Much Ado About Nothing review

Is Much Ado About Nothing the best film of the summer so far? Absolutely. Is it the best film of the year? Too soon to tell, but probably. Turns out, the increasingly amazing Joss Whedon (who directed last summer's The Avengers, as if I have to tell you) can do Shakespeare, too. His new modern-dress (and modern-attitude) production is so unfussy and lucid that it fools you into thinking it's effortless, which it simply could not have been. It's in B&W, BTW, but not that washed-out, hipsterish black and white that we recently saw in Frances Ha.  This is closer to the expressive, "colorful" kind that was used in its heyday. But why am I dwelling on the photography when I could be talking about the wonderful performances, which bring out every bit of hilarity lurking in the Bard's comedy? Most critics are making a major fuss about this movie and, for once, it's much ado about something.

Man of Steel review

I've put off writing about Man of Steel because I'm starting to sound like a broken record (do people still use that expression in the iTunes era?) about this summer's blockbusters. I have not been enjoying them, which is especially disappointing, considering that I did very much like last summer's Avengers. MoS unfortunately features the same kind of soul-deadening violence that I've seen too much of this summer. (But at least the violence in MoS is coherent, something I would not say about most of the action scenes in the latest Iron Man or Star Trek movies). The main problem, though, is pretty obvious. Warner Brothers had a big hit with its Dark Knight trilogy so it tried (as far as possible) to turn Superman into Batman. Not the same guy. Box office aside, Superman has always worked best when the film (or TV series) is at least partly facetious -- "comic," as in "comic book." (The Avengers certainly had that quality.) But MoS varies from sincere to grim: an epic saga with Superman as some kind of space messiah. Those fanboys who've been complaining that Superman isn't Superman without his external red undies (surprisingly) have a point. A world in which those crimson skivvies don't belong is just too serious for old Supey.

Iron Man 3

Too bad about Iron Man 3. I mean, it certainly seems to be popular. But I found it disappointing, and I've been liking pretty much all the "official" Marvel movies since the first Iron Man. I think the problem is that the "pros" are starting to take over. By "pros," I mean a guy like Shane Black, who directed the new Iron Man. He was a writer on the Lethal Weapon  series, which was also popular and also pretty tedious overall. Pros like Black know how to make super-violent action flicks that appeal to a certain kind of moviegoer, but they lack the light touch (and an understanding of the distinctive appeal of comic books) that guys like Jon Favreau (who directed the first two Iron Mans) or Joss Whedon (The Avengers) has. Has anyone noticed, for example, that IM3 is basically a zombie movie? Yes, Ben Kingsley is great in this film in a totally unexpected way. Yes, there are a few other nice touches. (The post-credits gag isn't bad.) But there's about an hour in there that's a long, dispiriting slog. I hope that Black is the first and last of the pros to get a hold of a modern superhero movie, but somehow I doubt it.

'Nuff Said?

I'm officially on break until May 14, when the summer term begins. I have a light course load during the summer, but I'll still post on this blog from time to time. In fact, I'll probably do at least some minimal posting before that. I know I'll have something to say about The Avengers, for instance. Years ago, I worked for Marvel Comics in NY. Stan Lee still came in for meetings in those days. For a while, I shared an office with his younger brother, Larry Lieber.  I could almost do a whole blog about that.