Death Becomes Her (Broadway) (2025)

Death Becomes Her is camp dialed up to 11. The jokes come a mile a minute. The leads (Megan Hilty and Jessica Simard) are fabulous at belting out their numbers, though the music is kind of forgettable. Rather refreshing is that the book scenes are actually really good. They're funny and they're uncensored.  There is one scene in particular with some unbelievable slow-motion acrobatics that puts the magic of the theater on full display. I also like the tromp l'oeil depth of perspective in the set. The costumes and production design are lots of fun. 

And what a year for older stars in showbiz clinging to their youth. The plot heavily mirrors The Substance. And it's not exactly without body horror, as much as you can disfigure someone on stage. But what lengths will people go to for a chance to reclaim their glory days. The Last Showgirl, Sunset Boulevard, etc. None of those are comedies though, and that it takes this theme more lightly is all the better. Even tragedy doesn't have to end so tragically.

Venom (2018)

In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, no one takes themselves too seriously. This movie never really strikes the right tone. The concept is so absurd and yet no one seems to appreciate that. It is only mildly tempered with some humor towards the end that is not even all that funny. This movie is Venom's origin story. It is unclear for a very long time what Eddie Brock has to do with the opening scene in Malaysia. We never really get a proper explanation of what the alien life forms want. Nor does it really matter. Because the focus of Venom's origin story is surrounds Elon Musk--I mean Carlton Drake. Tell us what you really think about that psycho. Also, they make such a big deal out of how difficult it is to find a suitable host that could survive the parasite bonding. Then halfway through the movie, they never have this problem again. We were initially led to believe that there was something special about Eddie that he was able to bond perfectly, but then all of a sudden, everyone can bond. The dialogue is really bad, Tom Hardy is OK, and the visual effects are kind of neat.

The Greatest Showman (2017)

Why is this movie so boring? I like a good musical but it's just really uninteresting. The music is drab. I don't know what everyone sees in "This Is Me." Pasek and Paul are responsible for La La Land and Dear Evan Hansen; they can't all be good, I guess. I get that it's a family movie, but it feels like a kids movie. There are so many good family movies nowadays that are not so kiddy. I can't pinpoint exactly what it is, but it is not made for us. There was so much opportunity to develop some of these characters, but they never really do. Zendaya, for example, doesn't have enough lines. The opening is the glitziest part of the movie. You expect the circus to have more spectacle.

All the Money in the World (2017)

It will forever be known as the film Christopher Plummer reshot in Kevin Spacey's stead. And the film that Mark Wahlberg got paid to reshoot while Michelle Williams only got a per diem. But all this aside, the movie is actually really tense and engaging. Especially considering these complications, the movie is still cohesive. And Christopher Plummer is quite good, but I think Michelle Williams actually steals the show.

Wonderstruck (2017)

Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful movie. The black-and-white 1920s cinematography is gorgeous. The production design and costumes for the 20s and 70s are both fantastic. The look of the movie and the music are mesmerizing. The final fifteen minutes especially of the stop motion dioramas are magical. The kids are great actors too. Where I didn't love the movie: I don't think the plot quite paid off enough given how slowly it built up. I think it'd have difficulty holding the attention of the kids it was meant for. But it might seem a little too kiddie for the adults that might appreciate the artistry of it. Rose's story and Ben's story are obviously headed for a collision. And they do. The parallels are clear. But we could've gotten just Ben's story without Rose's and we wouldn't really have lost anything because Rose's story is not relevant to understanding Ben's. In that sense, they don't quite collide enough. What I do love is the New York story. New York is a beautiful city with a beautiful history and beautiful institutions. It's a piece imagining the city in the context of real history: the World's Fair, the Blackout of 77. It does a lot of things right--it's just not as enjoyable as I had hoped.

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

By no means is it a fun film. No, it's about as depressing as it gets-. I really appreciated the storytelling. Kenneth Lonergan's script is well developed, unfolding in stages, weaving in flashbacks seamlessly, slowly revealing how our characters became the characters they are. It is an emotional story made more so by full fledged characters. Casey Affleck plays the troubled brother of the deceased. He is very good, dealing with grief in his own way. His expression does not change when he is first informed of his brother's death. Grief is a process, and we watch him go through various stages. Lucas Hedges, too, is excellent. His is another approach to grief. He provides some comic relief to the audience. What is perhaps so impressive about the characters are how real them seem. That's why it's so powerful.

I'm Not There (2007)

I'm Not There is a very innovative biopic that very loosely based on "the many lives" of Bob Dylan.  Dylan is played by six different actors, including a black child actor, and a woman.  Each character goes by a different name (none of them Bob or Dylan) and they represent different stages of Dylan's life, or rather different parts of his persona.  Cate Blanchett was especially convincing playing a 60s-era Dylan.  I wish I knew a little more about Bob Dylan because I feel like I missed out on a lot of the details that were included in the film that allude to his life.

The film is very stylish with two of the six actors being portrayed in black and white, and one of the six being portrayed in a documentary format.  Time is not linear in the slightest, jumping constantly between personas.  The whole thing is very surreal and sometimes you're not quite sure what to make of what you're seeing on screen.  But it is fitting for such an enigmatic man as Bob Dylan.

The film opens with a motorcycle accident (a reference to Dylan's own motorcycle accident) and Jude Quinn's subsequent autopsy.  I could not help but draw a parallel to the opening of Lawrence of Arabia, another biopic about a complex man who wore different personas in different phases of his life.