Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

Posted on April 14, 2022 at 8:32 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	4th - 6th Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some fantasy action/violence
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Social drinking
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended fantasy peril/action/violence
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	April 15, 2022

“Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” comes from the world of Harry Potter, so it is about magic. But it is also about that most human of connections: brothers. It’s also about chiseled cheekbones; this is a movie that even by movie-star measures has an exceptional assortment of beautifully sculpted faces. Contrary to the title, it is not so much about Dumbledore’s secrets as it is about his efforts to stop someone he once loved from destroying both the magic and human worlds. And in doing so, it includes some political commentary that may seem pointed given its depiction of corruption, nativism, and the appeal of an autocratic leader. It relies on a level of knowledge about the Harry Potter cinematic universe that does not make this two and a half-hour movie easy for viewers who are not as familiar with the characters.

We got a glimpse of Dumbledore’s backstory in the last volume of the Harry Potter series, so we know that when he was a young man, Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) was in love with Gellert Grindelwald (now played by Mads Mikkelsen), and that during that time they created one of the wizarding world’s most powerful charms that protects each of them from being harmed by the other.

But as we learn in the opening scene, as the two wizards meet again after distance in time and in life choices. Dumbledore is now a teacher at Hogwarts, devoted to justice and decency. Grindewald has become an agent of chaos who wants to destroy the structures of both the wizard and non-wizard muggle worlds. “With or without you,” Grindewald says, “I will burn down their world and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Dumbledore has to find a way to prevent that despite the obstacle of the charm that binds them and Grindewald’s ability to see the future, thanks to a rare creature stolen just after birth by Grindewald’s henchpeople. But they don’t know that there was a twin, rescued by magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne).

And so, they have to find a way to proceed that cannot be traced by Grindewald, whose coterie includes mind-reader Queenie Goldstein (Alison Sudol) the love of muggle friend Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler). It also includes ailing Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller), severely traumatized by being told his was abandoned by his birth parents and by the virulently anti-magic woman who raised him.

Credence is the son of Dumbledore’s bitter, estranged brother Aberforth (Richard Coyle). There is another tragic loss that divides the brothers as well. Newt is helped by his brother Theseus (Callum Turner, a perfect choice for a fraternal resemblance). Another member of Dumbledore’s group is Yusuf Kama (William Nadylam), a brother motivated by the loss of his sister, but willing too relinquish his memories of her to take on a dangerous role.

Yes, it is all very complicated. This is not for the kind of audience who is new to the world of Harry Potter. This is for the kind of audience who will be delighted to glimpse a young Minerva McGonagall and will get the joke about Slytherin. Those not already invested in Queenie, Jacob, and Credence will have some catching up to do.

The production design by Stuart Craig and Neil Lamont and costumes by Colleen Atwood are never less than spectacular. Despite the best efforts of the cast, the look of the film does better in telling they story than the screenplay.

Parents should know that this movie has extensive fantasy peril and violence including some scary creatures. There is some social drinking and some verbal harassment.

Family discussion: Why did Dumbledore and Grindewald take such different paths? Why did so many wizards and witches support Grindewald? Why did Dumbledore turn down the position?

If you like this, try: the other Harry Potter world books and movies

Ambulance

Posted on April 7, 2022 at 5:32 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for intense violence, bloody images and language throughout
Profanity:	Very strong language, n-word
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended, intense peril and violence, guns, explosions, chases, many characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	April 8, 2022

There’s a reason this movie is named after its mode of transportation instead of its characters. The humans in the story have less depth. It might most accurately be named “Michael Bay Movie,” a title that would convey all you need to know, which is that this is a movie about chases and explosions and shoot-outs. It’s a good thing studios do not have to certify that no vehicles were harmed in the making of the movie because the list of destroyed cars would be longer than the screenplay.

In between the chases and explosions and shoot-outs there is a thimble-full of a story. There are two brothers, Danny (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Will (Yahya Abdul-Mateen II). Danny’s family took in Will when they were childhood best friends. As adults, Danny followed his father into the criminal activity and Will went in the other direction, enlisting in the military. But he is struggling in civilian life. His wife needs an expensive operation that is not covered by insurance and they have a young baby. And so he goes to Danny for help.

Danny says the only way he can help is by bringing Will along on a bank robbery that is happening immediately. With no time to think, no other options for saving his wife, and Danny’s assurances that everything was under control, he agrees.

Everything was not under control. Everything goes very badly, and the only members of the bank robbery gang to survive are Danny and Will. A young police officer who came into the bank not because anything looked suspicious but to ask a pretty teller on a date, tries to capture them and Will shoots him. An ambulance arrives with an EMT named Cam (Eiza González, on the other side from her bank robber role in “Baby Driver”). Danny and Will see that an ambulance with an injured can get through the police dragnet, so they hijack it, taking Cam and Keith, the badly injured police officer, hostage.

And then, well, a lot of chases and explosions and shoot-outs. Somewhere in there are tiny moments of character, mostly not very interesting (the head cop has a very big dog, Cam has a reputation for being chilly and we find out why. the FBI man in charge (Keir O’Donnell) is younger than the LAPD guy in charge (Garret Dillahunt) so there are some generational and turf-y struggles. Olivia Stambouliah makes an impression as the LAPD surveillance expert and González manages to creat a real character amidst the mayhem. Gyllenhaal, stuck with a character whose choices and responses are increasingly difficult to parse, does get in a few good moments. I particularly like his reaction after a character sprays him with a fire extinguisher, only upset about his sweater. “It’s CASHMERE!”

The action set-pieces are staged with relish for the crashes and destruction but not the kind of style and energy we get in the “Fast and Furious” franchise. Those scenes are occasionally punctuated with Bay’s odd trademark focus on random objects. Like the police chief’s gigantic dog, they add less to the pacing and tone than Bay appears to think. Or maybe we’re just too exhausted to care.

Parents should know that this film has constant peril and action violence with many characters injured and killed and some very graphic and disturbing images. Characters use strong language and commit crimes.

Family discussion: Why did Cam go to see Lindsay? Why didn’t Keith tell the truth?

If you like this, try: “16 Blocks,” “Copshop,” and both version of “Fort Apache the Bronx”

The Hater

Posted on March 17, 2022 at 12:30 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
Profanity:	Strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol, vaping marijuana
Violence/ Scariness:	Tense confrontations, oblique reference to suicide
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	March 18, 2022

Newcomer Joey Ally takes on the challenge of writing, directing, and starring in her first film, “The Hater,” the story of a far-left political speechwriter who ends up running in a Republican primary in her a right-wing community. She is better as a writer than a director and better as a director than an actor, but the screenplay is strong enough to overcome some rookie mistakes.

Ally plays Dorothy, as in Oz, who is fired in the film’s first few minutes after a viral video appears to show her burning a flag at a demonstration. She has to leave Washington to return to a place she could not wait to get away from, her home town in Texas. Her grandfather (Bruce Dern in grumpy mode) is not happy to see her, but she reminds him that she is half-owner of the house, and he lets her in.

She tries to find a job with a progressive candidate or cause, but no one wants her. Then she sees that there is a primary coming up, and her childhood nemesis, Brent Hart (Ian Harding), is running unopposed. His father is a Senator. He twice took the local high school football team to State. He is handsome and personable. The Democrat who will run against him is a woman who has already lost three times. There seems to be no way to beat him.

Unless.. .If Dorothy runs against Brent and defeats him and then withdraws, according to local rules the Republican party cannot nominate anyone else, and so the Democrat could win. So, she goes out to collect some signatures to get on the ballot. It does not go very well until she accidentally goes viral again, this time for defeating an armed robbery in a convenience store. She looks like a gunslinger, but really it was just muscle memory from color guard in high school.

Dorothy’s one-time high school friend (Meredith Hagner), whose husband is deployed in the military, opposes Brent because he plans to tear down the community center where she works. So, she signs on as Dorothy’s campaign manager. And Glenn (D’Angelo Lacy), Dorothy’s best friend and roommate from Washington, shows up for a Red State make-under. Off with the nose ring. On with clothes from her late grandmother, picked from boxes in the attic.

The best thing about the movie is its refusal to make any character one-dimensional or completely unsympathetic, especially when we find our own expectations challenged.

NOTE: I have a connection to this movie because my daughter, Rachel Apatoff, was the costume designer. Needless to say, the costumes, which are an essential element of the film, are brilliant.

Parents should know that this movie has very strong language, discussion of abortion, and some drug use.

Family discussion: How did Dorothy shade the truth in her campaign comments? How did her father’s death affect her choices? Which character would you vote for?

If you like this, try: “Dick” and “In the Loop”

Turning Red

Posted on March 3, 2022 at 5:25 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	4th - 6th Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for thematic material, suggestive content and language
Profanity:	Schoolyard language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Fantasy violence
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	March 4, 2022

Maybe think of this as “Outside In.” Pixar’s latest is like a bookend to one of its all-time best, “Inside Out.” That was a brilliant exploration of the inner life of a girl as she is beginning to feel the conflicted, intensified emotions of the middle school years, by creating characters representing her inner feelings of fear, disgust, joy, and sorrow. In “Turning Red,” we have another girl coping with puberty, but this time it is the girl herself who manifests the turmoil of adolescence in the most literal terms, turning into a huge red panda whenever she feels strong emotions.

Meilin Lee (Rosalie Chiang) is a 13-year-old living in Toronto who is confident. She tells us the number one rule is to honor your parents and she is very proud of herself for being a straight-A student and following the rules. She has loyal and supportive friends and is good at everything she tries. And being an official adult, at least in the eyes of the Toronto Transit Commission which no longer lets her ride for the children’s rate, has her feeling that she has it all on lock.

So you know that means it’s time for things to go south, right? Or maybe more like north, as Meilin’s pituitary gland is where the trouble is starting. Meilin likes to feel in control. Numbers and rules and predictability are her comfort zone. But life has many ways of reminding us that control is an illusion, and puberty is one of its most powerfully uncontrollable. “Inside Out” was a brilliant, illuminating depiction of the more cognitive and emotional side of developmental stages in the middle school years. “Turning Red” is about the even messier side, and there is very little in life that is messier or out of control than the early years of adolescence. All of this is presented in “Turning Red” with understanding, compassion, and a lot of humor — both the good humor of empathy and the downright hilarity that Mother Nature provides so we don’t all perish of humiliation during those years.

It is very rare that a movie makes me remember how much translating I have to do to immerse myself in most films. Even those made by women are rarely able to present unfiltered female perspectives. The male experience is still the assumed norm. With “Turning Red,” I felt like an ESL student taking a break to see a film in my native language. That is not just because it is the story of a girl or even because it deals with that first time when a girl’s “red peony is blooming.” It is because it is the story of the relationship between a mother and daughter (actually three generations of mothers and daughters), told by people who deeply understand both sides of that relationship and the sweetly sad experience of separating as an essential part of growing up. Co-writer/director Domee Shi was the first woman to direct a Pixar short film, and she won an Oscar for it. That was “Bao,” the story of a mother who missed her now-grown son and wished to have him as a child again. This film has the same empathy and insight. It is about emotions — recognizing and accepting them — as much as it is about hormones.

“Turning Red” does not try to explain itself or generalize. It recognizes that essential principle of storytelling — the more specific it is, the more universal. And so, while at least one male critic so far has thrown up his hands and said he is not the target audience (that did not stop him from reviewing it) and went on to dismiss whoever the movie might be directed at as very small, in fact the intended audience for any well-told human story is anyone who is human, and in this case anyone who has puberty in his, her, or their past or future and especially anyone who may be living with, teaching, coaching, or otherwise interacting with young people. Anyone who thinks that the experience of being a young girl is just too far outside of their perspective to relate do is definitely in need of stories that illuminate that experience, if only to understand the other half of the human race.

The film has wise and witty depictions of the fierce loyalty of middle school friends and the simultaneously delicious, terrifying, and embarrassing feelings of visceral physical attraction both direct (the boy behind the cash register) and indirect (a boy band so adorable you may find yourself wishing you could attend a concert and scream along with the fans, thanks in part to songs by Billie Eilish and Fineas). Pixar always has humor, but this one has more laugh-out-loud moments than we’ve seen from them before. And it has a joyful lesson about embracing the messiness that is clearly a heartfelt message from the kind of imaginative weirdos who go to work for Pixar to help us love the weirdos inside ourselves.

Parents should know that this movie deals frankly with puberty and hormones. There are some scenes of fantasy peril and some difficult family tensions.

Family discussion: How can you be a friend as loyal as Meilin’s? Would you have made the same choice that she does? What do we learn from Ming’s relationship with her own mother?

If you like this, try: “Inside Out”

The In Between

Posted on February 11, 2022 at 12:30 am

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for sexual content, brief strong language, and some thematic material
Profanity:	Brief strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Reference to a drunk driver and alcohol abuse
Violence/ Scariness:	Fatal car accident, sad death, scenes in hospital
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	February 11, 2022

Should a movie have a happy ending? We may guess that the teenage couple who debate this critical question in their very first conversation are destined for each other. We may guess which category this film falls in from the opening scene, a fatal car accident. We will see the story unfold back and forth between that night and 102 days earlier, so we can see how they met and fell in love and the events that led up to and followed the crash.

They meet when Skylar (Kyle Allen of “A Map of Tiny Perfect Things”) and Tessa (Joey King of “The Kissing Booth” movies) are entire audience for a French film called “Betty Blue.” Tessa is about to leave when she realizes that there are no subtitles. But he takes the seat next to her and offers to translate as he has seen it before and he speaks French.

They debate the value of a happy ending. As we will learn, Skylar has two loving parents he admires and is close to. He is an outstanding student and athlete and has been accepted at Brown. He believes in happy endings because the world has treated him kindly. Tessa, who lives with people who are not her parents and would rather interact with the world behind a camera, has experienced loss and she is determined to make sure she never risks feeling pain again. She cannot help falling in love with him, but cannot bring herself to say the words that come more easily to him.

Like “Ghost” and “Truly Madly Deeply,” this is a story of love and loss. Tessa is just fine at a remove from other people, taking photos and not talking to the adults she lives with. But Skylar is irresistible. Impossibly so, like beyond perfect, handsome, humble, funny, smart, and one hundred percent devoted and supportive even when she is challenging. But that’s almost okay because Allen has a lot of charm and carries it lightly and because it is depicting the heightened emotions of teenage first love. We can accept that we are seeing him through Tessa’s eyes.

King is transitioning smoothly into more grown-up roles and she is very appealing here, especially as we see Tessa’s relationship with Skylar evolve. We can see how desperately she wants to find connection and allow herself to be loved, even as it terrifies her. The movie is about 20 minutes too long, but so sweet it is hard to hold that against it.

Parents should know that this movie includes discussion of family loss, abandonment, and dysfunction including a mentally unstable parent, foster care, and divorce, brief strong language, and a teen sexual situation.

Family discussion: How do you decide when to protect yourself and when to make yourself vulnerable? Why was it important for Tessa to hear her own words?

If you like this, try: “Every Day,” “Before I Fell,” and, also starring Kyle Allen, “A Map of Tiny Perfect Things”