Captain America: Civil War

Anthony Russo, Joe Russo - 2016

IMDB

4/5

Along with the Iron Man films, the Captain America Marvel installments have proven to be the most dependable and consistent, possibly even more than the former. Winter Soldier was such a solid film that I was convinced I will give them all a view when the opportunity arose. When I was browsing through Netflix and saw Civil War - the only thing keeping me from putting it on for so long was the 147 minute run time. Interestingly enough, while Captain America is a central figure in the film, Civil War could really be a stand-alone film not bound to the Captain America narrative. This is the first film to put normally very friendly characters at odds with each other. There's always the small conflicts and differences between the various characters but this is the first outright battle story.

Faced with the global ramifications of some of the collalteral damage that the Avengers created, the UN has drafted an agreement holding the Avengers accountable for their actions. Tony Stark, feeling the weight of his actions, is eager to sign the agreement while Steve / Captain America is against doing so. The main thing keeping Steve from signing is it pits him against his old friend Bucky (Winter Soldier) who has been accused of a terrorist attack and is now a global target. Steve being loyal and protective to Bucky forces him to create a Captain America vs. Iron Man dilemma.

The tension builds between Tony and Steve and while the divide grows between them, they both build their own camps on each side. It all erupts into one of the big moments which of course is the battle sequence between them all. The delicate balance of conflict leading up to it is so impressively well-done. It's also another great showcase of these well developed characters in the Marvel Universe coming together in these big moments.

Civil War actually did something for me that hasn't been done since I saw the first Avengers film back in 2012. I admit that, like many other people, had become fatigued a bit by the constant superhero movie drops. Since that Avengers film, I would casually check in with the Marvel universe periodically, never at release point but with more of a "when i get to it" attitude. What continued to be absent for me was that level of excitement that I would get. That little boy excitement. Can't even remember the last time I had a gross sense of that excitement. Decades ago probably. But Civil War managed to resurrect at least a hint of it. Civil War also managed to resurrect a character that I had written off in Spiderman. Being a fan of the Tobey Maguire Spiderman films, when it was announced that Maguire was no longer going to be involved in the franchise and Andrew Garfield was taking over in a rebooted version I basically checked out. For me it was going to be just another product of money-hungry studios rebooting the shit out of everything and their inability to turn down the next dollar-making opportunity.

Tom Holland brings an energy to Spiderman that should have always been there. High School-age innocence and youthful naivety. Tobey Maguire was 27 when he played Peter Parker for the first time so of course he just wasn't able to fully capture a high school student. But Holland is 21, and could easily pass for a 17 year old. When he meets Tony Stark for the first time, he is at a loss for words and is completely star-struck. Later when in costume doing his thing, he talks too much and makes rookie mistakes just like any high school age kid would 6 months into having superpowers. There's a lot to look forward to with Holland in the Spidey suit. It seems like Marvel Studios cutting a deal with Sony may have saved the character from total mediocrity.

The level of quality that these films are working with should override the cultural fatigue that the marketing executives are inadvertantly unleashing upon us. There's no reason to believe that these films are going to degrade anytime soon.

Avengers: Age of Ultron

Joss Whedon, 2015

IMDB

3/5

The Avengers sequel aims to fulfill the obligation or hope of every sequel: to build upon the first film and to raise the stakes. The early moments of the film find The Avengers in a more vulnerable state. Questioning their value as the saviors and guardians of Earth's inhabitants. They are aware of some of the collateral damage sustained. They are aware of the fact that maybe their high profile is drawing more attention than they would like. And when Tony Stark inadvertently gives birth to a highly functioning AI form named Ultron, they realize that they have another opposing force that seems to make Loki look like an amateur even with his army of flying worms.

Whedon has proven at this point that he is capable of managing a big budget superhero film and he delivers a satisfying sequel to the rather good first Avengers film. If anything, the film is probably a half hour too long, perhaps some of the fat could have been trimmed. With it's 141 minute running time, there is a such an overstimulation of computer generated action that it becomes almost numbing. It seems as though you can only watch the CGI Hulk destroy a handful of buildings before it becomes a bit redundant.

One other blemish with Ultron is consistent with the Superhero / Marvel movies as a whole; the obvious franchise building that goes on. Marvel is now owned by the Disney Empire. With that comes substantial financing for geeky content but they also have board-members they need to please every quarter when they report earnings. That whole element feels calculating, and it takes some of the romance away from the movies knowing that the studios intention is to hook you in so they can count on your next $9. The Superhero bubble will burst at some point down the road. Until then, there are films like The Avengers films that can appeal to a broad audience and entertain the masses, even if it is just a showcase of special effects.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Anthony & Joe Russo, 2014

Can I Stream it?

3/5

The Russo brothers (who are more known for a variety of comedic television work) add to the installment of Marvel comic book-adapted action films, making this one the 37th - counting all of them going back to a 1944 version of Captain America when Marvel Comics was called Timely Comics. Fortunately for modern-moviegoers, you are treated to seamless big-budget special effects that blend in so well to the scene that you never really raise an eyebrow. Just like the Iron Man films, the technology shown in the films now clearly exceeds that of the real world with things like hologram technology or advanced weaponry and it's just sort of become something that is now embedded in the Marvel franchise and you just accept it because it's all become a part of the franchise. When the elevator descends to the annals of the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters and you see hundreds of advanced machines, you once again accept it because in this universe we have a guy like Tony Stark who can invent lots of amazing things for the military or even a chest repulsor transmitter for his own body. And while a lot of the other Marvel films involve some cross-pollination of the many characters, this one for the most part focuses on Steve Rogers and his Captain America character.

The film examines Captain America's struggles to adapt to the modern society after being frozen for decades. It also explores the patriotic elements associated with the whole Captain America image. Regret, lost love, loyalty, trust, dedication. It's an elaborate film, employing multiple antagonists such as covert-assassin The Winter Soldier, HYDRA front-man Alexander Pierce, as well as the other loyal HYDRA members helping to initiate a genocidal Helicarrier that will wipe out millions of people. The two hour plus running time allows enough time to balance the multiple story threads with the chaotic urban destruction. The Avengers franchise should be quite good for some time as long as the same cast stays committed to their respective roles.

Under the Skin

Jonathan Glazer, 2014

Can I Stream It?

4/5

Set in Scotland, a shape-shifting alien creature is secretly killing young men in an effort to feed a mysterious source. Soon the carefully maintained routine is disrupted when the seductress begins to gain an awareness, suddenly seeing the human race as something more than just lustful meat.

Under the Skin has a lingering quality to it, a quality existent in Glazer's past film Sexy Beast. But while Sexy Beast was simply rooted in great performances, this picture's lingering qualities are more obvious, more impacting, more elaborate. More intriguing. Glazer's cold black predatory piece plays out like a David Lynch created hybrid of Stephen King's Sleepwalkers and M. Night Shyamalan's Signs. The chilling score is noticeable from the get-go as the hum and the heartbeat manipulates your senses. Some of the images dance slowly across the screen, never slowing down to a bore.

Scarlett Johansson's femme fatale creature is calculating, tactical. She's precise in her pursuit. If there is any compromising moment in the hunt, she scraps the moment and moves on to the next attempt. Using sex as bait on young men is just too effective. When you see a black wigged, made-up Scarlett how can you not get into a van with her? The fact that these scenes were filmed using hidden cameras on oblivious walker-bys without making that segment of the film gimmicky only adds to Glazer's skilled film-making abilities. It's a film that almost demands to be re-watched, as you are likely to find little marks here and there that you may have missed. It's the long-awaited true Cinephile's alien movie. And although the film gets lost a little bit in it's own abstraction as the female creature begins to empathize with the human race, the memorable imagery never slips between the cracks. When the two humans are submerged and the one sees the other get "processed", how are you to ever erase that from your brain? There is an artful brutality to this picture that Nicholas Winding Refn only wishes he could have achieved in Only God Forgives. So many aspects that will stick with you for days, months maybe. Mica Levi's score is so much like the background noise we heard in The Master or There Will be Blood, but it's so brilliantly embedded in the fabric of the film that hearing anything remotely resembling the sounds after will trigger your memories and have you looking behind your back for a Dodge Sprinter as you walk down an empty street. As the cold temptress creeps through the Scottish city, Glazer forces you to look at your own race through a different set of eyes. You sympathize with the poor young men that are so unfortunate to fall victim to their own libido. But you soon find yourself sympathizing with the very creature that so mercilessly takes them from the world. Another testament to Glazer's pure brilliance with making this film. Under the Skin is a hypnotic art piece. So cleverly disturbing without being pure gore, and unnerving without using any horror cliches.

Don Jon

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, 2013

Can I Stream It?

3/5

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Looper, The Dark Knight Rises, 500 Days of Summer) makes his directorial debut showcases him as gym-rat Jon, a serial one night stander who finally meets a girl he falls for. Unfortunately she quickly interrupts his long-going online porn addiction.

Levitt is typically seen playing the innocent type with more of a reticent charm. Here he is much more outgoing, basically playing someone straight of Jersey Shore central casting. A man of much routine. His life ultimately consists of little variation from going to the gym, to the club with the same friends, home with a random girl he meets at the club, and then to church every Sunday to scrub his conscience clean in the confession booth so he can later "enjoy" family dinner with his father (Tony Danza) screaming at him.

While MTV's Jersey Shore showed the world that there are actually people out there like the ones parodied in the film, Levitt's cast are ultimately caricatures of neo-italian New Jerseyians who hang their cultural pride high, they help to examine the concept of sexuality in our culture. The types who have that mythical family member who is "connected" that they threaten each other with over the dinner table while fighting over the last piece of Lasagna. Empty threats that are shouted underneath cheap-cloth Italian flags that they hang wherever necessary. 

The film examines the sex sells marketing concept and the outright hypocrisy that exists in the American culture. It's okay for the girls to watch the improbable, sappy romantic flicks but it's taboo for the men to watch pornography. The film also touches on the idea of the male population becoming less masculine and more metro-sexual. His examination largely works because he keeps it simple. Jon is so addicted to his streaming video in front of him because one, he is an enormous control freak. But more importantly, his impulses had been largely self serving for much of his adult life. And its sort of a collective approach by everyone hitting the bars at night. They are all basically feeding their inflated egos. When they go home with someone they met, its another knotch on their belt, not likely their future wife. As soon as Jon realizes that there is more of a partnership to true lovemaking, it all changes. Levitt could have easily tried to prove himself to the film-making community by biting off more than he could chew. He could have confused his freshman project with too many story threads, too much abstraction, or could have gone in heavy-handed. But he didn't. And the final product felt more confident because of it. Good for him. 

The Prestige

Christopher Nolan, 2006


4/5

          Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are rival magicians with a long history together. This was not always the case, as they had started their apprenticeship together in earlier years. Any bond they had was eventually torn by tragedy, which planted a seed of disdain and envy that grew into a complicated hatred as the years went on. The jealousy also grew as they continued to try to outdo each other in their performances. When Borden finally introduced his "Transporting Man" demonstration into his act, Angier HAD to figure out the method. Seeking help from Nicola Tesla (David Bowie), he was determined to reveal Borden's trickery, if only for himself to outdo in his own repertoire.
          A day later this film is sticking with me. I am mad at myself for waiting so long to see this, especially after hearing so much positive feedback from everyone. It reeks of Nolan immediately, of course in a good way. Christian Bale is an amazing actor and Nolan really knows how to direct him well. Hugh Jackman, who is usually hit or miss for me is great and really delivers a memorable performance, probably the best performance I've seen from him. With such sophisticated attention to detail this film clearly deserved its Oscar nod for Best Art Direction (although I cannot fault the Academy for giving the award to Pan's Labyrinth). Scarlett Johansson was stellar in her role as Angier's assistant, Olivia Wenscombe, someone who is passionate and multi-layered. Rebecca Hall, who played Sarah Borden, was also really impressive. There really wasn't one bad performance in the film.
         I don't believe ANYONE other than Nolan could have made this film. The direction was so flawless and the story-line really made you feel as if you were an audience member watching the magician's perform. Nolan jumps around in the timeline of the story, in that Nolan-esque way. The film has everything: suspense, love, death, surprise, spectacle, and DAVID BOWIE! The ending was very satisfying, in fact I am still thinking about it.