Featuring Kingsley and Coffee talk, by Ask-Wiggles

This week's update is a weird one, because it wasn't originally conceived as an update for "Marriage Story". This is a bit of behind the scenes commentary, but I think it'd be interesting to share it. This update was originally going to be for "The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance", but even after finishing it neither me nor ssjcharon felt that id' make the show justice. This is the weird thing about running an ask blog to review movies, is that if what you review is really good or really elaborate, doing something that's less than that is a disservice to it. Which in an on itself is an ironic statement since I'm recycling a picture to comment on one of the best movies I saw last year. Speaking of which…

There's always a big issue in the way movies are presented. A few years ago one would've scoffed at seeing anyone release a movie exclusively on a streaming service, what with the way cinemas work. Movie theatres aren't going anywhere, they're here to stay, what do you mean we can't release our very well written character drama on the theatre because all screens are taken by Hollywood blockbusters? Fast-forward to now and you can almost feel the glee coming from the smiles of all those independent filmmakers who were laughed at because their movies were coming out on streaming.

You may have noticed I've yet to say anything about "Marriage Story" but that's because there's really not much to say. It's the story of a couple who are going through a divorce, and it's both incredibly laid back and roaring in how tempestuous it is. It's light on story but heavy on the character, and that comes across in the acting duel between Scarlet Johansson and Adam Driver, both delivering some of the best performances of their careers. For a movie about people standing in rooms talking to each other it's really engaging and at times even relateable. The arguments, the looks, the fights, we've all seen or known someone who has gone through something like this. A movie like this wouldn't survive in the theatre, it would've been devoured by any other big studio film that got released the same week, and since it's such small scale releasing it on Netflix is perhaps the best idea. And it was! The small scale and being able to watch it in our own homes makes things a lot more engaging. I'm repeating myself, so lets wrap it up.

"Marriage Story" is an excellent movie that works as a character study and an effective drama, where the fact that it released on a streaming service only amps the empathy we feel for the very likeable characters and their conundrums.