Maleficent: Mistress of Evil

Except, not really...Evil, that is. Or so this movie would have you believe. In a way that makes some story sense; in the original Disney Sleeping Beauty, Ms. Horns causes all the trouble because she feels slighted. Perhaps she’s more “mistress of peevishness” than anything else. Anyway, the producer folks at the studio try to make her the hero here, or at least not the biggest problem in this outing. They had enough sense not to go overboard with it; as Old Mal, Angelina Jolie does not exactly gush or strike heroic poses—she just avoids being homicidal and sort of saves the day at the end, though not without a certain amount of destruction. The other characters—including Elle Fanning's Aurora, who is the only particular standout—do their things through various degrees of forgettable-ness, while the bulk of the story lives awash in computer generated visuals, up to and including the now typical of every fantasy movie climactic battle chaos. Really, story-wise it’s something of a muddle; perhaps that’s because I watched the sequel before ever seeing the original. (I blame the current chaotic streaming landscape.) Try this trick and you’re left wondering about the relationships between all these particularly M being A’s godmother (really, more like adoptive mother, but godmother sounds more storybook, I guess). Anyway, there are some decent scenes here, mostly involving Jolie and her work in the title character, and a few instances where the vibe of a real fairy tale does come through. I wouldn’t say this one casts any real spells, but it doesn’t curse you or put you to sleep either.

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.

Grease 2

This is closer to a successful sequel than I expected it to be. But, as they say, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. If this were a standalone piece, one that does not specifically try to remind the viewer of its antecedent, it might be a worthwhile effort -- but it is not a work born out of its own idea, and it suffers continually from the ever-present comparison to the original. It might have been a better idea to make a “2” from elements that were wholly divorced from the first piece. There are some solid moments in this film -- some of the songs work better than others (particularly those focused around Michelle Pfeiffer, who is [or at least was] a better singer than one would have ever imagined) -- but the effort is uneven throughout, and overall the effect is one where the movie is less than the sum of its parts. So while I did enjoy watching a lot of this flick, I can’t quite bring myself to give it a PURR. The MEOW is not a slam by any means; the work falls just barely below the top tier. But true positive reviews must be earned on merit, and that merit just isn’t here.

Mother!

Crazy people--You can't live with them...and that's our show. Thanks for coming! It's generally common courtesy to keep ones nightmares to oneself; in this case, it might have been nice if Aronofsky had done so. No doubt those playing along at home could spend hours trying to assign one referent or another to this film's mega-metaphor, but I feel little compulsion to do so myself. What I do note is the fact that the viewer is really given precious little reason to care about these people, from the get go. Thus, all that happens seems, no matter how consequential from a plot standpoint, distant and unmoving. Of course, given that these characters are less characters and more archetypes, that's to be expected. But from a filmmaking viewpoint--and particularly a film viewing viewpoint--archetypes represent stuff on an intellectual level; they don't particularly engage people at the emotional level required for a full cinematic experience. So we wind up with something closer to an experiment in discourse rather than an actual story. And, alas, people tend to watch movies for the story. That makes this flick, ultimately, a success only within remarkably narrow confines, and otherwise a failure. A noble failure, perhaps, but a misfire nonetheless.

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.

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

A mystery that has long since been solved is no mystery at all. Hence, if you're making a remake of a mystery movie--especially if it is perhaps the most famous mystery of all time--then obviously that film has to be about something more than solving the case. So it is here, where the heart of the exercise comes in the form of style and personality. Director and lead Branagh comes through in both aspects, delivering a visually sumptuous film while also crafting a lively and fun version of Hercule Poirot. The rest of the cast acquits themselves well, too. The only real issue lies in the writer, believe it or not. Christie's plot and solution, seen through the perspective of a lack of surprise, is frankly absurd and something of a cheat. But, again, this outing is not really about the solution anyway. Go ahead and board the train; you'll have a good enough trip for your ticket price.

Dark Shadows

I don’t know; this Depp-Burton thing may have run its course. Not to say that this is a bad movie, but at certain points in this picture you get the impression that maybe someone else, singly or in a pair, could have brought something better to this revision of the old TV show. There are good moments here, some nice satire of the period (a good idea not to set the action in current times), but by the end the filmmakers have gone overboard; a little too much trying, not enough just leaving it alone and letting it be. You want to applaud effort, but not so much effort that it gets in the way.

A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999)

Shakespeare on the screen, so naturally I was ready to love it. The film isn't bad, but the performances and presentation are too uneven to draw a rave from me. Watch it if you're one of those cultured types who has to see every adaptation, but otherwise you may be better off going to a local staging of the show.

I Am Sam

This movie has its flaws: a little maudlin, and there are some egregious and grotesque product placements--but the heart is in the right place throughout. If we all had a shred of the sensitivity shown by Sean Penn's performance in this film, this would be a better world. Add to that Dakota Fanning playing the reigning World Champion in Adorable and the overall impact is overwhelmingly positive.