MOVIES: A probable blockbuster with a Canadian connection, an Indigenous fantasy, and a very modern romance

National Observer

16 hours ago

The biggest film this week is perfect for your kids and you, if you remember How to Train Your Dragon. It was a big animated hit 15 years ago and it's back, remade as a live action film. That's Dreamworks copying the success Disney has had with the technique. Their latest re-make, Lilo & Stitch, has been number one for three weeks and as you can read below there's a touch of irony there. Along with that not-insignificant Canadian connection.
Want something more substantial? I've written about the upsurge of films by and about Indigenous Canadians several times and this is a good time to mention it again. Two that I reviewed at festivals are now widely available. A third is coming.
So Surreal: Behind the Masks is about efforts in BC to bring home ceremonial masks that were taken, sold and drifted into the hands of surreal artists in France. CBC and CBC GEM is showing it.
Angela's Shadow, by filmmaker and academic Jules Koostachin, is a drama about a woman who visits her ancestral Cree community and has to turn to illegal ceremonies and medicine to protect herself from a dark figure, a mean-spirited husband and the effects of colonialism. The film will be in select theaters starting next week.
And also next week, there's The Salmon's Call, Joy Haskell's documentary about the vital role that fish has in Indigenous culture on the West Coast. The film will be in theaters and I'll review it next week.
This week I include another Indigenous film, Endless Cookie. It's quirky, entertaining and animated.
And these ...
How to Train Your Dragon: 3 stars
Endless Cookie: 3 ½
The Life of Chuck: 3 ½
The Materialists: 4
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON: If you haven't seen the much-loved original film from 10 years ago or its two sequels this will all be new to you and probably also a delight. If you have seen them, this will be mostly a repeat, the same story followed very closely, nothing much added but not in animation anymore, in live action, filmed in Ireland. Gerard Butler is back in body as well as voice as the Viking chief Stoick whose island has been pestered by dragons forever. Mason Thames plays his son Hiccup (officially Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III) who can't meet his dad's expectations as a dragon killer and in fact becomes the opposite. He befriends a young Black Fury, treats him like a pet, flies on him and takes a girl (Nico Parker) from his training class in dragon-killing on a soaring flight in the skies. It's good fun for them and for us too delivered with fine visual effects created mostly in India, but Montreal too.
It's got a bigger meaning though. Hiccup is demonstrating that dragons have been maligned and misrepresented. When Stoick argues 'They've killed hundreds of us,' Hiccup replies 'And we've killed thousands of them.' He's come to understand that they're only defending themselves. He argues for acceptance, a very necessary sentiment anytime, especially these days. That and a young man trying to meet the demands of his father are the deeper themes here. They're well-presented by director Dean DeBlois, who was born in Quebec, directed the three previous films, got Oscar nominations for them and in a bit of irony also created the original Lilo & Stitch, which Disney has just remade from animation into live action. It's huge at the box office right now and probably something of a competitor though Dragon is heading big also. (In theaters) 3 out of 5
ENDLESS COOKIE: This is not your usual Indigenous film. Sure it includes the grinding issues: land usurped, culture diminished, residential schools, the RCMP, but does it in a most unexpected way. First of all it's animated (in a rough and lively style) and it gets across its attitudes (some of them very harsh) in a series of entertaining stories. They're told by a pair of brothers, half brothers Peter Scriver and Seth Scriver, one Indigenous, the other white, one a great storyteller, the other recording him and leading the filmmaking. And first securing a government grant to make a film he describes as 'funny, beautiful, spiritual, political, complex, simple and true.' It is all that.
Peter casually rambles here and there in telling his stories. The time he got his own hand caught in an animal trap he was setting takes several revisits to finish. His owl story, attracting one and then not able to get rid if it, is funny. An RCMP encounter, when a nut dropped on a cop car by a squirrel is heard as a gun shot, is both funny and scary. The film answers back subtly by twisting the RCMP motto into Justicia et Contritum Est Ratio Racist. Funny (trying to get free pizza in Toronto, household noise vs sound recording) is side by side with protest (prison numbers compared to whites, historical pressure to give up land). At the same time there's a quirky view of life on a reserve and a clear statement of pride . 'They say that the ancient ways, ancient knowledge, is sleeping within us and will awaken someday.' (In theaters now and sure to be again, as at The Rio in Vancouver, on National Indigenous Peoples Day Saturday, June 21.) 3 ½ out of 5
THE LIFE OF CHUCK: What this film is about isn't exactly clear although it is a treat to watch. It's directed by Mike Flanagan from a fanciful story by Stephen King and there's definitely a call to embrace life, accept death and enjoy all the unknowns around you in the universe. Characters say that but how it relates to the central character, an accountant played by Tom Hiddleston, is obscure. We first see him on his deathbed, then, at various earlier stages in his life. Vancouver's Jacob Tremblay plays him as a teenager. A teacher (Chiwetel Ejiofor) interprets a line from Walt Whitman to say that inside his head there are "multitudes", i.e. the whole world, everything he's learned. He feels special.
His grandfather, played by Mark Hamill, tells him that mathematics is what's most important. "Mathematics is truth." He becomes an accountant. Carl Sagan on TV says if all human history were represented on a calendar it would be just 10 seconds long. He's moved to make the most of his life.
That includes visiting his ex-wife (Karen Gillan) and in two sparkling sequences showing his talent for dancing which he learned from his grandmother (Mia Sara). Meanwhile, street banners, posters and TV ads appear repeatedly saying Thanks Chuck, for 39 great years. Nobody knows who he is. And there's chaos: there are power failures, wildfires, the internet dies. How does all that fit together? Not sure. It highlights moments and they're memorable. The film was voted most popular at the Toronto International Film Festival. (In theaters) 3 ½ out of 5
MATERIALISTS: Here's a modern romantic comedy that manages to be hip, witty and funny … and also come across relaxed and comfortable. A pretty good date movie, I'd say, unless there are tensions between you and the date. I say that only because there's a speech part way through that delivers an acerbic profile of a standard marriage. It's funny but way, way too real. Around it is a pleasant story about a woman (Dakota Johnson) who works as a matchmaker in New York. She connects people looking for dating partners with clients who fit their requirements exactly. Height, weight, personality, appearance, full head of hair, wealth, home décor, are all factors they consider, as well as 'intangibles.' The office celebrates when marriages result.
It feels authentic but then the director, Celine Song, has experience doing that work before she turned to filmmaking. This is a follow-up to her Oscar-nominated Past Lives.
Her matchmaker has a professional protocol for all of this and then the problems arrive. One client sues because the man she sent attacked her. Should she have known? She didn't detect any hint when she interviewed him and secretly regrets that. We watch her interview many others, usually with editing that highlights the humorous side.
And a more personal problem arrives. Pedro Pascal, as a party guest, chats her up, charms her like one of those matinee idols from decades ago and she's attracted right into bed. He'd be a perfect match for her but she's also still attracted to her ex boyfriend (Chris Evans). So who's best for her Mr. Suave or Mr. Spontaneous? Mr. Rich or Mr. Poor? Finding the answer to that question gives us a bright and smart script, good and amiable acting and a lot of sharp observations about modern dating. A rom-com for adults. (in theaters) 4 out of 5