10 Cloverfield Lane

Cloverfield proved that a film made in secret can stomp triumphantly to the bank. Eight years after that giant monster movie, producer JJ Abrams brings back the name for another covertly produced sci-fi thriller, 10 Cloverfield Lane.

Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) leaves Baton Rouge and her fiancee, Ben, for who knows where. She didn't want to end up in the path of a speeding pick-up. But that's where she ended up. When she comes through, she's trapped in Howard's bunker.

Howard (John Goodman) is the conspiracy theorist who brought Michelle to safety. Emmet is the local who invited himself into Howard's bunker. They both tell Michelle the same thing: a major catastrophe has made the air outside unbreathable. They're all Michelle has for company for the next few years or so.

Michelle doesn't find Howard's violent mood swings hospitable. So she and Emmet try to find some way to the surface. But what if Howard is right? What if something unimaginable wrecked the world?

This $15 million thriller marks the feature directorial debut of Internet celebrity Dan Trachtenberg (The Totally Rad Show). It's a perfectly claustrophobic thriller. Michelle spends much of the 105 runtime in the confines of the bunker. Howard isn't nice, but we slowly get clues that whatever happened outside isn't nice either. We wait in anticipation as to how Michelle gets out of it. Let's hope Trachtenberg doesn't end up like Josh Trank, whose low budget success story Chronicle was followed by the big budget mess Fantastic Four.

John Goodman, as Howard, adds to the tension. He's a control freak who swings between nice and scary in a second. In fact, he's so domineering that his niceness is open to scrutiny. All he wants from Michelle and Emmett is for them to behave. Even them holding hands is enough to set him off. Whatever is outside can't be worse than him. Right?

Michelle is an equally capable protagonist. You can't blame her for greeting her situation with skepticism. It's a nightmare even if it wasn't because of a catastrophe. She uses any chance she gets to escape. And by the end, she goes from running away (like from Ben) to facing her problems head on. It's a very compelling arc.

The sound mix, cinematography, production design and score complete the claustrophobia. Those elements make 10 Cloverfield Lane one of the best thrillers out there. It'll stay in the public memory just as long as the first movie. Don't be disappointed when the ending hits. I thought it was a sensible one.

Zootopia

Not even a month has passed since Inside Out won the Oscar for Animated Film and the first candidate for its successor is here. Zootopia's first ad played before the aforementioned Pixar hit last year. It looked like a fun anthropomorphic animal adventure. What we get is a profound, fun anthropomorphic animal adventure.

Judy Hopps is the first rabbit police officer in the city of Zootopia, "where anyone can be anything." In Zootopia, Predators no longer crave Prey, so at least Judy's neck is safe. But Chief Bogo assigns her meter maid duty on her first day. Meanwhile, her fellow officers are assigned to investigate the disappearances of 14 animals (even an otter). Judy is bummed out over this. But it's during her shift that she first meets Nick Wilde, a sly hustler fox.

Judy almost gets herself fired when she goes cowboy cop on a crook. But it gets her assigned to the case of the missing otter. Judy conscripts Nick, a key witness, as her partner. Their investigation takes them across Zootopia's giant ecological regions. They slowly realize that something - or someone - is out to turn Zootopia's Predator and Prey populations against each other. Judy and Nick have to move past stereotypes to solve the case.

Seven writers contributed to the film's story. But all those cooks didn't mess up the kitchen. They instead perfectly beat up prejudices by deconstructing animal stereotypes. Sly animals like Nick, for instance, act so because that's what society labels them. And holding stereotypes or being victims of stereotyping hurts. The film does engage in some stereotyping (an Arctic Shrew mafioso, Sloths as the staff of the DMV), but these are minor faults in the bigger picture. The big picture balances out its drama with plenty of funny moments.

It helps that its cast of characters are great. Judy is the endearing optimist who stands for the little folks ... and is a little folks. Nick is the lovable rogue. They make an excellent pair together as partners and friends. Judy's fellow officers, from tough-but-fair Bogo to lovable cheetah Clawhauser, are a good bunch. Even the aforementioned mafioso, Mr. Big, isn't that much of a bad guy. The main mastermind helps out Judy so willingly that their reveal is quite surprising. The cast will settle in quite nicely in Disney history.

Zootopia is another artistic achievement. Its various regions, from the rain forest to the frozen tundra, are amazingly rendered. The character designs make the cast more lovable. The animation even looked realistic at times. The always reliable Michael Giacchino sets the movie to another fine score. It's another 3D artistic achievement.

Zootopia is another great film parents and kids can enjoy together. It's a well-executed mystery film with an articulate anti-discrimination message. If it inspires better understanding between folks, then the film has done its job.