Better than my very low expectations. Decent soundtrack. Awful robot. Good, if criminally underused, Lando. Clearly meant to be the beginning of a trilogy that will never see the light of day.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle, 2017 – ★★½
Watched at 2x on a flight back from the west coast. Decent action but basically nonsense.
Avengers: Infinity War, 2018 – ★★★½
Reminded me of Game of Thrones in its relentless action and the culmination of multi-film plotlines. An impressive achievement. Also, I liked the bits in Edinburgh.
A Quiet Place, 2018 – ★★★
As entertaining and dumb as a bag of puppies in a sound-proofed box. It’s a cool premise, I’ll grant, but try as I might, I couldn’t stop thinking of bombs on windchimes.
The Nile Hilton Incident, 2017 – ★★★½
Stylish with fantastic acting and an incredible setting. The plot falls apart under the lightest of inspections, and the trope of murdered women rather tiring, and yet it was approximately a million times better than The Night Manager.
Isle of Dogs, 2018 – ★★★½
Funny and impeccably directed but lacking the depth of soul of Grand Budapest Hotel and Fantastic Mr. Fox. And while it’s more about dogs than it’s about Japan, the whole “westerner hero” bit was… odd. Still, I enjoyed it and the asides were magical.
The Wind Rises, 2013 – ★★★
There’s a moment when the aircraft designer says, “I just want to make planes. We aren’t arms dealers.” This is, at best, incredibly naive and had the opposite effect on me that I suspect Miyazaki intended. The treatment of women was a waste. But hey, it’s beautifully drawn? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
mssv 