Creed III (****) The edge of a dream
How and where this series goes, is hard to tell. This feels like a complete cycle to me. Jordan has earned the right to keep going, as this series and the name Creed is completely his by now.
Thor: Love and Thunder (*****) – Not everybody gets a hammer
Natalie Portman was the least appealing aspect of the first two Thor films. When she was not in on the third film, the series completely hit its stride for the first time. Now she’s back. Will it kill the vibe in the room that Taika Waititi brought with him for Ragnorok?
Avengers: Endgame(*****) – I love you 3000 (no spoilers)
“After four Avengers films, they’ve finally made the perfect one. There’s but one overly gratuitous moment for me. It easily washes out, though, when the rest of the film feels so comfortable, so tense and anything but inevitable.”
Creed II: (****1/2) gives us time to breathe
After an engaging round one that saw Jordan move into the role of fighter and Stallone gracefully filling the role of trainer, Creed II gives us a development not only worthy of the series, but in better than most of the other films.
Annihilation (***) almost overcomes its disadvantages
For Garland, this is on par with Ex-Machina. For many, this will be seen as success. I was only mildly impressed with that movie too. So I will just wait for the next Jeff Nichols film and hope enough people notice he’s been outpacing everyone for years.
Thor Ragnarok (****) a well-placed step towards the inevitable
In all, this is a fun film that is as good as one could expect coming from one of the heretofore most boring parts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If it feels a bit underdone, it’s because it still follows the formula of megalomaniac who almost has it all until she doesn’t. Marvel has done a great job making their formula interesting, even if the characters (outside of Steve Rogers) evolve at a snail’s pace. If the Marvel movie formula is still stuck in the mode of dragging these characters in and never quite letting them go, well, one can understand why. It’s comic books, man.
Selma (*****): There can be no better time for this
Selma – 2014 Director Ava DuVernay Starring David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Tim Roth, Common, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Carmen Ejogo, Lorraine Toussaint, Oprah Winfrey, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Niecy Nash, Colman Domingo, Giovanni Ribisi, Dylan Baker, Alessandro Nivola, Keith Stanfield, André Holland, Tessa Thompson, Wendell Pierce, Henry G. Sanders Screenplay by Paul […]
Ebert Did It Better: Gasbag Reviews 