The Boxtrolls

The Boxtrolls – Dirs. Graham Annable & Anthony Stacchi (2014)

Nothing against computer animation, but it is a shame that it has supplanted hand-drawn and stop-motion as the predominant art form. What a strange sight it is to see CGI versions of Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, and Charlie Brown. Thank goodness there are still hard working animators dedicated to keeping traditional methods alive.

The Portland-based Laika continues to make strides in stop-motion animation with films like Coraline and ParaNorman, both of which were nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Academy Awards. The Boxtrolls continues that streak, but it's the slightest entry in their oeuvre and if I had my druthers I would have slotted The LEGO Movie in its stead.

The Boxtrolls is set in the Victorian-era village of Cheesebridge, a charming little burg built on top of a mountain. Cheesebridge does have one major drawback. They are plagued by subterranean creatures known as Boxtrolls, who earned their name for their penchant of wearing cardboard boxes like turtle shells. When parents want to scare their kids straight, they tell them the Boxtrolls will snatch them out of their beds and gobble them up.

However, none of those tales are true. Just ask Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), an orphaned boy who has been raised by the little critters and actually believes himself to be a Boxtroll. It seems these lies have been spread by one Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley), who has fashioned himself a premiere pest exterminator. Make no mistake, he has no altruistic bent. Snatcher wishes to use the Boxtrolls in a scheme to climb the social ladder and join the exclusive White Hats. Led by the Mayor of Cheesebridge, Lord Portley-Rind (Jared Harris), the White Hats gather together to taste some of the world's finest gourmet cheeses.

If I've discussed Snatcher more than I have the protagonists, it's because the villains are the most interesting characters in the film. With his stringy hair and hook nose, Snatcher takes obvious inspiration from the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He goes to such great lengths in demonizing the Boxtrolls that he dresses in drag and performs a stage show as Madame Frou-Frou. Snatcher has three henchmen under his employ, the first being Mr. Gristle (Tracy Morgan), a diminutive lunatic who simply repeats the last word he heard. There's also Mr. Trout (Nick Frost) and Mr. Pickles (Richard Ayoade), who try very hard to convince themselves that they are the good guys of the story.

The Boxtrolls themselves don't play much of a factor. The Boxtrolls opens with a terrific introduction to their underground lair filled with knick knacks that have been transformed into Rube Goldberg-ian gadgets. After that, they're simply creatures who must be rescued by their human friends. Eggs is a surprisingly bland hero while his companion Winnie (Elle Fanning), the daughter of Lord Portley-Rind, is defined only by her morbid fascination with assorted grotesqueries ("I was promised rivers of blood!").

That's not to say that The Boxtrolls isn't without its charms. The details in the production design are exquisite with elements of Gothic horror, German expressionism, and Roald Dahl. The animators' passion can be seen in Snatcher's ragged, red jacket and every cobblestone that paves the street of Cheesebridge.

Laika's track record proves they make pictures that appeal to audiences of all ages while never condescending to their youngest viewers. The studio hasn't shied away from giving the kids a good scare, from an otherworldly creature sewing buttons into your eyes or a town plagued by puritan zombies. It's all in good fun and never in a manner that would rack up therapist bills. The Boxtrolls follows suit with a plot drawing parallels to Nazi Germany with the title characters serving as scapegoats for a power hungry madman. The city's leaders are portrayed as ineffectual twits and the townspeople are a few pitchforks shy of becoming a rabid mob. Although Snatcher wants nothing more than a seat at the White Hat table, he is violently allergic to cheese and his face swells to gruesome extremes.

There's a mid-credits scene in which Trout and Pickles ponder the notion that an invisible puppetmaster is behind their every move. This shifts into a time-lapsed video of Laika CEO Travis Knight animating the henchmen's movements. It's a clever button to a movie that could have used that same inventiveness in the screenplay loosely based on the novel, Here Be Mosnters! by Alan Snow. The Boxtrolls doesn't measure up to Coraline or ParaNorman, but the animation and off-kilter sensibilities can still be admired.

Rating: ** (*****)

The World's End

The World's End - Dir. Edgar Wright (2013)

Shaun of the Dead is widely considered to be one of the best zombie movies of the modern era. Yet, it also works as a great romantic comedy that just happens to have zombies in it. Hot Fuzz wasn't just a clever send-up of overblown action movies; it could also be enjoyed as a straight up action flick with car chases and stylish gunplay. Now, writer/director Edgar Wright teams with actors Simon Pegg (who co-wrote the screenplay) and Nick Frost once more to cap off his Cornetto Trilogywith The World's End. Once again, Wright isn't content to play around in one genre. The World's End is a wonderful mixture of drama, comedy, sci-fi, and 70's paranoia cinema along the lines of The Wicker Man or Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

Andy Knightley (Frost), Steven Prince (Paddy Considine), Oliver Chamberlain (Martin Freeman), and Peter Page (Eddie Marsan) were the best of friends while growing up in the small town of Newton Haven. The glue that held the clique together was Gary King (Pegg), a real force of nature whose thirst for life was infectious. Time passed and everyone grew apart. They all left Newton Haven to become working professionals with the exception of Gary King, who hasn't changed at all in the past two decades. Unsatisfied with adulthood, Gary longs to relive the glory of his youth and the time he almost completed the "Golden Mile," an epic pub crawl through a dozen bars. In spite of bad blood between Gary and Andy, the gang gets back together to finish the Golden Mile, but find out the hard way that sometimes you can't go home again.

The World's End deftly explores various themes of disillusionment and middle-age malaise. While the characters appear to be successful, they aren't entirely happy. The meek Peter is the most obvious answer. He's clearly buckling under the pressure of working for his father-in-law and still harboring the effects of childhood bullying. Steven still pines for his unrequited love, Sam (Rosamund Pike), Oliver's younger sister who had a one-time fling with Gary in a men's room. Gary has had tremendous difficulty battling his addictions, which he masks underneath layers of braggadocio. There's also an aura of melancholy throughout the movie stemming from how much Newton Haven has changed since the protagonists moved away. The small town charm has vanished and been replaced by corporatized homogeny, a phenomenon sharply referred to as "Starbucking." That sense of nostalgia is wonderfully conveyed through a grainy prologue shot in 16mm of the gang in their high school days and a soundtrack of 90's Britpop (Primal Scream, The Stone Roses, etc.). Alone, these plot threads would have been more than enough to craft a satisfying dramedy. However, Wright throws in an additional twist that kicks The World's End onto a whole other level.

Nobody in Newtown Haven seems to remember the great Gary King. Has he really changed that much? No, you see, it's because the entire town has been taken over by robot duplicates from outer space. This allows Wright to stage several bar brawls infused with the type of choreography generally reserved for Hong Kong action films. Highlighted by fluid camera movements, the fights are innovative without forgetting that these are ordinary blokes engaging in fisticuffs. This is such a slick and gorgeously shot film, you'd never believe it was made with a budget of only $20 million.

The performances are strong all around, but Pegg and Frost are easily the highlights of The World's End. In previous outings, Pegg has played the straight man to Frost's overgrown man-child. Here, the dynamic has been flipped to fantastic results with Pegg injecting a surprising amount of pathos to the character. He probably won't get a lot of recognition during awards season, which would be a shame. As Gary, Pegg manages to walk a thin line between being a lovable scoundrel and a delusional jerk. If The World's End has any weak spots, one would be that Rosamund Pike, the only significant female in the picture, deserved more screen time along with Pierce Brosnan, who makes only a brief cameo.

Edgar Wright is one of the most exciting and original directors working in movies today. The energy and passion that he brings to his films is undeniable. The World's End is another cinematic triumph and one of the best pictures of 2013.

Rating: *** ½ (*****)

Snow White and the Huntsman

Snow White and the Huntsman - Dir. Rupert Sanders (2012)

Revisionist fairy tales are the newest fad to hit Hollywood, especially since Disney made over a billion dollars with Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. The House of Mouse is also developing, Maleficent, a new take on Sleeping Beauty from the perspective of the evil sorceress with Angelina Jolie in the title role. At the same time, they postponed production on The Order of the Seven, which would have seen Saoirse Ronan as a version of Snow White under the protection of seven martial arts masters. An escalating budget and the fact that two other studios beat Disney to the punch were factors in its derailment. Relativity Media took the lighthearted, kid-friendly route with Mirror Mirror while Universal went darker with Snow White and the Huntsman.

Once upon a time, King Magnus (Noah Huntley) reigned over the land in peace though he was saddened by the death of his wife. That is, until he rescued the beautiful Ravenna (Charlize Theron) from the clutches of a Dark Army. Ravenna wastes no time in seducing then murdering the king, stealing the throne, and locking the king's daughter, Snow White (Raffey Cassidy as a child, Kristen Stewart as an adult) in the tower. Ravenna must steal the youth of pretty girls to maintain her attractiveness. But, to stay forever young, she must consume Snow White's heart when she comes of age.

Snow White eventually escapes into the Dark Forest (yes, everything is dark in this movie) where no man dares to tread. Ravenna and her obsequies brother, Finn (Sam Spruell), enlist the assistance of the Huntsman (Chris Hemsworth), a scruffy bruiser prone to drink following the death of his wife. The Huntsman reluctantly helps the Queen's henchmen track down Snow White before joining forces with the princess as well as her childhood love Prince William (Sam Clafin) and a band of dwarves led by the blind Muir (Bob Hoskins).

Snow White and the Huntsman is clearly inspired by Lord of the Rings and HBO's Game of Thrones, setting the story in a grimy medieval world where knights in armor clash on the battlefield. In his feature debut, commercial director Rupert Sanders relies too much on herky jerky camera movements for his action sequences. This quibble can be forgiven because the film is handsomely shot by cinematographer Greig Fraser (David Cronenberg's Spider, Let Me In) with James Newton Howard's score bringing the sturm und drang and a random Florence & The Machine song to go over the end credits.

Twlight star Kristen Stewart is once again caught in the middle of a love triangle between the gruff Huntsman and the noble prince. While Stewart excels at being the doe-eyed waif, she struggles during the picture's heavier moments. She just doesn't have the gravitas (or a convincing English accent) needed when called upon to deliver the climactic Braveheart/St. Crispin's Day speech to inspire the masses. It's not entirely her fault as the screenplay credited to Evan Daughtery, John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side), and Hossein Amini (Drive) fails to feed Stewart dialogue that could stir a cup of coffee, let alone an army to rise against the oppressive regime. Never mind how a girl locked in a tiny cell for half her life suddenly becomes Joan of Arc.

Chris Hemsworth trades his mystical uru hammer for an axe to play the roguish romantic lead. Audiences will likely choose Team Huntsman over Team William due to the Han Solo-esque charm Hemsworth adds to the character over the blandness of the prince. This is no knock on Sam Clafin's acting abilities, but a reflection on the script's thin characterization as well as a lack of screen time. More time too could have been devoted to the dwarves, whom Sanders cast as if he were casting a British gangster pic. Thus, we get incredible thespians like Bob Hoskins, Ian McShane, Eddie Marsan, Toby Jones, Ray Winstone, and Nick Frost along with the lesser known Johnny Harris and Brian Gleeson, son of Brendan Gleeson. Movie magic turns them into a diminutive band of highwaymen.

The most fascinating character in Snow White is the evil Queen Ravenna and Charlize Theron gets to play it to the hilt. Theron is so good in the role that you'll actually be rooting for the bad guy to win. This is a damaged woman transformed into a man-hating succubus by a cruel patriarchal society that destroys innocence and beauty. Ravenna has a strange incestuous relationship with her brother reminiscent of Cersei and Jaime Lannister. The creepiness is amplified by Sam Spruell's pageboy haircut, which makes him look like an albino Anton Chigurh.

Snow White and the Huntsman is a surprisingly entertaining fantasy film. Yes, Kristen Stewart is miscast as the lead and the screenplay is riddled with clichés of Snow White being "the one." However, the visuals are stunning and Charlize Theron is absolutely captivating as the villainous queen.

Rating: *** (*****)

The Adventures of Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin - Dir. Steven Spielberg (2011)

Under the pen name Hergé, Belgian illustrator Georges Prosper Remi has become a renowned artist for his long-running comic strip, The Adventures of Tintin. The series was published from 1929 until 1976 and spawned numerous radio plays, theatrical productions, and even a few live-action films. The most faithful adaptation was an animated series that aired on HBO from 1991 to 1992. Though incredibly popular throughout the world, Tintin has yet to garner a strong fanbase in the United States. One American fan, the character did win over is Steven Spielberg, who was unaware of the comics until a critic compared Raiders of the Lost Ark to Tintin. During the 80's, Spielberg got the rights to the original stories and a seal of approval from Hergé himself, but a movie didn't become a reality until now. Spielberg tag teams with Peter Jackson for this big-budget romp that utilizes the latest in motion capture technology to bring to life a script written by Steven Moffat (showrunner for Doctor Who) and the team of Edgar Wright & Joe Cornish (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World). The film is based on three prominent Tintin books, The Crab with the Golden Claws, The Secret of the Unicorn, and Red Rackham's Treasure.

The Adventures of Tintin opens with a fantastic title sequence done in the style of Saul Bass and reminiscent of the title sequence to Spielberg's Catch Me If You Can. The credits are set to a jazzy score by John Williams and encompass an entire adventure of its own. From there, we meet Tintin (Jamie Bell), an intrepid boy reporter as he gets a portrait done in a busy marketplace. Spielberg cleverly transitions from Hergé's trademark ligne claire (or clear line) style to the 3D mo-cap animation by showing us the artist is Hergé. He hands the old school version to the new interpretation and we are off.

Tintin purchases an intricate model of a 17th-century warship known as the Unicorn. No sooner is it in his possession when an American named Barnaby (Joe Starr) and a sinister collector known as Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine (Daniel Craig) attempt to buy it from Tintin for exorbitant amounts of money. He refuses to sell and soon finds his apartment burglarized and Barnaby murdered on his front doorstep. These events lead Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy on a globe-trotting quest for missing treasure. Along the way, they befriend the blustery Captain Archibald Haddock (Andy Serkis) whose ship has been commandeered by Sakharine and his henchmen. Turns out, Haddock's ancestor was the captain of the original Unicorn before it went down following a battle with the notorious pirate Red Rackham (also played by Craig).

The uncanny valley usually rears its ugly head whenever motion capture is employed. Said valley is the point in which simulated human beings become creepy because they failed to replicate the real thing. While it slips into the valley every now and then, The Adventures of Tintin soars over that unsettling realm. The animation is beautifully rendered and richly detailed with characters that are expressive and smoothly brought to life.

Jamie Bell stars as the plucky reporter, who, ironically, is never seen in front of a typewriter or shown turning in a story. The biggest criticism levied at Tintin is that he is bland. Tintin has always been something of a cipher as Hergé intended for the reader to project themselves onto the protagonist. Hergé wisely surrounded his hero with a colorful cast of supporting characters, the most beloved being Capt. Haddock. He is brought to life by a remarkable performance from Andy Serkis, the Lon Chaney of motion capture. Everything hinges on Haddock because he is the heart of the film and Serkis does not disappoint. He is pitch perfect as the quick tempered and generally soused sea captain, who responds to outrageous situations with nonsensical expressions like, "Blistering barnacles!" And a Tintin adventure wouldn't be complete without the bumbling Scotland Yard detectives Thomson and Thompson played by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. Yet, the most interesting character in the movie has to be Tintin's wire fox terrier, Snowy. The little pooch isn't just adorable; he's preternaturally intelligent and sometimes smarter than his own master. Snowy gets some of the film's best scenes, such as a chase sequence through city streets and dodging traffic after Tintin is abducted by the villains.

Tintin is marked by several spectacular action sequences. This is Spielberg's first foray into animation and the genre has freed him from physical limitations. The highlight of Tintin is another chase scene with Tintin, Haddock, and Snowy in a motorcycle with sidecar riding through a multi-tiered Moroccan village. Done as a single uninterrupted take, the set piece is one of the year's best as the camera glides through the air while controlled chaos sweeps through the town. Tintin also features a battle at sea that rivals anything in all four Pirates of the Caribbean movies and a large-scale duel involving two construction cranes. Spielberg doesn't forget to add a touch of humor to the proceedings with Looney Tunes-inspired gags and a sly Jaws reference with Tintin's trademark pointy hair serving as the shark's fin.

The Adventures of Tintin isn't the game changer one might expect from Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. It's not deeply nuanced cinema, but it is an exceptionally fun boys' adventure in the way Kingdom of the Crystal Skull should have been. Tintin began its international run in October where it's done gangbusters, but has performed anemically stateside. Still, the numbers are enough to make the sequel (The Calculus Affair?) with Jackson as director a strong possibility.

Rating: *** ½ (*****)

Attack the Block

Attack the Block - Dir. Joe Cornish (2011)

"I got one text left. This is too much madness to explain in one text."

Alien invasion movies have been all the rage this year. We've seen Battle: Los Angeles, Super 8, and Cowboys & Aliens. Not to mention Summit Entertainment's upcoming The Darkest Hour. While it doesn't have the heart of Super 8, Attack the Block stands head and shoulders above all the rest. Shot with a budget of $13 million, Attack the Block was produced by Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) and marks the directorial debut of Joe Cornish, Wright's co-writer on Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and The Adventures of Tintin. Cornish's picture has the feel of a cult classic 80's movie. Think Night of the Creeps if it were directed by John Carpenter.

Attack the Block begins on Guy Fawkes Night as fireworks explode across the sky over South London. The film takes place in the Clayton council estates. An estate, by the way, is the nice British name for the projects. Sam (Jodie Whittaker), a recently graduated nurse is walking home when she is mugged by a group of hoodie-wearing, knife-wielding teens led by Moses (John Boyega). Something crashes into a nearby car and Sam runs off. Moses tells his mates to, "Allow it," in order to check the automobile for something valuable to steal. A gruesome creature scratches his face and escapes into a nearby park. Moses chases it down and kills it. Feeling like a big man, he carries its carcass around like a trophy. The fast-talking Pest (Alex Esmail) believes it’s the start of an alien invasion. Sure enough, more of the creatures arrive, but these are three times bigger, covered in ink-black fur with luminescent fangs. The kids arm themselves with kitchen knives, baseball bats, and even a samurai sword to defend their block from the invaders. Much like his namesake, Moses must lead his comrades to salvation against a swarm of ravenous aliens that resemble the critters from, well, Critters on steroids.

Other main characters include: Ron (Nick Frost), a pot smoking slacker; Brewis (Luke Treadaway), a middle-class white boy who listens to rap; and violent drug dealer Hi-Hatz (Jumayn Hunter).

Cornish takes the bold route by introducing the protagonists as juvenile delinquents participating in a violent crime. These young characters are a throwback to a time when kids could curse and act in a politically incorrect manner. Though thinly drawn, the heroes of Attack the Block are funny and charming with as a band of hooligan Goonies. Cornish cast first-time actors for these roles and each one excels in their parts with John Boyega as the anchor. Boyega has the presence needed to serve as the leading man. With the scars across his face, he even resembles a young Mike Tyson. Not surprising that Boyega has been cast in an HBO pilot being produced by Tyson and Spike Lee.

At 88 minutes, Attack the Block moves at a brisk pace thanks to the efficiency of the screenplay. Cornish wastes little time introducing the characters and moving the plot forward and it's refreshing in the face of bloated blockbusters like Transformers: Dark of the Moon. Cornish does have room to grow as a director. One of the movie's biggest faults is the staging of the chase scenes. The geography of the estate is never fully fleshed out so it's difficult to tell where everyone is running to or from. The film could have also used subtitles as the thick South London accents are almost indiscernible.

Attack the Block is the working class alien invasion movie with the same skillful blend of action, comedy, and horror as Shaun of the Dead.

Rating: *** (*****)

Paul

Paul - Dir. Greg Mottola (2011)

Along with director Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost came to prominence in geek culture with their Channel 4 sitcom, Spaced. Their leap to feature films with Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz was wildly successful. Having tackled zombies and cops, Pegg and Frost finally get around to tackling sci-fi with Paul, based on a script they wrote with Greg Mottola (Adventureland Superbad) behind the camera.

Paul makes it known right away who its target demographic with an opening sequence set at Comic-Con. Pegg and Frost are Graeme Willy and Clive Gollings, a graphic artist and science fiction writer, respectively. The best friends traveled to the United States to attend the Mecca of nerd-dom. They ogle the Slave Leias and get starstruck at meeting the robot from Buck Rogers ("…bidi, bidi, bidi."). Afterwards, Graeme and Clive embark on a bromantic road trip in a rented RV to visit famous UFO sites such as Area 51 and Roswell. Coming across a car accident, they are shocked to discover, Paul (Seth Rogen), an alien who has been locked away in a government facility since his spaceship crashed in the 1940's. Graeme and Clive agree to help Paul get to his mothership. Along the way, they also pick up Ruth Buggs (Kristen Wiig), a Christian fundamentalist whose faith is shaken by the appearance of a creature from outer space.

The supporting cast is a tremendous ensemble of players that include Jason Bateman as a no-nonsense man in black on the hunt for Paul with a pair of bumbling FBI agents played by Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio. They take their orders from Sigourney Weaver, who appears for most of the picture as a hidden voice sort of like Dr. Klaw from Inspector Gadget. We also have Jeffrey Tambor as sci-fi author Adam Shadowchild and Jane Lynch in a tiny role (a little Jane Lynch goes a long way) as a diner owner. Everyone is good, but none more so than Wiig as both a comic foil to Paul and love interest to Graeme. Wiig takes a rather one-dimensional character in Ruth and makes her extremely likable. She also possesses tremendous comic timing shown off when Ruth awkwardly tries cursing for the first time and launches into a series of nonsensical profanities ("Well, ain't that a bag of tits.").

Seth Rogen may be suffering from overexposure as of late. While you certainly cannot fault the man for venturing out of his comfort zone, the results have been mixed at best (i.e. Observe and Report, The Green Hornet). Here, Rogen goes back to basics providing only motion capture work and his distinctive voice. His Paul pulls a 180 on the prototypical alien by turning him into a rude and gross little guy with a cigarette constantly in his hand. He's E.T. if he were a potty-mouthed, bulb-headed stoner from a galaxy far, far away.

Paul definitely has its weaknesses. As foreigners, Pegg and Frost go the easy route by portraying most of the Americans they come across as bible-thumping zealots or gun-toting rednecks. David Koechner and Friday Night Lights' Jesse Plemons a bit wasted as the latter. Some of the subplots don't pay off, especially the one involving Ruth's domineering father (John Carroll Lynch), which could have easily been cut from the film to tighten the plot. In the end, Paul will live and die by its geek chic sense of humor.

While Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz poked fun at genre conventions, Paul is more concerned with making specific references, many of which will go most everyone's heads. There are tons of requisite Star Wars gags with entire lines of dialogue quoted by various characters. One of the best features a country western band playing their version of the Mos Eisley Cantina song. Other iconic sci-fi flicks like Back to the Future and obscure ones like Mac and Me are referenced as are numerous Spielberg movies to the point where the director himself makes a voice cameo receiving story advice from Paul.

Make no mistake about it, Paul is a movie for geeks and by geeks. As someone who is steeped in the culture (I'm a Comic-Con veteran for nearly two decades), it's hard for me to say how mainstream audiences might take the film. Hopefully, they'll find Paul as hilarious and surprisingly poignant as I have.

Rating: *** (*****)