Porco Rosso (1992)

Porco Rosso (Michael Keaton) was cursed to be an anthropomorphic pig for reasons never quite explained.  However, his flying skills are unmatched.  A former WWI Italian flying ace, he now makes a living as a bounty hunter, shooting down pirates.  Tired of the constant trouncing, the pirates employ an ace of their own, Curtis the American (Cary Elwes).

Porco has an unrequited love with Gina, the widow of several pilots.  In fact, his best friend during the war had only just married her when he was killed.  Of course, as is obvious to everyone but Porco, she is also in love with him despite his porcine visage.

The art, as usual for Miyazaki, is fabulous.  The flying is exciting and fun.  The characters are often cartoonish in a standard anime way.  However, the failure to explain why Porco is cursed (it seems that his survival during a particularly vicious dogfight is the cause) or provide a way to undo it was a failing.  Either provide a really good reason for an unbreakable curse along the lines of Sisyphus, Tantalus, Prometheus, etc. or have a way to reverse it like Pinocchio, the Beast (from Beauty & the Beast), Snow White, etc.

Thumbs up!

The Founder

The movie opens with Ray Kroc (Michael Keaton) trying to sell a milkshake machine to a restaurant.  After a string of such failures, he checks in with the office to learn that someone has ordered 6 milkshake machines.  Thinking it is a mistake - who could possibly need to make 30 shakes at the same time? - he calls the customer.  Richard McDonald confirms the order but is much too busy to talk.  Intrigued, Ray drives from St. Louis, Missouri to San Bernardino, California.  He finds the McDonald's hamburger stand serves food in an instant!  Fascinated by their business model, he asks the brothers, Richard (Nick Offerman) and Mac (John Carroll Lynch), to dinner where he learns about their history and the Speedee Service System.  Inspired, he partners with the brothers to start franchises.

Though the movie almost exclusively follows Ray, it does not paint a flattering picture of him.  He appears to be a failed salesman who has had a number of failed get-rich schemes in his past.  His original franchising contract with the McDonalds proves to be too constraining and he repeatedly finds his efforts to economize vetoed by them.  However, he finds loopholes that eventually allow him to outmaneuver the brothers and takeover.  The movie recognizes his persistence and his vision but often focuses more on his flaws.  The building of the most successful restaurant chain in the world is just a case of intellectual property theft.  Ray Kroc made the McDonald brothers rich but he's the bad guy.  Then again, even with all the negatives about Ray, I came out of the film admiring his moxie and achievement.  When he signed the contract in 1955, there was 1 McDonalds.  When he died in 1984, there were 7,500!  That's a new McDonalds ever 34 hours for 29 years.

 

A great biopic of an extraordinary visionary.