Remember when you were a kid and you found a cool rock or a weird stick and you ran to the nearest adult, desperate to share with them the (definitely) one-in-a-million thing you just discovered so you could get their approval? I think maybe anyone who writes about pop culture for a living is the mildly grown-up and vaguely professional version of that kid, flailing about wildly into the world hoping to share something neat with anyone who will listen. It can definitely be fun to throw shade across some cynical cash grab of a movie, but loving something is so much sweeter.
This week is especially fun because I watched two movies on polar opposite ends of the spectrum and loved them both for completely different (and clashing) reasons. At this point in human history, I don't think anyone is on the fence about Marvel anymore, so a review from me or anyone else isn't really going to change hearts and minds. Still, it's opening weekend, so I had to see (before the internet spoiled it) James Gunn's final entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3." Also, since I contain multitudes, I also checked out "Showing Up," the new film from Portland indie-auteur Kelly Reichardt. I regret nothing.
I can't really say "GotG V3" is what you would expect from the Marvel machine, because writer/director Gunn has a specific signature in his filmmaking (tons of needle drops, slapstick humor, pathos) that it stands apart from what you might imagine. Since this is his last Marvel movie (he's the new co-head of DC Studios, Marvel's direct competitor), the entire film plays like an extended goodbye to these characters we've grown to love since the first "Guardians of the Gal-axy" came out in 2014.
To some extent, the film feels like Gunn throwing every last concept at the wall while he still has a chance to play in Marvel's sandbox, but the ideas, designs and jokes that don't work are far outweighed by the genuine love he feels for his space pirate, green warrior woman, monosyllabic tree, murder raccoon, empathic bug person and tortured robot abuse survivor. If you love these characters and their stories, then "GotG v3" will make you cry as hard as I did.
One caveat: this is the "Watership Down" of Marvel movies. There are many adorable talking animals and some of them don't fare very well, so if you or the kids are especially upset by violence toward cute, animated creatures, it might be a good idea to avoid this one completely or read a summary of the story before going. However, as hard as some of it is to watch, there's a good chance that this film will create an entirely new generation that fights back against animal testing and cruelty.
If "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3" is a bombastic face-kick of maximalism, then "Showing Up" is for people who think that level of spectacle sounds like a nightmare. Kelly Reichardt's new film is quiet and still, focused on a sculptor as she prepares for a small art show in Portland. Filmed almost entirely at the no-longer-operational Oregon College of Art and Craft, "Showing Up" plays as a deeply specific look into the Pacific Northwest art world and the little insular communities that show up for each other.
Michelle Williams disappears into the prickly disappointment of Lizzie, the sculptor and ceramist who worries about her dad (played by the always welcome Judd Hirsch) and can't get her landlord to fix her hot water. It also doesn't help that her landlord is Jo (the luminous Hong Chau), one of her direct competitors for gallery space. But "Showing Up" doesn't feature any of the typical cinematic competition between Jo and Lizzy; instead, we observe them dispassionately making art and having passive-aggressive conversations with each other. It's serene, meditative and doesn't feature a single talking raccoon.
When people complain that Hollywood doesn't make movies for grownups anymore, I like to imagine they're talking about "Showing Up," but I tend to think they just mean something like "Top Gun: Maverick" or "80 for Brady."
I take comfort in knowing Reichardt and her muse Williams are still in Portland, making these quiet and beautiful little movies where at first glance it seems like nothing happens, but on reflection it's the same kind of nothing that makes up an entire human life. I also take comfort in knowing that an idiosyncratic director like Gunn can be given the power to relaunch an entire film studio just based on his singular vision of heroes and villains. Gunn and Reichardt are opposite ends of the same exact coin, I'm calling it now.
Check out this rock I found. I bet you'll love it.
