Author: Amy Diaz

Amy Diaz is the executive editor and writes about movies and compiles the Kiddie Pool column. Reach her at adiaz@hippopress.com.

Raya and the Last Dragon (PG)

Raya and the Last Dragon (PG)

Awkwafina voices a dragon and Kelly Marie Tran voices a warrior in Raya and the Last Dragon, a beautifully animated Disney movie in theaters and available via Disney+.

Similar to Mulan, this movie is available for an extra fee to Disney+ subscribers: $29.99 to see the movie before it becomes available to all subscribers on May 4. The fee allows you to watch it as many times as you like, something my kids took full advantage of this weekend.

The movie is set in the fictional land Kumandra, which feels like it is to Southeast Asia what Frozen’s Arendelle is to northern Europe. As Raya (voice of Tran) explains, Kumandra was once a land of harmony and dragons. But smoke creatures called the Druun sucked away much of the life from the land and turned people and dragons to stone. Sisu (voice of Awkwafina), the final dragon, used the last of her powers to create a gem that was able to banish the Druun and un-stone the people — but not the dragons.

The people responded to this brush with annihilation by fighting with each other over the gem and breaking into five kingdoms — Fang, Talon, Spine, Tail and Heart. Heart guarded the dragon gem, which caused mistrust in the other four kingdoms, who were constantly at odds with each other.

Thus is the state of things for centuries until Heart’s Chief Benja (voice of Daniel Dae Kim) tries to get all the kingdoms to come together. He has trained his daughter, Raya, to be a warrior who protects the dragon gem but also has tried to convince her that a rebuilding of trust between the five groups is necessary for the long-term survival of all people.

Naturally, Raya’s first attempts at trust — she thinks she’s found a friend in fellow dragon-fan Namaari (voice of Gemma Chan), the daughter of Fang leader Virana (voice of Sandra Oh) — do not go great. The dragon gem is cracked (with each group grabbing a piece) and the Druun are set loose upon the land again (and return to their turning-people-into-stone ways). Raya ends up on her own, out in the wilderness. (Raya and Namaari are maybe tweens or young teens during this flashback and six years older during the movie’s present day.)

After years of questing, Raya finds Sisu, who reawakens and admits that while she may be the “last” dragon she wasn’t really the “best” dragon, skills-wise. Raya and Sisu decide to undertake another quest: to find the pieces of the dragon gem, each of which contains a magical power from Sisu’s more powerful siblings, and bring them together to give Sisu the power to defeat the Druun (and bring back the people and dragons turned to stone and just generally save the world). Along the way, Raya gathers a crew: kid chef Boun (voice of Izaac Wang), baby pickpocket Noi (voice of Thalia Tran) and her hench-monkeys, and Spine warrior Tong (voice of Benedict Wong). Trailing this group are Namaari and her army. Fang is very determined to pursue a dragon-gem-as-deterrent-weapon policy and seeks to control more of the gem pieces.

Raya and the Last Dragon is absolutely beautiful to look at with some lovely world-establishing in its creatures (the colorful dragons, Raya’s armadillo-y pet), in its landscapes (which vary by kingdom), and in its mythology. Disney animation continues to wow with how it executes little details, such as how it renders water (which here behaves in all sorts of magical ways around dragons and their power). There is also something very Marvel-esque in the way it presents some of the action and the establishing shots, and in how the team came together (I got some serious Guardians of the Galaxy vibes at times).

The score is also very beautiful with melodies that really add some extra oomph to more emotional moments. This movie just missed this 2020’s Oscar contention cutoff (extended until Feb. 28 for the April awards) but I fully expect both this movie and its score to be in serious awards consideration next year.

I saw this movie several times throughout the weekend and while my initial reaction was to wonder if all the questing and history of Kumandra crowded the characters and their emotional arcs, I found that I appreciated this movie’s story-telling and rich world-building more with each viewing. These are solid characters; Raya, Sisu (who is sometimes a dragon and sometimes an Awkwafina-esque human) and Namaari all get interesting arcs that help examine the movie’s themes of trust and how a society at odds can find a way to work for the greater good and the difficulties of doing so. (Add this movie to the list of movies bringing me back to The Good Place and its “what we owe to each other” ruminations.) Even the supporting players (the con-artist baby and her monkeys, the Drax-like Tong, the cautious Virana) get enough space to add something to the emotional fabric of the story. It’s sophisticated stuff — delivered with visuals that look great no matter the size of the screen you’re seeing them on and in a kid-friendly way with the right amount of funny baby and animal antics. A

Featured photo: Raya and the Last Dragon (PG)

Kiddie Pool 21/03/11

Family fun for the weekend

Photo courtesy of the NH Audubon Society.

Enjoy the (likely fleeting) warm weather

New Hampshire’s Audubon centers are still closed, but their sanctuary trails are open for families who want to get outside and enjoy the warmer weather. There are miles of trails at the centers in Concord (84 Silk Farm Road, 224-9909) and in Auburn (26 Audubon Way, 668-2045). The trails are open from dawn until dusk. Don’t forget to wear appropriate shoes, as trails may be snowy or muddy. Visit nhaudubon.org.

Love your library

Many local libraries are closed or have limited hours and services, but they’re still offering plenty of fun for kids and families. The Nashua Public Library (2 Court St., 589-4600, nashualibrary.org) has virtual story times posted on its website, along with monthly interactive virtual activities — March’s is “The Great Flood.” The library also offers age-appropriate craft projects on the second Saturday of each month; materials can be picked up curbside.

At the Manchester City Library (405 Pine St., 624-6550, manchester.lib.nh.us) kids can find a new Messy Art project online each Wednesday afternoon. The projects can be done at home with items around the house. There’s also a weekly virtual storytime for kids ages 1 to 5, with a new video posted every Monday morning at 10 a.m. on the library’s Facebook page, with a craft kit based on the weekly theme available for curbside pickup. And each Thursday afternoon at 3 p.m., the library posts a new Lego challenge on Facebook for kids and families.

And at the Concord Public Library (45 Green St., 225-8670, concordpubliclibrary.net) parents can pick up craft kits for their kids; this week’s kit is a St. Paddy’s Bear, available at the library through Friday, March 12, or until supplies are gone (call ahead to see if there are any left before coming to the library). The library is also hosting a St. Patrick’s Day themed virtual storytime on Wednesday, March 17, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Register online to attend.

To discover the virtual events and activities that are happening at your local library, visit its website — most town and city libraries have revamped their programming to offer safe, at-home fun for families.

Art club

Middle school and high school youth are invited to Kimball Jenkins School of Art (266 N. Main St., Concord, 225-3932, kimballjenkins.com) each Tuesday after school from 3:30 to 6 p.m. for a free art club. KJ Art Lab meets each week and teaches art skills, project planning and community development. There is no cost for attendance or materials. New participants are always welcome, though a commitment to regular attendance is requested due to the collaboration on many of the art projects.

At the Sofaplex 21/03/04

Tom & Jerry (PG)

Chloë Grace Moretz, Michael Peña.

Cartoon cat Tom and mouse Jerry (along with other animated animals) inhabit live-action New York City in this movie that is pretty solid on the special effects but pretty shaky everywhere else.

The human story centers around Kayla (Moretz), a girl who talks her way into a temporary job at the ultra-fancy Royal Gate Hotel. She’s meant to help with the upcoming nuptials of famous couple Ben (Colin Jost) and Preeta (Pallavi Sharda). Hotel head Mr. Dubros (Rob Delaney) has faith in Kayla and her fabricated prior event experience but event manager Terence (Peña) is suspicious. When the appearance of a mouse threatens the event, Kayla attempts to fight infestation the old-fashioned way — with a cat. Tom is happy to help, as Jerry interrupted his keyboard busking. Terence highly doubts that this will work, especially as the cat and mouse duo cause destruction everywhere they go.

The Common Sense Media headline on this movie warned me that it was on the violent side so I didn’t watch it with my kids, who are otherwise right in what is probably this movie’s demo. And I’m glad I didn’t; convincing young humans that they can’t do cartoony foolishness is a significant part of my day and the way the movie puts animated characters in a live action setting makes those head-smacks and electrocutions feel real (but without the consequences of real-world physics). That factor plus the scenes that are heavy on adult humans and their boring problems make me wonder who this is for; do enough 7-to-10-year-olds want Tom & Jerry content that comes with Kayla’s Gen Z-er starting out issues?

Which is all too bad because this movie does have a nicely quirky sense of humor at times — it makes some cute jokes about Tom & Jerry’s lack of human-comprehensible verbal communication, possession of business cards and showbiz abilities. Near the end Rob Delaney calls them “Thomas and Jerome,” which is a solid understated bit of business. And the animation really worked for me; their cartoon antics have some visual cleverness. The blend of old-fashioned illustration-style Tom & Jerry with the live-action world was visually appealing, especially as the wedding got crazier and more exotic animals showed up at the hotel.

Tom & Jerry feels like it’s halfway to a family-fun reboot of old characters but the movie is just out of balance enough to make it feel longer, flatter and more worrisome in the “please don’t try to electrocute your brother like the cat”-sense than I want from my family entertainment. C+ In theaters and on HBO Max until late March.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday (R)

Andra Day, Trevante Rhodes.

Golden Globe winner Day gives a standout performance as Billie Holiday is this jumble of a movie about the singer’s legal troubles and the government’s attempts to discredit her due to the power and popularity of her song “Strange Fruit.” The story jumps around from 1947 to 1959 as Holiday struggles with heroin addiction. The Federal Bureau of Narcotics pursues her mercilessly, claiming to be trying to build a case against her to get her to turn in her suppliers. But early on we see Harry Anslinger (Garrett Hedlund), the Bureau’s leader and a malevolent cartoon villain, tell a room full of senators (and Roy Cohn) that “This jazz music is the devil’s work” and silencing Holiday will keep a lid on the civil rights movement. African American federal agent Jimmy Fletcher (Rhodes) is tasked by Anslinger with helping to bring Holiday down, an assignment he comes to have mixed feelings about.

This movie is very tell, not show — leaning on our previous knowledge of government wrongdoing and 20th century history. The movie states things — like that “Strange Fruit” is important to the civil rights movement and is “making people think” — but it doesn’t really demonstrate what this means or explain its effect on the culture of the 1940s and 1950s. The movie doesn’t really even do a good job of explaining the wider cultural relevance of Holiday and her career.

However. In the middle of a tornado of questionable movie-making choices is Andra Day and her Billie Holiday. She is able show the strength, vulnerability, weakness, brilliance and righteous anger of Holiday all at once and make her seem real, even when she is frequently wading through some business that feels 1980s-TV-biopic-y. It’s a top-notch performance that really deserved a better movie. B (a B+ maybe A- for Day’s performance; everything else is solidly in C territory). Available on Hulu.

Minari (PG-13)

Minari (PG-13)

A Korean-American family seeks a path to financial security in rural Arkansas in Minari, an excellent family drama.

While the movie feels like it is telling this story from the point of view of David (Alan Kim), the elementary school-aged youngest child of the Yee family, we get a good glimpse at the inner lives of all the family members. Mom Monica (Yeri Han) is horrified when her husband, Jacob (Steven Yeun), pulls up to the family’s new plot and presents her with a rickety-looking trailer sitting in a field. They have moved from urban California to very rural Arkansas in what seems like the early 1980s to chase Jacob’s dream of having a farm. Specifically, he plans to grow Korean vegetables and sell them to businesses in Korean communities in regional cities, like Houston or Oklahoma City. We get the sense that Jacob (who, like Monica, has immigrated from Korea; the kids seem to have been born in the U.S.) has some experience with farming but not nearly enough experience with convincing Monica of his plan. To pay the bills while he starts his farm, the couple works, as Jacob complains at one point, staring at chicken butts all day — that is, they sort the male and female chicks. David and older sister Anne (Noel Kate Cho) seem to adapt to this new environment, amusing themselves by poking around the family’s land or watching TV while drinking Mountain Dew.

When Monica’s not worrying about their financial precariousness, she is worrying about David, who has a heart murmur and has been told not to run or do the strenuous kid stuff he naturally wants to do. Their new home is an hour away from the nearest hospital, a fact that adds to Monica’s worries.

When the threat of a tornado nearly breaks the wound-tight Monica, Jacob tries to placate her by telling her to bring her mother to live with them. Monica seems embarrassed to have her mother see her family’s circumstances but Grandma, Soon-ja (Yuh-Jung Youn), treats the whole situation as kind of a hoot, teaching David to play a Korean card game and swear in Korean, watching American wrestling and planting minari in the wild near a pond on the property.

This is such a relatable family and such a relatable story — the dad who needs to succeed beyond his nine-to-five, the mom who feels the weight of her kids’ safety and well-being, the kids torn between their American culture and their parents’ culture, the fish-out-of-water can-we-make-the-best-of-it-or-will-this-break-us scenario. I felt like I knew these characters very quickly and could see all the perspectives and life experience that went into their reactions and decisions. Monica and Jacob have several fights where you can see both sides and can empathize deeply with both of them. Han and Yeun do absolutely excellent work to show us everything about what their characters are thinking or fearing with just a look or a small gesture. The surrounding actors do good work too — Kim is so believable as David, with the exact right amount of kid fear, kid adaptability and kid mischievousness. Youn as the grandmother is also fantastic — you’re not a real grandma, David complains, which Soon-ja gleefully takes as a compliment.

The movie is also shot beautifully — you can see why Monica is aghast that this creaky trailer is the family’s new home but the movie also shows us the home and land in the same light Jacob sees it, his garden of Eden he says, only half joking, at one point.

Minari isn’t just another awards-season movie that deserves its praise; it’s a standout movie that completely immerses you in a family’s life. A+

Rated PG-13 for some thematic elements and a rude gesture, according to the MPA on filmratings.com. Written and directed by Lee Issac Chung, Minari is an hour and 55 minutes long and distributed by A24. It is available for rent.

Featured photo: Minari

Kiddie Pool 21/03/04

Family fun for the weekend

Scientific discoveries

After being closed for renovations for a couple months, the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center (2 Institute Drive, Concord) is reopening on March 5, with hours on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Occupancy limits have been set for popular exhibits and planetarium shows, and stringent Covid-19 cleaning and safety procedures will be in effect as the museum reopens. This Friday the discovery center will also hold its virtual Super Stellar Friday program at 7 p.m.; this month’s topic is “Mystery & Majesty of Saturn’s Rings.” The event is free, but registration is required at starhop.com.

Walk on the wild side

Squam Lakes Natural Science Center (23 Science Center Road, Holderness) hosts several Wild Winter Walks this month, starting Saturday, March 6, and Sunday, March 7, with sessions from 10 to 11:30 a.m. or 1 to 2:30 p.m. The program is for adults and families with children ages 6 and up. A staff naturalist will lead a guided walk on the live animal exhibit trail and will talk about how these native animals adapt for winter in New Hampshire. Snowshoes are available at no extra cost, if needed, or participants can bring their own. The cost is $10 per person. Pre-registration is required for all programs at nhnature.org or by calling 968-7194. Other upcoming Wild Winter Walks are scheduled for Saturday, March 13, and Saturday, March 20 (sess

At the Sofaplex 21/02/25

I Care A Lot (R)

Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage.

This recent Netflix release feels like half of a good idea: Perfectly coiffed, razor-sharply attired Marla Grayson (Pike) steals the assets of old people, legally, by getting them declared incapable of taking care of themselves and getting herself named as their guardian. She has a network of people wittingly (and maybe a few unwittingly) helping her get them locked into care facilities and incapable of reaching family or legal representation. Marla liquidates their assets “to pay for their care” — and for her own guardianship services, of course — until they slowly waste away. She is slick and insincere and basically evil and I never once rooted for her.

The possibility of comeuppance is introduced when Marla commits Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), a woman who appears to be quite wealthy but without family. Messing with Jennifer, who turns out to have shadowy “friends,” is a mistake, several people try to tell Marla, and that’s before a murderous Peter Dinklage character gets involved.

Of all the characters here, I guess I rooted for Wiest, who is sidelined for way too much of the movie, and maybe for Dinklage, who is one of those “always fun” actors for me but also didn’t feel like he was given the best material. This movie has a strong cast (including some nice work by Alicia Witt and Chris Messina). It sets itself up as a comedy, maybe, or at least a darkly comic drama about villain versus villain, but I felt like some of that went off the rails in the movie’s second half and maybe wanted us to see Marla as one of those peak TV anti-heroes that have moral layers (maybe just let the villain be a villain?). But Marla to me always felt like a flatter version of Pike’s Gone Girl character without the wit or the relatable rage. The movie feels like it wants to make a statement about Capitalism or The System or something but by the time we get to the big climax I found that I didn’t really care much at all. C+ Available on Netflix

Supernova (R)

Stanley Tucci, Colin Firth.

Tusker (Tucci), an American writer, and Sam (Firth), a British pianist, are a longtime couple who hit the road in an RV through the countryside in England, where they have lived for decades. We can tell by the way Sam gazes adoringly at Tusker that all their complaints about each other’s driving and navigation is the banter of a couple deeply in love. And, even before it is openly stated, it’s clear that there is an underlying current of grief to this trip. Tusker has a degenerative disease, one that is affecting his memory and abilities to write (and maybe read) as well as his physical abilities. He is getting worse and there is a bit of a “last hurrah” tone to the trip from the beginning, with the couple visiting a favorite camping spot and then Sam’s family home for a big get-together.

Exactly how Tusker and Sam are individually coping with Tusker’s illness and how they plan to handle it as time goes on is the topic they keep returning to throughout the trip but it’s one that both of them are not quite ready to deal with directly, at least to each other. Their relationship is the center of this movie and the performances of Tucci and Firth are what make this lovely, gentle movie worth watching. Both actors fill in all the corners of these characters, we can see the layers of emotion, we can see all the things they’re saying to each other even when they’re chatting about something meaningless. It’s all such good work that it carries you through this bittersweet story. A- Available for rent or purchase.

Stay in the loop!

Get FREE weekly briefs on local food, music,

arts, and more across southern New Hampshire!