life is short

Saw Birds of Prey yesterday. Very convinced if you don't like it you just hate fun. It was as misandrist and delightful as I hoped. A++, would recommend.

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Honestly, I would have been happy if the movie just didn't suck. But I'm so glad it's actually good, and takes its craft seriously. I want to see all the people who worked on this movie go into Hollywood thrive and do well, because there is so much talent and care here that would benefit the industry at large. 

I finally got around to watching Solo. In many ways it is exactly what I expected. All the shit that I didn't need explained but got told about anyways (the Kessel run, how Han got the Falcon, his youth on Corellia) was fine, I guess? The only thing that even mildly lived up to the hype was Donglover as Lando. 

I'm annoyed Thandie Newton's character dies in the first act. I would have much rather had her as Han's mentor into the criminal underground than Woody Harrelson. Qi'ra wasn't really interesting until it became obvious her path would diverge from Han's. I feel like there's at least a tie-in novella about her working with Darth Maul and his sekrit involvement with the Crimson Dawn.

I need appx a thousand fics about how Lando and L3 met and how he fell madly in love with her, as well as the story about how when he gets back on the Falcon you can hear him talking to her. 

I adore Enfys Nest and I wish her connection to the Rebellion was a little more fleshed out in something other than the novelization. She met Saw Gerrera and Jyn Erso at one point, and I'd love to see that explored. Maybe Leia runs into her after the establishment of the New Republic, idk. She's cool and I want to see more of her.

It's not that I don't like Captain Marvel, but I think I wanted to like her much more than I actually do, and my time with Marvel comics and the MCU has been sort of a slow coming to terms with that. I don't have the same sort of visceral emotional connection with Carol the same way I do with Kamala Khan or Natasha. Which is not to say it's anybody's fault, but I was much less hype about the movie than many of my friends. I wasn't actually going to see it opening weekend but it was at a theater near a place I needed to run an errand, so why not.

It was much more emotionally affecting than I expected. People are going to say things like "Oh this should have been released ten years ago, now it's just the market catching up." I don't disagree that we should have had this way sooner than we got it (especially considering both Black Panther and Captain Marvel got pushed back to make room for Spider-Man: Homecoming), but it doesn't mean we still don't need it now.

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At the movie theater, there was a young boy (10-ish) who was so hype to see the movie. On the way out, we saw another little boy in a Captain Marvel outfit. It was good for the spirit.

Black Panther. God. What a beautiful, important, joyous thing this movie is. Everybody should see it: not just little black and brown kids who need to be shown that they can be heroic and superheroes, but also racist white adults who need their minds opened with crowbars if necessary. This isn't the first good MCU movie, but it is the first one that we can honestly, truly call a masterpiece.

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I have seen a Star War!

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C and I are trying to watch more movies this year. I don't know why 1.5 to 2 hours of a self-contained thing somehow seems more difficult than the equivalent time of TV episodes, but it does. 

Also I am trying to log more movies that I have watched. For some reason I will faithfully log every book I start reading, but I will forget to do so for movies. I have a Letterboxd account if you're truly curious. (As it's mostly for record keeping, I rarely review.)

So, here is a quick run-down of movies I've seen in the past month.

Hidden Figures is delightful and inspiring. Taraji, Olivia, and Janelle are amazing, I was really annoyed by Kevin Costner's white savior character, and I was delighted to see Aldis Hodge and Mahershala Ali, who I was not expecting. I was impressed by Kirsten Dunst's white lady character, who is instantly recognizable from your Facebook acquaintances and replies to black people on Twitter. The whole "I know you think I hate you but I don't" exchange was brutal. I don't want to say it was simplistic, but it was very straightforward. That probably served the message of the story better, but it felt a little glossed over, too pat to be real history.

John Wick is a really enjoyable action movie once you get past the upsetting animal death. There's a surprising amount of worldbuilding in it, stuff that's just on the edges and makes you want more exploration. The stunts are so fucking well done, which I suppose is unsurprising given that the directors were Keanu Reeves's stunt doubles on The Matrix. There is deep thought and attention paid to the fight choreography, and Wick's economy of movement in killing is very reminiscent of Kurosawa's samurai. There's never a wasted punch, kick, or shot. Wick actually reloads his gun when the clip runs out, which I don't think I've ever seen in an action movie before. 

This is all well and good, but there's also a ridiculous gleeful spirit of camp to the movie. I was telling C that it reminded me a lot of Boondock Saints (which is a stupid movie that I love a great deal), and not just because Willem Dafoe is in it. The dialogue is hilarious and overwrought, and some fine actors (Ian McShane among them) get to chew the scenery with great relish. I can't remember the last time I had so much fun watching a movie.

Keanu is best paired with John Wick in my opinion, because it's a completely different kind of stupid and also parodies John Wick. Also there's a really cute kitten in it. 

I finally got the chance to watch Moonlight, after hearing raves about it for months. I thought I would be overwhelmed and amazed, based on people's reactions, but it's the sort of movie that's quiet and understated, wondrous because it's so subtle. It feels like the sort of fanfiction I have always wanted to write, the minutiae of gestures indicative of things that run deep. C called it just artsy enough, which I think is fair. It's so beautifully shot, and I love the way the harsh fluorescents contrast with the dark blue palette.

There is so much craft and regard put into this movie, and every character is treated as complex. I wrote this before about Luke Cage, but I think it applies here as well. This is what happens when you let people make art about themselves. You get beautiful, nuanced, thoughtful media that everybody else can watch and appreciate, and it is a fucking joy. 

I have seen a Civil War!

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CAP 2 WAS GREAT. SO GREAT Y’ALL. IT EXCEEDED MOST OF MY EXPECTATIONS AND I CAN’T WAIT TO SEE IT AGAIN.

Other people have said lots smarter things than I’m going to say about it, and you should check that out. musesfool  made a big list here.

Things I really loved, and haven’t really seen other people discuss:

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I went and saw The Hunger Games, and good god I should always see movies on Sunday mornings. There's no people! The help is cheerful! It's awesome!

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