The Rest - May 7, 2023

"...My eyes are circles."

A quick wrap-up of everything else I watched this week.

Abbott Elementary, the rest of Season 2 (2023) - The season ended strong with some romantic sparks and a fight for public school values. Quinta Brunson is running the best sitcom on TV right now and I hope the WGA strike is resolved quickly (in the writer's favor, of course) so they can get back to penning season 3.

Evil Dead Rise (2023) - It's significantly more traditional than the original Sam Raimi trilogy, but there are some solid scares, a fair amount of practical effects and a wonderful cast - especially Alyssa Sutherland, who manages to bring a level of pathos and humor to the role of a possessed mom that could easily have been one-note. The themes of family and urban isolation also help. Certainly worth a watch if you're a fan of the franchise.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY, VOL. 3 - A Review

These are not the vibes of a happy family.
(To be fair though, what family likes wearing matching outfits?)

Rating: ⭐⭐ 1/2

What's the best way to say goodbye to family? There's not really a right way. There are plenty of wrong ways. Finales are difficult and stressful. And maybe that's how we ended up here. Maybe the pressure was too great.  For even though Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 3 has been marketed as a farewell to our plucky space defenders, it doesn't feel like anything is ending. Not substantially, anyways. Sure, writer/director James Gunn is heading off to run DC and make a Superman movie. And Dave Bautista has publicly declared that he has outgrown Drax. So the lineup may change, but the brand will probably carry on. That shouldn't be surprising. The MCU is a paradox, as obsessed with goodbyes as they are expanding their roster and keeping every option on the table. As a result Vol. 3 is like a conversation with a relative who doesn't know how to hang up: You were happy to chat, but there are no more topics to cover and the platitudes are starting to grate. And in this allegory, they've kept you on the line for two and a half hours.

Let's stick with the family phone call analogy, because Vol. 3 has some very straightforward information to deliver, but drags it all out for too long, with semi-interesting asides and lots of side characters who - while colorful and interesting in their own right - have no bearing on the original story. As you drift along, overwhelmed but confident you know where it's all going to end, you may start to feel like this family is bad for each other. The impression left is that if they weren't constantly lobbing affirmations at each other, they'd be throwing fists. And that's why they called you.