Slightly more progress from last week and kind of a hodge-podge of films, but let’s un-pack and see where they landed for me.
Thor: Love and Thunder – There seems to be so much coming out of the Disney Marvel grindhouse these days, that the fourth installment of Thor didn’t really come at me with much anticipation. I knew it’d be funny because Taika Waititi was directing again (and it was indeed funny), and Chris Hemsworth is actually hilarious (let this man lead a comedy, dammit!), but something was lacking for me this time around. I think Ragnarok worked better because it was the first time something so different came out for a Marvel film and for Thor more specifically. This story was kind of disjointed, and Christian Bale as the god-killer was almost rather forgettable. What I did enjoy from this film were Russell Crowe as Zeus and the creativity of the black and white sequences. With all that complaining, I should still say that I liked this movie, just maybe not enough to see twice.
Top Gun – Well, next week when I finally go see Top Gun: Maverick, I sure hope the hype is real because the original film is not it. Despite all of the high octane flying sequences, I just found most of the film to be boring. The “bad guys” seem to be a pretty throwaway plot point to show that Maverick has learned the value of teamwork, and his arch nemesis Iceman is actually right most of the time! I appreciate the relationships thrown into this film, and I was as gutted as Maverick was when Goose died, but despite what everyone else thinks…it was kind of his fault. I don’t know, maybe the fact that it also came out in the 80s is what made it seem extra clunky to me, too. I’m still going in hopeful to the sequel, but this did not help its cause that much.
Flux Gourmet – I was a little nervous to learn that this satirical horror film came from the same director of In Fabric, another horror comedy film that I’ve been too chicken to watch. Regardless, something this kitsch in its brief description is something I knew I was going to watch without even seeing a trailer. Boy was I delighted by this film’s weirdness! Firstly, the film is narrated by a “hack” writer, who spends most of the film in voiceover detailing his plight at not being able to fart due to some intestinal illness. He makes the best of the situation while simultaneously interviewing and observing a new group that’s earned a spot in the Sonic Catering Institute. This place is less about food and more about making music from the food. The trio is supremely odd but mesmerizing in equal measure. The cast here is fun and quirky, but the story is certainly not for everyone. Indie lovers do check it out, though!
Doula – Gah, I should have known this movie was going to be disappointing, but it had two things going for it which was the main reason I rented it in the first place. The first was that it was produced by Chris Pine (he also has a small role in the film) and Troian Bellisario is the lead in it. I never watched her in Pretty Little Liars, but a small indie film she did several years back called Feed was all I really needed to sell me on future projects. In this, she plays Deb, a woman on the brink of giving birth when her and her husband learn that their doula has died. At her burial, they enlist her son as her replacement, and the oddities only rise from there. Personally, a lot of the “comedic” scenes didn’t really land for me and sometimes I felt like everyone involved was trying too hard. Hit or miss I suppose.