Daniel Essman

'Spider-Man: Far From Home' The Story: Ongoing saga of Peter Parker aka Spider-Man, the current prince of the Marvel Universe. Peter's high school class is going to Europe. The class is stoked, and Peter's especially stoked. One, because he just wants a vacation from being a superhero; and two, because young love is filled with true emotion and MJ (Maryjane) is going and Peter has a double-triple-quadruple serious crush on MJ. But will he have the guts to tell her? He's already faced-off with Thanos and that's gotta be scary. He's risked his life, but will he risk his heart? O' the emotional tension. And then in Italy, when everything seems to be going his way, a gigantic water monster and the mysterious “Mysterio” show up to ruin Peter's plans. Alas! Poor Peter Parker, nothing ever goes right! My Thoughts: The theatre was jam-packed with bodies, from the fanboys in the front row open-mouthed looking straight up at the screen, to Mom and Dad and their four children popcorn crunching behind me in the back. At movie's end, the audience clapped with gusto. Applause that said we all had a bang-up good time with Spidey and his angsty teenage problems. . More Thoughts: Spoiler! So, dudes, a problem that had us (me and my Paddington Bear) sleepless well past midnight. We'd just watched a flick that we knew and accepted was entirely computer graphics (CGI). And curiously, the plot of the flick is mostly about Spider-Man being deceived by computer generated mirages. Let me repeat that. We the audience watched and believed that the computer-generated images were real happenings; meanwhile, Spidey was being bamboozled by computer-generated images that weren't really happening. It's an inside-out a mind bender. It's metaphysical cray-cray. Very circular, very meta, very recursive--an action flick Zen koan. No wonder I had trouble sleeping. (As per usual, my stuffed bear was more phlegmatic.) Parents: Most kids will love it, though the little ones might not follow the story, and the flick is probably too loud. Take the little ones to “Toy Story 4,” it's a kinder movie.

'Yesterday' The Story: A fantasy tale--a rom-com--a morality tale. Jack Malik is a vaguely talented singer-songwriter looking for a break. He's supported in his professional ambition by good friends, and especially by (the completely adorable) Ellie, who manages his career (such as it is). Jack and Ellie have been the truest buddies since they were children. First, odd magic happens. There's a world wide blackout. Then, Jack is hospitalized with a concussion. Then, he wakes up and he's the only person in the world (the whole world!) who remembers the Beatles. And he is the only songwriter in the whole wide world who knows their songs. My Thoughts: Danny Boyle's “Slumdog Millionaire” celebrates an impoverished young man who, quite by chance and coincidence, learns the answers to all the questions on a high-pay-out TV game show. Boyle clearly likes stories about worthy young men in need. His movie “Yesterday” is also about a truly decent young man and success, but it focuses on the moral, even karmic implications of Jack Malik profiting from the genius of John, Paul, George, and Ringo. “Yesterday” is a gently humorous fantasy drama which raises sharp questions, and produces answers which are quite unpredictable. I loved it. Parents: This movie will appeal to adults and teenagers. Children will not not really know the Beatles nor their songs, nor will they understand the grown-up issues. Children will be bored.