I wanted to talk briefly about two very different movies I watched over the weekend, the new Netflix movie Candy Jar, and this little indie project you probably haven’t heard of called Avengers: Infinity War. 😉
Candy Jar
I got an email from Netflix alerting me they just added a movie I might like. I usually look at these emails but don’t take stalk in them, but this one caught my eye with the premise of two teen rivals. As some of you know, I am currently writing a story about two teens who are rivals in their school band, so I was excited to see a movie with a similar concept! And thankfully, I really enjoyed it! It wasn’t perfect… For starters, the name is sort of lame and doesn’t feel indicative of the whole film. It comes from the guidance counselor our two main characters, Lona and Bennett, are always coming to for advice, who has well over a dozen candy jars scattered throughout her office. (Yet somehow neither the guidance counselor nor our main characters seem to gain any weight…) While the counselor plays a small but fairly important role, the candy really doesn’t at all. There were also a couple of moments and characters that I felt could have been developed and fleshed out a little more fully, but it was a well-paced 92-minute-long movie, so that’s not really a big complaint.
I really enjoyed seeing how Lona and Bennett’s relationship blossomed from rivals to friends to the possibility of something more, but without diving deep into a romance. Their interactions feel realistic and mostly organic. I enjoyed all the production aspects of the movie as well. If you’re in need of a quick, fun watch, particularly if you’re a fan of young adult contemporary, I’d recommend Candy Jar!
Avengers: Infinity War
It’s basically impossible to talk about this movie without diving into spoilers, so here’s what I will say first: this movie is well-crafted and unlike anything else you’ve seen from Marvel. I don’t think I can say anything else at all without getting into spoilers, so be warned, SPOILERS BELOW!
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I’m not going to do a deep dive into all the nuances of the film; I’ll leave that to other folks. But at the end, when we see Thanos sit down to watch his sunset and the credits started rolling, I was in actual shock all through the credits and for a little while afterward. Wait, so they just killed off half the Avengers? I knew deep down there this meant there would be a reset down the line (which is not my favorite plot device, but I have allowed it on Star Trek and Fringe), but there is no hope of that in this film, other than Dr. Strange telling Tony, “This was the only way,” and the scene we got at the very, very end of the credits. As one article I read summed it up, this film does not have all the typical beats found in storytelling, in fact, it is acting as the falling action of the overall Marvel Cinematic Universe arc. Which, I’ve got to say, is one heck of a way to make a franchise of movies.
I’m still processing how much I like the film. I mean, it can’t stand alone at all. While it’s well-crafted, entertaining, and not overtly dark and gritty, it carries much less levity than other Marvel fare, which was important for the nature of this film. And Thanos means business, unlike nearly every other Marvel villain we’ve dealt with. I think I will have to wait it out and see how everything ultimately comes together before I can properly judge this movie.
How did Infinity War make you feel? I’d love to hear your thoughts about either of these movies!
I read something that said if we ignore what’s we know of the MCU outside of only the things in the movies then the ending was super impactful. I really think the industry knowledge of another Black Panther film and another Spider-Man film, and who has how many movies left in their contract and of course the overal continuation of the MCU kind of took the shock and attachment away from the deaths because I know most of them are not going to stick. That’s the sticker for me. Up until that moment I was like okay this is a good movie, not their best, but good for how ambitious they were. And then the ending happened and I was disappointed because as viewers we KNOW those aren’t going to stick. HOWEVER ignoring what we do know then I think I would have been devastated lol. Bucky and Peter Parker were by far my heartbreak deaths and apparently Tom Holland improvised his and now I want him to have an Oscar lol
Awww, poor sweet Tom Holland.
I think if they had less people die (and people without announced sequels) then maybe there would be more question in our mind of if they would stay dead, but at the same time part of the whole point was that with a snap of a finger, Thanos could wipe out half of humanity. Again, I literally can’t form a full opinion on what they did until I see the sequel, because I’ve seen the “reset button” done really well before, even though it’s not my favorite trope.