Paddington (5/10): I'm not jumping on the Paddington bandwagon.

"Long ago, people in England sent their children by train with labels around their necks, so they could be taken care of by complete strangers in the country side where it was safe.”

This quote is taken from a scene in which Aunt Lucy (voiced by Imelda Staunton), a CGI animated Bear living in a Peruvian rainforest, prepares her nephew Paddington (voiced by Ben Whishaw), a charming but mischievous marmalade-loving bear, to travel to London after a terrible earthquake has destroyed their home. Apparently the real life images of the children leaving the train station during the war along with a teddy bear in a store at Paddington Station is what inspired Michael Bond nearly sixty years ago to create this beloved children character which has now been brought to the big screen by director Paul King (Bunny and the Bull). To be honest, I wasn’t familiar with the character and this was the first time I was introduced to his world which sort of feels like it comes from the same universe as Stuart Little where you simply have to accept the fact that it is apparently normal for a talking bear to walk around the city and be adopted by a loving family. I’m not going to jump on the Paddington bandwagon here because despite the sweet and charming story I did find it rather tedious, boring, and extremely predictable. With a 98% of critics on Rottentomatoes liking this film, I’m definitely in the minority here, but I simply didn’t find it appealing. 

Once Paddington arrives in London he is temporary welcomed by the Brown family until he finds the explorer who had befriended his uncles forty years ago in Peru. Henry (Hugh Bonneville) and Mary (Sally Hawkins) Brown are the parents of Judy (Madeleine Harris) and Jonathan (Samuel Joslin), but other than Mary no one seems too pleased about the intrusion of Paddington in their house. Eventually they all warm up to him despite his mischievous behavior, but not everyone is as welcoming as they are. There is a museum taxidermist, Millicent (Nicole Kidman), who hears rumors that this Peruvian bear is living with the Brown family and she wants him for her personal collection. Peter Capaldi plays the role of Mr. Curry, the Brown’s next door neighbor who is willing to help Millicent take the bear away from his neighborhood, while Jim Broadbent is Mr. Gruber, an antique shop owner who tries to help Paddington locate the mysterious explorer.  

It is evident that the film has an underlying message about the poor way in which immigrants are treated. Paddington is a beloved and charming character that will easily win the hearts of children. The story follows pretty much the same basic formula as most classic children films did. Visually the movie is very stylish and there are several set designs that reminded me of Wes Anderson’s work. Especially those scenes where he uses rostrum camera insert shots to animate several objects. I’ll give King credit for those visually beautiful scenes, but I simply didn’t feel engaged with the characters as most people did. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that I had never heard of Paddington before, but as a film on its own it definitely didn’t stand out for me.

Pride (8/10): It's a musical without being a musical

“When you're in a battle against an enemy so much bigger, so much stronger than you, well, to find out you had a friend you never knew existed, well, that's the best feeling in the world.”

Pride is Matthew Warchus’s third feature film and the first one since his 2004 musical, Our House. Pride isn’t a musical, but it surely feels like one with all the colorful characters and the lovable 80’s soundtrack. It was a surprisingly fun film with an upbeat message about solidarity. It is one of those rare crowd-pleasers that stands out from other films thanks to its strong cast and uplifting message. I never imagined a film focusing on the historic events that took place in the UK in 1984 when the miners were at strike and found an uncommon ally in the gay and lesbian activists could be so fun. We’ve had similar plots in the past where two groups come together in the aid of each other despite their differences, but I don’t think it has been done in such a contagiously joyful manner. Take last year’s Dallas Buyers Club for example where we get a contrasting alliance between a redneck cowboy and a group of gays suffering from AIDS. That was a much more serious film where we got some comedic moments due to the contrasting lifestyles, but Pride takes this similar premise of contrasting groups coming together and delivers a much more hilarious and uplifting film. It still delivers the message and despite being formulaic it manages to stand out thanks to its colorful characters that never lose their humanity. I can’t think of another film where a group of gay and lesbian activists aren’t just fighting for their own cause, but are actually invested in helping others who are going through a difficult moment. So it stands out in that it isn’t one of those films that is focused entirely on delivering a message in favor of gay rights, but rather focusing on the solidarity between these two groups. That is what makes this a much more humane  story and one everyone an identify with. The way the film is portrayed feels like a musical at times and you actually want to dance along with some of the characters when the music plays. Pride is a film with a lot of heart that reminds us that despite our personal issues there are always others out there in need of our solidarity. Pride might feel a bit too sentimental at times, but it is a feel-good film nonetheless with some of the funniest scenes of any comedy released in 2014. There are also some dramatic moments where I literally got goose bumps because I was moved. It is well balanced and uplifting despite its flaws.

Some of my favorite moments in the film involved the clashing of these two contrasting groups. Despite their differences they learn to understand each other because they both have suffered from oppression. The cast couldn’t have been better. Ben Schnetzer gives an impressive performance as the gay activist who comes up with the idea of supporting this group and winning a new ally in the process, but the fun really kicks in when they interact with these miners from a small Welch community. This is where we are introduced to some great characters played by Paddy Considine, Jessica Gunning, Imelda Staunton, and Bill Nighy who are outstanding. Nighy really delivers by underplaying his character and proves that sometimes less is more. I enjoyed Gunning’s strong female performance and I look forward to seeing her in more films in the future. George MacKay also delivers as this young kid who hasn’t told his parents he’s come out (which is probably the most formulaic part of this film) so he lies to them about his activities. Andrew Scott and Dominic West also have some endearing moments on screen together. The best thing about Pride is without a doubt the strong cast which thanks to the rich screenplay by Stephen Beresford are given such colorful and interesting characters. It is a film that reminds us about our humanity and the importance of being solidary towards one another. It is both cheerful and earnest about its subject matter.

My Review: The Pirates! Band of Misfits (8/10)

¨You´ll see I will be Pirate of the Year! And then you´ll be laughing on the other side of your faces.¨

I was pleasantly surprised with this movie as I was catching up with the nominated animation films. I hadn’t really heard of it before the nominations, but was glad it received the recognition it got because this really is a fun and silly movie that the entire family can enjoy. My favorite animated film of the year continues to be Wreck-it Ralph, but this is still much better than Pixar´s Brave. The Pirates is one of those rare animated movies that will appeal to a diverse audience thanks to the subtle and clever jokes and puns that the British have us all familiar with. The animation is very detailed and skillful here considering this isn’t a computer generated animated movie; it´s stop-motion and was produced by Aardman, the same production company that brought us such great animated films as Wallace and Gromit and Chicken Run. Directors Peter Lord and Jeff Newitt also worked in Chicken Run; and in my opinion have perfected their craft here. You can´t make a movie about pirates without having some sort of exciting adventure, and this movie delivers a real fun and clever adventure that adults and kids will enjoy alike. It has the typical silly and dry British humor that we all love so much. The screenplay was adapted by Gideon Defoe from his own novels about the pirates. I had a really fun time with all the jokes and puns, and really loved these funny characters. They were as luxuriant as the Pirate Captain´s beard.

The Pirate Captain (voiced by Hugh Grant) dreams of becoming Pirate of the Year but has failed to do so for the past twenty years as he isn’t considered one of the favorites to take home the prize. His crew loves him and remains faithful to him, but are as quirky as he is and are not taken seriously by other pirates. The favorites are always Black Bellamy (Jeremy Piven), Cutlass Liz (Salma Hayek), and Peg Leg Hastings (Lenny Henry) who have a great amount of booty and treasures. The Pirate Captain knows that in order to win the prize he will need to find a great treasure so he begins his quest with his crew by raiding several ships unsuccessfully. Right when he´s about to give up, the Pirate Captain encounters a ship where a young Charles Darwin (David Tennant) discovers that his beloved pet, Polly, is not actually a parrot, but a rare bird that was thought to have been extinct decades ago. He convinces the Pirate Captain to travel to London with the dodo where he promises him great riches for his discovery, but Charles has a hidden agenda of his own and everything is not what it seems. The Pirate Captain´s Second Assistant (Martin Freeman) warns him about the dangers of traveling to London, but he insists on finding these riches. In London, the Pirate Captain and his crew must avoid being discovered as pirates because Queen Victoria (Imelda Staunton) is known for hating pirates. Thus the adventure begins. Arrr.

This is the first time Hugh Grant voices an animated character, but he does it masterfully creating one of the most enthusiastic and beloved characters of the movie. David Tennant, Martin Freeman and Imelda Staunton all stand out in this film, but Salma Hayek, Jeremy Piven, and Lenny Henry really don´t have much screen time here. I really had a fun time with this stop-motion animated film and laughed several times at the clever gags and jokes. I hope more people get to watch this fun adventure because it is a movie that the entire family can enjoy and that is just a commodity that is rare to find these days. So if you have the opportunity to see this don’t hesitate and check it out.

    

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