NAKM: Mar. 1, 2025

Eeeeeeevil!

If you do evil things, are you evil? Is Darth Vader evil? What about Draco Malfoy? Jaime Lannister? Gru? How about shoot-first Han Solo?

All of these characters make bad decisions that hurt other people. But they’re not evil. Why? Because they change. Evil isn’t determined by what’s committed in the past. Evil is determined by the inability to correct course. If you make a bad decision, you’re not evil. You’re evil if you make bad decisions and then keep making the same decisions without changing.

It’s something to talk about with the kiddos. When they find out who Luke’s father is or discover middle-aged Draco is friends with Harry, you can tell them that evil is the collective body of work, not one wand battle or room full of light saber-halved children. Okay, Darth Vader is pretty evil – but we celebrate him because he chooses love over power in the end. Redemption is a powerful course correction.

Talk to your kids about a character’s bad decisions and how they changed or didn’t change. Then, ask about bad decisions they’ve made. Ask them how they changed or plan to change.

Our children think they’ve lived epic lives. Every small step seems enormous. That means every small mistake is enormous. Movies bring down their guards, making them feel things they haven’t felt before: Fear, betrayal, heartbreak. It’s a good time to sneak in some character-building.

When discussing evil, we can show them how our mistakes don’t define us. But they do force us to make decisions about who we are. Your child doesn’t want to make bad decisions. They aren’t evil. They’re good. Once you more clearly define evil for them, they can more clearly see the changes they need to make.

And if your kid refuses to change, sorry, your kid is Dexter. I’m calling the cops.

Brendan

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My Pint-Sized Review of Ghost Cat Anzu

Ghost Cat Anzu. Weird name, right? Yet, it doesn't begin to touch on the weirdness that follows on screen.

Let's start with the title character. He's a ghost cat schlep who is sort of a local celebrity. Think of him as Totoro from My Neighbor Totoro, except played by Cliff Clavin and drawn to look like Gritty, the Flyers' mascot. Weird, right?

Anzu is more than just a nod to My Neighbor Totoro. But is it satire or just being...weird? A bus stop scene in the rain with an umbrella will look awfully familiar to Totoro fans. And the dust sprites (Susuwatari) make an appearance. There's likely some commentary about old customs versus new ones that I'm missing because I lack the cultural awareness to understand.

Or it's just weird.

The character body animation is familiar to anyone who was a fan of Ralph Bakshi's take on Lord of the Rings. <crickets> Anyone? <crickets> Just me? Well, let me tell you—in the late '70s, Bakshi used a new technology called Rotoscope to animate his characters. It captures people on video, which animators can draw on top of. It gave Lord of the Rings a sense of realism that hadn't been seen at that level before.

Ghost Cat Anzu also uses Rotoscope to animate its characters. It adds to the weirdness—especially after the main characters unleash the minions of Hell.

The film gets a little heavy as it deals with loss and loneliness (Totoro, anyone?). Then, it takes a sharp turn when the characters break into the aforementioned Hell. It turns into a Rotoscoped Saturday morning cartoon—maybe inappropriate for tots. There's a street fight between the Hellish minions and Earthly sprites that is a little violent for kids who can't handle that kind of thing.

What does one take from this viewing experience? I have no idea. That said, Ghost Cat Anzu is an oddball film that'll stick with you longer than it should. It's hard to forget the weirdness you see on screen because it's not random weirdness. It features coherent story and character arcs. They're just…weird.

Keep a bottle of whiskey handy when you sit down to watch Ghost Cat Anzu. When things get a little weird on screen, you can get a little weird on the couch.

Streaming: Digital rental or purchase.

Rating: None (Me: 7+)

Director: Yoko Kuno and Nobuhiro Yamashita

Starring (English Dub): Jason Simon, Evie Hsu, Andrew Kishino

Run time: 1h 34m

Post-credits scenes: No.

Sequel? I have no idea.

If you liked Ghost Cat Anzu, check out these films:

• My Neighbor Totoro (1988) (5+)

• The Cat Returns (2002) (5+)

• A Whisker Away (2020) (8+)

• The Concierge (2024) (6+)

• Lord of the Rings (1978) (8+)

Fresh Cuts

The latest family films to hit all screens. Not all are winners. Watch at your own risk!

In Theaters 📽️

• (Mar. 7) Night at the Zoopocalypse

• (Mar. 14) The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie

On Disc 📀

• (Mar. 4) Red One (2024) (10+)

News You Can Use (and Sometimes Booze)

• Industry: VFX firm behind Mufasa: The Lion King and upcoming Snow White may shut down because of financial challenges. Seeing the dwarves in Snow White makes me think it’s facial challenges.

• Awards: Flow wins Best International Film at Spirit Awards. See it. Now.

• Box Office: Chinese film Ne Zha 2 becomes the biggest animated blockbuster in history. If you’re lucky, you’ll still find it in theaters.

• Goonies: No director yet. But Steven Spielberg and former director Chris Columbus will produce the sequel.

• Martinis: This isn’t new, but it will help you figure out what to mix in this edition’s cocktail, the Dualitini.

Papa Do Preach!

Let’s Get Rec’d!

Check my list before you wreck yourself next family film night.

Keepin’ It Real

Few movies walk the line between good and evil like A.I. Artificial Intelligence. It’s an optimistic yet cynical story about a robot boy who seeks love and belonging. It’s based on a short story first developed by the cynical Stanley Kubrick and brought to theaters by the optimistic Steven Spielberg. From the boy’s perspective, humans seem cruel. But in their reality (and ours) he’s perceived as a tool, like a phone or Roomba, so you understand their position. I don’t feel compassion for my Roomba — especially since you always seem to miss that clump of hair under the sink, Clyde! A.I. Artificial Intelligence is a bit much for young kids with some sexual innuendo and intense moments of violence against robots, especially since your kids will likely gain empathy with the boy. Sigh. I never should have let my kids name the Roomba.

Kickin’ It Old School

Gollum is good and evil in one slimy little package. He has Sméagol’s good heart but it’s been poisoned by the One Ring, which is fighting to get back to its master, Sauron. You know Sméagol has a good heart because the ring couldn’t fully corrupt and escape him for centuries, until that trickster Bilbo came along. But a funny thing happened. Bilbo detected Gollum’s lingering humanity and took pity on him, which benefited Middle-earth. The Hobbit — I’m talking the Rankin/Bass creation, not that abomination made in the early 2010s — features other morally ambiguous characters, such as the distrustful elves and the greedy dwarves. They disagree, but in the end come together to fight the goblin army in glorious hand-painted animation made by a team of artists who would later join Hayao Miyazaki when he started Studio Ghibli. The film also walks a fine line, receiving several awards while getting panned by some critics.

Secret Sauce

Greed and gluttony have an evil connotation (thanks a lot the Bible and Se7en!), but they stem from the basic human instinct to survive. We all feel greedy and gluttonous at times. And it’s okay. While Spirited Away explores these motivations, director Hayao Miyazaki (same guy as above) dazzles us with his hand-painted backgrounds, bizarre but beautiful characters, and attention to detail. The film oozes detail. In some scenes, you can practically smell it. Standing up and standing out in all of this animated magnificence is Chihiro, who keeps us grounded as we explore this unique, wondrous world. She discovers that the greedy, gluttonous, and seemingly ill-intentioned characters have more depth once she looks beyond their outward appearances and actions. You may notice I have this Academy Award winner in the Secret Sauce category. That’s because most Americans I know are unaware of it. Let’s change that.

For Your Eyes Only

What to watch after THEY go to bed.

Ex Machina (2014)

Boy, A.I. sure is coming up a lot as we explore the thin line between good and evil. And Ex Machina is an exploration you’ll want to take when the kids are asleep. A megalomaniac tech CEO invites one of his employees to his remote home to test whether his latest creation exhibits true consciousness. The CEO wants to see what happens after the two are introduced. So do you. The cast sizzles as director Alex Garland tightens the story and cranks up the intensity. In the end, you find yourself wondering who is the villain: The CEO, the AI, or the man whose lust and compassion cloud his mind? Pour some bubbly because Ex Machina is luxurious. Yet, at its core, the film is a clean-cut sci-fi chiller with themes that will be analyzed for decades.

The Dualitini

As good and evil dance on the screen, let your taste buds do a little dip and drag-step with opposing influences. The Dualitini is clear, yet cloudy, with a balance of contrasting flavors.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz Vodka or Gin

• ½ oz Dry Vermouth

• ½ oz Black Sesame Syrup (or Activated Charcoal Syrup)

Garnish:

• Lemon Twist

Instructions:

1. Mix: Add ingredients to a shaker.

2. Chill: Add ice.

3. Stir: Slowly stir all ingredients for ten seconds.

4. Strain: Pour into a martini glass.

5. Garnish: Add a lemon twist.

All good conflicts between good and evil have that twist at the end.

Cheers!