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X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019)
one of the worst movies I've ever seen
There are movies that are bad because of technical incompetence or lack of funds -- that's not what we're talking about here. Millions of dollars and hundreds of technically skilled people wasted their time on a script that, moment to moment, makes no sense as human behavior. A cast of charismatic and talented actors struggle to bring any kind of psychological dimension to characters that are wafer thin and incoherent. The plot is a jumble of frantic, flailing violence and emotional vomit standing in for action and character development. I don't think the X-Men comics are great literature, but this movie completely betrays and degrades its source material. It's almost mesmerizing how this movie starts bad and gets worse with each scene. In short: Utter crap.
Enlighten Up! (2008)
surprising balance of skepticism and spirituality
This is more a comment about a comment: The comment by "afriendofyoga" is full of weird projections onto this film. Almost every criticism "afriendofyoga" makes is tied up in his/her skewed assumptions about Kate Churchill's intentions. I saw "Enlighten Up!" yesterday -- Churchill clearly doesn't think she has any answers, the movie presents a wide variety of perspectives on the practice of yoga (some reverent, some practical, some skeptical), and the personal conflicts between Churchill and her "guinea pig" Nick Rosen are given a balanced and honest treatment. This isn't (and isn't meant to be) a conclusive statement about yoga, it's a snapshot of a personal experience. I found it more intriguing than the dozens of reverent beatific infomercials about the wonders of yoga.
The Good Fairy (1935)
Crisp, brilliant comedy from Preston Sturges
'The Good Fairy' and 'Easy Living' (with Jean Arthur) are the two finest screenplays Preston Sturges wrote before he started directing his own work. Working from a Hungarian farce (a national flavor of playwriting that was the basis for many of Ernst Lubitsch's best movies), Sturges polished the plot and stuffed it with his inimitable comic dialogue. Directed with quiet confidence by William Wyler and cast with Margaret Sullavan (not the most sparkling comedienne, but perfectly capable) surrounded by top-notch actors, including Herbert Marshall (a superb and appallingly under-appreciated actor -- his effortless comic timing nails every line of this, "Trouble in Paradise", and "If You Could Only Cook") and Frank Morgan (best known as the Wizard of Oz, but also great in "The Shop Around the Corner"). All in all, a comic gem from the 1930s.