Watching Movies – Cinematic Slant

random thoughts on: legal eagles

For no reason other than it showed up in a row of recommendations on Netflix and I couldn’t decide on anything else, I rewatched the Ivan Reitman-directed Legal Eagles recently, likely for the first time in over 30 years.

For those who haven’t seen it: Robert Redford stars as Tom Logan, an up-and-coming Assistant District Attorney in New York City who’s handed the high-profile assignment of seeing whether or not there are charges to be filed against Chelsea Deardon (Daryl Hannah), the grown daughter of a famous artist who died when she was a child. She’s been arrested after allegedly breaking into the apartment of someone who might have one of the few of her father’s works to have survived the fire that took her life. Chelsea is represented by attorney Laura Kelly (Debra Winger), who winds up working with Logan to find out the truth of what happened not only with Chelsea but also all those years ago when her father died.

As is often the case when these things happen, I have some thoughts now that I’ve seen it again:

First off, that poster is really something. Nothing about the photo itself communicates any aspect of the story or characters, other than that Laura is very serious, Tom very breezy and Chelsea very blonde. The clothing styles are all over the place and that copy at the top is in desperate need of someone who can whittle it down significantly.

The movie is less the story of combative and very attractive lawyers who have to unravel a mystery surrounding art forgery and insurance fraud and more the story of how Hollywood just completely turned its back on two very talented actresses.

In any given movie, Robert Redford is the most attractive man that’s ever been on film. This is no exception.

No, seriously, I’d like to go back to the moment in time where Debra Winger was pushed to the sidelines and have a conversation about how we shouldn’t let that happen. Because, just as she does in just about every role, she shows up here and goes toe-to-toe with Redford, which is no small thing. I get that she took herself out of the system for a number of years, but still…

He’s known primarily for Ghostbusters and other straight-up comedies, but we need to more fully appreciate the romantic comedy wing of Reitman’s directorial career. While there’s certainly a Tier 1 to this list, Tier 2 isn’t terribly far behind:

Legal Eagles
Dave
Six Days, Seven Nights
No Strings Attached

No, seriously, Daryl Hannah is so good in so many things and Hollywood couldn’t get past her playing kind of a ditzy blonde and sometimes I get angry about this, especially given the conventional wisdom that her career was torpedoed by That Miramax Guy.

There’s an extended bit in the film where Winger’s character gives Redford’s a hard time about the various charming looks he utilizes to appeal to juries and I feel like we didn’t appreciate how this was essentially Zoolander’s “Blue Steel” 15 years early.

It’s also an incredibly accurate encapsulation of Redford’s entire career, which is nice.

Steven Hill as a New York district attorney, but not the one you’re thinking of.

Ladies and gentlemen, Christine Baranski, but make sure you’re looking for her because she’s easy to miss given this is 1986 and all.

Speaking of 1986, remember when even romantic thrillers meant for audiences over 30 looked this good as a matter of course? Not that the cinematography is incredibly innovative or anything, but László Kovács’ work here is representative of a period of filmmaking when it looked like people cared about how the movie looked and knew how to frame a damn shot.

stop making value judgements about movies

“…isn’t worth your time.”

That was part of the headline for a recent movie review. The movie in question wasn’t one of the major studio releases but a title debuting on a popular streaming service that week.

Critics are, of course, paid to share their opinions on films and to, on some level, weigh in on whether or not it achieves some level of quality. And in our current media environment the stronger the opinion of the critic the better in order to break through the background noise.

The reason the headline in question caught my eye is that it seemed to cross the line from evaluating the movie itself and became about offering direct advice and direction to the reader. And that rubbed me the wrong way.

let’s stick with subjectivity

There are certainly movies where the acting is of higher quality.

There are certainly movies where the various production elements show higher levels of skill and proficiency.

There are certainly movies where the writing is more cohesive and the story easier to follow.

None of that, though, is an indication of whether or not a movie is worth your time.

Over the years there have definitely been times when I’ve taken a somewhat snooty approach to evaluating movies and sharing my opinion of them with others. But in that regard I’ve calmed down quite a bit and have come to the following conclusion:

MOST EVERY MOVIE IS WORTH WATCHING AT LEAST ONCE.

I’m not mad I spent three and a half hours watching The Irishman a few years ago. When it ended I felt I had enjoyed myself and appreciated the craft that had gone into making it.

I’m also not mad I spent a total of about three hours watching The Babysitter and its sequel, subtitled Killer Queen. Both movies were fun and made in a way completely appropriate to the subject matter and at the end of both I felt I had enjoyed myself.

it’s my time, thank you very much

One of the great things about the era of streaming is that the barrier to entry for any movie is almost non-existent. If I already subscribe to Netflix, the incremental cost of watching The Babysitter over watching The Irishman is zero, essentially just my time.

While the actual economics are slightly different, this is largely the same role second-run movie theaters used to serve when they were more common than they are now that so many have been pushed out of business by collapsed home video windows and other factors. You could try something you were a little unsure of for $1.50 a ticket when the first-run price of $7 seemed too high. If you had a good time then it was totally worth it and hey, you tried something new. If you didn’t, you were only out $1.50 and a few hours.

critique, don’t warn

Considering there are so many forces actively working against feature films as an artform – gaming, mobile video, prestige limited series and more – it’s surprising to see any critic or journalist actively warning potential audiences away from experiencing any movie.

I’m not saying we need to go full tech press and have film journalists unquestionably praise any movie that comes down the funnel. But there’s a way to say “I enjoyed this movie for the following reasons and you might too” or “I didn’t enjoy this movie for the following reasons but you might” and have it be acceptable.

By engaging in hard and fast warnings and telling readers, in essence, they are better off not engaging with a film, critics are potentially denying people an enjoyable experience. And they’re doing damage to the art form as a whole by creating mental boundaries that may result in someone choosing to spend their time on TikTok instead of even trying a movie that isn’t a blockbuster cultural event with a $300 million marketing budget.

As I said above, my opinion is nearly every movie is worth seeing at least once. Certainly there are exceptions to this for clearly objectionable material. Outside of that, though, audiences should be encouraged to sample from a breadth of material, allowing them to determine which areas they wish to explore more deeply.

random thoughts on: glass onion: a knives out mystery

The first Knives Out movie from writer/director Rian Johnson was such a breath of fresh air back in 2019 it became an immediate sensation for a variety of reasons, including its incredibly meme-able dialogue and settings and the A+ sweater game from costume designer Jenny Eagan.

It was so good it was hard to imagine what a sequel might look or feel like. Thankfully Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, released late last year on Netflix, lived up to the reputation of the first movie and, now that I’ve watched it a couple times to fully appreciate how good it is, I have a handful of random thoughts.

Here we go…

Eagan’s commitment to putting Daniel Craig in an ascot should be awarded in and of itself and I’m only surprised it hasn’t led to a clear and unmistakable uptick in their adoption as a men’s fashion item.

It makes so much sense that Kate Hudson’s performance caught everyone’s attention as she’s terrific as a societally-oblivious pseudo-celebrity, but what really makes it incredible is that all of her reactions to what’s happening around her are so stagey. It’s as if her character has absolutely zero experience in anything not involving mugging for the camera.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is Kathryn Hahn’s gubernatorial candidate, who has such genuine reactions to everything, from Duke shooting his gun by the pool to her husband trying to be his own man to the revelation at the end that those reactions nearly become a character of their own.

I know the movie – and The Menu – caught some flack for not going far enough in exploring its “the rich are terrible people” theme but come on. If Edward Norton’s Miles Bron had actually faced some kind of on-screen legal repercussions for his irresponsible actions it would have been written off as frothy wish-fulfillment. As it is he’s set up to be exposed as a massive fraud, which is much more realistic without dipping into fantasy.

Besides, Benoit Blanc spends the last 20 minutes of the movie just repeatedly calling him dumb, which is cathartic enough for the audience.

And Blanc immediately dismisses Birdy when she tries to spin Bron’s actions as “so dumb it’s just brilliant” by clarifying “No, it’s just dumb!” Now if only our technology and political press would be similarly truthful instead of continually succumbing to the myth of the genius.

At least Derol made it out of all that with his chill intact.

If there is an element of the story that isn’t explored enough for my personal liking it’s that Bron’s success is nearly entirely dependent on being a white dude who takes all the credit for a Black woman’s ideas and work and that feels like the most relevant theme especially given [gestures broadly at so many many things].

And, on that note, I very much dug Janelle Monáe’s performance as twin sisters, beginning when she’s introduced smashing the puzzle box and right through to her vengefully breaking all of Bron’s glass sculptures.

Someone give me a Leslie Odom Jr. / Kathryn Hahn buddy comedy STAT or I *will* riot.

Back to a point above, we all believed Norton’s performance as the not-at-all brilliant “genius” because we kind of suspect Norton’s not quite as bright as we’ve been led to believe over the years, right? Not that he’s not a smart guy, but…you get it.

A brief ranking of current big name wrestlers-turned actors:

1. John Cena

2. Dave Bautista

….

…

25. Dwayne Johnson

This whole brief sequence with characters looking in the middle distance as shadows pass over them hit me right where I live, evoking all those classic murder mystery noir films I was first exposed to watching “Family Classics” on WGN-TV on Sunday afternoons in the 80s.

Let’s take a moment and recognize how his brief appearance as Efficient Man ranks in the top five of Ethan Hawke’s performances.

It’s been such a long time since I watched a movie where the whole cast looked like they were having a good time. Too often the casts of the big super hero and similar movies look visibly miserable going through the paces and acting against tennis balls held on sticks in place of characters to be added later, it was genuinely relaxing to see an ensemble that appeared to be enjoying themselves and the project they were working on.

Sorry, I’m laughing again at Johnson blowing up his own movie by having Blanc solve the contrived murder mystery five minutes in to Bron explaining how the weekend is supposed to work.

Everyone else yelled “A SCHOONER IS A SAILBOAT” (even if it was just in their heads) when Lionel was working the stereogram on the puzzle box, right? Right?

In a movie filled with committed performances from talented actors Madelyn Cline’s performance as Dallas is near the top of the rankings and I will absolutely die on this hill. It’s so good and shows not only her talent as an actor but Johnson’s ability to make the audience invest in and care about characters that are clearly secondary but still important.

Same goes for Jessica Henwick’s put-upon assistant Peg. If you don’t feel her disappointment and frustration when Birdy reveals she has a secret phone and her resignation when she says “…Did you think a sweatshop is where they make sweatpants?” I’m not sure movies are really your thing.

Oh, along with the Odom Jr. / Hahn buddy comedy I want a direct spinoff where Dallas and Peg team up and create the next big socially-conscious lifestyle goods brand and have all kinds of wacky adventures while doing so.

life lessons from: a muppet christmas carol

Rizzo et al have some important things to teach us…

As we get deeper into the holiday season with each passing day the urge to watch various Christmas and other holiday films grows stronger. Whether it’s an acknowledged classic like A Christmas Story, something more recent like Love Hard or whatever else helps get you in the spirit these movies often contain some important moral lessons for the audience to latch onto and grow as a result of. That might be something as simple as “moving back to your hometown at the first sign of professional setback is the best way to find unexpected romance” or a bit more complex.

One seasonal favorite that has a fair amount of life lessons is A Muppet Christmas Carol, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Directed by Brian Henson, it was the first movie released after the death of creator and performer Jim Henson. Michael Caine stars as Ebenezer Scrooge and is narrated/hosted by Gonzo as Charles Dickens himself with Rizzo the Rat as his foil, the pair providing many of the movie’s greatest moments and most important life lessons all of us can use.

There are two things in this life I hate: heights, and jumping from them.

For when someone asks you to make a prediction based on like one example and that’s not even completely applicable and why am I the one who has to go out on this limb?

It’s good to be heckling again.

For when you finally get in the car after what seemed like an eight hour visit with family that you realize was only about 90 minutes and you have to talk through your feelings because you have a lot of them.

https://giphy.com/explore/the-muppet-christmas-carol

And I am here for the food.

For the beginning of the above-mentioned family visit.

Even the vegetables don’t like him!

For when you’re reviewing your Christmas card list and come across that one person you know who I’m talking about it’s not that he’s a bad person necessarily but certainly isn’t someone who want to establish any sort of emotional precedent with.

Light the lamp, not the rat, light the lamp, not the rat!

For literally any situation where something goes even slightly sideways or wrong it doesn’t matter you can use this all year at any time and everyone will get it.

more adams, more perez

Two comics creators offer more of what super hero movies need

It’s been a rough few weeks for comic book lovers with the passing first of Neal Adams and then, just this past weekend, of George Perez. Both were artists whose work for both DC and Marvel Comics ranks among the best the comics industry has offered in the last 50 years and came to define how those characters were seen by the public.

Which makes it surprising that those interpretations have been so lacking in the shows, series and films featuring those characters.

Consider these covers below, some of the most iconic from the two artists.

Warner Bros. keeps thinking Batman needs to be darker and darker, more traumatized and more isolated from the world at large. But the Batman story told by Adams (and of course writer Dennis O’Neill) in many of their comics weren’t grim and bereft of hope or connection. They were big, bold super hero stories that had the Caped Crusader going up against a gleefully pranksterish Joker, getting into sword fights with R’as al Ghul and so on. Batman operated in public and was a hero.

Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman comics covers by Neal Adams and George Perez

Similar problems plague other heroes, notably Superman and Wonder Woman. On film recently both characters have become known more for wringing their hands over the moral implications of using their powers than actually using their powers. Filmmakers keep wanting to “reinvent” them for modern audiences, which means loading them down with all kinds of constraints, making them feel bad every time they do anything and spending more time debating among themselves than being heroic.

Contrast that with the kinds of stories Adams, Perez and their contemporaries were telling, stories that had them punching aliens threatening the Earth, fighting against mech-suited human villains and more, all while fully embracing their powers. These were bright, colorful comics featuring some of the greatest art in the industry’s history.

But on screen, we keep getting desaturated colors, blotchy digital lighting and 20 minute interludes featuring messianic symbolism.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

The push to make Batman increasingly damaged and serious is an extension of DC’s attempt to reclaim the character from the camp portrayal seen in the “Batman” TV series of the 1960s. That makes some sense, but the over-correction since The Dark Knight Returns now makes Tim Burton’s 1989 Batman seem bright and optimistic compared to Zack Snyder’s Batman, who was ready to unquestioningly destroy Superman because of the potential threat he posed. And someone seems to have decided that making Superman and Wonder Woman – a nearly all-powerful alien and Amazon demigod, respectively – more human was the key to making them popular with modern audiences.

Interestingly, while WB’s heroes continue to largely operate in the shadows and fall victim to all-too-human conditions, Marvel’s big screen heroes are more of the big, public pantheon of god-like beings DC’s comic characters have historically been presented as on the page.

Part of this may be a desire to set the DC films apart from Marvel’s stylistically. But it’s gone too far, and the celebrations of the work for Adams and Perez should be a call to WB to go in a new direction.

Make a super hero movie where the characters are proud of their powers and use them to help the less fortunate.

Have Batman fight a Joker who’s not a deranged incel terrorist but one who unleashes a bunch of mutated fish on Gotham City because he’s an insane clown.

Have Wonder Woman fight Giganta as she rampages through the city, inspiring little girls and using a consistent and non-confusing set of powers.

Have Superman go into space to fight a mech-suited Lex Luthor in Mongul’s battle arena, breaking kryptonite chains and embracing his assumed role as humanity’s protector.

In short: Make movies like the comics everyone remembers as among the best ever produced.

life lessons from: kids on the hall: brain candy

There are a number of great things about the trailer for the new season of “Kids in the Hall” coming to Amazon Prime Video May 13th. Lots of familiar characters are seen, with new twists that bring them up to date for 2022.

The best thing, though, may be that it uses Don Roritor (Mark McKinney) and his corporate toady Marv (Dave Foley) from the hilarious 1996 comedy Kids in the Hall: Brain Candy as the framing device through which to discuss the Kids’ return to sketch comedy and highlight what’s new.

If you’re not familiar with Brain Candy, you’re likely not alone. It grossed a paltry $2.6 million at the U.S. box office and was not well-received by critics at the time. In part that’s the result of a production marred by the fact the troupe was already well into its dissolution at the time and wasn’t on the same page creatively.

Despite that, Brain Candy serves as a worthy cap on Kids in the Hall’s run and has not only some very funny bits but also a pretty good science fiction story with, as we’ll see here, a number of important lessons for you to apply to your everyday business and personal lives.

For when you know what your product is and won’t have anyone weighing in with their useless opinions.

This is a drug… for the world… to give worms to ex-girlfriends.

For when the latte with 12 customizations you ordered at Starbucks turns out just perfectly, giving you exactly the emotional boost you were hoping for.

This urine is great!

For when you refuse to be criticized by those who are clearly your intellectual inferiors.

It was only a couple of flipper-babies!

For when you just can’t muster up the emotional energy for small talk.

So I hear dad’s dead. Hey, is that egg nog?

For when other people just aren’t doing their jobs and you make it clear things need to happen or there will be consequences.

Are we ever going to get the big table in here or do I have cut down the F*#*ING tree myself?

who are the pentaverate?

There’s something missing here…

Yesterday Netflix released the first teaser trailer for “The Pentaverate” an upcoming series created by Mike Myers in which he also plays eight of the characters.

The official description of the series reads thusly:

What if a secret society of five men has been working to influence world events for the greater good since the Black Plague of 1347? As this new series begins, one unlikely Canadian journalist finds himself embroiled in a mission to uncover the truth and just possibly save the world himself. Remember, the Pentaverate must never be exposed!

That description, and most of the press surrounding the trailer’s release, made sure to note how many characters Myers was playing (something he’s done frequently) but few called out that this is an expansion of the So I Married An Axe Murderer Cinematic Universe. Specifically this scene where the idea of The Pentaverate, a secret Illuminati-esque organization that runs everything in the world…*including* the newspapers.

(Personal note: This is a scene I quote frequently and which few people around me understand or recognize.)

It’s unclear whether or not the series will indeed tie into the movie in any real way or if Charlie MacKenzie, the character Myers played in the film, will make an appearance.

If not, it’s a missed opportunity to remind people that SIMAAM is quite funny, even if Myers has a reputation for being difficult to work with.

Even better, we should catch up with Charlie’s brother William, otherwise known as “Heed.”

top obi-wan movie moments (obi-wan kenobi series trailer)

In honor of the original grumpy old Jedi

For those of us who grew up with *only* the Original Star Wars Trilogy, no character more epitomized the Jedi Order that was then Obi-Wan Kenobi as played by Sir Alec Guiness. He was nearly the sole connective thread between the era of Luke Skywalker and the Clone Wars, offering a handful of tantalizing hints about what happened before the rise of the Galactic Empire.

All of that was expanded in the Prequel Trilogy, when Ewan McGregor took on the role of a much younger Obi-Wan who evolves over the three films from confident but still obedient Padawan to seasoned Jedi Master.

Now, in honor of the release of the trailer for the upcoming Disney+ series “Obi-Wan Kenobi” that takes place between Episodes III and IV, here are some of my personal favorite Kenobi moments from the movies. (For the purpose of conciseness, I’m not delving into the “Clone Wars” series, but it has a great number of outstanding Obi-Wan moments.)

It’s also worth noting that Guiness was 63 when Star Wars came out, and McGregor is currently 50. “Kenobi” takes place ~12 years before the events of A New Hope so…the timing kind of works out.

Ben’s Not Telling Us Something

From: Star Wars

Guinness leaning back and stroking his beard in the middle of telling Luke about his father and the Clone Wars hints at there being a *lot* that’s on his mind but which he’s choosing to omit from the story. But why?

Sassy Obi-Wan is Sassy

From: Revenge of the Sith

There are a number of moments, particularly from RotS, that could have fit in this category, but this is one of the first in the movie and sets the tone for how the character has grown more comfortable with himself and his partner Anakin over the course of the Clone Wars.

Amused at the Subterfuge

From: Phantom Menace

First let’s stipulate that the most amusing part of TPM is tracking which shots were part of principle photography and which were pickups based on McGregor’s hair. That being said, the look he gives after Padme reveals herself is fantastic, a counter to the continued stoicism of Qui-Gon Jinn, who doesn’t do much more than raise an eyebrow.

Ooo…Burn, Ben

From: A New Hope

“These guys are idiots.”

Also, even with his hood down he still out-acts everyone else who appeared in any movie that year.

One With the Force

From: Revenge of the Sith

This moment perfectly epitomizes how skilled Obi-Wan has become as he leaps into a situation with impossible odds stacked against him, fully knowing he has the abilities to win the day.

There are more, of course, but these are the ones that jump out as being representative of just what kind of character Obi-Wan is and how, over the course of six movies, he both grows and remains the same.

random thoughts on: “hawkeye”

I’ve got some things to say about The Avenging Archer’s streaming series.

As has likely been previously stated on multiple occasions, I’m a long-standing old-school fan of Hawkeye, having made my comic-collecting bones with the original West Coast Avengers series.

This is a Hawkeye fan account. pic.twitter.com/kGBwJ1zy94
— Thilk (@ChrisThilk) January 27, 2020

So, despite never really loving Jeremy Renner’s take on the character in the MCU (outside of a handful of small moments), I was still excited when Marvel Studios announced Hawkeye would get a streaming series on Disney+. And I was even more excited when it came out Hailee Steinfeld would play Kate Bishop, who in the comics adopted the Hawkeye name when Clint Barton was killed during the “Avengers Disassembled” storyline.

As such I have a number of thoughts now that the series finale has aired. Spoilers after the all-time great cover art.

Still with me? OK, let’s dive in.

It’s a very enjoyable show. I still have my issues with Renner’s performance, especially since he spends half the show apologizing to someone, largely for things that were outside of his control. But Steinfeld’s exuberance, Florence Pugh’s return as Yelena Belova and more make up for it in a lot of ways. It’s a nice mash-up of elements from the Matt Fraction/David Aja Hawkeye comics series that essentially rebooted the character as well as the previous MCU films. There are plenty of surprises, lots of action and some great dialogue. And hey, we get to see Pizza Dog on screen, so it can’t be all bad.

My main issue with the show is that it is premised around Avengers: Endgame existing, which isn’t a great place to start.

Renner finally has someone to play off, which improves things dramatically. In the movies to date he’s usually relegated to group scenes, which means he gets lost in the clutter because he’s not as dynamic a personality as some of his costars. If the show had doubled down on putting Clint and Kate into something even more Running Scared-esque it would have been even better.

On the topic of some supporting characters:

Knowing the comics history, I’m surprised we didn’t get a bigger payoff for Tony Dalton’s Jack Duquesne. As the series went on I imagined two or three different ways that could go but it just kind of fizzled out.
On the other end of the spectrum, thank the maker Linda Cardellini’s Laura Barton finally got some backstory and character development. The underuse of Cardellini to date has been criminally negligent, and if she is who I (and many others online) think she is, I couldn’t be happier.

Florence Pugh for the win in all of her scenes. Give me a six-part series of her and Steinfeld just talking about places to visit in New York City.

We still haven’t seen Clint’s MCU origin story. Every other Avenger has had one, often in their own standalone movie. Even Natasha’s beginnings have been shown via flashback in a handful of movies. But we still don’t know how Clint got to the point where we meet him in Thor or The Avengers.

Now you can say that watching someone learn how to shoot an arrow really well isn’t that interesting, but in the comics his story is much more complex than that (and involves a character from the show). And without it we don’t know what his motivations are. Why did he join SHIELD? Where did he hone his skills?

The lack of backstory is one of the reasons I’ve never been fully on board with MCU Clint Barton. Comics Clint is not only a bit of a hothead but also kind of a flim-flam man, scamming himself out of as many situations as he shoots himself out of.

random thoughts on: tick…tick…boom!

A few things I thought about after watching the musical biopic on Netflix…

There are a lot of feelings I have about Tick…Tick…BOOM!, on Netflix now. In no particular order:

We need more entries in the “inspirational biopic” genre that aren’t about sports stars or company founders. Those are played out and serve largely to reinforce pursuits that are fine but are already emphasized by parents, teachers, guidance counselors. Let’s see more movies about musical theater lyricists, oddball artists, struggling actors and others with more artistic sensibilities.

Basically, we’re worn out STEM and sports as sources for these stories, so let’s give the arts and humanities – the kind who are bullied and tormented by kids in those other categories – crowd a turn.

I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve watched “Sunday” from the movie on YouTube. The piece is incredible in and of itself, a great Sondheim homage, but director Lin-Manuel Miranda’s decision to fill the movie version with some of the great performers of Broadway gives it exactly the emotional heft it deserves. And it’s ridiculous how smoothly Andrew Garfiled glides through the number.

Miranda’s directorial debut is remarkable self-assured, confident of where the camera is placed, where it’s pointing and what it’s capturing. It likely helps that this is in a genre he’s already familiar with, but film and theater are still very different. I’m going to assume his work on In The Heights and other recent movies helped him pick up some pointers and tricks to aid this transition.

Speaking of which, Miranda is really carving out a niche for himself of stories about writers who feel they’re running out of time.

The central tension of the story isn’t anything romantic or professional, it’s that Jonathan Larson knew how his story began and ended but needed to figure out an actual plot reason to get from Point A to Point B and this is the most relatable thing I’ve seen on film in like decades.

There’s a featurette where the cast talk about filming the “Boho Days” sequence where one says Garfield really explored the space and yeah, that’s clear. He moves around like someone who’s been choreography all his life.

On that note, I would have put my money on Tom Holland being the first on-screen Spider-Man to show up in a movie musical, but I’m not mad it was Garfield.

No wait, I’ve watched this video of Alexandra Shipp and Vanessa Hudgens performing “Come To Your Senses” more than “Sunday.”

Category: Watching Movies