A Million Ways to Die in the West

This could have been funnier. This should have been funnier. Not that it’s bad, it’s just… stale.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Superheroes almost always populate parallel universes in the near future. Technology is always one step ahead of reality. Cities closely resemble Chicago. The really cool thing about the last couple of X-Men movies is they’re period pieces that look like Mad Men episodes or if David O Russell directed the Super Friends. Bryan Singer’s latest super-opus is firmly grounded in the fictional past, giving it an old-school, analogue vibe, lending a level of history and gravitas to the proceedings. Nothing’s more important seeming than Richard Nixon in a bad suit negotiating with Magneto.

Godzilla

I didn’t hate this, but I wasn’t moved to tears either. I liked Bryan Cranston as the mad scientist, but the rest of the cast was dull and interchangeable. Filmmakers play with “scale” in the first half of the movie, so you never really know how big Godzilla is until a big reveal. Godzilla’s battles with various military machines and other monsters are par for the course: massive, epic, explosive. Thankfully, but only briefly, Godzilla pulls out all the stops for a satisfying conclusion, but I still wish the human characters could have been more, um, fiery.

Bachelor Party

Great watching this farce with one of its stars, Bradford Bancroft. Probably the best and most important thing about this movie is, the bachelor and subject of the party, Tom Hanks, never actually engages in any kind of sexual misdeeds. His commitment is pure, which is nice.

Revenge of the Nerds

It’s probably been twenty five years since I’ve seen this and I’ve always remembered it as one of the better 80’s comedies. But re-watching it after all of these years, it’s impressive how much of a parable it is for tolerance. Maybe that’s why it has such staying power, even though I didn’t recognize it at the time? Nevertheless, the main thing to remember is: the nerds win.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2

Not amazing. Did NOT like this. Unfortunately, Sam Raimi’s Spiderman 2 wrecked the franchise for me by raising the bar so high, no other Spidermans come close. I can’t really put my finger on why I disliked this, but I was bored. It lacked the pomp and circumstance. It lacked showmanship. It lacked humor. Spiderman isn’t symbolic of anything greater than himself. It was unemotional. There’s nothing specifically wrong with it. It just feels so artificial. So cynical and joyless. I miss Bruce Campbell. I miss MJ. I miss Raimi.