I really don’t know what has gotten into Kevin Smith.

The fan favorite director who manned such films as Clerks, Chasing Amy and Dogma has taken the film community into a stranger and more bizarre place than he did with Tusk.    And that was a movie about a man who turned into a walrus.

Yet, I cannot say that there wasn’t a perverse amount of enjoyment to be had in the world of cartoon Canada, where mini, one-foot tall Nazi made out of bratwurst (aka Bratzis) who had sauerkraut for blood ran around killing people for… you know…reasons.

The film was pretty stupid.  Still, I found it fun.  Kind of like the fun of watching a ten car pile up on I-80.  You just can’t look away.

Kevin Smith took two characters from the film Tusk and spun them off into their own film.  He further connected Yoga Hosers to Tusk by returning Guy Lapointe (Johnny Depp) to appear in the film once again.

Colleen C (Lily-Rose Depp) and Colleen M (Harley Quinn Smith) are 15-year old girls who are always on their phone and work, begrudgingly, at the Eh-2-Zed convenience store in Manitoba, Canada.  They are all “aboot” their own lives and can barely be considered clerks.  When they are invited to a senior party, they are out of their minds, until they get stuck working.  Unfortunately for them, the Bratzis have awakened and are ready to re-establish the Nazi Party in Canada.

There is just no way around it.  This movie is a full-on, ridiculous B movie in the spirit of Plan 9 from Outer Space or Piranha.  It is the kind of film that would be a perfect fit for the Rifftrax boys.  Still, there is some kind of joy here, maybe because Kevin Smith is so in on it.  He full admits that this film may not be for everyone, and that he made it because he thought it was funny.  It is a passion project for Smith that is unceasingly brave in taking that next ridiculous step.

Lily-Rose Depp and Harley Quinn Smith, daughters of Johnny Depp and Kevin Smith respectfully, are actually quite good in this.  They are real life friends and that camaraderie plays through with the two Colleens.  They feel natural (to borrow a line from Smith).   They are very lovely and command attention on screen.  Yes, the material around them is strange and, conceivably, dumb, but they go past it.

Now, some of this movie does seem amateurish.  The music sometimes is too loud to hear dialogue (especially Harley Quinn Smith, who is too soft spoken at times) and some of the shots are very weird.  Since Kevin Smith has been a successful director before, I suspect that some of this manner of creating film was intentional.  I think he intentionally made a film that would be seen as a low-level B film (if not even lower) and embraced the quirks of it.  If he purposefully made a movie bad, does that make it a better movie?

I was able to see this on a special premiere night as a Fathom Event and that meant that Kevin Smith introduced the film.  When Kevin Smith introduces something, that means he is going to talk.  Kevin Smith is known for being a talker, and I think he is legitimately one of the best storytellers that we have today.  The 20 minutes or so that Kevin Smith talked about the making of Tusk and, eventually, the spin off of Yoga Hosers, really helped the film take on a new life for me.  I do not know what I would have thought if I did not have that initial story surrounding how the two daughters ended up in Tusk, how Johnny Depp wound up with a “dick” on his nose and working on Tusk, how Depp loved the Guy accent despite everyone in his life hating it, and how Yoga Hosers came about because Kevin Smith felt bad for taking his daughter to all of these male dominated super hero movies.  The introduction by Kevin Smith really put me in a proper mindset and I do not know what I would have thought of Yoga Hosers without it.  I have a feeling that I would not have as much of a positive feeling as I do without it.

The movie is not good, and there is no denying that.  But I found myself entertained by the sheer brazen silliness and outright camp of the film.  I had fun that night, even though I could barely believe what I was seeing.  I have always been a fan of Kevin Smith so I probably came in with a predisposition toward liking Yoga Hosers.   That helped.

Kevin Smith said he made this a child’s movie even though the target audience wouldn’t be able to see it.  I commend him for doing something so out there that I had a lot of trouble deciding what I thought of it afterwards.  I wasn’t sure how I was to score this film.  I did have a lot of fun, but the film was not a good one.  Smith even admits that.  So in the end, as a critic, I am giving Yoga Hosers a….

2.7 stars

However, if you are in the proper mood, and don’t mind some seriously weird and warped storytelling, including a bizarre performance from Johnny Depp, then maybe you should check out this movie.  If you approach it with the proper mindset, you may even laugh a few times.

This one was really good.

Hell or High Water is the new film written by Taylor Sheridan (who wrote Sicario) and starred Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Jeff Bridges.  It is a Western film placed in present day.

Howard Brothers Toby (Chris Pine) and Tanner (Ben Foster) are working together to rob banks in Texas.  They are very smart about it, because they are only robbing the drawers and not going for the piles, avoiding the security measures the banks had put in place.   Tanner has been just out of jail, but it was Toby who asked for his help robbing these banks.

The bank holds a lien on Toby’s ranch and he is desperate to pay it off before they foreclose.  Because the robberies were all on the low side, the FBI was not interested so the case falls into the lap of Texas Ranger Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges), who is near retirement and looking for one final adventure.

This is such a smart and fun action-thriller.  The characters are well-developed and real.  Their motivations are clear and easily understood, and you could even connect with the criminals because of how charming they are, plus how much they mean to one another.  And yes, we have seen this type of character from Jeff Bridges before, but I would argue that we haven’t seen him this good in a long time.  The relationship between Ranger Marcus and his partner Alberto (Gil Birmingham) is every bit as wonderful as the brothers Howard.

I would go as far as saying that I loved Jeff Bridges in this film.  His folksy charm was on full display and he was outrageously funny with his down south witticisms.

Plus, the state of Texas itself is a huge character in this film.  The way the brothers had to avoid robbing a bank at day because they never knew who might be packing a gun was hilarious.  They got shot at several times by bystanders who just happen to be sporting their rifles.

Chris Pine and Ben Foster are both excellent.  Pine shows his concern and his uncertainty well as Foster is uproariously off-the-charts as his risk taking brother with the cache of weapons in the trunk.  Foster brilliantly portrays a character who seems to understand that his days are numbered and his hope to be able to help his brother save the family ranch is a goal to end on.

The locations are beautifully shot and so rustic that it creates an atmosphere that engulfs you into this world fully.  There is a feel to the look of Hell or High Water that is full of texture.

Hell or High Water is an amazing movie, well done and highly entertaining.  Jeff Bridges is fantastic in a role that, while familiar, raises above everyone else in the film.  Don’t miss this one.

4.6 stars

Southside With You details the daylong first “date” (depending on whom you ask) between Michelle Robinson and Barack Obama.

Spoiler alert:  they wind up getting married.

However, the film does not dive into the relationship past that first date, a fact that seemingly bothered some of the audience members that were in my theater.  I don’t know if they expected the film to play through the White House years or what, but this was simply Barack-Michelle Day One.

Simply is not the right term either as the date, which Michelle insisted was not a date for much of the day, ranged all over Chicago, from the Art Institute of Chicago to a meeting where Obama was speaking to the movies to see Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing.

Michelle was played by Tika Sumpter and Barack Obama was played by Parker Sawyers and these two actors do a really nice job showing the burgeoning love of the couple who would storm the White House in 2008.  This, however, was 1989 and you could see how these two people were different.  Michelle was concerned with the perception of her spending time with the young law associate from her law firm.  Barack was angry over the relationship with his departed father and he smoked like a sieve.

There was a lot of charm to this movie.  The dialogue was excellent and the story took its time to develop.  It felt like we were on the day-long date right along with the eventual Obamas.  These two slowly were getting to know each other, with Barack confident and smooth and Michelle determined and strong.  There was a lot of chemistry with the actors and you can see how these two were slowly connecting.

The film is a little too slow at times, which can make it somewhat dull.  The romantic aspect of Southside with You was in full effect which is fine, but never my favorite type of film.

The film was interesting, if not too slow.  Good performances all around.  A nice goodbye to the first family.

3.5 stars

To this point, 2016 has been a great year in horror movies.

I was not looking forward to this film from the trailers.  I thought that I would not have any characters to root for, to care for, because the characters felt like they were just rotten people.

Surprise.  I found myself caring for the kids.  Who knew?

Rocky (Jane Levy), her boyfriend Money (Daniel Zovatto) and her friend Alex (Dylan Minnette) are low-level robbers who decide to try to hit the big score so they could leave Detroit and move to California.  They hear that there is an old blind man (Steven Lang) who had received a large settlement from his daughter’s accidental death, and they decided that this would be an easy way to score big.

They were so wrong.

The Blind Man turns out to be a former soldier who was deadly and dangerous.  He turned the tables on the intruders quickly, putting these kids’ lives on the line.

Don’t Breathe is an apt title for this film, because there were many times throughout this film where I, as an audience member, found myself holding my breath right along with the characters.  There was so much suspense and tension built in this movie that you cannot avoid having a physical reaction.  That is a really fun feat to accomplish.

As I said earlier, I really thought that I would not like these characters because they were not likeable people, but, with the exception of the character Money, I found myself rooting for Rocky and Alex.  Money was displayed as a rotten person, a real a-hole, so when he dies (as shown in the trailer… a mistake) there is little connection to him.  But the other two are well developed and I can understand why they are doing what they are doing.

Steven Lang is wonderful as The Blind Man.  He creates a character who is both relatable and just downright evil.  He has been pushed to levels that makes you want to wiggle uncomfortably in your seat.  He is one of the best horror villains in a long time mainly because he is so real and believable.

The film avoids the typical horror movie cliches as well.  Every jump scare feels like it is earned and the characters do things that make sense.  Every decision has a support behind it.  The film itself takes the home invasion trope and flips it over.  It makes the intruders into the house the victims instead of vice versa.  Such a simple, but dramatically successful twist.

The movie is quick paced.  With its 90 minute run time, Don’t Breathe still accomplishes a lot.  There is a minimal amount of dialogue (especially for Lang, who does so much more acting via the body language) and what dialogue there is is not wasted.

There was so much good in Don’t Breathe that it became one of the most visceral movie going experiences of the year.  Yes, it had a very simple story, but that was a part of its charm.  It was a load of fun.

4.4 stars

I have never been a big fan of Jonah Hill’s movies.  Add to that the fact that I disliked the look of the trailers for Hill’s latest film, War Dogs, you could say that I was not anticipating this film.

And yet, I came out of it really entertained.

WarDogs is the true story of David Packouz  (Miles Teller) and Efraim Diveroli (Jonah Hill), former junior high friends who found each other later in life.  David was a down on his luck masseuse trying to sell bed linen and Efraim was an arms dealer filling small weapon deals for the US government.  Efraim offered David a job working together and soon, the company AEY was flying high.

After a harrowing experience moving guns through the Triangle of Terror in Iraq, David and Efraim focused on winning a huge contract with the US government that would lead to them arming the Afghan military.  In order to fulfill the contract, which included providing 100 million ammo, Efraim and David had to make a deal with international arms dealer Henry Gerard (Bradley Cooper).

The film is very much based on the two main leads, and their chemistry really carry the film.  Jonah Hill and Miles Teller are excellent together and you can see them as old friends going through this together.  But you can also see how damaged Efraim is and how the paranoia of success and his uncertainty of believe in the human spirit led to the end of the pair.  Efraim is tainted and it was just a matter of time until he brought everything crashing down.

David has a second relationship in the film, this one with his wife Iz (Ana de Armas).  Iz was beautiful and was so willing to accept David for what he was, but she could not stand the lies.  We see how the relationship between this couple was damaged and then grew stronger as David realized that he was heading down a path that was only going to lead to loss.

The movie had some good comedic moments, but the drama of the two characters was the most important aspect.  There was a lot of deplorable people on display here and how David fits into the narrative is an important through line.  David even brought his personal code of honor to his work.  Efraim was the opposite, seeing the debauchery instead.

I enjoyed War Dogs through the entire run of the film.  The pacing was solid.  The performances of Hill and Teller were exceptional.  The story was unbelievable despite being a true story.  The film really showed how lowlife manipulators took advantage of the Iraq War during the early 2000’s and how easy the government of the US made it for these scumbags.  It also looked at the life of one of those scumbags that was not quite as crooked as the others.

I did not look forward to War Dogs, but, looking back, I surely enjoyed it.

3.8 stars

Laika Entertainment has done some really great animation including Para-Norman, The Boxtrolls and Coraline.  Kubo and the Two Strings joins this impressive list.

Kubo (Art Parkinson) is a young boy whose mother is in a haze and whose father is gone.  Kubo makes money by going to the town square and telling stories, playing his guitar, and making magic.

Yes, Kubo has magical abilities that make paper fly around him and form objects, much like origami, when he plays his instrument.  Kubo tells stories of his father’s heroic adventures, but the young boy can never end them.

One of the reasons he cannot is because his mother has told him that he must never be out past dark because his grandfather Moon King and his evil daughters would find Kubo and take his other eye.  Of course, Kubo winds up out one night and one of his aunts did indeed attack him, killing his mother in the process.  With her last bit of magical power, Kubo’s mother brings to life a monkey idol Kubo carried and entrusted Monkey (Charlize Theron) with her son’s protection.

They decide to set off for the armor that Kubo’s father had searched for, in order to stop the Moon King.  Along the way, they meet up with Beetle (Matthew McConaughey) who is a dedicated samurai, albeit a beetle, to Kubo’s father.

The best part of this film is easily the animation.  The stop-motion animation that Laika typically employs in their films is never better than here.  It is a masterful achievement in visuals, character design, imagery and creativity.  The dedication and intricate work that has gone into this film is apparent in the final version and the loving work cannot be underestimated.  It is an artistic feat unlike any animation for the year.

The story has its share of surprising moments, but the narrative itself is a little lackluster.  There are some moments where it moves too slowly and I do not think younger kids will appreciate it as much as they will some other animated films this year.

There is a really nice connection between Kubo, Monkey and Beetle at the heart of the film.  The scenes with these characters are the cleverest and most entertaining of the film.  That comes from both the character traits and excellent voice work.  You never hear McConaughey and Theron in these characters.  They are simply Monkey and Beetle.  That is a credit to these two powerhouse actors.

The hero’s journey is in full display here as we follow along with Kubo discovering what he is capable of doing with his magic.  Add to that breath taking animation, and Kubo and the Two Strings delivers a beautiful and emotional epic in animation.

4 stars

We have the latest “Why Hollywood, Why?” situation as we see the unnecessarily needed remake of one of the greatest classics of all-time.

Ben-Hur has been remade multiple times over the years, though the 1959 Ben-Hur version starring Charlton Heston is considered an epic classic.  This version will not be considered in the same vein at any point in the future.

Judah Ben-Hur (Jack Huston) is a prince in Jerusalem.  His family adopted a young orphaned Roman boy Messala (Toby Kebbell) and the two become as close as brothers.  However, when Messala felt the need to leave the home to find his own way in the world, he joined up with the Roman Army. Messala became a leader within the Army and one of the most important figures.

So when Pontius Pilate (Pilou Asbæk) is planning on moving through Jerusalem,  Messala returned to his brother to see if he could make sure that none of the insurgents would attack Pilate.  Unfortunately, Judah cannot prevent an assassination attempt and winds up being blamed for it.  He is convicted and sent to spend years as a slave on a slave ship.

After escaping the slave ship. Judah returned to Jerusalem to search for revenge against his brother.

Jack Huston and Toby Kebbell are decent in their roles.  Clearly there is no Charlton Heston in this pair, but they did not embarrass themselves either.  I could see a connection between the brothers and I could understand why these characters felt what they felt.  That is a very important detail if you are hoping to base the story of a betrayal between the brothers as you main drive behind the conflict.

The first two thirds of the film was not bad.  It was a little plodding at times with some of its pacing, but I was reasonably engaged at the start.  The arrival of Morgan Freeman as Ilderim started to pull me out of the movie, mainly because it was Morgan Freeman.  Still, I could even ignore that aspect of the film.

The ending was just horrible.  It was so over-the-top, message-laden, clap trap that it waste any goodwill that the film might have had up until that point.  Everything turned out so perfect that it felt like I was watching a sitcom that had to wrap up in 22 minutes.

Rodrigo Santoro played Jesus in this version, and he was solid, but I have to say that I, once again, realized who he was and could not get past the fact that he was Paulo from LOST.  I know that was not fair, but all I could think was how weird it was that Paulo was now Jesus.

I was not overly impressed with the chariot race at the end either.  I thought the CGI in this scene left a lot to be desired, and there was little tension in the scene because it was apparent what was going to happen.  Ilderim basically told Judah what to expect and the script hit it exactly step by step.

I will admit that I really was not anticipating this film, but I found it better than I thought.  It just was not good.  However, it was not the steaming pile that I thought it was going to be after seeing the trailers.  There were parts of the film that were very entertaining and worthwhile.  There just is no real reason to have this be in existence.  Ben-Hur is a very average film.

 2.4 stars

Meryl Streep is one of the greatest actresses we have in the world of movies.  She can carry just about anything and do it with credibility.  Here, she steps into the high heels of one of the stranger, true stories that you will ever see.

Florence Foster Jenkins was a grand dame who was a driving force behind a “music club” during World War II.  The prim and proper membership of the club was high brow and respectful.  After seeing a brilliant opera singer, Miss Florence wanted to get back on the stage and sing.  Her husband St Claire (Hugh Grant) goes out of his way to make her wishes happen.

The problem?  Miss Florence can not sing.  Everybody knew it.  Her new pianist Cosme McMoon (Simon Helberg) couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  And he was confused why no one else was saying anything.

St. Claire was the man behind the curtain in this case, making sure that his wife was always shown in a positive life, whether by bribery, blackmail or bravado.

The main characters in this film are very likable and that comes across because of the three lead actors.  Meryl Streep, Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg are really good and have a distinct connection with their characters.  You can feel how much each of these characters mean to one another, and how far St Claire and McMoon will go to help Miss Florence.

Streep does a great job singing just terribly.  It is a very funny performance as this woman who loves music, but cannot hear that she cannot sing a bit.

This is one of the biggest issues with the film. The film is not clear about how we are supposed to act.  Are we supposed to laugh at the singing or the facial expressions on Simon Helberg (which are really funny) or are you supposed to not laugh at her because laughing at her is mean and cruel spirited.  This variation of tone made me wonder what they wanted to portray.

There is a very intriguing story moving through the film, involving Florence’s health.  There is also a lot about St Claire and another romantic relationship he had with a woman named Kathleen (Rebecca Ferguson).  These plots were welcome and based in character which only made them stronger.

The movie does pull on heartstrings and the ending comes across as sappy, but the overall story is one that would have seemed far fetched had it not been a true story.  It does show how the love of music can drive someone to do more than they are capable of doing.  Strong performances are scattered throughout the film.  I just wish that I knew if it was supposed to be a comedy or not.

3.8 stars

It shouldn’t take you too long to realize that you shouldn’t have brought the kids to this animated feature, parents.  The “F”-bombs and raunchy sexual references (not even innuendo) fly fast and furious in this new Rated R comedy from Seth Rogen/Evan Goldberg.

The movie shows how the food from the supermarket was alive and who are hoping to be picked by the human/”GOD” and taken to the Great Beyond.  Yes, there is a definite religious feel to that.  However, we find out that the food does not know that once they leave the supermarket, they are to be consumed by their Gods.

Frank (Seth Rogan) is a sausage (really more of a hot dog) who is hoping to be chosen with his sausage mates for the 4th of July holiday.  Then, he hoped that his girlfriend, Brenda the bun (Kristen Wiig) would be chosen as well so that once they arrive in the Great Beyond, the could have sex.

Frank and Brenda wind up out of their packages and running around the store with other racially motivated food, being chased by the movie’s villain, the juiced up Douche (Nick Kroll).

Many of Rogan’s buddies appear here, lending their voices to certain produce and characters.  James Franco, Michael Cera, Bill Hader, Selma Hayek, Jonah Hill, Anders Holm, Danny McBride, Edward Norton, Craig Robinson, and Paul Rudd are stars who gave their voices to this animation.

Here is the biggest thing.  This is really crass and raunchy at times, but you can excuse that if the humor is funny.  So is this film funny?  Yes and no.  There are many scenes where the humor is very funny, and they really push the envelope a long way.  There are also some clever jokes that are blended into the sex and drug jokes.  There is almost a message in the humor at times.  Unfortunately, I found myself sitting for several long stretches in the film without laughing.  A bad sign.

I have a feeling that the joke of swearing and sexually active food got old as it was dragged out through the entire film.  This is one of those films that feels like it would have been a hilarious 45 minute movie, but to fill the 87 minutes that it was was just too much.

However, the finale to the adventure was just shockingly really out there… crossing any line you could imagine.  And it just kept going and going.  You have to give the film credit for going for it as hard as it did.  There were several images that I saw that I never expected that I would see, especially in an animated film about talking food.  It certainly earned its hard R rating.

I am on the fence about Sausage Party.  While I find this funny in spots and very creative in a way that took the Pixar film making strategy and turned it on its head, there was long times in the film where I just did not find it funny.  They fell back on the lame drug humor that I never like, and the sexual jokes got old quickly.  That is…until the ending just became an orgy of over the top imagery.

2.95 stars

This film stars Mowgli and his giant, green, fuzzy dog with wings.

Huh?

Just kidding.  There is no Mowgli in this movie.

Pete’s Dragon is the latest live action remake of a classic Disney cartoon like The Jungle Book and Maleficent.

Young Pete (Oakes Fegley) was stranded in the forest after a tragic car accident killed his parents.  The child ran across the dragon and they bonded.  Pete named the dragon, Elliot, after his favorite book, and then spent the next six years living with Elliot in the forest.  However, when Pete was discovered by Grace (Bryce Dallas Howard), she brought him to her home and discovered the hidden secret of Elliot.

Fortunately, Grace’s father (Robert Redford) had also had an encounter with the dragon years ago and had been telling hyperbolic tales about it since.  Grace is not the only person who discovered Elliot’s existence.  Forester Gavin (Karl Urban)has a negative interaction with the dragon (who was looking for the missing Pete) and sent him on a mission to capture the giant creature.

Now, the movie definitely has some good moments.  The dragon was good (though it was way too much like a dog) and Pete does a solid job as well.  The movie definitely tried to bring the feels on for the audience as it puts the dragon and Pete through their emotional paces.  It does an admirable job of showing how much the relationship between Pete and Elliot meant to them both.  I might have liked some kind of scene showing the early years with them instead of just jumping 6 years after they met, but that is a minor point.

The rest of the cast was really underwhelming.  There was very little development of any of the secondary characters in the movie after Pete and Elliot.  Even Grace does not feel as fleshed out as she could have been.

The CGI of the dragon was very good, but I did not understand why the film chooses to make the dragon furry and doglike.  I suppose that decision may just be a way to sell more plush toys, but it does not service your story at all.

Speaking of the story, it is right out of the typical Disney playbook for these live action films, right down to these kids, Pete and Grace’s step daughter Natalie (Oona Laurence), defying authority and helping the creature escape.  It had a very Witch Mountain vibe to it.

I was not a huge fan of this, but it was okay.  The dragon was fun, and I thought the kids did a good job.  I wish the story was tighter and that the dragon wasn’t a bog dog.  It was a sweet time at the theater that families would most likely enjoy together.

3.1 stars

Before and during World War II, Nazi SS General Reinhard Heydrich was one of the darkest, worst individuals of a evil batch.  He was credited with being one of the main architects behind the concept of “The Final Solution,” became known as “The Butcher of Prague” and was the third highest ranking Nazi officer behind Hitler and Himmler.

In 1942, there was a mission inside occupied Czechoslovakia to assassinate Heydrich that was called Anthropoid.  This is the story of that mission.

Now, since I was unaware of this event, I will not spoil what happens, although you could ask a history buff or hit Wikipedia if you cannot wait to discover whether or not the assassination attempt was successful.

A group of parachutists dropped into Czechoslovakia to undertake the mission.  The story focuses on two of them- Josef Gabčík (Cillian Murphy) and Jan Kubi (Jamie Dornan)- and their efforts to find a way to attempt such a difficult, if not impossible, job.

Along the way, the Josef and Jan find their way to the Kovárníková family, who were willing to put them up and support their mission. They also had several resistance fighters from the town itself including Ladislav (Marcin Dorocinski) and Uncle Hajský  (Toby Jones).  Facing some opposition to the mission, Josef and Jan had to do what they could to keep it on track.

While they were establishing themselves, Josef and Jan meet Maria (Charlotte Le Bon) and Lenka (Anna Geislerová) who agreed to help them.  Of course, the men fell for these women, making their mission even more taxing.

Now, there was some issues with the movie.  It does take some time to get going, and we do not get a proper introduction to several of these characters.  That made it challenging, at times, to follow.  We really do not know much about these people, making it tough to relate to their struggles.

However, once the mission starts, the remainder of the film is very exciting and compelling.  It is difficult to write anything about this next section without spoiling, so I will say that the final 30-45 minutes of the film really pulled off some intense scenes with some remarkable battles.

The film does a great job of showing how the little person tried to stand up and battle against the juggernaut that was Nazi Germany and hteir invading forces.  One of the concerns of the mission was that an assassination attempt on a figure as high ranking as Heydrich would lead to a drastic retaliation by the Nazis, and that is exactly what happened.  The film does an amazing job of showing how little human life meant to the Nazis and it is always a shocking example of one of the most horrific time in the history of the planet earth.

This does feel like a tale of two films.  The first half was slow and plodding while the second half becomes tense and violent.  This film served as a history lesson to one of the worst real-life villains we have seen ever.

3 stars

I came across this Netflix original as I was perusing what Netflix had to offer. I had a couple of few hours and I found this.  The explanation on the queue looked interesting so I gave it a try.

Rebirth is the story of Kyle (Fran Katz), a man who had a nowhere job and a marriage that he was feeling lost in.  Then, an old friend Zack (Adam Goldberg) arrived and offered him a weekend trip to a place called rebirth.  Though Kyle was not convinced at first, he decided he would take his friend up on his offer.  The trip started off with a lot of confusion for him, but it soon became more than that.

I will say that I think the concept of Rebirth was an interesting one.  There were some really original and weirdly trippy things happening in the movie and you kept waiting for the shoe to drop.  Kyle went from one abusive situation to another in Rebirth just looking for someone to explain to him what was going on.

Though the story itself was refreshingly original, there were other problems with the film.  First, the tone seemed to be all over the place.  It was as if the film was being a thriller, a comedy and a horror movie.  At times, the change in tone was jarring.

Another issue was the performance by Fran Katz as Kyle.  Kyle spent the whole time in Rebirth just screaming at the top of his lungs.  There really needed a more layered performance which would have balanced out the character of Kyle.

While I was engaged with the plot, I was not happy with the ending of the film.  I found this very unsatisfying and not worthy of the intriguing premise the film put forward.

This is one of those films that feels like it could benefit from a few rewrites and some adjustment to where the story goes.  There are some good ideas here, but the overall execution of the film left a lot to be desired.  If you have a few hours to kill some day while you’re looking around Netflix, this one would be okay, but you could probably do much better.

2.3 stars

The classic novella, The Little Prince, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery has been adapted many times, but never with the success of the original.  The original is one of the most translated stories in the world.

Mark Osborne has done what many others failed to do.  Find the magic.

Osborne took the source material and interwove into a larger narrative that found a young girl (Mackenzie Foy) moving next door to the old aviator (Jeff bridges), alone and living out his life remembering his adventures with the Little Prince (Riley Osborne).  The Little Girl, whose loving, but overbearing Mother (Rachel McAdams) has her entire life pre-planned for her, comes across the eccentric Aviator and becomes enthralled in his stories, sparking the imagination and youthful hope that she was missing from her life.

It was truly wonderful.

The tale of the Little Girl took place in a present day setting, with one form of animation, while the flashbacks/storytelling of The Little Prince was told in a different animation style.  These two worked together very well and brought something special to the tale.  In particular, the flashback sequences are as artistic as you will ever see.

Other memorable voices were used in the story for some lesser characters, including Paul Rudd, Ricky Gervais, Benicio Del Toro, James Franco, Albert Brooks, Paul Giamotti and Vincent Cassel.

The story was full of emotion as well, playing each note with a perfect emphatic brilliance.  I really found myself connecting to the Little Girl and the Aviator.

There are tons of themes beneath the surface of this beautiful film, many coming straight from the novella itself.  It runs the gamut of the human condition and gives a wonderful point of view on how to live life.

The film was released in limited release this weekend, as well as on Netflix.  If you are a fan of beautiful animation or a story of growing up, then you should make time for The Little Prince.  But be warned…keep the tissues handy.

4.3 stars

Kevin Spacey turns into a cat.

It makes you wonder exactly how much House of Cards pays that would require Spacey to take this kind of role.

I don’t know, maybe he and the rest of the creative forces behind this new comedy (although the existential question is can you call a film a comedy that has no laughs?) thought they were making a modern day Shaggy Dog for cat lovers.

Kevin Spacey played Tom Brand, the owner of the Firebrand company, and Tom was focused on building the biggest building in the world.  He was focused on this project to the detriment of his family, ignoring calls from his wife Lara (Jennifer Garner) and forgetting the birthday of his daughter Rebecca (Malina Weissman).

Of course, the movie is trying to set up Tom as an absentee father who only thinks of his daughter, yet it spends several scenes in a boardroom with Tom and his employees brainstorming what Tom could get for Rebecca’s birthday.

Rebecca had asked her father for a cat, and, though he hated cats, Tom decided to acquiesce to his daughters wishes and finds a cat shop called Purrkins, which includes a weird owner Mr. Perkins (Christopher Walken).  Perkins acted in a very mystical, all-knowing type manner, speaking to Tom about his life.

Tom gets called back to the building by lowlife business partner Ian (Mark Consuelos), who wants the Firebrand company to go public.  A freak lightning strike sent Tom and the cat over the side of the building, desperately hanging on.  Ian watched Tom fall from the building.  Amazingly, he did not fall all the way to the ground, but crashed through one of the windows.

When help arrived, Tom’s body was injured, but his consciousness was transferred into the cat.  So Tom could see what was happening to himself.  Tom ends up in a coma and the cat winds up with his family.

Now, I am not sure when this conscious swap happened.  Was it supposed to have happened with the lightning strike?  It couldn’t have because Tom (the person) spoke to Ian as he hung over the side of the building…after the lightning.  Was it crashing through the window?  Why would that do it?  The cat was inside a cage during this whole time as well.

I don’t think you are supposed to think about the how too hard.  That way, you would be just like the writers.

This was truly one of the worst times at the movies this year.  There were not even a few chuckles to be had in this weak script.  Even the top of the line cast could not make this thing interesting.

Some people might claim that the movie was made for children, as if that is an excuse to not be funny.  However, I am not sure how too many kids could enjoy this either.  There are a lot of scenes of boardrooms and meetings at the office… way more than you would expect.  I can’t imagine that they wouldn’t have been bored with all this.

Robbie Amell was also in this movie as Tom’s son David from his first marriage.  Tom always had negative things to say about his son, saying he wasn’t a man etc.  David was always looking for his father’s approval.  Probably my favorite character was Tom’s ex-wife Madison (Cheryl Hines) who didn’t even try to hide her contempt for Tom despite being good friends with Lara.

The special effects of this movie were horrendous.  It was so clearly green screen in so many instances and the cat did not look real for a good chunk of the film.  It was comparable at times to the level of special effects from The Shaggy Dog films.

However, there was an interesting idea in this heap that was just touched upon.  When Tom in cat form returned to the Purrkins cat shop, the other cats were talking to him indicating that this was not the first time that this kind of thing happened.  To me, that would have been a much more fascinating and dark take on the story.  Imagine that at one point all cats were once rotten people being punished for their deeds and Perkins was the person behind it.  The mind reels at the possible outcomes of that movie, but here, it is tossed aside like nothing.

This really was not a good film and you could easily get more laughs by watching a series of cat videos on YouTube (which the movie actually starts with).  This is not worth time as a family or is it something that makes you think.  In fact, it is not that enjoyable if you just shut off your mind.  It is a hairball of a movie.

0.9 stars