I'm just starting to really get back into the habit of going to see movies in an actual theater!
I don't know what it is, or whether or not I've been just lazy or cheap or what, but I have not been a regular big-screen cinema-goer in many years. I've gone to see movies in theaters sort of "on and off" over the years, but lack of interest in what was generally happening at the time meant that my visits were strictly sporadic. (And the Covid quarantine of '20 certainly didn't help, either.) I mean, just by way of example, I certainly couldn't give you a history of what's happened in the Marvel Universe over the past decade-and-a-half. For the most part, I've just been building up my collection of Blu-rays, 4K's and DVD's and enjoying the cinematic marvels of the past in the comfort of my own apartment. (And speaking of Covid, the spare time and the additional financial benefits during the lockdown greatly facilitated my collecting and home viewing habits!) Yeah, I
did go to see Christopher Nolan's
Tenet, the Bowie montage documentary
Moonage Daydream and the latest David Cronenberg film
Crimes of the Future. But as far as the big screen goes, that's been it!
And hopefully, all that will change. Hopefully, I can get back into the groove of watching one film in a local movie theater per week!
Just last week, on my Grandma Sue's invitation, we both went to the Tuesday showing ($7 apiece!) of
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny). We certainly had a good time and the experience was highly enjoyable. But for both us, the experience could
not equal how exciting it was when we
both saw
Raiders of the Lost Ark together for the first time in its first theatrical run. That was
quite memorable for the 8-year-old I was at the time - in particular the climactic Nazi meltdown!
As of the first viewing, I'm kind of on the fence about
Dial of Destiny. I mean, the premise is really good, and I actually rather liked the idea of Indy as this creaky-boned old codger who relates more to the great achievements of the past than those of his present (that being the moon landing of 1969). Maybe it's because I just turned 50 years old (the half-century mark), I'm watching all my heroes either die or fade away day by day, and I can't always relate to what's happening in popular culture (music or movies), that this characterization of Indiana Jones strikes a rather poignant chord within me. A lot of people don't seem to like this aspect of the film, but I think that that's just nostalgia talking and speaks to a need that people have to preserve the ideals and memories of their youth... and to not have to acknowledge the facts of our own death, mortality and the occasional disillusionment that happens along the way. (As deeply problematic as I find the J.J. Abrams
Star Wars Sequel Trilogy to be, I certainly didn't have as much of a problem with the characterization of Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker as an aged, embittered recluse, for precisely that very reason. Other people
certainly did, including Hamill himself, and they're all certainly entitled to their opinions.)
I liked Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Helena Shaw, and Mads Mikkelsen was good as the villain. (But then, isn't Mikkelsen
always really good?) But the fact of the matter is, much of the film feels just a little
too perfect and streamlined, like so much of today's big-budget action cinema. As exciting as the opening train sequence set in the 1940's is, it doesn't necessarily have the
physicality of the first three
Indiana Jones movies. And psychologically, Indy's advanced age aside, there isn't really any
depth to any of the characterizations. We just get a series of thumbnail sketches instead of full-blown characters, and Waller-Bridge's transformation from selfish mercenary into a genuinely heroic sidekick doesn't necessarily feel earned or convincing. And while it's certainly
nice to have John Rhys-Davies' Sallah and Karen Allen's Marion drop in, they aren't really given much to
do. I guess at this point it's meant to be sort of a final curtain call, presuming of course that this is indeed Ford's final bow as Indiana Jones.
Overall verdict: I think it's
okay, and I had a good time. But I'm also once again reminded of how Hollywood moviemaking is becoming streamlined and more mechanical. The "human factors" just seem to be getting steamrolled, and I'm ultimately left with not much more than the aftertaste of popcorn in my mouth. (I guess that's kind of why my visits to the movie theater have been so infrequent over the past decade or so.) Oh well...
Now
this is certainly
quite idiosyncratic and a great deal of fun.
Asteroid City is the latest opus by Wes Anderson, whose overall
oeuvre I'm probably less familiar with than I should be. I've seen
The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou from 2004 and
The Grand Budapest Hotel from 2014, but to this day I don't have anything on Blu-ray yet. (Oversight!
) It's kind of hard for me to describe Anderson's extremely stylized work to those who aren't as familiar with it, but his films definitely take place within their own universe and each has its own unique visual style. The characters are always interesting, the dialogue intelligent and quirky.
Realism and
naturalism are decidedly
not the highest priorities for Anderson, but you're always left with the feeling of a story well-told, and one you feel as if you've never really been told before.
In this fanciful sci-fi-themed play-within-a-play set in the
very small retro-'50s town of Asteroid City, the plot, story and character details kind of fly at you rather relentlessly, and you feel like you
might need a second viewing to fully catch up and assimilate it. But this is something I genuinely admire in movies greatly, and I like movies that are quirky and smart and assume that its viewers are intelligent. In terms of picking out details, I kind of haven't fully processed
Asteroid City quite yet, but this was one of the most enjoyable trips to the movies I've had in quite some time. It's definitely got one of the most distinctive and amusing scenes of an alien visitation I've ever seen, and if I tried to describe it I wouldn't do it justice in a million years!
Highly recommended, and one for my Blu-ray/4K UHD wish list.
Next item on the agenda... (hopefully) next Tuesday...
Oppenheimer!
What would
you recommend for future viewing? I'm open to suggestions.
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