DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS (2022)

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A fascinating exercise to watch Raimi's SPIDER-MAN 2 and DOCTOR STRANGE IN THE MULTIVERSE OF MADNESS back to back and to see in action what I found myself thinking: that SPIDER-MAN 2 is a Sam Raimi film which happens to feature Marvel characters while DOCTOR STRANGE (love the easter egg in the former – prescience, much?) is a Marvel film which happens to be directed by Sam Raimi.

While occasional Raimi-ness flared up in the third act of STRANGE - that music note throwdown was pure, giddy genius - I was, as almost always with the Marvel films, disappointed by the weightlessness of it all, the amusement park line-ride fan service, and Raimi's disheartening - though unsurprising - MCU restraint.

For all that DC's done wrong with their approach to their films - and they've done plenty -, they let their directors do their thing: the James Gunn of the THE SUICIDE SQUAD and PEACEMAKER is a far more exciting James Gunn than GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY James Gunn.

(For what it's worth, SPIDER-MAN 2 is still the greatest comic book film of all time, a note-perfect examination of what being a hero is - and the train stopping sequence remains the best 15 minutes of superhero cinema ever. So very very good to see it again.)

VIVRE SA VIE (1962)

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My Godard frenzy continues: BREATHLESS, ALPHAVILLE, and now, VIVRE SA VIE; seems to be this year's iteration of my "why didnt I dive into their oeuvre sooner oh right I didnt have Criterion Channel until the once-in-a-century plague" Bergman frenzy of 20-21, another year of making up for that lost time when I was too young and stupid to fall in love with their work when I was too young and stupid to fall in love with their work.

Immediate impressions: feels like a spiritual successor to BREATHLESS, from female POV, though Belmondo was an ass from the start (not that Karina wasn't of a similar lacking at her start either – though whereas Belmondo's tale felt like Godard channeling Hammett, Karina's brought to mind a Godard-channeling of Edith Wharton, particularly Lily Barton from HOUSE OF MIRTH, and its relentless heartbreak throughout), down to the brutality of the end.

Godard's work rewards rapt attention to the little details, to the little fuck yous to film form throughout: the artistry of how he makes them work together nothing short of amazing.

Planning to continue writing these little things after each Criterion viewing and after each viewing of something non-Criterion worth writing about. Rebuild those review chops a bit or, at the very least, record a legible version of my impressions to the ether.

Have to continue on with the Varda frenzy too.

Written and directed by Jean Luc Godard; starring Anna Karina, Sady Rebot, and Andre S. Labarthe. Released 20 September 1962. Currently available on Criterion Channel.

THE BATMAN's layered disconnect

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Been turning and turning THE BATMAN over in my head since my first HBO Max viewing a few weeks back and, given that I'm currently listening to Giacchino's (semi-ponderous) score, I might’ve figured out a way to express the one nit that I can't shake: with the exception of Zoe Kravitz's Selina, I didn't – and this isn't even a perfect encapsulation of said nit – feel for any of the characters; not to say that I didn't enjoy all of the characters and all of the performances (especially Turturro's Carmine Falcone, Farrell's Penguin, and Dano's Riddler) – rather, it was as though there was a layer missing.

Example: can't shake the disconnect I felt in the interactions between Jeffrey Wright's Gordon and Pattinson's Batman, much more so than between Oldman and Bale. And, while I recognize that theirs are totally (and tonally) different Gordons and Bats (I did, after all, write the book on this (or something tangentially relevant to this) ten years ago) - and that both Wright and Pattinson – two of the best actors working today – gave fantastic performances – I still can't shake that something, that... I don't know. Something.

While I suspect that that disconnect was intentional and character-driven (and, in some cases, it definitely worked and captured the character well), it didn't feel developed and polished enough. Either way, an excellent Bat-film: looking forward to seeing where they take this universe, particularly the Arkham and Penguin shows.