A few weeks ago the 2020 Oscars were presented, honoring films released in 2019. I was able to stay awake during the whole ceremony! (I can fall asleep during anything; the preceding astonishment is less a traditional indictment of the length of the ceremony in recent years and more an acknowledgment that I managed not to, well, fall asleep. Anyway.)
Best Picture
Parasite won this. Without actually having seen it (though I have blogging buddies who were among the early cheerful fans), I can only scratch my head over this curious insult to the rich and poor, regardless of the culture, and wonder if it happened at all because of Get Out. Of the nominated films, I was equally perplexed by Jojo Rabbit (likewise haven't seen), am convinced that 1917 is chiefly an editing spectacle (still haven't seen), wondering if Marriage Story is an update on the traditional Hollywood relationships-are-hell narrative (haven't seen), but would've been happy for Joker, Ford v Ferrari, or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (loved all three).
Best Actor
Joaquin Phoenix (Joker) won this. Deservedly. Still weird to think the Joker, of all superhero characters, has become such an Oscar magnet, but he keeps eliciting great performances and great writing.
Best Actress
Renee Zellweger (Judy) won this. Couldn't be happier for her. Probably worst acceptance speech of the night.
Best Supporting Actor
Brad Pitt (Once Upon a Time in Hollywood) won this. I think the younger Pitt would've been amused. But he had the best acceptance speech of the night.
Best Supporting Actress
Laura Dern (Marriage Story) won this. I'm sorry, she's hot. Apparently she will always be hot.
Best Original Screenplay
Parasite won this. Really should've been Once Upon a Time in Hollywood or Knives Out.
Best Adapted Screenplay
Jojo Rabbit won this. Really should've been Joker.
Best Animated Feature Film
Toy Story 4 won this. My niece, years from now, will be baffled that Frozen II wasn't even nominated.
Best International Feature Film
Parasite won this, too. Some people were baffled that it could be nominated in both categories. I see no problem here.
Best Original Score
Joker won this. Well deserved.
Best Original Song
Rocketman won this. As often as not, the Oscars have no clue in this category. And most of the performances were awful. I have no idea why half the songs were even nominated.
Sunday, February 23, 2020
Sunday, February 16, 2020
Gemini Man (2019)
rating: ****
the story: A hitman ends up fighting a younger version of himself.
review: Here's one of those movies whose reception has just baffled me, for any number of reasons. I get that Will Smith hasn't been popular in about a decade, but for me, he's still an undeniable talent, and I love that he's getting back into the spotlight. I also get that Ang Lee somehow lost his critical credibility (I still have no idea how), but to continue treating him as if he's just another filmmaker is beyond idiotic. And for Smith and Lee to make a movie together and everyone still just sees no worth in their efforts...
Listen, I get it. You see a movie like this and assume it's just a gimmick: Will Smith battles himself. It's just another of those movies capitalizing on special effects. But there's beyond simplifying it. There's a lot to love, even if you're not as enamored of Smith (and Lee) as I am.
Take Mary Elizabeth Winstead, for instance. When I watched the movie in theaters, I was initially baffled. Is that Cobie Smulders? Wait, it isn't? Oh, it's Winstead! The last time I caught her was in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which I took as the geek version of (500) Days of Summer (which was a welcome interpretation). I expected that she'd go on to have a notable, visible career. So there I was, a decade later, not recognizing her, thinking she was someone else, and suddenly remembering how much I liked her. Her character in Gemini Man is pretty much exactly Smulders' MCU character, but given actual space to breathe (which in a half dozen appearances Smulders never got, which was why she had to take the act on the road in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, and then just got to be awesome in Stumptown).
Then there's Clive Owen. Actually, this whole movie features people inexplicably unappreciated by today's audiences. Owen achieved immortality at least once, with Children of Men, but then he drifted into obscurity, and has begun resurfacing in recent years, although you'd hardly know it, because no one cares anymore. This older Clive Owen is no longer the good guy leading man, suave and self-confident, but the bad guy, and yet he's still magnetic. Of course.
Smith is great, as he always is, and watching his current self opposite a version of his younger self (basically just before his career exploded) is a distinct treat. The motorcycle stunts are a selling point all their own.
But the best thing about Gemini Man is the unexpected point of the story: Lee is actually arguing that suffering is a good thing. He believes that soldiers should feel pain. This is different from not giving them treatment. Smith ends up far better when he allows himself to embrace a personal life. (In the mix is Benedict Wong in another standout supporting role, after his MCU appearances.) The younger Smith is supposed to be one of those perfect killing machines who don't question anything. In other forms this means robots. But as we've repeatedly been told (even in Will Smith movies), robots are going to be people, too. Eventually they'll want exactly what we want.
Even when we don't realize we need it. We need our pain. Sucks to have it, but it's an essential part of living. Pain, regret, loss, all of it. It helps remind us that there's so much more to life, things that will make us feel those things.
Movies, especially blockbuster action movies, aren't supposed to help us worry about such things, yet Smith's movies have consistently, as his career has progressed, linger on them. Lee's movies have sought the transcendent, universal messages that went far beyond his origins, the kinds of movies critics find easy to enjoy, and continually reward, but so often fall far of the mark that more ambitious movies attempt. Such as, yes, Gemini Man.
the story: A hitman ends up fighting a younger version of himself.
review: Here's one of those movies whose reception has just baffled me, for any number of reasons. I get that Will Smith hasn't been popular in about a decade, but for me, he's still an undeniable talent, and I love that he's getting back into the spotlight. I also get that Ang Lee somehow lost his critical credibility (I still have no idea how), but to continue treating him as if he's just another filmmaker is beyond idiotic. And for Smith and Lee to make a movie together and everyone still just sees no worth in their efforts...
Listen, I get it. You see a movie like this and assume it's just a gimmick: Will Smith battles himself. It's just another of those movies capitalizing on special effects. But there's beyond simplifying it. There's a lot to love, even if you're not as enamored of Smith (and Lee) as I am.
Take Mary Elizabeth Winstead, for instance. When I watched the movie in theaters, I was initially baffled. Is that Cobie Smulders? Wait, it isn't? Oh, it's Winstead! The last time I caught her was in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which I took as the geek version of (500) Days of Summer (which was a welcome interpretation). I expected that she'd go on to have a notable, visible career. So there I was, a decade later, not recognizing her, thinking she was someone else, and suddenly remembering how much I liked her. Her character in Gemini Man is pretty much exactly Smulders' MCU character, but given actual space to breathe (which in a half dozen appearances Smulders never got, which was why she had to take the act on the road in Jack Reacher: Never Go Back, and then just got to be awesome in Stumptown).
Then there's Clive Owen. Actually, this whole movie features people inexplicably unappreciated by today's audiences. Owen achieved immortality at least once, with Children of Men, but then he drifted into obscurity, and has begun resurfacing in recent years, although you'd hardly know it, because no one cares anymore. This older Clive Owen is no longer the good guy leading man, suave and self-confident, but the bad guy, and yet he's still magnetic. Of course.
Smith is great, as he always is, and watching his current self opposite a version of his younger self (basically just before his career exploded) is a distinct treat. The motorcycle stunts are a selling point all their own.
But the best thing about Gemini Man is the unexpected point of the story: Lee is actually arguing that suffering is a good thing. He believes that soldiers should feel pain. This is different from not giving them treatment. Smith ends up far better when he allows himself to embrace a personal life. (In the mix is Benedict Wong in another standout supporting role, after his MCU appearances.) The younger Smith is supposed to be one of those perfect killing machines who don't question anything. In other forms this means robots. But as we've repeatedly been told (even in Will Smith movies), robots are going to be people, too. Eventually they'll want exactly what we want.
Even when we don't realize we need it. We need our pain. Sucks to have it, but it's an essential part of living. Pain, regret, loss, all of it. It helps remind us that there's so much more to life, things that will make us feel those things.
Movies, especially blockbuster action movies, aren't supposed to help us worry about such things, yet Smith's movies have consistently, as his career has progressed, linger on them. Lee's movies have sought the transcendent, universal messages that went far beyond his origins, the kinds of movies critics find easy to enjoy, and continually reward, but so often fall far of the mark that more ambitious movies attempt. Such as, yes, Gemini Man.
Monday, January 20, 2020
2020: The Year Ahead
We've already seen the release of Bad Boys for Life this past weekend. Here's some other notable upcoming 2020 movies (all release dates subject to change):
- Birds of Prey (2/7) The long-awaited return of Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn.
- Sonic the Hedgehog (2/14) For me it's Jim Carrey's big screen comeback.
- Bloodshot (2/21) Vin Diesel attempting to launch another superhero cinematic universe.
- The Way Back (3/6) New from director Gavin O'Connor starring Ben Affleck.
- My Spy (3/13) Another shot at solo stardom from Dave Bautista.
- A Quiet Place Part II (3/20) I've yet to see the first one.
- Mulan (3/27) Disney's biggest live action remake gamble.
- The New Mutants (4/3) The last Fox/first Disney X-Men movie.
- No Time to Die (4/10) Daniel Craig's final Bond.
- Black Widow (5/1) It was finally made.
- The Personal History of David Copperfield (5/8) Starring Dev Patel.
- Greyhound (5/8) Starring Tom Hanks.
- The Woman in the Window (5/15) New from director Joe Wright, starring Amy Adams.
- Fast & Furious 9 (5/22) Latest in the series.
- Wonder Woman 1984 (6/5) Sequel.
- Top Gun: Maverick (6/26) Sequel thirty years in the making.
- Minions: The Rise of Gru (7/3) They're back.
- Free Guy (7/3) Sort of the test pilot of Disney Deadpool.
- Ghostbusters: Afterlife (7/10) They're back!
- Tenet (7/17) Latest from director Christopher Nolan.
- Infinite (8/7) New from director Antoine Fuqua starring Mark Wahlberg.
- Bill & Ted Face the Music (8/21) Keanu Reeves is sort of a demigod.
- The Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard (8/28) Sequel.
- Unhinged (8/28) Starring Russell Crowe.
- The Trial of the Chicago 7 (9/25) New from Aaron Sorkin.
- Last Night in Soho (9/25) New from Edgar Wright.
- BIOS (10/2) Starring Tom Hanks.
- Death on the Nile (10/9) Kenneth Branagh's next Hercule Poirot.
- West Side Story (12/18) Spielberg's update.
- Dune (12/18) Denis Villeneuve's update.
- The Last Duel (12/25) New from director Ridley Scott starring Adam Driver, Matt Damon, and Ben Affleck.
- News of the World (12/25) New from director Paul Greengrass starring...Tom Hanks.
2019
Viewed/Ranked
Other Notable Releases
- The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
- Yesterday
- Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood
- Joker
- Knives Out
- Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker
- John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parabellum
- Hotel Mumbai
- Serenity
- The Standoff at Sparrow Creek
- The Lighthouse
- Detective Pikachu
- The Hustle
- Dumbo
- Glass
- High Life
- The Upside
- The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then the Bigfoot
- Ford v Ferrari
- Donnybrook
- Under the Silver Lake
- Captain Marvel
- Fighting with My Family
- The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
- Men in Black: International
- Dark Phoenix
- Avengers: Endgame
- Alita: Battle Angel
- Shazam!
- Gemini Man
- Into the Ashes
- Spider-Man: Far From Home
- The Secret Life of Pets 2
- Hellboy
- Captive State
Other Notable Releases
- 1917
- A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood
- A Dog's Way Home
- Ad Astra
- All Is True
- Angel Has Fallen
- Brightburn
- Charlie's Angels
- Doctor Sleep
- Downton Abbey
- The Farewell
- Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw
- Fast Color
- Frozen II
- Good Boys
- Harriet
- Hustlers
- Jojo Rabbit
- Judy
- The Kid Who Would Be King
- Little Women
- Midsommar
- Missing Link
- Motherless Brooklyn
- Pain and Glory
- Parasite
- Pet Sematary
- Rambo: Last Blood
- Richard Jewell
- Stuber
- Terminator: Dark Fate
- Toy Story 4
- Uncut Gems
- Us
- The Wandering Earth
- Where'd You Go, Bernadette
- Zombieland: Double Tap
Saturday, January 11, 2020
Favorite Movies 2010-2019
Since we recently concluded a decade, there have been a few "best of" lists for those ten years. Let's chip in! Rather than go through the process of picking out the ten best movies regardless of where they fell (I have been very obsessive about ranking movies in the past), I figured I'd list my favorite from each year.
2010: Inception
I've been a big fan of Christopher Nolan since Memento. I went back and watched Following when I became aware of its existence. Memento was my favorite movie for a while. The Dark Knight instantly was a favorite. Outside of Batman, Inception became Nolan's most famous movie thanks to its trippy visuals (later replicated in Doctor Strange) and outstanding cast. It singlehandedly revived Tom Hardy's career!
2011: Warrior
Speaking of Hardy, Warrior was my favorite movie released a year later. It's Hardy's Brando moment. And he stars opposite Joel Edgerton in his breakthrough role. It's an unspeakably breathtaking cinematic achievement on a strictly human scale, in a decade that increasingly belonged to spectacle. Many dismiss it as an MMA movie, but if it is, then it's the Rocky of MMA movies, and nobody ever dismissed Rocky as a boxing movie.
2012: Django Unchained
I thought Quentin Tarantino and Christoph Waltz had engineered magic in Inglourious Basterds, but I hadn't seen anything yet. Waltz has continued to be a significant presence in film, but he will never top the moment he tells Leonardo DiCaprio that the writer (Alexander Dumas) he was attempting to use to legitimize slavery was actually black.
2013: Saving Mr. Banks
The incredible story of how Mary Poppins was made not only gave Tom Hanks an unexpectedly brilliant role as Walt Disney, but Colin Farrell another career highlight as the inspiration for the title. The whole thing is great insight into the creative process, besides.
2014: Interstellar
Here's Christopher Nolan again! A lot of viewers, I think, were exhausted over his supposed genius. They saw Inception. They were wowed by Inception. But for a lot of people, one towering achievement can never truly be followed by another. So they saw Interstellar and thought..."Well that's not 2001: A Space Odyssey," a movie it superficially resembles. I was never wowed by 2001. I ended up reading all four Arthur C. Clarke books at one point, but I never thought the books, or the Stanley Kubrick movie, was really as great as they clearly want to be. But Interstellar is truly great, and it achieves that status by being transcendent, which is what 2001 desperately wants to be, but instead is just one of those projects that grapples at big ideas but doesn't know what to do with them except toss them up on a page or the screen. And as he always is, Nolan is in full control of Interstellar, and I still wonder if it's his best film.
2015: The Force Awakens
Okay, I'm a Star Wars nerd, but in the same way I'm a Star Trek nerd. I generally like all of it, even the stuff most of the fans despise. It's not because I'm indiscriminant, but that I don't choose to hate something just because it exists, which seems like the primary motivating factor of a lot of fans, even if they will never admit it and come up with a million things to defend their views. So I really loved seeing another Star Wars trilogy begin. And this was a great beginning.
2016: Arrival
Denis Villeneuve is about as close to the second coming of Christopher Nolan as we're likely to get, at least anytime soon. I missed Prisoners when it was released, but was sufficiently wowed when I got around to it. And he has never disappointed me. And Arrival is a masterpiece (still want to read the original short story on which it's based), the best showcase Amy Adams has gotten in an already phenomenal career.
2017: Logan
After Dark Knight, this is the best superhero movie ever made. Hugh Jackman was born to play Wolverine, and this is the performance he was building toward all along, and everything around him works, at last, equally well.
2018: Isle of Dogs
A hugely charming fable, exquisitely put together, a towering artistic achievement from Wes Anderson.
2019: The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
I can't stop praising this one. I've been a fan of Terry Gilliam since before I really had a personal reason to be (that was how much I loved The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), and so I was well aware of the tortured history to this becoming a reality, so it was a great relief to see how much it was worth the wait. Especially having recently read and very much enjoyed the original Cervantes, to see how cleverly Gilliam updated it, with enough original charm, I'm still aghast at how little anyone else seems to care.
2010: Inception
I've been a big fan of Christopher Nolan since Memento. I went back and watched Following when I became aware of its existence. Memento was my favorite movie for a while. The Dark Knight instantly was a favorite. Outside of Batman, Inception became Nolan's most famous movie thanks to its trippy visuals (later replicated in Doctor Strange) and outstanding cast. It singlehandedly revived Tom Hardy's career!
2011: Warrior
Speaking of Hardy, Warrior was my favorite movie released a year later. It's Hardy's Brando moment. And he stars opposite Joel Edgerton in his breakthrough role. It's an unspeakably breathtaking cinematic achievement on a strictly human scale, in a decade that increasingly belonged to spectacle. Many dismiss it as an MMA movie, but if it is, then it's the Rocky of MMA movies, and nobody ever dismissed Rocky as a boxing movie.
2012: Django Unchained
I thought Quentin Tarantino and Christoph Waltz had engineered magic in Inglourious Basterds, but I hadn't seen anything yet. Waltz has continued to be a significant presence in film, but he will never top the moment he tells Leonardo DiCaprio that the writer (Alexander Dumas) he was attempting to use to legitimize slavery was actually black.
2013: Saving Mr. Banks
The incredible story of how Mary Poppins was made not only gave Tom Hanks an unexpectedly brilliant role as Walt Disney, but Colin Farrell another career highlight as the inspiration for the title. The whole thing is great insight into the creative process, besides.
2014: Interstellar
Here's Christopher Nolan again! A lot of viewers, I think, were exhausted over his supposed genius. They saw Inception. They were wowed by Inception. But for a lot of people, one towering achievement can never truly be followed by another. So they saw Interstellar and thought..."Well that's not 2001: A Space Odyssey," a movie it superficially resembles. I was never wowed by 2001. I ended up reading all four Arthur C. Clarke books at one point, but I never thought the books, or the Stanley Kubrick movie, was really as great as they clearly want to be. But Interstellar is truly great, and it achieves that status by being transcendent, which is what 2001 desperately wants to be, but instead is just one of those projects that grapples at big ideas but doesn't know what to do with them except toss them up on a page or the screen. And as he always is, Nolan is in full control of Interstellar, and I still wonder if it's his best film.
2015: The Force Awakens
Okay, I'm a Star Wars nerd, but in the same way I'm a Star Trek nerd. I generally like all of it, even the stuff most of the fans despise. It's not because I'm indiscriminant, but that I don't choose to hate something just because it exists, which seems like the primary motivating factor of a lot of fans, even if they will never admit it and come up with a million things to defend their views. So I really loved seeing another Star Wars trilogy begin. And this was a great beginning.
2016: Arrival
Denis Villeneuve is about as close to the second coming of Christopher Nolan as we're likely to get, at least anytime soon. I missed Prisoners when it was released, but was sufficiently wowed when I got around to it. And he has never disappointed me. And Arrival is a masterpiece (still want to read the original short story on which it's based), the best showcase Amy Adams has gotten in an already phenomenal career.
2017: Logan
After Dark Knight, this is the best superhero movie ever made. Hugh Jackman was born to play Wolverine, and this is the performance he was building toward all along, and everything around him works, at last, equally well.
2018: Isle of Dogs
A hugely charming fable, exquisitely put together, a towering artistic achievement from Wes Anderson.
2019: The Man Who Killed Don Quixote
I can't stop praising this one. I've been a fan of Terry Gilliam since before I really had a personal reason to be (that was how much I loved The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), and so I was well aware of the tortured history to this becoming a reality, so it was a great relief to see how much it was worth the wait. Especially having recently read and very much enjoyed the original Cervantes, to see how cleverly Gilliam updated it, with enough original charm, I'm still aghast at how little anyone else seems to care.
Tuesday, December 31, 2019
Ranking the MCU (2008-2019)
The MCU, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (or the Avengers cycle, as I tend to think of it), has reached a climax in 2019. Having begun in 2008 with Iron Man and seen that particular superhero meet his end in 2019 with Avengers: Endgame, it's as good a time as any to rank the twenty-three films released during this span. To that end, worst to first:
23. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
I think fans of the MCU in 2019 forget that this was even part of the sequence, produced before Disney acquired Marvel Studios and the rights to Hulk movies subsequently left the character in solo film limbo. But this was the second entry, a light reboot of the unrelated 2003 Hulk, saddling Edward Norton with the thankless task of playing second-fiddle to a story that loses most of the character work of the Eric Bana version for even more mindless CGI destruction.
22. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
I think this is the MCU descended into outright parody, and no manner of fan acclaim or interest in director Taika Waititi will change that opinion.
21. Iron Man (2008)
The first film of the sequence is terrible. Unrecognizable, by later standards (sensing a pattern yet?), salvaged only by the Iron Man suit itself and the effortless charm of Robert Downey, Jr. I seriously wonder how many fans have bothered to revisit it in the past decade. That's essentially the problem the whole MCU is going to face in years hence: whether it will be worth savoring as much in hindsight as it was getting caught up in it.
20. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Other than following up on Loki, this is a consensus dud by all accounts, the definition of going through the motions.
19. Doctor Strange (2016)
Essential only in the sense that if you want more of what looks really cool in Avengers: Infinity War, but aren't yet prepared to discover it doesn't look as cool in its own movie, despite every effort to make the visual effects pretty much the whole movie.
18. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
James Spader is an inspired choice to voice Ultron, but this is essentially an excuse to spend time with the Avengers without really accomplishing anything but nudging the narrative along, delaying the relevant Thanos material for...reasons.
17. Black Panther (2018)
This one became almost an entirely separate phenomenon by leaning into (whether deliberately or not) Black Lives Matter by somewhat inadvertently buying into the racist myth that black people belong in Africa.
16. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
I was a bigger fan of this one in 2011 than I am today, in part because its nominal sequences are infinitely better.
15. Iron Man 3 (2013)
I actually think this is otherwise a huge wasted opportunity, but think the big twist concerning Ben Kingsley's Mandarin is inspired storytelling, and uses Kingsley himself brilliantly, a wicked commentary on the terrorists in the first one.
14. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
I think this follow-up to the breakthrough first volume is a letdown, but redeemed significantly by the famous "Mary Poppins" take on Yondu, who ends up stealing the show.
13. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
I'm a big fan of the Mar Webb Spider-Man movies. I like them more than the Raimi trilogy, and more than the MCU Spider-Man, which tries so hard to be socially relevant it's borderline painful. I just watched this one for the first time. Redeemed mostly by Zendaya, who's actually mostly wasted. A minimalist turn worked better the first time.
12. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Everyone is calling this one of the best movies of the year. Yeah, no. It's as slapdash a conclusion to the Thanos saga as they could've conceived.
11. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
A version of Spider-Man that tries so hard to get it right that it's almost an amazing backfire, with the worst casting of Peter Parker in a movie to date (yeah) but with at least one great sequence (Peter finding out Michael Keaton is the bad guy).
10. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
In which the Avengers steal Cap's thunder. But it's also the third best Avengers team experience!
9. Ant-Man (2015)
Paul Rudd takes what might have otherwise been a fairly generic MCU movie and makes it his own.
8. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
I think Thanos in his big spotlight is nearly botched, but all the superheroes in their dramatic assembling around him is rousing, with the highlight being Captain America's dramatic return, with one of the few great scoring moments of the MCU.
7. Thor (2011)
What makes this one compelling is proving instantly that Loki is the early breakout star of the MCU.
6. The Avengers (2012)
Classic original assembling of the original team, the narrative template for the rest of the cycle.
5. Captain Marvel (2019)
I actually think the lead character is the weakest aspect of the movie, but everything happening around her (except for the inexplicable ability to give Nick Fury a believable hairline) is gold.
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Pitting Cap against Hydra, which was posing as his own country, was narrative genius, and produced the best action sequence of the MCU when he realizes what's happening inside a crowded elevator, and he's entirely on his own in the fight that follows.
3. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Even if it leads to the wobbly logic that resolves the Thanos saga in Endgame, this is the perfect handling of solo mythology in the MCU.
2. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
This is what it looks like when Avengers is recalibrated with entirely new characters. And the results are brilliant.
1. Iron Man 2 (2010)
I know this goes against nearly all prevailing MCU logic, but without Iron Man 2, the entire thing crumbles. This is the movie that humanizes Tony Stark. It's the brilliant introduction (and arguably best use) of Black Widow, and the best villain(s) in the whole cycle, with logical motivation and flawless execution, knowing exactly what to play off of and expand from what has come before. Nothing that came after it even comes close. And despite what fans like to say, it's going to be the easiest single movie to revisit in the years ahead to explain the whole phenomenon.
23. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
I think fans of the MCU in 2019 forget that this was even part of the sequence, produced before Disney acquired Marvel Studios and the rights to Hulk movies subsequently left the character in solo film limbo. But this was the second entry, a light reboot of the unrelated 2003 Hulk, saddling Edward Norton with the thankless task of playing second-fiddle to a story that loses most of the character work of the Eric Bana version for even more mindless CGI destruction.
22. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)
I think this is the MCU descended into outright parody, and no manner of fan acclaim or interest in director Taika Waititi will change that opinion.
21. Iron Man (2008)
The first film of the sequence is terrible. Unrecognizable, by later standards (sensing a pattern yet?), salvaged only by the Iron Man suit itself and the effortless charm of Robert Downey, Jr. I seriously wonder how many fans have bothered to revisit it in the past decade. That's essentially the problem the whole MCU is going to face in years hence: whether it will be worth savoring as much in hindsight as it was getting caught up in it.
20. Thor: The Dark World (2013)
Other than following up on Loki, this is a consensus dud by all accounts, the definition of going through the motions.
19. Doctor Strange (2016)
Essential only in the sense that if you want more of what looks really cool in Avengers: Infinity War, but aren't yet prepared to discover it doesn't look as cool in its own movie, despite every effort to make the visual effects pretty much the whole movie.
18. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
James Spader is an inspired choice to voice Ultron, but this is essentially an excuse to spend time with the Avengers without really accomplishing anything but nudging the narrative along, delaying the relevant Thanos material for...reasons.
17. Black Panther (2018)
This one became almost an entirely separate phenomenon by leaning into (whether deliberately or not) Black Lives Matter by somewhat inadvertently buying into the racist myth that black people belong in Africa.
16. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
I was a bigger fan of this one in 2011 than I am today, in part because its nominal sequences are infinitely better.
15. Iron Man 3 (2013)
I actually think this is otherwise a huge wasted opportunity, but think the big twist concerning Ben Kingsley's Mandarin is inspired storytelling, and uses Kingsley himself brilliantly, a wicked commentary on the terrorists in the first one.
14. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017)
I think this follow-up to the breakthrough first volume is a letdown, but redeemed significantly by the famous "Mary Poppins" take on Yondu, who ends up stealing the show.
13. Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
I'm a big fan of the Mar Webb Spider-Man movies. I like them more than the Raimi trilogy, and more than the MCU Spider-Man, which tries so hard to be socially relevant it's borderline painful. I just watched this one for the first time. Redeemed mostly by Zendaya, who's actually mostly wasted. A minimalist turn worked better the first time.
12. Avengers: Endgame (2019)
Everyone is calling this one of the best movies of the year. Yeah, no. It's as slapdash a conclusion to the Thanos saga as they could've conceived.
11. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
A version of Spider-Man that tries so hard to get it right that it's almost an amazing backfire, with the worst casting of Peter Parker in a movie to date (yeah) but with at least one great sequence (Peter finding out Michael Keaton is the bad guy).
10. Captain America: Civil War (2016)
In which the Avengers steal Cap's thunder. But it's also the third best Avengers team experience!
9. Ant-Man (2015)
Paul Rudd takes what might have otherwise been a fairly generic MCU movie and makes it his own.
8. Avengers: Infinity War (2018)
I think Thanos in his big spotlight is nearly botched, but all the superheroes in their dramatic assembling around him is rousing, with the highlight being Captain America's dramatic return, with one of the few great scoring moments of the MCU.
7. Thor (2011)
What makes this one compelling is proving instantly that Loki is the early breakout star of the MCU.
6. The Avengers (2012)
Classic original assembling of the original team, the narrative template for the rest of the cycle.
5. Captain Marvel (2019)
I actually think the lead character is the weakest aspect of the movie, but everything happening around her (except for the inexplicable ability to give Nick Fury a believable hairline) is gold.
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Pitting Cap against Hydra, which was posing as his own country, was narrative genius, and produced the best action sequence of the MCU when he realizes what's happening inside a crowded elevator, and he's entirely on his own in the fight that follows.
3. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)
Even if it leads to the wobbly logic that resolves the Thanos saga in Endgame, this is the perfect handling of solo mythology in the MCU.
2. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
This is what it looks like when Avengers is recalibrated with entirely new characters. And the results are brilliant.
1. Iron Man 2 (2010)
I know this goes against nearly all prevailing MCU logic, but without Iron Man 2, the entire thing crumbles. This is the movie that humanizes Tony Stark. It's the brilliant introduction (and arguably best use) of Black Widow, and the best villain(s) in the whole cycle, with logical motivation and flawless execution, knowing exactly what to play off of and expand from what has come before. Nothing that came after it even comes close. And despite what fans like to say, it's going to be the easiest single movie to revisit in the years ahead to explain the whole phenomenon.
Ranking Star Wars
Hey, so this has been pretty popular recently, in an internet endlessly obsessed with ranking things. (Hey, I do it, too, and have many lists here, but without pictures. So nobody cares.) Here's my worst to first:
12. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
In their rush to prop up the narrative that anything's better than the prequels, fans latched onto the later TV series, but...this is the bottom of the barrel. Period. In animation particularly, the need for art becomes paramount. A lot of animated flicks try to skirt by on adventure or jokes, but if there's nothing to hang it on, sparse characterization or minimal effort in storytelling, the results fall flat. And this is as flat as Star Wars will hopefully ever get.
11. Rogue One (2016)
Those same fans latched onto Rogue One because it was everything they wanted Star Wars to be, and to my mind, this can be summed up as: embarrassing. A true bastardization of the saga, with as flat an understanding of the source material as Clone Wars. Although ironically, the thing I originally liked least is the one element I like now, Ben Mendelsohn's showy turn as an outright mustache-twirling Imperial officer.
10. Solo (2018)
Here's where I quit griping (I'm disappointed when fans grumble about seemingly the bulk of a franchise), because I actually really like Solo, but I'm finding it hard to rank the saga entries themselves, so it's just easier to get this out of the way.
9. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
What??? Invariably, this is the one everyone else picks as the best of the franchise, and here I'm ranking it as essentially the worst? Thematically, it's an entirely interstitial piece; where it isn't introducing bold new ideas (Yoda, Lando, Vader-as-dad) the story is actually mostly in a holding pattern, with all the key players struggling to accomplish something and having no idea if they're actually making progress. It's literally Star Wars with no real idea of where it's going, but attempting gamely to set itself up for something bigger. That's the definition of a game-changer, but not necessarily in glowing terms.
8. The Last Jedi (2017)
In contrast, Last Jedi makes bold creative decisions while attempting to ensure its characters are making definitive progress, too. While Empire Strikes Back makes a lot of heroes look hapless, at least it's easier to root for Yoda than for Luke in Last Jedi, although conversely it's easier to root for Rey in Last Jedi than Luke in Empire Strikes Back. And for all the criticism Rian Johnson has received, he's easily the third best director of the saga.
7. Attack of the Clones (2002)
Fans have been ripping on the dialogue and chemistry on display in Attack of the Clones for years, but artistically it's probably the best George Lucas ever delivered, the most streamlined of all his interests and instincts. But as cool as Yoda is in action (the initial reaction to the movie loved this aspect, but it's since been completely forgotten), it's a little disappointing to know it rests entirely on his shoulders to pull off what the two other prequels achieve so effortlessly in lightsaber dueling.
6. The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
The final film in the saga is an excellent summation and synthesis, as well as radical reinterpretation of everything that came before it, confidently exploring the concept of redemption that felt like an afterthought previously.
5. Return of the Jedi (1983)
The later Pirates of the Caribbean franchise feels like an outgrowth of the thrilling onslaught of enthralling action that the original climax of the saga essentially is. It might as well have been the literal template.
4. The Phantom Menace (1999)
The first of the prequels ends in breathtaking fashion with the spectacular lightsaber duel between Darth Maul (the perfection of a concept in minimalism created for Boba Fett), Ob-Wan Kenobi, and Qui-Gon Jinn. I happen to love Jar Jar, thank you. But no acting tops Liam Neeson in the franchise, whose performance here led to a career renaissance, regardless of what fans think.
3. The Force Awakens (2015)
The introductions of Rey and Finn were the best in the whole saga, and Han Solo still manages to steal the show, and proving that J.J. Abrams was a worthy successor to George Lucas.
2. A New Hope (1977)
The sheer boldness of the first film will always top Empire Strikes Back in my book, an astonishing vision that sprang forth from the simple idea of trying to update Flash Gordon. Mission greatly exceeded, Mr. Lucas.
1. Revenge of the Sith (2005)
It was the vision George Lucas had from the moment Star Wars solidified in his mind: how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. The prequels extended that vision to three films, but by the third it focused not on the epic clash between Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but the seduction of Palpatine, in the single best dramatic sequence of the saga: a conversation at an opera. Then of course Skywalker and Kenobi clash, and the inevitable happens, and the acting in the franchise reaches its zenith. So yes, the prequels reign supreme.
12. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
In their rush to prop up the narrative that anything's better than the prequels, fans latched onto the later TV series, but...this is the bottom of the barrel. Period. In animation particularly, the need for art becomes paramount. A lot of animated flicks try to skirt by on adventure or jokes, but if there's nothing to hang it on, sparse characterization or minimal effort in storytelling, the results fall flat. And this is as flat as Star Wars will hopefully ever get.
11. Rogue One (2016)
Those same fans latched onto Rogue One because it was everything they wanted Star Wars to be, and to my mind, this can be summed up as: embarrassing. A true bastardization of the saga, with as flat an understanding of the source material as Clone Wars. Although ironically, the thing I originally liked least is the one element I like now, Ben Mendelsohn's showy turn as an outright mustache-twirling Imperial officer.
10. Solo (2018)
Here's where I quit griping (I'm disappointed when fans grumble about seemingly the bulk of a franchise), because I actually really like Solo, but I'm finding it hard to rank the saga entries themselves, so it's just easier to get this out of the way.
9. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
What??? Invariably, this is the one everyone else picks as the best of the franchise, and here I'm ranking it as essentially the worst? Thematically, it's an entirely interstitial piece; where it isn't introducing bold new ideas (Yoda, Lando, Vader-as-dad) the story is actually mostly in a holding pattern, with all the key players struggling to accomplish something and having no idea if they're actually making progress. It's literally Star Wars with no real idea of where it's going, but attempting gamely to set itself up for something bigger. That's the definition of a game-changer, but not necessarily in glowing terms.
8. The Last Jedi (2017)
In contrast, Last Jedi makes bold creative decisions while attempting to ensure its characters are making definitive progress, too. While Empire Strikes Back makes a lot of heroes look hapless, at least it's easier to root for Yoda than for Luke in Last Jedi, although conversely it's easier to root for Rey in Last Jedi than Luke in Empire Strikes Back. And for all the criticism Rian Johnson has received, he's easily the third best director of the saga.
7. Attack of the Clones (2002)
Fans have been ripping on the dialogue and chemistry on display in Attack of the Clones for years, but artistically it's probably the best George Lucas ever delivered, the most streamlined of all his interests and instincts. But as cool as Yoda is in action (the initial reaction to the movie loved this aspect, but it's since been completely forgotten), it's a little disappointing to know it rests entirely on his shoulders to pull off what the two other prequels achieve so effortlessly in lightsaber dueling.
6. The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
The final film in the saga is an excellent summation and synthesis, as well as radical reinterpretation of everything that came before it, confidently exploring the concept of redemption that felt like an afterthought previously.
5. Return of the Jedi (1983)
The later Pirates of the Caribbean franchise feels like an outgrowth of the thrilling onslaught of enthralling action that the original climax of the saga essentially is. It might as well have been the literal template.
4. The Phantom Menace (1999)
The first of the prequels ends in breathtaking fashion with the spectacular lightsaber duel between Darth Maul (the perfection of a concept in minimalism created for Boba Fett), Ob-Wan Kenobi, and Qui-Gon Jinn. I happen to love Jar Jar, thank you. But no acting tops Liam Neeson in the franchise, whose performance here led to a career renaissance, regardless of what fans think.
3. The Force Awakens (2015)
The introductions of Rey and Finn were the best in the whole saga, and Han Solo still manages to steal the show, and proving that J.J. Abrams was a worthy successor to George Lucas.
2. A New Hope (1977)
The sheer boldness of the first film will always top Empire Strikes Back in my book, an astonishing vision that sprang forth from the simple idea of trying to update Flash Gordon. Mission greatly exceeded, Mr. Lucas.
1. Revenge of the Sith (2005)
It was the vision George Lucas had from the moment Star Wars solidified in his mind: how Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader. The prequels extended that vision to three films, but by the third it focused not on the epic clash between Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but the seduction of Palpatine, in the single best dramatic sequence of the saga: a conversation at an opera. Then of course Skywalker and Kenobi clash, and the inevitable happens, and the acting in the franchise reaches its zenith. So yes, the prequels reign supreme.
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