Wonka

Chocolate, as a general rule, is a delight in almost any form. Nevertheless, not every candy in the aisle is equally tasty. Case in point, this movie. Certainly, there are some good pieces in this package, even a few morsels that are downright scrumptious. But then again, as in the proverbial box of chocolates ... there are a few sour quince logs. As the title character, Timothée Chalamet is perfectly fine, particularly when he is being his most Wonka-ish. Even his song and dance numbers are generally clever and entertaining; not quite so when the rest of the rather uneven cast is called upon to make with the musical. (One wise choice by the filmmakers: many of the original songs call back to the themes in the tunes of the first, classic flick.) The strength among the other characters is Noodle, portrayed with charm, wit and wisdom by young Calah Lane. Visually, the film is very well done, both in its overall design and in some clever but not overly obtrusive special effects. Those are the positives. On the other side of the ledger, the supporting cast is an uneven bunch—Willy's fellow inmates range from tolerable to bland to almost nonexistent, the evil chocolatiers are overly  outlandish, to the point of unbelievablility, and Keegan-Michael Key basically embarrasses himself—plus the story runs a bit too long (even at its relatively modest run time) and comes across as mildly misdirected. The original provides its villains with comeuppance along the way; this movie builds towards a big, blowout dispensation of justice that ultimately comes across as flat and anticlimactic. So, overall, watching this work is an up-and-down experience. There’s enough entertainment in these scenes to eek out a loud MEOW, or maybe something a bit higher if you are somewhat indulgent—as the chocolate lovers among us tend to be.

Toy Story 4

I guess there’s a reason why they usually stop movie series at three entries. It becomes impossible to not experience, when watching a fourth installment of a franchise, a sense that you’ve seen all this stuff before—that you are looking at a paper or a picture that has been copied a few times too many, or copied from a copy of a copy. That’s the sense I got watching this film. The familiar characters are there, a somewhat familiar storyline is there—this series has done both new character introductions and finding a long-lost friend in prior sequels—but at this point they just don’t have the same impact as they originally did. Not surprising, really; it requires a ton of fresh creative input to keep old characters and scenarios feeling even relatively fresh, and there just isn’t a lot of vibe that the studio was up to that challenge here. Thus, it was not a surprise that my attention started to wander long before this flick reached its climax, let alone the potentially series-altering denouement. I know they’re planning yet another sequel for this series—perhaps without Hanks, though that issue probably wouldn’t be insurmountable—but I suspect the only thing that will come of the attempt will be further proof of Disney’s current creative bankruptcy. Oh, I suppose I should note that the uncritical among us—like children, the target audience here—will absorb this outing with the same level of pleasure the first three provided. But for the rest of us, I think we should expect a bit more for our time and attention. It just might be time to put away these childish things.

Keanu

A funny movie. Problem is, given the principals involved (Keegan-Michael Key and Jordan Peele) and the premise (dweebs play gangstas, all in the service of recovering a kitten) it should have been a lot funnier. It’s always unfair to judge based on expectations, rather than what is actually delivered, but it’s next to impossible to avoid that trap so here. After all, it’s goddamn Key and goddamn Peele! Still, this film is at least as funny--and thus, successful--as most of the comedies that come and go these days, so it earns a positive rating, even if it does ultimately come across as a lost opportunity.