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storks

Day 5 at AFI Docs

June 28, 2021 by Darrel Manson 1 Comment

Often when important events happen, those involved pay homage to the past by talking of standing on the shoulders of giants. (This actually goes back to before its attribution to Sir Isaac Newton, so there are obviously lots of giants.) Today’s films look back at a couple of those giants upon whose shoulders others have stood and may still stand. One is well known. The other will likely be someone you haven’t heard of.

Celebrities often take part in social causes. In Andre Gaines’s film The One and Only Dick Gregory, we get a look at a comedian, a civil rights and anti-war activist, and healthy lifestyle activist. His humor was often built around race. He could play a room full of white people and have them laughing while at the same time making biting commentary. He was a friend to Medgar Evers and Dr. King. He was arrested frequently. He was targeted by J. Edgar Hoover. It was not enough for him to be rich and famous. He wanted to change the world.

In the film his autobiographiy coauthor Robert Lipsyte says, “He had a mission to accomplish, and it wasn’t just making jokes.” Indeed, very little of the film deals with his comedy, which was impressive in its own right. That comedy opened the door for many more Black comedians (some of whom pay a bit of homage in the film). What we see over and over is a man who was committed to the causes that affected people—racial injustice, the war in Vietnam, and later nutrition.

I was aware of Dick Gregory as a comedian/activist, but was never really connected to his work. This film, gives a very full picture of a man who was indeed a giant in many ways. The One and Only Dick Gregory will be available on Showtime July 4.

“I want to see America be what she says she is in the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. America, be what you proclaim yourself to be!”

When filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy West were making the Oscar-nominated RGB, they came across a citation that Ruth Bader Ginsberg had in her brief arguing for women’s rights before the Supreme Court. They thought it was worth finding out who this person was. My Name Is Pauli Murray is what they discovered. Fifteen years before Rosa Parks, Pauli Murray was arrested for not moving to the back of the bus. Decades before the Wilmington Lunch Counter Sit-In, Murray and other students desegregated restaurants in DC. Murray was one of the founders on the National Organization for Women. Essays Murray wrote were part of the arguments laid before the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education. Murray made the case that the Fourteenth Amendment could be used to protect women’s rights (as Ginsberg argued). And yet, so few of us have heard of Pauli Murray.

Murray was something of a polymath. She was an author, lawyer, poet, and eventually a priest. (Murray was the first Black woman ordained in the Episcopal Church.) You may note my lack of pronouns here. Murray was gender non-conforming, and in today’s language would probably identify as transexual. Murray often practiced confrontation by typewriter, writing letters to people of power. When writing to FDR, Murray would copy Eleanor Roosevelt, which lead to a friendship.

Much of the film is made up tape recording of Murray reading from an autobiography as it was being written. It is important that we can hear that story in Murray’s own voice. It is also important to hear the stories of people who knew Murray and who have continued build on that legacy. Pauli Murray truly was one of those unknown giants upon whose shoulders people are still standing seeing a future that can be made better.

For today’s shorts, I want to make special note of When We Were Bullies. Filmmaker Jay Rosenblatt coincidentally meets an elementary school classmate decades later, they recall a bullying incident they were part of. Rosenblatt tries to contact all those involved to see if they remember it. It’s a difficult thing to realize that one has been a bully. (I made that realization some time ago.) In a way, that may be a typical part of growing up. But does that absolve us of what we have done so long ago. An excellent short.

Other shorts for today include Lydia Cornett’s Party Line, which show scenes from the very long line on the final day of early voting in Columbus, Ohio, last year. Ohio law only allows one early voting site per county, and 117,356 people voted early in that county. We see lots of masked people waiting in the snow to take part in democracy. In Halpate, directed by Adam Piron and Adam Khalil, we see Seminole allegator wrestlers in Florida with a bit of background as to why they have done this.

Photos courtesy of AFI.

Filed Under: AFIFest, Film, Film Festivals Tagged With: AFI Docs festival, antiwar movement, bullying, civil rights, documentary, LGBTQ, storks, women's rights

Smallfoot: Truth Can Be Costly

December 6, 2018 by J. Alan Sharrer Leave a Comment

As a child, I remember reading about the legends of Bigfoot and the Abominable Snowman, also known as the Yeti.  What in the world were these huge hairy creatures, and why were people unable to capture anything other than shadowy pictures of them?Were they simply afraid of people? Did they have something sinister to hide? Or were they allergic to anything relating to humanity?

Past films have done one of three things involving Bigfoot and/or Yetis: (1) identified them as gruesome monsters nobody wants to mess with, (2) portrayed them as creatures worth exploring the woods and mountains for, or (3) simply casting them as misunderstood beings.  Fairly recent examples of this last phenomenon include Harry and the Hendersons and Monsters, Inc.. We can now add to that Smallfoot, a animated feature from Warner Brothers.  Based on a book called Yeti Tracks by Sergio Pablo, Smallfoot offers viewers a story about discovering the truth that’s wrapped in layers of colorful, pastel-tinted computer graphics. There are definitely some things kids (and adults alike) will take away from the film, but I feel like it cobbled too much from past movies, limiting its effectiveness.

In a nutshell, Smallfoot is about a land of Yetis who seem to have the perfect life living on their mountain perch.  Nobody visits their ‘world’ and they don’t visit anyone—mainly because the world ends in a cloudbank of unknown depth (paralleling Storks). Nobody is convicted to go beyond what they already know as safe (paralleling The Giver).  A tight set of rules, drawn on stones in pictorial form and worn by the Stonekeeper (voiced by the rapper Common), governs the Yetis in an attempt to keep them safe and insulated (again, paralleling The Giver).  Questioning is severely frowned upon (paralleling 1984).  When Migo (voiced by Channing Tatum) spots a Smallfoot—err, human, he’s immediately fascinated.  Maybe the stones were incorrect!  But the human suddenly parachutes below the bank of clouds, leaving Migo (and later, a few additional Yeti) curious at what lies below.  When he discovers humans aren’t as bad as one might think, Migo brings his discovery to the attention of the people and the Stonekeeper. At this point, the film spirals into the realm of why humans and Yetis cannot co-exist before a betrayal-redemption sequence (including a chase through the Pac-Man inspired town where the humans live) occurs. In addition, a number of peppy songs contribute to making the film lighthearted, even when the subject matter becomes more serious in nature.

The quality of the animation is quite good, though it’s in more in the vein of Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs versus anything Pixar-related. As for the characters, Migo is somewhat memorable for a lead, as he discovers himself and what he truly believes in while filling in the blanks about questions he’s always had. The Stonekeeper has a unique outfit along with truths to tell—and hide (although it’s pretty jarring to hear a rapper’s voice leading the group at first). The group that seems to understand Migo are completely serviceable—except for Fleem (Ely Henry), who attempts comic relief but completely falls flat. Percy (James Corden) is a Steve Irwin wannabe who wants to get rich but finds something more when he looks beyond his dreams, plans, and numerous selfies.

There are a number of themes kids and adults alike will be able to take from a viewing of Smallfoot, especially in the area of telling the truth. Migo sees the Smallfoot (i.e., Percy) and, when he tells the community, he is banished because it goes against the stones and causes the other Yetis to start questioning. At this point, he could’ve simply accepted the ruling of the Stonekeeper and moved on, but he held fast to what he believed, found Percy, and proved they exist.  Later, he suppresses this truth in the name of keeping the Yetis safe.  However, Migo learns that telling the truth can be costly. In a similar vein, we can consider the apostles who were commissioned by Jesus in Matthew 28 to tell the world about him.  They knew what the truth was, but not everyone wanted to hear and/or believe it.  As a result, persecution followed (and, in some cases, death).  We need to understand that it’s always better to tell the truth about what we believe rather than give in and confuse and/or deny our beliefs.

Kids are going to find Smallfoot to be an entertaining, joyous romp peppered with lessons they’ll be talking about on the way home from the theater. Adults may also find this to be the case.

Smallfoot is in theatres now.

For audio of our interview with Smallfoot writer/director Karey Kirkpatrick, click here.

The special features on the Blu-ray include the Yeti Set Go Sing-Along, the “Super Soozie” Mini Movie featuring Soozie, the featurette on “The Secret of the Yeti Stones,” “Yeti or Not, Here They Come!”, and the music videos for Nial Horran’s “Finally Free,” Cyn’s “Moment of Truth,” and “Wonderful Life.”  

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: 1984, A Walk in the Dark, Acts, Bigfoot, Channing Tatum, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Common, Harry and the Hendersons, james corden, Jesus, Migo, Monsters Inc, Sergio Pablo, smallfoot, Stephen, steve irwin, Stonekeeper, storks, The Giver, truth, Yeti

The Best Animated Film of 2016

January 3, 2017 by Jacob Sahms 1 Comment

Last week, the staff of ScreenFish had a lively debate about animated flicks in 2016. We couldn’t agree on which one was best – but given that I’d seen more of them than not, I felt compelled to argue. That left me with this list of films from 2016 – and the reasons behind them. Counting up from the bottom, I present you with the least (and most) worthwhile animated flicks of 2016.

ratchet

In the “Don’t Waste Your Time Department”…

#12 Ratchet & Clank. I’m not sure what just happened.

ice-age-collision-course

#11 Ice Age: Collision Course. Seriously, does everyone still love Raymond (Romano)?

norm

#10 Norm of the North. I bet 97% of you have never heard of this one.

angry

We Were Compelled But We Shouldn’t Have Been…

#9 Angry Birds the Movie. I get it, he gets angry. But did we just make that a positive character trait?

panda

#8 Kung Fu Panda 3. Were we actually worried about where Po’s dad was? He’s not a crane?

slop5

You Know You Want To, But Then The Trailer Said It All…

#7 Secret Life of Pets. Seriously, the cat slayed eating out of the fridge. But there wasn’t any additional laughs, and the story didn’t have an emotional payoff.

FINDING DORY

#6 Finding Dory. Ellen DeGeneres is regularly solid; the idea of all of these animals overcoming disability was truly a solid message. It just wasn’t funny.

sing

In Any Other Year, They Would Have Been Amazing …

#5 Sing. American Idol meets Animal Farm … or something. The soundtrack rocked; the ‘find your voice’ message was powerful. Again, not enough laughs to be top dog.

storks2#4 Storks. Funny throughout, with excellent reminders about family. In another year, I’d be raving about it.

I Have to Rank Them But These Are All Great…

kubo#3 Kubo. This is the best animation that I saw all year. The stormy seas, the snow, the fur on the white monkey. The end, community reconciliation and restoration, is as powerful as the end of any live-action film I saw this year. Unfortunately, the lead-up story suffers a bit with predictability.

moana3#2 Moana. Arnaldo’s favorite animated flick of 2016, this one has an awesome story to tell about call and stepping up when others fail to lead. Mark Henn’s animation is solid and it’s funny … sometimes. I found the ending to be a bit slow but still powerful in meaning.

zootopia3

#1 Zootopia. While it’s in the trailer, the sloth scene gets me every time. Like, reduces me to tears. If it doesn’t make you laugh, you’ve never been to the DMV. But the story of the community made up of individuals/races/subgroups who all bring their own strength and have to learn to work together? Geez, I wish we could’ve watched that as a national community right before heading to the ballots. There’s much here to consider about immigration, call, strength, grace, duty, honor, and, dare I say, faith.

Filed Under: DVD, Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Angry Birds, Ice Age Collision Course, kubo and the two strings, Kung Fu Panda 3, Moana, Norm of the North, Ratchet & Clank, Secret Life of Pets, Sing, storks, The Rock, zootopia

Storks: Sticking to the Plan

December 20, 2016 by J. Alan Sharrer Leave a Comment

storks3The word stork brings to mind one of two things. One is a white bird with gangly legs living in tide pools and marshes worldwide.  The other is a bird who carries a white bundle in its mouth and delivers it to families—often with the phrase, “Congratulations.  You’re a mother.”  When parents want to avoid the talk with their kids about where babies come from, the stork comes up.  Sometimes, we even celebrate a new arrival to the world by placing a sign in the person’s front yard, often with—you guessed it—a stork on the front.  It is in this conversation that directors Nicholas Stoller and Doug Sweetland bring the public an animated feature called Storks. Although it suffers from believability in places, it is laugh-out-loud funny and can be an effective way to discuss family and finding one’s place in the world with kids.

The concept of the film is fairly simple: Storks are pretty good at delivering things, but got out of the baby business when a mishap occurred with a package. With megalomaniacal Hunter (voice of Kelsey Grammer) at the controls of the company, he transformed it into cornerstore.com, a massive delivery company reminiscent of Amazon.com. The storks are really good at their job—so much so that Junior (voice of Andy Samberg) just completed his one millionth delivery.  His reward is to become boss of the company (said by Hunter in a way that blows one’s mind).  There is one catch—he has to fire Tulip (voiced by Katie Crown)–the package ‘mishap’ from earlier who’s now a teenager and extremely klutzy–and get her off the mountain.  But Junior can’t do it, delegating her to the letter writing department—a dark area of the factory that hasn’t been utilized in eighteen years.  Tulip proceeds to nearly go crazy by herself—until a letter arrives.
storks4That letter was written by a kid named Nate (voiced by Anton Starkman), who desperately wants a baby brother with ninja skills.  He also wants attention from his parents (voiced by Ty Burrell and Jennifer Aniston), but they’re so focused on their at-home real estate job and electronic contraptions that they barely give him the time of day.  When he mentions the idea of a brother to them, both laugh. Nate’s letter about a baby brother gets into the hands of Tulip, and before Junior can stop her, she’s placed it in a machine that creates an adorable, pink-haired baby.

Storks then shifts to Junior and Tulip—two characters that seem diametrically opposite—teaming up to get the baby to Nate’s parents.  Along the way, they meet a wolf pack (its leaders voiced by Key and Peele), nasty penguins (featuring the quietest brawl ever put to film), and a reclusive bird named Jasper (voiced by Danny Trejo). The joy in a film of this nature is getting to the conclusion—even if it’s partially telegraphed along the way—and it’s a pretty good one.

The film is incredibly funny and creative at points, such as when the wolf pack decides to transform a la the Wonder Twins into some impressive contraptions. Grammer’s Hunter is fiendishly cruel to chickadees and even had his office made out of glass to torture his flock of employees (Fun Fact: Grammer had the line, “I’m not a stork—I’m a crane” in the film [referring to his role on Frasier], but it was deleted).
storks1Storks doesn’t really clear up the confusion between storks delivering kids and/or parents having them, but kids won’t care due to the jokes, sight gags, and fast-paced nature of the movie.  However, since the film is about family, discovering one’s place in the world, and (yes) babies, I think it’s a good idea for parents to have a discussion about the film with them afterward. There will be things to talk about; that’s for sure!

Near the end, Junior gathers the storks from cornerstore.com and gives them a mission statement to follow: “Make a plan.  Stick to the plan.  Always deliver!”  This sure sounds like something God would say.  After all, when he created the world, he had a plan in mind when Adam and Eve were caught off-guard by the serpent’s temptation. Falling into sin, there would be one (Jesus) who would eventually redeem the world through his death and return to life from a crucifixion.  The time between is recounted in the Old Testament—a time of warfare, slavery, mistakes aplenty, and miracles galore. All through that time, God stuck to his plan even when he could’ve given up on his creation and walked away permanently. And he will deliver in the end!

(NOTE: There is a mini-feature preceding Storks called ‘The Master.’  It’s a tease for a Lego Ninjago film coming out next fall and features a karate master and a chicken that wreaks havoc during the filming of a commercial.  It’s quite funny.)

Special features include “Storks: Guide to Your New Baby,” a new animated short starring Pigeon Toady; the aforementioned “The Master”; the music video for Jason Derulo’s “Kiss the Sky”; and deleted scenes. 

Filed Under: Featured, Film, Reviews Tagged With: Amazon.com, Andy Samberg, animated, babies, Danny Trejo, Doug Sweetland, Hunter, Jennifer Aniston, Junior, Katie Crown, Kelsey Grammer, Key and Peele, Nate, Nicholas Stoller, storks, Tulip, Ty Burrell

The Best Films of 2016 (Updated)

December 15, 2016 by Jacob Sahms 1 Comment

deadpool
This year, there are no blockbusters, no Marvel superheroes, on my list of my favorite films. This year, the films that caught my eye – and held onto my imagination, days later – weren’t the ones with the biggest budgets, or even always the most-known cast and crew. This year, the films were films that captured my heart thanks to the power of their story, the visual presentation of their message, and the size of heart that that they conveyed.

Film criticism is a lot like politics in the media – everyone has an opinion, but they think they’re objective. [Seriously, Trolls holds a better Rotten Tomatoes score than Allied, Fantastic Beasts & Where to Find Them, and Collateral Beauty? C’mon, people. Trolls are just little plastic guys from a 1980s fad – or are we rating Justin Timberlake and Anna Kendrick?]

So, with apologies to Benedict Cumberbatch, and that unkillable antihero Deadpool, here are my top ten for 2016, trimmed down from the 135 films I saw. We won’t all agree, but we have to start somewhere.

hf

Hidden Figures is the best film I didn’t see coming. Thanks to solid performances and an incredibly bold story about faith, race, power, dreams, and engineering, it left me in tears – laughing and crying at the same time. When several women dream about breaking the glass ceiling of race and gender, they literally put a man on the moon. Octavia Spencer, Tariji B. Henson, and Janelle Monae provide a film that inspires and entertains.

 

unknowns

At Arlington National Cemetery, Tomb Guards or Sentinels keep watch over the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier twenty-four hours a day, 365 days of the year, regardless of weather. In Ethan Morse’s film, The Unknowns, we were treated to an inside look at how the men of The Old Guard, a select unit from the U.S. Army, serve. With simple interviews, ‘live’ shots of the work these men do in front of the public and behind closed doors, the film carries with it a reminder that our flag still waves thanks to the bravery of some whose names will never be known. Months later, I am still reminded of its beauty, both in pure patriotism but also in faith – faith that one day, war will end and all people will be free.

 

rogue-one-jyn-ersa-geared-up

Bumping The Accountant from the list, Rogue One, a Star Wars Story proved to be the best film I’ve seen from the Rebel Alliance in thirty years. While the field has been increased – we finally have a non-Skywalker family drama – the power of the Force remained strong. With ample banter about faith, a wildly diverse cast, and a story that squeaks in at Film #3.5, we had a prequel to A New Hope with plenty of time to spare.

 

kubo

Startling in its animation, thanks to the beauty of Laika’s stop-motion  capture, Kubo & the Two Strings spins a fantasy adventure around a one-eyed boy and his epic adventure to thwart his grandfather’s evil plan. Accompanied by a giant beetle (Matthew McConaughey) and a snow monkey (Charlize Theron), the young boy goes questing. With fewer laughs and more intensity than you might expect from a ‘kid’s cartoon,’ Kubo asks us to consider how we forgive, and what it means to care for our ancestors as they age. In a wonderful way, the fantastical road trip morphs into deeper explorations about life, death, and where we go from here.

 

birthofanation

While it was impossible to watch The Birth of a Nation without considering the allegations against the story’s creators, Nate Parker and Jean McGianni Celestin, it was equally impossible to watch the film blind to the racial unrest in the United States almost two hundred years after the Nat Turner rebellion. Powerful in its simplicity, poignant in its relational dynamics, and spiritual in its evaluation of the use of religion to control, direct, and comfort, Parker’s film is haunting in its violence, and its awareness of the latent power of racism. While Turner was himself a preacher, the film’s use of Scripture from both sides stirred and troubled my soul.

 

insanity

This year, two documentaries captured my attention, with The Insanity of God shining a light on the family of missionary Nik Ripken as he struggled with his faith after great tragedy. While this is Ripken’s story, it is also the story of others who bled and died for the gospel, told unflinchingly. I’ll never forget Ripken’s own admission, after interviewing others persecuted for their faith: “Now, I’m in deeper danger, because the Bible is coming alive. Satan had tricked me into believing that the Bible was an old book, with things that God used to do. And here I was experiencing the Bible in the present tense, with the things God did coming alive.” A movie that will surely ask you to consider what you believe, and what you would do to pursue your faith.

 

midnightspecial

What would you do to protect your child? What sacrifices would you make if you saw how beautiful, special, or powerful they were that no one else understood? Those are the questions that Midnight Special poses, thanks to writer/director Jeff Nichols’ emotionally wrestling with his own son’s mortality. In a stripped-down sci-fi exploration that would make Philip K. Dick or Steven Spielberg proud, the director of Loving gives us another chance to unpack our own humanity.

 

hellorhighwater

On the surface, Hell or High Water is a Jesse James/Butch Cassidy & Sundance kind of Western lark, set in the present. But thanks to Taylor Sheridan’s script, we explore the aging process of Jeff Bridges’ senior Texas Ranger and the us-against-the-system dynamics of two brothers, Toby and Tanner (Chris Pine and Ben Foster). [Ironically, I don’t always enjoy Foster’s movies, but he always impresses with his performance.] While there’s a bit of clever banter and action/adventure, the film’s heart is driving at the financial crisis of America and the futility for some when trying to improve themselves. Who is the villain here in this spiritual parable about love and grace? The bank and its overarching line of credit.

 

zootopia

It was a good year to be animated, and Zootopia was the crown jewel. I declared it a candidate for Best Film of the Year when I walked out of the debut, and it didn’t miss by much. Disney’s film about a ‘utopia’ where animals are divided into different boroughs, showed kids and adults alike what it meant to fight and get along. While the struggle was real, it also blended in some lessons about what it means to follow your dream – and be who you’re supposed to be even when others say you shouldn’t. In our bipartisan day and age, Zootopia asked us to consider whether we could love each other for what we brought to the table, rather than manipulating each other for what we could get out of it.

 

hacksawridge

My most anticipated film of the year – Hacksaw Ridge – did everything I hoped it would. Challenging patriotism, courage, and pacifism, the film asked us to consider the stances we take, and that others make, and how we respond to them. While faith was front and center, it still felt subtle – and somehow, more powerful. Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Desmond Doss tied the legend of the Medal of Honor winner to a story that felt real and grounded. Mel Gibson’s direction plus Terry Benedict’s research? This is one I hope to hear talked about next spring.

What did I miss? What do you need to see now? What criteria would you use instead? Post below and share your thoughts.

[Editor’s note: I still haven’t seen Collateral Beauty, Loving, Rogue One, or Sing as I write this. Edits pending?]

Filed Under: Current Events, DVD, Editorial, Featured, Film Tagged With: accountant, Birth of a Nation, Deadpool, Desmond Doss, Dr. Strange, Hacksaw Ridge, hell or high water, insanity of god, Jeff Bridges, kubo and the two strings, Marvel, Mel Gibson, Midnight Special, Moana, Rogue One, storks, the unknowns, Walt Disney, zootopia

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