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The Croods: A New Age – Stone Age Meets the Modern Age

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If you want to look at the present, sometimes we need to start with the past.

Following the events of 2013’s The Croods, The Croods: A New Age follows the ‘first family’ as wander through the wilderness. Their simple lives are turned upside down though when they stumble upon the Bettermans, a family that has built a life of privilege through their innovative technology and their high value on self-protection. When the Bettermans decide that the Croods are a threat to their life of luxury, they attempt to rid themselves of their visitors but, in the process, unleash the danger that lurks on the other side of their incredibly high walls.

Directed by Joel Crawford, Croods: A New Age was not a sequel that seemed necessary yet proves to be most welcome. Whereas the first film focused entirely on the Crood clan, New Age opens up the world considerably (and creatively) with the addition of the Bettermans and their utopian realm. While the first film was fairly well-received, the world in which they lived had a relatively limited colour palette as the Croods trudged through their largely dusty terrain. However, with a new environment comes new opportunities for innovation and Crawford and his team let their imaginative juices fly.

Featuring wild creatures and dazzling bursts of colour, there’s an energy within New Age that was missing from its predecessor which also gives the franchise new life. (Personally, I believe that anyone who came up with the idea of ‘wolf-spiders’ really needs to seek some professional help, regardless of how adorable they look.) Filled with modern references like ‘window addiction’ and enough technological wonders to make The Flintstones jealous, Croods: A New Age feels relevant to the modern family and keeps the laughs going along the way.

Even the cast seems slightly more… well… animated in the sequel now that they some new blood to play with. Given the opportunity to work alongside Dinklage’s sophisticated but slimy Phil Betterman, Nicolas Cage’s Grug seems much more likable and endearing. At the same time, with their relationship now firmly established, both Emma Stone and Ryan Reynolds are much more comfortable with one another as their characters move towards their ‘forever’. Stealing the show, however, are the aforementioned Bettermans, played by veterans Peter Dinklage and Leslie Mann. Stepping into the role of antagonists to the Croods, Dinklage and Mann are a joy to watch as the obnoxiously wealthy Bettermans. (‘Emphasis on the better,’ they remind.) Though detestable for their celebration of privilege, Dinklage and Mann embed their performances with a nervous desire to protect their family that somehow makes them seem more sympathetic. 

Similar to the first film, A New Age also wants to explore what it means to be both an individual and valued part of the pack. As they settle into the Betterman’s luxurious villas, the Croods finally have the opportunity to have some privacy… but is that something that they really want? As they adjust to living in a technological paradise that allows for them to finally have some space between them, the Croods also find themselves more divided.

Having built a bond between them by always sticking together (primarily out of fear), their new environment provides a certain sense of ease to it that gives them freedom. While this can be life-giving to some, innovations like the ‘man-cave’ and Thunk’s obsession with the window also create roadblocks within their family. In this way, the film recognizes the modern challenges of relationships as we continue to find new ways to create space between us and struggle to maintain open communication in the family unit.

What may be most surprisingly, however, is that A New Age is also unafraid to venture into a new age of ideas by adding the numerous layers of cultural subtext to the family-friendly adventure. From the female empowerment of the Thunder Sisters to the abuse of the environment, the film explores a broad range of culturally relevant issues that help elevate the film’s story. (In fact, through Betterman’s control of the bananas and water supply, the film even suggests the socio-economic ramifications of creating a caste system where the divide between rich and poor continues to grow.) In doing so, there’s a certain level of bravery to A New Age as it intelligently explores some of the deeper issues of our current culture while never becoming overburdened by the conversations or losing the fun.

Despite having little that’s new to the standard animated release, the disc Little Red Bronana Bread and Dear Diary: World’s First Pranks are not spectacular but are effective and entertaining. What’s more, director’s commentaries are always welcome as well. Still, the simplest shorts may be the most helpful. For parents looking for something to do with their kids during a lockdown, shorts that offer creative options like ‘FamiLeaf Album’, ‘How to Draw: Caveman Style’ and ‘Stone Age Snack Attack’ may help bring some activities into your home. It’s also worth noting that the colours really pop onscreen with the home release, especially on the 4K disc.

Filled with humour and heart, The Croods: A New Age is a worthwhile venture. Once again, Grug, Eep and the rest of the family prove that the value of knowing your place in the pack and the importance of supporting one another in the most difficult of circumstances. 

Without question, they have peaked my interest to see what happens in the next age.

Croods: The New Age is available on VOD, 4K, Blu-Ray and DVD on February 23rd, 2021.

Freaky: A Sadistic (but Silly) Switcheroo

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When Blumhouse does something right, it’s worth taking notice.

As the reigning kings of horror, Blumhouse has been involved with some of the last decade’s most iconic franchises. From Paranormal Activity to Split to Insidious, it feels like almost every major franchise of the genre is tied to the House of Blum. While not all of them are instant classics (I’m looking at you, Fantasy Island), the studio has gained credibility for its willingness to try to take risks while still bringing the scares.

And Freaky definitely qualifies as a ‘risk’.

Now on BluRay, DVD and VOD, Freaky follows Millie (Kathryn Newton), a high school senior still grieving the loss of her father and struggling to survive as a social pariah. Keeping a close circle with her besties Nyla (Celeste O’Connor) and Joshua (Misha Osherovich), Millie mostly stays home to help her mother and wants to get through high school unscathed. However, when a terrifying encounter with the Blissfield Butcher (Vince Vaughn) leads to her soul trading bodies with the known serial killer, Millie must race against the clock to reverse the curse and get back to her normal life.

While Freaky doesn’t have the social conscience of recent Blumhouse classics like Get Out, The Purge or The Invisible Man, it’s humour certainly cuts deeply enough to be worth the time. Despite the fact that the body-swap premise is far from fresh, Freaky’s unique vision gives the formula new life. Directed by Christopher Landon (Happy Death Day), Freaky is bloody good fun that accomplishes what it sets out to do. In other words, the film is funny when it wants to be and horrific when it needs to be. 

While Freaky‘s sadistic switcheroo is well-implemented, there are admittedly some characters and side stories that do feel like they get pushed aside in favour of the primary story. (For example, Millie’s mother feels like she’s been given some significant struggles with her alcoholism, yet the film barely blinks the implications of it.) In this way, the film does feel at times like it misses its full potential, even though it thoroughly entertains.

Thankfully, the film’s success is anchored entirely upon the performance of its two stars and both Vaughn and Newton absolutely kill it as the body-swapped duo. Having mostly chosen roles in smaller, independent films in recent years, it’s nice to see Vince Vaughn step back into the comedy limelight. As a 50-year-old man playing a teenage girl, Vaughn shows an vitality and glee that we haven’t seen in his performances in quite some time. In addition, co-star Kathryn Newton counter-balances Vaughn’s silliness with an inner darkness that is almost bone-chilling at times. Empowered by her new personality, Newton works with focus and ferocity as she awaits the proper moment to go in for the kill. 

Somewhat strangely, Freaky is very interested in starting a conversation about female empowerment. Bullied at school for her quiet demeanour, Millie is constantly made to feel weak and helpless by anyone outside her inner circle. (Even Mr. Bernardi [Alan Ruck!], Millie’s abusive shop teacher, seems to have a needless grudge against the quiet young woman.) However, when her spirit lands in the Butcher’s body, she experiences a sense of power for the first time. (In fact, she consistently apologizes for her inability to control her newfound physical strength.) Though she doesn’t inherit his murderous tendencies (well, arguably), Millie’s experience does give her a confidence that she hasn’t experienced before. Having been the victim of many stronger than herself, the experience of life in a man’s body offers Millie a chance to claim a power that has long been taken from her by others.

Interestingly though, the film also never (well, arguably) loses the innocence of Millie’s spirit either. Though she is unrecognizable physically, her friends recognize her quickly because the sweetness of her soul continues to shine through her middle-aged, masculine shell. Even potential love interest Booker Strode (Uriah Shelton) is able to see past the Butcher’s gruff exterior and speak with ‘Millie’ from his heart. (Admittedly, the scene does get particularly awkward when one remembers that it’s Vaughn in the role, but I digress.) While the culture around her has often used her innocence as a reason for abusing her, the purity of her soul is what keeps her from fully embracing the Butcher’s brutality. By emphasizing her heart,  Freaky manages to subtly suggest that true female strength comes from within, especially at the hands of a toxically masculine culture.

Released today on BluRay and DVD, Freaky’s so-called ‘killer bonus features’ are a little on the light side. Features on Christopher Landon’s ‘brand of horror’ and comparing Millie and the Butcher are fun but forgettable addendums. (Of course, the film’s commentary with Landon and an extra explaining how they accomplished their graphic kills are particularly fun.) 

Having said this, Freaky is not a film that requires a tonne of extras on its disc to make it an appealing purchase. As a horror comedy, Freaky successfully lampoons the tropes of the genre while while simultaneously celebrating them as well. What’s more, with surprisingly convincing performances, the duo of Vaughn and Newton give the film enough focus and energy to elevate it from merely a tired concept to an evening of absolutely killer fun.

Freaky is available on BluRay and DVD on Tuesday, February 9th, 2021.

Lost Girls and Love Hotels: Heartbreaking Hook-Ups in Hotels

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Sometimes, there’s a thin line between love and lust.

Directed by William Olsson, Lost Girls and Love Hotels tells the story of Margaret (Alexandra Daddario), a young woman struggling to find her way in the urban heart of Tokyo, Japan. Though she works as an English teacher at a flight attendant academy by day, Margaret spends her nights in love hotels with random men in an effort to ignore the loneliness inside her. When she enters into a passionate affair with a charming yakuza named Kazu (Takehiro Hira), Margaret falls deeply in love with him. However, as his secrets emerge and her insecurities surface, Margaret and Kazu must decide whether their relationship is worth the pain that it may cause them both.

Part Lost in Translation and part 50 Shades of Grey, Lost Girls is a dark and brooding film that blurs the lines between love and loneliness. Mirroring the double life that Margaret clings to onscreen, director Olsson weaves a web of sexual intrigue that swings wildly in tone. However, by juxtaposing the bustle of Tokyo’s everyday world with the seediness of night, Olsson does an excellent job of portraying the double-minded nature of urban life. For example, during the day, he uses the crisp lines and cool lighting to portray Tokyo as a city of organization and efficiency. Meanwhile, at night, he bathes the screen with filtered lighting and bleeding colours, giving the city a sleezy eeriness that would be featured in the best neo-Noir suspense thrillers. Nonetheless, as the film progresses Olsson shows that these two worlds blur together for Margaret who doesn’t fit neatly into either one.

With this in mind, credit must also be given to Daddario for her solid performance as a young woman searching for her soul. Not known for her dramatic work, Daddario shows her range by putting Margaret’s emotional scars on full display. Even so, at the same time, Daddario gives her character an underlying innocence that adds to the tragedy of her arc. This sweetness also allows for her scenes with Hira to feel genuine as the two display an engaging and playful chemistry onscreen. 

In many ways, Lost Girls is an intriguing exploration of the relationship between love and sex. As a young woman alone in a foreign culture, Margaret attempts to kill her inner pain with random sexual encounters. Though a [mostly] stable English teacher by day, Margaret moves from bed to bed after dark in an effort to feel some form of joy in her life. For Margaret, the emptiness of lustful hook-ups has become a drug to get her through the night. However, when she meets Kazu, things change for her. Though the two spend nights hidden away, Margaret finds something in their relationship that she has been lacking… a sense of home and stability. Broken by the losses that she’s suffered throughout her life, Margaret’s heart is filled with feelings of abandonment yet she is instantly drawn to Kazu’s power and confidence. As a member of the yakuza, Kazu may be seen as dangerous to others but Margaret instantly feels safe with him.

Further, it’s interesting to note how Olsson chooses to shoot these sexual encounters. Whereas films like 50 Shades depict escalating sexual subjugation within the confines of relationship, Lost Girls takes the opposite approach visually. Instead, the most graphic onscreen moments are reserved for Margaret’s most meaningless sexual encounters. Though she is willing to participate in sexual servitude and bondage, those moments do not occur in her nights with Kazu. When she is with Kazu, scenes of intimacy are shot with reverence and tenderness, highlighting the connection between the two. (In fact, it’s interesting to note that Daddario’s nude scenes are primarily limited to her empty sexual experiences, emphasizing their exploitative and abusive nature.) In doing so, Olsson’s goal seems not to be to shame sexuality but rather to emphasize the power of soul-connecting intimacy between a loving couple.

Now, having said this, it’s also worth noting that the downfall of Lost Girls also stems from its male gaze. While Olsson can be given credit for attempting to empower his lead character, Lost Girls still feels like it doesn’t understand the female psyche. Though Daddario’s work here is particularly good, the film ultimately establishes Margaret as a character in need of rescue from the men in her life. (In comparison, as a woman herself, Coppola’s writing in Lost in Translation feels much more sensitive to Charlotte’s [Scarlett Johannson] journey.) In Lost Girls, Margaret allows Kazu to gradually become her life support and, when that relationship struggles, she falls further into darkness. In this way, Olsson’s script portrays Margaret as a modern damsel in distress with her inner strength dependant on whether or not Kazu approves of her. As a result, while Lost Girls wants to say something about the female experience, Olsson’s personal blinders limit Margaret from becoming a character worth fully admiring when the credits roll.

Swinging between sweet and sinister, Lost Girls and Love Hotels is an often-intriguing exploration of love in a place of hopelessness. Although sexually graphic in nature, the film uses these moments to remind the viewer that intimacy between lovers matters more than the quantity of their experiences. Even so, however, in the moments where Olsson’s work shows reveals his male bias, Lost Girls shows that love may not be the only thing here that is blind.

Lost Girls and Love Hotels is available on VOD on February 9th, 2021.

Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World

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The search for truth is at the heart of Hans Pools documentary Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World. It tells the story of a group that searches out the truth in news stories, even when powerful nations seek to hide behind lies.

Bellingcat is a multi-national collective of citizen open-source investigative journalists. They are people with expertise in various subjects. They use online information in amazing ways to ferret out the truth of world events. This ranges from identification of perpetrators of violence in Charlottesville, verifying bombings in Syria, the poisoning of a Russian dissident, and more.

Much of the film involves Bellingcat’s investigation of the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airline flight MH-17 by Russian (or pro-Russian) forces in Ukraine. It is amazing the amount of evidence about the incident and the weapons systems involved  these people were able to find online, such as seeing the movement of the convoy the day of the attack. But it is not just finding the information, it is also a matter of interpreting the information.

As professional journalism continues to struggle to stay afloat, the role of citizen journalist is expanding. Of course, that raises questions of professional standards and reputation. For professional journalism, trust is often based in the institution and our perception of its reliability, whether that is BBC, Fox News, or the New York Times. But citizen journalists establish trust through transparency, showing the evidence they have accumulated and verifying its accuracy.

Much of the work of Bellingcat deals with the disinformation that is spread by official and unofficial channels. It is more than just fact-checking. It often means that they have to find evidence that disputes the message that is being sent out. We see the results of some of the investigations they have done, but we need to realize that it is because of long, complicated investigations. Watching them explain where they found all the evidence is impressive, but more impressive is how hard it must have been to find it all in the enormous cyber universe. At times Bellingcat has determined things to be fact before official investigators have.

We are bombarded by news and fake news every day. It can be difficult to wade through it all and judge where the truth lies. This film takes us inside a group that is working to overcome the lies with truth that they can back up.

Bellingcat: Truth in a Post-Truth World is available on DVD.

Enter the Fat Dragon: Learning Who You Are

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In an obvious homage to Bruce Lee’s classic film, Enter the Dragon, Donnie Yen stars in Enter the Fat Dragon. In this action comedy, Yen stars as Fallon Zhu, a ripped hardcore action cop who doesn’t play by the rules. Millions caused in property damage? No problem. Though his bosses may hate him cause he’s reckless, he gets the job done. Hong Kong calls him by many names “Jackass of the century” and “reincarnation of Bruce Lee” but, after being demoted and losing the love of his life, he becomes a washed-up deadbeat, inflating from a tight 145lbs to 250 lbs. When he finds himself entangled in a case that could make or break his career, Zhu must fight those in his way and, maybe, win back the girl as well. 

Donnie Yen as an actor has had many successes over his career, but he can’t help be compared to Bruce Lee’s success and achievements and continues to be viewed as a less talented version of the martial arts icon. In this way, Enter the Fat Dragon feels like this may be Yen’s way of addressing the shadow of Lee’s that he has lived in throughout his entire life. (Even the title of the film is a self-mocking parody of Bruce Lee’s most famous film, Enter the Dragon.)  With this in mind, the film speaks to the theme of accepting one’s true self and being who you are. When Fallon becomes overweight and loses his girlfriend Chloe, they fight about the career paths they’ve taken and who they are as people. He is constantly ridiculed for his weight (even by Chloe). Later in the film, as he gets his confidence back, he begins to fight like he once did, he realizes who he is and gains new perspective on his identity (and his relationship with Chloe as well). Similarly, Chloe also begins to have the same realization about her own life. Looking back on the path that she’s had to take to reach success as a second-rate actress, she begins to have an identity crisis and questions her decisions along the way. Both Zhu and Chloe must decide whether to accept each other’s paths and who they are, flaws and all.

In the same way, this also seems symbolic of Yen’s journey of having to accept being his own person as well. He will never be the next Bruce Lee but he doesn’t need to be. Clearly, Yen has accepted the career path he’s had and who he is and he as a person.

Once again, Yen is able to bring the action we’ve seen with previous movies hits of his career. The comedy works really well with the contrast of super choregraphed intense action that makes great use of their environments. The characters are also very endearing, and even relatable with their struggles. All around, Enter the Fat Dragon is a hilarious action comedy that does the martial arts genre justice. As always, Yen pops off the screen and long-time fans of his will truly appreciate the story played out through the film. 

Enter the Fat Dragon is available on VOD and DVD/Blu-Ray now.