Paddington 2

Everyone's favorite literary bear from darkest Peru is back in Paddington 2. It's easily the best film of the year so far. Did I give away too much? Perhaps, but let's continue.

Paddington (Ben Whishaw) lives a happy life with the Browns in London. He's also chums with the neighbors except for grumpy, paranoid Mr. Curry (Peter Capaldi). Meanwhile, Paddington's Aunt Lucy (Imelda Staunton) is about to turn 100 and he doesn't have a gift. Paddington finds an antique pop-up book of London in kindly Mr. Gruber's (Jim Broadbent) shop. Aunt Lucy always wanted to go to London and this book is the next best thing. Paddington decides to do odd jobs around town to buy it.

The pop-up book has the clues to a hidden treasure. That is why a has-been actor named Phoenix Buchanan (Hugh Grant) wants it too. So he breaks into Mr. Gruber's shop and takes it. Paddington is accidentally pegged as the thief and thrown into prison. He annoys the prisoners by dying their uniforms pink while on laundry duty. He earns their respect when he befriends the hardened cook Knuckles (Brendan Gleason). Soon, the whole prison is bright and cheerful.

Meanwhile, the Browns set off to investigate the theft and exonerate Paddington. Paddington waits for them to set everything right. But the other prisoners want Paddington to join them on their escape attempt. What's a bear to do?

Director Paul King co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Farnaby. It continues the adventures of Michael Bond's best bear with the same charm as the first one. It's an optimistic world where Paddington can charm even the most hardened criminal. In this movie, the most irredeemable people are grumps like Curry and Judge Biggleswade (Tom Conti). Its messages about friendship and acceptance are as relevant just as they were three years ago. If only this world was the real one.

What about Paddington's supporting cast? The Browns, including Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and Mary (Sally Hawkins), are still a nice bunch. They each get a moment in the train chase climax. The prisoners, especially Knuckles, are gruff yet lovable chaps. Buchanan makes for a delightfully hammy villain who proves himself formidable in the climax. If not for his hubris, he might have gotten away with it. Paddington's neighbors are a nice bunch of characters and their unwavering support of him was nice. Curry and Biggleswade were capably mean folks.

The first film's visual style is maintained here. It seamlessly transitions between locales and time periods through great editing (by Mark Everson and Jonathan Amos), cinematography (Erik Wilson) and visual effects. The imagine spot where Paddington sees himself and Aunt Lucy explore the pop-up book is a highlight. Paddington himself is still a great creation of CGI. The jailbreak sequence is  perfectly visualized just like the doll house scene in the first film. The prison changing from gloomy to bright was a great feet of production design.

Paddington 2 came out in November in the UK last year. It's now a welcome diversion from the January slowness in the States. It's an amiable movie that kids and adults will love together. It's funny and meaningful and all around good natured. Let's hope there are more great family films on the way.

Molly's Game

I can't wait for this Oscar season to end ... and the nominations haven't been announced yet! There are plenty of movies left to see this year. There are even movies I could've seen already but didn't.

I can now scratch one item off my left-to see list: Molly's Game. Aaron Sorkin reworked Molly Bloom's memoir into the screenplay of his directorial debut. The end result has the same style and finesse from Sorkin's usual work.

Molly Bloom (Jessica Chastain) was a skier in her youth. A nasty fall on the slopes ended her skiing career and her Olympic dreams. She found work as the office assistant of the nasty Dean Keith (Jeremy Strong). Her duties include helping him organize his underground poker game. There, she meets influential people among her weekly players. When Keith unfairly fires her, she redirects her players to her own poker game. She soon finds herself very legally wealthy.

But the FBI still doesn't like it. They arrest her on the suspicion that she's working for the Russian mob. She hires Charles Jaffey (Idris Elba) as her lawyer, who takes the case even though she's broke. The FBI is willing to reimburse her if she gives up her client list. Molly and Jaffey have to persuade the Government that her business is legit.

Much of the film shuffles back and forth in time. We see Molly, as a child, trained by her stern father, Larry (Kevin Costner). We see her get involved with the poker game and its clientele, all of whom have their names changed in the story. And we see her and Jaffey prepare their case before the government. The exposition is stylish and fascinatingly detailed. We get to know Molly's mindset as she opens the film narrating about the worst things that can happen to an athlete. Her time running the poker game moved by nice and easy. The main story felt slower by comparison.

Jessica Chastain was excellent as Molly. She's determined, competitive and also honest. She goes to great lengths to ensure she's running a legal business and is willing to defend it. We can get on her side as she protects her clientele from the government. Elba as Jaffey is a great support for Molly. He proves that when he goes from temporarily defending Molly to full-time during her first hearing. Among the supporting cast, some of the best include a surprisingly against type Michael Cera as the sleazy Player X and Costner as Larry. There's also Strong as Dean Keith, who finds new ways to make the audience hate him.

Editors Alan Baumgarten, Elliot Graham and Josh Schaeffer move the film at a nice pace. Molly's opening narration is illustrated to a quick and clear montage which describes, among other things, the angle of the Great Pyramids. They emphasize the tension when Molly is confronted and robbed by a nasty mobster. The aftermath, as photographed by cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen, perfectly shows Molly at her lowest point. And without much words. Daniel Pemberton contributes another memorable soundtrack which perfectly accentuates Molly's professions.

Molly's Game is a strong directorial debut. It's a memorable story about a strong-willed woman who made her own destiny. Her cinematic victory felt sort of rushed, even at 145 minutes, but it was still rewarding. Her backstory is just as fascinating on-screen as on the page. It might come up short on Oscar night but it's still a winner.

The Post

Newspapers often make the news for reporting the news. The Washington Post is one. Its newsmaking qualities were depicted by Alan Pakula in All the President's Men. Steven Spielberg now depicts another story of The Post in, The Post.

It's 1971. Kay Graham (Meryl Streep) is the publisher of The Washington Post. Ben Bradlee (Tom Hanks) is the editor of The Post. They have a problem. They were just handed a shoe-box of documents related to the Vietnam War. The Pentagon Papers reveal the ugly truths behind the Vietnam War. The New York Times covered the Papers but were stopped by the White House. It's an important story that they can't publish. But newspapers such as theirs have to hold the government accountable. So what's a good newspaper to do?

Report.

Josh Singer and Liz Hannah's screenplay goes surprisingly quick for a wordy story. It's 115 minutes and it didn't feel like it. Graham's history was involving but I wish it was elaborated on. The New York Times, as a whole, was a way too minor character. The climactic Supreme Court showdown ends in both papers' favors, but we don't see the Times' part. The characters aren't really challenged by the Government until the very end. It's one of those movies that makes history a foregone conclusion. The movie even ends just as the Watergate break-in is discovered.

But a few technical choices make the film worth it. When whistleblower Daniel Ellsburg (Matthew Rhys) and his friends read the Pentagon Papers, we feel the magnitude of their disclosed contents. We also feel tension when someone brings up the possibility that the Times and the Post share the same source. The decision to rarely show Nixon, except from the back in a White House window, perfectly makes him an ominous threat. These are finely constructed scenes by editors Michael Kahn and Sarah Broshnar. John Williams provides another great score, as usual. There's also some finesse in the sound and production design.

There's a distinguished cast assembled. Hanks and Streep make for a likable pair of news-people. They're honest and diligent and you'll never doubt them. Alison Brie is memorable as Kay's daughter, Lally, as is Bruce Greenwood as Robert McNamara. Bob Odenkirk also makes an impression as Ben Bagdikian, The Post reporter who first receives the Papers. There's also some fine appearances by Michael Stuhlbarg (as Times reporter Abe Rosenthal) and Sarah Paulson as Bradlee's wife, Tony.

The Post is a good reminder for the importance of the free press. You might not agree with them but they have a big part to play. The film plays best for anyone not familiar with the whole story. It's still worth it even if you know the basic outcome of this whole affair. See it now while it's most relevant. And maybe find time to see All the President's Men.

All the Money in the World

I thought that swapping out Al Pacino for Benjamin Bratt in Despicable Me 2 a month before its debut was mind-blowing. But now we have a similar case in live action. It's the case of All The Money In The World, which threw out Kevin Spacey in favor of Christopher Plummer on short notice. It's a coherent film all things considered.

J Paul Getty (Plummer) built his fortune as an Oil Baron on the cheap. By 1973, he is the richest man in the world. Everyone, in his mind, wants a piece of his fortune. The Mafia does, which is why they nab his grandson, Paul (Charlie Plummer, no relation). They want $17 million for his release. But the old man refuses to pay a cent. He says he doesn't want to encourage more kidnappings of his family. But he's still motivated by his miserly ways.

Paul's mother, Gail Harris (Michelle Williams) sets off to get her son back. She's assisted by Fletcher Chase (Mark Wahlberg), one of Getty's negotiators. They try to negotiate with Cinquanta (Romain Duris), a sympathetic gangster for Paul's safety, even getting them to lower their demands. They'll have to hurry, for the crooks are getting impatient and are willing to cut their losses. In more ways than one.

Director Ridley Scott works from a screenplay by David Scarpa based on John Pearson's book Painfully Rich: The Outrageous Fortunes and Misfortunes of the Heirs of J. Paul Getty. The film doesn't waste time as Paul gets nabbed immediately after the opening credits. The story keeps the audience on edge even if they know the outcome. Paul's imprisonment is appropriately tense and one major development will make you squirm.

Plummer deserves a paragraph to himself. His Getty easily goes between sympathetic and unsympathetic. One of his first scenes has give Paul a Minotaur statue like a nice grandpa. Later on, Gail finds out it's a gift shop trinket, not a priceless relic as Getty said. His refusal to pay up is both reasonable and unreasonable. You can agree with some of his points even if you find his miserliness extreme. He's one of the more sociable Scrooges since Scrooge.

Editor Claire Simpson and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski deserve some recognition for keeping the film cohesive. You'll hardly notice the differences when Plummer is on screen. There's no tonal clashes or any major editing gaffes. His scenes fit in together with the rest of the movie. It appears that Plummer was Forrest Gumped into some of Spacey's shots; a green hue gives it away. But that's a minor flaw in the story. Another strong technical achievement is Daniel Pemberton's score. Getty's Theme perfectly emphasizes the man's prominence.

All the Money in the World is an intriguing thriller and character study. It's one of those films that makes rather recent history exciting. Its portrayal of a rich man and his dysfunctional family was a strong one. It's a complex story that'll have you thinking for 133 minutes. It's amazing that the film turned out so well after its recent PR troubles. It deserves whatever recognition comes its way.

The Greatest Showman

The Greatest Show on Earth, The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, ended its long history last year. We now have a musical biopic about its co-founder, PT Barnum. Step right up and hear all about The Greatest Showman. And see if this is worth your time.

PT Barnum (Hugh Jackman) was a poor tailor's son. His father's client, Mr. Hallett (Frederic Lehne), didn't think much of him. But PT gets to marry the old man's daughter, Charity (Michelle Williams). They live a nice life in New York with their two daughters. PT finds good work at a shipping company until it's literally sunk. PT invests in a museum of curiosities. But nobody seems to care about the lifeless exhibits in Barnum's American Museum. So he puts on a show with living curiosities: little people, bearded ladies, Siamese twins, etc.

Barnum's Circus is the talk of the town. The public loves it but some don't like the "freaks" on display. One critic, James Gordon Bennett (Paul Sparks), denounces the show for its cheap exploitation of its performers. Barnum shows him off by booking opera star Jenny Lind (Rebecca Ferguson) for his show. But Barnum's ambitions threaten to isolate him from his family. What's a showman to do?

It's the directorial debut of effects artist Michael Gracy (Ned Kelly), who works from a script by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon. The film's historical liberties may make or break the film. There's a lot of unsatisfactory parts of Barnum's life the film skims over. The film makes a point about Barnum shoving his performers aside when Lind arrives. That leads to their rousing number, This is Me. But their reconciliation with Barnum seems a bit rushed. A few of these performers are barely presences in the film. What were they like in real life? If there's one thing it gets right, it's that they never have Barnum brag "there's a sucker born every minute."

Jackman's performance makes the film work. His Barnum is still a great trickster even if he wasn't a scoundrel. He gets a bank loan through a swindle; that was pretty funny. His showmanship was entertaining to see. Zac Efron also makes an impression as Barnum's business partner, Phillip Carlyle (who's apparently a renamed James Bailey). His romance with African-American trapeze artist Anne Wheeler (Zendaya) is the film's B-Plot. The main Circus performers, like diminutive Charles Stratton (Sam Humphrey) and especially bearded lady Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle), were memorable characters. Gayle Rankin gets the film's best cameo as Queen Victoria.

A whopping six editors, including Oscar winners Tom Cross and Joe Hushting, managed the film. Their best trick is making it appear it was the work of one; it was that cohesive. Why six? I don't know. The production and costume designs, as well as Seamus McGarvey's cinematography, make a great vision of old New York. The makeup designs were also perfect. Benj Pasek and Justin Paul have another fine playlist of musical numbers. A few of these numbers run a bit too long, but you'll remember them sure enough. There's also a score by John Debney and Joseph Trapanese but it's overshadowed by the musical numbers.

The Greatest Showman isn't a documentary of the real Barnum in anyway. It's still a fine fictionalization of the man. It makes a good effort to tell the story of how some people rose above prejudice. It's also a good reminder not to let fame swell one's head. It's not perfect but it's still a good movie musical. Maybe this will inspire people to read up on the history of Barnum. That's a lot of reading to do.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Chris Van Allsburg's book Jumanji is best known for its 1995 film version. The book had a sequel, Zathura, which had its own movie in 2005. The film now has a sequel of its own, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. The end result is a surprisingly fun year-end blockbuster.

It's a normal day in detention. Spencer got caught writing homework essays for his jock ex-friend, Fridge. Bethany is a stuck up valley girl and Martha is socially awkward. They were supposed to prepare old magazines for recycling. But they get distracted when Fridge uncovers an Atari-ish console and the Jumanji video game. They start it up for a lark, but they get sucked up into the game's world.

In this world, Spencer is brawny Dr. Smolder Bravestone (Dwayne Johnson), Fridge is "Mouse" Finbar (Kevin Hart), Martha is the stunning Ruby Roundhouse (Karen Gillan) and Bethany is the smart guy, Prof. Sheldon Oberon (Jack Black). They have to return a MacGuffin Jewel to a big Panther Statue to beat the game. They'll return to reality if they win. But it's game over for them if they use up their three lives. The evil hunter Van Pelt (Bobby Cannavale) wants to stop their progress. They'll have to join forces to beat him and their personal problems.

The screenplay was written by five people including director Jake Kasdan. It's a strong action/comedy story that keeps our attention for 119 minutes. It's a nice movie realization of a video game narrative and its quirks like NPCs with limited dialogue. Their personal problems lead to both fun and serious moments. Their deaths are as brutal as a PG-13 rating allows. We believe the stakes when the cast is down to their last lives. It's more than a mere video game story.

It helps that the main characters are likable. Both sets of actors playing our heroes are great. The game cast gets the mannerisms of their real life counterparts down perfectly. They cohesively play their characters which makes the body-changing bits believable. Martha/Ruby had the best story as she learns to be self-confidant. Bethany/Oberon was obnoxious at first, but not that much, which makes her redemption work. Fridge/Mouse and Spencer/Bravestone had great chemistry and their reconciliation was nice. Cannavale made for a formidable villain as Van Pelt. Nick Jonas also made an impression as Jefferson Seaplane, another Jumanji victim who joins their group.

There's much to like about Jumanji's design. The best aspect is Gyula Pados's cinematography, which has many grand scenery shots of Hawaii. It's some of the best filming of the Islands in an action movie since Jurassic Park. Editors Mark Helfrich and Steve Edwards set the pace nicely for the film's action and comedy scenes. Henry Jackman's score was good as was the sound design. The visual effects realize a fine display of animals and Jumanji's powers.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle stands on its own feet with pride. It's distinct from its predecessor and its borrowed story beats aren't a detriment. The main heroes are clearly having fun as their real/digital characters. It's easy to forget that they're two separate casts playing the same characters. The ending is perfectly dramedic. It's a nice way to end this year and prepare for 2018.

Please don't let the world end next year...

The Shape of Water

The Mummy tried and failed to illuminate Universal's Dark Universe last summer. Their new Bride of Frankenstein might not happen at all. What should Universal do? Get Guillermo del Toro, or at least learn from his take on The Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Shape of Water. It's one of the most memorable monster movies of this or any year.

It's 1962 in Baltimore. Elisa Esposito (Sally Hawkins) is a mute janitor employed by a government research center. Her best friends are a closeted artist, Giles (Richard Jenkins) and her co-worker/interpreter Zelda (Octavia Spencer). She's present when the center receives a new "Asset." The cruel supervisor, Col. Strickland (Michael Shannon), thinks the Asset can help them win the space race. But the Asset bites his fingers off instead.

While she and Zelda clean the bloody mess, Elisa meets the Asset (Doug Jones), an Amphibian Man from South America. Elisa is instantly drawn to the Amphibian Man and starts to secretly see him during hours. She wins him over with kindness, hardboiled eggs and Benny Goodman. She hatches a covert plan to sneak him out of the facility and out to sea. But she'll have to hurry when Strickland decides to dissect "his Asset." Meanwhile, a Soviet spy named Dr. Hofstadler (Michael Stuhlbarg) is driven by conscience to help the plan.

Del Toro and Vanessa Taylor's screenplay tells a great genre-bending story. Elisa's time with the Amphibian Man makes for a charming love story. They even have a few funny moments. But it's also a legitimately tense Cold War movie. It's also a strong story about outcasts in an uncaring world. They even have time for an imaginary musical number! These moods flow together quite naturally. You'll know the stakes Elisa and the Amphibian Man face. You'll definitely feel it once the ending hits.

Hawkins and Jones are compelling leads. Neither one speaks, but say a whole lot by emoting. They're more compatible than their biology might suggest. The audience is on their side through the movie. Col. Strickland is a truly vile villain who finds new ways to offend the audience. Spencer is great as Zelda, as are Jenkins and Stuhlbarg as their characters. The best bit part is the "Pie Guy" (Morgan Kelly), a seemingly friendly pie shop man who turns out to be a bigot.

The technical crew gives this movie a great shape. There's quite a few subtle visual effects, mainly those that compliment Jones's Amphibian Man makeup. The completed image is a compelling movie monster. The most obvious effects are the film's grand underwater scenes which open and close the movie. The production design creates some alluring, yet dreary environments, such as the lab and Elisa's apartment. It's complimented by Dan Lausten's cinematography. The genre-bending is helped by editor Sidney Wolisky's work, who switches the moods quite easily. The sound designers create a variety of memorable noises for the Amphibian Man to vocalize with. Alexandre Desplat's score is another charming soundtrack.

The Shape of Water is a grand fairy tale as much as del Toro's earlier Pan's Labyrinth. Its story about unlikely romance keeps one's attention for 123 minutes. The characters are memorable people instead of props for an action scene. Its visual style wins you over as much as del Toro's other films. It's a great use of $19.5 million. See it as soon as you can. You won't forget it. It deserves its awards buzz.

Darkest Hour

So how many World War II movies this year? I think this makes four.

Dunkirk made its mark on the big screen last summer. The epic story of that moment in World War II is told again from a smaller, different perspective in Darkest Hour. This makes the second time British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had his own biopic this year. The first, Churchill, was a critical dud. That's the opposite of this movie.

May 1940. The Nazis are quickly invading Europe. Neville Chamberlain (Ronald Pickup) is forced to resign as Prime Minister. Parliament unanimously chooses Winston Churchill (Gary Oldman) as his successor. Churchill's outspoken personality makes him an uneasy decision. His plan to face down the Axis Powers instead of negotiate peace unnerves Parliament. Chamberlain and Viscount Halifax (Stephen Dillane) decide to resign their positions in Churchill's cabinet as part of a scheme to get the latter appointed Prime Minister. Churchill has to prove them wrong when British soldiers get stranded in France.

Director Joe Wright and screenwriter Anthony McCarten keep things going for a brisk 125 minutes. It's surprisingly brisk given how verbose the movie is. Fortunately, the speeches drive the action rather than grind it to a halt. It's true when Churchill travels the Underground and meets a few folks. The awkwardness of the crowd to this unexpected traveler gives way to their declarations they support the good fight. It all leads to Churchill's climactic speech "we shall fight on the beaches."

Gary Oldman as Churchill makes it work.  His sarcastic personality doesn't win him many friends, but it wins a few laughs. One highlight is when he finds what the "V for Victory" pose also means. The story of him becoming a man of the people is a strong one. He starts the film being rude to his new secretary Elizabeth Layton (Lily James), but he soon learns how to be better to his closest confidants. His determination to face down Hitler wins him the audience's favor.

Oldman may be the highlight of the cast, but the other actors make great impressions. Pickup made a strong Chamberlain, a character more complex than the one depicted in history. Kristen Scott Thomas also did great as Churchill's wife, Clementine. Ben Mendelsohn was nicely cast as King George VI, and his performance is sure to draw comparisons to The King's Speech.

The technical highlight of the piece is the makeup supervised by Kazuhiro Tsuji. Oldman is believably sculpted into Churchill's image and other actors are perfectly aged up too. Cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel has several strong aerial shots. The claustrophobic production design is also a visual highlight. The editing by Valerio Boneli helps the film move along nicely. On the aural side, Dario Marianelli has another memorable score. The best use of sound is the silent opening montage of newsreels to highlight the Nazi menace.

Darkest Hour is a strong dramatization of early World War II. One can draw their own conclusions about its politics but it's the best film I've seen to realize Winston Churchill's quick wit. Nary a word is wasted in this screenplay. It more than makes up for Anna Karenina.

Downsizing

Who ever thought that Alexander Payne's biggest movie would be his smallest?!

Downsizing's $68 million budget makes it his most expensive film. It's also his first collaboration with his Sideways writing partner Jim Taylor since that movie. It's not a perfect movie. Let's work out why.

Paul (Matt Damon) and Audrey Safranek (Kristin Wiig) aren't happy with their cash-strapped existence in Omaha. Fortunately for them, a pair of Norwegian scientists have found a way to miniaturize people. It's their way to decrease humanity's collective carbon footprint. The Downsizing process is irreversible, but the affected become proportionately wealthier. Paul and Audrey agree to the process. But Audrey backs off at the last second, leaving Paul alone in the Leisureland community.

The rest of the movie has Paul adjusting to his life as a little person. His upstairs neighbor is Dusan (Christoph Waltz), a middle-age party man. He also meets Dusan's housekeeper, Ngoc Lan Tran (Hong Chau), a forcibly downsized political prisoner. Paul assists her in assisting the poor people in their shrunken world. As for the standard sized world, downsizing co-inventor Dr. Asbjørnsen sees no hope for it. So he's decided to seal himself and others away in a mountain. Paul's gotta choose something.

The first part of the movie is the best. It was intriguing to see the downsizing process explained. It was even better to see the little people interact with the standard sized. It led to some great visual gags. But the film soon acts as if the standard sized world doesn't exist. It's just Paul's time in the little world, which is now his standard sized world. His dour life and the poverty outside seem to imply a message that there's a downside to the downsized utopia. It gets sidetracked by the end of the world stuff.

Matt Damon as Paul was an average protagonist. He's not really a jerk, but he's kind of dull. His wanting to downsize, to live comfortably, is a valid one. But he's in the same rut the film opens him with until Ngoc Lan Tran shows up. And that's nearly an hour into the film. His climactic decision is bit of a headscratcher.

Hong Chau's performance makes the second half bearable. Her accent might rub people the wrong way (it's not the actress's actual accent), but her story is compelling. She still does good for the impoverished even when downsized. She'll help people even when the world is about to end. As we later find out, it took a while for her to adjust to her state. Again, it would be nice if the film developed its downside to utopia theme more.

I mentioned the great shrinking visual effects earlier. I can also mention the great production design too. The downsized environments, from Leisureland to the first downsized colony in Norway, are appealing. The cinematography by Phedon Papamichael illuminates them quite well. The upsized props were pretty good. The editing by Kevin Trent works when it reveals the size disparity between people. Or when it sets up its final, explosive joke. These technical aspects work even when the story didn't do that well.

Downsizing could've used some more focus to make it work. There are some great ideas here, but they disappear when the film goes off in a tangent. It was disappointing to see the size disparities vanish after the first part. But a few aspects made the rest of the film work. Hopefully, Payne's next film will keep its head out of the clouds, even if it reaches for the stars.

Wonder

The cinematic word of the year is Wonder.

In 2017, we've had Wonder Woman, Wonderstruck, Wonder Wheel, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women and Wonder. It took forever for me to decide see Wonder, the film version of R.J. Palacio's novel. Now here's the review.

Auggie Pullman (Jacob Tremblay) was born with the facial deforming Treacher Collins Syndrome. His face is still disfigured even after numerous plastic surgeries. His parents, Isabel (Julia Roberts) and Nate (Owen Wilson), had him home schooled all his life. But they've decided to enroll him into a normal school this year. A few kids quickly become Auggie's friends, Jack Will (Noah Jupe) and Summer (Millie Davis). Another one, Julian (Bryce Gheisar), is far from friendly. Meanwhile, Auggie's sister Via (Izabela Vidovic) deals with her own issues in high school. They include joining drama club, reconciling with her jaded best friend Miranda, and meeting Justin (Nadji Jeter).

Tremblay as Auggie makes the film work wonders. As in Room, Tremblay's performance is emotional and funny. We can feel for him when the world becomes too much. We can laugh at his many jokes. His incisive narration resonates with the audience even if the audio is screwed up (which happened in my screening). He emotes perfectly through the makeup work, which was most recently shortlisted for Oscar consideration.

The screenplay, which director Stephen Chbosky wrote with Jack Thorne and Steven Conrad, gives plenty of story time to other characters. There are segments to develop Jack, Miranda and Via's perspectives. Jack, for instance, unknowingly taunts Auggie behind his back and it really stings. His segment to redeem himself redeems himself in the audience and Auggie's eyes. With Miranda, we learn about her home life and Via is about her being Auggie's sister. Both girls reconcile when the drama club stages Our Town. Julian grew to be unlikable, but his rich snob parents prove themselves even worse. The most sympathetic side character is Daisy the Dog, whose eventual fate is why I put off seeing the movie so long.

Editor Mark Livosi strings together the segments quite well. His best accomplishment is editing Auggie's fantasy sequences. He daydreams himself a famous astronaut and even counts Chewbacca and Emperor Palapatine as his imaginary friends. The Star Wars characters are pretty funny cameos if you see The Last Jedi and this movie back-to-back. Marcelo Zarvos's score was also fine, though I wish the audio issue was fixed. Don Burgess's cinematography gives us some nice views of New York City and Auggie's fantasy life.

Wonder is a strong family movie. It's poignant for anyone with a disability or a relative of said anyone. Anyone bullied for being different will identify with this movie. Its emotional story is well told with barely any overdone melodrama. You'll certainly identify with its optimistic messages. See it if it's still playing.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi

The Force is still strong with Disney's Star Wars.

Two years after The Force Awakens stimulated the box office, The Last Jedi is ready to do the same. It's a grand space adventure which leaves its mark beyond its visuals. Let's elaborate.

The evil First Order have found that pesky Resistance Force base. Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) leads a daring mission which gets the Resistance cleared out but leaves them without a Bomber Fleet. Unfortunately, Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis) and his fleet get the drop on the Resistance. The First Order have a tracking device so powerful not even lightspeed can save the Resistance. And the Resistance is almost out of fuel. They just need someone to hack the tracking device. So Finn (John Boyega), BB-8, and mechanic Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) head off to find a "master codebreaker" while Poe stays as mission control.

Meanwhile, Rey (Daisy Ridley) has found Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on the planet Ach-To. She wants the Jedi Master to teach her the ways of the Force and to help save the Resistance. But he considers the Jedi a lost cause and refuses. Rey also finds herself linked to the evil Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who's not sure about his place in the Force. Ren's got a few secrets concerning him and Luke that'll test Rey's faith. And time's also running out for the Resistance.

Writer/Director Rian Johnson divides up the film's 151 minutes in several concise storylines. There's Finn and Rose's mission, Rey's time with Luke, Ren's Jedi angst and the Resistance fleet stuff. The main characters all get a few memorable bits even if some don't stick around for long. It all goes back and forth in a comprehensive manner and comes together in a climactic fight on a salt planet. There's a nice balance of action, humor and drama in this space adventure. Its last few minutes will leave you wondering how they'll continue the story in Episode 9.

The franchise's technical excellence continues here. The film looked and sounded great. The visual effects featured some of the best CGI in the franchise. The space battles and creatures were outstanding. The production design realized a new batch of wonderfully alien worlds. The most memorable locale is Snoke's chamber for its bright red paint job. The sound mix was also perfect. John Williams's score sets the galactic mood perfectly once again.

The Last Jedi continues the story of that "galaxy far, far away" with style and substance. It might not go down like you'd expect but it worked for me. I'd like to see how Episode 9 deals with the idea of shaping one's destiny that the film's reveals paved. That's a compelling idea. I also hope they'll find a good way to write off Leia after Carrie Fisher's death last year (the credits include a dedication to her). She was another highlight in the galactic ensemble. We have Solo: A Star Wars Story to look forward to next year. Let's see how that is.

Ferdinand

Munro Leaf's book The Story of Ferdinand was already adapted as a 1938 Disney short, the source of one of Walt's many, many Oscars. We'll see if this feature film version, Ferdinand, can follow its Golden Globe nomination this past Monday with an Oscar nomination. We can hope it'll breathe while The Last Jedi is taking over the multiplexes.

Ferdinand loves to smell the flowers. His fellow bulls in Casa del Toro love to butt heads and dream of getting picked by a matador. Ferdinand's dad, Raf (Jeremy Sisto), gets picked by a matador and never returns. Ferdinand makes a run for it and winds up with Nina (Lilly Day) and her florist father, Juan (Juanes). Ferdinand (John Cena) grows up big and strong and still a nice guy. But he's still big. So when he follows Nina to town, he gets stung by a bee and goes on an accidental rampage. He's immediately sent back to Casa del Toro.

Ferdinand is re-introduced to the bullies from his childhood, plus a few new faces. One of them is Lupe the Goat (Kate McKinnon), who wants to coach him to be a prime cut fighting bull. A matador named El Primero (Miguel Angel Silvestre) comes to Casa del Toro to choose an opponent for his swan song match. The bulls have to toughen up or else they'll go to the slaughterhouse. But Ferdinand would rather be "the champion of not fighting." His best option is to get out of Casa del Toro, again.

The screenplay/story was by six people and realized by director Carlos Saldanha. Many of its cutesy gags were teased for months in trailers going back to March. I'm especially referring to Ferdinand's actual bull-in-a-china-shop maneuver. The unfazed shop owner provided a great gag not shown in the ads, however. But its dramatic story was a endearing one. It's a story of a bull, his human, and him wanting to live in peace. It's an easy story to understand. His conversation with his dad was its most cliched; I could smell the retirony when Raf bragged how he'd make it out alive. The slaughterhouse plot point was a legitimately dramatic swerve, though once a second bull went there, I knew there'd be a rescue mission coming.

The cast is a prime selection. Ferdinand is a fun, nice bull who wants to smell the roses. He makes friends out of his enemies and refuses to give in to violence. This endears him to his audience in and out of this movie. Lupe is a fine mentor character with a pleasant, quirky personality. The other bulls were an eclectic bunch, the standouts being Valiente (Bobby Cannavale), Ferdinand's main rival and Angus (David Tennant), the Scottish bull Ferdinand befriends first. There's a trio of horses (Flula Borg, Boris Kodjoe and Sally Phillips) and trio of hedgehogs (Gina Rodriguez, Daveed Diggs and Gabriel Iglesias) who provide some good comic relief. The horses' dance-off with the bulls (long story) ran too long, but they otherwise never overstayed their welcome. Borg's character, Hans, provides the best line "Help, I've fallen and can't giddy-up." El Primero made for a good antagonist; the resolution to his fight with Ferdinand shows him a man of honor.

The art style was exquisite. The view of Juan's farm from Ferdinand's favorite tree was the best scenery in the film. Its recreation of Madrid was also wonderfully stylish. The sound design is where it gets the most points. Switching between the actors' voices and animal sound effects was its most stylish feat. John Powell's score made for another fine soundtrack. The highlight was the source of the film's other Golden Globe nomination, the song Home, co-written and performed by Nick Jonas. It's an emotional and catchy song.

Ferdinand is an amiable family film which keeps going strong for 108 minutes. It doesn't write down to its audience with cheap gags and obnoxious characters. It knows how to be funny and serious when it needs to be. Its moral makes me think of a kid-friendly Hacksaw Ridge and it works just the same with this audience. If you can find the time, and if your local multiplex isn't flooded by Star Wars, take some time to get to know Ferdinand.

The Disaster Artist

Oh hi, The Disaster Artist. I've been waiting for you. Let's describe you, huh?

Tommy Wiseau's melodrama The Room became a cult classic of bad movies after its 2003 debut. Ten years later, Wiseau's co-star and real life friend Greg Sestero co-wrote a book about his experiences on the set, The Disaster Artist. We now have the film of the book, directed by and starring James Franco with his brother Dave.

It's 1998 and Greg Sestero (Dave) is an aspiring student in San Francisco. He lacks the confidence that the eccentric, uniquely-accented Tommy Wiseau (James) has. Greg and Tommy strike a friendship and move to Los Angeles to make it big. But only Greg has slightly more success than Tommy. Tommy decides to make his own movie, The Room.

The film stars Tommy as Johnny, a "wonderful person" who loves his fiancee future wife, Lisa (Juliette Danielle, played here by Ari Graynor), who finds him boring, so she seduces his "best friend" Mark (Greg). Greg agrees to the project, flawed as it may be, and they go to work.

Tommy's unique view of the film-making process causes problems. He wastes money on unnecessary equipment and sets and neglects necessary equipment. He forgets the lines that he, himself, wrote. He shows up late to the set a few times and treats the cast and crew poorly. He can't even explain the plot of the movie. The troubled production strains Greg and Tommy's friendship. It also leads Greg and others to question if The Room would ever be released.

Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber's screenplay builds a compelling narrative around the madness. It's a story of Hollywood dreams that made me think of a darker La La Land. Greg and Tommy's story shows how hard it is to break into filmmaking. It even shows how hard it is to run a cheap film set. But it still can be rewarding. Its recreation of The Room's most infamous moments ("I did not hit her. It's not true [...] Oh, hi Mark.") is a laugh riot. The end credits even begin with side-by-side recreations of the actual movie, including multiple takes of the same scenes.

James Franco as Tommy is great. He matches his real-life counterpart's eccentricities and accent perfectly. His unique worldview is a laugh riot. He hams up A Streetcar Named Desire in his first scene. But you'll feel it when Tommy's dark side appears. You won't laugh when Tommy's negligence causes Carolyn Minnott (Jacki Weaver), playing Lisa's mother, to pass out (she recovers quickly, though). It felt like Tommy was venting out his frustrations, some of which we know, on the crew. But that's not right. That subtext made him more like a character than an impersonation. The real Wiseau himself appears in a post-credit scene opposite his movie counterpart.

Dave Franco as Greg is also excellent. He's a strong protagonist whose aspirations are admirable. We can feel his frustrations as the production and his personal life go wrong. It's not easy, for sure. The supporting cast is made of notable actors. Co-Producer Seth Rogen plays Sandy Schklair, The Room's script supervisor and de-facto director, and a perfect sane man. Sharon Stone and Melanie Griffith have notable cameos as Greg's agent, Iris Burton and acting teacher, Jean Shelton, respectively. But the best supporting part has to be Zac Efron as Dan Janjigian, who plays a violent drug-dealer who factors in one of The Room's pointless subplots.

The production and costume designers perfectly recreate the now-iconic imagery of The Room. The characters within the movie-within-a-movie look like the original movie's characters. Cinematographer Brandon Tost gives us a good look at Los Angeles, especially at night. His recreations of the original film look straight out of 2003. It also helped that the film was edited nicely by Stacey Schroeder. Dave Porter's score makes for a memorable soundtrack.

The Disaster Artist is sure to please anyone who adores The Room. It might baffle a few others, though. There were a few things it left out, but the end result is still a capable story about Hollywood and friendship. This might be the closest I get to seeing The Room on the big screen. And I wasn't disappointed.

Ha ha. What a story, Jethro.
Yeah, you can say that again.
Huh?

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

The Critics Choice Award nominations will be announced tomorrow. Unlike last year, they will not have a supremely truncated schedule, for they will be held on January 11th. A title that's sure to pop up somewhere a few times is the dark comedy Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri.

Mildred Hayes (Frances McDormand) isn't happy with the world right now. Her daughter, Angela (Kathryn Newton), was raped and murdered seven months ago. The police haven't found a culprit. She finds three abandoned billboards and rents them from Red Welby's (Caleb Landry Jones) ad agency. They ask, in sequence, "Raped while dying and still no arrests. How come Chief Willoughby?"  Chief Willoughby (Woody Harrelson) is regarded as a paragon of virtue in the community. So the townsfolks don't take kindly to the perceived attack on his competence. Even the townsfolks sympathetic to Mildred's plight see the billboards as a step too far.

Willoughby wants to help Mildred crack the case but he's sidelined by legal regulations and his terminal cancer. His deputy Jason Dixon (Sam Rockwell) wants Mildred to take down the billboards yesterday. Her ex-husband Charlie (John Hawkes) also wants the billboards down. Mildred's bitter with the world. It eventually escalates when Willoughby finally dies. But will the billboards yield any positive results?

Director Martin McDonagh's screenplay gets its audience laughing with its audaciously casual dialogue. You won't forget the things Mildred or the Cops have to say. One particularly funny scene has Dixon fail to notice Mildred setting his own station on fire until it's too late. It also has a few shocking unfunny moments like Dixon's assault on Red Welby. Penelope (Samara Weaving), Charlie's much-younger girlfriend, is the much-needed light comic relief. She even accidentally provides the theme of the movie.

Mildred is a compelling lead even if her anger makes her lash out in unsympathetic ways. When Willoughby tells her he has cancer, she says she knows and she's still bitter about the lack of progress on her case. Meanwhile, Dixon's bad cop attitude makes him out to be a bumbling, albeit violent idiot. His attack on Red Welby was so disturbing it made his getting fired by Abbercrombie (Clarke Peters), Willoughby's replacement, utterly satisfying. Both of them learn to be better people later on, and it's surprising that even Dixon is capable of redemption.

Ben Davis's cinematography sets the mood perfectly as it introduces the billboards in a foggy morning. We first hear the mournful The Last Rose of Summer, the film's main theme, here. Davis's night photography is also striking, as is his long take of Dixon's aforementioned attack on Red. Carter Burwell's score is also another memorable soundtrack. Jon Gregory's editing keeps the film nice, tense and funny for 115 minutes.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri may amuse or depress you, but its story is resonant. It's a story of overcoming anger and why it's important to treat others, even disagreeable folks, nicely. It's also a story of people, like Willoughby, who are trying their best to do the right thing. Its themes stick thanks to its candor and characters. Its ending leaves us hanging but it leaves us to assume cooler heads will prevail. It's a truly dark comedy, so be prepared if you see it. You might not regret it if you do.

Lady Bird

Lady Bird is not about the former First Lady of the United States. A film about her husband, LBJ, came out at the same time to less than noticeable box office. No, this Lady Bird is the central character of Greta Gerwig's tale centered around her hometown, Sacramento. This isn't her directorial debut, having co-directed Nights and Weekends, but it's her first solo directed effort. And it's a memorable one.

Christine McPherson (Saoirse Ronan), aka Lady Bird, is on her senior year in Catholic High School in 2002. She wants to get far away from Sacramento, preferably New York, for College. Her parents, Marion (Laurie Metcalf) and Larry (Tracy Letts), try to deal with her stubborn personality. She gives the theater program a try. She attracts a few boyfriends, Danny (Lucas Hedges) and Kyle (Timothée Chalamet). She deals with her friendships with Julie (Beanie Feldstein) and Jenna (Odeya Rush). In the end, she learns that growing up isn't what she thought it is.

The film gets going with its dry sense of humor. The first scene goes from a typical teen/mother argument to Lady Bird jumping out of a moving car (she's fine). Lady Bird's attempt to show off a strict nun (Lois Smith) earn her the Sister's good humor instead. That Lady Bird lives "on the wrong side of the tracks" was amusing too. The jokes directed at Sacramento got a few chuckles from me and the Modesto audience I watched it with. It does know when to get serious and you'll feel for Lady Bird when things go wrong.

Ronan and the ensemble are a great assembly of actors. Lady Bird and her classmates act like High Schoolers instead of grownups playing teenagers. Their chemistry is perfect. Lady Bird herself is a strong protagonist. She makes mistakes and ruffles feathers but she tries to make amends. Her Mother's unwillingness to connect with her amends understandably gets her mad. The final scene is open-ended but it leaves Lady Bird on a positive note.

One of the best technical aspects is Nick Houy's editing. The editing can turn a sweet scene sour, like a few climactic scenes which expose some of Lady Bird's immature fibs. They're both total plot swerves. Sam Levy's cinematography also illuminates the city scenes in rich colors. Jon Brion's score was fine.

Lady Bird is a film you'll hear more about in the next few months. It goes by quick and clearly for 93 minutes. It's definitely worth the unanimous praise heaped upon it. Even if you don't live in the vicinity of Sacramento, you'll find plenty of humor and drama in this portrait of teenage confusion and life itself.

Coco

Coco is Pixar's latest guaranteed Oscar winner. Why? It's the most entertaining and emotional animated film this year. It's just as emotional as Inside Out. Let's see what it's about.

Miguel Rivera (Anthony Gonzalez) comes from a family of shoemakers in Santa Cecilia, Mexico. He wants to be a musician like his idol, singing sensation Ernesto de la Cruz (Benjamin Bratt), who died in a mishap on stage. His great-great-great grandpa left the family to be a musician, so his family have shunned music ever since. The only photo of the man has his face mysteriously ripped off. His great grandma Coco (Ana Ofelia Murguía) is declining with age and wonders when her papa will come home.

On the Day of the Dead, Miguel finds out that he might actually be de la Cruz's grandson. He wants a guitar to participate in a concert that day. So he decides to take de la Cruz's. One strum and Miguel finds himself in the Land of the Dead. His ancestors recognize him and decide to help him return home. But that involves swearing off music forever. So he goes off and meets Hector (Gael García Bernal), a scoundrel ghost who wants to see his last living descendant before it's too late. Hector decides to help Miguel find de la Cruz so he can bless him back to the living world. They'll have to hurry because at sunrise, Miguel will be a permanent resident and Hector will be deader than dead.

The screen story was conceived by four writers, including director Lee Unkrich. It's the kind of animated story that ought to win an Oscar (but probably won't). Once Miguel figures out his connection to de la Cruz, the story seems all too easy to figure out. But it goes off in unexpected ways. His family's resistance to music seems unfair at first, but they have more sympathetic reasons for it. Hector turns out to be far more important than he appears. Dante, a dimwitted street dog, is great comic relief who also turns out to be more than he seems (kind of). It's an understandable story with an emotional resolution.

Miguel is a likable protagonist with a reasonable goal. We can feel how unfair his family's restrictions are for him. We're surprised when the mysteries surrounding him, his family, Hector and de la Cruz are revealed. We're also entertained by his adventures with Hector and Dante. And that ending...

Pixar's track record for technical excellence continues. Both the Lands of the Living and Dead are colorful locales. The ghosts are an eclectic cast of characters. The sound designers and editors get their jobs done. The music is headlined by another memorable Michael Giacchino score and Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez's ballad Remember Me.

Coco is another unforgettable Disney/Pixar film. Its story and characters will get to you long after you leave the theater. It deserves to be seen on the big screen, flatscreen or 3D, night or day. That's how great this is.

The fiesta begins, like it or not, with a 20 minute long short starring Olaf the Snowman. Olaf's Frozen Adventure has him go around and find holiday traditions for Anna and Elsa. It's a fun short but it's length was a bit too much for a feature starter. My theater had a disclaimer warning patrons it would play before the movie. But rest assured. Coco is worth the wait.

The Florida Project

The Florida Project. It took me a while to process my thoughts on this film. I'm still trying to figure them out as I type this review out. Let's see how I do.

This is a kind of movie I classify as a "stuff happens movie." There's not much plot, as far as I can tell, but it consists of scenes in an a life. In this case, it's the life of Moonee (Brooklynn Prince), a poor girl in Kissimmee, Florida. She lives in a motel, the Magic Castle, with her mother, Halley (Bria Vinaite), located near Disney World (the title being a codename for the resort). Moonee mainly hangs out with her friends, Scooty (Christopher Rivera) and Jancey (Valeria Coto) and gets into all sorts of adventures. They ask people for change, shut the motel's power for giggles and pull pranks on people. They even set a vacant house on fire!

Bobby Hicks (Willen Dafoe) is the manager of the Magic Castle. He lets impoverished guests stay as long as needed. But Halley's rancid attitude prompts him to put his foot down. He brings in the DCF when Halley's attitude goes too far. So Moonee has to act and...

That's the moment the movie ends!

The minimal plot and its vignettes might be too much at 115 minutes. The bleak tone is an even worse problem. Halley has a believable problem as a poor, single mother, but her attitude makes it hard to sympathize with her. Meanwhile, Moonee's own attitude led to some incidents. But it later becomes clear she doesn't know any better. She sees the world as special even as the adults don't. It makes one want to tell her "don't grow up to be your mother." But what kind of point did the abrupt ending have to make?

The MVP is Dafoe. He's warm, protective and funny as Bobby. In the best vignette, Bobby hushes away a trio of cranes who walked into the driveway of his motel. He also doesn't hesitate to chase a creepy old man away from the kids. He also tries his best to assure Moonee even when Halley's attitude grates on him.

Director/Editor/Co-Writer/Co-Producer Sean Baker, who shot his last film Tangerine on I-Phones, gives cinematography duties to Alexis Zabe. The images exemplify the pastel colors of Moonee's neighborhood motels and the nightlife in Kissimmee. The editing especially works during the vacant house incident. Scooty lights a pillow and sets it in the fireplace and it cuts to them running. We can tell it figuratively and literally went up in smoke. The last scene switches from 35mm film to digital which contributes to its weirdness.

The Florida Project is a film that's sure to throw you off on first viewing. That's what happened to me. But then again, Baker probably intended to challenge a few perceptions of poverty. You'll probably understand these intentions even if the bleakness overwhelms you. What am I to do?

Justice League

Marvel has had its heroes together on the big screen for years. It's now time for DC to get its Super Friends together. The Justice League is here to fight for truth and justice and redemption with moviegoers. The end result has some issues, but it's amazingly coherent given the turmoil it experienced this year.

The evil Steppenwolf (Ciaran Hinds) wants a pack of Macguffins called Mother Boxes. He had them years ago but a Last Alliance of Fantasy Characters thwarted him. Why does he want them? Because they can terraform planets to make it like his home planet, Apokolips, when they're assembled. He's going to Earth and get them back.

Meanwhile, Batman (Ben Affleck) and Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) join forces to save the day. They bring together The Flash (Ezra Miller), Aquaman (Jason Momoa) and Cyborg (Ray Fisher) to their team. Flash is the only one who jumps at the call while the other two wait a while. And what of Superman (Henry Cavill), who perished at the end of Batman v. Superman? The Man of Steel comes back in eerie fashion late into the narrative.

Co-Writer Joss Whedon came aboard when director Zack Snyder, who has story credit, departed after a family tragedy this year. His screenplay with Chris Terrio is a serviceable spine of a film. The heroes have to stop a bad guy from doing stuff. That's understandable. Its plot points are solved reasonably, save for how Steppenwolf acquires the last Mother Box. But Steppenwolf comes across like a third-rate Sauron with a thin goal. Cyborg and Aquaman only join the League when Steppenwolf knocks on their front doors. The Flash is already an eager hero as we see he has a wrongly incarcerated dad (Billy Crudup). Aquaman's backstory is brought up once with no pay off. That's a lot to stretch for two hours.

The film's saving grace comes with Ezra Miller as The Flash. His eagerness and humor were aspects that Man of Steel and Batman v Superman needed a lot. He has a convincing character arc where he learns to be a capable hero. It also helps that his speed abilities were the visual highlight of the film. I very much want to see a movie with this character.

Wonder Woman was also great too. Her rescue of civilians from a terrorist attack was outstanding.

There's an acceptable league of technical professionals. The editors did all right with the action scenes but they overdid it sometimes. They also did their best to coalesce the scenes shot during this year's reshoots. A few others have thought ill about the end results (especially regarding Cavill's scenes), but I didn't notice. Danny Elfman has another memorable score which incorporates his theme from Batman and John Williams's Superman March. The production design was fine comic book scenery; Gotham City, in particular, looked straight out of Batman. Cinematographer Fabian Wagner's use of color on our heroes' suits is striking.

Justice League isn't the deepest film about superheroes but it gets the matinee job done. It avoids some of the most divisive mistakes of its predecessors and introduces some new ones. It's a hard film to think about even when the plot is so basic. I hope this inspires future franchise makers to know what they're doing before they sally forth. You don't want to spend $300 million per installment on snap decisions.

Murder on the Orient Express

Agatha Christie's iconic Belgian detective Hercule Poirot is all aboard for a cinematic makeover. One of his most famous cases, that of the Murder on the Orient Express, was most famously presented on the big screen in 1974. That version had Sidney Lumet directing Albert Finney as Poirot and an all-star cast of suspects. This new take has Kenneth Branagh direct himself as Poirot and an all-star cast of suspects. The end result is one enjoyable scenic mystery tour.

Poirot opens the film by solving a robbery in Jerusalem. Afterwards, he goes to Istanbul and books a return trip to London on the Orient Express. One of the passengers, a shady businessman named Mr. Ratchett (Johnny Depp), wants to hire Poirot as his bodyguard. Poirot refuses to take the job. Eventually, someone kills Ratchett in the dead of night, while the train derails after an avalanche.

Poirot gets to work when the deed is found. Because of the train's circumstances, he figures the murderer is still snowbound on the Orient Express. He interviews an eclectic cast of characters, which include Ratchett's assistant MacQueen (Josh Gad), rich widow Mrs. Hubbard (Michelle Pfieffer) and Dr. Arbuthnot (Leslie Odom Jr.). Poirot wants to punish the guilty party even if Ratchett wasn't exactly nice. But Poirot figures he might have to this time once he determines the motive of the case.

The screenplay by Michael Green breezes by capably for 114 minutes. Poirot's opening case made for a great display of his personality and skill. It also showcases his sense of humor, even a joke I sensed a mile away (is that good?). You'll have to pay attention to the investigation scenes or the summation might lose you a bit. The flashback scenes, especially those which elaborated on the motive, were striking. 

The murderer's row of actors was pretty good. Kenneth Branagh portrayed Poirot as a delightfully smug and competent detective with a distinct Daddy Walrus mustache. The case's solution certainly affected him. Josh Gad proved he could play a dramatic role (as far as I know) as MacQueen. Mrs. Hubbard made her most impact once she revealed her relevance to the case. The same was true for Dr. Arbuthnot. Count Andrenyi's (Sergei Polunin) sudden ballistic attack on a paparazzi belonged in a pure comedy, but it was still funny weird. Other highlights included Willem Dafoe as Dr. Hardman and Judi Dench as Princess Dragomiroff. 

There's also a fine technical crew aboard for this mystery. Jim Clay's production design visualizes the best looking train station since Hugo and a fine train to set the story. Hans Zambarloukos's cinematography pulls off several impressive long takes and scenery shots in 65mm. Alexandra Byrne's costume design and the makeup design give the characters great period looks. There's also a strong score by Patrick Doyle, which do their best work when the Express disembarks the station and in the Flashbacks.

Murder on the Orient Express is a good introduction to Hercule Poirot. It's an entertaining, involving and panoramic event movie that gets things going from the studio logo on. I'd be set for another Poirot movie in case they make one more. They already hint at the location of his next case, which was already filmed in the 70's.

Thor: Ragnarok

He sat out of the Civil War, but Thor has made it back to the big screen. Once again embodied by Chris Hemsworth, the Norse God of Thunder as envisioned by Marvel is here in Thor: Ragnarok. It's the best solo adventure from this electric Avenger.

Our hero opens the film by fighting his way out of the domain of Surtur (Clancy Brown), the fire demon prophesied to end Asgard in the titular Ragnarok. Thor puts down the demon and returns to Asgard. He promptly exposes Odin (Anthony Hopkins) as Loki (Tom Hiddleston) in disguise. The real All-Father is on Earth. After Thor and Loki reunite with him, Odin dies. As if on cue, they're greeted by Hela (Cate Blanchett), their sister and the queen of the underworld. She destroys Thor's hammer, Mjolnir, and banishes them to Sakaar, a junk planet owned by a petulant Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum).

Loki sits pretty with the Grandmaster while Thor fights as a Gladiator. His opponent is The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo/Lou Ferrigno), who was last seen going AWOL in Age of Ultron. The Gladiator Games are fun but Thor has to get going to stop Hela from taking over the multiverse. Using his brains and brawns, he gets Hulk, Loki, and the Asgardian bounty hunter Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) into his team, The Revengers, on a mission to escape Sakaar and fight Hela.

This sequel is directed by Taika Waititi, who also plays Surtur and a rock guy named Korg via motion capture and voices the latter. The end result is a lively cosmic adventure. Everything from the costume and production design on Sakaar to the chemistry of the stars is colorful. It knows how to balance humor and seriousness pretty well. The ending was a surprise.

Our heroes, Thor and Loki, are reliable Marvels as always. Valkyrie's entrance was hilarious and her personality was perfectly tough. Hulk and his alter-ego, Bruce Banner, were also welcome. The Grandmaster was likable at first until he sinks to petulance during the Gladiator Games. Korg is great comic relief. Meanwhile, Hela is a formidable, hammy villain while Skurge (Karl Urban), her Executioner, has a fine, yet somewhat rushed redemption arc. There's also a nice cameo from Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch), expanding upon the mid-credit scene from his movie last year.

I've already mentioned the colorful production and costume design. I can also elaborate on the point. There's a wide variety of amazing aliens and warriors to behold on Sakaar and Asgard. The visual effects and makeup departments do their parts well to visualize these characters. The CGI here has visualized the best version of the Hulk so far, Korg's rocky appearance and the scary Surtur himself. Hela's horned battle form also employs some great editing with some CGI. Mark Mothersbaugh's score suits the film's grand tone and it makes excellent use of The Immigrant Song twice.

Thor: Ragnarok is another Marvel from, well, Marvel. Its 130 minutes make it another meaningful trip throughout the cosmos. Thor loses friends and allies, including some absentees from this film, but he triumphs. It's a fine ending to Thor's story even though you know it's not the end. The end credits promise he'll return in Avengers: Infinity War, and the mid-credit scene apparently sets it up. The post credits scene is another amusing bit with the Grandmaster.

Only The Brave

I live downwind from the cluster of wildfires giving North California grief. I could smell the fires all the way here a few weeks ago. It's probably ill-timing for a major movie about wildfires even if it's based on a real one and the heroes who fought it. That's where Only the Brave comes in.

The firefighter crew eventually known as the "Granite Mountain Hotshots" directly confronted wildfires in and around Prescott, Arizona. Their chief, Eric Marsh (Josh Brolin), fought hard to make them a certified crew. They take on a new recruit, Brenden McDonough (Miles Teller), just as they start their official evaluation. Brenden is a loser who decides to shape up after getting promoted to papa. All but Marsh are reluctant to let him onto the team. But he warms up to them after the team is finally certified.

The team confronts numerous fires and their own personal issues. It all leads to the 2013 Yarnell Hill Fire, which leaves only Brenden alive. Their struggle was documented in GQ's article No Exit, which formed the basis for Eric Warren Singer and Ken Nolan's screenplay.

Brenden's story arc is a movie standard. He's the screw-up trying to turn his life around, doubted by his peers, but they warm up to him. But there's no big moment where he proves himself because of the historical outcome. It works because Teller makes him likable. He's a screw-up but he's honest and hard-working. He still gets some funny bits during the movie. This surely gets him the audience's favor all the way through.

The rest of the cast is filled with great actors big and small. There's Brolin as Marsh and Jennifer Connelly as his wife, Amanda, Jeff Bridges as Fire Chief Duane and Taylor Kitsch as Marsh's deputy Chris McKenzie. They're a good bunch of characters you get to know throughout most of the film's 133 minutes. Their likability makes the ending hard to sit through.

Director Joseph Kasinski proves he can work as much with a $38 million budget as he can with a $120 million one. The wildfires and their aftermath are eerily realistic disaster scenes. Cinematographer Claudio Miranda perfectly envisions these disasters as what Marsh describes them: the apocalypse. They're matched by a sound design consisting of vicious sound effects. Billy Fox's editing builds up the drama and even comedy of the hotshots' lives.

Only The Brave is a fine true life story. It's more about the people who fight the fires than the fires themselves. There are actually more drama scenes than there are disaster scenes. So it's not accidentally too-timely considering my state's recent calamities. Whether or not you choose to see it I'll leave it to you. It's still a glowing film that's sure to join a long list of distinguished titles down the line.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women

Wonder Woman made her impact on the big screen last summer. We now have a biopic based on the man who created the superheroine … and the women in his life. There was a fleeting trailer for the movie before Wonder Woman last summer and now, Professor Marston and the Wonder Women is here.

In 1928, Dr. William Moulton Marston (Luke Evans) is a Harvard Professor married to Elizabeth (Rebecca Hall). The Marstons teach behavioral studies by day and develop the polygraph by night. A student, Olive Byrne (Bella Heathcoate), applies as their lab assistant. Marston is smitten with Olive and while Elizabeth isn't fond of the hypotenuse, sparks fly between them too. Their unusual lives cost the Marstons their jobs, Olive her engagement and them their normal lives. They'll have to move away from Harvard.

Marston hopes to make his theories more accessible to the public. A trip to a BDSM costume shop inadvertently gives him the inspiration for the Amazonian superheroine. A quick meeting with Max Gaines (Oliver Platt), publisher of All-American Publications later, and Wonder Woman is ready to go. Unfortunately, the Marston's neighbors have caught on to their kinks and ostracize them. The Moral Guardians have also caught on to Wonder Woman's admitted BDSM imagery and are ready to grill him. What's a scientist to do?

Director/Writer Angela Robinson's screenplay frames Marston's life with his meeting with one such moral guardian (Connie Britton). His backstory leads back to the framestory, leading up to his hospitilization for the skin cancer that killed him in 1947. We see how he laid the ground work for the DISC theory and how Elizabeth refined the polygraph. We see a lot of R-Rated material. What don't we see? How and why Marston decided to come up with a comic book superheroine. He sees Olive dressed in a dominatrix outfit and – bam! - Wonder Woman! We open the film with a comic book burning, but until she appears, we don't see a chronological mention of a comic book.

The three leads make the film great. Marston is a bold intellectual, Elizabeth his reserved equal and Olive finding her place between them (i.e., ID, superego and ego). Their first uses of the polygraph are tense as their lies are exposed by science. Their difficulties with each other are as tough as any “normal” family. They struggle to survive the scrutiny of their neighbors and moral guardians but ultimately pull through.

There are many technical wonders on the crew. The production and costume design are a good representation of the era. Bryce Fortner's cinematography really shines when Olive appears in her outfit, which is presented in a dreamy “Eureka” moment leading to Wonder Woman. Jeffrey M. Werner's editing makes the back-and-forth chronology comprehensible and the dramatic moments tense. Tom Howe's score is good, even if the period standards are more memorable.

Professor Marston and the Wonder Women isn't exactly an accurate representation of the early days of the greatest comic book heroine. It's still a good character study of three people in an atypical relationship. It's not perfect and thorough but it held my interest for its 108 minutes. It ends with an epilogue which ends the film on a fine note.

Speaking of comic books, it makes me wonder when someone will finally adapt The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a novel about two fictional comic creators. There's another great story waiting there!

Battle of the Sexes

Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Farris made their mark on independent cinema with their feature debut, Little Miss Sunshine. Their next feature, Ruby Sparks, was a quirky movie I wished I'd seen back in the day. This time, I made sure I caught their latest effort, Battle of the Sexes, their dramatization of the classic tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.

In 1973, King (Emma Stone) is the champion of the Women's Tennis Circuit. She doesn't find it rewarding to get less than equal pay than the men. So she and several female tennis players start the Women's Tennis Association. Their victories make progress for the Women's Liberation Movement. Meanwhile, the married Billie's life gets complicated when she meets hairdresser Marilyn (Andrea Riseborough).

Meanwhile, Riggs (Steve Carrell) is a gambling-addicted office drone who used to be a tennis pro. He decides to get back on top by proving man as the superior tennis player. He decides to challenge the top ranked Woman Tennis Player to an exhibition match, the eponymous “battle of the sexes.” He plays up the chauvinist pig angle like a badge of honor. It's only a matter of time before Billie finally accepts the challenge.

Both Stone and Carrell serve up capable performances as King and Riggs. Billie is as great an athlete as she is a person. We feel for her as she struggles for equal pay and sorts through her personal life. The dramatic unravelings in her life sting not just for her but for the audience. She doesn't take Bobby's challenge seriously and only does when she sees the misogyny he upholds. Her victory ends the film on a fine note.

Meanwhile, Bobby's first scene shows him in his lonely office job. Even though we see he has a wife (Elizabeth Shue) and chums, we still feel he has no one but his glorious past. There were times I thought he was only acting the part of a chauvinist (or greatly exaggerating it) because of the absurd lengths he goes to. He's at least more sympathetic than the announcer (Bill Pullman), whose misogyny is much blunter.

Amongst the supporting cast, Jessica McNamee stands out as Billie's fellow WTA player and rival Margaret Court. Alan Cumming is also great as the Association's fashion designer, Ted Tinling, as is Eric Christen Olsen as Bobby's coach, Lornie. Riseborough as Marilyn is endearing and Austin Stowell as Billie's husband Larry is OK.

The most striking feature is Linus Sandgren's cinematography, whose grainy colors makes it look like a film from the 70's. Even the Fox Searchlight logo is stylized like the Fox logo of the era. There's also Pamela Martin's editing which makes the dramatic moments tense and the games exciting. Nicholas Britell's score is as memorably melancholy as his soundtrack for Moonlight. The makeup artists also deserve attention for making Stone and Carrell into the splitting images of their real-life characters.

Battle of the Sexes spends a lot of time building up to the inevitable showdown. But the engaging cast kept me interested for its 121 minutes. It's a strong personal story as it is a sports story. Don't let this film fall by the wayside; see it if you can find it. They need the box-office, stat.

Blade Runner 2049

Hello, whiplash. Now I go from pastel ponies to dreary, yet serene dystopias.

Ridley Scott's Blade Runner realized the most visually appealing sci-fi urban dystopia at the time. It floundered at the box office but it came back on home video and inspired other sci-fi works. It's been re-edited and re-released multiple times over the years. Now the story of sci-fi dystopia has finally continued on the big screen in Blade Runner 2049.

In the first movie, Blade Runners like Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) hunted down the biomechanical Replicants barred from Earth. In the titular year, Replicants like "K" (Ryan Gosling) are now welcome on Earth. That's because the blind mogul Niander Wallace (Jared Leto) made newer, more compliant Replicants. K is himself a Blade Runner who goes around "retiring" older models. K deals with one such Replicant (Dave Bautista) and finds a box of bones.

These bones were of a pregnant Replicant, which nobody thought was possible. This could give credence for Replicants to pursue their rights and thus, war. So K is ordered to find the Replicant offspring and retire it. K's investigation leads him to a conspiracy, a rebellion and eventually, Deckard himself. He also learns a lot more about himself along the way.

The film continues the technical standards set by Syd Mead, et al. in the first film. The production design and cinematography, by Dennis Gassner and Roger Deakins, visualizes Los Angeles as a dark metropolis that turns alluring at night. The LAPD building's so large it's like a domineering entity; what symbolism. It's amusing to see a future where Panam is still a thing. The costume and makeup designs are also elaborate displays. The sound design resonated with the pulsating sound effects and score. Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch collaborated on the score and even incorporated bits of Vangelis's iconic score from the first movie.

A real deal-breaker is its extreme length of 164 minutes. If you came for an exciting action film, you'll have to wait a while. There is action but the main mystery plot moves along at a slow pace. Deckard himself shows up at about the 90 minute mark or so. The film goes on about the meaning of humanity and freedom as much as the first film. There was some logic I didn't understand at first but I got over time. Overall, its themes were better developed than Ghost in the Shell, whose manga source material was inspired by Blade Runner.

What about the characters? The actors were all capable in their roles. K's quest to find his personal identity made the length bearable. His hologram girlfriend, Joi (Ana de Armas), was a likable and endearing character. Wallace was weird and proved himself a scumbag. His Replicant assistant, Luv (Sylvia Hoeks), seemed warm at first before she proved violent. Robin Wright was also great as K's gruff-but-good superior Lt. Joshi as was Dave Bautista as the opening Replicant, Morton. Harrison Ford did well as the weary Deckard in his small role. There's also a few cameos from the first movie, one of which was accomplished with eerily effective visual effects.

Blade Runner 2049 is as much a visual masterpiece as its revered predecessor. And like its predecessor, it's going to take some time to get used to. Once you do, you'll find an effective mystery film with strong twists and turns. The ending leaves the film on a strong note. See it on the big screen. Its three hours are slow but they are worth it.

My Little Pony: The Movie

I didn't think I would review My Little Pony: The Movie. I've never started on the current TV series, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, but I heard good things about it. I'm not what the internet describes as a "brony" (a fan of this franchise). But after a slow summer and few Oscar contenders at this point, I decided to review something. This looked harmless enough.

And I regret nothing.

So Princess Twilight Sparkle (Tara Strong) of Equestria, the land of Ponies and Unicorns and other critters, is holding a big Friendship Festival. Her fellow ponies, Rainbow Dash and Applejack (both Ashleigh Ball), Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie (both Andrea Libman), and Rarity (Tabitha St. Germain), are here to help. Spike (Cathy Weseluck), Twilight's baby dragon personal assistant, is here too.

The bad mare Tempest Shadow (Emily Blunt) crashes the party on the orders of the evil Storm King (Liev Schreiber). Storm King wants the magical power of Equestria's four princesses for himself. Tempest petrifies the other three princesses but the "Mane 6" (and Spike) escape. Twilight and her friends have to find a few hippogriffs who might help them save the day. There's a colorful cast of characters along the way like Capper (Taye Diggs) the slick cat and Captain Celaeno (Zoe Saldana) and her sky pirates. How will our heroes' friendship survive this big screen adventure?

The movie hopes you're at least familiar with the TV show and its cast. Fortunately, the movie doesn't leave one drowning in a sea of continuity. The Mane 6 (and Spike) have personalities as colorful as their pastels. You'll get a sense of who they are and their relationship to each other when they appear. The other Equestrian Princesses require a lot more explanation but you can tell they're important. The voice cast perfectly define their characters and it's especially impressive for those who double-up characters.

The new characters are also well-defined by their celebrity voice actors. It's great to hear Liev Schreiber and Michael Pena (as Tempest's hedgehog lackey, Grubber), ham it up in their roles. Emily Blunt's Tempest Shadow is an outstanding villain with a believable sad backstory and heel-face turn. Kristen Chenoweth is also great as the hippogriff Princess Skystar.

The main selling point for me was the 2D animation. You don't see many of these on the big screen anymore unless you live in a big city. So that's one point in its favor. Its bright, vibrant, lively drawn characters in dynamically shot environments look outstanding on the big screen. Effects like Rainbow Dash's trademark "Sonic Rainboom" and Tempest's lightning attacks are visual highlights.

It also helped that it had a great soundtrack. Daniel Ingram and Michael Vogel, veterans of the TV show, composed the film's musical numbers. They're all addictive even if one's tired of hearing songs about friendship and stuff. Tempest's haunting villain song Open Up Your Eyes, is a sad anti-friendship song. The rousing number Time to be Awesome is my personal favorite of the tracklist. The singer Sia contributed a number sung by her character, a singing pony named Songbird Seranade, which concluded the film. 

So is My Little Pony: The Movie a yay or a neigh?  It's an obvious yay. It's a well-defined tale of good vs evil that doesn't solve things with fisticuffs. The characters are fun, the tone is affable and the ending is predictable but satisfying. It's a fun ride for ponies of all ages.

It opens with an animated short for Hasbro's newest girl-centric toyline, Hanazuki: Full of Treasures. I didn't really know who the characters were but the ending was pretty nice.