Ferdinand (2017)

I saw the trailer for Ferdinand (too) many times and I wasn't particularly excited or interested in seeing it. Actually, I couldn't care less. But then someone thought it deserved an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Picture so I checked it out. Now I wonder whether those people have seen or not the movies they nominate, especially this year. Between The Boss Baby --which I enjoyed, but come on! An Oscar nomination?!-- and this, I'm speechless. 

In a ranch that trains bulls for bullfighting, Ferdinand (Colin H. Murphy) is a sweet and gentle calf with a tendency to smell and protect flowers for which he is ridiculed by his fellow calves. When his father (Jeremy Sisto) is killed, he runs away. Juan (Juanes) and his daughter Nina (Lily Day) finds him and they bring him home. Needless to say, Ferdinand (John Cena) grows into a huge but harmless bull. Eventually, he's mistaken for a dangerous beast, he is captured, taken away from his family and brought back to the ranch.

The plot is very simple and predictable and it's nothing more than the typical misfit story most animated films have. It's very bland and slow in the first part and even in the second part, when the story finally gets going and it gets a little bit more exciting and entertaining, it feels like there's something missing here. 

The themes too are nothing new --it's once again the don't-kill-animals message, neither for sport nor for eating them-- and have been addressed in so much better ways in other movies, last year's Okja to mention one.

20th Century Fox

Then there are the character. While Ferdinand is very likeable and relatable and John Cena did a surprisingly good job voicing him, most of the others are forgettable, to say the least. That's not, of course, the case for Kate McKinnon's Lupe, a bizarre, silly, crazy goat that is the worst thing happened to this film. That damn animal is so annoying, irritating, you end up wishing they would bring her to the slaughterhouse.

That being said, Ferdinand has some ups as well. The animation is one of them. Though it does not reach Coco's levels, the animation is impressive, the characters look great and there are some pretty beautiful landscapes.

Also, the film is occasionally funny and somehow it manages to make you feel sad and happy throughout its running time. There is a pointless music number though and the song Macarena just doesn't belong in here.

Bottom line, this is not a movie that deserves an Oscar nomination.

The Square (2017)

After reading several positive reviews about it and after its Oscar nomination, I decided to check out The Square. I didn't have very high expectations though because the only film of Ruben Östlund I had seen before was Force Majeure, a fine movie that however didn't live up to the hype. I guess he is not my type because I didn't love this one either. 

The film follows a few weeks in the life of Christian (Claes Bang), the curator of a modern art museum in Stockholm who, while looking for those who have stolen his phone and wallet, struggles at creating the hype and launching a new work of art, The Square.

And that's the main problem I had with The Square, the plot. Or rather, the lack of one. Though it starts off in a very interesting way, the "plot" (it's a disjointed plot, by the way) soon starts wandering, it becomes an assembly of subplots, most of which are left unresolved and ditched quite fast for another shallow subplot --Elisabeth Moss's character and subplot just don't fit.There isn't a single developed plot, and at some point, I didn't care anymore about what was going on. 

The main character, on the other hand, is interesting and keeps the film moving. Christian is arrogant, self-centered. He is not kind nor understanding towards many (if not most) of his fellow citizen. He doesn't really care about anything --he isn't even worried when his kids are fighting. He is detached, disconnected from life and everything and everyone that surrounds him. He is both a victim and perpetrator of injustice. He is a very unlikable character and yet Claes Bang gives such a good performance, he makes you sympathize with him.

TriArt Film

Then there's the satire. Unfortunately, it doesn't always work. It takes on modern art and modern society, from political correctness to freedom of speech, but it never dwells too deep into it. That and the most satirical scenes go on for too long. The dinner with the museum donors where the performer is acting like an ape is interesting and intriguing at first, then becomes uncomfortable and at last annoying. 

Still, The Square manages to highlight a huge problem in our society, the fact that people do not help those who are clearly in need unless the victim(s) makes it unbearable for them. In the dinner sequence, a woman is begging for help while being sexually assaulted by art (the ape-man) and everyone keeps their head down. When he starts screaming, then, but only then people help her.