It’s been a while since Dan and I have happened upon good sci-fi. The world is swamped with sewage, which made this gem really stand out. Strong storytelling with callbacks to Khan and the Prime Directive, solid arguments against racism and oppression, and wit and charm through fabulous performances from the entire cast.
Category: Reviews
Some quick comments on enjoyable indulgences from the media firehose.
9.0 Light & Magic
Kathleen Kennedy just went way up in my book for releasing this behind-the-scenes gold. The whole journey is captured, from Ray Harryhassen stop motion to the gorgeous ring volume of The Mandalorian.
Another day, another impossibly long list of entertainment options…
9.0 Promising Young Woman
I found my militant feminist movie last night, after Hustlers failed hard to deliver on every level. Damn, some intense manhating. Good stuff, hahaha. Carey Mulligan continues to steal my heart.
About as dark as I Care A Lot, but with a solid theme: men are disgusting lustful gluttons.
9.0 Think Like A Man
Another retro ensemble making me happy. Has my fave girls from Person of Interest (Taraji Penda Henson) AND Black Monday (Regina Hall). And Kevin Hart tearing it up. Silly romcom but never slows down. Hey there’s J. B. Smoove, too!
8.5 Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her
My obsession with old ensemble movies with killer casts continues… This melancholy gem captured the depth of a host of unique female characters across half a dozen intermingled story lines. Cameron Diaz and Calista Flockhart brought their A games, as Holly Hunter always does.
9.0 The Mandalorian
I have plenty of shade to throw at The Mandalorian. Specifically, at my old pal Jon Favreau for being such an obsessed douchebag carnivore. But you will not find, anywhere in present or past, anything, that has ever LOOKED so good! The background scenery has been optimized with an Unreal screen ring, and the foreground is inside the ring, lit to perfection. Nothing ever before has delivered such beautiful pixels … just … so satisfying to see…
9.0 Black Monday seasons 1-2
The blackest of 80s comedy, drenched in every terrible glorious cultural reference from bad hair to bad movies to bad music, with a stock market theme full of back stabbers and pedal-to-the-medal ribald punchlines. Like a mashup of Billions, Arrested Development, Veep, Wolf of Wall Street and In Living Color. Silly crazy rude fun.
9.0 Pride and Prejudice (2005)
Rosamund Pike, Keira Knightley and Carey Mulligan in the same frame, acting side by side? Yes please. Not to mention Judy Dench at her most wicked best, world-class Donald Sutherland, Talulah Riley of Westwood fame, and Tom Hollander, the quintessentially damaged supporting actor. Great cast executing a classic story.
9.0 Toni Erdmann
A bracing still life of moments between a dad struggling to use humor to connect with his daughter, and the daughter caught up in the priorities of “success”. Sometimes it’s heavy work finding the lightness of being.
9.5 Picard
This is the best space opera since Star Wars: A New Hope. Yes I went there.
It doesn’t have the sheer thrills and explosive pioneering of George Lucas’ master story, but it is a more mature story that deeply and believably develops all the ensemble’s motives, interweaves them, and delivers an epic ride. The execution is brilliant, with powerful performances all around. Wow. I’ll be rewatching this one as much as LOTR, Blade Runner 2049 and the Star Trek reboots.
To get a better handle on the source of its brilliance, peruse the Wikipedia page of the screenplay author, Michael Chabon. So much to mine there.