As he announced in May, Ian Simmons of the Kicking the Seat podcast and YouTube channel has begun a one-year moratorium on watching new comic book-based movies and TV shows (with DC League of Super Pets as his one caveat to take his young son to his first movie). While he may not be leading his usual YouTube roundtables, he still invited and welcomed participants for the team of “Earth’s Mightiest Critics” to still get the good and bad words out there for Thor: Love and Thunder.
Read MoreFor their 71st episode, two Nordic film critics, hammered dads, and Guns 'N Roses-jamming school teachers Will Johnson and Don Shanahan go toe-to-toe with the gods and monsters of Thor: Love and Thunder. For the second Marvel Cinematic Universe movie in a row, our two hosts find themselves far apart. Expect different shouts of love and different shots of thunder in this rollicking episode.
Read MoreIf, from here on out, the Thor series is going to stay in Taika Waititi’s control, so be it. Let him own it and be all things Thor. Hemsworth’s natural charisma and self-deprecating personality, put on blast in Thor: Love and Thunder (buns and all) more than it’s ever been in that shiny armor, match the zany route Waititi has taken with this character. Going back to the bold spirit of Branagh’s mythic origins seems difficult, if not damn near impossible, where Waititi and company would be better off sticking with the fluffy cheese and not even trying. For better or worse, this is Thor now. Maybe at least, even in sideshow comedy mode, this character will finally have consistency.
Read MorePaired perfectly as a double-feature follow-up to this summer’s spacefaring Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Taika Waititi’s Thor: Ragnarok is a raucously rad roller coaster that shoots rainbows out of every digitally-rendered pore. Blasting with energetic pace in the complete opposite direction from the dreary and grayish Game of Thrones Lite tone of Thor: The Dark World, this new chapter is a cinematic box of Crayola crayons laced with dynamite.
Read More“Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2” is an brazen explosion of Crayola-sheened special effects wonder mixed with invisible grays of magnetic character growth and depth. Just as with the first film, Marvel and company have taken a D-list roster of obscure also-rans and created new superstars and household names that you actually care about. True to the unwritten rules of sequels, the core is bolstered and improvements have been made.
Read MoreNow in its third phase, Marvel continues to take C-level and D-list comic book characters and titles, breath cinematic life into them with top-notch talent in front of and behind the camera, and turn the obscure in newly minted household names and merchandising windfalls. "Doctor Strange" continues the studio's blueprint of Midas Touch success while jubilantly kicking down the door for magic and mysticism in the MCU. You may not know him yet, but Stephen Strange is a major player and huge addition to an already-loaded heroic panorama.
Read MoreCinema aficionados will quickly point fingers towards a few familiar comparisons for director Taika Waititi's New Zealand-based festival favorite, "Hunt for the Wilderpeople." The trouble is they will be shoehorning the film into an unshapely and narrow box where many containers are needed. "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" is rich and broad film with a charm and a sprawling ambition that will ping more that a few of your favorite film sensibilities. Broken into ten cheeky episodic chapters and boasting beautiful natural beauty shot by cinematographer Lachlan Milne, you will find a fun experience that may feel familiar, yet is wholly unique.
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