If Anything Happens I Love You

If Anything Happens I Love You

Writers & Directors: Michael Govier, Will McCormack

I’m cheating a bit here: this is not quite a “movie” and yet this animated short packs more in its 12 minutes than at least 90% of the other films I’ve seen this year.

The strength of this is in its simplicity: not a line of dialogue, simple beautiful drawings and yet perfectly expressive, with stark black and white with just a few glimpses of colours.

This is heartbreaking and almost unbearable for any parent to watch (and not just for them). I was already tearing up within the first few minutes and by the end I was pretty much a wreck… In fact I’m still a bit shaken right now, a good half hour after watching it. A work of beauty, that somehow manages to feel emotional and more real (hence more impactful) than many films on the subject. Co-written and co-directed by the writer of Toy Story 4, Will McCormack and a little-known actor Michael Govier, this will certainly be heading to the Oscars, especially given its anti-gun message and I seriously hope it wins too.

On #Netflix right now (though try not to read anything about it, not even the synopsis on the Netflix page)

The Borrowers (1997)

The Borrowers

Director: Peter Hewitt. Cast: John Goodman, Mark Williams, Jim Broadbent 

Here’s a pleasant surprise I had completely missed when it was first released in 1997: a film aimed unashamedly at children (and all the better for it) and yet with production values as high as any big blockbuster of the time. The attention to details particularly in the set design and props is one of the things that makes this such a joy to watch as an adult, while the children will enjoy the action romp, the great pacing throughout with flashes of “Honey I shrunk the kids” and a lot of “Home alone” in it, lots of quirky little cameo roles from known faces (including a very young Tom Felton, the future Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter movies), all wrapped up in one of the many score by Hans Zimmer at the time.

One could not really ask for a lot more in a family flick.

“The Borrowers” was made in 1997, at the height of good practical visual effects which had yet been completely spoilt by the over-use (or abuse) of CGI: film-makers still had to find clever ways to actually stage their actions scenes, as opposed to lazily and slavishly relying on the computer. I was quite surprised by how well some of the effects actually still held up today. My only slight quibble was with Jim Broadbent’s performance. I usually like the guy both in comedies and dramas, but on this one I felt he was miscast as he was on a different register as everybody else, over-acting his way through as if to compensate for the small size of his character.

Other than that a big thumb up if you want to watch something with your kids.

The Rescuers

The Rescuers

Directors: John Lounsbery, Wolfgang Reitherman, Art Stevens . Cast: Bob Newhart, Eva Gabor, Geraldine Page 

I’ve always had very fond memories of this one. I remember watching it in the cinema when it was first released in ’77 and taking my little brother to watch it again in ’83 when it was re-released (accompanied by one of my ultimate favourite short “Mickey’s Christmas Carol”). Back then it was Disney’s first box office success in over 10 years (and it would be another 12 before the next big hit with “The Little Mermaid”) and interestingly it would be the first animated feature to have a sequel in the early 90s.Today it still considered as a (minor) classic, mainly for the lovely characterizations and expressiveness of the two mice-leads, the arrays of secondary characters (the albatross Orvel, and dragonfly Evinrude among the best), one of Disney’s scariest baddie (Medusa, a cardbon copy of Cruela De Vil, in fact in an easlier draft of the film Cruela herself was meant to be the in it) and while It may not be on the same league of those big early classic, its simple and effective story-telling, the edge-of-your seat thrills and the humour that infuse the whole film make it very pleasant one. The animation itself is a bit up and down (this was a time when they were trying to save money), some of the sequences are beautifully drawn and the backgrounds with their pastel palette are very moody and beautiful, but clearly the animators took often some shortcuts and some of the sequences are slightly rougher. The songs, performed by Shelby Flint are also fairly forgettable and definitely not up to the levels of the old (or new for that matter) classics. But hey, who cares about all that. Watching it tonight as a family, we enjoyed it immensely, my son loved it and was on the edge of the sofa. A big winner in the house.

Finally, a little bit of a trivia footnote. The film became also famous (or infamous) for 2 frames where you could see a topless woman from a window (google it if you don’t believe me ).

On Disney +

Sorry To Bother You

Sorry to Bother You

Director: Boots Riley Cast: LaKeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, Jermaine Fowler 

Sorry to bother you is a crazy, surreal satirical film that’s probably the equivalent of getting high on cocaine while being feverish, drinking spirits and talking with your friends about matters like racial stereotypes, corporate greed, people working on minimal wage (I say “probably” because actually I’ve never been “high” in my life… but I’m sure the makers of this did). 

It is a unique piece of work, a cross between a ‘Spike Lee joint’ (that’s how Spike himself calls his films) and a Zucker Abrahams Zucker comedy (the makers of Airplane, Top Secret! And Naked Gun), which has non-stop energy and crazy ideas coming out of every frame (some more successful than others but all of them on message!). Definitely not subtle, but it’s ambitious, as well as messy and bonkers. 

It is an undeniably original film, at times very funny too, however after a while you just wish you had a slightly more grounded story with characters you could root for. 

As it is, it’s a film that’s easier to be intrigued and amused by than actually to love.

The wacky cacophony of criticism and social commentary after a strong start begins to feel just a bit too much and loses some of its funny undertone as it becomes increasingly and unapologetically more and more preposterous, dismissing the actual storyline it has set up and consequently becoming a little bit exhausting. 

So in the end as an audience you’re left slightly bamboozled, watching it all from a distance as opposed to being involved with it. 

I admired it but I just wish it made me care a little bit more. 

On Netflix right now. 

Terminator: Dark Fate

Terminator: Dark Fate 1/2

Director: Tim Miller. Cast: David S. Goyer, Justin Rhodes, Billy Ray 

I lost the count of how many attempts they’ve tried to make a sequel or a reboot after the first two iconic Terminator movies. This one seems to link straight to those two originals, disregarding completely what happened since, which is probably a good thing because not only all the others were pretty poor, but I don’t think anyone can actually remember what happened in them anyway. I must confess there is a certain pleasure in seeing Linda Hamilton and Arnold Schwarzenegger together again. The 30 years that have passed clearly show on Linda’s wrinkled face, but her strength and energy as an 64-years-old action hero is pretty much second to none.Mackenzie Davis here used as a sort of surrogate of Charlize Theron does a pretty decent job too .The film itself follows the usual formula of the terminator sent from the future to kill somebody and preventing that person to be instrumental for the human kind… or something like that. To be honest, who cares? The moment the film stops and starts explaining things it becomes rather dull and unimaginative, but luckily most of the rest is one action scene after another and even though there is very little as mind blowing as what we’ve seen before in Judgment day, it’s entertaining enough in a disposable sort of way, to fill a couple of hours. Just about…