REVIEW: Kubo and the Two Strings

Brought to us from Laika studios, Kubo and the Two Strings is a stop motion animated family feature.  Laika specializes in stop motion, and from the visuals in Kubo, you can see that they are very good at what they do.  It does not take long for the viewer to get completely immersed in the world that is created, and it only gets better as the movie progresses.  This is also one of those special movies where seeing it in 3D actually makes a difference to the story telling.  So many 3D films are just as good in normal formats, but Kubo uses the technique to make the world and the story all the more magical.

The tale is about a young, one-eyed boy named Kubo (Art Parkinson) who has an ability and power to create moving origami through the use of his guitar.  He is a story teller in the village square, hooking the residents to his every word, but never seems to know how a story should come to an end.  His life is turned upside down when he does not heed the words of his mother to get home before dark, and the truth of his past comes to track him down in the form of The Sisters (Rooney Mara).  They are his aunts, and they are after him at the command of Kubo's grandfather, the Moon King (Ralph Fiennes) to take his remaining eye.

In one final act of protection, Kubo's mother uses the last of her magical abilities to send him far away.  She also transforms a monkey shaped magical charm into his protector, voiced by Charlize Theron.  Kubo must seek down a fabled set of armour to be able to protect himself from the Moon King and The Sisters.  Along the way, the come across a samurai beetle (Matthew McConaughey) who has had his memory wiped and is up for helping Kubo on his quest.

The story is a sweet one, as Kubo and his youth must face the grown up task that is set before him.  He has to rise above his age to be something that he is not, going from the teller of the stories to the main character.  His inability to know how a story must conclude is something that he must confront at the end of the film to find triumph and safety.

Much like Big Hero 6, this is an animated film that is not just good as a family film, but a good movie, period.  There is a lot of fun humour that comes from many different directions, such as gags, facials, and punch lines.  It also excels in its action sequences and brings a great deal of entertainment in choreographed battles.  The layout and story flow that happens through the action scenes surpasses the abilities of many main stream blockbusters.

The true heart of this film comes through in the voice acting.  It is genuine and sincere.  Art Parkinson embraces the character of Kubo and opens the door to invite the audience into his heart.  Theron and McConaughey have a chemistry between them that builds towards a relationship that appears true and time weathered.  Notably, Rooney Mara is chilling in her performance as The Sisters.

It is a beautiful movie.  The animation and the story itself create a world that the audience is a part of.  The magic seems real and has a flow to it.  The use of lighting is exceptional, as it assists in the telling of the story by bringing out the wonderful colours of the world as well as dimming things down to invite the darker aspects into the fold.

I do not simply recommend this film to families, but to everyone.  There is something neat about a story about story telling, and how real life needs story tellers to assist in the great feats of humanity.  It is a coming of age tale that has a note of resonance for all ages.  It is a very special kind of movie that doesn't come along that often.

Rating - 3.5 out of 4 stars

REVIEW: War Dogs

There is a certain something about War Dogs that is familiar as a cozy blanket.  It could be the use of a musical soundtrack featuring songs that have been over used in movies before.  It could be the narration of it that leaves it with a feeling of Goodfellas.  There are many different attributes of this Todd Phillips film that are recognizable, but that doesn't mean that it is a hack of a movie.

The story is one that is based on a news article, much like Pain and Gain was.  The difference here, is that War Dogs understands how humour is supposed to be integrated into a movie.  That is key.  We follow David Packouz (Miles Teller) as he has dreams of becoming more than a certified massage therapist.  His life is changed when he runs into his best friend from tenth grade, Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill).  David is a door mat with a solid heart, while Efraim is not one to take shit from people, and looks after himself.  These are qualities that David admires, as he doubts his dreams and ambitions in life.

David finds out that Efraim makes a living bidding on the crumb sized military contracts of the mid 2000s was in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Emboldened by being in the company of his old friend, David leaves his humble dreams and teams up with Efraim to make insane amounts of money making deals that are on the shady side of legal.

Ultimately, it is a movie where the main character must look at who he truly is and decide if the life that he is living is one that he can sleep with at the end of the day.  As mentioned in the opening paragraph, nothing new here.  But that is alright.

What Todd Phillips is able to do with this story, is direct it into something with bits of memories of past film, but without directly stealing anything.  He is able to keep a good pace throughout the movie, something that he is known for.  There are down times, and those down times mean something.  They aren't just for trying to pad the run time of the movie.

Miles Teller is as good as he always is, but, to me at least, the main acting story coming out of War Dogs is the performance of Jonah Hill.  Known primarily as a comedian (while we already know just how talented Teller is), Hill elevates himself to become a chameleon who is able to be something to everyone.  In his one role, he plays a master manipulator who changes shapes and attitudes, and it is believable the entire time.  There are great things ahead for this actor, that is for sure.

Probably the biggest draw back of the film is that we don't get enough of the down to earth moments of Teller's character.  With the movie about his choices of what to do, as well as battling the morality of what he is doing, there needed to be a very solid foundation of personality that we are to build off of.  A lot of it comes from the narration, rather than actually seeing the moments that are to make him a three dimensional character.

Phillips, who directed the Hangover trilogy, shows that he is willing to take his understanding of comedic timing and gags and transport them to a more serious film.  It is still not the most serious film in the world, but it is compared to Phillips past filmography.  The movie offers some good, solid laughs, as well as some dramatic moments, to make it effective summer fare.

Rating - 3 out of 4 stars

Weekend Box Office Predictions: War Dogs, Kubo and the Two Strings, and Ben-Hur

This is a busy weekend in theatres, with three wide release films taking their shot at making money.  Their timing isn't the best, as mid to late August is generally a time of year where movies go to die.  There is a time of transition from summer blockbusters into fall Oscar fare.  An absence of excitement dwells in theatres at this time, and right now War Dogs, Kubo and the Two Strings, and the remake of Ben-Hur are hoping that the general audience numbers swell in their favour.

War Dogs

If you haven't seen the trailers for this movie, it is the 'based on the true story' film about two young men in the United States who end up becoming gun runners.  The man behind the movie, Todd Phillips, is best known for his work on the hugely successful Hangover trilogy.  While they were well received by fans, the attraction faded over the course of the series, with the third one only totally $112 million domestically, a far cry from the $277 million of the first film.

Still, in the modern landscape of comedies, scoring over one hundred million is a great achievement.  The big question is if this movie starring Jonah Hill and Miles Teller has what it takes to reach the same heights.  Hill, while a recognizable name, has not been one to show that he is a big box office draw.  That is not to take away from his great talents, it is just what the numbers show.

On social media, War Dogs has not been tracking well.  As of the time of writing this, it only has just shy of 3,000 tweets for the day.  Considering it opens tonight and that it is geared towards a younger audience, that does not bode well.  What is really interesting is that The Bronze, a movie about a gymnast starring The Big Bang Theory's Melissa Rauch which has not been well received by critics or audiences, has more than twice as many tweets.

The really unfortunate factor facing War Dogs is the fact that it is coming out a week after the animated for adults film, Sausage Party.  There is a good chance that the Seth Rogen starring movie about grocery store food gone wild will hold up well and that means it will dig into the pockets of War Dogs.

Prediction: $18 million


Kubo and the Two Strings

It has been a fairly strong year in terms of family focused movies, so it will take something special to make another movie stand out from the rest of the pack.  Luckily, that is exactly the sort of thing that animation studio Laika is known for.  At a time where all animation seems to be focused on computers, Laika uses brilliant and beautiful stop motion to capture their stories.  The trailers for Kubo give a taste of the visual treats that the film will have.

Unfortunately their films don't set records when it comes to their releases.  The Boxtrolls brought in $17 million during it's opening weekend, which was three million better than Paranorman, which came out in 2012.  The performance in the box office seems to be steady, reaching world wide totals close to the $110 million mark, and I don't see much changing for this one.

Prediction: $17 million


Ben-Hur

There is a lot riding on this movie.  I am not talking about terms of franchise potential or anything like that, but more in the pure financial sense.  It cost roughly one hundred million to make, which is a lot for a film that is being released during the third weekend of August.  The advertising for it has also been pretty intense, so there will be a hefty marketing budget that Paramount will be needing to make up.

If there is something that we have learned from the horror genre in the mid 2000s, it's that remakes of 'classics' do not essentially mean success.  Are audiences really dying for a remake of the original movie that was nominated for over ten Academy Awards?  The big answer, at least what I am thinking based on recent trends of movies, is that they aren't.  Just look at Ghostbusters and the difficulties it had in getting audience members in their seats.  That film is looking down the barrel of a $70 million loss, and I would be surprised if Ben-Hur ends up doing better.

With Morgan Freeman as the only recognizable cast member, there is nothing here that is going to push people to go out and see it.  The reviews for it are currently in the dumps, sitting at 33% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing this.  It will end up keeping some people at home, but the religious material in Ben-Hur may be its saving grace.  Audiences of faith based material generally don't pay attention to the critics.  If this remake is able to really tap into that audience, then it may stand a chance.

Prediction: $10 million

REVIEW: Sausage Party

Consider this movie a version of Toy Story, but for adults only.  And when I say, 'for adults only,' I sincerely mean that.  The comparisons lay with inanimate objects given human emotions and looking to become selected by human beings.  Instead of toys, we are given all of the different items that populate a grocery store.  They want to be chosen by shoppers to go to the great beyond where they will live the best of lives.  Essentially, they believe that leaving the store is like entering into heaven.

What they don't know, and what they are told from a returned bottle of Honey Mustard (Danny McBride) is that life outside of the grocery store is a horrid one where the humans mean to murder and consume the food.  There is little attention paid to him by the others, as his story seems ridiculous and crazy.  Only Frank, a hotdog played by Seth Rogan, listens to him and begins questioning everything that they believe, setting out on a journey to find the truth.

There is a lot in this film that could be seen as a criticism of religion, as well as having a political statement.  The food's nationalities parody stereotypes and hyperbole.  I didn't see it as a method of debunking religious beliefs, but more of adding layers to proper anthropomorphize the delicious food products as well as creating a society full of subculture in which they live.

Leading the charge of high calibre talent in this film (including Kristen Wiig, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera, and Edward Norton) is Rogen who also was one of the scribes for the script.  I have said for a while that he is not just a comedian, but an actual acting talent.  He shows it off here, as it is not just the jokes and gags where he shines, but in the delivery of every line.  It is the kind of performance, as well as his role in Jobs, that make me want to see more of him in varying types of roles.

The direction of Sausage Party is handled expertly by Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon.  They do well to keep the movie flowing along at a good pace.  They also have delightful fun with playing with pop culture references and moments from other films.  This goes a long way to adding a flavour (horrible pun intended) that is unique to this film.  That sort of thing stands out in a summer where a lot of what has been offered on the mainstream level feels generic and as though we have already seen it before.

As mentioned, this is a film that is really for adults.  Don't sneak your kids in to see this movie.  It is irreverent and is not shy on throwing the cussin' about.  As well, there is a full on pleasure orgy that happens when the food is liberated.  Could it be a commentary about hedonism?  Possibly, but more likely it happened because Rogen and company thought that the images of food copulating in various ways would be hilarious.

If you have a problem with seeing a donut having sex with a wrap, you will not want to see this film.  If you have issues with the ideas of religion being played with, it is best to stay home.  If you are willing to view this picture as merely a microcosm of humanity in the grocery aisles, both the good and the bad, you may very well enjoy it.  A lot of the jokes landed firmly, and it was a lot of fun to watch.

Rating - 3 out of 4 stars.

REIVEW: Punk's Dead: SLC Punk 2

Have you ever sat down to watch the sequel to a movie and been left wondering, why the hell did they make this movie?  It happens, and could be because of many reasons.  I don't know the exact motivation behind director James Merendino returning to pen a follow up to 1998'a SLC Punk, and that unfortunately shows throughout the film.

It is difficult to not think of an original property and what it was when you are viewing a sequel.  The film that you are watching should be a stand alone experience and judged on its own merits.  This was very hard to do while watching Punk's Dead: SLC Punk 2.  The first film was about the battle for personal identity and self discovery, and the tone of the directing matched it well.  It had a unique feel to it, and it was lead by the outstanding performance of Matthew Lillard as Stevo, a punk living in Salt Lake City who had to come to terms with everything he believed about anarchy and life.

Punk's Dead misses out on harnessing an identity of it's own.  It does try through various methods, although most of them rely on brining back characters from the original film.  It can be tiring watching a movie that is just focusing first and foremost on fan service, as the story suffers just to fill in as many call backs as possible.  The worst such offender is the fact that the film is narrated by Heroin Bob, who passed away in the first film.  He is our guide from behind the grave, and, although actor Michael Goorjian tries hard, he is a very sterile and word spewing guide, the very kind that makes us ask for our money back at the end of the tour.

Perhaps that is the best way to describe this film.  It is not an actual experience that the audience feels, but a tour that has been arranged with points to stop at along the way.  The narrative focuses on the straight laced goth offspring of Bob, Ross (Ben Schnetzer).  Even though he never met his father, we are shown from our seats on the tour bus that he has father issues, although it is never adequately on display.  More so just like animatronics on a Disney Land journey.

What I suppose the movie is to teach us is that sometimes we need to step outside of ourselves and grasp onto a new experience in life to understand what else may reside on the dark edges of our comfort zones.  If this is indeed the message, it is muddled through a bland script that lacks the upbeat tempo of the first film.  We don't necessarily feel for Ross, but rather want him to be punched in the face a few times.  It worked for Edward Norton in Fight Club, and I would have loved to see that self involved brat get a slug to the old kisser.  We eventually do get that, and it is finally a moment to pay attention to the screen.


There are times when I can say that while I didn't like a sequel, die hard fans of the original will find joy in it.  That's not the case here, though.  I doubt that anyone will enjoy this herding of former cast members in for the sake of it will appeal to anyone.  It is a complete shame that a movie about inner and outer identity is followed up by a movie that has neither.

Rating - 1 out of 4 stars

Weekend Box Office Prediction: Suicide Squad and Nine Lives

This is a very important weekend for one studio in particular.  Warner Bros. has been trying to catch up with Disney in regards to super hero movies and the shared universe concept.  It has been a tough act to follow, and the performance of Suicide Squad will be an indicator of just how far they have come, or need to go, to match the earning potential of Marvel movies.


Suicide Squad

There has been a great deal of marketing around this movie.  There have been a slew of trailers, and that branding has paid off well.  It is dominating Twitter, and, at the time of writing this, has had over 216,000 tweets for the day of August 4th.  To put that in perspective, the next most talked about movie on Twitter is Ghostbusters, which has just shy of seven thousand tweets.  It has also been seeing a lot of Facebook likes added to its page, and is one of the year's most talked about movies on social media.

Even though it is performing well on the internet, that doesn't mean much past the opening weekend. What is really going to pay off in the long run is continued word of mouth, rather than just pure anticipation.

But, we are not here to talk about the future of the movie, but rather the opening weekend.  The trailers for the film look to inject a lot of fun into the movie, something that has changed from its original trailer.  I think it is equal parts the effects that Deadpool would have had, showing that there can be comedy and laughs integrated with the action, as well as the fact that Batman v. Superman fell flat on its face after opening weekend.

There was a lot of reshuffling that happened with the movie after Batman v Superman faltered.  What this means is that there have been massive reshoots, and the tone of the film has changed a lot from what it was originally intended.  The final product is not doing well on Rotten Tomatoes, scoring only 29% at the time of writing this.  That will mean little to the opening day, but if it really is a flat movie as the critics suggest, it could pose a problem as the weekend continues and could make the film incredibly front loaded on opening day.

Prediction:  $125 million


Nine Lives

It may seem on the surface that taking big, authentic Hollywood names and placing them in almost any kind of film is the key to success.  That almost feels like the strategy that is being taken with the film Nine Lives.  It casts Kevin Spacey as a father who neglects his family for business aspirations, who is then transformed into a cat by Christopher Walken.  He has a finite number of days to reconnect with his family in the form of a cat, or else he will spend the rest of his life as a feline.  Sounds like a winner.

The problem is that the trailers look incredibly generic, and it has the feel of a straight to video release.  There has been little awareness of this film, as boxoffice.com indicates that the movie doesn't even have twenty thousand Facebook likes.  It has been almost non-existent on Twitter, and that looks to spell doom for the film.  I have watched a number of family features this year, and I have never seen a trailer for Nine Lives screened.  With the awareness low and no critical reviews out yet (which is never a good sign at this point in the release cycle), I see this film bombing and ending up on streaming services before the year is done.

Prediction: $7.5 million

Letting the Fear Keep Me Away

Well, it has been a while since I have written anything on the blog.  We can chalk that up to the side effects of dealing with anxiety on a daily basis and giving into the demands of the dark beast.  It is not a proper excuse, because I have managed to be actively writing during the time, but just not on the blog.  There is something different about writing for the blog.  Putting something out there that people will read and judge.  Like a punk, I allowed my fears to get in the way and keep me from talking about the movies that I have been seeing this summer.

It is unfortunate that I took a bit of a break, because there have been some really fun features that have been screening in theatres.  There have also been a number of duds.  This summer has had both ups and downs as far as movies go, and it has been a lot of fun to be a part of that, viewing and reviewing for the podcast that I co-host, The Movie Breakdown.

Hopefully this week will be a lot better for getting content on the blog.  The big movie coming out this week is Warner Brothers' Suicide Squad.  The reviews are starting to come in for it, and it is not encouraging so far.  I have been disappointed with the vision taken by DC in their films, and I still have high hopes that I will be enjoying this one.  I like to believe that come Friday morning I will be writing a positive review for the film, one that talks about how it takes risks and tries to be something different.

But, at the same time, I have worries.  Those worries come from the fact that this movie looks to be going the complete opposite direction as the Superman movies.  They were super serious and gritty, while Suicide Squad appears to be taking a more fun approach, using bright colours and humour.  I can't help but think that they will take it to the extreme, just as Superman was the extreme in trying to be dark and real.

Oh well.  I shall find out soon enough.  Thursday night is coming quickly and I will remain optimistic until the final credits roll.  There have been a number of movies that have shocked me this summer, and I feel that Suicide Squad could be one of those.

So, all of this is to say that I haven't gone anywhere and am trying to tackle the anxiety that has made daily blog writing very difficult to do.  It doesn't seem to be going anywhere any time soon, so I may as well do what I can to work through it and get the words down anyways.