Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (2020) - 3/5

The first 2/3 of this movie are quite good, but it doesn’t stick the landing. The psychotic hilarity of the premise works well, the narrative and story structure themselves being subject to Harley Quinn’s delusions, but the final culminating fight scene is inexplicably abysmal, both in conception and execution. This film lacks the heart throughline of Deadpool, the adept writing of the Marvel franchise, or the intelligent depth of the Nolan Batman trilogy. It keeps telling the audience it’s having fun, with the shaky tinge of uncertainty in its voice.

Content warnings: language, brutal violence

Closest comparison: It’s like Deadpool by way of Suicide Squad.

Setting: Superhero
Plot: On the Run
Tone: Psychotic Comedy

Trailer

Always Be My Maybe (Netflix) - 3/5

This movie is a pretty standard post-modern West coast rom com with all the witty anecdotes and unusual-but-not-unbelievable situations you’d expect. Everyone is sleeping around, for one thing, and the film provides an unexpected sardonic evisceration of the high class West coast lifestyle which may hit audiences differently depending on differences in personal worldview. The humor for me was more smirk than laugh out loud, which will hit everyone differently, but the inevitable awkward humor wasn’t as forced or as awkward as I was expecting so it was a fun watch overall.

Closest comparison: It’s like The Big Sick, but with food instead of chronic illness.

Setting: Yuppie Drama
Plot: Will They Won’t They Romance
Tone: Romantic Comedy