A Whisker Away: Delightful story anime fans should enjoy

Movie Review: A Whisker Away (2020) on Netflix 

A Whisker Away is a delightful anime story about Miyo, a young high schooler who gushes her affections for the boy of her dreams (Hinode) but only wins their returns when she dons the genuine disguise of a cat. The disguise is assumed when she puts on a mask given to her by a large cat who encourages her to live full in the disguise, knowing once she accepts the disguise as her true identity the mask will assume her face and the cat can assume her human identity and live the longer human life. 

It turns out Hinode loves the cat, but he finds Miyo's human acts kind of strange. So he pours on the affection, feeding the cat and spending a lot of quality with it. Meanwhile, Miyo's home life isn't so swell, living with her father and step-mother, who she doesn't appreciate. It looks like life as a cat is really the ideal life for Miyo. She tells the big cat she guesses she would like to remain as a cat and he takes off with the mask, much to Miyo's surprise, and she has to chase him down to try to find it. As a result, Miyo goes missing and everyone in her life, whom she has come to assume doesn't care about her, goes searching for the missing curious girl.

As with most Japanese anime, A Whisker Away is rich in natural imagery, the story coming to life in their use of amazing lifelike art of trees and grass and flowers and clouds, and the characters and animals have a unique lifelike movement. Yet much of the story is filled with exotic fantasy elements and animals with truly fantastic abilities and attributes. This film reminds me much of the works of writer, director, producer, and artist Hayao Miyazaki, especially The Cat Returns and My Neighbor Totoro. 

If you are a fan of anime, you should enjoy this film. I would rate A Whisker Away A for Great Anime.

Raya and the Last Dragon: Great storytelling and fun viewing!

Movie Review: Raya and the Last Dragon (2021) Disney +

Wow! What a cinematic experience is Raya and the Last Dragon, featuring two fearless yet vulnerable women as leads in Disney's powerful animated mythological tale from the Far East.

Raya is the daughter of the aging leader who wants to unite competing clans under the power of the one gem created by the last powerful dragon. The four other clans want to break up the gem and savor the power for themselves. When a battle separates the gem and the people into factions, and begins turning people into stone--including Raya's father--it's up to Raya to put all the pieces back together, before all hope is lost. First, however, she has to win over Namaari, the strong-willed princess of one of the most powerful clans who wants to bring the gem back to her mother to rule them all.

Features an amazing cast of characters as varied as the amazing clans. And an imaginative menagerie of settings, each clan having a sumptuous land to feast your eyes upon. The music is uplifting, as well. All making for great storytelling and fun viewing.

Raya and the Last Dragon was created during the COVID pandemic, when production companies had to come up with solutions for producing films during the lockdown. This film was gorgeously designed and brought to life by 400 artists who all worked from home in an artform that requires a lot of collaboration. The results are amazing. 

Fine entertainment for the whole family, I rate Raya and the Last Dragon A^^ for Way Above Average.

Blue Miracle: Good theme, good cast, good family film

Movie Review: Blue Miracle (2021) on Netflix

Blue Miracle is a good summer-weather watching movie. Good theme, good cast, good family film.

Based on a true story. Omar and his wife run an orphanage in Cabos San Lucas, Mexico, where they care for street orphans no one else will take in. 

A hurricane has inundated their building and destroyed much of their food, and the bank is calling in their overdue loan--their only hope to retain a safe home for their kids is to join a crusty old boat captain to win the challenging tourist-town fishing competition. Omar suffers a fear of fishing from a devastating accident during childhood, and none of the orphans have ever done this kind of fishing, plus crusty old Captain Wade is really just in this for himself and wants nothing to do with the kids, so the odds of success start off pretty low. But Omar is known by the kids as Papa Omar because he is like a steadfast father figure to every one of them, and he teaches the youngest a lesson about nailing his hopes and dreams to the wall with a nail he finds on the floor, and that becomes an omen for good and the source of their Blue Miracle.

As hokey as some of this script can feel, much of it depends on your ability to suspend your disbelief long enough to build trust in the characters to carry their hopes to fruition. It's high on aspirations and if you can give them all the benefit of your patience and good will, they will reward you with good performances through an optimistic and upbeat storyline. Hey, it's based on a true story! And they signed Dennis Quaid as the crusty old captain, who gives a fine performance as a guy who'd rather not be bothered by a bunch of little kids yet who gets pulled into their humanity.

Now, this isn't Best Picture material. It isn't Best Script or Best Cinematography material, either. But it's a good story with a lot of heart, and dang it, I think in the end you'll like it if not love it. I'd rate Blue Miracle a B^ for Bright Spot of the Day. 

Fierce: A great story and a lot of fun

Movie Review: Fierce (2020) on Netflix 

Take a ride on the wild entertainment side with Fierce, a movie from Poland airing on Netflix that you can listen to in its native Polish or access excellent English dubbing. We chose the English dubbing, which features some great acting voices. Music mixes well with original lyrics. This makes for great entertainment.

Fierce is also the name of the main character, a high school teen whose mother is the jilted girlfriend of the main host of Music Race, Poland's popular singing talent TV show. Turns out Olo is also Fierce's secret father, who left them when she was a baby, leaving the two destitute. The mother, daughter, and their single grandmother watch Olo's show talking him down and when it's announced the show is doing a remote episode from their town, Fierce hatches a plot to confront Olo, first to show him up for being a louse, then to compete for the show's big prize and show him up on national TV. But she can't even sing!

O.K., some of the side characters are kind of cheesy, making them self-centered and shallow, as celebrities are often depicted. But the main characters actually have some depth and the plotline works pretty well with them. So ignore the side characters and focus on Fierce, her mother, and Olo. Also Fierce's boyfriend, who tries desperately to support her.

Then watch this movie for fun. It isn't serious cultural commentary. More, it's a look at competition shows in other cultures and how fierce that competition can get and affect people unexpectedly who aren't prepared for it. 

This film was somewhat of a revelation for my wife and me. She is second-generation Polish and visited there in 1975 and was amazed at how much it has changed physically. The main setting beyond Fierce's small hometown is Warsaw, which my wife experienced during her visit and it's been transformed dramatically since then. Yet during a birthday scene they sang a traditional Polish birthday song my wife's parents and grandparents had brought with them to America after World War II, word for word and by tune unchanged. So there was a dichotomy there!

We enjoy watching films from other countries, other cultures. It's helpful if you understand the cultures but not necessary. In this case, we knew quite a bit about Poland and its culture, but there were still surprises, and whatever you may or may not know about it, with the elements of this competition you will recognize from watching talent competitions in your own country or elsewhere, much of this should be familiar to you. You should be able to choose captions and audio to aid in understanding of the dialog, depending on where you're reading this review. 

To recap, this girl and her mother's story crosses borders and cultures. Father leaves them, chance gives them an opportunity to address the issue, opportunity also gives them a chance to become something greater than they ever dreamed. It's a great story. I'd rate Fierce A for A Lot of Fun.

The Trial of the Chicago 7: The event and personas lost in the patina of time

Movie Review: The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020) on Netflix

If you're a Boomer, you remember the summer of '68 and the chaos surrounding the Democratic National Convention, and the resulting trial of "The Chicago 7", for good or ill. As each succeeding generation lives through its own moments of turmoil, that time and the turmoil it produced likely bring back the memories of "the sixties" and "the movement" that produced the clash of civilizations that led up to The Trial of the Chicago 7. So this bit of historical drama brings it back into focus for those of us who lived in that time and those who may only have heard about it--and especially for those who are barely aware of it.

First, it's important to be aware, this drama plays out almost like a documentary, written by one of the premier political-drama fiction screenwriters of our time: Aaron Sorkin, who also directed the film. It is, of course, foremost a drama, but the feel and attention to detail is documentary-like. That's not to say it doesn't borrow from dramatic license. 

Second, we all benefit from hindsight, or "hindsight is 20-20." So it is a story that lays out with the benefit of the end in mind and can connect dots and plan for conclusions that in real-time--documentary time--would not be possible, even with editing. So Sorkin has 51+ years of experience and context to work with here.

And finally, what a cast! This film is as much about the characters as it is about historical events, and Sorkin put together an amazing ensemble of players to portray the personalities of a movement who were as transformative as the changes they sought to bring about (again, for good or ill, whatever your perspective). They had to be who the characters had been in real life, and remembering those times, these actors exuded their being. Eddie Redmayne was Tom Hayden. Alex Sharp was Rennie Davis. Jeremy Strong was Jerry Rubin. And, especially, Sasha Baron Cohen was Abbie Hoffman. Mark Rylance was William Kunstler, their attorney. Even more minor characters were so on-target for their portrayal, although they were lesser known in their time. 

I guess the takeaway I'd suggest from seeing this film is how real this film seems, feels, looks, and presents itself of the events, the times, and personalities of the time. It has a point of view, of course--all films do. But it picks up an event and personas lost in the patina of time and presents them again with the advantage of time and context and perspective, with some drama.

I would rate The Trial of the Chicago 7 A^ for Above Average in storytelling, writing, and acting. Well worth a see.

I Care a Lot: Great storytelling

Movie Review: I Care a Lot (2020) on Netflix

I Care a Lot is about a lot of things. Untwisting the plot entanglements and knots is half the fun. The other half is enjoying the actors playing the characters doing the tying and twisting (or untwisting) and knotting. And this is what makes I Care a Lot so darned watchable. 

Rosamund Pike plays Marla Grayson, an attorney for an nearly invisible legal firm that sets herself up as legal guardian for unwitting elderly wards without family and swindles them out of their assets by setting them up in a posh nursing home. It's all legal, of course, if dubious. Dianne Wiest plays Jennifer Peterson, one of Grayson's dupes, who though she isn't the brightest bulb is aware something ain't right when she's taken to the nursing home without her consent. And she's a problem for Grayson, because she's connected to Roman Lunyov (played by Peter Dinklage), a member of the Russian Mafia, as one of his assets.

Now, neither Grayson nor Lunyov like to lose, and the story becomes not just a battle to save Peterson's assets (personal or the Mafia's), but a battle of wits between two driven achievers. Who will win? The legal eagle who dots her I's and crosses her T's and leaves no loose ends? Or the brutal strategist who isn't afraid to play rough and loose with the rules to get his way? That's why we sit through to the end of the film!

Did I mention Pike won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for this movie? Need I remind you Dinklage has made a career of playing lovable rogues, none so famous as Tyrion Lannister in Game of Thrones? Together, they make a power couple on the screen. And Wiest is just amazing as the little ol' lady who should be out of her legal league but isn't to be trifled with or counted out. 

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that Lunyov and his merry band of Mafia thugs don't sound like Russians. This might have been something the director should have picked up on? Still, it's a minor flaw when you take into consideration the brilliance of the writing and the main acting otherwise. 

If you haven't seen I Care a Lot, it's worth a view. I rate it A^ for Above Average for great storytelling.

The White Tiger: There is so much to love about this film

Movie Review: The White Tiger (2021) on Netflix

The White Tiger is a sleeper, a great movie with huge potential that's getting little attention. Don't let that stop you from seeing it.

The white tiger is the eager opportunist who knows when to spring into action and make the most of the right moment. Balram Halwai wants to be a white tiger and make something of himself, despite being a young male in his matriarchal family in small-town India. But things aren't panning out, until one day he comes up with a plan to impress a very rich man to become his personal driver. 

Balram packs up his few meager belongings and walks the long distance to the big city and imposes himself on the rich man. It appears to be a hopeless cause, until the man's son appears. He's just returned from America with his new wife and their modern western ideas, and they want to give Balram a chance. So Balram is hired--but, as their number-two driver. 

An eager achiever, Balram connives his way into the number-one spot, pleasing his bosses but also creating adversaries and enemies. His decisions and drive for success threaten to lead to his downfall, while his creativity and eagerness to overcome roadblocks offer to lead to his salvation. But this isn't just about one man's strive to succeed.

India is still a culture intrenched its aged caste system, and that is part of Balram's problem. He was born near the bottom of the system; he strives to rise above it. Those trying to help him can only help so far. It's by sheer determination, and a bit of underhandedness, that he moves beyond it, often at the disadvantage of others. Yet in the end, that's how he ultimately triumphs. Knowing what you come to know watching him struggle, you can't help root for him.

There is so much to love about this film. Its energy, its diverse settings, its characters, its cast, and in many ways, its simple and honest vision. The White Tiger buzzes with enthusiasm, due much to its lead actor, Adarsh Gourav who portrays Balram. And there is plenty of humor in this film to get you past the some of the depressing parts about his poverty and his place in the caste system. 

Likely, The White Tiger isn't for everyone. But it's worth a try. India has a bustling film industry that offers some amazing storytelling, and this is one of them. I rate it A^ for Above Average.