Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

"Oh, it's like that." (Captain America)
"Yeah..the Internet is good.  I read a lot." (Captain America)

I am not that impressed with The Winter Soldier as a film. It is ok.  I am impressed with the Marvel cinematic universe and the thoroughness with which the studio and the writers commit to the grandiose vision.

In this installment of Marvel-capades, there were many things to enjoy: The disembodied celo-soul of Dr. Arnim Zola from The First Avenger, Robert Redford, Sam Jackson, Super bad-ass Cap'n, oh and did I mention Robert Redford.  All in all a good time at the movies, worth the money, and fun.

Unfortantely, this is supposed to be a movie blog talking about the strengths and weaknesses of the movie, not it's brand cache or place in a larger cinematic universe.

So, I got the feeling that there were two plots for Cap'n II that could have just as easily been two separate, distinct and worthwhile movies.  I don't know why they were brought together, but they were.  The Winter Soldier was a cool villain in his own right, for about half the movie, and with expansion might have yielded an impressive feature length narrative.  The second plot with Robert Redford, project Insight, and the Hydra coup of Shield clearly demonstrated that it too could have held up its own movie.  In fact, the spy and deception theme might have played out way better if Cap'n II would have stuck to one story.

Oh, but the end credit sequence is totally worth sitting through.

On a scale of Masters of the Universe to Beast Masters of the Omniverse, I give Captain America: The Winter Soldier 3.4 out of 5 stars.

A Good Day to Die Hard (2013)

"Damn, you McClane." (John McClane Jr.)

This movie is terrible.  Flat out terrible. It should be removed from the Die Hard pantheon immediately.

I wish I could have been hired to write the outline and script for this movie.  I would have done a much better job and worked for the lowest wage that my Screenwriters Guild Membership would allow.  If the team that wrote this got paid more than that, they should be laughing as they run from a Hollywood producer who just got grifted good.  We should pay writers, but this movie was not worth the paper it was printed on.
I do have one compliment for A Good Day to Die Hard.  It doesn't waste anytime.  No backstory, No connections, No introductions, Just Action. (sub par action....but).  The movie just starts in Russia.  No explanation.  They end up going to Chernobyl.  Mostly, just because.  Oh and they don't even try to break apart that Chernobyl is in the Ukraine and not Russia.  It would be a 12 hour drive or rough 600 miles and they accomplish this in one cut. It's literally the distance from Minneapolis to Arkansas.

On a scale of 1 doll to 50 dolls nested inside of each other, I give A Good Day to Die Hard 1.7 out of 5 stars.   

Marry Me (2010)

"Ughhhh this is a movie and now I have to write a blog post about it." (Me)

So I had no business watching this movie.  But, I did because I was bored and it had Lucy Liu.

I am not sad that I started it.  I am slightly ashamed that I finished the whole thing and it actually is a mini series movie in two parts of 90 minutes.

So on to the review:

Marry Me is simultaneously wretched and a reasonable example of a classic rehash.  I mean it. They polished this well worn lifetime story turd to the best it could be. No one should feel any real shame for having been associated with it, so....no collateral damage is a kind of success.

Here are some things I noticed that made Marry Me a waste of time and not necessarily a waste of life.
-Annie Potts, a solid player in any ensemble
-Lucy Liu is a solid B+ actress and capable
-The setting seemed more than a little ridiculous...but the writers made do.

1. Lucy Liu is a well educated and talented artist who just so happens to have a heart of gold and work in the child welfare office
2. They can't hide that she is asian, so the backstory is that she was adopted by a nice, rich, white and -southern? family at a young age.  
1. She doesn't have a southern accent, unlike the rest of her clan.  
2. Was the story in Atlanta?  I am still uncertain of that. 

In the end, as I was watching the final, albeit painful, love confession through the keyhole of a broken door in a castle, did I fully understand that Marry Me was really just a reasonably clever rehash of A Midsummer Night's Dream.  Oh what fools we mortals be.

On a scale of a play within a play to a youtube video of a play within a lifetime made for tv movie on youtube, I give Marry me 2 out of 5 stars.

Princess Mononoke もののけ姫 (1997)

"人間嫌い！！”－物の怪姫  "I hate humans." -The Spirit Princess

I find it rare when an animated film pushes more than just artistic and visual boundaries.  So often creators of animated features submerge the plot, themes, and soul of their films beneath spectacle.  I consider Princess Mononoke to be resounding success in that Hayao Miyazaki was brave enough to let his story do the talking.  This is a must see for everyone.

If you don't know a ton about Japanese history or the islands that we now call Japan, I can understand that Princess Mononoke remains a great movie, but for me, it is truly special.  The setting for the tale is the muromachi period (1300 to 1600), and  it was a critical time in the establishment of a "greater japan" as the kanto region expanded it influence north into tohoku and, most importantly for my reading of the film, what is now Hokkaido.  Hokkaido may be part of Japan today, but it wasn't officially annexed until the mid 1800's.  In the muromachi period, Hokkaido was the home of the Ainu.  The Ainu are an indigenous people of the Japanese isles who's fossil record predates the arrival of the Japanese.  Princess Mononoke is extremely unusual in its setting and characters as both our hero and heroine display cultural, wardrobe, and spiritual similarities to the Ainu.  I understand it may be a coincidence, but I wonder if this film in any way affected the 1997 passage of the Ainu Cultural Promotion act. Could Miyazaki be just ahead of the surge of interest in Ainu culture?  How often does one see a film where the progress of industry, and government are so eloquently juxtaposed against nature and the past.

On a scale of Kani to Kani Ho-dai, I give Princess Mononoke 4.2 out of 5 stars. 

12 Years a Slave

"A man is free to do as he pleases with his property."  Edwin Epps

I acknowledge that 12 Years a Slave is a seminal movie.  Everyone should see it. Students learning of America's history should see it. 12 Years a Slave and movies like it are a link to and bring alive our shared past. I hope this movie will be debated, discussed, and influence a generation.

On technical elements though, as this is a review of the film in addition to historical and social paradigms, I could not help but notice the great length that Steve McQueen, the director, went to jar the audience and perhaps unsettle the movie from a structural standpoint. He also may have been looking to differentiate himself from previous Antebellum South narratives like Roots. Roots is general example of classic style composition. For 12 Years a Slave, however, Mr. McQueen took every opportunity to place central action off of center. Standard shots like a group getting out of a wagon or disembarking a boat that normally would be a level mid shot, with characters shoulders at a rough 2/3 height of the screen become off angle shots on a dolly or a crane. Why? I cannot say exactly. But, it is jarring and more than a little unsettling throughout the course of the film. Whole conversations take place with characters only occupying 1/3 of the picture. I tend to find that most directors choose to bring dance to the screen through mid shots, rapid cut sequences and a focus on the feet, Mr. McQeen does his dance numbers in a off center long shots with focus on the shoulders and the facade. In the end, these deliberate choices may go on to define the enduring success of 12 Years a Slave in perpetuity as breaking the audiences sense of balance could make them more receptive to the performances and content.

On a scale of bold faced lies to immutable truths, I give 12 Years a Slave 4.0 out 5 stars.