Cryptozoo (Movie)

Subterms

    Latest story

    113 Shares99 Views

    Animated Movies for Adults That Are Generating Oscar Buzz

    by

    A handful of animated features gaining attention this awards season take a more mature approach.Since the inception of the best animated feature Oscar category in 2001, the Academy has sporadically celebrated thematically mature works alongside box-office powerhouses aimed at audiences of all ages. These more adult-oriented titles are often hand drawn productions conceived abroad in languages other than English and without the involvement of large corporations.Some of these notable candidates have included the Cuba-set romance “Chico and Rita,” the poetic, French-language drama on fate, “I Lost My Body,” and an adaptation of Marjane Satrapi’s autobiographical graphic novel “Persepolis.”Their recognition at the Oscars helps to push beyond any assumptions that the medium’s sole virtue is to serve as a vehicle for children-oriented narratives.It also evinces that the studio-dominated American animation industry seldom finances this type of audacious filmmaking. One exception that earned an Academy nod is Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s stop-motion meditation on loneliness and companionship, “Anomalisa.”The current batch of contenders vying for a slot among the final five nominees showcases multiple examples of storytelling with emotional substance tackling grown-up matters with idiosyncratic visual flair.Previously nominated for the fantastical family saga “Mirai,” the Japanese director Mamoru Hosoda plugs back into his interest in the online lives we lead — a topic he undertook in “Summer Wars” (2009) — with the soul-stirring, music-fueled, digital fairy tale “Belle” (in theaters Jan. 14).Borrowing tropes from Disney’s 1991 “Beauty and the Beast,” but repurposed to fit his vibrant aesthetic, Hosoda builds a virtual universe known as U, where people coexist in the form of bright-colored avatars tailored to their physical traits and personalities.Inside this intangible realm, the apprehensive teenager Suzu (voiced by Kaho Nakamura) transforms into a hyper-confident pop star. But when a troubled user, an enigmatic cloaked dragon, begins wreaking havoc, reality bleeds into this seemingly idyllic escape. The rousing action, awe-inspiring world construction and entrancing soundtrack belie tougher subjects.With affecting gravitas, “Belle” confronts the lapse in communication between parents and children, as well as the neglect and abuse committed against young people by their guardians. Still, rather than demonizing the interactions we have via our internet personas, Hosoda presents this alternative mode of engagement as an avenue for sincere connection.Conversely, the fascinatingly immersive mountain climbing drama “The Summit of the Gods” (streaming on Netflix) maps a story of dual obsession that unfolds entirely in animated iterations of existing locations: Mount Everest, the Alps, Tokyo, all of which are no less remarkable in painterly renderings. The French-produced film (based on the manga by Jiro Taniguchi) portrays the strenuous and perilous activity like a spiritual pursuit.Hellbent on reaching the world’s highest peak, the reclusive climber Habu (voiced by Éric Herson-Macarel) has spent years preparing to accomplish it alone. At the same time, the photojournalist Fukamachi (Damien Boisseau) is on a quest to find the camera that belonged to the real-life mountaineer George Mallory, who died on the north face of Everest. Their separate desires soon become inextricably intertwined.A scene from “The Summit of the Gods.”NetflixBefore making “Summit,” the director Patrick Imbert had served as the animation director on hyper stylized projects such as the acclaimed fable “Ernest and Celestine.” But here, his first solo directorial effort, there’s a more austere approach to the character design to make its exploration of the human longing for the unknown, and not the stylization, the focus. Though most of us may never understand what compels people to risk it all at such altitudes, “Summit” attempts to get us as close to that zenith as possible through sensory impressions.Staying in our sufficiently complicated real world, two films this year reinforce a trend that points to animation as a route to understanding the cultural and geopolitical intricacies of Afghanistan. These entries join recent standouts like Cartoon Saloon’s Oscar nominated “The Breadwinner” and the movingly bleak French title “The Swallows of Kabul.”First, there’s the already multi-awarded refugee odyssey “Flee” by Jonas Poher Rasmussen, a nonfiction piece tracing a young man’s treacherous trajectory from 1980s Kabul in turmoil to the safety of his adoptive home in Copenhagen. The subject, Amin (a pseudonym used to protect his identity), befriended the filmmaker when they were both teenagers.Given the severity of the circumstances depicted and that they’re based on factual events, “Flee” calls to mind Ari Folman’s “Waltz With Bashir,” an animated documentary from Israel that was nominated for the best international feature Oscar in 2009.A scene from Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s film “Flee.”Final Cut for RealAnimation empowered Rasmussen and his team to materialize Amin’s hazier, most traumatic memories in lyrical fashion and let viewers into the past not only as it happened, but also as he experienced it, with a vividly resonant immediacy. Underlying his hazardous passage is Amin’s concealment of his sexual orientation.“Flee” (in theaters) would make Oscar history if it received nominations in all three categories of animation, documentary and international feature (representing Denmark).Its boundary-blurring presence this awards season, having already won the best nonfiction film award from the New York Film Critics Circle and the best animation award from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, provides a prime case study for animation’s merit and effectiveness across genres and formats.A scene from “My Sunny Maad,” directed by Michaela Pavlatova.Negativ FilmThe other hard-hitting account that takes place in Afghanistan, though decades later, “My Sunny Maad,” received a surprise nomination from the embattled Golden Globes. The seasoned Czech animator Michaela Pavlatova, who was Academy Award-nominated for her 1993 short film “Words, Words, Words,” here makes her first animated feature with this domestic drama based on a novel by Petra Prochazkova.The Czech student Herra (voiced by Zuzana Stivinova) moves to Kabul after marrying an Afghan man. Unable to have children, they adopt the timid orphan Maad (Shahid Maqsoodi) to form a loving nucleus, yet the household dynamics with extended family members, as well as growing national unrest, continuously put strain on their marriage.Though so far it has only had a limited awards qualifying run in theaters, this unsparingly poignant film warrants major attention. Blending subdued magical realism with unfiltered harsh truths, Pavlatova addresses the vulnerable position of women in a strictly patriarchal society.While the previously mentioned contenders are international productions, two rare American independent titles also delve into adult themes: Dash Shaw’s zany adventure “Cryptozoo” (streaming on Hulu) and Morgan Galen King and Philip Gelatt’s gruesome fantasy epic “The Spine of Night” (available on demand).A scene from “Cryptozoo,” directed by Dash Shaw.Magnolia PicturesAn unassumingly profound blast of invention, “Cryptozoo” centers on numerous mythological creatures, known as cryptids, being haunted both by those who wish to exhibit them in an amusement park and by the U.S. military to deploy as weapons.Both “Cryptozoo” and “Spine” are welcome additions to the landscape of mature animated features stateside that for long has had few fiercely autonomous role models, like the veteran animator Bill Plympton and the prolific Don Hertzfeldt, who have managed to retain full creative control of their idiosyncratic comedies by working with limited resources.Whether it means benefiting from European state funds (“The Summit of the Gods, “Flee,” “My Sunny Maad”), establishing a self-sufficient company (like Hosoda’s Studio Chizu) or becoming cleverly frugal to sustain a career, the common denominator between these films appears to be that they exist outside the systems that hinder animation’s full potential. More

    More stories

    • 50 Shares129 Views

      in Movies

      ‘Cryptozoo’ Review: Wild Things

      by

      This animated film is a rapturously hallucinogenic daydream for mature audiences.In one of the year’s most memorable openers, Matthew and Amber, a hippyish couple voiced by Michael Cera and Louisa Krause, make love under the stars, their naked, fleshy bodies enveloped by the blank, black space that is the forest around them. It’s an eerily enchanting scene flecked with droll humor that gives way to industrial menace when the duo stumble upon a towering chain link fence hiding something both wonderful and terrible: a whole wide world of unicorns, griffins, hydras — you name it.Far from childish playthings, these mythical beings, or “cryptids,” bring our two dazed dreamers violently down to Earth.Imbued with the polychromatic sensibility of 1960s animation like Heinz Edelmann’s work on “The Yellow Submarine,” “Cryptozoo,” the new feature directed by Dash Shaw, with animation directed by Jane Samborski, is a rapturously hallucinogenic daydream for mature audiences.Following the uncanny cold opening, the film presents its real leading lady, Lauren Grey (Lake Bell), a cryptozoologist employed by an aging heiress to wrangle vulnerable cryptids and protect them from a warmongering military man who wants to weaponize them against a growing counterculture movement. These missions take our heroine around the world to desolate tundras, electric jungles — and in the gutter to sketchy strip clubs and writhing orgies.Especially valuable is the baku, a mystical pachyderm capable of sucking dreams — and nightmares — straight out of one’s head. Catastrophe is imminent should the beast fall into the wrong hands.Opposite the “real” world in which cryptids are poached and trafficked is the titular cryptozoo, an amusement park and sanctuary intended to be a steppingstone toward a more integrated world. Here, cryptids of all kinds are commodified into tourist attractions — but at least they do not live in fear.Phoebe (Angeliki Papoulia), a Medusa-like being who passes for human by tranquilizing the snakes atop her head and wrapping them in a head scarf, questions Lauren’s gradualist approach. An exoticized, refugee-like figure, she’s a too-familiar symbol of marginalization that magnifies the film’s schematic political commentary. Caught between an authoritarian state that hates them and a profit-driven liberal project that dehumanizes them, the cryptids are obviously better off fending for themselves. “Jurassic Park,” another film about failed utopias, comes to mind.Yet “Cryptozoo” stands out as an aesthetically ambitious undertaking, seducing viewers with its hypnotizing hand-drawn animation and John Carroll Kirby’s pulsing electronic score. The story is interestingly windy enough, but it’s these otherworldly sounds and fluidly surreal, pastel-colored images that will leave you entranced.CryptozooNot Rated. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. In theaters and available to rent or buy on Apple TV, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators. More

    • 138 Shares99 Views

      in Movies

      Sundance 2021 Guide: Bundle Up and Settle in on Your Sofa

      by

      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storySundance 2021 Guide: Bundle Up and Settle in on Your SofaNow that the film festival has gone virtual, you can watch like an insider. But where do you start? If you liked previous hits from Park City, try these new entries.At home, unlike in Park City, you’re first in line.Credit…Margeaux Walter for The New York TimesJan. 28, 2021Updated 5:09 p.m. ETAttending the Sundance Film Festival has never been an easy thing to do. Passes are pricey, accommodations are even pricier, the closest airport is nearly an hour away, and you end up waiting in long lines (in Utah, in January) for screenings — at least for the ones that haven’t sold out (which most do).But like so many film festivals in the Covid era, Sundance, which starts Thursday, has gone virtual this year. So while that means there’s no chance of randomly encountering celebrities in the bathroom (well, less of a chance), it does mean that anyone who can scrounge up $15 — the price of a single film ticket — can attend. You won’t even have to put on long johns and snow boots, unless your super is being especially stingy with the heat.So … what to watch? Even pared down, as it is this year, the festival program is a bit overwhelming — 73 feature-length films and 50 short films — and it’s not like you can make your selections based on reviews or buzz, as most of these titles have never been seen before. But if you’re the kind of viewer who wants to attend a virtual Sundance, you’re probably the kind of viewer who has enjoyed films from previous festivals, so here are some recommendations from this year’s slate that recall the great films of Sundances past. The festival runs through Wednesday. Tickets and other details are at sundance.org.If you liked ‘The Rider,’ try ‘Jockey.’Clifton Collins Jr. plays a jockey at a crossroads.Credit…Adolpho VelosoChloé Zhao’s powerful, earnest drama “The Rider” (which played in the Spotlight section of the 2018 fest) concerns a rodeo rider who finds himself sidelined from the work he loves, and uncertain where his life will go next. In Clint Bentley’s “Jockey” (playing in this year’s U.S. Dramatic Competition), the versatile character actor Clifton Collins Jr. (“Capote”) stars as a racing jockey facing a similar dilemma: As he makes one last run at a championship, the appearance of a young jockey who claims to be his son forces the aging athlete to contemplate who he’ll be when he’s not on a horse.If you liked ‘Call Me by Your Name,’ try ‘Ma Belle, My Beauty.’Luca Guadagnino’s adaptation of André Aciman’s novel was one of the highlights of Sundance 2017, and for good reason: the beauty of its luminous Italian vistas was matched only by the tenderness of its dramatization of first love (and loss). The first-time feature filmmaker Marion Hill’s “Ma Belle, My Beauty” (in this year’s Next section) plays in a similar key, mixing gorgeous European locations — this time, the dazzling vistas of the South of France — with a story of sophisticated romantic entanglements, as a newlywed couple welcomes the woman they both once loved back into their home for a surprise visit.Arguing about movies at home may not be quite the same as in Park City.Credit…Margeaux Walter for The New York TimesIf you liked ‘Donnie Darko,’ try ‘We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.’Audiences at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival knew they were seeing something special in “Donnie Darko,” Richard Kelly’s mind-bending deep dive into time travel, wormholes, doomsdays and suburban ennui. It’s so strange and distinctive that it’s all but incomparable, but those unnerving vibes are also present in the debut writer-director Jane Schoenbrun’s Next selection, “We’re All Going to the World’s Fair.” Focusing on a lonely teenage girl’s journey into a mind-altering online role-playing horror game, it’s another emotionally resonant tale of teenage identity, with generous helpings of horror and science fiction mixed in.If you liked ‘Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,’ try ‘Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street.’Oscar the Grouch and his pal Caroll Spinney in the new documentary.Credit…Luke GeissbühlerOne of the breakout titles of Sundance 2018, Morgan Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” was a poignant and heart-rending documentary about the life and legacy of the children’s public television favorite Fred Rogers. Marilyn Agrelo’s adaptation of Michael Davis’s book mines similar historical and emotional territory, detailing how educators and entertainers joined forces in the late 1960s to put new ideas about teaching and learning — and a new focus on inner-city children — into practice on “Sesame Street.” And like “Neighborhood,” “Street Gang” is loaded with enough archival clips and songs to stir nostalgia in the heart of even the most resistant viewer.If you liked ‘Blindspotting,’ try ‘On the Count of Three.’Carlos López Estrada’s comedy-drama was one of the opening-night films of Sundance 2018, and one of its most memorable — a pulsing, rousing story of two lifelong best friends dealing with changes in their lives and the world around them. That film was grounded by the relationship between its protagonists (played by co-writers Rafael Casal and Daveed Diggs). A kindred relationship, with even higher stakes, is at the center of “On the Count of Three,” in which the actor and comedian Jerrod Carmichael (making his feature directorial debut) and Christopher Abbott are best friends bonded by a suicide pact.If you liked ‘Hoop Dreams,’ try ‘Captains of Zaatari.’One of the most acclaimed documentaries in Sundance history — and in the history of nonfiction cinema — is the 1994 sports epic “Hoop Dreams,” following two high school basketball players through a four-year cycle of hopes and disappointments. The first-time director Ali El Arabi also profiles two young sports fanatics: Fawzi and Mahmoud, best friends obsessed with soccer but trapped in a Jordanian camp for Syrian refugees. And like the subjects of “Hoop Dreams,” Fawzi and Mahmoud see their sport not just as a hobby, but as a pathway out of their grim surroundings and into a better, brighter future.You won’t run into celebrities at home the way you would in Park City. Probably.Credit…Margeaux Walter for The New York TimesIf you liked ‘Swiss Army Man,’ try ‘Cryptozoo.’Love it or hate it, no one who saw the 2016 U.S. Dramatic competition award-winner “Swiss Army Man” forgot its story of a forgotten man on a desert island who befriends a farting corpse. That same spirit of gonzo, anything-goes storytelling is in abundance in Dash Shaw’s animation-for-adults feature, which centers on a secret zoo holding rare and imaginary beasts (like the unicorn and the baku), and the humans who are drawn into its orbit.If you liked ‘American Teen,’ try ‘Homeroom.’The trials and tribulations of the typical high school student’s senior year were transformed into compelling drama in Nanette Burstein’s 2008 Sundance documentary “American Teen,” which focused on five students in small-town Indiana. The director Peter Nicks (who also made the Sundance 2017 award-winner “The Force”) captures a much more tumultuous time in his documentary “Homeroom,” which follows Oakland High School’s class of 2020 through a senior year shaken up by calls for the elimination of the district’s police force, and then overturned by the pandemic.If you liked ‘Brick,’ try ‘First Date.’Tyson Brown in “First Date,” a playful genre mashup from Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp.Credit…Manuel CrosbyOne of Sundance’s most noteworthy fictional high school films was Rian Johnson’s 2005 Special Jury Prize winner “Brick,” which viewed the types and tropes of the secondary school narrative through the lens of classic film noir. Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp’s “First Date” is also something of a throwback, crossing the classic high school dating comedy with ’80s-influenced action and “Repo Man”-esque surrealism, a playful genre mash-up with a beating heart underneath.If you liked ‘Stranger Than Paradise,’ try ‘El Planeta.’Jim Jarmusch’s deadpan comedy “Stranger Than Paradise” was an early indie hit, and thus one of the first big breakouts from Sundance (where it won the Special Jury Prize in 1985). It remains among the most influential independent films of all time, so it’s not surprising to hear its echoes in the artist Amalia Ulman’s feature directorial debut, “El Planeta,” another black-and-white, absurdist comedy about survival. But it also goes in its own wonderfully personal direction, with Ulman not only writing and directing but also starring as a desperate student running small-time grifts with her mother (played by Ulman’s own mother, Ale Ulman).AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More