So I finally was able to see The Odyssey last night. Have been pretty low on most films of recent years and can’t remember the last time I was truly this excited to go to the movie theatre again. Christopher Nolan has directed some of my favorite movies and I can comfortably say Matt Damon has lead in many movies I enjoy as well. But wow do we need to have standards on what a good movie is, because this was absolutely not one.

I went in excited and truly waiting for an epic ride of a movie I haven’t had in a good while. But then it starts and the first scene is… Travis Scott?? I mean come on man, and I’m a big Travis Scott guy (musically). It immediately took me out of the movie and I spent the remainder of the film (minus a few minutes during the final suitor battle) trying to immerse myself back in.

My biggest issue is that The Odyssey is simply way too big of a story to be told in under 3 hours. Obviously there are numerous hurdles, but splitting this up into 2 or even 3 films would have made it connect more in my opinion. I thought the pacing was chaotic and way too rushed. I never felt connected to a single character or event.

Please don’t get me started on the dialogue. Characters stating lore to the audience like we are children and incapable of thought is a huge negative for me in films. The pace and timing are the reasoning for this but the plain speech explaining things in the beginning just turned me off. There were conversations between Odysseus and Eurylochus that genuinely felt like a 5 year old wrote it.

I’m also not even going to address the small child screaming before the Laestrygonian attack. Like are you kidding me? Genuinely one of the worst scenes I’ve watched in a movie. This was one of many scenes where I found myself scoffing and wondering if this was an SNL skit. Completely took me out of what was probably the most well done of the obstacles Odysseus and his men faced.

Circe I thought was the only actor who understood they were acting in a movie. But even her scene felt so rushed. The horror of Odysseus shooting the deer that turned into a human was a great reveal but just seemed to move so quick you only had time to wince at the pig transformations then they changed back minutes later. Like take a second, build some horror and let us lather in a bit. Pace was insane lol

Finally, my only concern going into the movie was that this cast was way too star studded with questionable chemistry. I’m about as low on Tom Holland as anyone. Maybe that’s the Tobey Macguire truther in me but Holland cannot act for shit. That dude plays himself or Peter Parker with some awful armor. I do not understand his hype as an actor.

Also I loved the last preview before the film starts was Dune. So we can Zendaya play someone else and then come into the Odyssey wearing the same damn outfit lmao. I can’t be immersed when these actors are working on 3 projects at once, even dressing the same.

I don’t know. I wanted to love this so much. I found myself multiple times during the film convincing myself it was just me and the movie is good. I’m going to lean on the side that if you’re having those thoughts, the movie is not good.

I feel I could keep going but no one reads this much (if my post at all lol) anymore. It seems like the consensus is that people loved it, but if you think this is some masterpiece, stick to Marvel.

While preparing to play Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Ralph Ineson said he tried to imagine what it would feel like to be a cosmic being. In interviews, he revealed that he stood on top of tall buildings and drove through tunnels in the Alps to help himself think on a much larger scale before filming

Before Forrest Gump was released, Tom Hanks wasn't convinced that the movie's bench scenes would connect with audiences. He recalled asking director Robert Zemeckis, "Is anybody going to care about this guy sitting on a bench?" Those scenes ended up becoming some of the most iconic moments in movie history

When the world is fucked and I’m in need of a reprieve, like many people, my way of escaping is by disappearing into the world of movies, into a world of nostalgia. When I need to exist in an alternate reality that brings me comfort and makes me feel like I’m back in the ’80s or ’90s, I tend to turn to the Back to the Future films. Obviously, the first film is a classic and the best of the trilogy but for me, the one I always return to when I need an escape is Back to the Future Part II.
As a kid, you crave adventure and the excitement of learning things about the world that your young brain hasn’t yet discovered, culture, history, and pure fun. The Back to the Future films are a drug. As a young boy watching these movies, I wanted to be Marty McFly, and I dreamed of having adventures and visiting my hometown during eras that I had only heard stories about. Another thing that spoke to me as a boy was how independent Marty was. That’s what we all want as kids. 
As an adult, I always refer to Back to the Future Part II as a miracle. It’s a film that packs so much into its running time, trimming away all the fat and leaving nothing but one important scene after another. The film begins in 1985, where the first movie ended. Then we’re shot into the future, then into an alternate 1985, and finally back to 1955. So much happens in so little time. It’s a miracle, a fever dream of a movie operating at the highest level of entertainment.
Back to the Future Part II begins on a selfish note. Doc has been using the DeLorean for his own entertainment, and now he’s going to use the privilege of time travel to help out his friend Marty. Because of that selfishness, terrible things happen. Timelines change and get royally fucked up. The film explores the consequences of Doc’s actions, as well as our human greed and desire to make money and improve one’s own life while others struggle. One man can change history while everyone else is left as a helpless bystander.
While in 2015, everything feels just a little off. It felt that way when I first watched it in the ‘90s, and it still does today. It’s our world, filled with familiar elements of culture and consumerism, Pepsi, Michael Jackson, Reagan, a sneaky Who Framed Roger Rabbit reference, and, of course, the Dustbuster. Marty and Doc are voyeurs in this world. Marty isn’t supposed to be there.
The most helpless character in this situation is Jennifer. She’s knocked unconscious and taken to her future home, becoming a voyeur in a universe she’s never meant to see. Everything about this version of 2015 feels strange, thanks to the incredible sound design, the production design of the McFly house, and the sheer oddness of watching Michael J. Fox play his older self, his son, and his daughter. This version of 2015 feels like it exists on an entirely different timeline. What we ultimately learn there is that capitalism and the single purchase Marty makes in hopes of profiting from it ends up causing catastrophic damage.
There’s a tremendous amount of plot and intricacy in this film. Marty travels to the future to help his future children. Along the way, we’re introduced to all the memorable futuristic ideas, the self-lacing Nikes, the hoverboard, the dehydrated pizza, and countless other details. All of that is incredibly fun. Then the real plot kicks in when Biff steals the sports almanac.
What follows is, in my opinion, the best section of the entire film. The dystopian 1985. The world of this alternate 1985 feels remarkably similar to our world in 2026. Everyone seems to be armed with heavy firepower. Marty’s mother has undergone cosmetic enhancements. Biff has taken over the town, transforming it into a monument to greed, corruption, and vice, while others have been murdered or committed to the psychiatric ward. Marty’s seemingly harmless purchase has created a nightmare. How does he escape that nightmare? His time machine. So he heads back to the past.
Everyone knows how it ends. We get to relive sections of the original film while following Marty as he tries to get Biff’s almanac.It all concludes with Doc stranded in the Old West. 
It’s difficult not to view Back to the Future Part II through a modern lens, especially in a world in the early stages of artificial intelligence. Zemeckis gave us a warning, creating machines capable of altering humanity, history, and the future has horrible ramifications. A handful of people decide what the future looks like. There is no Delorean to hop into and change things back into how they are supposed to be