Men in Black: International

A tired retread of a concept done much better before. The supposedly witty repartee isn’t, much of the scenes are mere excuses for displaying weird-for-the-sake-of-weird CGI characters, and little of the story, such as it is, makes much sense. It’s a movie that has no good reason for existing. Alas that I cannot flash this film from my memory!

Thor: Love and Thunder

It just goes a bit too far. This series’ deconstruction of the superhero genre--irst evident in the Ragnarok outing--goes hog-wild here, with all involved playing most of this episode not just for laughs, but in the service of outright absurdity. Chris Hemsworth’s affability makes that a seemingly reasonable choice, but this film extends its form so far into the territory of schtick that it becomes an open question of, if these people can’t take any of this seriously, then why should we? The stakes don’t seem particularly high throughout this tale--indeed, one can argue that Christian Bale’s Gorr the God Butcher character is in the right throughout, so there's no real satisfaction in seeing him defeated (and, arguably, he's not here). Thus, everything presented in this work comes across as less exciting adventure and more a mild diversion--one the has the flash and dash of something well done, but hardly any of the heart. All that, plus a pervasive sense of relentless obsequiousness towards social identity concerns, makes for a viewing experience that has little sizzle, despite ample servings of action and scale. As with all old gods, I think it's time for this one to retreat into a silent eternity.

Sorry to Bother You

It's a ringtone that gets your attention, for sure, and maybe even will get you to buy what it's selling. Maybe. I think this is a good movie, but I'm distracted by how it seems like it could have been substantially better. The best parts of the story are in roughly the first half, when protagonist Cassius is scuffling his way towards something that can resemble success. And then when he makes it...that's when things go off the rails. Again, maybe. Some viewers will be more tolerant of the second half's deep dives into absurdity (or, if you're more generous, not-so-subtle Swiftian satire). This viewer felt the movie, and its serious subject matter, had enough going for it to be fascinating with a more straightforward treatment. Lakeith Stanfield does strong work as Cassius, the young man who wants to do the right thing...eventually...perhaps. And the city of Oakland has a star turn as itself--a most realistic setting for this tale. All in all, it's good, and I'm probably being overly critical, but only because I was expecting this flick to be much better. You have to decide on your own if you're willing to take this call.

Thor: Ragnarok

So this is what you get when the MCU drops acid. It's impossible to watch this movie without being very conscious of how weird it is, in many ways, despite the fact that it stays entertaining all the way through. The comedy stands out for sure; this movie is very consciously trying to be funny, which is a real change of pace from so many of the extremely self-serious comic book movies these days. And then you have the weird '80s vibe throughout, expessed through the music (Mark Mothersbaugh of Devo contributed to that) and a number of visual, stylistic choices. Had this movie been in less competent hands, it might have been a disaster. Instead, we got a fun ride that bears an obvious resemblance to the other Marvel flicks, but is also different enough that it makes the case that, yeah, this whole thing can go in different directions and remain vibrant and worth the audience's time. At this point, that's quite an accomplishment. We'll see if future films live up to that promise.