It was a busy weekend for me, which meant not too much time for movies. That makes me sad, but sometimes that happens. Anyway, here’s what made it in.
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania – I’ve been seeing this around and I tend to agree. There’s too much Marvel content. I feel like I’m just working through it without any of the more recent storylines impacting me or making enough of an impression to remember anything. Case in point, they showed a little snip from the fourth Thor installment during the logo animation and I one hundred percent forgot I even watched that last year. Yikes. Anyways, Scott (Ant-Man) has saved the world with the Avengers so he’s just looking forward to sitting back and taking it easy for a while. That last approximately ten minutes before a satellite transmitter his daughter, Cassie, made for the quantum realm gets smashed to bits by Hope’s mother and they all get sucked into the quantum realm. Last time that happened Hope’s mother, Janet, was trapped down there for thirty years! There’s some family secrets revealed and we learn a little bit more about Kang the Conqueror. Certainly more to come from him, and I don’t think it’s a spoiler to say that!
Empire of Light – As my current HBO Max subscription comes to an end in the coming week, I made sure to watch this newly added drama by Sam Mendes. According to the critics, it’s nowhere near as impressive as his last effort, 1917, but I quite liked it! We meet Hilary, along with a neat bunch of employees at the local Empire Theater, where she tends to the guests and never sees the movies. It seems as though Hilary is moving through a fog until new employee, Stephen shows up. The two transition from friendship to romance quickly and that’s got Hilary thinking she’s on the right path so she stops taking her meds. Well, bipolar or schizophrenia doesn’t work that way, and it’s not too long before she’s derailed her life again. Luckily, she’s got good friends and life turns around in her favor again. Another point to be made during this film is the extreme racism present in the UK in the early 80s. Stephen suffers from this, but luckily too is able to come out a little bit on top. This was a drama that had me drawn in from the beginning.
Sharper – I really knew nothing going into this film, but I liked it! Yes, it’s got a bit of a noir vibe and certainly criminal elements, but the storytelling was quite clever. We meet every character in reverse chronological order, but that’s necessary in order to tie the whole story together. It was evident pretty early on that there was a con at play, but the layers and details to it were quite intricate! This is something I know that my dad will enjoy and that’s high praise! Unfortunately, I’m not going to say anything more because that would ruin the movie! Trust me though, it’s a neat story with a fantastic cast.