Snake Eyes

Nicolas Cage plays an Atlantic City cop trying to solve a murder during a boxing match, as Brian DePalma and Cage both jerk the audience… Wait. Wait. Wrong Snake Eyes… 

 2021 Snake Eyes, based on the G.I. Joe character, unfolds like a conventional Samurai/Karate movie. Avenging a father’s death. Infiltrating a Yakuza crime family. Passing a few crazy Ninja tests. There’s a family dynasty. There’s a sentimental sword. There’s a magic amulet that gives you super powers. There’s a requisite car chase. There’s a fair amount of karate fighting. There’s a bad-ass grandma in a kimono. Henry "Crazy Rich Asians" Golding does a good job and keeps his character grounded in what is otherwise a pretty trope-filled b-movie. But because it’s based on a toy line, it can’t really be that violent, so there aren’t nearly as many beheadings as I would like. You can’t win ‘em all…

Black Widow

The entire thing… The ENTIRE POINT of this movie is for Scarlett Johansson/Black Widow to hand off ass-kicking duties to new ass-kicker Florence Pugh. Because it’s a prequel and everyone knows Black Widow’s going to die later, so the stakes aren’t really life and death in this. The acting here is all pretty good. The skilled cast slums it a little in this interim narrative, a rough metaphor about sex trafficking. Otherwise, it’s kind of a bland story. Black Widow deserved her own side-story before she was dead, so she could have a little more skin in the game. But juggling the schedules of all these supers in Marvel World can’t be easy.

No Sudden Move

Take out a legal pad and get ready to take notes. Because it’s a crime noir, and they’re talking fast and they’re dropping names of crime bosses and various goons like lightning and it’s hard to keep track of everybody. When the double-crosses start, of which there are many, you’re going to need a reference sheet. Still, sharp, top-notch acting all around from a great cast moving things along at an aggressively clippy pace. To move quickly, I suppose, or for some other artistic reasons, Soderberg uses the same lens for the entire movie. A wide-angle so wide there’s a vignette effect on the whole show. Mostly this is cool, and creates a visual consistency in the complicated plot. But it occasionally distorts things on the side of the frame, which can be goofy and disorienting. But those are the sacrifices to make for speed, baby!

Midnight Sky

George has learned a thing or two from the directors of his previous space movies (Gravity, Solaris) and has assembled a thoughtful, contemplative sci-fi cautionary tale about the end of the world. So, yeah it’s nihilistic. And it’s pretty slow at times. But the acting is great all around, the sets are cool, and the music by Alexandre Desplat is stunning and heartbreaking. But I can’t really recommend this because it’s just so fucking sad.

The Sparks Brothers

This great, loving doc about the band Sparks achieves everything it aspires to. It teaches dummies like me that it was more than just a new wave band in the 80s with a few hits. It entertains. It educates. And it explores a deep love and partnership between brothers who, for some cosmic reason, have similar artistic goals. Highly recommended. Kudos to Edgar Wright, et al.

Bo Burnham Inside

Is this a movie? I’m not sure. But it’s really interesting to see how the filmmaker uses limited space and no crew (but unlimited gear, apparently) to weave together an essay about pandemic loneliness and online identity crises. Not always funny, but really creative and worth watching.

Summer of Soul

The myth of the found footage has always piqued the imaginations of movie nerds and historians. It’s used here as a marketing tool, effectively creating intrigue. But the footage was never LOST, right? Somebody suddenly found interest in it – in this case Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Editors and colorists do a great job of reviving and trimming this concert series -- a time capsule to 1969 and black culture, and a really entertaining music doc.

Raising Arizona

According to the rules of the weblog, Raising Arizona would never be logged unless I saw it on the big screen. But since the lockdown, the guidelines have been relaxed. It continues to delight and amaze. Knowing so much more about film production than I used to, I still wonder how they did some of it. Definitely one of my ALL TIME favorite movies.