Library books

I borrowed Ducks from the library after it recently won the Eisner.  While I was there, I perused the new graphic novels section and picked up a trio of books that all happened to be relationship-based stories.  I’m a sucker for a good romance, do any of these qualify?

Chef’s Kiss

A trite made-for-Netflix romantic ‘comedy’ about a college grad who takes an assistant chef position when his dreams of becoming a writer don’t pan out.  He falls in love with the sous chef, learns to love cooking, and deals with the drama of overbearing parents and a roommate/best friend who starts to feel left out of this new life.  It’s painful in its earnestness, and I found myself completely bored.

The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend

Autobiographical story about a college student and her first girlfriend.  Things are blissful for the month that they’re together, then things fall apart when they go long distance.  The rest of the story deals with her four year-long mourning period and journey of self-discovery.  Slightly better than Chef’s Kiss, but Mieri Hiranishi’s insistence on drawing herself as far more unattractive than everyone around her completely took me out of the story.  I get what she’s going for, and it does a good job of conveying her self image, but it makes for a much less enjoyable reading experience.  

Hiranishi’s first-relationship euphoria is well conveyed, as is her post-breakup anguish.  But while I found myself relating to both, the story still lacked the magic note that would make it resonate in my feels.  

Walk Me to the Corner

A fifty-eight year-old woman falls in love with another woman, which leads to the dissolution of her thirty year-old marriage.  It’s got the makings of an interesting story, but I couldn’t stand the protagonist, who can’t get over the fact that her ex-husband ends up in a relationship with a former student.  She’s the one who cheated first, but gets all petty and jealous when he moves on with his life?  I can’t deal.  

So I’m 0-3 with these.  I keep trying these indie comics hoping for something spectacular, always forgetting that I’m usually disappointed.  Sigh.  Hopefully Ducks will prove itself worthy of the accolades. 

New movies

Oppenheimer

Christopher Nolan makes technically proficient movies, and they look amazing, but aside from The Dark Knight, I’ve never wanted to watch one a second time.  (And that one’s because of Heath Ledger’s singular performance, not because of the direction.)  I find his films emotionally distant, and that works for some directors, it doesn’t for Nolan.  

So much of this movie doesn’t work.  Robert Downey Jr’s a caricatured mustache-twirling villain.  Florence Pugh’s role is titillating but unnecessary.  Emily Blunt plays the generic disapproving wife.  The splicing in of cosmic, fiery dream sequences adds nothing.  It’s never fun to watch bullies do their thing with no repercussions, and that takes up half of the film here.  

What’s good, then?  Cillian Murphy is excellent in his understated way.  Matt Damon steals every scene he’s in.  The Trinity test is a work of art.  Any time the narrative focused on the Manhattan Project.

Looking at the reviews, I appear to be in the minority.  But there’s no way this is the masterpiece that I keep reading about.  It’s not even in the top half of his filmography.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? No

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Fine

Underrated

The Steph Curry documentary on Apple TV.  It basically covers his 4th championship season and his years at Davidson.  It’s not bad, but nothing that can’t also be found in a few youtube clips.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? No

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Nice

Movies

Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part 1

Very, very well done.  Let’s get to it.

What I liked:

• Hayley Atwell.  I will love her in anything she’s in.

• Rebecca Ferguson continues to be the best part of these movies.  I love her even more than Hayley Atwell.  Ilsa Faust as a sniper continues to bowl me over.  That little look she gives before the sword fight on the bridge.  The moment she decides to drop her shields and be completely content and happy with Ethan Hunt on the balcony in Venice.

• The Rome chase scene.  The doughnuts by the Spanish Steps were hilarious.  

• Pom Klementieff.  Only the second role I’ve seen her in, and this is completely different from her ditziness as Mantis.  She’s basically Asian Harley Quinn here, and I love it.  The babyface turn feels cliche and unearned, but I’m not going to complain if it means we see more of her in Part 2.

• Nice to see Henry Czerny back as Kittridge, Cary Elwes as Denlinger, and Charles Parnell as random guy in the room.

• Ving Rhames and Simon Pegg are always welcome.

• The whole Abu Dhabi sequence.  Masterful cutting and use of soundtrack.  Same with the faceoff at the club.

• The Venice chase scene was good until the ending.

• The bike skydive.  The whole train-falling-off-the-tracks sequence.

What I didn’t like:

• They killed Ilsa.  Worst decision ever.  Can’t express how much I hate this.

• Killer AI.  They’re going with Skynet for the big bad?  I get that AI’s becoming more and more of an actual thing, but I still have a problem taking this seriously.

• Gabriel doesn’t work as a flunky in any way.  A generic monologuing villain who fails to intimidate, regardless of the results.

• Shea Whigham is completely useless as Special Agent Fultiley Chases Tom Cruise.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? Yes

Rating: Really good

How have my ranking changed?

1. 5 (Same) (Opera, Hanging plane, Underwater, Motorcycle chase)

2. 1 (Up 1)

3. 7 (New)

4. 4 (Down 2) (Prison break, Building climb)

5. 3 (Up 1) (Vatican)

6. 6 (Down 1) (I’m probably the only person in the world who ranks Fallout this low)

7. 2

Portrait of a Lady on Fire

I’ve heard so much about this movie, finally got to check it out.  

It’s beautifully made.  Noemie Merlant, in particular, blew me away with her subtle performance.  Her eyes are absolutely arresting, and I spent the whole movie trying to recall who she reminds me of.

It didn’t blow me away as much as I would have hoped, but the love story is touching, and there’s no doubt that the last couple of scenes will linger in my mind for a long time.  (I’m curious to see if they rank up there with Roman Holiday’s ending after there’s been some time to percolate.)

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Good

New comics

New comic!

Deep Cuts 3

Another slice of life.  Nothing special, but nothing bad.  Three issues to go, I’ll probably keep going with it.

Movies

The King

Timothee Chalamet stars as Henry V in this adaptation of Shakespeare’s Henriad.  It’s not a bad film, I certainly enjoyed myself.  Joel Edgerton is always likable, and he does a nice job as Falstaff here.  The Battle of Agincourt is pretty well done.  Sean Harris is completely distracting through no fault of his own, but I can only see Solomon Lane with him.

But it doesn’t elevate in any way, and my brain’s pretty much discarded it already.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Nice

Ford Versus Ferrari

I’ve heard so many good things about this movie, and I’d already seen the documentary The 24 Hour War, which covers the same story.  I came away disappointed, in that it wasn’t amazing.  But it’s not bad by any stretch, with the obviously top notch cast led by Matt Damon and Christian Bale.  I’m literally played the documentary again as I’m writing this, because I want the full story, not just from the dramatized POV of our two stars.  

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Nice

Glass Onion

I’ve been wanting to watch this ever since it came out, only getting to it just now.  The first act is absolutely delightful as Rian Johnson gathers all the players, sets the scene, and masterfully guides the audience to the beginning of the flashbacks.  

Things aren’t quite as exciting for the second act; All of the reveals are more “Ahhh, I see,” as opposed to “OMG, I can’t believe that’s what was going on!!!”  But this is also where Janelle Monae really shines.  I love her in Hidden Figures (where she performs one of my all time favorite monologues ever), and she doesn’t disappoint here, showcases amazing range that appears completely effortless.

The final act, where everything comes together, is kind of a mess, to be honest.  It’s not as cathartic as Johnson was probably shooting for, but it’s not a complete letdown.

Castwise, I was surprisingly underwhelmed; Kathryn Hahn, Dave Bautista, Lamar Odom Jr, Ed Norton, Kate Hudson, Jessica Henwick…It’s a stellar lineup, but no one really stood out.  Daniel Craig is the exception, he’s as beautifully hammy here as in the first movie, and I’m all for it.

I’m a little sad that the movie doesn’t live up to the levels of the first third, but I’ll happily watch as many of these as Johnson wants to crank out.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Pretty good

Movies

Extraction

Not a bad action film, with an amazing ‘oner.’  (Nothing’s really a oner anymore, they’re just really good at editing now.)  Chris Hemsworth is a fine star for this kind of thing, but I’ll never revisit this.  Shout out to Golshifteh Farahani, who shines in her support role as Chris’ “person in a chair.”

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Nice

Fast 9

The Fast franchise peaked with 5.  6 was really good.  (26 mile runway!)  7 was entertaining.  (Goodbye, Paul Walker)  8’s where they lost me.  (Submarine?  Really?)  Which meant that I didn’t watch 9 when it came out.  (I wouldn’t have even if it wasn’t in the middle of COVID.)  

Still, it seemed like something that’d be good to let run in the background when it showed up for free on some streaming site.  All I knew about this one is that they send a car into space.

It turns out that isn’t even the worst thing about this movie, which is insultingly bad.  That’s really all I’m going to say about it.  Insultingly bad.  

Regret watching? Yes

Would watch again? No

Would buy on DVD? No

Rating: Hated

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

I had no expectations for the first film.  I had every expectation for this one.  And it delivered on every front.  Just thinking about this movie makes me happy.  Let’s get to it:
Things I liked:

• Gwen Stacy.  This is her movie as much as Miles’, and I couldn’t be happier.  Everything about her works, from the voice acting by Hailee Steinfeld to her watercolored-universe.  Her upside-down scene with Miles is one of the most quietly beautiful sequences I’ve ever seen.  

• Spider-Man India.  His recap is absolutely joyful, and I love the idea of Mumbahattan

• All the cameos.  I probably caught 5% of them, and they’re awesome.

• Excellent use of the multiverse.  With the proliferation of the concept across the film industry, Spider-Verse uses it better than most.  Mixing in the live-action Spider-Men was sweet, though I was hoping for more than cameos.  I want to see Tom Holland in all his glory alongside the rest of the gang!

• Miles’ parents.  I continue to love Rio and Jeff, they’re supporting, loving, and firm.  They’re doing their best

• The cliffhanger worked for me; I had no idea it was coming, and can’t wait to see the next one.

• Great use of the Spot.  Portal work never fails to impress.  (See: Portal the game, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Incredibles 2)

• Miguel O’Hara was totally drawn w/ a John Romita Jr face.  It’s impossible to miss.

• This is a beautiful movie.  This is the only exhibit needed to show what makes animation special.

I’m not sure if it’s as good as the first movie, but it’s awfully close.

Regret watching? No

Would watch again? Yes

Would buy on DVD? Yes

Rating: Pure joy

New comics

New comics!

Barnstormers 1

The story by Scott Snyder is passable, it’s the art by Tula Lotay that’ll have me coming back for the next issue.  I bought this entirely on the strength of her work in Supreme: Blue Rose, and my confidence is entirely rewarded.

Dude.

New comics

Fables 159

Still a lot of setup, but Tinkerbell flexing her power (against her will) spices things up a bit.

Love Everlasting 9

This arc is lasting a lot longer than I would have imagined.  Joan’s been trapped in this life for a number of issues now, and I’m just waiting for something new to happen.  

Fantastic Four 9

Ryan North tries to make Alicia Masters useful in a combat situation, and it doesn’t really work, despite a valiant effort.  Last month I said this would be the last issue if it wasn’t good.  I’ll probably flip through the next issue in the store and decide from there.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold 2

Geez, the Tom King Joker story.  It’s amazing, what a difference inserting morbid jokes into the flow makes in ratcheting up the dark tension of the whole thing.  This is an amazingly gripping tale.  All the other stories are meh.

Captain Marvel 45-50

So I know I quit with issue 44, but when I heard that 50 was the last one, the completionist in me was compelled to finish out the run.  That was…kind of a mistake.  The Revenge of the Brood arc is really a weak note for Kelly Thompson to end on, and she’s really not helped by Sergio Davila’s art.  (If only fill in artist Javier Pina were the regular one.)  Thompson makes Binary’s death to be this massively traumatic event, but she failed to make Binary a compelling enough character to sell the tragedy.  (See her work with Natasha’s son in Black Widow for a successful example.)  As a result, it’s hard to take Carol’s crisis of confidence that seriously.

Still, this was overall an impressive 50-issue run by Thompson.  Kudos to her and the rest of the creative team.

Library books

Comics I borrowed from the library!

Superman: Son of Kal-El 7-15, Superman: Son of Kal-El Annual 1, Nightwing 89

I didn’t hate this when I dropped it w/ issue 5, only underwhelmed.  So I was happy to see what happened to Jon Kent in the subsequent months.  Basically a lot of battling against Henry Bendix (apparently the leader of Gamorra after his fall from grace as Weatherman of Stormfront).  I loved seeing the Revolutionaries from Taylor’s Suicide Squad, but they’re not given nearly as much of the spotlight as I would of liked.  (Not that I blame Taylor.  It’s not their book.)

I don’t regret dropping this, but it wasn’t a waste of time to come back to it like this.

It's an old joke, but Taylor always makes it funny.

...and then outdoes himself.

Reckless: Destroy All Monsters, Reckless: The Ghost in You

It’s been a while since I read an Ed Brubaker/Sean Phillips collab, and the standalone nature of their work means I didn’t have to worry about not knowing any of the continuity.  This is standard case-of-the-week fare, well executed, but completely disposable.  Good for a night of reading.

Battle Born: Lapis Lazuli

I’m always up for a good war comic.  This is a banger from Maximilian Uriarte, covering a Marine squad’s time in Afghanistan.  The protagonist, the sergeant of the group, is faced with the age-old dilemma of following orders or doing what he believes to be right.  It’s expertly told, with some bold use of repeating panels that puts Brian Michael Bendis to shame.  I’d be happy to have this in my collection, it’s certainly good enough, but I don’t really feel the need to read it again.   

Great Naval Battles of the Twentieth Century

Jean-Yes Delitte and Giuseppe Baiguera tackle the Battles of Tsushima, Jutland, and Midway.  I was hoping for Garth Ennis-quality, but that was probably never going to happen.  Instead, I got a series of stories that couldn’t quite hide their pedantic roots.  Too much dialog that sounded like college lectures, not enough action or true character development.

Still, I was glad to have read these; I didn’t know much about Tsushima or Jutland, and it was fun to learn about them.  (Midway didn’t teach me anything new.)