Showing posts with label Judy Greer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Judy Greer. Show all posts

Saturday, April 20, 2019

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Fun. Not profound, to be sure, but certainly an entertaining piece of popcorn cinema. It's also an object lesson: when the first in this series came out, I was certain that it was a bridge too far for the Marvel milieu. Not so; this line of the story has its own niche--humor driven, narrowly focused (a family, instead of the world or universe)--and, so long as they keep the pseudo-scientific hooey to a minimum, entertaining instead of eye-rolling. Not bad for a minor, never-heard-of-it-before character and storyline. It helps, too, that the cast--leads and supporting actors alike--play their parts nearly perfectly; the right people are plugged into the right roles, and that creates plenty of leeway with the audience. The implication: keep things fresh, and fun, and light, and perhaps fantasies of an MCU in perpetuity may be possible--whether its focus characters are big or small.

Sunday, March 28, 2004

Three Kings

Morbidly funny, except when it's gut-wrenchingly intense, and it doesn't shy away from asking the tough questions about one of the defining events of our times (the 1991 Gulf War). Special props must go to George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Ice Cube and Spike Jonze for their remarkable performances as American soldiers caught between their own avarice and the palpable need to use their positions and power to do what's right. Very highly recommended. (Note: this would be a "Best Of All" inductee, except the standard criterion for BOA--a movie you want to watch again and again--can't apply here; Three Kings is great, but just too intense to want to watch again and again. Otherwise, it's in.)