So, I’ve noticed two recent trends that seem to be a byproduct of the huge influx of franchise films, specifically superhero films. They’re not so much a reaction as a necessity for things to go on as they are.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie, hereafter simply called The Mario Bros. Movie, was inevitable. In the media landscape that brought us Sonic the Hedgehog and gave The Matrix another sequel, the most famous video game character besides Pac-Man was bound to get the silver screen treatment (for the second time—I haven’t seen the previous one). And it’s kind of miraculous it turned out as well as it did.
To call Circle an intense film is to undersell it. Utilizing almost only a single location, this death game story touches upon politics, human nature, mercy, and bigotry. It uses a very simple premise and plays it straight and is one of the best-paced films I’ve seen in a long time.
I hope it’s clear how good I think Nope is by me actively not wanting to spoil anything. Usually, I keep these reviews as vague as possible about plot points, but I must be even more careful with this one.
Let’s get two things out of the way regarding Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. First off, I know some stuff about the game, but I’m not a hardcore TTRPG player. I got some of the abundant references—but a lot of them went right over my head, and my criticisms may be affected or skewed in some way by this. And second, it needs to be acknowledged from a pop culture history standpoint how cool it is that this film exists at all.
I try my best to avoid spoilers or discourse about a piece of media before I review it. But I already know that I’m the odd one out. Because I have no particularly strong issues with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania—and the internet seems to have quite a simmering hatred.
I’m late to the party to review Thor: Love and Thunder. So late that I’ve been spoiled somewhat by consensus. Going in, I knew people didn’t like the goats and that the comedy was apparently overbearing.
When you become a diehard fan of a type of media or genre (really any of them), you notice patterns. I’ve spoken before about storytelling patterns in the wider construct of narratives, but what I mean this time is tropes.
Puss in Boots: The Last Wish has no business being as good as it is. The movie was barely on my radar until I heard it had an Oscar nomination.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever is perhaps the Marvel movie most affected by a real-world event. There’s no way to even examine this movie without taking into account the tragic passing of Chadwick Boseman. It feels inadequate to say that his portrayal of the character gave joy to so many people and that he will be missed by the world.
The thing about the Quantumania trailer isn’t that it’s not visually cool; it’s that it will probably be disappointing. I’ve repeatedly found with the Ant-Man movies that the concepts and potential visuals never pay off as well as they could.
Strange World wears its influences on its sleeve, and it informs a ton of the movie’s pacing, sense of adventure, and how it approaches danger in any scene. It’s based on old-school pulp comics, novels, and radio plays—even as someone who didn’t grow up with that being commonplace, it’s obvious.
