Incredibles 2 (2018)

What do you do in Bangkok? Go see a 4D movie! The 4D is super unnecessary, but it was kind of novel. During the Bao short and the first thirty minutes of the movie, there are 4D effects that are unexpected because they are mundane, but that kind of makes it fun and funny. It did make me smile. The latter half of the movie did not have as many effects. They and we maybe forgot about it.

The movie is brilliant. It is a modern day superhero movie. We needed to wait over a decade for this movie and it was well worth the wait to see our contemporary debates featured prominently. There is a dining table argument the family has over civil disobedience. A main theme of the movie is body cameras, a contemporary policing/vigilante proposal. And of course, you can't ignore the working mom and stay-at-home dad narrative. To top it off, the movie is hilarious. Brad Bird is an excellent director. But this film doesn't feel like a Pixar movie (nothing wrong with that) because it never reaches that emotional climax (nothing wrong with that either). The movie does throw a curveball by casting Bob Odenkirk, whose most famous role leads us to believe he was typecast. Spoiler alert, he's not. Michael Giacchino's music is lots of fun, kind of jazzy.

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.

Downsizing (2017)

Alexander Payne makes some weird stuff. The idea is novel. And there is a message about the environment, overpopulation and class. Matt Damon is charming and Hong Chau is very good. The accent is maybe overkill since we know she doesn't really talk like that (she was in Treme).  The original downsizing concept is interesting, but the class theme then begins to overpower the downsizing. After the first act, the rest of the movie didn't have to take place in miniature at all. This lack of cohesion is ultimately what sinks the film.

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.

Jane (2017)

I'm really sorry to say that I fell asleep in the middle of this beautiful documentary on the fascinating Jane Goodall. The original score by Philip Glass is accompanied by newfound archival footage from the early years when Goodall first went to live among the chimps. Her research was revolutionary. And it was almost by chance that it happened at all. She was working for an anthropologist who sent her to Africa on a beautiful journey captured on camera. Narrated by Jane herself, you can't help but smile at nature at its rawest.

The Death of Stalin (2017)

The Death of Stalin, from the creator Veep, is hilarious. It is so witty and sharp. The funniest thing about it is how ridiculously realistic it is. We can imagine that all these crazy things could've farcically happened in the Soviet Union. They are preposterous situations that are simultaneously terrifying and funny. I actually laughed out loud on the plane. Steve Buscemi and Jeffrey Tambor have the perfect demeanor for political satire. The opening scene in which they must re-stage a performance they forgot to record for Stalin is brilliant.

Annihilation (2018)

I was freaking out while watching this movie, but I feel like I appreciate it so much more in retrospect. It is a trippy science fiction instant classic. Alex Garland has proven himself as a new master of unsettling sci-fi. The ending of this movie is open ended, but I'm somehow unconvinced of the open-endedness. Can we trust the Natalie Portman's biased account of what happened in the shimmer? Can we trust what we saw on screen? I don't know and it troubles me.