Popcorn Perspectives with Danny Minton
Week of July 16, 2018
Isle of Dogs
Rated PG-13 for thematic elements and some violent images
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%
Available on Disc and Streaming
In Wes Anderson’s latest eclectic stop-motion animation project, Japan has rounded up all of its dogs and sent them to live on a giant trash island off of its coast. When the Emperor’s adopted son sets off on a mission to reclaim his stolen pooch, a gang of rough and tough dogs decide to help him on his quest. While the extensive voice talent (including Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Liev Schreiber, Bill Murray and more A-listers than you can shake a stick at) and the beautiful storytelling are enough to draw a big crowd, I found that the massive creativity is what made me fall in love with it. Any movie that can put me in such a state of awe and wonder is worthy of the term masterpiece. A+
I Feel Pretty
Rated PG-13 for sexual content, some partial nudity, and language
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 32%
Available on Disc and Streaming
Amy Schumer plays a woman suffering from low self esteem who takes a spill at her cycling class only to wake up thinking she has transformed into a beautiful woman. The hitch is that the rest of the world can see that nothing has changed, presenting the message that confidence trumps beauty any day of the week. Upon its release, the film was met with with a strong wall of critical resistance, claiming that the film was mean-spirited and shallow. But I would disagree. This is not new territory for Amy Schumer and the message feels very personal for her, but while many see the film in a negative light, those that have suffered from body image issues will not only identify with the story, but might just find the pic to be quite empowering. My biggest qualms lie in the humongous plot holes in regards to her work place movement, but those unfamiliar with corporation marketing will likely not have any difficulty with its gross simplification of the industry. Overall, this is a miss that probably should have been at least a modest hit. B
Rampage
Rated PG-13 sequences of violence, action and destruction, brief language, and crude gestures
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 52%
Available on Disc and Streaming
I used to spend hours playing the video game with which this new Dwayne Johnson movies is based on. After all, what can be more cathartic than pretending you are an ape, wolf or reptilian monster, wreaking havoc on buildings and destroying cities. I can applaud the effort here which could have turned out to be an unwatchable mess. And were it not for Johnson it probably would have been. Instead you get a mindless but mildly entertaining monster movie that isn’t necessarily great, but at least doesn’t suck too bad. C+