Author: Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service
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Storytelling less than magical in fantastical ‘100 Nights of Hero’
“Are you ready? Then we shall begin.” This narration, over an image of three moons hanging in the sky, begins Julia Jackman’s “100 Nights of Hero,” which she adapted from Isabel Greenberg’s 2016 graphic novel and directed. It signifies that we’re in for a level of heightened, self-reflective fantasy storytelling, and in fact, the revolutionary…
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‘Hamnet’ a deeply sad, utterly beautiful Shakespearean story
Enveloped in soft green, the forest holds Agnes (Jessie Buckley) with the comfort and safety of a womb. Curled up in a centuries-old tree root, she is cradled by the lineage of her mother and the mothers before her, who walked out of the forest knowing of plants and dirt and animals. When she strides…
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‘Zootopia 2’ delivers wit and charm of original and then some
That “Zootopia 2” is as fresh, funny and densely packed as the first film feels like a miracle, but the truth is that there’s nothing miraculous about it: it’s just made by humans who put a lot of heart, humor and a whole lot of movie references into this long-awaited sequel. It’s been nine years…
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Brendan Fraser connects in affecting ‘Rental Family’
Hikari’s beautifully moving and affably humorous story of human connection, “Rental Family,” kicks off with one funeral and culminates with another, demonstrating the evolution that our protagonist, Philip (Brendan Fraser), goes through during his personal journey between these two events. The first funeral is a shock. Philip is a struggling actor in Japan, with one…
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Grande shines but ‘Wicked: For Good’ unable to defy gravity
As it turns out, “Wicked” is not too big to fail. In fact, it may be all the excess baggage that weighs down the second installment, making it impossible for the sequel “Wicked: For Good” to defy gravity. Admittedly, the first-part “Wicked” did take its sweet time to achieve liftoff, while building out a world…
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‘The Running Man’ a dystopian satire sprinting at full speed
Why walk when you can run? The second Stephen King adaptation about a contest to the death for a large cash prize has hit theaters this fall — Edgar Wright’s take on “The Running Man,” which was published in 1982 under King’s pen name Richard Bachman. Also included in the 1985 collection “The Bachman Books”…
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‘Now You See Me: Now You Don’t’ a diverting sleight of hand
You know millennial nostalgia has reached a dangerous peak when there’s a new “Now You See Me” film in theaters. The last time we encountered the merry band of Robin Hood prankster magicians known as the Horsemen, it was the Obama era, when “Now You See Me 2,” the sequel to the hit 2013 film,…