Kubo and the Two Strings
Dir. Travis Knight
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Stop-motion animation studio Laika has established a foothold against the modern tidal wave of 3D CGI cartoons with a series of refreshingly morbid children's entertainment like Coraline and Paranorman; Kubo and the Two Strings is a similarly dark and beautifully hand-crafted tale, only the ghouls and ghosts have been replaced by samurais and badass origami warriors. While Kubo suffers from the same "hero's journey" plot that's literally older than film itself, and at times feels disjointed, with Kubo's voyages more or less evoking the "fetch quest" aspects of video games like Legend of Zelda, it still ranks as one of the most beautiful-looking films of the year, and its painstaking attention to detail is astonishing.
This Kurosawa-inspired "epic" follows a young one-eyed boy named Kubo, who, donning a magical two-stringed shamisen, makes a meager living by telling enchanted stories to the people of a local seaside town, shredding on his Japanese lute and bringing to life intricate origami creatures. However, Kubo's quiet life with his semi-comatose mother is shaken when he accidentally summons a spirit from his past. Now Kubo is on the run, joining forces with the no-nonsense Monkey (Charlize Theron), the lovably dopey warrior Beetle (Matthew McConaughey), and a little paper samurai that helps point the way on their quest to save the village, all whilst uncovering the mysteries of Kubo's past and battling various monsters, such as two creepy-ass sister spirits (Rooney Mara), a giant skeleton with the swords of those it's killed in its skull, and the vengeful Moon King (Ralph Fiennes).
There is a certain "meta" aspect to Kubo and the Two Strings; the very nature of origami evokes the hand-craftedness of the stop-motion process itself, and the film centers around story-telling and myth-making, with Kubo both being a storyteller himself and a character in his own heroic journey. The filmmakers also gracefully respect kids' emotions, taking a chance with some darker subjects like coping with loss that feels earnest in a way a franchise film like Ice Age: Everybody Chill is unable to. However, despite these flourishes, the plot can get monotonous at times. The relationships within the main group are very broad and lack a certain spark as well, and it's disappointing that George Takei appears to be the only Asian voice actor in a movie steeped in Asian mythological and popular culture (I mean, McConaughey is probably the last person you'd think to cast here).
While Kubo may not have the same level of humor, character development, or storytelling wizardry of Pixar or Disney, it's still an example of master craftsmanship in animation that's worth seeing just for its sheer beauty.
Rating: B
Don't Breathe
Dir. Fede Alvarez
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A really great horror movie can often transcend its gimmicky premise. Don't Breathe is essentially the negative of Wait Until Dark with Audrey Hepburn: instead of a blind woman being the victim of a robbery, this time it's the robbers who are the victims of the blind resident (Stephen Lang). Alex (Dylan Minnette), Rocky (Jane Levy), and Money (Daniel Zovatto) are a trio of thieves in the Detroit area who both eke out a living and get their kicks from robbing houses. Word gets around that there's a blind veteran living by himself who just received a huge settlement after the death of his daughter, and figuring that he'd be an easy target, the three banditos invade his home in an abandoned neighborhood. But they shortly find themselves locked inside, and also that the blind resident isn't just a poor, helpless victim.
I've been a horror movie fan for a very long time - it's what made me a film fanatic in the first place - but the fright flick landscape out there today is pretty bleak. That's what makes Don't Breathe such a breath of fresh air for me - it's an expertly crafted, intense, well-told, well-acted, well-shot small-scale b-movie that reminded me why I love scary movies. The cast is amazing here, with the stand-out being Lang as the blind guy; I vaguely remembered him from James Cameron's Avatar as a generic hard-assed general, but here he infuses this character with a torment and a twisted sense of righteousness that reminded me of Tobin Bell's iconic portrayal of Jigsaw in the Saw films. Also, the idea of robbers-as-protagonists could turn sour quickly - who wants to cheer on characters robbing the blind? - but the film does a great job establishing their backgrounds to explain why they're resorting to crime.
Setting the film in Detroit is perfect, because not only is it one of the poorest cities in the US, but also, since many houses were abandoned after evictions, it makes for a perfect place to set a horror film. The film's setting is brilliant because it both serves the horror aspects and comments on the current state of America, without being preachy. The camerawork and cinematography is also fantastic here; when we first enter the blind man's house, the camera floats around from room to room, making the geography of the entire house crystal clear. The sound design is also some of the best I've ever heard, especially since it plays such an important role in the story (any creak could alert the blind man). Silence as much as sound is a character in the film, and although "Don't Breathe" is a pretty cheesy title, I honestly found myself holding my breath during many sequences.
I don't want to give any more away, but in my mind, Don't Breathe is a perfect horror movie. I was surprised how much I liked Fede Alvarez's Evil Dead remake a few years back, but here he takes the genre and his craft to a new level. While it does follow the typical horror movie template, it's one of the best damn examples of that template I've seen in a long, long time.
Rating: A
War Dogs
Dir. Todd Phillips
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Similarly to how The Big Short proved Adam McKay could direct Oscar-quality movies outside his typical Will Ferrel wheelhouse, War Dogs has Todd Phillips stepping up to bat with his post-Hangover "take me seriously" movie. The film follows David Packouz (Miles Teller), a down-on-his-luck masseuse who's offered a chance to earn some big bucks from his childhood friend Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill) by becoming an international arms dealer. Together they exploit a government initiative that allows them to bid on military contracts, going after the smaller contracts that no one wants to rake in money. However, they slowly start to bid on bigger and bigger contracts until they land a $300 million contract with an Afghan arms dealer, and these two dunderheads end up getting in business with some shady people.
While War Dogs at times feels like it owes a little too much to Scorsese (emphasized by Jonah Hill's similar role in Wolf of Wall Street), I thought this was a really entertaining, at times troubling film that, yet again, reiterates the dangers of taking the "American Dream" to the extreme - not unlike Scarface, which the poster homages. I've actually enjoyed Hill's more dramatic roles as of late, and he's great here as the bottom-feeding scumbag Efraim. Teller also does a serviceable job as the in-over-his-head, somewhat naive weed-smoking "best friend" (although it's more friend-by-manipulation here). If there's one major weak point it's in David's relationship with his heavily-accented girlfriend Iz (Ana de Armas); these scenes felt dramatically flat and as if they existed mostly because that's what happened in real life.
Otherwise, I really enjoyed the film, mostly due to the disintegrating bromance at its center. It's a fast-paced, well-scripted, darkly funny movie that at the very least is a step in a better direction for Todd Phillips than doing another Hangover movie that nobody wants.
Rating: B+
Hell or High Water
Dir. David Mackenzie
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"This here's Miss Bonnie Parker. I'm Clyde Barrow. We rob banks." Bonnie and Clyde is one of my favorite movies, and much of that has to do with the glee and righteousness that Bonnie and Clyde have in robbing banks, like Depression-era Robin Hoods. Hell or High Water, a very similar film in many ways, evoked the same feelings in me, with the only difference being that the law here isn't portrayed as "pigs" - everyone in this film is human, which makes the chase that much more hopeless.
The story follows two bank-robbin' brothers-in-crime: Toby (Chris Pine), a divorced father who wants a better life for his son, and his loose cannon ex-convict brother Tanner (Ben Foster). Together, they're planning a series of heists on the bank that's foreclosing their family ranch, but on their tail is Marcus (Jeff Bridges), a Texas Ranger close to retirement. It's a very simple plot, but director David Mackenzie uses the iconography of old westerns to evoke contemporary problems in an exciting, fresh way. The bank robberies are brilliantly staged, especially because things don't always go as planned.
The acting is also top-notch: Jeff Bridges is essentially playing a (slightly) less drunk Rooster Cogburn and hits it out of the park with, in my opinion, one of his best roles ever. Pine and Foster are convincingly, reluctantly, brothers stuck with each other in a tight situation. But the real standout "character" is Texas itself; so many of the fleeting side characters have a no-nonsense southern authenticity to them that was often times hilarious (in one scene, when Marcus and his partner stop at a diner, the old waitress asks " what don't you want?" because nobody orders anything other than a steak). It's funny, intense, heartbreaking, and feels like a long lost movie from 1970's Hollywood, back when filmmakers didn't feel like they came off an assembly line. Y'all, Hell or High Water is one rootin' tootin' motion picture, by golly!
Rating: A
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