Two giants are available to you this week. There’s that “Hello neighbor” guy Mr. Rogers who many will remember watching as children and is now depicted for a more mature appreciation. And there’s a sequel to the biggest money-maker ever in animation. Not enough? There’s excessive gunplay, obsessive video taping and a film from almost every country in the European Union. Read on.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood: 4 stars
Frozen II: 3
21 Bridges: 2
Recorder: the Marion Stokes Project: 3 ½
EUFF: The Tobacconist: 3
EUFF: In Times of Fading Light: 3 ½
EUFF: The Weeping House of Qala: 2 ½
A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: Perfect for this season coming up. Cynicism go away; here is warmth and kindness winning out over you. It’s a good message for children, but this film is not for the young ones. It’s for the ones who used to watch Mr. Rogers years ago on TV and need a reminder of the trusting attitude they saw then but which may have drifted away on them. Tom Hanks revives it for you. His portrayal of the beloved kids show host is excellent. He captures his essence without doing an imitation although he does talk slowly and gently and sort of looks like him.
The film isn’t so much about him though, not like last year’s documentary Won’t You Be My Neighbor? It shows the effect he had on a cynic: magazine writer Tom Junod (here named Lloyd Vogel and played by Matthew Rhys). Esquire assigned him to write a short profile; it turned into a full cover story and is the basis for this film. He was enchanted by the unapologetic goodness Rogers exuded and was moved to turn around the problems in his own life, particularly the cool relations with his father (Chris Cooper). There are many studio scenes re-creating typical sequences from the TV show and several chats as the host and writer got to know each other. A scene of children singing to them on the subway could have been hokey, but isn’t. Neither is the film. After the self-loathing of her last one, director Marielle Heller has made a fine feel-good movie. (5th Avenue, International Village, Marine Gateway and suburban theatres) 4 out of 5
FROZEN II: This is going to be a big hit. As big as the first? I don’t know but it’s now open in over 4,000 theatres—Cineplex International Village has it playing in three—and there’s enough in it to make it seem like a match for the original. The main characters are all back, there are lots of new ones, the animation is spectacular and the big power ballad this time, called “Into the Unknown,” is another statement of self-determination by Elsa. First rule of sequels: don’t fool with what worked. Remember Frozen is the highest grossing animated film of all time.
But this film also different. Bigger and louder for one thing. Not so much a fairy tale but bloated up into a huge mythological epic. You’ve got rock monsters, ice statues, a magical water horse and questions both personal and mammoth that need to be answered. Elsa and Anna, as children in the early going, hear from their father about an enchanted forest up north where his people built a dam for the benefit of the nature-loving people who lived there. Elsa (voiced by Idina Menzel) feels if she goes there she may be able to find out the source of the powers she has. Her sister Anna (Kristen Bell), would-be suitor Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) and comic snowman Olaf (Josh Gad) go too, and of course bring songs of their own. Some of them become huge, rousing numbers. But the plot sails even higher, into environmentalism and undoing injustice to indigenous people and learning family history. The story elements don’t all meld properly, they feel dreamt up in a blue-sky session, but there’s enough color, humor and fun to at least keep them pasted together.(Dunbar, International Village, Scotiabank, Marine Gateway and suburban theatres everywhere) 3 out of 5
21 BRIDGES: We get so many movies these days with action scenes that are so frantically played and edited that we can’t make out what’s going on. Here’s one that isn’t confusing like that. The various gun battles here are sleek and clear and effective. There’s a problem though. They keep coming. Too many of them. Eventually the effect dulls. At the same time, the story gets convoluted and almost indecipherable—something about corrupt cops—but exactly what isn’t clear. Plus an attempt to tie all this in to contemporary issues in the United States about cops vs blacks doesn’t work. It’s not told well.
Chadwick Boseman (who has been Black Panther and before that Jackie Robinson and even a Supreme Court Justice) is a hot-head New York cop known for killing cop killers. There’s history to explain why, but not really justify. When eight cops die in responding to a robbery he’s called on to shut down all the bridges into Manhattan and get the killers. They happen to be a mixed pair. One is played by Kelowna-born, Vancouver-raised Taylor Kitsch (much of the time behind a mask). His partner, played by Stephan James, is black and therefore the subject of more half-baked storytelling about racial disadvantages. Most unclear is the heist itself. There’s ten times the cocaine they expected; the police show up before there’s even an alarm and what’s going on remains obscure. J.T. Simmons is around to complain about bureaucracy as if that’s the problem. The shooting battles work though. (Scotiabank and a few suburban theatres) 2 out of 5
RECORDER: THE MARION STOKES PROJECT: Here’s a delight for collectors and hoarders because Stokes was both. She recorded obsessively from her TV; over 70,000 VHS tapes over 30 years, and the film gives us a terrific sampling. The Challenger Explodes, planes hit the World Trade Centre, Iran takes hostages, Star Trek airs what she considered a form of “televised socialism,” Sinead O'Connor rips up the Pope’s picture. And isn’t that a young Kellyanne Conway, (named Fitzpatrick at the time) in one scene? Bush, Jesse Jackson, Ted Turner, Steve Jobs, Jeff Sessions (called Jeffrey in 1986) and many more are here. This montage gives a hint of the range.
Stokes was a Communist but rich, because she recognized early on that Apple was a good investment. She started a public access TV discussion group, joined the Fair Play for Cuba Committee (but wasn’t allowed to travel there) and at home had several video recorders rolling all day and all night. She also saved newspapers and books. After she died seven years ago, her tapes were donated to a university for cataloging. She hoped to “transcend time” somebody says. There are fascinating glimpses in this film. (VanCity Theatre) 3 ½ out of 5
EUROPEAN UNION FILM FESTIVAL: I always find a few gems that haven’t been here before and may not come again so this annual event at the Cinemathque is something of a highlight for me. This is the 22nd annual festival and has films from 25 EU countries. They include big local hits, award winners and current and past submissions to the Academy Awards. Best of all, since they were apparently chosen through their embassies and consulates, they reflect specific national tastes and pride of achievement.
I’ve seen three, including two with a veteran actor in German language films, Bruno Ganz. He’s best known to us for playing Hitler in the film Downfall but that’s just part of a long filmography stretching over 50 years. He died earlier earlier this year. The festival has him in films from both Germany and Austria.
In THE TOBACCONIST he’s playing Sigmund Freud, a regular customer at a smoke shop in Vienna where he offers relationship advice to a love-struck young man just arrived from the countryside. It’s a romantic comedy based on a popular novel but also deftly balances in the political: the rise of Naziism, the annexation of Austria and the growing incidents of anti-Semitism. It’s a charming film with considerable bite. (3 out of 5)
Germany’s submission, IN TIMES OF FADING LIGHT, has Ganz as a still-loyal believer in the Communist system in East Germany that is clearly eroding. His 90th birthday party brings together various half-hearted well-wishers and serious questions like “Is there still a plan for the world?” His own grandson has just run off to the west. The dialogue is sharp about facing reality. (3 ½ out of 5)
Malta’s entry, THE WEEPING HOUSE OF QALA, is quite different. It’s a haunted house creeper set on the tourist island of Gozo. A film crew spends a night in a house where a family disappeared years earlier and noises are heard at the same time everyday. Lights flicker, doors clank, footsteps are heard, a top spins, people go missing in dark rooms in this easygoing and satisfying thriller. (2 ½ out of 5)
There’s information on all the titles at https://thecinematheque.ca/