Star Wars: The Force Awakens

(2016 JJ Abrams)

My reaction is: meh. Daisy Ridley as Rey is a great heroic figure and Adam Driver is surprisingly good as Kylo Ren. This is in many ways a shot for shot homage to the original trilogy and I think that is fan service at it’s worst. The world of Jakku is blandly realized and much of the world building that can be seen in other Star Wars films is lacking here.   This ultimately feels like an intentionally weak movie in order for the sequel to be awesome like Empire Strikes Back supposedly was for Star Wars.

I await the interstitial movies directed by various hotshot directors. . .

Hail Caesar

(2016 The Coen Bros)

Joel and Ethan have lost the genius of youth. This film looks cool and is well acted with ensemble favorites George Clooney, Tilda Swinton and Josh Brolin. This movie seems to be a plot without a story. Or a story that plays at philosophy and cultural commentary and fails. The symbolism is weakly realized and while there are some standout moments like Channing Tatum’s musical number— it all sums to very little. I also didn’t like Burn After Reading much. . . Oh yeah and Scarlett Johannson is in it. . . .

Trailer

Dead Pool

(2016  Tim Miller)

Canadian Ryan Reynolds brings the hot sauce with this r-rated Marvel Comics movie by first time feature director Tim Miller. This is a solid flick. Good humor, sexiness, shark-jumping rooted in visceral fantastic realism— and Negasonic Teenage Warhead.  NTW is realized as a complete badass in this film. Double-punch! Morena Baccarin plays Deadpool’s significant other and Dario Naharis plays the bad guy. Preposterously inappropriate humor, gore, boobs, martial arts, explosions, tuff women, metal Russians, and cool costumes, unicorns, and pop cultural commentary— this film fires on all cylinders. Enjoy the ride. (6/7)



PS-- I almost got in a fist fight with co-creator Rob Liefeld in San Diego at a Dark Horse Comics party. He insulted my Hawaiian shirt and I insulted his crappy drawing anatomy. . .

Trailer