Fury

There's lots of bullets and blood flying around in Fury. Let's see if the sound that goes with it means something.

April 1945, the last month of the War in Europe. Hitler orders everybody in Germany to take up arms against the invading Allies. And the crew of the Sherman Tank Fury, which consists of Sergeant "Wardaddy" Collier (Brad Pitt), "Bible" Swan (Shia LaBeouf), "Gordo" Garcia (Michael Pena) and Grady Travis (Jon Bernthal), are more than willing to fight them.

Their newest recruit is typist Norman Ellison (Logan Lerman). Norman is completely unprepared for the carnage of war. Wardaddy and co. try to teach Norman how to be a man. Norman tries to stay sane. Their trek across Germany lets them see just how fanatical the Nazi cause can be.

(That just about sums it up.)

Writer/Director David Ayer, known for contemporary crime dramas such as End of Watch, goes back in time for this one. Ayer does a good job exemplifying that War is not Nice. There's a lot of blood and body-parts flying around in the battle scenes, even a flattened corpse in the mud. It's kind of like Saving Private Ryan except without the emotional impact. We mainly get blood and guts and not accompanying terror.

The standout sequence was Fury and its Ally Tanks dueling an indestructible Nazi tank. No matter what they do, the Nazi tank keeps on going and blasts the Ally Tanks. Only when Fury gets close enough do they blast the crew. 

The rest of the 134 minute runtime certainly takes its sweet time. The main plot doesn't kick in until the second half; that leads directly to the overly-extended climax. Meanwhile, we have to endure the Fury's veteran crew treating Norman harshly. Wardaddy redeems himself by showing some dignity later on. Grady, meanwhile, is unbelievably rude and not in a lovable way. The film treats Grady's eventual death with sadness; no wet eyes from me.

The tanks in Fury are actual surviving tanks from the war. That should get the attention of a few War aficionados more than the lingering story. Other than that, this is an average war film. In the meantime, we're two months away before another World War II drama, Unbroken, is released. That should get much more attention.

The Book of Life

Not all animated Spooktaculars have to be dark and grim. The latest 3D spooktacular, The Book of Life, is a bright, colorful fiesta directed by Jorge Gutierrez and produced by, among others, Guillermo Del Toro.

Once upon a time, during one Day of the Dead celebration, the Gods La Muerte (Kate del Castillo) and Xibalba (Ron Perlman) had a disagreement. La Muerte ruled the good heaven, the Land of the Remembered and Xibalba ruled the bad version, the Land of the Forgotten. Xibalba wants to trade, so the two Gods wager the fate of the cosmos on two mortal amigos named Manolo and Joaquin. La Muerte wins if Manolo ends up with Maria, daughter of the town general, while Xibalba wins if Joaquin does it instead.

Years later, Manolo (Diego Luna) is an aspiring musician forced to uphold the family bull-fighting tradition and Joaquin (Channing Tatum) is a vain war-hero. Maria (Zoe Saldana) tries to keep the peace between the two. Xibalba decides to win the bet with some cheating. Manolo finds himself in the Land of the Remembered and must reinstate La Muerte to return alive. And there's also an evil desperado on the horizon...

And all of this is related to a bunch of schoolkids by a museum tour guide (Christina Applegate).

This is the most vibrant spooktacular you'll see this year. The main characters' puppet-like designs certainly help them stand out. The environments they inhabit are colorful and exaggerated. Some good songs, including some from composer Gustavo Santaolalla and Paul Williams, grab the viewer's attention. It's fitting as the movie is about a holiday which celebrates life rather than dread death.

There's a lot that happens during the 95 minute runtime. The desperado subplot verges on being an after-thought as the guy is an unremarkable villain. Joaquin flip-flops between good guy and full-of-himself so much I barely kept track. If these elements were better developed, we would've had a better narrative. Meawhile, getting to the good stuff can try the patience of a few viewers (like myself at times).

The Book of Life succeeds because of its visual design. Anyone looking for a good animated film about Mexican culture will find it here. It's a good effort that should make for a nice time at the movies.

Gone Girl

A dark, disturbing novel such as Gone Girl got itself its ideal cinematic translator in director David Fincher. The movie's script is by the novel's author, former Entertainment Weekly critic Gillian Flynn. Anyone expecting a twisted tale will get their money's worth.

Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) thought he met his "Amazing Amy" Elliot (Rosamund Pike), the model of her parents' children's book series. They thought that their wedding two years later was the best thing ever. After a few years, however, they've grown to loathe each other. It got worst once they moved to North Carthage to settle Nick's family affairs.

July 5th, 2012. Their fifth wedding anniversary. Nick's awfully-wedded wife finds a new way to torment her husband: she disappears.

The Feds and Police immediately start searching for Amy. The media immediately pegs Nick their prime suspect before they have any evidence. Nick's double life comes to light before public eyes. And we, the audience, see "Amazing Amy's" double-life ... revealing her as a cracked shell one best avoid.

Much of the film is told in Amy's voice-over narration. The first half pegs her as an innocent, frightened woman. The second half reveals her self-destructive, narcissistic, misanthropic true nature. Pike's performance easily allows the audience to sympathize with her before the revelation.

As Nick, Ben Affleck also allows the audience to feel for him. His every public appearance is taken out-of-context and the private pressure is building. Amy's narration does put his audience sympathy levels on shaky ground before the reveal.

Many of David Fincher's usual contributors (Editor Kirk Baxter, Cinematographer Jeff Cronenweth and Composers Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross) efficiently build up the suspense and suspicion with their contributions. You will be kept on edge throughout the picture. Carrie Coon as Nick's sister Margo and Tyler Perry as Nick's Lawyer Tanner Bolt are great supporting cast members.

Gone Girl is one of the best thrillers I've seen and one of the best of the year. The suspense works even if you already know what to expect. That's what great direction and a great screenplay should do.

The Boxtrolls

Here be monsters. Lots of creepy monsters. They're cuddly, though.

A novel by Alan Snow, Here Be Monsters, was the basis for Laika's latest stop-motion spooktacular, The Boxtrolls. The end result is one of the most entertaining films I've seen in a while.

The Boxtrolls are critters who wear cardboard boxes, make stuff out of garbage and live underground. They've raised a human boy (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) to live among them. The Boxtrolls name themselves after their respective box; the boy is Eggs and his Boxtroll stepfather is Fish (Dee Bradley Baker).

Above them is the town of Cheesebridge, which idolizes and only eats cheese. The residents of Cheesebridge believe the Boxtrolls to be monsters who devour children. The evil Archibald P. Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) vows to rid the town of the Boxtrolls, if only to join the prestigious cheese-eating White Hats. Someone ought to drill it into him that he has a grotesque allergy to cheese.

As Snatcher snatches more Boxtrolls, including Fish, Eggs decides to act. Along the way, he meets Winnie (Elle Fanning), daughter of Pompous White Hat Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris). Eggs will have to use her help to find the Boxtrolls before Snatcher decides to do away with them.

The screen story, by Irena Brignull and Adam Pava, has plenty of satire. The White Hats are pompous fools so in love with cheese that they buy an expensive cheese wheel rather than build a children's hospital. Let's not forget how Snatcher so loves Cheese even if it kills him. The kids, meanwhile, will enjoy the antics of the Boxtrolls.

The film's puppets and sets are twisted, which suits the spooktacular mood well. The Boxtrolls are more lovable than grotesque, so they may not frighten small kids. But when Snatcher's allergy acts up and turns him into a dead-ringer for Quasimodo, watch out.

On the aural side, there's a good score by Dario Marianelli. A tune to watch out for is "The Boxtroll Song" by Monty Python Eric Idle. That is the catchiest part of the film.

The Boxtrolls keeps up the pace with its 96 minute runtime. So much so that I wasn't bored. The only complaint, a minor one, is that I kept mishearing certain names. But other than that, The Boxtrolls was a fun spooktacular worth remembering.