Despicable Me

I resisted this movie for a very long time. It just never seemed like a work that had much to offer me and my taste in films. Maybe that had something to do with the over the top marketing tie ins etc. well, I can now report that…I wasn’t entirely right, but I wasn’t entirely wrong either. The movie is at its strongest when it is focused on individual elements: sight gags, one-liners, slight satire. There are good moments sprinkled throughout its run time. But the overall story is weak and utterly predictable. Worse, in a story where the main characters are villains, every outcome is soft and pulls the punches. No-consequence cartoon violence is one thing, but this stuff here is for babies. Despicable? More like docile. That may fly with the toddlers (both actual and mental), but not with me. 

Alien: Covenant

Everybody dies, except for the female lead, and maybe one other character. That's not giving anything away; movies in this franchise stick so tightly to that template that everyone knows going in that that's exactly what's going to happen. It's just a question of how we get there. For the most part, that stock and trade story has worked well, with minor variations, through (by my count) five previous films. But it leaves you wondering, at this point is this trip really necessary? Does the viewer actually get anything out of watching this mimeograph of a movie. Well, this installment does continue and tie up the story from the previous film (while leaving its own loose ends, of course). And it looks fine; art direction has always been a strength of this series. There's also a semi-new storyline wrinkle that echoes warnings about AI development, but it's debatable whether that's more significant than the original thesis that the universe can be a damn nasty place in its own right, without anyone giving it a push. The movie merits more than a HISS, because after all it is a well-done piece of sci-fi horror--but that doesn't mean it's really worthwhile.

This Is The End

Here’s a wildly terrific concept for a movie: famous funny people, playing themselves, get stranded together when the shit goes down. And I mean, when the shit really goes down. The results are great, in places howlingly funny, and seriously entertaining throughout (though the very very end comes across as weak, especially compared with the rest of the show). Highly recommended.