Talking dogs, racing cars, and fighting planes. This month I saw three movies in theaters. In general, I think they were better than last month’s movies.

Gran Turismo

United States of America | 2023 | 134m | English

While at times this movie feels like a feature-length advertisement for Gran Turismo 7 (joke’s on the movie – I already own it), I thought it compellingly told the story of Jann Mardenborough, an apparently true story about a gamer who becomes a real life race car driver. On IMAX the movie delivered all the high-speed thrills and emotional, Playstation-themed character drama that I could realistically ask for.

3/5

Strays

United States of America | 2023 | 93m | English

What happened to talking dog movies? I can’t remember the last entry to the Air Bud extended universe, and I definitely can’t remember the last one that was this vulgar. Strays is a comedy about an abandoned dog who joins up with a pack of strays to track down his owner and… get revenge. (Watch the trailer for details.) When the jokes get too gross, there are always cute (and real) dogs on screen to distract you. A lot of this movie is undeniably dumb, but I enjoyed my entire time with it.

3/5

The Wind Rises

Japan | 2013 | 126m | Japanese, German, Italian, French

Even though this was the tenth anniversary theatrical showing of what was once supposed to be Hayao Miyazaki’s final film, this was my first time seeing The Wind Rises. It’s markedly different from most Ghibli movies (at least the ones I’ve seen), in that it’s rooted in historical reality and only delves into the fantastic during dream sequences. It’s a beautiful movie, lingering on scenes between Jiro Horikoshi, a designer of fighter planes, and his love interest Nahoko. It manages to convey his internal discomfort around the fact that his opportunities to design the planes he loves so much for their own sake are only afforded to him because of militaristic needs. I don’t know how closely this movie depicts the real life Jiro Horikoshi, but it did a good job of portraying him as a stoic, driven survivor in the midst of one tragedy after another.

3.5/5

Bonus: Netflix One Piece

United Kingdom, United States of America, South Africa, Japan | 2023 | 60m x 8 episodes | English

Of course Netflix’s live-action One Piece is not a film, but I wanted to mention my thoughts on it. The original series has been a part of my life for a long time, and I, like many others, couldn’t imagine how such bizarre and whimsical characters and powers could possibly be brought to life in a way that wouldn’t get Netflix’s effort thrown atop the towering pile of disappointing live action anime adaptions. How did they do it? The answer: lots of close-up shots of the actor’s faces, so that we don’t have too much time to linger on the sometimes cosplay-level costumes. Also, dark lighting to obscure the CG. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by how enjoyable the show was. A big part of that is due to the casting. Every actor nails their part. I’m curious to know how someone with no experience of the series at all found the storytelling. Knowing how much of the source material this adaptation made it through, it felt extremely fast-paced at times to me. But judged as an eight episode season, I think the creators adapted the material quite well. Easter eggs for fans (such as bounty posters for characters who show up way later in the story) made me feel encouraged that the series is in the hands of people who genuinely care about the material. And the fact that series creator Eiichiro Oda made an incredibly rare video appearance with Luffy’s actor Iñaki Godoy to express his approval caught my attention and convinced me that the Netflix adaptation was worth checking out. I’m glad I did.

3/5