Across a Vast Distance, an Unbreakable Sibling Bond

From left: Grace Pudel (Sarah Snook), Percy 
Pudel (Dominique Pinon), and Gilbert Pudel
(Kodi Smit-McPhee) in "Memoir of a Snail"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

When it comes to animated films, it seems like most of those that come from American studios these days are films from established properties.  Although some of those movies can be great, such as last year’s “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” there’s something about seeing an original animated film because of how that format of storytelling can allow a filmmaker’s imagination to run wild in the story and characters that they create.  A lot of times these days, if you want to see something truly original in terms of animated films, it’s best to look overseas and see what kinds of narratives those filmmakers have to offer. 

One of the latest international animated films to be released hails from Australia with writer-director Adam Elliot’s stop-motion tragicomedy, “Memoir of a Snail.”  With wonderful voice performances, a beautiful and poignant story, and visuals that bring Elliot’s ideas to full effect, this is an animated world in which you can lose yourself.

In 1970s Melbourne, Grace Pudel (Sarah Snook) and Gilbert Pudel (Kodi Smit-McPhee) are twins who are inseparable.  However, following the deaths of their parents, they’re sent to different foster families at opposite ends of the continent.  As the years go on and the hardships never seem to end, they’ll try to get by with the hope that they’ll see each other again.

Snook and McPhee have superb chemistry as siblings whose love for each other transcends the vast distances that are placed on them.  You can feel the everlasting bond in their voices as they miss each other more and more over the years.  There’s a sadness to both of them when they continue to lose time that they could’ve spent together, but there’s also a resilience within them as they face many challenges that threaten to crush their spirits, which gives them the strength they need to make their reunion possible.  There’s so much emotion and warmth that Snook and McPhee put into their performances, and the power that they give to their work in this film won’t leave you anything less than absorbed in their journey that shows how strong the connection between siblings can be.

While the film has several good supporting performances, the standout is Jacki Weaver as Pinky, a neighbor of Grace’s who befriends her.  Weaver exhibits a lot of wisdom in the voice that she gives her character, displaying someone who has been around the world and has seen it all.  Pinky is a joyful character throughout the film who’s always there to give Grace the help that she needs to make her day-to-day life more bearable.  Weaver instills Pinky with a personality that’s humorous and loving, giving the viewer a sense of reprieve from the difficulties that Grace encounters.

The screenplay by Elliot provides a dark, fanciful Roald Dahl-esque story that invests you in the characters and the unfortunate situation in which they find themselves.  It’s a narrative that’s imaginative, witty, heartbreaking, and uplifting, bringing audiences into a bittersweet fairy-tale that captures what it means to be a sibling.  As Elliot goes through the story, he tackles themes concerning the cages that are thrust upon us from outside forces vs. the ones that we set up ourselves, while also focusing on what it means to be hurt by the things that tend to give us comfort.  Through these themes, we get to learn the emotional depths of Grace and Gilbert, with Elliot instilling small, clever details throughout the film that emphasize the different aspects that go into their personalities.  Elliot creates engaging story threads for each of the two main characters, ensuring that both will keep you immersed in the poignant drama as the narrative brings you back and forth between the siblings.  While most of the film obviously unfolds after the death of Grace and Gilbert’s parents, Elliot offers plenty of insight into what their life was like beforehand, a life that was tough, but had a lot of love.  By showing this, we’re able to have a greater sense of the loss that they face once they become separated.

As a director, Elliot constructs beautifully strange visuals that transport you to the lives of the characters both before and after the inciting event.  While maintaining a tone that deftly mixes wit and heartache, Elliot highlights that blend of sensibilities to bring us imagery that dances between whimsical and dour, and the wonderful score from Elena Kats-Chernin helps emphasize the sense of wonder that’ll you experience during the movie.  There’s a richness in Elliot's animation that offers so much for us to look at and get a better understanding of his distinct vision of Australia.  The pain-staking detail that Elliot brings to the images matches what he brings to the film in terms of the screenplay, showing a filmmaker who does what he can to make sure the viewer is immersed in this journey from beginning to end.

Within a deep story about the power of the familial connections that sustain us, “Memoir of a Snail” captures what it means to be closed in, only then to finally break free.

Grade: A

A Love Story Between Two Classes

Mark Eydelshteyn and Mikey Madison in "Anora"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

We’ve all seen stories like those, stories about two people who fall in love from different worlds, despite the restrictions that their social and economic stations have on them.  Given how long this type of narrative has existed, there’s a template that such stories follow, and we know where they’ll end up before the credits roll.  Despite the familiarity that we’ve come to expect, there are some cases where we’re not taken along the route that we expect, and this can make the story all the more impactful because of how much it tries to be more truthful to life.

Writer-director Sean Baker accomplishes this for his romantic comedy-drama, “Anora.”  It’s a love story unlike any that you’ve seen in a long time, one that washes over you with its zeal, laughs, emotion, and electric lead performance.

Anora (Mikey Madison) is an exotic dancer at an upscale Manhattan strip club.  When she meets the son of a Russian oligarch, Ivan (Mark Eydelshteyn), the two begin a relationship and get married soon after.  When Ivan’s parents threaten to travel from Russia to get the marriage annulled, Anora and Ivan face increasing complications that put their love in jeopardy.

Madison jolts the screen to life with her star-making performance that shows both her character’s strength and vulnerability.  There’s so much vigor to her character as she makes it through the rough patches of her day-to-day life, showing someone who seems to roll with the punches and try to keep her tough exterior intact.  Madison’s commitment to her character does excellent work in absorbing you in Anora’s life, offering a chance to get to know her as she steps into a life of luxury and then has to hold onto it and make that happiness last as long as possible.  Madison provides Anora with the type of streetwise grit where she’s not afraid to take control of a situation and stand up to those who get in her way.  This is a performance that comes with humor, joy, sadness, tension, and so much else, and Madison does whatever she can to make sure that you’ll remember her, whether it be in the heart-to-heart talks between her and Ivan or the chaotic highs into which she ventures later in the story.

The film comes with several performances from actors who may be unfamiliar to American audiences, but they leave an impact nonetheless in how much they inhabit their characters.  Eydelshteyn is terrific as a throws-his-money-around individual who never seems to grow up; Karren Karagulian is a lot of fun to watch as Toros, Ivan’s handler who tries to do his best to maintain the film’s increasingly messy situation; and Vache Tovmasyan and Yura Borisov as Garnick and Igor, respectively, Toros’ two henchmen, the latter of whom delivers one of the film’s most surprising performances in terms of where his arc goes.

All five of these performances coalesce incredibly well throughout the movie as everything unravels and they go further into disorder.  The way in which the cast members bounce off of each other to bring as much vivacity as possible to every scene is what makes this one of the finest casts of the year.  This is especially true in the movie’s tense, nearly-half-hour home-invasion scene where everyone gives whatever they can to the craziness of the sequence, all of which sets the unpredictable tone for the second hour of the film.

The screenplay from Baker takes a simple template and creates something invigorating, making a story that’s both a complex romance and a fast-paced thriller.  While most of the first half of the movie is a wonderful look at the main character and what could be her first real shot at love, it soon goes into a wild ride that takes you around New York City as Anora’s relationship meets one hurdle after another.  In the middle of the narrative’s kinetic location-hoping, we have a view of Anora and how other people see her, offering a depth to her character as she tries to have people see that she’s more than what they assume.   

With this movie’s NYC settings, as well as a segment that takes place in Las Vegas, Baker makes sure to capture their sights with cinematography by Drew Daniels.  Throughout the film, Daniels uses handheld camerawork to have us feel the energy that the characters experience, while also utilizing immersive long takes that allow for dialogues and emotions to unfold, a method that’s the most impactful in the movie’s final scene, which helps it become one of the best endings of the year.  Between Daniels’ photography and Baker’s screenplay and direction, the movie has the haywire energy of NYC-based movies, like Josh and Bennie Safdie’s “Uncut Gems” and “Good Time," with characters talking over each, being on the move for most of the time, and being followed by a dynamic camera that manages to keep up with the action.

It’s always exciting to see a filmmaker upend a certain type of story that has made its foundations through countless movies, and with what Baker does to the girl-meets-boy structure in “Anora,” you’re in for something that breaks those rules and creates a bold and exciting whirlwind of a romance.

Grade: A

In the Vatican, an Election with Several Possible Outcomes

Ralph Fiennes in "Conclave"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

In 2022, director Edward Berger delivered a harrowing war epic with his remake of “All Quiet on the Western Front.”  Using a sprawling scale of the battlefields and trenches to bring us the horrors of war, Berger visualized a story of the tensions and bloodshed of which men are capable under the most dire of circumstances.  It was an emotional and ambitious movie that had me looking forward to what Berger would bring us next.

With his latest film, Berger deals with tensions amongst men on a smaller scale, yet one that impacts the world, nonetheless, in his mystery-thriller, “Conclave,” which boasts a quiet, yet galvanizing lead performance, tense direction, and a story that’ll have you leaning forward at each twist and turn.

When the pope passes away, the Vatican is in a race to install a new leader for the Catholic Church.  Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) is put in charge to lead the conclave to choose the next pope.  As the election unfolds, he deals with candidates who want the position more than anything, as well as the secrets that some of them are hiding.

Fiennes delivers one of the best performances of his career as a man tasked with finding a leader.  He brings out his character’s sense of duty, but also shows the burden of having such an assignment.  Fiennes displays the gravity of what this task entails, presenting his character’s views of what such a decision means for both the church and the world.  This is a performance that thrives on how subdued it is, with Fiennes bringing forth a man of faith who’s also bothered by some questions that he has for the church that he serves.  His work in this film is superb throughout, but one of his most memorable scenes is one at the beginning of the voting process where he gives opening remarks about faith and uncertainty.  It’s a speech that captures his character’s viewpoints, all of which have complexities added to them when he doesn’t want the papacy himself, despite thinking that those best fit for power are those who don’t seek it.  It’s a fascinating depth that this role carries, and Fiennes is absolutely magnetic with how he grips your attention as you anticipate the decisions that Cardinal Lawrence will make.

Backing up Fiennes are some superb supporting performances from Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Lucien Msamati, and Carlos Diehz as cardinals who are in the running to be the next pope, and Isabella Rossellini as a Sister and the cardinal’s head housekeeper.  All of these cast members add their own bit of intrigue in the way that they approach their characters, having you wonder who’s hiding what secrets and what it’ll mean for the conclave as it commences.

The screenplay by Peter Straughan, which is based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris, offers a tantalizing mystery that gets you hooked from the first scene.  From there, like all great film puzzles, it doles out details little by little as we become more wrapped up in the goings-on behind the Vatican’s walls.  The narrative is populated with characters who have their own goals for who they want to be in the church and what they want the church to be, and it’s never anything less than intriguing to see these clashes of views as the pool for the papacy successors becomes shallower.  All of this leads up to one of the most surprising conclusions I’ve seen in a movie recently.  “Conclave” is one of those occasions where I’m glad I didn’t read the book first because the last 10 minutes had the people at my screening murmuring in surprise with what it reveals, offering an electrifying experience of communal discovery that feels rare these days with theatrical releases.

Just as Berger did with the vast settings of “Western Front,” he’s able to bring us the fullest details of the more enclosed settings of the Vatican, giving off a strong sense of intrigue as we try to guess what’s going on within.  To accomplish this, he collaborates with cinematographer Stéphane Fontaine, who works on a level that he did with his work on Pablo Larraín’s 2016 film, “Jackie.”  Similar to how Fontaine gave us a look into the inner layers of the White House for that historical drama, he does the same with the Vatican in “Conclave.”  Fontaine not only has a talent for photographing places where people in high positions of power operate, but also when these places are in a period of transition.  With the pairing of Berger and Fontaine, they pull back the curtain on areas that many don’t get to see in real life, taking us through the courtyards, hallways, and private rooms of the Vatican.  Whether we’re in a scene with a character alone in a room finding out a secret, or a scene with many characters where there’s voting taking place, Berger maintains the thrills of the story no matter where he takes us on the Vatican grounds.  Helping to highlight these thrills is composer Volker Bertelmann, who worked with Berger on “Western Front,” and here, he provides music that emphasizes stringed instruments to maximum effect to have us feel the tightly-wound tension and weight of what’s happening around the characters.

“Conclave” is the type of fast-paced thriller that offers an equal abundance of suspense and narrative depth that cements this as one of the best films of the year.  While Cardinal Lawrence holds uncertainty as a virtue, you’re certain to be enthralled with this captivating mystery.

Grade: A

A Pop Star Shares the Stage with a Deadly Curse

Naomi Scott in "Smile 2"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

In 2022, writer-director Parker Finn expanded his 2020 short film, “Laura Hasn’t Slept,” into the disturbing feature, “Smile.”  Similar to “Saw,” “Mama,” and “Lights Out,” Finn continued the tradition of filmmakers taking their small horror ideas and expanding them into movies that chill, petrify, or both.  Through strong acting and some very creepy visuals, Finn gave us a memorable shocker that announced him as a new talent to watch in horror cinema.

Finn now returns to write and direct “Smile 2,” where he delivers a sequel that isn’t only as good as the original, but might even surpass it in some respects, boasting a stellar lead performance, strong technical prowess, and a story that’s both tense and grim.

Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is a pop star who’s trying to get her life back on track after suffering from loss and addiction.  When she becomes the latest victim of a curse, Skye is plagued by frightening occurrences as she prepares for her comeback tour.

Scott delivers an emotionally visceral performance of someone who’s trying to heal from previous devastating life changes while facing a curse that manages to resurrect the demons she’s tried to cast away.  She exhibits an intensity in Skye becoming unraveled as each day brings a deeper horror into her life and cripples her sanity.  This is a performance that hooks you into the frightful nature of the scenario, with Scott displaying the depths of Skye’s pain as she faces a past that continues to haunt her.  It’s work that mixes fear, sadness, and anger, and Scott elicits a power from each of those feelings as her character becomes more and more desperate to save herself from a horrible fate.  With this being Scott’s first horror film, she couldn’t have made a bigger entrance than with a portrayal that has you experience her fear and desperation as the curse closes in on her.

Out of all of the supporting performances, the standout is Lukas Gage, who portrays an acquaintance of Skye’s.  In just one scene near the start of the film, he absorbs you in the crushing fear in which the curse has enveloped him, giving a crazed portrayal of someone who knows he’s at the end of the line and all out of options.  It’s a sequence that rattles you, not only because of the unsettling aesthetic, but because of his performance that absorbs you back into the fear and paranoia that was felt in the first movie.  We know the horror that’s in store for Skye, and Gage’s performance presents the similar sense of dread that Skye will carry for the rest of the film.

Although the screenplay by Finn follows several of the first film’s principal beats, he makes up for that with the effectiveness in which he utilizes the music-industry setting.  The story builds in a way that has you think about just how much worse Skye’s life can spiral out of control.  With Skye not being able to tell what’s real and what’s not, we begin to understand that manipulation the narrative is using, having us wonder what’s real and what the curse wants Skye to see.  The story places her in several scenarios that would put a character in her profession on edge in a normal life, but with the curse that’s added into the mix, the apprehension is ramped up as the film goes from an everyday person of the first film to someone in this film who’s always in the public eye.  Due to the people that Skye surrounds herself with as a celebrity, the narrative gives plenty of characters with whom Skye interacts, and this allows us to get to know who she is and how she expresses the tension and fear that she feels as it becomes stronger.

Charlie Sarroff, who provided the cinematography for the first film, gives some great lensing, particularly in the opening scene, which is filmed all in one take.  It’s a scene that invests you right away in the movie and offers you a clue to the creativity of the camerawork that you’ll see throughout the film, and it doesn’t disappoint.  Sarroff also takes advantage in the way he photographs the expansive settings of the film, be it concert venues or Skye’s spacious NYC apartment.  And, just like in the first movie, Sarroff isn’t afraid to go a little weird with the imagery.  With the sequel going bigger, Sarroff ensures that the ambition of his camerawork reflects the film’s wider scope and makes this curse seem that much more terrifying.

Finn constructs a very unsettling movie that shows a continued determination to build his still-young horror profile within features, and he does so by using a bigger setting and impactful dramatic stakes with the main character.  After showing filmmaking confidence when making his short film into a feature, he exhibits dedication to the overall story of this series, having delivered two films that get under your skin from beginning to end by delivering great jump scares and some harrowing emotion.  Finn is a director who has an ability to add smarts into mainstream horror entertainment, and whenever he moves on to something outside of “Smile,” he’ll surely deliver a must-see.

Finn’s multiplex success all started with an 11-minute short film, and “Smile 2” offers a terrific new chapter in this story.  And, whether or not Finn makes a third feature from this, we can agree his “Smile” movies aren’t afraid to bear their teeth.

Grade: A-

One Night, the Birth of a Cultural Institution

Cooper Hoffman (left) and Gabriel LaBelle
in "Saturday Night"
Photo Credit: Imdb.com

Next year, it’ll be 50 years since “Saturday Night Live” premiered on television.  Introducing audiences to a show revolving around a group of unknown comedians doing sketch comedy was a huge risk, but it paid off.  Nearly five decades later, which have been full of memorable cast members and characters, this show became one of the most influential entertainment touchstones of the 20th century, launching many careers and delivering laughs to our living rooms week after week.

For director Jason Reitman’s latest film, “Saturday Night,” he dives into the minutes leading up to the series premiere of “SNL.”  With a stellar cast, great jokes, and an electric feeling of watching people make television history, we get a fun show-business movie that takes us behind the scenes of what went into the harried production of the show’s first episode.

On October 11, 1975, Lorne Michaels (Gabriel LaBelle) is at Studio 8H in Rockefeller Plaza trying to take care of last-minute problems leading up to the launch of “SNL.”  With more fires starting than can be put out, Lorne will do whatever he can to make the show work.  And, with many careers on the line, including his own, failure isn’t an option.

After exhibiting a ton of potential when leading Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” two years ago in a breakout performance, LaBelle displays that talent again when showing Lorne as a mad scientist of television trying to bring his precarious creation to life.  Throughout his work here, LaBelle holds onto the nervous energy as Lorne tries to orchestrate everything to make sure the production goes according to plan.  LaBelle has a wonderful ability to go from someone who truly believes that this could all work to someone who’s being crushed under the weight of everyone’s good and bad expectations.  He brings across the intense apprehension of what this night could mean for all involved, having us feel every ounce of pressure of having all eyes on him.  This is a performance that needs LaBelle to always be moving around and interacting with others, and you sometimes feel out of breath when you go along with him as he seems to cover every inch of Rockefeller Plaza, and LaBelle’s work in this film absorbs you in the whirlwind in which Lorne finds himself.

With this being a peek at a big chapter in the television industry, the movie boasts a sizable supporting cast, all of whom make their mark.  Some of these include Rachel Sennott as “SNL” writer and Lorne’s wife, Rosie Shuster; Ella Hunt, Dylan O’Brien, Matt Wood, and Lamorne Morris as original show cast members Gilda Radner, Dan Aykroyd, John Belushi, and Garret Morris, respectively; Nicholas Braun in a dual performance as comedian Andy Kaufman and Muppets-creator Jim Henson; Cooper Hoffman and Willem Dafoe as as network executives Dick Ebersol and David Tebet, respectively; and Matthew Rhys as iconic comedian George Carlin, who hosted the premiere of “SNL.”  However, the two standouts of the supporting cast are Corey Michael Smith, who delivers a note-perfect portrayal of original cast member Chevy Chase, and J.K. Simmons, who brings very funny egotism as comedian Milton Berle.  What really makes you remember these two performances is one of the film’s best and funniest scenes, where Chase and Berle have a confrontation over each other’s star power.  The jabs they share are increasingly vicious and witty, and you wish the scene could go on for another minute to watch these two verbally duke it out.

The screenplay by Reitman and Gil Kenan feels just a tad drawn out at times, but for the most part, the film glides by with its constant flow of dialogue and the move from place to place within the studio.  This is a screenplay that has the dialogue flow like water from a hydrant with characters digging into their lines and sometimes having to talk over each other, and you can tell that the cast members relish the best of the comedic lines that they’re given, as well as the discussions that are more heated.  The story takes us through hallways, onstage, backstage, the writer’s room, elevators, stairways, etc., and the narrative juggles its many characters and settings well as the cast members constantly move around the different settings and must face new problems as the night goes on.

Eric Steelberg, who provided the cinematography for all of Reitman’s films since “Juno,”  offers a grainy texture that harkens back to the ‘70s, while also employing a documentary-like style of camera movements that capture the behind-the-scenes chaos of that first night at “SNL.”  In the middle of this, Steelberg uses several single takes that have the camera travel through the many spaces of Studio 8H as everything unfolds.  A notable example of this is the first scene within the hallways of the studio, with Steelberg providing a minutes-long take that’s a fine introduction to the hectic nature that we can expect from this setting.

While Reitman has shown an ability to explore characters through the relatively laid-back environments of his comedies and dramas, he has to do something very different here.  In this film, he gets to expand his filmmaking abilities by presenting a story that’s built on disarray.  This is a film that has countless moving parts and requires a lot of complex scene-blocking, and Reitman’s able to handle it all while maintaining the energy and tension felt by all involved with making “SNL.”  He has a firm command in making sure the movements of the camera and the cast remain hectic, but in such a way that we can still comprehend what’s going on and remain invested in the race-against-time scenario.

There’s so much history behind the decades of “SNL,” and with “Saturday Night,” we have a wonderful tribute to the night that started it all.

Grade: A-

From Street Clown to Court Jester

Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in 
"Joker: Folie à Deux"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

Five years ago, director Todd Phillips delivered a disturbing, yet fascinating examination of Batman’s arch-nemesis in “Joker.”  Playing out like a psychological thriller, Joaquin Phoenix portrayed the title character in a way we’ve never seen, bringing out a blazing performance that invited us into an interpretation of Gotham City that reflected the griminess of late-‘70s/early-‘80s New York City in such a way that got under your skin every bit as much as the lead performance.  Given how Phillips was mainly known for directing comedies before this, “Joker” offered a new depth into the filmmaker’s capabilities that showed something that was far, far removed from his usual style.

Phillips now returns to direct the sequel, “Joker: Folie à Deux,” this time venturing into this mythology in the form of a musical thriller.  As a film that’s vastly different from what came before, it has its flaws, but is kept afloat by its visual designs and two central performances.  

Two years after the events of the first film, Arthur Fleck (aka Joker) is in Arkham State Hospital awaiting trial for his crimes.  While there, he befriends fellow patient Harleen Quinzel (Lady Gaga).  As the two form a romance, they’ll indulge in each other’s delusions to have the world see who they really are.

Phoenix does just as well as he did in the first film when it comes to showing his severely damaged character.  He exhibits an Arthur who’s reserved in his confinement, while still showing glimpses of the cracked mentality that lingers beneath him.  However, it’s his courtroom scenes and musical numbers where Phoenix gets to showcase Arthur’s true Joker persona, where we see more of the man he became at the end of the first movie.  When he’s put on the world’s stage, Phoenix displays Arthur's psychotic showmanship that’s been building up in him that he wants to unleash upon Gotham. In the five years that have passed since he last played this role, Phoenix hasn’t lost any of the terrifying rage that plagues his character, ensuring that your eyes won’t be on anything else but him as he grabs each of his scenes by the collar and throttles them.

Although Harleen Quinzel isn’t very developed in the film, Gaga still does what she can to provide a memorable rendition of Joker’s infamous love interest who takes to his destruction dreams.  Just as she accomplished with her breakout film performance in “A Star is Born,” Gaga gets to display both her acting and singing abilities in portraying a character who shares Arthur’s need to be noticed.  She exhibits fine chemistry with Phoenix as she talks and sings with him, showing a desire to want to build a chaotic life with him.  This is Gaga’s third top-billing role, and she continues to prove that she could have a film career that’s every bit as successful as that of her music.  The concert stage might be her first home, but the big screen could easily be her second.

The main issue with the film is the screenplay by Phillips and Scott Silver, who co-wrote the first film.  With this movie being over two hours, there’s not a lot of story to make that runtime worthwhile.  Pretty much the whole movie goes between Arkham and the courthouse, and while these scenes really give the cast many chances to put their hearts into the material and have some engaging interactions, the story is pretty much kept in the same place.  Although there might be a few too many musical numbers inserted into the story, they offer a look into the minds of Joker and Harleen, all while providing some energy to the narrative in the middle of the constant back-and-forth between the two main locations of the film.  

Despite the underwhelming screenplay, Phillips still manages to craft a movie that has the same strong technical aspects as the first movie.  To score the film, he brings back Hildur Guðnadóttir, who delivers music that really makes you feel the dark nature that permeates Gotham and the mind of the Joker.  In terms of visuals, Phillips re-teams with Lawrence Sher, who provided the camerawork for the previous “Joker” and every Phillips movie since “The Hangover.”  Aside from the eye-catching imagery of the musical numbers and some subtle motifs that reflect aspects of the characters, a highlight of his lensing is a superb single-take sequence during the movie’s finale.  It’s a tense scene that drags you into the citywide tumultuousness that the Joker spawns.  There’s also accomplished production design from Mark Friedberg (another “Joker” collaborator) that has you experience the griminess of the spaces that Joker and Harleen occupy, as well as the flashy Broadway-esque set designs of the musical numbers.  Even with the relatively thin story, it’s nevertheless intriguing to see Phillips and his team try something that we haven’t seen in his other movies.

While “Joker: Folie à Deux” is a few steps down from what came before, the pairing of Phoenix and Phillips have at least given us their sparks of vision in the ever-evolving Batman mythology.

Grade: B-

Inside a Robot is the Heart and Soul of Parenthood

Lupita Nyong'o in "The Wild Robot"
Photo Credit: RottenTomatoes.com

One of many things that movies have taught us over the years, especially those that are animated, is that characters made of wires and machinery can be just as warm and heartfelt as those made of flesh and blood.  A couple of the finest cases in this matter are Brad Bird’s “The Iron Giant” and Andrew Stanton’s “WALL-E.”  Through these titular characters, we saw how they interacted with our world and expressed feelings that are all too human, and in the process, brought forth stories that resonated because of how deep their emotions ran.

Writer-director Chris Sanders now adds his stamp to this type of narrative with “The Wild Robot,” an adaptation of the first book in author-illustrator Peter Brown’s trilogy of children’s books.  Through superb voice performances, dazzling animation, and an approach that grasps the ethos of the source material, this is a movie that’ll capture your imagination.

ROZZUM unit 7134, or “Roz” (Lupita Nyong’o) is a robot who’s shipwrecked on a deserted island.  As she spends more time there and adapts to her new environment, she’ll soon become a mother to an orphaned goose, Brightbill (Kit Connor).

Nyong’o gives a soulful voice performance as Roz, bringing to life a character who becomes much more than she ever expected, finding inside herself someone who’s capable of feelings that were once beyond her programming.  As her character begins her journey, Nyong’o exhibits the humor of Roz trying to understand what’s foreign to her, exploring her surroundings and understanding how the wildlife operates.  When the film moves forward, Nyong’o makes a smooth shift from her strictly robotic cadences to that of a loving parent who tries to comprehend having emotions, and then implements them towards her newfound family.  This vocal performance has a warmth to it that has you know, even if circumstances get tough for the characters, Roz will be there to protect her friends and family, and the strength of Nyong’o’s work has you hang onto every hopeful word she speaks.

Connor has strong emotional chemistry with Nyong’o, portraying someone who feels ostracized from everyone and trying to come into his own.  The connection that they build is something that shows the affection they have for each other, but also the tension in knowing that they don’t quite have the parent-child bond that the other animals have.  The film’s best drama comes from Connor and Nyong’o bonding and trying to understand each other, and it’s a connection that, as it goes on, does well in showing how each of them will move forward in their separate journeys.

Alongside Nyong’o and Connor are some fine supporting performances from Pedro Pascal, voicing a sly fox who advises Roz about the ins and outs of the animal kingdom; Catherine O’Hara, who turns in some very funny work as an opossum who teaches Roz about motherhood; and Bill Nighy as a goose who tries to help Brightbill through his first migration from home.  Through their work, we not only get some laughs, but also moments of warmth as they interact with Roz and help her come to terms with the new emotions that she’s experiencing.

The screenplay by Sanders crafts a faithful adaptation of Brown’s bestselling book that makes the characters as lovable as they are on the page.  We get a sense of who they are as Sanders takes his time in setting up Roz’s journey of motherhood, having a lot of the first third of the movie show her getting to know the landscape and inhabitants of the island and how she’s going to navigate it all with her adopted son.  This makes way for the rest of the narrative to show the deeper aspects of these characters, displaying a strong focus on the challenges that Roz and the other animals face, both within their own groups and as a whole community.  In relation to this, Sanders doesn’t shy away from the book’s somewhat darker edges that involve animal nature and what it takes to survive, adding a layer to these characters as they go up against several threats.

Brown’s books include terrific black-and-white illustrations, and Sanders presents them through stunning animation that places 3D characters against hand-painted backdrops, allowing for a distinct visual style that provokes the feeling of seeing something wondrous.  The breathtaking images match the strong emotions of the story, immersing you in a lush, colorful world that displays the beauty and danger that encompasses nature, and this provides a grandness to the scenery that has us see the world with the same sense of wonder as Roz.  Backing up Sanders’ vibrant visuals is a powerful score from Kris Bowers that captures the dramatic highs of the characters and their perilous, yet moving adventures.

Given how Sanders and his team were able to capture the essence of Brown’s work, they prove to be a perfect match to the trilogy if they choose to adapt the other two books, “The Wild Robot Escapes” and “The Wild Robot Protects.”  As a robot getting to know the world, there’s still much for Roz to learn, and much for audiences to learn about her.

Grade: A