Movie Monday: Playing Catch Up, Part I
I can’t believe it’s almost Oscar season, but it is. Ryan and I have already started watching movies that may be in contention. I’m gonna catch you up on what we’ve seen so far.
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
Listen. If anything, it’s going to be for visual effects, sound, costuming or some such, but let’s take a trip all the way back to May when I watched this bad boy. Here’s what I wrote down in my movie journal: “This move was superb. Well acted, always entertaining, thought-provoking. I laughed. I cried. It’s a treatise on the weight of responsibility, depression, and grief. Elizabeth Olsen is so perfect as a mother who becomes a monster. I wonder if they will someday study this movie as a metaphor for post-pandemic society.”
It’s cute that I thought that the pandemic was over back in May. *sigh*
Now, one test that I have for a film is how well it sticks with me. Can’t say that Doctor Strange has stuck with me that well, but I can vividly remember the feelings I had after watching it. Including:
“That moment when the Scarlett Witch shows compassion to herself? Wow.”
I also loved the panel of folks like Captain Britain, the Patrick Stewart Professor X, Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel, and John Krasinki as Reed Richards. I asked it then, and I ask it again: could we get Emily Blunt as the Invisible Woman?!
Xochitl Gomez as America Chavez was awesome. I can’t wait to see what badassery she gets into next.
And the Danny Elfman soundtrack? I’ll allow it. Do I wish he’d used a little more of Michael Giacchino’s theme? Yes, but on the whole it was a great score. I would say I can’t believe people on Twitter were dissing it, but I totally can.
This movie is for people who
love Marvel movies, especially Dr Strange and/or Wanda Maximoff
need some pandemic catharsis
can tolerate some madness from the multiverse
This movie isn’t for people who
have lost a child (probably, maybe…content warning at the very least)
like for their story to be cut and dried and very linear
don’t like Marvel (Le sigh)
Jurassic World Dominion
Again, the only way this movie gets nominated is for special effects or sound mixing or some such. Let me assure you that neither script nor acting performances are going to make the nominations. That said, the actors were all game for the camp, and I love them for it. My favorite memory of seeing this movie back in June was that it was so over the top and so crazy that my son kept trying to call timeout. Not that you can pause the movie for a timeout in a theater, but he desperately needed one.
The first thing I wrote in my journal? “This move is the definition of crazyyown bananapants, but I kinda loved it. THERE WERE LOCUSTS ON FIRE. All of the Pratt and Howard along with Dern, Goldblum, and Neill. Did I mention THERE WERE LOCUSTS ON FIRE?”
Listen. It’s not a good movie per se. It is, however, a good popcorn flick with a nostalgia factor. In addition to the fiery locusts, there’s also an Edward Scissorhands dinosaur. I am a writer, and I could not have made that shit up.
This movie is for people who
can roll with the ridiculous like, oh I don’t know, riding a motorcycle to get away from a velociraptor or Chris Pratt on a horse herding dinosaurs
go to the movies for the popcorn
want to see dinosaurs tear things up
This movie is not for people who
need logic in their lives
can’t suspend their disbelief
want all the things to make sense
Top Gun: Maverick
Before I went in to see this one, I would’ve assumed that it would only be up for the same categories as the other movies in this post. After seeing it? Well, here’s what I said, “Objectively better than the original. Hit all of the nostalgic notes, but also a little crazyyown banana pants.”
(I’d just seen Jurassic World Domination the week before. I had crazytown banana pants on the brain.)
But here’s the thing: it didn’t stick with me any more than the previous two movies. There was a theory I liked, but that could possibly be considered a spoiler. Click on this link at your own risk.
There’s been some scuttlebutt that this movie might be nominated for Best Picture. I’d say it’s quite possible. I don’t remember any acting performances that really stood out to me. I did like Jennifer Connelly, but I hated that we didn’t get Kelly McGillis. Neither she nor Meg Ryan were asked to be a part of the film, apparently. McGillis suggested that it was her appearance that kept her from the picture. It wouldn’t surprise me.
This film is, to quote Phoebe Buffay, a bit testosteroni. There are more women in it—including pilots—than the original, however.
It was fun. Possibly best not to think too much about the feasibility of the flying manuevers. Probably romanticizes the military. Do with that what you will.
This movie is for people who
love the original Top Gun
are looking for escapist action
feeling nostalgic for the original Top Gun/the mid to late 80s
This movie isn’t for people who
did not like the original Top Gun
can’t suspend disbelief
like artsy films
Okay. That’s all for now, but I’ll have plenty of other movie posts as this year ends and the next one begins.