Recent theatrical viewings

[Rev. Powell]

KKurosawa really seems to have made "underwhelming" horror/thrillers the mission statement of his career. I like parts of all his films (which I've seen) yet only CHARISMA congeals for me into a great film... I realize most people say CURE. He keeps makin' 'em and people keep watchin' 'em, but is the genre any fun for him?

Maybe not, since this was not horror (though he kept in some jump scares). If the first half of the movie matched the black comedy/action tone of the second half, I think this might have been a success.

I like (but don't love) CURE.

[M.10rda]

CAUGHT STEALING (2025):
First half of a drive-in double bill. A straightforward thriller that takes place in a mostly realistic NYC generally bound by laws of physics was probably a good pivot for Darren Aranofsky at this point in his career. Although its advertising kinda' sells it like a wacky comedy, it's a pretty gritty and tense thriller with occasional dashes of wry humor. It reminded me most of RUNNING SCARED, the taut '06 Vera Farmiga thriller, but one of the plot twists and the presence of Griffin Dunne in a supporting role also make me think AFTER HOURS was an influence. I didn't see Austin Butler as Elvis and didn't care to, but he does a good job carrying this film. (Ironically he looks nothing like Elvis here but very much like Elvis-enthusiast Nic Cage, as well as a little bit like Ryan Gosling.) All the acting is good. I don't usually like Matt Smith at all, but he is used very well here. And - no spoilers and try to go into this blind if possible - exceptional casting of Liev Schreiver and Vincent D'Onofrio.   

4/5

CAT-CENTRIC SPOILERS FOR CAT LOVERS:
The incredibly awesome cat is threatened and is mildly injured (offscreen) but escapes fatal harm.   

[jimpickens]

Deranged the 1974 movie loosely based on ED Gein pretty effective although not as accurate as the 2001 movie but still scary

[M.10rda]

SUPERMAN (2025): Superman, aided by Krypton the dog and the "Justice Gang," battles Lex Luthor. Sloppily-plotted, lore-heavy, obvious, by-the-comic-book feature enacting exactly the formula you expect from James Gunn. Disclaimer: I don't generally like superhero movies, and particularly not Superman movies, and Gunn is very hit or miss for me--when he's being lazy, as he is here, he's a miss. 2.5/5.

SUPERMAN (2025) I thought I'd balance the Rev's negative review with my own thoughts on this film.
The phrase "feel-good movie" is overused, to be sure, but I walked out of this movie with a smile on my face and hope in my heart.  Doing the right thing because it IS the right thing, and because you are striving to be a good person, is what this movie is all about.  The world needs more of that right now. 5/5

Second-half of last night's double-bill:
SUPERMAN (2025):
Good (the best?) Lois Lane, good/offbeat Ma & Pa Kent (I mean, Pruitt Taylor Vince?!), very good job utilizing all of the minor characters hanging around the Daily Planet and LexCorp (Jimmy Olsen = MVP!), nice job re/introducing the Justice "Gang" efficiently and w/ no fanfare whatsoever, thereby circumventing all potential "Release The Snyder Cut"-style nonsense. Good job starting (well) in media res and only alluding to necessary lore. I appreciate that Mister Terrific looks like he does in the comics (Edi Gathegi slays it), and Metamorpho looks like he does in the comics, and Superman & Supergirl look like they look in the comics - all frankly improbable or even silly, yet realism be damned!

I don't think James Gunn was being lazy here - I think he was being responsible w/ the entire future of the WB/DC franchise, and his career. His broader/wackier instincts were put to outstanding use in the original GOTG (a smash hit) and THE SUICIDE SQUAD (a critical hit but widely considered a financial failure). I prefer that Gunn - apprentice to Lloyd Kaufman on TROMEO & JULIET. But I respect Gunn's ability to submerge some of the more overtly combative qualities of his filmmaking in favor of superficial homogeneity, while amping up some of his more significantly subversive leanings, which eventually are impossible to ignore.

I overheard the following complaint from a vendor at a recent comic convention: Why was Lex Luthor so angry instead of funny? While I can't think of one legitimate rationale for Luthor ever being "funny", his anger and unvarnished malice felt very apropos to me. I'll quote user "Reece" from Letterboxd here:
>>>so nice for a superhero movie villain to actually be evil and not just "bad guy because the movie says he is bad"...
This was exactly my response to the High Evolutionary from GOTG3 - easily the most actively despicable villain in any Avengersverse film I've seen. Gunn made me loathe him and desperately want to see him defeated and (more) punished/humiliated - as he does in SUPERMAN w/ Luthor and Vladimir Johnson or whatever the President of Boravia is named. This doesn't strike me as "lazy" on Gunn's part. He's striving to get viewers to connect emotionally, via onscreen dynamics that parallel ones IRL, in a genre that has become largely mechanical and indifferent.

A messianic Superman such as those in previous films and many comics might come up short in conflict w/ Gunn's antagonists. Instead we get David Corenswet in a passable performance as a very distinct and interesting Superman (as written). He's prone to anger and has acted rashly in the past, but he clearly cares about every last innocent living thing jeopardized by the mayhem he attracts. Lois mocks Clark Kent at one point for identifying as "punk" though the bands he claims to like are pedestrian, commercial pop-punk bands that Lois sneers at. Then back at Ma and Pa's place, in a couple understated moments, Lois realizes that young Clark Kent was a true believer - as punk as it probably got in Smallville, KS. Almost everyone on Earth hates him at that point and he'd be justified to stay home in bed. Instead he shrugs off his ubermensch destiny and goes toe-to-toe with the world's wealthiest and most powerful fascists to protect a bunch of raggedy-looking poor people. Ultimately Superman doesn't want to badly hurt anyone, even the baddest bad guys, but he'll stand aside taciturnly while Hawkgirl and Krypto work 'em over. I call this a massive improvement over WW84.......

4/5
I missed Uncle Lloyd's cameo this time but I'm confident he's in there somewhere.