Here we are already – much slower than last year but still far too quickly. It’s been an eventful middle third of the year for film: a pair of megaton Hollywood strikes with wide-reaching (and justified) implications, no less than three big-name blockbusters releasing as “Part Ones” like it’s the early 2010s all over again, the official end of the ill-fated DCEU, and of course the irresistible juggernaut that was Barbenheimer. The news cycle has been juicy, and the movies haven’t been half-bad either. Most of them, anyway.
Here are ten quick takes:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3
“I lost count of the number of times I cried.”
Fast X
“It’s getting harder to enjoy these unironically, but Momoa carries.”
The Flash
“First two acts are enjoyable, then the horrendous melodrama begins.”
Across the Spider-Verse
“One of the best half–stories ever put on screen.”
Extraction 2
“Improves on Extraction‘s unique strengths to birth a competent franchise.”
Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning Part One
“Stylistically and qualitatively closer to M:I 1 / 4 than 5 / 6.”
Oppenheimer
“An exhausting, devastating cinematic experience that Nolan probably won’t top.”
Barbie
“Lacks usual Gerwig / Baumbach bite; but bright, chaotic, hilarious fun.”
BlackBerry
“2023’s third “retro corporate bro” movie is sharp and depressing.”
Gran Turismo
Vagrant Rant 