November 2018

• Title: Mirai
• IMDb: link

Presented from the perspective of a 4 year-old boy named Kun (Moka Kamishiraishi), Mirai examines the emotions of a young boy dealing with the sudden arrival of a baby sister into his family and the unexpected upheaval her arrival causes to his normal routine. Through Kun’s fantasies and tantrums he also comes into contact with the teenage version of his baby sister (Haru Kuroki) who requests his help on an important mission.

Interesting without ever becoming compelling, writer/director Mamoru Hosoda‘s film feels very much like a personal tale centered around the family dynamic. Along with Kun’s various fantasies, the story also examines the roles of a working mother, a stay-at-home father, and a helpful grandmother. However, much like Kun’s disinterest in his inactive baby sister, the film (even with its more fantastical elements) never journeys far from what is expected. As a result, Mirai (which gets its name from Kun’s baby sister) never really blossoms into the magical journey we want from it. Despite this limitation, the anime is still a beautifully-rendered story that hits home on its lead character’s raw emotions.

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• Title: The Front Runner
• IMDb: link

30 years later, The Front Runner takes a look back at the fall of Senator Gary Hart (Hugh Jackman) who in the space of three weeks went from the presumptive Democratic nominee for the President of the United States to a cautionary tale. After some initial set-up laying the groundwork for the stranglehold Hart had on his party’s nomination in 1988, the script by Matt Bai, Jay Carson, and director Jason Reitman dives into Hart’s relationship with the media covering his campaign and his extra-marital indiscretion which, when brought to light, would be the end of his political career.

The Front Runner plays like a trainwreck in slow motion. It’s somewhat torturous to watch unfold seeing everything the uncompromising Hart worked for fall apart so quickly. Everyone, except Hart can see what’s coming. Unable to fathom how his personal life was the business of either the media or voters, Hart struggled with handling the situation which quickly escalated out of control as it opened the doors to a new form of tabloid journalism in politics (a slippery slope Hart himself commented on during the final speech of his campaign).

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