My Day with Film (Tuesday, 11/29/2016)

I decided today to start a daily diary with my interactions with film. I'm not sure exactly what it will be aside from a little insight into how my warped mind works when it comes to movies on a daily basis. I don't have time to cover stories like these all the time on my podcast, so I thought I'd just write everything down. I hope you'll stick with me and continue to listen to The Reel Movies Podcast and continue to read this blog. So here goes:


Tuesday, 11/29/16

Dear Diary,

Today is Tuesday, which means it's another week with more new releases on home video. I've been doing well recently with saving some money. Christmas gifts for the family are all pretty much set; now I'm saving for my best friend's bachelor party next year. Overall I've been trying to reduce the number of Blu-rays I buy, particularly at release day prices. I have a collecting problem that I'm slowly getting under control. I didn't go nuts with Barnes & Noble's 50% off Criterion November sale like I usually do, and I also didn't buy any movies on Black Friday this year, which is extremely uncharacteristic of me.

No, I had to wait until literally the day after all the damn sales ended so that I could get DON'T BREATHE and PETE'S DRAGON - two of my favorite films of 2016. FML!

I'm ecstatic to have them in my collection, but the whole time I was in Target today, I was thinking "These are probably going to be on Netflix or Hulu or Crackle someday, and if they aren't these Blu-rays will come down in price another day. You don't need them today." Then my inner Kermit the Frog took over.

"Disney Blu-rays very rarely, if ever, go on sale after release day. You might as well jump on it now. And you loved DON'T BREATHE! To sweeten the deal, both movies have a director's commentary! You can't beat that!" 

I hate you, Kermit.

I loved both of these films when I saw them in theaters this year. I reviewed both on the blog a couple of months ago. They're for completely different audiences, but I'd recommend them to anyone in those target audiences. I'm excited to check out the bonus features on each disc. 

Mark these famous last words - PETE'S DRAGON and DON'T BREATHE will be the last two Blu-rays to go on my shelf between now and Christmas Day. 

It's the middle of the afternoon on Tuesday, and I'm not sure what the rest of the day in cinema will hold. I just reviewed THE LOVE WITCH, and I laughed to myself that I reviewed a '60s inspired pulp melodrama before DOCTOR STRANGE, MOANA or FANTASTIC BEASTS. All great movies, by the way. I wanted to watch my Criterion disc of Terence Malick's THE NEW WORLD over Thanksgiving because when else would you watch Terence Malick's THE NEW WORLD? I didn't get to do that over the holiday, so I'll try to knock that out tonight. Ah, but I haven't watched this week's episodes of WESTWORLD or THE WALKING DEAD yet. And I still have several discs at home I haven't popped in yet, including Criterion's THE APU TRILOGY which I got for Christmas last year. Not to mention everything in my Netflix, Hulu, Amazon, HBO and Crackle queues. There simply aren't enough hours in the day. I feel slightly overwhelmed by the amount of content I have to get through and eventually revisit, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 

Until tomorrow.

BC

"Queen of Katwe" Review

Disney's Queen of Katwe tells the true-life story of Phiona Mutesi, a young Ugandan woman who, from 2010 to 2014, became one of the world's most exciting chess players.

With their family life crumbling, Phiona and her younger brother Brian take up chess at the hands of coach Robert Katende (David Oyelowo), head of the local sports ministry program. Coach Katende cultivates Phiona's talent, much to the chagrin of the girl's mother Harriet (Lupita Nyong'o). Phiona easily beats the other children in her program and quickly becomes the anchor of the team. Though not without a few setbacks, Phiona makes several successful tournament runs against school-educated opponents. She later becomes a national hero when she's invited to play at the Chess Olympiad, one of the biggest tournaments in the world.

The story and script hardly differentiate much from your standard, feel-good, Disney sports movie fare. What really makes this film worthwhile are the performances, especially from Nyong'o and Oyelowo who are at the top of their respective games right now. Nobody will win any Oscars for this one, but this cast should be proud of the dramatically satisfying work they hand in here. Oyelowo displays passion and heart in every smirk and in every fist pump as he watches Phiona compete. I wish I could've played anything under this guy. Nyong'o is simply a tour-de-force. They say "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." This woman plays Harriet with a fiery disposition, one molded by her harsh surroundings. In turn, Harriet is a mother who raises her kids through "tough love," and the movie is all the better for it.

Queen of Katwe comes recommended as a largely-satisfying drama despite some familiar sports-movie tropes.

B+

"Pete's Dragon" (2016) Review

Continuing their series of big-budget reboots of back-catalog classics, Disney now brings us an update of the 1977 classic Pete's Dragon. Directed by David Lowery (Ain't Them Bodies Saints), the new film dares its audience to dream big. Although the classic music has been axed, the story is still as heartwarming as you remember, with dazzling visual effects to boot.

A young boy named Pete (Oakes Fegley) becomes stranded in the forest following a violent car accident. With no way of reaching home, Pete's only option is to try to make his way in the forest. Fortunately, he bumps into a legendary creature who becomes his best friend - a dragon named Elliot. When Elliot's way of life is threatened by a local logging company, Pete sets out to save his friend with the help of a nurturing park ranger (Bryce Dallas Howard), her imaginative father (Robert Redford), and a young girl named Natalie (Oona Laurence).

Pete's Dragon is the kind of film that celebrates and rewards imagination. They set up Redford's character as a man who claims to have seen the dragon when he was young, having told stories to his daughter and the rest of the kids in town for years. The payoff is so sweet when Elliot reveals himself to them for the first time as it feels like the climax of these characters' entire lives. It's a confirmation that they haven't been crazy for the past 40 years. It's easy to think that Redford is playing a now grown-up version of the original Pete from the earlier movie. That would've been an interesting subplot to explore in this new movie, but alas, hindsight is 20/20. It's still a wonderful film, and Redford is a welcome addition to the cast.

Bryce Dallas Howard hands in another fine performance as Grace, the ranger who takes Pete in. Wes Bentley fares fine in a supporting role as Jack, Grace's fiance and owner of the logging company. He just doesn't have much to do that allows him to show the chops he's honed in excellent recent stints on TV's American Horror Story. The child actors, Fegley and Laurence, are tremendous, hitting all of their needed emotional beats like seasoned pros. Karl Urban steals nearly every scene he's in as Jack's hotheaded brother Gavin, who manages the logging company. Gavin is a skeptic, so it's hilarious when he finally encounters Elliot in the forest. He winds up playing the villain role but isn't necessarily evil, which is kind of interesting. The biggest villain in this story is, I think, deforestation itself, and Gavin is just a representation of that.

The film leaves us with a sweet "save the trees, save your imagination" message that's so classic Disney that it's almost painful. Everything is tied up in a nice little bow, which is fine. It's nice to have a big, but self-contained, movie that doesn't feel like it's a stepping stone to a wider franchise. At the end of a summer filled with so-so blockbusters, Pete's Dragon is the savior you've been waiting for.

A

"The Legend of Tarzan" Review

Eric from True Blood stars in this very non-Disney, hard PG-13 version of Edgar Rice Burroughs' "Tarzan."

Seriously, if you were expecting Phil Collins and Rosie O'Donnell, don't bother reading this review. You'll already be let down by this movie. Shame on you.

David Yates, the director of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows invites audiences to experience one of the summer's biggest surprises. The first smart move this film makes is that it doesn't focus on Tarzan's origin. It's smartly dispensed through short flashbacks. We've all seen the Disney version. The past obviously influences the actions and motivations of the characters, but the film spends little time dwelling on what we pretty much already know. The Legend of Tarzan picks up in the late 19th century with John Clayton/"Tarzan" (Alexander Skarsgard) married to Jane (Margot Robbie) and serving as an active member in England's House of Lords. Lord Clayton is called upon when the Crown sets its sights on an advantageous pact with Belgium in the African Congo - Tarzan's original home. Tarzan, Jane, and American emissary George Washington Williams (Samuel L. Jackson) are sent to Africa to visit the natives and investigate activity at a nearby diamond mine. The indigenous peoples are thrilled for Tarzan and Jane's return. Meanwhile, Tarzan experiences tough love when he's reunited with his ape brother who sees the white man as a deserter. When Tarzan learns that the head of the Belgian Force Publique, Leon Rom (Christoph Waltz), plans to oppress and exploit the natives for profit, vine-swinging mayhem ensues.

This film turned out to be precisely the action-packed shot in the arm my summer needed. The Conjuring 2 is still my favorite Hollywood flick of the season, even though summer isn't really for horror movies. Tarzan is arguably the best big-budget Hollywood action blockbuster in theaters right now.

It has everything a great summer movie should - a good-looking cast that can truly act, punchy dialogue, thrilling set pieces, and a ruthless villain. It's all evocatively shot with a green hue by cinematographer Henry Braham (The Golden Compass, Guardians of the Galaxy 2). For every moment the film uses extremely corny "slo-mo" shots, there are at least two others that would make Chivo proud.

As for the players, Skarsgard is perfectly cast as Tarzan. He has the physique and pulls off the brooding-in-a-tree thing with ease. I'm disappointed that an actress as talented as Margot Robbie is pigeonholed into a damsel-in-distress role. The chemistry between these two stars is satisfactory but nothing to write home about. It serves its purpose for a summer movie. Jackson is a welcome addition as the comic relief who huffs and puffs across the jungle as he struggles to keep up with the nimble Tarzan. It's sort of refreshing to see Jackson in a less intense, less serious role. I'm sitting here laughing to myself at the thought of that joke about the ape's anatomy. Rounding out the cast is Waltz at his dastardly best again as the wicked Captain Rom. The film takes many cues from Werner Herzog's classic adventure film Fitzcarraldo, with Waltz essentially elevating Klaus Kinski's shtick to supervillain status.

He'll need it since Tarzan swings onto the screen in 2016 as an anti-colonial superhero of sorts. In a season where movies are best enjoyed at face value, The Legend of Tarzan proves a satisfying yarn.

B+  

"Finding Dory" Review

Disney and Pixar Animation Studios invite millennials to revisit their childhoods with a sequel that will most assuredly pack theaters with the awkward dichotomy of viewers aged 5 and 25.

Finding Dory lends backstory to everyone's favorite memory-challenged blue tang (voiced by Ellen DeGeneres) from Finding Nemo. As a young fish, Dory was separated from her parents and has spent her entire life looking for them. Her search is interrupted when she (literally) bumps into Marlin, (voiced by Albert Brooks) a clownfish searching frantically for his missing son. One year later, Dory starts recalling fragments of her childhood; clues that she's convinced will lead her to her family. Her search leads her to "the Jewel of Morro Bay, California," which turns out to be a marine life institute/eco-park. Meanwhile, Marlin and Nemo follow Dory to ensure that she doesn't get too lost. At the institute, Dory meets several new characters including Hank the octopus (voiced by Ed O'Neill), Destiny the whale shark (voiced by Kaitlin Olson), and Bailey the beluga whale (voiced by Ty Burrell). Each has their own set of endearing dysfunctions; Destiny is nearsighted, Bailey's echolocation doesn't work properly, and Hank may be the only sea animal who WANTS to go to the Cleveland aquarium. Despite their flaws, Dory needs all the help she can get if she's going to find her parents and live happily ever after.

Let's be clear. Finding Nemo is still a superior film in every way. Dory suffers from "sequelitis," which means it forfeits some of its charm by repeating too many story beats from Nemo. Many of the newly-imagined plot points hinge on mindless cartoon mayhem rather than a nuanced approach to grown-up themes and a subtle sense of humor - hallmarks of Pixar's best and brightest.

Perhaps controversially, the film still glosses over the thing with the lesbian couple and also seems to poke fun at characters who are different, like Gerald the sea lion, who comes off as a caricature of mental retardation and the brunt of several jokes from new characters Fluke (voiced by Idris Elba) and Rudder (voiced by Dominic West). Depending on how they typically respond to portrayals in movies and television, parents of children with developmental disabilities will walk away either appalled or overjoyed by the way Dory involves a character who overcomes all obstacles either by using her disability to her advantage or with the assistance of a friend.

Potential flaws aside, Dory maintains a fascinating sense of pathos with the main character's backstory, and it's impossible not to fall for some of the new side characters like Destiny and Bailey. It's far from a masterpiece, but this is Pixar's best sequel since Toy Story 3, and it is absolutely a journey worth taking in 3-D.

B+

"Alice: Through the Looking Glass" Review

After Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland adaptation made over $1 billion worldwide in 2010, it was only a matter of time before Disney invested in a sequel. Though Burton has relegated himself to the producer's chair this time around, six years seems to have been long enough to get the ball rolling on Alice: Through the Looking Glass. James Bobin (Muppets Most Wanted) takes over directing duties with another script penned by Disney stalwart Linda Woolverton (Maleficent, The Lion King). Though it features some sharp dialogue and a stronger sense of urgency than its predecessor, the film largely ends up feeling like little more than sensory overload and motion sickness from a big-budget Disneyland ride. "Back to the Future on bath salts," as one fellow patron eloquently put it.

The story here is that Alice Kingsleigh (Mia Wasikowska) is the captain of her late father's merchant sea vessel, the "Wonder." Upon returning home from a voyage to the Far East, Alice is slapped with a proposition from her former betrothed, who now sits on the managing board of the bank: sign over the deed to the "Wonder" and surrender the position of captain lest Alice and her mother wish to have their home repossessed. Following an awkward confrontation at a party, Alice runs and hides in a room where she hears the voice of Absolem, the hookah-smoking caterpillar-turned-butterfly (voiced by Alan Rickman, in his last-ever role). Absolem appears to Alice in the room and flies straight into a mirror as if it were a barrier of water. Alice curiously follows and finds herself back in Underland where she learns that the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) has slipped into depression after discovering what he believes is a sign from his estranged family. Determined to help, Alice steals a device from Father Time (Sacha Baron Cohen) and uses it to travel back in time to save both Hatter and his family. Without this device, however, Time "himself" remains in constant jeopardy, and thus Alice ultimately jeopardizes the existence of time for everyone in Underland. Can she save the Hatter before "Time" literally fizzles out?

As expected, the cast of talented voice actors and character players turn in great performances with Depp standing out more here than he did in the last film. He's given more material to work with and thus crafts a more interesting, more conflicted character at odds with his past. Helena Bonham Carter also returns as the "red queen" Iracebeth and gets a deeper backstory. She's still as over-the-top as ever, and it seems like Bonham Carter is just having fun at this point.

The film suffers mostly from poorly rendered visuals. It looks like it could've been made alongside its predecessor six years (or even longer) ago. Following the mind-blowing realization of Jon Favreau's The Jungle Book, Disney's follow-up is a visual feast that left this reviewer hungry for something more. As Alice zooms across time and half-baked animated environments, it's difficult to avoid feeling like this is a roller coaster that you need to disembark immediately.

The plot moves quickly, barely leaving time to process what's happened up to any given point. That said, the film revels in a small handful of side moments. Tweedledee and Tweedledum (both played by Matt Lucas) are hilarious anytime they're on-screen. There's also a show-stealing scene where Father Time crashes one of Hatter's tea parties in a way that begets a series of riotous quips and sight gags.

Ultimately, Alice: Through the Looking Glass isn't for the faint of heart. It has some decent pieces, but nothing congeals quite how it should. Everything moves too fast to really be taken seriously. Granted it's "Alice in Wonderland," but a tale so classic deserves classic treatment. There's little of that to be had here.

C+

"The Jungle Book" Review

Director Jon Favreau (Iron Man, Chef) delivers a mind-blowing adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book for Walt Disney Pictures. Favreau works from a script by Justin Marks (Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li).

Disney's newest live-action iteration finds impeccable balance in maintaining the crowd-friendly lightheartedness of the 1967 cartoon and the darker, more frightening edge of Kipling's original stories. This is an adventure picture that everyone in the family will get something out of no matter what. It's just that much fun.

Favreau's The Jungle Book picks up with the "man-cub" Mowgli (Neel Sethi) well-established as a member of the wolf pack overseen by Akela (voiced by Giancarlo Esposito) and Raksha (voiced by Lupita Nyong'o). On the day of the "water truce," in which all animals from the jungle are welcome to drink from the same watering hole, Mowgli receives an unwelcome threat from the tiger Shere Khan (voiced by Idris Elba) - "leave the jungle forever or perish." When Mowgli flees, Shere Khan decides to go back on his deal and hunt the man-cub down anyway. As he treks across the jungle, Mowgli undergoes a journey of self-discovery where he meets a slew of characters - some good, like the bear Baloo (voiced by Bill Murray), and some bad, such as Kaa the python (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) and King Louie the orangutan (voiced by Christopher Walken).

The artificial world that Favreau and everyone from the production designer to the art directors to the VFX wizards create together is the most immersive and lifelike since Life of Pi, maybe even Avatar. As wondrous as Pi's vast ocean and the planet of Pandora were, Favreau's jungle gets the edge because it feels the most plausible. Talking animals are most certainly the stuff of fantasy storytelling, but this jungle feels like a real location, and the animals themselves maintain a photorealistic appearance even while speaking. Nothing about this jungle's textures and foliage is stylized or "Seussified." Everything is modeled after real, tangible plant and animal life.

In two separate scenes, the camera follows Mowgli at the bottom of a landslide and later across a sloshing river with Baloo. In respective instances, mud and water speckle the lens as if filming on location, even though the end credits clearly state "Filmed entirely in Downtown Los Angeles."

Everyone loves to pooh-pooh the use of CGI in Hollywood's biggest blockbusters, but when it's used almost as a character in and of itself to supplement the larger story, and it's completed with such an eye for lifelike immersion, the artists and storytellers deserve nothing but praise. Save maybe Rogue One, The Jungle Book should have little to no competition on its way to the next Best Visual Effects Oscar.

The voice acting is mostly magnificent, with Murray, Elba, and Ben Kingsley as the panther Bagheera standing out. Elba's work, combined with the fine digital rendering of the tiger himself, make this Shere Khan one of Disney's nastiest all-time villains. He may even crack some "Best Movie Villains Ever" lists. Though Shere Khan certainly asserts dominance over Cruella de Ville and Ursula, time will tell how he stacks up against the likes of Darth Vader, Hans Gruber and Ledger's Joker. For me, it's pretty close.

Probably the most pleasant surprise out of all the recognizable voices was that of the late Garry Shandling who has a bit role as Ikki the porcupine. It's a riot to listen to Shandling spout lines one last time as he scuttles around claiming sticks and rocks for his home like an anal-retentive fusspot. Credit Favreau for affording the film the kind of breathing room that allows small moments like Ikki's to shine while maintaining the story's larger focus.

Not all the performances are A-grade however. Newcomer Sethi is as decent a choice as any to play a live-action Mowgli inspired by the cartoon. But some of his dialogue delivery feels corny, as if he's not really feeling it and is just saying lines because someone told him to. I also didn't care for Walken as Don Corleo - I mean - King Louie. As the monarch of the monkeys, Walken does his best Brando impression and then tries to sing Louie Prima. It's awful, and with Richard Sherman's retooled lyrics, this was easily the most grating sequence in an otherwise swingin' production.

It's just barely saved by a sly wink to Walken's classic "More Cowbell" skit from Saturday Night Live.

Thankfully these flaws never outweigh the film's senses of fun, humor and danger. The Jungle Book is an adventure well-worth taking with the entire family. The astonishing visuals pop even more in 3-D, and several sequences beg to be experienced in IMAX. If IMAX 3-D is an option in your area, don't think twice.

A-

"Zootopia" Review

With its 55th animated feature, Walt Disney Animation Studios serves up yet another home run in the form of Zootopia - a lush, colorful feature that may be too dense for kids. Older teens and adults should eat up the film's deep conspiracy plot and its mature, but never dirty, sense of humor. Keen-eyed fans of The Godfather, Breaking Bad, and past Disney animated hits will find plenty to chuckle about.

The story starts with Judy Hopps (Once Upon A Time's Ginnifer Goodwin), a bunny from a small country town with dreams of being a police officer in the big city of Zootopia. After being told to temper her expectations for the real world, Judy leaves the haters behind and heads to the police academy. Her first day on the job in Zootopia leads her to an encounter with a sly fox named Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman). After a rough first day, the city-slick Nick and greenhorn Judy become unlikely partners when Judy takes on a missing persons case in a last-ditch effort to save her career. As they chase down leads all over town, a more sinister plot comes to light.

If anything bad can be said about the film, it's that things fall into place too conveniently on more than one occasion for our heroes. I won't list examples in fear of giving too much away, but leads and hunches are often resolved with little effort from the story or the characters. This diminishes the stakes a bit and undermines some of the most interesting aspects of (especially) Judy's character. It's odd that the bunny who doesn't have a clue suddenly seems to have an answer for everything. When she doesn't, her conveniently paired fox friend does.

It's easy to see past these flaws, however, because of how incredible everything else is. The animation is gorgeous; every animal, building, article of clothing and drop of water is realized with vivid detail. And believe it or not, everything looks even better in 3-D.

The voice acting is also quite strong. Bateman shines as Nick, a perfect match for the actor's smart comedic sensibilities. Goodwin is perpetually engaging as Judy. The two lead an impeccable supporting cast including Idris Elba, Jenny Slate, J.K. Simmons, Octavia Spencer, Tommy Chong and Shakira among others.

Lastly, Disney delivers another ballsy message in the form of a colorful kid's movie. The central conflict of Zootopia stems from deep-seeded prejudice. Predators and prey co-habitate in Zootopia despite their biology, and this creates a fascinating, sometimes complicated, dynamic for both the characters and the world they exist in. It's a message that rings all too truly for the real world today, but the deeper issues at hand for us humans have existed for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
Until hate and prejudice are erased from the face of the earth, films like Zootopia will continue to timelessly inform as well as entertain.

A-