Here (2024)

Here is an interesting experiment which never quite takes off. The "gimmick" of filming in one spot representing centuries of time actually works better than I had hoped but the problem mostly rests on the script which doesn't quite tell a compelling enough story. The film needed to focus on the connection between the physical space the people walking through it but that connection was mostly superficial. While Here never quite gets boring, it also never quite captures the audience's heart. 

Hanks and Wright are strong enough actors (along with their supporting cast, especially Bettany and Reilly) to pull off the range of the lives they are playing. I had no problem with the de-aging as in many ways it works much better than the aging make up films have put us through for decades. But the real test was how it would feel to watch a movie where the "camera" was placed in one spot the whole time. Surprisingly this worked for me. Zemeckis' use of the "space" along with different zones in the frame depicting different times, made it quite compelling.

As I mentioned it's the script that lost its way. It attempts to do so much and ends up doing so little. It becomes just a surface story for all the many threads it weaves instead of building any one of its narratives to a truly satisfying story. We are to be so moved by Hanks and Wright's final moments in the home but I found it hard to muster up much energy. 

So as an interesting experiment it had me quite fascinated, but as a story it didn't hold my attention. 

Here

Starring: Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, Kelly Reilly, Michelle Dockery, Gwilyum Lee, Ophelia Lovibond, David Fynn,  Zsa Zsa Zemeckis

Director: Robert Zemeckis

Writers: Eric Roth, Robert Zemeckis

The Wild Robot (2024)

Writer/Director Sanders is responsible for one of my all time favourite animated films, Lilo and Stitch. I love how wholly original and unlike anything else it is. He is also responsible for a film that mass audiences love a lot more than I do, How to Train Your Dragon. It's not that I don't like it (although I will pick apart its sequels), it just never resonated for me. The Wild Robot falls between the two for me. It is sweet and beautifully told if rather predictable and overly standard for my tastes. Still, it's hard not to appreciate a story that is so much about finding family. 

If I was going to nit pick anything it would be how little the film surprises you. Honestly anyone who has seen a movie before can tell you exactly what is going to happen at any point. Still, the art direction is gorgeous and the film just sticks to its story earnestly. I am a sucker for found family films, films that remind us that love comes from the least expected places and we can find our place amongst those who aren't anything like us. For that The Wild Robot overcomes any critique I have for lack of originality.  

The Wild Robot

Starring: Lupita Nyong'o, Pedro Pascal, Kit Connor, Bill Nighy, Stephanie Hsu, Mark Hamill, Catherine O'Hara, Matt Berry, Ving Rhames 

Writer/Director: Chris Sanders

Conclave (2024)

Conclave is a drawing room mystery without a murder (perhaps). It is like something right out of Agatha Christie, only instead of a detective solving a murder, it is a Cardinal Dean (who happens to be running a Papal Conclave) attempting to solve a different sort of mystery, investigating just like a Poirot or Marple would do. Only this time the answer is something unexpected. 

Berger's work here is remarkable, using the ceremony, costuming, and Vatican setting to film a truly beautiful movie. This sort of Catholic pageantry makes for some incredible film making (as Coppola used it in his Godfather trilogy) and it's well on display here. His story telling is wonderful too. There is intrigue, twists and turns, like the page turner it is based on, without being too pulpy or sensational. Berger finds the right balance to keep us wondering at every turn. 

But for me the best part was the resolution, an ending that doesn't fit the mold. We keep waiting for there to be something nefarious going on and the little deviations along the way keep hinting but end up being more politics than transgressions. So that when we find out what may or may not have been kept hidden, it is something... well... something else entirely that makes us ask other questions about right and wrong, in this case, how this particular historic institution may be right or wrong in how it treats its members. 

So Conclave's strength is in how it uses its plot conceit and genre to make us think about things in a different way while remaining very gripping throughout. 

Conclave
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati, Carlos Diehz

Director: Edward Berger

Writer: Peter Staughan