rich Celebs Insulted Or Complained About People Who Make Wayyy Less Money Than Them

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7 hours ago

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13 Times Rich Celebs Insulted Or Complained About People Who Make Wayyy Less Money Than Them

Plenty of famous people worked "normal" jobs before making it big. However, once they reach a certain level of wealth — or if they were born into it — they sometimes seemingly forget that people working non-Hollywood jobs deserve just as much respect. Here are 13 times rich celebs were disrespectful towards people working "normal" jobs and got called out: 2019, Lizzo wrongly accused a Postmates delivery driver of taking her food. In a since-deleted (but very public tweet), she said, "Hey @Postmates this girl Tiffany W. stole my food. she lucky I don't fight no more." Postmates Support replied, "Hi! We're sorry to hear you've had a less than satisfactory experience on our app. Would you mind DM'ing the email address linked to your account, so we can look further into this for you?" A spokesperson told Page Six that the driver actually did show up and waited for five minutes. However, after being unable to get ahold of Lizzo, she had to move on. In her replies, people took the driver's side, advising Lizzo that publicly putting her on blast probably wasn't the best idea: Twitter: @animeicon420 Lizzo ended up apologizing, tweeting, "I apologize for putting that girl on blast. I understand I have a large following and that there were so many variables that could've put her in danger. Imma really be more responsible with my use of social media and check my petty and my pride at the door." Tiffany ended up suing Lizzo for emotional distress, libel, and false light invasion of privacy. In her lawsuit, she said that she "feared for her physical safety" and got "direct threats of violence." She also said that she was "scared to leave her house and as a result was forced to stop delivering as a courier altogether." The suit said, "[Lizzo] knew or should have known that her false and defamatory statements would be republished over and over by lacked reasonable grounds for any belief in the truth of her statements and acted negligently in failing to determine the true facts...[She] acted with actual malice and reckless disregard for the truth when she tweeted the false statements of or concerning [Tiffany]." Julia Stiles was a student at Columbia in 2001, she went on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and called the campus cafeteria workers "mole people." Related: The entire campus was upset with her remark. In the Columbia Spectator, the student newspaper, an editorial writer called her a "sloe-eyed Hollywood wench" in retaliation. In a Columbia Spectator op-ed of her own, Julia said, "I have received a lot of criticism, both to my face and in print, about flippant comments I made while appearing on talk shows to promote Save the Last Dance. I was denigrated in one Columbia media outlet and nearly slandered in another, all because I made a joke about the dining hall on national television. Talk shows require a pre-interview, where the guest is grilled for funny the case of my appearance, I was asked about the quality of food at school and told to exaggerate for the sake of comedy. Granted, I was not forced to say anything, but under the circumstances I wanted to get through the interview alive. Having every comment examined under such heavy scrutiny has made me consider the repercussions of what I say. I have apologized in writing to the dining staff; they seem to understand that I wasn't commenting on any particular person. They understand that it is a very common, if not clichéd, joke to poke fun at cafeteria food. Adam Sandler did it, and so did a writer for an on-campus publication that took issue with my comments. I didn't realize that so many Columbia students have made it their cause to go crusading for Dining Services. I also didn't realize that the way to criticize thoughtless jokes was to may be attempting humor to get in good with your audience, but even lunch ladies and Hollywood wenches have feelings." Then, in 2019, she told Glamour UK, "I went on late night talk show; I think it was Conan O'Brien or David Letterman. I was in college at the time and I was talking about college life and they asked me if I ate in the cafeteria like a normal kid. I rambled on because I was insecure and I think I used the term, 'mole people.' But my thought was there was an Adam Sandler song at the time where there was a character on a sketch comedy show where he was playing the lunch lady and she had a hairnet and a mole. It backfired on a very immediate level. The people I was in school with were furious with me. Someone wrote in the school newspaper, 'she's an elitist! How dare she insult the cafeteria workers,' which was so not my intention and not who I am as a person. To know the people who were working hard in the school, cleaning up the garbage, feeding us meals thought I was insulting them was so devastating to me because it was absolutely not my intention. So, I wrote something in the newspaper. I issued a handwritten apology to the cafeteria workers, but I learnt a valuable lesson aside from 'think before you speak'. That kind of thing is so exaggerated now because of social media. You do have to be careful about how what you say is perceived and the impact it will have." 2018, Gwyneth Paltrow told the Wall Street Journal, "Forgive me if this comes out wrong. I went to do a yoga class in LA recently, and the 22-year-old girl behind the counter was like, 'Have you ever done yoga before?' And literally I turned to my friend, and I was like, 'You have this job because I've done yoga before.'" On social media, people criticized and made fun of her comments. Twitter: @whatbunnysaid Twitter: @Annabelera a 2012 appearance on The Jonathan Ross Show, Emily Blunt made unkind and unnecessary comments about a server's weight while sharing a story about going to Chili's. The clip recirculated on social media in 2023, leading to a lot of backlash. So, Emily made a public apology, telling People, "I just need to address this head on as my jaw was on the floor watching this clip from 12 years ago. I'm appalled that I would say something so insensitive, hurtful, and unrelated to whatever story I was trying to tell on a talk show." She continued, "I've always considered myself someone who wouldn't dream of upsetting anyone so whatever possessed me to say anything like this in that moment is unrecognizable to me or anything I stand for. And yet it happened, and I said it and I'm so sorry for any hurt caused. I was absolutely old enough to know better." Here's a clip of the original interview, with this part starting a the 1:11 mark: 2019, former The Real Housewives of Orange County cast member Alexis Bellino posted an Instagram picture of the dirty floor under her couch. In the caption, she said, "When your couch accidentally disconnects and you realize your maids aren't doing deep cleaning. Found 2 socks too... 😂🤦🏼‍♀️🤔" Related: Her commenters called her out for publicly shaming her staff rather than simply cleaning it up herself. In a follow-up Instagram post, Alexis claimed she'd been joking. She said, ""To All: I can and WILL post whatever I want on my [Instagram]. My maids are well paid for and I love them. It was a joke. Get over yourselves, stop trolling, find happiness and please unfollow me ASAP as I'm not looking for any of your approval on my [Instagram] and I DON'T need followers." a 2021 episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians, Kim Kardashian and Kourtney Kardashian Barker discussed a disagreement that Kourtney had with Kim's nanny while on a trip. However, Kim was quick to call her sister out on how she handled the situation. And she called her out for how she allegedly treats nannies in general, which Kourtney said was all "lies." Watch the full clip below: Related: 2022, Kim Kardashian shared her "best advice for women in business" with Variety. Kim faced backlash across the internet as many people pointed out that her comments failed to acknowledge her privileged background, which gave her a boost. Twitter: @HottyToddyAspen Twitter: @WanderingNoma14 Kim told Good Morning America, "It wasn't a blanket statement towards was taken out of context, but I'm really sorry if it was received that way." Variety denied that the quote was "taken out of context." Here's the full video, with this part starting at the 5:12 mark: 2022, on her podcast Anything Goes, Emma Chamberlain compared being a self-employed influencer to working a more traditional 9-to-5. She said, "Because you're an employee of somebody else, mentally, it's easier for you to disconnect after work so that you can enjoy all of your free time to the fullest without having to think about your job." She continued, "Whereas, when you're never stop thinking about it. You never get to disconnect. You never get to be like, 'Oh, I'm done for now.' It is so hard." In a Reddit thread about the episode, listeners expressed their frustration with her comments. a since-deleted 2018 social media video, makeup influencer Sondos al-Qattan complained about new laws in Kuwait, where she lives, that had been recently passed to provide more protection for domestic help employees, such as housekeepers. She said, "For people who want to go get a Filipino domestic worker, what are these ridiculous work contracts you've got to sign? But how can you have a servant in your house who gets to keep their passport with them? Where are we living? If they ran away and went back to their country, who'll refund me? Even worse is that they get a day off every single week! What's left?" "Honestly, with this new contract, I just wouldn't get a Filipino maid. She'd only work six days a week and get four days off a month," she said. Several beauty brands cut ties with her. Though she deleted the video, it was reposted on Twitter and YouTube, where commenters called her out. Related: In a follow-up video, the influencer said she was glad her post went viral because "maybe that will help her as an employer get more rights." Additionally, on Instagram, she said, "Due to the spreading rumors, it was only necessary to make a responsive clarification. The passport of any expat employee should be in the poseseccesion of the employer to protect the employer's interests. Irrevelant of the employer/employee nationality...I have not [in] any circumstances in present or past... degraded or in any way mistreated an employee of mine. I consider all employees as equal human being [sic]." 2005, Russell Crowe was arrested at a SoHo hotel because, after he wasn't able to get a call to his wife in Australia to go through, he threw the telephone at the concierge, who got a cut under his eye as a result. Afterward, Russell publicly apologized on The Late Show with David Letterman, saying it was "possibly the most shameful situation that I've ever gotten myself in my life." He later went to court. After pleading guilty to third-degree assault, the actor was sentenced to a conditional discharge, which meant he must meet the condition of not getting arrested again for a year. He also settled with the concierge. 2006, Paula Abdul allegedly wanted to change her 7:40 a.m. flight and called the front desk of her Las Vegas hotel. Carol Good, one of the hotel workers, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "I stayed over and printed out the flight schedules." She also said that, just as she was about to call her, Paula called the desk again and "went off on" her and blamed her and her coworker for making her missing the flight. Carol and her coworker were reportedly suspended afterwards. Paula's lawyers didn't respond to the story. 2013, Lady Gaga went to court with her former assistant, Jennifer O'Neill, who was suing her for unpaid overtime. In her deposition, the singer reportedly called her a "fucking hood rat who is suing me for money that she didn't earn." She said, "She's just — she thinks she's just like the queen of the universe. And, you know what, she didn't want to be a slave to one, because in my work and what I do, I'm the queen of the universe every day." "I'm quite wonderful to everybody that works for me, and I am completely aghast to what a disgusting human being that you have become to sue me like this," she said. "Because she slept in Egyptian cotton sheets every night, in five-star hotels, on private planes, eating caviar, partying with [photographer] Terry Richardson all night, wearing my clothes, asking YSL to send her free shoes without my permission, using my YSL discount without my permission...[This job] was essentially a favor, and Jennifer was majorly unqualified for it...I expect there to be a certain level of, like, you know, knowledge and academia about, like, your job." Lady Gaga said, "One of the biggest problems I had with Jen is that I felt like she didn't enough lay out all my stuff for me [when traveling]. "She also said that her former assistant "was asleep until 12:00 most of the time" and "got lazy." "This job is a 9-to-5 job that is spaced out throughout the day. You don't get a schedule that is like you punch in and you can play fucking Tetris at your desk for four hours and then you punch out at the end of the day. This is — when I need you, you're available," she said. "I do six shows a week, and I make a lot of money. I work, I work 24 hours a day. I'm not standing next to Steve holding tea, waiting for him to take a sip, that is not what I do. Not that people who do that don't deserve their hourly pay, but I'm just pointing out that I deserve everything I've worked for. I deserve every dollar of it. And she deserves every dollar of her $75,000 that we agreed to. But she does not deserve a penny more." In her lawsuit, Jennifer alleged that she had to share Lady Gaga's bed while they were touring so that, if the singer wanted the DVD changed in the middle of the night, she could wake up her assistant to do it for her. She also said, "Every day is a work day for her, so every day is a work day for the rest of us. There is no, 'We're going to stay in, we're going to sleep.' There is no, 'Let's put on sweatpants and go out to the movies and be girlfriends.' It doesn't work like that." Eventually, the two settled out of court. finally, Naomi Campbell has been accused of allegedly hitting her staff members multiple times. She pleaded guilty to throwing her telephone at an assistant (in 2000), got sued for throwing the phone at another assistant while having a "tantrum" (in 2003), accused of slapping a housekeeper in the face (in 2004, when she claimed the maid started it), accused of smacking her assistant in the head with her Blackberry (in 2005), arrested for allegedly assaulting her drugs counselor (in 2006), sued by a former maid who accused her of being "a violent super-bigot" (in 2006), and sentenced to community service for assaulting her housekeeper by throwing her bedazzzled cellphone at her head so hard she needed stitches after she couldn't find a specific pair of jeans (in 2007). When she cameoed on Ugly Betty in 2008, the phone incident was treated as a joke. When Naomi answered her cell at a baseball game, everyone else ducked in fear. Likewise, in 2007, after she was arrested for allegedly hitting and head-butting an ex-assistant, Naomi was spotted wearing a "Naomi hit me, and I loved it" shirt. Also in Celebrity: Also in Celebrity: Also in Celebrity:

13 Times Celebs Complained About People Working "Normal" Jobs

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7 hours ago

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13 Times Celebs Complained About People Working "Normal" Jobs

‘Weapons' Director Zach Cregger on David Fincher's Advice, Sequel Plans and What His ‘Resident Evil' Movie Will Look Like

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10 hours ago

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‘Weapons' Director Zach Cregger on David Fincher's Advice, Sequel Plans and What His ‘Resident Evil' Movie Will Look Like

SPOILER ALERT: This article contains minor spoilers about 'Weapons,' now playing in theaters. Director Zach Cregger's sophomore feature, 'Weapons,' is a story about a small town overtaken by a malevolent force. One night, all of the kids from a specific classroom run away, and the townspeople become increasingly furious that the police have no leads. The narrative follows several locals — including troubled teacher Justine (Julia Garner), whose class went missing; Paul, a cop (Alden Ehrenreich); Archer (Josh Brolin), whose son is one of the missing kids; and a young burglar (Austin Abrams) — as they get pulled into the central mystery. More from Variety Box Office: 'Weapons' Makes $5.7 Million in Previews, 'Freakier Friday' Has $3.1 Million New Movies Out Now in Theaters: What to See This Week Box Office: 'Freakier Friday' and 'Weapons' Battle for First Place Over 'Fantastic Four' Although he was unable to talk about any specific spoilers at the end of the film, Cregger broke down many key elements in 'Weapons,' Including the film's use of humor, gore and that surreal moment with the floating assault weapon. I think the idea for the structure came very early on. I knew once I got out of the cold open and started with Justine that she was not going to be the only perspective of this story. I was pretty instantly excited about the idea of having a novelistic structure where we follow different protagonists, but I wanted to set a rule for myself that I would never go back. Once I moved on, their chapter was done. If I could hold fast to that, the movie would be better for it, and it was not an easy thing for me to do, but for better or worse, I committed to that structure. And that's not really the structure that 'Magnolia' follows. 'Magnolia' is more of a reference point for me because of the scale and the tone of it. And John C. Reilly's mustache is in my movie on Alden's face. Honestly, there's something about the John C. Reilly stuff where he loses the gun and he's searching for it in the rain that felt like a North Star. Just the vibe of that, I want to live in that, so I wanted to write a movie that feels like it's moving in that direction. No. I mean, it doesn't work that way. Somebody dies, and you're gonna feel that absence for the rest of your life. Maybe the sting can kind of lessen, but I don't know if that's time or community or what. I don't think making this movie has exorcised any demons. It's just given me an opportunity to engage with those feelings in a healthy, constructive way. Rather than going and drinking myself to death, I'm able to write a character that drinks herself into a problem. I can take my anger and have Josh Brolin freak out, and that's better than me freaking out. I don't know. It's a very important moment for me in this movie, and to be frank with you, I think what I love about it so much is that I don't understand it. I have a few different ideas of what it might be there for, but I don't have the right answer. I like the idea that everyone is probably going to have their own kind of interaction or their own relationship with that scene, whether they don't give a shit about it and it's boring, or whether they think it's some sort of political statement, or whether they think it's just cool. I don't really care. It's not up to me. I just like that it's there. You have to just let them come organically to the situation that you're writing and not try to inject anything funny into the movie. There are a couple of jokes I wrote into the movie where I thought I was being clever, and they're all on the cutting room floor. The rule I've learned for myself is to let the situation dictate the humor. Let the movie ask me for the humor, don't try to put it in. Be in service of the story, don't try to be clever. I got everything. I mean, it's not that grisly. I guess I could thank 'Terrifier 3' for coming out and totally raping everybody's eyes so that anything I'm going to do is going to feel PG. Yeah, but I'm still working on that because I tried it in 'Barbarian' and I didn't get it right, and I'm trying it in 'Weapons.' I didn't quite get it, but one day I'm going to get that 'Irreversible' fire extinguisher head smash. That's my white whale. I've got to try it again. He's just a very helpful guy. He was available to me during prep, and then he was very available during the post process. He watched the movie and had a lot of really constructive thoughts and gave me a ton of ideas. He helped me learn more about the editing process and how to think about it in a new way that wasn't available to me when I was making 'Barbarian.' So he just opened my mind up a lot. There are things I thought I had to just settle for. I thought, 'Well, that's the take I have. That's the best take. And it's not perfect, but by God, nothing is.' Dave's attitude is, 'It can always be better, and there are a lot of tools that you have at your disposal that you might not be thinking about.' So, from reframing to stabilization to ADR to all sorts of things, it was really cool. Honestly, I learned a lot about how to prep, what lenses to use. I shot this mostly anamorphic, and I didn't quite respect how limiting anamorphic is in the post process. So stuff like that, technical stuff. I've seen their work, so I know what tones they can take. I know Josh can be really funny and really serious — I've seen 'No Country for Old Men,' and I've seen 'Hail, Caesar!' I know what he can do. Julia in 'The Assistant' … I watched that and thought, 'This is what I need. This is amazing.' She's amazing, but that movie tipped the scales for me. Alden, I've been a massive fan since I saw 'Hail, Caesar!' Austin Abrams is a miracle, and I woke up to him when I saw 'Brad's Status,' which is a Mike White movie that he was in. I was like, 'Who is this kid that has total courage in this movie, and he does nothing, and it just rocks?' And then Amy Madigan, I'm a huge fan. I got to collect people that I've always loved watching. Definitely. I've actually … it's funny you asked that. I can't help it: I have another idea for something in this world that I'm kind of excited about. I'm not going to do it next, and I probably won't do it after my next movie, but I do have one and I'd like to see it on the screen one day. Those games pioneered something special. The pacing of those games is so unique and effective, and just being locked in with one character moving from point A to point B, knowing you're going to pass through this gauntlet of terror, and you've got to be methodical and thoughtful about it. That's cool. That's cinematic. So I want to tell the story in the world of the games that honors the lore of the games, but it's a new story. Best of Variety 'Blue Velvet,' 'Chinatown' and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' Arrive on 4K in June All the Godzilla Movies Ranked 'House of the Dragon': Every Character and What You Need to Know About the 'Game of Thrones' Prequel Solve the daily Crossword