Female Film Critics 24/375
Some movies are just for fun. They do not educate or elucidate or elevate. They entertain. See How They Run does just that. The title refers to a nursery rhyme about mice, and that, in turn, refers to a play called The Mousetrap. The Mousetrap happens to be the world’s longest running play, having opened in 1952 for more than 28,000 performances.
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If you take Oceans Eleven and add the sensibilities and style of DreamWorks Animation, you’ll get the new animated feature The Bad Guys. It’s a fun conceit, especially when some of the best comedians and actors in the business are supplying voices for the lead characters. While the amusing concept and the embarrassment of thespian riches does add up to entertaining viewing and a worthy way to spend your movie money, the plot might strike some as one-dimensional, and it does feel like there should be more sparks flying given the impressive cast.
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The plot is tricky and convoluted, and big chunks make no sense. “The Bad Guys” is based on the Scholastic series by Aaron Blabey from a screenplay by Etan Cohen, known for Men in Black 3. The script plays off caper movies, but it does not always play well. Directed by Pierre Perifel, known for Kung Fu Panda 2, it’s too long and loud, including the music, and holds little novelty, but it does offer lessons in distinguishing trust from distrust. But, for all its noise, it has its heart in the right place.
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Based on Katherine Applegate’s Newberry Medal 2012 best-seller, The One and Only Ivan is reminiscent of Charlotte’s Web. It’s family-friendly, filled with a poignant melancholy, a touching, tender tale for tiny tots.
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Set in Germany during the waning days of WWII, the New Zealand filmmaker’s adaptation of Christine Leunen’s novel “Caging Skies” follows 10-year-old Jojo (wonderful newcomer Roman Griffin Davis), a new Hitler Youth recruit who so fancies himself a Nazi zealot that his imaginary friend is a clownish version of Adolf Hitler (Waititi, brilliantly eccentric).
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Vice presents a wild, irreverent ride through Dick Cheney’s life. Writer/director Adam McKay tackles Dick Cheney’s public and private life head on in Vice, a title with provocative insinuations far beyond Cheney’s years 2001 to 2009 as President’s George W. Bush’s Vice President. After introductory, amusing text on screen, the story proper begins in Caspar, Wyoming, in 1963 with a speedy, loud opening scene of Dick stopped for drunk driving.
Read moreThe dark comedic drama Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was the big winner of the night at the Screen Actors
Read moreThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is going to be a major consideration during awards season. Critics Choice, Golden Globes, Oscars.
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