Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them Review (Spoiler Free)

November 17, 2016April 4, 2019 | Rachel's Reviews

2016 will forever go down as the year of the disappointing blockbuster. Out of the dozens of blockbusters I’ve seen only 5 I would classify as great films. The discouraging thing is so many films have had such potential. Indeed, they have such potential that I buy into the hype and go into the film expecting something great only to be disappointed when leaving.

Well, my friends, you can add another film to this list. The newest spin-off in the Harry Potter world, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, isn’t awful by any means but it is very disappointing.

I should state outright I am not a die-hard Harry Potter fan. I am more of a casual fan but I have recently done my rewatch of the Harry Potter movies over on my channel and I was reminded that they are a bit of a mixed bag. None of them are awful either but I’d say 4 are successful and 4 really are not. You can listen to our podcasts here.

Fantastic Beasts is particularly disappointing because this was the chance to see JK Rowling write a screenplay without any fear of loyalty to a book or other source material. She could just unleash her creativity on the screen, but it ends up being a mostly frustrating experience.

But there are some good things about the film that give it a mild recommendation.

Good Things-

There are two plotlines in Fantastic Beasts. The first involves Newt Schamander (Eddie Redmayne) getting his suitcase switched with a non-magician (muggle in Britain no-maj in US) man named Jacob. Unfortunately Jacob unleashes some of Newt’s magical creatures onto the city of New York and they have to hunt them down.

This search is a lot of fun and it was surprisingly slapsticky. There has always been some humor in the Harry Potter movies but this was long segments of people falling into mud or getting into other shenanigans with the magical creatures. My friend laughed a lot more than I did but it was pleasant entertainment.

I also really liked Jacob and a woman named Queenie played by Alison Sudol. I almost wish the movie had been about the two of them instead of Newt. She lit up the screen whenever she was on it and her ability to read minds was charming and funny.

The music by James Newton Howard was fantastic, capturing the 1920’s speak-easy feel as well as the exquisite costumes by always reliable Colleen Atwood. The beasts were also adorable especially a creature called a niffler. They will probably sell a lot of toys of him at Universal Studios.

I was also never really bored so it’s a harmless film about magic that I suppose hard core fans will love. I wasn’t offended or bored out of mind by exposition like in Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children.

Bad Things-

When I first got out of the theater and did an initial thoughts youtube review where I gave it a B- but now that I’ve thought it over I am going lower because there really are a lot of problems.

The first big issue is with the tone. Like I said, they try way too hard to be funny and then combine that humor with some really dark story-lines I won’t spoil. The sort of B story-line involving Ezra Miller as an orphan named Credence Barebone and his head ‘mother’ played by Samantha Morton is unsettling to say the least. It didn’t gel together very well.

There also wasn’t a clear focus like you had in the Harry Potter movies, which even when unsuccessful were still about Harry and Voldemort growing in strength and their eventual meeting. Evidently there are going to be 4 more movies and I really have no idea where the story is going or what the focus on the series is going to be. This film was half spent playing hide and seek with magical creatures for laughs and the other half fighting a dark demon in New York. Where do you go from here? I really don’t like the Hobbit movies but at least the first Hobbit film was a clear start to a journey and series.

Also, the other big problem I had is in the acting choices made throughout the film. Eddie Redmayne in particular mumbled most of his dialogue to the point where I was constantly leaning over to my friend asking her “what did he just say?” Some other actors were laying on the New York accent very thickly and it made them difficult to understand.

A lot of the actors like Colin Farrell are underused. Academy award winner Jon Voight is in like 2 scenes and Ron Perlman is briefly seen. I guess they could appear more in future installments but it’s odd when you have such well known actors in small roles. I guess they will clear things up in future installments but I found myself confused particularly on the B more scary story-line

In the end, it’s not a horrible movie but I did walk away feeling disappointed. There is fun to be had with the magical beasts and characters like Queenie but it’s hard to endorse a movie when I can’t understand the lead character most of the time.

The tonal problems and lack of overall compelling story are also hard to ignore. Like I said, in my youtube review I gave it a B- but today I am going with a lower grade.

Overall Grade- C

Also, I don’t think this movie is going to appeal to kids much. I think they will find it kind of boring. Both my friend and I agreed on that leaving the theater. But see it for yourself and decide.

Doctor Strange Review

November 6, 2016November 6, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

In some ways the latest Marvel movie, Doctor Strange, has been quite revelatory for me. You see, over on my youtube channel I had a special podcast with a comics expert friend of mine named Trevor at HowtoLoveComics.com.

This forced me to dive into the comic books of Doctor Strange before seeing the film, something I have never done with a comic book movie. I was impressed with how understanding the lore and comics helped add to the moviegoing experience. It’s something I hope to continue to do for future films.

I don’t think reading the comic books make you excuse flaws in the movie but it helps you understand the characters on a bit of a deeper level than may be explored in one particular movie.

Anyway, it was an interesting experience that I would recommend to all of you.

As far as the movie, Doctor Strange, I enjoyed it very much. There are 2 reasons to enjoy Doctor Strange:

First, Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Stephen Strange. I am a huge Benedict Cumberbatch fan and feel this is the best use we have seen for him in the movies yet. He manages to capture the brilliance of Doctor Strange while also getting a desperate humble side of him. I’ve heard many people compare his character to Tony Stark in Iron Man but I think he spends more of this movie humbled and weak than we get from Tony for many movies. He’s also much more awkward than Tony ever is.

Iron Man also has more substantial supporting characters than Doctor Strange gets. Pepper is a more active character in the first Iron Man than Rachel McAdam’s Christine and Rhodey is certainly more important to Tony than Wong is to Doctor Strange.

So, it is up to Benedict Cumberbatch and his character to carry the movie, and I think he does so very well. He’s charismatic and likable despite being arrogant and over-confident at times.

The second standout is the amazing visuals. I saw this film on IMAX 3D and it was pretty awe inspiring. Doctor Strange learns from the Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) that there are multiple dimensions. The mystical realms are accessed when we learn to manipulate and control these dimensions.

The movie does a great job showing these dimensions and not explaining them to us or the magic that goes along with them. We see it and that’s good enough without understanding the background or mechanics.

A lot of people have compared the visuals to Inception and I can see their point. However, I think they are more dreamlike than Inception. There is something a bit more grounded in Inception’s graphics and something more ephemeral about them here in my opinion.

The one caution I will give about the graphics is as spectacular as they are, they did make me a little motion sick. Some of the sequences towards the end I feel went on a little bit too long, and I started to feel a little nauseated. I have a very sensitive stomach when it comes to such things, so it is probably just me. You will have to make your own determination. That was just my experience.

A lot of people have complained about the casting of Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One. It is a tricky thing because casting an Asian man like in the comic book could come across as reinforcing stereotypes, so which is the greater sin? Regardless, I think Tilda Swinton does a great job in the role as there is something other-worldly about her. Also her character has a bit more of an arc than I was expecting or was in the comic books I read.

All the rest of the performances are good but they are pretty brief. This is Doctor Strange’s movie and it is his origin story. Some will roll their eyes at another origin story but I didn’t mind it. The movie is well paced, clipping along quite nicely and the tone is carefully controlled. I enjoyed the more thoughtful moments along with the humor.

I don’t know if I liked Doctor Strange as much as Captain America: Civil War, but it is a very enjoyable origin story. I liked the character of Doctor Strange, and I liked the world we were given. That’s about all I needed to be happy. The story was good enough to engage me

I look forward to seeing how Doctor Strange works within the MCU going forward and how the new dimensions of mystical magic help add a new layer to the storytelling at Marvel.

Overall Grade- A-

Here is my youtube review

Christine Review

November 6, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

Today I had a little gap of time and decided to see the indie film Christine, and I’m glad I did. This is a film by Antonio Campos about the real life story of Christine Chubbuck who committed suicide on live news television.

As you might guess this is a pretty grim, tragic film and I appreciate that writer Craig Shilowich did not add an ounce of sentimentality to the events of Christine. There is no soaring music as we get to the inevitable event and we are not emotionally manipulated in any way.

The most interesting thing about Christine, played by Rebecca Hall, is she’s at once sympathetic and unlikable at the same time. There is nothing cloying or patronizing about the way her mental illness is depicted here. Often she wants to do do good things but she struggles to convey those desires in ways that others can accept. She’s not surrounded by jerk-offs like you might expect. Quite the contrary. Pretty much everyone is trying to love Christine in the ways they know how. It’s difficult because she is very tough to love.

As a reporter Christine struggles with the idea of writing ‘juicier stories’. She wants to interview strawberry pickers and happy couples but they aren’t the stories that sell. Oddly enough she fantasizes about interviewing Richard Nixon but then most of her pieces are kind of fluffy feeling. She buys a police scanner and follows a fire but then does a fairly conventional story on the man who lights the fire. I completely saw where her boss was coming from on that one.

Many try to reach out to Christine but it all feeds her mania more than stopping it. One example is her office crush George, played by Michael C Hall, who she thinks is taking her on a date but it actually a Scientology like therapy session. He’s not trying to be mean. He’s genuinely trying to be helpful but it is one more shame she has to deal with in her life.

Christine’s mother played by J Smith-Cameron was very good because Christine wants to be mothered as a little girl but also wants them to be equals as adults. She’s also very critical of all of her Mother’s choices including who she dates and how she lives her life. On the other hand, her Mother knows Christine’s mental health history and can tell something bad is coming.

All of those character aspects really work in Christine. Also you get a great sense of the 1970s in both the music and production design. Especially in the last hour tension is built like a ticking time bomb inside Christine’s head ready to explode. I’ve dealt with anxiety and I really thought they captured that feeling without being patronizing or annoying.

The one flaw with the movie is it could try to teach a small lesson. It does leave the viewer kind of empty. I don’t need much preaching but just a moment maybe at a funeral or something to think about her life and how we can do better might have been nice.

Also, the first hour could have been a little bit tighter. There were a few sequences when she is working at the newsroom where I grew bored and started to yawn. However, once the second hour starts it really becomes compelling stuff leading up to the suicide.

This is an extremely mild R rating with just a handful of F words said by Christine’s boss. I definitely think it is worth seeing as a cautionary tale for those of us deal with and live with friends with mental illness. We all need to be aware of these diseases and reach out to folks in the right kind of ways.

Overall Grade- B

Trolls Review

November 4, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

Today I got the chance to see the latest film from Dreamworks, Trolls. This is a film I wasn’t looking forward to as the trailers had been frankly terrible (need I remind you of the twerking troll that we can never forget…). But, I always try to go into films with an open mind, and this was no exception. So what did I think of Trolls?

Well, it’s not awful but it is very uneven.

Based on the old toys from the 90s, Trolls is a simple story geared towards little children. It is about Poppy (Anna Kendrick) the happy troll and Branch (Justin Timberlake) the grumpy troll who must work together to save the rest of the trolls from the evil bergens.

Along the way they sing pop songs…this is where some of that unevenness comes in. A few of the songs work like the catchy Can’t Stop the Feeling but most are complete throw-aways and most aren’t very long. For example, they sing Sound of Silence or September for under a minute, which feels weird to have all these abbreviated numbers. Trolls isn’t a very long movie and it felt like the songs were often there to puff up a weak script.

Once Branch and Poppy get to the bergen village the movie changes from a road trip to a Cyrano de Bergerac story where Poppy and the trolls work to help a scullery maid named Bridget get the self confidence to court the Bergen prince. This part I didn’t really enjoy very much and I particularly found Bridget to be an annoying character very badly voiced by Zooey Deschanel.

That said, there was a cheerfulness to Trolls that was infectious and made me smile. There were some nice moments of heart between Branch and Poppy and overall I think little kids will be entertained.

It’s very similar to Angry Birds Movie, so if you liked that than you will love Trolls. The message is a little better but the plots are very similar.

The voice casting was uneven. Like I said, I hated Zooey Deschanel but Anna Kendrick and Justin Timberlake were fine, and they certainly have the singing chops for the roles.

Unfortunately the biggest surprise for me was the uneven animation. I love the felt feel to the character design on the trolls but did not like the design of the bergens. I know they are supposed to be the bad guys but I had a hard time watching them.

Most of the animation had a Lisa Frank 90s bright colors feel but then there were sections where the rendering felt cheap and surprisingly weak. Parts reminded me of low-budget fair like the Tinkerbell movies.

So, Trolls is passable entertainment. If you have small kids they will probably like it. It has some nice animation. It has a few fun songs but it also has some poor animation and annoying songs. It has characters I liked and didn’t like. It’s just a mixed bag movie if I ever saw one.

It’s certainly a million times better than last year’s Home so there is that to be grateful for.

Overall Grade- C

Check out my youtube review

Your Name (Kimi no Na wa) Review

November 1, 2016November 1, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

So today I couldn’t sleep so I decided to see the recent Japanese hit Kimi no Na Wa or Your Name for English viewers. This film has made $158 million US dollars in Japan and after watching it I can see why. It is a total and complete delight and one of the best romances I have seen in years.

Your name is by director Makoto Shinkai and it is about a girl named Mitsuha who lives in a country town. One day she laments on her boring life and how she wishes she could be a handsome boy in Tokyo. Well, wouldn’t you know the next day she ends up in the body of a boy she’s never met in Tokyo named Taki.

This starts a first act that we’ve seen before in movies like Freaky Friday but it really works. Both Taki and Mitsuha have very different lives aside from being different genders (which they mine for great comedy). They are from different classes, have different types of friends and even eat different foods. They don’t just settle for easy antics but think of small details like Mitsuha’s awkwardness paying for Taki’s expensive meals.

What also makes it very clever is they switch back and forth each day so that keeps it fresh. They start to leave notes for each other on their hands, in notebooks and on their cell phones. And through living each other’s lives they become good friends. It’s all very clever.

Then we get to the final acts and the film takes a bit more of a serious tone but I won’t give any more of that away. Needless to say both parts completely worked for me. Both Taki and Mitsuha were so likable and the tension and stress built naturally. It reminded me a lot of Mamoru Hosoda’s Summer Wars which I also LOVE.

The animation is completely stunning with lots of emphasis on light giving a hopeful tone even when things looked grim. They also managed to make both the countryside and city look like a fantasy world because that’s kind of what it is to the characters living in different bodies.

I know some people just don’t like anime as a rule and if that is you it’s a real shame. Because I honestly believe a movie like Your Name has something for everyone. It is funny, sweet, romantic and tense at times. It has great characters and a creative story. It’s beautifully animated and has wonderful music from a band called Radwimps.

It’s a real achievement for Makoto Shinkai who did everything from the writing, directing, editing and everything else. Wonderful!

Overall Grade A+

Denial Review

October 31, 2016October 31, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

Denial is the kind of film, which I feel guilty for not liking. I would never want my disregard for the film to be construed as an opposition for the great things that the heroine Deborah Lipstadt did. In fact, if anything I think her story deserved a better screenplay then we were presented with in Denial.

To begin the film Deborah Lipstadt is confronted during a lecture about her latest book on the Holocaust. Her accuser is none other than David Irving a scholar who argues against the Holocaust and thinks it is all a hoax. Lipstadt is critical of him in her book and so he brings a libel suit against her in Great Britain.

The actual trial was evidently a huge media circus. It basically put the validity of the Holocaust on trail for about 3 months in a British court. This all seems like it should be extremely compelling but there are problems…

Unfortunately, Denial doesn’t do a good job in making Lipstadt likable. Unlike say the reporters in Spotlight, she doesn’t have to sacrifice much for her day in court. Most of the work is done by her lawyers so there isn’t much emotional growth from her as a character. I feel like she is basically the same person at the beginning and end of the movie. She also could be more grateful of the free labor she is getting from her lawyers but instead she is kind of judgemental of them and their motives.

Rachel Weisz is a good actress but I always felt Lipstadt was kept at a distance from us. Maybe it would have helped to have a diary or a friend she was emailing or something to make it feel more real and challenging.

The lawyers are played by Tom Wilkinson and Andrew Scott. They do a good job but unfortunately the screenplay also does a poor job showing their journey. We don’t see them building the case or the ‘ah ha’ moments we need to get invested in the trial. Their greatest challenge seems to be getting Lipstadt to shut up and let them do their job. Not exactly compelling.

Timothy Spall is also very one note as David Irving. I was reminded of the movie Breach where Chris Cooper plays a double agent brilliantly. He is presented as a loving father and friend, so his ultimate betrayal is devastating. There is little to no attempt to create this kind of character journey for Irving. If we saw him as a good man in other settings that would have made his rationalizations of Nazism all the more shocking and his take-down more thrilling.

As it is, the courtroom scenes are extremely predictable and more than a little dry. I nodded off more than once.

I have a friend who felt Sully was tedious but at least I felt that movie had something to say about our need for heroes and the media in a post-9/11 world. Plus, Tom Hanks had a character arc through the course of the movie. I at least found Sully much more compelling than Denial.

Some reviews I’ve read have compared the trial in Denial to Donald Trump and his half-truths and lies, but I think this is a stretch at best.

Mostly Denial is just kind of boring and forgettable despite the best efforts of its cast.

In the end, a worthy true story with a weak screenplay.

Overall Grade- C-

Month of Previously Released in Theater

October 26, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

You might have noticed a lack of reviews on this blog for new movies in October. Well, there is a simple reason for that: I haven’t seen many. The only new movies I’ve seen at the theater have been Deep Water Horizon, Batman: Return of the Caped Crusader and The Dressmaker, which I both enjoyed very much. I also saw Miss Hokusai and Long Way North on dvd screener but that’s it for new releases. On Netflix I saw The 13th which is an amazing documentary.

The reason I’ve been so sparse at the theater is two-fold. First, there haven’t been many movies I’ve been interested in seeing. I didn’t want to see Girl on the Train because I didn’t like the novel.

And then Jack Reacher: Never Go Back despite having a horrificly awful title I didn’t see because I didn’t see the first Jack Reacher because of the violence. This was a definite skip. Inferno is the same way. I haven’t seen either of the 2 previous films so I will pass. The Oujia movie isn’t my cup of tea and The Accountant was evidently pretty boring and violent.

However, the other reason I haven’t seen new releases (I’ve debated about seeing Birth of a Nation and a few others) is because this has been the month of seeing previously released movies in the theater!

I ended up seeing 10 movies that had previously been released. 5 of them are Harry Potter movies I saw on the IMAX during a 2 day marathon. 3 are classics I am seeing as part of the my local theaters Classic Film Series. And then 2 were just for fun.

I thought it would be fun to go over all 10 and give you my quick thoughts.

Harry Potter and Prisoner of Azkaban-

So I’ve been rewatching these Harry Potter movies for a podcast I’ve been doing with my friends getting ready for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find them. Unfortunately I haven’t found them as compelling on the rewatch as I expected. They are all drawn out and I find myself getting bored. However, one of the best of the group is Alfonso Cuaron’s Prisoner of Azkaban. It is without a doubt the best made film of the series with beautiful cinematography and a darker sensibility than the Chris Columbus films (which are BORING!). It actually didn’t end up being my favorite on the rewatch but it is strong film. The kids take a definite step up in acting over the first 2 films as well.

Overall Grade- A

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

A movie that is better for moments than the end product. Instead of being boring like most of the films it has the opposite problem. It feels rushed and there are definitely the most plotholes in this entry in the series. Still, when it does work it really works. I love the ball and Hermione’s Cinderella moment and I the stand off with Voldermort in the maze is emotional and gripping.

Overall Grade- B-

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

My new favorite of the series. I know that is unusual but this is the leanest storytelling in my opinion. Also instead of just talking about a villain this entry actually has one (2 if you count Voldermort). Umbridge is so great as played by Imelda Staunton. This entry actually improves upon the book which spends way too much time with an emo grumpy Harry. Dumbledore’s Army is fantastic with Harry learning to be a teacher not just a wizard. And the ending with Sirius is emotional and really works. I also love the room with the prophecies and some of the other visual effects/production design. Plus, we get the introduction of Luna who is my favorite HP character

Overall Grade- A+

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1

I must say it wasn’t quite as bad as I remembered it being. I hated part 1 in the theater and found it super boring but it’s still pretty bad. This is the first one where I felt they were trying to rope in the YA Twilight crowd. The beginning is pretty good and the end with Dobby’s sacrifice moves me but for the most part it isn’t my cup of tea. All that drama in the tent and the weak attempt to make a love triangle happen doesn’t work. And the naked scene I found completely unnecessary and unseemly.

Overall Grade- C-

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

It’s true it is very different from the book but I think that partly comes from them splitting it up, which I still think was a terrible idea. Nevertheless, I like this movie. I think it ends the series in a very satisfying way. I like that all the minor characters are given their moments to shine. I like seeing Harry defeat Voldermort by being a better man and human being. There’s something so pure about that rather than him defeating him with valor or a warrior’s spirit. We definitely get some very sad parts, which feel earned but it is also fun. I love when Harry is in the spirit world and gets the chance to talk to Dumbledore and decide what to do with his life.

Overall Grade- A

Lawrence of Arabia

I had long heard about this movie but never seen it and holy cow! I LOVED it! This movie has some of the most interesting characters I’ve ever seen in a movie. Lawrence is an enigma and is not the perfect hero I expected. Of course it looks gorgeous and is well made but I was surprised how invested I felt. It drew me in and earns it’s 3.5 hour running time. Every aspect of the film is superb

Overall Grade- A+

Sound of Music

I mean where do I begin on this masterpiece? I LOVE this movie so much I never realized it was over 3 hours. That’s how absorbed I get. It is one of the best stage adaptations because I actually think it improves upon the source material in every way. The casting is perfection with Julie Andrews and Christopher Plummer having amazing chemistry together. I love all the songs from Rogers and Hammerstein, and the cinematography throughout Austria is beautiful. In my mind just about a perfect movie

Overall Grade- A+

Gone with the Wind

I have a complicated relationship with Gone with the Wind. It is my Grandma’s favorite movie of all time, so I have happy memories of watching it with her. There is no doubt the epic nature of the movie. The sets, costumes, production design are some of the best ever. I also enjoy the melodrama of it all. It’s like watching a soap opera but with the best production values you could imagine. On the other hand, the magnolia version of the south makes me uncomfortable. Slave holders are the heroes who have been horribly treated by those darn yankees…The depiction of the slaves is cringe inducing and the marital rape towards the end isn’t right. So, I enjoy watching it but I acknowledge all those flaws. It was neat to see it on the big screen.

Overall Grade- B

Young Frankenstein

This was the first time I saw the iconic Gene Wilder film Young Frankenstein. It’s pretty hilarious about Frankenstein’s grandson trying to disprove his grandfather’s theories. The cast is above reproach- so funny. I particularly liked Cloris Leachman and Madeline Kahn. They are two of the funniest ladies ever. The black and white photography elevates it above a spoof movie. It’s very well done.

Overall Grade- A

The Shining-

One of the best horror movies I’ve ever seen because it dares to leave questions unanswered. This makes the film a puzzle you can come to again and again. It was great seeing it on the big screen and trying to notice how the small details fit together. While it is bloody, most of the scares are psychological horror rather than gore. It’s about a man unraveling due to cabin fever but is it so much more than that? I think so! Stanley Kubrick is at top of his game with the cinematography, production design and everything else. I also love the child actor Danny Lloyd and Jack Nicholson is of course amazing. He’s funny yet terrifying at the same time.

Overall Grade- A+

So there you have it! My thoughts on all 10 movies and my grades. Let me know what you think about these movies in the comments section. Hopefully November will have more new releases I can watch!

Long Way North Review

October 13, 2016October 13, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

For the most part the 2016 animated blockbusters have been excellent. Even the middle tier films like Storks and Secret Life of Pets weren’t half bad. That said, I wish I could convince more people to enjoy the equally strong indie animated scene of 2016. We have had great films like April and the Extraordinary World, Only Yesterday (which grows on me more I see it), Miss Hokusai Phantom Boy and now Long Way North!

Directed by Rémi Chayé, Long Way North, is like nothing else you will see this year in animation. It is a small 2D animated adventure that uses color blocking to create a unique visual style.

Rémi said about the style:

“What interests me is the emotion. I want animators to spend time on the characters’ emotions. I don’t want them to spend time tracing details or pulleys. That’s why the graphic style is so simple. No buttons, no laces, no folds in the clothes. So for the ship, the train, the dog sleds, the carriages, we made 3D objects”

This was so beautiful to watch!

The story is set in 1882 Russia where a girl named Sacha is worried about her grandfather who left for the North Pole and never returned. His failed expedition has become a joke and her family is disgraced. She then sets out on an expedition to find her grandfather and redeem her family name.

My favorite part of the story was Sacha as a character. She is a strong female character but not in a cliched way. She has diva moments where she doesn’t want to let go of her aristocratic ways and I liked that. She felt human and was fallible and grew over the course of the movie.

I also liked once they got to the North Pole how things didn’t play out exactly the way I thought they would. Honestly I could have spent even more time there as the adventure really got going then.

The animation is stunning. I loved, loved, loved, loved it. There was a roughness to the lines and a brightness to the color palate that was so refreshing and beautiful. I think Rémi is right. The simplicity did help me to focus on the emotion of the scenes and Sacha as a character. It’s funny with everything trying to be realistic these days (ala Jungle Book) I get much more emotional truth out of animation like this that is mostly shape and color.

I also really enjoyed the music by Jonathan Morali and a rock band called Syd Matters. It felt modern but as Sacha was a modern voice in this world it worked for me.

Unfortunately, there were some negatives to Long Way North. I love a good adventure story but some will find Sacha’s story to be predictable. This wasn’t a big problem for me but I do think they could have introduced more conflict earlier to make it a bit more interesting. For example, it does not take the narrative risks that April and the Extraordinary World takes.

Also I think the middle segment in the boat lasts a bit too long and I got a little bit bored (also that section was the least visually interesting in my opinion). Once they get to the North Pole it picks back up again and I was engaged.

Even with a few issues, I think it is a very strong feature film for Rémi Chayé and he and his 2D animated team deserve tons of applause. Long Way North is a 100% European production with a studio in Paris of 20 animators, 15 layout artists and 20 cel painters and the staff is equally male and female (how refreshing is all of that!). I love what they produced here and can’t wait to see what comes next!

We need independent visually unique voices in animation so I hope you will seek out films like Long Way North and give them your support. Don’t be surprised if you hear about this one come Oscar season!

Overall Grade- B+ (I’ve gone back and forth between B and B+ but it is so pretty I will go with B+)

Miss Hokusai Review

October 10, 2016October 10, 2016 | Rachel's Reviews

Some films are harder than others to describe and critique in a review. Usually these are the unique films that fail to fit into an easy category or genre. Such is the case with the recent GKIDS distributed film out of Japan called Miss Hokusai. It is perhaps the most Japanese movie I’ve ever seen and I think your tolerance for observing other cultures will indicate the appeal of this film.

Based on a historical manga of the same name, Miss Hokusai is about a woman in 1814 Tokyo named O-Ei. She is the daughter of a famous painter named Katsushika Hokusai. She watches him paint and instruct his 2 apprentices, on finding the passion behind the painting. It turns out that O-Ei is actually quite skilled at painting and she challenges her father and the apprentices to up their game. Her father is also very strict with her and insists she only produce the best art.

There is a lot of fun banter between O-Ei and the other characters and it is neat to see their artistic processes unfold. At times you literally dive into the famous paintings of her day.

The movie is definitely not for everyone. It is extremely episodic, mostly a grouping of short stories. If you require a structured traditional plot than this film is not for you. It also assumes a fair amount of base Japanese cultural knowledge on the part of the viewer. There were moments that felt a little confusing and overwhelming even though I’ve been to Japan and am decently aware of Japan and its traditions.

O-ei figures that she wants to paint in a modern kind of way. Part of the problem with that is her life experience is simple and naive according to her superiors. She tries to gain experience at certain points which end up being more awkward than anything else.

She does have a younger blind sister that she helps in some lovely scenes. Like in one scene she introduces her sister to the idea of snow, which is very exciting.

Because I am not an expert on Japanese culture, there were some confusing segments- such as there is a long run in a geisha house and I didn’t really understand everything that was going on with that. And the narrator doesn’t really take time to make it more digestible.

Still, it was inspiring to see Miss Hokusai continually improve and find new art she believes in. The visuals and the sound design are also gorgeous from every turn. You feel like you could dive into these paintings and few times you actually do just that. The main message is the piece of your soul you give up in creating art.

If you like a non-linear plot that focuses on a small number of characters than Miss Hokusai is for you. It’s emotional and will make you think about art in new ways. It’s a soft and simple film without a ton of drama or gravitas. If you can’t watch a foreign film and really think about your life than this isn’t for you.

Miss Hokusai is not a match for the Studio Ghibli films but it stands on its own as a beautiful, simple story of a female artist in 1814’s Japan. That’s certainly not a timeframe I know much about but I think they do a good job filling in those details for the uninitiated while continuing on with the short stories.

It’s not going to be for everyone because of its pacing and episodic feel but if you want something different and have patience it might just be for you. It’s a little meandering and all over the place, but I’m certainly glad I saw it.

There is also some mature content so adults only for this one.

Overall Grade- B