Tag: Brie Larson

Movie review: “Captain Marvel” (2019)

Posted on by Eric

captain-marvel

“What is this?”

“It’s a S.H.I.E.L.D. logo.”

“Does announcing your identity, with branded clothing, help with the covert part of the job?”

“…Said the space soldier who’s wearing a rubber suit.”

Captain Marvel, the latest but hardly last in the current glut of attempts to shoehorn yet another theoretically resonant new standalone superhero into our already righteously taxed moviegoing consciousness – bookended at the box office by DC’s Aquaman and, gulp, Shazam! – arrives at a precarious moment for the formerly sturdy Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), whose equally hyped and hype-worthy Infinity War event saw an unprecedented, slightly ridiculous number of Avengers assemble across multiple worlds in a last ditch effort to beat back the intergalactic threat posed by jewelry enthusiast/genocidal sociologist/city planner run amok Thanos. Sorry, but I think we’ve evolved well past spoiler territory here. Continue reading “Movie review: “Captain Marvel” (2019)” →

Movie review: “Kong: Skull Island” (2017)

Posted on by Eric

new-banner-art-for-kong-skull-island

“You heard of the U.S.S. Lautmann? Neither did the public. Out of a thousand young men on that ship, I was the only survivor. They told my family she was sunk in battle, but I know what I saw. It had no conscience. No reasoning. It just…destroyed. I’ve spent the last thirty years trying to prove the truth of what I learned that day. This planet doesn’t belong to us.”

King Kong’s rugged origins as oversized simian emperor of the lush, forbidding, prehistoric death trap Skull Island constitute an archetypal adventure story that has rarely ever shared the screen to the degree it deserved, despite being a prominent aspect of almost all the big ape’s previous cinematic incarnations. It’s a straightforward though hydra-headed equation that can set forth with confidence in most any direction a fairly competent, fairly ambitious director might choose: Man against monster; monster against monster; man against the unknown; monster against monsters (squee!); man against the elements; man against nature (however unfairly extra-natural the island’s odds often seem); even man against man, assuming it doesn’t slow things up too much. Continue reading “Movie review: “Kong: Skull Island” (2017)” →

Movie review: “Trainwreck” (2015)

Posted on by Eric

trainwreck

“I’ve been with a lot of guys.”

“I don’t care! I…how many?”

“I don’t know. How many girls have you slept with?”

“I’ve slept with three women.”

“Me too! I have…slept with three women too.”

“How many guys?”

“What…like, this year?”

To a successful stand-up, a well-honed comedic persona can be an invaluable tool – part battle armor, part Kabuki makeup, part magician’s assistant. Such a persona, historically, particularly becomes the provocateur – your Kinisons, your Dice-Clays, and so forth. The late, great Richard Pryor was such a gifted mimic and storyteller that he could try on new roles two at a time ten times a night and still be hailed for his truth-telling authenticity*. Amy Schumer has enjoyed a meteoric, in many ways fascinating, rise over the past five years from relative unknown to buzzworthy stand-up** to television star to trending pop culture force. Through it all, the stage persona that has allowed her to not only reach but charm a significant audience – largely on the strength of, let’s face it, objectively filthy material – has remained more or less intact. Continue reading “Movie review: “Trainwreck” (2015)” →