Movie Roundup: Summer of '17

Once again, it's time for another installment of Movie Roundup! If you've been here before, you know that (1) these are not really reviews, these are just my random thoughts about movies I've seen, and (2) there may be massive spoilers, even to the point where I give away twists and endings and stuff. Lots of ground to cover this time around, so let's begin!

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

I'm pretty sure James Gunn got the idea of calling the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel "Volume 2" for the same reason I decided to subtitle the Joel Suzuki series with the word "volume." Because, you know, volume...music...okay, whatever. Anyway, it's nice to know that I may have the same twisted sense of wordplay as a popular and successful film director (he's also a musician). Speaking of which, have you seen Gunn's 2010 cult classic Super, starring Rainn Wilson in a story about a regular guy who tries to become a superhero? I loved it, but apparently it was a box office bomb. But despite that, Disney still asked Gunn to direct the first Guardians of the Galaxy! So I guess the lesson there is not to be discouraged by your failures...or something like that.

Power Rangers

I know that you know that I know that the new incarnation of Billy Cranston aka the Blue Ranger is a character on the autism spectrum. Which is a super cool thing in my opinion. And I think the writers and the actor did a good job with the portrayal, although of course it would've been nice to have an actor who was actually on the spectrum playing that part. But I suppose it's progress. The movie itself was okay, although at times it seemed like it was having a hard time deciding if it wanted to be fun and campy like the original (actually, the original-original was a Japanese tokusatsu series called Super Sentai) or dark and serious like the not-really-for-kids Power/Rangers short film.

Beauty and the Beast

We interrupt my random thoughts about movies I've seen during their initial theatrical run to talk about movies I've seen after they've hit the home video market. Can you believe that I have never actually seen the original animated version of this film in its entirety all the way through? Anyway, I enjoyed this version, not only for the great story and the incredible visuals, but also because I had fun near the end of the movie picking out all the actors I recognized from other stuff. Look, there's young Obi-Wan! And Magneto/Gandalf! And Professor Trelawney! And Caesar Flickerman! And isn't that Tish Jones?

Wonder Woman

Speaking of which, after this one was over I told my son "It seems like there are only about twenty or so genre film actors that Hollywood recycles, casting them in every single role." I mean, you have Chris Pine (the new Captain Kirk) playing Steve Trevor, Danny Huston (one of the Colonel Strykers) playing General Ludendorff, David Thewlis (Remus Lupin) playing Sir Patrick Morgan...oh, wait, right, did I like the movie itself? Yes. Yes, I did. DC, you got it right this time. Congrats. Now please, make sure that Justice League is just as good. Okay? Thanks.

Spider-Man: Homecoming

Speaking of good...wow. In my opinion, this was not only the best Spider-Man movie to date (yes, even better than Spider-Man 2), it was the best Marvel movie not called The Avengers (just the first one, not that Age of Ultron deal). Tonally, it was perfect - funny and light most of the way through, but serious at all the right times. It even had a dude from Hawaii playing someone who may or may not be Ned Leeds? And the casting of Michael Keaton (Birdman) as the Vulture was genius.

The Giver

Another one of my catch-up viewings. I decided to rent this after I read the book for my son's Autism Empowerment Book Club. Loved the book. Liked the beginning and ending parts of the movie (I didn't mind the aging-up of the characters, that's pretty standard practice, Percy Jackson did it as well), but I felt that the shoot-y action sequence in the late middle was a bit jarring. I mean, I get it, moviegoers want action, and I understand that the studio is trying to appeal not only to fans of the book but a general audience as well (e.g., the people who saw The Hunger Games and are now expecting ultra-violence in all of their YA adaptations), but...oh well, whatever.

The Big Sick

More proof that I don't just watch sci-fi/fantasy movies made for teenagers! I enjoyed this one a lot, largely because it seemed so...real, I guess. Not in a shlocky reality-show way, but it just felt like someone was following actual people around and filming them doing actual-people things (the part where Holly Hunter couldn't tell which way was up on her phone was spot on), albeit with steady, professional cameras (no Blair Witch Project-type shakiness here). It's now one of my all-time favorite rom-coms, along with The Lobster, Silver Linings Playbook, When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle...whoa, wait, I actually watch quite a lot of those things, don't I?

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Man was this movie nice to look at.

And with that, we come to the end of Movie Roundup for the summer of '17. Join us next time when it'll be dark and cold outside and I'll probably be talking about the aforementioned Justice League, Thor: Ragnarok, Kingsman: The Golden Circle, and some obscure indie flick called Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Until then!