Zootopia

Can a female bunny (excuse me, rabbit) make it as a cop in the big city?  What if she has to pair up with a wily fox to solve the big mystery?  Can this be anything other than a Disney Studios production?  Reviewers have said that both children and adults will find much to like in this animated feature, and any similarity between Judy Hopps (the rabbit voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and Judy Hoffs in the 1987 movie 21 Jump Street is simply an “hilarious…coincidence.”  Yes, they’re both female cops, yes, they both face discrimination, and yes, they share remarkably similar names, but writer Byron Howard, co-writer/director of Zootopia says no.  (He’s the one who made the hilarious coincidence comment.) 

Set in a large city with a very diverse animal population, Zootopia is a classic whodunit in which the utopian world where all animals live together in peace and harmony is found to have a very sinister underbelly.  Peter Debruge, writing in Variety, says that in some respects the movie is a corrective to Disney’s 1947 Song of the South.  This time Sis Rabbit and Brer Fox work together instead of being enemies.  He also suggests that Zootopia can be compared to another Disney movie, the 1988 Who Framed Roger Rabbit—but without Bob Hoskins.  There are no actual humans in this movie, although the animals all have very human characteristics, including opposable thumbs. 

Missoula’s J.K. Simmons provides the voice for Mayor Lionheart and Idris Elba lends his voice to Chief Bogo (a Musk Ox), head of the city’s police.  Jason Bateman’s voice comes to life as Nick Wilde, the fox with whom Judy Hopps partners.  Shakira sings the role of Gazelle, whom Debruge describes as “the veld’s sveltest pop idol.”   The movie was written by the aforementioned Byron Howard along with eight other writers, and directed by Howard and two associates.  Howard's previous writing credits include the short film Tangled Ever After, and director credits include Bolt, Tangled, Tangled Ever After, and the short Let it Begin.

The feature opened in Europe before opening in the U.S. on March 4, 2016.  Opening weekend box office in the U.S. totaled over $75 million, and total receipts as of March 21^st come to $204,654,233, easily paying back the estimated cost of $150 million.  The movie will play here in Plains for two weekends, so you have plenty of time to see it twice, or more if you so wish.  There will be no matinee on Easter Sunday, but there will be a 3 p.m. showing the following Sunday as well as the regular 8:00 p.m. showings on Friday, Saturday and Sunday both weeks.

Upcoming Films (Subject to Change):

ZOOTOPIA PG
March 25 - 27 no matinee Easter Sunday
April 1 - 3 matinee 3 p.m. Sunday

Tentative schedule for April:

LONDON HAS FALLEN R
April 8 - 10
BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE PG-13
April 15 - 17
MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN PG
April 22 - 24
THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT PG-13
April 29 - May 1

In the interest of full disclosure:  I have no connection to the Llano Theatre.  I just appreciate the fact that a small town, Plains, Montana, has a movie house that shows great movies at a reasonable price usually within a month of their first on-screen appearance in the big cities, and I want to make sure that those of us who live in the area continue to enjoy this luxury for a long, long time.

Eddie the Eagle

At 4,409 feet in elevation, Ben Nevis is Great Britain’s highest mountain.  In relative terms, that means the peak is further from the low lands around it than Pat’s Knob is from the Clark Fork Valley, but not as high as Baldy.  And that’s the highest point in Britain.  It is no wonder that Britain has never been known as a powerhouse of skiing talent.  In fact, despite competing in every Winter Olympics since the inception of the games in 1924, it was only in 2014, at Sochi, Russia, that Britain got its first medal for skiing, a bronze taken by Jenny Jones in the Women’s Slopestyle Competition—a snowboarding event held for the first time that year.  That doesn’t mean that the Brits haven’t tried in the past, just that the country really isn’t known for its expertise on skis.

Michael Edwards was one of those Brits who did try, and despite being the best Britain had to offer at the time, he failed, miserably, as it were, to the point that the International Olympic Committee instituted a new rule about qualifying for events which they named for Mr. Edwards.  When he competed at Calgary in 1988, he was already the British ski jumping record holder, number nine in the world for amateur speed skiing, and world record holder for stunt jumping.  Although he had tried for a spot on Britain’s 1984 team, he was unsuccessful.  To train for 1988, he moved to Lake Placid, New York, hoping for experience in a more challenging environment and switched from speed skiing to ski jumping because there was less competition.  (He was the *only* British ski jumper.)  Although he was twenty pounds heavier than his closest competitor, and entirely self-funded, he was accepted as an Olympian and went to Calgary to compete in the 70 meter and 90 meter jumps.  So near sighted that he had to wear his glasses while competing, he was essentially blind as his glasses fogged over completely during his runs.   Sports writers called him Mr. Magoo, after the famously near-blind cartoon character.   He finished dead last in both events, but won the hearts of sports fans.  It is his story that is depicted in Dexter Fletcher’s film Eddie the Eagle. 

Fletcher has an impressive list of credits, but is probably not well known to American audiences.  He is primarily an actor, having appeared in such films as Bugsy Malone (at age 10), Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and the Muppets Most Wanted movie where his cameo role ended up on the editing floor.  He’s been in no end of British television shows, as well as the HBO series Band of Brothers, but his directing has been limited to three films to date:  Wild Bill (2011), Sunshine on the Leith (2013), and Eddie the Eagle (2016).  Edwards is played by British actor Taron Egerton who is probably best known to American audiences for his role in the 2014 movie Kingsman: The Secret Service.  I have to admit that only three names in the cast list stood out for me:  Hugh Jackman, who plays Eddie’s trainer (a fictional role not based on any real person), Christopher Walken, and British Character Actor Jim Broadbent, whom you may recognize from the Harry Potter movies.

Eddie the Eagle opened at Sundance in January, 2016 and then in theatrical release in the U.S. on February 26, 2016.  If you haven’t heard much about this movie, you’re not alone.  Opening weekend receipts totaled just over $6 million, and total receipts to date (through March 11) have been just shy of $13.5 million.  At this rate it will take a while for the movie to recoup its estimated cost of $23 million.  The film is rated PG-13 because of some suggestive language, some partial nudity, and smoking. (Yes, smoking!)  By the way, Olympic records show that Britain had three ski jumpers at the very first Winter Olympics in 1924, but 1988 was the next time Britain fielded a jumper—Edwards, and after him one jumper in 2002.  And that’s all, folks!

Coming to the Llano Theatre:  (Subject to change)

EDDIE THE EAGLE PG-13
March 18 - 20

ZOOTOPIA PG
March 25 - 27 no matinee
April 1 - 3 matinee 3 p.m. Sunday

In the interest of full disclosure:  I have no connection to the Llano Theatre.  I just appreciate the fact that a small town, Plains, Montana, has a movie house that shows great movies at a reasonable price usually within a month of their first on-screen appearance in the big cities, and I want to make sure that those of us who live in the area continue to enjoy this luxury for a long, long time.

Risen

Affirm Films is the home of quality entertainment that inspires, uplifts, challenges, and captivates.  Through compelling films, treasured children’s classics and timeless stories, we deliver on the promise of wholesome and trusted entertainment.

Thus reads the mission statement of Affirm Films, a division of Sony Pictures.  Affirm Films, along with LD Entertainment, Columbia Pictures (also a Sony company), and Patrick Aiello Productions, is the producer of the movie Risen, which opened on February 19^th, 2016, and is playing at the Llano Theatre in Plains on the weekend of March 11-13.  The background to the story will be familiar to anyone who grew up in a Christian church, as it focuses on the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus.  The point of view of the story, however, is not one church goers will find familiar. 

Reza Aslan, author of the scholarly work Zealot:  The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, suggests that Jesus was an itinerant Jewish preacher who gathered followers in an attempt to establish the “Kingdom of God.”  Aslan further suggests that this preacher caused such fear among both the Jewish religious leaders and the Roman civil authorities, that he was condemned and executed as a state criminal.  Some Christians are familiar with the four letter inscription supposedly put above Jesus’s cross, “INRI,” which is an acronym for the Latin phrase translated as “Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews.”  [Iēsus Nazarēnus, Rēx Iūdaeōrum]  Aslan proposes that the Romans were very serious about the words they used in crucifixions, and this phase would, indeed, indicate just how seriously the authorities viewed the “crime.”  And that’s where our movie starts.  If, as Jesus prophesied, he would rise from the dead in three days, this would be a miracle capable of destroying the Roman occupation of Palestine as well as the existing Jewish religious hierarchy.  A guard is posted in front of the tomb, to make sure no one steals the body.   When word comes back to Pontius Pilate that the tomb is empty, he sends men to investigate, with the understanding that they will find a body and disprove any resurrection claims.   And that, in a nutshell, is the story line of the movie Risen.  “The manhunt that changed the course of human history,” as the movie’s poster claims.

Joseph Fiennes plays Clavius, the Tribune in charge of the “manhunt.”  He is assisted by his aide, Lucius, played by Tom Felton.  Peter Firth takes the role of Pilate and Cliff Curtis Yeshua (Jesus).  All the Biblical characters are present:  Mary Magdalene, Joseph of Arimathea, Peter, John, Bartholomew, etc.  The screenplay was written by Kevin Reynolds and Paul Aiello, and Reynolds directed the movie.  Believers won’t see any mystery here, because they know what happened to the body, but the story should be an interesting look at how non-believers interpret the Easter story. 

During its opening weekend, Risen brought in amost $12 million dollars, and in the two weeks since opening, it has grossed over $28.6 million (as of March 6^th).  From everything I have read about the movie, it won’t challenge anyone’s beliefs, and indeed, I come back to the name of the production company in the belief that the film was made to affirm Christian theology.

Upcoming Films at the Llano (subject to change):

RISEN PG-13
March 11 - 13

LONDON HAS FALLEN R
March 18 - 20
ZOOTOPIA PG
March 25 - 27 No matinee

This is the tentative schedule for April:
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE PG-13
April 1 - 3
THE DIVERGENT SERIES: ALLEGIANT PG-13
April 8 - 10
BATMAN VS SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE PG-13
April 15 - 17
MIRACLES FROM HEAVEN PG-13
April 22 - 24

In the interest of full disclosure:  I have no connection to the Llano Theatre.  I just appreciate the fact that a small town, Plains, Montana, has a movie house that shows great movies at a reasonable price usually within a month of their first on-screen appearance in the big cities, and I want to make sure that those of us who live in the area continue to enjoy this luxury for a long, long time.

The Revenant

I thought about writing this up last week, but as the movie was nominated for 12 academy awards, I figured it would be better to wait until after last Sunday's award show.  As it turns out, this film has been nominated for 135 awards around the world, and has already won 63 times, including Best Direction, Best Cinematography and Best Actor in a Leading Role at Sunday's Oscar ceremony.  Make no mistake, this is an extremely violent film.  If your stomach isn't up to watching a man being attacked by a Grizzly Bear, or eating a freshly caught fish raw, scales and all, you probably will want to stay at home.  But Director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s work is compelling for those who can sit through the two and a half hour vision of hell.  As a side note,  Iñárritu has now won two Best Director Oscars in a row, having won for Birdman last year. 

The plot, based on Michael Punke’s 2002 novel, can be summarized easily.  Hugh Glass, a trapper in the 1820s, working in what would become Montana forty years later, is mauled by a Grizzly.  His companions are under instruction to watch over him until he recovers or dies, but instead they choose to leave him on his own and save their own selves.  Glass doesn’t die, and fights his way across 200 miles of wilderness to get to a trading post where he vows revenge on his former companions.  Along the way he does what he must to survive, including eating the raw fish I mentioned above.  He also gets swept across a waterfall, which, in the movie, was played by the Kootenai Falls just west of Libby.  The part of Montana in the film was played mostly by Alberta, but other parts of the film were shot in British Columbia, Mexico, Tierra del Fuego Argentina, and the aforementioned Kootenai Falls.  In other words, the people making the movie got around even more than the original Hugh Glass, a part played by Leonardo DiCaprio in an Academy Award winning performance. 

 Kootenai Falls at High WaterPhotograph by the AuthorTaken 4/13/2014

Aside from the Montana setting, a further local connection is that novelist Michael Punke spent time in Missoula where he served as an Adjunct Professor at the University.  Born in Torrington, Wyoming, Punke got his education at Cornell University, and worked with (then) Senator Max Baucus as his international trade counsel.  While in Missoula, President Obama asked him to move to Geneva, Switzerland to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization, a post he still holds.  While everyone else connected with the film was in Hollywood last Sunday, Punke was in Nairobi, Kenya negotiating trade agreements.  His position in government service forbids him to talk about his book or the movie made from his book, as that would be seen as a conflict of interest.  Who knew that talking about a novel set in the 1820s could upset delicate trade negotiations.

I, personally, am not a fan of violence on screen, but I am really looking forward to seeing this movie.  As I stated above, if your stomach can take it, by all means come watch the story of Hugh Glass’s survival and revenge.

Upcoming Films at the Llano Theatre (subject to change):

THE REVENANT R
March 4 -6

RISEN PG-13
March 11 - 13
LONDON HAS FALLEN R
March 18 - 20
ZOOTOPIA PG
March 25 - 27 there will be NO matinee on Easter Sunday

In the interest of full disclosure:  I have no connection to the Llano Theatre.  I just appreciate the fact that a small town, Plains, Montana, has a movie house that shows great movies at a reasonable price usually within a month of their first on-screen appearance in the big cities, and I want to make sure that those of us who live in the area continue to enjoy this luxury for a long, long time.