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Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire is a Dumb Fun movie....

with a capital D and a capital F. There is absolutely no doubt that this is a very dumb movie. As always, the human characters are essentially exposition machines with ridiculous dialogue and the whole native human mythology doesn't even really make any sense, but damn if it isn't fun. When the monsters start fighting each other, its just glorious to watch. Watching Kong essentially ride Godzilla on the big screen, is something that is always worth watching. The film also gives us a fair share of monsters. Some for short scenes only, like Scylla and Tiamat, but there is also the welcome return of Mothra, not to mention many other random creatures in Hollow Earth. But the main monsters hold center stage. Like with GvK, Kong is the primary character, but Godzilla does get to kick ass. Skar King was primarily a Kong villain, with Shimo acting as his enslaved pet, forced to do his bidding. Shimo ended up being oddly cute and innocent. There is a bit of issue of scale. Because about 70% of the movie takes place in hollow earth, Kong looks oddly small, because of the size of the environment. Its only in the climax you realize how big he is and all these other creatures are.

With regards to the human characters, poor Rebecca Hall is basically a mouthpiece for exposition as the central MONARCH character for this film. I do have a bit of a frustration with these Monsterverse movies due to the lack of continuity between characters. Yes, Brian and Rebecca return, but Alexander Skarsgard, who was established as the head of the hollow earth monitoring at the end of the last movie, is gone without a trace. Kyle Chandler, who was a MONARCH head honcho, is also not even mentioned. Kaylee Hottle as Jia has a expanded role and there is some attempt at drama between Jia and Ilene, but its not something that makes an impression. Dan Stevens and Brian Tyree Henry end up making more of an impression with some fun humor and good banter and chemistry. Outside of these 4, no other major human characters. It was nice to not have to deal with human villains, like in GvK and KOTM.

I would say that WIngard manages to achieve what he set out to do. Which is to make a movie that is fun. I think its safe to say that Monsterverse is never going to have particularly deep characters. This is not going to be, nor is it attempting to be, Godzilla Minus One. I will commend the movie for giving some pretty long stretches of scenes with essentially no humans, and hence, no dialogue, with the creatures just expressing emotion through facial expression. I will give credit to the CGI artists for doing a very commendable job. If I had to compare to previous films, I would say GvK is slightly better made. There is less going on in GvK, while GxK throws a lot at the screen. The initial portions feel a little sluggish because the amount of exposition thrown at the screen, but when it gets down to monsters fighting, Wingard knows what he is doing, and there is a fair bit of it.

Overall, this was like a 7-7.5/10. Obviously, this is a film that some people will hate. You need to be able to embrace the dumbness to really have fun with this film.

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Dune: Part Two - a step up from part one in every way...

As someone who admired the craft of the first Dune, but was left a little disappointed by it overall, I was still looking forward to Dune: Part Two, because I knew that a major part of the story would unfold in the movie. Added to that was the exceptional reception of the movie. Having watched it this evening, I will say that while the movie is not flawless, it is a significant improvement on the first film in almost every way.

The craft of the film is still phenomenal, except at an even bigger scale. The visuals, the sets, the costuming, the score, the effects, the cinematography etc... are all incredible. The clarity of Denis' vision of this world and the various different people is palpable. The film is also a lot better paced. Not perfect, mind you, because there are still portions that are too slow, and some portions that are too fast. But it is a significant improvement over the first movie in this aspect. In a way, this movie has the opposite problem of having too much story and too many characters to juggle. As a result, some characters don't get the weight that I wished and some story points don't get the explanation or expansion that I desired. But given the density of the book, Denis manages to pack a lot very successfully. The film's visuals deserve to get praised. There are so many shots that are frameworthy.

The cast is fantastic across the board. Timothy Chalamet owns the screen. He has to play the character at different stages of evolution and he does a phenomenal job translating that. Zendaya gets to be the film's moral center in her most impressive movie performance to date. Her character is probably one that is an improvement from the book. Similarly, Rebecca Ferguson as Jessica is scary good, delivering a similar transformation as Timothy, but in a way, even more scary. Javier Bardem as Stilgar is great. His character's arc is incredibly important in the movie, but he also adds some much needed humor at times. Austin Butler is the new entry that stands out in this movie. He is fiercesome in the role of Feyd and I wish we had more of him. Similarly, Stellan Skarsgard only has a handful of scenes, which he makes the most of. Same goes for Josh Brolin, who returns in the back half of the movie. Florence Pugh is solid but her role does seem to be more for setup for the next film. Same with Anya Taylor-Joy's cameo. Dave Bautista is solid, if a bit one dimensional as Rabban. Charlotte Rampling is suitable menacing the Reverend Mother. Lea Seydoux has a small role as well and makes an impression. Christopher Walken is somewhat disappointing as the Emperor, as he seems to be sleepwalking through a fairly thankless role. Perhaps that comes from expectations from a Christopher Walken performance, but he really only gets one quick scene where he gets to make any impact.

All in all, it was definitely a movie that was a memorable experience. I could feel the awestruck silence. I don't quite think it is on par with The Dark Knight, The Two Towers, and The Empire Strikes Back when it comes to epic second chapters in a major saga, but its still pretty damn good and its definitely worth watching in IMAX. Overall, an 8.5/10

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Dune: Part One - Rewatch Thoughts

So I watched Dune again last night in preparation for watch Dune: Part Two today evening. I was not a massive fan of the first movie on first watch, though I appreciated the craft that went behind the movie. I never rewatched it after seeing it once, so this was only the second time seeing the movie. Second watch also ended up giving me similar vibes. Again, the craft on display is breathtaking. The performances are terrific across the board, the visuals are fantastic, and Denis clearly has a strong grip on his vision for this world. But it still feels like its a movie with too little story, stretched out for too long. I feel like this would have been an excellent 2 hour movie, but it just drones on for too long and I feel the movie stretching to fit the runtime. There are definitely some phenomenal scenes in the film. Leto's death scene is something that sticks in my head. But overall, it doesn't live up to the standard that people set up for this film. I have heard great things about Dune: Part Two. I'm hoping it lives up to expectations. Dune Part One is like a 6/10 for me.

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The Marvels - a pretty funny, if slight MCU venture...

Its no secret that the MCU has been struggling recently, in tv and in movies. I think Secret Invasion was one of the most disappointing things that have come out of the MCU. Prior to that, Love and Thunder was a big swing and a miss for me. She-Hulk wasn't funny enough to really work as a show. I didn't find Quantumania to be as bad as others did, but it was definitely the weakest of the Ant-Man films. In fact GOTG3 has really been the only clean winner since No Way Home. The Marvels released with very little hype and mixed reception. I enjoyed Captain Marvel, mainly for the chemistry that Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson had, but it wasn't top tier Marvel for me. While I enjoyed Ms Marvel a lot, this movie's trailers and subsequent critical reception didn't inspire a lot of confidence.

Maybe because of the low expectations, but I had a lot of fun with this movie. I laughed a lot. The action was pretty good and the humor was largely genuinely funny. The SFX were up to par, which shouldn't be something I have to praise, but The Flash, Love & Thunder, and Quantumania have had shockingly poor VFX in recent times. I will say that the film feels slight, and certainly those who have watched Secret Invasion will find it confusing in continuity. This and Secret Invasion couldn't be more different in tone, and it does seem odd for these two projects to release so close to each other and be at odds with each other in a way. Zawe Ashton's villain is immensely forgettable. Arguably ranks only above a couple of one and done MCU villains.

The film's strength is the bond of the lead trio. They have genuinely good chemistry and they all seem to thrive of each others energy. Iman Vellani steals the show. She was fantastic in Ms Marvel and she's just as great here. Couldn't have found better casting for this role. She carries a lot of the humor of this movie. But Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris are a lot looser and at ease in this movie then they have been in this role in previous incarnations. And I do think they did a decent job reconnecting the Carol and Monica and giving it some emotional depth. Unlike with a lot of other films recently, I feel another 15 minutes or so could have been provided to give the connections between the characters some more depth. Samuel L. Jackson provides his funniest performance as Fury in this movie, which is a complete 180 from his darker turn in the role in Secret Invasion. Kamala's family is an absolute delight. The movie has some inventive action sequences, using the power entanglement to good use. The humor worked for me. It may not work for everyone. It is very silly. There is a sequence with a planet full of singing people, and a scene with many flerkens eating people. Both scenes are intentionally very goofy, but they just worked for me, unlike say, the humor in L&T, which clashed with the pretty serious Jane cancer and Gorr storylines.

I will say that the film was probably edited down a bit too much. There is some haphazardness and there seems to be some explanation of certain events that are missing or abbreviated. I don't know how much of that is on Nia DaCosta. Given its her first film of this scale, she does a fairly decent job. This is neither top tier, nor bottom tier Marvel. I do think its better than people are giving it credit for. Its like a 7-7.5/10 type movie. As in, its relatively forgettable, but it is enjoyable when you watch it.

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Loki S2 ending was.........interesting

Very emotional and well executed, but also kind of puzzling. It felt very final. As in, its the end of Loki's journey in the MCU. A tragic, but fitting end. But that isn't what the execs had said before the season, because the intention was to reunite Thor and Loki at some point. Also, didn't really address the Kang issue much outside of Timely and He Who Remains. I suppose the creators might talk about the ending now and provide some context to the future of Loki.

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A Haunting in Venice - a strong third chapter in Branaugh's Poirot series....

As a massive Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes fan, I am a sucker for murder mysteries with brilliant detectives and a colorful group of suspects. Branaugh's Hercule Poirot movies were always something of interest to me as direct adaptations of books that I loved, while simultaneously Rian Johnson created two excellent examples of how to do it in Knives Out and Glass Onion. Branaugh's two adaptations felt a little ordinary in comparison despite Branaugh's excellent committed performance in the role. Perhaps the fact that I was intricately aware of both books and their resolutions and the movies largely sticking close to the book took some enjoyment out of the mystery. I did enjoy both Murder on the Orient Express and Death on the Nile but they weren't great. I expected more of the same in A Haunting in Venice, but it is a significant improvement as a movie. Not only is it a much darker and interesting mystery, the various characters feel a lot more fleshed out then they were in the previous 2 movies despite this film having a shorter run time. A lot of credit for the film also has to be given to the sense of atmosphere and setting. The film takes largely in dimly lit rooms, in the middle of a storm in Venice, in a seemingly haunted palazzo. Branaugh makes good use of the setting and there is an air of melancholy and grief that permeates through the movie which helps make the events of the movie feel more intense.

The film also tries to be a bit of a horror movie, with the story of the haunted Palazzo, the past history of death in the building, the sense that each character is haunted by ghosts of their past. I won't say its a particularly scary movie, because it isn't. It has a spooky aura about it and a few effective jump scare moments. But I like how the movie handled the idea of ghosts and the supernatural. It delivers a human explanation as well as a potential supernatural presence. Now its up to the audience to interpret it the way they want. I do think the exploration of personal demons was fairly effective among the characters. The reveal of the murderer is not that surprising after a reveal that is made some while before this. However, there are a couple of other twist reveals which did surprise me. Benefits of a movie made as an original story instead of from a book I have read before.

Another positive for me is that the film does ask for some deeper performance from its main actors. Its definitely Branaugh's best work in the role. He is unsettled and confused. You feel that he has seen a lot that he wishes to forget. He is a lot more serious than in the past two movies. Tina Fey in a period role takes a bit getting used to, but she provides the rare amount levity the film gets. Kelly Reilly is impressive as a grief driven mother, while Dornan and Jude Hill reunite with Branaugh as a father-son duo with past secrets. Dornan is very effective at delivering a broken man who is struggling to function as a person and as a father, while Hill delivers a strong turn as a kid who knows and understands more than he probably should. Michelle Yeoh as the psychic who claims to communicate with the dead is expectedly enigmatic. Kyle Allen, Camille Cottin, Emma Laird, Ali Khan, and Riccardo Scamarcio all add depth to their respective characters.

All in all, a really satisfying movie that deserves more credit then it seems to be getting. An 8/10.

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Meg 2: The Trench - an impressively stupid movie....

I quite enjoyed the first Meg movie. Sure, it did take itself a little more seriously then it needed to and it was plenty cheesy when it wasn't trying to be, but it was overall pretty fun and it knew to make a film titled 'The Meg' to be about the Meg. There were fairly long extended sequences dealing with both Megs. So I was looking forward to Meg 2, and the first trailer seemed to indicate that they knew what tone to hit. Unfortunately, the trailer turned out to be misleading as we instead got a pretty dumb movie which is barely about the monsters.

There are times when I genuinely wonder what writers were thinking when they conceptualize these movies. I mean, it doesn't take a genius to understand that people just want Jason Statham fighting giant sharks or any other monsters they can think of. It isn't that hard. But this film is filled with 2/3 corporate espionage/environment plot which didn't even make much sense, with some seriously annoying villains. Only in the last 1/3 does the movie embrace what the trailer was selling and we get our human heroes fighting the Megs and other monsters. Problem is that it becomes far too chaotic. There are 3 Megs which are difficult to distinguish from each other, human villains, a Kraken, and some Lizard monsters. So it becomes silly in an unintended way. The actual Megs are just kind of plot devices. They are there to cause some destruction and then they are kind of just around in the background as a threat. But they are never the focus. I also found it a little tasteless that the move kills off Suyin between movies. It was really not necessary. I get they want a child character and so they wanted to retain Meiying but they could have come up with another explanation for her not being there. It kind of ruins the romance that was present in the first film. We essentially get a replacement character in Wu Jing's Jiuming, with he and Statham's Taylor essentially co-parenting Meiying.

Additionally, while the first Meg movie was bright and sunny, Meg 2 spends a large part of the movie in darkness, either in an underwater station or in the darkness of the trench. The film only brightens up when the film literally reached a place called 'Fun Island'. Despite the chaos, admittedly, there is enough goofy fun to had in the last act. The cast is generally fine. Statham does his Statham thing as Jonas Taylor. Wu Jing, Cliff Curtis, Page Kennedy, and Shuya Sophia Cai are all likable. Page Kennedy gets in a couple of good laughs, especially relating to his experienced in the first film and the changes he has experienced since. The bond between Jonas and Meiying is sweet. The special effects are largely solid.

Overall, the first 2 acts kind of drag which is why the movie is overall a little disappointing. It shouldn't be that hard to make a movie like this, at least from a story point of view. I would give it a 4.5/10. Watchable largely for the fun l had in the last act.

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Heart of Stone - a fairly typical Netflix action film....

Netflix action films, barring the two Extraction films, have generally been very generic. Heart of Stone is about as generic as it can get. Not an incompetently made movie, but just about everything in this film has been done before, and fairly recently. This film really did feel like Mission Impossible meets Citadel. And indeed, there are elements of the story that feel directly ripped off, such as a fictional independent intelligence agency, which was present in Citadel, and an AI technology system, which was present in Dead Reckoning P1. I will give it this, the film looks well produced. I'm sure Netflix spent a lot of money on this film and it feels that way. The locales and the action is all very competent and fun to watch. Problem is that there isn't much else to the film. Its essentially bad guys trying to take power by using this AI technology and good guys trying to stop it. The film at points tries to murky the waters by trying to have characters question who is good and bad, but it never really commits to it and you are still pretty much watching a fairly black and white argument play out.

When it comes to performances, Gal Gadot is not the greatest actress around, but I admit that she has improved over the years, especially with her facial expressions. She still has issues with her dialogue delivery at times, but overall she is quite charming in the role and the film plays to her strength. She somehow manages to toe the line between being superheroic, yet being fallible. Jamie Dornan as the main villain is fine. I mean, it was super obvious to me that he would be the villain, and it isn't as if the movie spends a very long time trying to hide the twist, which I appreciate. His performance is solid, without being particularly memorable. There is just nothing special about the character and his motivation for him to really dig out in terms of performance. Alia Bhatt, in her hollywood debut, is fine as well. She probably is the only character who has somewhat of an arc. I feel like the film should have spent a bit more time on the dynamic between Keya and Stone, because that is kind of the crux of the film. As with a lot of actresses acting for the first time in english, you do get the sense that she at times struggled with it, despite being fluent in the language. Its one thing to speak fluently in English and another to act in English if you haven't really done it before. Outside of these three, there isn't anyone really who has a character to speak of. Glenn Close randomly pops into the film in a nothing role. BD Wong has a similarly small role. Sophie Okonedo as Nomad and Matthias Schweighöfer as a Charter agent are the only other ones who have any substantial screen time, but not really enough to make major impact.

All in all, Netflix movies get graded on a curve by me. Would I watch this in a theater? No. There is nothing in this movie that you haven't seen done better. Is this a watchable movie at home if you already have a Netflix account? Sure! There's nothing blatantly incompetent or bad about it. Its well produced and the action is generally pretty good. There are worse Netflix movies out there and there are probably worse theatrical movies out there too. I would probably grade this a 5/10.

I feel that these mid level action spy movies/tv shows have reached a saturation point. The Gray Man, Citadel, Heart of Stone, The 355, The Protege etc.... they all feel and look very similar. And a lot of these have fairly big name actors and actresses behind it. I don't know how, but these films/tv shows have to figure out a way not to look and feel so generic.

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Haunted Mansion.... a surprisingly decent film

I kind of went to see Haunted Mansion on a whim. I never really was making plans to go see this during the summer, but just a combination of other plans falling out and me wanting to get out of the house, I decided to take the plunge with Haunted Mansion. Turns out, its a pretty decent movie. I was quite surprised. I love POTC and I didn't mind Jungle Cruise, but theme park rides aren't exactly the most imaginative sources to base movies off. But Haunted Mansion is a pretty fun romp. I have been to Disneyland several times as a kid, but I can't remember if I went on the Haunted Mansion ride. Its possible I was too scared as a kid, but the movie does a pretty good job of delivering on its basic premise and delivering a host of very likable actors playing likable characters. It manages to be a gateway horror/comedy movie for families, a nice mystery film, and a surprisingly moving exploration of grief. Each of these elements work well individually as well as in conjunction with the others. As an adult, there is nothing particularly scary about the ghosts, but I can imagine kids getting scared in a good way. The scares are all done in amusing ways, often leading to some good laughs. The mystery of a group of characters bound together by circumstance, trying to figure out the identity of the main ghost and a way to neutralize it, is fairly compelling.

But the exploration of grief is the film's beating heart. Grief is often the central theme of horror films and it is not surprising that it is the same here, but the film manages to be fairly moving, and a lot of that credit goes to LaKeith Stanfield who delivers a performance that was well above what this movie required. He is the emotional center of the movie and he does a damn good job. Also, I think credit should also go to Chase W. Dillon, who plays Travis. He is arguably the second most important character when it comes to the exploration of grief in this film, and his bond with Stanfield's Ben is quite sweet. The cast in general brings their A game. Tiffany Haddish brings a lot of heart and humor to her role of Harriet, the psychic. Owen Wilson brings his trademark humor to the role of Father Kent. His arc feels like it got stuffed in late in the movie, but he makes it work. Danny DeVito is always a delight, bring a couple of the big laughs in the movie. Rosario Dawson is essentially the playing the straight man in this movie, and a potential future love interest for Ben and she is lovely in the role as always. Jamie Lee Curtis has an amusing cameo and Jared Leto is pretty fun as the Hatbox ghost. I am not sure how much of that performance was Leto and how much was CGI/voice effects, but he is credited for the role.

The film does start stretching its conceit a little by the end and it does start to get repetitive. The film doesn't blow the socks off in the way a POTC did, but the 2 hours I spent were entertaining. I am surprised that this film is releasing now and not during Halloween. This feels like a perfect family Halloween movie to watch. A 7/10.

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Secret Invasion - Excellent performances and interesting ideas squandered with mediocre execution....

I was actually pretty psyched for Secret Invasion when the trailers came out. I didn't feel there was a whole lot of hype around the show but I was looking forward to it. After the fairly jokey nature of recent MCU, I was looking forward to the pivot towards more darker material, similar to TWS, and TFATWS. Now I didn't think TFATWS was great but it was solid and TWS is arguably my favorite MCU film to date and the trailers for Secret Invasion definitely felt like they were more that tone.

Having seen the series, it really feels like Marvel just don't have a handle on how to pace and structure their tv shows. Secret Invasion, at 6 episodes and such an intricate storyline, had no business being a slow burn show with a rushed ending. This should have been a fast paced paranoid thriller. Maybe all of it should have been set within a very short window of time. Instead, as a lot of these MCU shows have done, there are episodes where very little happens, and then there are episodes where a lot happens and it feels rushed. Given that this is now a common occurrence in the MCU tv shows, it seems obvious that the writers don't have a handle on how to pace these 6 episode series. Also, this show was oddly small for a show that was about something so big. There was a lot of sidestepping to try and explain why Fury was the person who had to be the one who stopped Gravik and why he couldn't involve some of his powered friends. While the explanation works up to a point, when the world is on the brink of WWIII, the explanation starts falling apart. Then there are certain relationships that are very essential to the emotional weight of the show, which have far too little screen time for us to really care. The marriage of Fury and Priscilla/Varra is a bond that is brought up throughout the back half of the season, but the truth is that it is treated with a sort of reverence in the show which it has not earned from the audience, which is a damn shame because Jackson and Woodard do some excellent work in their scenes together. Then there is the whole ending of the show. While they do shake up the status quo a bit, which I hope will be followed up in the next Captain America movie, there are some very dumb decisions taken as well. For example, the decision to make G'iah into a superpowered being who is ridiculously overpowered is something that will be a ramification the MCU will have to deal with for a while. Maybe they will have this make more sense in a future MCU project, but for now, it does seem strange that they made such an OP character all of a sudden. Also, the bait and switch in the finale cheapens a very fine scene. The entire scene between Gravik and Fury was actually very meaningful, but having Fury be G'iah all along makes that scene loose its emotional value because we don't know if that is what Fury feels.

The damn shame about the show is that there is actually a fair amount of stuff that is actually pretty good. There is some excellent acting work in the show. Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Olivia Colman, Don Cheadle, and Charlayne Woodard all do some excellent work on the show. The actual story of the show is interesting because we actually do genuinely see that the Skrulls have very legitimate grievances against Fury. He is a man who used the Skrulls as agents, gained power within SHIELD as a result, but did not find a new home for the Skrulls and did not have the courage to admit that finding a new home wasn't possible. And then he deserted them on Earth and went to Saber. The resentment built up in the Skrulls is totally understandable. And Jackson does an excellent job showing a much more brittle and guilt ridden man, as opposed to the confident operative we have seen in the past. His dynamic with Talos is one of the highlights of the show. Ben Mendelsohn was insanely likable as Talos and his death was honestly one of the most gut wrenching deaths in the MCU. Olivia Colman just looked like she was having a ball of a time and boost of witty energy whenever she's on screen. Don Cheadle does some of his best work. The scenes between Fury and Rhodey, both before and after Fury find out that he's a Skrull, are impeccable. Kingsley Ben-Adir does a lot to make Gravik was a very understandable villain, even though his backstory is half baked and told rather than shown. Similarly, Charlayne Woodard is excellent, even though her character gets the sort of reverence from the show which is never earned by the writing. The scenes with her and Jackson are excellent and they are able to get that "married for a long time" feel despite barely any setup. Emilia Clarke is a bit of a mixed bag. She's forced to be rather stoic throughout most of the show, so she doesn't get to stand out despite being a significant part of the show.

The tone and story of the show is interesting. The idea of infiltration and creating paranoia is a good concept and when the show leans into that, its pretty good. But the show then also tries to be a bit too big for its boots by introducing super Skrulls and attempting to start WWIII. So it sometimes feels like the showrunners and writers aren't sure what show they are trying to make.

All in all, this isn't a bad show, but it had potential to be much better. If executed right, it could have been up there with MCU's best. Its a show that actually had some major character deaths like Maria Hill and Talos, and at least seems to have rattled the status quo of the Earth and not every thing is settled by the end of the show, but the execution of how things led to that point felt a little lacking. I would say this ranks around a 5 to 6/10.

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Barbenheimer Part 2: My thoughts on Oppenheimer.....

After a 50 min break after Barbie, I settle down to watch Oppenheimer in IMAX. I am a big fan of Nolan's movies. I haven't seen Following, but I either like or love every movie he has made. He's one of the few directors who is the star of his own movie, whether the lead actor is someone as famous as Leonardo DiCaprio or some unknowns like in Dunkirk. So I went in with high expectations and Nolan lived up to those expectations again.

Oppenheimer is a movie that leaves you shaken. I genuinely can't believe how a 3 hour movie which is all talk, ended up being so gripping that it just rushed by. This summer has seen its fair share of long movies, with a majority of summer blockbusters clocking in around 2.5 hours, but I felt the length with all of them. Not with Oppenheimer though. While I would hesitate to call it Nolan's best, its easily one of the best of the year.

What is amazing is the film is essentially two films at once. One is a movie about the construction of the bomb and the Trinity test and subsequent deployment of those bombs. The second is a courtroom drama of two legal proceedings happening at different points in time. Both movies are riveting and the structure of the movie is enthralling. The first act of the film basically acts as the first 2 acts of both movies. It sets up the characters, the various dynamics etc.... Then the second act is essentially the final act of the first movie, and the third act, if the final act of the second movie. It was a genius way to keep audience enthralled throughout.

The film is just filled with extraordinary work by everyone involved. The cinematography, costume design, product design, the practical effects, the performances, the directing etc... is all superb. I fully expect this film to get a lot of Oscar nomination come Oscar season. The characters are extremely well realized, and not just Oppenheimer or Strauss, but every single individual. There are so many known actors that appear in this film, sometimes just for a scene or two, but somehow every character is a fully realized character. I also like that Oppenheimer is portrayed as man. He has flaws, but he also has traits to be admired. Even Strauss is not portrayed as evil, just vindictive. Also, as someone who is in the Engineering field, the construction of the bomb was just fascinating to me. I loved watching legendary 20th century scientists, who are rockstars of the scientific community, depicted as people and I loved a lot of their individual interactions. The scenes between Oppenheimer and Einstein for example, were terrific. The final scene between them is genuinely terrifying. In general, the way Oppenheimer's mind is visualized is awesome.

There is not much in terms of flaws. The film is talky. For some, that may be boring. I can maybe say that the actual portrayal of the explosion, while exciting, was not as bombastic and horrifying as it could have been. There are moments in the courtroom drama part of the film, where it feels like it could have been edited down a little. And it took me about 15 minutes to get a handle on the structure of the film and the back and forth time jumps. But honestly, can't think of too much else apart from that.

The performances are incredible across the board. Cillian Murphy should be a top contender for best actor. The guy has been excellent in supporting roles for a while, but he kills it here. Apart from scenes from the Lewis Strauss confirmation hearing, he is on screen for every scene. RDJr finally breaks out of his Tony Stark skin and delivers a superb turn here. He really bursts into top gear in the final act of the film. Emily Blunt is lovely. She is largely in the background but she shines superbly when she has to be front and center towards the end. Matt Damon is immensely likable as Leslie Groves, one of Oppenheimer's true supporters outside of the scientific community. The film is littered with so many other excellent performances. Benny Safdie as Edward Teller, Josh Hartnett as Ernest Lawrence, Kenneth Branaugh as Niels Bohr, Jason Clarke as Roger Robb, Tom Conti as Albert Einstein, Florence Pugh as Jean Tatlock, and David Krumholtz as Isidor Isaac Rabi are all highlights in the movie. Casey Affleck walks in for a couple of scenes and sent chills down my spine with his performance. Alden Ehrenreich has a superb mini arc of his own as aide to Strauss and he has some of the most satisfying scenes in the movie where he converts to an Oppenheimer supporter as he figures out the things Strauss has done. But there are so many excellent performances in this movie that I could go on and on.

As a director, Nolan has really outdone himself. I can't make an assessment as to where this film lands in Nolan's filmography but it is towards the top of an already excellent set of films. I suspect nothing will outdo TDK trilogy and Inception for me, but this might land right behind those. All in all, a 9/10 movie.

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Barbenheimer Part 1: My thoughts on Barbie....

So I did Barbie and Oppenheimer in one day with a 50 min break between shows. Definitely quite the experience and a really good cinematic experience at that. First up was Barbie.

Now, first thing's first, as a guy, I am clearly not the target audience for the film. Not that you need to be a guy to enjoy the movie but the social commentary is clearly aimed at women. So keep that in context when it comes to my opinion. When it came to the movie as a whole, I really liked about 75% of the movie and about 25% of it fell flat. Still leveling out to be quite a fun watch, but it does have some obvious flaws. I watched it with a crowd that was buzzing and it was really cool theatrical experience.

The good stuff is really good. Firstly, I have to compliment the production design of the movie. Barbie World is gorgeously created. The colors just pop on screen. Same with the costume design for all the Barbies and the Kens. The humor, when it works, is really funny. The film is consistently light but also digs into deeper issues without descending into heavy drama. Also, clocking in under 2 hours, it is very well paced and does not overstay its welcome. Also, the performances are excellent across the board.

When it comes to issues, the film's humor is a bit hit and miss. When it hits, its terrific, and I do think it hits most of the time, but there are several points where the joke just doesn't land. Also, a few character beats, such as the reconciliation between Gloria and her daughter, feel rather rushed. Additionally, the Mattel employees aren't used very well as characters. The film is very over the top in its depiction of the real world as well as Barbie World, which was a bit weird and took away from the movie a bit. When the real world is just as wacky, it makes Barbie World look more normal. I also didn't quite get the mechanics of how this world works. Stereotypical Barbie faces an existential crisis because of Gloria, but there must be thousands of Stereotypical Barbie out there. So why the connection to just Gloria's doll? Additionally, there are a few times, like with Ken's resolution, where they could have played it straight and that would have made for a deeper and more emotional ending for him, but they choose the jokier route. Also, the film is very blunt. It is not even the 's' of 'subtle' in its depiction of the dynamics between men and women. While this is done on purpose, it does feel like they lay it on a bit too thick at times.

As I mentioned, the performances are terrific across the board. Margot Robbie anchors the film beautifully. She has the balance of looks and acting chops to pull this off. Ryan Gosling steals the show with his comedic timing as Ken. You do feel a sense of sympathy towards him. America Ferrera is very likable as Gloria and she kind of gets the big monologue which is the film's thesis in a way. Will Ferrell is largely wasted here as Mattel CEO, though he does have a couple of good laughs. Ariana Greenblatt is effective as Sasha. Kate McKinnon brings her brand of energy to weird Barbie. A host of other stars like Emma Mackey, Alexandra Shipp, Simu Liue etc... also deliver effective supporting turns as specific Barbies and Kens. Also want to give a special mention to Helen Mirren's narration in the movie. It accounted for arguable the biggest laugh in the whole movie.

Greta Gerwig is 3/3 with her filmography. I wouldn't say this is her best though. Her directing is excellent, but the script isn't as strong as for Lady Bird and Little Women. I think this may be her weakest film of her solo director features, but it is still a solid and fun film which is already on its way to being a monster hit judging by the reaction in the theater, and I feel really happy for her for that. Overall, I would say this is a 7.5/10.

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Thoughts on Jack Ryan as a whole....

So with season 4, Jack Ryan comes to an end. In the end, the show has always struck me as a competent, enjoyable, espionage thriller with likable characters, but fairly by the numbers in terms of execution. There has never been anything that has stuck me as 'wow' about it, but I have always enjoyed it. I think Season 1 was probably still my favorite. I think Season 1 and Season 3 were the best seasons. Season 4 was good, but due to reduced episode count, it felt less fleshed out than previous seasons. I didn't quite completely understand the various intricacies of the criminal organization. Season 2 was the weakest because I think it fell into the tropes of Jack Ryan seeking revenge, and in general the story was the least interesting. I think the show benefited by a likable group of actors in key roles. John Krasinski was consistently strong. He is very innately likable and doesn't come off as a superhero. Wendell Pierce as Jack Greer was excellent throughout. Michael Kelly as Mike November was a standout for me. Betty Gabriel as Elizabeth Wright lent a formidable presence in the last 2 seasons. Michael Pena was a big boost for the show in the final season, as Domingo Chavez. Abbie Cornish had a relatively thankless role as Cathy Mueller but she also leaves a mark and she has good chemistry with John Krasinski and was able to be seamless reintegrated into the show, after being absent for seasons 2 and 3. All in all, I quite liked the show. I am glad it didn't overstretch its welcome, even though I would have enjoyed another season.

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The Blacklists ends in an expectedly uninteresting and lethargic way....

The Blacklist season 10 has felt off right from the very beginning. There just feels like there hasn't been a purpose to this season apart from saying that the show reached 10 seasons and having some sort of ending. But there wasn't any real drive in the season. The initial hope was that the drive would be in returning Blacklisters teaming up against Red and the task force, but that storyline fizzled out very fast. The final arc also felt fairly by the numbers and ended the season and series in a way that was unsatisfying but also completely expected. There hasn't been any narrative drive in the show for years now, and it has never felt like the writers had any specific endgame in mind, and that is how it felt. The show rendered the task force members to be rather toothless. At no point for years have the task force been able to one up Red. The finale should have concluded with Ressler catching up with Red and then Red dying, instead of using the weird Bull metaphor they introduced in season 10 to kill Red, that never made much sense to me. I think Harold Cooper suffered the most as a character because he spent the entire season being so indignant that Red kept conning them, as if he hadn't done that a 100 times. There was no real closure to any of the characters. Aram never returned after the season premiere. We don't know what happened to Cooper, Ressler, Dembe, Siya, Herbie etc... We just have to assume things. The show should have given some closure for the first 3 characters at least. I mean, Ressler came back to the FBI because of The Blacklist being Liz's calling and wanting to not have her death be the end. What would he do now given there is no more task force and no more Reddington? I can assume that Cooper retired, and Dembe maybe goes and reunites with his daughter. But still, just a montage showing what the characters are doing would have been nice. I never expected any further info about Red's identity because I feel they gave the answer in the season 8 finale without coming out and directly saying it, and it isn't important anymore anyways. There was a nice monologue by Dembe in the finale, which was well acted, and there were some nice scenes with Reddington with various characters, and I liked that Ressler is the one to finally find Reddington at the end and we see him put Red's hat on Red's body as a sign of respect, but all in all, an underwhelming end to an underwhelming season, to a show that was great for about 6 seasons, before it started treading water.

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Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One.......a thoroughly fun but unsettling blockbuster

MI films are all films that I enjoy. I like MI2, which every shits on. I think MI3 is underrated. MI4, 5, and 6 is where the series became great. So I was very much looking forward to MI7. Having seen it today, I am not sure what to feel about it. The movie is great, with phenomenal action, but I think this is easily the most somber and most unsettling MI movie yet. MI movies have always been a bit outlandish. Dealing with masks, secret organizations, nuclear threats, which while possible, feel like something that would happen in a movie. So it provided escapist entertainment. But Dead Reckoning stumbles into real world concerns about technology and delivers it a way that genuinely made me a bit uneasy at times, because it isn't outside of the scope of imagination of something like this existing. The film is also tonally darker than most previous MI films. There is real world peril and consequences to characters and their fates. The characters themselves look like they are under more strain than in previous films. The action sequences are phenomenal. The entire train sequence, the bike jump, the Rome car chase are all expertly done. The story is interesting and constantly involving. The film also feels like it completes one chapter of the story, so it feels like a complete movie, teasing the next chapter, as opposed to leaving big cliffhangers for Part 2. I also liked the general sense of eeriness in the film. The use of close ups and dutch angles are interesting. Also liked the exploration of what makes an IMF agent and what role they play in the intelligence network.

That being said, there were a few complaints that I had. As a villain, Garbriel left a little to be desired. There is a past teased between Ethan and Gabriel, but it is never explained. Maybe Part 2 will get into it, but it feels like something that should have been covered in this one given that their personal relationship is pretty important in the story. The way Ilsa is used in the story is not something I am a big fan of. Jasper Briggs and his partner felt like a bit of a waste of screen time. In general, it felt like the movie had a few too many characters and Briggs and his partner weren't really necessary in this film. Additionally, the team aspect of MI got diluted a bit because Benji and Luther are sidelined due to the nature of the threat. Whereas the team played big parts in the resolution in Fallout, Rogue Nation, and Ghost Protocol, here it did feel like the Ethan and Grace show. Also, while the action sequences are fabulous, there are times that it feels like they go on for a bit too long, so some editing could have been done.

Tom Cruise, as usual, is a his best and giving his all in the movie. Hayley Atwell really steals every scene she's in and she has great chemistry with Tom. Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames now are at ease with their characters. Henry Czerny is a welcome return as Kittridge. Pom Klementieff makes an impact as an assassin. Its kind of odd to see her in a role like this after seeing her as Mantis. Rebecca Ferguson is excellent as always, though I wasn't a big fan of how her character was sidelined and handled in the movie. Esai Morales is a little underwhelming as the main physical threat in the movie. There's nothing wrong with him or his performance, but he doesn't really deliver on the threat level. Vanessa Kirby is excellent in the movie. Shea Whigham and Cary Elwes are welcome presences.

Overall, McQuarrie continues to knock it out of the park and the tease for Part 2 is interesting. I do want to watch this again before I finalize my ranking. Right now it is about an 8/10 for me.

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Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny - an overlong, but fun ride....

Some context first, I didn't grow up with Indiana Jones so I don't have that nostalgic love for it that a lot of people do. So I am neither overly harsh, nor overly complimentary when it comes to Indiana Jones movies. I only really watched them when KOTC was about to come out and I decided to watch the trilogy. I really loved The Last Crusade. That one is my favorite because Ford and Connery were such a hilarious father and son couple. Raiders is epic and 2nd on my list, though the climax still feels awfully convenient. I was not a huge Temple of Doom fan, because I am not a fan of the cultural caricatures depicted in the film, nor did I like Willie as a character, who basically screamed her way through the film. On rewatches I have enjoyed the film more. I enjoyed KOTC when it came out and I still do. I didn't have a problem with Shia/Mutt, nor with the fact that there were aliens in the film. So, given that context, take my opinion as you want. I quite enjoyed Dial of Destiny. Its not as good as Raiders of TLC. I think it might be my 3rd fav Indiana Jones movie though.

What I like about the film is that it went there. It didn't retreat to safety of the aliens criticism of KOTC, and it arguably went far more batshit crazy in the last act. I honestly quite liked that. I enjoyed the blending of scientific concept with sci-fi and history. I also do think the humor works for the most part. Ford is in the zone throughout and PWB is a perfectly excellent co-lead. The action scenes are entertaining. The opening sequence set in the past is excellent. The deaging work done with Indy is spectacular and you only really notice something is off if you really focus on it. The tuk tuk chase is also a lot of fun, as is the underwater sequence. Mads Mikkelsen is also reliably excellent as the Nazi villain. I also feel that the film on a nice uplifting note with a sweet callback to Raiders.

When it comes to issues, the primary issue is that it is a bit overlong and it doesn't pack the emotional punch that it probably should have. I feel they could have explored the emotional issues Indy is dealing with a bit more as well as developed the growing bond between Indy and Helena. At times, it does feel the plot is an excuse to go from one action set piece to another and the way they find things, like Archimedes' tomb, seems pretty easy, although I suppose the same could be said in previous films too. Without giving away spoilers, I do feel like that the ending was reshot and changed. There is an abrupt cut in the climax, which feels like the result of a reshoot.

When it comes to James Mangold's filmogboraphy, this isn't as good as say Ford v Ferrari or Logan, but it still a solid venture. The performances are top notch, particularly from Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and Mad Mikkelsen. It was nice to see a few nostalgic returns from John Rhys-Davies and Karen Allen. Boyd Holbrook as the villain henchman is solid. Overall I would say the movie is pretty good. I enjoyed it. A 7.5/10.

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Superman and Lois Season 3 was a bit of a let down....

Season 3 for me just felt like the show lost steam because it just didn't know where to go with the storyline. I feel the season started off brilliantly, and the cancer reveal for Lois was heartbreaking and beautifully acted, but somewhere along the way the show just treaded water for the entire season, only to end the Mannheim story with a whimper and start a new story in the final 2 episodes. It honestly felt like the writers got so proud of themselves for showcasing the hardships of cancer, that they forgot to really do anything with the story. The season basically just felt like a series of character moments because the Mannheim story was just everyone knowing that Mannheim is a criminal and not able to do anything about it. The one big reveal of Peia being Onomatopoeia and Bruno's wife, was not a shocking reveal. And Lois and Clark don't even discover it themselves. Bruno essentially reveals the truth of Peia being his wife. Nothing really comes out of the investigation that they were doing all season other than Luthor being falsely implicated. As a result, the majority of the season felt like it was just a prelude to the actual story, which is the Luthor story to be told next season sans the majority of the cast.

What didn't help is that I genuinely didn't care much about all the various other character dynamics. I mean, did anyone really care about Kyle and Chrissy pairing? Did anyone really buy into the developing romance of Lana and John? Did anyone have interest in the toxic dynamic of Jordan and Sarah. I feel both characters got increasingly annoying this season. Both were at fault for different reasons. Sarah was incredibly unfair on Jordan for breaking up with him for.... reasons I'm still not sure of and then insisting they remain friends and Jordan being a whiny sad sack the entire season, and then randomly becoming an attention hog towards the end of the season. I was interested in him developing his powers and becoming Superboy but they kind of half went there and then backtracked. Jonathan is much more likable, but it is plainly clear that that writers don't know what to do with him. He has this fire station storyline with Kyle, which is clearly just a story to give the actor something to do. I understand why they don't want to give him powers and repeat the same beats as they did for Jordan in the first couple of seasons but they haven't gone anywhere interesting with him either. They gave hints to maybe him becoming John Henry Iron's protege in season 1, but once Natalie came, then that possibility was put to bed since she was obviously going to have that role. I didn't feel Lana or John had any particular role of substance other than parenting trouble storylines. Last season end promises some sort of big personal storyline for John against Bruno, but it eventually boiled down to a Romeo and Juliet type situation with Mattheo and Natalie. I thought they were cute together but the relationship went way too fast to be believable.

The last 2 episodes felt like a different storyline and the season finale felt like a mid season finale. I think this Luthor is cool though he does come off a bit whiny. I did not like the whole Bizarro/Doomsday thing because it didn't make much sense. When did Bizarro Superman become immortal? Why did he become rabid, eating mice and being cannibalistic? Why does he become Doomsday the more they kill him? No explanation for this is given, which is odd, because last season, Bizarro was an actual Superman from Bizarro world who was trying to stop Ally. And now he's Luthor's lackey for some reason. Apart from it being cool to see Superman fight Doomsday, the whole thing didn't make much sense.

The things that worked is the cancer storyline and the performances, especially by Bitsie Tulloch and Tyler Hoechlin. Both continue to be superb and arguably do their best work this season. The cancer storyline is emotionally affecting and I do like how they integrated Peia as a cancer patient and as Lois's friend. I think they got good performances from Daya Vaidya and Chad Coleman as a result. The cast is generally excellent, even when the characters don't have much to do. I think Michael Bishop deserves some credit for how seamlessly he replaced Jordan Elsass. It took one episode for me to get used to him in the role. Michael Cudlitz made an immediate impact and Luthor and I hope they are able to do justice to his storyline despite the budget cuts. I will miss this cast though. Most of them might pop up for a few episodes but certainly I will miss John Henry Irons and Natalie, who are likable, but I also feel some pruning of the cast may be good because it did feel like they were reaching to give something for everyone to do. All in all, probably my least favorite season of the show so far. But still pretty good. I am wary of the budget cuts coming next season since the Doomsday fight showed some of the budget limitations for the first time. I assume the next season is its last and I hope it is. I don't want the show to be dragged down over time with increasing budget cuts.