Yesterday/Midsommar/Secret Life of Pets 2

Yesterday:

I've always felt that the old time music acts that we are all told are the greatest ever would across the board be far less popular if their music came out today. The Beatles are right at the top of that list. This movie imagines a world where they never existed, and only one struggling musician remembers them and their songs, so he passes them off as his own. It's a premise that could have led to a great film, but Yesterday is mostly just a likable, mildly amusing, not at all deep movie. It's a curious choice for director Danny Boyle, who usually does edgier movies, but he brings a fair amount of energy to the movie. The romance is clunkier, although Lily James is so god damn adorable that it goes down okay.

Midsommar:

I really did not like director Ari Aster's Hereditary at all. So a 2 1/2 hour cult-set horror movie seemed an iffy proposition, even with the glorious rising megastar Florence Pugh starring. But I really got into this. It's barely even a horror movie. In fact, we don't see the cult actually do anything truly bad til the movie is nearly over. But ditching the horror tropes really makes it better. The story is good. The mood is terrific. The cinematography is beautiful. Pugh is incredible. Yeah it has its share of that A24 pretentiousness too, but not enough to hurt the movie that much.

Secret Life of Pets 2:

I kind of enjoyed the 1st one. Low bar, but it's probably my favorite Illumination film. But this sequel has no reason whatsoever to exist other than a cash grab. They didn't even bother to come up with a feature length story. It's quite literally just 3 shorts haphazardly bookended together. None of them are more than mildly enjoyable, and there aren't many laughs. Just a few smiles.

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