Ani-MAY-tion: Cars 3 (2017)

Here I am at last, at the end of my journey through the cinematic world of Cars. I now have to decide whether or not I want to check out both Planes movies, which are also set in this world, as far as I am aware. We all know I will check them out, it’s just a matter of exactly when I will get to them.

Considering how disappointed I was by the second movie, I am happy to say that Cars 3 was a film that I really enjoyed. Yes, it returned to the more formulaic plotting of the first film, but it felt like a natural and worthwhile story that returned the focus back to the main character of Lightning McQueen. 

Having maintained his successful career for many years, McQueen (once again voiced by Owen Wilson) finds himself on a bit of a losing streak. He cannot figure out how to beat the fast and cocky Jackson Storm (Armie Hammer), who has both superior technology and youth on his side. McQueen believes that he can still learn a trick or two to avoid ending his career on a low, but he needs to be willing to see and hear the lessons from his newly-assigned trainer, Cruz Ramirez (Cristela Alonzo). He also misses being able to learn from Doc, but the one way to re-establish that connection is perhaps to find the car that trained his late friend and mentor. That would be Smokey (Chris Cooper). 

Brian Fee takes over the directorial duties here, also helping to brainstorm the story idea that would be shaped into a screenplay by Kiel Murray, Bob Peterson, and Mike Rich. It’s a simple premise - the sports star struggling to accept his inability to stop the advancing years from taking their toll - and it’s handled well, with a consistent message about friendship and hard work being more valuable than fancy technology and large amounts of cash. Falling out of love with something, whether it is a sport, a hobby, or yourself, can lead to a better appreciation when you manage to remember what you loved about it.

While the voice cast all do a great job, and Nathan Fillion is a fun addition (playing a character who only really considers the potential earnings ahead of the real thrill of the racing life), the star here is the animation. That is to be expected, considering the team involved in making this, but I didn’t expect this to be as good as it is. Not only is it colourful and gorgeous throughout, the sense of proper speed is very impressive, and every main racing sequence, of which there are a few, is a real visual treat.

The more I think about this film while writing this review, the more I realise it is my favourite of the three. Easily. The main characters are more appealing, the pacing and plotting is better, and it works as both an entertaining standalone tale and a fitting conclusion to a wildly uneven trilogy. I can see myself rewatching this already, which isn’t a thought I had about the previous movies.

8/10

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Mubi Monday: Adaptation. (2002)

I remember when I first saw Adaptation. Like many people, I loved it. Another collaboration between Charlie Kaufman and Spike Jonze, a great dual role for Nicolas Cage (playing an onscreen version of Kaufman and a fictional twin brother, Donald), and a cast that also includes Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, and Tilda Swinton, as well as one or two other very familiar faces. What’s not to love?

As almost everyone knows by now, Adaptation. is a film that stemmed from severe writer’s block. Charlie Kaufman was struggling to adapt The Orchid Thief from page to screen, and eventually creates something, with the help of Jonze, that explored his painful creative journey, full of personal insecurity, frustration, and a checklist of things he wanted to avoid.

Here’s the thing I need to say now, ripping the band-aid off (as it were). Adaptation. isn’t actually as great as I remembered it. I am not saying that everyone will agree with me, but there may be a reason why it tends to be forgotten/overlooked in conversations about the respective filmographies of Jonze and Kaufman. It’s not a terrible film, but it’s arguably the least interesting feature to come from either of the main creative forces behind the camera here.

There’s a fine line between making use of something to explore and have fun with various ideas, turning the negatives into major positives, and simply giving yourself an easy option by commenting on everything that you are doing, or are about to do. The former is smart and insightful. The latter is often called “lampshading”, I believe. Revisiting Adaptation. two decades after I first saw it, it simply feels like Lampshade: The Movie. Others may strongly disagree with that, but knowing where the film goes makes all of the dialogue and commentary feel much less enjoyable on a repeat viewing.

At least the cast are well worth your time though. Cage is great, giving a couple of performances that serve as a reminder of why so many people stuck by him through some difficult years. This plays to his preference for nervous energy, but one of his characters is also offset by the circumstances grinding him down. Streep and Cooper both have a lot of fun, playing various versions of their characters that show us written fictions compared to complete “reality”. Alongside the ever-reliable Swinton are the equally excellent Maggie Gyllenhaal, Brian Cox, Judy Greer, and Cara Seymour, to name but a few welcome additions.

There is still a lot to enjoy here, not least of which is the brutal and hilarious honesty in the moments that have Kaufman showing his worries and struggles while facing a typewriter. I still like this, and would watch it again. I just don’t love it, and I don’t think it’s a truly great work any more.

7/10

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Netflix And Chill: Irresistible (2020)

Along with the downsides of the various streaming services we now have available to us, there are many upsides. Yes, it can be hard to find some classics. Yes, the algorithms often dictate what is put front and centre, as well as what is being made in the never-ending quest to keep making content for people. Yes, digital censorship is something that irks me (those who know me will know how averse I am to any censorship of art). But you have that availability of a wide range of movies and TV shows, you have that convenience of so much being at your fingertips, and you can plan a whole day around an occasional binge without having to move from the sofa (with the exception of toilet breaks and any food requirements, obviously). You can also eventually decide to check out a film that had been released a while ago, without too much notable fanfare, and find yourself very pleasantly surprised by an absolute gem. That's what happened when I watched Irresistible, a film I was drawn to because of the cast, but never drawn to enough to actually seek out until it was sitting there, right in front of my eyes and just one click away from instant watchability.

After suffering a bruising defeat in the 2016 election campaign, spin doctor Gary Zimmer (Steve Carell) doesn't quite know how to recover. He realises how far out of touch the Democrats were, but doesn't know how to create any kind of bridge across the widening social and political divide. That changes when he sees a viral video of Jack Hastings (Chris Cooper) speaking up at a small town meeting. Hastings represents something akin to a big second chance, he's a Democrat with a strong sense of what is right, living according to his faith and the values that he held throughout his military career. He seems like a perfect candidate for the position of mayor. Although he agrees to that, and to have his campaign headed up by Zimmer, Hastings perhaps doesn't realise how quickly his small Wisconsin town will become a major political battleground. Zimmer knows how serious things are getting when his major opponent, Faith Brewster (Rose Byrne), arrives to help the current mayor (Brent Sexton), and everyone soon starts to become dizzy from the constant spinning.

Written and directed by Jon Stewart, a smart and funny guy I have been a fan of for some time, Irresistible is a film that plays out for most of the runtime like a very pleasant and comfortable comedy drama. It's a bit Mr. Smith Goes To Washington and a bit Wag The Dog, but the overall message delivered, overtly with the dialogue and more subtly with the various characters and atmosphere created throughout a number of scenes, is one well worth delivering, repeatedly. This is a film that appears to be critical of a certain side of the political divide, and it IS (many times), but it's also a film that pleads for people to agree that fair play, truth, and a desire to clean up the political landscape should all be achievable, and bipartisan, targets. There's also an ending that underlines just how worried we should be about the way modern elections are conducted in the USA, although the same applies to other major countries (including here in the UK).

Carell is excellent in his role, constantly moving between pleasantries and cursewords with the same smile often fixed on his face. The smile grows more and more forced as things look as if they might unravel for him, and Carell just gets funnier and sharper as he aims to keep making progress without anyone seeing how fast he is paddling beneath the surface of the water. Byrne is equal to him, playing someone who is even more determined, and seemingly less scrupulous, in a role that makes great use of her cool demeanour AND her comedy chops. Cooper is wonderfully good-hearted and optimistic about things, and Mackenzie Davis plays his daughter as someone who is, well, very much his daughter. I will keep harping on and on about Davis being long overdue the big breakout role to make her the star that I think she already is, but I'm also happy enough to see her doing great work in a film this good. Topher Grace and Natasha Lyonne are a lot of fun as people who interpret data in different ways, and hope to use that data to help Carell get Hawkins his mayoral role, and the rest of the supporting cast is made up of people who may be less familiar, but are no less suited to their roles.

The more I think about Irresistible, the more I struggle to find anything I would change about it. It does spend some time in an echo chamber, because it is often preaching to the converted, but part of the journey for Carell’s character is noticing that echo chamber, those ideological bubbles, and trying to break out. And it ultimately shows that most of us are united by common problems we could fix if we worked together, as opposed to being pitted against our neighbours by politicians who value winning ahead of effectively serving the needs of their constituents.

9/10

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I also have no idea what they did to Mackenzie Davis for this poster image.

Mubi Monday: Little Women (2019)

Considering the range of movies from around the world that Mubi provides, I did not expect it to get in the way of this Japanuary train I am on. And yet . . . here we are. So, with time of the essence, and nothing Japanese available from their selection just now, I have decided to take the opportunity to review a very recent movie that was the Mubi Go ticket for last week. Little Women.

Adapted from the source novel by Louisa May Alcott, of course, this is a near-perfect working of the tale from writer-director Greta Gerwig, providing a film that is as entertaining as it is thought-provoking, and showing that Ladybird was no fluke. In fact, although some may think I was a bit too flippant in my criticism of Ladybird, Little Women shows a huge improvement in almost every regard, and we should all appreciate that Gerwig gave herself the fairly daunting task of working on something far from guaranteed to give her more success. But more success she has gained, and rightly so.

I'm NOT going to cover the overall storyline of Little Women. Suffice to say, it is basically about four sisters (played here by Saoirse Ronan, Florence Pugh, Emma Watson, and Eliza Scanlen), their mother (Laura Dern), a charming young man (played by Timothée Chalamet), and ANOTHER charming young man (Louis Garrel). There is a framing device used here that takes the literary talent of Jo (Ronan, the lead character) and allows for some more playfulness than usual, in terms of both addressing attitudes of the time and also working with the audience expectations.

I'm going to mention the very small negative here first. It is an issue I have with the source material, therefore it's not something to blame on Gerwig and co. Beth March (Scanlen's character) is just one of those inherently irritating characters. Her only role is to be the vulnerable one who always seems to be weak or ill. I don't care how good she is at playing the piano, she's the most annoying member of the March clan, which is really saying something when you consider the actions of selfish Amy (Pugh).

Otherwise, there's nothing here I want to criticise. And, trust me, I have been giving it lots of thought since I left the cinema, wondering if my initial delight would settle down and allow me to reconsider anything. There's no need. Nothing to reconsider.

Not only has Gerwig given herself a great gift with her own screenplay, she has ensured it was all delivered exceptionally well by a near-flawless cast. Ronan is about as perfect a Jo March as you could hope for, Pugh is good enough to make Amy bearable during even her worst moments, Scanlen looks suitably fragile, and/or ill, and Watson does just fine as Meg, although she's perhaps stuck with the weakest moments in the film, mostly reduced to being overly earnest and only making one mistake on the road to finding her place in womanhood. Dern has to be 100% goodness and light, which she does admirably, and her sweetness is countered by the sharp tongue and mind of Aunt March (Meryl Streep on top form). Considering the focus of the tale, it's pleasantly surprising to find that all of the men are equally well-cast, and all of them get at least one or two great moments apiece. Chalamet is the charming and safe young star of the moment, and he's perfect here, while Garrel makes a strong impression with his small amount of screentime. Chris Cooper also makes the most of his role, Mr Laurence (the neighbour, and grandfather of Chalamet's character), James Norton plays a character who is perhaps the most grounded of everyone onscreen, Tracy Letts is a lot of fun as the editor who accepts Jo's writings, and Bob Odenkirk is always a welcome presence onscreen, albeit a bit surplus to requirements here as the mainly-absent patriarch of the March clan.

I can't think of a better way Gerwig could have handled this material. It has every main element from the book, of course, and yet it also feels fresh, full of energy, and completely relevant to today. Think of other adaptations of classic novels from the 1800s and they tend to have one main aim for the women, to find true love and marry into a happier life. Little Women has that notion in there, which was probably unavoidable, but it offsets that by showing the many and varied ways that everyone can follow their instincts to make themselves happy, make others happy, and make their own path through life, no matter where others may try to push them. It's a full, rich, experience that embodies the best of cinema, something that you can happily take as pure entertainment, and also something that gives you a lot of moments to think over and discuss with others.

I may have only caught up with it on the 1st January 2020, but this is easily my pick for the best film of 2019.

10/10

You'll be able to buy it here.
Americans will be able to buy it here.

Interstate 60: Episodes Of The Road (2002)

Written and directed by Bob Gale, Interstate 60: Episodes Of The Road is a highly entertaining blend of Eerie Indiana, Big Fish and, well, Road Trip. It feels slightly disjointed, but the title gives a clue to that (although it's often just called Interstate 60 on the marketing and packaging nowadays - I just listed the full title as it is on IMDb).

Gary Oldman is a red-haired trickster by the name of O. W. Grant, a man who spends his time smoking his monkey-head pipe and granting wishes, but he grants wishes in very twisted and unexpected ways. He's like a PG version of the djinn from the Wishmaster movies. James Marsden plays a young man named Neal Oliver, wishing for some answers in his life just as O. W. Grant is within earshot. Interested, Grant decides to arrange a little road trip for Neal. He must deliver a package on a journey that will take him along Interstate 60. Of course, there isn't an Interstate 60. At least, that's what Neal thinks until he's shown a different view of things. He continues along the road in his car, meeting various characters and getting into one or two strange situations along the way.

I enjoyed this movie from the very beginning, the first few scenes features a great moment with Gary Oldman and Michael J. Fox that sums up the devious playfulness of O. W. Grant, but as it continued I started to love it. It manages to be funny and quirky in a way that doesn't scream in viewers faces about how funny and quirky it's being. People may disagree with me on that, but I think that the way in which everything was added on, one character at a time, helped move the film from normality to outright whackiness. As a viewer, I felt very much like that metaphorical frog sitting in water that I didn't notice was being constantly increased ever so slightly towards boiling point.

Despite, compared to some, not really having THAT much in his filmography, Gale does a solid job with the direction of the film. That's probably thanks to the fact that he's filming his own script and writing has been his forte for the past five decades. There's nothing too spectacular on display, but nothing too clumsy either.

Marsden is his usual pleasant self in the role, Oldman has more fun than usual, Christopher Lloyd adds another eccentric character to his list of eccentric characters, Chris Cooper is fantastic as a man who cannot stand anyone lying to him, Amy Smart performs better than usual and Kurt Russell has fun in a small role, playing the police captain of a small town that has legalised a highly addictive drug and allows anyone to party as hard as they like in return for various civic duties.

If you don't like quirky, rather lightweight films then avoid this one like the plague. But if you enjoyed any of the titles I mentioned in the first paragraph then you may want to watch this at least once and see if you enjoy it as much as I did. It goes a bit too far into the ludicrous for a few minutes (involving a lawyer and a big bunch of other lawyers), but it still charms and entertains far more than hundreds of other better-known titles that you could pick from the last decade.

8/10

http://www.amazon.com/Interstate-60-Ann-Margret/dp/B002T4GWYI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1366395047&sr=8-1&keywords=interstate+60

Where The Wild Things Are (2009)

Where The Wild Things Are is, as most of you probably already know, a film based on the beloved book by Maurice Sendak. I never read the book, neither in childhood nor at a later stage, so I can't comment on the adaptation of the source material but I have seen some of the artwork and must say that the film certainly seems to brilliantly realise the creations of Sendak. Directed by the enjoyably offbeat Spike Jonze, who co-wrote the screenplay with Dave Eggers, there's a lot to enjoy here but also a few choices and moments that I just can't help thinking spoiled what could have been a really great film.

Young Max (Max Records) is an energetic and moody young man. He also seems to be quite a lonely boy, as seen in the opening sequence of the film in which he tries to get his sister to play with him, attacks her friends with snowballs and then gets upset when the whole thing backfires and his freshly-made igloo is brought crashing down around him. His mother (Catherine Keener) eventually comes along to make things better but she's a very, very busy woman. The time with his mother is clearly Max's favourite time but he doesn't have a very good way of showing this. In fact, he simply ruins an entire evening when he's jealous of the fact that she has male company round and then runs off . . . . . . . . and this is when the film finally hits its stride. After jumping into a boat and sailing as far as he can, Max ends up on an island populated by strange, wild creatures. At first they are tempted to eat him but he convinces them that he is a king and will lead them to a happier future. Of course, that's easier said than done and as things don't go according to plan Max starts to realise just how his behaviour impacts on others. Maybe.

With some absolutely wonderful creature creations - voiced by a great selection of people including James Gandolfini, Catherine O'Hara, Lauren Ambrose, Paul Dano, Forest Whittaker, Chris Cooper and Michael Berry Jr - and a magical way of replicating that childhood sense of freedom, imagination, rulebreaking and entitlement, Where The Wild Things Are is a superb film for reminding you of just what it is/was to be a child. It's not a children's film though, not really. Some moments are a bit too dark, not enough is spelled out in more obvious terms for kids to learn lessons from and the emotions and various relationships shown are slightly too open and honest in a way that befits the behaviour of children looked at studiously by adults. It's a hard thing to describe, and I don't really want to pigeonhole the movie, but I'd say that the whole thing certainly aims to prompt feelings and memories of childhood rather than appeal directly to children.

The acting is great from everyone involved, whether they're visibly onscreen or just being heard or even being one of the hardy physical performers wearing the wonderful creature suits.

What spoils the movie, for me, are the bookends. The time spent with Max on the island dealing with the creatures is fantastic stuff, it's funny and thrilling and uplifting and saddening and all over the place like the typical rollercoaster of emotions a child can go through on any given day. Sadly, there's nothing to like at the start or end of the movie. I don't require it in every movie I see but there's no real resolution here and it's a film that cries out for one, whether it occurred in the original story or not.

Spike Jonze has yet to create anything that I have seen and disliked (from his music video work to his wonderfully unique movies) but this is the one that proves to be the least satisfying so far. The fact that I still rate it so highly is just testament to how truly great the main middle section is.

6/10

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