Multiplex Madness
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Adventure, Action
Director: James Mangold
Starring: Harrison Ford, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Mads Mikkelson, Antonio Bandaras, Toby Jones, John Rhys-Davies
Given this film's rocky reception at Cannes, I imagine the real info any Indiana Jones fan wants on Dial of Destiny is whether or not it's better than Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and whether it's worth an investment. That's probably going to depend on one's reception to the decried fourth film. If you feel unrelenting bitterness toward it, you need to A) touch grass and B) probably skip this one, and leave your Indy memories to the first three films because it's unlikely a new film will appease you and you should probably accept it. If you lean softer on Crystal Skull's existence, another modernized tale with the adventurer might be an appetizing course, and I'd say it's worth a shot. I liked Crystal Skull because its best moments are really fun and I think most of you are monsters. I liked Dial of Destiny too.
The one key difference between the two is that Crystal Skull seemed to be approached as if Indy's adventures never stopped, and even though it's a past-his-prime Indy, he's still fully in the game. Dial of Destiny is a story of an Indy who has aged out of it and left that life behind him, forced into one more relic chase for the good of history. Director James Mangold lacks the youthful exuberance of Steven Spielberg, which might be a benefit to the story of an elderly hero. It can be harmful when Mangold tries to replicate the past of the franchise, as it feels murky and out-of-step. The opening 1944 sequence is a cute idea, since we never had any Indiana Jones movies from that era so it feels like it's filling a gap, but it feels like dark and hollow representation of what Indiana Jones was back in the day, even if there isn't technically anything wrong with it (aside from CGI Harrison Ford bouncing around like a rubber band). Mangold feels more at home with old, grumpy, and complaining Harrison Ford, and the the modern MacGuffin chase sequences are a fun thrill ride. Phoebe Waller-Bridge shines as Indy's latest sidekick, and her charisma ensures the film's flow constantly humored and engaging. The movie's drawbacks may also be virtues in some areas, depending on how you look at them. The movie echoes aspects of previous installments in ways that feels a little bit like The Force Awakens, but at the same time it feels like it's more subtle and careful about them, wanting to craft a story first and line it with nostalgic subtext.
For me, the only point I wasn't enjoying the film were the last ten minutes. The ending of the film feels like it's poetic on the drawing board, but its execution is undercooked and abrupt. But I'll give them points for ideas that are creative and true to Indy's character, even if they feel incomplete. It's not quite the ending I'd like to see Indiana Jones go out on (I prefer the ride into the sunset of Last Crusade or the wedding in Crystal Skull), though I thank them for trying to give me something refreshing.
Joy Ride
⭐⭐⭐1/2
Genre: Comedy
Director: Adele Lim
Comedy: Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, Sabrina Wu
Pre-release review! Like No Hard Feelings, I found myself lucky enough to get a preview screening of this movie. Unlike No Hard Feelings, this movie actually looked good, so I was more hyped for this one.
Joy Ride (no relation to the Paul Walker/Steve Zahn thriller) is about a lawyer on a business trip in China with three friends tagging along, as they get detoured into finding her birth mother. It's a little bit Return to Seoul, except as a raunchy road trip comedy in China. If there's anything that can be said about Joy Ride it's that it has a fire in its belly. It's constantly on the move and throwing jokes out every two lines. The movie's spark of rambunctiousness is infectious and it's refusal to calm down and let its characters breathe keeps engagement high. It can be a detriment at times, at some points throwing plot at the characters because it knows it needs to progress its story but doesn't always know how to do so organically. It would probably be annoying if the movie weren't as funny as it is and done with a cast as charismatic as this. They're playing archetypes that are a little too basic (the smart one, the edgy one, the horny one, and the weird one), but they work their roles with endearment so when the movie does go for the feels, you feel it too.
Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken
⭐⭐1/2
Genre: Comedy, Fantasy
Director: Kirk DeMicco
Starring: Lana Condor, Toni Collette, Jane Fonda, Annie Murphy, Coleman Domingo
A movie like Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken plays its cards upfront, as you can probably guess from the title that it's a coming-of-age comedy of a girl who is both a teenager and a Kraken, and one can probably guess how it plays out from there. The story sees a Kraken family in hiding on the mainland and their teenage daughter Ruby learning her heritage, while also befriending another girl at school who happens to be the Kraken's enemy, a mermaid. The film is playful with its metaphors of teenage angst, with outsider Ruby Gillman feeling like a monster because, by human standards, she is a monster, but a misunderstood one, meanwhile the pretty, popular girl is a more beloved creature that is quite deceptive. The whole "You can't judge a book by its cover" and all that. The film touches on a few pubescent allegories that Turning Red touched upon last year, but it lacks that film's nuance with the subject, choosing instead to be a bigger, bolder, flashier entertainer. Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken is fun to look at, with its rich textures and neon lighting and its animation is a very cutesy, rubbery style that harkens to old animation techniques (Ruby herself has very Olive Oil body movements), and it ends with a kaiju fight, which I obviously loved. Its script isn't quite there yet, needing a bit more beef to keep its pace up and an enrichment of its ideas. It's a cute movie that's almost a really good one, but it doesn't quite hit that mark. It's also unfortunate that it came out the same weekend as a far better animated movie that you can watch at home...
Netflix & Chill
Nimona
⭐⭐⭐⭐
Streaming On: Netflix
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Comedy
Director: Nick Bruno, Troy Quane
Starring: Chloe Grace-Moretz, Riz Ahmed, Eugene Lee Yang, Frances Conroy
Based on the 2015 graphic novel, Nimona is shapeshifting mischief-maker in a futuristic neo-medieval kingdom who befriends a framed knight who tries to clear his name. Nimona hits a lot of themes of a Frankenstein movie, showing a character who is born different and treated with cruelty who becomes a reflection of the way they're treated. Nimona is treated like a villain, so she considers herself a villain, someone with the power to make people's lives miserable, and it gets to the point where the only joy she has comes from just being a shit to others. She also is defined by her loneliness, where she is self-sufficient, but yearns for a "partner in crime," which leads her to someone else who has been shunted by society. Nimona hates being called a monster, but the film does what the best monster movies do and tells the story of an outsider. Nimona even takes it one step further and becomes a celebration of its outsider status, finding an inner glee in creating chaos in the system that dares deem one an outsider. More to the point, the film is infused with LGBTQ+ themes, to the point where its lead characters are a gay couple. This movie is absolutely going to get pummeled by the "gays are grooming your children" dipshit crowd, because its a movie with gay characters and themes that is both animated and targeted partially at children, on a service that most families own, no less. But it has a bold message of being one's self in the face of a world that condemns you for it, showing that it isn't afraid of it. Its beauty is in how it accurately portrays bad faith and bigotry, like how prejudices are passed down and ignorance becomes commonplace without it being challenged. The film is beautiful and nuanced and wildly entertaining at the same time. It might even be ahead of its time, but considering it has the potential to make waves right now, it's arguably a film we need at this moment. Nimona would take pleasure in that chaos, which makes it perfect. That's so metal.
Movies Still Playing At My Theater
The Little Mermaid ⭐⭐1/2
Past Lives ⭐⭐⭐
New To Digital
Hypnotic ⭐⭐
New To Physical
Evil Dead Rise ⭐⭐⭐
Coming Soon!
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