MovieTim14

"Blockbuster" appeared promising thanks to a fun premise and a solid group of comedic actors. It's so disappointing then that this turned out to be one of the most forgettable sitcoms I can ever remember watching. By episode 7, I audibly groaned seeing it remain on my "continue watching" section, but by that point I was committed to getting it over with.

I don't think too deeply about sitcoms; they just need likeable characters, whacky situations, and regular laughs. Blockbuster is hard to pin down. It doesn't NOT have those things, but just that none of those turned out to be particularly memorable. The characters and situations seem very rote and by the book, and therefore forced. For instance, the will they/won't they romance of the two leads seemed like it was included because it's a common sitcom trope, and not because the chemistry of the actors necessitated that dynamic.

The greatest sin is that the laughs simply aren't as plentiful as they should be. I found myself chuckling the most often at the specific pop culture/movie jokes that are afforded by the premise. There didn't seem to be truly well-constructed jokes that are universally appealing though, and things were probably funnier than they really should've been just because the actors are naturally funny people.

So this show is a weird experience overall. There's nothing explicitly bad about it, but also nothing particularly good to remember it by. Unlike the store chain it was named after, this Blockbuster will not remain in my heart and mind long after it's gone.

I'm among the many who felt that Marvel has largely been on the decline in their Post-Endgame glut of content. I hemmed and hawed about my commitment to the brand as I continued to turn up for everything they put out regardless. Now that Ant-Man 3 has released as the official kickoff to Marvel's Phase 5, I'm finally ready to cut the cord, as the lack of quality in their recent content has reached a new nadir.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a soulless product, and its value rests solely in being a set-up for what Marvel will be doing in the future. The first 10 minutes or so were actually promising, starting with the good natured fun and humor of the previous Ant-Man movies, and setting up potentially interesting (though also out of left field?) character conflict. Once our cast is thrown into the Quantum Realm however (thanks to the daddy of all Deus Ex Machinas), there is little to grasp onto to enjoy the remaining runtime.

The writing is atrocious, from its structure, to dialogue, plot contrivances, and even signature Marvel humor. The potentially interesting character conflict it sets up in the beginning is thrown to the wayside to make way for endless plot and exposition, as it's made clear that the priority is setting up what Marvel has in store in the future, rather than focusing on the characters in the current movie. A couple of lines are thrown out here and there to try to round out the paper-thin attempts at theme and character development, but they amount to nothing. Ultimately, there wasn't a single thing that did not ring hollow to my ears, and even a cast as effortlessly charming and talented as Ant-Man's could do little to convince me otherwise.

The other component of the one-two punch that made the film so joyless to me is the physical setting of the movie. I was amazed (not in a good way) that Marvel had the confidence to set 95% of the movie in an entirely CGI realm, without providing any sense of physical reality for us to grasp onto. This is especially intriguing given that this is an Ant-Man movie, and the characters' size-altering powers are only interesting in comparison to other physical objects that the viewer can inherently understand. I also found the Quantum Realm to be, for lack of a better word, ugly. To clarify, I don't mean the route they decided to take with creature and environment design, which some could find kind of gross. The entirety of everything just amounts to something I found aesthetically unpleasant. I would never revisit this movie as something just to look at.

There are a few redeeming factors. Jonathan Majors' performance as Kang was excellent, managing to lend a sense of gravitas to the happenings of the movie in spite of my total lack of investment. I also will never be able to hate dumb action and comic book goofiness, and at least some of the jokes are fairly funny. To be clear though, those standards should be the bare minimum for a film of this nature, and that is the only bar that is cleared here.

When Scorsese made his "superhero movies are only theme park rides" comments that set the internet ablaze years ago, I was part of the camp that thought they have so much more to offer than what he was willing to see. His analogy has never been more apt than with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, however, and it's a ride that I think I'll remember more for making me want to throw up than for wanting to go on it again.

Dune has been my most anticipated film of maybe... ever? My excitement initially stemmed from the announcement of Denis Villeneuve, one of the best living directors with a proven track record in sci-fi (Blade Runner 2049, Arrival), helming what I knew to be widely considered the greatest and most influential sci-fi novel of all time. As that excitement grew, I delved into the novel and became completely engrossed by the universe that author Frank Herbert had created more than 50 years ago. I also came to see why it has been deemed "unadaptable" for so long.

But how did the great Denis fare in doing just that? As far as I'm concerned, a greater screen version than what he accomplished here is not possible, with the only exception being a longer cut of this film. This adaptation of Dune is everything I pictured in my head while reading the novel and so much more. This is one of the most visually stunning films I've ever seen. Every single frame is a sumptuous feast for the eyes, and Villneuve achieves a staggering sense of scale across the worlds we visit.

I've seen some complaints about the visual design, mainly that certain elements look "dull" or not imaginative enough. I think that the art team here struck the perfect balance between completely otherworldly without being alien for alien's sake. The practicalities of life on Arrakis are very important to the story, and a deeper look at the lore reveals why certain technological advancements that would seem obvious aren't present. On the other hand, I felt a sense of eerie unfamiliarity as a result of the design throughout. There is a lot here that bears little semblance to our own world, with even certain branches of humanity being so far removed from what we recognize today that they end up being more alien than human.

In addition to the design, the cast is immaculate as well. Every single actor manages to perfectly embody their character while still bringing parts of themselves into the role, and they all bring a powerful performance. Now that I think about it, this applies to every element of Dune, from Hans Zimmer's score to Villeneuve's direction, and every part of the production design.

The only criticism I can levy against Dune, which I do not even really consider a criticism, is where the movie cuts off. Cutting the novel into two parts is absolutely the necessity that Villeneuve said it was, in order to capture the richness of the text. Still, I am surprised that this movie didn't take more creative liberty to embellish the story at parts to fit a typical three act movie structure better. Thus, the height of this part's drama and stakes occurs about halfway through the movie. Following this, the action does not feel as climactic, and the movie does not try to create a sense that it is. If anything, what this "criticism" amounts to is that Dune is too faithful to the novel.

Dune was never going to be able to capture the richness of the original text. No version, save for a very long prestige series, would be capable of exploring the immense intricacies of the themes, cultures, politics, history, and characterizations that are detailed in the novel. Being familiar with the novel though, I think Villenueve fully succeeds in communicating the key elements of those facets, and most importantly, the spirit of what made Dune so special.

Dune is one half of an incomplete masterpiece, one that completely blew me away. I implore you to see this movie in theaters! If Warner Bros ends up feeling that this didn't make enough money to justify making part two, it will be a true cinematic tragedy.