Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

It's fine. I liked it just fine. It's breezy fun but the plot is sort of thin. Paul Rudd's character is under house arrest due to external conflicts from Avengers: Civil War. The mid-credits scene alludes to the Avengers too. But the central conflict within the film has three sides, Ant-Man vs the ghost vs a common black market dealer. The dealer's presence in the film is seemingly insignificant in the grand scheme of thing. The ghost is a sympathetic villain. But by the time we get to the resolution of the plot, we see that the antagonism between them was moot. Paul Rudd is fun though.

Basic Instinct (1992)

I saw Elle last summer, and was offended by the blatant misogyny of Paul Verhoeven. It is evident that he has been a misogynist for over twenty years. So we know that his depiction of women is offensive, but Verhoeven is actually terrible on all fronts. His depiction of bisexuality/homosexuality is horrendous. And Michael Douglas's heterosexual "hero" is toxic too. It is a little difficult to get past these points. That being said, Sharon Stone is devilishly seductive. Douglas's biases are projected onto the viewer. We know from the start who the murderer is. We are shown her blond locks if you could focus on her hair. And yet we question our recollection because Douglas is so easily manipulated. The plot gets a little muddled towards the end. You have to overlook it. But man, you are kept at the edge of your seat, teeth clenched the whole time. It is suspenseful, even if you know what's coming.  

Ant-Man (2015)

Paul Rudd stars in this Marvel flick, which was actually quite funny. It is more traditional humor, unlike the riskier Deadpool. Quite frankly, I think Ant-Man works better. Michael Pena is hilarious as Rudd's sidekick. And Paul Rudd, as a comedian, is naturally funny and charming whereas sometimes you feel like Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool tries too hard. What is really great about this movie is that Ant-Man is human. He is not "super" like some other Marvel heroes. And as a human, he has human problems, family problems, mundane problems. This human element grounds the film in reality. The powers come from science, which though it is unrealistic, is hypothetically believable. It does not take itself too seriously, while not being a total joke like Deadpool.