I hope you’re having a lovely, meaningful Memorial Day Weekend thus far, friends. I hope that you’re with family or chosen family, remembering the beloved ones we’ve lost. 💜 I really enjoyed watching the new Blue Angels documentary (produced by JJ Abrams and Glen Powell). My Grandad (Navy) always loved the Blue Angels so much.
Memorial Day is a solemn occasion. But also — in a prime example of the can-do American spirit — a cookout-y, picnicky kickoff to summer. [If we must access our sadness, why not do it over an American-flag dessert made of whipped cream and berries?]
The month of May is also the official kickoff of the summer movie season. The first two big summer blockbusters hit the screens this month, both doing not-so-great in theaters and triggering the movie boys on X into a spiral of hand-wringing and declarations of “Movies are over!”
[I would argue movies aren’t over but that movie theaters do need to lower the cost and increase the comfort. I’ve seen a tumbleweed of dirty toilet paper blowing past sopping wet sinks! My $20 can of wine once fell through a hole in an armrest cupholder! Basic needs, folks!]
The month of May also gave us films with LEADING LADIES: Women who are smart, ambitious, fierce, violent, hilarious, morally bankrupt, heroic, loyal and two-faced. I didn’t love all the movies, but I do love a [very Reese Witherspoon voice] “Women’s stories matter” moment!
Today we’re reviewing five (5) of those films. They’re all available in theaters or to rent/buy on streaming already which means you can go out and watch them posthaste! [You’re welcome, The “failing” Movie Industry, I will accept my check any time!]
I’ll be sharing my thoughts and opinions and would love to hear yours: What have you watched? What are you interested in? Do you wish we had more original films and less IP?? Do you think the movies are “over”? What’s the grossest thing you’ve seen in a movie theater while we’re at it?
Later, I’ll be sending out a Summer Movie Preview of all the June/July/August movies yet to come. Let’s do this!
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga — In theaters
What it’s about: This is a prequel to 2015’s Mad Max: Fury Road, exploring the background of that movie’s best character, Charlize Theron’s Furiosa — played here by human elf Anya Taylor-Joy and elf child Alyla Brown [apparently in the middle of the movie, they AI their faces over each other?].
I loved Fury Road. It’s a mind-boggling achievement of technical difficulty and emotional heft. This one … well, let’s get into it.
Why I did NOT like this movie: It gave me a tummy ache! There was so much torture and bodily fluids and severed limbs and maggots and men who looked like they smelled horrible. It was like watching a film made by that demented kid Sid from Toy Story 1.
In contrast to Fury Road’s tight storytelling, Furiosa is sprawling, messy, overstuffed and — I hate to sound like a broken record here, but — too damn long. Some people are comparing it to the cinematic achievement of Ben Hur [which I LOVE], and I agree in terms of how Ben Hur was dusty and had a lot of torture and racing and flayed human skin. But Ben Hur also gave us a believable tale of lifelong bonds — you feel the losses because you KNOW the characters, drawn in close emotional detail over the course of all 3.5+ hours.
In Furiosa, by contrast, the bonds come in and out of the story without much context or weight. I felt horrible and sad, but less because I was connected to Furiosa and more because everything on screen was horrible and sad.
Why someone might like this movie: Upon further reflection, I’m glad I watched it.
It was a stunning act of world-building, and the action and visuals are pulse-pumping! [Though I got very bored in the middle with the car chases, I fear!]
Chris Hemsworth was electric, delivering a terrifying-yet-funny-yet-demented-yet-tender-yet-tragic chaotic-evil supervillain. [Though that prosthetic nose was a PROBLEM.]
It is in some ways a truth-telling mission. The apocalypse will not be a rip-roaring good time at a heavy-metal festival. It will be grinding, horrific, full of the stench of death and the worst things people can do to each other. If you’re a woman, just hope you go quickly before the fall of society, says this film! In one sense, I applaud that truth-telling. But in another sense: No thanks, I’m good.
TL;DR: If you want to watch people getting tortured in a dusty hellscape with car chases, be my guest!
Challengers — In theaters & available to buy on streaming
What it’s about: A stylish, dark sports thriller about three tennis players — Zendaya, Josh O’Connor, and Matt Faist — ostensibly locked in a love triangle.
At surface level, it’s not NOT a movie about how hot Zendaya is. Beyond surface level, it’s about power, magnetism, manipulation, attraction; all the ingredients for toxic relationships and the best sports rivalries. Zendaya pops, of COURSE, but to me (and to her character, I would argue) it’s more about the will-they-won’t-they push and pull between the boys. Give Josh O’Conner a trophy for this movie!
Why I DID like this movie: While watching, I kept thinking, “Is this the most ridiculous movie I’ve ever seen?!” But in the end it didn’t matter because I strutted out of that theater, blasting the soundtrack in my airpods, with the biggest attitude I’ve ever had.
That’s what that movie is about: Attitude. Feeling. Hormones. Leg.
This is the kind of movie SNL makes spoofs of, and I mean that as a compliment. It’s stylistically distinct — aggressively, wildly so. It is, as the kids say, a VIBE. It’s smart, self-aware, and specific in its attention to detail. Director Luca Guadagnino [Call Me By Your Name] is intentional about what he wants to say and leave unsaid.
This film is a girl who knows who she is.
Why someone might not like it: It might also make you feel icky. It’s a love-triangle movie after all, and the characters are mean, morally bankrupt, and selfish. If you like things to be definite, black-and-white, involve closure—this one ain’t for you, babes. Like any vibe, you might not be feeling it.
TL;DR: In this movie, sex is an allegory for tennis, and tennis is an allegory for sex, and both tennis and sex are allegories for the invisible but palpable force between rivals and lovers. And also: Leg.
The Fall Guy — In theaters & available to buy on streaming
What it’s about: A stunt man [Ryan Gosling] trying to make a comeback accidentally gets involved in a crime while also trying to win back his ex-girlfriend and the director of the movie he’s in [Emily Blunt].
Why I liked it: FUN TIMES WERE HAD BY ALL! I took zero notes during this movie because it did not require ANY critical thinking. There were two moments where it looked like Emily Blunt was about to break character and laugh. That’s how silly this movie is. Delightful.
Who are two people who have chemistry with everyone ever? Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt. The Lord prepared them for such a film as this! [I asked Ben for his review and he said: “We are so blessed to have Emily Blunt and Ryan Gosling together.” Lol we are so religious??]
Why you might not like it: I guess if you hate fun and nonsense, you might not have a good time. Some of the action scenes were too long. [It has become clear to me I am not a car chase girl!]
TL;DR: Great opener to the summer movie season!
Babes — In theaters
What it’s about: Two best friends living in NYC, one a mom on the Upper West Side with two kids, the other a single gal in Astoria who finds out she’s pregnant after a one-night stand. It stars the hysterical Ilana Glazer of Broad City [one of my favorite all-time comedies] and Michelle Buteau, one of the most hilarious comics doing it right now, plus some other great comedians. It has been called “The ‘Bridesmaids’ of childbearing”!
Why I liked it: This didn’t rise quite to the level of Bridesmaids for me, but it was warm and funny and absolutely delightful. There was one scene where I laughed so hard I started crying uncontrollably. It’s raunchy and explicit and off-the-wall; and it’s also about friendship and motherhood and identity and chosen family. I welled up! If you’re into movies like Knocked Up, The Hangover, etc., you should check this out.
TL;DR: The rom-com is dead. The friend-com is here!
Civil War — Available to buy on streaming
What it’s about: An America in the near future is in the throes of a devastating civil war, but this movie is not about how or why we got there; it’s more about taking a snapshot of what that war would look like, told from the perspective of journalists.
Kirsten Dunst plays a war reporter in the style of Marie Colvin and she, putting on her Captain Obvious hat, explains the point of the movie in the dialogue:
“Once you start asking yourself those questions, you can’t stop. So we don’t ask. We record so other people ask. Every time I survived a war zone, I thought I was sending a warning home: ‘Don’t do this.’”
This movie is less about asking specific questions and more about “recording,” “sending a warning.” Whether you think it’s successful at that is another matter. [I’d give it “middling.”]
Why I liked it: Because I went to journalism school, duh! But also it was well-shot and well-acted; I was never bored and I was curious the whole time. It was less a story and more a tableaux of dread. I thought they mostly succeeded at what they were trying to do, but I don’t think their aim was quite as lofty as they thought.
Why I didn’t like it: My friend Laura, who watched it with me, put it best: “It thought it was a thesis, but it was a middle-school paper.” Harsh, but correct! It’s mostly a collection of glancing shots of what a civil war might be like, none of those depictions lasting longer than a few minutes of screen time.
TL;DR: I wrote in my little movie notebook [nerd alert] right after watching: “This is a movie about a woman who is good at her job, and was it even worth it!?”