by Josh Sewell
Wendell & Wild
(Rated PG-13 for some thematic material, violence, substance use and brief strong language. Debuts on Netflix October 28.)
Henry Selick is the filmmaker responsible for dazzling stop motion animation classics like The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, complex movies that take forever to shoot despite their relatively brief running time. That’s why his filmography is impressive, yet short.
His first flick since 2009’s Coraline (another winner) might be his most visually impressive so far, although the narrative is a bit flimsier than usual. In Wendell & Wild, Selick collaborates with Jordan Peele – one of this era’s most exciting storytellers – to craft a tale of conniving demon brothers Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Peele).
They dream of building a supernatural amusement park, so they enlist the help of troubled teen Kat Elliot (Lyric Ross) to accomplish their goal. However, when she summons them to the Land of the Living, complications arise that threaten the struggling town of Rust Bank, Kat’s life and their afterlives.
From a visual standpoint, Wendell & Wild is never boring; as with all of Selick’s work, it’s evident that years of careful planning, building and sculpting went into creating this world and the characters who live there. It’s also got a killer soundtrack full of classic rock and punk tunes. However, the plot is so overly convoluted (and stuffed with well-intentioned allegories) that it’s tough to invest in any particular narrative thread for longer than a few minutes.
Are we supposed to root for Wendell and Wild, or are they antagonists working with human villains? It seems like the rules of the real world go out the window when supernatural elements come into play, but then something will happen that attempts to ground the plot in some form of reality. The chaos is entertaining, but also makes it difficult to establish any real narrative stakes.
The voice work is top notch, though. The biggest selling point is the (aural) Key and Peele reunion, but Ross is terrific as the good-hearted, yet traumatized Kat. Angela Bassett, James Hong and Ving Rhames are also fun as characters with important ties to Kat and the titular demons.
While Wendell & Wild isn’t quite the instant classic that some of Selick’s previous movies became, it should make for fun family viewing in the lead-up to Halloween. (Note: the PG-13 shouldn’t dissuade parents from letting their kids watch. The film is creepy, but never flat-out scary. I’m guessing it earned the rating because of a few choice song lyrics.)
Grade: B
Ticket to Paradise
(Rated PG-13 for some strong language and brief suggestive material. Now playing in theaters.)
The romantic comedy genre was on life support even before the pandemic pushed nearly every movie that’s not a blockbuster onto streaming services. It seemed like the massive success of Crazy Rich Asians was going to open the door to a new era for light, fluffy love stories, but then theaters shut down and most of us got stuck inside. Terrific flicks like Palm Springs, Always Be My Maybe and Happiest Season could have been word-of-mouth hits, but they quietly appeared on Hulu and Netflix instead.
It looks like audiences are getting one more shot at romcoms as a theatrical experience. Fortunately, if anyone can breathe life back into the genre it’s bankable, old-school movie stars like George Clooney and Julia Roberts. The two actors are longtime friends with undeniable chemistry, so the trailer for Ticket to Paradise – their first comedic team-up since 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve (although they also co-starred in the 2016 thriller Money Monster) – suggested a pleasant, nostalgia-tinged diversion from the chaos of the real world.
Turns out that’s exactly what we got, and viewers were ready for it: the flick grossed a better-than-expected $16.5 million last weekend in its U.S. debut. But it’s not just Americans who are craving throwbacks. Ticket to Paradise already opened successfully in other countries, contributing to the film’s worldwide take of nearly $100 million.
Clooney and Roberts play long-divorced exes who agree to bury the hatchet long enough to keep their lovestruck daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) from marrying a man (Maxime Bouttier) she met while on vacation in Bali. However, their devious scheme begins to fall apart for a number of reasons: they realize their future son-in-law is a genuinely good guy, their daughter is ridiculously in love with him, and the beautiful country begins to rekindle a spark between them.
So, is the movie any good? That depends on what you’re expecting, although I’d argue it’s certainly better than its current Rotten Tomatoes score of 56 percent. Viewers looking for a highbrow romance will be disappointed, but those who want a cute throwback straight out of 1998 will probably leave the theater with a big smile.
Wisely, director Ol Parker (who co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Pipski) knows the audience for Ticket to Paradise wants to see beautiful movie stars bicker and make up on a gorgeous beach, so he doesn’t make the plot more convoluted than it needs to be. Once the stakes are established, it’s clear how things will end, so he just ensures the journey to the inevitable destination is a fun one.
I’d argue Clooney’s character is so unpleasant in the first half that his inevitable about-face doesn’t make up for his behavior, but that’s my biggest quibble. On the plus side, I appreciated that Parker doesn’t make his characters too stupid to see what’s happening. The future groom knows what the parents are up to almost immediately, but stays quiet to protect his fiancée’s feelings. The levelheaded daughter realizes how irrational their whirlwind romance is, so she preps for her parents’ criticisms accordingly.
These narrative decisions aren’t enough to elevate the cheesy comedy above its genre trappings. But, hey, sometimes you just want the cinematic equivalent of eating ice cream in your pajamas.
Grade: B-
Home Video Spotlight
Top Gun: Maverick
(Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action, and some strong language. Available on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on November 1.)
Top Gun: Maverick, the biggest moneymaker of 2022 – as well as the highest grossing film of Tom Cruise’s career, with over $1.3 billion in worldwide box office – finally arrives on physical media next week. It’s one of the most effective crowd-pleasers in recent memory, delighting average moviegoers and critics alike. It’s almost certain to make my Top 10 in December.
For the handful of folks who haven’t seen it yet, Cruise returns to one of the most iconic roles of his long career: Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. After more than 30 years, he’s called back to TOP GUN to train a group of elite pilots, including Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller) – the son of his former wingman and best friend, “Goose.”
The Blu-ray contains a few morsels of bonus content, including a digital copy of the film; four behind-the-scenes featurettes; Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” music video; One Republic’s “I Ain’t Worried” music video; and the teaser trailer for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
(Rated PG-13 for some thematic material, violence, substance use and brief strong language. Debuts on Netflix October 28.)
Henry Selick is the filmmaker responsible for dazzling stop motion animation classics like The Nightmare Before Christmas and James and the Giant Peach, complex movies that take forever to shoot despite their relatively brief running time. That’s why his filmography is impressive, yet short.
His first flick since 2009’s Coraline (another winner) might be his most visually impressive so far, although the narrative is a bit flimsier than usual. In Wendell & Wild, Selick collaborates with Jordan Peele – one of this era’s most exciting storytellers – to craft a tale of conniving demon brothers Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Peele).
They dream of building a supernatural amusement park, so they enlist the help of troubled teen Kat Elliot (Lyric Ross) to accomplish their goal. However, when she summons them to the Land of the Living, complications arise that threaten the struggling town of Rust Bank, Kat’s life and their afterlives.
From a visual standpoint, Wendell & Wild is never boring; as with all of Selick’s work, it’s evident that years of careful planning, building and sculpting went into creating this world and the characters who live there. It’s also got a killer soundtrack full of classic rock and punk tunes. However, the plot is so overly convoluted (and stuffed with well-intentioned allegories) that it’s tough to invest in any particular narrative thread for longer than a few minutes.
Are we supposed to root for Wendell and Wild, or are they antagonists working with human villains? It seems like the rules of the real world go out the window when supernatural elements come into play, but then something will happen that attempts to ground the plot in some form of reality. The chaos is entertaining, but also makes it difficult to establish any real narrative stakes.
The voice work is top notch, though. The biggest selling point is the (aural) Key and Peele reunion, but Ross is terrific as the good-hearted, yet traumatized Kat. Angela Bassett, James Hong and Ving Rhames are also fun as characters with important ties to Kat and the titular demons.
While Wendell & Wild isn’t quite the instant classic that some of Selick’s previous movies became, it should make for fun family viewing in the lead-up to Halloween. (Note: the PG-13 shouldn’t dissuade parents from letting their kids watch. The film is creepy, but never flat-out scary. I’m guessing it earned the rating because of a few choice song lyrics.)
Grade: B
(Rated PG-13 for some strong language and brief suggestive material. Now playing in theaters.)
The romantic comedy genre was on life support even before the pandemic pushed nearly every movie that’s not a blockbuster onto streaming services. It seemed like the massive success of Crazy Rich Asians was going to open the door to a new era for light, fluffy love stories, but then theaters shut down and most of us got stuck inside. Terrific flicks like Palm Springs, Always Be My Maybe and Happiest Season could have been word-of-mouth hits, but they quietly appeared on Hulu and Netflix instead.
It looks like audiences are getting one more shot at romcoms as a theatrical experience. Fortunately, if anyone can breathe life back into the genre it’s bankable, old-school movie stars like George Clooney and Julia Roberts. The two actors are longtime friends with undeniable chemistry, so the trailer for Ticket to Paradise – their first comedic team-up since 2004’s Ocean’s Twelve (although they also co-starred in the 2016 thriller Money Monster) – suggested a pleasant, nostalgia-tinged diversion from the chaos of the real world.
Turns out that’s exactly what we got, and viewers were ready for it: the flick grossed a better-than-expected $16.5 million last weekend in its U.S. debut. But it’s not just Americans who are craving throwbacks. Ticket to Paradise already opened successfully in other countries, contributing to the film’s worldwide take of nearly $100 million.
Clooney and Roberts play long-divorced exes who agree to bury the hatchet long enough to keep their lovestruck daughter (Kaitlyn Dever) from marrying a man (Maxime Bouttier) she met while on vacation in Bali. However, their devious scheme begins to fall apart for a number of reasons: they realize their future son-in-law is a genuinely good guy, their daughter is ridiculously in love with him, and the beautiful country begins to rekindle a spark between them.
So, is the movie any good? That depends on what you’re expecting, although I’d argue it’s certainly better than its current Rotten Tomatoes score of 56 percent. Viewers looking for a highbrow romance will be disappointed, but those who want a cute throwback straight out of 1998 will probably leave the theater with a big smile.
Wisely, director Ol Parker (who co-wrote the screenplay with Daniel Pipski) knows the audience for Ticket to Paradise wants to see beautiful movie stars bicker and make up on a gorgeous beach, so he doesn’t make the plot more convoluted than it needs to be. Once the stakes are established, it’s clear how things will end, so he just ensures the journey to the inevitable destination is a fun one.
I’d argue Clooney’s character is so unpleasant in the first half that his inevitable about-face doesn’t make up for his behavior, but that’s my biggest quibble. On the plus side, I appreciated that Parker doesn’t make his characters too stupid to see what’s happening. The future groom knows what the parents are up to almost immediately, but stays quiet to protect his fiancée’s feelings. The levelheaded daughter realizes how irrational their whirlwind romance is, so she preps for her parents’ criticisms accordingly.
These narrative decisions aren’t enough to elevate the cheesy comedy above its genre trappings. But, hey, sometimes you just want the cinematic equivalent of eating ice cream in your pajamas.
Grade: B-
Home Video Spotlight
(Rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action, and some strong language. Available on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on November 1.)
Top Gun: Maverick, the biggest moneymaker of 2022 – as well as the highest grossing film of Tom Cruise’s career, with over $1.3 billion in worldwide box office – finally arrives on physical media next week. It’s one of the most effective crowd-pleasers in recent memory, delighting average moviegoers and critics alike. It’s almost certain to make my Top 10 in December.
For the handful of folks who haven’t seen it yet, Cruise returns to one of the most iconic roles of his long career: Pete “Maverick” Mitchell. After more than 30 years, he’s called back to TOP GUN to train a group of elite pilots, including Bradley “Rooster” Bradshaw (Miles Teller) – the son of his former wingman and best friend, “Goose.”
The Blu-ray contains a few morsels of bonus content, including a digital copy of the film; four behind-the-scenes featurettes; Lady Gaga’s “Hold My Hand” music video; One Republic’s “I Ain’t Worried” music video; and the teaser trailer for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One.
Reach out to Josh Sewell on Twitter @IAmJoshSewell
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