Mike's Movie Tips

 1/4 Starring (voices): Keith Coogan, Corey Feldman, Mickey Rooney, Kurt Russell, Pearl Bailey, Jeanette Nolan, Pat Buttram, Jack Albertson, Sandy Duncan Rated G "The Fox and the Hound" will make you want to cry.  Not the "good" cry that comes from watching a great tragedy like " Grave of the Fireflies ."  The kind of crying that comes from watching " Saving Private Ryan " at age five.  I realize that I used that analogy when describing " The Poughkeepsie Tapes ," but it applies here as well.  I wanted to turn this movie off halfway through and never look back. The story is a simple one.  Tod (Coogan) is an orphaned fox who is taken in by the kindly Widow Tweed (Nolan).  Next door, the sadistic hunter Amos Slade (Albertson) has just adopted a hounding named Copper (Feldman) to train has a hunting dog, much to the chagrin of Amos's current canine, the elderly Chief (Buttram).  Improbably, Tod and Copper become best friends despite th...

 3/4 Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton, Rhea Seehorn, F. Murray Abraham, Ana Sophia Heger Not Rated (probable R for a Scene of Strong Violence, Some Terror, Language, Sexuality and Drug Use) The thing that horror movies have in common is that the past will never truly die.  It's always there, waiting to strike the perfect target. Like most mysteries, "Things Heard & Seen" works best when you don't know where the plot is going.  So I'll be vague.  Catherine (Seyfried) and George Claire (Norton) are a young couple who have just moved to upstate New York.  George has just accepted a teaching position at Saginaw College and has selected an old home to move into.  It has a dark past, but George keeps this hidden from his wife so as to not upset her.  But soon creepy things are happening to Catherine, and the more she investigates, the more she fears her new home. A first impulse would be to describe "Things Heard & Seen" as a horror film, but ...

 2.5/4 Starring: Angelina Jolie, Finn Little, Aiden Gillen, Nicholas Hoult, Jon Bernthal, Medina Senghore, Jake Weber Rated R for Strong Violence and Language Throughout Taylor Sheridan has all the elements for a solid thriller, but he can't quite make them gel.  He comes close though.  So close that I nearly gave it a pass for what it does well.  In the end, though, I can't deny the vague sense of dissatisfaction that I felt at the end of the film (and if I'm being honest, while I was watching it).  If he had just pushed things a little farther and tightened up the film at the editing stage, he might have had a nice little 90 minute movie. Connor (Little) is on the run with his dad (Weber).  He doesn't know why, but before he is murdered, he gives Connor two slips of paper and tells him to take it to the news.  Connor's only hope for survival is Hannah (Jolie), a traumatized firefighter trying to heal her psyche in a watchtower.  She takes it on ...

 3.5/4 Starring: Eddie Redmayne, Alicia Vikander, Matthias Schoenaerts, Ben Whishaw, Sebastian Koch Rated R for Some Sexuality and Full Nudity "The Danish Girl" is the first film that does justice to transgender people.  It's by no means the first, but even " Boys Don't Cry " was less interested in communicating the paradigm shift of gender transition.  Brandon knew who he was.  It isn't that simple for Lili Elbe, whose gradual realization that she is a woman trapped in the body of a man has huge ramifications for her and for her wife, Gerda. Einar (Redmayne) and Gerda (Vikander) were living perfectly normal lives as bohemian artists in the 1920's.  Einar is a respected artist while Gerda is attempting to find her niche.  One day, one of Gerda's models is running late, so she has Einar fill in.  This triggers a change in his mind that confuses him.  But when he dresses as a woman named Lili for a party as a gag, he realizes something about himsel...

 3.5/4 Starring: Naseeruddin Shah, Lilete Dubey, Vasundhara Das, Parvin Dabas, Shefali Shah, Vijay Raaz, Tillotama Shome Rated R for Language, including Some Sex Related Dialogue It's important to understand that "Monsoon Wedding" is not a traditional movie.  The film has no real "plot" in any conventional sense.  It's about the event itself, and the comings and goings of the people involved.  Director Mira Nair made the correct decision to film this as a sort of professional "home movie," if you will.  Only without the shaky cam and such. More than just a wedding, the film is a tale of two Indias: rich and poor, old and new.  The film centers on the Verma family, who is clearly very wealthy.  But it also gives us a peek into the life of their event planner, who is not.  Nair also takes the trouble to contrast the Indian people who are entering into the age of cell phones and email while still holding firm to the traditions of their past.  Th...

 3/4 Starring (voices): Anne Hathaway, Cary Elwes, Tim Curry, Judy Greer, Peter Boyle Rated G It saddens me deeply that Studio Ghibli isn't more widely known.  Despite creating some of the greatest animated films, they don't have nearly the popularity that they deserve.  Pixar has dominated the animation market for the last twenty years, and as much as I like Pixar, they don't have the daring or storytelling richness of Studio Ghibli.  And nothing Pixar has created has ever come close to the visual splendor. "The Cat Returns" is a rarity in a few ways.  First, it was directed by neither of the two titans behind the studio: Hayao Miyazaki or the late Isao Takahata.  Instead, the reins went to Hiroyuki Morita, a first-timer who was chosen because the studio needed to nurture new talent to eventually replace the masters.  It is also their first, and thus far only, sequel or spin off to one of their own films.  It takes a minor character, the Cat Bar...

 3/4 Starring: Tim Vahle, Mariana Tosca, Sam Vlahos, M. Emmet Walsh, Graham Greene, Sheila Tousey, Rosalind Ayres Rated PG for Mild Sexual Content and Some Language By most standards, "Christmas in the Clouds" isn't a very good movie.  But what it lacks in technical prowess and other areas (notably acting and pacing), it makes up for with enthusiasm.  The characters are likable, the tone is light and frothy, and it's virtually guaranteed to bring a smile to your face. The film takes place at a tribal ski resort.  Since it's pure farce, it's best only to explain the set-up.  Ray Clouds on Fire (Vahle) is the overworked general manager who is obsessed with getting a good rating from a travel guide that is sending a critic in the next couple of days.  He and everyone else thinks that the critic is Tina Littlehawk (Tosca), but in reality the critic is a grumpy old drunk named Stu (Walsh).  Tina has her own reasons for coming though, since she's there to co...

 1.5/4 Starring: Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis Rated R for Language, Some Sexual Content and Brief Violent Images Horror movies have a history of taking place in unique locations.  " The Descent " took place in a cave.  " The Relic " had a monster go berserk at a museum gala.  " The Nu n" had a priest, a novitiate, and a small town boy get menaced in a convent.  "Bubba Ho-Tep" may be the first monster movie that takes place in a nursing home.  And instead of a cast of twenty-somethings with more good looks than common sense, we have Elvis Presley and JFK, both of whom are very much alive. Elvis Presley (Campbell), as we learn, did not die in 1977.  He switched places with an Elvis impersonator named Sebastian Haff, and he's the one who died.  Of course no one believes him, and they think that this old fart with a beer gut and a bad hip is either lying or senile.  Down the hall from him is an African American gentleman who claims to be JFK (Davi...

 3/4 Starring: Toni Collette, Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson Not Rated (probable PG-13 for Language and Peril) Sci-fi has been big the past couple of years.  And I don't mean " Star Wars " and robots (although " Ex Machina " made my Top 10 list in 2014, and its cousin " Chappie " just missed it).  But realistic, intelligent science fiction (which leaves out the superheroes).  The list of entries reads out like a Top 10 list of its own: " Interstellar ," " Ad Astra ," " Arrival ," and this year's " Voyagers ."  While Joe Penna's "Stowaway" isn't as impressive, it's still in august company. Three astronauts are on a two year mission to Mars.  Marina Barnett (Collette) is the commander of the mission, taking her third and final journey into space.  Zoe Levenson (Kendrick) is the medical officer.  And David Kim (Kim) is the botanist whose journey is the culmination of years ...