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Bunny business

Zootopia

Disney delivers another animated winner with Zootopia, a cute, uplifting story with a surprising dark side. It’s the sort of movie that’ll have kids asking their parents a few questions about some tough topics, while also being a movie that should entertain just about anyone who sits their butt in a theater seat to watch it. Judy (Ginnifer Goodwin entering the Voice Acting Hall of Fame) is a little bunny determined to be the first bunny cop on the force in Zootopia, a metropolis populated by animals. On the road to joining the force, she faces a lot of opposition for being both a bunny and a girl. Judy beats insurmountable odds, and winds up on the force, much to the chagrin Chief Bogo (Idris Elba). The chief assigns her to traffic, of course, where she meets up with shifty fox Nick Wilde (Jason Bateman) who is running an ingenious Popsicle scam. When some mammals come up missing, Judy finds herself on the case. She eventually enlists the help of Nick, and they seek out a missing otter. That otter is actually named Emmet the Otter, which had me holding out hope for a jug-band hoedown but, alas, it never happens. The film is co-directed by three guys: Byron Howard (Tangled), Rich Moore (Wreck-It Ralph) and Jared Bush (his feature debut!). Directing by committee certainly works in this case, as the film has a nice unified feel while sustaining a surprising depth for an animated movie. Among the themes successfully tackled are sexism, racism and bunnyism. When discussing these aspects of the film, go ahead and get bunnyism out of the way first with the kids. A hypothetical dinnertime conversation regarding Zootopia when a child asks if a bunny can be a cop: “No, my dear child, a bunny can’t be on the police force,” the parent answers. “But mom and dad, dogs are allowed on the police force. Why not bunnies, too?” the child retorts.

“Because dogs are big and strong and have heightened senses of smell that help us to find drugs and things,” the parent opines. “Actually, rabbits not only have a very keen sense of smell, dear parent,” the child continues, “but they also have those big ears which make them really good listeners and potentially awesome detectives! Their by Bob Grimm presence on the force could provide a new level of insight and outreach for a branch of bgrimm@ civilization often roundly criticized for its newsreview.com lack of empathy and compassion,” the child asserts. 4 “Shut up and eat your broccoli!” the parent commands. To give away how the film approaches the topic of racism would be to give away too many aspects of the plot. There’s a good mystery at play, and it’s done in an intelligent way that will keep parents and kids guessing and engaged. Other members of the voice cast include J.K. Simmons as Mayor Lionheart, Tommy Chong as the fly-infested Yax, Jenny Slate as assistant mayor Bellwether, and Shakira as Gazelle, the pop star. Shakira’s performance of “Try Everything” is better than any movie music 2015 had to offer. Man, last year sucked for movie soundtracks, didn’t it? The animation is top notch and inventive, with cute little touches throughout. Judy’s hometown is farmland distinguished by an Easter pastels palette. At one point, Judy chases a thief through a rodent community, sending a bunch of mice running for cover in their little buildings as if she were Godzilla. I especially liked a moment when a train arrived in a station, and a little door opened up beside bigger doors to let out a stream of chipmunks. Freaking adorable! So, Disney has another great bunny to add to the souvenir rack at Disneyland alongside Thumper, Roger Rabbit, and Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh. (I feel Rabbit from Winnie the Pooh doesn’t get the recognition he deserves.) Judy is a true winner, as is Zootopia, already a solid contender for Best Animated Film of 2016. Take the kids knowing you might actually enjoy yourself and appreciate the film even if it does act as a shred grenade on your wallet, especially if you spring for 3-D. Mother of Christ, movie-going is expensive. Ω

"Let's get wascally!"

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4Deadpool After a false start with the character of Wade Wilson in 2009’s uneven yet unjustly maligned X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Ryan Reynolds gets another chance at superhero—albeit unorthodox superhero—stardom. This time he scores big in this twisted film from first time director Tim Miller. The movie establishes its weirdness with scathing opening credits that poke fun at Reynolds’s stint as Green Lantern. It then becomes a consistently funny tragi-comedy involving Wade, a mercenary who comes down with terminal cancer, dimming the lights on his future with girlfriend Vanessa (Morena Baccarin). He submits himself to an experiment that leaves him disfigured yet superhuman, bent on revenge against the criminal who made him this way. Reynolds finally gets a really good movie to match his charms, and Deadpool gets the nasty film the character beckons for. The film gets an R-rating for many reasons, and there really was no other way to make a Deadpool film. It needed to be depraved, and it is. T.J. Miller provides nice comic support as a weary bar owner, and a couple of X-Men show up in a hilarious way. A sequel is already in the works, and this is a very good thing.

4Hail, Caesar! The latest from the Coen brothers follows a day in the life of Eddie Mannix (Josh Brolin), a studio enforcer at Capitol Pictures in the 1950s tasked with keeping stars out of trouble and assuring moving pictures stay on schedule. In the middle of filming a biblical epic, huge star Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is kidnapped by Hollywood communists, who demand ransom money. Mannix must figure out how to get his star back while dodging two gossip columnists (both played by Tilda Swinton in increasingly hilarious wardrobe), navigating the latest scandal of studio star, DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson) and comforting hot director Laurence Laurentz (Ralph Fiennes), who has had a marblemouthed stunt actor named Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich) forced into his romantic comedy. The plot is paper thin, but it does give the Coens a chance to do their quick interpretations of old timey movie Westerns, screwball comedies, Esther Williams pool epics, overblown Bible movies, Gene Kelly musicals, and more. The whole thing is a blast but, admittedly, will probably go over best with diehard Coen fans.

3Kung Fu Panda 3 Jack Black returns as the voice of Po in this decent second sequel in the saga of the Panda warrior and his warrior cronies. This time out, Po encounters his long lost dad, Li (the warm growl of Bryan Cranston), who takes him to the land of the pandas so that he can learn the powers of his chi. Such an advancement in his warrior techniques is absolutely essential for the lands are being threatened by a spirit realm warrior named Kai (J.K. Simmons voicing what I think is some sort of super muscular yak-type thing). The stuff with Po and Li is cute, with the added element of Po’s adopted dad (James Hong) being a little jealous. There’s a cool psychedelic look at times, and the animated series continues to impress on artistic levels. The story feels a bit like a repeat of the previous two. That’s OK, but doesn’t necessarily place this chapter high on the originality scale.

5The Revenant For the second year in a row, director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu has delivered the year’s best film. The best movie of 2015 is The Revenant, an eye-popping Western thriller that gives Leonardo DiCaprio, the winner of the Golden Globe for Best Actor, the role that should finally score him that first Oscar. DiCaprio gives it everything he’s got as Hugh Glass, a scout working with fur traders on the American frontier in the early nineteenth century. Glass, while doing his job, gets a little too close to a couple of bear cubs, and Mama Grizzly is not all too happy about such an occurrence. What follows is a lengthy and vicious bear attack where Glass tangles with the nasty mother not once, but twice. Inarritu, DiCaprio and some amazing visual technicians put you in the middle of that bear attack, minus the searing pain of actually having a bear’s claws and teeth rip through your flesh. Trust me when I tell you, it’s an unforgettably visceral moment when that bear steps on DiCaprio’s head. DiCaprio is incredible here, as are Tom Hardy as a villainous fur trapper who wants to leave Glass behind, Domhnall Gleeson as the commander forced to make horrible decisions, and Will Poulter as the compassionate man who makes a big mistake. It’s a revenge tale amazingly told. 3 Triple 9 Casey Affleck chews a lot of gum in the latest from super reliable director John Hillcoat. Affleck plays Chris, a new cop in a fleet of bad cops who distinguishes himself by, you guessed it, chewing gum a lot. He doesn’t just chew that shit, either. Oh no. He cracks it, he pops it, he moves it all over his mouth and lets the white wad stick out of the corners, and he makes sure it gets in the way of nearly every line delivery. If I should ever get to helm an action cop movie, what with my budding film career and all, I’m going for the gum-chewing title. I will make sure to have my action cop guy constantly unwrapping pieces of gum and shoving them into his pie hole. I won’t stop at Wrigley’s either. Nope, I’ll get some Big Red in there, adding to the color palette. We’ll get some Bubble Yum and Bazooka for bigger, longer lasting bubbles. It’s going to make my action star so freaking tough looking. OK, so the actual movie is pretty good. Like the usual Hillcoat movies (The Road, The Proposition, Lawless) it’s a dark film with a bleak outlook on humanity. Nobody is happy in this flick, and they are going to let you know that for sure. Only this time, there’s a whole lot of gum chewing and some fast-moving, impressive action scenes to go with all of the brooding. Anthony Mackie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Aaron Paul, Woody Harrelson and, yes, Affleck make this dirty cop thriller a worthwhile viewing. Hillcoat proves he knows his way around an action flick, and while this particular one is thin on plot, it’s strong with atmosphere and performances. And, yes, it has a lot of gum.

3Whiskey Tango Foxtrot Tina Fey makes a seamless transition to more dramatic fare with this, the story of a female journalist dropped into the middle of the war in Afghanistan. Based on the book The Taliban Shuffle: Strange Days in Afghanistan and Pakistan by Kim Barker, the film has a MASH vibe to it when it’s at its best. Fey gets plenty of chances to be funny, but this is her meatiest role yet, allowing her to show off a promising more serious side as an actress. When her life in New York gets too humdrum, Kim (Fey) winds up in Afghanistan with no major field reporting experience, dodging RPGs and filing stories nobody cares about. She has standard long-distance relationship problems on top of that, along with an on-site romance with a freelance photographer (Martin Freeman). Directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa (Crazy, Stupid, Love and Focus) the film pops on occasion, but spends a little too much time in dusty apartments rather than out in the field. Margot Robbie is great, if a little underused, as another field reporter while the likes of Billy Bob Thornton and Alfred Molina perform admirably in supporting roles. The film doesn’t always click, but it remains watchable thanks to Fey and, to a lessor extent, Robbie. It stands as an interesting turning point in Fey’s career.

5The Witch Unlike The Blair Witch Project, this Sundance award-winning directorial debut— and total masterpiece—from Robert Eggers, who also wrote the script, actually has a witch in it. She makes her first appearance very early on in the film, and she’s doing a bad thing. A really, really, horribly disturbing, oh-that’s-how-thismovie-is-really-going-to-start bad thing. Set in 1630s New England with an exceptional attention to detail, there are plenty of ways to interpret the events and themes of The Witch—the mark of a good, heady horror film. Eggers has made a horror movie with some major meat on the bone that stands in league with such classics as The Exorcist and Rosemary’s Baby. And, oh lordy, is this film creepy. The sense of dread kicks in immediately after William (Ralph Ineson) is banished from his New England settlement for getting a little too over-the-top with his religious beliefs. He, his wife Katherine (Kate Dickie), their little baby, their oldest daughter, Thomasin (Anya Taylor-Joy), son Caleb (Harvey Scrimshaw), and creepy twins Mercy and Jonas (Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson) must head out into the gray forests and fields to make a life away from government and society. What follows are hellish encounters with different incarnations of the witch, talking goats, possessed kids, and a bunch of other stuff that will unsettle you. Eggers has made a great movie that can be interpreted many different ways. If it doesn’t scare you, you are far braver than me.

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