This lacks the first film's more inspired and streamlined narrative, partly resulting in a mixed bag for Vol. 2. Gunn's mostly good at enriching the Guardians as people, but often slacks in finding creative, natural ways of doing so. His task is further weighed down by the unevenness of his story threads. Everything on Ego's planet works well enough and deftly mixes a human pulse with Gunn's trademark humor, but the Ravagers plot feels more like a big-budget cartoon, despite the…
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Doctor Strange 2016
Like Age of Ultron, this film's got my two halves squabbling. On one hand, its narrative structure is too rigidly basic for its own good and leaves arguably important character growth to time skips and the all-too-mandatory Marvel quips. In contrast, its thematic core is dense and layered enough to make the happenings refreshingly dynamic. One can appreciate a straightforward heros' journey while another can ponder gray areas of faith, loyalty, and mortality. The visual effects are an eye feast,…
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In the Mood for Love 2000
My foray back into foreign/arthouse cinema was as much of a jolt as it was replenishing.
This is easily one of the most meticulously crafted films I've ever seen. Simple blink-and-you-miss-it gestures like a cigarette suck, a hand on the stair railing, excessive chewing, or a passing hand on the corner of a wall all communicate so much character. The richness is expanded upon by keeping us in the dark about the underlying truth and relying on Chow and Chan's…
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Ant-Man 2015
As charmingly human as it is structurally humdrum, the latter of which I suspect became more overt with Edgar Wright's departure as director. Still, his story-centric philosophy remains amongst the endlessly rewritten script and lends itself to plot and character dynamics that are simple yet mostly functional. Add plenty of caricatural humor and some frankly dumb yet cartoonish heist-film DNA, Ant-Man avoids the MCU's "dusty drawer" and takes on a life of its own.
Peña is the standout, yet Rudd, Lilly, and…
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