Thoughts on 5 Films

1. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - So I wasn't the biggest fan of Black Panther. It's okay, I just didn't really understand the rave reviews (it's a solid 3 star movie, so not among Marvel's worst). I do understand the cultural impact, though. It's heartbreaking to finally have this huge superhero film starring a black superhero and then losing him to Cancer at such a young age. I have such respect for Chadwick Boseman for powering through his diagnosis and giving his all - he knew the cultural impact as well. He definitely left a legacy that will be remembered for a long, long time. It definitely hits different to have a funeral scene for a character when the actor died in real life - it must have been very difficult for these actors to film this. I'm glad that they decided to keep going with the Black Panther character, because I think that's what he would have wanted. It's too important to not continue. But, I do think this is just another 3 star movie. It's mostly filled with good stuff, but nothing that excels it in any way, aside from the costume design (I was rooting so hard for Everything Everywhere All at Once to win costume design, but I forgot about this! When I saw those white funeral outfits in the trailer my jaw dropped open. Simply stunning). There are a few surprises (*spoilers ahead*): After maybe an hour (I might be exaggerating, I didn't pay attention to the time. It sure felt like an hour), I finally screamed "Where the FUCK is Lupita?!!" and then she showed up a minute later looking absolutely stunning in that coral number. She's my favorite of the cast, so I was annoyed that she is missing from the first part of the film. I also was not expecting them to kill off another main character??? WHY? As if it isn't depressing enough? And another surprise, for me, is the blue people! I kept seeing people make fun of the blue people, but I assumed they were talking about Avatar, but now I realize some may have been referring to this! Hilarious. Hilariously bad, actually (they looked terrible). Also, they really need to start teaching filmmakers how to film night sequences. There are parts of this movie that I literally could not see AT ALL. Anyway, on to the good - I loved the ending. Dominique Thorne is a great young talent that I can't wait to see more of. And I like Letitia Wright - she's a great actress and her character arc feels like a very natural progression given the circumstances. As far as the "controversy" surrounding her, I think people need to move on. I think some celebrities forget the impact they have (especially ones who are newer to fame); she made a mistake and apologized for it. And to be clear, I don't blame her for questioning the Covid vaccine. Her mistake was sharing a video that was ill-informed, so instead of expressing genuine concern, she spread misinformation and that is dangerous considering the reach that she has. She's ALLOWED to question what goes into her body and make her own choices, though, as is everyone. 

2. Empire of Light - What a waste of talent this film is! It's sort of shocking. Not just the cast (led by Olivia Colman), but it's directed by Sam Mendes, shot by Roger Deakins, with music by Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross. How the fuck did this group make such a mediocre film? It doesn't make sense?! And it's not even the good kind of mediocre, instead it is actively bad in certain aspects. It's very cheesy and I can't even tell you the story they are trying to tell - is it about mental illness? Racism? The magic of film and storytelling? I think it tries to tackle all three of these topics in an extremely lazy way. And then turns into the Nicole Kidman AMC ad. Colman does her best, and is actually incredible during her schizophrenic scenes, but it all feels a little too ridiculous to be taken seriously. It's also really hard for me to believe that she's in her 40s because she seems like my mom's age (late 50s/early 60s). I don't mean for that to be an insult - she just has this presence of someone a whole decade older than her. Her and Firth seem the same age but they are 13 years apart! Fascinating. She develops a relationship with her co-worker who is far younger (in his 20s), and nothing about it seems real or genuine. At almost 42, I can't even imagine having any interest in someone in their 20s. My husband is 7 years younger than me, and that is already a struggle sometimes (whenever he doesn't catch one of my dated references it's always a game of "is it because he's too young?" or "is it because he grew up in a white neighborhood?". It's a fun game. Like the other day he didn't know who Aaliyah was. *bangs head on a wall*). My cutoff is that they have to be born before 1990 (this allows for Taron Egerton in case I get bored of the whole marriage thing and decide to make Taron fall in love with me... - he was born 51 days before 1990 so we're good). What was I talking about??? Oh yeah, so I think this relationship feels so awkward because they only give reasons for her to be interested in him (he's attractive, smart, kind, etc.), but never really answer why he is interested in her - she's quite unfriendly to him in the beginning and seems to have very little personality (until the mental breakdown). It is made very well (because of course it is!), but I will remember absolutely nothing about it within a few months. 

3. JUNG_E - I had higher expectations for this than maybe I should have. I just loved Train to Busan so much - it revitalized the zombie genre for me, so I was hoping for the same magic here. Unfortunately, it's just a very average sci-fi story. The world building is very cool and I enjoyed all of the futuristic technology, but nothing about it felt very original (or revitalizing!). Similar to Train to Busan, though, there are some great characters. There are some scenes that are done very well, in terms of character development - like how confident he is going into his presentation vs. how the presentation actually goes. It does a good job of giving these characters depth very quickly - you instantly know who to root for. And there's some interesting commentary on classism vs technology. But there's not much else to say about it. I would recommend it as a fun afternoon flick, just don't overthink it. 

4. The Pale Blue Eye - Christian Bale is always a reason to watch a movie (even if it looks incredibly boring like this did...). He's just an incredibly versatile actor who never plays it safe. Two more reasons to watch this: Charlotte Gainsbourg (I haven't seen her in anything in years! Where has she been?) and Lucy Boynton (I really like her, but I would love to see her in some bigger roles soon!). Other than that, though, this movie is very, very slow, as expected. It reminds me of that show Ripper Street or that one with Dakota Fanning (I can't think of the name of it) - both shows that I like to a small degree. They are well-made and sometimes have a good, twisty mystery, but ultimately it gets very boring and feels repetitive. Honestly, I stopped paying attention to a good 30 minutes, and was still able to pick up the plot again. I think it's just this genre that never works for me fully - this sort of Gothic thriller/mystery. They are usually very beautiful (helped by the Victorian costumes) and atmospheric, but I almost ALWAYS end up bored by the end. 

5. Spoiler Alert - Ugh...this movie got me. Sometimes a good ole' sappy romance is needed, and this one filled the void for me. I didn't cry, but I felt the tears forming. It's kind of like The Big Sick except *ironic spoiler alert* the guy dies at the end. I didn't know much about this before hitting play - so I was a little shocked in the beginning that it's based on Michael Ausiello's memoir (I didn't even know he wrote a memoir! He was one of my favorite writers at Entertainment Weekly, but sadly I did not follow his career once he started that other website. TV Line? I think?). I truly loathe The Big Bang Theory, but I've liked Jim Parsons in everything else I've seen him in and the guy who plays his partner is really hot (I think it's just the glasses though? and the personality?). Plus, you can't go wrong with Sally Field in the perfect mom role. It's a very sweet movie - I found myself smiling through most of it (except for the ending obvi). They have a very cute and realistic romance, and I like that it doesn't shy away from the hard times and the difficulties that arise after being with someone for over a decade. I also laughed hysterically (and was flabbergasted) by the reveal of what his apartment looks like. I was trying to guess beforehand and I figured it might have to do with some sort of pop culture - like he has an apartment filled with classic television memorabilia or something to that effect but the reality is far worse (I'm not going to spoil it). But it's like that house that was listed on Zillow (I think?) that was completely normal and then one room was filled from floor to ceiling of Tasmanian Devil stuffed animals and collectibles. I'm not sure I would follow through with the relationship after that reveal, to be honest. There's a difference between collecting something and being obsessed (it borders on insanity - I don't care if there is a meaningful backstory or not, it's still unhealthy). ANYWAY, aside from that, I loved learning about their story and I'm glad that Ausiello decided to share it with us. It's really heartwarming, endearing and life-affirming. I could have done without the narration (it gets a little grating after a while), but overall I liked this very much.