Weekend Watch - May 2023 Recap
May 2023 had one legitimately great blockbuster hit and some indie and documentary sleeper hits, but overall, the month feels like a letdown overall, critically speaking.
Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week, we’ve come to the end of another month and will be recapping the best films from the month of May – the ones that have some shot of making this blog’s list of Greatest Films of All Time, categorized by likelihood (Long Shots, Possible Things, and Sure Things). Every May since 2018 has felt like a regression for the month, with weaker and weaker blockbusters and not much else. Seriously, this May had a whole week where the “biggest” film dropping was Book Club: The Next Chapter, and we all remember how that was. Yes, May 2023 had one legitimately great blockbuster hit and some indie and documentary sleeper hits, but overall, the month feels like a letdown overall, critically speaking. Let’s get into it.
Long Shots:
Victim/Suspect: Netflix’s documentary about sexual assault victims who are accused of filing false reports and prosecuted for it has hit at the right time in terms of poignancy and relevance. Unfortunately, the documentary seems to be a bit underwhelming in its technique, leaving something to be desired in tackling such an important subject. Its relevance keeps it noteworthy, but I think we can ask for better.
Showing Up: With an ever-widening release window from distributor A24, this Michelle Williams and Hong Chau-led film about a sculptor setting up a new exhibition from director Kelly Reichardt made some waves this past month. The 2022 Cannes hit has garnered praise for Williams’s performance and its simple pacing, but it’s been so under-the radar that its 47% Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes is going to be difficult to overcome.
Monica: Another 2022 festival darling that finally got its wide release this month, Monica tackles the delicate issues of aging and dying parents. Trace Lysette, Patricia Clarkson, and Emily Browning all bring the right type of star-power to the film, and in a year with a limited number of female-led films compared to years past, they have the potential to break in to some awards races. For now, this film remains on the outside looking in with just vaguely positive reviews.
Wild Life: National Geographic documentaries tend to be hit or miss when it comes to widespread acclaim, but their recent partnership with Disney has merited a little bit more recognition for the company. This particular doc, about conservationists Kris and Doug Tompkins, has struck a chord with some reviewers, though not on the level of last year’s hit Fire of Love. Keep an eye on it, but don’t put it on any must-watch lists just yet.
The Starling Girl: The Sundance and SXSW hit about religious trauma and coming of age got its wide release this month, to mostly positive critical reception and mixed reviews from audiences (probably due to its religious subject matter and the endless backlash from a certain portion of the American public whenever anything releases that vaguely goes against their beliefs). Still, with such a niche topic, it’s hard to see it breaking through beyond this underground success.
Sanctuary: The Margaret Qualley dominatrix movie that has everyone (filmstagram and film Twitter) talking seems to be more of a cult classic than a true all-time great. Still, with the right press tour and a continuing control of the conversation (unlikely, given all the more memeworthy stuff coming in the next couple of months) could result in a climb to the upper echelon of films for this one.
The Little Mermaid: With the money that it’s made and the not overwhelmingly negative reviews, it’s safe to say that this live action remake from Disney will go down as one of their more successful endeavors in that field. I’d be surprised to see much else from it when awards roll around, and without that it has no real shot of achieving greatness, but you never know for sure (Cruella really did do some crazy things a few years back).
Possible Things:
BlackBerry: I don’t know why we’re getting so many movies about the invention of things this year (Flamin’ Hot comes out in June), but we are, and they seem to be doing well with audiences and critics. The Jay Baruchel and Glenn Howerton-starring film explores the creation of “the world’s first smartphone” and its inevitable demise and seems to have hit the right blend of history, drama, and comedy for some more love down the road.
Reality: Sydney Sweeney might really be her. The film about the interrogation of whistleblower Reality Winner released last Monday on Max to serious critical acclaim. Sweeney’s performance seems to be the most noteworthy piece of the film, so she’s really the one to look out for here.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3: The emotional conclusion to the Guardians trilogy has been the most successful MCU film in a while, and its place as one of the highest-grossing and most beloved by audiences put it in a good place to get the hair/makeup, costume design, and visual effects nominations it needs to get the points it needs for Greatness.
You Hurt My Feelings: Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s latest team-up with director Nicole Holofcener has been hitting the right notes with critics and fans. The dramedy about an author who hears her husband giving a less-than-encouraging review of her latest book hits the right notes, and Louis-Dreyfus is again in her element working with Holofcener.
Sure Things:
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie: The Apple TV+ documentary about the life and career of Michael J. Fox is the can’t-miss film from the month of May, achieving critical and popular acclaim from just about everyone who has watched it so far. Fox’s optimism in the face of everything and the encouragement his story brings to the world and those around him makes it a truly classic documentary.
Weekend Watch - Avatar: The Way of Water
Suffering from some all-too-familiar issues of overcrowding and a continued obsession with Papyrus font, Avatar: The Way of Water provides an imperfect, but superior, sequel to the original blockbuster.
Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week, we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is James Cameron’s latest blockbuster hit, Avatar: The Way of Water, the thirteen-years-removed sequel to the highest grossing film of all time Avatar (2009). This film picks up a little bit more than thirteen years after the original, following main characters Jake Sully (Sam Worthington) and his mate (wife) Neytiri (Zoe Saldana) as they once again have to deal with people from Earth infringing upon the natural world of Pandora, this time with the help of their four children who have been born since the last film. Let’s get into it.
Letter Grade: B+; a lot of the issues (story) of the first film are greatly improved upon, but new flaws keep it from being an A-level feature.
Should you Watch This Film? Begrudgingly, yeah. If you have a friend with a great sound system and massive TV (or if you are that friend), you can wait for this one to hit Disney+ next year; otherwise, there’s enough here to make it worth seeing in theaters.
Why?
Avatar: The Way of Water delivers on a lot of the hype surrounding the long-awaited sequel. The visuals and sound are gorgeously designed – accomplishing things that I’m sure James Cameron only dreamed of back in 2009. The story improves on the weaknesses of first by providing more personal character motivations and characters that feel a little bit more than just archetypes (sometimes). The action is amped up and feels more visceral, providing even more engaging set pieces than the first as well. Though not without flaws of its own, The Way of Water provides what you want from a blockbuster and leaves you thrilled with your theatrical experience. I’m not going to do a deep dive on the visuals and sound because other people can communicate the whys and whats way better than I can, but suffice it to say that this movie feels great in the theater.
I think that I can (guardedly) say that people might actually remember a couple of more characters from this film than the first. The story inserts Jake’s and Neytiri’s children (Neteyam, Lo’ak, Kiri, Tuk, and sometimes Spider) to the unfolding saga of Pandora in a way that endears the film to audiences far beyond the first. Though Sam Worthington still can’t decide whether he’s American or Australian, giving Jake Sully children with individual personalities and character arcs helps make him a character worth caring about, though I can’t help but also notice that Neytiri does fall a bit to the background in this one and feels more like a tertiary character to her husband and children with even less of a character arc than the film’s villain.
When I first heard that Avatar (2009) was getting a sequel, my first thoughts were “Why?” and then “How?”, since the first film feels so self-contained. For the most part, The Way of Water carries on in this fashion, containing a simple (if overly stretched) story of its own with a beginning, middle, and end. In this film’s case, however, we know that a sequel is coming in two years and, looking at some of the film’s less fleshed out details, that anticipation becomes immediately apparent. Part of what makes this sequel so overly long are character details and story points that feel completely irrelevant to this film’s story but that I am sure will come into play in the third, fourth, and fifth films. Kiri, in particular, felt like an annoyingly extra character (not just because de-aged, animated Sigourney Weaver strays a little too far into the uncanny valley for my taste), filling the role of weird, but make it quirky, daughter whose backstory is just that of Jesus or Anakin Skywalker. I’m sure Cameron has great plans for her (and also for Edie Falco’s character whose name I’ve already forgotten), but they do more to fill out the film’s overlong runtime than be legitimately engaging in their own right.
Suffering from some all-too-familiar issues of overcrowding and a continued obsession with Papyrus font, Avatar: The Way of Water provides an imperfect, but superior, sequel to the original blockbuster with excellent effects and improved characters that have me mildly optimistic about the future of the PCU (Pandora Cinematic Universe), or whatever it is they’re calling this. If you have the time to see it in theaters, it’ll be worth your time. If you can’t, try to find somebody with a great television set-up to catch it on streaming in the spring (or sooner, who knows what these release schedules are).
Weekend Watch - Black Adam
Overall, Black Adam has a lot of potential, but left so much on the table and underdelivered on so much that it can’t be called much more than an average superhero film, on par with X-Men: First Class or Batman Forever.
Welcome back to the Weekend Watch, where each week, we take a look at a new piece of film or television media and give it a rating, review, and recommendation. This week’s topic, as voted by the blog’s Instagram followers, is the DC Universe’s latest feature film release, Black Adam. The film stars Dwayne Johnson as the titular antihero, with Pierce Brosnan, Aldis Hodge, Noah Centineo, Sarah Shahi, Quintessa Swindell, Marwan Kenzari, Bodhi Sabongui, and Mohammed Amer in supporting roles. The film follows the return of Black Adam to Earth after years of exile and his conflict with other heroes and villains as he works to keep his homeland truly free. Let’s get into it.
Letter Grade: C, this film is fine, definitely nothing to write home about.
Should you Watch This Film? If you really want to see Dwayne Johnson playing himself again but with flying and lightning powers or are a fan of Aldis Hodge or Pierce Brosnan, this is probably a solid film for you.
Why?
Black Adam’s action sequences are its crowning achievement, showcasing a solid mix of slo-mo shots, brutal kills, and decent visual effects. Black Adam, Hawkman, Dr. Fate, Atom Smasher, and Cyclone are all given moments to shine in the various sequences in typically thrilling ways. Unfortunately, after their introductory fight scenes, the action doesn’t really try anything overly daring, becoming quickly repetitive. The dialogue doesn’t do a whole lot either, offering a few quippy one-liners and a plethora of dry exposition with not many truly emotional beats. Dwayne Johnson gets to be his same charismatic self, if a bit more one-note here because most of the humor comes from other sources. The film’s story is pretty basic with a few plot twists that would’ve been so much better if they hadn’t already been given away in the film’s virtually unavoidable marketing campaign. I really feel like if I had seen none of the film’s trailers that I would have enjoyed the twists and the film would be getting better reviews right now. As it stands, the fun aspects of new characters, Dwayne Johnson, and solid action moments often end up overshadowed by a spoiled plot that wasn’t even that complex to begin with and writing that focuses a little too much on exposition and not enough on actual character development. I am guardedly excited to see what they do with this character and the supporting cast in the future. Noah Centineo’s Atom Smasher was a really fun addition to the film, and he could bring a lot to another team-up film. Pierce Brosnan’s Dr. Fate was arguably the coolest and most interesting aspect of the film, but even he isn’t given enough screentime to really connect deeply with his character, and if we’re being honest, the moments without Black Adam on screen were pretty consistently the best parts of the film. The coolest moment Black Adam gets comes not during the film’s run-time but in a post credits scene where we get some actual insight into how he is going to fit in the wider DC Universe going forward. Overall, Black Adam has a lot of potential, but left so much on the table and underdelivered on so much that it can’t be called much more than an average superhero film, on par with X-Men: First Class or Batman Forever. This film is currently showing in theaters if you want to go check it out.
Weekend Watch - Jurassic World: Dominion
Jurassic World: Dominion provides a solid outing in the action department but needed even more from it to overcome a weak story and writing and make it great.
Welcome back to the Weekend Watch where each week we give a review and recommendation for a new piece of film or television media that came out recently. This week, we’ll be taking a look at the latest in the long line of dinosaur movies, Jurassic World: Dominion, supposedly the last film in the Jurassic franchise. I went and saw it on Thursday night and have some thoughts for you.
Letter Grade: C, I can’t in good conscience give this film anything higher
Should you Watch This Film? Probably, if you like a basic action film/summer blockbuster that has little to add to filmmaking other than a really good time.
Why?
Jurassic World: Dominion is one of the most enjoyable messes that I have watched in quite some time. My immediate analysis of the film is that it is a workable combination of Bond action sequences, dinosaurs, and unused Star Wars sets packaged with a Jurassic World message of respecting the world we live in. The film’s story is incredibly thin, tying together the Jurassic World heroes with the heroes of the original Jurassic Park to create dollars and nostalgia, while at the same time focusing its character development on arguably the weakest character, Maisie, played by Isabella Sermon. The film’s new characters – Kayla Watts played by DeWanda Wise and Ramsay Cole played by Mamoudou Athie – are solid additions to the cast, each bringing something unique to the table, but the characters feel somewhat lost amid the already bloated cast, not to mention a new “villain”, the barely fleshed-out, Steve Jobs-esque Lewis Dodgson played by Campbell Scott. Even the film’s script struggles in some places, almost going meta by acknowledging a cringeworthy line delivered by Bryce Dallas Howard’s Claire toward the film’s beginning but then slipping back into the frustratingly predictable action film dialogue for its remainder. (Side note, I need to fight whoever was writing Kayla’s dialogue because every second of it felt like an old Millennial trying to sound like a Gen-Z-er or a white guy trying to sound like a black woman, either way, not great.) Jurassic World’s action sequences are its saving grace and why I can still recommend going to see it. Great dinosaur fights and chases provide the highlights of the film, but I wish there were more. The stretches of the human characters talking to each other with no dinosaurs on screen continue to be the Jurassic films’ weakness, trying to add too much of a not great story to a movie where a T-Rex and a Therizinosaurus fight a Giganotosaurus. All told, it’s a solid outing in the action department but needed even more of it to overcome a weak story and writing and make it great. It’s worth seeing on the big screen for those moments, but it might be better if you can find someone else to pay for your ticket.