#2,358: Free Fire

The Circle - ★½☆☆☆
The most millennial thing about this movie is how actions are decoupled from consequences. The main character's actions don't seem to mean anything, good or bad. She's just intuitively correct about everything at the beginning of the movie, and has no need to change or grow. Like any time you start to think 'oh no, I wonder how she'll get out of this one!' the answer turns out to be 'everything's okay, and it always has been!'

The supporting cast makes even less sense. Their behavior from scene to scene is baffling.

Some people would probably say that it's anticlimactic when all of a character's plans work on the first try, but those people will probably suffer a nonsensical death that won't be mourned for more than a scene or two.

I was happy for some people I know that got to be in the movie.

Ant-Man - ★★★☆☆
I think I liked this more with the benefit of time, and Civil War. Despite the cosmic and magical entries, this is still the most nonsensical MCU entry.

Going in Style - ★★★☆☆
Safe, smooth, and destined for a long life on TBS.

Free Fire - ★★★★☆
It seems like a shame that nobody was there to see this on the opening weekend. I think it's got one of those trailers that makes you feel like you've already seen it all. It's fun, it's funny, it's got a good mix of banter and slapstick. I would have liked it to either be a little bit shorter or to have had one more complication enter the fray towards the end, but I liked it. It feels like cinema.

Set List: Atom Bomber

Well here's a treat of a sponsor. This week, Set List at the Pack is brought to you by: Atom Bomber! It's a fun toy for boys AND girls! Not convinced yet? Did I mention it comes with a metal bomb? Well it does! Have hours of fun, with Atom Bomber!

Set List at the Pack is a completely improvised stand-up show that happens every Thursday night at 10:30, at the Pack Theater in Los Angeles, CA.

The Seventh Annual Los Feliz Invitational!

This week, it's the final round of the 7th Annual Los Feliz Invitational, at Gangbusters!

Wooden Furniture is defending their title, and the Mk. II Los Feliz Cup, against the likes of Los Angeles comedy luminary Jake Kroeger, Christina Catherine Martinez, The Death Laser's Michael Heiman, Holston & Rogers, Destroy All Monsters, The Agency, Rando, and... Mandy Patinkin?

Gangbusters! happens every Friday night at 11, but this is one all-out comedy brawl that's not to be missed!

#2,354: Power Rangers

Guardians of the Galaxy - ★★☆☆☆
I still don't think this is very good, but I'm not as mad about it. I do feel comfortable keeping Guardians in its spot as the worst MCU movie though.

Magicians: Life in the Impossible - ★★★½☆
This documentary makes the argument that magicians are even sadder than open mic comics.

Lo and Behold: Reveries of the Connected World - ★★½☆☆
This is almost an anthology film of short documentaries about the internet. Some folks seem to be saying that since Herzog is not from the internet, he shouldn't be making them, but this is nonsense. He's an outsider to many of the niches his documentaries visit, and we like that about him and them. Still, I would have cut maybe two chapters.

Power Rangers - ★★★☆☆
Krispy Kreme's Power Rangers is... kind of okay! It's got a lot of good ideas for a power rangers reboot, but it doesn't quite get them all on the screen. I wonder if there was a rewrite done to specifically address the fact that the suits are impractical and boring. It makes the movie feel like a cinematic stress dream.

It would have been fun if they were able to use their powers, so that we could watch the rangers learn to handle them. Maybe they could have left the Batcave at some point and fought some bad guys– puttys attacking the playground (I mean, town) is kind of a staple. Instead, everyone knows how to use all of the alien technology automatically. Maybe it's all really well designed. Maybe one of the ancient rangers was their civilization's Jony Ive.

And it's got the theme song! I was expecting a modernized version under the credits that never turned up, but at least this movie succeeded where X-Men: First Class let us down.

I am curious though– what are the power rangers supposed to do now? I mean, presumably Zedd or someone shows up in the sequel, but what do they do until then? Are they fighting street crime? ISIS? Attending book fairs? They seem pretty popular with the public despite the fact that it's probably against their code to ever appear in public again.

Set List: Technology!

This week, Set List at the Pack is brought to you by... Technology! Technology: Dig it!

Set List at the Pack is a completely improvised stand-up show that happens every Thursday night at 10:30, at the Pack Theater in Los Angeles, CA.