Welcome to part dos.
Beau is Afraid
What the frick is this movie?!?! If you do not know who Ari Aster is, he is the director of the highly polarizing films Hereditary and Midsommar. If you hate these films, you probably should not watch this one. If you love these films, or if you love weird, avant-garde arthouse movies, then definitely check this out. Because this movie is so frickin weird, man. I was listening to a movie podcast recently that perfectly summarized this film as a three-hour Adult Swim movie special starring Joaquin Phoenix. The best thing I can say is that you will neither see nor experience a film like this ever. It is honestly awesome that a filmmaker like Ari Aster gets to make a movie this bizarre that is wholly his creative vision. If you want to get high and have a crazy trip, give this movie a try.
Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3
Unsurprisingly, this movie slaps hard. Everyone is firing on all cylinders. The runtime balances its seven main characters elegantly. It’s funny. It’s entertaining. It’s weird and whimsical and colorful. And, most importantly, it is one of the most emotional entries that Marvel has made. The villain of the film, The High Evolutionary played by actor Chukwudi Iwuji, is just a delight. What separates him out from the generic, store-bought villains is that he portrayed so despicably and with such hateful energy that you just absolutely want to see this piece of garbage get his comeuppance. Rocket’s emotional journey provides a satisfying catharsis, a payoff that is earned because of your investment in all the characters for all three films. Thank you, James Gunn, for pouring your heart and soul into this trilogy. Good luck with DC. Also, shoutout to my friend Curt for driving from DTLA to LBC to watch this movie with me.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
This is the greatest animated movie ever. Okay that’s possibly hyperbole. But, in terms of pushing animation to its absolute limits as a filmmaking medium, I’d challenge you to find an animated movie more impressive than this one. There is just so much energy, style, character, and love put into each frame of the movie. The score is on point. The voice acting is amazing (especially Daniel Kaluuya as Spider-Punk). Of course, the big elephant in the room is that this is just a part one of two, so this movie absolutely feels incomplete. But the ride the movie takes you on is just brilliant. Everything is masterful. Can’t wait for the conclusion. Probably my favorite film of the year so far.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
I have a soft spot for Transformers. My brother and I grew up on the Transformers toys, the cartoon shows, and of course the Michael Bay extravaganzas. Are those films bloated, messy, and incomprehensible? Yes. Do I really care? No. Also, Bumblebee was good, but that was not a Michael Bay film, so that makes sense. Anyways, I would say Transformers: Rise of the Beasts was a lot of fun. It helps when the director, Steven Caple Jr., has a lot of love for these characters and for the 80s (the soundtrack is a vibe). The human characters are light years more likeable than Shia LaBeouf and Mark Wahlberg from the Bay films, which is not saying much. Yeah, there are some dumb moments, such as why do the Autobots give the humans the super important, dangerous task of doing a thing instead of doing it themselves. But I do not care when Optimus yells “TRANSFORM!” and Primal yells “MAXIMIZE!” and I am the guy in the theater that stands up and cheers. Those words probably did not mean anything to you, but they mean everything to me.
The Flash
Oh, the Flash. Opinions on the movie are divided among fans. Some consider it to be pure schlock, while others believe it to be one of the best DC films. Even Tom Cruise said it’s the greatest superhero movie ever. It’s not. But I’d say it’s solid. It’s important to note that Ezra Miller has been a terrible person over the last year. So, if the sight of him makes your skin crawl, then it’s best you skip this film because he is in about 95% of the movie. However, if you can look past that, Miller delivers an impressive performance, especially considering the challenge of portraying two versions of Barry Allen who share significant screen time together. What really works for me is the journey of Barry Allen: how he learns to overcome loss and accept grief. And if all the emotional elements work for you, then the ending will pay off greatly. And if they don’t, then they don’t. On the other hand, the visual effects are horrid. Very distractingly horrid. The director Andy Muschietti came out saying that the visual style of the movie was intentional. If that really is the case, then they chose wrong. Besides that, the film is a fun time. Maybe the film will age better with time or be long forgotten in the infinity of the cosmos. Sasha Calle as Supergirl was cool. Michael Shannon is sleepwalking as Zod. And of course, it was great seeing Michael Keaton again as Batman.
Discover more from ALAN MAEDO
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.