Hot Takes On Film

  Dave Made a Maze (2017 US) I don’t know what to say about this film except Dave Made a Maze. Well, actually a Labyrinth to be more exact and it's made of cardboard. Writer/Director Bill Waterson brings us this batshit crazy absurdist/surrealist/comedy/fantasy/horror. If this all sounds weird that’s because it is but I can almost guarantee you that this is the craziest film you have seen. Despite it’s premise at it’s core is an Odyssean tale which includes a Minotaur, Sirens and demonic cardboard vagina. Yes you read that right. I am in absolute awe of the production design and just how much imagination it took to put that together. The budget was $500 k which in Hollywood terms is a micro-budget. If you have been with me for awhile you will remember that I love indie filmmakers with a unique idea that can execute well and I really do think that they did that here. Now let’s talk about the script. Waterson said in an interview that he did not want to make a statement with  Dave Ma

  Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975 UK) King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table embark on a journey to retrieve the Holy Grail. I put coconut shells in the picture above knowing that most of my readers are going to get it. If I say “it’s just a scratch”, most people will get that too. So why am I featuring a film like this. It’s because the younger generations are missing out on this fine classic. I you have seen it, watch it again. If you haven’t, go watch it. Older folks please tell the younglings about this and Life of Brian too. Kidnap them and make them watch this (Yeah, don’t do that). Tell them that the origins of several memes are in this film and to unlock the secrets all they have to do is watch. Cast member Eric Idle revealed in a tweet in 2011 that Led Zepplin, Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson and Pink Floyd invested in the film because the studios wouldn’t. It shows you what suits really know. Boy howdy that same story shows up a lot. Studios pass on a project and lat

  A Werewolf Boy ( 2012 South Korea) A family takes in a feral boy who happens to be a Werewolf. Where Wolf? There Wolf. Sorry I couldn’t resist. This is a lovely fantasy teenage romance story NOT in the vein of Twilight. Very different. Technically you could make the argument that it’s SciFi because in the second act they spend about 10 minutes trying to explain why things are the way they are. Mad Scientist by the way. Then they went on with the movie not mentioning it again. I’m told that it’s common in Asian media to do that. Regardless, the explanation was kinda out of place so I choose to ignore it and continue to call it fantasy as Werewolves are solidly in the fantasy camp. Director Jo Sung-Hee made some interesting choices with the photography. They opened up the aperture to over-expose the scene making it look very bright or “hot”. I think they added a blur either in the camera or in post. It looked like the characters were bathed in a heavenly light. Quite lovely really. At

  Hawk The Slayer (1980 US) it’s #FondueSunday and today’s entry is this campy sword and sorcery film. A prince fights his evil brother for the realm and a magic sword. If you like cheese and I know that many of my readers do, you will like this. It is actually fairly well paced and actually has some engaging effects for 1980. Jack Palance was the evil brother and he looked like he was having a great time being over the top evil. It has a 40% rating on Rotten Tomatoes so you know it will meet your cheese needs. I’ve been told the tabletop rpg players loved this movie because it fits in with D and D fans and for the longest time there were no other movies that fit that bill. You can find it on Tubi for free.

  The Love Witch (2016 US) It’s #FemaleFilmmakerFriday and todays entry is this fantasy from Anna Biller about a witch searching for true love. What I really loved about this is that it feels like it was shot in 1968. Biller really nailed it. I was 10 minutes into the film and I went back to verify that this was actually shot in 2016. Yup! It was. What made the “look” really pop was that it was shot on 35 mm film. Shooting on film is pretty hard. you have to have your poo poo together before you turn on the camera and clearly Biller did. She had a lot to say about the male gaze, fantasy, fear, religion and the Femme Fatale. I could probably write a 10 page film theory paper on this but that would be boring so I will only say it’s there and to watch for it. Although, the film has a lot to say it’s not all ivory tower academic speak. It’s very entertaining. Femme fatales, when done right, are so…dare I say it..Fun. Samantha Robinson really shined as the femme fatale. She is now on my lis

  Willow (1988-US) Ron Howard directs this classic sword and sorcery fantasy film about a young farmer who takes on the task of protecting a baby who was prophesized to destroy the evil queen. I just love this film . I have seen it many, many times. Is it the kind of film that wins awards? Nope! Does anyone really care? Also, nope! It is one of the most satisfying films out there. It’s like Hot Chocolate on a cold winter’s day. Val Kilmer and Joanne Whalley make a very dynamic couple. Veteran Actor Warwick Davis is so compelling. It is really well paced. Howard is a master of pacing. He also likes to get the audience invested in characters and then gives them a finished ending. I do believe that is why his films are so addictive. Disney plus did a sequel series which I loved but apparently nobody else did and it was cancelled. Unfortunately, Kilmer was not in it. I would loved to have seen him reprise Madmartigan regardless of his health issues. So Kilmer if you are reading this, “we l

  Welcome to #FantasyJune. For those that have been with me for a bit you will remember that January was #SciFiJanuary. I wrote a bit about what SciFi actually is and essentially the big takeaway was that SciFi and Fantasy are opposite sides of a very similar coin. Whereas SciFi is all about science including the softer sciences. Fantasy is all about magic and what is not explained. What makes a film fantasy or SciFi hinges on what drives the story. Using a computer in a fantasy film does not make it SciFi and talking about religion in a SciFi does not make it fantasy. I submit that these two genres can’t mix. It’s like oil and water. When I see platforms such as Amazon or Netflix classify a film ScFi/Fantasy I get annoyed. It’s one or the other. So here are the subgenres that I will be discussing. Religion This is a tricky one and will ultimately lead to arguments. For many, religion is explained so it’s not magic. For others, just having an element of religion makes it fantasy. Dune

  Bambi (1942 US) A fawn struggles in the forest after his Mama dies. Based on the book Bambi: A life in the woods by Felix Salten. I saw this movie too young and was scarred for life (this and Jaws). So parents don’t let your kids watch this too young. Why so traumatic? It was 1942. That’s how things were in 1942 and parents did not shelter kids back then. I read an interesting article from the Israeli Times suggesting that the story was an allegory for the rise of anti-Semitism in Europe but specifically in Austria and Hungary in the early 20th century. It does make sense considering the history of Selten who was from Austria and experienced the rising anti-Semitism first hand. Watch it again. You can’t unsee it. TBH I’m surprised that the famously anti-semantic Walt Disney didn’t pick up on this. Maybe he just saw this as a way to torture children. Who knows. He’s dead and not sure we will ever know what he was thinking. Too bad there was no Twitter back then. I’m sure he would not

  #MotherMayI. Its May already. This month we will be looking at mother themed films. What I love about themes like this is that it crosses genres a lot. I will focus on films with the mother archetype. It doesnt have to be the main theme just front and center. I love how so many are in the horror genre. What does that say about motherhood? I am terrible in the horror genre space but I will do my best. The archetype is generally bonded with their child, she is female or female identifying but not always. She makes decisions for her child but not always good ones. This is where the archetype can go really wrong. She is nurturing and trusted but that can go wrong too. We are drawn to this archetypes even as fully realized adults. We still need to see her. Here is a brief list of genres that I have seen this theme Horror SciFi Drama Comedy Thriller Animation Fantasy Even Noir Yeah that’s a lot I know. What’s funny is that sometimes, not all, we don’t even realize we are looking at a mothe

 Mary and the Witches Flower (2017 JP) A young witch finds a broom and a flower that makes her a witch. In a wonderful cross between studio Ghibli and Harry Potter comes this anime inspired glossed over gem from newly formed Japanese animation Studio Ponoc. If you recognize the art there is a reason for that. Several employees including critical animator  Hiromasa Yonebayashi , left Studio Ghibli to form their own company. This is their first endeavor. Yonebayashi directed this and boy howdy does it look like Spirited Away. Even has a very similar tone. Well that's because he was key animator for Spirited Away. Apparently, Miyazaki was none too happy about this whole drama. The team at Ponoc went to Ghibli with a print of the film to show their former colleagues and Ghibli studio head Miyazaki refused to watch it. He just said, "I'm not watching that". Needles to say if you like studio Ghibli you will like this or more if you like Spirited Away you will like this. Fin

 The Sea Beast (2022 US) Karl Urban voices Jacob Holland, a monster hunter straight out of a Robert Lewis Stevenson Novel encounters a precocious little girl who gets him to see things in a new light. This gem seems to have been overlooked for the most part last year. That's a shame because it had a lot to say. The primary theme was the heights of colonialism in the 18-19th century hence the Stevenson reference (Treasure Island) or even Pirates of Penzance. It even had a Kaiju nod with a smart monster who was neither bad or good but just defending itself. It even had the monster whisperer in the little girl. Super common in Kaiju films. I loved the color grading in it. So pleasing. Sea Beast was directed by veteran animator Chris Williams who has been animating since Mulan. Recently he directed Moana and Big Hero 6. This film was nominated for Best Animated Feature in the last Oscars but lost to Pinocchio.  Tough year. I really did enjoy it and do feel it deserves more fanfare. So

 Soul (2020 US) Pixar brings us this sweet story about a middle school band teacher who has a near death experience and then must figure out the meaning of life.  Yeah they really go there with the meaning of life theme. Jamie Foxx leads an all star cast as Joe Gardner. I loved the animation in this especially when Joe Gardner plays the piano. Animators painstakingly logged the exact key being played in the music and recreated it  visually. The result is pretty stunning. Soul was nominated for many awards including Oscars. I love the color work in this telling a story of its own. Each plain of existence has it's very distinct color pallet. Pixar consulted with an internal cultural trust made up of Pixar employees of color. The result is a multidimensional story with layered and complex characters. I really loved it but you will need the tissue box and not because of a tragic ending. It's just so darned sweet. Find it on Disney Plus for now and available to rent on most streamin

 Raya and the Last Dragon (2021 US) Raya goes on a quest to find the last dragon and save humanity. Its #FemaleFilmmakerFriday and todays entry is this kid friendly film from animator Ami Thompson with a writing credit from Adele Lim (Crazy Rich Asians). I particularly loved the animation from Thompson especially color. Kelly Marie Tran voices Raya and did a great job. I do feel bad for her though. Disney had originally cast Cassie Steele to play Raya but changed their mind and cast Tran. However, Tran knew that she was second choice and felt a bit awkward. Speaking of awkward, Awkwafina voices the dragon. I'm a big fan of hers and she didn't disappoint. This is a film you can watch with your kiddos and enjoy it too. Find it on Disney Plus. 

 Shrek (2001 US) Its #FemaleFimmakerFriday and today's entry is this now classic animated kids film directed by Vicky Jenson and Andrew Adamson. An Ogre sets upon rescuing the princess from a tower guarded by a dragon. If you are interested in going to see Dungeons and Dragons you will find there is a similarity to Shrek with D&D being just a bit more mature and live action. Jenson was not the first choice of director in charge of story. Kelly Asbury was first choice but departed to work on another film. Jenson and Adamson had their work cut out for them as a lot was going wrong including their star Chris Farley had passed away. Jenson was in charge of story and she was tasked with finding the right tone and story for the film. She did great and the film won an Oscar for Best Animated Feature. You can clearly see her influence on the film: for instance the princess does not really need rescuing. When I first saw that I was like, "wow! I didn't know they could do that?&

 If you are expecting a Disneyfied version of this, don't. The film leans more towards the 1881-2 novel by Carlo Collodi. You know, the one where Pinocchio was hung at the end for being a "Bad Boy".  Although, that did not happen in Del Toro's film, he did not spare the audience of some tough moments. A long time ago just after my daughter was born my husband and I went on a date night. We left our daughter with uncles and went to see Pan's Labyrinth. After the movie I was so traumatized by bad things happening to children, that I had to call and see if my baby was OK. What I noticed moving forward is that Del Toro has something bad happening to a child in all of his films. Even the sexy fish film had a moment of that. What I want to know is "who hurt you Guillermo?" "Who hurt you"? This movie was full Del Toro in all of his glory and trauma. Was it good? It sure the heck was. In fact he won best animated feature at the last Oscars. I love how

 Kubo and The Two Strings (2016 US) A young boy must tap into his inherited abilities to defeat an evil that has plagued his village for some time. I just love stop motion animation and one thing I know having actually done it is that it's bloody hard. The process can make you want to crawl up into your safe space and watch reruns. But you just have to put on your big girl panties and get on with it. I did a short which was roughly 120k frames to manage. Wow! though the team on this did great. Of course they had more expensive tools and other resources than I did but still. I love how much Director Travis Knight spent on backgrounds. The detail work on that will most definitely blow your skirt up or at the very least your baggy shirt or may be some socks. So just lock down your clothing when you watch this. I love the script which talks about generational trauma and healing. The littles won't get that though. To them it will be a fun adventure movie. It has quite an all-star ca

 Puss In Boots: The Last Wish (2022 USA) Antonio Banderas leads an all star cast in this cotton candy colored animation about a cat with 9 lives who must come to terms with his own mortality because he has only one life left. Yup you read that right.  Technically, this is a kids movie. Puss is even chased by death depicted as a wolf. I thought at one point they may end up playing chess or Twister but sadly no. Banderas does a great job as the swashbuckling cat who up until now was quite carefree. It has jokes. Some are familiar like the big eyes joke. After the joke they then get back into talking about making the most of your life because you only have one (left). I don't know if I would take kids to this. The younger ones aren't going to get the philosophy but older ones might and I think that's a bit much. I enjoyed it and other adults will likely enjoy it too. Guillermo Del Toro acted as an Executive Producer and had a hand in the script. Yeah, that's totally on bra

 Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023 US) Chris Pine and Michelle Rodriguez lead a campaign in the fantasy comedy. I use the word campaign because it really ran like a D&D campaign complete with side quests. I know its not part of the Animation April campaign but I went to see it yesterday and had to share. It had a lot of FX so that can be a form of animation (CGI). So yeah that's what I'm going with. John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein write and direct. They clearly are D&D fans. In fact I heard that they had the cast play D&D. Believe it or not this isn't the first time a campaign made it to the screen. Vin Diesel admitted that The Last Witch Hunter was his character and campaign. In fact, he told Rodriguez that he was Jelly of her role in this film. Now for the question Du'Jour. Do you need to know D&D to get the film and the answer is "Nope". You can just go and watch. If you do game you will get a ton of references. One s