Movie Reviews #25…
[Two different movies. FYI: Nobody pays me to attend, and I don’t receive free tickets from anyone. That way I can rap Hollywood’s knuckles as much as I want and give you an honest review. Oh yes, I don’t often agree with the pro reviewers, but most of them have an axe to grind. I’m also a throw-back. I don’t like all that cable TV and streaming video schlock. I like my movies on the big screen with a good sound system. You can watch them on your laptop if you want—that’s not my thing.]
Zootopia. Byron Howard and Rich Moore, dirs. Ginnifer Goodwin (the rabbit cop), Jason Bateman (the fox con artist), Idris Elba (the water buffalo police chief), and others do a great job with the character voices. This movie probably has more meaning for adults. Not only are many cultural and pop references way above little kids’ heads, but the overall theme is a take-off on the Black Lives Matter movement and the ongoing discussion of racism in America (that’s a positive, by the way, not a criticism)—many times prey aren’t prey and predators aren’t predators. In some parallel universe, the lamb has lain down by the lion and all the animals live in peace? Yeah, right. If you’re waiting for an allegory on a par with Animal Farm, you’ll be thrilled.
There’s a wee bit of toon-on-toon violence that left some three- and four-year-olds bawling (the scary critters might look a bit too rabid, methinks), but most kids in the audience seemed to enjoy this movie as much as the adults. If you allow for the spilled popcorn and cokes the adults had to suffer through, it all balances out to a good time for all. One of the best Disney animations in a long time, and, even better, it clobbered Frozen at the box office (that movie’s song is almost as annoyingly overplayed as the one from Titanic). Recommended, unless you hate animation.
10 Cloverfield Lane. Dan Trachtenberg, dir. Is it a horror movie, mystery, thriller, or sci-fi? A tense and apocalyptic experience that beats anything Stephen King could imagine? My answer is yes to all those questions. It’s a damn good film, a delightful exception from a Hollywood in decay. It’s one of the best movies I’ve seen in a while. John Goodman provides a stellar, award-winning performance as the crazy and violent survivalist and conspiracy theorist. Mary Elizabeth Winstead almost matches him as the needy woman who runs away from problems but finds herself in the clutches of her kidnapper/savior. And John Gallagher Jr. provides good backup for her as the surrogate brother who always defends her.
That’s it for the cast—no cast of thousands for this movie—but you’ll be sitting on the edge of your seat the whole movie trying to figure out Howard’s (Goodman) secret. A real nail-biter, this is the kind of quality movie M. Night Shyamalan can only dream about making. Bear McCreary’s driving score is a perfect mix, tense in the quite tames and driving frenzy in the action scenes. Watch for all the details, right down to the lampshades and ice cream. There’s some twists and misdirects during the ride too. Highly recommended, but not for the squeamish.
In libris libertas…
