I Saw The Odyssey and Can't Come Up With a Snappy Title for this Post

 We saw The Odyssey recently, and I was going to start with addressing The Discourse over the film, from Lupita Nyong'o playing Helen to the use of American accents to the critical review of the film by Emily Wilson, whose translation director Christopher Nolan often praised when talking about the film.

But then I decided not to bother, as the film has been out long enough now that (a) there's probably nothing new to say about any of this, or at least I don't have anything that seems particularly unique or insightful, and (b) we're far enough past the opening that The Discourse is more The Discursion.

Suffice it to say that the various grousing related to the movie did not dissuade us from seeing this, albeit not in IMAX as God and Sir Christopher intended. 

I do agree with Wilson's view that the movie works as a spectacle but doesn't deliver anything near the depth of the source material. I don't think there was much risk of that happening, as we'd be pushing a six hour runtime if the movie showed more fidelity to the poem. In the end I felt like it was the story of a man battling PTSD more than the gods in his attempt to get home. 

I generally liked the performances, and was most pleasantly surprised by John Leguizamo's turn as the blind servant Eumaeus. I also hope Samantha Morton gets some awards season love for her portrayal of Circe. I did not find the narrative time shifts particularly confusing, but can see where someone who just wants to see fight scenes would lose the plot.

On the whole, it was nice to be able to go to the theater to see an epic with A-list actors that's not part of the MCU. 

And, of course, there were previews:

Pan's Labyrinth and The Fast and the Furious re-releases for their anniversaries (20th and 25th, respectively). There's an outside chance I'd see the former, although I'm not really a fantasy/horror person. As for the latter, if I haven't seen any of those films by now, why would I start?

Tony - the Anthony Bourdain biopic focused on his formative years in Provincetown. Dominic Sessa stars as Bourdain, alongside Antonio Banderas as his chef boss/mentor and Emelia Jones as the putative love interest. Of all the previewed films this is the one I'm most likely to see, but I'm on the fence.

By Any Means - a black FBI agent and a mafioso team up to beat the hell out of some racists. Actually, this may be the film I'm most likely to see. Mark Wahlberg plays the mobster.

Insidious: Out of the Further - some horror thing I will never see in a million years. Plus, I haven't seen the other Insidious movies, so how will I know what's going on?

Digger - What if  you made a movie with the visuals of Wes Anderson, inspired by Dr. Strangelove but with the comedic sensibility of Mars Attacks? It looks like this film is the answer to that very strange question. Tom Cruise is in the title role, playing an oilman who tries to atone for his role in creating global warming by nuking a massive iceberg. At least that what it looks like happens. John Goodman and Riz Ahmed co-star.

Focker In-Law - the latest film that no one asked for in the Meet the Parents series, a scant 16 years after the last one. Ariana Grande comes on board as the fiancée of one of the Focker boys (maybe the only one? I am not going to bother to look into the number and gender of the Focker children). She's a former (or current?) FBI hostage negotiator, so she gets along with Robert DeNiro's character, but Greg now thinks she's using some sort of mind control to coerce his son into marriage. Expect this to be in heavy rotation on TBS early next year.

Other Mommy - more horror, this time starring Jessica Chastain, who I'm guessing lost a bet or needed to make a move to get out of a contract or fulfill a blood oath.

Whalefall - diver searching for his father's remains gets eaten by a whale and tries to find a way out. Intriguing, but gross.