Godzilla Minus One

It’s a strong but melodramatic drama about a disgraced kamikaze pilot and his surrogate family disguised as a Godzilla movie. Filmmakers postulate that not everybody in Japan was in favor of the war. The government exploited its citizens and made them expendable. There were heroes that were anti-war, too. This revises history and entertains, and could subversively be considered a sequel to Oppenheimer.

Ferrari

I was expecting, basically, a sequel to Gucci – an orgia of Italian stereotypes. Except for Penelope Cruz, the acting is a little more subtle here. It’s Michael Mann’s driving scenes that are “turbolento.” Juxtaposed is the family stuff and relationship drama, which actually drives the plot. Although sometimes it feels filmmakers are biding time until the big, flying car crashes, the family dramas actually come full circle and skillfully resolve, which is nice.

Violent Night

Rewatched this new Christmas classic. Some of the plotting and characterizations are clunky, but watching Santa Claus pummel a couple of dozen armed militia with a sledgehammer warms my little grinchy heart.

Rebel Moon

Lucasfilm and Zach Snyder developed this as a Star Wars movie. And then it was dumped, but still filmed as a non-Star-War. Remember when Trader Joe's use to sell their Dr. Pepper rip-off “Dr. Joes”? It’s kind of like that. A knock-off. So, on the surface, it still really feels like a Star War. But the Jedi universe mines the nature of good and evil and lots of pseudo-philosophy to keep it interesting. Rebel Moon is all about grain. No, really. Lke: “The fascists are stealing our grain. We have to rise up and stop them, so the wonderful grain we grow can be ours, and we can make bread and tortillas and stuff.” And the Magnificent Seven plot plays out after that. The designs are wonderous, to be sure. But the plot and the heroes feel like fan-fiction – great warriors in courageous, highly-sparkly battles, but their purpose lacks emotional weight.

The Meg 2

This lacks the monster-movie playfulness of the first one, and that was all it ever had going for it. So how do you raise the stakes for a shark that’s already the length of an aircraft carrier?

Haunted Mansion

The second movie that I know of based on the Disneyland ride. This means well, and some of the actors are having fun with it, but it’s not really funny, and it’s certainly not scary. The point seems to be to behold the amazing effects – a lot like an amusement park ride. But effects-wise you can pretty much do anything these days, so effects extravaganzas feel a little empty.

Maestro

Everything about Maestro is perfect in every way. Bradley Cooper’s voice and mannerisms are finely studied. His hair is immaculately coifed like Leonard Bernstein’s. The fake nose is faithful to its subject. His movements when he conducts are impeccably timed and excellent. Carey Mulligan’s blueblood accent is unmatched. Her acting is brilliant. Her hair is dreamy. The cinematography is the best this side of the Mississippi. Camera moves are precise and inspiring. The sets and scenes are gloriously designed; the style is gorgeous. The switch from black and white to color is awesome. The changes in the aspect ratio are pitch-perfect. The cinematography is stellar; perhaps Nobel prize winning. Steven Spielberg’s superb producing is wonderful and marvelous. I’m sure the Twizzlers at craft service were delicious and fresh and not even remotely stale. Everything, and I mean everything, about this is divine and ineffable and unparalleled in the history of art throughout the known galaxy. A+++. 

 So, it’s kind of annoying. I feel dumb, but I didn’t really get into it.

The Abyss

I’ve seen this 35-year-old epic at least 35 times over the years. After all this time, it still never fails to move and evoke. It’s a stellar achievement. At the recent screening, the ending is even MORE terrible, if that’s at all possible. But 9/10ths of this is a masterpiece.

Eileen

This nutty, lesbian homage to DePalma starts out great and unravels skillfully. Jojo Rabbit’s Thomasin McKenzie’s brave, risky take on a kinky innocent is fascinating. Anne Hathaway nails her trickster/disrupter bombshell like the “A” student she is. A supporting character’s harrowing monologue will stay with you for days. But it’s only 2/3rds of a movie. There’s no ending and no resolution. It’s like the filmmakers ran out of money and said, “Well, let’s just end it there.” It’s too bad, because for while there they were really dabbling in some freaky, kinky territory.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou

Re-watched this Wes Anderson tone poem for the first time in years. It’s still enjoyably silly, beautifully designed, and a bit slow.

Sisu

“Finnish grindhouse” is not a marriage of words that I ever expected to see or enjoy, but filmmakers go full H.A.M., balls-to-the-wall exploitation here and it’s unalloyed fun. It’s part Indiana Jones, part Bruce Campbell in Evil Dead, and part Bugs Bunny. Finnish filmmakers appreciate the imperative that if you’re going to blow someone up in a movie it should probably be a Nazi. And man: it’s satisfying to watch the variety of ways that Nazis explode and die in this master-class menagerie of chaos. When history looks back at this era and wonders why we as a society allowed the Nazis and fascists to take control again, they will at least have fine works of art like this to demonstrate that SOME of us didn’t WANT to be under Nazi rule and made art to express it.

The Beanie Bubble

I enjoyed watching these three women (Elizabeth Banks, Geraldine Viswanathan, Sarah Snook) outsmart and outplay the Beanie Baby weirdo, Ty Warner, played with unlikeable narcissistic precision by Zach Galifianakis. But filmmakers complicate the plot unnecessarily by cluttering up the timeline with non-linear time-jumps, etc. It’s often funny, and it’s an interesting history. It’s too bad the filmmakers got the Rick and Morty editors hopped up on speedballs to cut-up the chronology beyond all hope.

Napoleon

Behold Sir Ridley’s huge castles and epic battles. It’s eye candy. But there isn’t a likeable character in this, and as hilarious as it may be to watch Leaf Phoenix method-act for 2 1/2 hours, this won’t resonate. There’s no hero’s journey. It’s a suitable history, which makes it worthwhile, but if you’re looking to be inspired, look at other epics in the Scott lexicon.

Dumb Money

It’s like an Altman movie (but caffeinated) that jumps around from character to character elaborating on the weird Reddit/Robin Hood stock market movement to save GameStop. Despite the all-star cast, this probably didn’t make a huge splash in theaters because there are already a few documentaries about this exact subject. Notwithstanding, thanks to Paul Dano as the rebel investing nerd, this works and charms as we watch a few little guys beat the system.

The Killer

David Fincher’s lone assassin yarn yields to many of the “solitary hitman” conventions, but still offers some surprises amidst excellent filmmaking. In voiceover, Fassbender’s lone gunman is compulsively reciting the hitman rules, which reminded me a lot of the TV show Burn Notice. Also, the only music he ever seems to listen to is The Smiths, which could be depressing for him and expensive for the filmmakers. It’s an entertaining crime-tastic noir, a cold-fusion of James Bond and John Wick with plenty of killin’.

Fancy Dance

Lily Gladstone from Killers of the Flower Moon is the lead and she drives the plot. It’s a conventional missing person thriller, and the stakes are low. Filmmakers drum-up trouble for the heroes, which is fine since the “world” of the Indigenous woman straddling the line between the res and the non-res is the focus, not really the criminal underbelly plot. Nevertheless, the thriller unfolds adeptly, striking a strong balance between the genre stuff and the culture stuff.

Fantastic Machine

This Swedish documentary ruminates on the impact of the camera on humanity, some of it good, but most of it bad. From early films to modern Tik Toks, image is an obsession in culture, to the point where we don’t even recognize it anymore. Well-edited and a bit like surfing YouTube, filmmakers keep you riveted, but hardly scratch the surface of how life-changing the camera can be.

American Fiction

This is not the first movie where a novelist or artist invents a fake persona to represent their work. It’s Shakespeare. It’s Oscar Wilde. It’s Tootsie. It’s The Hoax. And the racial stereotyping, or pandering to people's stereotypes for some kind of gain (mastered by Eddie Murphy), is tricky. It would be eye-rollingly offensive if it weren’t for the delicate, precise, high-wire performance from veteran Jeffrey Wright. It functions as a racial satire to point out the book-world hypocrisy, but also evolves into full H.A.M. meta-movie, with multiple endings, etc. Thoroughly entertaining, mainly due to Wright, but also, like all good satires, shines a light on a societal minefield.

Freud's Last Session

Based on a play, which poses a hypothetical conversation between Sigmund Freud and CS Lewis, this is kind of a dud. The acting is top notch, but it’s just a philosophical conversation. There’s no plot. No stakes. “My Dinner with Sigmund.” Cronenberg’s fact-based take on Freud, A Dangerous Method, is superior.

Albert Brooks: Defending My Life

I’m biased because I worked on this, but it’s a poignant conversation between two old friends reviewing Albert Einstein’s body of work – deconstructing the old comedy methods and becoming the comedian’s comedian. Expertly edited by Bob Joyce, and my contribution was, of course, amazing.

Going Varsity In Mariachi

Achieving what most documentaries should: introducing me to a subject that I knew NOTHING about, this is the Hoop Dreams of the South Texas high school mariachi world. Functioning like a sports movie we follow one high school “team” as they travel, struggle, and compete in regional tournaments. It’s inspiring and warm-hearted. Everyone in this tiny subculture seems extremely nice. The filmmaking is polished and the pace is enérgica. Well-done.

Leave the World Behind

What if M. Night Shyamalan made a good movie?? Sam Esmail (and the Obamas!?) does an excellent job of establishing his archetypes and stereotypes here, and then skillfully upturns expectations. Solid casting is an important piece of the puzzle, as the movie stars feed the stereotypes then peel them back to reveal more interesting complicated people. The story and plot also does this well. It begins with some thriller beats, and then gradually expands into a more global crisis with much stronger themes. So sorry to knock around “Night”, but this succeeds with the twists where others (ibid) have failed. Although I could see the ending coming, it’s a hum-dinger and thoroughly satisfies. Kudos.

Killers of the Flower Moon

Leonardo DiCaprio decided that the best way to NOT look like Jay Gatsby in this movie was to wear this big awkward mouth/teeth prosthetic, and man it looks weird. It’s like he thought “I only want to look a little weird, but not REALLY weird.” He should have gone full H.A.M. weird, but this just looks affected and awkward. So much of the technique of this movie is great. Every second, every frame is beautifully captured. But the story is gross. There’s no hero to speak of. While Mollie the wife (Lily Gladstone) is the only non-scumbag in the entire movie, she’s not really the hero or protagonist. She doesn’t really drive the plot and she’s down with sickness for about a third of this 3-hour saga. It’s not until Jesse Plemons’ FBI character enters the scene that I ever felt like justice and resolution might occur. Yes, it’s an “important” movie about a grim historical event. But it’s a “medicine” movie and lacks narrative suspense and intrigue. It doesn’t matter how many well-costumed extras you have on set if you don’t have a hero and a journey. It’s beautiful to behold, though.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show

Held in a big concert venue, this “event” was projected on a comedically small screen, so as not to draw attention away from all the mid-movie shenanigans typical of this cult spectacle. Sound was sub-par and the bar closed early. A big issue with this modern screening is that the paid wise-crackers have had 50 years to curate all the one-liners yelled at the screen throughout history, and they yell them ALL. It’s an endless barrage of “ya-had-ta-be-there” quips but delivered by non-actors and non-comedians in a deadpan delivery more akin to having your number called at the DMV. Nevertheless, this above all other cult movies, is a unique kind of miracle. It lives on in its badness like no other movie, and must be appreciated for that weirdness.

Judy Blume Forever

This was great. Not because filmmakers reinvented the documentary wheel. All that stuff is pretty conventional. Interviews with best-selling author. Interviews with famous people. Etcetera. But there’s a running thread through this - people go up to Judy Blume when she’s in her bookstore or out for walks, often in tears, thanking her for learning about their bodies or accepting that sex and masturbation are okay. These moments are incredibly poignant and illustrate how important she is to the culture, after being banned and/or being relegated to the teen/YA category. School was always trying to cram Nathaniel Hawthorne down our throats, and Blume was assuredly much more influential to us. The best, so far, of many documentaries I’ve seen this year.

King of Kings: Chasing Edward Jones

In old movies, sometimes a character would mention that they were, “Playing the numbers.” I guess I never understood what that actually meant. But before the legal lottery, there was an illegal game run by gangsters called “Policy”, and Edward Jones was the king in Chicago. This doc checks the first and most important doc box, which is to teach me about something that I never knew. Filmmakers lacked visuals for some of the story and relied on mediocre animation. I can understand you gotta do what you gotta due to tell the story - there aren’t going to be old photos of gangland assassinations, etc. But something needs to be on screen. Eddie Jones opted to flee Chicago rather than get whacked by Sam Giancana and the mob. His kids and grandkids are still around to tell his story.

Devil Put the Coal in the Ground

Interview-heavy doc about a coal town wasting away. Injuries, death, pollution, opiate addictions, and lies and trickery from big coal fill-out this depressing but heart-felt portrait of a bygone fuel and the people who dedicated their lives to it.

Stop Making Sense

I can’t explain how cool it was in high school when David Byrne walks out onto an empty stage with a boombox, presses play, and starts the concert to the basic rhythm track. The scope of the show grew with every number until the big band is blowing the top off of the universe. Seeing it in IMAX is especially profound, watching the instrumentation in detail. A lot of luck factors into this movie. A soon-to-be-elite filmmaker and documentarian, a progressive band in their absolute prime (and still presumably getting along), and a theater full of fans realizing throughout the show they’re witnessing something historic. As of now this movie has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. There’s no question why. It is the phenomenal version of its type of thing.

Mayhem

(Not to be confused with the Muppet show on Disney+. )

A vicious satire about office politics during a “Purge” type of epidemic in a high-rise office building. Steven Yeun and Samara Weaving are full HAM in this tribute to The Raid: Redemption and/or Dredd, as they kill their way to the top floor to confront the big boss (Steven Brand). Well-paced, dark, and funny, with a skillful, twisty conclusion. Well-calibrated tone; it never loses its sense of wicked fun.

Five Star Murder

Low-budget, modern-day Agatha Christie analogue set in a 5-star hotel during a hurricane. Diverse cast. Surprisingly elaborate water effects and flooded sets. Otherwise, everybody has a secret agenda, bodies pile up, there’s a McGuffin, yadda yadda yadda.

Miguel Wants to Fight

Likeable, low-budget homage to Napolean Dynamite, My Bodyguard, and Three O’Clock High. Unlike a lot of high school kids, Miguel’s focus isn’t to party or find a date, it’s to start a fight - not to exact revenge or anything, but as a rite of passage. To become a man. The days of a fist-fight being an important milestone to manhood are old-fashioned and not so dramatically compelling. But the fights themselves are elaborate set pieces lifted from famous karate movies and starring his friends. So it seems the rite of passage for the filmmakers was to DIRECT a big fancy fight scene and showcase it. “Only when you direct a karate scene will you know you’re a man.” – some Hulu guru, probably.

Men in Black: International

Tessa Thompson is good at her job. She reminds me of Anne Hathaway. The “A” student. Good at everything. She makes it all look easy and breezy, which is part of the whole vibe in a Men in Black movie. Chris “Thor” Hemsworth delivers the disrupter/loose-cannon partner well, but this convention feels out of place in the very serious, dead-pan world of Men in Black. So instead of alien Dragnet, they did alien Lethal Weapon. The world is not as “fresh” as when the Barry Sonnenfeld movie hit the market back in 1997, but it entertains on an airplane.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter

The sets are amazing. The monster is scary. The acting is solid. The scenes are suspenseful. There’s nothing wrong with this movie. It entertains, and it’s beautiful to behold. But as a business move, my cynical side awakens. Why are we seeing YET ANOTHER Dracula story? Why does the monster look so much like you would expect the monster to look? Why is the plot, lifted from Alien and countless other “monster on a ship” thrillers, so predictable? Except for some welcome unconventional casting, there’s something SAFE about this, so it lacks risk and originality. Is that a bad thing? Not really. But it’s not going to blow the top off the world, either.

The YouTube Effect

Directed by Alex “Bill S. Preston, Esq.” Winter, and produced by Gale Hurd, among others, this well-made cautionary tale about the evils of YouTube lands softly, counterbalancing the horror stories with some positive sweetness, too. The problem it seems is its “algorithm” that makes more videos play after your original video has ended. Apparently, you’re never more than six videos away from full-on white supremacy and right-wing conspiracies. It’s also apparent that “influencers” abuse the platform to prank people, lie about vaccinations, and make money -- getting “engagement” however they can. Nevertheless, it’s amazing that there’s this website where you can look up almost any video you would ever need, inviting cultures to learn about other cultures and allowing outliers to find their tribe. It’s really too huge of a subject for Winter to draw any simple conclusions, but it's speedy and thoughtful 'til the end.

Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story

Informative, low-budget doc is more like a PBS special. Lots of stock footage and b-Roll as Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler recounts her past -- heard from a cheap voiceover recording. It’s melancholy because she was basically exploited by the movie studios and the US military, who used her radio invention without giving her money or credit. Interviews with her children and grandchildren add insight to what I’m sure is a tip-of-the-iceberg portrait of a pretty complex woman.

Tread

Based on a real incident in 2004 in which a lunatic wronged by a cabal of business people in a small town in Colorado builds a home-made tank and starts driving over buildings and shooting at people. There are some big-name producers behind this doc, which sustains itself by including an actual audio recording/manifesto from the tank-building miscreant and re-enacts the attack with a mock-up of the tank presumably built for the film. Filmmakers structure the story to make the suicidal man a sympathetic, Rambo-like anti-hero. They’re lucky he didn’t kill anybody, or it would be a very different film. Deep down, it’s what everybody wants to do right? Build a tank and drive over your enemies? Glorious, glorious revenge can be so satisfying. But I bet some of the terrorized people in the town of Granby didn’t find it all so funny.

Nothing Compares

Not the most technically marvelous doc. But the information and emotion are highly relevant (obviously). Sinead O’Connor was right about the Catholic church, and it’s good she got to live to see the scandal break in the Boston Globe, etc (see Spotlight). It’s mysterious that the Prince estate would not allow a recording of the song “Nothing Compares 2U” to be used in the film. It seems petty, but I don’t know all the facts. Regardless, Sinead was lightning in a bottle, and unfortunately personified the “tortured artist.”

Oppenheimer

The long-awaited moment for Cillian Murphy has arrived, and it’s epic -- part David Lean biopic, part The Right Stuff team of scientists, and part Terrence Malick impressionistic essay on the morals of war. Murphy is fantastic playing a low-key, introverted scientist, but through excellent filmmaking conveying what is the “calling” to change the world. He did, it turns out. It’s a stirring portrayal. 

The entire movie is a piecemeal montage. There is no “present” there’s no hero’s journey, per se. The threads that weave together the story are two hearings. One, a hearing about renewing Oppenheimer's security clearance which devolves into a red-scare boondoggle, and one a senate confirmation hearing for Lewis Strauss (Bob Downey), who perpetrated aforementioned red-scare boondoggle. Every single white, male actor in the entire world is in this movie. Its filled with Oscar winners playing bit parts, which can be cleverly deceptive. Who will matter? Normally you assume the movie star will be the pivotal character. But if EVERYBODY’S a movie star, the picture begins to fill out and Christopher Nolan’s point becomes clear: all these scientists and generals and stuff were so important. They were ALL stars. The few women in the story, all with limited screen-time, are really memorable. It’s a blast (hydrogen or atomic?) when they’re spotlighted. 

The essay slowly builds towards a big-boom bomb test, which, when it happens feels gratifying and heroic. Ironic, because the details of what happens in Japan are rushed through and off-screen. We the audience don’t see the damage – only the post-war arrogance and paranoia -- a filmmaker’s choice which makes the conclusion to Oppenheimer’s story undeniably melancholy. Conversely, Alden Ehrenreich standing toe-to-toe with Downey as the results of the confirmation hearing are announced provides the juicy drama to wrap things up.

The Equalizer 2

This feels long. And the bits where Denzel is saving old people and troubled kids from the neighborhood feel pious and corny. But in the climax there’s a hell of a gunfight in the middle of a hurricane which I’m not sure how they did and it’s a barnburner. “Wow them in the end.”

Mission Impossible 2

So, is this a John Woo movie or a Mission: Impossible movie? I’d say it’s more of a John Woo movie. Upon re-watching this for the first time in 20+ years, John Woo is wooing it up with the "gun-fu" all over the place. Slow motion, acrobatic, and doves. Lots of doves. Also, the music is kind of corny and even though the plot is simplistic, it makes almost no sense. Young Thandiwe Newton is good here, but she’s definitely a damsel and a pretty face, and not the bad-ass assassin types we see in the later movies. I’m sure I liked this at the time, but now it really feels like it’s from a bygone era.

MEGAN

So, it’s Twilight Zone’s “Living Doll”/Chucky/H.A.L. 9000 etc. Number 5 is alive. Rod Serling was definitely a genius, but I’m not sure he could have predicted today’s A.I. when he created “Talky Tina.” The key to this is more of the campiness factor. The way Megan is dressed, and the way she dances and sings, is played more for nervous chuckles than anything else. This is pretty mild for a horror movie -- it’s less violent than a lot of HBO shows. So, while it doesn’t have an original bone in its plastic body, it entertains with a high camp factor.

The Lost City

This one’s for the ladies. Sandy Bullock stays as girly as possible while surrounded by "himbos" in a comedy adventure that might as well be called a remake of Romancing the Stone. Scene-by scene, the riffing and schtick is skillful, but the whole mess is kinda plain and forgettable – a suitable airplane diversion, but barely.

Barbie

If they had an Oscar for “Commitment to the Bit,” Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling would be shoo-ins. Carefully striking a fine-line between tribute and parody, indie “manic pixie” Greta Gerwig bedazzles the big screen and sells a bunch of toys in this explosion of pink and existential angst. The gags and musical numbers are funny and original, but the wire-framework is lifted from numerous cautionary tales throughout history invoking “number 5 is alive”: Frankenstein, Pinocchio, The Twilight Zone, Short Circuit, Chucky, Wargames, "2001", Toy Story, that Amazing Stories episode with the doll, Megan… This list goes on and on. As much as Robbie is the star, she delegates a lot of the schtick to Ryan Gosling, who “Mickey Mouse Clubs” his way to a bunch of laughs, and America Ferrara, who gets to give the big speech. Despite the well-worn premise, the script stays tight and surprising, walking that tightrope that means: you’ll either love it or hate it.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One

This is my third train fight in a month (see also Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Extraction 2). If you were an alien visiting Earth for the first time and didn’t know any better, you would think that trains were the most ubiquitous form of transportation and that people would constantly be running and fighting on the roof. Though, this takes the “slow motion train wreck” to the BEYOND with the CRASHING of the train and the subsequent escaping from the wrecked train in a Rube Goldberg/Buster Keaton sequence that’s both hair-raising and comedic. Thomas Cruise Mapother IV, McQ, and the rest of the filmmakers seem to spend thousands of hours brainstorming ridiculously close calls that defy physics for our entertainment pleasure. 

As we saw this in an old theater in Lagos, Portugal, I thought there might be issues with the sound. But after a while, I realized that filmmakers mixed this with the music way up, and many of the sound effects and ambient noises muted, which gives it a montage/music video effect. A choice, for better or for worse, to sustain the audience in a different way. The action is top-notch, naturally, and there’s plenty of suspenseful humor. You will, as always, get your money’s worth.

Wham!

I was never a big WHAM! guy, it’s safe to admit. It’s an informative doc that seems intent on redeeming the other guy in Wham! who isn’t George Michael – Andrew something. The band was his idea, after all. Anyway, lots of music and a treasure trove of old photos and interview clips keep the pace moving and the Wham! whamming. 

The Meg

This gave me warm, nostalgic feelings of the 1990s, when every third movie was a terrible, big-budget rip-off of Jurassic Park. Strong swimmer Jason Statham is perfect as the stoic outlier, knowing the truth about the creature when no one else knows. The science here is preposterous and the sparse shark effects are only so-so. But the monster movie clichés are playfully executed and the sense of dumb fun is admirable. A good airplane movie.

Wind River

A western with snow-mobiles instead of horses. The trope of the big city lawman (woman) teaming up with the local gunslinger gets effectively spun by the maestro of gritty, Tyler Sheridan. The snowy, cold place is ominous but the reason why the baddies are bad is a little foggy. “Scarlet Witch” and “Hawkeye” are both in top form here; minimalist and suppressed by the bitter cold and the mean rednecks. Tightly-paced and always engaging even if the villainy is vague.

Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Remember when the Nazis used to be the bad guys? In the good old days, kids, Nazis used to be the bad guys and not the American governors and corporate leaders. Heroes like Indiana Jones would battle Nazis in various adventures and we the audience would take great pleasure in watching the Nazis’ faces melt as they screamed in agony. In The Dial of Destiny, Nazis are once again the villains, and Indiana Jones and his intrepid partner Helena manage to kill a few dozen of them (but still not enough) and it’s great fun. Sadly, Indiana’s reign as a Nazi Hunter is coming to an end, and now more than ever, Nazis need to get melted while screaming. All of them. And instead they’re taking positions of power and creating policy. I enjoyed every second of this Nazi-killing adventure. Filmmaking trickery and razzle-dazzle help old Harrison Ford as he kills the Nazis and throws them off of moving trains, etc. The chases are long and fantastic (but a distant second to Fury Road). The John Williams music is, as always, beautiful. Indy’s desire to go back in time and re-do some things is visceral. Don’t we all wish we could. So like Indy, this nostalgic chapter hopes to go back in time and make some corrections. It succeeds in many ways, but time also moves forward and there isn’t much Indy or we the audience can do about that. Just keep reminding people about the time when the Nazis used to be the bad guys, and not the guys in charge.

Still

With vulnerability that few movie stars would ever be courageous enough to reveal, Mike Fox shows and tells the story of his Parkinson’s diagnosis. It’s less melancholy and pitiful than you’d think, with plenty of humor and clever bits lifted from his famous movies. The huge stockpile of clips must’ve given the clearance department the shakes as well. Too soon?? Anyway, it’s not like he could’ve hidden it from his fans for very much longer. He was and still is really famous, and the symptoms eventually became more than he or his alcohol supplements could handle. Documentarians use plenty of interpretations and reenactments to tell the story, which is fine. But the interviews with Fox himself are the most revealing and authentic. As he’s still going strong, raising his family and living his life, there’s no sign of any kind of conclusion, good or bad, in the near future.

Asteroid City

All of the comic book movies have meta-multi-verses, so why shouldn’t Wes Anderson? Here’s your precious, old-timey-looking ticket. Welcome to the Meta-Wes-iverse. It’s a Twilight Zone hosted televised play, but also the making of that play, and also a filmed version of that play. It’s a kaleidoscope of deadpan oddness. It’s impossible to explain the overall plot, but the filmed story of the play is the principal stuff, a melancholy fable about a widowed dad (Jason Schwartzman) who falls in love with a movie star (Scarlett Johansson) during a science fair/alien invasion somewhere in the desert boonies. Their relationship is the emotional core of the story and it definitely achieves some poignant moments. Lots of other movie stars clutter-up the proceedings with their deadpan deliveries and it’s a bit difficult to reconcile it all. Production Design, costumes, hair, etcetera are all strongly Wes Andersony. But the plot and the pace is something new – slow, dry, and music-less. There’s lots of creativity on display, but you are and will always be at the mercy of the filmmaker -- and Anderson and company take their sweet time.

No Hard Feelings

This is an Alexander Payne movie. It doesn’t matter if Alexander Payne wasn’t involved -- his essence is all over this. Ad campaigns are selling this as a hilarious Farrelly Brothers type of sex comedy. But there’s an indie-movie bittersweetness here, too. Desaturated colors, shaky hand-held camera, very close close-ups, crying. It attempts, with some success, to match the TONE of Sideways, Election, or About Schmidt. They even got Broderick! The not-so secret ingredient is, of course, Jennifer Lawrence, who goes full H.A.M. in a way that most movie stars would never try. It’s only “risky” if it doesn’t work, and she brute-forces it to land with her commitment to the bit. The lead nerd (Andrew Barth Feldman) is solid, also. It’s a cousin to the Farrellys’ There’s Something About Mary, but the brothers always lean heavily into the silliness. Here the comedy is more grounded farce, with misfortune lurking just around the corner. The Payne homage, comedy/dramedy hybrid is rough around the edges, but it gets an A for effort.

Extraction 2

Another kill-fest featuring killing machine “Tyler Rake.” For the pandemic, it made sense that a big action movie like this would need to go straight to streaming, but now what gives?? This should be in theaters. “Thor” Hemsworth is solid and very physical as he guns down, stabs, and breaks the necks of hundreds of stooges and minions in a city that apparently doesn’t have any other people. He and the villains are able to endure numerous life-threatening injuries and it’s refreshing to see filmmakers at least TRY to throw a first-aid kit in there every once in a while. Rake’s team of sidekicks are also pretty competent which is welcome -- your best action movies always need a team of competent ass-kickers. 

And a train. There must always be a fight on a train. 

Boxes must be checked.

The Flash

** SPOILER ALERT **

There are too many Batmen. There are also too many Spider-people and too many Super-men and too many Jokers. The multiverse is getting full. The Flash has to interact with a variety of these doppelgängers and has double duty, since he has one of his own. Efforts to make this an emotional story are noble and welcome. Who wouldn’t want to go back in time and re-do some things? Ezra Miller is working double-time, literally, to suit the plot and serve the various JLA Batmen. It’s a lot. Not to mention the falling babies, of which there are many, and they all look really fake. I’m not sure if filmmakers used video game animation to save money or to dial-down the realism and cushion the blow during the funny but fake looking homage to Eisenstein, because the dog looked pretty real. The babies look like newborn residents of the uncanny valley, as do the various pseudo/meta characters in the quantum realm. Did they run out of time? Did they run out of money? Was DC/WB worried that serial assaulter and kidnapper Ezra Miller couldn’t carry a movie? Nevertheless, a lot of this was enjoyable, but mostly as fan service and stunt-casting cameos. Lots of nerd alert-Easter Eggs. But no HUGE emotional surprises. A lot of this material was covered in the CW Arrow-verse. Did I enjoy it? Sure. Would I see it again? Probably not. Am I answering my own questions? You bet your ass I am.

Edge of Tomorrow

Re-watched this Warner Brothers bottle of lightning from 2014. It shouldn’t have worked. There were so many red flags: A recycled “time-loop” premise from Groundhog Day, a weird mercurial director (Doug Liman), an alien creature lifted right out of The Matrix, a dumb title and sloppy marketing campaign, etc. If I had to guess, it was the editors that saved this movie -- the pacing is perfect. And the physicality and charisma of Emily Blunt, who had an established sci-fi record by then, but was always the lady in the dress. And so... don’t we all wish we could go back and re-do things?

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

It’s the Long Island Iced Tea of movies. It has a little bit of everything and packs a huge punch. Every frame is a piece of art, not just pop art, but French impressionism, surrealism, you name it. Like the first movie, characters are designed to represent certain comic printing styles, and it’s all beautiful. Story-wise it’s imperative to remember certain minute details from part one, so it’s not really free-standing, and the cliffhanger ending was a shock and kind of a bummer. Lots of “way-homers” as you try and piece together the plot and the story after the show. But the teenage, growing-up themes resonate profoundly. There’s more focus on Gwen and her experiences not fitting in – not knowing what universe to be in, etc. There’s subtext all over this. There’s also a wealth of fan-service Easter Eggs, many of which I didn’t catch, from the Spider-canon of comics, video-games, and movies. So, rather than being linear, the whole experience comes together like some sort of web that maybe a certain animal would make; a sticky, connecting surface, with no end. If this had an ending, it could’ve won Best Picture. It’s that “amazing.” But with no resolution, it’s a beautiful chapter of a larger volume, but required viewing.

Bama Rush

What was supposed to be a documentary about young women rushing sororities at the University of Alabama turns into a documentary about hair, and that’s not a bad thing. It’s incredible how important the hair color and the hair style matters to the pledges. Hair is so important to these women being accepted that the filmmaker herself, Rachel Fleit, can’t help but fold herself into the story. As a woman with alopecia, the importance of the hair catches her off-guard in a very personal way. The doc also touches on the special treatment and privilege that the Greeks seem to have during and after college, and the secretive nickname for that – “the machine”, which the interviewees aren’t allowed to talk about. Those of us who went to college and know a thing or two know that, yes there are people who get special treatment in this world, and it’s no coincidence that they care very much about their hair.

Renfield

Goddamn I wish I had made this movie! Framing Dracula & Renfield in this co-dependent, self-help world is the perfect blend of horror and satire that I’ve tried all my life to achieve. After the set-up, the story itself doesn’t unfold in a masterfully original way. It’s really bloody, which is great, but there’s a cops vs gangsters subplot that only partially kept my attention. Playing with and re-calibrating the “rules” of vampires is really clever, and there’s some outstanding, unexpected solutions found at the climax using the old legends and tropes. It’s a fun night, even though it never dares to go for anything beyond silly.

BlackBerry

A strong rags-to-riches, tech-tragedy biopic. It reminded me of the Halt and Catch Fire/Silicon Valley bullpen of goof-offs and nerds, only competent when they absolutely need to be. The main characters’ goals are clear: Pay off their debt and design a cool product that won’t be made in China. To achieve this, they have to hire an explosive mean guy, expertly embodied by Glenn Howerton. And the moral of the story is: avoid hiring mean guys, and apparently, avoid having things made in China. Jay Baruchel’s hero still became very rich even though his company was murdered by iPhone, QC went down the drain because his thing got made in China, and he lost all his friends. But from the filmmakers’ point of view, it’s hard to know what he could have done differently.

Air

This very small, very personal, scaled-back story reminded me of the old, straight-to-video HBO biopics. It’s not hugely ambitious, and the conflict is somewhat benign. But it’s a fascinating true story and all of the low-key filmmaking is truly expert. It’s Matt Damon’s movie and he nails the middle-aged schlub perfectly. It’s hard to imagine him beating anyone’s ass in the “Bournes” as he shoves down snack foods and argues on the phone. But he takes full ownership of this passionate American square, and he might get an Oscar nomination for its easy authenticity.

Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3

“Christ” Pratt is the worst part of this movie. It’s Rocket the Racoon’s story, and James Gunn et al dip into an animal experimentation backstory that’s impossibly poignant. How’d they do it? I’m not sure. Excellent planning, excellent voice-over acting, sympathetic but grotesque creatures straight out of the Island of Misfit Toys, and arresting music. They really achieved something special, somehow in a comic book extravaganza, lighting a little fuse underneath the concept of the ethical treatment of animals. As for the rest, there’s a bunch of space fighting and Pew! Pew! Pew! and you know the drill. It’s easy to look forward to non-Pratt sequels. They might have a new leading man in Rocket.

Ghosted

In a gender role reversal, or an upturn of True Lies, the badass spy is the woman and the screaming passenger/sidekick is the dude. The title and marketing of this movie was sloppy. The “ghosted” part of the story represents about  .01% of the concept. But efforts to deconstruct action movie tropes are funny and welcome, especially a bit in the middle riffing on stunt casting notorious assassins, their badass nicknames, and their unwillingness to see when they’re a target. This barnburner has the emotional weight of a dandelion leaf. But there’s plenty of action-movie eye-candy and a couple of big laughs.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

This reminded me a lot of the Gore Verbinski Pirates of the Caribbean movies. It’s a frivolous happy meal - enjoyable all the way through if not that original. Do things need to be original to be enjoyable? Monsters and magic and running and wisecracks. In the old days they used to call this a “popcorn” movie.

Tetris

Like the video game itself, this drew me in and got me hooked. It’s a deceptively simple biopic at first, but gradually and cleverly turns into a cold-war thriller. Who knows how much of this weird stuff actually happened? But according to the film, the Russians did everything they could do to make this deal as overly complicated as possible; trying to beat the capitalists at their own game. It’s a miracle we have the game at all, the way they sabotaged themselves. It’s well-acted, fast-paced, and shines a light on a weird little story that most of us never knew.

John Wick 4

John Wick is slowing down. It’s true. Once he dispatches an anonymous minion, they writhe around on the floor for a few seconds before they spring up for round 2, giving John Wick a second to reset and catch his breath. You can’t blame the filmmakers -- the man is 58! So as I predicted, the “gun-fu” has become less fu and more gun. They even brought in a frenemy side-kick, Donnie Yen, to take up some of the kung fu “Wing Chun” slack, but you just never know where this guy stands in the endlessly complicated cabal of assassins and rules and tokens and chits, all being led by a young Skarsgård (it’s impossible to know which one, there are so many). As filmmakers raise the stakes, we enter much more of a superhero/fantasy world. Four-story falls are survivable, entire buildings explode, and the modern-day Samurai code-of-ethics, referred to as “the high table” become more and more murky. It’s not just as simple as a dog anymore (until it is). Several of the brawls are some of the most creative of their kind ever filmed. They seem to go on and on, Sisyphean, exhausting, visceral, and wildly entertaining. This is it: the Citizen Kane of gun-fu, birthed, some would say, by John Woo. As I get older and more cynical, I appreciate more and more when the filmmakers' love of movies and desire to entertain is so obvious. They have served. They will be of service.

John Wick 3

Rewatched this chapter in the action saga to try and remember HOW all the rules of the secret assassin cabal play-out. It’s complicated! Lots of tokens and coins and vouchers and stuff.

The Pink Panther

For the first time as an adult we revisited this, the first appearance of Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau from the early 1960s. Very long, highly-choreographed shticky sequences, most of which have to do with 4 different guys trying to get with the same lady. I guess this kind of farce goes all the way back to Shakespeare and Greek theater, but it feels kinda dated and rapey now. The one-named actress who does the heavy lifting here is Capucine, who seems to have been historically under-appreciated. It’s still impeccably timed, but the women aren’t given a lot of agency in these sexy, sexy matters.

The Wrecking Crew

Finished in 2008 but released in 2015, this is a fascinating music doc exploring a subject I know very little about: the session musicians in Los Angeles who, almost anonymously, played on some of the most famous recordings of the 60s and 70s. Sinatra. Elvis. The Beach Boys. The Byrds. The Mamas and the Papas. While it’s not a uniformly tight or technically marvelous doc, the personal anecdotes of the musicians and the loving details about how the rock-n-roll sausage was made is fascinating, enlightening, and highly worthwhile. Learning where the bassline came from in the opening seconds of “These Boots are Made for Walking” sung by Nancy Sinatra is revelatory.

Sharper

Con artist movies are usually built around an ensemble of shady types conning each other. A spectrum of reluctantly shady and unapologetically shady. But for a con artist movie to work, the filmmakers have to con the audience as well. This is a desirable thing for audiences who like “art of the con” stories. But it’s pretty easy to trick an audience with movie magic – you mainly just omit key information. Sharper uses all kinds of filmmaking and storytelling trickery to leave the audience in the dark. Omitted conversations, time jumps, flashbacks, and unreliable narrators twist the movie reality and take the viewer on a mind-bending ride. If you like slick, scam stories, that’s a good thing. But maybe Sharper withholds for a little too long, and you’re often guessing who you should be following and who the protagonist is. Characters you thought were important end up just standing there during key scenes, because their bit’s been played-out already. And plot-wise a lot of this is pretty predictable if you’ve seen The Sting, so it’s the characters that hold it together. It’s a well-made movie, but in terms of satisfaction, it’s a mixed bag.

Black Adam

I watched this on my PHONE on the plane. It was teeny tiny. I couldn’t really tell what was going on. I think The Rock/Black Adam was the bad guy. And I think Pierce Brosnan was in it. 

We as a people have reached the pinnacle of computer-generated visual effects. Everything can be done. Nothing is amazing. It’s time to evolve and pursue new kinds of storytelling with the same financing and vigor that was behind all of the effects breakthroughs over the years. Everything Everywhere All at Once is an example (among many) of the kinds of risky stories that will help us move past the generic CG explosions of mediocrity.

Cocaine Bear

"Cocaine Bear" is the hero and protagonist of Cocaine Bear. Cocaine Bear loves cocaine and wants as much as possible. Cocaine Bear (whose actual name is "Rosemary," fun fact) faces numerous human obstacles trying to prevent her from getting cocaine. Most of the people in Cocaine Bear are depicted as unlikeable idiots so that when Cocaine Bear tears them apart, they’ll have deserved it for trying to prevent Cocaine Bear from getting cocaine. Unlike most drug cautionary tales, Cocaine Bear doesn’t have a moment of clarity or try to get help; Cocaine Bear’s tragedy is implied. There’s a finite amount of cocaine falling from the sky, and when it runs out, the idiots in the forest are really going to have a problem. The sequel should definitely be called, “Cocaine Withdrawal Bear.” If you see Cocaine Bear ripping out someone’s entrails, just remember that old axiom: “Bears -- just say no.”

Navalny

Noble and relevant doc about Russian Alexei Navalny’s efforts to oppose Putin for leadership of Russia. Interviews and insights are sharp. But the centerpiece of this – an incredible piece of footage – is Nevalny narrowing down who may have poisoned him on an airplane years before, and PRANK CALLING the suspects. The results are riveting.

Babylon

In the opening minutes of this 3-hour head-trip, an elephant being transported to an orgy poops all over two men. Then, soon afterwards, there’s the orgy. This is not subtle. It’s like it’s written by Hunter S. Thompson and directed by Baz Luhrman - but with super-long takes instead of lightning-quick cuts. I appreciate ambition, and I appreciate chaos, but there’s a fine line between these and self-indulgence, and it’s hard to tell the difference in this. It’s beautifully designed, and continuously watchable, despite all the pooping and barfing. The point of the entire thing, it seems, is to juxtapose three different results for trying to “make it” in Hollywood. Succeed and weep tears of joy with your success, smile and keep trying, and kill yourself. Damien Chazelle has an eye, for sure, but the story must matter more than the dog-and-pony show. So he might benefit more from being reined-in a little (see: Whiplash). Moments of how dangerous and chaotic the early days of filming were are played for comedy, but I bet there were some normal, non-orgy-goers helping, too.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

This was a GREAT movie… for seven-year-olds. In a story and script that feels like it was written by the effects people, the family of sub-atomic, size-changers get sucked into the “quantum realm.” Normally, I’m against a bunch of “world-building” but the rules of the realm are mysterious and fluid, much like the blobby creatures and structures that make up the realm. Why is it the way that it is? Atypically, Michelle Pfeiffer carries the water here. It’s her decisions, both good and bad that make up the story and push the plot, which is less goofy than previous Ant-Mans. And because it’s called "Ant-Man," it’s Paul Rudd who has to fight the "big bad" at the end. It’s always funny that these deities with all of these superpowers just punch it out at the end in a dirty street fight. She-Hulk found a hilarious workaround of this trope, which is well-worth checking out on Disney Plus. In a lot of ways, I’ve liked the Marvel TV shows a little more than the movies lately. More story risk, less exploding eyeball candy. Wanda’s dreams and goals in Wanda/Vision are so much more interesting than Kang's. What does Kang want? What’s his deal? They say the best villains in a story are ones that believe they are the hero. I guess we’ll learn more about Kang in future episodes. Per Chip n Dale: Rescue Rangers, here’s hoping it’s called “Aunt Man.”

Marlowe

This Marlowe is Raymond Chandler’s Marlowe, but Chandler isn’t really the voice or the story engine here. This is a “what if” Marlowe. What if Marlowe was an old guy, like 70? Too old to get the girl. What if Marlowe couldn’t really fight like he used to? What if Hollywood looks like it used to…(Spain, apparently)? I more or less enjoyed this vintage gumshoe yarn, intended to be a piece of nostalgia. It’s not very complex and it’s not Earth-shatteringly original. But lots of cigarettes get smoked and a few hard-boiled zingers are tossed around. If the intention was to invoke the past - that is: the artificial Hollywood past, then Neil Jordan and company get an A for effort. But, I mean, it’s no “Poker Face.”

Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio

I still believe: marveling in technique is worthwhile, but not as satisfying as marveling in a hero’s plight. This is all about technique. And the technique is beautiful. An old-fashioned, stop motion, explosion of creativity. You can’t help but admire the work hours and dedication that went into this. It’s weird at times, and all the characters are grotesque looking. Could there be just one pleasant, cute-looking character? There’s less allegory here than a normal fairy tale; storytelling is “on the nose” as Pinocchio unwillingly becomes an outright fascist. The ambition is through the roof, and I’m grateful for Guillermo’s love of his art and its possibilities. Still, it’s gross and sometimes nightmarish. Not for kids. Not for adults. I wonder who this movie is for?

The Triangle of Sadness

** SPOILER ALERT ** 

Watching this was a miserable experience. The first half of this Amazon presentation, the audio was not in sync with the picture. Which means the words that the actors are saying don’t match their moving lips. Trying to watch a movie like this is a bit like having a stroke. I could barely look at the screen. After a long session of Googling I was finally able to find the Amazon audio setting which would allow the sync sound to be correct. But that didn’t really help the story very much. 

It’s too bad. Lots of care went into the rocking of the boat. Sets were designed. Hydraulics were engineered. Dishware was broken. Actors were cast to play the assholes who barf on themselves during the rocking of the boat. I’m certain numerous crew members worked very hard to rock the hydraulic boat set. But almost no effort was made to create any compelling or likable characters about whom you would worry if their boat exploded and sank which is what happens. Once the remaining assholes are stranded on the desert island (which is a few hundred unexplored yards from a luxury resort, apparently) the power dynamic shifts, but they’re all still a bunch of assholes. Not to mention the off-screen rescue crew, who are ALSO a bunch of assholes for not realizing that a big ship full of passengers exploded and washed up on a beach and need to be rescued before the housekeeping staff rapes and exploits everyone to death. The Academy voters who nominated this movie for best picture are all psychopaths. Also, as a final kick in the balls, this terrible movie ends on a cliffhanger, which means we should expect a sequel possibly titled, “The Octagon of Despair.”

Emily the Criminal

Tight, tense thriller which astutely establishes Emily’s (Aubrey Plaza) shitty financial situation based on bad, bad luck and a few bad choices. Motivating the anti-hero so skillfully builds a strong sympathy that pushes you to follow her decent/ascent into the crimes, and ultimately taking charge of her own narrative. Supporting characters are all strong; better than average. Nuts-and-bolts explanations of the criminal enterprise and the “rules” Emily is supposed to follow are refreshingly clear. Emily’s inexperience dismissing the guidlines has real dramatic consequences. It’s a strong, non-snarky addition to the already bold Aubrey Plaza oeuvre. 

Oeuvre! Wow. Look at me! So fancy with the fancy words.

The Menu

** MAJOR SPOILERS **

I usually enjoy anything that takes the piss out of the “foodies.” But I didn’t get this. I wanted to like it. Really. I feel dumb for not getting it. Reading the tone from the beginning, you know that somebody’s going to be poisoned or cannibalized or something. You just know. It’s that kind of movie. So, when the weirdness starts, it’s not that surprising. It’s puzzling why none of the diners fight back. Grab a fork and take out somebody’s eye. It might have been more interesting if we found out they were all suicidal. It’s unclear to me why a cheeseburger would be the thing that would allow the heroine to escape. I don’t really get the subtext. What was the theme of this? What’s the point? What’s the parable part of it? Seems to me that the only reason why filmmakers made THIS particular movie is because it all took place in one room and they could make a Covid pod. Otherwise, I didn’t see the point and it… (dramatic pause) …left a bad taste in my mouth.

The Banshees of Inisherin

** TOP of THE SPOILER-ALERT to YA **

I’ve been having trouble understanding the parables and analogies lately. Despite some beautiful scenery and some great acting, I don’t get why this took the dark turns that it did. An older man named “Colm” who CLEARLY loves and cares about his younger friend and drinkin’ buddy “Padraic” issues a coo-coo-bananas ultimatum based on the premise that all of this drinkin’ and talkin’ has prevented him from spending time making the music he wants to make. Well, shut up and go make music then! Quit being a baby! In a normal, real, non-parabolic setting with proper antibiotics this man would be institutionalized for his mental illness, but because it’s 1920-whatever and because they live in a sad Irish town of 23 people, Colm’s mania gets shrugged off. It’s incredibly sad and I’m not sure what to take away from this. I’m not pickin’ up what they’re puttin’ down. Could somebody call me and explain what it all symbolizes? Otherwise, maybe I’ll just watch Belfast again.

The Pale Blue Eye

This grimy period piece set at West Point Academy starts strong. Character development and world-building be damned -- filmmakers get to the murder and introduce their crime-solving genius (Christian Bale and his eye mole) quickly and expertly. The first half is an exciting, fast-paced murder mystery. But as the clues unfold, it’s difficult to keep the pieces together. Not so much the weapons or the dead bodies but the MOTIVES of the anonymous killer. As a period procedural, it succeeds for the most part. But the pace slows down near the end and the film becomes less fun and more maudlin as the real killer and the real motives are revealed. Christian Bale is always top-notch, as is the rest of the cast, many of whom are British dudes who were in "Harry Potter" at one time or another. And although it’s fiction, attention to the period details feels realistic and accurate. Admittedly, the ending is a bit of a downer, but getting there had some fun sequences.

Zombieland: Double Tap

It’s fun getting the band back together, but at times the wise-crackery gets in the way of the storytelling. Quality sequences of zombie mayhem, but a watered-down emotional core.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Chrystal Skull

Apparently, I saw this twice in one day when it first came out in 2008. I must have been drunk because I barely remember any of it. Problems with the script and the plot abound, but man! There are some juicy chases.

Good Night Oppy

A super-duper sappy and sentimental documentary about a robot. But it really works. The strong attachment to the Mars Rover by the JPL crew is genuine, and their hard work and awe of their success, building a space robot that was meant to last 90 days and lasted 14 years, often brings the interviewees to tears. Their love of science and space is awe-inspiring. It’s a very human movie, but it’s molded into a Spielbergian emotional odyssey by the filmmakers, especially the composer Blake Neely. Much of this is bittersweet, though. Because although it demonstrates what smart people can do if they work together, it’s also an indictment of our recent anti-science political leaders and the irreversible damage they’ve caused to human progress.