Kimi

“Wow them it the end.” It’s what the fake Robert McKee tells the fake Charlie Kaufman in the movie Adaptation. So this Covid-era, Blow-Up descendant starts out REALLY slow and boring. I almost bailed-out all together, but I was on an airplane, so what the Hell else was I going to do? Anyway, it builds well and unfolds expertly. Zoé Kravitz draws you in. And when Soderbergh and company finally reach the climax, it’s a hum-dinger and vindicates the opening draginess. A refreshing, perfectly entertaining airplane diversion.

The Gray Man

This is a huge but simple action movie. The good guys are good, the bad guys are bad, and everyone is a ninja. Individual action scenes can be surprisingly clever, in a "Loony Tunes" cartoony way. Car tires squeal. Guns bang. Lots of people explode and die. It’s a fun watch, even if it’s pretty calorically empty.

Ender's Game

Watched this 10-year-old sci-fi yarn on the plane. It's a teenage boy wet dream. Ender is the “chosen one” because he’s really good at video games. The military officers, Harrison Ford and Viola Davis (believe-it-or-not), throw a bunch of tests at him, which he passes with flying colors because he’s the chosen one. They watch him get bullied and then kick ass and say, “Excellent. He passed the bully test. He is the chosen one.” Everything is a secret test for this kid, but he’s an unstoppable video game nerd who takes NO crap from Harrison Ford. This teenager will lead a huge space army and he will save the world. Whoever wrote this fantasy justifying their video gaming and locker room torture might need a little therapy about their childhood. 

 

Thor: Love and Thunder

It’s not commonly known, but the ancient writers of the Norse sagas and myths were really snarky and would regularly ridicule the Gods as being vacuous dunderheads. It’s possible we’ll find out that these latest few Thor movies weren’t made by Taika Waititi and company, but instead secretly filmed by Loki as a playful burn. Nonetheless, there’s a lot of laughs, goofing on the gods. There’s a love story, too, that dips a toe into sincerity. I eagerly anticipate another super-serious, bombastic Shakespearean tragedy, a la Kenneth Branah. But for now, yuk it up!