Movie Monday: Black Widow Brings Laughs, but Kajillionaire Brings More

A vacation threw off my routine, so I spent the weekend catching up on media and movies I missed while on the road and another in Black Widow that recently released. Here are my reviews of some of the films I watched this weekend.

In Theaters: Black Widow

Black Widow isn’t the best Marvel movie ever made, not even close. It’s 80 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes is indicative of that. It is action-packed, however, and the cast is fantastic. I thought I would enjoy the performances of Scarlett Johansson and Rachel Weisz more than I did. And I did enjoy the comedic performance of David Harbour as The Red Guardian. But the big surprise was the comedic relief Florence Pugh brings to the screen as Natasha Romanoff’s sister, Yelena. She stole the show. The most enjoyable aspect of the film was her performance, and staying through the credits reveals (spoiler alert) her next role in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Black Widow birthing a Yelena Belova spinoff film and, potentially, a franchise, is a most pleasant surprise.

Paying for “premiere access” on Disney+ to watch Black Widow at home is idiotic when you can catch a matinee for $6 and watch it on a screen up to 100 times larger than your television and hear it from a surround sound stereo system instead of your crappy soundbar. If you’re one of those people who calls your soundbar surround sound, you’re no cinephile. You don’t even know how to properly enjoy a movie at home. You’d be better off with a cheap, 5.1-channel surround sound system, but I digress. If it’s been a while since you’ve been in theaters for a Marvel movie, Black Widow is worth getting out of the house to see.

On HBO: Kajillionaire

The best film I saw this weekend was Miranda July’s Kajillionaire, starring Evan Rachel Wood as Old Dolio, the 26-year-old daughter of a couple of con artists desperate to pay the rent on their leaky office building next to a bubble bath production facility.

The real star of this one is a stranger named Melanie, whom they let into their lives during the execution of a heist. Melanie is portrayed perfectly by Gina Rodriguez, daughter of boxing referee Genaro Rodriguez. Her and Wood’s chemistry is apparent, and director Miranda July certainly got the most out of both actresses. Richard Jenkins and Debra Winger fill out a cast whose comedic chops cannot be argued.

Evan Rachel Wood’s physical comedy in this one is hilarious. There’s a great bit in the trailer of her avoiding security cameras at a post office to steal some mail while audio plays from another scene in the movie of her explaining to Melanie where the security cameras are in a grocery store and that “groceries in odd ailes are basically free.”

Old Dolio’s search for herself makes Kajillionaire much more than just a comedy, though. There’s high drama in this film, and romance, too. It’s well worth your time, as indicated by its 90 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

On Hulu: Barb and Star Go to Vista del Mar

Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo wrote and star in this comedy that isn’t good but has its moments. Actually, the most I laughed all weekend was when Barb and Star actually fly to Vista del Mar. All they do during the hours-long flight is describe the traits of anyone named “Trish” and create an entire backstory for this character they’ve never met but assume to know. I’ve included it below. Enjoy, but don’t watch the movie in its entirety. Stick to the YouTube clips.