SPRING MOVIES REVIEWED
The Boss Baby
Alec Baldwin plays a super-smart infant who teams up with his older brother to stop an evil CEO. The action is pretty fair without trying to appeal to adults like modern forced animation. A lot of that is due to the Bakshi family’s involvement in said film. Bakshi’s descendents are involved in everything on this from the voice acting to the animation to filling the role of the older brother. Most of my enjoyment of said film was due to the throwback nature of the plot. Kids seem to be eating it up, so there’s that.
Colossal
Anne Hathaway plays a woman thrown out of New York and sent to rot in South Korea. One day, she discovers that she can control a giant monster and Jason Sudeikis becomes jealous. While the two develop their own kind of power, the non American world is left to rot. I appreciate the honesty of a movie that shows the greater world learning to hate Anne Hathaway. The film ends a bit too sweet for my tastes, but it’s quite the experience.
Personal Shopper
It’s been a pleasure to watch a post Twilight Saga era Kristen Stewart develop into an actress. Olivier Assayas has developed a rapport with Miss Stewart in a way that Hollywood hasn’t seen in ages. But, she’s making majorly indie movies. This film is a ghost haunting story that is about way more than spooky spirits. Basically, Stewart is a medium who can talk to ghosts. It’s just that the ghosts act upon her razzled emotional state and never actually do anything. Some might call it bullshit, I call it modern Bergman at play.
The Zookeeper’s Wife
“The Zookeeper’s Wife” finds more blood from the World War II stone. This time it’s the Nazi’s occupying Warsaw and how one little zoo survives. Jews get hid, Nazis find common ground with Gentiles and Nazi experiments on animals are discussed. There’s so much in a short amount of time that I still wonder how Chastain was able to whiff this one. Oh well, I hope it ages better by the time it hits home video.
Born in China
Disney’s nature documentaries are my wife’s favorites. Unfortunately, I had to see this one without her. What follows is an exciting look at Chinese wildlife. While the time spent with the Pandas is the key selling point of the film, I enjoyed the material with the Snow Leopards. This entry feels far more balance than recent Asian tinged Disney Nature fare. Still, I have to wonder if limited theatrical releases are the best avenue for these films. I’ve literally been to every Disney Nature release and there might be 20 people in attendance.
FILM STATS
- PG, R, R, PG-13, G
- 1 hr and 37 mins, 1 hr and 49 mins, 1 hr and 45 mins, 2 hrs and 7 mins, 1 hr and 19 mins
