You People (2023) - Movie Review

I wasn’t even planning on watching this. I was originally going to check out Rebel Moon, but then I read up on how there was going to be a director’s cut, and given… well, everything to do with Zack Snyder and extended cuts, I want to both avoid the larger conversation as best I can while also giving him the best chance possible. So, as a result, that review is getting moved to early next year. And out of blind panic, and remembering that this film was a talking point earlier in the year, I basically went “fuck it” and picked this. Words cannot express how much I regret that decision.

You Hurt My Feelings (2023) - Movie Review

This might sound odd coming from someone who literally criticises people’s work for a living, but actually hearing criticism about your own work… kinda sucks. I may have a little too much fun when writing about stuff I don’t like (just look at my total lack of etiquette when looking at EXMas for FilmInk), but I try and approach each film I review with the understanding that people worked on this. That each production is the culmination of a lot of time and effort being focused to a single point, with many people putting in their hours to make it happen. But as part of that same understanding, I also see the need to be honest about what I think of a given film. The best advice I’ve ever been given about this field (cheers Travis) is deceptively simple: Don’t say you liked it if you didn't, and don't say you didn't like it if you did.

I say that that’s ‘deceptively’ simple because, while we all seem to be all too willing to read random strangers to utter filth over the most minor shit, that can become a bit more difficult when the person you want to criticise is someone you know personally. An aspect of the ‘separate the art from the artist’ notion that doesn’t regularly get brought up is how that applies to those in relationships, be it romantic or professional. Like, you want to help them and give constructive feedback, so that they can become better at their craft, but when you care deeply about them as a person, the idea of telling them anything less than what will make them happy can feel... cruel?

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022) - Movie Review

Phase Four of the MCU, the starting leg for the newfangled Multiverse Saga, has been a rather tepid affair. I freely admit that I have a lot of fondness for Phase Three, which is full of films I like, love, even admire for various reasons, and after the thunderclap of Endgame, there are some expected shortfalls in the fallout… but it still feels off. Nothing I would outright consider bad (which is more than can be said for Phase One and Two), but plenty of missed opportunities. One decent film (Shang-Chi), three disappointments (Black Widow, Doctor Strange, Thor), and two admitted greats (No Way Home and Eternals). Although it should be said that, at a time when the MCU is emphasising the varieties of the Multiverse, it says something when the two best films in this Phase had to go outside even that margin to find inspiration (past Spider-Man films and DC-era Jack Kirby respectively).

But then, that’s what I like the most about the original Black Panther: It thrives regardless of any connection to the larger franchise. While its story has some roots in the events of Captain America: Civil War, it doesn’t have the same serialised weight to it that can and has hindered other MCU films. If you go into it not having seen anything of the other films, you will still get its full impact one way or another. It is rather unique in that regard, save for the first Iron Man film retroactively, and it’s part of the reason why I hold Phase Three in such high regard: It was when more unique filmmaking voices started to weave themselves into the patchwork, and through that, allowed for stuff like this to exist. If any film in this Phase would be capable of escaping that rut, a sequel to Black Panther is it.

Onward (2020) - Movie Review

Even without bringing the cinema closures into the equation… I’ll admit, I was putting off watching this one. After the utter clusterfuck that was 2019 in Disney’s history, simultaneously one of their best and one of their worst in terms of both content control and financial reward, I’m a lot more hesitant about the House of Mouse than I used to be. And as I’ll get into, while that event lingering in the background does cut into the enjoyment a little, I still managed to have fun with it.