A week after finding out that I could still go to a theater if I drove across state lines, I decided to once again make the 45-minute drive to Hudson, this time for a double-feature. I’ve actually been looking forward to Promising Young Woman more than Wonder Woman 1984 so it worked out well to see them both.
When I saw the first preview for Promising Young Woman in the spring, I was very intrigued. I had no idea what it really was about but it looked very interesting. Even as I found out more about it, I was still wanting to see it.
WW84 was a no brainer. Even though I could watch it on HBOMax, if I had a chance to see it on the big screen, that was going to be the way it went.
Promising Young Woman turned out to be little like I expected but I was still pleasantly surprised. It’s not giving too much away to say that it’s basically a revenge movie with more than a few twists, especially an ending that is completely unexpected but still fairly satisfying. I do have to add this tidbit. Clancy Brown and Jennifer Coolidge are long-time character actors but they are cast so against type that they steal the screen every second they are on it, even with their subtle performances.
Wonder Woman 1984 was a movie that I’ve been looking forward to but not with the kind of anticipation like some other movies. The original was good but it had superhero-itis. Those movies have 17 endings and each one of them is just chaos and barely understandable. Supposedly the storyline gets sewed up but it’s almost impossible to see how because so much is going on all at once.
I came out of WW84 (that is the actual title, BTW) and I was disappointed. My drive back home couldn’t shake it so after making some dinner, I decided to watch it again on HBOMax, something that no one has ever had a chance to do. I came away from watching it again a little less disappointed so that was good. I think I can sum up how I felt about it with 2 statements.
1. It is the movie, Big turned into Cats. (which is ironic considering Cats was a universally massive bomb)
2. Gal Godot and Chris Pine are once again very good but Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal are cartoons. I had a hard time getting past that even seeing it twice in a row.
As with any of these movies, there was something lost on a small screen but hey, at least it got released.
Sometimes movies come along that are a just not mainstream. The story or the way it’s told are very adult in nature (no, not that kind of “adult”) but the topic is serious and/or just very strange. Last year, for me, it was Midsommar. A bright and colorful movie that was anything but bright and colorful. The underscores of it were as dark and sinister as things get.
….and I loved it!
I watched it as soon as it came out and I tracked down a one-time showing of a director’s cut that was 3+ hours long. Yes, I was the only one in the theatre but I didn’t care. It was terrific.
This year, so far, Promising Young Woman is that movie. The subject matter of revenge is a very heavy subject and even though we never see what is done as revenge, the imagination of it makes it even more powerful. As mentioned before, I was anxiously waiting for it to come out and even though it wasn’t exactly what I expected, in some ways, it turned out to be more.
I saw it in theaters about a month ago and strangely, the online pre-screening was just last night. (No, I don’t understand either, but whatever…) Seeing it again last night was just as powerful as the first time. I didn’t pick up on a bunch of new things but just to see the passion of the main character and to see the heartbreak she goes through, in so many different ways is excruciating. I really can’t condone her violence but I can understand it and wonder if I would respond any differently.
The ending has been especially divisive but I really can’t think of how it could have been better or more powerful than it is.
Promising. Young. Woman.
A week after finding out that I could still go to a theater if I drove across state lines, I decided to once again make the 45-minute drive to Hudson, this time for a double-feature. I’ve actually been looking forward to Promising Young Woman more than Wonder Woman 1984 so it worked out well to see them both.
When I saw the first preview for Promising Young Woman in the spring, I was very intrigued. I had no idea what it really was about but it looked very interesting. Even as I found out more about it, I was still wanting to see it.
WW84 was a no brainer. Even though I could watch it on HBOMax, if I had a chance to see it on the big screen, that was going to be the way it went.
Promising Young Woman turned out to be little like I expected but I was still pleasantly surprised. It’s not giving too much away to say that it’s basically a revenge movie with more than a few twists, especially an ending that is completely unexpected but still fairly satisfying. I do have to add this tidbit. Clancy Brown and Jennifer Coolidge are long-time character actors but they are cast so against type that they steal the screen every second they are on it, even with their subtle performances.
Wonder Woman 1984 was a movie that I’ve been looking forward to but not with the kind of anticipation like some other movies. The original was good but it had superhero-itis. Those movies have 17 endings and each one of them is just chaos and barely understandable. Supposedly the storyline gets sewed up but it’s almost impossible to see how because so much is going on all at once.
I came out of WW84 (that is the actual title, BTW) and I was disappointed. My drive back home couldn’t shake it so after making some dinner, I decided to watch it again on HBOMax, something that no one has ever had a chance to do. I came away from watching it again a little less disappointed so that was good. I think I can sum up how I felt about it with 2 statements.
1. It is the movie, Big turned into Cats. (which is ironic considering Cats was a universally massive bomb)
2. Gal Godot and Chris Pine are once again very good but Kristen Wiig and Pedro Pascal are cartoons. I had a hard time getting past that even seeing it twice in a row.
As with any of these movies, there was something lost on a small screen but hey, at least it got released.
FOLLOW-UP
Sometimes movies come along that are a just not mainstream. The story or the way it’s told are very adult in nature (no, not that kind of “adult”) but the topic is serious and/or just very strange. Last year, for me, it was Midsommar. A bright and colorful movie that was anything but bright and colorful. The underscores of it were as dark and sinister as things get.
….and I loved it!
I watched it as soon as it came out and I tracked down a one-time showing of a director’s cut that was 3+ hours long. Yes, I was the only one in the theatre but I didn’t care. It was terrific.
This year, so far, Promising Young Woman is that movie. The subject matter of revenge is a very heavy subject and even though we never see what is done as revenge, the imagination of it makes it even more powerful. As mentioned before, I was anxiously waiting for it to come out and even though it wasn’t exactly what I expected, in some ways, it turned out to be more.
I saw it in theaters about a month ago and strangely, the online pre-screening was just last night. (No, I don’t understand either, but whatever…) Seeing it again last night was just as powerful as the first time. I didn’t pick up on a bunch of new things but just to see the passion of the main character and to see the heartbreak she goes through, in so many different ways is excruciating. I really can’t condone her violence but I can understand it and wonder if I would respond any differently.
The ending has been especially divisive but I really can’t think of how it could have been better or more powerful than it is.
Promising. Young. Woman.