I caught a late-afternoon screening of The Fall Guy yesterday.  It is a great movie, one that works on practically every level.  It really is the kind of movie you really want people to see: it’s funny, thoughtful, action-packed, and twisty in just the right way.  Beyond that, the faces are familiar enough and a real affection for stunt work and for movies in general is palpable and, in a way, reassuring.

As I sat in the theater watching the credits roll, I remembered that this is the weekend each year when Marvel would drop a major hit.  The only real deviation, especially for The Avengers, was when Endgame was pushed up one weekend to close out April.  (Last year, it was Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 3 and the year before it was Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.) All that to say, this is an odd year for movie-going in the sense that there is no major Marvel tentpole for the beginning of the summer movie season.  (One could argue that Deadpool 3 fits the bill, but it doesn’t drop until the end of July and it’s rating, in my mind, will keep it as a kind of tangent to the overarching MCU narrative.)

So this year really is the test to see if a blockbuster summer season is possible without Marvel.  Like I said, The Fall Guy is the kind of movie you want to succeed, to do really well (I mean, it so masterfully works in “Against All Odds” by Phil Collins).  And I found myself wanting the whole slate of summer movies to succeed (even as The Fall Guy is expected to have a softer open than anticipated).  The new Planet of the Apes movie and the prequel to A Quiet Place are just a couple that I am most looking forward to.  Beyond that, there are some “re-issues” that look to be enjoyable.  Marvel/SONY are releasing all of the modern Spider-Man movies one a week for a couple of months (and Spider-Man 2 really is as good as you remember it being).  June sees a quick re-release of the Lord of the Rings trilogy.  North by Northwest, Run Lola Run, and The Muppet Movie are also making their way back into theaters.  And today, of course, is the 25th anniversary release of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace.

So here’s to the movie-going experience and to the stories that many will hopefully enjoy and share with others!  Excuse me while I go grab some popcorn in anticipation of seeing ‘The Duel of the Fates” scene from The Phantom Menace again for the first time in years …

(image from people.com)