The Good Dinosaur

Oh boy. I had a bad feeling about this one going in, and the questions immediately raised by the first few minutes only affirmed that ominous impression. Why make a film that displays, rather ostentatiously, technical mastery of hyperrealistic visuals, and then have cartoonishly rendered characters? The most likely answer is, the project was targeted towards children, and their uncritical viewing habits, from the start. That decision made it inevitable that a certain laziness of thought would be baked into the entire development. The results of that trajectory show painfully in every element of the script, where every plot point can be seen coming from the entire width of a carefully designed CGI landscape away. For instance, the main crisis, when it comes, is profoundly predictable. You know almost from the opening credits that a certain character is a goner. (You may ask yourself, is this a Disney film? Well, let’s see…dead parent? Yep. Okay, that checks out.) Little else in the movie’s circuitous story comes as a surprise, either. Some scenes and characters come across as not just predictable, but tedious and out of context, too. The whole thing is ultimately banal, formulaic and even nonsensical in key moments. (The main character, though portrayed as young, weak and scared, is apparently harder to kill than a Terminator.) Not even the title makes much sense. “Good” how? How was Arlo not good in the first place? Assuming the titular adjective is aspirational, wouldn’t “brave” or “wise” or even “not so hopeless” have made more sense? At least the flawlessly rendered scenery gives the viewer his money’s worth. It seems like that was the point of this exercise, showing off the technical wizardry while assuming that they could get away with a poorly developed story because the movie would be watched mostly by children. That’s not exactly what one should expect from the ostensible lead studio in animated cinema. Whether the dinosaur deserves the label “good” or not is debatable; but you couldn’t apply that adjective to this flick in several million years.

The French Dispatch

One of the worst half-movies I’ve ever seen. How bad is it? I watched, stopped watching about a third of the way through, later went back and tried to finish watching it, and had to stop watching it all over again, getting no further than halfway through. Hence, worst half-movie. The second half could rival Casablanca for all I will ever know, but I saw more than enough to make this call. The performances are dreadful all around, the script is an unfunny pastiche of unrelated and uninteresting vignettes, director Wes Anderson’s penchant for meticulous framing and visual design goes far overboard (he can’t even settle on an aspect ratio), and his usual wit—always in danger of falling too far into preciousness—is either well past the limits of tolerable or just outright absent. And all of the above comes from a viewer who typically counts himself as a fan. The over self-indulgence here is just too much, so much so that this can’t even count as a noble failure—it’s simply a disaster, and a waste of everyone’s time. It had better be back to simplicity and honest effort for this auteur, or else this misstep could signal a career that has reached its lovingly crafted denouement.

Nomadland

This film, much like the characters it portrays, seems to be not quite sure where it wants to go. Early on it aims to be a postmodern Steinbeck, touching on Grapes of Wrath-style socioeconomic themes with a similar point of view. It can be, at times, very self-conscious in the way it tells its stories of the downtrodden. A lot of the early running time is taken up by the depressing spectacle of seeing the desperate in all their desperation, sometimes supporting each other, sometimes feeding off each other. Disease and its aftermath is a common theme in these tableaux, lest one let oneself believe that health care, or lack thereof, is not a fundamental issue in this society. all cogent observations of the American scene, so far. The filmmakers present the problems fairly comprehensively, but they notably offer no real answers--suggesting, somewhat ominously, that maybe there are no answers. That may not be a fair critique, but if someone has thought enough about these issues to produce a whole film about it, you might expect some suggestions in a movie that so obviously has political thoughts on its mind. What's more problematic is the film's shift from the political to the personal. As the story zeroes in even closer on Frances McDormand's protagonist, one can't help but conclude that Fern is a nomad not simply due to economics and bad luck, but due to personal dimensions that go beyond the facts of her life and rest closer to character flaws. Those pieces of the portrait tend to undermine the social/political viewpoint; they give the viewer room to dismiss or assign blame, and reject any thoughts towards social justice. The presentation overall is fine, but the story and message come across as too muddled and lacking in ultimate conviction to represent a grand achievement.

Isle of Dogs

Some dogs are cute and engaging; some movies, too. That's enough to make some people fall in love, with the dogs at least. I'm not sure this flick is love worthy, but it is a pretty enjoyable bit of work. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, given it's a Wes Anderson film; Anderson probably lays on the preciousness just brushing his teeth in the morning, and this outing certainly delivers its share of the auteur's characteristic style. But the somewhat affected style is not an insurmountable obstacle; Anderson takes it right to the edge, but doesn't fly over the rim into an abyss of cutesiness. That balancing act is helped considerably by a terrific voice cast, who deliver--in English and Japanese--a pack of spot on performances. The foreign setting (to yours truly, at least) is a strength of the story; the language barriers help give the sense of a lack of communication that must by typical of people and their pets (whatever folks may believe to the contrary). And no, this cat lover didn't mind the movie's notion of feline villainy. All in all, every dog movie has its day, and you can give this outing its day--or at least a couple hours of your time.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

The desire for catharsis may be even greater than the thirst for revenge. That's not your usual inspiration for a major movie, but it turns out you can do quite well with it. And what kind of movie comes from such inspiration? A challenging film with rawness all over the screen, one with no real heroes, possibly no villain, and no clear resolution--just the brutal realities that life sometimes throws our way. And yet it still succeeds in being frequently and oddly funny throughout. Truly excellent work.

Moonrise Kingdom

More cinematic mischief from the Quirkmaster General. Like other Wes Anderson movies, this film should be too precious and self-aware to be impressive, yet once again the final product is not just offbeat, but funny, charming, and highly entertaining. And if that’s not enough, this flick would be a delight based on its brevity alone--the end comes long before you’re ready for it. Most definitely worth a look.

Laurel Canyon

I personally don't get into movies like this; I can't help but look at hedonistic storylines and see people living lives of undeserved leisure, and that just never sits with me. On the other hand, there's some good music on the soundtrack. That might be enough to pull you in. Tread with caution.

Something's Gotta Give

The positive review comes largely on the strength of Diane Keaton's energetic performance. She injects such life into her character that it becomes difficult not to be interested in this otherwise slight and predictable story. The biggest quibble: when the happy ending finally comes, you can't help feeling that she wound up with the wrong man. It's a credit to Keaton that you actually care about that.

Wonder Boys

Solid, and surprisingly funny. Good work by Michael Douglas and Tobey Maguire. ETA: sorry, I know that's thin, but I saw this movie way over a decade ago--I can't say anything at this remove other than I liked it.

Darkman

Lots of fun. An early taste of the Sam Raimi/Rob Tapert collaboration's potential (before they went on to Hercules and Xena glory). And, as an added bonus, this one stars Liam Neeson before he became a big shot, in another case of an early taste of what was to come. Ditto Frances McDormand. A pretty strong legacy for a little-movie-that-could type flick.