ANT-MAN

Paul Rudd, one of my favourite comedy male actor from "The Object of My Affection" from yesteryears, played the lead Scott Lang in this new Marvel comic movie Ant-Man. He has always played a non-leading actor role and this movie should be a big break for him to be more than just a second fiddle.

The other main cast includes Michael Douglas as Dr Hank Pym, Evageline Lilly as Pym's daughter Hope Van Dyne and Corey Stoll as Darren Cross. Dr Pym, a leading scientist from S.H.I.E.L.D. resigned in 1989 from the corporation when he found out that they were replicating his shrinking technology in the form of an Ant-Man suit, which he believed would cause mayhem if it fell into the wrong hands. When Darren, a former protege of Dr Pym's, invited him to a preview of his yet to be perfected new technological product the yellow jacket in the present day, a mortified Dr Pym decided to take the next step to prevent the completion of the yellow jacket.

Pym spied on a criminal Scott for some time, tested him and decided he was the best candidate to wear his Ant-Man suit. Scott, who was recently released from prison and was trying to make ends meet so that he can provide child support to his wife in order to secure visitation rights to see his daughter, was finally convinced to help Pym for the sake of his daughter. Hope, who was dating Darren and was also spying on him for Pym, joined in to train Scott to be ready to don the shrinking suit and lead the legion of ants to fight alongside him.

The movie was light-hearted; there were many comedic moments and was action-packed enough to entertain the audience. It gave new meaning to the name Anthony or Antony. There was also mention of Tony Stark and a brief cameo of Sam Wilson or the Falcon, when the Ant-Man attempted to borrow, or steal, a device from the Avenger's headquarters.

As with all other Marvel comic movies, the audience is rewarded if they stay back until after the post-credits. In this movie, there are 2 easter egg segments where they were treated to a preview of the upcoming movies; one on the female wasp and the other on Steve Roger's Captain America and Bucky Barnes' Winter Soldier.

Scott in the Ant-Man suit

the evil Yellow Jacket

Dr Pym explaining to Scott

a bewildered Scott when he learnt his successful break-in was a setup

Hope

an injured Scott

HOPE SPRINGS

Never in my world would I dream of watching this movie but watch I did. I mean, why would I want to watch the elderly have sex right?

I don't mean to be discriminatory or disrespectful towards the elderly. It's analogous to why I don't really like to watch some kiddy shows because I didn't think I could relate to the storyline.

Starring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones and Steve Carell, it relates the story of Kay who after being married for thirty odd years and whose two children were no longer living with them, found herself leading a lonely sexless life despite having a husband under the same roof. They were sleeping in separate rooms and Arnold had not touched her physically for almost four years. In fact, she could remember the date and details of the event vividly. Their daily lives revolved around a regimental routine that never changed for years. The sad and unfulfilled housewife was so tormented by the lack of physical and mental intimacy in her marriage that she could bear it no longer.

One fine day, she threatened her husband to go for a week long intensive marriage counselling with Dr Feld at a coastal resort town. Reluctantly, Arnold tagged along but things did not turn out well. They tried to rekindle the sparks in their marriage and were forced to act beyond their comfort zones in terms of physical intimacy, especially for Kay who went all out to do what she felt was necessary to salvage her marriage. Although there was some slight progress, the retreat did not yield the satisfactory outcome yearned by Kay. The week was soon over and they had to return to their usual mundane lives.

When everything resumed back to what it was before the trip, that was the last straw for her. She finally wanted to throw in the towel and end her marriage. In her own words, she said she would rather be alone without anyone than to be with someone and yet feel lonely. Did the marriage end with a sad or happy note for the couple? I will not give the ending away for this case.

Meryl Streep was competent and funny in her role as the prim and proper Kay. In fact, it was kind of awkward to see her touched Tommy Lee Jones with trembling hands, went down to give him a blowjob at the cinema and masturbated herself in her room. Maybe I am too uptight myself. 

Anyway, if the producers combine the movies "The Devil Wears Prada" and "Hope Springs" together and portray Meryl Streep as the mega-bitch career woman who returns home as a helpless emancipated woman in an unhappy sexless marriage, I think that would be most brilliant and totally makes sense. It would explain why her unhappy personal life translates into a sadistic boss at work.

SEEKING A FRIEND FOR THE END OF THE WORLD

This is one of the worse sleep-inducing movies I watched recently. Starring Steve Carell and Keira Knightley, the storyline was absolutely horrendous and lame. I am speechless beyond words. It sucks big time.