Category: 2020s

Raised by two con artist parents Debra Winger and Richard Jenkins, 26 year old Evan Rachel Wood has never been treated as anything other than an accomplice in their schemes. When the family meets Gina Rodriguez during one of their scams, it upends all their lives in different ways. The film somehow takes a weird setup that almost no one should relate to while being a completely raw and real look at people and relationships. Winger and Jenkins are excellent in their roles and makes one wonder how they became their adult selves, but it’s Wood who is the standout. Somehow she becomes the walking embodiment of an infant who was left in a crib and never touched but still survives.

Based on the video game series of the same name, fortune hunter Mark Wahlberg seeks out Tom Holland, the brother of his former partner who has disappeared, hoping to use him to locate the treasure of the Magellan expedition. As a mindless action film, it’s not bad, though completely forgettable. With the natural agility of a dancer, Tom Holland well carries out the athleticism for his role, but his chemistry with Wahlberg is lacking with Wahlberg mostly phoning it in. The adventure challenges are fairly entertaining and the choice of Antonio Banderas as a bad guy is an interesting one, though he’s not given nearly enough to do.   

After presumably killing the last of the evil Deviants, a team of ten Eternals spend the next five hundred years waiting for their next mission. When unexpected attacks cause the group to reunite and question their purpose on Earth. I was curious what a Marvel film directed by Chloé Zhao would look like and it’s unfortunately quite boring. During its excessively long and over CGI-ed run-time, it unnecessarily jumps back and forth in time and is just boring despite having an intriguing cast with Gemma Chan, Kumail Nunjiani, and Brian Tyree-Henry. Somehow the characters reside in the same universe as other Marvel characters yet they aren’t aware of/don’t bother showing up for a universe changing event.   

Jodie Comer struggled to find her place in the world until she finds work in a care home, a calling she is surprisingly well suited for. When Covid hits and the government’s priorities lie elsewhere, she is forced to undertake increasingly desperate measures to save her residents, especially Stephen Graham, a young man with dementia whom she has bonded with. I don’t think another film could possibly illustrate the devastation Covid has raged in some communities, particularly those which depend on the kindness of others, and the naivety so many of us experienced during the early days of the disease. The acting is top notch with writing and direction that really lends a sense of urgency and desperation to events. The ending unfortunately takes a bit of a turn from its very realistic earlier scenes, but still manages to hammer home its message.