ISLE OF DOGS

Voices of:  Bryan Cranston   Koyu Rankin   Kunishi Nomura   Edward Norton   
Bob Balaban   Bill Murray  Jeff Goldblum   Greta Gerwig   Frances McDormand   
Scarlett Johansson   Harvey Keitel   Akira Ito  F. Murray Abraham   Tilda Swinton  
 Liev Schreiber   Yoko Ono   Courtney B. Vance   Akira Takayama

     In the hands of Wes Anderson, a stop-motion animated film with mostly dogs as characters and an allegorical theme will captivate children and adults without pandering to either.  Probably by coincidence, writer-director Anderson, with the help of Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, and Kunichi Nomura, employ themes of topical relevance today:  government corruption, foreign influences on government, student protests, and issues related to animal research.  Additional weight comes from a case of repentance of justified charges for crime, followed by atonement.  Oh, yes, and murder and cannibalism are covered as well.

     Now, you might think from reading the above paragraph, that Isle of Dogs is entirely too serious and doesn’t sound entertaining at all.  But hold on—the action in the film is fascinating, rife with chuckling humor and imaginative sets, all accompanied by Alexandre Desplat’s wondrous score that enriches every scene.   Cinematography by Tristan Oliver and all the production and set design are remarkably artistic and enjoyable.

     The story takes place in feudal Japan, where Mayor Kobayashi (Nomura) and his cat-adoring people have decided that dogs are bad (as evidenced by dog flu, snout fever, and other symptoms) and a threat to humans, so must be banished to Trash Island (think of the environment in Wall-E); this is despite a noble scientist (Ito) announcing that a cure is imminent. 

     It turns out the mayor has a nephew who has become his ward after the child’s parents died.  Atari (Rankin) has a beloved dog named Spots (Schreiber), and even Spots has been banished.  This is too much for Atari, and in his grief and desperation (and smarts) he commandeers a small plane on his uncle’s estate and flies to Trash Island to find Spots.       That’s where many of the adventures and entertaining encounters take place.  Every dog has a personality and personal issues to deal with.  Anderson is able to insert drama in just about anything.

     Suspense is high in making us wonder whether Atari will find his dog (and there is an additional twist there), what will happen to all the dogs we’ve come to know on the island, and what will happen politically in Megasaki City.

     There is so much to process in Isle of Dogs that you are likely to want to see it again.  Noteworthy is the way the filmmakers bring home messages about justice, right, fairness, and joie de vivre without being condescending.  It’s all there for you in the experiencing of the film.

     Anderson has his favorite actors, and they are here, along with a host of others for us to admire.  I have heard that actors vie to be in an Anderson film, and it’s easy to see why.

Quintessential Wes Anderson in presentation, message(s), thoughtfulness, beauty, and fun. 

Grade:  A                                                   By Donna R. Copeland

LAST FLAG FLYING

Bryan Cranston     Laurence Fishburne     Steve Carell     Deanne Reed Foster     Cicely Tyson

     As is typical for Richard Linklater films, this one is packed full of a mix of humor, discussions/arguments about the government/war/military service, religion, personal responsibility, conflict resolution, expiation of guilt, and experiences of nostalgia and loss.  Three buddies in the armed services during the Viet Nam war meet up unexpectedly when the son of one of them is killed in Iraq during his service.  Larry “Doc” (Carell) is distraught and appeals to his friends to accompany him to bury his son in Arlington.  The three haven’t seen/heard from each other for years, and when Larry enters Sal’s (Cranston) bar, he has to remind Sal to look closely to recognize him. 

    The next day, they go to round up the third buddy who—to Sal’s horror—is now a minister.  Richard (Fishburne) has become as circumspect (sober, married, and reverent) as Sal is somewhat depraved (boozing, single, irreverent and atheistic).  Larry stands somewhere in between, and often serves as peacemaker between the other two.  Sal instantly agrees to go on the journey; whereas Larry has to be convinced.  His wife Ruth (Foster) is effective in appealing to his sense of responsibility and guilt.    This journey will be a meandering one for various reasons, and he and Sal will be at odds much of the time, which provides both entertainment and thought-provoking discussions.

     All three actors are proficient in their very different roles, with Carell having perhaps the most challenging task.  His character is understandably and clearly depressed, but he has to show occasional spunk and wit and still play the grieving father, along with a mix of orderliness and bumbling.  Sal plays the executive role in making decisions, making things happen, but also has a mix of restlessness, blurting out whatever comes into his head, and asking impertinent questions, which actually becomes tiresome after awhile.  Fishburne’s character is someone who was as much a rabble-rouser in his younger days as Sal, but has sobered up and has developed strong Christian moral beliefs.  Cicely Tyson’s cameo role is golden in its poignancy.

     Linklater is gifted in successfully blending so much meaningful content into a story (this one based on co-writer Darryl Ponicsan’s novel), while still maintaining a sense of humor and acceptance of human frailties. Cinematography by Shane F. Kelly, editing by Sandra Adair, and music by M. Graham Reynolds help make the story flow with a natural rhythm and pique interest in the material.  There are some scenes that seem irrelevant and bog down the picture, such as the cell phone store (although this was a time to poke fun at the geezers’ age gap) and Sunday dinner at the Minister’s house. 

     The film is timely in its treatment of the death of servicemen during war, the government’s ineptness at times in acknowledging and being truthful about the deaths and expressing gratitude to families for the loved one’s service.

A Linklater-style road trip for three retired U.S. Marines.

Grade:  B+                                    By Donna R. Copeland

THE INFILTRATOR

Bryan Cranston   Diane Krueger   John Leguizamo   Benjamin Bratt   Olympia Dukakis   Amy Ryan

          Based upon a real operation in the 1980’s, The Infiltrator is edgy and tense, with periodic earsplitting bloody horrors that make you jump out of your seat.  (After about the sixth time, this gets to seem like an annoying cinematic trick, to quiet the screen before an explosive blast that kills someone.) Despite this little annoyance, the story is exciting and well told by Director Brad Furman and writer Ellen Sue Brown (book by Robert Mazur).  It is fascinating to see the day-to-day planning and execution of such an operation, and the film is especially good at showing us the binds secret agents must undergo in forming close alliances with criminals only to betray them.  The agony and thrills also come as they act out their made-up personas and have close calls, such as a recording device being discovered.

           Bob Mazur (Cranston) has had a long career in U.S. Customs as a special agent.  He is eligible to retire, but is always staying on for “one last job.”  This operation is to infiltrate Pablo Escobar’s Colombian Medellin Cartel to interrupt the flow of cocaine to this country by following the money laundering trail.  Mazur’s idea is that this will bring them to the players at the top.

          Cranston’s Mazur makes a convincing portrayal of a skilled, experienced agent who is still able to be surprised and even a little flummoxed.  It’s an interesting character study into someone who is reliable, stable, and genuine in his private life but adept at taking on a role where he is able to use those traits to get someone to trust him in a basically duplicitous relationship.  And for the most part, this character is hardened to emotional pulls, but does show some vulnerability after oh-so-close calls.  Cranston pulls this off without even seeming to be trying, a natural.  He is a large reason to see the movie.

          Diane Krueger as another agent, Kathy, playing Mazur’s “fiancé” is a worthy partner in both acting and in the film’s special operations story.  It’s a nice touch to present her as an agent first who is new on the job and rather plain, then show her to be a sharp, glamorous, multi-lingual woman who warmly reaches out to her partner’s contacts.  (I remember her especially for her portrayal of a border agent in the TV drama “The Bridge”, someone with a touch of Asperger’s.  None of that here!)

       Other actors deserving of credit are John Leguizamo as Mazur’s unpredictable co-agent, Amy Ryan as the head of the Customs agency, Olympia Dukakis as Mazur’s flamboyant aunt, and Benjamin Bratt as Mazur’s wealthy mark who befriends Mazur and Kathy.

A thriller that will grab you and make you jump in your seat.

Grade:  B                         By Donna R. Copeland

GET A JOB

Miles Teller     Anna Kendrick     Bryan Cranston     Alison Brie     Marcia Gay Harden

          If you value quality filmmaking, stay as far away from this film, Get a Job, as you can.  It’s about a heart-breaking event that far too many people are experiencing today—losing their job—and this movie wants to make a comedy of that; moreover people’s getting jobs in the end has no logical bearing on their attempts to get a job or their performance once landing one.  It’s a shame that it wastes an excellent cast on a silly story. 

        A group of guys live in a rented house smoking bongs, playing video games, reading porn, drinking beer, and in between applying for jobs.  Will (Teller) is one of these and in a serious relationship with Jillian (Kendrick) who has just secured a job she is excited about.  She is not featured much in the film, except that when she comes to live in the house she is stereotypically cleaning it up and eventually gets drawn into the boys’ activities. 

        Will is set up to be one of the wonder boys in the action, and although it doesn’t appear he does much of substance, he gets hired by a boss who was impressed with one of his videos about a pimp, and he is subsequently promoted by a controlling, flirtatious, bossy woman (again, a stereotype) (Harden).  He has doubled his salary in no time.

        To pull in the older crowd, we learn about Will’s father (Cranston), who loses his senior position after 30 years at a company, and Will begins to offer his videotaping services to assist him in his search for something new. 

      Get a Job doesn’t really have a message—at least I couldn’t detect one.  There is a harangue about school children getting awards for doing nothing, a glance at someone developing an app that allows someone to stalk someone else, and a bit about one of Will’s roommates making it big on Wall Street and being told not to worry about losing 50 million dollars—just to get back to work and earn it back.  The final outcome seems to be that you can make it big if you work in the porn business.

Get a Job needs to be canned.

Grade:  F                         By Donna R. Copeland

KUNG FU PANDA 3

Voices of:  Jack Black   Bryan Cranston   Dustin Hoffman   Angelina Jolie   J. K. Simmons   Jackie Chan   Seth Rogen   Lucy Liu   James Hong

        Kung Fu Panda 3 has the qualities we hope for in animated children’s movies:  A sense of adventure, good modeling by the adults, fine animation, humor, and a minimum of fart and pee jokes.  Many of the actors and crew have been involved in all three of the Kung Fu Panda films, which contributes to their quality.

         In this adventure, Po the Panda (Black) is being prepared by his guide Shifu (Hoffman) to take over his role as teacher, which seems incredulous to Po who frequently bumbles his action moves.  But the message from Shifu is not to be like him, Shifu, but to find and bring out the Po that is his potential.  In this episode two important events take place; Po encounters his real father (Cranston)—currently filling that role is a goose, Mr. Ping (Hong)—and is charged with saving all the Pandas who are threatened by the evil Kai (Simmons), who has stolen the Chi of most of the past Masters and changed them to be his jade fighters.

     The writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger weave together a story that contains elements of suspense and adventure, Po’s struggles to actualize himself, and warm family elements with Po coming to realize he has two fathers and a role in his extended family of pandas.  Directors Carloni and Yuh keep the action tight but make it easy for very young ones in the audience to follow.

        The gifted cast skillfully transforms the script into fine entertainment for children, helped along by the colorful and entertaining animation, the musical score of Hans Zimmer and the production design of Raymond Zebach.

The latest edition of Kung Fu Panda keeps up the fine pace of the previous two productions.

Grade:  A                               By Donna R. Copeland

TRUMBO

Bryan Cranston   Diane Lane   Helen Mirren   Louis C.K.   John Goodman   Elle Fanning

          Dalton Trumbo was a very successful Hollywood screenwriter in the late 1940’s when he was called to answer questions about his beliefs by the U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC).  He refused to testify, so was sent to prison for 11 months for Contempt of Congress.  He and many others were put on a Black List by the movie studios, which refused to hire them, denying them any means of support. 

         The film Trumbo dramatizes these events with major actors in the roles of the principal players.  Bryan Cranston plays Trumbo in another one of his remarkable performances.  He truly can melt himself into a character so well you forget him, the actor.  Diane Lane plays his wife Cleo—capturing the near-saint that Cleo must have been, while easily asserting herself forcefully when she perceived a wrong.  Helen Mirren plays Hedda Hopper, an apparently conniving, devious zealot with incredible power given her occupation, a gossip columnist.  In her younger days, she was an actress and still seethes about being rejected as “too old”, but is still able to threaten studio executives with exposure of their weaknesses unless they go along with her political stance, i.e., supporting the HUAC. 

       Louis C.K. is turning out to be a gifted actor; he plays Arlen Hird, one of Trumbo’s reluctant screenwriter colleagues also called to testify.  Trumbo pulls him along by convincing him that even if they’re convicted, the case will go to a liberal Supreme Court that will defend their right of free speech, and he pays for Hird’s attorney fees.  (In a stroke of bad luck, one of the Supreme Court liberal judges dies unexpectedly, so they lose their appeal.) 

        Another star always up to his reputation is John Goodman, who plays Frank King, a Hollywood producer who just wants to churn out box office successes.  He doesn’t give a flip about political issues, so has no problem paying Trumbo to rework the terrible scripts he is given.  This is what saves Trumbo financially, and as amazing as he is in turning out scripts in record time, he has so much work he can’t do it all.  He hires his fellow blacklisted writers to help him, and thereby they survive. 

       Trumbo is an extraordinary film in showing us an important “happening” in American history, in having well known actors playing major figures (which blows your mind a little bit), and more importantly, reminding us of how critical it is for Americans to have free speech to sustain our democracy.

        Director Jay Roach is known primarily for comedies (Meet the Parents, Austin Powers), but I think he does a good job in presenting this bruising history of Hollywood and America.  It is more liberal in its presentation, but an important speech by Dalton Trumbo gives the import of the movie’s message: There was bad faith and good, honesty and dishonesty, courage and cowardice, selflessness and opportunism, wisdom and stupidity, good and bad on both sides; and almost every individual involved, no matter where he stood, combined some or all of these antithetical qualities in his own person, in his own acts (Cieply, Michael (September 11, 2007). "A Voice From the Blacklist: Documentary Lets Dalton Trumbo Speak (Through Surrogates)". New York Times. Retrieved December 15, 2011.) 

An instructive piece of American history dramatized.

Grade:  B                                 By Donna R. Copeland