As the holiday season comes closer, you might want to curl up with any of those happy films that come around every year. I have a couple to suggest, animated films that do the job. But also a creepy unsettling film if you're ready to take on more dread and worry. It's from the Obama's in their new role as film producers. Also there's a new take on the Alexandre Dumas classic The Three Musketers and a homegrown visit with an unlikely hockey player. All good choices.
Leave the World Behind: 3 stars
The Three Musketeers D'Artagnan: 3 ½
The Boy and the Heron: 4
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Christmas: 3
Overtime: 3 ½
LEAVE THE WORLD BEHIND: Here's a good alternative to the feel-good films that are so common this time of year. Netflix had it in a few theaters recently and is now streaming it. It's an apocalyptic thriller with big names in the cast (Julia Roberts, Mahershala Ali and Ethan Hawke), is directed by Sam Esmail (known for the TV series Mr. Robot) and executive produced by Michelle and Barack Obama. That's apropos because there's a late-revealled political connection in the story.
Before that happens it's a tingly escalation of dread and fear. Roberts and Hawke play a couple who, along with two children, move into a big country house they've rented for a vacation. Cell phones and the internet don't work, but hey, it's rural. The owner of the house (Ali) arrives with his daughter and wants refuge. He reports there's been a cyberattack that's caused power outtages and more. The family had seen a distressing scene earlier when a supertanker wouldn't stop and smashed right up onto a beach. Eventually a local survivalist (played spooky by Kevin Bacon) explains what he thinks is going on. And what it means. Good acting and a relevent message make this worthy, even for a former president. (Netflix) 3 out of 5
THE THREE MUSKETEERS: D'ARTAGNAN: There have been over 40 movie versions of the beloved Alexandre Dumas novel and I can't say how this one ranks but it's probably one of the best. It's speedy and energetic and always entertaining, though it could emphasize cameraderie (all for one) more than it does.
I most remember the English version directed by Richard Lester in 1973 which had a lighthearted tone, humor and bright colors. This one is darker, the colors are earthtone, and it treats the royal intrigues in France in the 1600s more seriously. Protestants are threatening the Catholics and get support from England. War is suggested. Cardinal Richelieu is conspiring against King Louis XIII.
In from the sticks in Gascony rides D'Artagnan (François Civil) eager to join the King's guards, the musketeers. He's impetutous and manages to set up duels with three different men for the same time. Athos, Porthos and Aramis (Vincent Cassel, Pio Marmaï and Romain Duris) recognize his spunk and take him into the group, and thereby into the machinations going on at the royal court. They have to foil Richelieu's plotting but not quite yet. There's a Part 2 still to come, subtitled MILADY, after Milady De Winter (Eva Green). She's already an imposing figure here but her real impact will come next film. D'Artagnan meanwhile is attracted to a confidante to the Queen (Lyna Khoudri) while the Queen (Vicky Krieps) is secretly connecting to England's Duke of Buckingham. The story is a wonderful diversion. The film, directed and co-written by Martin Bourboulon, tells it well and features lots of swordfighting and great art direction. (In theaters) 3 ½ out of 5
THE BOY AND THE HERON: Animated film goes into a deep meditation on life, death and the afterlife. And does it through the make-believe fantasies you expect from the form. Parakeet soldiers? A talking heron that morphs into a grumpy old man? Those and more are in this new creation by the Japanese master Hayao Miyazaki. He's in his 80s now and you can see this as a late-career summing-up (with reminders of his great films like My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away) and a contemplation of his inevitable passing on. Even with those heavy themes though, this is a beautifully-drawn work of imagination and whimsey.
The boy could be Miyazaki himself. He drew some events from his own life into the story of Mahito who lost his mother in World War II bombing and is lost without her. He's moved to a house in the country where his dad takes a new wife (the sister of the deceased wife) and goes away for long stretches to work in an airplane factory. Mahito feels abandoned.
The heron taunts him, then turns into a dwarf-like man who points him to a mysterious tower. An uncle built it and Mahito may be able to find the living presence of his mother there. The escapade involves a lot of speculation about alternate worlds and life after death. It's probably what Miyazaki is himself thinking about as he announces his retirement, delays it, keeps on working and ponders his legacy. It's complex for an animated film, hard to understand it all, but with surprises added in regularly, always engrossing. (In theaters) 4 out of 5
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID CHRISTMAS: CABIN FEVER: This is my first exposure to this super successful series of children's books. 21 books, as I count them on a fan site, 250 million copies sold, four movies (the first one filmed in Vancouver years ago) and now the third animated film. And I'll admit it, I had a good time watching it. The humor is cheeky and in true modern kid-fashion aware of the world. At least, talking like he's fully aware. That's Greg Heffley, who the author Jeff Kinney says he wrote “with imperfections” which is probably part of the appeal, for both boys and girls.
Greg is accident prone and his work to build a giant snowman results in a runaway snowball and a damaged snowplow down the street. The driver is trying to find who did it. He's put up wanted posters around the neighborhood. Greg and a friend collect them and dump them in a recycling bin, which, horrors, they discover is a bin for donated toys and is run by the police. They'll find him for sure and his dream of getting a Mega Station 1000 video game for Christmas will crumble. As you can see lots of kid-friendly plot, light and breezy. It's done with simple but effective animation and directed with spirit by Luke Cormican. The voice actors have done work in several other animated productions. (Streaming on Disney+) 3 out of 5
OVERTIME: With women's sports so much in the news right now, you'll surely find this one fascinating. Maybe recommend it to a daughter or a niece. It's by Vancouver filmmaker Jenny Lee-Gilmore who documents her 60-mother's passion: playing hockey. Kelley Lee grew to love the sport as a child, watched it on TV and now plays it, always wearing #8 because that was the number of her favorite player, Doug Risebrough. The film follows her team to the annual Canada 55 Plus Games, held that year in Kamloops. They have four games and need to win them all to get a gold medal. We see highlights of those games, the coach's pep talks and the women chatting in the dressing room.
We also get Kelley telling her own story. She's at Simon Fraser University, holds a Canada Research Chair in Global Health Governance and started hockey at age 11, although her parents weren't keen on it. Someone once said to her she doesn't look like a hockey player and she still wonders why. Because she's a woman? Because she from a Chinese background? But with her mom's advice to “go after it” she resolved to “block out the naysayers who stereotype you.” That includes ageism, because as she says, older women are “invisible.” It's a short, simple but inspiring film. (Telus, which helped sponsor it, is streaming it for free at https://watch.telusoriginals.com/ ) 3 ½ out of 5
Comments