Movie Review: Isle of Dogs

Isle of Dogs **** ½ / *****

Directed by: Wes Anderson.

Written by: Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola and Kunichi Nomura and Jason Schwartzman.

Starring: Bryan Cranston (Chief), Koyu Rankin (Atari), Edward Norton (Rex), Bob Balaban (King), Bill Murray (Boss), Jeff Goldblum (Duke), Kunichi Nomura (Mayor Kobayashi), Akira Takayama (Major-Domo), Greta Gerwig (Tracy Walker), Frances McDormand (Interpreter Nelson), Akira Ito (Professor Watanabe), Scarlett Johansson (Nutmeg), Harvey Keitel (Gondo), F. Murray Abraham (Jupiter), Yoko Ono (Assistant-Scientist Yoko-ono), Tilda Swinton (The Oracle Dog), Ken Watanabe (Head Surgeon), Mari Natsuki (Auntie), Fisher Stevens (Scrap), Liev Schreiber (Spots), Courtney B. Vance (Narrator), Jake Ryan (Junior Interpreter Ernie), Kara Hayward (Peppermint).

 

Isle of Dogs is one of Wes Anderson’s strangest, funniest and most heartfelt films – which is odd, because it’s also one of his darkest. For the most part, Anderson’s films have been about the family unit – its dysfunctions, and how they shape and warp people as they grow up – perhaps sometimes arresting them in a juvenile state. He saw the larger outside world most clearly in his last masterpiece – The Grand Budapest Hotel – where one man (played brilliantly by Ralph Fiennes) tried to keep the ugliness of the world outside his beloved hotel away, until it ultimately overwhelms everything. To follow that up, he has made the stop motion Isle of Dogs – set in a darker, dystopian Japan of “20 Years in the Future”, but populated the film mostly with delightful dogs. The outside world has now become fully part of Anderson’s films – and they are richer for that.

 

The story is about the city of Megasaki, run by the corrupt Mayor Kobayashi, who hates dogs with a passion, and has devised a way to get rid of them. The dog flu has reached epidemic proportions, and threatens to cross the species barrier. Despite warnings from the Science party, which thinks it can be cured, Kobayashi orders all dogs to be banished to Trash Island. It here, six months after the banishment has taken place, that most of Isle of Dogs takes place. Chief (Bryan Cranston) is a former stray, who looks at the banishment as confirmation of the distrust for humans he always had. “I bite” he warns early in the film – and he means it. He has taken up with a pack of former pets – Rex (Edward Norton), King (Bob Balaban), Boss (Bill Murray) and Duke (Jeff Goldblum) to fight for the scraps on the island. The mayor’s nephew, Atari, steals a small plane and flies to the island – where he crashes – in the hope of finding his beloved dog Spots. Chief doesn’t want to help the “The Little Pilot” as they call him – but he is outvoted – so the set off to the far reaches of the island to find Spots.

 

The stop motion animation on display in Isle of Dogs is among the best I have ever seen in a movie – even better than the terrific Fantastic Mr. Fox (2008) that Anderson previously made. The art direction here is more detailed, the characters even more expressive. Anderson and his animators don’t try to hide their own involvement in the animation process – it all feels handmade, but in the best way. There is not a moment of Isle of Dogs which doesn’t look terrific. This is true of pretty much every Anderson film – and at times (I’m thinking particularly of The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou), that attention to details smothers the life out of the film – making it all an exercise in style and little else. But for the most part, the style helps Anderson – and helps the emotions of the film come through. That’s the case here. The film is essentially a story of free will and freedom – and whether we compromise that free will for security and kindness. Chief certainly thinks so at the beginning of the film – but by the end, he opinion has changed.

 

The film’s Japanese setting and style has been the subject of much debate and criticism since people starting seeing the film – and while I understand the arguments of those who see it as cultural appropriation – a white filmmaker from American dabbling in a culture he doesn’t understand or respect for his own purposes, I don’t really see it that way (I will admit that as a white man myself, I come at it from a point-of-view probably similar to Anderson’s). I loved the use of Japanese style in the film – the many callbacks to Akira Kurosawa throughout the film (I certainly saw parts of Seven Samurai throughout the film, but also films like High and Low or perhaps The Bad Sleep Well). Alexandre Desplat’s taiko drum heavy score is among his best work. The decision to not subtitle most of the Japanese dialogue – or have the human Japanese cast speak in English – is a good one. It adds a layer of misunderstanding between the dogs and the humans in the film (it would be strange if both spoke in English, but couldn’t understand each other) – but also respects the Japanese language – and the cast who speaks it. Most of the dialogue isn’t strictly necessary for narrative purposes – there is a translator on hand for the big speeches (the delightful Frances McDormand). Anderson fully embraces Japan and its culture here – not in a way that is complete, or an insider’s view, but something similar to what Ryan Coogler did with African culture in Black Panther.

 

In short, I think Isle of Dogs is another masterwork from Anderson – among the best things he has ever made. It is a delightful comedy, but with a darker edge to it, even as it ends in a good place. Anderson has become one of the most consistently great filmmakers work today – and Isle of Dogs is one of his best achievements.

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Movie Review: Sherlock Gnomes

Sherlock Gnomes ** / *****

Directed by: John Stevenson.

Written by: Kevin Cecil and Andy Riley and Richard Sweren and Ben Zazove.

Starring: Emily Blunt (Juliet), Johnny Depp (Sherlock Gnomes), James McAvoy (Gnomeo), Maggie Smith (Lady Bluebury), Chiwetel Ejiofor (Watson), Michael Caine (Lord Redbrick), Stephen Merchant (Paris), Mary J. Blige (Irene), Jamie Demetriou (Moriarty)

 

If there is some value to Sherlock Gnomes – the new animated adventure, a sequel to Gnomeo & Juliet (2011) – which I did not, because my oldest child was born that year, so we weren’t going to movies with her yet – it will be in introducing kids to Sherlock Holmes at all. My daughters already know him – kind of – from repeated viewings of one of my childhood favorites (The Great Mouse Detective) which has become one of their childhood favorites, or from walking in on mommy and daddy as we watch the Benedict Cumberbatch/Martin Freedom version on Netflix, as we’ve done recently. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s detective, and his sidekick, remain relevant, in part because filmmakers and TV shows have never really let die off. Those stories – which I devoured as a kid/teenager – are still great, so if Sherlock Gnomes gets some kids to eventually read them – or watch the many incantations of him over the years, then I guess it’s a good thing. He movie itself however isn’t particularly good – it’s really all that funny, or all that exciting, and the novelty of talking gnomes, and a lot of gnome based puns, wears off pretty quickly. It’s serviceable children’s entertainment – my kids liked it, for the most part – but it’s not all that memorable.

 

The story revolves the gnomes from the first movie, now relocated into London. The title couple Gnomeo & Juliet (James McAvoy and Emily Blunt) have just been handed the reigns for the new garden by their parents – which at first seems exciting, and soon starts to feel like real work. Their relationship suffers as a result – because Juliet is so caught up in remaking the new garden, she takes Gnomeo for granted “The garden cannot wait. You can”. Gnomeo being a man, does what men do best in this situation – sulk like a little child. But they cannot spend too much time brooding, because soon all of their friends – and all other gnomes in London – have been taken (the funniest moment in the film is a news broadcast about the gnome theft, that acknowledges who ridiculous it is to be talking about gnome theft on TV). In walks Sherlock Gnomes (Johnny Depp) and his put upon sidekick Watson (Chiwetel Ejiofor) to investigate. He’s convinced the perpetrator is his arch nemesis Moriarty (Jamie Demetriou), a bright yellow pie mascot they thought dead. They have 24 hours to find the gnomes, or they will be smashed.

 

The film is rather dull and lifeless, despite the huge dramatic stakes of gnome slaughter at play here. I don’t really think the casting oh Johnny Depp really helps here – he long ago seems to have forgotten how to act or sound like a relatable person, and here he takes Sherlock’s narcissism to extremes. Depp, who is capable of being great (but he only shows that occasionally now) too often falls back on easy tricks, and he does that here. The film may have been better off leaving Gnomeo & Juliet out of the film completely – they don’t add very much here, and basically get in the way. If there is a saving grace in the cast, it’s Ejiofor as Watson – who is quite charming and funny (full disclosure – I always love Watson in Sherlock Holmes stories).

 

The story moves along at a brisk enough pace, but the filmmakers do try and add a few twists to the plot, all of which are telegraphed well in advance (perhaps I’m being too hard here, and the filmmakers aimed those twists like they aimed the rest of the movie – at children – but even my 6 and a half year old called them). There is a lot of music in the film – most by executive producer Elton John, although Mary J. Blige does show up as Irene, Sherlock’s ex-girlfriend to sing a song about how awful he is, which is kind of amusing (Irene is a character I wished they did A LOT more with). But basically, Sherlock Gnomes is disposable kid’s entertainment – good to keep they entertained for 90 minutes, and not much else.

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Movie Review: Lego DC Superheroes: The Flash

Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash ** ½ / *****

Directed by: Ethan Spaulding.

Written by: James Krieg & Jeremy Adams based on the DC Comics characters.

Starring: James Arnold Taylor (The Flash / Barry Allen), Kate Micucci (Zatanna), Kevin Michael Richardson (Doctor Fate), Troy Baker (Batman / Bruce Wayne), Nolan North (Superman / Clark Kent / Kal-El / Killer Croc / Waylon Jones), Grey DeLisle (Wonder Woman / Diana Prince), Khary Payton (Cyborg / Victor Stone), Dwight Schultz (Reverse-Flash / Eobard Thawne), Eric Bauza (The Atom / B'dg / Jimmy Olsen), Tom Kenny (Plastic Man / Patrick 'Eel' O'Brian / The Penguin / Oswald Cobblepot), Phil LaMarr (Firestorm / Jason Rusch), Vanessa Marshall (Poison Ivy / Pamela Isley), Dee Bradley Baker (Captain Boomerang / Aquaman / Arthur Curry), Jason Spisak (The Joker), Audrey Wasilewski (Mayor).

 

No, I don’t usually review direct to video, animated film featuring superheroes, aimed at children. But my daughter has fallen in love with the DC Super Hero Girls, and as a result, the DC comic book heroes in general. Wonder Woman is her favorite – naturally – but through that, she has fallen for the others, and we have watched many of the DC Lego movies so far – the DC Super Hero Girls Brain Drain most often, but also a number of the Batman/Justice League ones. Their latest is The Flash, and its 78 minutes of mainly goofy, harmless fun. It doesn’t have the inventiveness or fun of something made for the big screen like The Lego Batman Movie – but it’s more entertaining than it probably should be.

 

In the film, The Flash meets his match when someone calling himself Reverse-Flash shows up (it’s easy to tell them apart, because Reverse-Flash wears the same costume as Flash, except they’ve the colors flipped red and yellow around). Reverse-Flash is from the future, and tricks Flash into repeatedly go back in time to live the same day over and over again – all so he can sever the Flash’s relationship with something called the Speed Force (don’t ask) and turn everyone against Flash and rob him of his powers. When Flash goes to get them back – going to the place where the Speed Force originated from – well, everyone learns some valuable lessons.

 

I’m not going to try and pretend this is a particularly good movie. It isn’t – it has the feel of exactly what it is – a direct-to-DVD/VOD animated film aimed at children. But it’s goofy fun, done with the same spirit as all the Lego movies – which don’t take themselves too seriously, and find some fun ways to tell the stories visually. You can call it cynical if you want to – especially since the movie throws in cameos from Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Aqua Man, The Joker, Penguin, etc. – as a way to ensure that kid fans of those heroes/villains will also watch – and you wouldn’t really be wrong, but so be it. These movies work well for what they intended to do – which is to be the superhero movies you can show your younger children so they don’t have to deal with the violence of Wonder Woman (we’re getting closer to the age where we’ll let our oldest watch last year’s film – but aren’t there yet) or all the self-serious brooding of the rest of the DC cinematic universe. It’s goofy and silly and harmless, and given what some studios think is worth putting into theaters for kids (say, Sherlock Gnomes) better than it probably has to be in order to make money.

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Movie Review: Early Man

Early Man *** / *****

Directed by: Nick Park.

Written by: Mark Burton and James Higginson and John O’Farrell and Nick Park.

Starring: Tom Hiddleston (Lord Nooth), Maisie Williams (Goona), Eddie Redmayne (Dug), Timothy Spall (Chief Bobnar), Miriam Margolyes (Queen Oofeefa), Richard Ayoade (Treebor), Mark Williams (Barry), Rob Brydon (Message Bird), Kayvan Novak (Dino), Johnny Vegas (Asbo), Selina Griffiths (Magma), Simon Greenall (Eemak), Gina Yashere (Gravelle), Luke Walton (Huggelgrabber).

 

For the most part, the films from British animation studio Aardman are a refreshing break from the animated films produced and aimed at kids in America. It helps that their latest, Early Man, is only their 7^th feature and they’ve been making them since 2000’s delightful Chicken Run, meaning that they don’t produce so much that we get sick of them, or that they start to feel like assembly line pieces, like so many of the even good American animated films do.

 

That’s still true of Early Man, to a certain extent, and yet something about the film felt a little off for me from Aardman – something a little warmed over. The film is still sweet and funny, delightfully goofy, with a mixture of clever sight gags, and word play that at times can be clever, and at other times so knowing silly that it makes you laugh in spite of how cheesy the joke is. As consistently enjoyable the individual moments of Early Man are however, they never really build to up to anything greater – anything all that special. The film starts off as a cave man film, and ends as a sports film, and seem to be going through the motions in both.

 

The film is about a small, rabbit hunting tribe from the Stone Age – and our hero is Dug (Eddie Redmayne), who thinks that perhaps they should try and hunt something bigger, only to be told (as countless animated heroes before) that he should be happy with things just as they are. He doesn’t get much chance of that however, when his tribes valley is invaded by a new group – led by the nitwit Lord Nooth (Tom Hiddleston) – of the incoming Bronze Age, who wants to mine for Bronze there. Dug ends up in their city, and sees all the wonders of Bronze, but still ants to protect his home. He ends up (in a series of events too complicated to go over) challenging Nooth’s soccer team – Real Bronze – to a match for control over the valley. He teams up with a member of the Bronze city – Goona (Maisie Williams) – never given a chance to play because she’s a girl – to teach his ragtag tribe of misfits to play against the greatest team in the world. They’ll beat them, according to Goona, because they can be a real team – Real Bronze is full of great players, but they play as individuals.

 

There is hardly a sports movie (or caveman movie) cliché the film doesn’t exploit. To be fair, most of the time, they are playing with the conventions of the genres in interesting, fun ways. The voice work is quite good – with the likes of Redmayne and Timothy Spall being delightfully, innocent dim and hilarious, and the like of Hiddleston and his ilk being so goofily arrogant that they’re hilarious. The great Rob Brydon shows up and does multiple voices – the best probably a pair of sports commentators, who deliver play-by-play of things beyond the game.

 

Early Man is consistently fun – but I don’t think it every really finds its footing. The best Aardman movies – Chicken Run, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, even the utterly fun Shaun the Sheep – end up being more than just the sum of its parts, and I don’t think Early Man ever really does. Aardman, of course, got its start in short films (Nick Park, who directed this film, has won four Oscars – three for Short films), and Early Man feels more like a series of ideas for shorts, strung together. The film is still fun and funny – but it’s missing a little bit of that Aardman magic – that usually makes their films something truly special.

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Movie Review: My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea

My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea *** ½ / *****

Directed by: Dash Shaw.

Written by: Dash Shaw.

Starring: Jason Schwartzman (Dash), Lena Dunham (Mary), Reggie Watts (Assaf), Maya Rudolph (Verti), Susan Sarandon (Lunch Lady Lorraine), Thomas Jay Ryan (Principal Grimm), Alex Karpovsky (Drake), Louisa Krause (Gretchen), John Cameron Mitchell (Brent Daniels), Matthew Maher (Senior Kyle), Keith Poulson (Senior Craig).

 

My Entire High School Sinking Into the Sea takes a lot of influences – both in terms of its visual look and its storytelling, combines them all together to make an animated film that can sometimes feel patchwork, but it’s always interesting to look at, and entertaining. The film runs a brisk 75 minutes, so there’s not much time to get bored, and while that means the characters are thinly written, the story moves quick enough to keep things from getting bogged down. It’s not a great animated film, but it’s a great first animated film for Writer/director Dash Shaw – a graphic novelist making his transition into the movies. He plays it safe in many ways, just working on making sure everything works. I hope a second film from him will take more chances.

 

The film centers on a high school sophomore named Dash (presumably based on the writer/director, but voiced by Jason Schwartzman in a way that makes him seem like if Max Fischer was animated) – who on the first day of school has a fight with his best (only) friend Assaf (Reggie Watts) because the editor of the school paper, Verti (Maya Rudolph) clearly favors Assaf in more than one way. On a quest to get his permanent record, Dash ends up in the bowels of the school, where he comes across paper work that shows that the school new auditorium – built at the top of the school – has made the whole building dangerously unstable, and that even a small earthquake could send the school off a cliff, and crashing into the ocean. Of course, no one listens to Dash, and of course, that is precisely what happens. Dash has to team up with Assaf, Verti, sophomore class President Mary (Lena Dunham) and a helpful lunch lady (Susan Sarandon) to try and reach the top of the school so they can be rescued, before the whole school sinks.

 

The film is basically what you get if you animated a mishmash of John Hughes and The Poseidon Adventure or The Towering Inferno). The animation style is often rudimentary on the surface – the characters aren’t Don Hertzfeldt stick figures by any means, but they aren’t overly detailed either. Shaw does excel in the backgrounds however – often creating intense, flashing room that leave our heroes in striking silhouette. His other influences ranger from old school Nintendo games – the ones where a character stutters across the screen to fight bad guys, but only have one move, to a deliberate reference to A Charlie Brown Christmas. The result is actually quite charming – as if a high school sophomore’s doodle book came to life along with his fantasies of the school being destroyed, and all his enemies being vanquished.

 

I liked the vocal work in the movie as well – even if, for the most part, Shaw seemed to cast people to do things right in the centre of their sweet spot. Still, it works – and the film does as a whole as well. It’s fun and funny, and just as you start to feel the film flagging a little bit, it’s over. I look forward to seeing what Shaw does next – he’s made a very good first film, but I think there’s something more waiting to come out.

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Movie Review: My Little Pony: The Movie

My Little Pony: The Movie ** ½ / *****

Directed by: Jayson Thiessen.

Written by: Meghan McCarthy and Rita Hsiao and Michael Vogel and Joe Ballarini based on the television series created by Lauren Faust.

Starring: Uzo Aduba (Queen Novo), Ashleigh Ball (Applejack / Rainbow Dash), Adam Bengis (Code Red), Emily Blunt (Tempest Shadow / Fizzlepop Berrytwist), Kristin Chenoweth (Princess Skystar), Michelle Creber (Applebloom), Taye Diggs (Capper), Brian Dobson (Verko), Andrea Libman (Fluttershy / Pinkie Pie), Max Martini (Boyle), Britt McKillip (Princess Cadance), Peter New (Big Mac), Mark Oliver (First Mate Mullet), Nicole Oliver (Princess Celestia / Lix Spittle), Michael Peña (Grubber), Zoe Saldana (Captain Celaeno), Liev Schreiber (The Storm King), Sia (Songbird Serenade), Tabitha St. Germain (Rarity / Princess Luna / Granny Smith / Muffins), Tara Strong (Princess Twilight Sparkle), Cathy Weseluck (Spike the Dragon).

 

When you become a parent, you end up watching a whole lot of movies and TV shows you never otherwise would – My Little Pony is certainly on that list. It’s been around since I was a kid, sure, but somewhere in the last 30 years, so one determined that it didn’t need to be so stereotypically girlly and frilly – that that the show could use some action and humor to go along with its sappy messages of friendship and kindness. The show has been big for years, and although I avoided the feature film version when it came out this fall (my wife got saddled with that duty) – my girls (especially my three year old) loved it so much, that I recently watched it on DVD.

 

First let me say this – unless you have kids, or are a Brony – there really is no reason for you to watch this film. This isn’t a Pixar film, or even a Dreamworks, film that tries to appeal to adults and kids at the same time – this is candy colored pablum aimed straight at the child’s brain, with only a joke or two for the audiences in the crowd. You are missing nothing by skipping this movie.

 

But I will say this for it – it’s better than it has to be. That doesn’t mean it’s good by any means – but the film is basically brand extension – it wants to add new characters to the series (and the toy line), created a new movie for parents to buy, or watch endlessly on Netflix eventually – and stopping off in theaters along the way is a good way to give it more visibility. The film could be a lot worse than it is, and still make money.

 

The film is typical kids movie stuff – an evil Unicorn (voiced by Emily Blunt) comes down and freezes almost all the ponies – except for Princess Twilight Sparkle, and her 5 best friends (6, including a small dragon), who then have to go on a journey to find a way to stop that Unicorn, and the Storm King, who she works for. Along the way, they make friends, sing songs and learn lessons. The film ends with an action movie climax – which is a little disappointing, because normally the ponies come up with smarted ways to solve their problems, but in this case, I guess not.

 

The film is overly sweet and sappy – and so colorful it will give you a headache. To me, this gets annoying, quickly – but to a three year old like my daughter, she loved every single moment. That’s a little sad of course – but she has plenty of time to realize there are better movies than My Little Pony out there. Until then, she’s more than happy with this one – which I assume we’ll watch approximately 100 times – and she’ll love every time.

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Movie Review: Ferdinand

Ferdinand *** / *****

Directed by: Carlos Saldanha.

Written by: Robert L. Baird and Tim Federle and Brad Copeland and Ron Burch & David Kidd and Don Rhymer based on the book by Munro Leaf and Robert Lawson.

Starring: John Cena (Ferdinand), Kate McKinnon (Lupe), Jeremy Sisto (Ferdinand's Father), Bobby Cannavale (Valiente's Father / Valiente), Raúl Esparza (Moreno), Juanes (Juan), Jerrod Carmichael (Paco), Lily Day (Nina), Anthony Anderson (Bones), Peyton Manning (Guapo), David Tennant (Angus), Gina Rodriguez (Una), Daveed Diggs (Dos), Gabriel Iglesias (Cuatro), Miguel Ángel Silvestre (El Primero).

 

It has not been a banner year for mainstream animation in 2017. It started good with The Lego Batman Movie – a much needed, fun take on a character who has been taken far too seriously in recent years, and ended strong with Pixar’s Coco – a film that continues to grow in my mind after it ended. Almost everything else this year has been middle of the road at best – and The Emoji Movie at worst. Ferdinand – the last major animated film of the year – is another middle of the road entry – but at least it’s a sweet one, less concerned with manic energy, than its message of being true to yourself no matter what – which in this case, takes on the form of questioning traditional gender roles. I’m not going to argue the film is great – but it was rather fun – and my girls (6 and 3) loved it.

 

The film, based on the beloved children’s book classic, is about Ferdinand the Bull (voiced by John Cena – surprisingly sweet) – who as a child, is being raised on a ranch that only raises champion fighting bulls to be used in the ring against matadors. He doesn’t want to fight though – and doesn’t take part in the fighting games the other young bulls do. After his father “wins” and gets to go fight the matador, and never comes back, Ferdinand escapes – and ends up being raised by Nina – a little girl, who embraces Ferdinand’s sensitive side. Things go wrong – of course – and Ferdinand once again finds himself being forced into situations where he is supposed to fight. But all he wants to do is smell the flowers.

 

The classic children’s book, of course, wasn’t nearly as padded in terms of its story. This is a film that adds too many characters – even if almost all of them are charmingly voiced, by a diverse cast of voice actors – best of all, Kate McKinnon in what could have been a stock, annoying sidekick role, but raises the comedy level through pure force of will. There are dance contests, car chases, and a few too many action scenes as well that don’t add much except for runtime and action to the film.

 

The film was directed by Carlos Saldanha – who is responsible for several Ice Age films, as well as both Rio films. The film, like the Rio movies, is colorful and inoffensive fun. It doesn’t strive for much more beyond that – but doesn’t really need to. This isn’t one of those crossover animated film – ones where you say parents will enjoy as much as their children. They won’t. But the time passes pleasantly enough, and there are some surprises along the way. It’s not a great animated film – but it will do if you can’t find a theater playing Coco.

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Movie Review: World of Tomorrow Episode II: The Burden of Other People's Thoughts

World of Tomorrow Episode Two: The Burden of Other People's Thoughts *****/ *****

Directed by: Don Hertzfeldt 

Written by: Don Hertzfeldt 

Starring: Julia Pott, Winona Mae

 

There are only a few films I would describe as perfect – but Don Hertzfeldt’s 17 minute 2015 short, World of Tomorrow, is one of them. That film is arguably the best sci fi film of the century so far, and is more packed with ideas in just 17 minutes that any feature I can think of in the same genre. It combined primitive stick figures, with complex digital animation to come up with a funny, sad, insightful and truly profound work about our world, and our place in it – with little Emily, about three, off in her own little world, being visited by a future clone of hers from centuries in the future, to show us the sad world humans now live in. It didn’t need a sequel – it was perfect as it was.

 

And yet, Hertzfeldt decided to make a sequel anyway, and amazingly enough, he crafted something nearly as good. (Perhaps the film is as good as the first one – I’ll let you know when I’ve seen it as many times as I watched the first one – so, only about a hundred more viewings to go). While the first film looked outward, this film is very much inward looking. I’m not sure I’d call any of Hertzfeldt’s work hopeful – but this one is, at least a little.

 

This time, Emily Prime (a three year old, who has no concept of what is going on) is once again visited by one of her future clones. This clone – with a 6 stamped on her forehead – was supposed to be next in line to “become” Emily – but something has gone wrong, and she needs Emily Prime memories. The pair of them venture off into the mind of the clone, which can be a dark place. There is a Bog of Reality, which has essentially drown the glimmers of hope for this Emily – who cannot tell what are genuine memories, and what are other peoples. She thinks she can play the piano – only to find that must have been some other Emily. Meanwhile, Emily Prime does what little kids do – which is to live completely in the moment, with her drawings, and her side trips into the Land of Triangles, which can morph into the Land of Squares, at a moment’s notice.

 

There is essentially, I think, the basic point of this film – that we cannot live in the past, and we cannot fear the future. Children, like Emily Prime, have the right idea – which is to live in the here and now, because it’s the only moment we are guaranteed. We cannot be burdened by memories of the past.

 

That, too, though makes the film sound too simple than it is. Once again, Hertzfeldt has crafted a funny, sad film chocked full of ideas, and brilliant animation – combined childlike drawings, with jaw dropping digital animation, to come up with something wholly unique to him. The shock isn’t there that there was the first time, but Hertzfeldt more than clears the bar. This is one of the greatest sequels ever made – and if Hertzfeldt decides to keep exploring the World of Tomorrow, I’ll be first in line to see it.

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Movie Review: Coco

Coco **** / *****

Directed by: Lee Unkrich & Adrian Molina.

Written by: Adrian Molina & Matthew Aldrich and Lee Unkrich & Jason Katz.

Starring: Anthony Gonzalez (Miguel), Gael García Bernal (Héctor), Benjamin Bratt (Ernesto de la Cruz), Alanna Ubach (Mamá Imelda), Renee Victor (Abuelita), Jaime Camil (Papá), Alfonso Arau (Papá Julio), Herbert Siguenza (Tío Oscar / Tío Felipe), Gabriel Iglesias (Clerk), Lombardo Boyar (Plaza Mariachi / Gustavo), Ana Ofelia Murguía (Mamá Coco), Natalia Cordova-Buckley (Frida Kahlo), Selene Luna (Tía Rosita), Edward James Olmos (Chicharrón).

 

There’s no real secret that Pixar has been going through a transition period of sorts in the last decade or so. The studio was once the most consistent force in mainstream Hollywood – churning out one great film after another starting with 1995’s Toy Story and finishing with Toy Story 3 fifteen years later. That run of 11 films isn’t perfect (it includes the so-so A Bug’s Life and Cars, both of which to be honest would be among the best films of any other animation studio working at that time).The 8 films since then though have been more of a mixed bag. Like every other studio in Hollywood, Pixar seemingly has gotten more risk averse – planning more sequels and prequels, and less original content (the only 2 sequels in the original 11 films were Toy Story 2 & 3 – the last 8 films have included Cars 2 and 3, Finding Dory and Monsters University – with Incredibles 2 and Toy Story 4 next on tap). But that run also included Inside Out – which was my favorite film of 2015, and one of the best films Pixar has ever made. And even their “minor” films have mostly been good – well animated, intelligent and funny – putting most other animation studios to shame – even while, undeniably, they rarely live up to the best Pixar has given us over their run.

 

Their new film Coco, then, is a welcome return to form for Pixar. It doesn’t quite reach the heights of their best work, but its close enough to still be considered a triumph. The film is smart, funny animated adventure – and one of the most visually stunning films Pixar has ever created. The film also packs an emotional wallop – and a surprising one this time, because about 2/3 of the way through the movie I thought to myself for once Pixar hasn’t made me cry – only to have the last third have me in tears more than once (yes, I’m a sap).

 

The film is about a smart, talented young boy of 11 named Miguel – living in Mexico and part of the “only Mexican family who hates music”. This is because his great, great grandfather was a musician – and selfishly abandoned his family to pursue his musical dream, never to be heard from again. So now, they make shoes. But Miguel doesn’t want to make shoes – he wants to play music, and has trained himself in private to be very good. He wants to be just like his idol – the late Ernesto de la Cruz – and is determined to enter a contest on the Day of the Dead to prove his skills. Through a complicated series of events though, he ends up cursed, and crossing over to the Land of the Dead. He has until sunrise to get his family’s blessing to return to the land of the living – something they will happily grant him, as long as he promises not to play music ever again. So, Miguel instead decides to track down his great-great grandfather – who he has deduced is Ernesto de las Cruz himself – to give his blessing instead.

 

Yes, the plot of Coco is perhaps a little too busy, and there are quite a few characters (I haven’t even mentioned Hector yet – and he’s basically a second lead, a lonely man who says he will help Miguel, as long as he’ll bring his portrait back with him – that will allow him to cross over to the land of the living once again). There are also spirit animals, and chase sequences, and any number of lively musical numbers.

 

The film looks amazing. The Land of the Dead is at once a dark, and somewhat scary place (my six year old was a little scared for a while when they first crossed over – although, to be fair, it didn’t faze my three year old at all), and also in other moments, a colorful and lively one. The film is steeped in Mexican folklore – and respectful of it – so even if this is a film about death, it’s still light hearted enough for children (it shows a world in which the dead are not gone, as long as they are remembered). Yes, everyone in the land of the dead are skeletons – but for the most part, they are amusing skeletons – and even when they bones fall apart, they are easily reassembled.

 

The film was directed by Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina – Unkrich was responsible for Toy Story 3, and this Molina’s first time directing, although he’s been with Pixar for years. Over the years, I’ve started to believe more and more than who directs the Pixar films matters more than I first thought – and while Unkrich isn’t quite at the level of Brad Bird, Pete Docter – he’s getting there.

 

This has not been a good year for animation – especially from American studios making movies for children. There has been a whole lot of average films, and only a couple that are really good (The Lego Batman Movie, Cars 3 and Captain Underpants have been the highlights of a fairly meh block). Coco is so much fun, so colorful, so different, that it immediately becomes a highlight for this year. Yes, Pixar still needs to firmly re-establish itself as the powerhouse it was a decade ago (which, may be harder with John Lasseter taking a leave of absence because “mistakes were made”) – but Coco is a step in the right direction.

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Movie Review: The Breadwinner

The Breadwinner **** / *****

Directed by: Nora Twomey.

Written by: Anita Doron & Deborah Ellis.

Starring: Saara Chaudry (Parvana), Laara Sadiq (Fattema), Shaista Latif (Soraya), Ali Badshah (Nurullah), Noorin Gulamgaus (Idrees / Sulayman), Kawa Ada (Razaq), Soma Chhaya (Shauzia).

 

The Breadwinner is the third feature from Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon – following the delightful The Secret of Kells and even better Song of the Sea. Refreshingly, this is a studio that has its own visual look – using traditional animation, rather than the computer generated look that American studios (even good ones) have seemed to fully embrace. While this studio is building slowly, they are craving out a name for themselves in making beautiful, intelligent animated films for adult audiences, and older children. I’m not quite sure that The Breadwinner is as good as The Secret of Kells or Song of the Sea – the story is clunky at times – but it is every bit as gorgeous.

 

The story takes place in Kabul, under Taliban rule. Young Parvana is an 11 year old girl, the daughter of a former teacher, who lost in leg in one of Afghanistan’s many wars. Women – and girls – are forbidden from leaving their house without being accompanied by a male family member – something that becomes impossible once an angry former student – and now Taliban member – has Parvana’s beloved father arrested and thrown in jail. In order to provide for her mother, older sister and infant brother, Parvana eventually decides she must sheer off her hair, disguise herself as a boy – and head out into the streets of Kabul – to earn money, and bring home good. Another war is coming – of course – and eventually, she and her family has to make one difficult or nearly impossible decision after another – to survive, and maybe, rescue their father.

 

First things first – the film looks utterly beautiful. The look is very similar to the previous two cartoon saloon films – especially in terms of character design, with the characters having large eyes, and open faces. There is a story within the story, that has a different style as well – almost cut and paste like – that works. This is one of the most beautiful animated films of the year.

 

The film does suffer a little bit in terms of its plotting. The story within a story goes on too long – and because they intersperse it throughout the film, it often interrupts the regular plot of the film at annoying moments – and doesn’t redeem itself in at the payoff of the story (which undercuts what should be a powerful moment). The film seemingly forgets about the father in jail for a good hour in the middle of the movie – before they need to resolve the story, and up the emotional stakes.

 

Still, the plot mainly works in the larger sense – and even when it falters, moment by moment, the film is beautiful to behold. Director Nora Twomey – making her solo directing debut (she was a co-director on The Secret of Kells), establishes herself as a director on par with her Cartoon Saloon cohort Tomm Moore. The film isn’t for small children – who will likely – and understandably – before scared by it. But mature kids will get a lot out of it. It is a film that needs to be seen – by a studio that is quickly becoming one of my favorites.

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