Moana

This is going to be a tight Animated Feature Oscar race. Zootopia and Kubo and the Two Strings are certified locks. Two spots will certainly go to films I'll never see before Oscar night. The fifth spot is reserved for Moana, Disney's epic new musical. 

Moana (Auli'i Cravalho) is the princess daughter of the chief of the Polynesian island of Motonui. Her father, Chief Tui, expects her to succeed him when the time comes. He also expects her to not sail past the reef. But that's before the fish become no-shows and vegetation turn rotten. The lava demon Te Ka's wrath threatens the world and only the lost heart of the creation Goddess Te Fiti can restore it. Fortunately, the ocean itself gives the heart to Moana. She sets sail to fulfill the epic quest alongside Heihei the stupid chicken.

They're joined by Maui (Dwayne Johnson), the demigod who stole Te Fiti's heart centuries ago. Moana thinks he needs to return it. But he needs his signature giant fishhook before they can face Te Ka. He wants to leave Moana but the Ocean won't let him. They join forces to save the world. The truth about Te Ka is complicated.

This is the CGI debut of directors Ron Clements and John Musker (The Little Mermaid, Aladdin), who share story credit with five others. Jared Bush is the lone writer with the "screenplay by" credit. It's a familiar Disney story except there's no Prince Charming or Charmless for Moana. Chief Tui is fine with about everything she does in their village except wayfinding. His reason for his restrictiveness is understandable. I'll admit a few plot points that would've been obvious were complete surprises.

The rousing music deserves a section. Mark Mancina composed the score and collaborated with Opetaia Foa'i and Hamilton creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda on the songs. The songs are great to listen to and are spectacular when paired with the visuals. They get the emotions across perfectly. The best songs are the wayfinding anthem, We Know the Way, and Moana's "I Am" song, How Far I'll Go. Either of them would sound great at the next Oscars.

The animated cast is great. Moana is a proactive, likable heroine. Maui is good comic relief and we feel it when he gets serious. Everything Heihei does is a perfect punchline. Moana's Gramma Tala (Rachel House) is a warm, funny mentor who's there when she's needed. The Kakamora, a tribe of miniature pirates, are fun antagonists; their scene is an action highlight. Tamatoa (Jemmaine Clement) the gigantic crab provides another action and musical highlight, Shiny. Let's not forget Te Ka and Te Fiti.

Moana's familiar story doesn't make it boring. Far from it. It's a nice introduction to the culture of Polynesia. It's a compelling story which makes you feel for 113 minutes. Either it, Zootopia or Kubo and the Two Strings would make worthy Oscar winners. I hope that I'll see the other two nominees, whoever they are.

The new short Inner Workings opens the film. It's the funny and emotional conflict between the brain and heart of a lowly office drone. It all leads to a nice ending. It's a great start to another great Disney film.

Rules Don't Apply

Warren Beatty hasn't appeared on the big screen since the mega bomb Town & Country, nor directed a movie since the highly praised Bulworth. That's finally changed with Rules Don't Apply, which finally lets him portray aviator, billionaire, filmmaker and recluse Howard Hughes.

In 1958, aspiring actress Marla Mabrey (Lilly Collins) and chauffeur Frank Forbes (Alden Ehrenreich) arrive in Los Angeles. They're both employees of Howard Hughes, who's never one for public appearances. They develop an attraction to each other. But they're devout Christians and know the eternal consequences for inappropriate relationships. They both get the sack if Mr. Hughes finds out about their relationship. It's a while before either of them meet him in the flesh.

The rest of the movie is about Frank and Marla dealing with Mr. Hughes' erratic behavior. He's nice to them sometimes and overbearing at other times. His investors have noticed his behavior and plan a financial coup. So Howard has to find a way out of it. Our young leads are caught up as Hughes makes his counter-coup. They wonder if the price of fame is too high.

Beatty and Bo Goldman's screenplay bookends in 1964 as a press conference waits for Hughes to debunk an alleged biography of him. I immediately recognized it as Clifford Irving's hoax biography, only a decade early and the "biographer's" name changed. Come to think of it, the opening says it plays fast and loose with history. So that should've been expected.

Beatty does a good job as old man Hughes. He gets Hughes' erratic behavior down so perfectly we can love him, hate him or empathize with him. He perfectly introduces himself by not appearing until much later. His first appearance does much for Beatty as it does for Hughes. The film builds up to what a bedridden Hughes looks like behind a curtain; it's not as bad as stories say. The last scene shows Hughes at his most tender.

There's a good collection of talent on both sides of the camera. Behind the camera, cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, production designer Jeannine Oppewall and costume designer Albert Wolsky provide a good recreation of Post Golden Age Hollywood. The four editors' best moment is when they unveil Hughes' famous plane, the Spruce Goose, in a harbor, after a quiet scene with Frank and Hughes. A collection of famous supporting stars surround our lead players. A few highlights include Annette Benning as Marla's mother, Matthew Broderick as Hughes' other driver, Levar, and Alec Baldwin and Martin Sheen as Hughes' concerned advisers, Robert Maheu and Noah Dietrich.

Rules Don't Apply can make a good double feature with Martin Scorsese's Hughes epic, The Aviator. While The Aviator is the true story of young Hughes, this movie is the fancified story of old man Hughes. It's also a good showcase for Warren Beatty after fifteen years away from the cineplex. Now what about that Dick Tracy followup that he's wanted to do? Be prepared for a steady 127 minutes.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk

Thanksgiving is this Thursday. There's plenty of movies to see on the big and small screens. One new movie on the former is Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, a story about honoring our nation's veterans. Its intentions are noble but its pacing and, perhaps, its visuals, may turn some off.

Pvt. Billy Lynn (Joe Alwyn) of Bravo Squad was an ordinary soldier in 2004 Iraq. That all changed when he was filmed fighting off insurgents to defend his friend, Sgt. Shroom (Vin Diesel). Shroom doesn't make it, while Billy becomes a decorated war hero. Bravo Squad is sent back to the States for a victory tour. Their final destination is Dallas, where they'll be the guest stars for the Cowboys' Halftime Show on their Thanksgiving Day Game. The Cowboys' owner, Norm Oglesby (Steve Martin), wants to buy their movie rights. Albert (Chris Tucker) is the producer hoping to broker the deal.

Billy finds his new war hero status unnerving. All the ultra-patriotic people he meets don't know what he's been through. But he has to be cool in front of the cameras; after the show, Bravo Squad ships back to Iraq. His older sister, Kathryn (Kristin Stewart), begs him to stay. His sense of duty might be even louder...

Director Ang Lee's followup to Life of Pi, for which he won his second Oscar, adapts Ben Fountain's 2012 novel. The film's main story is Billy and Bravo Squad in Dallas for the Big Game. Billy's fateful battle and subsequent visit home are gradually told in flashbacks. These flashbacks unfold so gradually that the film feels longer than 110 minutes. There are some flashbacks that just cut off... It gets better once they're done. A fistfight between Bravo Squad and Stadium Security turns into a running gag when the latter group jumps them two more times. The ending felt rushed and questionable to me.

The most highly publicized technical aspect is John Toll's cinematography. The film is shot in 4K 3D at 120 fps, five times faster than normal. My untrained eye didn't notice anything special it brought to the dramatic scenes. I thought the Squad's feast at the Stadium was exquisite, though. Billy's PTSD flashbacks are where the film's visuals stood out. When Bravo Squad is brought for a press conference, there are imagine spots for Billy where everything around him goes black-and-white. That looked cool. Only a few theaters actually have "the whole shebang" (as Lee called it). The rest will have to wait for DVD and Blu-Ray.

The cast isn't outdone by the cameras. Joe Alwyn makes a great film debut as Billy Lynn. He's a nice guy in extraordinary circumstances; you'll feel for him when he suffers. The cast of Bravo Squad is made of likable characters with distinct personalities. Even Garrett Hedlund's Sgt. Dime, the rough guy, proves likable in the end. Kristin Stewart's Kathryn is a strong, sympathetic character. Makenzie Leigh is also memorable as Faizon, the cheerleader who takes a shine to Billy.

Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk makes its audience think hard about war and sacrifice. It might inspire people to thank soldiers with more than words. It reminded me why soldiers need maximum mental health care. But was this the right movie to debut 120 fps movies? I don't know. Don't wait if you want to see it on the big screen. Its low box office last weekend could make it fall back faster than you think.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Or, Harry Potter and the Quest for More Money.

The boy wizard defeated Voldemort five years ago in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2. But Warner Bros. isn't done with JK Rowling's magical world. They've now turned to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a paltry size de-fictionalized Hogwarts textbook as the jumping point for a five-film series. Let's see how it is.

The Hogwarts textbook is credited to Newt Scamander, played here by Eddie Redmayne. Scamander is a "magizoologist" who keeps magical creatures in the nature preserve inside his suitcase. He goes to New York, 1926, to find some more magical creatures. But the critters have a nasty habit of escaping and causing trouble. He inadvertently gets the attention of the Magical Congress of the United States (MACUSA). Together with No-Maj (American Muggle) aspiring baker Kowalski (Dan Fogler), Magical Congress Agent Tina Goldstein (Katherine Waterston) and her sister Queenie (Alison Sudol), they have to track down the creatures before people find out about Wizards and Witches.

There's also a Fundamentalist group, the Second Salemers, who suspect there are Witches in New York. Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), son of the group's cruel leader, Mary Lou (Samantha Morton), has a secret. Mr. Graves (Colin Farell), the head of MACUSA security, wants to use that secret. The evil Wizard Gellert Grindelwald (a surprise cameo) lurks in the background. Maybe five movies were necessary.

JK Rowling herself wrote the screenplay which director David Yates visualized. The plot is crammed with exposition as tight as a Hogwarts study session. All sorts of magical creature names and taxonomy and the like; not to mention the human names. At least there's no mandatory exam once the movie's done.

The film has us suspect Credence's sister Modesty of having his dark secret. The actual reveal was strong. The reveal of Gellert Grindlewald would've been stronger if he didn't share the same hairstyle with the character he's disguised as.

One thing I didn't have a problem with that others did is "No-Maj" instead of "Muggle." It's probably just another natural divergence between American and British English. Like "Fish & Chips" vs "Fish & French Fries." Anyway...

The visual effects render the magical creatures in wondrous CGI form. My favorite creature is the Niffler, a kleptomaniac platypus who inadvertently instigates the whole plot. Gnarlack is a motion-capture rendered goblin made awesome by Ron Perlman being himself. The production and costume design for the Roaring Twenties New York was also cool. The cinematography by Phillipe Rousselot (A River Runs Through It) is great for both whimsy and horror.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them seems a tall order for five films. But at least this installment doesn't pad out scenes to their unnecessary limit. The plot is both stretched out and crammed in. But it knows its limits at 133 minutes. The next installment is due for 2018; let's hope it gets the plot ball rolling faster.

Trolls

Everyone's favorite dolls with the wild hair now have their own movie. Trolls isn't that much a deep, sophisticated film, but it is a fine diversion from all those films coming out right around now.

The Trolls are little critters who sing and dance and hug. The Bergens, meanwhile, are ogres who don't know how to sing and dance and hug. But a Bergen can get some happiness by eating a Troll. So they had the Trolls captured and served on a holiday called Trollstice. That was before King Peppy (Jeffrey Tambor) led his Trolls to freedom. The Trolls lived the good life for the next twenty years.

Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick) is the happiest Troll of all. Branch (Justin Timberlake) is the grumpiest Troll of all. Poppy throws the biggest, loudest party of all to celebrate their freedom. But Branch thinks that'll bring a Bergen over. Sure enough, the banished Bergen Royal Chef (Christine Baranski) shows up and takes a handful to Bergentown. She wants to gain favor with young King Gristle (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) by giving him his first Troll.

Naturally, Poppy goes off to save her friends. She also coerces Branch to come along on pain of hugs. Their rescue mission meets plenty of complications in Bergentown. One of them is a scullery maid, Bridget (Zooey Deschanel), who likes King Gristle. Perhaps they can use her to convince him that happiness is not Fillet of Troll.

The film's soundtrack is a mishmash of pop standards and new songs by Timberlake. Timberlake's most prominent contribution is the showstopper Can't Stop The Feeling. It's a light, fun soundtrack that's sure to resonate with kids and adults. There's also a score by Christophe Beck, but unfortunately, it's overshadowed by all the pomp and circumstance.

The artistic style was pretty good. The character designs, whether Troll or Bergen, fall on the ugly cute spectrum. Their hometowns reflect their color palletes perfectly. The creatures that Branch and Poppy meet on the way to Bergentown are also fun designs. All the pretty colors are sure to keep kids entertained...

Now I get to talk about the story. The film has a few genuinely funny moments playing off Branch and Poppy's personalities. Their voyage to Bergentown made for a fun trek. It's halfway through that the plot stalls. One dramatic revelation that should lead to the climax leads to another. And another and another and another. This makes the 93 minutes far longer than it should be. The actual climactic moment was a legitimately powerful scene. The cast gave their characters a welcome dose of gusto.

Trolls is a decent matinee for the pre-holiday crowd. It aims to please and I was pleased a bit. If only the plot didn't run out of steam at Bergentown. Still, it was a relief to see an animated movie on the big screen after a few months of Oscar Bait and Blockbusters. That diversion made the experience better.

Arrival

Next year, director Denis Villeneuve will finally continue the story of Replicants and the Agents who hunt them on the big screen in Blade Runner 2049. In the meantime, Villeneuve has another thought provoking sci-fi film for us, Arrival, a strong expansion of Ted Chiang's short story, Story of Your Life.

Dr. Louise Banks (Amy Adams) expected another average day when the Earth stood still. That's when twelve UFOS touched down all over the world. She's summoned to Montana by Col. Weber (Forest Whitaker) to communicate with the aliens there. These Heptapods, "Abbott" and "Costello," communicate the best with their written language, which can construct a non-linear sentence in one symbol. Louise and her team, including physicist Ian (Jeremy Renner), make progress with the Heptapods.

Meanwhile, a few other Governments jump the gun and prepare for a War of the Worlds. Louise's team is told to prepare for the worst. She just has to decipher the Heptapods' purpose before it's too late. And by doing so, she'll find what's waiting for her in a few years.

Villeneueve and screenwriter Eric Heisserer maintain a great suspenseful tone for 116 minutes. A bunch of people crowded around the TV news perfectly establishes the magnitude of first contact. The first appearance of the Heptapods is built up slowly and surely until the big moment. Even then, we find out what we first see is not their whole appearance! We feel the tension from the rising military/lingual conflict even when we only hear about most of it.

The technical crew make the most of the $47 million budget. The visual effects are eerie and magnificent and I imagine would most astound in IMAX (which I did not see this in). The interior of the Heptapod ship works by the same principle. Johann Johannsson's score is just as foreboding and memorable as his work last year for Sicario. The sound designers' best accomplishment is the eerie whale song with which the Heptapods vocalize. Editor Joe Walker and cinematographer Bradford Young contribute spectacularly to the melancholic tone.

Adams' performance is the best of the cast. She says a lot with out acting a lot. We feel every bit of her emotions as a result. Renner makes a likable foil, while Whittaker is a good reasonable authority figure. General Shang (Tzi Ma), the Chinese General essential to the conflict, doesn't appear in person until the end. But we feel his presence throughout the story.

Arrival is a lot smarter than most of the loudest Alien invasion thrillers. It's a testament to how language can avert conflict. It leaves the audience a lot to think about clairvoyance and predestination. It especially proves that you don't need to spend much to make much. This is a film that needs to be seen on the big screen. It's a great warm-up for Blade Runner 2049.

Hacksaw Ridge

It's been ten years since Mel Gibson last directed a movie, Apocalypto. He's now back behind the camera for Hacksaw Ridge, a brutal story about one of the US Army's most decorated pacifists. That's something.

Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield) was a rough and tumble kid until he whacked his brother Hal with a brick in a play-fight. He grows into an upstanding young man who firmly believes in the Sixth Commandment. That's when the US joins World War II. Hal enlists over his parents' objections, especially those of his bitter Veteran father Tom (Hugo Weaving). Desmond promptly enlists as a combat medic.

Desmond's religious beliefs forbid him to touch a rifle. This infuriates his commanding officers and fellow soldiers. They want to drive the "coward" out any way possible. But Desmond proves too resilient and he gets to serve in the Battle of Okinawa. There, Desmond pulls 75 men from the Maeda Escarpment (aka "Hacksaw Ridge"). Even some of the men who mocked and scorned him.

The film opens during a brutal firefight at Okinawa. It works its way from Desmond's childhood and his courtship of nurse Dorothy Schutte (Teresa Palmer) to his basic training under Sgt. Howell (Vince Vaughn) and Captain Glover (Sam Worthington) and court-martial for his conscientious objectivism. It's about an hour in that we get to Okinawa and Desmond's eventual courage under fire. It was worth the wait.

The wartime violence is extreme: soldiers are set ablaze, mowed down by gunfire, blown apart and their mangled remains are shown up close. Meanwhile, on the home front, we see an accident victim's leg gushing blood. And let's not forget Desmond and Hal's near-fatal scuffle and Tom's drunken anger. A few more scenes of brutality become unintentionally silly with slow-motion. The makeup and special effects teams deserve praise for showing the consequences of violence.

Garfield's Desmond is a nice man in a harsh world. He breaks down once, while in solitary, but he never loses his resolve. His ordeal in Hacksaw is the ultimate testament of that. He even heals a Japanese soldier during the ordeal. He practices what he preaches and that endears him to the audience.

There are many standouts in the supporting cast. Vaughn's Sgt. Howell's insults are equally brutal and hilarious. Smitty Ryker (Luke Bracey), Desmond's rival turned best friend, is a perfect foil for our hero. Dorothy and Desmond make a nice couple, but she disappears once he goes to Okinawa. And finally, we first loathe Tom as a violent drunk, then pity him as a prisoner of the bottle and cheer when he intervenes in the court-martial. There's also "Hollywood" Zane (Luke Pegler), an overconfident naturalist who stresses when the bullets fly.

Hacksaw Ridge is a violent and optimistic movie. It's a compelling story of a man's struggle to uphold his beliefs. That he earned the respect of everyone who scorned him was the most rewarding part of the movie. It's a good movie for this Veteran's Day and all future Veteran's Day.

Doctor Strange

Or, how I learned to stop worrying and love the multiverse.

Steve Ditko's most famous creation, Spider-Man, is already a certified movie star. It's now time for his second most famous creation, Doctor Strange, to get his turn on the big screen. It's directed by Scott Derrickson, co-written by him, Jon Spaihts and C. Robert Cargill. The end result exceeds all visual expectations for a Marvel film.

Dr. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is a brilliant, yet self-assured neurosurgeon. His good life brutally ends when he drives down a cliff and damages his hands. He goes through every procedure he finds unsuccessfully. One day, he meets Pangborn (Benjamin Bratt), a paraplegic who can walk again. Pangborn points him to Kamar-Taj, the Kathmandu compound of the long-lived Sorceress Supreme, The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton).

The Ancient One eventually takes Strange under her tutelage. She teaches him the Mystic Arts and shows him the multiverse of other dimensions. One such dimension is the Dark Dimension, home of the Supreme Evilness, Dormammu. Kaecilius (Mads Mikkelsen), a former pupil of The Ancient One, and his followers, decide to call forth Dormammu to bring on the apocalypse. Strange must join with his fellow disciples, Wong (Benedict Wong) and Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor), to keep that from happening. But there's a secret from The Ancient One that could change things.

Cumberbatch looks and acts the part of Strange. He's the Tony Stark of the Medical World: delightfully arrogant and an effective worker. He's sympathetic when he's humbled by misfortune. His determination makes him likable; he stays put outside Kamar-Taj when he's first rejected. He maintains a good snarky sense of humor through and through. Cumberbatch is also the motion-capture rendered visage of Dormammu, his voice combined with an unknown actor.

The supporting cast is also filled well. Tilda Swinton is a great mentor as The Ancient One. She may not look centuries old, but her weary face suggests longevity. Wong and Ejiofor also stand out because their characters are supportive provided Strange shapes up. Rachel McAdams was fine as Strange's girlfriend, Christine Palmer, whose relatively few scenes were standouts. Mikkelsen's role is a stock villain role, but there was sadness in his big villain rant. The best performance, though, was actually Strange's sentient Cloak of Levitation, who trounces Kaecillius's goons and bosses Strange around when they first meet.

The technical wizards are a mighty band of Marvels. This should be the film that conjures up a Visual Effects Oscar for a Marvel film (probably won't). The array of dimensions and spells we see are outstanding. These moments, from the folding city dimension to the out-of-body experiences to the Dark Dimension, are especially great in IMAX 3D (just pick a good seat). The makeup team contribute their own magic with such designs as Kaecillius's decaying face and Strange's scars. Michael Giacchino's score adds to the epicness of it all.

Doctor Strange is a technical and story Marvel. It's a self-contained story which introduces its magical hero to the big screen perfectly. It also nudges the Marvel Cinematic Universe along towards Avengers: Infinity War. This is a movie that needs to be seen on the largest screen possible. I'm so ready to see this again on home media.

Its prerequisite mid-credit scene sets up next year's release of Thor: Ragnarok. Its end-credit scene sets up Mordo's future in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.