Tom Chatalbash

#TheCatInTheHat is probably the biggest pleasant surprise of the year thus far. This is a visually dazzling and wildly inventive love letter to Seuss’ wonderfully quirky work. Hader fits the stripes like a glove, his game and lively voice work helping to make the character wholly his own. However, it’s the gorgeous and delightfully creative animation that makes this a winner, delivering colorful, vibrant and beautifully detailed visuals that help bring this story to life. The humor didn’t land nearly as well for me as it most likely will for children, the film geared far more toward younger audiences. However, the film’s heart and exploration of growing up and channeling our joy and sense of wonder into what we love more than makes up for it. Color me genuinely shocked by how much I enjoyed this one. Absolutely a treat for the whole family.

WILD HORSE NINE is another singular gem from Martin McDonagh. Rockwell and Malkovich are a match made in heaven, trading fiery barbs and tender blows deftly with pinpoint precision, the latter delivering perhaps the finest performance of his career. McDonagh continues to be a master of balancing irreverent laughs and devastating melancholy, giving audiences possibly his most emotionally profound work to date, exploring regret, mortality and the consequences of one’s decisions as they enter their twilight years with considerable depth. Safe to say, this is easily his most mature film to date and one I can’t wait to revisit. BIG recommend.

#NowWatching one of my most anticipated films of the year!

THE MOSQUITO BOWL is a handsomely made and incredibly visceral war film that has some of the best battle sequences I’ve seen in quite some time, entrenching the audience in the dirt with these men as they fight for their lives in the most harrowing of circumstances. Berg’s direction is superb, allowing these sequences to dazzle and immerse in equal measure, virtually never letting the audience off the hook. Unfortunately, the writing causes this one to fall short, the lackluster script short-changing our main characters and giving them very little depth when the film rarely comes up for air. Galitzine, Skarsgård and Nicholson are all solid, but they’re not given nearly enough to chew on here. As a result, this is a consistently thrilling, but emotionally stunted war film that ends up being good when it could’ve easily been great with some tweaks and fine tuning on the page. See this in a theater if you can though! Worth it for the bone-rattling sound design alone.

RAY GUNN feels like an animated film that was cooked up in a lab just for me. This is a retro-futuristic noir knockout from Brad Bird whose signature voice has been sorely missed. His singular visual storytelling and panache is on full display in spades, his love for the material etched into every frame of this passion project. Rockwell, Johansson and Waits all deliver terrific voice work, the animation is stunning and propulsive with gorgeous visuals, set pieces and stellar sound design to boot all done with creative flair and dexterous execution. Giacchino’s score is wonderfully playful and pitch-perfect, making for a lovely companion to this noir’s engaging central mystery. This is a ludicrously fun animated return for Bird who continues to showcase why he excels so effortlessly in this genre. What a freaking treat!

#Clayface is a frustrating, but still very enjoyable mixed bag. Rhys Harries has incredible screen presence and makes Matt’s journey of evolution and mutation suitably vicious and heartbreaking as his sense of identity has seemingly been eradicated. The practical effects and gore are wonderfully gruesome, but I actually wanted the film to push it further as I feel it actually felt like a very safe R most of the time. The main issue is that it feels like there are two visions of this film fused together, one a dark, disturbing and grounded character study and the other a more conventional and generic comic book film, the latter steering the wheel far too often with some iffy visual effects to say the least. There’s a genuinely great film in here somewhere, but like the man at its center, it doesn’t know what it truly wants to be.

#IPlayRocky is one helluva crowd-pleaser. Ippolito is absolutely remarkable as Stallone, capturing his voice, mannerisms, physicality and every little nuance down to the micro expression, delivering an emotionally compelling and magnetic performance to boot. Robb, Byrne, Kebbell, and especially Letts are also aces in supporting. The storytelling may lean a bit too conventional, but the execution is handsome and assured, hitting the familiar beats with oomph, plenty of laughs and grit as audiences get to see this iconic film claw its way to the big screen as it has to overcome hurdle after hurdle. Though it may feel very familiar, it’s nearly impossible to resist its charm and emotionally satisfying underdog story.