Thoughts on Solo

I saw Solo this weekend and was pleasantly surprised. A two word review: "Surprisingly worthwhile." A few other thoughts:

-Some people complain this movie isn't necessary. What Star Wars movie after the first three has been?

-I've disliked some of the Disney Star Wars movies for trampling over the former stories, now discarded, in books and comics that I grew up with. Solo's origin trilogy sucked though, so no complaints here.

-The main thing for me is that there's very little to be annoyed with in this movie, and nothing that makes me want to scream at the screen like Rogue One and The Last Jedi (man, I HATE that movie).

-Alden Ehrenreich does a good job as the title character. He doesn't do a Harrison Ford impression but is definitely making an effort to be like Ford. I was quite satisfied.

-Lando is a lot of fun and could have used more screen time.

-There's a cool cameo near the end of the film.

-Shockingly, I would be up for a sequel, especially if Han and Lando had an adventure together.

Thoughts on Infinity War

It's hard to say too much about this movie without spoilers so this might be short and vague.

-One you need to know: This movie isn't a full story. If you remember, early on the plan was to film Avengers 3 and 4 together. When it was decided not to do that Marvel emphasized the idea that this wasn't necessarily one continuous story. That may have done a disservice to fan expectations, though it's probably technically true. This movie is very much like a jaw-dropping season finale that ends with a cliffhanger and leaves you desperate for the next season to start, so set your expectations appropriately.

-I've seen reviewers write that this movie is pretty demanding of fans as far as expecting you to know things. That's reasonably true. If you haven't seen Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Civil War, and Black Panther you're probably going to be slightly confused along the way.

-This movie should be called Thanos because he owns it, he's basically the protagonist and gets the most screen time. The CGI is really impressive and makes him into a character, not an effect. Josh Brolin said the other day when someone asked him which character he preferred playing, Thanos or Cable, he said Thanos because he was so amazed that you could see his performance in this hulking purple monster. It's amazing, and well worth the years of build up. As hard as it is to believe he's almost sympathetic. Some people complain about Marvel villains, they won't get any more ammunition from this movie.

-The interactions between the different sets of characters is a lot of fun and everything I hoped for. The only drawback is there's not more of it. The characters are also very consistent with their past appearances, especially the Guardians who feel like they stepped out of their own movie.

-The movie has a 2 hour and 40 min runtime and it flies by. That does mean you may want to take it easy on the soda though.

-There were a lot of young children in the showing I went to. While this isn't any more violent than other Marvel movies it feels more intense. I definitely wouldn't bring kids.

-That said, the movie is still very funny at times. There were a few lines that had the audience laughing so hard I couldn't hear the next line of dialogue.

-There are also more emotional scenes than in any other Marvel movie I can think of. There's one in particular between Thor and Rocket that brought everyone to tears and is the best thing Chris Hemsworth has ever done, it also makes up for the humor undercutting the drama in Ragnarok.

-There's no mid-credit scene and one post-credit scene. It does help set up the next movie a little, but unless you're reasonably familiar with the comics it won't mean much to you. So, basically, if you feel like you need to get out of the theater, go ahead because you might not understand it anyway.

-As usual, this will require a rewatch or two to determine my final ranking but it's hard to imagine putting it below any other Marvel movie, but it's such an achievement it's difficult to think of it as just a movie.

"We are Venom."

Perfectly Balanced

Venom

 This movie is ill-conceived as it's a dumb idea to make a Venom movie independent of his relationship with Spider-Man but at least Tom Hardy might make it an interesting failure.

Solo

 Well, this is... interesting. It's hard to deliver a satisfying origin story for a character like Han Solo and the novels published years ago that tried to do it failed miserably. Can this movie do better?

Infinity War

Ant-Man and the Wasp

??

Is anyone even less enthused about the college football championship now that it's two SEC teams? I watched part of one game in the first round because I was in an airport, this time I will actively avoid it and root for horrible ratings.

?

Is anyone else unenthusiastic about the college football playoff? Personally, I just don't care and won't go out of my way to watch any of the games. The combination of leaving the Big Ten out plus two SEC teams plus general animosity towards ESPN plus scheduling has killed my interest. In fact, given my travel schedule this year I'll probably miss all of the playoff and it doesn't disappoint me one bit.

Change of Taste?

So 20 years ago I developed a dislike for Quentin Tarantino and his movies, but not sure why. I guess it had something to do with "Pulp Fiction." It seemed like that movie was constantly on the cable channel network circuit every week and that everyone called it a cult classic, yet I just didn't get it. I never really watched it, it was just always on and the short amount of the movie I'd seen didn't seem that great to me. But, I tried watching it a few years ago on Netflix to see if I could see what others loved about it and give it a second chance. I couldn't make it 30 minutes.

However, a few years ago I tried "Reservoir Dogs." Excellent. Then I tried "Django Unchained." Awesome. Then "Inglourious Basterds." Great. A few nights ago I finished "The Hateful Eight." Terrific. Keep in mind, that's if you can get past all the language and gore. Even with this new attitude, there's just something I don't get about "Pulp Fiction."

Maybe I'll give it another 30 minute try.

Infinity War

Post-Ragnarok Rankings

1a.Captain America: Civil War
1b. Guardians of the Galaxy
1c. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
1d. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2
5. Avengers
6. Iron Man
7. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Doctor Strange
9. Iron Man 3
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
12. Thor
13. Captain America: The First Avenger
14. Ant-Man
15. Iron Man 2
16. Thor: The Dark World
17. The Incredible Hulk

Thoughts on Thor: Ragnarok

A few thoughts on Thor: Ragnarok:

-Who would have thought the way to make a great Thor movie was to make it Guardians of the Galaxy?

-That's a bit of an exaggeration but this film obviously owes a ton to those two. It doesn't get made without them coming first.

-The movie is really colorful. It almost hurts your eyes. Also, if you're at all familiar with the late comic artist Jack Kirby his art influences the look of the movie very much.

-This movie is funny. Probably too funny, the humor undercuts some of the more dramatic moments. Like with Iron Man 3 I find myself liking the movie a lot but wondering what the darker version would be like.

-The Hulk is great in this movie, and he's in much more of the film than I expected.

-The movie takes material from multiple different comic stories and I was impressed that it came together as a cohesive whole. I'm also pretty surprised at the way it ended.

-I like the movie a lot but there are definitely a few details that bug me as a comic fan. Your mileage may vary.

-Cate Blanchett is good as Hela but the role isn't very deep. She's still a lot of fun though.

-Dr. Strange makes an appearance and part of it is right out of the post-credit scene that Thor appeared in earlier. It's a nice scene but the magic is very inconsistent with how things worked in his movie.

-Chris Hemsworth is a great comedic actor.

-The mid-credit scene is somewhat important, the post-credit scene is just fun.

Black Panther

Dragging

Credit Suisse is projecting lower earnings for CBS and Fox because NFL ratings are dropping. It depends on how exactly you calculate the numbers but ratings are generally down 16-18% from two years ago. You'll see a less dramatic decrease from last year to this year but that's because last year was already a record low. The bottom line is something is definitely hurting NFL ratings and anthem protests seem to be a major part of that.

As for me, I haven't watched a snap of NFL football since the Sunday night game the week the NFL was responding to Trump's tweets. I also bought Coke instead of Pepsi the last few times at the store since Pepsi is the official NFL soft drink. Not sure how long this will last but I'm definitely finding myself doing something I never would have expected.

Taking A Knee

I hadn't really followed the commentary around Trump's tweeting about NFL protests last week and I was out of town for part of Sunday so it wasn't until shortly before the Sunday night game that I was somewhat caught up on what was going on. I did turn the game on, but after seeing so many of the Raiders and a few Redskins kneeling I walked out of the room. I turned it off a few minutes later, though part of that was due to audio issues they were having with the broadcast. Still, I have to say that while I've disliked the anthem protests all along, this Sunday made a difference. The league decided to get behind these players and for the first time I find myself disliking the league as a whole, not just some of the players. I'm not sure I'm ready to quit but I'm actually finding myself thinking about it. I have to think there are other fans thinking the same, especially since NFL fans tend to skew Republican, and turn out to vote. Alejandro Villenueva, NFL lineman and U.S. Army veteran, the only Steeler to stand outside the tunnel for the anthem, has the best-selling jersey in the last 24 hours. I'd buy a shirt myself but the money would just go to the NFL. Anyway, this could turn out bad for the NFL and for once I'm rooting against them.

"Gotham needs its true hero."

Kevin Conroy is Batman. He's never wore the cape and cowl onscreen but he's still the definitive version of the character, voicing him for 25 years in animation and video games. Below, he reads Batman's speech from the end of The Dark Knight.

Thoughts on Dunkirk

What do you need to know about Dunkirk? I think this statement from a 97-year-old veteran who was there says it all:

“I never thought I would see that again. It was just like I was there again.”

Which means it is intense. Early in the film there is an attack by a Stuka dive bomber and the volume increases to almost painful levels as the screaming plane makes its bombing run. I wanted to duck under my seat. Zimmer's score also keeps everything tense as I'm sure you can imagine if you're familiar with his work. It's not something you'd want to turn on and unwind with after a long day. I'm listening to it now (thanks Amazon Prime) and getting a little tense.

A few other thoughts:

-The movie is split into three stories each taking place over a different period of time: One week, one day, one hour. This is clearly indicated in the titles but many people, including myself, seemed to have missed that at first.

-"Mole" is another word for essentially a big break wall, so when you see that show up in the titles don't think the guy on the screen is a German spy. This also confused me until they used the word later in the movie.

-If water really freaks you out don't watch this movie. It's definitely as close as I ever want to be to being inside a sinking ship.

-The movie is surprising bloodless. There is plenty of violence and death but it's not gory like the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan.

-You're probably going to jump multiple times watching this movie.

-It's a different movie than some of Nolan's previous work, like Interstellar and Inception, but I still liked it a lot. I will need to see it again to really appreciate it because the first time you sort of just survive it.

-The movie ends with one of the characters reading Churchill's famous speech in a newspaper. Here's the speech:

Defenders