Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania

The MCU's sardonic cul-de-sac adds one more showcase home. Is it as “nice” as the earlier constructions? Well, clearly no expense was spared, and it displays many of the features you would like if you’re in the market to buy: a strong cast of likable actors, plenty of eye candy (in the visual effects, not necessarily in the hottie sense), and your occasional decent stab at humor -- but frankly, the neighborhood has seen better days. It doesn’t particularly resemble the place it once was. And some of the new house’s features are somewhat odd and seemingly not entirely a good fit; they’re not necessarily innovations that a buyer couldn’t live without. All in all, this isn’t a bad movie, but it’s not something you should have been clamoring to pay money to see -- better to be a subscriber and have waited for this one to move into its permanent digs, where the value is much higher than in the newly-made market. That's hardly a level worthy of aspiration, but that seems to be where this thing is now. Whether you really need to visit this place depends pretty much entirely upon you.

Ghostbusters: Afterlife

Shockingly good. If this had been the only sequel to the first flick, even with the tremendous separation in time, the sequence would be perfect. In fact, the passage of time actually works to this film’s advantage; it makes the storyline of no one remembering the past events, of those happenings being completely outside the knowledge of the youngsters who are the backbone of the cast, make much more sense; it gives the whole concept an overall internal consistency. This plot works almost seamlessly with what came before, and presents its story with equal amounts of funny and creepy, all served up with the same panache as the original. And those aforementioned youngsters? They’re terrific, particularly McKenna Grace in the pivotal role. If there is to be a next chapter with them—strongly hinted in the ending here—I’d be on board with it. All in all, this may be the biggest surprise I’ve seen in cinema in a long time: a re-imagined take on a classic that I would not have guessed was advisable, but that now seems absolutely necessary. From not a ghost of a chance to totally alive and well—that’s some paranormally good moviemaking right there. Who you gonna call indeed!

The French Dispatch

One of the worst half-movies I’ve ever seen. How bad is it? I watched, stopped watching about a third of the way through, later went back and tried to finish watching it, and had to stop watching it all over again, getting no further than halfway through. Hence, worst half-movie. The second half could rival Casablanca for all I will ever know, but I saw more than enough to make this call. The performances are dreadful all around, the script is an unfunny pastiche of unrelated and uninteresting vignettes, director Wes Anderson’s penchant for meticulous framing and visual design goes far overboard (he can’t even settle on an aspect ratio), and his usual wit—always in danger of falling too far into preciousness—is either well past the limits of tolerable or just outright absent. And all of the above comes from a viewer who typically counts himself as a fan. The over self-indulgence here is just too much, so much so that this can’t even count as a noble failure—it’s simply a disaster, and a waste of everyone’s time. It had better be back to simplicity and honest effort for this auteur, or else this misstep could signal a career that has reached its lovingly crafted denouement.

Isle of Dogs

Some dogs are cute and engaging; some movies, too. That's enough to make some people fall in love, with the dogs at least. I'm not sure this flick is love worthy, but it is a pretty enjoyable bit of work. It's probably not everyone's cup of tea, given it's a Wes Anderson film; Anderson probably lays on the preciousness just brushing his teeth in the morning, and this outing certainly delivers its share of the auteur's characteristic style. But the somewhat affected style is not an insurmountable obstacle; Anderson takes it right to the edge, but doesn't fly over the rim into an abyss of cutesiness. That balancing act is helped considerably by a terrific voice cast, who deliver--in English and Japanese--a pack of spot on performances. The foreign setting (to yours truly, at least) is a strength of the story; the language barriers help give the sense of a lack of communication that must by typical of people and their pets (whatever folks may believe to the contrary). And no, this cat lover didn't mind the movie's notion of feline villainy. All in all, every dog movie has its day, and you can give this outing its day--or at least a couple hours of your time.

Groundhog Day

I must be missing a gene or something. Everyone else seems to love this movie; I'm less enthusiastic. I wouldn't call this a laugh riot, but the film also isn't gentle enough in its vision to be a heartwarming story either; there's a little too much of a cynical, acerbic air to really accept the emotional stuff at face value. Thus, the film winds up caught somewhere between two worlds--trapped in its own dilemma, as it were. Nor is this movie engaging for its entire length; in fact, I'm tempted to call some scenes downright boring. I guess it's good enough to avoid a HISS from the Bad Cat, but had I developed a more nuanced ratings system, this would probably get something below a MEOW.

St. Vincent

Everything in this film is telegraphed, fairly obvious, and not especially original. The thing that saves it--indeed, almost raises it above the ordinary--is the fact that much of the humor here is funny in its own right (not just derivative of earlier curmudgeon stories), along with the quality of the performances. It's hardly a perfect movie, but it provides enough entertainment to make it worth it.

The Monuments Men

Noble ideas should always be winners. Sadly, they often are not, though the ones that aren't are not necessarily losers; sometimes they just fight life to a draw. So it is here with George Clooney's remembrance of a group of non-soldiers who suited up and went into a war not to save a country or each other, but the very culture of the Western world. The unevenness of the film probably reflects the difficulty in capturing this story in a dramatic setting; parts of the film are entertaining and involving, while others seem disjointed and not particularly well fit with the rest of the film. (If a movie had been made strictly about the recovery of the Madonna and Child statue--a major plotline here--one suspects it would have been a tighter, more watchable film.) As it is, this flick stands as a good effort, and its noble idea--that the treasures of our culture were worth saving when monsters wanted to destroy them--surely deserves at least this much attention.

The Darjeeling Limited

A whole lotta smirkin’ going on. The absurd tone is set very early on, and it never really lets up throughout the proceedings (with the exception of one tragic sequence in the middle). That translates into a mostly enjoyable movie about three alleged brothers--part of the humor comes from the preposterous claim that disparate stars Brody, Wilson and Schwarzmann could possibly be related--trying to find themselves as a family again, against the backdrop of exotic India. Buy a ticket; you’ll be happy you went along on this ride. Posted

Moonrise Kingdom

More cinematic mischief from the Quirkmaster General. Like other Wes Anderson movies, this film should be too precious and self-aware to be impressive, yet once again the final product is not just offbeat, but funny, charming, and highly entertaining. And if that’s not enough, this flick would be a delight based on its brevity alone--the end comes long before you’re ready for it. Most definitely worth a look.

The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou

It's weird. It's absurd. It's deadpan. It's frequently hilarious. Not everyone's cup of tea, to be sure, but those who get it will really enjoy an offbeat adventure. Special mention must go to the wonderfully mocking parodies of Cousteau-style nature films and books; the animation is a wry joy, and the artwork and look are spot on (and riotous). If you've liked other Wes Anderson movies, definitely take this plunge.

Lost in Translation

An excellent little movie. The focal relationship, between Bill Murray's washed-up, middle-aged actor and Scarlett Johansson's misplaced, uncertain young woman, always feels perfectly natural and organic. Their interplay is never strained or actorly. And director Sofia Coppola makes good use of the alien city of Tokyo as a reflective backdrop for the main characters' alienation. Oh, yeah--it has some nice laughs, too.

The Royal Tenenbaums

It's an odd one; no doubt about that. But it plays its low-key humor very well, and occasionally achieves moments of outright hilarity. Give it time to do its work and you'll be rewarded.