Weekend Watch: Wendell & Wild, All Quiet On The Western Front

Demonic fun and unflinching drama

Image Credit: Netflix

Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, Henry Selick goes demonic with help from Jordan Peele and war is hell. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite

Henry Selick doesn’t get nearly enough credit for some of the best stop-motion films ever made. Everyone always adds Tim Burton to The Nightmare Before Christmas, but while he certainly came up with the concept and guided production, it was Selick’s skill as a director that truly brought it to life. With Coraline, it’s always “Neil Gaiman’s Coraline”, but Selick adapted and directed that little marvel for LAIKA Studios.

And despite his sterling reputation, he’s had so many projects fall apart in development that he could probably fill a room with old scripts and designs.

It’s welcome, then, that Selick is earning plenty of praise for his latest film, Wendell & Wild. Working with Jordan Peele to adapt the book that Selick wrote with Clay McLeod Chapman, the director here brings a whole new vibe and spirit.

The film is partly the story of young Kat (Lyric Ross), whose life has been loaded with tragedy following her parents’ death when she was a little girl. Now 13, she’s been in foster homes and juvenile jail and returns to her hometown of Rust Bank for a last-chance enrolment at the local Catholic School for Girls.

Meanwhile, in the underworld, demon brothers Wendell (Keegan-Michael Key) and Wild (Peele) are plotting to escape their mundane existence, doomed to helping their monstrous, huge father Buffalo Belzer (Vin Rhames) with his hair issues. When they learn they can enlist a human to summon them to the world of the living and realise their dreams of opening a fun fair, they see Kat as their ticket to freedom and fortune.

What follows is a wild, fun family-friendly fantasy with all the edge you expect from a Selick production (and Peele, of course). There is more than just horror fun to be found here, with ruminations on prison policy and the treatment of troubled teenagers, but it’s a fantastic story full of crazy characters and real emotion.

If you’re reading this before Halloween, it’s heartily recommended for spooky season viewing, but works at any time of year.

Wendell & Wild is on Netflix now.

Image Credit: Netflix

All Quiet On The Western Front is undoubtedly not what I would describe as family-friendly. I would, however, call it bold, beautiful, heartbreaking and impactful.

The latest adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s 1929 novel, here brought to screens by co-writer director Edward Berger(co-written with Lesley Paterson), does a lot to distance itself from the Oscar-winning 1930 version or the 1979 TV movie, partly because of what it removes (the main character’s resentment-filled, temporary return home) than what it adds.

Smartly kicking off following a uniform from a dead soldier’s body to the hands of enthusiastic teenage German World War I recruit Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer), it’s a harrowing story of life (and death) on the front line.

Paul and friends Albert (Aaron Hilmer) and Müller (Moritz Klaus) voluntarily enlist in the army, riding a wave of patriotic fervour that quickly dissipates once they face the brutal realities of life in combat. Paul’s preconceptions about the enemy and the rights and wrongs of the conflict soon crumble. However, amid the countdown to the armistice, Paul must carry on fighting until the end, with no purpose other than to satisfy the top brass’ desire to end the war on a German offensive.

Elsewhere, we also see the slow, political process of trying to bring the war to a conclusion that allows the German government to save whatever face is left. Daniel Brühl plays Matthias Erzberger, leading the team looking to sign a ceasefire with France.

Berger, reuniting with Patrick Melrose series cinematographer James Friend, paints the film with outstanding imagery, showing the sheer futility of war with unflinching realism, without ever diminishing the commitment and intent of those who give their life to do what they think is right for their country – even if they are being lied to on a grand scale by those whose existence will never be in danger.

A bombastic, creative score from Volker Bertelmann breathes extra, surprising life into the tale, and the performances are naturalistic and excellent across the board. Far from comfy, Sunday afternoon viewing, this is urgent, powerful filmmaking that’s sadly timeless. It’s no surprise that Germany is submitting this as its Oscar entry for Best International Feature in next year’s ceremony. Oscar could come calling again, and it would be a welcome win.

All Quiet On The Western Front is on Netflix now.