Moonrise Kingdom

It’s so Wes Anderson it’s almost TOO Wes Anderson. The only thing missing was a Wilson brother. Otherwise, the cast was amazing. Famous character actors drop in one right after the other, which helps prop up the main kids -- two new young actors, inexperienced, but trying their best. They don’t do a terrible job carrying the movie, but it’s still a relief when they cut back to Bruce Willis. I liked Darjeeling Limited more, maybe because the principals we’re closer to my age group. So I’m not saying I disliked this, I just had a little more trouble connecting emotionally to the circumstances, if that makes any sense. But it’s still very well designed in that precious and whimsical Wes Anderson style, a world of analogue color and nostalgia.

Men In Black 3

I liked this. It’s funny, it moves fast, and Will Smith’s comic timing feels perfectly in tact. Press reports say this was hard to make. Lots of rewriting and reshooting, etc. But I didn’t notice.

The Dictator

Funny, but didn’t blow my mind. I think the expectation is that Cohen will always be more outrageous than last time, so there’s nowhere for him to really go. I’m not always fond of comedians fucking with real people, even though it’s funny sometimes in Borat, so it’s a nice change of pace to see Cohen juxtaposed with an equally funny fictitious counterpart – Anna Feris. Departing from her klutzy blonde bombshell caricature that she’s mastered, she plays the tolerant, so-liberal-she’s-crazy lefty with wide-eyed perfection. Without her, Cohen’s dictator would just be an unlikeable maniac, but she sees the potential for good in anybody, a key strength/weakness of the bleeding-heart lib she embodies. The whole movie seems to be geared toward one big speech in which Cohen’s reformed dictator unloads about the hypocrisies of American democracy. It’s more political than most movies, which is good, but the comedic build up to this is a mixed bag, especially the scenes without Feris.

Sound Of My Voice

We walked out of this about halfway through, so I can't really give it a fair review.

The Avengers

Relished Tony Stark’s lighting-fast blabbermouth even more the second time around.

The Avengers

It’s really exciting to see the whole Marvel/Avengers plan come together. Since the first Iron Man, there was talk that this would happen, and I almost didn’t believe it. Could they really get everybody? Well, they didn’t get EVERYBODY. There’s no Ant Man… YET! Robert Downey is the glue that holds it all together, his heroics mashed with signature Joss Whedon zingers make for great tension and release. But the Hulk moments are the best. When you don’t have to “develop” the Hulk’s character, fill him with angst and regrets, feed Edward Norton’s ego; when the agenda is for the Hulk to SMASH, it’s primal joy. With a project this huge and with this much going for it, it would be hard to fuck up. There are still flaws. The secret hideout of the Avengers seems startlingly impractical, and the villain Loki’s vague plan to destroy the world seems a little Saturday morning cartoony. Also, Sam Jackson seems exceptionally tired. It’s probably exhausting trying to keep up with superheroes all day. But the rest of the cast is perfect. Their camaraderie is like jazz, and it’s impossible NOT to fantasize about sequels. Also, the traditional Avengers post-credit gag is hysterical. Don’t miss it.