"Asteroid City" - Review

Our host for this evening (Brian Cranston) tells a story of a playwright Conrad Earp (Edward Norton), and his efforts to have his play concocted. It's a story of a group of child prodigies in the titular "Asteroid City", particularly one Woodrow Steenbeck (Jake Ryan), whose father (Jason Schwartzmann) has brought him and his trio of sisters here for space camp but also is attempting to break the news of their mother's death. The eclectic group of people in this tiny town meet, interact, fall in love, and live their lives, as a special event begins to unfold...

If you don't like Wes Anderson, don't watch this.
It's a very "Wes Anderson" film: long rat-a-tat camera shutter dialogue, completely deadpan sensibilities, immaculate summetrical sets, an eye for Americana, and a coffeeshop hipster sensibility.
If you like Wes Anderson? This is your jam, there are some good jokes, there is a strong pace, it feels like his Middle class reflections on quarantine, and its bizarre, out-of-this-world plottings (I couldn't resist) are reacted to with a droll eye and a raised eyebrow. I chuckled a lot.
It loses itself a bit in its "wake up, go to sleep" scene at the ened, but enough things are rolling along by that point that its ending is earned.

Three Thousand Years of Longing - Review

A narratologist (Tilda Swinton) is going to tell you a story.
She is going to tell you a tall tale of tormented truth, for if she spoke it as it happened, you would not believe her. It is a story of love, loss, loneliness and the power of tales themselves, about the hold that stories have on us, and how blinded we are to our own legends. It is a tale of how she met a Djinn (Idris Elba) in a hotel room, and was granted 3 wishes, and a tale of tales as he asked to be regaled by his mythos leading to this perfect, fortuitous moment.
From the director of "Mad Max: Fury Road".

Please watch this.
George Miller has woven (with co-writer Augusta Gore, and based upon a short story by A.S Byatt) a modern day fairy tale. No cynicism, no jokes, no sneering disregard for such a thing - just something akin to "100 Years of Solitude" or "Arabian Nights", with what is essentially just 2 characters telling stories in a hotel room. He uses effects and editing to splendid degree (check out the simple storytelling flourishes of a book being placed in a box, to quite heartbreaking effect, alongside oil-paintings of world building and mood pieces), capturing an intoxicating and beguiling wonder of a natural storyteller. It's romantic, dark, twisted, fluid, and magical in equal measure, and the dialogue is like poetry out of these actors' mouths. You will be rooting for these crazy kids by the end of it (all the way to a sweet and well-earned conclusion) and it's something of a refreshing drink from an oasis in these dark and soulless times.
And it has Idris Elba naked for 90% of its runtime.
And Tilda Swinton sounds like her character in "Snowpiercer", if that's your thing.

I joke that you can't believe this is from the director of "Mad Max: Fury Road", but honestly: if you've seen "Babe: Pig in the City", you'll get it.