Author: msobczak1138

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The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel Season Five

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel – Season Five

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Season Five represents the final curtain call for The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. After the previous four seasons detailed Midge’s trials and tribulations involved with becoming a famous stand-up comedian, she finds herself closer than ever before to realizing her dream. This doesn’t mean that success will come easily for Midge. She still proves to be her own worst enemy more than once, taking two steps back for every one step forward. Then there’s the ever-present sexism that permeates her line of work. In a male-dominated field, the men refuse to take Midge seriously. Her boss, Gordon Ford, hires her to balance out his all-male writer’s room but mainly wants to sleep with her. And when she auditions for Jack Paar’s show, the producer doesn’t get Midge. It’s enough to make a scrappy, no self-pity woman cry, which she does at one point.

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Challengers

Challengers

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Challengers is so obvious as to what it’s about, it’s refreshing.  There probably is some subtext to be found in the corners of this movie, but this heated tale of lovers who quarrel, have sex and play tennis works overtime to obscure it.  This is the first movie I’ve seen directed by Luca Guadagnino, so I have no idea as to whether his other films are similar to this one.  From what I see in this movie, he strikes me as a director who doesn’t beat around the bush.  He’s a confident filmmaker who is very direct with what he wants to accomplish.  What we see is exactly what he wants us to get.  Guadagnino’s movie doesn’t try to tug at our heart strings, earn our sympathy or ask us to think about what we see very deeply.  If we noodle over a  phrase or a look or what a particular object symbolizes, that is entirely up to us.

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Kung Fu Panda 4

Kung Fu Panda 4

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In Kung Fu Panda 4, Master Shifu (Dustin Hoffman) tells Po (Jack Black) that he must relinquish the title of Dragon Warrior and find a replacement so that he can become the Spiritual Leader of the Valley.  (You may recall that in the first movie, Master Oogway held that position and passed away after choosing Po as the Dragon Warrior.)  While Shifu insists Po needs to accept his new role in order to continue growing, Po actively resists the change.  Like anyone who has spent a long time doing things himself, he is uncomfortable with being promoted to “management”.  He loves fighting injustice and hanging with the Furious Five and doesn’t want to give either of them up for a role that he doesn’t understand.  (To its credit, the movie does a decent job explaining just what a manager–or Spiritual Leader–actually does.)

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Civil War

Civil War

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When I first saw the trailer for Civil War, I was underwhelmed.  It looked like a standard action movie, so much so that I wondered when Gerard Butler (star of the “Has Fallen” franchise) would show up to save the country from itself.  The combat footage didn’t look special, and the plot of the movie appeared to be entirely about how “America is fighting with itself”.  It wasn’t until people that I follow on social media explained the movie that I reconsidered seeing it.  While Civil War may be a nightmare scenario inspired by the Trump presidency, the movie isn’t about that at all.  For example, the movie’s Trump surrogate (a perfectly cast Nick Offerman) is barely shown in the movie.  (Not that I needed more than I got.)  And while Civil War may look like a traditional war movie at times, its primary focus is on how wars are represented by the media, specifically journalists.

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The First Omen

The First Omen

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For those keeping score, The First Omen is the third movie released this year where the Devil plays a significant role.  Previously, Late Night with the Devil and Immaculate reminded us that Old Scratch should never be underestimated.  What does this trilogy of cinematic devilness portend?  While I can’t speak for Immaculate (which I haven’t yet seen), the two movies featuring Beelzebub have been very good indeed.  Perhaps it’s time for someone to revive the Oh, God! franchise to balance things out.

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Wicked Little Letters

Wicked Little Letters

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Describing Wicked Little Letters as a throwback feels odd.  I remember when British Period Comedies would regularly appear in theaters and be seen by what would politely describe as “senior audiences” in significant numbers.  The Full Monty was a Best Picture nominee back in 1997.  (Has it already been twenty-five years since it came out?)  Helen Mirren and Judy Dench once defined this genre, but haven’t been in anything like it in years.  Many things have conspired against this once dependable genre: COVID, streaming and changing audience tastes being primary among them.  Throwback or not, the movie is incredibly funny and will delight audiences who seek it out, either in theaters or on streaming.

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BooksLeave a comment
Lord of the Flies (novel)

Lord of the Flies (novel)

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I was familiar with the premise of Lord of the Flies long before I read the book.  The book has had a continual presence in Western culture since it was released in 1954, to the point where the title has become a established metaphor for describing a group of unruly children.  My impetus for reading Golding’s novel now was the Showtime series Yellowjackets.  I’d read that the series was originally conceived as an all-female adaptation of the book, but that the writers behind the show decided instead to use the story as the basis for an examination of teenage hierarchy.  Even though I’d read that Yellowjackets diverged widely from the book after the setup, knowing that Flies was one of the sources of its inspiration finally motivated me to read it.

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Arthur the King

Arthur the King

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Everyone can relate to the idea of redemption.  I don’t mean in a religious sense, but getting another chance to succeed after failing the last time around.  Personally, if I thought about it for ten minutes, I would come up with a number of moments in my life that I wish I could do over.  But life usually doesn’t give us second chances, except when the failure involves sports.  In that case, you may get another chance simply because there’s always another season or, as is with Arthur the King, another race.

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