I watched Barton Fink for the first time last year and it is so damn good. The corridor on fire scene is something that should be considered an all-time iconic cinema moment, but I suppose the rest of the movie is just so idiosyncratic that it never garnered enough of an audience.

Carol Denvers was definitely thinly sketched, but at least:
- Larson and Jackson played off each other well. Even just her sass routine versus other characters at least gave her some agency and personality.
- Denvers was pretty much front and center the entire movie.

Regards character development, I found it even crazier that Shang-Chi himself was a complete cipher. Outside of the MCU that might be fine, but within it I can’t think of another Marvel protagonist who has had so little personality or actual character traits. Even worse because he’s surrounded on all sides by…

I do not remember a single frame of this movie. Not one composition. Obviously I recall the original cartoon vividly, but this, an utter void in the memory bank.

The subplot is fascinating as it’s a case of Hollywood messily trying to shoehorn old school movie tropes into modern day political sensibilities.

That’s true, and speaking of the Mummy I do feel for the likes of Brendan Fraser who suffered lifelong crippling injuries for our enjoyment.

Yeah, it worked as well as it could have! Romance aside, the back and forth between them was indeed great.

This movie wasn’t too bad as a family theater outing. Though I’m a sucker for anything early-mid 20th century set and in the adventure genre (see: The Mummy, Indiana Jones). The cast were having an infectious good time and it didn’t feel too snarky or meta like most blockbusters feel they have to be these days (even…

Yeah, he definitely has his wheelhouse. Granted I haven’t seen too many Rock movies, but Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Moana and Jungle Cruise I think showcase why it’s the case. He’s built like a cartoonish tank but he’s genuinely affable, is softly spoken and has a warmth to him. Schwarznegger never came off any…

I had to laugh at how long it took the Rock’s character to explain that backstory too. It was so awkwardly paced.

There certainly was a lot to like about the film! And yeah one thing was the real sincere passion I could see between the actors (damn it, RIP Boseman) and director for (most of) the material and the significance of the film. It really felt like an earnest celebration, with a palpable warmth that probably only exists…

I liked it? But it still felt very Marvel-palette to me. Also:

Thanos really is this movie, and Josh Brolin really makes Thanos. The gravitas he brings to utterly insane notions to the point where it sounds like Socratic wisdom is remarkable.

(before I’m accused of total Marvel snobbery: I also greatly love IM1, the Captain America trilogy, GOTG1, Endgame [mostly] and Ragnarok. The others aren’t bad by any stretch but they do tend to wash over me upon rewatch)

I don’t care much for comic books, would give the MCU a pitchfork-approving 6.8/10 overall and agree, mostly, with Scorsese’s non-cinema accusations... That all said, I love Infinity War immensely, and it’s almost all down to it actually having something resembling an atmosphere, A FEELING, rather than the (mostly)…

This is another thing I didn’t address, which is, and this might be controversial, but I see Luke drawing the saber on Kylo as ambiguous: it could be an intent to kill, but it could equally be seen as defensive - one drawing a gun on someone you think might harm you back to contain them. Luke just had a crazy fever…

Yeah look, it doesn’t make sense when you look at it broadly (why are Jabba’s pig guards less worthy of mercy than genocidal Vader, for example). But RotJ is blatantly trying to show Luke’s ‘peaceful’ negotiation approach regarding Vader’s fate as the noble path, while Obi-Wan and Yoda try to convince him otherwise.

Whatever else the movie did wrong, the idea of ‘TLJ ruining Luke’ from ‘hardcore’ fans is the most hilarious misunderstanding of Star Wars characters, lore and philosophy they could muster.

Emmerich never made a good movie? Maybe I’m too much into disaster porn, but 2012 is a fucking cinema riot and almost a piece of accidental art, where Emmerich throws out any hypotheticals and decides to just have the Earth effectively discombobulate. Say what you will about Emmerich but he knows scale and set-pieces.…

Yeah I wasn’t implying a similarity just the idea that it may be a case of difference in national humor.