Dear White People

Posted on October 16, 2014 at 5:25 pm

B+

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for language, sexual content and drug use
Profanity:	Very strong language including racist terms
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, drug use
Violence/ Scariness:	Tense confrontations
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	October 17, 2014
Date Released to DVD:	February 2, 2015
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00OMCCJIS

Before I turn to whitesplaining this film, I will begin by suggesting that you read what Aisha Harris at Slate and what my friends and fellow critics Travis Hopson and Stephen Boone have to say first. If I did not have enough humility before seeing the film about my ability to provide some insight into a movie about racism, the best evidence of the power of the film’s message is that I have more now — and that I recognize it might still not be be enough. I liked the film very much and want to encourage people to see it, so I am going to weigh in with some thoughts and hope that if they come across as disrespectful or ignorant, it will lead to some good conversations and, I hope, to greater understanding.

The focus is on four African-American students at an Ivy League school called Winchester University. Sam White (a biting but layered performance by standout Tessa Thompson) is the host of “Dear White People,” a controversial radio program with stinging, provocative commentary along the lines of “Dear white people: The official number of black friends you are required to have has now been raised to two. And your weed man does not count.” Coco (Teyonah Parris) is an ambitious woman who wants to be selected for a new reality TV series, even if that means creating a fabricated backstory and becoming more confrontational. Troy (Brandon P Bell) is the handsome, accomplished BMOC (and son of the dean) who says he has never experienced prejudice and is under a lot of pressure from his father to succeed. And Lionel (Tyler James Williams) is something of a loner because he feels he does not fit in with any of the rigid categories of the campus hierarchical taxonomy. He is invited by the editor of the school newspaper to go undercover to write about race relations at the school.

Each of these characters’ identities and conflicts is represented in their hair. Sam has tight, controlled coils. Coco has long, straight hair. Troy’s hair is cut very close to the bone. And Lionel’s hair is a marvel of untamed frizz that seems to be a character of its own. Each of the characters will face challenges to his or her carefully constructed identity, and all will be reflected in changes of hairstyle.

The dorm that had previously been all-black is now integrated following a race-blind room assignment policy. Sam takes on Troy in an election for head of house, never anticipating that she might win. But she does. This leads to some changes, including a confrontation with the arrogant frat-bro Kurt (Kyle Gallner), son of the white President of the university and leader of the school’s prestigious humor publication. Kurt is the kind of guy who expects to be allowed to eat wherever he likes, even if he is not a member of the house. He also explains that we live in a post-racial world because Obama is President. And he thinks it is a great idea to plan a “ghetto” party, with white students dressing up as gangsta caricatures.

Just to remind us that, while the movie may have a heightened sensibility for satirical purposes, it is not outside the realm of reality, the closing credits feature a sobering series of photos from real “ghetto” parties held on campuses across the country.

It is refreshing, provocative, and powerfully topical, respecting and updating the tradition of “School Daze” and “Higher Learning.” It deals not only with questions of race but with broader questions of gender, class, identity, and the way we construct our personas, especially in our late teens and early 20’s. Writer/director Justin Simien has created a sharp satire with an unexpectedly tender heart.

Parents should know that this film includes very strong language including racial epithets, sexual references and situations, drinking, drug use, and tense confrontations about race, class, and gender.

Family discussion: Where do the people in this movie get their ideas about race, gender, and class? Which character surprised you the most and why? Do you agree with what Sam said about racism?

If you like this, try: “School Daze” and “Higher Learning”

The Boxtrolls

Posted on September 25, 2014 at 5:59 pm

A-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for action, some peril and mild rude humor
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Cartoon-style peril and some violence, comic allergic reaction, references to disturbing violence, some gross images
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	September 26, 2014
Date Released to DVD:	January 19, 2015
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00HLTDARS

The-Box-Trolls-2 — Copyright LAIKA Studios 2014

LAIKA Studios (Paranorman and Coraline) has created another loveably crooked world, this time inspired by Alan Snow’s Here Be Monsters! (The Ratbridge Chronicles). It’s their first period setting, a sort of slightly bent Edwardian with a touch of steampunk, in the town of Cheesebridge. LAIKA’s motto may be “No straight lines, no right angles, no perfect circles,” but this wobbly community is rigidly stratified, with the White Hats at the top of society, nibbling on exotic cheeses in the elegant Tasting Room and hosting elegant parties, the lower class Red Hats desperate to be accepted by them. There is an entirely separate group, the gentle Boxtrolls, who live underneath the city, turning rubbish into Rube Goldbergian machines and tending their garden. They are called Boxtrolls because of their attire — discarded cardboard boxes. And their names come from the boxes they wear: Fish, Fragile, Shoes, and Specs.

And then there is Eggs (Isaac Hempsted Wright). He thinks he is a Boxtroll, but he is a human, left as a baby by his father, who was trying to keep him safe. Apparently Cheesbridge follows Noam Chomsky’s theories of language: while the Boxtrolls speak in a sort of mumbly pidgin talk, Eggs speaks flawless and rather aristocratic-sounding English. Their happy life is disturbed by Snatcher (Sir Ben Kingsley), the leader of the Red Hats, who conducts raids to capture the Boxtrolls. He knows they are harmless, but he has persuaded the White Hats that the Boxtrolls capture and eat human children so that they will depend on him to exterminate them. If Snatcher gets rid of all of them, the Mayor of Cheesebridge has promised to give him a White Hat and allow him into the sanctum sanctorum, the Tasting Room. There is one problem, though. Snatcher, despite his protestations to the contrary, is massively lactose-intolerant.

Mayor Lord Portly-Rind (Jared Harris) and his wife Lady Portly-Rind (Toni Collette) have a daughter named Winnie (Elle Fanning, the sister of “Coraline” star Dakota Fanning). She longs for them to pay attention to her. Their neglect has led her to develop a macabre fascination with what she imagines are the atrocities of the Boxtrolls and she decides to investigate. When she finds out that the Boxtrolls are harmless, she agrees to help Eggs tell her father that Snatcher has lied. Eggs will need to be persuaded that he is in fact human and then taught some of the basics of human interaction so that he can deliver the message.

The word “immersive” is often used to describe movies with 3D effects that seem to make the images surround the viewer by extending both in front of and behind the screen. But LAIKA’s films are more deeply immersive than that because of the intricacy of the world they create. Most animated movies use miles of code to show us how every individual hair in an animal’s fur rustles in the wind. But the handmade touch and infinite care of LAIKA’s stop-motion films, where figures and props are nudged ever so slightly for each individual frame and craftspeople spend months creating practical (not digital or virtual) effects to evoke water, fire, and clouds, creates an environment that is tantalizingly complex and invites many viewings to explore its wonders.

LAIKA is perfectionist in its dedication to not being perfect. It embraces the messiness of life. The Boxtrolls’ cavern is grimy and dank, and the Portly-Rind home filled with dessicated finery, but both are brimming with endlessly inventive detail, especially the elaborate mechanics of the Boxtrolls’ cave and the meticulous choreography of the White Hats’ ball. Every single object reflects the care taken by the filmmakers and every detail reflects some element of character and story, which are messy as well. Winnie, who has so much, is lonely and neglected. But she is brave and honest.

Eggs, who has so little, is surrounded by love. He is loyal and courageous. And Snatcher, who is so desperate for acceptance that he will don an elaborate disguise, make libelous accusations, and put his health and even his life at risk, is ultimately not really able to destroy the Boxtrolls. His henchmen, played by Tracey Morgan, Nick Frost, and Richard Ayoade are less wicked than existentially confused, trying to persuade themselves that they are on the right side.

The visuals are deliciously grotesque at times, but the message is a sweet one: families come in all sizes and shapes, sometimes biological, sometimes not, but what defines them is love.

NOTE: Be sure to stay through the credits to see some existential ponderings by the characters and a brief cameo by animator/CEO Travis Knight.

Parents should know that there are some comic but grotesque and macabre images. Characters are in peril and apparently killed, though shown later to be imprisoned. A character appears to have lost his mind. Another character explodes (offscreen).

Family discussion: Why was it so important for Snatcher to be a White Hat? Why didn’t Winnie’s parents pay more attention to her? Why did some of the Red Hats think they were the good guys?

If you like this, try: “Coraline,” “Paranorman,” and “Monster House”

The Equalizer

Posted on September 25, 2014 at 5:59 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout, including some sexual references
Profanity:	Very strong and crude language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, drugs and drug dealing
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended and very graphic violence, with many characters injured and killed and graphic and disturbing images
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	September 26, 2014
Date Released to DVD:	December 29, 2014
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00NX6WZIS

THE-EQUALIZER — Copyright 2014 Columbia Pictures

The only thing nicer than having a real-life friend who could circumvent any obstacle of power or law or, you know, logic to deliver the roughest but most just of rough justice would be to have that friend be Denzel Washington. And that’s the story of “The Equalizer,” very loosely based on television series starring Edward Woodward, but in theme and character closer to a superhero saga.

Washington plays Bob McCall, a kind and quiet inventory clerk at a big box store, but we can tell right away that he has seen some stuff and knows even more stuff. His alarm clock goes off in a room so spare it might be occupied by a monk. But the bed has not been slept in. Bob prepares for the day, serious, precise, and methodical. He does one thing at a time. At work, he eats his bag lunch and gently but firmly coaches his young colleague Ralphie (Johnny Skourtis) on losing weight and working on the skills he will need to pass the test for security guard. And at night, he brings a book to the diner (Hemingway’s The Old Man and The Sea), sits at a table, unwrapping the tea bag he brought with him, and exchanges a few words with Teri (Chloë Grace Moretz), a young “escort.” “The old man met his adversary just when he thought that part of his life was over,” Bob tells Teri. “The old man got to be the old man. The fish got to be the fish. Got to be what you are in this world.” But what is Bob? And what is Teri?

We do not know Bob’s past, but we know he has one (especially if we’ve seen the trailer). If, as Spider-Man learns, with great power comes great responsibility, then with great power come some wrenching conflicts as well. When Ralphie and Terri get in trouble, Bob will step in, risking escalation, retribution, and blowing whatever cover he has worked very hard to create. On the other hand, if he does not step in, it will not be much of a movie. And if you have any question, his next choice of classic literature will make it clear: Don Quixote, who “lives in a world where knights don’t exist anymore.” In his own way, Bob is a Knight of Rueful Countenance. But unlike Don Quixote, Bob does not tilt at windmills. He takes on very bad people and he is very, very good at it. “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why,” the film tells us at the beginning, quoting Mark Twain. Bob was not born to haul sacks of gravel.

A superhero movie has to have a character with power, whether it is money plus gymnastics and cool toys (Batman) or extra strength and speed (pretty much all of the Avengers). But we usually like them to have a secret or at least downtime identity — Bruce Wayne, Clark Kent, Tony Stark. There’s a lot of satisfaction in seeing them take down the bad guys. But there is even more satisfaction in what I call the “who is that chef?” moments (a reference to Under Siege). It’s not enough to kick the butt of the bad guy, you have to have the vast, immense, profound satisfaction of letting him know just how massively he has underestimated you. I mean Bob.

We get a lot of both in this film as Bob takes on bigger, meaner, and tougher bad guys in bigger, meaner, tougher confrontations. Bob likes to set his stopwatch so we know he is setting himself against more than the bad guys; he is still in some competition with, what? His abilities when he was younger? Or, as he says, “progress, not perfection” — is he moving toward some goal that is still just out of his reach?

Basically, this is a slow burn movie, with a build-up to introduce us to the characters and then a series of action sequences, all well staged but very, very violent, as to be expected from director Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”). The bad guys are very, very, very bad. The good guy is very, very, very, very good. Denzel Washington is as good as it gets.

And a sequel is in the works.

Parents should know that this movie is extremely violent, with many characters injured and killed and many explicit and disturbing images. Characters use strong language. Bad guys use every possible kind of weapon and engage in every possible kind of criminal behavior including sex trafficking, extortion and arson, and drug dealing.

Family discussion: Why did Bob go to see his former colleague? What did he learn from the classic books he read?

If you like this, try: “Training Day”

The Maze Runner

Posted on September 18, 2014 at 5:59 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action, including some disturbing images
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Underage drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended sci-fi action, peril and violence with many disturbing images, including monsters, dead bodies, apparent suicide, and wounds, many characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	September 19, 2014
Date Released to DVD:	December 15, 2014
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00OY7YPGK

Yes, it’s another dystopic YA trilogy (actually, there’s a fourth volume, a prequel), and yes, only a teenager with fabulous cheekbones can save the day. But “The Maze Runner” is not a lesser repeat. It is a worthy addition to the genre, an absorbing drama with surprising turns and even more surprising resonance to contemporary conflicts.

Our main character learns what is going on around him at the same time we do. He awakens with a gasp in an elevator cage hurtling to the surface. His memory is gone. He does not know who he is or where he is. When the elevator stops, he finds that he is in a wilderness, the entire population adolescent boys. They call it The Glade. For three years, one boy has arrived by that same elevator every month, along with some supplies in a box marked WCKD. We learn along with the boy, called “Greenie” by the others because he is new, that they have created a society with rules and assigned tasks. The Glade is surrounded by a massive maze that re-arranges itself every night. One group of boys, called Runners,” explore the maze every day to try to map its variations and figure out an escape path. They have to be out of the maze at night because horrible monsters called The Grievers come out. No one who was in the maze at night has ever survived. A “sting” from one of the monsters is toxic, causing madness. The other boys, led by Alby (Aml Ameen of “The Butler”), introduce the greenie to their world and tell him he will remember his name. “It’s the one thing they let us keep.” He does remember. His name is Thomas (Dylan O’Brien).

The boys understand the concept of parents but have no memory of ever having had any. Chuck (Blake Cooper), one of the youngest and most tender-hearted of the boys in The Glade, confides to Thomas that he has carved a little totem for the parents he cannot remember but hopes to be returned to some day.

Alby explains the rules to Thomas. Everyone must do his part. Never harm another Glader. “None of this works unless we have trust.” Never go beyond these walls. But those rules are based on the past. Thomas’ arrival signals some changes. Or did he create those changes? That is an issue that will be debated and then fought over.

“You’re not like the others,” someone says to Thomas. “You’re curious.” Thomas says that if they have not figured a way out in three years, it is time to try something new. Some of the others agree with him, especially after the elevator arrives with someone new — a girl — with a note that says she will be the last one.

A little bit “Lord of the Flies” (boys creating their own society, the struggle between animal instincts and human justice), a little bit “Hunger Games” (teenagers used as pawns by adults), it still manages to bring some imaginative and provocative themes and create distinctive characters. The maze itself is stunning. Production designer Marc Fisichella and the entire sound team have created a maze that is more than an obstacle course or a metaphor. The conflicts as the boys try to maintain some control in the midst of an environment that, like the maze, shifts and constricts are absorbing. The result is a film that you do not need to be a teenager or a YA fan to appreciate.

Parents should know that this film has sci-fi-style action, peril and violence, guns, knives, many young characters injured and killed, suicide, scary and disgusting monsters, some disturbing images, some strong language, and teen drinking.

Family discussion: Why do Thomas and Gally have different ideas about what to do? What was the maze supposed to test?

If you like this, try: the book series and other dystopian films like “The Hunger Games” and “Divergent”

Adventure Planet

Posted on August 26, 2014 at 5:00 am

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	Not rated
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Environmental hazards, some peril
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to DVD:	August 19, 2014
Amazon.com ASIN:	B00M1CFWCG

Jane Lynch, Danny Glover, Brooke Shields, Bailee Madison, and Drake Bell provide the voices for “Adventure Planet,” an animated adventure for the whole family out today on DVD. Norva and Jorpe are siblings who live in the tropical forests of Northern Thailand, each of them endowed with unique gifts: Norva is an accomplished martial artist and an expert on local plants, while Jorpe has the ability to communicate with animals and plants. When excessive global warming creates fearsome “fire beasts” who begin to wreak havoc on the planet, world leaders develop a new solution called the “Cool Bomb” to combat the monsters. The problem is that the “Cool Bomb” will only make the crisis worse — and only Norva, Jorpe, and their friend Sam, the son of the President of Capital State, know the truth. As time begins to run out, the three friends must find a way to stop the “Cool Bomb” and prove that there is another way to save the planet. Originally titled “Echo Planet,” this Thai film was renamed and redubbed for its US release.