CREDIT: Marvel Entertainment/Screenshot; IFC Films

Thor: Love and Thunder

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Christian Bale, Taika Waititi, Tessa Thompson, Jaimie Alexander, Russell Crowe

Director: Taika Waititi

Running Time: 119 Minutes

Rating: PG-13

Release Date: July 8, 2022

Flux Gourmet

Starring: Asa Butterfield, Gwendoline Christie, Ariane Labed, Fatima Mohamed, Makis Papaditriou, Leo Bill, Richard Bremer

Director: Peter Strickland

Running Time: 111 Minutes

Rating: Unrated

Release Date: June 24, 2022 (Theaters and On Demand)

Wow, here I am, a few days older and a few days wiser from having taken in a couple of the latest cinematic offerings. As Thor: Love and Thunder began, I felt invigorated by the current state of the MCU in which we’re not just building up to the latest chapter. Or, we are, but it’s not thuddingly obvious what direction we’re headed in. That felt freeing! But then after a while, I was worried that I had lost the plot – what was the deal with the kids again? At least we had a lot of fun with Russell Crowe’s Zeus. I wondered why he was doing an Italian accent, and then I realized it must be Greek, so that was a journey.

As for Flux Gourmet, the uncertainty was even more ever-present. Partly that was because I’ve never seen any other movie quite like this, but more pertinently it was because I kept nodding off. I guess I need to institute precautions when drinking vodka lemonades during a mid-afternoon show. Anyway, this flick ultimately struck me as most relevant in dramatizing what it’s like to be diagnosed with celiac disease. And any part not expressly about that was probably still metaphorically about it.

Grades:
Thor: Love and Thunder: More Love, Decent Thunder
Flux Gourmet: Straightforward Flatulence, Everything Else in Flux