Fish and Cherries Productions

My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks is a huge step up from its predecessor. While the first Equestria Girls was decent, it stumbled under things like squeezing in unnecessary subplots and a pointless love interest. Not so with this sequel. While the love interest still lacks a point, he mostly stays on the sidelines. But the plot is a lot more centralized and streamlined without any extraneous subplots in the way. It also does a great job integrating the songs into the story, the plot focusing on a musical competition at the high school and thus justifying all of the songs. But the best part about this movie is that it focuses on Sunset Shimmer, the previous film’s antagonist, and her quest for redemption and acceptance. I have to say that this side of Sunset Shimmer is far more interesting and dynamic than the stereotypical mean girl side from before. The ending itself deserves mention, as it features an epic display of visuals and emotional impact, which was much better than the abrupt and head-scratching climax of the last film. As you can probably tell, the creators learned from their mistakes and turned out a great product. I know it’s a reviewer’s sin to make this pun, but Rainbow Rocks rocks.

A Brony Tale is a heartfelt documentary looking at the phenomenon that sprung up after 2010, as well as voice actress Ashleigh Ball’s initial exposure to the fandom. The first word that springs to mind when thinking of this movie is “pleasant;” everything from the music to the shot composition to the music invokes a feeling of being welcome and friendliness. This is especially true when the movie simply glosses over the harsh media coverage that has painted bronies in a bad light over the years, while other documentaries would have devoted a section to covering it and rebuking it. Not A Brony Tale. It stays true to its name and make the bronies the focus, from personal perspectives coming from The Manliest Brony In The World, the head of Equestria Daily, and a military man who lost himself in Iraq and found himself again through the show, to outsider perspectives like Ashleigh Ball herself and the psychologist sharing his stories about passionate patients and even his own son. Brent Hodge, the filmmaker himself, admitted in a Q&A that he doesn’t love the show but finds the sense of community in the fandom so wonderful and it shows. There are few documentaries that make you feel good to be alive and this is one of them. The DVD comes out soon and I highly recommend a watch.

CEC the Ronin’s glorious return is here! Also, he’s reviewing some obscure show about horses that people may not have heard of.