The Conjuring Universe has added another thrilling new chapter to its already impressive library of films with “The Curse of La Llorona,” a scary good ghost chiller that tells the haunting story of the “Weeping Woman” of Latin American folklore. True, “The Curse of La Llorona” is far from a groundbreaking, but it still importantly maintains the tone and creepy atmosphere of the previous Conjuring Universe films.
For those unfamiliar with the tale, “The Curse of La Llorona” is rooted in a tragedy in the early 1600s, when a young mother drowns her sons as a way of punishing her husband for his cheating ways. Fast-forward to the early 1970s, where the evil spirit of the Weeping Woman attaches herself to a social worker (Linda Cardellini) with two young children who she wants to claim as her own.
AUDIO: Reviewing “The Curse of La Llorona” with Tom Barnard on “The KQ Morning Show” on KQRS-FM.
Much like the previous chapters in producers James Wan and Gary Dauberman’s Conjuring Universe (“The Conjuring and its sequel, “Annabelle” and its sequel, and “The Nun”), “The Curse of La Llorona” expertly employs basic but very effective filmmaking techniques. All of the right elements are there, from tension building up to jump scares to a piss-your-pants scary apparition of the Weeping Woman (Marisol Ramirez) to a very capable cast telling the story – even though the script has the human characters woefully walking into situations most people with common sense would avoid.
Like the other Conjuring Universe entries, “The Curse of La Llorona” includes crossover characters as a way to tie sprawling tale together. Since the scenes involving these crossover characters enter the story in a sensible way, it will be interesting to see how any of the other characters – including an ex-priest-turned-evil-spirit-vanquisher (Raymond Cruz, who effectively brings the film its comic relief) – will come into play in future Conjuring Universe offerings.
Given the fact that “The Curse of La Llorona” is largely set in 1973 (the same time frame as the first “Conjuring” movie) and director Michael Chaves is also set to helm “The Conjuring 3” in 2020, chances seem good that we haven’t seen the last of the Weeping Woman, a menacing spirit who has rightfully earned her place in the inventive halls of horror created by Wan and Dauberman.
Lammometer: 7.5 (out of 10)
AUDIO: Reviewing “The Curse of La Llorona” with Paul Douglas on “Paul and Jordana” on WCCO-AM.
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
No, the title of Olivia Newton-John’s new memoir “Don’t Stop Believin’’” wasn’t inspired by a certain rock band’s legendary rock anthem, but the legendary singer and actress’ life has been a journey, nonetheless.
Newton-John, 70, admitted in recent phone conversation from California that she never intended on revealing several intimate details about her amazing life in the spotlight and behind the scenes, until news of an unauthorized biopic being made in her home country of Australia prompted her to start writing the tome simply because she wanted admirers to get the right story directly from the source.
“I haven’t seen it yet, but by all accounts, it isn’t bad,” Newton-John said. “I didn’t know that at the time, though, so I thought I better cover myself and that film was what inspired me to get the book started, and I enjoyed it.”
Taken from the name from her own hit single, “Don’t Stop Believin’” (Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster) chronicles several personal moments in Newton-John’s life extending back to childhood, yet covers many of her professional achievements as a chart-topping singer (with hits like “If Not For You,” “I Honestly Love You,” “A Little More Love” and the monster hit “Physical”) and starring opposite John Travolta in the legendary movie musical “Grease” (which spawned the hits “Summer Nights” and “Hopelessly Devoted to You”).
Released 41 years ago this June, Newton-John is thrilled that “Grease” became not only a hit in the United States, but a worldwide blockbuster — and she doesn’t mind that fans continue to associate her with the iconic role of Sandy Olsson. After all, the film, along with the 1980 musical “Xanadu” has had such of a positive impact on people’s lives — and being positive is what Newton-John is all about.
“I’m happy to embrace ‘Grease.’ I’m very lucky to be part of a movie that is still so beloved,” Newton-John enthused. “I mean, how many people can have the experience of being in a film that not only people love, but that is still being talked about 40 years later? I’ve always been very grateful for it. I haven’t been in many films, but to be in ‘Grease’ and ‘Xanadu’ — both musicals that people have really enjoyed — and to dance with John Travolta and Gene Kelly in one lifetime? I was dancing with the stars way before it was popular, so I think I was very lucky.”
Winning over cancer
Newton-John isn’t afraid to broach painful topics in her memoir, though, including three challenges with breast cancer (she doesn’t like to characterize them as battles, but “winning” instead). Even then, Newton-John found a silver lining, raising awareness of the disease by becoming an advocate. Among her proudest achievements is her help creating and lending her name to the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre in Melbourne.
“It was an amazing gift to be offered that opportunity. I didn’t know how we were going raise the money when we started since we had to raise nearly $200 million (to build it),” Newton-John recalled of the beginnings of the facility, which opened in 2012.“ So, we just started doing a bunch of things to raise money for it like walking the Great Wall of China. It was such of an amazing thing to see the dream come true and now it’s a wonderful, functioning cancer wellness and research center and I got to experience it on my 70th birthday. It was the culmination of an amazing dream.”
Essentially, Newton-John has always lived a life reinforced by positivity. True, she recognizes that cancer is dreadful disease, but she’s also maintained the will that, in a way, echoes a line in her classic hit “Magic” — “nothing can stand in our way.”
“You can’t talk about your illness all the time and feel sorry for yourself. There is someone always worse off,” Newton-John said.“I’m breathing and lucky, and you have to keep that in mind because you create your world by what you think, what you believe. It’s all in your head. So, you have to keep your thoughts positive and make your world that way.”
Being positive is something that was instituted in Newton-John as a young girl by her parents, and because of that, she’s essentially adopted the mantra, “If you want it, create it. We create what we believe.”
“It’s worked for me in my life. If you work toward things and you can’t make them happen, you keep working toward them and you don’t give up,” Newton-John said. “The show must go on and you don’t give up. I learned that from my mom and dad, who were both really hard-working people and were very inspiring to me. I wasn’t overly praised, though. My dad would say, ‘Well done,’ and that was big praise. I’ve had an interesting life and a fabulous one.”
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
A “Missing Link” has been found — in cinematic form, that is — and for writer-director Chris Butler, the discovery has been years in the making. But it’s not like Butler has been sitting around, biding his time since his last feature film as a writer-director, “ParaNorman,” in 2012.
That’s because “ParaNorman,” as well as “Missing Link” are stop-motion animated films from the acclaimed studio LAIKA, based in Portland, Oregon, where the action is meticulously assembled frame by frame as Butler and his fellow animators magically bring inanimate objects to life on the big screen.
The years LAIKA has been producing its stop-motion features have paid off handsomely, though, since all four of the studio’s offerings since 2009 — “Coraline,” “ParaNorman,” “The Boxtrolls” and “Kubo and the Two Strings” — have been awarded with best animated feature Oscar nominations.
“They take a long time to do, and ‘Missing Link’ was probably our longest production — five years, pretty much, from beginning to end,” Butler said. “When ‘ParaNorman’ was finishing, ‘Missing Link’ already existed in some form, so I gave what I had at the time to (LAIKA CEO, animator and director) Travis Knight, and we agreed that it should be my next project. As I started to develop it, I also got involved with ‘Kubo’ and did a couple of rewrites of the script, so for a time, I was doing half a week on ‘Kubo’ and half a week on ‘Missing Link.’ After that, while ‘Kubo’ was shooting, I was in pre-production on this.”
Opening in theaters nationwide Friday, “Missing Link” stars Hugh Jackman as the voice of Sir Lionel Frost, an adventurous monster hunter who, in a bid to fit in with upper-class society, sets out to prove the existence of the fabled Sasquatch in the Pacific Northwest. Much to his surprise, he locates the 8-foot-tall creature quite easily, and to his bemusement, Lionel discovers the furry behemoth can read, write and speak, too.
Seeking Lionel’s help, all this missing link (Zach Galifianakis) hopes for is to find his equally legendary cousins, the Yeti, in the Himalayas in what was thought-to-be the fantasy land of Shangri La — simply because he’s lonely and wants to be around others of his kind. The trip across the globe won’t be easy, though, since feared bounty hunter Willard Stenk (Timothy Olyphant) is pursuing Lionel and his new Sasquatch friend, who are accompanied by Adelina Fortnight (Zoe Saldana), the spunky widow of Lionel’s late partner.
With an “Indiana Jones”-type of adventure narrative (accompanied by loads of comedy) and majestic sets throughout the film, there’s no question that “Missing Link” is LAIKA’s largest production in scale to date. It’s a film meant to be seen on the big screen, and one that Butler hopes isn’t just a movie to viewers of all ages but an experience.
“When we’re making these features, we’re thinking of them as proper movies,” Butler, whose stop-motion resume also includes work on Tim Burton’s “Corpse Bride.” “I’ve said many times, but the idea that animation is just some babysitting device to plop a child in front of while you go off and do other things … that idea doesn’t work for me. What I want is to have a cinematic experience. We’re going to create an experience that families can go to together, enjoy together, laugh together and talk about. That’s important to me.”
“Missing Link“ is a PG film both kids and adults can enjoy in equal measure, one through which Butler said he wants to create the same sense of wonder that he experienced when he was growing up.
“I loved animation as a kid — it inspired me and moved me and set a course for the rest of my life,” Butler recalled. “Today, when I see or talk to kids or young students who say that ‘ParaNorman’ or ‘Coraline’ or another movie that I was involved in has changed the course of their life, that’s important to me. That’s what makes it worthwhile. The work is never a cartoon. It’s much more than that.”
Essentially, Butler said, he respects the intelligence of all of his audience members, whether they are 5 years old or an adult. The youngsters, he said, are much more perceptive than people give them credit for.
“My philosophy has always been, ‘Never talk down to kids.’ Sometimes people will query some of the decisions I’ve made or the dialogue I’ve put in the film, and will say, ‘Well, kids won’t understand that,’ and I think that’s a misunderstanding of what being a kid is,” Butler explained. “There’s so much as a child that goes over your head, but there’s also the bits that you grasp that make you grow and challenge you to think more, that challenge you to evolve, which seems to be an apt description for ‘Missing Link.’ So, for me, I try to never talk down to a kid, ever.”
Casting Wolverine
Appropriately, Butler creates three-dimensional characters to embody the puppets his animators are bringing to life, and with that, he’s thrilled that among the cast this time is Jackman. The actor, of course, rose to prominence in the “X-Men” movies as Wolverine; but in the midst of making those superhero adventures, he’s managed to expand his palette as a song and dance man on the Broadway stage, as well as in the smash movie musicals “Les Miserables” and “The Greatest Showman.”
Because of the actor’s willingness to play all sorts of different characters, Butler said bringing Jackman into the fold on “Missing Link“ was an easy decision.
“The biggest thing he brought to the film, and it wasn’t really a surprise, but it was why I hired him, was the fact that Sir Lionel’s character is flawed. He’s self-centered and arrogant, but he becomes a much better character on his journey through the movie,” Butler said. “That’s why Hugh Jackman was vital to me. He’s so effortlessly charming that even when he’s doing bad things, you kind of like him. I knew I needed someone like that to play this character because you need to be on his side from the first step of his journey all the way through to the end.
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
The stop-motion animation wizards at LAIKA have kept their winning streak alive at five with “Missing Link, ” — a visually stunning, enormously entertaining adventure comedy about a worldwide adventurer who helps a lonely bigfoot-like creature in the Pacific Northwest travel halfway across the world to the Himalayas and Shangri La so he can find others of his own kind and hopefully find the companionship and acceptance he’s been longing for.
While “Missing Link” might not have as much story depth as previous LAIKA films like “ParaNorman” and “Kubo and the Two Strings,” it definitely has lots of humor and plenty of heart, and great voice performances by Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana, Zach Galifiankis Timothy Olyphant and Emma Thompson.
Most importantly, though, the stop-motion animation is absolutely jaw-dropping and the sets are stunning, because almost everything you see apart from a few computer generated backgrounds is real. It’s one of the best movies of the year so far.
Lammometer: 9 (out of 10).
Tim Lammers reviews movies weekly for The KQ92 Morning Show,” “KARE 11 News at 11” (NBC), WCCO Radio, WJON-AM, KLZZ-FM, “The Tom Barnard Podcast” and “The BS Show” with Bob Sansevere.
