Rich Wagaba
From the looks of it, I’m in the minority but I enjoyed the fuck outta “SOLO”… Maybe cos I didn’t grow up on Star Wars cos no black people (before this I’d only watched “Force Awakens” and “Rogue One”), so I don’t have the same attachment to these character as dissenting fans, but this movie was fun and clever. It’s too bad we’ll never know what the Lord/Miller version woulda been – honestly, they were the main reason I was interested in this to begin with cos they made awesome movies out of “21 Jumpstreet” and fucking Legos – but unlike “Ant-man” or the schizophrenic “Justice League” film, this one worked cohesively as a singular vision and it’s really just an action-packed heist movie. Good shit. (Alden Ehrenreich is no Harrison Ford but no one is or could be… Alden’s nevertheless very cool in this and I hope they give him another go but also I don’t care. In fact just give us a Lando Calrissian movie which explores the origin of his love affair with capes. Again starring Donald Glover but directed by Hiro Murai. Thank you please thanks.)
Speaking of Disney franchises, “Avengers: Infinity War”… Containing in equal measure the funnest parts of the Marvel movies and the worst parts of the Marvel movies, I gotta give the Russos credit for juggling what has to be the largest all-star cast ever, um, assembled, and giving everyone a moment to shine (where Hawkeye at, doe?). And props to Disney for OK’ing an ending that literally sent tons of kids home crying each time I watched it. Cool prank and bold choice that got me to look past how eye-rolling it is to end this kind of movie on a cliffhanger. Hope it works out better for Avengers 4 than it did for “The Matrix Revolutions”. What a huge shit that movie took on the Matrix franchise. Side note: my brother went to see “Infinity War” without having watched any of the previous MCU films and texted me in sheer frustration at being totally lost as to what the fuck was going on! Every time I picture his puzzled expression as this 2 and half hour behemoth of a film that functions EXCLUSIVELY as a sequel plays out before him, I fuckin lose it!!
Anyways “Deadpool 2” is honestly as funny as the first one and truth be told, a lot more well-rounded as a film. Zazie Beetz is a standout addition to the team and I’m so happy to see Julian Dennison shine… he was brilliant in “Hunt For The Wilderpeople”, wasn’t he? And he’s been equally hilarious on talk show appearances during the press tour of this film. (Check out his Kimmel interview.) I hate that Josh Brolin is Thanos in “Infinity War” AND Cable in this cos why the fuck does that happen? But he honestly rocks both parts so hard I can’t even be mad at him.
Did I already talk about “A Quiet Place”? The less said the better, just go see it if you haven’t. “Tully” too. I have to say, if you’ve ever been the primary caregiver to young children and wondered if anyone would ever truly understand the relentless, mundane, repetitive, absurd struggle of trying to cling to the last bits of your sanity as kids and their needs chip away bit by bit, “Tully” gets it. Diablo Cody and Jason Reitman get it. Charlize Theron, in a golden globe worthy performance, gets it. The climax of the film has lingered with me in a really nagging way but yeah, one of the most true to life experiences I’ve seen in a long time.
Right… so where my black films/filmmakers at? Watch how “Sorry to Bother You” with Lakeith Stanfield and Tessa Thompson blows the fuck up. Spike Lee’s “BlackKklansman” is already winning awards. Antoine Fuqua got Denzel to make THE FIRST SEQUEL OF HIS CAREER in “The Equalizer 2” and it looks dope as fuck. I know they’re not movies but how cinematic are Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” video and Janelle Monae’s “Dirty Computer” short film? MAKE THEM ACTUAL FULL LENGTH MOVIES!
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