I was not a huge comic book fan growing up1, but I loved the MCU and have made sure to watch everything from the movies to the Disney+ TV shows. It’s like my fandom of Sci-Fi in general, I care about the story and the characters. The fantastical elements in the story just makes it “bigger” in some ways. It’s also a bit like my appreciation of the subversive nature of Mad Magazine, because back in the day writers used the Sci-Fi genre to tell stories that the censors wouldn’t let them ordinarily tell if it were a straight up drama. Of course after 15 years of SuperHero/Sci-Fi movies I get how movie makers, like director Todd Phillips in the movie, Joker, they know that they can’t make the stories that they want to tell without making a “Super Hero” or Sci-Fi movie. In the era of MCU and DCU, they’re not working around the censors as much as around the studios and audiences. Jules is one of those movies.
According the blurb in IMDB, Milton lives a quiet life of routine in a small western Pennsylvania town, but finds his day upended when a UFO and its extra-terrestrial passenger crash lands in his backyard. But Jules is about much more than a group of senior citizens helping an extra-terrestrial escape capture from the fumbling government. Even with the growing background threat of being discovered by the government, the movie moves a bit slowly, just like the aging protagonists. They take the time to have Milton give Jules a tour of his home, ending on the couch were he spends time watching TV, pointing out the two different news channels as one where they share the news and the other where they yell a lot more. It’s a an understated light comedy with a message that’s a bit hard to miss, especially if you’re of an age and relationships are not particularly strong. It’s a slow, quiet movie with a strong lingering mostly unresolved concern. Enjoy.
Sources:
- JULES | Official Trailer | Bleecker Street posted by Bleecker Street (2023-07-10), https://youtu.be/0nrYm9Shbcs?si=lNOrwA7S0bOUPqFh, retrieved 2023-08-24)
- Jules (2023), IMDB, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15428940/, , retrieved 2023-08-24)
- Probably because they cost money and my allowance of twenty-five cents a week didn’t cut it if I also wanted candy… I did manage to get a couple Mad Magazines over the years though…. They were much more openly subversive.[↩]
