Movie Review: 65 (PG13 - 93 minutes)

I love a good dinosaur movie – the problem is, they are few and far between.  As both a positive and negative, the Jurassic Park franchise has spoiled audiences with really fantastic practical dinosaur effects mixed with near-flawless CGI dinosaurs. That sets the bar really high for anything else promising dinosaur action.

65 tells the story of Mills, a pilot with a loving wife and ailing daughter.  In order to get the money they need for her very expensive treatments, he agrees to take on a two year job piloting a ship of folks from his planet to another.  While en route, the ship encounters an asteroid (those asteroids, always causing havoc for traveling ships) and breaks apart as he attempts an emergency landing on a nearby planet.  It just so happens that planet is our earth, 65 million years ago, and that asteroid mess he ran through is the planet killer that’s about to slam into the Yucatan and end the stretch of dino-dominance.

Once on the planet, we get varying degrees of Pitch Black-style setup as Mills realizes all the passengers are dead and decides to not call for help, but then finds one passenger has survived.  It’s a young girl and since she is from a different area of his planet and his universal translator is broken, they do not understand each other.  She gives him a reason to keep going, call for help, and search for the part of the ship that had the rescue vessel in it. The good news is that its intact and they can get off this planet, the bad news is that it’s on the next mountain over, the space between is filled with dinos, geysers, quicksand, and other scary hazards.  Oh, and that asteroid is still on its way.

The movie is written and directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods.  I appreciated the run time, any longer than an hour and a half on this would have been way too much. The action is good, and I liked that the story and character development was done through flashbacks and video watching. We learn that Mills’s daughter died after he launched on this mission and that adds to why he was so quick to give up once they crashed. 

Both Adam Driver as Mills and Ariana Greenblatt as Koa are great, I really enjoyed the translator being broken so they had to work to understand each other.  Driver is expectedly competent at portraying a man who is capable of action, but definitely aching and blaming himself about the loss of his daughter. Greenblatt is even better since we don’t understand her either, but she clearly communicates what she is all about – feisty and invested.  I loved that she had to rescue Mills a couple of times from both quicksand and help with climbing a cliff. It made their relationship more of a partnership and more engaging to watch. 

I was a little disappointed by the dinosaurs themselves. Of the various species portrayed in the movie, I recognized one for sure (oviraptor), another one as a maybe (Dsungaripterus), and then the others were a little confusing, but I assume that was a T-Rex near the end. They were all the same shades of gray and mostly appeared in the dark.  Again, we are spoiled by Jurassic Park which worked with paleontologists to ensure their dinos are mostly correct.  Here, some of them just seemed like the team went ‘close enough’ and called it a day.  But I did love the oviraptor – always one of my favorites. 

Overall, the movie is quick and fun, with lots of action. I loved the fact that the impending asteroid impact put a ticking clock on their efforts to get to the ship, and I really loved how they worked together on their adventure. 

6 out of 10 – perfectly fine and certainly entertaining enough, and reminds you to watch Pitch Black  again. 

Movie Review: Ant-Man and the Wasp Quantumania (PG13 – 124 minutes)

 It’s been a few years since Ant-Man was the catalyst to help bring everyone back in Endgame, and Quantumania begins with Scott Lang truly living his best life.

He saunters around town, meeting fans, and doing appearances. His relationship with Hope Van Dyne is going great as she is working to run her father’s foundation.  He is working to rebuild his relationship with his daughter Cassie – since he missed a crucial five years and she has become a bona fide social justice warrior in the meantime (seemingly with help from Hank and Janet).  All in all, things are looking up for Ant-Man.

He then learns that while Janet has been reluctant to discuss her time in the Quantum realm, Cassie (who is now a electrical engineer/quantum realm scientist?) has created a beacon of sorts that will send a signal down to the microscopic realm. Panicked, Janet asks her to stop – but they all end up sucked into the Quantum Realm.

While down there, Scott and Cassie meet a group of freedom fighters who are under attack from a cruel and conquering invader, while Hank, Janet, and Hope meet up with some old friends of Janet’s from her time down there who vary from odd to menacing.  Eventually, they all get to meet Kang and learn that he was exiled to the realm by all the other Kangs (he regularly interacts with all his variants from the multi-verse).  Angry at being exiled and desperate for revenge, he enlists the Ant team to help him get what he needs to get out. 

Like the other two movies, this one is directed by Peyton Reed and does have a similar tone – due mostly to Paul Rudd, these movies tend to be a little more light-hearted.  Rudd is still fantastic as Scott – an Avenger by association who loves the attention but is also a genuinely good person who wants to help. Rudd is so charming and fun he is wonderful to watch even when the story wanders a little.

The other Ant team folks are equally good – unfortunately there is less for Evangeline Lilly’s Wasp to do here then she has had in the past, but the central story is Scott connecting with his daughter, so I guess it makes sense?  She’s so great as the Wasp that I found myself missing some great action sequences for her.  Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer are fine – but there are moments when Janet is struggling with the sudden reconciliation of things she has hidden and it reminded me how good she can be as a villain and I hope we get to see her do that somewhere else soon.  Katheryn Newton is good as Cassie – eager and determined with perhaps more confidence than skill at super-heroing, but she will get there.

The team of freedom fighters our heroes encounter in the quantum realm are charming with Katy O’Brian as Jentorra, William Jackson Harper as the extremely irritated mind-reader, Quaz, and David Dastmalchian stealing multiple scenes as Veb – the only bright spot in not having Scott’s Ex-Con crew in this is that Dastmalchian gets to be Veb, but I still wanted he, Michael Pena, and TI to show up at least once. Especially to have Pena summarize what happened in the previous movies.

The true star of this movie is Jonathan Majors. From the moment the menacing, charming, and engaging Kang shows up, he perfectly chews all the scenery and makes sure you know and understand he is going to be the big bad for the next phase of films. He’s gleefully determined to eliminate anyone who stands in his way, and I cannot wait to see what he does next – both post credit sequences were Kang heavy – literally.

Overall, the movie is fun and non-committal. It may not be required viewing for casual Marvel fans, but I definitely enjoyed it.  Because so much of it is spent in the Quantum Realm, it was far more CGI-loaded than the other Ant-Man films, which have felt a little more street-level real-world. That is a bit of a detriment, but the quantum sequences did look great.  

8 out of 10

No, I didn’t mention Modok. Did we need Modok? Not really, but honestly – I liked the way they did it!

2023 Oscars

 

It is already time for the Oscars and this year I have my lowest percentage on the Best Picture nominees that I have had in many years – just two of the ten!  However, most of them are easily accessible on streaming services now, so I will try to at least fast forward through them prior to the ceremony.

Top Gun Maverick:  I just never got around to this one. It’s streaming now on Paramount Plus I believe, and I still haven’t made the time.  I was never a huge fan of the first Top Gun and this one just never did anything for me. It is possible I will check it out before the ceremony, but chances are slim.  I understand it looks great and was a big blockbuster, but I figure once you’ve seen Tom Cruise fly a plane really fast once, you’ve seen it enough.

Triangle of Sadness: Not going to lie to you – I genuinely had not heard of this until this month.  Apparently it is about a cruise for the super-rich and is a commentary on wealth and class.  It’s currently streaming on Hulu – so it’s even easier to check out! Will I? Probably not!

Elvis: Baz Luhrmann’s take on Elvis’s story and his relationship with Colonel Tom Parker that required Austin Butler to dive so deep into Elvis-speak that he just talks that way permanently now. An interesting side fact that seems to be what is discussed more than the movie itself.  It’s on HBOMax, and I have liked some of Baz Luhrmann’s pieces in the past, well, I liked Strictly Ballroom and Moulin Rouge, the others, not so much.  I never really enjoyed Elvis or his music, so I did not feel especially motivated to see this one.

Women Talking:  Directed by Sarah Polley, This is the obligatory Frances McDormand depressing Oscar piece and in this one, she and other women play members of an isolated religious colony. The men have drugged and raped the women and this features them discussing what to do.  This sounds very upsetting, and while the performances might be amazing – it’s going to be a very tough watch.  You can stream it on Amazon Prime.

The Fabelmans: This is Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical movie about his upbringing and his love of movies that lead him to become one of our most notable movie directors.  I did get this trailer confused with the trailer for Armageddon Time and thought they were the same movie for a bit. You can rent it on Amazon Prime and I may check this one out at some point. Spielberg is a great director, and I am intrigued about his presentation of his youth and formation.

Tar: In this movie, Cate Blanchett plays Lydia Tar, who is considered one of the greatest living composer/conductors. As she is preparing to recording the symphony of her life, the universe seems to be against her. This is one of those movies where as soon as I saw the trailer, I figured it would get nominated. It’s a showcase piece for Blanchett, who deserves it – but I still have no interest in watching it.

Everything Everywhere All At Once:  I actually saw this in the theater when it first came out in April of last year and gave it 9 out of 10 – that’s how ahead of the game I was on this one!  I loved it and thought it was different and lovely and interesting and fun.  But I did think it was a version of The One with Jet Li.  Michelle Yeoh is a treasure and Ke Huy Quan is incredible. The movie is complicated and visually amazing, but at its core is about the love and appreciation of family. If multiverse surrealism is not your cup of tea, this may be too much for you – but it is definitely worth a watch. It has a limited rerelease back in theaters.  Also, Michelle Yeoh is a lock for best actress and man, does she earn it in this piece.

All Quiet on the Western Front: Yes, this is the fourth movie version of this, because it’s a proven work. This version ups the quality of the visuals and features Daniel Bruhl, so if you want another version, or enjoy WW1 movies, this one is for you. Definitely not for me.

The Banshees of Inisherin: Martin McDonagh takes Brendan Gleesan and Colin Farrell out of Bruges and dumps them in an isolated Irish town where Gleesan’s character decides to end their friendship. This is another one where the trailer made it very clear this would get nominated for multiple awards. It feels crafted as an actor showpiece, and again, both these guys are great and deliver wonderful performances, but not in something I want to see. It’s on HBOMax now, so you can watch these two slowly hate each other in the comfort of your own home!

Avatar The Way of Water: the second of the list I saw in the theater!  I honestly did not write a review of it, because I could not think of anything to say. It looks great. It’s beautiful and I saw it in 3D, so it looked even better. James Cameron really stepped up his game on the visuals.  In terms of the story, well, it felt the same as the original, so nothing new. I tuned out anytime the characters were standing around talking and the stunning visuals were not the centerpiece.  Plus, the beautiful establishment of the whale creatures as characters the people spoke with and related to only to brutally murder a mother and calf was just too much for me and felt unnecessary. We already understand how terrible the colonists are – did we need that to prove it again? And how dare you rope Jemaine Clement into that!

In terms of my favorites from last year, in case you were wondering what I saw instead of those eight others, here’s my list – in reverse order of love!

The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent: Nicholas Cage plays Nic Cage hired by Pedro Pascal to come hang out with him and chaos ensues.  This movie is so random and fun and shows that Nic Cage can poke fun at some of the ridiculousness of his own life.  It’s bizarre and charming and definitely worth checking out.

Fresh: I happened across this on Hulu and I have to tell you, what a random and terrifying little horror/thriller gem. I do not typically enjoy horror, but I do enjoy Sebastian Stan, so I watched this and was glad I did.

Everything Everywhere All At Once: As mentioned – I really liked this movie. It’s rare that the Oscars list and my list cross over, but this is really fantastic and I recommend it.

Here clustered at the top are the MCU releases for the year – Yes, I loved all of them. I found Thor Love and Thunder fun and silly. I really enjoyed Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, which added some Sam Raimi horror/comedy to what could have started to feel stale. But the absolute top of the year for me was Black Panther Wakanda Forever. Angela Basset is definitely going to win Best Supporting Actress because my goodness – she is incredible in this.  I loved the movie as a whole, even though it was not flawless (there’s way too much Riri – didn’t need all that), but the introduction of Namor, his background and people – the stunning costumes and settings, the way Ryan Coogler was able to handle the near-impossible task of the loss of Chadwick Boseman while allowing Letita Wright’s Shuri to step up and fully into her leadership role on multiple levels – it was fantastic and I loved it.  My favorite of the year.

Just about everything I saw last year was at least entertaining – there were a few that were not great, but nothing I hated!  Jurassic World Dominon had some cool dinosaurs and brought back the original trio – but slowed itself down with side quests (locusts?) and too many humans.  Death on the Nile was slow but had some fun bits. Moonfall was ridiculous but featured some really cool shots of the moon lurking closer and then rising in a really intimidating way as it got too close!  AmbuLAnce had some quality downtown LA Bayhem. And Morbius, oh Morbius – what a beautiful mess that was!  Certainly a character Jared Leto was meant to play, but not entirely sure that movie knew what it was doing.

There’s a quick summary of last year cinematically and hopefully provides you a couple of things to add to your watchlist!