Owen Thompson-Lastad

You know how sometimes a chatbot encounters another chatbot, and they start speaking endless nonsense to each other? That describes the dialogue in this would-be black comedy. The tech titans speak entirely in Silicon Valley clichés, so that you'd never know what a creative and thoughtful writer was behind this. I didn't believe in the characters, I didn't care what happened to them, and worst of all, I didn't laugh once.

If you enjoy this genre--gritty murder mystery/cop movie/revenge thriller--you'll likely love this. I don't always love this kind of movie, but the beautiful scenery, solid acting, and fast-moving plot kept me gripped. I wasn't so sure it added up to more than machismo in the end, but I wasn't bored for a moment of its runtime.

You'd think James Gunn would understand what was good about the first two movies, but... This was grim, unfunny, needlessly violent, and way too long. The characters spent half of their screentime just screaming miserably, and the villain did nothing else. As with "Black Widow," I got the sense that the writers lost track of what makes a hero. We see a whole planet full of sentient beings annihilated and it's hardly discussed. Superheroes are supposed to prevent things like that, or at least be upset that they failed to. I don't know that I've ever enjoyed a Marvel movie less. Good needle-drops, though.

Yet another movie showcasing Netflix's amazing ability to fill a movie with talent and get nothing good out of it. In scene after scene, terrific actors spout lazy, dumb lines. The script is entirely counting on the audience to be titillated by White and Black interacting, as if just the concept of interracial romance were enough to throw off sparks. If you saw "Guess Who" with Ashton Kutcher, then you've already seen this movie.

Basically an updating of Rear Window, but that's not a bad thing. There are some COVID moments that make no sense--the paranoid character seems to think she can only get sick outside--but otherwise this is a tight thriller with clever touches.

This movie was a mixed bag for me. The visuals are gorgeous and distinctive. Some of the music moved me and some didn't, but the styles are so varied that there will be something here for everyone. Making the character with super strength a woman was a nice touch. And it was great to see Colombian culture represented with specificity, rather than being painted with a generic "Latin" brush. But, the plot and the characters didn't work for me. The choice to have worlds within the house, instead of sending the hero on an adventure away from home, made me feel like the movie never really started. Many of the characters felt like the barest of sketches, rather than interesting people with meaningful interactions between them. (The middle generation of the family had nothing to do at all.) The weak plot made the resolutions at the end feel unsatisfying.

I'm not a Marvel movie obsessive, but I do like most of them. This one was such a dud. The jokes weren't funny, the action wasn't believable, and the relationships lacked all chemistry. This should be a case study for how a talented director and cast can make a long, expensive movie with no qualities to recommend it.

An overly long, boring satire that doesn't trust the audience to respond to subtlety. It's incredibly grim and cynical, but worst of all, it's not funny. There's a good dark comedy to be made on this topic, but this movie was just a waste of good actors.

I find Jake Johnson very charming and I loved Swanberg's "Drinking Buddies," but this movie was boring and formulaic. The two main characters were just stereotypes--nagging, neurotic, yoga-teaching LA woman; arrested-development LA man--and the supporting characters were lucky if they got even one personality trait each. I saw every beat coming and was happy to get away from these people after 85 minutes.

A bad movie with some great actors giving very good performances. Delroy Lindo in particular is amazing. But, it's way too long, every beat is predictable, and it uses gory violence to substitute for actual tension or excitement. And as usual, Spike Lee is incapable of anything subtle. This movie bludgeons you with the points he wants to make.