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F1: The Movie

F1: The Movie

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F1: The Movie would have been an entertaining movie regardless of who was cast in the leading role.  It’s infinitely better with Brad Pitt in the driver’s seat, though.  As one of the few remaining actors who is also a star, Pitt gives the movie its electricity.  It also helps that he’s comfortable with putting his rugged good looks on display again.  If Pitt had insisted upon obscuring his good looks with glasses, a beard and long, scraggly hair, few would want to see that movie.  (If you got my reference to Pitt’s supporting turn in The Big Short, congratulations!)

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Elio

Elio

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If science-fiction films have taught us anything, it’s that meeting aliens from another world should scare us.  Time and again, the aliens that show up just want to kill and eat us.  Films like 2001: A Space Odyssey, Close Encounters of the Third Kind and E.T., which depict aliens as being benevolent and even helpful towards humanity, are notable exceptions to the rule.  Elio joins that short list because the aliens the eponymous character meets are a very friendly group who actually need his help.  Unfortunately, Elio can’t make up its mind as to what story it wants to tell, forgoing adventure and excitement implied by its premise in search of emotional payoffs.  The resulting film is fine, but it could have been special.

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Materialists

Materialists

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At first blush, Materialists looks like a typical romantic comedy, where an attractive single woman is forced to choose between two suitors.  Option A is the handsome, rich, older man she’s just met and could give her everything she wants.  Option B is a man closer to her age who’s scrapping by, but who she connects with because they were once in love.  Since both options are good–for different reasons–the fun is in waiting for the heroine to make her choice.  Although Materialists follows the same formula, Celine Song’s follow-up to her wonderful Past Lives aims higher.  It invites you to reflect upon your dating experiences and asks, how did you end up with the love of your life?

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Dangerous Animals

Dangerous Animals

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Horror movies have always given sound advice of where not to go on your vacation.  For example, you really shouldn’t stay at that ominous-looking hotel up on the hill (Psycho), or your friend’s cabin in the middle of the woods (Evil Dead), or that hostel in Slovakia (Hostel).  Dangerous Animals suggests that despite the obvious reasons for visiting Brisbane’s Gold Coast in Australia, you probably don’t want to go there either.  Because even an exciting tourist activity like swimming with the sharks may very well end up being unexpectedly life-altering.  But if you really can’t resist, definitely let your loved ones know what your plans are before you climb aboard that boat.  That way, they’ll know where to start searching for your body parts when you go missing.

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Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life

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In Jane Austen Wrecked My Life, a thoroughly charming romantic comedy in French and English, we’re shown how problematic it can be to expect life to unfold like a plot in one of Ms. Austen’s works.  Agathe (Camille Rutherford), the tortured writer at the center of the film, has been waiting for an unexpected turn of events that will propel her past her insecurities and doubts.  Life, however, refuses to cooperate and Agathe drifts along without purpose.  Fortunately, her loved ones take the initiative to force her out of her self-induced inertia, which sets Agathe on a journey remarkably similar to one of Austen’s heroines.

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Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning

Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning

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For the past several years, the message surrounding Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning was that it would mark Tom Cruise’s last go-around as IMF leader and indestructible hero Ethan Hunt.  Unfortunately, despite the craftsmanship and daredevil antics of Cruise, this movie isn’t as enjoyable as the previous entry, Dead Reckoning – Part One. Instead, writer-director Christopher McQuarrie and his filmmaking collaborator Tom Cruise have used the overriding sense of finality as justification for a slew of clumsy narrative choices that threaten to sink the film to the bottom of the ocean.  Although Final Reckoning is often exciting, it’s clumsy instead of nimble, tripping over its own feet while doing things that previous entries had wisely avoided.

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The Amateur

The Amateur

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The Nerd Identity.  The Geek Ultimatum.  Although it may sound like I’m being snide, both of those fake titles describe The Amateur perfectly.  The movie isn’t about an extremely capable one man wrecking crew out for revenge, like the characters played by Matt Damon, Jason Statham, Denzel Washington, for example.  Instead we have Rami Malek, who nobody would ever describe as being physically threatening.  He has the body of a man who’s probably never set foot in a gym, and if he ever did it was to reboot the WI-FI router.

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Drop

Drop

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For a movie that recalls suspense thrillers of yesteryear, it’s fitting that Drop begins with an eye-catching opening title credit sequence.  In it, a series of items slowly rotate against a black background, with the breakable ones shattering.  This sequence, a pun on the movie’s title, also hints at what’s in store for us.  (There’s a reason for the inclusion of a spinning chess piece and dice.)  It’s a nice touch, but unfortunately what follows never tops it.

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Thunderbolts

Thunderbolts*

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In one form or another, the MCU films released after the conclusion of the Infinity Saga have been trying to answer the same question:  who will be in the next incarnation of The Avengers?  The six years haven’t provided us with any definitive answers outside of Anthony Mackie’s version of Captain America, who appears to be in because of his brand.  There simply can’t be an Avengers squad without some version of Captain America on it.  Every other superhero we’ve seen so far appears to be in play for a spot on the roster, which is strange considering how well-planned Marvel’s films seem to be.

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Sinners

Sinners

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So this is what’s been on writer-director Ryan Coogler’s mind while he’s been making films based on existing IP.  Although he left his imprint upon Creed and the Black Panther movies, they weren’t entirely his creation.  For example, you could tell which parts of his Marvel movies came from his mind and which were mandated in order to fit into the larger MCU.  Sinners, Coogler’s first original film since Fruitvale Station twelve years ago, reflects the freedom he likely felt at no longer needing to tell a story using other people’s characters and storylines.  His  latest is a rare intimate blockbuster, one that is brazenly adult-oriented, filled with big ideas and told with indelible images that demand our attention.  It’s a full-throated cinematic experience that swings for the fences and connects more often than not.

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