Category Archives: Movies

Movies

Paradox (2016) a (right on time…pun intended!) review

It is often, at least for me, to find that “bad” movies are the result of a bad screenplay/story.  While these films may exhibit any other number of problems, from bad acting to bad direction/editing/cinematography, usually the worst sin a “bad” film has is related to its story.

Which brings me to Paradox.  Currently available On Demand or for free through Netflix (or was it Amazon Prime?!), Paradox is a time travel murder mystery which stars stuntwoman turned actress Zoe Bell.  Without further ado, the movie’s trailer:

Not too bad looking, if you’re into Time Travel-type tales.  Me?  I’m interested in ’em so when given the chance, I gave the movie a watch.

As I hinted above, the movie wasn’t all that good.  Mind you, it wasn’t horrible, but it just…wasn’t very good.  I can’t in good conscience recommend it to anyone, even if you’re into time travel features.

What was most curious, however, was the fact that perhaps for the first time I can recall, I found this “bad” movie’s problem lay squarely at the feet of just about everything but the screenplay/story.

Before getting into that, let me backtrack just a little: Paradox involves a small, clandestine group of scientists who are working on a time machine.  I won’t go into too many spoilers here, but suffice it to say that this group locks themselves in a heavily fortified (and relatively large) basement and are about to make their first attempt at time traveling on the night the movie begins.

When the first time travelling subject -one of the small group’s members- goes forward in time by one hour, he encounters a horror show: Blood, bodies, and general mayhem.  Further, a self-destruct sequence has been initiated and there are only minutes left before the facility goes up in flames.

The world’s first time traveler runs through the facility and finds even more evidence of grisly murder.  He quickly realizes someone in their small group is a murderer but, because the time machine is using up the entire city’s electricity, he cannot get out of the facility and, with time literally winding down, reactivates the machine and travels back to moments after he first left.

He encounters his now living companions and warns them of what is to come.

Just as he was and hour from then, the group is trapped within the fortified facility.  They do, however, still have use of the time machine…can they beat fate?

The time travel premise may not be super incredibly original but in the context of what we’re seeing its not bad.  Further, the screenplay/story is, to my eyes anyway, quite clever and provides, by the end, a very satisfying explanation/wrap up for everything that’s come before.

…but…

Man does this film have other problems.

Let’s start with the biggest: The acting.  I really hate to do this, but apart from Zoe Bell, the acting within this film is for the most part simply not very good.  The dialogue, which at times could have been quite clever and even humorous, most often falls flat because of the delivery.

Unfortunately, the problems don’t stop there.  The movie’s direction is mediocre and the budget was obviously very low, which hurts the overall product.  This is particularly evident toward the film’s “explosive” climax.

And yet…

Seriously, the story presented was, dare I say it, clever.  While Michael Hurst, the movie’s director, may not be all that good, the very same Michael Hurst, Paradox’s writer, isn’t all that bad.

It’s quite the…dare I say it…paradox, no?

In the end and as I said above, I cannot recommend Paradox in spite of the fact that in more capable hands I could easily see this film succeeding with its story alone.

Too bad.

Movies

Opinions are like…part deux

A very long time ago (I kid, it was only three freaking days ago) I posted an entry entitled “Opinions are like…” and went on to talk about the fact that director Steven Spielberg, the man who may well be one of the people most responsible for inspiring me to pursuing my writing career thanks to the impact of seeing his first hit movie Duel on TV when it originally aired (read the rest of the post here), had very kind things to say about Guardians of the Galaxy, a film I absolutely hated.

The purpose of my post was to say this: Opinions about things, especially works of art, are individualistic.  What may float my boat may well sink yours and vice versa.  Guardians of the Galaxy was a tremendously successful film that had high positive responses from both audiences and critics and to this day many consider it the very best “Marvel” film ever made.

I do NOT begrudge Mr. Spielberg’s, or anyone else’s for that matter, opinion regarding the film.  Indeed, if you liked it, good for you.  My opinion of the film should have no impact on your opinion of it and, frankly, I wish I could have liked it as much as so many did.  The film was certainly in my particular wheelhouse but, again, it just didn’t work.  For me.

Part of the reason I posted that entry was because I’m alarmed by how militant -and insulting- people are regarding their opinions about such things.

You can find the most -and frankly really ugly– example of this in this article by Gina Carbone for moviefone.com:

The War Over Ghostbusters Gets Ugly As New Trailer Drops

The article is about how Angry Video Game Nerd (AVGN) posted a youtube video in which he stated he would absolutely not be seeing the new version of the Ghostbusters  film.  AVGN has great fondness for the original Bill Murray/Dan Ackroyd film (many do) and is certain this new version of Ghostbusters will be terrible.  He goes on at lengths explaining why he feels this film is bad and, again, it is his opinion and he’s certainly entitled to it.

What happened next is what is so alarming.

People start posting pro and con comments regarding AVGN’s video/opinion and things got really ugly when comedian/actor Patton Oswald came on and posted a comment that rather than condemn the film pre-emptively, AVGN should watch the new Ghostbusters and then make his comments.  If the film is terrible, then so be it.  Let the makers have it.

But at least see the film before you knock it.

Mr. Oswald’s comments resulted in a cascade of comments and some of them got really nasty.  How nasty?  Some people -I kid you not- made light of the fact that Mr. Patton’s wife had very recently passed away.

Yes folks, it got that ugly.

Now, I ask: Is Mr. Patton’s above comment, that one should see a film before condemning it, out of bounds?  Does it deserve the ugliness that followed?  Was it in any way controversial?

I’d say what he wrote sounds incredibly…reasonable.

Unless you work for Sony and have already seen the film in some secret pre-screening, you have NO IDEA how good this new version of Ghostbusters is.

You can assume certain things, of course.  Based on the negative reception of the first trailer, you can assume the film may not be very good, but there have been very bad trailers made for very good films and vice versa, so at best you’re reacting to a “bad” trailer.  You can lament the fact that this film doesn’t feature the original cast but, given that original cast-member Harold Ramis passed away, there isn’t going to be an original cast movie anymore.  You can lament the fact that they’re remaking a beloved film (got knows I’ve gone through that plenty of times) and the track record for remakes isn’t the greatest.  Finally, if Melissa McCarthy or director Paul Fieg’s films to this date haven’t floated your boat, its reasonable to assume you may not like this film as well and, that being the case, you certainly are in well within your rights to say you aren’t going to bother seeing this version of Ghostbusters.

AVGN has every right to his opinions.  He has every right to express absolutely no hope and/or interest in seeing this new Ghostbusters.  I don’t even begrudge him the opinion that this new film will be horrible/terrible/the-final-sign-of-the-apocalypse…

…just as it is equally fine for Mr. Oswald to opine that one shouldn’t condemn this new film -or any new film- before, you know, actually seeing it.

Two opinions, both equally fine.

Why the ugliness?

 

General, Movies

Opinions are like…

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Over on Facebook, director/writer James Gunn posted the following, a quote by Steven Spielberg regarding his hit film Guardians of the Galaxy:

Understandably gobsmacked by this wonderful comment by Mr. Spielberg, Mr. Gunn wrote:

Steven Spielberg just said this about Guardians of the Galaxy in Cannes. Probably the greatest compliment of my life. I learned what a director was because as a kid I loved Raiders of the Ark so much I wondered who the guy was behind it all, and I’m making movies today because of it. (Forgive some of the spelling in the translation, please).

If you were ask me who I considered the greatest living movie director, my answer might well mirror Mr. Gunn’s:  I would unhesitatingly name Steven Spielberg.  Though I don’t consider every one of his films a “classic” (indeed, there are a few I haven’t bothered seeing and a number I’ve seen once and wouldn’t see again), nonetheless Mr. Spielberg was the man who truly introduced me to both the magic of cinema and storytelling.  While it may seem an exaggeration, I believe his first big successful film was instrumental in influencing me into being the author I am today.

The film?  Duel.  It premiered in 1971 on TV and I was five years old at the time and was captivated by it…

Though it wouldn’t be until years later (remember, these were the days before the internet and instant information at your fingertips!) that I realized this film was directed by the same man who made Jaws and E.T. and Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind and, yes, Raiders of the Lost Ark, it was the smash success of Duel that proved Mr. Spielberg’s big “breakout” feature and paved the way for his future successes.  Indeed, in watching Duel you have a landlocked version of Jaws!

Duel shook my very young mind to the core.  This was the very first movie I saw from start to end and realized it told a story.  A damn good one, to boot!  There were other things that influenced who I am today but there is little doubt my watching Duel at such a young age was one of the key influences in my desire to create my own stories.

I lay out my deep respect and admiration for Mr. Spielberg and his place in my heart because I want to be very clear about where he stands in my personal estimation.

The reason being what I’m about to say: I hated Guardians of the Galaxy.

Hated, hated, hated that damn film.

I know I’m in an incredibly small minority.  The movie currently sits at a lofty 91% approval among critics and a 92% approval among audiences on rottentomatoes.com.  It made a boat-load of money in theaters and even today many point to the movie as one of the very best Marvel films ever released.

And for the life of me, I don’t get it.

I missed the film when it was in theaters but based on the positive reactions bought the BluRay when it was released.  Together with my wife and daughter we sat in the living room, fired the BluRay up, and…

About thirty or so minutes into the film my daughter bailed on us.  (She would later tell me she hated what she saw of it and had no desire to see the rest)

When the movie was over my wife turned to me and said: “You like that?!”  From the tone of her voice and subsequent conversation, it turned out she hated it, too.  The only reason she hung around and watched it was to keep me company.  She assumed I liked it and when I told her I didn’t, she shook her head and asked me why I didn’t just shut the thing off well before it ended and be done with it.

I told her I should have done just that.

Now, the point I’m making here is this: We all have opinions.

As much as I admire and love many of the works of Mr. Spielberg, I have no doubt his views on Guardians of the Galaxy are as sincere in their praise as mine are opposed.  I bought the Guardians of the Galaxy BluRay fully thinking/expecting this film to rock my world or, at the very least, entertain me.  Going into the film I had nothing against Mr. Gunn or Marvel films in general (indeed, I like almost all the ones I’ve seen).  But whether it be due to my mood or the time of day or the phase of the Moon, Guardians of the Galaxy proved a wretched experience to not only me, but my wife and daughter as well..

As I said above, we all have opinions and sometimes what works for you (indeed, for 91-92% of people) may not work for me.

Just because Mr. Spielberg likes Guardians of the Galaxy doesn’t suddenly mean I renounce the man and now hate his works and reject the impact Duel had on me.  Or Jaws.  Or Raiders of the Lost Ark.  Mr. Spielberg obviously found something he liked in this movie which totally eluded me.  And you know what?

Its fine.

So for those out there who get into such heated squabbles over what’s “good” and what “sucks”, bear this in mind: Everyone has opinions, especially about works of art and/or entertainment.

It should be obvious but it bears repeating.  Sometimes over and over again.

Comic Books/Graphic Novels, Movies

Madeleine Lebeau and Darwyn Cooke, RIP

As 2016 churns on, one thing that seems to mark this year as so very different than others is the amount of passings we’ve experienced so far.  While in any given year “big named” people pass, it seems we’ve seen more than our share of late.

As the headline indicates, two individuals have passed.  One I’m very familiar with and the other is an incredible curiosity, at least to me.

Casablanca actress Madeleine Lebeau, 92, passes away

While not the “biggest” star within what many consider one of the all-time best films ever made, Actress Madeleine Lebeau, the last surviving cast member of that famous film, nontheless made an indelible mark, particularly in this scene…

Ms. Lebeau has an interesting smaller story within the larger Casablanca plot and her tearful “Vive La France” at the end of the song was reportedly a very genuine reaction.  One who isn’t familiar with Casablanca can be forgiven for not knowing the movie was made and released in 1942 and while World War II raged.  Many of the actors who participated in this film, including Ms. Lebeau, faced harrowing experiences not unlike what was presented in the movie and therefore the lines between reality and fiction blurred for them.  In the case of Ms. Lebeau, she had already faced difficulties fleeing from war torn Europe and getting to the United States, not unlike her character in the movie who was desperate to flee the Nazi presence.

Rest in peace, Ms. Lebeau.

A couple of days ago it was announced via facebook and by his family that comic book and animation artist/writer Darwyn Cooke was receiving palliative care for his cancer.  While the term may not be familiar to many, palliative care refers to care given to those who have serious illnesses and it’s focus is to provide relief from the symptoms and stress and improve quality of life for both the patient and the family.  In most cases, palliative care is synonymous with “end of life” care.  In the case of Mr. Cooke, this was sadly the case as the day after the family announcement and on May 14th it was announced Mr. Cooke had passed away.

I really, really liked the work of Mr. Cooke.  His artwork was deceptively simple looking yet had a great 1950’s pop vibe to it.  Here are just some example of his work:

While perhaps best known for his work on the various Batman animated series and for his DC superhero work (The New Frontier in particular is quite fabulous) a few of his last projects involved graphic novel versions of Richard Stark’s “Parker” series (the last image above is from that).  In the end Mr. Cooke made four graphic novel adaptations, including The Hunter (the first Parker book which has been filmed as Point Blank with Lee Marvin, Payback with Mel Gibson, and Parker with Jason Stratham and Jennifer Lopez), The Outfit (filmed with the same name with Robert Duvall in the title role), The Score, and Slayground.

I haven’t checked out the last two graphic novels as of yet.  Looks like it’s something to add to my reading list.

Rest in Peace, Mr. Cooke.

Movies

Superhero movies…

A couple of days ago I noted I’d probably pass on Captain America: Civil War during its theatrical run (not that the few bucks I would have contributed to its box office haul would be missed!).

While the reviews for this film, as opposed to Batman v. Superman, have been very good and the movie currently rests at an impressive 90% positive among critics and a near equal 92% positive among audiences, from reading the reviews I’ve found myself feeling less and less enthused about seeing the movie.

I noted some of the critiques against the film here, but should note one in particular which bugs me quite a bit: These movies are becoming part of a progressively longer chain of movies and there is no end in sight.

When the first Iron Man film appeared you had that clever “after the credits” bit which offered a fascinating, tantalizing glimpse into what future Marvel films could bring.  Over time these Marvel films have become, IMHO of course, more a “chapter” in some larger story which, frankly, doesn’t seem all that coherent in the larger sense or has any particular goal/end in mind.

While we’ve been teased the idea of Thanos being a “big bad” in the upcoming Avengers films for a while now, it too feels like just another part of a continuing story and when its done, there will be something to come after it.

Now, those who have read my current Corrosive Knights series may point their fingers at me and say: “Aren’t you essentially doing the same?”  I am, after all, writing a multi-part series and some of the novels, in particular the first three, do not appear to interconnect at all.

Thing is, by the fourth and especially fifth books they do interconnect.  Every one of them.  And by the end of the series, which will come very soon, you’ll see that the entirety of this project amounted to one very large, elaborate story.

As far as the Marvel films are concerned, other than hints of characters to come, I don’t feel many of them interconnected to form a larger story.  Note that I say “many” not “all” in that previous sentence.

And it becomes even more bothersome to have the current film, Captain America: Civil War just come out and the wheels are already in motion to hype the next film…

The Avengers Have Already Started Hyping the Crap Out of Infinity War

Now, lest you think I’m critiquing Marvel and conveniently ignoring the DC films, take heart, I’m not.

Batman v. Superman seems to be trying for the same “larger picture” story and dropped quite a number of hints regarding the two-part Justice League film(s) which follow.  The largest hint, of course, is that Darkseid will be the films’ big bad.  DC at this point only has one film as their “universe” and therefore at least as of this moment haven’t built up the same “to be continued” sense Marvel has done.

Another, larger aspect of this which bugs is the fact that Captain America: Civil War appeared to be a very close variation on the same themes of Batman v. Superman.  Many critics and fans have noted this and were not bothered in the least with the similarities.  They focus on CA and note it is a better film than BvS and I won’t argue their opinion.

What I will argue, however, is that however “bad” you may feel Batman v. Superman was, and there are plenty of people out there who did feel that way, me not included, it bothers me that with the advent of the launch of the DC “universe” films we’re already starting to find such similarities in plot between them and those coming from Marvel.

Granted the comic book version of Civil War came out before BvS started filming, but BvS was filmed -though not ready to be released, obviously- nearly a year before CA started filming.  The makers of CA noted the BvS story “inspired” them to go in other directions with their CA movie.  The other direction wound up being a thematically similar one to BvS.

And like it or not, we’re about to get more direct comparisons between these film universes. The Justice League films, a two parter whose first half will be released next year, will apparently deal with our heroes fighting Darkseid.  The image below is of Darkseid, created by comic book legend (and the man who co-created most of Marvel’s characters currently gracing the screen) Jack Kirby.

And this is Thanos, the big bad villain already shown in Guardians of the Galaxy and talked about in various Marvel films.  This will be the scheduled villain presented in the (also!) two part Avengers films, the first of which is scheduled to be released in two years:

Look familiar?  Thanos was created by comic book writer/artist Jim Starlin.  This is Mr. Starlin’s account of how the character came to be:

Kirby had done the New Gods, which I thought was terrific. He was over at DC at the time. I came up with some things that were inspired by that. You’d think that Thanos was inspired by Darkseid, but that was not the case when I showed up. In my first Thanos drawings, if he looked like anybody, it was Metron. I had all these different gods and things I wanted to do, which became Thanos and the Titans. Roy took one look at the guy in the Metron-like chair and said: “Beef him up! If you’re going to steal one of the New Gods, at least rip off Darkseid, the really good one!”

For the record, this is Metron as drawn by its creator, Jack Kirby:

I like comic book movies.  I really enjoyed Captain America: Winter Soldier because it tried -and in my mind succeeded- in doing something different with the concept of superheroes.  But one of the reasons I find it hard to get myself to the cinema to see Civil War is because somewhere deep down inside -and among other things- it bothers me to see a film come out so closely after Batman v. Superman that appears to essentially take the same concept as its own.

Again, this isn’t the only reason my desire to see the film has diminished, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t one of the more prominent ones.  The fact that the next few years will give us two movies each featuring the Justice League vs. Darkseid and the Avengers vs. Thanos also bugs me.

Its like instead of the studios trying to come up with their own unique spin on the superhero movie they’re instead competing to make the better version of the same superhero film.

Very, very weird.

Movies

15 Under-The-Radar Movies You Won’t Want to Miss this Summer

A few days back (you can read the post here) I wrote about an article noting the 13 upcoming “blockbusters” of this summer’s movie season.  Here’s a second list, also provided by Huffingtonpost.com and written by Matthew Jacobs involving…

15 Under-The-Radar Movies You Won’t Want To Miss This Summer

Clearly none of these films will earn Captain America: Civil War-type box-office, but some are indeed intriguing and could be worth your while.  For me, I’m curious about the insane sounding The Lobster, the equally insane sounding Swiss-Army Man, and the eerie looking The Neon Demon.

But there’s one film on this list that, frankly, I’m having a very hard time getting my head around.  I mean, is this film some kind of joke?  It can’t be what it purports to be, right?  There has to be more that…

But I’m getting ahead of myself.  The film in question is called Nine Lives and it features Kevin Spacey, Christopher Walken, and Jennifer Gardner and involves…seriously, words can’t describe it.  Here’s a teaser trailer:

And here’s the longer trailer which gives you more of this movie’s “plot”…

No, I will not be going to see it.  The fact that the producers of this film somehow got both Kevin Spacey AND Christopher Walken involved in this…

Seriously, words fail me.

Movies

Mr. Holmes (2015) a (mildly) belated review

It’s been said Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective Sherlock Holmes is, along with Tarzan, Superman, Batman, and Mickey Mouse, among the most recognizable fictional creations of all time.  The character has certainly been incredibly popular since his first appearance in 1887.  Of late, and perhaps starting with the great BBC series Sherlock featuring Benedict Cumberpatch, the character seems to be everywhere.  Along with Sherlock, you’ve also got the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes movies (a third film which is about to be made) and Elementary, the American updating of the Sherlock Holmes concept.

Add to the list 2015’s Ian McKellen starring Mr. Holmes.

Based on a novel by Mitch Cullin, Mr. Holmes involves a 93 year old Sherlock Holmes (Ian McKellen) and his contentious relationship with his housekeeper (Laura Linney) and warmer relationship with her son (Milo Parker), all while he’s trying desperately to fight off senility via herbal remedies and tries very hard to remember what happened during his final case, a case his current melancholia convinces him was a colossal failure/disaster.

He is certain the last case was a big failure because it caused him to leave his beloved field and he lives with a constant ache regarding what may have happened.  Over the course of the movie, bits and pieces of memory coalesce and we, along with Sherlock Holmes, soon experience the details of this final, tragic case.

As described above, it sounds pretty interesting, no?

I mean, it’s not a Sherlock Holmes story without some intriguing mystery, and you certainly have some right off the bat.  Ignoring for a moment the events surrounding that last forgotten case, the viewer wonders what happened to Watson?  Mrs. Hudson?  His brother Mycroft?  All this while presenting us with one tantalizing “final” mystery.

I mean, what more could you ask?  As a viewer one should be right there, invested in the story and curious as to where its headed.

Alas…

The movie, unfortunately, starts really slowly.  It picks ups here and there but by the end I was never as engaged as I hoped I would be.  Mr. Holmes follows our title character through three different eras.  The “present” of very late 1940’s or very early 1950’s (more of less) England takes up the bulk of the story.  It is here we follow the very elderly Sherlock Holmes as he deals with his mortality, loss of memory, and desperate need to remember that last case.

There’s a first layer of flashbacks interwoven within involving Mr. Holmes’ trip to post-WWII 1947 Japan where, with the aid of a local man, he searches for an herb in the ashes of Hiroshima that will, he hopes, help with his diminishing memory.

Finally, there’s the third layer of flashbacks which follows Sherlock Holmes’ last case which occurred in and around 1920 or thereabouts and involve your more typical Holmesian elements: A frustrated husband, a wife who acts strangely, a possible psychic feeding off that woman’s misfortunes…

As intriguing as this may all sound, when all is said and done the story’s mysteries (there are one for each epoch) wind up being not all that engaging.  Despite good acting, cinematography, and direction, the story presented didn’t do it for me.  Or, to use a well-worn cliche, despite plenty of beautiful scenery and following Holmes through potentially engaging eras and settings, there isn’t all that much “there” there.

While the plot fizzles, I was particularly frustrated by the way this movie portrays diminished mental capacity.  We don’t know if Mr. Holmes is suffering from Alzheimers but indications are given that his mental faculties in the movie’s “present” are bordering on severely damaged.

In my previous life I worked at a rehab center and I’ve had plenty of first hand experience with people suffering from dementia, Alzheimer’s Disease, and head trauma.  Given these experiences, I couldn’t help but feel the way Holmes’ diminished mental capacity is presented those who wrote this story either don’t know all that much about or, worse, didn’t care to educate themselves on the issues behind the story they’re telling.

Instead, they offer a “movie friendly” version of dementia, and its so outside the realm of reality as to be insulting.  For example, it is stated that Mr. Holmes’ last case was some thirty years ago and since that time he’s been agonizing in trying to remember it.

Yet for the sake of the movie, he suddenly is able to piece it all together by…concentrating really hard?  By getting a lost item related to that last case?  Worse, his recall is incremental and (here we go with the “movie friendly” issue) CHRONOLOGICAL.

That’s right kids, the memory never comes back to him all at once but instead in convenient bits and pieces and in the proper temporal order.

Really.

Before I go, I’d be remiss if I didn’t point out one of the film’s smaller mysteries, that involving the death of Mr. Holmes’ bees.

That’s right, his bees.

Not to brag, but I figured that out waaaaay before Mr. Holmes.  Then again, I’m a spry middle aged man as opposed to a 93 year old one-time genius suffering from a motion picture version of diminished mental faculties.

Let’s call it a tie.

I love ya, Ian McKellen, but I just can’t recommend Mr. Holmes.

Movies

13 Blockbusters that could define 2016’s summer movie season…

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…at least according to Matthew Jacobs at Huffington Post:

13 Blockbusters that could define 2016’s summer movie season

Of the listed films, the latest X-Men film is curiously absent.  I was also surprised to realize Robert Redford (!!!!) was in the Pete’s Dragon remake.  This proved a surprise almost on the level of finding he was in Captain America: The Winter Soldier…as the bad guy and very cleverly subverting his good guy roles/image he projected in his 1970’s films.

So, of the 13 films listed, what am I most curious about and/or looking forward to seeing?

I’ll see Captain America: Civil War eventually but I have to admit some of the air is out of that particular balloon.  The reviews I’ve read, both positive and negative, revealed enough of the movie’s plot for me and I’m finding it…nonsensical.  I never read the comic books this story is based on, though it is my understanding the movie doesn’t follow that particular story all that closely but still, I’m just not buying what they’re selling here.  The closest analogy to the gray feelings I’m currently having about this film is like when Avatar was about to be released.  I remain a HUGE fan of James Cameron’s early sci-fi works (Terminator and Aliens, natch) and when I heard he was going back to his sci-fi “roots” I couldn’t have been more excited to see whatever he was going to release.  Yet the more I read about Avatar and the story it presented, the less interested I was in seeing the film.  Ultimately I didn’t see it then and to this date haven’t bothered to see it at all.  Will the same happen to CA:CW?  I don’t know…

Ghostbusters (note that I’ve passed over the six films between Captain America: Civil War and this one.  While some of those films have me curious, none I’m particularly excited to see).  People have railed against the movie’s trailer to the point where it is supposedly the most disliked trailer on YouTube.  I didn’t think the trailer was that awful…

…but I will admit it wasn’t all that incredible, either.  I do hope the film winds up working as I like director/writer Paul Fieg and his association(s) with both Melissa McCarthy and Kristen Wiig.  We’ll see.

Jason Bourne.  Years ago and upon the release of the last Matt Damon starring Bourne film, Mr. Damon was asked about future Bourne films and, if my memory is correct, he answered something to the effect that this would be the last one as these movies were getting to the point where they were repeating themselves.  Again, if my memory is correct, this was a particularly brave thing to say about a franchise series that was turning in a tremendous amount of money and showed Mr. Damon was moving on.  Well, that last Bourne film, The Bourne Ultimatum, came out in 2007 so its been almost 10 years since Mr. Damon’s filled that role and perhaps the time off has allowed him to reflect and, more importantly, refresh himself on the role.  As a writer who’s desperate to finish off a novel series he’s been working on for nearly ten years straight, I can understand the need to go into other directions now and again.  Hopefully, this film will be a welcome return to the Bourne series following the (IMHO) pretty lame 2012 Jeremy Renner “sideways” sequel The Bourne Legacy.

Suicide Squad.  Color me very intrigued with this one.  When I first heard about the film being made and released hot off the heels of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, I shook my head.  “Suicide Squad?” I thought. “That’s what they’re following BvS with?  Why not something bigger?”  And then came the magnificent trailers…

Could it get any better than that?  Incredibly, the second official trailer was just as good:

Of the films listed, this is the one I most look forward to seeing as of this point in time.  By the way, if you’ve checked out the IMDB page for this film, Clint Eastwood’s son and up and coming actor Scott Eastwood is listed second after Margot Robbie (who plays Harely Quinn) in the cast yet the character he portrays is mysteriously absent.  Just a guess here (and I may be completely wrong) but I suspect he’s playing the grown up Richard “Dick” Grayson, aka the original Robin (as in Batman and…) and who subsequently (as an adult) became Nightwing.  Just speculation on my part but he looks the role and Batman appears in this film, so why wouldn’t the Caped Crusader want someone he can trust looking over this motley group?

Aaaaaannnnnnddd…that’s pretty much it.  The films I haven’t listed, as I stated above, are interesting to me to various degrees but, admittedly, not enough to make me want to pencil them in to see theatrically.

Movies

Nerd alert!!!

1 Comment

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the current Rottentomatoes.com ratings for Captain America: Civil War.  Unlike Batman v Superman, the film is tracking very well and currently sits at 93% positive:

Captain America: Civil War Rottentomatoes.com rating

You’ve got 126 in favor and 10 opposed as of this day (the movie is scheduled to be released this week in the U.S. but was already released in foreign markets and thus there are already a large number of “professional” reviews already out there).

The film is expected to be a box office hit and predictions of a take as large as $190+ million in its debut are not out of the question.

I’ve been following the glowing reviews and the negative ones and it appears that if there are negatives to the film it is that: 1) It is too long and could have been trimmed down some, especially at the beginning (the movie runs two and a half hours), 2) the story is nonsensical, 3) the movies are becoming too “corporate” since Disney took over, ie no big stakes, no startling deaths, and when its all over we’re back to the status quo, and 4) the villain of the piece is bland.

The later complaint, that the villains of these films are usually bland and forgettable, has become (at least to me) an annoying commonality in the Marvel movies of late, even those not under the Disney umbrella.

There is one other thing some have pointed out: The plot of this movie bears some striking similarities to that of Batman v Superman.  Considering filming on BvS began over a year before this film, we’re once again treading into “x ripped off y!” type discussions, and given the way we fanboys are, much gnashing of teeth will surely follow.

I expect plenty of “BvS sucked, CA is great” and vice versa type discussions to also follow for the next year and/or century.

Let the games…begin!

Movies

Deadpool (2016) a (mildly) belated review

I know little about the Marvel Comics character Deadpool.  In fact, as big a comic book fan as I am, I doubt I’ve read even a single issue or story involving this character though the various illustrated pieces (covers mostly) I’ve seen suggest a tongue-in-cheek take on “badass” superheros like The Punisher or Wolverine.

Based on the movie version, looks like I nailed it on the proverbial head.

The movie version of Deadpool was released earlier this year following some very clever marketing such as this, which suggested (too well!) the film was some kind of romantic tearjerker…

And this one, which backed that up a little and hinted more at what to expect:

I’ll include the following red band (beware NSFW language and some sexual content) trailer (can’t believe I’m showing three trailers to one film!) which gives a better indication of the film’s actual tone:

Now, I’m a fan of “crude” humor.  Some of my favorite comedies are those that push the limits and, here and there, Deadpool does just that.  There are parts of the film that had me laughing out loud but there were other parts of the film that…didn’t.

The movie’s plot goes like this: A merc-for-hire named Wade (Ryan Reynolds, clearly not afraid to make fun of everything, including himself) is introduced via a mission involving a stalker.  Nothing big, just one of those things intended to get audiences to see he’s one of those guys with good intentions despite the fact that he has no problem killing people in the most gory of ways (this we’ll see plenty of).

At his bar/hangout he meets Vanessa (Morena Baccarin), a hooker who it turns out has a glib attitude very similar to Wade’s.  He “hires” her, takes her out (he, like she, has a heart of gold so therefore Wade doesn’t just hit the sack with her) and of course they fall deeply, madly in love.

Then, tragedy.  Wade finds his body is riddled with cancer and, out of desperation, agrees to a nebulous procedure conducted by an equally nebulous group to cure himself.  Of course, the people behind the procedure, Ajax (Ed Skrein) and Angel Dust (Gina Carano) are eeeeevvvviiiilllll villains interested in bringing out people’s mutations to then do something or another with them.  Seriously, I don’t even know the why here.

So they torture Wade until his mutation appears and it winds up being something along the line of Wolverine-type healing.  The experimental procedure, however, is so brutal it takes away Wade’s good looks and leaves him resembling a burn victim (much knee slapping fun is to be had with this).  While his cancer is gone and his ugly new looks keep him from going back to the love of his life, Wade hides his identity behind a costume and -voila!- Deadpool roams the streets of the city hunting down the evil scum that made him while pining for his lost love.

His bloody actions, however, catch the attention of X-Men members Colossus (a really well done totally digital creation voiced by Stefan Kapicic) and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (a delightfully sullen Brianna Hildebrand) and they try to get Deadpool to renounce his bloody ways and become a “true” superhero.

As I said above, there are parts -many parts actually- of the film that were funny and enjoyable.  Unfortunately, there were other parts of the film that were, IMHO, childish and stupid and featured, again IMHO, far too much gore.

Mind you, I’m not squeamish and I’ve loved me some very hardcore features in the past, but the bloody violence presented here felt at odds with the silly tone of the film.  For me it came down to this: If you’re going to make a cartoon, why not go all out and feature cartoonish violence rather than more realistic and bloody gore?

Further, when all is said and done one comes away realizing this film has a surprisingly dull story to tell.  The main villain, like far too many of them of late in movies, is given very little motivation beyond being bad for the sake of being bad.  Worse, he’s upstaged, in my opinion, by Gina Carano’s Angel Dust, a character who barely has any dialogue.

Now that I mention that character, it occurs to me the movie’s side characters, and especially the female side characters wound up being the ones I liked the most, from Angel Dust to Negasonic Teenage Warhead (love the name and the character’s attitude…like Angel Dust she barely says anything and yet she’s more interesting than most people around her!), to Blind Al (Leslie Uggams), Deadpool’s weird roommate.

What does it say when you come away from a film like this and the three leads, Deadpool, Vanessa, and Ajax, aren’t necessarily the ones you care about or want to see the most of?

Despite all the complaints mentioned, I nonetheless recommend the film.  As I also said above, while there were parts of the film that didn’t work for me there were others that were quite hilarious.  In its own bizarre way Deadpool tries to stretch the borders of the superhero film and for the most part manages to do so well.

Recommended.

*******

POSTSCRIPT:  As I wrote the above review I had to bite my tongue.  I really, really don’t want to flog a dead horse but now that the review is “over”, I just need to get this out of my system:

Why are people so negative about the so-called “murderverse” of Zach Snyder and the dark tone of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice yet give a film like Deadpool a complete pass?

As “brutal” as Batman was in BvS, there was a reason given for that (his view that Superman was a threat to all humanity).  However brutal as Batman was in the film, he never did anything approaching what Deadpool does in his film yet because its “tongue in cheek” we can accept his multiple, bloody murders, including the very brutal way he eventually takes out Ajax?!

Weird.