Dogs Bark

Looking For Mr. Roadkill - - Promising Young Woman (2020, USA, Color, 113 min) - - 17 January 2021

Recommended. It seems that many critics have gotten this movie wrong. Emerald Fennell’s (The Crown) movie is definitely not a screed for scolding future Supreme Court justices. In fact, Promising Young Woman is one of the blackest, dark comedies ever made. The ending of this movie is truly horrific . . . but funny. The implausible set-up follows the vengeance of a 30-year-old woman (Cary Mulligan, An Education) who convinces random guys that she’s drunk, lets them take her home, and then announces that she’s actually stone sober and that they’re a date rapist. Not sure what happens next  - - she’s no  Lisbeth Salander - - but I’m certain that after less than a dozen of these exercises . . . she’d be dead. So it’s a revenge comedy and very well made. Ms. Mulligan is both arresting and funny and the story . . . very tense. But absent a clearer purpose, Promising Young Woman may not be worth its trigger.

Diana Punts - - Wonder Woman 1984 (2020, USA, Color, 151 min) - - 8 January 2021

Not recommended. The first Patty Jenkins-helmed Wonder Woman movie grossed over 800 million worldwide and ranks ninth in that for comic-book films. Not bad for a chick flick. Recall that current Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin bankrolled it. It’s doubtful Janet Yellan could stay awake through Wonder Woman 1984. Why? Because it’s BOR-ing, as they used to say in 1984. The 2017 movie was way too long but included many charming character exchanges (just like a movie!) that leavened the predictable super battles. There are many of these super silly battles in WW84, including ex-IDF soldier Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman) subduing an Arab uprising. Hmmm. The original humor is mostly lacking, excluding some nice goofiness by Kristen Wiig (Bridesmaids). And raising Steve Trevor from the dead was just stupid. Finally, the acting chops of Gadot cause me to wonder but not in a good way. But maybe she was bored, too.