What in the F is nextalgia?
Don't worry if you're confused, I just made it up. 💭
“It's a funny thing about comin' home.
Looks the same, smells the same, feels the same.
You'll realize what's changed, is you.”
Can we talk about nextalgia? Yeah, “nextalgia,” ya know, as in the word I completely just made up for the purposes of this newsletter. While it may not be a real word, it is a real phenomenon. Trend? Fad? Or at least I think it is. And while I don’t know what you’d call it, I would define as a longing, or intense love, of what’s yet to come. But you’re no dumby and you gathered that, so let me tell you what I’m basing my thinking on.
I’m not gonna lie, I was in part spurred by this week’s lone feature, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and the larger MCU machine it’s a part of. Ant-Man is the start of what Marvel calls “Phase 5” of their long running and, while not literally, but feels like, never-ending franchise. This movie sets off events that’ll spur a bunch more movies which will in turn kick off other stories. But it was actually a larger combination of things that really got me tinkering on the notion. First there was the announcement from the new co-head of DC, James Gunn (who has also directed all the Guardians of the Galaxy movies) laying out the upcoming series / movies and overall revamp of the (newly titled) DCU. And then there was this video from Netflix to “Save the Dates” for their movies in 2023. Add in this bit from SNL about how there is just too much damn stuff to watch.
I know, this literally just sounds like marketing and building momentum for all the loads of new stuff that’s coming out. In part it is; anything new will always have to communicate to its potential audience that it exists and will soon be available for consumption. And isn’t the response to that communication simply anticipation and you made up a silly word so you could have something to write about?! And thus isn’t it just the same as it ever was???
Maybe!
But in the most (read: least) scientific terms it just feels like there’s this shift in how content producers et al talk about their next projects and the ones consuming it view their future binge sessions / purchases. Not as something they’re excited for, but something they already absolutely freakin’ love - even if they don’t really know what they’re loving is yet.
It’s kind of like sometimes how people are so excited to pour their love into a boyfriend / girlfriend / partner that it almost doesn’t matter who the person is, just that there is a someone. But in reality, the person is still a person, negatives, positives and all. It’s up to the other person to get rid of their expectations and see their beloved as they really are, not who they want them to be. Jesus, did not expect to going this deep...
But fuck it, take the most recent event of the Super Bowl half-time show by Rihanna. First off, it’s Rihanna! She real good. And she hasn’t performed live in seven years! A fact mentioned oh, a billion times leading up to the performance. Model / actor Cara Delavgine wore this shirt, which in itself is not that big of a deal, but it felt like a calling card for the type of anticipation people had for RiRi’s show. They already loved it so much they’re basically Chris Farley talking about a sale in Tommy Boy. So it almost didn’t matter what the show was, or how “good” it was, a large contingent of people had already so deeply bought in they almost had to love it after1. It’s like it became an identity thing.
But back to the movie stuff. There are literally enough films and tv shows in existence that you could not finish them all if you never slept and watched every minute of every day. And more specifically, there were, within the last 10 years, multiple movies about Superman, Batman etc. But the unspoken mentality is yeah sure cool, what about the next ones thoooooo. And it’d be an easy angle to blame the companies producing the stuff, but you still need that audience buy in. And as usually, I’m not trying indict anything or anyone, more just observing.
Plus, I am by no means a mere outside observer of this situation. I’m most definitely a participant, even if I try to be somewhat conscious of it, only for my own personal, satisfaction. Because if I’m always so stoked about what’s next, how the hell can I enjoy what’s right in front of me? 🤷♂️
Extra Credit Movie(s):
Marlowe - this is a somewhat atypical Liam Neeson movie in that it’s not a modern hyper-masculine action movie. Instead it’s a 1940’s set hyper-masculine noir. Hey, I said somewhat. But what is typical, unfortunately, are the diminishing reviews for the action star, which say the movie is a trite burrito stuffed with cliché fillings. Playing in Theaters this Friday.
This might sound like an odd comparison, but Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a bit like the 2019 The Lion King remake, but like, in reverse. Whereas The Lion King had real sets and computer-generated animals, Quantumania has (mostly) computer-generated sets and real humans. Both are considered “live-action” vs “animated,” but after a certain point you kind of have to start to question the definition of live-action… or not, and just go with it. Because labels usually just put things in boxes anyway. And we hate boxes, cuz we’re not freakin cats.
But whatever they are, Marvel movies have become quite renowned, or reviled - or whatever “re” word you want to apply here - for their prolific use of CGI. And based on the image above you can be forgiven for thinking the film’s effects might’ve been farmed out to those fancy new AI whoozamabobs you keep hearing about on the news. Well I can (99.99%) confirm the movie was comprised of work done by very skilled VFX artists instead of AI, based on the fact that when I entered “ant-man in the quantum realm” into DALL-E, this is what I got…
Sure it could be considered impressive for 10 seconds of my time2, but it ain’t gonna hold up to the standards of the Marvel fan base. Which at this point is quite large, but also potentially exhausted from having to keep up with not just tracking all the characters and storylines, but the functional time it takes to watch all the stuff the studio is putting out (there are two more movies and multiple series releasing in 2023).
So how do you keep them interested? Well, ideally with compelling stories and earned emotional stakes, which, I imagine the filmmaking team tried hard to achieve with this (no sarcasm!) the third entry in the Ant-Man series, but reviews are saying it ends up being a bit too much. Too much what? No, just too much. As in too much of everything. Too much of the Quantum Realm, which is where Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man and crew get sent after a (convenient plot moving) mistake, too much setup for “Phase 5”, which is what this film kicks off for the MCU and too much of a Star Wars ripoff - no kidding, nearly every review mentioned the George Lucas creation, from the cantinas, to the rebels fighting as well as the oppressive ruler.
And speaking of that oppressive ruler, sure he may be trying to destroy the entire multiverse, but he's also apparently the biggest bright spot of the whole affair. "He" being Kang the Conqueror,3 played by the ascendent Jonathan Majors. Majors played a version of the character, or iteration? in Loki... you know what, it doesn't matter. I'm not trying to get into the Marvel storyline. It is far too complex at this point. The key thing to know here is that while this may be the second worst reviewed movie in the MCU (second only to Eternals), it does play a pretty big part in the whole future of the Marvel franchise. So if you care about that, you might care about this. Otherwise? Maybe give it a shot if you wanna take some edibles and watch some broccoli people fight a despot. 🥦
Out: Thursday
Where: Theaters
2 hrs 5 mins | PG-13 | 🍅: 52%
Today in Trailers! it’s Summertime in Wintertown. That is to say, the summer movies are showin’ off their bits while it’s still cold outside (bold 😨), and they want you to look (cheeky 😳)! So have at it. 👀
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 - it’s the end (at least this iteration) for the misfits of the MCU. 😭
The Flash - will apparently, somehow - per new DC head James Gunn, bridge the old DCEU and the new DCU. Translation: superhero movie stuff
Fast X - please let it die already. I’m kiddinggggggggg4 😅
Air - not a parody, I repeat, not a parody!
I’m not commenting on the show itself here, just how people felt about it
work it took to create the tool not taken into account of course
yes, not Krang from TMNT, as I mistyped when one of the trailers dropped
I’m not kidding