Small gripes aside, there's enough to love about It: Chapter Two to satisfy anyone's inner cynic.

Rating: 6/10 (6 December 2019)

N an earlier post, I wrote about how only two films that were released in theaters during the summer pleased me. They're Toy Story 4 and Spider-Man: Far From Home. Well, Avengers: Endgame played in theaters during the summer too, but I don't consider it to be a very good film. There were also several other summer movies that I kind of like. So, when it comes to new Hollywood films, it wasn't a good summer or a bad summer. It was an average summer. I mean, one can't expect an excellent new film to be released every week. Who would have the time to go to a theater every week? This isn't realistic. Well, anyway, after the summer movie season came to an end, Hollywood quickly released several enjoyable films that make the summer movie season pale in comparison to this autumn movie season. I haven't seen every film that has been released in the autumn yet, but I can say that Terminator: Dark Fate, Zombieland: Double Tap, Maleficent: Mistress Of Evil, and Abominable are worth seeing. Most are so good that they can be seen more than once. I'd also like to see 21 Bridges, Charlie's Angels, Frozen 2, and Jojo Rabbit. Joker is a film that I think isn't worth seeing more than once. It's not a bad film. For a modern film, it's good, but the filmmaking leaves a lot to be desired. I mean, it's no Apocalypse Now (1979). That's for sure. There are a few moments of brilliance in Joker, but, for the most part, it's a rather dull film, and I'm not judging it based on its message or content. The performance by Joaquin Phoenix is good, but not extraordinary. The cinematography doesn't look very good. Most of the scenes in the film aren't interesting. And the direction, though certainly better than average for modern times, isn't very good either. What did surprise me is how much I enjoyed seeing It Chapter Two and Doctor Sleep. I don't think that these films are very good, but they're better than I expected them to be. In It Chapter Two, the director, Andy Muschietti, showed more of his artistic side, as he did in his fine horror film Mama (2013). It Chapter Two is more atmospheric, better shot, and features better acting than It (2017). And it doesn't rely as much on silly jump scares. All of this added together made it a more enjoyable film for an adult like me. But the film still suffers from the fact that, like It, it was made to appeal to as large an audience of modern moviegoers as possible. Doctor Sleep is another well shot and atmospheric film that was directed by Mike Flanagan, who directed the fine horror film Oculus (2013). As a film, Doctor Sleep is kind of enjoyable. The novel by Stephen King is, in my opinion, bloated and rather dull. Still, the film isn't much better because there's nothing about it that stands out. The acting is fine, but not great. The story is fine, but not very interesting. The cinematography is good, but not in any way truly appealing. The music isn't memorable. Some of the scenes are good, but most of the scenes are just passable. By the way, one of the horror films that I really enjoyed seeing lately is Candyman: Farewell To The Flesh (1995). It's better than I expected it to be. The first film, Candyman (1992), is, in my opinion, fantastic when it comes to its artistry. It's easily one of the best horror films of the 1990s. When I was thinking about it, I thought that it must be the best of the 1990s, but then I remembered that Scream (1996) was released in the 1990s too. Scream is overall a slightly better film than Candyman. With Candyman: Farewell To The Flesh, the filmmakers at least attempted to make a good film, and in some ways they succeeded. It's obviously inferior to Candyman, but the acting, the cinematography, and the direction still make it worth seeing. And, finally, I'm almost done with my Marvel Cinematic Universe marathon, which I began in May of this year, when I watched Iron Man (2008) again. From then on, I've been watching every MCU film in order, and I'm still not quite finished. Of course, it hasn't been an obsession with me because I haven't been watching the films one after the other all in one sitting. I've seen many other films in this time period too. In this way, I've now seen every MCU film at least twice, and I don't consider this to be a bad thing because MCU films are good. There still hasn't been a single bad MCU film. Quite impressive. The years 2018 and 2019 are particularly memorable in the history of the MCU because Marvel released four fantastic films one after the other. They're Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man And The Wasp, and Captain Marvel. When I watched these films again on home video I noticed how well made they are. The acting is good. The stories are interesting. The music is fitting. The entertainment factor is high. The special effects are excellent. Need I say more? I can say that by the time Phase Three began in the MCU, Marvel truly found its groove.