
weekend watchlist: sweet, funny, frank pillow talk
Plus apocalyptic adolescence, exasperating planetary levels of bureaucracy, and more… (First published September 10th, 2022, on Substack and Patreon.)
film criticism by maryann johanson | since 1997
Plus apocalyptic adolescence, exasperating planetary levels of bureaucracy, and more… (First published September 10th, 2022, on Substack and Patreon.)
Don’t let the Pixar curve throw you: familiar this quest may be, but it’s full of magic and wonder and humor and melancholy, and set in a fully realized fantasy world. Not a masterpiece but very good.
A miraculous blend of grief and humor. Big, bold, brash, then sneakily meta. I am only starting to get my head around the emotional and creative right-hook of it. A fitting end (for now) to the MCU.
Ten years of Marvel superheroism culminates in a battle for the universe itself. Exhausting, bitterly humorous, and gripped in a stunning finality, it’s almost too much to take in, yet somehow not enough.
Moody, atmospheric, even beautiful in its grimness; a medieval adventure unlike any we’ve seen before, with a sharp attention to psychological and moral realism.
Thoroughly charming. Spider-Man’s signature light comedy works surprisingly well even as this story is uniquely steeped in the darker Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Tough, unanswerable human questions frame spectacular, innovative action sequences that are like superhero ballets. This series just keeps getting better.
Solid, old-school man-versus-nature adventure melodrama, with a simmering green awareness; rollicking, smart, breathtaking, and sobering.
It’s a disaster movie, but not as we know it…
“That’s a terrible vampire name. ‘Jerry’?” –Charley (Anton Yelchin)… and more…