I watch movies every week and then write down my thoughts. Read my previous reviews!
My rating is simple, Watch It, It Depends, Skip it.
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| Captain America: Civil War - It's big budget spectacle, and it's awesome! |
Watch Captain America: Civl War
Written by: Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely (screenplay), Mark Millar (comic book), Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (characters)
Directed by: Anthony Russo, Joe Russo
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Don Cheadle, Jeremy Renner, Chadwick Boseman, Paul Bettany, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Tom Holland, Daniel Brühl, Frank Grillo
Rated: PG-13
Plot:
Politicians wanting to control super heroes and the Avengers pit Captain America and Iron Man against each other.
Verdict:
The Avengers 3, I mean Iron Man 4, I mean Captain America 3 is thoroughly entertaining. The draw is the infighting and it delivers. The writing is strong for a super hero movie, with plenty of quips, good characterization, and a story line exploring responsibility for the collateral damage super heroes cause. It has some of the best fights seen in a Marvel movie, both in scope and emotional impact.
Watch it.
Review:
Captain America and his team of Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, and Falcon are tracking Crossbones (Frank Grillo). They stop him but not before causing extensive collateral damage.
Cap sees it as tripping a small mine in an effort to stop a nuclear bomb. Tony Stark is remorseful about any death and damage, convicted by a confrontation with a mother who lost a son.
This leads to the Slovokia Accord. The United Nations voted on rules and regulations for the Avengers. Tony sees the safeguard as a necessary protection. Cap sees it as men with changing agendas wielding a lot of power.
When the Winter Solider Bucky Barnes resurfaces to commit an alleged act of terrorism, Cap vows to save his friend, becoming a criminal by violating the Accord in an effort to protect Bucky.
Captain America's transgression pits his team of Falcon, Bucky Barnes, Scarlet Witch, Hawkeye and Ant Man against Iron Man's team of War Machine, Vision, Black Widow, Black Panther, and Spider Man.
I don't know how Stark found Spider Man. Aunt May was surprisingly young, played by Marisa Tomei. Even Tony Stark comments on this multiple times. Tom Holland does a great job with Spider Man. He perfectly captures the nervous, chatty teen. Multiple characters comment how battle doesn't usually include so much chatter. Spider Man even exclaims that Captain America's shield doesn't obey the laws of physics.
Black Panther is the other new addition played by Chadwick Boseman. He's regal and charismatic.
Spider Man and Black Panther both have stand alone movies coming out over the next two years, and this movie made a point to highlight them both, doing a great job of it.
The writers have a great handle on Marvel films in general, referencing events from previous movie. The dialog deftly switches between humorous and serious. There were a number of sequences that are impressive. There is a neat sequence with Bucky commandeering a motorcycle, a couple of instances during the airport fight, and the penultimate Iron Man and Captain America battle.
The fight at the airport with all of them is the spectacle that caused fans to buy tickets and it doesn't disappoint. It's an amazing fight sequence with teamwork and devastating hits.
Though some of the Avengers are mortals and take a drubbing that would kill a normal person, it's deliberately hand waved. I was surprised when one of Iron Man's allies was seriously injured.
The fight towards the end with Iron Man, Cap and Bucky is brutal, expertly filmed and culminating in a no holds barred confrontation between Iron Man and Cap that had me legitimately wondering if one of them was going to end the other.
The underlying theme with collateral damage is vengeance. Daniel Brühl as Zemo wants to end the Avengers. What they think he's planning and what he is actually planned is great misdirection. His impetus for revenge ties back to the collateral damage from the beginning of the film. Vengeance later spurs Iron Man to attack Bucky in the fight towards the end. Super hero movies often hand wave collateral damage for cool fights. I'm glad this addresses the issue, but at the same time the airport fight undermines the central issue with the airport getting absolutely destoryed.
I wondered how it would resolve the conflict as the end neared, and we're left with a cliff hanger. Will this issue be resolved in the next Iron Man or Avengers movie?
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| Ghost in the Shell - How do you define sentient? |
Watch Ghost in the Shell
Written by: Kazunori Ito (screenplay), Masamune Shirow (comic)
Directed by: Mamoru Oshii
Starring: Atsuko Tanaka, Iemasa Kayumi, Akio Ôtsuka
Rated: --
Plot:
A future with hackers, cyborgs, and extensive information networks. Motoko hunts a deadly hacker known as the Puppet Master.
Verdict:
As well revered as this is, I was expecting a bit more. It poses some interesting questions, albeit through clunky dialog, but it doesn't provide any revelations about sentience. The animation looks incredible from the action to the backgrounds. It's a great sci-fi film, in part due to the discussions it generates.
Watch it.
Review:
With Scarlett Johansson in the Americanized remake slated for 2017, what about the original movie that inevitably will be better? This film was widely praised and considered to be one of the best anime films. It inspired many filmmakers, including the Wachowskis when they created The Matrix (1999).
Watching movies from other cultures can be interesting. The first scene was action packed with an exploding head, and it included more animated nudity that I expected.
You can watch this dubbed in English or subtitled in English with the original spoken Japanese, but you should always watch a film in the original language. Dubs never do the dialog or delivery justice.
Motoko is a cyborg on a security team. This security team is after a hacker known as the Puppet Master who can hack into people's brains through their cybernetic implants. These implants are directly linked to the communication infrastructure. The hacker can then force them to commit crimes and implant memories. Hacking like this is not common.
There is a lot of telling instead of showing, which is common introducing concepts like this. I like the thought put into this. The cyborg states she chose a human partner because two cyborgs would think and react the same way which could be a fatal flaw. This idea is revealed purely through exposition with her partner asking a question that's purely for the audience.
Motoko and her team get a lead on the Puppet Master, but it turns out the targets were pawns sent by the Puppet Master. One man had the memory of a wife, daughter, and divorce implanted in his head. He thought he was hacking his wife's implant in an effort to retain custody of his kid. The Puppet Master implanted those ideas. The man has no family, and those memories can not be removed. I love that nuance, but the movie nearly stops and tells us exactly what is going on and why it's important. It doesn't even try to work it in to the narrative.
The Puppet Master isn't a person, but an intelligence born of information from the communications infrastructure. This program was created for global monitoring, but became sentient. This intelligent form and Motoko muse that it's only our memories that make us individuals. The intelligence sought out Motoko, wanting a body. Motoko, who felt incomplete, meets an intelligence that wants to expand. At the end of the movie, they inhabit the same 'space.'
Ghost in the Shell offers intriguing concepts, but a lot of talking that slows the movie down. Instead of just starting the conversation about sentience, I wish it explored it more.
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| Crimson Peak - Never poke at anything resembling blood. |
Watch Crimson Peak
Written by: Guillermo del Toro & Matthew Robbins
Directed by: Guillermo del Toro
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston, Charlie Hunnam
Rated: R
Plot:
In this period piece, an author, Edith (Mia Wasikowska) moves in with her new husband Tom (Tom Hiddleston) and his sister Lucille (Jessica Chastain). The house may be haunted, or full of killers, or both.
Verdict:
Despite the elaborate house that serves as the set and the exquisite costumes, it's a run of the mill horror movie replete with the common tropes found in horror movies. The visuals look great, though a still just can't capture how great the production values are. The acting is solid as you'd expect with this cast, but the CGI ghosts, as they usually do, lack the authenticity to be really unsettling. The last quarter of the movie trips over itself with an ending that lacks originality.
Skip it.
Review:
Having just watched Everest (2015), I was surprised to learn this was not a movie about hiking or climbing.
One of my biggest pet peeves in movies is starting with the final scene first and then cutting back to the original. I get it's trying to generate excitement, but it's a cheap move. It's a proclamation that your opening scene isn't exciting enough and you couldn't fix it.
This movie opens with the final scene, though we don't know it yet, jumps back to childhood, and then jumps forward to the proper start.
Less than three minutes we get our first does of nightmare fuel. The ghost mom warns Edith about crimson peak, but neither the characters or I know what that is yet. There is also an animation of a book opening, the title being "Crimson Peak". You'll have to stick around to the end to figure that one out.
The romance between Edith and Tom is convenient and contrived. It's not believable at all. One person tells her she's a good writer and she falls in love? A couple of additional scenes could go a long way.
Tom has a secret, and the movie wants us to believe he's a killer. I think it's a fake out.
Tom and Edith marry and move to his home in England. The house is everything a horror movie house should be. The ground is blood red clay. it oozes out of the walls and floors. It even oozes out of the walls that are above the ground which is a gravitational feat.
The lingering question is what is Tom and Lucille's deal. Tom picked Edith, but for what? Is she a sacrifice to the house? Who would live in this house? That may be the most unbelievable thing in a movie full of unbelievable things. There is a giant hole in the roof! It's snowing inside the house!
As Edith explores her new prison, we get clues that Tom may have been married before. He has, multiple times. The house is called Crimson Peak. The prophecy is coming true. Ghost mom was right. Run Edith!
Tom and Lucille tell Edith she was just dreaming and she buys it. Why?!
If you guessed the tea was poison, you would be right. Lucille is trying to kill her. Lucille is pulling the strings. It's an elaborate scam where the siblings marry Tom off for money so he can mine blood red clay that no one wants to actually purchase. It's a stellar business model.
Edith's doctor friend from back home pieces things together and travels to England to save her. Despite knowing he was dealing with deranged murderers, he thought he could reason with them and walk out the front door with Edith. That doesn't happen.
Logic flies right out of the window towards the end. Tom fell in love for real this time and tries to save Edith, but his sister is crazy. Tom gets stabbed in the face in a scene that is very unsettling and just ghastly. The CGI is impressive though.
That book thing from the beginning that made no sense? The end has the book close, revealing that Edith is the author. It's not clever or cute. It's contrived and ridiculous. In the end the crazy murderers Tom and Lucille die and the stupid victims, Edith and the doctor live.
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| The Public Enemy - James Cagney is a gangster not to be messed with. |
Watch The Public Enemy
Written by: Kubec Glasmon and John Bright, )Harvey F. Thew (screen adaptation)
Directed by: William A. Wellman
Starring: James Cagney, Jean Harlow, Edward Woods
Rated: --
Plot:
Tom Powers (James Cagney) climbs the ranks as gangster in prohibition era Chicago
Verdict:
A classic gangster film propelled by James Cagney's terrific performance.
It depends.
Review:
Tom Powers and his friend Matt start as petty thieves and become a premiere bootleggers. Tom is quick to brandish a gun and just as quick to pull the trigger. A theft becomes murder when he's startled by a stuffed bear and shoots it. This alerts a cop, whom he then dispatches.
Tom keeps his occupation a secret from his family, but his older brother knows and urges him to give up crime.
Tom's brother joins the Marines during World War I, while Tom and Matt are recruited into the bootlegging business. When Tom's brother returns from the war, he again urges Tom to wash his hands from a life of crime. Tom tells his brother that his hands aren't so clean. He didn't get medals for holding hands with the Germans.
In a memorable scene, Tom shoves a grapefruit into his girlfriend's face, tired of her complaints. Director William Wellman stated he had often imagined doing the same thing to his wife over breakfast. Now he could rid himself of that fantasy.
Tom undertakes a one man gang war, but when you live by the gun, you die by the gun.
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| Pawn Sacrifice -Brilliance and madness often go hand in hand. |
Watch Pawn Sacrifice
Written by: Steven Knight (screenplay), Stephen J. Rivele & Christopher Wilkinson and Steven Knight (story)
Directed by: Edward Zwick
Starring: Tobey Maguire, Liev Schreiber, Peter Sarsgaard
Rated: PG-13
Plot:
Bobby Fischer (Tobey Maguire) battles the Russian Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber) in chess during the Cold War.
Verdict:
Even having missed all of the Bobby Fischer movies and documentaries, this didn't bring enough new information, just relying on strong performances, especially from Maguire. What happened to Fischer after chess? This movie doesn't answer that question. It's hard to make chess exciting but this movie does that with the final game.
It depends.
Review:
The first proper scene showcases Fischer's madness. He's paranoid that the Russians are spying on him and want to kill him. He seems crazy, but not without reason as there does seem to be people spying on him, unless that's just Fischer's delusion.
Then the movie flashes back to Fischer as a child. This is my pet peeve. Movies often employ this tactic to make an exciting opening, a ruse to hide that the actual opening isn't. Fix the problem, don't mask it.
Even from a young age Fischer was a chess prodigy. It seems almost any great athlete got there not just due to ability, but due to their drive, focus, and intensity. Look at Tiger Woods or Bryce Harper, they were spending hours on golf and baseball even at five years old
At twelve years old Fischer is the best. He's not even a kid. His sole focus is chess. He doesn't just want to succeed, he wants to dominate. He knows all of the games his opponents have played.
Bobby Fischer becomes the way to beat the Russians and prove American superiority. This propels him to celebrity status despite or because of his youth and arrogance.
What is it about brilliance and madness that is often so closely linked? Maybe that kind of focus is madness, not many are capable of such intensity. Fischer's handlers know he has problems. They can't fix them, they can only hope to pacify him as they ride the wave as far as it will go. How much did they care for Bobby? Was chess in his best interest? Then again, it's not like they could stop him. Fischer claims to be the best, wants to win the title, but is also scared of taking that title.
Fischer often acts like a petulant child, demanding outrageous stipulations and refusing to play. When you're the best, you can do that. I understand Spassky's frustrations, but at the same time he grants the demands because he doesn't want to win on a technicality. He wonders if Fischer is toying with him mentally, but Fischer really is just crazy.
The final chess game is exciting, which is typically hard to convey on screen.
When he finally beat Spassky in 1972 and officially became the world chess champion, he exiled himself, not playing another chess match until twenty years later, again against Spassky. This movie concludes with the '72 win, forgoing the story of what happens later. Did Fischer go decades without any help? Imagine being the top chess player, but you can't legitimately take the title because the reigning champion has just disappeared. It would be aggravating to have an asterisk next to your name for that.
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| He Never Died - Intriguing concept, competent movie. |
Watch He Never Died
Written by: Jason Krawczyk
Directed by: Jason Krawczyk
Starring: Henry Rollins, Booboo Stewart, Kate Greenhouse
Rated: R
Plot:
Jack just wants to be left alone to play bingo and eat at a diner, but low level mafia thugs just won't leave him alone. That and bullets don't seem to have any affect on him.
Verdict:
The movie creates an enigma in Jack and my concern was whether it would pay off. Is he a fallen angel, crazy, or a demon? Parts of the mystery are introduced just to misdirect us, but the ending, though underwhelming, is pretty good. The concept is excellent.
It depends.
Review:
One of the first shots shows Jack with scars on his back, which made me wonder if he was a fallen angel with wings removed. Ultimately that's not the case, so I don't know why he has those scars or why the movie poster depicts him with angel wings.
Jack doesn't know how or just doesn't want to interact with people. Did he die, come back, and in the process forget everything? He interacts with a woman that claims to have birthed his daughter and he seems to hardly remember her
With that introduction this could be a really interesting movie or really bad. The slow build up and ending is adequate, and at least it doesn't undercut the movie.
We slowly realize that Jack's simple life is built around subduing his cravings. I like how the movie doesn't convey this through exposition. It's slowly realized as we see Jack live each day of his life.
Low level mafia guys start antagonizing Jack, but he can handle himself, subduing them more than once. It turns out Jack used to be a mafia enforcer. While it doesn't seem like it was that long ago, Jack seems to barely remember it.
Does blood help him heal? Is he reincarnated? Thankfully these questions are answered. There is a sequence where Jack is looking for someone that will voluntarily beat him up. He accosts a few rough looking people who turn out to be quite cordial. It's a darkly comedic sequence. All of Jack's interactions are borderline comedic. He doesn't care about anybody and has no time for small talk.
The big reveal is that Jack is Cain from the bible. The same Cain, the first murderer, that killed Abel. Cain was doomed to wander the Earth for eternity as a monster that craved blood. Cain never died.
This answers a lot of questions, though not the angel wings. Living forever is a curse. If you've lived for thousands of years I imagine all the events could run together. That's why he doesn't remember much. He can't die and he just tries to control his cravings. I really like this depiction of immortality.
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