The term “creative destruction” is most often used in business, but there’s a small movie genre in which it applies. A stranger enters a close-knit community and miracles begin to happen. Hysteria – and predictably, jealousy – ensue. They don’t always end well, but a happy ending does not guarantee a great film. “Mr. North” (1988) is simply quirky, despite a loaded cast (Anthony Edwards in a rare-for-him, leading-man role, Virginia Madsen with an adorable Irish accent, Lauren Bacall, Robert Mitchum, etc.). Takes place in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1926, with producer John Huston in full nepotism mode (Danny directs, Anjelica co-stars).
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As I watched “Isle of Dogs” (2018), I was reminded how much I used to enjoy “Samurai Jack.” There’s a zen-like inner calmness at the center of these two pieces of Japanese-flavored animation that I savored. This film is loaded with metaphors for all kinds of stuff I didn’t have time to try to discern (it’s a dark story about the potential for a doggie holocaust, and there’s heavy – perhaps too heavy – political symbolism). I was too busy either trying to make out the tiny writing on my normal-human-sized television or I was simply enjoying the calm, deliberate, confident storytelling.
I could spend the whole 100 words of “The Addams Family” (1991) talking about how smoking hot Anjelica Huston is as Morticia. I mean, she is a simmering cauldron of restrained sensuality. But I’d get all kinds of restraining orders and stuff, so I’ll stop. This film was part of the first wave of reboots based on old TV shows. With its morbid humor (the family is a conglomeration of witches and monsters), the show was an acquired taste, but it was pretty well executed (see what I did there?). A little cartoonish (hijinks ensue!), but so was the original.
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