​Quick Hit:  The late Anton Yelchin stars in this admittedly flawed adaptation of one of my favorite book series. 

Odd Thomas. Little Ozzie. Stormy Llewelyn. Fungus Bob. These are all characters that make their big screen appearance in 2013’s Odd Thomas, which is based on the book series by Dean Koontz. Koontz is a prolific writer, having put out dozens and dozens of books, and the Odd Series is no different in that it features about six books. In the books, Odd is a beloved and strange character whose inner voice makes the books worth reading. The movie did its best to capture something like that, but there’s only so much you can do with a character whose best voice is inside their head.
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Odd Thomas (Yelchin) is a young man that lives in the fictional town of Pico Mundo, California. There he works as a fry cook and oh by the way, he sees dead people. Forgive me the Shyamalan pun, but he can only see them because the dead don’t talk. He uses what they show him to help them move on, and sometimes bring justice to their killers. The film opens with a show stopper of a sequence that involves Odd chasing a killer after confronting him about the dried blood he keeps in his pocket from the latest victim. It may not be fully in keeping with how Odd is presented in the books – here he comes off more like a bruiser than I think he is – but it’s fun and Yelchin works it. 

If there’s one thing I loved the most about the movie, it’s the actors’ performances. Yelchin is a wonderful Odd – bringing that slight zing to the delivery of his lines, particularly when he’s using voice over or talking to himself – that makes the overuse dialogue to give us Odd’s thoughts feel welcome. Addison Timlin, who plays Odd’s predestined girlfriend, Stormy, lands the right mix of sweet and saucy that Stormy should be. Her dialogue feels a bit off at times – but I think that lands more on the writing, which seems to force in lines from the book that feel natural (“Loop me in Odd one”) more often than they need to be. But Yelchin and Timlin have good chemistry, and this shows the best in the film’s climax. Willem Dafoe, always terrific, does a great job as a the police chief that keeps getting his date night interrupted.
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I only have two complaints about the film, one small and one large, leading to its final grade. The minor one is the bodachs (for the uninitiated, bodachs are creatures that show up when large, flashy deaths are going to take place). I think director Stephen Sommers does a good job as presenting them as what they are – creeping, crawling creatures that surround and infect us with poor feelings, even if we aren’t sure why we are feeling icky. The complaint comes in over their usage, which eventually turns them into a piece of the background. They are a huge part of the books too, but when they keep popping up, the CGI eventually begins to blur a bit, and we start to see the flaws in the design of them – bug eyes and all. 

The second, larger complaint, is the complete waste of Patton Oswalt as Little Ozzie. Appearing only briefly, there is no sense of the mentor relationship that kindles between Odd and Ozzie. Instead, he comes off only as a grumpy old man. Little Ozzie was a huge (pun intended) character in the comics, and there is no use for him here. It seemed like more of a slap in the face to include him at all. If I had not read the books, I would have just thought that Patton Oswalt liked the series and asked for a cameo.
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All these things come together, and we’re left with an emotional climax. I know the first time I watched this movie, it hit me really hard. When I read the books, it hit me harder. And that’s what probably buoys up this movie for me – it does a great job at recreating the feelings I had reading the books. I’m giving it a “B+” despite the fact that it probably deserves lower. Critics are human too, ya know.

For more on this film, check out IMDB. 

Quick Hit:  Fun, with a bit too much fluff, not enough substance and far too abrupt an ending.

Sometimes movies have trouble figuring out who to market to. I think City of Ember (and probably the movie tanking at the box office right now, Mortal Engines) are examples of that. Both are filled with high science fiction or fantasy like ideas, but both have their edges dulled a bit to serve as family, or at least preteen films. They also feature younger characters as the leads. The issue is that a lot of the content is stuff that if done larger, would probably have adult themes. Anyway, I’ve digressed enough, you’ll understand more my faithful DFPers as I tell you about the movie.
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City of Ember is based on a book by Jeanne Duprau. The story is about the City of Ember (surprised you there didn’t I?) – a town underground that is fill of people who have never seen the outside. This is only a bit of a problem, until the lights begin to fade as the generator that has served their town for so long starts to die. 

Enter young heroes Lina Mayfleet (Saoirse Ronan) and Doon Harrow (Harry Treadaway). They discover a box that helps point them in the direction of Ember’s past – and allows them to start to piece together a story of the treachery that has become Ember’s leadership - namely, Mayor Cole (Bill Murray) and his lackey Barton Snode (Toby Jones). Some of what they uncover is pretty cliché, and a bit is unexplained as to why they have to resort to such things, but hey, it’s just a kids film right?
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Wrong – the fact that this film doesn’t take the time to explain its reasoning for putting its characters in such spots without a way out, or even attempting to explain such things as giant moles is a tragedy, and goes back to what I started with. I think sometimes those that are in charge of adapting a screenplay from a book do the same thing – take the highlights, and assume you know the rest. But I don’t know the rest, and even a kid would question things like an extremely complicated exit ramp for those leaving Ember to eventually follow. 

The acting is pretty good, with Murray giving another memorable performance and Toby Jones continuing to make you hate and worry about him popping up in another film. An extremely young Saoirse shows that she has acting chops here that probably led to her casting in subsequent films. But it just doesn’t have enough to it, despite the fun scenes involving job assignment, or Mayfleet running through the streets. There just isn’t a big enough adaptation for this really big story, and it’s sad, because it leaves you wanting.

Nowhere is this more evident than the end of the film, where just ends. A rock drops from the surface, and the movie ends. I get that there’s more to it, but shouldn’t you at least attempt to describe why or how? I don’t know, maybe I was just in a mood, but this really annoyed me. I couldn’t get past it, and that’s why I’m giving the film a “D+” despite creating an admittedly fascinating world.

For more on this film, check out IMDB. 

​Quick Hit: Quick and gets right to the point… of the KNIFE!

I love shorts. They’re one of my favorite parts about becoming a reviewer – before then, my exposure to them was rare. Now, I get the privilege to review them enough that I can rarely keep up with them. For example, it took me far too long to get to The First Date, a five minute film directed and written by Adam Weber. The film consists of an unnamed man who seemingly is being stood up on a blind date. However, there’s more that is going on behind the scenes.
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The First Date does what a short should – sets up the story in the first minute, and lets the rest of the film focus on moving things forward. As the story takes what feels like an unexpected turn, there is some absolutely terrific gore effects Leigh Madden, especially considering the small budget of the film. There’s some that aren’t perfect, but as the film moves quickly, you don’t notice all the issues unless you watch it two or three times (which I did). But man, some of the effects are devastatingly nauseating. Kudos to that team. 

I also liked the use of different shots away from the action, like the blood dripping. Normally this isn’t for me, but I thought it did a good job of continuing to set the scene, even when there was a need to cut away from the action.

I think the film is a fun little short – I’m going to give it a “B”.

For more on this film, check out IMDB.