Films and Feelings

  There's a humorous irony to a quote offered by Scarlett Johansson's "Natasha Romanoff" early in the newest film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Forlornly, she declares "I'm better off alone." In-universe, this character is on the run from the government and separated from the only people who have ever seen her as a good guy, and her confession speaks to a deep-rooted sense of aimlessness. For the audience that has been watching the film's trailers for the last year and a half, this line takes on a different meaning. After all, Natasha Romanoff has been a backup singer for many a superhero since her first appearance in the MCU in 2010, only stepping into center stage now. Is Black Widow better off alone, helming her own superhero movie than she is with her contemporaries? One could make a case for better , the film admittedly has some competition, but either way Natasha Romanoff's first solo pic provides a worthwhile glimpse into the soul of a...

       Earlier this week, Variety ran a piece speculating on the future of musicals and the roles they may play in helping a post-corona theater business bounce back. After all, this year is impressively stacked with musicals. In addition to last month's fantastic "In the Heights," we've got a half dozen or so musicals slated for theatrical release. Musical master, Lin Manuel-Miranda expresses optimism about the future of musicals, declaring “[While it] hasn’t always been the case, the movie musical is now alive and well.”      I'm always hopeful for the return of the genre, but I don't know if I share Lin's confidence that the world is ready to take musicals seriously. Not when a triumph like In the Heights plays to such a small audience. (Curse thee, "FRIENDS Reunion," for making everyone renew their HBO Max subscription two weeks before In the Heights hits theaters.) The narrative of “stop overthinking it, it’s just a musical,” is one I of...

With the summer season comes the slate of action movies, what with their monsters and superheroes dueling it out. With this particular summer season also comes scorching heat suffocating a world fresh out of a global pandemic. It's into this landscape that Chris McKay's "The Tomorrow War," hits Amazon Prime, at once an escapism dream and a wake-up call. Dan Forester is a retired soldier now teaching earth science to high schoolers. He is no more prepared than anyone else when armed soldiers emerge from a timehole to pronounce that thirty years from now, Earth will be overrun by an alien army. Mankind is losing this fight, and the only way the future stands a chance is if the present takes action now. Dan is among the drafted, and when he is launched into the future to fight this war, aliens won't be the worst monsters he has to face. The impending devastation has obvious parallels to real-world threats (e.g. climate change, racism, political discord, etc.) No part...