- I don’t remember the first Aquaman movie all that well—as the near-endless flashbacks and voiceover recapping in the second one makes abundantly clear—but I remember it being mostly fun most of the time. The sequel mostly isn’t, despite a decent cast giving it a shot, or at least seeming like they’re having fun. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom feels surprisingly cheap and low-stakes, a real sputter to end the DCEU on.
- Find Me Guilty isn’t a lot more than agreeably serviceable, but it does win you over—and most of of that is due to Vin Diesel’s genuinely charming and heartfelt performance.
- Stunningly strange from top to bottom, Poor Things is unlike anything else I’ve ever seen, and it works so well largely because of Emma Stone’s total commitment to the role.
- The 1940 version of Our Town isn’t the highest quality print, and it veers maybe a little too hard into realism and a happy ending the play doesn’t need. But the heart of Wilder’s play is here, even if I prefer other, later stagings of it.
- I’m not entirely convinced there was a compelling artistic reason to make Wonka, and yet the finished confection is actually quite delightful and sweet.
- The NY Times described Eyes of Fire, not inaccurately, as “an ambitious idea gone haywire, as if The Scarlet Letter had zoomed into the future and collided with the movie version of The Exorcist.” It’s often interesting, even fascinating, but its reach also often exceeds its grasp.
I also re-watched Kairo (Pulse), which I’ve often cited as one of my favorite horror movies. It remains a deeply unnerving, occasionally terrifying, profoundly sad, and yet also strangely hopeful movie.
