This month, we’ll be doing the slow move into our new place. Tomorrow, the cable guy comes by – between the hours of noon and 5 p.m. – during which I’ll be sitting on the floor, hopefully completing the rewrite on this series overview. And maybe reading another book. Tuesday, it’s the cleaners after which (and outstanding rewrites notwithstanding) I am free and clear. I’m thinking of catching up on some movies by taking in a few matinees. Recently saw Deadpool 2 with Akemi who absolutely LOVED IT, and I’m wondering if we can repeat that magic with another recent release. Probably not, but I’m curious nonetheless…
Solo: A Star Wars Story – Full disclosure = I loved the original Star Wars movie. As a kid, I must have seen it at least a dozen time in theaters. Empire Strikes Back blew my mind. It was perfection. And then, halfway through Return of the Jedi, the ewoks came prancing across the big screen and effectively destroyed my love for the franchise. Heard not good things about The Phantom Menace and skipped it. Accidentally went to see Attack of the Clones and wished I’d missed that, but the experience ensured I’d miss Revenge of the Sith. Considered going to see The Force Awakens but heard it was just a reboot of the original. Didn’t see The Last Jedi. Which brings us to Solo: A Star Wars Story. The reviews have been mixed but, from what I’ve heard, the reasons a lot of people love it leads me to believe I would love it too. Conversely, the reasons a lot of people hate it also leads me to believe I might just hate it too. Well, there’s only one way to find out. I have no doubt that, regardless of how amazing the visual effects, how awesome the performances, how spectacular the stunts – it will, for me, as always, come down to the script. Does the story make sense? Are the characters believable? Is the dialogue any good? I’ll submit my review later this week.
Avengers: Infinity War – Man, as a kid who grew up reading comics – and The Avengers in particular – there was nothing I loved more than a good comic book movie. Of course, actual good comic book movies are few and far between, but that never stopped me from seeing them. Until, of course, Avengers: Age of Ultron came along. I don’t think I’ve ever hated a superhero movie more. Sitting through it was like watching somebody else plays video games for three and a half hour. Thirty minutes in, I turned around to explain the plot to Akemi and discovered her curled up in her seat, fast asleep. That movie nearly killed my love for the genre and, in fact, it was years until I actually sat down and watched another superhero movie (Deadpool, which I loved and then, most recently, Logan and Black Panther, which also pleasantly surprised). While I’ll probably never get around to Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice in this lifetime, I have heard good things about Spider-Man: Homecoming, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, and Wonder Woman so they sit on standby pending my Infinity War experience.
Isle of Dogs – I didn’t realize until somebody pointed it out – Isle of Dogs = I love dogs! And I do, but the lack of any pug or french bulldog representation relegated this one to a strong “maybe”. It looks a little weird (which, admittedly, could end up delightful or annoying as hell), but since it’s still playing, I might just check it out.
You Were Never Really Here – When I first saw the trailers for this brutal-looking movie, I was all in and patiently awaited its release – only to eventually discover said release was surprisingly limited. It’s like that Vince Vaughn prison movie I heard great things about that snuck in, hung around for a few days, then disappeared before I could see it. Well, fortunately, You Were Never Really Here is still playing – at one theater near me. My desire to see it has, however, been somewhat tempered by a friend who informed me “It’s really art house.” in a way one might warn against reuniting with an old friend who had lost their mind.
Hereditary – I love me a good horror film and my matinee screenings have proven surprisingly rewarding in that respect: The Quiet Place, Green Room, The Babadook, It Follows, Get Out. The only thing that gives me pause is all the buzz this movie has been receiving, with some proclaiming it one of the scariest films ever. Whenever superlatives like this are thrown around, I’m inevitably disappointed – so I’m expecting to be pleasantly surprised.
2001: A Space Odyssey – “To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 sci-fi masterpiece, TIFF Bell Lightbox screens a 70mm print struck from new printing elements of the original camera negative. This is a true photochemical film recreation, with no digital tricks or remastered effects — the unrestored film as experienced by audiences 50 years ago.” I’m in!
Anything else I’ve missed or should be looking forward to? Do tell.
My favorite Star Wars movie is Rogue One. I’d recommend you at it to your list!
seconding the vote of rogue one as best star wars film, and I don’t know anyone that dislikes it.
winter soldier and thor ragnarok, and spiderman homecoming sound like better bets than infinity war, which, if you’re on the fence, wait till the second half is out. I find watching the complete story changes my outlook a bit on whether whole film parts are any good.
I fell asleep during Infinity War, I’m not the only one, Leo Leporte AKA the Tech Guy admitted the same.
Loved Winter Soldier, for the most part
Black Panther, great
Seen All of the DC movies. Growing up those superheroes were my favorite. Towels around my neck, jumping off of everything, etc. LOVED Nolan Bros Batman trilogy! Waiting For that magic to return. Batman deserves it!
I still like man of steel. The soundtrack alone gives me goosebumps. Final long Zod battle withstanding.
Wonder woman was really good.
Thor Ragnarok was fun and truly funny throughout.
I really liked Ant-Man and I look forward to his next with Wasp.
Justice league had much misfortune, just like Solo. Production issues, personal tragedy and reshoots. If we could only go back in time!
Speaking of, can’t wait for final season of 12 Monkeys.
Dark Matter should have been given one more so you and crew could give the world some closure.
If only we had that ultimate do over device, the infinity gauntlet!
Thanks for the update.
Congratulations on your new place!
Keep writing my friend.
elg
What you expressed about the Star Wars films – most especially the original three films is absolutely exactly my own feeling. I liked the first film immensely, and loved the Empire Strikes Back and was prepared, I guess, to love the 3rd film, but from the moment the Ewoks appeared being so cutesy it was sickening, it destroyed my whole feeling for the franchise. The trilogy of the first 3 films was simply boring and contrived and, sadly enough, I have lost any desire to see the new ones –
I know I’m gonna be thrown up against a wall and shot for saying this but in my youth, I went with my pals to see ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ to be amazed by this Sci-fi cult classic. Unfortunately, we never got that ‘awe’ factor.
It probably didn’t help that the large cinema was almost totally empty – except for us plus a very dodgy looking bloke in a raincoat in the front row, eating something out of a noisy paper bag
It probably didn’t help that one of the characters in the space station was played by an actor, Leonard Rossiter, who was at the time, playing a seedy landlord in a very popular tv sitcom
And it certainly didn’t help when the not convincing looking men-in-ape suits threw up the jaw bone to the main theme of the Apollo space missions (as we saw it)
… we spent most of the time giggling so much we were crying, with the rest of the time wondering what the … was going on (especially the end section!). I’m ashamed to say we totally missed the stunning VFX (our loss).
To this day, I’m sorry to say, I really can’t rave about this film … (waits for the stunned silence to end before the angry voices of disagreement breakout)
Oh, you have to see Winter Soldier. All of the Captain America movies are very good. Age of Ultron: Ugh Blech! That’s my professional review. Thor Ragnarok is a ton of fun and it’s funny. Great soundtrack, too. Totally agree with your thoughts on the original Star Wars series. The Empire Strikes Back was worth the nine times I saw it in the theatres. The Ewok crap not so much. Haven’t seen Solo or Infinity War yet. I still live at the dark edges of the universe. Waiting for them to play at our one theatre. Maybe this month.
I enjoyed Solo. There’s many hat-tips to Star Wars fans but I think it works as a standalone movie. My cousin, a die hard Star Wars fan, hated it so YMMV. I’ve enjoyed all the recent Star Wars movies with Rogue One probably my favourite.
Infinity War was pretty good. I was impressed that all the characters were given good screen time and that the usual teams were mixed up a bit to allow for some interesting character dynamics. Although, given the huge number of characters, the story is quite jumbled. Joe, as a professional writer, I’d be interested to hear your opinion on how well they did and what you would have done differently.
Deadpool 2 was good but not as good as the first. I think they took the 4th wall breaking and in-jokes a little too far.
I recommend Wonder Woman. It’s the best DC movie since Nolan’s Batman.
That last horror movie I saw in the cinema was It which I really liked. Can’t wait for the second one!
Return… George made it for 12 year olds. It makes sense that we, the jaded and world-worn adults would take issue with cannibal forest dwelling teddy bears.
George’s late 90s excitement over digital / animated environments, plates, characters and VFX in general lead to the abuse, via overuse, of this relatively new technology.
Unfortunately story, character & plot refinement, he’ll development, took a seat at the back of the proverbial bus!
Yes Force Awakens was an homage to the original Episode 4, however JJ made a solid movie and for the Galactic sized pressure he was under, to present Star Wars to a new generation and start a new trilogy and begin a new era in the Star Wars Canon, he did a great job. (echoes of the old movies beats not withstanding)
Finally, I don’t believe that we, the fanatics of Star Wars since 77 are tired of the franchise.
Lucasfilm and Disney need to simply slow the rate of production. More quality and less quantity.
Star Wars needs to be an event. A movie release and occasion that we have to wait for, our excitement and anticipation growing until release. Not 3 movies a year!
I’m excited to see what David and DB from Game of Thrones will do when they helm their own trilogy.
Moving is always such a lovely experience. About as much fun as unaesthetized tooth extraction. I’m sure yours will go perfectly smoothly, though. *coughs*
I think you would like Rogue One, if you haven’t seen it. I would almost say it’s was the best of them, barring perhaps TESB. The problem with most prequels is that there is little peril, in that you *know* how things will turn out and who is really at risk. With Rogue One’s completely independent set of characters, no one is safe. I have to agree about the Ewoks and having them, er I mean the “Furlings” in SG1’s “200” was great satire. I even disliked John Williams’ otherwise awesome scoring for that film with the Ewok’s Theme. Ugh.
It’s perhaps telling that I can’t really remember what Age Of Ultron was even about. And I find that with quite a few of the Marvel movies, actually. They’re like eating junk food that tastes great while you’re eating it, but instantly forgettable afterward. Or maybe my memory’s just going! I will say though that the Captain America – Winter Soldier and Civil War were really quite good, and Wonder Woman was awesome.
Of course, I feel most modern movies are too long – I figure if you’re going to keep me there over two hours, you better be showing me you have a script that couldn’t be cut otherwise. Too many movies feel padded just for the sake of it.
Oh! Here’s that theme music is all its cheesy glory.
*grits teeth*
https://youtu.be/1dDBvOtRaSo
Thanks a lot for getting that in my head. Yub Yub
Misery loves company!
Please do go see “Isle of Dogs” in a theatre — if at all possible — to enhance the experience of a Wes Anderson film (always packed full of minutia and subtle, almost hidden, details that can be easily missed on the small screen). There is pug representation in Tilda Swinton’s “Oracle”. It is an albeit small, but hugely important, role. I promise you won’t be disappointed!
Infinity War was the best Super Hero movie ever. Absolutely worth seeing. I have seen it 3 times so far.
Star Wars The Force Awakes and The Last Jedi are great movies that you should definitely see.
Solo was a good movie. I liked it better as a Sci Fi movie than a Star Wars movie but it is an enjoyable watch.
Joe, let me save you some time. Feel free to copy, verbatim, my review of Solo:
Meh.
I did like The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and Rogue One. I do recommend seeing those. But, don’t bother watching Solo in the theater. Save some money and watch it later on Netflix… or not–your call. You wouldn’t miss much.
The script is a mess. Several times during the movie I found myself wondering “how long until this movie ends?” And, I found myself thinking “I should have seen Deadpool 2 again instead.”
Honestly. Surprised by this. I find SG and Dark Matter in the same action/character/ humor realm as nearly everything in the MCU. So I’m surprised you haven’t seen many of them.
I did enjoy Solo – just because.
Agree with others who said you might like Rogue1…it was good.
Want to see Avengers and Panther…have to arrange life a little though.
Cant think of any other movies you might enjoy.
Albeit,
whenever you do finally get cable installed
and have a couch to sit on
there are several new eps of Handmaids Tale and Humans to catch up on.
I would definitely give Isle of Dogs a peek.
It’s a bit of a Japanese manga type film. Quite querky and not for the younger/under 8yr olds seeking a cutie cuddly doggie film.
The two in front of me went deadly quiet after the first 15mins (think it was the rat running off with a portion of a dog’s anatomy!) The parents seemed to love it though, as did my 12yr old nephew and I. We both thought it was quite intense but enjoyable and discussed it all the way home in the train.
I agree with you on most of the Star Wars movies. We did enjoy Rogue One but I’m more of a Star Trek fan.
As for Thor movies, I didn’t care for any of them. That last one, Ragnarok was the worst one! It had some good parts but it was very slap stick. At one point in Ragnarok it had a Willie Wonka ripoff scene, including music from Wonka! There were more ripoffs from other movies in Ragnarok. I imagine they paid royalties to more than one studio. We wasted our money on that one. Only see Ragnarok if you enjoyed Shark Boy, Lava Girl. No offense Ponytail. 🙂
We like our super heroes more serious, I suppose. The DC ones are a little more to our taste. Wonder Woman was very good and The Man of Steel was too. We enjoyed Justice League, as well. Jason Momoa was a pleasure. Are you obligated to see work by past co-workers?
The only good thing about moving is the cleaning and purging of stuff. It’s a great opportunity to clean all the nooks and crannies of our book shelves/electronics/etcs,
Rogue One is a definite must see! As are Winter Solider (one of my favs), Civil War, Thor Raganrok, Ant-Man and Wonder Woman
A lot of people hate Man of Steel but I personally loved it .. like ElGardner said below, the soundtrack and just the overall portrayal of Superman’s coming out was amazing!
Also if you haven’t watched it yet, watch Timeless .. it’s such a great tv series!
The Last Jedi put me to sleep. Twice. I’ve lost the thread of the story. The horsie creatures were fun, but Monaco in space, really?
I haven’t seen Infinity Wars quite yet, so I was skimming the comments to avoid spoilers. Haven’t gotten to Deadpool 2 either, but I expect I will love it. We watched Black Panther and Dr. Strange to catch up. They’re okay, well crafted, but not things I would put on repeat.
Thor Ragnarok is a ton of fun. I liked it so much I dug out Thor and Avengers and Thor Dark World and watched them all in sequence. I’m indulging my celebrity crushes, of which I have many. I dig a morally ambiguous villain.
You certainly need to watch Cable Guy. At first I thought it was awful, but over the years I’ve become fond of it. Seems relevant.
Slightly off topic ramble! When we were first getting our cable modem installed, the guy was looking at Larry’s military shadowbox on the rolltop desk. “I knew a Clayton in the Navy”, he says, “on the Dubuque”. “Yes, that was my husband’s last ship”. Small world, MyLarry used to be this guy’s LPO/supervisor way back when! Nice, and the install was done to perfection. He knew I’d know, as I had been an ET also, and he was happy to know someone he’d liked was in the area. Synchronicity is awesome.
I ALSO fell asleep at the end of Infinity War, but that was really my fault since I went at midnight…a full three hours after my bedtime. Yeah, I’m a party animal.
But I loved the movie.
You Were Never Really Here – I made it through about 30 minutes before I bailed. It’s not good. It IS very “art house”. And I’m hot and cold on Joaquin Phoenix. It’s like he’s always trying to reinvent the wheel. Just make a good movie, man.
The Force Awakens was essentially a rehash of “EP III”, but it was still a fine film.
Hereditary looks VERY interesting. Thanks for mentioning it. It completely fell under my radar.
We loved Force Awakens; Rey, Finn and Poe plus amazing Leia. I have no plans to see Solo. No capes. I’m so looking forward to The Incredibles sequel, I’ve watched the original dozens of times with screaming toddlers and it was still awesome. Spider-man Homecoming, Wonder Woman and Black Panther were all so amazingly good, as was Thor Ragnarok. Tom Holland is a total delight.
I made amazing turkey strew last nite with yellow squash, chayote, sundried tomatoes, fresh basil, herbs de provence, corn, ginger and a little cayenne. It was amazing, savory and sweet, and not too heavy for a rainy summer weekend. I’m on the hunt for navy beans to give it a cassoulet vibe.