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Movie Capsule Reviews
Oct. 23rd, 2017 10:12 pmGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 - This was an absolute hoot. I loved it. It's not really a superhero film or even a Sci-fi film; it’s a goofy ensemble comedy with Marvel Universe set dressing. I think the only place where they actually cared about comic canon was the fact that all Celestials are dicks. (And I appreciate them making my favorite fan theory, that Stan Lee is a Watcher, actual canon.)
Ask Me Anything - I was fooled by this movie about a girl blogging her sexual exploits because it’s written and directed by Allison Burnett, who I assumed was a woman and is, in fact, a man in his 50s. As you can probably guess, you end up with a wildly different film than you expect when you make that mistake. This was full of stereotypical terrible mistakes, drug use, and sleeping with older (often married) men, with the voices of reason being the two “good guys” who aren’t trying to sleep with her. Gag. It’s really a shame, because the cast was solid, and this could have been something special if it wasn’t the same Go Ask Alice bullshit we always see.
Sleeping With Other People - For my money, Friends With Benefits was the better remake of When Harry Met Sally. But this isn’t bad. Alison Brie is lots of fun to watch; Jason Sudeikis is playing a moderately tolerable human being who occasionally gets witty lines. I dislike the fact that he “wins” in the end because he’s kind of a jerk, whereas characters in similar movies are often able to move past that. The supporting cast is solid, particular Xander and Naomi as the side-note beta couple. (A Youtube compilation of their scenes would be very much worth your time.)
OtherLife - Imagine if you took the “time is really compressed within a dream” bit from Inception and made that the entire sci-fi premise of a movie; and instead of a heist film, you made it about Silicon Valley startup culture. Viewed through that lens, the misery parade Ren is subjected to—as she sells “adventure dreams” to venture capitalists to try to fund waking her comatose brother and ends up having her business partner hijack the project and assault her—is a deep commentary on our culture. Or, the writers just thought that would filler the “thriller” movie stock plot. Take your pick.
Spider-Man: Homecoming - Holland is a very good Spider-Man; 90% of the plot works specifically because Peter is a teenager and doing dumb, not-thought-out impulsive things is appropriate to the age group; Tony Stark is an atrocious mentor, and Zendaya’s MJ already has figured out Peter’s secret. (I also find it amusing that they’ve been working backwards through Peter’s comic girlfriends as the movies reboot: First MJ, then Gwen, now Liz.) This was super fun to watch, and the first Spider-Man movie where a headline proclaiming him a Spider-Menace wouldn’t actually be that off-base. Because he’s the dumbass kid who live constantly shits on, but he keeps trying anyway, just like the guy we met back in Amazing Fantasy #15.
Ask Me Anything - I was fooled by this movie about a girl blogging her sexual exploits because it’s written and directed by Allison Burnett, who I assumed was a woman and is, in fact, a man in his 50s. As you can probably guess, you end up with a wildly different film than you expect when you make that mistake. This was full of stereotypical terrible mistakes, drug use, and sleeping with older (often married) men, with the voices of reason being the two “good guys” who aren’t trying to sleep with her. Gag. It’s really a shame, because the cast was solid, and this could have been something special if it wasn’t the same Go Ask Alice bullshit we always see.
Sleeping With Other People - For my money, Friends With Benefits was the better remake of When Harry Met Sally. But this isn’t bad. Alison Brie is lots of fun to watch; Jason Sudeikis is playing a moderately tolerable human being who occasionally gets witty lines. I dislike the fact that he “wins” in the end because he’s kind of a jerk, whereas characters in similar movies are often able to move past that. The supporting cast is solid, particular Xander and Naomi as the side-note beta couple. (A Youtube compilation of their scenes would be very much worth your time.)
OtherLife - Imagine if you took the “time is really compressed within a dream” bit from Inception and made that the entire sci-fi premise of a movie; and instead of a heist film, you made it about Silicon Valley startup culture. Viewed through that lens, the misery parade Ren is subjected to—as she sells “adventure dreams” to venture capitalists to try to fund waking her comatose brother and ends up having her business partner hijack the project and assault her—is a deep commentary on our culture. Or, the writers just thought that would filler the “thriller” movie stock plot. Take your pick.
Spider-Man: Homecoming - Holland is a very good Spider-Man; 90% of the plot works specifically because Peter is a teenager and doing dumb, not-thought-out impulsive things is appropriate to the age group; Tony Stark is an atrocious mentor, and Zendaya’s MJ already has figured out Peter’s secret. (I also find it amusing that they’ve been working backwards through Peter’s comic girlfriends as the movies reboot: First MJ, then Gwen, now Liz.) This was super fun to watch, and the first Spider-Man movie where a headline proclaiming him a Spider-Menace wouldn’t actually be that off-base. Because he’s the dumbass kid who live constantly shits on, but he keeps trying anyway, just like the guy we met back in Amazing Fantasy #15.
