The book is an examination of the director’s use of music throughout his entire filmography with the soundtrack of the 1990 mob masterpiece at its center. But when I took a break from the endless writing, re-writing, and editing I saw a number of new movies over the summer so I thought it was time to collect my thoughts on them here.
I’ll start with Steven Spielberg’s highly hyped alien conspiracy thriller DISCLOSURE DAY, which opened last June to good reviews and big box office. Now, my all-time favorite Spielberg flick is 1978’s CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND so I was primed to see what some were calling a spiritual sequel, but I have to say I was profoundly disappointed. The story, involving Emily Blunt as a TV meteorologist, and Josh O’Connor as a cybersecurity whistleblower racing to expose proof of extraterrestrial life, was as predictable as it was familiar feeling – we’ve been through all these X-Files-style convolutions before. I mean, the largely forgotten 2011 Simon Pegg comedy PAUL was more enlightening about aliens living among us ’n shit. On the surface, Spielberg’s latest treatise on UFOs is a lively, watchable, well acted, and well made movie, but the 79-year old’s approach to this material is more cute than cutting edge.
Of course, the summer had plenty of sequels and franchise films, but the only ones I saw were Pixar’s TOY STORY 5, and the STAR WARS entry, THE MANDOLORIAN AND GROGU. Andrew Stanton’s newest adventure with Woody (Tom Hanks), Buzz Lightyear (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack) and all them other wacky toys has a juicy premise involving what happens when playtime meets screen time, as our heroes have to deal with an iPad-type device that threatens their connection to Bonnie and, more ominously, the very idea of kids playing with toys at all. It mostly works and has a lot of laughs—particularly from Conan O’Brien as the toilet-training device Smarty Pants—but there’s some noticeable formula fatigue, and that pesky thought that the series probably should’ve ended with the third one never quite went away. Still, it’s an enjoyable romp all the same.
As for Jon Favreau’s THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU, it was amusing to see a STAR WARS movie get so little fanfare and come and go so quickly. I barely remember much about it, as it felt like another episode of the show, which I had stopped watching in season two. Having spent a year working on a book about Scorsese, I had to see it, as he has a small part voicing a multi-armed alien fry cook, but while that had its charms, it’s still odd that the legendary director took the role. On a basic level, like SOLO, the movie is a perfectly serviceable sci-fi action flick, but sometimes what happens a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away should stay there.
On my birthday this year (September 9), I wanted to take a break from writing and see something that was purely for fun, so I decided on going to either SPIDER-MAN: BRAND NEW DAY or COYOTE VS. ACME. I chose the latter because I was more curious about director Dave Green’s long-shelved mixture of live action and animation concerning Warner Bros. cartoon characters that the studio had infamously shelved despite the movie being essentially finished. Former SNL cast member and MACGRUBER star Will Forte is perfectly cast as the attorney who takes the Coyote’s case, and the film is enjoyably crammed with cameos and gags from start to finish. I laughed quite a bit and thought I made the right choice, but I still plan to catch up with the latest SPIDER-MAN someday.
Alright, so that’s a handful of the movies I’ve seen lately, but I’ll be back to cover other, less mainstream movies, including some A24 titles. As the more interesting fall movie season is upon us, expect me to not be such a stranger, as Film Babble Blog is back in business.
More later....
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