No Time to Die and Spider-Man: No Way Home: Reviews
What do these two movies have in common? They are both nominated for Visual Effects, for one. No Time to Die also picked up nods for Best Song and Sound. Each of these films are worthy of a Best Picture nomination. In this essay I will…
No, seriously. Both of these movies include excellent performances, great camera work, and imaginative scripts. Both of these films did something different and unexpected with their respective intellectual properties. I’m kinda tired of movies being overlooked specifically because they are superhero movies or James Bond or what-have-you. A great movie doesn’t have to be serious, dammit. Best Picture should be about a movie that’s a well done cohesive whole—at least in my book.
No Time to Die
My notes after finishing this film were “This was an excellent movie. Take James Bond out of the equation, and it’s still artistically well done….I am salty—literally from my tears—because they killed Bond, but what can you do? It fits the story.” Later I added, “This was so much better than Dune. Sorry not sorry.”
In genre, people often talk about same but different. Nowhere is that philosophy more important than the James Bond franchise where there are certain expectations: fast cars, willing women, amazing stunts, technological marvels, over the top villains, and wisecracks in the face of danger. No Time to Die does all of this and yet completes a specific James Bond storyline. That was new and different and deserved an Academy nod just as much as Return of the King, if you ask me. Unlike Return, I’m not sure I would vote for No Time to Die as the Best Picture, but I’m saying it deserves a nod.
This movie is for people who
like the other Daniel Craig James Bond movies movies and/or action/adventure/spy movies
would like for James Bond to have a story arc
want to see Rami Malek play a creep
love them some Ana de Armas
can tolerate a less than happy and yet poetic ending
This movie isn’t for people who
only want James Bond to be a wise-cracking horndog
want their female characters fully fleshed out—we’re not in Pussy Galore territory, but the James Bond folks still can’t make their women three-dimensional
want their action movies to be big stupid fun
want their villains to make sense
Spider-Man: No Way Home
I really like the Tom Holland version of Spider-Man, but I wasn’t entirely emotionally prepared for this movie. That said, the fact that Spider-Man made me cry without losing any of the fun of other movies in the series is part of the reason why I would’ve considered this one for Best Picture. For heaven’s sake,
spoiler—skip down past the oops
it tied in other Spider-Mans! (Spider-Men?)
Welp. I can’t find my notes. I remember watching this movie. I remember thinking it was an awesome movie. I remember crying. Did I write down my other impressions at the time? No. Oops. This is why I usually take notes.
This movie was just a cinematic delight of recurring characters in a tangled web of plot. I wouldn’t say the story was perfect, but it was pretty darn close. Great performances, great visual effects, and an all-around solid movie.
This movie is for people who
love the Tom Holland Spider-Man
love their Dr Strange to be prickly
are here for whatever Zendaya does
love to see characters from other stories show up in a new one
This movie isn’t for people who
don’t like the Marvel movies
love serious movies about serious subjects
or who
want their Marvel movies to be complete fluff
#MondayMovies disclaimer: This blog is just for my thoughts. Sure, I’m a writer and an English major so I have some idea—we would hope—of how stories work. I’m also a flawed human being with my owns likes and dislikes, though, so please watch any movie you like and love it or hate it or just go for the popcorn. (Also, there will likely be a post a day leading up to the Oscars because I have quite a few films left)