wooozie

This might just be the best Oscars I've ever seen. It was fast-paced, filled with humor, and refreshingly light on the annoying political stuff. Plus, finally, a lineup of nominated films that people have actually seen.  A quick-witted Jimmy Kimmel, a naked John Cena, and an absolutely brilliant Ryan Gosling. Practically every award felt totally deserved. My only gripe is "I'm Just Ken" not winning. I can't remember the last time I heard a song so funny, emotional, and with such incredible choreography and actual relevance for the story.

I disagree with Scorsese's take on the MCU not being cinema but rather a theme park. Even in a theme park, you have to put in some effort to make it look presentable in order to make profit. Marvel has become a product that seems to have forgotten about logic, storytelling, and most importantly, the audience. And well, the audience has spoken with their wallets and made it pretty clear to Disney that they're not digging this direction. It feels like Marvel is catering to a specific target audience, but definitely not the one that made the MCU the phenomenon it once was. Now, don't get me wrong. It's not as much of a trainwreck as Eternals, and some of the action scenes are actually pretty well shot. But the overwhelming sense of boredom and helplessness? That's hard to shake off. If I had to pinpoint just one of the many annoying aspects, it'd be Samuel L. Jackson's lackluster performance. It feels like he showed up, recited a few lines, collected his paycheck, and couldn't care less about anything else. It's probably one of the most half-hearted performances of his career. MCU Phase 4 was a misstep, and Phase 5 seems to be following down this downward spiral.

The relaxed approach throughout its entire runtime and the lingering presence (or rather the absence) of Michael Jordan can make it seem like a well-made movie. But when you peel back the layers, it's as routine as they come. There's not even a hint of an attempt at anything original here.