There, back on schedule! A wide variety made the cut amongst this busy weekend.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – It seems like a lifetime has passed since James Gunn was controversially fired then re-hired to make the third installment of this Marvel fav. While I’m sure there is still bad blood between Gunn and Disney, he at least managed to leave us all with a cathartic final installment. At least with the core crew we’ve spent the last nine years with. The Guardians are all living a semi-normal life on their spaceship planet, although Peter is still wallowing the loss of Gamora as he knew her. Everything changes though when Rocket gets attacked and is on the brink of death. They find out that a code is needed to repair him or he will die, so this leads to us all learning so much more than we ever bargained for about Rocket’s life. Cue the waterworks! As I said, this was a cathartic work and I left the theater with a smile on my face. You will, too.
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant – I have no clue why Ritchie posted his name in front of this film’s title. Perhaps not to be confused with the 2006 Sebastian Stan vehicle of the same name? One may never know. This story, though fictional in its characters, depicts the hardships many interpreters encountered during their time helping American soldiers while they were in Afghanistan. Most of the people did not want what the Taliban put forward, and the US made false promises about Visas for those who helped with our mission. In this story, John’s life was saved extremely heroically by his interpreter, Ahmed. Instead of being given salvation, Ahmed was forced to hide with his family to avoid being killed by the Taliban. John decided it was up to him to get Ahmed and his family out of there. Very tense and moving. Another fine work by Ritchie.
Linoleum – Cameron is stuck in a rut. He’s living a quiet life in a small Ohio town where he leads a local science show, is on the brink of divorce from his wife, and feels that he never lived up to his full potential. All of that changes when one morning a car literally falls from the sky with a driver that looks eerily similar to him. This man, Kent, seems to be the “antithesis” to everything Cameron ever hoped to be. Even though his local program is getting picked up by PBS, they don’t really want him involved. He decides to take matters into his own hands and build a rocket with the pieces of a satellite that landed in his backyard not long after the car incident. This movie was filmed in such a way that reminded me stylistically of Susie Searches that I watched recently, but something didn’t quite click all the way for me here.