Death of a Unicorn

What can you expect from a title this straightforward?

Well, everything it has to offer begins on a plane. On this Air Canada flight are the Kintners, Elliot (Paul Rudd) and his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega), as they wait to get off to get going. Their destination is the Leopold Estate, whose ailing patriarch Odell (Richard E. Grant), looks to make Elliot his new proxy. Elliot, recently widowed, looks to use Ridley for sympathy points. But, first, Elliot needs to look at the road or else ...

(Bump)

Too late.

Elliot runs over an actual unicorn foal on the way there. The Kintners and their hosts soon realize that the unicorn's purple blood, as well as its horn, can cure anything. So, a freshly invigorated Odell gets his best scientists to work to synthesize the magical ingredients. While the adults see dollar signs, Ridley, who earlier bonded with the dying unicorn, sees it as a bad idea. The unicorn, as it turns out, isn't truly dead, but its larger and angrier parents have ways to permanently kill off everyone on the premises. It's up to Ridley to soothe the unusually savage beasts.

Alex Scharfman, a producer of several short films, makes his feature directorial debut here. It's essentially a slasher film whose killers are the most docile mythological creatures imaginable. It's a great hook, but it takes almost halfway there to get to that point. Its biggest tension during the first act comes from waiting for the inciting incident to happen. Once it does, and boy howdy, watching the unicorn agonize for so long is unbelievably uncomfortable. It's still weirdly funny when it briefly resurrects and thrashes around in Elliot's rental car. The unicorn killers help invigorate the film, but some of their kills are a bit needlessly cruel. Well, maybe not that of Odell's son Shepard (Will Poulter), who gets kicked in the head, but a few comparatively nicer others get worse deaths.

At least the cast gives it there all. The Leopolds maybe unlikeable, but they are weirdly entertaining. It's fun to watch Odell and Shepard ham it up once they partake in unicorn dust. Shepard, in particular, becomes a functional addict, whose swings between insanity and sanity are astounding. Matriarch Belinda (Tea Leoni) is extremely vapid, but she gets some good lines, while her own death is perhaps the cruelest of them all. It does remind you that they're jerks by refusing to allow Ridley to hand over the foal to its parents. Dr. Song (Steve Park), one of their scientists, is overly sesquipedalian, but he's not as callous as his employers. The best character here is Griff (Anthony Carrigan), the family butler and the most sensible man on the entire estate.

Oh wait, I kind of forgot about the Kintners. Ridley, by far, is the most compelling character as she struggles with her mother's recent death and her dad's workaholism. A major subplot has her, an art major, research The Unicorn Tapestries, whose events parallel those of the killing spree. She's understandably frustrated when her findings fall on deaf ears, at least until near the end (and by the wrong person). It doesn't take long to sympathize with her, unlike her oblivious dad, who only redeems himself at the end. It's quite nice to see them reconcile, which gives the audience hope after its ambiguous ending plays out.

The CGI for the unicorns is sometimes too obvious, particularly when we see them in daylight, but it still doesn't detract from the agonizing aftermath of the inciting incident. On the plus side, there's some impressive CGI for the cosmic phenomena the film shows us and the Kintners. There's some pretty good tension once it switches to horror, which is perfectly accentuated by Dan Romer & Giosuè Greco's score. Odell's death, in particular, was easily telegraphed, but it was no less surprising. Those uninterested in deaths by unicorn may find themselves wowed by the Leopolds' impressive estate, or the location filming in the Hungarian wilderness (standing in for Canada). You can thank production designer Amy Williams, and cinematographer Larry Fong, for these artistic creations.

So, what else can I say about Death of a Unicorn? It’s worth seeing at least once just to see its oft-kilter premise in action. It gets a while to get going, but it once it gets going, it goes rather well. It's not an instant horror classic, but it's still a decent matinee. If anything, it's an interesting incentive to learn about The Unicorn Tapestries, even if their history is partially fictionalized here. You'll be impressed with what you'll learn from that research; I was.

But that's it for now.

Snow White

The Classic Story Comes to Life ... AGAIN!

As you may recall, or not, two distinct movies based on Snow White, Mirror Mirror and Snow White and the Huntsman, debuted within a few months of each other in 2012. Costume Designers Eiko Ishioka and Colleen Atwood both received Oscar nominations, while Sandy Powell has a fair shot at making next year's lineup for Disney's Snow White. Let's see how Disney's pioneering animated movie does in live-action.

In this film, Snow White (Rachel Zegler) was born during a snowstorm, hence her name. Her goodly parents taught her to be nice, which she tries to do even as her Wicked Stepmother (Gal Gadot) oppresses her people. One day, the Queen's Magic Mirror (Patrick Page) tells Her Evilness that Snow White is the fairest in the land, which doesn't sit well with her. So, she gets her Huntsman (Ansu Kabia) to kill her out in the woods. It's mostly the usual stuff.

But The Huntsman takes pity on Snow White and tells her to run into the spooky woods. There, she comes across the Seven Dwarfs, who mostly welcome her to stay for a night. She also meets Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), who is a Bandit King instead of a Prince Charming, but she still falls for him the same. Unfortunately, the Queen's murderous jealousy is out to spoil the fun. Again, it's mostly the usual.

For the most part, Erin Cressida Wilson's screenplay is a reasonable expansion of the original 1937 film. All of the original film's bullet points are decently expanded upon, giving us a film almost a half-hour longer than its predecessor. For starters, Jonathan has more of a screen presence than Prince Charming, even restoring a subplot Disney's animators couldn't do in the day. He has good chemistry with Snow White, even if it feels a bit like a typical "rogue meets girl" romance. It maybe typical, but it's not a dealbreaker. We also get a surprising narrator, a cruel twist to the poison apple, and a strong soundtrack with new Pasek & Paul songs and catchy renditions of surviving classics.

Sure, Rachel Zegler doesn’t match Snow White’s literary description, but she’s still compelling in the role. Throughout the film, she struggles to be kind in an unkind world, which nearly kills her a few times. Her shock at the Huntsman’s coerced betrayal is devastating. But it’s quite nice to see her kindness rewarded by her citizens. She even wins against the Queen by appealing to her guards’ good nature. Her new “I Want” Song, Waiting on a Wish, neatly epitomizes her good nature, while this film’s rendition of Whistle While You Work gives her a fun number with the Dwarfs. This version of Snow White stands quite nicely alongside her 2D counterpart.

The Dwarfs, on the other hand, are a different story. They're portrayed with motion capture that doesn't quite conquer the uncanny valley, to say the least. It sometimes works, namely when the Dwarfs despair over Snow White's apparent death, but it still feels a bit off. I kept losing track of Sneezy and Happy, multiple times, in the crowd shots, but the rest were easy to figure out. Dopey, in particular, is the best visualized of the Dwarfs. But did they all have to be motion capture?

What else do we have here? The Evil Queen's villain song, All is Fair, is fascinatingly over-the-top, as most villain songs should be. Gadot makes for a decent villain, whether as a young Queen or an old hag, and her villainous breakdown is quite impressive. Jonathan's fellow bandits, on the other hand, are pretty superfluous, save, somewhat, for Quigg (George Appleby) the crossbow enthusiast. The best bit of visual trickery is when, early on, the camera pans down on young Snow White's (Emilia Flaucher) feet, then pans up to show her grown up. All in one shot! Jeff Morrow's score asserts itself splendidly amidst the songs, while the sets and costumes are all nice to look at.

Well, what else can I say? If this new Snow White doesn't appeal to you, I'm sure I can recommend a few other renditions of the fairy tale. In fact, I can point to a few that even pre-date Disney! As for me, this Snow White isn't the greatest film ever made, but it certainly isn't boring. Some may find this unnecessary, along with most of Disney's recent remakes, but it's still a decent time at the movies. And really, there's nothing wrong with that, at all. Nothing.

That's it for now.

The Day the Earth Blew Up

 Eh, what's up Doc?

After over ninety years of silliness, the Looney Tunes finally have their own movie in theatres now. Sure, there were those compilation movies, the Space Jam movies, and other stuff like Looney Tunes: Back in Action. But The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie is the first fully animated movie starring the Tunes themselves. Let's see the silliness that short-sighted corporate greed couldn't kill.

In this set-up, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig (both of them Eric Bauza) were orphans raised together by the kindly Farmer Jim (Fred Tatasciore). Farmer Jim left them his house, and they have done a poor job keeping it together. A snooty inspector, Mrs. Grecht (Laraine Newman), gives them ten days to fix their house or else. She's especially annoyed with the gaping hole in their roof that the fellas somehow didn't notice. 

After a bunch of odd jobs, literally framed like an old cartoon, the fellas get jobs at a gum factory thanks to flavor scientist Petunia Pig (Candi Milo). There, Daffy encounters a peculiar scientist (also Tatasciore) contaminating the gum supply with mysterious green goo. The Substance was brought to Earth by an intergalactic villain, who is only billed as The Invader (Peter MacNicol), to possess the populace by way of the factory’s newest flavor! Porky dismisses Daffy's warnings as lunacy until Petunia gets on the case. How will they get everyone off the gum? What is The Invader's masterplan, and is he actually a bad guy?

A staggering eleven writers were involved in the story. Among them are director Pete Browngardt, the showrunner of the recent Looney Tunes Cartoons, and frequent Cartoon Network writer Darrick Bachman. You might say that's too many cooks in the kitchen, but their end result is a mostly cohesive meal. The silly sci-fi parody they've cooked up has some legitimate jolts, a compelling plot, and some great gags that pay off by the end. There are a few crass jokes, but The Invader's evil scheme is delightfully looney. His true intentions, however, might have you asking some logistical questions. But then again, there wouldn't be a movie if everyone made smart choices, right?

Daffy and Porky's dynamic helps sustain its 91-minute runtime. Porky is exasperated by Daffy's lunacy, to the point Porky covertly benches Daffy from the alien fighting, but the invasion gives them a chance to help work out their relationship. In fact, their emotional reconciliation is just what they need to escape captivity near the end! It's quite moving when they comfort each other as they face certain death in the climax. It's no secret that they survive, but you'll have to see how they do it. Their money problems are also solved by a rather nice and silly deus-ex machina.

What else can I say about it? Farmer Jim is both an effective parody and an effective example of kindly deceased backstory characters. Porky and Petunia are a great couple, especially when they team-up to roast the alien parasites spawned from the infected gum. Its aforementioned jolts come from these parasites, who are not only icky, but are vocalized with some strong sound effects. The Invader's grandiose personality is fun to watch, while the nameless scientist's best scenes are when he's possessed. I could tell that kindly waitress Maude is a cameo, but not by whom. I found out later that she is voiced by Ruth Clampett, daughter of legendary director Bob. I must say it's a great one-scene role. Finally, the 2D animation is nothing short of outstanding, and it's accentuated perfectly by Joshua Moshier's grand score.

Believe it or not, there's quite a bit I haven't divulged in this review, but I should stop before I give them away. You'll have to see what happens The Day the Earth Blew Up wherever you can. I think you'd be surprised at how well it sustains its silliness for so long. Perhaps its success - it was made for $15 million - might convince someone to save Coyote v Acme from corporate oblivion. Perhaps. If not, oh well, but at least we have this movie. And with that ...

That's All Folks.

Mickey 17

If things were different last year, I would have talked about Mickey 17, Bong Joon-ho's follow-up to his Oscar-winning Parasite. Instead, it got bounced around several times, mainly due to the double strikes. The wait is finally over, so let's see what it is all about.

In yet another crummy future, Mickey Barnes (Robert Pattinson) and his "pal," Timo (Steven Yeun), find themselves in debt to the mob after their macaron business goes under. They immediately sign up for an expedition to the arctic planet Niflheim, which is populated by giant mole/pillbugs called Creepers. Mickey signs up as an Expendable, a human guinea pig who lives to die and get cloned, over and over again. Both this film and its source novel, Edward Ashton's Mickey7, should tell you how many times it's happened.

The film begins in medias res with Mickey's seventeenth death. He's fallen down an icy crevice, surrounded by Creepers, while Timo, an expedition pilot, is semi-reluctantly unable to help. No hope, right? Instead, the Creepers help him out, and he returns to his quarters ... where he meets Mickey 18. Since "Multiples" are illegal, both Mickeys try to live out the most unusual double life ever. Meanwhile, expedition leader and "former congressman" Kenneth Marshall (Mark Ruffalo) decides to wipe out the Creepers. The Creepers get ready for war after a stowaway youngling is killed. It's up to the Mickeys to save the day.

Bong's screenplay mines Mickey's profession for very dark laughs. One Mickey dies within minutes of being printed; another dies of radiation poisoning, but not before getting literally unhanded by space debris; another is a literal crash dummy. Through it all, nearly everyone is so blasé about the expendable life. He's even asked, "what's it like to die?" like it's a normal profession. A flashback to one of his deaths, however, is genuinely moving. It's also quite creepy when it brings up a serial killer and his multiples. It only really strained under its 137-minutes when Mickey has a nightmare during its final stretch.

If the dark humor isn't appealing, try Pattinson's double act. Mickey 17 is cartoonishly nerdy but still likable, even pitiable thanks to a traumatic incident in his past (which is brushed aside at the end, but still). Mickey 18, meanwhile, is Mickey if he wasn't so blasé about dying all the time, which is rightfully angry. Pattinson's characterizations make it easy to tell them apart when both share the screen. It feels so normal, rather than a product of special effects, to see them together. The double Mickeys excite their girlfriend, Nasha (Naomi Ackie) and security officer Kai (Anamaria Vartolomei), which leads to some hilarity.

Let's get in depth with some of the supporting players. Ruffalo's Marshall is mostly a dimwitted, yet particularly pleasant, politician before the movie reminds you how loathsome he is halfway-through. Still, his very familiar cadence might give the endgame away long beforehand. The same goes for his wife, Ylfa (Toni Collette), who is dead set on exploiting the Creepers' culinary potentials. Kai is a decent character, but her other love interest, Jennifer (Ellen Robertson), doesn't get much screentime before she bites it. Nasha, meanwhile, is quite enjoyable, especially when she helps the Mickeys save the day. Yeun's Timo is an entertaining coward, while Tim Key has perhaps the weirdest side character as a guy in a Pigeon suit.

Besides the double act, the technical work is outstanding all around. Early on, a "mild" sandstorm rocks a spaceport, which gets one thinking about the state of future Earth. The colony ship and Niflheim exemplify the best of Fiona Crumbie's production design. The cinematography by Dharius Khondji helps accentuate the dystopian look rather well, no matter the locale. The Creepers are visualized with great CGI, while an excellent sound design gives them some sufficiently unbearable shrieks. A bit more bearable sounds come when the Mickeys converse with the Creeper Queen (Anna Mouglalis) with a translator. The best sounds come from composer Jung Jae-il, whose score goes from melancholic to cartoonishly silly.

Mickey 17's central double act helps make it an entertaining sci-fi satire. A few plot points could have been explained better, but its overall plot is perfectly clear. This might make a good double feature with Starship Troopers once it comes to home media in a few months. It currently makes for a good time at the movies. Look elsewhere if you want something lighter. In fact, there is a lighter sci-fi comedy coming this weekend. That review is coming soon.

Ne Zha 2

Ne Zha 2, the sequel to China's biggest animated blockbuster, Ne Zha, recently one-upped its predecessor by becoming the biggest animated blockbuster period: $2 billion and counting. An American filmgoer, however, wouldn't notice it unless they looked up their local showtimes. It's been playing a few weeks near me, but my busy schedule kept me from watching it until now. Let's see what it's all about.

In the first film, Ne Zha (Lü Yanting), a crass demon boy, and Ao Bing (Han Mo), the Dragon Prince of the Eastern Sea, both incarnated from two MacGuffin pearls, became best buddies, but lost their mortal bodies to divine lightning (long story). Fortunately, Ne Zha's bumbling Shifu Taiyi Zhenren (Zhang Jiaming), makes them new bodies out of lotus paste. Unfortunately, papa dragon Ao Guang (Li Nan/Yu Chen), seeking vengeance for his son's apparent death, unleashes his maritime demons upon Ne Zha's hometown, Chentang Pass. Ao Bing loses his new body defending the town. That's just within the first twenty minutes!

During its remaining two hours, Ao Bing's spirit moves into Ne Zha's body, while Ne Zha seeks out a magic potion that will help restore Ao Bing's lost body. He can only get the potion if he completes three trials for the elder Immortal Wuliang (Wang Deshun), all of which involve hunting demons. Ao Bing has to take the wheel for these trials, which is easier said than done. But overall, it's all well and good, until Ne Zha and Ao Bing uncover a divine conspiracy brewing. Everyone got that?

It might help if the subtitles were better. I’m normally a fast reader, so I can comprehend subtitles, but since several sentences here are broken up into chunks, their subtitles go by way too fast. I'd be reading one subtitle, only for the next one to pop up instantaneously. There's also the occasional grammar error or two, but that's not too distracting. It's pretty nifty, though, that the subtitles are bilingual, which makes the wicked Shen Gongbao's (Yang Wei) stutter especially noticeable. A few more subtitles introduce us to everyone and everything, which is a lot of names.

It might also help you if you've already seen the first movie, which I don't think ever played near me, or read up on The Investiture of the Gods, the literary classic both films are based on. You'll still get a basic understanding of its characters and their relationships, whether it involves Ne Zha and Ao Bing's friendship, or Ne Zha's relationship with his human parents. Ne Zha, in particular, has a hilariously crude sense of humor, but you'll still admire his sense of goodness. That makes it quite a gut punch when the divine conspiracy destroys his hometown. Still, its emotional climax works best if you've followed his story throughout these two movies. 

During the movie, Shen Gongbao suffers from some personal losses which, combined with a tell-tale weapon, leads us to believe he will be the final boss. But a flashback reveals that he is actually a stalwart anti-villain. The actual villain, meanwhile, has a believable nice guy act, but you'll especially believe how much he relishes in his evilness. His co-conspirators, meanwhile, have some excellent voice work to match their appealing character designs. As loathsome as some of them are, it's still satisfying when they become the butt of a few jokes, particularly during the mid-credits. That scene has a few surprises, too ...

If there's one reason to check out this movie, it's the scale. Although it's not playing in IMAX, I could still comprehend the magnitude of its swarms of white-robed immortals on a normal-sized big screen. During the final battle, they crowd together on a giant tree, where they appear as blossoms from a distance. It's quite a sight, as is the film's overall production design. Yuliang's palace makes for another memorable locale. Its excellently visualized fight scenes are accentuated by an equally great sound design, as well as a magnificent score from composers Roc Chen, Rui Yang & Wan Pin Chu. Keep in mind that the bulk of the film's runtime is devoted to that final battle. 

As of now, Ne Zha 2 is no longer playing in a theatre near me. Despite my issues with it, I'm pretty pleased that I didn't waste the opportunity. This technically magnificent tale of gods and demons has already gotten me interested in seeing it again. The original is readily available, even officially via YouTube, so I can check it out in the meantime. I invite you to take the opportunity, too. It might be an interesting experience.

Nickel Boys

The Oscars are tomorrow, but I haven’t seen all of the Best Picture nominees.

That exception is I’m Still Here, which still hasn’t shown up on streaming, and will only play in a theatre near me next weekend. It most likely won’t win Best Picture, but it’s still in the running for Best International Feature and Best Actress; that might be three categories whose winners I’ll have missed.

I’ll just get to the last of the nominees I can get to. Nickel Boys, based on Colson Whitehead’s novel The Nickel Boys, just premiered on MGM Plus yesterday. Let’s finally see how it is.

It's 1966 in Tallahassee. Elwood Curtis (Ethan Herisse) is a studious young man raised by his grandma, Hattie (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor). His future seems bright after his teacher, Mr. Hill (Jimmie Fails) gets him a free spot at a major study program. Unfortunately, he accidentally hitches a ride with a car thief and is arrested as an accomplice. He's sentenced to Nickel Academy, a reform school modeled after the real-life Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys. Elwood, and his fellow Black students, are used by the staff for slave labor, while their actual education leaves a lot to be desired. They'll even punish students for getting bullied!

Elwood, an avid follower of Martin Luther King Jr., refuses to let the system break him. His only friend, Turner (Brandon Wilson), meanwhile, does his best to keep his head low and advises Elwood to do the same. Eventually, Elwood’s idealism, as well as a visit from Hattie, erodes Turner’s cynicism. Will they survive Nickel together? Sure, we gradually see an adult Elwood (Daveed Diggs) looking up news stories of Nickel's crimes. But how foregone is that conclusion?

RaMell Ross, the Oscar-nominated director of the documentary Hale County This Morning, This Evening, makes his narrative debut here. He and his collaborator, Joslyn Barnes, tell their story by way of Jomo Fray's first-person cinematography. When I first heard of this approach, I thought it was to facilitate the story's climactic twist, but that's partially true. For most of the film, this approach helps us share in our leads' good and bad times, whether it's Hattie hugging Turner, or Elwood getting tortured in the "White House" (which is kept sound only). It also switches between Elwood and Turner multiple times and even plays their first meeting twice from each perspective. Both are essentially the narrators, by way of pictures, and both are equally compelling protagonists.

Besides those perspectives, Fray captures some stunning imagery. None are more stunning than a journey from inside a boxcar; it's truly something else to watch the seasons zip by. It sometimes gets surreal, such as when an alligator drops by in class, which no one even notices. Even its more "mundane" scenes are made indelible by the warm lighting. Nickel may be bleak, which is conveyed excellently by Nora Mendis's sets, but there is still some hope. Meanwhile, editors Alex Somers & Scott Alario's use of stock footage brings us some jarring results, but it makes more sense as the film goes on.

Who else do they see? Hattie is the kind of woman who will treat anyone as kindly as her grandson. As such, you'll feel for her when she tells Elwood that their lawyer cheated her. Anything else might give the twist away. Griff (Luke Tennie), one of the tough guys, is quite pitiable when he inadvertently angers the cruel superintendent Mr. Spencer (Hamish Linklater). Harper (Fred Hechinger) spends most of the film as one of the nicer staff members, up until the end. Mrs. Hardee (Lucy Faust), the wife of the school's director, is only in two scenes, but she's relatively nice. The late Taraja Ramsess makes quite an impression as Rodney, Elwood's Bad Samaritan. 

Nickel Boys is an unforgettable exercise in visual storytelling. It's also a long movie, at 140 minutes, which my busy schedule forced me to watch in two sittings. Still, watching its two compelling leads will help the time go by. Just be prepared for that climactic twist. With that out of the way, it's time to sit back and watch the results of tomorrow's show. On to a new movie year.