Thursday, June 27, 2019

Toymetheus unbound


TOY STORY 4

It's a disappointment, of course.  It's a Toy Story that isn't a masterpiece.  It isn't even great.  But as far as Pixar in the Tens has gone, you know, it is probably above average—and that'll do.

2019
Directed by Josh Cooley
Written by many, so very many, but I'm happy leaving it at "screenplay by Andrew Stanton and Stephanie Folsom"

Spoiler alert: moderate

Monday, June 17, 2019

I never understood the frequency, uh-uh


UNDER THE SILVER LAKE

Almost compelling, almost good.  If only its strangeness weren't lifeless and off-putting, Under the Silver Lake might've been something.

2019
Written and directed by David Robert Mitchell

Spoiler alert: maybe very slightly more than moderate, but a movie that doesn't resolve itself like this one can hardly be spoiled at a particularly high level

Sunday, June 16, 2019

This boy's too young to be singing the blues


ROCKETMAN

It absolutely surpasses Egerton and John's last collaboration, but then, "being better than Kingsman: The Golden Circle" isn't much of an accomplishment.  So, happily, let's say that Rocketman is still good—even if, unlike the subject of its story, it whiffs it hard on the actual greatness.

2019
Directed by Dexter Fletcher
Written by Lee Hall 

Spoiler alert: he's still standing

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

In other Godzilla news, this weird crap


GODZILLA: CITY ON THE EDGE OF BATTLE and
GODZILLA: THE PLANET EATER

Possibly the wrongest Godzilla has ever been, at the very least Gen Urobuchi's trilogy has proven itself admirably crazy—and outright insanity in pursuit of heavy-handed allegory is no vice. I think that's how the saying goes, right?

2018 and 2019, respectively
Directed by Kobun Shizuno and Hiroyuki Seshita
Written by Gen Urobuchi

Spoiler alert: moderate

Sunday, June 2, 2019

Nerrrrrrrrrrds


BOOKSMART

An extraordinary two-hander (that occasionally fails to be an ensemble), Booksmart is the kind of fun, likeable comedy they ought to make more of, at least if they want me to bother going to theaters to see a comedy in the first place.

2019
Directed by Olivia Wilde
Written by Emily Halpern, Sarah Haskins, Susanna Fogel, and Katie Silberman

Spoiler alert: mild

Saturday, June 1, 2019

Let them fight?


GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS

Absurdly good monsters keep getting interfered with by mostly-mediocre humans, but damned if "absurdly good monsters" ain't good enough.

2019
Directed by Michael Dougherty
Written by Zach Shields and Michael Dougherty

Spoiler alert: not that this movie can in any way be meaningfully spoiled, but "moderate," for the sticklers