“The Wild Robot”
After a shipwreck, an intelligent robot called Roz is stranded on an uninhabited island. To survive the harsh environment, Roz bonds with the island’s animals and cares for an orphaned baby goose.
Following a shipwreck, a robot, Roz (Lupita Nyong’o), finds itself stranded on an island. After learning to communicate with the local wildlife, it becomes a surrogate mother to a baby goose, Brightbill (Kit Connor). With the help of a fox, Fink (Pedro Pascal), the pair work as they prepare Brightbill to migrate before the winter. All three find themselves ostracized from the other animals.
“The Wild Robot,” directed by Chris Sanders, is a beautifully animated movie. Its imagery pops off the screen. The voice acting is also well done. Unfortunately, I found this to be a little paint-by-numbers story-wise for the animation genre. It follows the usual beats and has familiar messages/themes. In other words, it offered nothing new to the genre and didn’t leave the impact I anticipated. Altogether, this isn’t a bad movie. I think I expected more out of it than what I got.
“The Wild Robot” recently had its Texas Premiere on September 21st at Fantastic Fest 2024
“Universal Language”
Two women find frozen cash and try to retrieve it. A tour guide leads confused tourists around Winnipeg sites. A man quits his job and visits his mother. Storylines intertwine surreally as identities blur in a disorienting comedy.
Matthew Rankin’s “Universal Language” is a hard film to distill into a short description. Many characters and elements are working throughout its brief runtime. I absolutely loved the look of this film. Isabelle Stachtchenko’s cinematography is striking. Visually, the film is reminiscent of Wes Anderson’s work. It’s a whimsical film, playing much of the material for laughs. However, this was another movie from the festival that didn’t work for me. While the audience around me seemed to be into it, it never won me over. I can see myself giving this another chance at some point in the future. For now, it left me feeling meh.
“Universal Language” recently had its US Premiere on September 21st at Fantastic Fest 2024
“Ick”
Science teacher Hank’s life changes when he reconnects with his first love and suspects a new student is his daughter, all while facing an alien threat in their town.
“Ick” is a fun movie. It might not be the best thing you watch, but it’s sure to entertain you.
The movie stars Brandon Routh as a high school science teacher. He’s a former football star whose career was ended by an injury, ruining his attempt to leave his small town. All the while, an alien entity known as ick is growing worldwide. What was once a benign and ignored annoyance has suddenly awakened to become a formidable foe.
Director Joseph Kahn introduced the film by telling the audience that he was looking to make a starter horror movie—something appropriate to show his own teenage child, as opposed to the gore-filled movies currently being released in the horror genre. He specifically called out the “Terrifier” movies.
With that in mind, I think this movie succeeds in its intentions. It is a light, fun, easy watch. I envision teenagers eating this movie up. This film presents a theme of generational battle, with all of the music focusing on the pop-punk songs of the 2000s.
There are a few downsides. The effects work isn’t too impressive. It looks crummy and ridiculous, but with this being a B-movie, maybe that was intentional. The movie is also very abrupt. It jumps right in and quickly sets up the backstory. Later, events are suddenly resolved with no explanation. I suspect this, too, was intentionally done by the filmmakers.
Overall, this is a movie you go with. It doesn’t want you to take it seriously and invites you to have a good time instead.
“Ick” recently had its US Premiere on September 21st at Fantastic Fest 2024
“Bone Lake”
When two young couples are mistakenly double-booked into the same vacation rental, their romantic weekend becomes a twisted maze of sex, lies, and survival.
Advertised as an erotic thriller, “Bone Lake” follows a couple, Diego (Marco Pigossi) and Sage (Maddie Hasson), as they arrive at an Airbnb-type rental on their vacation. Soon after settling in, the pair are interrupted by the appearance of another couple, Will (Alex Roe) and Cin (Andra Nechita). The two couples decide to share the house for the weekend since the nearest hotel is over 50 miles away. What could possibly go wrong?
This movie felt all too familiar. There are some good moments scattered throughout and some effective special effects work towards the end, but mostly, this one fell flat. The plot’s many twists and turns are pretty apparent, and the movie feels neither erotic nor suspenseful.
There are some positives. Pigossi and Hasson are convincing in their roles, and I liked the moody lighting in some scenes. However, these elements were not enough to win me over. Perhaps I’m being too harsh, though, as the film did seem to generate a positive reaction from the rest of the audience.
“Bone Lake” recently had its World Premiere on September 21st at Fantastic Fest 2024
