THE SEAGULL: A Man Chanced to Pass That Way and Destroyed It out of Idleness

Director: Michael Mayer
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Saoirse Ronan, Corey Stoll, Annette Bening, Brian Dennehy, Michael Zegen, Mare Winningham, Glenn Fleshler, Jon Tenney, Billy Howle
Runtime: 98 mins.
2018

When you take it upon yourself to adapt a classic work of the stage, especially one from the revolutionary body of work of Anton Chekhov, especially one that is directly conversant with themes of new theatrical forms versus old ways of thinking, you had better damn well have a salient reason for the adaptation. Michael Mayer's The Seagull does not clear that bar. As far as I can tell, this film has no reason to exist whatsoever. It may be that The Seagull is inherently uncinematic, what with its dense text and discernible lack of onstage "action." That doesn't excuse Mayer's adaptation from being mired in the most blasé choices imaginable.

The Seagull--as I understand it--is a deep dive existential excavation of an artistically inclined Russian family, as well as those who have found themselves attached to the family unit. This heavy meditation on malcontentedness is seen askance through seemingly casual dialogue and punctuated by jet black comedy. The Seagull--as Mayer understands it--is a work of transparent awards-seeking frivolity in which the dialogue carries little impact beyond an excuse for its hyperqualified cast to Act.

WON'T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR?: Love Thy Neighbor

Director: Morgan Neville
Runtime: 94 mins.
2018

The letdown of Won't You Be My Neighbor? is that it is mediocre in every facet of its construction.

The structure of the film is aggressively typical. We are given a general gloss of Fred Rogers, from the beginning of his career until his death. This is accomplished with little imagination by a balance of archival footage and interviews with those who knew him. Rarely do the interviews reveal anything particularly interesting--they function to reaffirm the history as presented.

ISLE OF DOGS: Master Craftsman

Director: Wes Anderson
Writers: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola, Jason Schwartzman, Kunichi Nomura
Cast: Bryan Cranston, Koyu Rankin, Edward Norton, Bob Balaban, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Kunichi Nomura, Akira Takayama, Greta Gerwig, Frances McDormand, Akira Ito, Scarlett Johansson, Harvey Keitel, F. Murray Abraham, Yoko Ono, Tilda Swinton, Ken Watanabe, Liev Schreiber, Courtney B. Vance
Runtime: 101 mins.
2018

There is great joy to be found in watching Isle of Dogs. The film crackles with enthusiasm about its subject matter. Those who have even a passing appreciation for dogs, Japanese culture, or stop motion animation will encounter a narrative that satisfyingly incorporates those elements into an emotional story well-told. But there is also the more abstract joy of watching a master working passionately at their craft.

This is the second stop motion film by Wes Anderson, an obvious pairing with a common ground in fussy precision. It's exciting to see how Anderson has grown as a filmmaker since Fantastic Mr. Fox. This observation is not meant to cast aspersions on that film, which is brilliant in its own right. Fantastic Mr. Fox's comparative two-dimensionality fit well with the storybook sensibilities of the narrative.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR - The Stones on This Guy

Other Reviews in This Series

Directors: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Writers: Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
Cast: Josh Brolin, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Holland, Chadwick Boseman, Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Tom Hiddleston, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Idris Elba, Danai Gurira, Peter Dinklage, Benedict Wong, Pom Klementieff, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Gwyneth Paltrow, Benicio Del Toro, Chris Pratt, Carrie Coon
Runtime: 149 mins.
2018

Infinity War stands as the new opening weekend box office growth record holder with around $250 million, an unprecedented cultural moment that demonstrates without doubt that Disney and Marvel are still the masters of pop mythology. The MCU remains the only shared universe with any real dignity, and not for lack of competitors. Despite the common recurring criticisms and the ceaseless cries that superheroes are on the way out, the MCU has stayed in the general public's good graces.

To their credit, Kevin Feige and company have not settled into complacency. Each subsequent Marvel movie has gotten marginally broader in its scope, and quite a bit stranger in its content. The cross-film universe has bent and warped to include deposed gods, talking raccoons, and interdimensional sorcerers in its ranks. The MCU has embraced growth of imagination, with each new entry expanding the realm of what weirdness is possible. In keeping with this trend, Infinity War does indeed represent something new for these movies. Not only does it attempt to bring dozens of characters together into an enormous tapestry, but it makes a point of hitting harder than any of its predecessors.

Yes, this is the much ballyhooed entry in the MCU which is supposed to have Real Consequences. The tone is dark, dire, and relentless. From the get go, Infinity War is committed to plowing through its story with an unbearable sense of fatalism. This pacing, Josh Brolin's coolly menacing performance, and the immediately-spiking MCU death count all combine to make Infinity War the first MCU movie that has a real air of suspense about it. These movies have always been first and foremost breezy affairs, but there is a whiff of mythic consequence to the way Thanos tears through our favorite heroes' lives. I can't help but be impressed with the amount of body horror and aching despair the Russo Brothers packed into this ostensibly four-quadrant crowd-pleaser.

And yet, when one takes true artistic risks, one will inevitably alienate portions of one's audience, and it's pretty clear that nobody was alienated by Infinity War, which has received near universal praise. How is it that such a brash blockbuster could still appeal to so many?

My answer is that Infinity War is a sham of a movie. This becomes clear (SPOILERS AHEAD) the moment Thanos's climactic holocaust dissolves Black Panther. And then Spider-Man. Any traumatic crisis featured in this film will be neatly resolved by the end of next summer. Our favorites will all return for endless franchise entries.