July 2026 [6-12]
Millennium Actress, WandaVision, The Sheep Detectives, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
- Millennium Actress [2001] - 33
According to online ratings, Satoshi Kon’s 2001 fantasy/romance[?], Millennium Actress is very well received… And I am truly baffled by this. A movie with an interesting premise — an actress has a chance encounter with a stranger whom she spends her whole life chasing by making movies with the same basic plot across genres in the hopes he’ll see one and recognize her — Millennium Actress just doesn’t have the executional chops to make it all come together in the end. Plot points resolve in unsatisfying ways, crop up near the end of the film with no resolution at all, or are based on such classically annoying anime tropes that the abovementioned “interesting premise” gets lost in a sea of insistence, rather than combining to form an emotionally driven stew. Even my resident watcher-in-crime, Rebecca, had an outward reaction to this excursion — chuckling as credits rolled and asking, “That was like… Really bad… Right?” —, and having strong critical opinions is one of her least favorite things to do.
- WandaVision [2021] - 77
We have said goodbye before so, it stands to reason…
Making a slight sojourn in my Marvel kick based on a couple of friends’ thoughts on a film I’ll be writing about below, I tossed WandaVision on. Taking place mostly within a realm Wanda Maximoff has constructed to live a fantasy life with her family, this show is… Excellent. While my 77 doesn’t quite make that seem true, it is… At least for the parts that follow the synopsis I gave. There’s plenty of the show that takes place outside that space, and all of that is very “Marvel”, and very lame. If there was a version of this that focused more on the heavy drama elements of Wanda’s story while eschewing the typical Marvel comedy nonsense, this is easily a high 8+. That said, even the annoying and pointless mood-breaking Disney’s executives can’t seem to go a whole day without isn’t distracting enough to entirely derail the chemistry and weight of Wanda and Vision’s relationship come the conclusion… A conclusion that made me spontaneously cry while finishing this at 1am.
We’ll say hello again.
- The Sheep Detectives [2026] - 73
This movie is… Fine. There’s parts of it that are strong [one part that’s very strong], but most of it is just sort of bland. Half murder/mystery and half reflective drama, The Sheep Detectives neither has the sleuthian gumption to be Knives Out, nor does it have the nuance and pull to be The Shape of Water, The Holdovers, or any other such “finding your place” drama. It isn’t that either side of this coin are bad, they just don’t particularly compliment or enhance one another either. Outside of a single character who’s plot can be boiled down to “if you do something useful, the group will finally accept you” [which is a REALLY weird message to put in a family film], I actually think this is a rather effective family-weight movie… But I’m neither a family, nor strong enough to lift one up so, this just isn’t for me.
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness [2022] - 42
Now this has been the biggest surprise to me of my Marvel journey yet. As can be seen here, I actually quite liked my first viewing of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness… But, on this watch, I actually think it’s one of the most baseless, regressive, and ultimately meaningless entries yet. Is this MCU fatigue? Is it the fact that this movie effectively unmakes the entirety of WandaVision and all its emotional goodness? Maybe yes, maybe no… But either way, this was a rough one to get through. While I do think its practical makeup effects and horror elements are downright outstanding, this 126-minute slog is so narratively bereft of meaningful content that no amount of special effects or cool magic could get me to toss it on again anytime soon. Very wild 180 here.
