Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
I've seen criticisms that this is funny but "too silly," but this is exactly the comedy meal I crave: pure, nonstop absurdism. Somehow, though, it manages to starve me. Barb And Star willingly goes to otherworldly levels of silliness and the visuals are so bright and colorful that it borders on surrealism, which I admire, but if I'm not laughing then... what's the point? Aside from some chuckles at the beginning (with some well-placed and wel-timed sight-gags) if I wasn't just kinda smirking, I was completely stone-faced and, during the worst of it, rolling my eyes.
ccWiig and Mumolo don't even give performances, just impressions, of two midwestern 40-somethings who say off-color things with Minnesota-Nice irony. It feels like being stuck on the set of Fargo listening to two unfunny extras riff: shit gets old fast. I went into this with excited because of my adoration for Bridesmaids, which is one of the best surprises of the 2010s, but Barb&Star is the first big disappointment of the 2020s. C-
Godzilla Vs. Kong
This one's a little unfair, I don't know, I've just outgrown this shit, especially after something as bold and weird as Shin Godzilla.
Or, fuck that, this movie had every chance to be great but it's too restrained by cowardly studio groupthink and a PG-13 rating to be as weird as it teases. I've never really been a GODZILLA fan but I watched Shin cuz I'd heard it was amazing. Turns out the hype was well-earned so then I started perusing other Godzilla movies, basically touring the fandom. But I...do not... enjoy the other movies. So I...I guess I... went through a...a Godzilla phase...? And now I know things, stupid things. I have Godzilla trivia burning holes in my brain. So watching this was done out of completionist obligation. The Hollow Earth stuff is cool; the world-building is pretty much Grade: A. But, as everyone else keeps saying--meaning the studio isn't listening to consensus--the human stuff gets in the way. We don't need a human element, especially this stale Rolland Emmerich-level garbage.
It's directed by Adam Wingard, who, outside of The Guest, which I really dig, or Blair With (2016), which I fucking loathe, has never gotten a reaction out of me. I thought he'd bring a typical workman-like director-for-hire approach to the material but he genuinely brought style to the spectacle. His use of real and faux mounted cameras and Kaiju-POV shots make the fights feel...shockingly...immersive. With a background in horror Wingard comes with expectations. Like, during the scene where the dude is killed by one of the brains of King Ghidorah (I think), I fully expected to see his head melt...but no, this is PG-13, so his eyes just roll back in his head and he goes limp. So did I... C
Judas And The Black Messiah
An indeterminate grower grows until they die; they will continue to develop for as long as their environment and diet will allow - this is where the misconception that “goldfish grow bigger in bigger tanks” comes from. It’s not that Judas is bad (far from it) but Fred Hampton, The Rainbow Coalition, and COINTELPRO, is all too big for the hermetic 2-and-a-half-hour fishbowl of a movie’s narrative. It could easily grow to 8 hours and be even better. They gloss over Hampton's building of the Coalition with a brisk montage when it's just as important to show how the man lived as it is to what cut his life short. Its issues, which are small but many, warrant a full review but, just like the movie, I'm gonna keep it short. Its greatest achievement, though, belongs to Daniel Kaluuya who proves again and again and again that he's one of the best actors who's ever lived. B
Cherry
The most polarizing movies get my attention quicker than the ones sweeping up unanimous praise. I was more curious about Cherry than, fuckin', Nomadland. This is one of the most dumped-on and talked-about movies of the year; good or bad, it didn't sound dull. Also I'm quickly becoming a fan of Tom Holland so he was a big part of my curiosity - if anything, he'd give a great performance (he does).
The Russo Brothers, desperate to crawl out of MCUniformity, take occasionally tryhardy but overall bold filmmaking leaps, taking subtlety to its brink and snapping it in half with blunt, borderline obnoxious satire. Of course when anyone does that they're gonna have detractors crying foul so most of the reviews are about how there's just...too much - I don't disagree but I was reminded of '90s Oliver Stone with how they're doing so much, so often; it's dizzying. I'm not even sure if I like it as a solid structure but, first impression: it's entertaining, shocking (seriously), funny, and grueling. A-
The Russo Brothers, desperate to crawl out of MCUniformity, take occasionally tryhardy but overall bold filmmaking leaps, taking subtlety to its brink and snapping it in half with blunt, borderline obnoxious satire. Of course when anyone does that they're gonna have detractors crying foul so most of the reviews are about how there's just...too much - I don't disagree but I was reminded of '90s Oliver Stone with how they're doing so much, so often; it's dizzying. I'm not even sure if I like it as a solid structure but, first impression: it's entertaining, shocking (seriously), funny, and grueling. A-
With some prickly synth, artful dissolves, and allegory-heavy themes about buried trauma, this is another remnant of the A24-dominated 'arthouse horror' boom. But this ain't A24, it's Shudder. Unlike last year's unwatchably dour Relic and the delayed but so-not-worth-the-wait Saint Maud, The Power still feels fresh and even playful. There's more to chew on and enjoy than just 'unpack the grief subtext,' which this has but it's refreshingly honest about from its opening shot; it doesn't try to be subtle nor box itself in. This is a clever, inspired, minimalist, atmosphere-driven spooker that, hopefully, jettisons the career of its lead, Rose Williams. And the writer/director, Corinna Faith, is one to watch. B+
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