Minuscule: Valley of the Lost Ants (2013)

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This film is two years old, and I’m wondering why I haven’t heard of it before now. If you haven’t heard of it, or seen it, you’re going to want to correct that. Soon. It’s really a gem of a film, and if you have younger children, you’re especially going to want to share it with them. It’s unlike any animated film I’ve ever seen; the backgrounds are all “real”: real rocks, real trees, real roads, etc. But our characters are all animated. And although there’s not a word of dialogue (the insects all speak in buzzes, much like Charlie Brown’s teacher), the brilliant score by Hervé Lavandier more than makes up for it. Continue reading →

Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (2014)

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Every once in a while, I come across one of those films that, whether I enjoyed it or not, I think “how am I going to write about this one?” This is one of those films. It’s a quirky film that is at times sweet, funny, but also heartbreakingly sad. And I know that if I recommend it, there are going to be at least a few people out there who will see it and hate it. One look at the reviews at IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes makes it clear that it’s a polarizing film. Most people seem to either love it or hate it. Continue reading →

Hooper (1978)

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Revisiting an old favorite. Where else are you going to get Burt Reynolds, Jan-Michael Vincent, Sally Field, Brian Keith, Robert Klein, James Best, AND Terry Bradshaw (with hair!) all on the same screen? It’s dated, in the sense that there’s a lot of drinking (and driving), fighting, non-PC language, and drinking, but the central theme, watching Reynolds as movie stuntman Sonny Hooper coming to grips with growing old in a constantly changing industry that always values youth over experience and loyalty still plays pretty damn well. And it’s a really “fun” movie, as well, and I feel like they don’t make many of those anymore. There’s no CGI here; this is old-school, land-on-the-airbag stuntwork, and it’s one of those roles that just seems tailor-made for Burt. IMDB gives it a 6.2, and they’re probably just about right on that. (But just between you and me, I REALLY want to give it an 8.) (running time 1:39)

Poltergeist (2015)

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If I could say three things to the “geniuses” who continue to remake classic horror films, they would be:

  1. Stop it.
  2. No, really. Stop it.
  3. “More” is not always “better.”

Regarding one and two, let’s just admit that it’s about the money. But there are lots of “not so classic” horror films out there that would probably benefit from a remake/reimagining. And there are lots of writers out there just waiting to get a crack at doing something a little more original. Perhaps Hollywood could take advantage of those. Number three is the result of just a warped, wrongheaded understanding of what makes the “classic” horror film classic. Poltergeist has some great examples of that. Continue reading →

The Expelled (2010)

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Based on what I had read about this one, I had semi-high expectations for it. I probably shouldn’t have. It does very little new in the slasher genre, none of the characters are very developed beyond a single trait (“he’s an alcoholic,” “he’s a coward,” etc.), and the ending was frustrating. The worst thing, though, by far, was the “slasher.” And although I NEVER want to reveal the ending to a film, in this case I’m going to make an exception. If you really don’t want to know, skip the entire following paragraph. Continue reading →

Maggie (2015)

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What would you sacrifice for your child? That’s a question that keeps cropping up in Maggie, the feature debut by director Henry Hobson. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Wade is the father of the title character, and has more to deal with than prom dates and puberty.  Maggie has been bitten by one of the infected, and is slowly going through “the turn.” The authorities want the infected to be able to spend as much time as possible with their families, but the threat of “quarantine” and what happens there is always looming. This is not your usual zombie pic. It’s not about killing zombies in lots of nasty and cool ways. It’s a film about watching a loved one suffer, and being able to do little to stop it. It’s an entire movie about that emotional aspect of the zombie genre that most films address with maybe one or two quick scenes. This could just as easily have been a drama about a father trying to deal with his daughter’s terminal cancer, for example. Continue reading →

Woman in Gold (2015)

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How DO you solve a problem like Maria? If you’re Austria, you do it in court. This is a movie that shouldn’t work. It’s overly sentimental, it doesn’t quite seem to know what kind of film it wants to be, and we essentially know from the beginning of the film how it will end. And yet I found myself completely engrossed and often moved by it. The story itself is fascinating—Maria Altman was a young Jewish woman when she fled from Nazi Germany to the U.S., leaving behind her family’s fortune, including a Stradivarian cello, and—more importantly—a painting of her aunt by the artist Gustav Klimt. The painting was stolen by the Nazis, and eventually became known as “Woman in Gold,” since they whitewashed all hint of Aunt Adele’s Jewish background. Continue reading →

Grabbers (2012)

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Don’t make the mistake I made and watch this alone. Not because it’s scary, although there are a few well-done tense moments. Watch it with others because this is a really fun movie, and it deserves that kind of viewing. You’re going to want to make fun of it, compliment it, point out all the various homages to other “creature” films…and just have a good time with it. You’re not going to understand half of what the characters are saying, anyway. The Irish accents are so thick, you’ll probably want subtitles. But that doesn’t really matter. Like I said—have fun with it! Continue reading →

Chappie (2015)

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I’m going to make this a short one. I don’t know if I understand the message in Chappie, but even if I do, I’m not sure that I agree with it. It’s hard to say because the movie is just a mess of mangled, mixed-up morality. It often seems at odds with itself and leaves you scratching your head at its ambiguousness. For example (very slight spoiler), our “hero” (Dev Patel) is told he can’t bring home the leftover robot to experiment on. (Which, let’s face it, would seem a little creepy to most employers. “Sooo….why do you want it, again?”) So he just takes it. That’s right—the hero is an office thief. And we’re not just talking about a box of pens or a stapler or some paper clips, here; this is (I assume) a multi-million dollar piece of equipment. Continue reading →