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The latest (and maybe final) instalment of Pixar's flagship film franchise, Toy Story, has just hit theatres and I wanted to put my thoughts on the film from mind to screen. The original Toy Story was released in November 1995, back when Pixar was an independent company, meaning that were are nearly 24 years between this sequel and the original feature film.

Toy Story 4 follows shortly after the events of Toy Story 3 with Bonnie, the new owner to Woody, Buss and the gang, having her first trial day at kindergarten. During the day their she creates a new toy from a spork, Forky, who becomes alive and self-aware. Without spoiling the events, the film follows Woody trying to make sure that Forky, Bonnie's new favourite toy, is there for his kid during one of the toughest times in her life.

Does the film live up to expectations?

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Yeah? I mean, it was certainly nowhere near a bad film. It was feel-good, funny and tense at times but it didn't stand out from the previous 3 instalments. I think it was a good, nice way to (hopefully) end the franchise on a bitter-sweet ending. I felt that Toy Story 3 was a nice end to the series with the end of Woody's relationship with Andy after he went off to college; this further sequel actually didn't taint that tidy ending but didn't add too much more onto Woody and Buzz' story.

How did the new characters fair?

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Keegan Michael-Key and Jordan Peele's Ducky and Bunny duo was by far my favourite aspect of the film. They offered a new style of adult-y comedy that we haven't seen in previous instalments. It seemed like the perfect coupling of both voice and personality. We had Christina Hendricks as Gabby Gabby the teatime doll and Keanu Reeves as Canadian stuntman Duke Caboom, a contribution that I didn't notice until I was reading through the cast list on the way home. As with a lot of sequels  *cough* Porgs *cough* there can be a risk of the introduction of characters that have no need in being present and are just they to sell a few toys but I can't really put my finger on a specific character from Toy Story 4 that fits that description, which is great from Pixar.

All-in-all Toy Story 4 was an, although unneeded, good addition and conclusion to the series of now 4 films. The new character made a positive impact onto the already large number of characters at Pixar's disposal. If you're in the market for an easy-watching feel-good film then Toy Story 4 would not disappoint you.

77/100

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The reboot of Child’s Play from 1988 sees the role of chucky morphing from a serial killer-possessed child’s toy into a more modern problem. This iteration sees Kaslan, a company known for products ranging from drones to TVs connected  together via The Cloud, come out with their new product, Buddi. Buddi is a toy designed for children to have a friend to learn, play with and take care of. A jilted Kaslan employee who works in the factory where Buddi is being made wipes all of the safety protections from a single Buddi toy before throwing himself off of the company building This faulty toy finds it’s way into the hands of kid Andy Barclay (Gabriel Bateman) where all hell breaks loose.

The film features a great performance from Aubrey Plaza, moving from miserable teenager in Parks and Recreation to the mother of Andy in the film. I must say though, it’s weird going from hearing Plaza call her husband in Parks and Rec Andy to seeing her as a motherly figure but this time her son gets the honour. I was sceptical of seeing Plaza in this role but she pulled it off fantastically.

Actor Performances

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Chucky is voiced by Mark Hamill, best known as Luke Skywalker. Hamill’s best known voice acting work is in the form of The Joker in a number of animated Batman features. Hamill gets the blend of creepiness and cuteness as the demon toy just right so that you find the doll creepy, funny and cute all at the same time. The film’s creators successfully get their audience to feel a bit sorry for Chucky at times, seeing that he doesn’t seem to know what he’s doing wrong and he does at good intentions at the base of things.

Child’s Play plays on the fear of the technology we create in the world eventually turning on us and using all of it’s man-made features to it’s advantage. A good idea for a way to modernise a horror classic.

It’s an adequate watch with exceptional performances from Plaza and Hamill but the film is lacking a bit of what you would expect a horror film to have, horror. You have the very occasional jump scare or tense moment but I sat pretty comfortably on the back of my seat the whole way through the showing.

My verdict? You can probably wait this out until it’s on DVD or some streaming platform.

54/100


Make sure you tweet me and let me know what you thought of the film.

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1) If population growth continues at the same rate (1.1%) then we will have used all the particles in the known universe within the next 8,604 years

It's hard to believe. There are not enough particles in the visible universe to support the rate if human growth for more than 8,604 years. This number doesn't even take into account other types of life on our planet and possibly other planets. This was a figure recently calculated on Numberphile by Tony Padilla. 

2) The sum of all natural numbers (1+2+3+4+5...) is equal to -1/12


This is a bit of a controversial one. It's a bit of a counter-intuitive idea. The proof is...strange? To say the least but it does work. Check out the proof for yourself, again from Numberphile and let me know what you think.

3) A Googol (1 with 100 zeroes after it) is larger than the number of particles in the universe

It is also where Google got their famous name from. A Googolplex is written as 1 with a googol number of zeroes after it. There is literally not enough space in the universe to write down the number in it's long-form. It is just too large.

4) If you stretch out all of the DNA in your body you would have enough to reach Pluto and back 17 times over

Why would you not want to?

5) The number 0.999... is the same as writing 1

This carries one of the quickest proofs I have ever seen.
N = 0.999...
100N = 99.999...
99N=99
N=1
0.999... = 1

6) You can fit all of the other planets in our solar system between the Earth and the Moon


Providing you take the distance where the Moon is at it's farthest from us then you can fit every single planet in the gap if you were to place them pole-to-pole.

7) The coldest any substance can be is -273.15 C

Otherwise known as absolute zero this is the lowest temperature that any substance or object can reach. This is because the atoms have no energy at this point, meaning it is impossible to lose any more energy (heat). Absolute zero is set at 0 in the Kelvin scale and equates to -459.67 F.

8) The sum of any 3 consecutive numbers is divisible by 3

For example 3+4+5 = 12 which is divisible by 3. The same also works for the sum of any 5 consecutive numbers being divisible by 5.

9) Venus is the only planet to spin in the opposite direction to Earth

It also takes 243 days to rotate, the longest in the solar system. This makes a day on Venus longer than a year on Venus (225 days).

10) If someone is asked to pick a number between 1 and 10 chances are they will pick 7.

This is because they wouldn't choose 1 or 10 cause that's too obvious. 5 is in the middle so that's out. it's not going to be an even number so 2,4,6 and 8 are gone, leaving 3 and 7. 3 is too small of a number so 7 takes the gold.

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