"Paddington 2" Review

By Spencer Coile  

In theory, the first Paddington film, inspired by the Michael Bond books about a loveable bear who sports a red hat blue coat and has a penchant for marmalade, was a dangerous idea. Live-action modern tellings of classic children’s literature always runs the risk of flying off the rails – look no further than the 2003 disaster, The Cat in the Hat.

Cat in the Hat, Paddington fortunately was not. If anything, Paul King’s 2015 film provided a delightful, and importantly, timely tale about finding a place to call home. Appreciative audiences were struck with its whimsical but mature comparisons to immigration and acceptance of the Other. And luckily, fans of the first film will be pleased to know that Paddington 2 not only lives up to its predecessor, but improves upon it...

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Valley of the Link

Buzzfeed lists 28 Asian American directors, some with great movies under their belt  - presumably to help Disney with Mulan because they'll need it. Consider that...
Newsweek ...Sony went with a white dude for their competing Mulan project
Awards Daily gorgeous photoshoot of Loving stars Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga for Vogue
Marvel reveals the end credits music on Doctor Strange. It sounds kind of lava lamp funky with a touch of warped vinyl. I don't know. I can't describe music.
i09 Taika Waititi promises that Thor: Ragnarok is "out there crazy" and that Marvel was totally accepting of his style. He's also suggested on Reddit that the movie will mostly ignore the larger Marvel Universe (aside from a Doctor Strange reference)

Coming Soon Hugh Grant, Imelda Staunton, and Brendan Gleeson join the cast of Paddington 2. But who fills the Nicole Kidman shaped hole?
/Film Captain Planet movie in the works with Leonardo DiCaprio producing
/Film first look of Caliban (played by Stephen Merchant) in the new Wolverine movie Logan
Slate "Why do people in old movies talk like that?" I haven't yet listened to this episode of "Lexicon Valley" but it sounds like a great topic 
AV Club Did you hear that Benji is being rebooted? It is. It's already filming! No franchise is safe in the grave. 

Stranger Things Has Alarming Staying Power
Yes people are still talking about Netflix's hit series. The latest online discourse is around whether or not the character of Wil is gay. The 11 year old actor who plays him, Noah Schnapp, spoke out about the speculation with a surprisingly mature response. Towleroad thinks it was a smart one but Mic thinks Schnapp is missing the point. Where do you stand on this? 

Last Week's Must Read
Apologies that we missed it but you shouldn't! Vulture published a fascinating piece by Mark Harris that makes a thorough case for why distributors need to release more information about their VOD releases including grosses. There is lots to think about here 

Halfway Menagerie: Ten Best Screen Animals 2015

½way mark - part 8 of 9 
Did you find yourself wishing that the Maloja Snake wasn't just the movement of the Clouds of Sils Maria but an actual snake? Did Channing Tatum still turn you on in dog-human hybrid form in Jupiter Ascending? Did you cringe when that cute double-headed mutant lizard met such an ignoble end in Mad Max Fury Road's first scene?

If you answered yes to any of those questions you might be an animal person and this list is for you!

TOP TEN ANIMALS FROM 2015 MOVIES
(THUS FAR)
Because Nathaniel R is a crazy cat lady

10 Paddington in Paddington
His fur may be too mangy (who needs photo realism?) but he sure is a polite amiable fellow and his movie is mostly a treat. 

 09 Cat Stevens in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
I get that this movie is probably making fun of me Greg's dad's love for his cat, Cat Stevens, but I don't care because screen time for cats always improves movies. And this one needed the help. Injustice: the cat actor playing Cat Stevens is not credited.  

8 more furry friends after the jump... 

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Q&A: May/December Romance? Actressy Titles? Streep Sans Sophie

This week's Ask Nathaniel session didn't get as many questions as usual -- you were intimidated by the request for donations surely which sucks because life ain't free and we work hard here -- but here are 9 questions anyway because I'm such a giver. Let's start with a trip back to 1995 and move on to smackdowns, actressexual directors, Nicole Kidman in Paddington, and Hollywood's love of pairing older men with younger woman... 

Golden Globe Comedy Wins Don't Always Lead to Oscar Noms

COCO: I'm in a very 1995 mood. Were you obsessing and predicting twenty years ago?

NATHANIEL: LOL. Yes, I was.  I've been obsessed since I first discovered the Oscars 82/83 (my family was mystified since none of them had interest) and started making list of "dream nominations" each year when I was a kid even though I didn't see most of the actual nominees since they were rated "R" (VERBOTEN!) so I was madly scribbling things like  "Best Actress: Daryl Hannah for Splash !!!" and such early on. But honestly I can't remember when I started "predicting" in the classic sense but it was definitely before The Film Experience.

We'll be discussing 1995 at length in the July Smackdown so I'll save most of my comments for then but my biggest nail-biter and raucous-cheering and breath-holding was for Elisabeth Shue in Leaving Las Vegas (who was my personal choice for the Oscar that year) since there were basically seven women with what seemed like actual traction for five spots. The oddwomen out were, of course, Jennifer Jason Leigh (Georgia) and Golden Globe Actress in a Musical or Comedy winner Nicole Kidman (To Die For).  Nothing against Leigh and Kidman but I knew there was only room for 1 of them since Sarandon, Stone, Streep, Thompson were locked up for various reasons some valid some not. That year's Best Actress race was so overstuffed and incredible which is why it comes up so often in Oscar circles as a point of discussion. 

On some posters (not this one) the tag line is "Raises screen acting to a new level of sexual knowingness" (!!!)PEDINHRO: What are your favorite movies with a female name in the title? My all time favorite is The Marriage of Maria Braun!

Well, you took the best one! Wait do you mean Best Title or Best Movie that just happens to have a female name in the title? If you mean best movie obviously I have to have things like Carrie and Annie Hall. But if you mean "Best Title" that's more fun so let's make it a whole top ten after the jump...

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Random Bits & Open Thread

• A Little Chaos with Kate Winslet, that I told you about at TIFF, has moved to Dec 31st. Worst release date evah. I will assume from now on that all Dec 31st releases are the Oscar contractual eligibility equivalent of the January dumping ground for mainstream movies

• ♪ This shit, that ice cold, Michelle Pfeiffer, that white gold ♫

• Speaking of January garbage, I find this poster for Wild Card wildly pornographic. (Like every image of Jason Statham. Shut up) 

• Is the Superbowl this weekend? Guess that means blockbuster movie trailers hit web Sun/Mon & we get backed up on YNMS

• Woody Allen's 2015 is called Irrational Man. The best (potential) news is that Parker Posey is in the cast. And since every other Woody movie is terrible and we just got through a dire one maybe this one will be good?

• I promise I'll go see Paddington this weekend. Need my Nic'

• Why haven't you voted on the Beauty vs. Beast: Hud edition yet. This one is a close match. 

• WHAT'S ON YOUR (CINEMATIC) MIND?