As I was starting to compile my Year End Review lists for the I Am Groot “voice over” award and the best animated movie of 2020, I realized that 2020 was an underwhelming year for animation. With a few exceptions, 2020 has not been a standout for animation. However, it is very possible that December is going to save this year’s animation. Pixar’s Soul is coming Christmas day on Disney + and then on Apple Plus was the release of Wolfwalkers, and Wolfwalkers may be the best animated movie we have gotten yet in 2020.

In the 17th century Irish town of Kilkenny, Robyn (Honor Kneafsey) was the daughter of Bill (Sean Bean), a great hunter that had been brought into the town to deal with the wolf problems, and she wanted to help her father. Her father, determined to keep her safe, wanted her to stay in the town so he would not lose her as he had lost his wife, her mother.

Robyn went into the woods to prove to her father that she could hunt by his side. Unfortunately for Robyn, she was caught in one of her father’s wolf snares. A pack of wolves showed up and the leader of the pack, Mebh (Eva Whittaker), tried to free Robyn from the trap. Robyn believed that the wolf was trying to attack her and fought back. In the end, Mebh bit Robyn.

Turned out that Mebh was a “wolfwalker,” which was, by sense, an Irish werewolf. Wolfwalkers would be human, but, when they went to sleep, tuned into a wolf, leaving the human body in a form of a coma, until the wolf returns and reunites with the body.

The bite to Robyn wound up making Robyn a wolfwalker and changed the way she would look at the world and the forest. She had to try to help her new wolf friend while dealing with the madness of the Lord Protector (Simon McBurney), whose word was law and who was determined to kill all wolves.

The animation here was beautifully drawn and was unlike most animation today. There was a rawness to the animation and it helped create the mood of the film. There is a simplistic feel to it, but I would argue that the animation was more than what it appeared. The character designs were wonderful and original, creating an amazing looking group.

The voice work is exceptional, especially from Sean Bean and Honor Kneafsey. It was filled with emotion and passion, as characters were forced into doing things that they did not really want to do. Sean Bean is fully tortured in what he had to do and what he felt he was inevitable.

There was a Studio Ghibli flair to this movie as well, as if Studio Ghibli told Irish tales. I have seen some criticism of the movie that the story is simplistic, but I do not necessarily agree with that. I will admit that I was never sure what was going to happen and I was uncertain about how events were going to play out, happily, tragic or some combination. That kept the stakes high.

Wolfwalkers on Apple + was a beautiful and exceptional animated film that can be enjoyed by the adults right alongside their children. It is most likely the best animated film of the year.

Now it’s your turn, Soul.

4.8 stars

Disney + has released a new family film on their streaming service this weekend starring Jillian Bell as a Fairy Godmother wannabe-in-training called Godmothered.

In the film directed by Sharon Maguire (Bridget Jones movies), Jillian Bell played Eleanor, the wide-eyed fairy who was in training to become a Fairy Godmother. She took the classes taught by Moira (Jane Curtin), who stuck to the old school philosophy of “happily ever after.” The demand for fairy godmothers were in short supply and their land was being threatened with closure.

Eleanor took it upon herself to find someone she could help in order to save the land. This led her into the life of Mackenzie (Isla Fisher) and her two daughters (Jillian Shea Spaeder & Willa Skye). Mackenzie was a widow having difficulty moving her life along and her feelings were affecting the lives of her children and her job prospects.

As is the wont of these films, this leads to shenanigans.

There is nothing special or original about Godmothered. Everything here has been seen before. Still, the film is sweet and sacchariney like a diabetic coma. You might get a tooth ache from all the sugary situations presented in this film.

Jillian Bell was good in her role. She fit nicely in the character and that commitment to the character of Eleanor helps with the weaknesses in the movie. June Squibb is here too (initially being the narrator, but giving that job up about 10 minutes into the film) and I always enjoy her. Jane Curtin is playing a depressed Professor Mcgonagall-type character that throws some roadblocks in Eleanor’s way (eventually)

The story did not stand out, but it was fine for what it was.

However, there are certainly worse movies that you could watch and Godmothered does have a decent message/theme. I could see this being a passable family film. While it does not transcend anything from this type of fairy tale genre, you could do worse. That may not be a rave review, but I did not hate watching it. For a Saturday night movie on Disney +, this is okay.

3 stars

Many independent movies are performance driven and there is no doubt that the new film on Amazon Prime this week, Sound of Metal, is one of those.

Heavy metal drummer Ruben (Riz Ahmed) is losing his hearing. He heads to a school for the deaf to try and salvage his life before he could schedule a surgery for an implant that might save his hearing.

It is a simple story with a unique and compelling performance from Riz Ahmed at its center. We experience each moment of his life as Ruben does, through his anger and frustration and then to his eventual acceptance and it is powerful. Riz Ahmed brings such a humanity to the story and you find him easy to root for, even if he is not sure exactly what he wanted.

There are some amazing scenes at the school for the deaf with Ruben and Joe (Paul Raci), the head of the school. Everything that happens here is understandable and provides Ruben with a support that he needed to truly understand what was happening to him.

The sound editing in this movie is next level genius. The audience is presented with the ways that Ruben is hearing and the use of sound is amazing, as is the lack of sound. The audience is placed in the same situation as Ruben and they find themselves as uncomfortable as he is as he progresses with the different levels of his deafness.

Olivia Cooke is good as Ruben’s girlfriend Lou and she does provide some important support for him in the first half of the movie. However, she disappears until the end and does become irrelevant to the story. That is because this story is Ruben’s story and Riz Ahmed is up to the task.

Directed by Darius Marder, who has spent most of his career working on documentaries, he brings a style to Sound of Metal that feels like a documentary. He provides a strong foundation for Ahmed’s sparkling performance.

4 stars

Here you go, Krista.

I had not planned on watching Hillbilly Elegy, but it is the new Ron Howard film and starred two legit star actors in Glenn Close and Amy Adams. Then, my colleague asked if there would be a review coming for it. Add that together and I decided to give it a try.

Based on a true story from a novel entitled Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis, a memoir by J.D. Vance, the Hillbilly Elegy Netflix film was not very good. I have not read the book, but my research indicated that the book dealt heavily with the hillbilly culture from Kentucky. There is very little to none of that in this film.

The Netflix movie lacks subtlety and spends more time with melodramatic claptrap, and amazing actors who are unable to do much more than scream. Amy Adams and Glenn Close are clearly trying for their Oscar nominations, but there is very minimal depth to either of their characters and their weird wigs are definitely a distraction.

The two actors are strong so there are a few scenes that work (such as one involving an Algebra test), but there are few quiet moments to give these women layers.

Owen Asztalos plays young J.D. and does an adequate job, but his character is all over the place. Older J.D. is played by Gabriel Basso, who is a law student waiting for an important interview when he gets a call from his sister Lindsay (Haley Bennett) with news that his mother had overdosed on heroin and was in the hospital. J.D. headed for home with a full load of baggage.

Flashbacks were disjointed and did not fit together well. It usually meant we got to see Adams screeching in anger or anguish or Close making faces in her bizarre wig. Adams’ character’s motivations are barely mentioned and goes so fast that you may miss it.

The movie poster calls this an inspiring true story, but the fact is, I was not inspired by anything. The idea of J.D. overcoming his past was just touched upon and it is hard to believe when it happens.

The acting is fine, as you would expect it to be. The story was lacking, filled with over-the-top, eye-rolling moments and the characters were stereotypes. There are plenty of better Ron Howard movies to watch than this one.

2 stars

I watched Citizen Kane for the first time during the pandemic. It was a masterpiece. It is one of those movies that is seen as one of the greatest movies ever made. Orson Welles directed, starred and produced the notorious film based on the life of newspaper man William Randolph Hurst. But how much did Welles contribute to the writing of the film? Welles is listed as a co-writer with alcoholic writer Herman J. Mankiewicz.

In the new biopic Mank, the story is told of the origin of the screenplay of Citizen Kane and follows the life of Mankiewicz, nicknamed Mank. Played by Oscar winner Gary Oldman, Mank rushed to finish writing the screenplay against plenty of opposition of 1930s Hollywood.

Mank was directed by David Fincher and written by his father Jack Fincher. Jack Fincher wrote the script originally in the 1990s but it never saw the light. Jack Fincher died in 2003. There is a distinct feel to the script, very dialogue heavy. The words were exceptional and helped carry the film. There was not a lot of actual plot development but the dialogue really made the film.

Another key to the special look of the film is that is was filmed in black and white. That gave the film a feel much like Citizen Kane itself and gorgeous to watch.

Gary Oldman led a fantastic cast that included Amanda Seyfried, Lily Collins, Tom Pelphry, Charles Dance, Tom Burke, and Arliss Howard. These actors all had to deal with the legendary Hollywood icons that they embodied. But Oldman was the standout here as he continuously blends into his roles. Oldman had to play two ages of Mankiewicz, as the film was told with flashbacks as well as the current day.

There are some slow moments, but the dialogue is always sparkling. The film is beautiful and tells a fascinating story, if not a completely accurate one.

4 stars

There have been a ton of body swap movies over the year, and even several with the word “freaky” in the movie title. However, this version from Blumhouse is a slice above the rest with a new and original idea that takes Freaky to a new level.

Millie (Kathryn Newton) is a high school student who has been having a tough time sine her father died a year ago. Her mother (Katie Finneran) is smothering her, she is being bullied on a regular basis at school and her police officer sister (Dana Drori) has little time for her.

Everything changed when local urban legend The Butcher (Vince Vaughn) returned to the town and started murdering young people. The Butcher and Millie crossed paths and The Butcher stabbed her with a knife. However, the knife was special, an old Aztec artifact, causing the two of them to switch consciousness.

Of course, we have seen the idea of the body switch many times and the jokes about the characters perplexity and disorientation over the unfamiliar body they found themselves trapped within. There was the expected jokes about Millie and the penis that she now found herself with.

Still, the fact that one of the body switchers is a serial killer tweaks the story enough to freshen up the concept. The biggest issue I had with the story was that it would have helped make things easier if Millie (in The Butcher’s body) would have gone to her sister the cop for help. She was able to convince her two best friends, Nyla (Celeste O’Connor) and Josh (Misha Osherovich), and her crush Booker (Uriah Shelton) that the switch had happened. Shouldn’t her sister be easier to convince? They did not spend enough time showing the fractured relationship of the sisters to make me believe that this wouldn’t be the first thing she did.

Yet, I was able to get past that and a few other plot points that required some serious suspension of disbelief mainly because of how awesome Vince Vaughn was and how much charisma he had with these other kids. And Kathryn Newton played an epic bad ass killer. She does a tremendous job when she has The Butcher inhabiting her body. You believe that this was a different character, right down to the way she moved or looked at people. The characters were all a hoot and they helped move the movie past some of the more ridiculousness of the plot.

The is some strong humor involved here and a lot of gory kills. Some of the kills, in particular the one where Cameron from Ferris Buehler’s Day Off, Alan Ruck, who plays a teacher at Millie’s school, is killed.

I was excited to see this on Vudu today and it was certainly a fun time. The film moved quickly and worked quite a bit. Freaky took an old trope and gave it a new spin with several engaging performances.

3.75 stars

Disney + brought back one of the classic animal tales for a live action movie on their streaming service. Black Beauty was a novel from Anna Sewell in 1877. It became arguably the most well-known and beloved horse story ever. It had been adapted into several formats over the years prior to the arrival of this new film. Directed and adapted by Ashley Avis, this feels like the perfect kind of IP for Disney +.

Unfortunately, I found this version of Black Beauty to be overtly melodramatic and silly.

The wild stallion was caught and brought to John Manly’s (Iain Glen) Birtwick Stables. The horse seemed to be unbreakable. When John’s niece Jo (Mackenzie Foy) comes to stay with him after her parents died, she created a bond with the horse and named her Beauty.

The film started off immediately causing me to check out when I realized that there was a voice over by Kate Winslet and she was supposed to be the thoughts of the horse. I felt like I was in a Disneynature movie. The voice spoke like a human and told the story. What Beauty knew was never really explained nor did it matter that a horse would not know the vocabulary required. This did not start the film off well for me.

Then there was so much melodrama involved in the movie that I could barely stand it. Just about every type of plot contrivance that could appear, does. There is the fire, the mean girls, the money problems, the injured horse, the horse out saving people’s lives etc. There was just too many of these masquerading as plot. It was also quite manipulative film as there was no doubt that they were trying to play on the audience’s emotions. It all felt pretty fake to me.

While I found Mackenzie Foy a lovely presence on film, her character was not developed to the point it could have been. The early part of the movie tried to give Jo some character traits, but it was all surface area. She just became the kind hearted girl who bonded with the horse.

The film looked good and was shot well. I think it was too long and needed more of a edit.

This again may be a decent family film to entertain the children, but I did not enjoy it much.

2.35 stars

Sarah Paulson has been one of the most consistently good actresses that we have had over the last several years. Her work in American Horror Story, The People vs. OJ and several other projects have shown her as a powerhouse.

So seeing her as one of the main leads of Hulu’s movie Run, I was expecting her typical level of high quality. Yet, she took it to a new height.

The film begins showing us that Diane (Sarah Paulson) had just given birth to a premature baby girl and the doctors and nurses worked desperately to save the newborn. The look at the baby told us that she was going to face a tough life.

Fast forward seventeen years and Diane has home schooled her daughter Chloe (Kiera Allen) and Chloe was expecting letters from college. Everything seemed to be idyllic in this home and that whatever health issues Chloe had were being managed with love.

However, as one of Chloe’s medications were changed, she begins to be suspicious that her mom had an ulterior motive and that she had a deep secret.

Run does an exceptional job of creating tension and anxiety during the runtime of this thriller. You feel anxious and confused as Chloe does everything in her power to discover the truth. The film shows how capable the young woman was despite her paralysis and her list of other ailments. Kiera Allen is excellent playing the confusion and the apprehension Chloe is feeling. You can see the conflict within her as she discovers more and more about her suspicions.

Sarah Paulson is unbelievable. She take this character into so many directions and you see how obsessive she can be. The steps she takes are wild and shocking, but you can see where they come from inside the psyche of the woman.

However, poor Mailman Tom (Pat Healy). His kindness and strength of character should have been rewarded.

One problem I have is the same one I have with a lot of these kind of movies. The title is so nondescript or generic that a great film like this suffers from it. The title should be something that immediately resonates with the audience and that will forever remain in your head. The title Run does not even have that much of a significance to this movie.

I was on the edge of my seat for Run and it worked extremely well. There were amazing performances and a story that kept building throughout. Sarah Paulson continues to show that she is exceptional and that she can carry off any role you give her.

4 stars

Uncle Frank is a film written and directed by Alan Ball and debuted on Amazon Prime this weekend. It boasts a top line performance from Paul Bettany.

Frank (Paul Bettany) is part of a larger family filled with dysfunction in 1973 South Carolina. So much so that Frank had to get out, making his way to Manhattan. Living there for years, Frank’s niece Beth (Sophia Lillis) came as well. When she arrived, she discovered Frank’s deep, hidden secret. He was gay.

He had also been living with another man, Wally (Peter Macdissi), for years. He was desperately trying to keep the truth from his family, afraid of what they might think. However, when Frank’s verbally abusive father (Stephen Root) dies, he and Beth struggled to return for the funeral.

The movie has some solid performances and some really good character work, but everything is dominated by Paul Bettany. Frank has so much baggage from his life and unresolved pain from his self-discovery of his orientation and Bettany dominates every scene. You can see how he has never truly dealt with the tragedy in his past, all connected to his father, so when his father dies, it brings up a massive personal reaction.

The relationship between Frank and Wally is sweet and real. The fears that they faced as a gay couple in the early seventies were real and potentially dangerous and their attempts to shield who they were is a sad fact of life. We see this played out in some powerful scenes between them. Frank’s issues have led to him having a drinking problem which only compounds his deep-seeded pain.

Sophia Lillis does a great job too. At first, the film feels as if she would have been our main protagonist, but it does seem as if she takes a supporting role to that of Paul Bettany for most of the movie.

Uncle Frank is a good movie, though it may not be as strong as the performance given by several of the actors, in particular Paul Bettany. It is a worthwhile watch though.

3.8 stars

So far, Christmas movies for 2020 are 0-2.

The Christmas Chronicle 2 was not good. Then, tonight, I watched the most surreal, bizarre Christmas movie I have seen in quite a while. It was if Santa Claus was mixed between Rambo and Fargo.

Fatman starred Mel f-n Gibson as Chris Cringle, the oddest Santa Claus you have ever seen. While you have seen Bad Santas in the past, never have they actually been THE Santa Claus. Mel is.

Just the idea of Mel Gibson as Santa Claus is enough to challenge the credibility of the film. You have to look past a lot of Gibson’s life and choices over the last decade or so to put yourself into the proper mindset to accept him as St. Nick. However, the film does an admirable job of spinning the character into a different type of Santa that we have ever seen. There was just enough of the mythos included to keep the general concept in tact, but the limits were absolutely pushed in Fatman.

The story is razor thin, but there are some fun moments peppered in. Just enough to make you wonder if this could become one of those cult classics eventually. Something that is considered terrible but still entertains groups of fans because it is so weird.

Walter Goggins played Skinny Man, the assassin sent by Billy (Chance Hurstfield) to kill the Fatman. Apparently, the young boy Billy was mad at Santa for leaving him coal, Goggins had minimal motivation for his mission as well. Neither villain stood out. Goggins felt like he was right out of the pages of a new Fargo script, except less developed. He was as quirky of a killer as you are going to find though.

There was an interesting subplot with Chris making an agreement with the United States government to have his elves work on creating military technology. The need for money and how the world was weighing on Chris was a fascinating take on the character, but it was not developed past the surface level because the film had to become a revenge flick. I have to say that the final scene with Chris and Billy was earned and entertaining.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste played Ruth, who was (despite never being called) Chris’s Mrs. Claus. I liked her a lot and their relationship was another positive in the film. Her performance brought more to the role despite not having a ton to do.

While I would not recommend this movie, I cannot deny that there are some moments in the film that appeal to the baser instincts of the holiday and that, if you approach it with the correct way of thinking, it could be worth a watch.

2.5 stars

In 2018, there was a Netflix original film starring Kurt Russell as Santa Claus called The Christmas Chronicle. It was a surprisingly fun time and quite an enjoyable story. So when I heard that Russell would be reprising his role as St. Nicholas, I was excited.

In fact, it was even cooler because Russell’s real life mate, Goldie Hawn, who had made a cameo at the end of the original film as Mrs. Claus, would be more involved in the story for the sequel. It was more good news.

I then saw a review of the film from critic Dan Murrell who enjoyed it. With Netflix doing great this year with their original movies, I was sure that this would be another success.

Oh how wrong I was.

I did not like The Christmas Chronicles 2. It started off in trouble and never was able to pick up steam. It was simply a dull and repetitive film that felt more like an ABC Family Christmas movie than a major Netflix release.

We return to Kate (Darby Camp), who was part of the original movie, but her life had taken some unfortunate turns. She was in Cancun for Christmas with her mom (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) and her new boyfriend (Tyrese Gibson). Her mother’s relationship was becoming serious and Kate was not happy, especially with his son Jack (Jahzir Bruno) along too.

Kate was so unhappy that she decided to run away back to Boston. Unfortunately for her, disgruntled elf Belsnickel (Julian Dennison) was planning on using Kate as a means to return to Santa’s Village after he had been cast out years ago. Belsnickel wound up kidnapping Kat and Jack and leaving them to freeze at the North Pole.

Santa Claus was able to save the kids and brought them back to the village, but Belsnickel tagged along, continuing his plan of chaos in an attempt to ruin Christmas for everyone.

Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn were great and they were clearly the best part of the movie. You could see their chemistry with one another and their magic could have potentially saved the story. However, the film then quickly split the story into two parts and separated Russell and Hawn to their own adventures.

The beginning twenty minutes were painful as we set up Kate as a brat and got to the point where she was ready to run away. This was a slow drudge of a beginning that took me out of the film immediately.

The one point that made me smile was a rocking musical number from Kurt Russell and Darlene Love set in a stranded airport at Christmas time. Unfortunately, it was also set in the past, bringing up some of the more unnecessary time travel elements of the story.

I also have to say that I thought most of the CGI appeared to be cheap and of a lower quality than I expected. The elves in particular were not at the level that one would expect in 2020.

Overall, I was really disappointed with this sequel. I had no expectations of the original and ended up enjoying that tremendously. I had high expectations here and found this to be a joyless drudge.

2.1 stars

Netflix has had a great 2020 for original films.

This has been a narrative I have been stating over the last few weeks as I not only see the films from Netflix that are being released now, but also catch up on some of the true winners that I may have missed along the way. The entertainment from Netflix during this pandemic has been remarkable valuable.

His House is a film that came out at the end of October that I had not seen. This would have made an excellent Halloween watch, but pre-Thanksgiving turned out good too.

Two refugees from war torn Sudan escape the country and find their way into the United Kingdom, seeking asylum. However, after being placed in a broken down home during their probationary period, darkness from their past lives and their harrowing journey to escape Sudan returned to provide a frightening challenge.

His House is the feature film debut for writer/director Remi Weekes. Weekes brings a air of terrifying ambiance and creates an unsettling mood for the viewers. He provided a exceptional horror film that is deeper than the typical surface level horror film.

The film deals not only with the horrors found in the genre of haunted house films, but it dives deeper into an examination of the lives and the experiences faced by refugees. There is also a depth of grief and guilt being processed by our two main characters.

Speaking of the two main characters, Sope Dirisu, who played Bol Majur, and Wunmi Mosaku, who played his wife Rial Majur, are fantastic. Their pain and loss weighing against the hope of finding a new beginning in a new land. Former Dr. Who star Matt Smith appears as well as the pair’s case worker.

The film delivers some very creepy moments and genuine scary images. It is shot beautifully and Remi Weekes deserves credit for bringing such a momentous film for his first time out. His House is one more winner from Netflix this year.

4.5 stars

Charles Dickens was one of the great writers in British literature writing such classics as A Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, and A Tale of Two Cities. Many of his works have been adapted into movies and shows. The novel David Copperfield has been no exception. The latest version of the adaptation is a full movie is called The Personal History of David Copperfield.

The film follows the life of David Copperfield (Dev Patel) from his birth to the success of his writing focusing on a group of eccentric characters he met along the way.

I found this movie to be remarkably entertaining, funnier than I expected it to be, and filled with tremendous performances. The characters are a hoot and everything blended together seamlessly.

The cast is stellar. Dev Patel makes a wonderful titular character and he plays off the weirdness of the others around him perfectly. Tilda Swinton is masterful as his Aunt Betsey from the first moment she was on screen at his birth. Swinton is utterly hilarious throughout, from the desire for David to have been born a boy to the obsession with donkeys. Swinton gave one of the best supporting performances of the year so far.

Hugh Laurie and Peter Capaldi were fantastic as well in two similar, yet distinct characters. The whole kite bit in the story with Laurie was beautifully written and acted. Ben Whishaw as the little creep Uriah Heep provided a necessary foil for the entourage. The alcohol-obsessed Mr. Wickfield (Benedict Wong) was comedic gold. Rosalind Eleazar is one of the more interesting appearing stars of the film and had some great chemistry with Patel and Wong. Aneurin Barnard’s Steerforth was a major piece to the film, including one of the more emotional moments, but I did find this character somewhat inconsistent.

There were some moments that I was confused because of the sheer number of characters involved in David Copperfield’s life. There were a few that did not stand out as much as the ones that I have already mentioned and only served as a distraction.

The film looked marvelous and it was truly funny and filled with wit. I had not expected to enjoy this as much as I did, but it was a enjoyable ride all through.

4.1 stars