Category: Daybook News

This author is old enough to remember a very particular period of cinema history that Jonathan Eusebio’s new crime-comedy/not-quite-a-romance “Love Hurts” appears to be aping. In the wake of Quentin Tarantino’s “Pulp Fiction,” way back in 1994, numerous movies began to appear to feature flippant, violent characters, their mouths full of pop culture references, usually becoming embroiled with byzantine organized crime plots, brutal assassinations, or other acts of bone-crunching mayhem. These films ratcheted up the bloodshed, but kept characters whimsical. The genre’s stars were too cool to be terrified by gun battles, and would murder with impunity, only to return to a conversation about movies, fast food, or some sort of personal quirk. Quirkiness was the guiding ethos of the era.

Many animated features and “live-action” CG remakes of hand-drawn films strive for realism, but “Flow” director Gints Zilbalodis had a different goal while creating the animal antics of his double Oscar nominee. Instead, it’s naturalism — which represents the world mostly as we see it but leaves room for emotional flourishes to transform a landscape or character design — that Zilbalodis and his animation team worked toward.

The really good news: By the end of February, 2025 could be 25 percent ahead of last year.