Matilda the Musical

 It's time to rush one last review out before the new year. So, how about another Roald Dahl re-adaptation? We have an asterisk, this time!

One of his last works, Matilda, was previously filmed in 1996 with Danny DeVito directing himself as the no-good Mr. Wormwood, the title character's (Mara Wilson) dad. The asterisk is that this is Matilda the Musical, the film of the stage musical directed by Matthew Warchus and scripted by Dennis Kelly, who reprise their roles here. Let's talk more about it.

While most parents adore their newborns, the Wormwoods care less about their Matilda (Alisha Weir). Mrs. Wormwood (Andrea Riseborough) only finds out about her pregnancy when it's too late. Mr. Wormwood (Stephen Graham) is bummed that he didn't get a son. Years later, Matilda frequents Mrs. Phelps's (Sindhu Vee) mobile library for whatever's around. The authorities get the Wormwoods to enroll Matilda in public school. They end up sending her to the gloomy Crunchem Hall, run by an ogrish headmistress, Ms. Trunchbull (Emma Thompson). The only bright spot for Matilda is her teacher, Ms. Honey (Lashana Lynch), who supports her pursuing a higher education. 

Matilda slowly but surely realizes she's telekinetic. This makes it easier for her to get back at the cruel adults in her life. Meanwhile, she spins a tragic tale for Mrs. Phelps about an Escapologist and an Acrobat. It's a lot more relevant than she realizes. She needs to master her gifts to save her classmates from being locked in Trunchbull's Iron Maidens, The Chokeys. 

Trunchbull is a good distillation of Dahl's sinister whimsy. Her punishments for troublemakers include hammer-tossing a student by her pigtails and forcing another to eat a whole chocolate cake. Her punishing anyone regardless of true guilt makes her more unnerving. Her vision of a childless world is silly and a bit weird. The makeup team and cinematographer Tat Radcliffe help make her imposing. Tim Minchen's songs help us empathize with the kids feeling powerless under her Iron Fist. Overall, Thompson is surprisingly good as Trunchbull.

Weir is excellent as Matilda. We're on her side as she copes with the uncaring adults in her life. Her getting even with them gives us some great results. A few of its best moments are when she realizes her telekinesis. Her finally using them on Trunchbull is quite pleasing. As for the adults, Graham and Wiseborough are perfectly lousy as the Wormwoods, while Lynch and Vee are pleasant as Ms. Honey and Mrs. Phelps.

The film's locales were designed by David Hindle and Christian Huband. Its bright and cheery opening number is too much, perhaps intentionally so. But you'll be used to the brightness as the film goes on. The Escapologist and Acrobat subplot is set in a circus as perfectly farfetched as their act. Crunchem Hall is just as menacing as its headmistress. The visual effects for Matilda's powers were cool. One particularly memorable moment was her summoning up a storm with her powers. The musical numbers had some good staging, though it often sounded like the music overpowered the lyrics. Maybe it was just me.

Matilda the Musical was released for Netflix, though theaters might be playing it somewhere. Whether on the big screen or your screen is a good venue for this fine family musical. Its villains are often overwhelming with their cruelty. But their comeuppances are quite pleasing. Its songs and protagonist help keep its 117-minutes moving right along. See what I mean when you see it. That's all for this year.

Babylon

Nellie was a blonde and her age stood still

And twice a day she danced at vaudeville

She would, but,

Who went to vaudeville those days?

Not her.

Her future was pictures.

Yes, sir.

She shared her future with Manny Torres

When she and he took part in a party

Mr. March, who I'm trying to parody,

Would gasp at all the debauchery.

There's also Jack Conrad

Movie Star and cad.

His star falls when movies learn to talk

There's Sidney Palmer

Jazz Trumpeter.

From Racist Hollywood he shall walk.

And Lady Fay Zhu

A cabaret star with quite the love life. 

Hollywood will balk.

All these faces are in the Tinseltown

Of Damien Chazelle's Babylon.

I was attempting to parody Joseph Moncure March's poem The Wild Party with that intro. That's because Babylon also opens with a similarly wild party. Its parade of debauchery will shock and impress you. The impressive part comes from cinematographer Linus Sandgren's single shot tour of the whole affair. Another impressive sequence comes when we tour the fictional Kinoscope studios' cavalcade of productions. There, Nellie (Margot Robbie) films her big break, while Manny (Diego Calva) assists Jack's (Brad Pitt) new movie. Manny soon rushes to get a camera after all on set are destroyed in a breakneck sequence edited by Tom Cross. 

That wild party comprises the first half hour or so. We get to gangster James McKay's (Tobey Maguire) den of sin near the end. About the tamest thing I can mention from there is the rat-eating wild man. Surprisingly, that wasn't the scene that nearly sickened me. The trophy goes to Nellie's coup-de-grace in her rant against the stuffy rich. Meanwhile, Lady Fay (Li Jun Li) and Sidney (Jovan Adepo), get some compelling plotlines as they struggle against Hollywood bigotry. Both exit the film in tragically abrupt fashion. It's a shame because Fay saving Nellie from her own idiocy was awesome. Those plot lines are lost in the shuffle of its massive 189-minute runtime.

The leads have some compelling plot threads, too. Nellie struggles with the demands of both silent and talkie screen acting. The latter sequence sees numerous takes botched as she and others fail to take their new sound system into account. These eight takes feel like eighty and take their toll on a poor crew member. Manny, meanwhile, sees the dark side of fame as he rises from assistant to executive. He even plays an unwilling part in Sidney's exit from Hollywood. Manny and Nellie's relationship is fine, while Jack is an OK guy. As a film buff, I did get a kick out of recognizing the inspiration for Jack's talkie debut. 

The madness leaves a massive canvass for Justin Hurwitz to compose his score on. You can imagine what's going on if you listen to the score by itself. The party music is Wild, while the finale score is appropriately melancholy. Hurwitz and the sound designers join the makeup team in getting Oscar-shortlisted. The makeup team's best work is making Maguire into the unnerving McCay. His performance is all the more perfectly ghoulish with their help. The production and costume designers are guaranteed Oscar spots with their colorful work. Another highlight of Sandgren's work is the finale as it sweeps around a theater showing Singin' in the Rain.

Your ability to enjoy Babylon depends on if you can get through the opening party. That sequence left me asking "what is this?" multiple times. I'm sure it will for you, too. It does have some fascinating sequences depicting Old Hollywood film production. It does have a decent love story. But its massive runtime and madness are taxing on its audience's empathies. See it if you want to. If you don't, might I suggest you seek out the soundtrack? It's really that good.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

 Meet Dean, everyone.

Dean has an unusual housemate in his Airbnb. His name is Marcel, a walking, talking shell. He and his Grandma Connie used to live with a community of walking, talking shells. But they all got accidentally packed up by a previous resident. Nowadays, Marcel and Connie live their lives the best they can. 

Dean uploads a series of YouTube videos starring Marcel the Shell with Shoes On. What starts with 84 views grows to over 2 million. Those fans aren't that all interested in Marcel's search. The producers of Marcel and his community's favorite show, 60 minutes, are. They want to set up an interview with Marcel and host Lesley Stahl. There may be some hope, after all. But Connie's deteriorating health is an issue.

That's the gist of it. The film was adapted from director Dean Fleischer Camp and Jenny Slate's real-life YouTube videos. Camp is this film's Dean and Slate is Marcel himself. The mockumentary style shows us Marcel's daily life. Among other things, Marcel walks on walls with honey, pops popcorn by magnifying glass, uses a tennis ball for transportation and assembles gadgets with junk. He knows quite a lot about loss, but he faces the world with a child's enthusiasm. He and Connie make the most of it without arms and a decent height. Their relationship is endearing. You'll feel it when she goes.

Don't expect any explanation for how walking and talking shells exist. It's probably one of life's quirks. In actuality, the shells were brought to life with stop-motion. The animation is well-integrated into the film's live-action settings. The odd character designs will grow on you as the film goes on. Marcel's nifty innovations include a stage for him to perform in front of an audience, usually lit candles. You'll especially like his use of a tennis ball. 

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On is a fascinating study of a unique individual. His observations about life are delivered with a child's naivety. His quirky philosophy is highly quotable. You won't forget this little man after the film's 90 minutes are up. So, pick a streaming service (like Amazon) and stream it right away. You won't regret it.

The Fabelmans

 I've been waiting to see The Fabelmans for a while now. Steven Spielberg's cinematic autobiography came out last month, but it didn't play locally upon its "wide" release on Thanksgiving. I think I had a great substitute that weekend with that sneak preview. No more waiting. Let's go.

Spielberg represents himself as Sammy Fabelman. Sammy's moviemaking life begins when he (Mateo Zoryon Francis-DeFord) sees his first movie, Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic The Greatest Show on Earth, in 1952. Its climactic train crash sears into Sammy's mind and he asks for a train set so he can recreate it again and again. His dad, Burt (Paul Dano), doesn't understand his obsession with train crashes. His mom, Mitzi (Michelle Williams), helps him film a train crash movie. That one movie leads to several more, many of which star his sisters. He and his family move to Arizona with their "Uncle" Bennie (Seth Rogen) in 1957.

Sammy continues his moviemaking as a teenage Boy Scout (Gabriel LaBelle). By then, he bears witness to his family's problems. His Grandma's death leaves Mitzi emotionally devastated. His filming a camping trip inadvertently leads him to discover Mitzi's affair with Bennie. His parents soon divorce after this. Meanwhile, at school, Sammy faces antisemitic bullying and dates devout Christian Monica (Chloe East). He eventually wonders if his "hobby" is worth turning into a profession. I think we know how that turned out.

Spielberg collaborated with Tony Kushner on the screenplay. It's a compelling tale as Sammy makes movies, finds love, loses love, makes peace with one of his bullies, among other things. A few lines are obvious trailer material (and they were). But they're not a dealbreaker in the story. Sammy's cinematic life is so enthralling you'll wonder how it compares to Spielberg's actual life. One of its best scenes is the finale, where Sammy has a rather interesting (to say the least) conversation with John Ford (David Lynch). 

LaBelle and Francis-DeFord are quite good as Sammy. Together, they make Sammy into a compelling character. We're as enthralled as the younger Sammy as he discovers filmmaking. We're outraged when he's bullied as a teen. His discovery of Mitzi and Bennie's affair while editing the camping trip movie horrifies him. Meanwhile, we're left smirking when Sammy impresses Monica and her friend, Claudia (Isabelle Kusman). We later sympathize when Monica eventually dumps him. His confrontation with the aforementioned bully, Logan (Sam Rechner), is his best moment. Logan, meanwhile, shines when he defends Sammy from the other bully, Chad (Oakes Fegley).

Dano and Williams are quite sympathetic as Burt and Mitzi. Mitzi sees the value in Sammy's moviemaking when Burt doesn't, though her instability drives plenty of conflict. Her imagining a phone call from her late mom is just the start. They do try being better people throughout the movie. Their reconciliations with Sammy are rather nice. Julia Butters as Sammy's sister Reggie does her best as the family's voice of reason. As with Lynch, Judd Hirsch stands out as Sammy's Great-Uncle Boris, whose segment sees him strongly encourage Sammy's moviemaking.

Spielberg's usual collaborators - editor Michael Kahn (this time with Sarah Broshar), cinematographer Janusz Kaminski, production designer Rick Carter and, of course, John Williams - deliver their usual excellence here. Let's discuss some highlights. Sammy discovering the affair is a tensely edited moment. The film's last shot is an amusing fourth wall gag. Sammy's many homes are rather appealing locales. Mitzi dancing during the camping trip is given an eloquent tune. Back to cinematography, her dancing in the dark, illuminated by their car's headlights, is a memorable sight. As I said, they did great as usual.

The Fabelmans unfolds over the course of a slow and steady 151 minutes. During which, we're fully involved with Spielberg's author avatar through many of his highs and lows. So naturally, we're confident in his filmmaking success when he walks into the proverbial sunset. It's a pity that this didn't get a much wider release. So, if you can, see it as soon as it's in a theater near you. On one hand, a wide release is some benefit to its current digital distribution. On the other, there's that $19.99 price tag. Whichever venue is fine, though.

Glass Onion

Last time, master detective Benoit Blanc solved a dysfunctional family murder mystery. Once again played by Daniel Craig, he must solve an unusual corporate murder mystery in Glass Onion. Rian Johnson's sequel to Knives Out jumped from Lionsgate to Netflix, where it recently debuted after a one-week theatrical run Thanksgiving week. Here we go.

It's May 2020 and that annoying pandemic is in full swing. Tech Genius Miles Bron (Edward Norton) invites some of his friends for a weekend murder mystery party on his island estate, the Glass Onion. These "disruptors" are dude-bro Duke Cody (Dave Bautista), vapid model Birdie Jay (Kate Hudson), scientist Lionel Toussaint (Leslie Odom, Jr.) and Governor Claire Debella (Kathryn Hahn). Their fifth member, Cassandra "Andi" Brand (Janelle Monae), suddenly joins them with Blanc. Brand left the group on bad terms and their reunion isn't that pleasant. Bron, meanwhile, doesn't remember inviting Blanc at all.

Blanc disrupts the reunion by solving the murder mystery ... before the game gets afoot! But one of the Disruptors is killed for real. There's also another murder mystery within the murder mystery. It may have something to do with Bron's new alternative fuel, Klear. Blanc and Brand get on the case. They soon come to the shocking conclusion that the obvious suspect is the actual culprit.

Does that sound appealing? 

It is.

We spend the first hour or so getting to know the Disruptors. They're mostly not a nice bunch of characters, save for, maybe, Lionel. But we see their hidden layers when the story goes for a long flashback. OK, they still do morally questionable things (perjury, for one). But we see them as messed up people who know they're messed up. They're so spineless that it's easy to pity them. It's still nice to see them grow some backbone in the end. While we're at it, Duke's girlfriend Whiskey (Madelyn Cline) and Birdie's assistant Peg (Jessica Henwick), who tag along for the trip, prove themselves quite likable characters.

Brand is the star of the show. The Disruptors solve elaborate puzzle boxes to get to their invitations in their first scenes. She smashes it open. She lays into the Disruptors thick for their moral flaws. Of course, much of her resentment makes more sense once we learn of the other murder mystery. But unlike last time, I won't spoil it for you. She and Whiskey have some great scenes together when the latter shows her legitimate kindness. She and Blanc make for great partners together. The finale lets her cut loose against the actual culprit in a glorious fashion. 

Blanc is still a great detective. He's first introduced cooped up playing the video game Among Us with some celebrity friends, two of whom are the recently departed Angela Lansbury and Stephen Sondheim. He jumps at the chance to solve a murder mystery when Brand comes calling. He proves himself just as caring and competent as he is eccentric. Bron, meanwhile, talks smart but proves himself anything but. But at least he convincingly plays dangerously smug. Did I spoil the killer? 

The Glass Onion estate is an impressive piece of film architecture. That and the puzzle boxes are great highlights of production designer Rick Heinrich's work. They look especially stunning with cinematographer Steve Yedlin's work. The cast have an appealing wardrobe designed by Jenny Eagan. A few of Brand's costumes are the standouts here. Nathan Johnson's score also stands out, especially since it made the recent Oscar shortlist. It suits the film's grand mystery plot rather well.

Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery is just as funny and suspenseful as its predecessor. Its potential suspects are interesting characters even if they aren't fully likable. Its lead characters are unambiguously likable ones. It maybe 139 minutes but those minutes are all compelling. It will make a great home matinee this holiday season and beyond. Netflix paid over $400 million for the Knives Out sequels and it's a good investment, so far. I'm ready for part three already. 

Spirited

It's Christmas day, which means it's the last day to watch a seasonally appropriate film this year. Among your options are the numerous reiterations of A Christmas Carol, two of which recently debuted on streaming services. Your options there are Netflix's remake of Scrooge and Apple TV's riff, Spirited. I chose the latter. Beware of spoilers.

Jacob Marley (Patrick Page) and the three Ghosts make it their business to redeem a Scrooge (a "perp") each Christmas. The Ghost of Christmas Present (Will Farrell) has put off retirement for a few decades. They have an abusive hotel manager to deal with, but Present finds the hotel's guest speaker a better perp. That man, Clint Briggs (Ryan Reynolds), is a media consultant who specializes in scandals. Marley finds him unredeemable, but Present insists, and the Ghost team goes on the case.

Briggs is no ordinary Scrooge. His wiliness proves difficult with Marley and Christmas Past (Sunita Mani), forcing Present to take on a larger workload. Briggs flips Present's attempt to make him confront his past and present back on him. In life, Present was not just a Scrooge, he was Ebenezer himself. Present wonders if he was truly redeemed and truly considers that retirement package. But first, he has to save that "white whale."

A few reviews think that director Sean Anders and John Morris's script isn't that an innovative rendition of the Dickens story. I think the opposite. The perspective flip to the Christmas Ghosts is an innovative take. We get to see some interesting sides to the Ghosts Ebenezer never did. Christmas Past feels stuck in a soulless job, while Christmas Yet-To-Come (body by Loren Woods, voice by Tracy Morgan) struggles with the scary act. The fact that this is a sequel to A Christmas Carol adds poignancy to Present's relentless optimism. It's a twist I didn't expect. Briggs being a crafty Scrooge makes it a fun romp. His secretary, Kimberley (Octavia Spencer), is Present's love interest; their scenes together are nice.

What isn't great is the lack of a few tonal transitions. We see in Clint's past that his mom gave him a water bowl for a non-existent puppy that "ran away," according to her. Another flashback sees them on better terms. What's missing is a flashback of them reconciling. A subplot has Clint coaching his niece, Wren (Marlow Barkley), to win a school election with underhanded means. Yet-To-Come shows that said means inadvertently led to Wren's opponent's suicide. After he sees his grave, Clint rushes in comical fashion to convince Wren not to go low, while that grim future funeral lingers in our mind. We don't see much of Wren, other than one scene, after Clint's surprising demise (a legitimately funny case of mood whiplash). 

There's some bright and cheery production and costume designs here. The Ghosts' headquarters, Clint's apartment and future graveyard are some of the striking locales. Clint shows off an elaborate wardrobe during his first musical number. His and Present's red and green contrast is striking. There's also good makeup work to render Ferrell into the elderly Ebenezer and Page as the creepy Marley. Marley appearing to Clint is made hysterical when the latter consistently interrupts the former's formidable song. Pasek and Paul's songs are consistently met with annoyance or confusion from onlookers (Marley included). Clint getting Present to reignite his inner Scrooge is set to the funniest song the duo wrote: Good Afternoon. It's made funnier by the fact that this, and not any of the dramatic numbers, has now been shortlisted for Oscar notice.

Robert Zemeckis's A Christmas Carol didn't do much new that previous renditions (even the Muppets) did great. By contrast, Spirited's perspective flip is a unique take on an old story. Its leads are entertaining, and the story is sometimes moving. It suffers from jarring mood whiplash but it's still good. It'll make a fine matinee whether on Apple TV or wherever theaters still have it. Whichever's fine. Even if it's another Christmas movie.

Avatar: The Way of Water

 It finally happened last week.

After years upon years of it being talked about and years upon years of people (myself included) wondering if it was necessary, the twice certified highest grossing film of all time finally has a sequel. James Cameron continues his story of Pandora in Avatar: The Way of Water. Let's go.

The first film ended with Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) joining Pandora's Na'vi population in his Avatar body. He and his mate, Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), raise their sons Neteyam (Jamie Flatters) and Lo'ak (Britain Dalton) and daughter Tuk (Trinity Jo-Li Bliss) alongside the human Spider (Jack Champion) and Kiri, the mysteriously conceived offspring of the deceased Dr. Grace Augustine's Avatar (both of them Sigourney Weaver). The human military returns to Pandora for round two, this time with several deceased marines, including Col. Miles Quaritch (Stephen Lang), brought back as Na'vi Avatar clones. The military landing on Pandora incinerates a good chunk of its rainforest. So, the Na'vi have to go to higher ground.

Jake spends the next year leading the Na'vi against the "sky people." But Spider is caught during one mission. Quaritch is Spider's dad and he's invested in making his son a valuable asset. Jake and his family exile themselves to the ocean where the aquatic Metkayina Na'vi live. Chief Tonowari (Cliff Curtis) welcomes them to their tribe, while his wife Ronal (Kate Winslet) and their kids are more reluctant. Eventually, the villains make their way to the oceans ready for a fight. Jake and his family have to bond with Pandora's sea life to fend them off.

Let's get the visuals out of the way. Its visual effects exceed the already groundbreaking work on the first film. The Na'vi look even more photorealistic, while the new creatures look incredible. The Tulkun, Pandora's version of a whale, is the most stunning of these creatures. There are some great underwater scenes made better with bioluminescence. They do falter a bit with some sputtering movement, a consequence of this being filmed at a higher framerate but projected slower, but the effects team still has an Academy Award in its future. Cinematographer Russell Carpenter and production designers Dylan Cole and Ben Procter put themselves in Oscar consideration too with their splendid work.

Now for the story. How was Kiri conceived? What makes her special? Why does her linking with the Metkayina's Spirit Tree nearly kill her? You'll find none of those answers in this movie. You'll likely find them in part three, which fortunately, has already been filmed. But it does make this movie a bit incomplete. The Metkayina are casually established right away as if everybody knew who they were. It's a case of "remember the new guy." The main Tulkun, Payakan's backstory, is a bit confusing. As I previously warned in other reviews, the film comes with a gigantic runtime of 190 minutes. Let's just say it can overwhelm your patience a bit.

Now for the story, part two. Spider and Quaritch's subplot is interesting as the former teaches the latter how to connect with Pandora. He may still be a villain, but it's impressive to see Quaritch bond with the dragon-like mountain banshee. We get to see Quaritch as a friendly man a bit; we also see him as a sadistic maniac a lot. Spider's time with Quaritch only strengthens his connection to the Sullys. I'd like to see where part three will take them.

Story, part three. Kiri's subplot, while incomplete, is still interesting. It's also impressive that Weaver convincingly plays her as much a teenager as her stepbrothers despite Weaver herself being 73. Neteyam was OK, while the adult Na'vis are simply fine. Lo'ak gets a nice subplot with Payakan. Lo'ak removes a harpoon stuck in Payakan's fin, while Payakan saves Lo'ak and his family from whalers. Did I mention there were whalers? There are. The final battle takes place on their gigantic vessel. A few human villains appear with the whalers' Dr. Gavin (Jermaine Clement) and General Ardmore (Edie Falco), both of whom are perfectly unlikable.

The conclusion. Avatar: The Way of Water improves on the visual spectacle of an already spectacular film. Its storytelling skills aren't perfect, while its massive runtime is a challenge. But the subplots that work really work. It does leave one interested to see where Cameron will take the story next. The aforementioned part three, currently subtitled The Seed Bearer, is currently scheduled for 2024. I think I'm ready for that. 

Unless it's a four hour film.

Good Night Oppy

 I was right. 

Fiddler didn't get atop the Academy's roof. But another documentary I was certain would show up on today's shortlists didn't either. That would be Good Night Oppy, Ryan White's chronicle of the twin Spirit and Opportunity rovers and their mission to Mars. Of course, Opportunity, aka "Oppy," has the lion's share of focus. But I digress.

It chronicles the rovers' lives from their inception and throughout the mission. We see NASA race against time to launch the rovers to take advantage of Mars and Earth's close alignment. They launched three weeks apart in the summer of 2003 and landed three weeks apart in early 2004. Their mission was to search for signs of water, which would mean life, on the Red Planet. NASA expected the two to expire after 90 sols. But Spirit chugged along until 2011, while Oppy lasted all the way to 2019. 

It recreates the mission with some impressive CGI by ILM. A solar flare hit their pods with enough force to damage their circuitries. We get the full magnitude of the impact inside and out. It's certainly miraculous that they survived that and their landing. Other hazards including Martian winters, Martian sandstorms and getting stuck in dunes are all presented as formidable threats. Their "faces" make them instantly lovable robots. They look and feel like real robots so much that, when Oppy gets robo-arthritis and robo-dementia, it's devastating.

The film also chronicles the NASA team behind them. We see them conceive, build and test the robots before their launch. When trouble strikes, including the aforementioned sand dune, we see them brainshoot on Earth.  We see Oppy's daily routine, which includes a good setlist of "wakeup songs." We see them plot Oppy's course with precision, especially since it takes twenty minutes for her to receive orders. One portion has them trying beyond hope, and eventually succeed, in restoring contact with Oppy after that sandstorm. It's an interesting chronicle of NASA's technical prowess on Earth and in space. 

It's also a compelling chronicle of their emotional investments in the rovers. They came to see the rovers as their kids exploring a harsh world. You'll share their joy when the rovers first land and they send back the first photos. You'll feel their triumph when they solve Oppy's hazards. A few of them were kids when Oppy launched and were NASA-employees when Oppy expired. One of them lost her grandma to Alzheimer's when Oppy's robo-dementia hit. It was equally devastating to lose both at once. You'll feel it when Oppy expires, too.

It's quite surprising that the Academy bypassed Good Night Oppy. It's a compelling science documentary about the little rover that could and the team behind her. Anyone looking to see NASA behind the scenes will get the most out of its 105 minutes. It's ready to watch on Amazon Prime whenever you are. You won't regret it.

RRR

I've heard much of one film this year. A film that took the internet by storm with its bombastic action and style. Why didn't I see it sooner, whether in theaters or on Netflix? I think it was the three-hour runtime that made me put it off. But now, with its multiple awards and Avatar: The Way of Water and Babylon opening this month with similar runtimes, it's time to finally experience RRR.

RRR, which stands for Rise Roar Revolt, is writer and director S.S. Rajamouli's follow-up to his Baahubali films, the second of which is India's highest grossing film. This is India's third highest grossing film. Rajamouli pairs together real-life revolutionaries Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan) on a rescue mission to save a Gond tribe girl, Malli (Twinkle Sharma), from the odious Gov. Scott Buxton (Ray Stevenson) and his equally detestable wife, Catherine (Alison Doody). A little context is needed.

It's 1920 during the British Raj of India. The Buxtons steal Malli from her tribe because Catherine loved her singing that much. Bheem, the tribe guardian, sets out to rescue her. Raju, a colonial policeman, is sent to apprehend him before he can raise hell. They meet when they save a kid from a fiery train crash. Bheem is incognito as "Akhtar," so Raju doesn't realize that he just met his quarry. They quickly become best buds as Bheem tries to infiltrate the Governor's mansion. He meets and falls for Jenny (Olivia Morris), the Governor's niece. Eventually, the two are pitted against each other before they finally unite against the villains.

It takes about forty minutes before the title shows up on-screen. It feels a bit longer to get through the other opening credits. But the overall 182 minutes are anything but boring. Rajamouli keeps the audience's attention whether it's with a dialogue scene or an action scene. You'll rarely feel the time as the film sets up Raju and Bheem's individual stories before their first adventure. You'll rarely feel it afterwards as they battle villains, each other and villains again. Nothing is subtle in this film. It even has a musical number, the Golden Globe nominated Naatu Naatu (or Naacho Naacho in the Hindi version I watched), which contains the most stunning displays of fleet-footedness on screen. Bar none.

The heroes help us through the massive runtime. Raju is introduced running into a riot braving hundreds of protestors to grab just one. You just have to admire his determination. We're a bit outraged that he's still passed over for promotion even though he's on the colonial side. That's mitigated when we find out he's actually a revolutionary spy. Bheem, meanwhile, is introduced fending off a wolf and a tiger. He later unleashes a whole menagerie on a party and defies the Buxtons' subsequent attempts to break him. Jenny lets him show off his gentleness; one of his best moments is when he helps her escape the aforementioned killer zoo. The friendship these guys have is compelling in its ups and downs. You'll be cheering from when they first meet to their final battle.

Now for the others. The bad guys sneer like proud pantomime villains with every syllable. Whether it's the Buxtons, their aide Edward (Edward Sonnenblick), or assorted officers, they're unambiguously evil. You'll be far from amused with their racist attitudes and will cheer their demises. Jake (Eduard Buhac) gets off lightly as our heroes outdance him in Naatu Naatu in glorious fashion. Meanwhile, Sharma is far more sympathetic as Malli, as is Ahmareen Anjun as her mother, Loki, and Alia Bhatt as Raju's fiancé, Sita. Morris as Jenny is quite likable. Ajay Devgn makes the most of his screentime as Raju's father, A. Venkatarama, from whom he clearly inherited his determination.

What else haven't I mentioned about the spectacle? A tiger tackles a wolf; the killer zoo is unleashed with a hard truck skid; Bheem tosses a leopard at a soldier; Raju's sniping skills. The CGI-aided stunts are spectacular even if the effects are too obvious. An arrow in the climax stuck out like a sore thumb. M. M. Keeravani composed Naatu Naatu and the rest of the perfectly bombastic score. Several lyricists - with Chandrabose doing Naatu Naatu - wrote the songs. The production, costume and makeup designs add to the visual splendor. The bombastic tone is aided by editor A Sreekar Prasad and cinematographer K.K. Senthil Kumar. 

RRR is a rousing good time. Its over three-hour runtime flies fast as you experience the action and heroic friendship. Yes, I should have checked it out earlier, especially since it played in theaters nearby. But it sure makes for an eventful home matinee in the closing days of 2022. You don't need to be familiar with both of its real-life heroes to enjoy their adventures. Watch it now for a spectacular time on Netflix. You won't forget Naatu Naatu anytime soon.

The Banshees of Inisherin

 I could have, would have and should have seen The Banshees of Inisherin during its theatrical run a few months ago. But it never arrived locally. So, it's off to HBOMax to see what others have seen. What have I seen indeed?

On the Irish Isle of Inisherin, during their Civil War, Pádraic Súilleabháin (Colin Farrel) and Colm Doherty (Brendan Gleeson) were good buddies. But Colm decides he wants to end their friendship. Why? Because he finds Pádraic boring. He finds his music a better use of his time than listening to idle chatter. He's so serious that he threatens to cut off his own fingers if Pádraic keeps bugging him. He's not kidding. Pádraic tries to mend their friendship but it only frustrates him, his sister Siobhán (Kerry Condon) and Colm. It only goes further downhill from there.

That's the gist of Martin McDonagh's fourth feature. Everyone initially treats Colm and Pádraic's split with absurd casualness. Colm's finger threat leaves us gob smacked with nervous laughter. So, we're actually hyperventilating when he follows through with it. Are these men supposed to be likable or not? You'll ask yourself that as the film follows them both. 

How are both men unlikable or not? Well, Pádraic's quest to save that friendship is a reasonable goal. But he's an immature man whose only eventual friend is his donkey, Jenny. Meanwhile, Colm is quite sympathetic as we realize he's suffering from depression. So, his wanting to be left alone is also reasonable. But the depths he goes for that goal are ludicrous. Still, both Farrell and Gleeson play them as compelling people.

Now for the supporting cast. Condon as Siobhán is good as the only sane woman on Inisherin. We empathize with her as she tries to mediate between the two men. It's only natural that she pursues life outside of the isle. Barry Keoghan is Dominic, a mutual friend of both men, and another likable character. Gary Lydon is Dominic's father, Officer Kearney, who is unambiguously detestable. A few other good supporting players are Sheila Flitton as the mysterious Mrs. McCormick and David Pearse as the Priest. These are all highlights of a memorable ensemble of quirky characters.

Now for the technical highlights. Ben Davis's cinematography of the Irish countryside is superb. The opening shots of the Inisherin plains are stunning and Mrs. McCormick's scenes are perfectly eerie. Mikkel E.G. Nielsen's editing helps build up the absurdity of the central conflict. Carter Burwell's score feels perfectly Irish despite him saying he toned down its Irishness. The Irish town visualized by production designer Mark Tildesley looks and feels authentic. Quite a few of these names would be welcome additions on the Oscar nominations next month.

The Banshees of Inisherin is a weird dark comedy. You'll laugh at the absurdity of its main conflict until the fingers come off. Afterwards, you might find it absurd to laugh at all. Things don't work out for its main characters, but the last words suggest some hope. It should make for an oft-kilter home matinee, that's for sure. It might still be playing in a theater somewhere. It might be worth it to see the Irish countryside on the big screen. It's an unforgettable film either way you choose to see it.

Pompo: The Cinephile

 While I slot in numerous contenders for this year's Oscars, I also find room for one of last year's could-have-been nominees. I namedropped Pompo: The Cinephile earlier this year when I reviewed fellow anime Belle. It had a one-week qualifying release in L.A. last year for its Oscars. Its official theatrical release last April was only for two nights, neither of which I had time for. I found the Blu-Ray in July and left it on my shelf...

Until now.

Based on Shogo Sugitani's online manga, the film is directed by Takayuki Hirao, whose best-known anime film, Gyo, is about zombie fish. A film like that is producer Joelle Davidoich "Pompo" Pomponett's forte. Her latest B-Movie, Marine, features a giant crab terrorizing beachgoers. Pompo is only twelve, at least, but she's a veteran producer with an eye for talent. One day, she decides to write an award-worthy script, Meister, and hand the director's chair to her gopher, Gene Fini. 

The film sees Gene directing "the world's greatest actor" Martin Braddock and fellow newcomer Nathalie Woodward as the leads. The production takes the crew from Hollywood Nyallywood (Meowllywood) to the Swiss Alps. Eventually, Gene is tasked with editing down the 72 hours of footage into just 90 minutes. It's a task that pushes him to the mental and physical brink. But he has a deadline to meet for the studio's investors. The post-production process gives him a sense of purpose.

Its greatest strength is its relentless optimism. We see it in frame one with its pastel art design. We feel it with its cast of characters. They avidly believe in the power of movies and find purpose in making them for the downtrodden. That's what helps Gene, Nathalie, and Alan, a banker we eventually meet, endure soul-crushing jobs. Nathalie's montage of failed auditions is equally funny and sad. Gene's determination to finish Meister is as admirable as it is dangerous. Pompo is quite profound for her age and her leading lady, Mystia, is sweet. They're all relatable and likable people. The only unlikable people are some of Alan's stuffy shirt superiors who nearly pull funding for Meister. But even they come around.

Its version of film post-production is quite interesting. Gene dissects footage to see which to keep or not. A few editing choices I wouldn't agree with, but a few others make me curious to see Meister in full. He imagines himself cutting through film with an oversized sword and infectious zeal. He eventually realizes that the film lacks a crucial flashback and him begging Pompo to greenlight it is a tense scene. Gene gets a nice scene with Nathalie when they make a few tough cuts. Overall, it's a unique way to hear about moviemaking.

It's not a realistic film, but Pompo: The Cinephile is an earnest tribute to moviemaking. This and Belle rank as my favorite anime films of the year, even if they came out last year. Its cast and tone are quite moving even if they lack the heavy drama of something like Belle. Find it however you can and see it right away. It even runs 90 minutes (minus credits) much like Meister does. It's a nice and easy home matinee ... not like my next reviewed film.

Pinocchio Double Feature Part 2: Del Toro

 Now for the Netflix version:

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio also has its Geppetto (David Bradley) build his Pinocchio (Gregory Mann) in the likeness of his late son. We actually meet the boy, Carlo, and spend some time with him and Geppetto in an endearing prologue. But it's World War 1 and Carlo is killed in an air raid. Mussolini reigns over Italy by the time Geppetto gets to work. Sebastian J. Cricket (Ewan McGregor) resides in the pine tree Geppetto uses for puppet fodder. He's a natural choice for conscience when a Wood Sprite (Tilda Swinton) brings Pinocchio to life. 

The village and Geppetto are unnerved by the animate wood boy in their midst. The impresario Count Volpe (Christoph Waltz) sees a new star for his circus, while the local Podesta (Ron Perlman) sees the perfect fascist soldier. Sebastian has his work cut out for him guiding Pinocchio down the straight and narrow. Pinocchio can die, but not for very long. He'll still have to spend a bit longer with Death herself (also Swinton), who tells him to make the most of his existence. It all comes to ahead when Geppetto meets the Terrible Dogfish.

Del Toro, along with his co-director, Mark Gustafson, and co-writers Patrick McHale and Matthew Robbins, visualize a unique take on Collodi's story. It's a tale where, instead of turning kids into donkeys, the Podesta turns them into fascist soldiers. Our introduction to the training camp is unnerving as the kids revel in their war games. It only gets creepier from there. Its themes of mortality are more obvious than in previous versions as Pinocchio is faced with outliving Geppetto. His sacrificing himself to save Geppetto is quite moving. It still has some much-needed humor, including a surprisingly funny song mocking Il Duce in-person and a sea captain Geppetto meets. Both Il Duce and the Sea Captain share an actor: Tom Kenny.

We empathize with Geppetto as he mourns for Carlo in a montage. He creates Pinocchio with the furor of Dr. Frankenstein flat out drunk. He's naturally unnerved when Pinocchio comes alive like a creaky ghost. Pinocchio himself is flippantly curious as he explores the world in song; even him setting his feet on fire is fun to him! His growing up into a selfless boy is a compelling arc throughout 117 minutes. We see him help Volpe's monkey, Spazzatura (Cate Blanchett), stand up to Volpe's abuse. We see him bond with the Podesta's son, Candlewick (Finn Wolfhard), and help him stand up to the old man. He even puts his lying to inventive use to escape the Dogfish. His unpolished design (Geppetto was too drunk to finish him!) doesn't detract from his compelling arc.

Now for a few words about Sebastian. His pompousness is amusing, while the slapstick he endures is hysterical. His chemistry with Geppetto is a nice addition to the story. He eventually proves himself just as noble as the little wooden head. You'll feel for him when he selflessly wishes Pinocchio back to life. He gets a song during the end credits after getting interrupted throughout the film. It's an OK song. But overall, you'll remember Sebastian just as well as Jiminy Cricket by the time it's done.

The stop-motion characters and their environments are perfectly crafted creations. The animators' stunning work makes these puppets as real as human actors are. Spazzatura can only communicate with monkey noises and body language. But he doesn't need to say a lot to get the audience's attention. The underworld rabbits and the two spirits are as unnerving as they are splendid. We still feel for Pinocchio despite his imperfect design. Alexandre Desplat, as usual, sets the enchanting mood right with his score. Meanwhile, his military themes befit the imposing Podesta. He also collaborated with Del Toro, McHale, and Roeben Katz, on the songs, the centerpiece of which is the stirring Ciao Papa. Both song and score are now Golden Globe nominated and they'll surely get Oscar notice next month. They should.

Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio resembles less of the novel than Disney's did. It does resemble the seminal manga and anime Astro Boy a bit more, though (itself inspired by Pinocchio). The film will stick with you better than not only Astro Boy's 2009 film, but Disney's recent remake as well. It's a strong story about one puppet's quest for validation. Its ending is quite powerful. I could have seen it when it was in theaters a few weeks ago, but I wanted to watch it and Disney's remake the same day (why? why not?). I found it easier to do that at home. This is the clear winner of the matchup. Netflix and chill with this unforgettable take on the famous story. Sure, it's creepy, but remember the donkey racket in the 1940 film?

I'm sure you do.

Pinocchio Double Feature Part 1: Disney

Last year, I concluded my review of Pinocchio with this:

Oh yeah, and there's also two other versions in development. One is being developed by Guillermo Del Toro for Netflix; the other by Robert Zemeckis for Disney +. Expect a few workarounds if and when I get to them.

That opportunity came yesterday. Both films in one day. Here's the Disney Plus version:

Zemeckis's version transplants Disney's 1940 film into live action. As usual, Geppetto (Tom Hanks) builds himself a puppet boy named Pinocchio that comes alive. The little wooden head (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) is a gullible puppet who needs some guidance. So, the Blue Fairy (Cynthia Erivo) appoints Jiminy Cricket (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) as his official conscience. Pinocchio gets led astray by Honest John (Keegan Michael-Key) on his first day of school to Stromboli's (Giuseppe Battiston) puppet theater. Geppetto sets off to look for Pinocchio, who looks for Geppetto once he escapes Stromboli. Pinocchio needs to prove himself a brave and selfless puppet before he can be a real boy.

Writers Chris Weitz and Simon Farnaby don't stray far from the original animated film. Pinocchio witnessing Lampwick turning donkey even recycles the original scene word for word. It doesn't recycle its nightmare fuel, unfortunately. A few new plot elements are underutilized. In this version, Pinocchio is carved in the likeness of Geppetto's late son; too bad we don't have flashbacks of them together. The most annoying is the lopsided long arm of the law. Stromboli is arrested off-screen for his cruelty, but not Pleasure Island's coachman (Luke Evans) for his donkey racket, too. Pinocchio gets roped into Pleasure Island almost immediately after escaping Stromboli. I'll discuss more gripes later on.

Now for a few cast members. Hanks, as usual, is a nice old man as Geppetto. Ainsworth's Pinocchio gets his best moment when he recoils from the raucousness of Pleasure Island. But he frequently springs back to chipper with confusing speed. The Coachman is perfectly creepy, even more so than in the 1940 film. That's what makes his karma houdini especially annoying. Gordon-Levitt is pretty good as Jiminy and is unrecognizable with his impression of Cliff Edwards. The film's funniest moment is the opening where Jiminy the narrator argues with Jiminy the character. Wish the film had more of that. A few new characters, Sophia the Seagull (Lorraine Bracco) and Fabiana the Puppeteer (Kyanne Lamaya) are fine.  But the best performance is Key's, who is perfectly grandiose as Honest John and his rendition of Hi-Diddle-Dee-Dee is stellar. It also helps that Honest John is the best animated and composited CGI character in the entire film.

Whereas The Lion King had stunning photorealistic animals and inert character acting, its titular character has good character acting and painfully obvious CGI. He doesn't mesh well with the real world. A few other shots, including one of Jiminy in the climax, stick out like a sore thumb, too. Pinocchio and Lampwick's tour through Pleasure Island loses some luster with its length. It still gets points for inventiveness (a gondola ride that connects to a Ferris Wheel, takes them through a slide and a candy mountain, among others). Alan Silvestri's score is especially great in the climax and his renditions of the original film songs are perfect. His new songs with Glenn Ballard are fine, with the Coachman's being the best.

Pinocchio is still on Disney Plus along with the 1940 film. I don't think that this film will become as cherished as its ancestor. Its story plays second banana to its imperfect visual style. That's probably why the donkey racket isn't as unnerving as the original film (or even the recent Italian film). It'll make an OK home matinee but not much else. Stick around for part two of this double feature for a version that will stick with you beyond one matinee.

See How They Run

 The Phantom of the Opera will close on Broadway in a little over four months. But not only is that chandelier-hating Phantom staying put on the West End, there's another stage production that's staying put too. That would be The Mousetrap, Agatha Christie's detective story that opened way back in 1952. Christie was so protective of her twist ending that she forbad any film version until the play closed for at least six months. 

But director Leo Kopernick (Adrien Brody) is going to try anyway. He doesn't care for the traditional who-dun-it formula, and he especially wants to turn the ending into a dumb action movie one. This riles up writer Mervyn Cocker-Norris (David Oyelowo) and producer John Woolf (Reece Shearsmith). As Leo narrates, the first victim of a detective story won't be missed by anyone. He finds out too late that he fits that bill when someone kills him backstage while the show celebrates its 100th performance.

The actual heroes of our story, titled See How They Run, are Inspector Stoppard (Sam Rockwell) and Constable Stalker (Saoirse Ronan). They get on the case as they interview everyone connected with the play, including star Richard Attenborough (Harris Dickinson). They all have plausible motives, but they can't jump to conclusions. The actual murderer reveals himself in due time.

This marks the film debuts of TV director Tom George and TV writer Mark Chappell. The end result is a silly murder mystery romp with some legit twists. The opening scene perfectly fools us into thinking Leo is the protagonist. He still shows up in flashbacks and in a weird dream scene in the second half. Mervyn's testimony has some fun meta-humor as he decries the use of flashbacks in a scene that used them. Stoppard himself becomes a perfectly plausible suspect. The actual killer is, naturally, above suspicion. Their final confrontation perfectly plays out Leo's Hollywood ending.

The cast is fine. Rockwell and Ronan are likeable together as Stoppard and Stalker. He's an alcoholic loser and she's a diligent newcomer. Together, they fight crime! There's not much to them but they give it their all. Their superior, Commissioner Scott (Tim Key), is the best of the bunch for his hilariously skewed priorities. Dickinson as Attenborough is too likable to be a plausible suspect, while Shearsmith as Woolf is perhaps the second most plausible. Shirley Henderson eventually shows up as Christie herself and she proves to be a cool character. The actual killer's confession during the summation is a strong one.

Production Designer Amanda MacArthur and cinematographer Jamie D. Ramsey deserve praise for their recreation of 50s London. Their rendition of St. Martin's Theater is especially striking with its neon palette. Close behind them are editors Gary Dollner and Peter Lambert, whose use of split-screen adds much needed tension. That's especially useful when Stalker catches "Stoppard" in the act and chases him through the theatre. We actually believe it's one chase and not two. There's also some good tension when The Mousetrap personnel are lured into a trap at Christie's mansion. The best of Daniel Pemberton's score features in Stoppard and Stalker's climactic race to the mansion.

See How They Run never played locally during its theatrical run. I had to make do with HBOMax. It's a good way to spend time as you wait for Glass Onion. It's a nice and compact mystery film at just 97 minutes. There's plenty of Christie in-jokes during the whole affair. It's a light affair, but it got me interested in reading more about the actual case that inspired the play. It might spur your interests too.

Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen

Of the 144 films on this year's long list for the Documentary Oscar, I don't expect Fiddler's Journey to the Big Screen to be one of the fifteen for the short list in a few weeks. But its subject is appealing, so I'm going to look at it. You should look at it too even if you know its subject by heart.

Max Lewkowicz already chronicled how Sholem Aleichem's stories of Tevye the Milkman made it to Broadway as Fiddler on the Roof in his documentary, Fiddler: A Miracle of Miracles. Daniel Raim chronicles here how Norman Jewison brought it "To (cinematic) Life." Jewison, despite the name, is a Goy, something he brought up when United Artists asked him to helm the film. He faced antisemitism for that last name alone and felt like an outsider. His experiences with social injustice influenced his directorial career, including In The Heat of the Night. In a way, he was still a reasonable choice for the definitive musical about European Jewish life. 

I've known a few of its anecdotes already. There's the Tevye casting process, for example. We see how Jewison passed up Zero Mostel, who originated the role on Broadway, for Topol, his West End counterpart. Jewison felt Mostel's towering stage presence would be too much on film. But critic Kenneth Turan makes an interesting counterpoint for Mostel's Tevye. Jewison's bemusement as he recounts how Frank Sinatra threw his hat in the ring is entertaining. It's also entertaining to hear for the first or fiftieth time to hear how cinematographer Oswald Morris rendered his Oscar-winning work through silk stockings.

It also has a few new fascinating stories. We see how Rosalind Harris, Michele Marsh and Neva Small were cast as Tevye's eldest daughters, Tzeitel, Hodel and Chava. Them recounting how Jewison went all in running lines with them is fun to hear about. We see how Lekenik in the former Yugoslavia was chosen as the primary filming location for Tevye's shtetl Anatevka. We see how the production moved to soundstages when it became infeasible to film the astounding bottle dance in the Yugoslavian winter. We see how violinist Isaac Stern was hired for the titular role's solos. John Williams, whose score adaptation won him his first Oscar, tells how he created the opening credit solo.

Its most compelling stories describe its societal relevance. Early on, we see critic Pauline Kael proclaim it "the most powerful movie musical ever," especially when contemporary movie musicals were often bloated messes. Later on, we see the interviewees go in detail about what the film means for them. Topol tells us how he channeled his heritage into his acting as Tevye. His story of his father's hardships gives one profound context the next time they see Tevye dismissing Anatevka. Yugoslavia no longer existing adds poignancy to its story of changing times. As Jewison recounts, the film moved Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir and it was especially successful in Japan. He succeeded in making a film for everyone. "Not bad for a goy," as he put it upon accepting his Irving G. Thalburg award.

I would have liked to hear anecdotes about the late co-stars Norma Crane and Leonard Frey (Tevye's wife and son-in-law Golde and Motel) and how Jewison voiced the ghostly rabbi in Tevye's "nightmare." But these are minor gripes in an otherwise good documentary. Anyone who knows Jerry Bock and Sheldon Harnick's songs by heart will love to see Fiddler's Journey on the Big Screen. There's quite a bit to learn in just 88 minutes. I saw it on Amazon Prime, where A Miracle of Miracles is also streaming for free. That's a great double bill, a triple if you want to add Fiddler itself. 

The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie

A lot of the anime films I covered this year saw the fate of the world (in one way or another) at stake. This latest release, The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie, sees relationships at stake. It's a nice change of pace as the year winds down.

The film concludes two anime seasons adapted from Negi Haruba's manga. Naturally, those familiar with the titular quintuplets - Ichika, Nino, Miku, Yotsuba and Itsuki Nakano - and their classmate/tutor Futaro Uesugi, will be the most invested to see which sister will go to the altar with him. There's no question about it since the story is framed around their wedding day. But when the sisters all show up all looking the same, he'll have to point out which one's who...

Meanwhile, in the past, Futaro and the Nakanos prepare for their fall school festival. A lot happens over these three days. Ichika's acting career takes off; Futaro helps Nino bond with her distant stepfather, Maruo; Miku plays peacemaker between rival food stands; Yotsuba overexerts herself helping out everywhere; and Itsuki gets an unwelcome visitor. Futaro promises the Nakanos that he'll profess his love for one of them at festival's end. How will it work out?

It's a relatively gentle film with a harsh runtime: 135 minutes. There are still some interesting flashbacks with the girls, then indiscernible, with their late mother, Rena, and of the eventual lucky girl with a disguised Futaro (long story). It's nice to see them fight to stick together when said girl nearly flunks school. A good portion of the story is dedicated to showing the festival from each girl's perspectives. They aren't what-ifs despite each segment being titled "If the last festival was (x)." But they still give them plenty of nice character moments. 

 A subplot that could've been better is Mudo, the girls' deadbeat biological dad. He shows up trying to atone, pathetically, and beats it once he gets called out. His arrival is treated with seriousness and his departure is no big deal.

Its ensemble will easily welcome newcomers to the story. Futaro's ego flashes are entertaining and his relationships with the Nakanos are charming. The five Nakanos are equally plausible lucky girls thanks to their charming personalities. One of the sisters doesn't take the choice well, but she comes around by wedding day. That's good because the Nakanos and Futaro are so hard to dislike. You'd hate to see them quarrel. Meanwhile, Maruo gets his best moments when he proves himself a caring stepdad and Rena is a warm presence. Another new character, Takebayashi, seems like a rival for Futaro's affections, but she quickly turns out to support him and the Nakanos. Overall, the only character truly unlikable is Mudo.

Now for the quintessential technicians. The vibrant animation by Bibury Studios is easy on the eyes. Add in a score by Hanae Nakamura and Miki Sakurai and this high school love story is surprisingly sentimental. An accidentally disorienting moment is when Nino fronts a pop group during the festival. Their song is dubbed but it's still subtitled. The subtitles don't match the dub lyrics. I saw the film dubbed, and I wouldn't bring it up if I saw it subbed. That aside, it's still an entertaining pop number.

This is probably the perfect anime film for a date night. The Quintessential Quintuplets Movie is a feel-good-movie all the way through. You'll be invested in the story even if you haven't read the manga or seen the prior seasons. It'll surely appeal to you in either subbed or dubbed formats. But you'll have to hurry soon before it's out of theaters. It's a long way before it hits home media.

She Said

We started the month with Germany's entry for this year's International Feature Oscar race. We end it with the follow-up from the director of Germany's entry for last year's International Feature Oscar race. That director is Maria Schrader, her last film was I'm Your Man and this film is She Said. What can I say about it?

Rebecca Lenkiewicz's screenplay adapts New York Times reporters Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor's book about their investigation (with Rebecca Corbett) into Hollywood bigwig Harvey Weinstein's sexual misconduct. The three of them are respectively played by Carey Mulligan, Zoey Kazan and Patricia Clarkson. The three of them get on the case when they get a tip into Weinstein's abuse of actress Rose McGowan (only heard on the phone voiced by Katie McQuail). They work their way down from Ashley Judd (as herself) and Gwyneth Paltrow (never seen) to several of Weinstein's lower-level employees. They find it imperative to publish it before Weinstein lawyers up.

The victims and witnesses make it compelling. We open up with one woman, Laura Madden, helping with a film shoot in Ireland. One cut later, she's running and sobbing down Dublin. "What happened?" lingers in our thoughts. An older Madden (Jennifer Ehle) answers that with vivid detail. Employee Zelda Perkins (Samantha Morton) earns the audience's respect for confronting Weinstein during a board meeting over his abuse of co-worker Rowena Chiu (Angela Yeoh). An ex-employee is more than willing to talk, but can't due to legal reasons, while another closes the door on Twohey and Kantor. Their traumatic pasts are palpable. John Mazurek and Zach Grenier are good as John Schmidt and Irwin Reiter, the CFO and ex-vice president of Miramax, whose testimonies help crack the case.

Mulligan and Kazan are good as Twohey and Kantor. Their friendship is nice, while their journalistic determination is admirable. They get some much-needed levity with their families (Adam Shapiro is funny as Kantor's husband, Ron Lieber). We never stop rooting for them as they unravel Weinstein's abuse. Clarkson and Andre Braugher (as executive editor, Dean Baquet) are great supporting players. Baquet's refusal to let Weinstein intimidate him also earns him the audience's respect. Their best moment is their joy when their main article is finally ready for print. 

The real Weinstein is heard in disturbing detail in a recording of one of his misdeeds. When he's heard on the phone, and seen from behind in-person, he's played by Mike Houston. What we hear about him perfectly sets him up as a Hollywood boogeyman. A nameless guy at a bar and another on the phone perfectly establish themselves as loathsome individuals with one scene each. Peter Friedman is much more cordial as Weinstein's main lawyer, Lanny Davis. Overall, there's a good cast at work here.

Add an unforgettable score by Nicholas Britell and you have a strong journalistic drama. She Said is a compelling portrayal of recent history. You'll be hooked whether you've followed up on the real-life coverage or not. You should hurry up and see it if you want to. It might not last much longer with these box-office figures. That's a shame because it's still a winner.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

 Hola, amigos! 

You're probably wondering why and how I'm reviewing Puss in Boots: The Last Wish weeks before it's out in theatres. That's easy! Thank Universal for giving sneak previews of the "upcoming film," no strings attached. And since Sr. Spielberg's cinematic life story isn't playing near me, this will substitute for that. This is the surprise I hinted at in my last few reviews. Let's go!

This time, Puss's (Antonio Banderas) nine lives have finally caught up with him. A battle with a tree giant has left him with just one life left. He tries to ignore his doctor's orders to no longer adventure. But a Big Bad Wolf (Wagner Moura) puts the fear of death in him. So, he gives himself a funeral and resigns himself as the latest in cat lady Mama Luna's (Da'Vine Joy Randolph) clowder.

But then Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears Crime Family show up looking for Puss in Boots. It seems his expertise is needed to get a map to a magic Wishing Star that crashed in the appealingly named Dark Forest. Puss sees an opportunity to get his lives back. So, he and one of his fellow "cats," actually a chihuahua named Perrito (Harvey Guillen), decide to look for the star. They run into Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek), and "Big" Jack Horner (John Mulaney), who both want the star. So, Puss, Kitty and Perrito join up in the Dark Forest with the bad guys in pursuit. That's the gist of it.

Puss's long-awaited sequel gives him a midlife crisis that's equally funny and sad. His montage of lost lives is comedic gold. We laugh and empathize when he eulogizes himself. His and Kitty's unresolved issues are quite endearing. The Big Bad Wolf is unquestionably menacing even before we realize who he really is. It makes perfect sense once we do. His final battle with the villains lets him come to terms with his last life in thrilling and moving fashion.

Meanwhile, Perrito doesn't realize his sad backstory is sad. He's a good boy throughout the film, especially when he joins in the final battle. "Big" Jack is as amusing as he is loathsome. He admits as such to his conscience cricket (Kevin McGann) and we don't doubt it with his callousness with his goons. Goldilocks and the Three Bears (Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman and Samson Kayo) are much lighter antagonists. Goldilocks gets her strongest moment when she realizes her crime family is her true family. And I've already mentioned the Wolf.

The film's CGI watercolor aesthetics are quite striking. It's especially noticeable in the action scenes when it goes by twos. The action scenes, from the opening mansion battle to the final battle on the Wishing Star, are all impressive. The locales are stellar, especially the Dark Forest, which shifts around throughout the film. The various magic items in Jack's possession are cool (the unicorn horns are a surprise). Heitor Pereira's score adds some welcome panache to it all. 

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish will make for a great holiday outing once it's officially out. Its animated midlife crisis story will entertain kids and move adults alike. It's as good to look at as it is to experience. Its 102 minutes are just right. Will I give you more surprises like this? It depends on what's available. 

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special

 Yes, this happened.

 And let's give thanks on this after Thanksgiving Day that it did. 

The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special dethrones Werewolf by Night as the shortest film I'll cover at a whopping 42 minutes. That's within the boundaries of what the Motion Picture Academy defines as a feature film (40 minutes). So, I'm good.

The Guardians of the Galaxy now have their own planet, Knowhere (long story?). But Star-Lord (Chris Pratt) is miserable considering Gamora is dead and her time-displaced past self is somewhere in space (long story). It's also getting to look a lot like Christmas in Knowhere. So, Drax (Dave Bautista) and Mantis (Pom Klementieff) decide to get Star-Lord the perfect Christmas gift. Who or what could it be?

Why, it's movie star Kevin Bacon as himself! Drax and Mantis stroll through Los Angeles to find the star of Star-Lord's favorite movie, Footloose. Their Christmas surprise is threatened when they discover he's an actor. But Kevin Bacon is a good sport and decides to help them "save" Christmas. There's also a familial secret Mantis is hiding.

James Gunn returns to the MCU by writing and directing this special. It's nothing but a loony odyssey and that's OK. There's plenty of fun in Drax and Mantis's adventure and only one bit was bewildering. That would be when Drax assaults a man cosplaying Cy-Kill from Go-Bots. Huh? But them getting to Bacon and their indignation over his profession was hilarious. Drax is delightfully goofy, as usual, while Mantis seems loopier than usual. That's still OK. Star-Lord learning the truth is a surprisingly strong moment. 

We get some flashbacks of one particular Christmas with Yondu (Michael Rooker). They're animated in the style of Marvel's What-If? show and they look good. It's especially nice when we see the-then Grinchy Yondu lighten up. Other highlights include a surprisingly buff Groot and the newly promoted bit character Cosmo the Dog, who now speaks with the voice of Maria Bakalova. The Knowhere set doesn't seem as elaborate as the films, but it looks great when decorated. There's a cool soundtrack consisting of Kevin Murphy's score and a few funny Christmas songs.

This should satisfy plenty of fans' time as they wait for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Don't expect too much drama in this special. It's a silly holiday film with a few endearing moments. It's ready for you to watch on Disney Plus as of today. But this isn't the surprise I promised you last time. The next film is.

Strange World

 Attention, moviegoers! Disney has for you an exciting and strange new tale to tell. It's Strange World, an adventure story unlike anything you've ever seen. But it's still like any tale you've ever heard. How can this be? Find out in this exciting review!

Epic narrator tone off.

Jaegar Clade (Dennis Quaid) is the greatest adventurer from the land of Avalonia. His son Searcher (Jake Gyllenhaal) isn't. On one expedition, Searcher finds an electrical plant called Pando. Jaegar doesn't care, and he goes off into the mountains, never to return. 25-years later, Searcher's discovery is now the land's power supply. But the Pando plants are getting weaker and weaker. One of Jaegar's former expedition members, Callisto Mal (Lucy Liu), now the President of Avalonia, grabs Searcher for a journey to the center of the Earth. They hope to find whatever's killing the Pando crops. His family - wife Meridian (Gabrielle Union) and son Ethan (Jaboukie Young-White) and tripawed dog Legend - tag along.

The Strange World they find is full of, well, strange creatures. They also find Jaegar alive and crazy. Ethan, meanwhile, meets a blue blob called Splat, who becomes their tag-a-long mascot. Meanwhile, Jaegar and Clade have different ideas on Ethan's future. But Avalonia won't have a future if they don't hurry. It's especially so once they find out the true nature of their world and the Pando.

Let's get a few things out of the way. The Strange World and its creatures are as alluring as they are deadly. We have magenta pterosaurs, rock mollusks, walking cliffs and whatever species Splat is (there's also a red one that's there for like, one scene). The story is a checklist of familiar family film tropes. It's especially so with Ethan's story, who wants to answer the call of adventure, while Searcher wants him not to. Jaegar wants him to be an explorer, while Searcher wants him to be a farmer. The only thing they agree on is that they approve of his boyfriend, Diazo (Jonathan Melo), which is legitimately nice. The revelation of Pando and Avalonia's true nature gives the plot a much-needed jolt.

We get some good supporting characters amidst some average leads. Legend is the top star by virtue of being a tripawed. Call me biased, but I fostered one ((Hopalong) Cassidy) for a few months. His antics are as amusing as they are impressive. Splat is fun and quite sympathetic; it and Ethan get a nice bonding moment when he bandages its arm after it gets zapped by Pando. Amongst the crew, we have Caspian (Karan Soni), an amusing nerdy-type and the aptly named Ronnie Redshirt. Back to the mains, Callisto makes for a good anti-villain. Did I spoil it?

Strange World probably won't leave a cinematic footprint as large as, say, Encanto did last year. But it should provide a good family matinee for this holiday season. The story is average, but its visuals and supporting cast are superb. Anyone balking at Avatar: The Way of Water's 190 minutes will rest easily knowing that it runs just 102. But hurry up and see Strange World before that movie takes over the cineplexes. Stay tuned this weekend for a surprise.

Tár

I saw the French Film Irreversible in a film class in 2007. It's a film notorious for its nauseating infrasonic sound mix and telling its story in reverse-chronological order (among other things). I remember the reverse order but not its sound mix; due to a DVD error, we watched the film mute.

A year earlier, director and writer Todd Field made his second and seemingly final film, Little Children. He's back with Tár, a film that opens with the end credits, sans cast, in reverse. I almost thought it was going the Irreversible route, but no, it's chronological. So, what's it about?

Lydia Tár (Cate Blanchett) is the conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic and a musical icon. She was mentored by Leonard Bernstein himself and she herself mentored, among others, this film's composer, Hildur Guðnadóttir. The film opens with a lengthy interview with The New Yorker's Adam Gopnik outlining her life and musical philosophy. Her warm public persona contrasts with her cold private one. She alienates a student at her Julliard class (in an equally lengthy scene) and is distant with her wife Sharon (Nina Hoss), their daughter Petra (Mila Bogojevic) and her assistant, Francessca (Noémie Merlant).

One of Tár's former students, Krista Taylor (Sylvia Flote), kills herself. She leaves behind allegations that she and Tár had an inappropriate relationship. This comes just as Tár and the Philharmonic prepare to record Mahler's Fifth. Tár tries to deny the allegations but along comes a new cellist, Olga (Sophie Kauer). She tries to start an affair with Olga, but it doesn't end well. Neither does her career.

Yes, its titular character is pretty much an abusive predator. But she's a charismatic one thanks to Blanchett's performance. She makes a strong case about looking past one's homelife in appreciating their arts during that lengthy class. We can at least side with her when that class is later re-edited online into her Worst Behavior Greatest Hits collection. She presents Krista as an obsessed fan, and we're inclined to believe her. Her relationship with Olga does lend validity to Krista's accusations, though. It's quite shocking to see her discard her coldness when she assaults her substitute conductor, Eliot (Mark Strong), on stage. She's there in practically every scene of the film's massive 158 minutes.

Tár's supporting women are more sympathetic than she. Francessca and Sharon both feel equally unappreciated by the "supreme genius" in their lives. They both get to call her out on it. Their sympathy barely fades even if the film gives them some selfish subtext for leaving her. Olga is quite likable; her giddy reaction to making the orchestra is endearing. We soon learn she's not so easily manipulated by her conductor's advances. Krista only appears in several fleeting instances. What we learn about her lets us pity her, though.

Editor Monika Wili and the sound team let us into Tár's crumbling mind. We hear the same unnerving ambient sounds she hears, some of which are never explained. We see her nightmares, some of which involves Krista, and another has her in a burning bed in a swamp. Her real world is perfectly bleak thanks to Florian Hoffmeister's cinematography. It makes one want to almost sympathize with her. On a positive note, the film's set list, whether it's Guðnadóttir's compositions or pieces she arranged, makes for a crisp soundtrack. 

Whether or not you enjoy Tár depends on whether you can stand its villain protagonist for so long. A lot of its scenes felt excessively long (the two I mentioned make up a bulk of its first half-hour). But one can almost feel something for its titular character. Her final scene is supposed to show her at rock-bottom, but let's say she can get some fan points with her venue. It's still playing in theaters now, though you can see it on streaming for $19.99 (it'll be cheaper and on home media in a month or so). I'll leave it to you when and where to see it.

Disenchanted

 Once upon a time, Disney decided to bring its fairy tale style to the real world. I'm not talking about its live-action remakes, but Enchanted, its delightful self-parody of their animated films. It took ages, but we now have its sequel, Disenchanted, on Disney Plus. Let's see how it is.

The first film had Giselle (Amy Adams) of the animated Kingdom of Andalasia thrown into live-action Manhattan. After dealing with her evil would-be mother-in-law Narissa (Susan Sarandon), she and lawyer Robert (Patrick Dempsey) had their own happily ever after. We're now post happily ever after, ten years later. Giselle is stepmother to Morgan (Gabriella Baldacchino, tagging in for Rachel Covey) and mother to baby Sofia. Giselle decides Manhattan life isn't for her, so she and her family move to Monroeville, a suburb essentially run by Malvina Monroe (Maya Rudolph). Their new house looks nice but try living there...

Giselle tries to mend her family's unhappiness with magic. Her former intended, King Edward (James Marsden) and his Queen Nancy (Idina Menzel), gave her a MacGuffin magic wand. She uses the wand to wish for a "Fairy Tale life." Next thing she knows, Monroeville is Monrolasia, filled with giants, dragons, talking animals and group musical numbers. Her family is happy and content. But then she has moments where she turns wicked ... like a wicked stepmother! The wish is so powerful that Andalasia itself is falling apart. She has till midnight to reverse the curse. She has to contend with not just her wicked self, but Queen Malvina, who won't give up her power without a fight.

The sequel's best idea was turning Giselle evil. Adams gets much mileage out of turning the innocent Giselle into a scheming stepmother. It's even funnier when she switches personalities back-in-forth. The highlight is when she and Malvina engage in a villain song duet, the best of Alan Menken and Stephen Schwartz's otherwise ok songs. The film beforehand felt like worn-out whimsy, but this picked it up and then some. If I had a sore spot with the screenplay, it's that it wasted a good opportunity to resolve the plot a few minutes faster. You'll see what I mean.

Morgan is a good dramatic center, even if the story fumbles it. A faulty circuit burns her clothes and her stepmom's ideal life isn't so. Her frustrations with Giselle are understandable. Her spell-induced happiness turns her into a different character, which makes the spell creepier. But when she's thrown into Andalasia, the spell reverses and she's essentially back again. But she remembers life in Monrolasia. Her reconciliation with Giselle is a strong moment, though.

Now for a few character highlights. Malvina, much like Giselle, hits her stride as a Fairy Tale Queen. She's equally funny and dangerous, especially by the final battle. Her toadies, Ruby and Rosaleen (Jayma Mays and Yvette Nicole Brown) are funny side characters. The wand's magic scroll (Alan Tudyk, reprising his Ed Wynn impersonation from Wreck-It Ralph) and returning chipmunk Pip (Griffin Newman), get some of the best lines. Robert and Edward are delightfully goofy, while Nancy gets a number that's sure to remind one of Frozen.

What else can I say? The production and costume designs are decent. Menken's orchestral score is good and the magical effects & 2D animation are great. It gets going well once you realize where it's going. That helped make its two-hours feel not so tedious. Overall, Disenchanted makes for a fine home matinee. If you disagree, at least you can pull up Enchanted on the same service. Either option's fine.

Slumberland

I saw two films that debuted today on streaming. The first of them is Slumberland, based on cartoon pioneer Winsor McCay's comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland. It was previously adapted as an anime film in 1989 (1992 stateside), but this is the first live-action take on the century-old strip. Is this a good introduction to the classic story? Maybe.

Little Nemo (Marlow Barkley) and her dad Peter (Kyle Chandler) live alone in a lighthouse. He always tells her tales of his time in the magical Slumberland with the roguish Flip. One night, Peter leaves to aid a troubled ship and never returns. Her boring uncle Phillip (Chris O'Dowd), a rich doorknob salesman, takes her in. He has no idea how to raise a kid and Nemo has no idea how to live in modern society.

Nemo eventually meets Flip (Jason Mamoa) in her dreams. He wants to find magic wishing pearls in the appealingly named Sea of Nightmares. Nemo agrees, hoping to get her dad back. They have a map that lets them dream-hop through Slumberland. All the while, they find themselves pursued by a nightmare squid and the harried Dream Cop Agent Green (Weruche Opia). Meanwhile, Nemo has to resolve her real-world problems.

Director Francis Lawrence and his writers, David Guio and Michael Handelman, create a fairly decent family film. They wisely bypassed some of the strip's most-dated aspects (Imp's design won't fly today). Their story includes some legitimate surprises, some of which involve a few dreamers Nemo and Flip meet in Slumberland. It's also a tad overlong at 117 minutes, but the twist involving Philip and the climax, makes this Netflix session worth it.

Now for the characters. Peter's living time is short, but it sells his and Nemo's bond perfectly. You'll feel it for Nemo when Peter is lost. You'll naturally side with her as she goes on her dream quest. It's a compelling quest all the way through. Philip seemed like a one-note dullard until the mid-film twist. He spectacularly rises to the challenge of dad-hood in the climax. Mamoa plays Flip as an expy of Beetlejuice. It's still a bit entertaining, though. Agent Green was OK, as is India De Beaufort as Nemo's school counselor.

The strongest technical star is production designer Dominic Watkins. He visualizes such impressive places as Nemo's lighthouse and the many realms of Slumberland. One of Slumberland's best locales is a glass city whose occupants are a garbage truck and its surprising driver. The sky there looks like an actual painting almost comparable to the matte painting cities of Dick Tracy. Slumberland shifting around to different locales is an impressive feat of visual effects. A few more impressive effects include its version of the strip's walking bed, a few touchups to Flips' getup and Nemo's pig toy sidekick, Pig. Flip's dazzling wardrobe was among many designed by costume designer Trish Summerville. It not only looks good but sounds good with Pinar Toprak's score too.

My strongest familiarity with the strip comes from the anime film and a few panels highlighting McCay's stunning artwork. So, I'm not annoyed with any liberties taken with Slumberland. Its visual style is sure to entertain kids for an afternoon. Its clever twists save it from being as forgettable as the average dream. I think this is a good family home matinee. Maybe the length won't be an issue for you.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

Whatever a Black Panther sequel could have been died along with its star, Chadwick Boseman. So, Marvel and Wakanda find themselves dealing with the loss of its hero. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever proves that both of them are up to the challenge. 

King T'Challa dies after a protracted illness, leaving his mother, now Queen, Ramonda (Angela Bassett) and sister Shuri (Letitia Wright) to mourn with their people. A year later, Wakanda finds itself under international pressure to share their vibranium resources. Shuri tries to clone the heart-shaped herb that powered the Black Panthers to help create a new one to defend Wakanda. They'll need it soon as the underwater nation of Talocan, which holds the world's only other vibranium supply, resurfaces. Their leader, K'uk'ulkan, better known as Namor (Tenoch Huerta), is especially unhappy that there's an underwater vibranium detector. He plans to go to war with Wakanda unless they help him find the detector's inventor.

The inventor is Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne), a teen genius college student. Shuri and General Okoye (Danai Gurira) head off to find her, only to face the FBI, CIA and Talokanil forces. Shuri and Riri are taken to Talokan, where Namor is interested in forming an alliance with Wakanda. If not, then war. Unfortunately, war seems inevitable, and Shuri steps up to save her nation as the new Black Panther.

Director Ryan Coogler and his co-writer, Joe Robert Cole, return to tell this superhero tale. There's a lot that unfolds over its equally epic 161 minutes. We get plenty of subplots for returning favorites Everett Ross (Martin Freeman), Okoye, Nakia (Lupita Nyongo) and M'Baku (Winston Duke). Riri is a memorable new character, especially when she joins the final battle as the Iron Man-inspired Ironheart. A new Dora Milaje member, Aneka (Michaela Coel), and her relationship with Ayo (Florence Kasumba), is a bit lost in the shuffle, though. Julia Louis-Dreyfuss is just fine as CIA villain Valentina Allegra de Fontaine.

Ramonda puts on a brave and regal face, but cracks when the Talocanil warriors take Shuri. We sympathize with her even if we don't agree with her stripping Okoye of her command. Shuri, meanwhile, throws herself in her work. She's still in the anger-stage of grief, understandably, though Riri and Namor help her, directly or not, go through it. One of her strongest scenes is when she realizes that her latest cloned herb works. A few more include her debut as the Black Panther and her final battle with Namor.

Now for the antagonists. Namor is a compelling anti-villain driven by vengeance for the oppression of his people centuries ago. He's affable to his hopeful allies, like Shuri, when they talk in Talocan. His anger is terrifying as seen when he attacks Wakanda and, in a flashback, attacks a plantation. His warriors are equally terrifying in their first scene when they attack a mining vessel. They open their attack with a siren's song that drives people to jump off. Their own formidable fighting prowess cements them as legitimate threats to Wakanda. Namor promises we haven't heard the last for him. I'm quite curious to see how he'll factor in future installments.

The first film's Oscar-winning technical Marvels - production designer Hanna Beachler, costume designer Ruth Carter and composer Ludwig Göransson - return with equally Marvelous work. Talokan and its peoples' attire are equally impressive creations. The funeral march for T'Challa is quite emotional and the battle music is amazing. Cinematographer Autumn Durald Arkapaw's work is great, but her best scene is when the Dora Milaje emerge from the shadows to fend off an attack from vibranium-seeking mercenaries. Its three editors intercut between that attack and a United Nations meeting, which ends with the Dora Milaje dragging the mercenaries in. It's a masterstroke of a scene. 

The decision to not recast T'Challa has been a bit controversial. But for what it is, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, stands strong on its own feet. Its newly promoted supporting characters and new antagonist are equally compelling people. Its ending gives us a lot to think about Wakanda's future in the MCU. That's especially true with the mid-credits scene and its stunning surprise. I won't hint at what it is. You'll just have to see the movie for yourself. It's worth the long runtime.

One Piece Film: Red

At this point, trying to keep up with One Piece is a daunting task. Eiichiro Oda's cartoony world spans over a thousand chapters in both manga and anime form with a similarly gigantic number of characters. Their latest film, One Piece Film: Red, is their fifteenth, made for the franchise's 25th anniversary. For those who came in late:

Just before his execution, Gold Roger, the King of the Pirates, announced that his treasure, the One Piece, and his title, were up for grabs. Our hero, Monkey D. Luffy, and many, many others, want what Roger left. Luffy and his wacky "Straw Hat" crew sail around looking for adventure and often fight corrupt noblemen, the navy, evil pirates and other bad folks.

The Straw Hats enjoy some downtime at the Island of Elegia, where the world's most popular singer, Uta, holds her first concert. Luffy immediately recognizes her as his childhood friend and outs her dad as being Captain Shanks, his pirate hero. The reunion turns sour when Uta announces her concert's going to last forever. That's because anyone who hears her sing is sent to dreamland. That includes around 70 percent of the planet. The Straw Hats and a few of their friends and rivals join forces to find a way out of there. That's the basic gist of it.

The film is directed by Goro Taniguchi, best known for the Code Geass series and this franchise's first anime incarnation, the short Defeat the Pirate Ganzack. Tsutomu Kuroiwa's screenplay gives the uninitiated enough backstory to understand its self-contained story. The numerous established characters in supporting or cameo roles barely impair that understanding. There's some stunning twists and turns as Uta's masterplan unfolds. One concerns some mushrooms and another concerns Tot Musica, an evil dream demon. You'll be on edge once you understand the ramifications. Its resolution is the only part its story felt stretched.

Uta makes for a memorable anti-villain. Her history with Luffy gives the film a great crux. We see them laugh and play and even engage in eating contests. Bring up pirates, and Shanks especially, and her good nature cracks. We gradually understand just how dangerous her plan is. But we still have some fun; her musical numbers are delightfully trippy music videos worthy of a Bond film. The film is available in both subbed and dubbed versions, though the latter still switches to the Japanese audio for Uta's songs (all sung by the enigmatic singer Ado). The language switch may strike some as odd, though let's focus on the positives. These numbers range from peppy to emotional to creepy; all are memorable.

How else does this film look and sound good? Uta's character design is as dazzling as her reality-bending powers. Her trapping people on music staffs like flies on flypaper is merely a sample. Tot Musica's full form and its screams make it a menacing final boss. Yasutaka Nakata's score perfectly punctuates whatever action Uta isn't part of. If this is your first exposure to One Piece, prepare yourself for an eclectic cast of characters consisting of ordinary-looking people, an afroed skeleton, a bulky cyborg, a polar bear and even a dead ringer for Cap'n Crunch. It's a weird world and they're part of why it's fun.

One Piece Film: Red gives a musical twist to the Straw Hats' high-seas hijinks. Its central new character is menacing, entertaining and sympathetic all at once. Her story is compelling whether you've experienced 100 or zero percent of the franchise. Either way, you'll get 115 minutes of wackiness, action, music and drama. It's a weird mix, but the franchise is too. See it and you might get the appeal.

Till

Her last film, Clemency, barely had a theatrical release in 2019. I'm sure most only heard about it when Alfre Woodard got a BAFTA nomination for it. Director Chinonye Chukwu's newest film, Till, won't escape anyone's radar that easily. Let's see why.

It's 1955 in Chicago. Mamie Till (Danielle Deadwyler) sends her son, Emmett (Jalyn Hall), to visit his cousins in Money, Mississippi. She tells him to be on his best behavior around white folks. But he inadvertently offends shop-owner Carolyn Bryant (Haley Bennett) and a few days later, is lynched by her husband and brother-in-law. We only hear the crime in progress. But we eventually see the results.

Mamie dedicates her life to getting justice for Emmett. She gives him an open-casket funeral to let the world see what happened. She joins with Civil Rights leaders Medgar Evars (Tosin Cole) and T.R.M. Howard (Roger Guenveur Smith) to help get anti-lynching laws passed. Still, the Legal System in Money isn't interested in seeing justice done. She'll have to keep fighting anyway.

Chukwu collaborated with Keith Beauchamp, whose documentary The Untold Story of Emmett Till reopened the case in 2003, and Michael Reilly, in writing the script. It opens as Mamie and Emmett prepare for his trip. We see them in happier times as they dance to their favorite song and shop for nice clothes. We see Mamie as a loving, yet stern mother, while Emmett is a likable kid whose only flaw is naivety. It perfectly establishes their endearing relationship in no time. The foreknowledge of his murder is sure to make one ill at ease.

His corpse is revealed during the autopsy. This is easily the most disturbing part of the film between that and Mamie's drawn-out agonized screams. We soon see her deal with her grief and eventually channel that into activism. We stay on her side as the condescending (and worst) Money legal system antagonizes her. Although she leaves when she realizes "not guilty" is assured, she is applauded for her courage by the Black community. You will too. Still, while the trial was a joke, it's assuring to know that the killers lived as pariahs for the rest of their lives.

Deadwyler's performance is great, but there are a few good supporting players too. There's Whoopi Goldberg (one of the producers) as Mamie's mother Alma, a similarly loving and stern woman. John Douglas Thompson is Mamie's great-uncle Moses, whom Emmett was staying with, whose strongest scene is him defying witness intimidation to point out the killers. Jayme Lawson as Medgar's wife Myrlie (whom Goldberg played in Ghosts of Mississippi) has a strong scene with Mamie. Finally, the actors playing the racist townsfolks (especially the killers) perfectly play them as contemptable people. 

This is a tough film to sit through. But it's still a necessary one. Till's depiction of a vile crime will shock and anger you. It puts modern events in perspective as witnesses openly debunk the crime ever happened. I don't blame you if you choose to see something else. Anyone who sees it will get a compelling ensemble led by a powerful lead in Deadwyler. As for me, my next review will be something lighter.

All Quiet on the Western Front

 Now we go from fantastical horrors to actual horrors ...

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque was most famously filmed in 1930 as only the third film named Best Picture at the Academy Awards. There was also a TV movie in 1979 that's just a footnote now. It's more of a footnote now with this film version, the first made in its native Germany and its official entry in the International Feature Oscar race. Let's talk about it.

It's World War I. Paul Baumer (Felix Kammerer) is a new recruit to the Imperial German Army. He and his school chums are excited to fight for the Kaiser and the Fatherland. Their uniforms - all recycled from corpses of the opening skirmish - barely fit, but no worries. Their excitement disintegrates when they get their first taste of trench warfare. It's a chaotic ordeal which leaves one of the school chums, Ludwig (Adrian Grunewald), dead on their first night.

By November 1918, the war has gone nowhere, and an armistice seems imminent. Eventual Vice-Chancellor Matthias Erzberger (Daniel Bruhl) represents the Reich for the peace talks. Meanwhile, Paul and his friends try to survive the war's last few days. The odious General Friedrichs (Devid Striesow) wants a last-minute victory for the Fatherland. This will not end well.

This Netflix release was directed and co-written by Edward Berger. It opens in a majestic forest photographed by cinematographer James Friend as a vixen and her cubs rest. It's all quiet on their front. They're spared the carnage that the human soldiers endure for nearly two and a half hours. A few get smushed by tanks and scorched by flamethrowers. One makes good on his promise to not live a cripple. We get some levity whenever Paul and his friends have downtime. He and his mentor, Katczinsky (Albrecht Schuch), even raid a farm for food, though it doesn't end well the second time. 

Paul is a strong audience surrogate. Anyone expecting "War is Awesome," like he and his friends do, are sorely mistaken. His attempts to survive are tested when his friends are killed. We empathize with him as he finds Ludwig's body and later stabs a soldier who takes forever to die. The altered timeline of the film makes his eventual fate more tragic. Among his friends, Ludwig is the most sympathetic, Katczinsky is a cool old guy and Franz (Moritz Klaus) is fun. Erzberger is a compelling voice of reason, while Friedrichs is a War Hawk madman. 

The film's technical stars draw us further into the war. The editing and sound mix renders the battles as chaotic affairs. The sound design lets us experience Paul's momentary deafness from explosions. The cinematography and production design visualize an impressive Western Front. It's quite splendid when it's all quiet there. The makeup design gives us plenty of war wounds, mud-caked soldiers and world weariness. Volker Bertelmann's (aka Hauschka) score is as stunning as it is bleak. Its recurring bass motif is quite imposing.

All Quiet on the Western Front may drain your enthusiasm for future wars. If so, then it's gotten it's 93-year-old point across. Its grim portrayal of a mismanaged and destructive war puts modern events into perspective. I wouldn't blame you if you seek something lighthearted instead. But everyone else should see it on the biggest screens they can find. It's truly one of the best anti-war films of all time in any language.