Finding Dory (2016), Macbeth (2015), Saturday's Warrior (2016)

Finding Dory (2016)

Long belated sequel to the 2003 Pixar hit Finding Nemo. I've heard it said that Finding Dory really
isn't a "necessary sequel", and bypassing the argument about whether sequels are ever necessary I would have to agree, Finding Nemo is pretty well self contained and doesn't really call out for a sequel. That being said I am glad Finding Dory exists. It was a fun movie, it was good to see these characters again and the characters they added all worked for me, plus it does manage to fill in the one real 'unresolved plot thread' from the first film, namely Dory's backstory. Now I don't know if this film had early been conceived as a possibility while Finding Nemo was still in development or production, but the backstory here feels very thought out and fits pretty perfectly into continuity and the universe of the original film. It's a sweet film that doesn't really improve on the original, but it doesn't take anything away from it either, if anything the pace here is a little more relaxed, which works well and helps make this movie more of its own thing. Great performance by Ellen DeGeneres, it was good to have Albert Brooks back again, and Ed O'Neill's septapus was by far the standout (this is a pun for those who have seen it) new character in the movie. Clever cameo part for Sigourney Weaver. ***

Macbeth (2015)

Retelling of The Scottish Play, that was actually filmed in Scotland, though it's directed by an Australian (Justin Kurzel) and stars a German born Irishman (Michael Fassbender) and a Frenchwoman (Marion Cotillard) as Macbeth and his lady. A gritty retelling, with some nice visuals, the two leads really are a 'dream team' of sorts for these parts, and you know I had forgotten just how crazy Macbeth really was. I was never really a 'huge' Shakespeare guy but there was a time when I would have been more comfortable with the Elizabethan language of the film then I am currently, though if anything that made me want to read some Shakespeare 'to get back in practice' so to speak. I think I would have enjoyed this more on a big screen. ***


Saturday's Warrior (2016)

Saturday's Warrior is by far the most iconic Mormon musical of all time... okay so The Book of Mormon Musical is by far the most iconic Mormon musical of all time, but Saturday's Warrior is the most iconic Mormon musical of all time actually written by Mormons. Lex de Azevedo's musical play originally premiered in 1974 and fast became a favorite among the LDS faithful and lovers of camp. Saturday's Warrior has gone through multiple iterations throughout the years with various degrees of tweaking on the original, including a 1989 direct to video version of the play that was perhaps its widest known iteration, and a year 2000 "remix" of that cast recording. But until this year there had never been a true 'movie' version of the story, liberated (for the most part) from the confines of the stage.

De Azevedo helped adapt the play for the screen in this new version along with co-writers Heather Ravarino (who had worked with De Azevado on the children's series Rachel and the TreeSchoolers)and the films director the sometimes actor Michael Buster. Wisely the original 1970's setting for the story was retained, I don't think there would have been much point in making this movie version if they hadn't kept the story set in the 70's because 1) the plot and ethos of the film are very much rooted in the zeitgeist of 1970's Mormonism, and 2) so is the  musical style, with de Azevedo having started his career as musical director for The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and working with 70's pop groups such as The Jackson Five and of course The Osmond's, the latter being referenced several times in the film, which also contains a number of Mormon in-jokes that would likely be lost on audiences not well versed in the faith.

The story itself is actually kind of complicated, I must confess I've never actually seen this story acted out before, my familiarity with it was based on hearing various cast recordings of it many times starting on my mission, and people who were familiar with it filing me in on the plot details. There are a lot of characters in this, some of whom we follow from their 'pre-earth life', with the story filled with loved triangles, angst, and existential unease as these characters attempt to grasp their eternal identities and the meaning of life through the medium of musical theater. The original soundtrack is here kept mostly intact, with a few new songs added (all of which are quite good) and few old ones omitted, largely the more novelty song type numbers like "Dear John" (there is a fairly fun gag where characters in the film refuse to sing "Daddy's Nose", perhaps the most awkward and out of place feeling song on the original soundtrack). The most classic tracks from the original like "The Circle of Our Love", "Humble Way", "Line Upon Line", "Didn't We Love Him?", "Zero Population", and "Feelings of Forever" are of course retained.

This film was still very much done on a budget, the Flinders family's Brady Bunch - esque tri level home likely got all its set direction from crew members basements and Deseret Industries thrift shops. The cast is made up of largely young new actors you've never heard of ( I particularly like Anna Daines as Pam) but all perform their parts satisfactorily well, because lets face it this may be Mormon Shakespeare but its not Shakespeare. The music of the film, and the operatic melancholy of the story still has the power to touch me and I confess the film did manage to make me cry at a few points, which was fine because there was literally no one else in the theater as I sat and watched this. In many ways its a bit baffling that this movie was finally made now but I'm glade it was, this should go down as the definitive version of one of Mormonism's more noteworthy pop culture creations. ***