Power Rangers

I submit to you that, throughout the course of this saga, there is very little power and extremely short-range rangers.

Kong: Skull Island

Somebody saw Apocalypse Now and thought, “What if King Kong was Colonel Kurtz?” There are numerous shots and designs lifted from Coppola’s opus and other Vietnam war films. So if you haven’t seen those movies, Kong: Skull Island might seem pretty cool. But if you HAVE seen those old movies, this might leave a stale aftertaste.

Get Out

There are those that think that horror movies should just be catharsis; escapism. But the best horror movies are about something -- social, political, sexual, etc. Jordan Peel/Blumhouse et al confront a very specific and very racially charged subject in a funny, sarcastic, and highly entertaining way. Horror film fans may miss not seeing ALL of the tropes of the genre, but what they do get is a surprisingly insightful yarn about the co-opting or cultural appropriating of black lives and black culture for the benefit of the rich and primarily the white. Performances here are GREAT, including some sizzling supporting turns from body-snatched staff of the evil rich, white people in question. And just when you think you’ve got Peele’s script figured out, he twists it up in the most funny and unpredictable ways. Is it suspenseful? Not really. Is it perfect? Not even close. But the humor, satire, and insight about race makes this a modern classic. Kudos to all.

Logan

** SPOILERS UNITE!!**

What if Charles Xavier had dementia? What if there was a child like Wolverine with no moral compass? What if someone cloned Wolverine and made him a mindless super-soldier? There are several really gripping comic-book premises loaded up here, and the execution is robust. Filmed and paced like an old Western by James Mangold et al, there’s actually scenes of the movie Shane in this movie, which is a lot like Shane. But it’s not like it’s THAT innovative of an idea to change the tone. People are getting tired of superhero movies, but you have to keep the characters alive and in the zeitgeist. So what do you do? The last “Wolverine” movie by the same team was more of a samurai movie than a “superhero” movie, so it would make sense to veer into the Western genre mythos. What is always key in anything X-Man is that the kids who are different have a tribe; a place to not be ostracized or weaponized. Professor X always sees to it that they’re accepted somewhere, which makes him the real super-hero.