Captain Marvel (2019)

Although it took Marvel more than a decade to make a movie about a heroine —and they probably made it only because they needed her in End Game— and the web filled with negative reviews earlier this week, I'm a Marvel ho and I love Brie Larson and I'm also a woman so of course I went seeing Captain Marvel. And I had pretty high expectations about it, even though I was said to lower them. 

Set in 1995, the story begins on the planet Hala with Vers (Brie Larson) training with her mentor, Yon-Rogg (Jude Law). They soon go on a mission to rescue an undercover Kree operative who infiltrated a group of Skrulls, shapeshifting aliens who have been fighting with Krees for centuries, but it turns out it was an ambush, Skrulls leader Talos (Ben Mendelsohn) captures Vers and tries to extract information. Instead, he revives some of her memories, she manages to escape and crashlands on planet Earth, where she joins forces with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) to discover who she really is and to stop the Skrulls from getting an experimental engine designed by Dr. Wendy Lawson (Annette Benning).

After a pretty bad start —I don't know if it was just me, but the beginning was so tedious and uninteresting—, and despite the many plot holes and the fact that there's simply too much going on to fit in a two-hour film and because of it, it often feels clumsy and rushed, the story eventually becomes interesting and engaging and the major twist, while slightly predictable, is nicely pulled off.

As for the main character, there's something about Vers/Carol Danvers that didn't work for me. While I liked the way the filmmakers introduced her past —and I loved that she is just as clueless about it as us, the audience— and I adored Brie Larson's sassy and charming performance, I just didn't feel an emotional attachment to her. I rooted for her because I liked her, despite the character's striking arrogance, but when the film finished it felt like I still didn't know her. Also, her relationship with some of the supporting characters just didn't feel right —the friendship between Carol and Maria Rambeau (Lashana Lynch) doesn't feel real; the relationship between Carol and Maria's daughter, Monica (Akira Akbar), on the other hand, feels way more genuine and warm.

Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

The supporting characters, on the other hand, are quite interesting, specifically the twist they put on Samuel L. Jackson's Nick Fury. He is not the serious man we saw in the previous MCU movies, he is more relaxed, trusting, and has this sarcastic attitude that fits Jackson like a glove. The Skrulls, despite their lack of everything really as they have no character, they are fun and Ben Mendelsohn is terrific as Talos and manages to give the character that complexity the script denied him.

While I wasn't a fan of the editing which at times reminded me of a Best Editing winner I do not want to mention, the special effects are great, for the most —the de-aging is really impressive and you would never notice it if you didn't know the cast—, the soundtrack is great, and the action scenes are quite good —I don't know whether it was intentional or not, but I liked that 90s spy movie vibe they have. Not to mention how hilarious the film is —there wasn't a lot of people at my 2:45pm screening, but it sounded like everyone was having a really nice time, adults and kids alike.

Choke (2008)

When someone tells you there's a movie where Sam Rockwell plays a sex addict and keeps posting gifs of said porn movie everywhere, you just can't sit there and ignore it. That, my friends, is the reason I watched Choke. I wasn't expecting much from it --Rockwell being in it was enough-- and I guess that's why it was such a nice surprise. 

As I was saying, Victor Mancini (Sam Rockwell) is a sex addict. He works in a colonial theme park and runs a scam by deliberately choking in restaurants to extract sympathy and financial support from his saviours to pay for his mother's (Anjelica Huston) hospital bills. Then one day Victor learns that his mother has been lying about his father's true identity all along and, with the help of his best friend Denny (Brad William Henke) and his mother's beautiful physician (Kelly Macdonald), he tries to discover the truth.

It's the kind of story that looks simple and predictable at first but eventually turns out to be quite unpredictable as it takes many implausible and interesting turns and a couple of delightful twists. Of course, if I knew Choke was based on Chuck Palahniuk's novel (the same guy who wrote Fight Club) I would have expected some twisted turns, but I'm sure I would have equally enjoyed the development of the plot.

Though engaging and interesting, it's far from being flawless. There are many subplots that aren't developed as they should have been --and probably as they were in the book. For example, we know why Victor chokes all the time in restaurants, but we don't get to see those people supporting him afterwards, which makes the whole storyline a little disconnected. Same goes for Denny's rock subplot. It looks as if Clark Gregg --who directed and wrote the script-- didn't know how to integrate those subplots into the main story.

Fox Searchlight Pictures

The characters, on the other hand, are good. Not good as in good people. They are quite unlikable, to be honest. They are horrible, messed-up and antipathetic characters with no morality whatsoever but somehow you will end up rooting and caring for them.

I should probably give the credits to the cast though, not the director/writer. Sam Rockwell once again gives an excellent performance. He brings so much energy into the film and he plays the sleazy bag to perfection. It's his performance that elevates the quality of the film. Brad William Henke is a delight as Victor's friend Denny. Anjelica Huston does a good job as the selfish, manipulative but loving mother. Kelly Macdonald is good as the doctor caring for Victor's mother. And Clark Gregg is hilarious as the arrogant Lord High Charlie, an asshole working with Victor at the theme park.

That being said, Choke doesn't work that well as a black comedy. Gregg tried but he wasn't able to balance well the dramatic and comic aspects of the story. Also, the comedy doesn't always work. And I feel like Victor's sex addiction could have been explored more.