Multiplex Madness
Avengers: Endgame - Encore
⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Superhero, Science Fiction, Action, Adventure
Director: Joe Russo, Anthony Russo
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Josh Brolin, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Paul Rudd, Bradley Cooper, Karen Gillan, Don Cheadle, Brie Larson, Danai Gurira, Gwenyth Paltrow, Benedict Wong
Oh look. One of the highest grossing movies of all time is back to make more money. Oh well. I earned this money so I could spend it, I guess. This would be the fifth time I've seen this movie in a theater, which would have tied my old theatrical record of seeing Avengers: Infinity War and Godzilla Minus One five times each, but that record was already shattered this year when Obsession came out of nowhere and I wound up seeing it seven times. That was a special case where the movie kept attracting large crowds and I would just keep going to watch people's reactions, and the environment was always pure electricity. In the case of Avengers and Godzilla, I just really like Avengers and Godzilla and both were damn good Avengers and Godzilla. Endgame got into the five-time-plus club based on two re-releases that promised bonus material. The first was in late-summer 2019, where they just had some cobbled together bullshit after the movie was over and I barely remember what it was. This time offers a "brand new version" that "sets up" this year's Avengers: Doomsday. I had no idea what this would be, but based on the last Endgame re-release, it was probably just going to be a sneak preview at the end of the movie of some kind. I guess that's what it still is, but what Endgame - Encore actually is involves something more bold, yet also slighter.
Technically, Encore is an extended cut, but not in a traditional way. The added footage is clearly newly filmed. Part of Doomsday's production, most likely. Whether they are scenes that are actually going to be in Doomsday or if they're exclusive to Encore, I can't say for certain. If you're wondering what the full Encore experience is (without spoilers), then just know that Endgame mostly plays out the same way it always has, but the last scene in the movie extends beyond what used to be Endgame's final shot, adding a full bonus sequence in its immediate aftermath. In addition to that, there is now a mid-credit scene that confirms the current state of a character that some might have questions about. The final addition, which I will spoil fully because it's a big nothing-burger, is that the very end of the end credits now has small flashes of Doctor Doom. Whoopty-doo.
(Editing Note: Since writing this, I found out that there would have been a bonus BONUS scene had I had seen this in "InfinityVision," whatever the fuck that is. Seems pretty shitty to ship out two separate versions of this movie to sell something you've pulled out of your ass to make up for all the IMAX screens you lost to Dune 3. Whatever this scene is, I don't know what it is, and I'm not going out my way to see it again just for thirty seconds of whatever.)
To anybody who is wondering if this is worth the price of admission, my advice is that Encore is worth seeing if you love Endgame enough to see it again in a theater, and you'll get some sugar on top at the end. If you're going for a first look at Doomsday, you might find the anticipated dessert pretty light. I was happy to see the movie again. I enjoy it quite a bit. It's not my favorite Avengers movie, as this failed to top the balance and excitement of Infinity War (I am also an Age of Ultron defender, so eat me). I had a good experience, and the extra scenes were fun. I wouldn't have seen this for those alone, though.
Charlie Harper
⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Drama, Romance
Director: Mac Eldridge, Tom Dean
Starring: Emilia Jones, Nick Robinson
The movie Charlie Harper is not about anybody named "Charlie Harper." Instead, it's about two characters named "Charlie" and "Harper" who fall in love, and I'm assuming "Charlie Harper" is their online shipping name. "Charlie Harper" is also the name of Charlie Sheen's character on Two-and-a-Half Men. Coincidence? I don't really care. Two-and-a-Half Men sucks. Maybe whoever wrote this really liked it and had to name his characters, and was like "I dunno. Charlie...and Harper." Anyway, Charlie and Harper are two people in a relationship, but as Harper's career as a chef begins, Charlie finds his life stagnant and falls deeper into alcoholism. Despite their best efforts to stay together, they both spiral as they fail to justify why their relationship is worth saving.
This is the second movie in the last month starring Emilia Jones that involves aspiring chefs and struggling romances. Is this some sort of weird typecasting niche that she has fallen into? Either way, Jones is very charming, like a young Mary Elizabeth Winstead. She's in a movie that's only going to be as strong as the leads it has, and they keep the slightly overwritten script in check by playing it with sincerity. Most of what the movie struggles with has to do with what feels like a touch-and-feel production, which has the vibe of being made by ambitious amateurs who are throwing themselves into a movie, for better and for worse. The storytelling is a little messy, with some odd non-linear elements that fall flat and make it a little confusing. The movie has changing aspect ratios, which might reflect mood, but prove to be the most pointless use of such a thing since Michael Bay's dizzying perversion of it in Transformers 5. There is an earnestness to the movie that is almost endearing, though. It feels like a movie wanting to be an honest and heartfelt portrayal of a strong bond that wasn't meant to last but is kept sacred by what it meant when it was full of passion. There is little that's inspired about how it's handled, but there is also very little that's wrong with it. It's a movie made for people who like melodramas about romantic struggles and blooming lives. In pandering to that audience, a capable movie was made.
Forgotten Island
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy, Adventure
Director: Joel Crawford, Januel Mercado
Starring: H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Dave Franco, Jenny Slate, Manny Jacinto, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronnie Chieng, Lea Salonga
DreamWorks Animation's latest sees two best friends at the end of high school about to say goodbye to each other as one is about to leave the country. A magic portal then appears to the magical island of Nakali, where the two wake up without recollection of what transpired the night before. This, of course, means Hangover shenanigans. Child friendly, this time. And oddly more grounded, despite all the fantasy elements. The pair piece together what they've forgotten, hoping to find a way home, but also there is a vampire who is big mad. Uh-oh. It's a lot of nonsense that leans very hard into a random and chaotic narrative. Normally, I'd claim that as a detraction, but with this particular story, it feeds into the Alice in Wonderland style adventure that's at play. Most of the film is whimsy designed to feed the emotional state of the character, while the humor is based in their rebellious personalities. The movie sometimes stutters with its functionality because there is limited focus. This is enhanced by the fact that there are two separate villains in the movie that have different desires, neither of which have full development and only serve as plot devices. It's pretty crowded in this movie, but the main focus is on friendship, which is where the movie's soul comes in clutch. It can be touching when it wants to be, though getting it to sit still long enough to be so can be challenging. But it's not every day that you see an animated movie that features a clip from Predator. I dare say that means it did something right.
Ha-Chan, Shake Your Booty!
⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Drama
Director: Josef Kubota Wladyka
Starring: Rinko Kikuchi, Alberto Guerra, Alejandro Edda, You, Yoh Yoshida, Damián Alcázar
Ha-chan is a Japanese woman grieving the death of her husband and dance partner. After spending months wallowing in her own grief, she finds she's sexually attracted to her dance instructor and struggles with the thought of taking a new lover. This is one of those movies that has a great deal of good qualities but I found myself struggling to be won over by. That's not for a lack of trying, because everything it does is with gusto. Its rhythm just falls slightly out of sync with itself. The movie has little flourishes that are inspired by anime and manga, such as chapter titles and expressionistic fantasy. I'm not entirely sure this adds anything of value to the movie, but it does give it a vibe that it chases, and sometimes stumbles, after. Ha-chan's husband appears to her in a giant black bird mascot costume, which brought to mind that Benedict Cumberbatch movie from last year, The Thing with Feathers, which portrayed grief similarly. I'd say this movie is more successful than that one, but it's also leaning into something cuter and less moody. That cute nature can feel odd during the film's darker moments, and we watch Ha-chan jump into fantasy and ignore reality when her mind can't comprehend it. This leads to Ha-chan making several senseless mistakes, which are purposefully portraying a spiral, even when it feels like she's doing things she probably wouldn't even do in this mindset. The movie stops working when it jumps into these odd corners of its narrative, but it has fun with itself, and hopefully the viewer has fun while it's doing its dance.
Heart of the Beast
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Director: David Ayer
Starring: PUPPY!!!, Brad Pitt, J.K. Simmons
Survival thriller and pet lover cinema crossbreed as former soldier Brad Pitt crashes his airplane in the woods. He and his combat trained dog Odin traverse the dangerous wilderness to find medical attention. I was relieved when I found out the dog's name was "Odin," because so many of the shouting scenes make it sound like his name is "Odie," and to those of us who grew up on Garfield will know that would have been an unfortunate personality to bestow upon this dog. Odin is smarter than Odie, though just as durable. The movie is a rather base idea of a man and his dog surviving the elements, with both bond and spirit prevailing as hardship is smothered to death in shmaltz. But the adversity is tense and the emotion is strong, making the film one to seek out for all the canine lovers in the world. It's a movie with simple ambitions, and one that succeeds in all of them.
Primetime
⭐️⭐️1/2
Genre: Drama
Director: Lance Oppenheim
Starring: Robert Pattinson (line?), Merritt Weaver, Skylar Gisondo, Phoebe Bridgers
Robert Pattinson plays NBC reporter and To Catch a Predator host Chris Hansen, as it chronicles the show being adopted to as sensationalized entrapment of sexual predators as prime time entertainment. It's an interesting movie, though sometimes I struggled with whether it was interesting enough. The film's focus tends to widen out and display the predatory nature of every direction, including Hansen himself, and I'm like...yeah. Obviously. This movie doesn't really add anything that wasn't already in the discussion about Hansen and To Catch a Predator. It's a movie about scummy people exposing scummier people for scummy personal recognition, and it's very on-the-nose with the way it decides to portray this (the movie features a long shot focusing on an ad featuring Jared from Subway, in case you were worried it was going to be too subtle). The only thing the movie is saying is predators are everywhere, which is a lesson we all should learn at some point. The movie dresses it up with as a lacking psychological drama that has limited psychological insight. If the movie has something else to say throughout its runtime, I might cut it more slack, but it seemed insistent on looping the same messages over and over again. If it ever scratches anything else, it's usually asking for a sliver of sympathy for the people who wound up cornered on Hansen's show. Sorry, but I don't think I have that in me. It's like that scene in Rear Window where Raymond Burr has that desperate look in his eyes when he first faces James Stewart. That look is meant to represent the violation that Stewart did in invading Burr's privacy. It still didn't change the fact that Burr's character was a murderer.
The Stunt Driver
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Director: Michael Dowse
Starring: Jay Baruchel, Ed Helms, Ben Foster, Lawrence Leboeuf, Dan Bakkedahl
Jay Baruchel plays Ken Carter, a real-life Canadian "stunt driver" (because he hates the term "daredevil"). He concocts the ultimate stunt to fly a rocket car a full mile over the Saint-Laurent River, which he meticulously plans out over the 1970's. I need to stress that last part because a lot of this movie is devoted to planning the jump. It's a little surprising about how much of a slow burn this movie is, as a lot of the time is talking about the jump and hammering out the details. It makes sense because of how complex it is, but given the film's tone and talent working on it, one almost expects it to be more snappy. The movie is a pretty chill psychological comedy about a man painstakingly perfecting his artform (complete with footage of the actual stunts being performed). Art can be frustrating while it's being made, so the film can be equally frustrating. The important perspective is to trust that the process is leading to somewhere. It's not a fun movie, nor is it really a rewarding movie. It's more of movie that asks to be understood. You're going to sit there and get it or you'll just get sick of it. I found the character study engaging, which made the effort worthwhile.
Movies Still Playing At My Theater
Coyote vs. Acme ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
The Odyssey ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Practical Magic 2 ⭐️⭐️
Resident Evil ⭐️⭐️
Spider-Man: Brand New Day ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Weight ⭐️⭐️⭐️
New To Digital
Ice Cream Man ⭐️1/2
Idiots ⭐️⭐️1/2
The Magic Faraway Tree ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spa Weekend ⭐️1/2
New To Physical
Evil Dead Burn ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Girls Like Girls ⭐️⭐️
I Love Boosters ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Scary Movie ⭐️
The Secret Agent ⭐️⭐️⭐️
Toy Story 5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2
Young Washington ⭐️⭐️
Coming Soon!
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