Captain America: The First Avenger [2011]

The USA designs a super soldier in order to combat the Nazi’s and their very own super soldier project.

I thought this movie was a lot of fun. Really I did. I kind of didn’t expect that – I figured it would be kind of a paint by numbers affair – but it was good. There was some good heart – some good action – Chris Evans worked well as Steve Rogers/Capt America. The majority of the film took place back in WWII – like 99.8% – I was somewhat worried about it becoming a time travel movie. The Red Skull effects were all right – nothing special – not like the skinny Chris Evans effects – those were top notch! I really liked Agent Carter – Hayley Atwell – she was a looker! I would’ve asked her to dance even though I am built like the skinny Chris Evans!

I didn’t like that there seemed to be way too many forced references to the other two franchises of Thor and Iron Man – I felt like this should have been Captain America’s story – we can leave the other characters out of it for a while. I actually thought the Thor shit was REALLY annoying – I didn’t get the reference – and I didn’t like the weight it carried – it became a case of you should have known“well of course if you do that – then this will happen” – which lead to a VERY ANTI-CLIMATIC ending. I guess I didn’t take enough notes when I was watching Thor and should’ve realized that I needed them to follow this movie.

Overall – it was fun – I just wish they had a better ending action sequence that didn’t hinge on shit.

X is for... [part 2]

X2 does a fine job of picking up where X-Men left off, giving fans more of what they liked the first time around. Under the serious-minded custody of returning director Bryan Singer, the second film of this Marvel comics franchise ups the ante on Professor Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and the superhero mutants from the first film, pitting them against a mutant-hating scientist (Brian Cox) who's determined to wipe out the mutant race by tricking Xavier into abusing his telepathic powers. More a series of spectacles than a truly satisfying thriller, X2 introduces new mutant allies while giving each of the X-Men alumni--notably the temporarily helpful Magneto (Ian McKellen)--their own time in the spotlight. Well aware of the parallels between "mutantism" and virulent intolerance in the real world, Singer lends real gravity to the proceedings, injecting dramatic urgency into a continuing franchise that, in lesser hands, might've grown patently absurd. (synopsis provided by Amazon.com)

released 2003

directed by Bryan Singer

M is for... [part 2]

Ever wonder if there was a class system in the world of superheroes? After all the big names like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, etc., who were the supporting players? The folks assigned to the less-than-stellar gigs of saving only a small part of the world? According to this intermittently successful send-up of comic book heroism, there are indeed masked heroes who struggle and toil for their moment in the super sun. Based on the Dark Horse comic book series, Mystery Men follows the travails of three B-list avengers--Mr. Furious (Ben Stiller), the Shoveler (William H. Macy), and the Blue Raja (Hank Azaria)--as they fight to make themselves known to the citizens of Champion City, quite difficult to do when the flashy Captain Amazing (Greg Kinnear, never better) takes all the cool gigs and has product endorsements up the ying-yang. According to them, it's all a matter of timing--never mind that Mr. Furious never rises above a snit, or that the Blue Raja wears green. Their big break comes when Captain Amazing is abducted by the evil Casanova Frankenstein (Geoffrey Rush), and it's up to this motley crew to save Champion City.

Blessed with a wondrously gifted comic cast and full of droll details, Mystery Men struggles in fits and spurts towards its climax. Transcendently witty in parts, it's also woefully sophomoric in others. Literally, this is the kind of movie in which someone gets off a brilliant line and then sits on a fork. Still, when this movie is rolling, it's gleefully on target, thanks primarily to the mordantly cocky Stiller and Janeane Garofalo as a latecomer to the superhero gang; her secret weapon is a bowling ball in which her dead father's head is encased. The comic chemistry between these two is fierce, and when you add the dryly funny Macy and the endearing Azaria (who finally gets a chance to let loose with his comic gifts), it's a hilarious joyride. Too bad that the gas tank is only half-full; this stunning cast deserves a first-rate vehicle. With Tom Waits as a weapons expert, Claire Forlani as the requisite babe, and Paul Reubens as the Spleen, the world's most flatulent superhero. (synopsis provided by Amazon.com)

directed by Kinka Usher

released 1999

Weekend Viewing - Mar 5-7

Oldboy [2003, Chan-wook Park]

Oh Dae-su is abducted and locked in a room for 15 years. He has no idea who’s locked him in the room – and once he’s released he starts is plan for vengeance with a young sushi chef named Mi-do at his side. But once it becomes clear that quick blood-thirsty vengeance is not enough to atone for the 15 years he’s lost – he demands answers – but which is worse the curiosity or the knowing?

Even though I’ve seen Oldboy several times – it remains powerful – disturbing and interesting. The direction – performances – and storyline remain fresh and amazing in their execution. At times I debate if Lady Vengeance is a superior film – the entire Park “vengeance trilogy” are something to behold. They recall enough of the Japanese pinku genre – as well as the 70’s revenge film genre – that pleases my soul. 5 out of 5.

The House of the Devil [2009, directed by Ti West]

A young girl hard up for some money to move out – takes a babysitting job – FROM HELL!

It claims that it was made in a 1980’s style – which to me can mean any number of things. I was on the edge of my seat the entire film waiting for leggings and references to pop culture and someone to turn to someone and say “Hey, it’s the 80’s did you do a lot of coke and vote for Ronald Reagan today?” – but none of that bullshit flew. It reminded me of an actual film that could’ve been made in the 80’s – one that I would actually watch! Jocelin Donahue was so cute and likable in the lead role and that’s important as it’s almost a one person show – as the film builds up tension with somewhat moderate success. I’m giving it a 4 out of 5.

The Deathless Devil [1973]

Dr. Satan wants the Professor’s remote control device in order to send out an army of robots to take over the world – but not if the superhero Copperhead has any say in it.

The direction was bad – the editing was bad – the effects were bad - but it’s an amazingly fun film! The entire film was like shotgunning a pot of coffee – it was so energetic and action packed – it barely left me time to write notes about what was happening before I saw something else I wanted to jot down.

Highlights include:

- Dr. Satan’s lumpy face and killer mustache.

- Tekin is told he’s adopted – his father was the original Copperhead – takes the mask and accepts that he’s the new Copperhead without a thought of consideration.

- Bitik is the comic relief – who’s annoying as all get out – but the pacing of the film leaves little time to linger on his Jar Jar like antics.

- Tekin punches a bad guy through a wall and onto the roof of a building – bad editing – but it was outstanding fun.

- It felt like it should be a kids film – but there’s a bit of nudity – interesting.

- Why did the one Professor decide to take a trip if he didn’t know the purpose of the trip?

- The Robot is a step up from Santa Claus Conquers the Martians – but a step down from C3PO

- I liked how Copperhead just leapt on each bad guy as his beginning move in a fight.

Anyway – it’s a hell of a lot of fun – and for the entertainment factor I’m giving it an exciting action packed 4 out of 5.

I'd like to note that this film is from Turkey - and according to the notes they had a booming film industry in the 70's - yet most of their films were lost - so this release looked dubbed from a VHS - but it's sad that it seems we lost a whole country's film industry. Now, this double feature DVD is going out of print? Sad loss for us all.

[directed by Yilmaz Atadeniz]

Hellboy II: The Golden Army [2008]

It’s become the standard lately that part 2 of a superhero franchise is outstanding. Spider-Man 2 struck the right balance between action and the love story – X-Men 2 had an intelligent plot and the right amount of character development wrapped up in plenty of action – The Dark Knight changed the Batman and Joker from caricatures on the big screen into realistic people inhabiting their own world – so now it’s Hellboy’s turn.

The story revolves around an Elf prince who’s angered by having to live in the shadows and decides to awaken the mythical Golden Army and declare war on mankind. The only problem becomes he has to reunite the crown that controls the army – thus destroying his own family in order to do so. Meanwhile Hellboy is struggling to become popular with the masses, is dealing problems with a new handler and his girlfriend - as well as kind of looking after the Elf princess.

This movie never connects. Hellboy spends the entire film whining about his personal life - he does not seem concerned at all about the actual plot. There’s no real stakes for him either – and if the main character doesn’t care – why should we as an audience care? It seems like Hellboy has to be dragged through the movie in order to get him involved. When Hellboy was actually doing something - the action was fairly predictable – the only thing this film had going for it was the visuals – and in my opinion visuals do not make a movie.

This has become a big problem with movie reviews, the internet and fandom; Guillermo del Toro – who writes and directs this film – is involved so it’s okay if there’s no plot or interesting aspects to the film – as long as there’s spectacular visuals and creatures - it’s considered “great” because del Toro. Almost all the reviews that I’ve glanced at to prepare my own review - talk about del Toro and his visual style – they mention nothing having to do with the flat dull plot or the romantic comedy sensibilities. If ANYBODY else came in and wrote and directed this exact film – I guarantee that it wouldn’t be holding an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes (same rating as X2) - you’d hear everybody complaining about so-n-so “ruined” Hellboy and questioning why Hellboy was trapped in a romantic comedy.

You add the Guillermo del Toro fandom in with the Family Guy fandom – and you’ve got a film where you’ve got so many rabid fans that it’s impossible to get real answers about the quality of the film. I say this because Hellboy’s new handler is voiced by Seth MacFarlane – and since he’s only got the 3-voices he can do – he busts out the Stewie Griffin one for this film. I’m not a fan of Family Guy – but I’m not so blind that if Seth MacFarlane was in this film and did a great job I wouldn’t have complemented him – but it’s the Stewie voice! Didn’t somebody hear that and think – that’s too recognizable – we should go another direction in order to have a little bit of validity to the character – and not just have everyone thinking “what the deuce”?

They try to make it a character study on Hellboy and his anger issues and hair-triggered nature at certain points in the film – which would’ve made the film interesting. So, someone barely insults him and he punches them in the face with is whammer – but the bad guy stands right in front of him with some unknown mystical weapon - Hellboy doesn’t shoot him? They also try to play up the idea that Hellboy is not a human – so why does he care about being liked by humans – but this plot point stops almost as soon as it starts.

I’ll spare you my anger over the 30-minute interlude in the middle of the film where everyone kind of hangs around – not involved in the plot – singing Barry Manilow and drinking beer. Or my frustration regarding the plot hole where the Prince knows everything the Princess knows because they are magical twins – but the Princess can hide something from the Prince – and he knows essentially where it’s hidden – but doesn’t continue his search demanding the good guys bring it to him even though he’s 6-inches away from it. Or even the annoying cheap pregnancy sub-plot that played out almost exactly the same way other things played out in the first film. Or the fact they were obviously trying to start catch-phrases. Or the fact that they used some cheap storybook way of telling you what the conflict was about – instead of having an actual - interesting and action packed investigation to fill in that 30-minute gap in the middle of the film where they sing Barry Manilow!

I’m ranting now. Overall – I’m glad I rented this film – if I would’ve bought the Blu-Ray like I was considering to give my HD set-up a true test – I would’ve been pissed. Or if I went and saw this in the theater – I would’ve felt obligated to not walk out on it – or able to pause it to check my e-mail.

I’m giving this a 1 out of 5 – because it was bad – I felt insulted watching it.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine [2009]

Up until last year – my personal opinion was X2 was the best comic book superhero film thus far. There was something very fitting about the action that went along well with the character development that worked as both a geek-fest and a stand-alone film. The 3rd film in the franchise kind of fell flat for me – and when they announced they were going ahead with prequel “origin” films – I was a little thrown back. It didn’t seem fair they would abandon the franchise for prequels – even if it was obvious that some characters were more interesting and fleshed out than others.

As for a synopsis – you’ve heard of Wolverine? Well, this film is about how Wolverine became the Wolverine we met in the first X-Men film. If you haven’t heard of Wolverine – he’s a mutant superhero – who has a metal skeleton and healing ability that has given him an unnaturally long life. He’s famous for basically being a brutal animal when he gets angry – and having a very layered back-story that he cannot remember for some reason.

I was impressed with certain aspects of this origin film – mainly the relationship that they developed up with his brother Victor (also known as Sabertooth played by Liev Schreiber). As a matter of fact some of the most interesting parts of the film were kind of glossed over in the opening credit sequence – which was disappointing. I would’ve loved this film if it dwelled on those years – about how James (Wolverine’s real name) and Victor grew apart over the years. Having a strong chemistry built up between them – and seeing it gradually fall apart – and then having James do what he had to. It just seemed like instead of nursing that relationship that they decided to throw in so many characters into the stew and serve it under cooked.

I guess that wouldn’t fly for a “summer blockbuster” – so let’s get into what’s actually in the film. The action was over the top – but unfortunately none of those scenes felt rather memorable – they were standard. Some of the effects felt a little out of place – particularly with Gambit - some of his acrobatics and mutant “magic” were kind of silly. I don’t know how Gambit has progressed as a comic book character – but since last I read an X-Men comic – he didn’t do that kind of stuff. The best effects were for Sabertooth and Wolverine – the way Sabertooth ran like a feral cat with a hand and foot gallop was very cool – and Wolverine’s claws and healing ability were as well done as ever.

To get back to a previous point about the stew – there were so many characters – and so many of them ended up being pointless to the story – I felt that the movie really failed on that level. I felt like at times I was watching a nod and a wink to the Marvel Universe – to the point that it seemed like the filmmakers were looking to create another spin-off using the minor characters.

The dialogue was at times cliché – but there were a few good one-liners that had me l’ing-o-l’ing. Hugh Jackman has a quality to him – and I think he plays vulnerable very well – so his interactions with his love interest were great scenes. Liev Schreiber was excellent as the menacing Sabertooth – enough so that they should remake the first X-Men film with him as Sabertooth instead of that wrestler. His presence would give a much needed boost on the villain side where Ian McKellen was the only one towing that rope.

Anyway – I’m giving this film 3/5 stars – it was good – but not great – and not so disappointing that it didn’t fulfill what it set out to do (which is summer fun). It’s not as good as X2 – but not as bas as X3 – it was probably more on par with the first X-Men film.