MOVIE REVIEW: DUMB MONEY

 

Everyday people flip the script on Wall Street and get rich by turning GameStop into one of the world's hottest companies. In the middle of everything is Keith Gill, a regular guy who starts it all by sinking his life savings into the stock. When his social media posts start blowing up, so does his life and the lives of everyone following him. As a stock tip becomes a movement, everyone gets wealthy -- until the billionaires fight back and both sides find their worlds turned upside down.

Director: Craig Gillespie

Cast: Paul Dano, Pete Davidson, Vincent D'Onofrio, America Ferrera, Nick Offerman, Anthony Ramos, Sebastian Stan, Shailene Woodley, Seth Rogen

Release Date: September 15, 2023 

Genre: Biography, Comedy, Drama

Rated R for pervasive language, sexual material, and drug use

Runtime: 1h 44m

Craig Gillespie's Dumb Money takes the 2021 GameStop stock madness and breaks it down into an easily digestible and enjoyable annotated version of the true story.  He gives his film a chaotic energy which fits the subject matter perfectly even though the film describes the investing strategies at play.  The early exposition dump does a solid job of explaining the concepts in such a manner that any layman, myself included, can follow the ideas with general ease.  The story follows multiple angles of the story with the central focus being on Dano's Keith Gill who kick starts the events.  Additionally, we get moments with the hedge fund managers and retail investors as the stock situation explodes on the scene.  The ensemble does a solid job of making these moments engaging even if they don't offer the sort of depth that the main storyline is afforded.  Seth Rogen, Nick Offerman, Vincent D'Onofrio and Sebastian Stan make up the money side of the story with Rogen getting the most screen time and subsequently leaves the biggest impression. Offerman, D'Onofrio and Stan aren't asked to do much outside of looking smug or annoyed for a variety of reasons.   The rest of the ensemble played by familiar faces like America Ferrera and Anthony Ramos makes up the everyday retail investors who rally behind Gill's market play.  The characters themselves are composites of real people with the film content to use them to represent types of people as opposed to something a bit more nuanced and three dimensional.  Dano gets much more to work with his character getting more depth and texture throughout the film.  In turn he delivers a likeable, sincere performance that makes his character easy to root for from start to finish.  The film does gloss over some of the murkier details on the Reddit boards, other stocks that were part of situation and overall lasting effect of everything that went down.  There are plenty of documentaries that get into more the nitty gritty of what happened, but Dumb Money makes for a fascinating, well crafted cinematic retelling that captures the spirit of the moment.  

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: THE 355

 

CIA agent Mason "Mace" Brown joins forces with a rival German agent, a cutting-edge computer specialist and a Colombian psychologist when a top-secret weapon falls into the hands of a group of mercenaries. Together, the four women embark on a breakneck mission to save the world while staying one step ahead of a mysterious figure who's tracking their every move.

Director: Simon Kinberg

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Penélope Cruz, Fan Bingbing, Diane Kruger, Lupita Nyong'o, Édgar Ramírez, Sebastian Stan

Release Date: January 7, 2022 

Action, Thriller

Rated PG-13 for sequences of strong violence, brief strong language, and suggestive material.

Runtime: 2h 4m

Review:

The 355 is stacked with star power that makes its generic spy thriller worlds more watchable and enjoyable than it deserves to be.  Simon Kinberg's film has a generic quality about it that makes it almost indistinguishable from troves of similar films.  Exotic locales and large action set pieces aren't terribly memorable but they're entertaining as mindless junk food. Jessica Chastain leads the cast ably as a believable action star but it's hardly just her show.  The film is an impressive ensemble piece with Lupita Nyong'o, Diane Kruger, Penélope Cruz and Fan Bingbing all getting ample screen time to shine.  Their chemistry together is ultimately what makes the whole thing work in spite of the scripts hacky shortcomings.  They are believable as a group of ass kicking spies with smaller moments fleshing out their characters.  Its a testament to their assembled talents that this works as well as it does with such a generic story and cliched MacGuffin and villain, the film gives Sebastian Stan woefully little to do.  The 355 offers up the kind of mindless popcorn fun which offers up female empowerment without ever beating you over the head with it.

B-

Cindy Prascik's Review of Monday

 

My dear reader(s): The weekend just passed brought me what inevitably turns out to be my favorite mistake: a new Sebastian Stan movie.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know or guess from the trailer.

Following a drunken hookup, a pair of American expats tries to fashion a life together in Greece.

If you've come to my reviews over the last, say, 12-18 months, you could be forgiven for wondering why I bother with movies at all, when I don't seem to like any of them. I can assure you that, in the past, I've been almost too easy to please (cinematically speaking), but the limited releases of the past year, coupled with my decreasing tolerance for wasting my time, has turned my reviews a bit...cranky. I'll apologize in advance for where I have to call out Monday as the combination of vanity project and porno that I expected. It gets some things right, too.

Monday's problems start with the fact that its leads have zero chemistry. We're meant to believe their passion is the catalyst for some life-altering choices, and it it's essentially a flatline. If you struggle to tolerate chaotic people (as I do), you'll never get behind these two as a couple, either. The movie tries so hard to make them sympathetic, but I not-so-secretly felt they'd be better off if they gave up and tried pairing off with actual functioning adults. (Echoing a complaint I also had about Stan's 2019 movie Endings, Beginnings.) Watching them try to fashion a real relationship from a hot one-night-stand is exhausting and never very moving or entertaining. Monday held my full attention for exactly 16 minutes before I started playing with my phone (I clocked it), but there are some positives. First, both leads turn in brave, solid performances. The movie pushes Denise Gogh and Sebastian Stan to the very limits of what I imagine would be anyone's comfort zone, sharing intimate scenes, heated battles, and a penchant for public nudity. Some of the scenery is lovely,  both stunning Greek locations and a frequently-unclothed Sebastian Stan. The movie takes a sadly predictable path, but arrives at (without spoiling specifics) a destination I would not have expected. I'm willing to give it some points for surprising me; I wouldn't have thought it was capable of that.

Monday clocks in at 116 minutes and is rated R for "sexual content, nudity/graphic nudity, drug use, and pervasive language." (Nudity is mentioned twice in the content warnings. They mean it. It's ALL out there, so if you're twitchy about that, maybe take a pass on this one.)

Monday continues Sebastian Stan's unfortunate track record of wasting his exceptional talent on unexceptional projects, but almost redeems itself by turning from the beaten path late in the game. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Monday gets four.

Fangirl points: Seb. (Obvs.)

Until next time...

Cindy Prascik's Review of Endings, Beginnings

Ahhh...dear reader(s)...two weeks in a row!

Beginning to feel like old times again, eh? To anyone new to my reviews, I apologize. It must seem like I don't like any movies. On the contrary, historically I've been a little too easy to please at the cinema, but...well...it feels like a very long time since I've seen a good movie. I am sorry to say the unlucky streak continues with Endings, Beginnings.

Spoiler level here will be mild, very little you wouldn't know from the trailers.

After a hasty decision leaves her jobless and homeless, a young woman attempts to get her life back on track.

Endings, Beginnings is a "finding yourself" movie. Kinda like Wild, but younger and with less pooping in the woods. Our heroine, Daphne (portrayed by Shailene Woodley), is the stereotypical screwed-up millennial, constantly attempting to rebound from poor life choices, with just enough visible ink and piercings to make your mom roll her eyes if she's watching this with you. (Spoiler Alert: Unless your mom is cool with people having sex on the kitchen counter, don't let her watch this with you.)

A problematic lead requires skilled handling.  With vile characters, it's up to the filmmakers to convey their loathsomeness without making a movie everyone hates. With troubled characters like Daphne, it's up to the filmmakers to earn them the viewer's support on their journey. While I think a person's tolerance for such troubled characters may reflect their own experiences (it's no fun having a Daphne in your life), this film doesn't do much to get you on her side, either. Woodley could play this role in her sleep, but lingering shots of her sobbing and staring out the window will hardly be the highlight of her sizzle reel. The traumatic event and subsequent decisions that leave Daphne where we find her at the beginning of the film — unemployed and living in her sister's pool house — are serious, yet the movie never quite distances them from what we're lead to believe is Daphne's history of pointlessly sketchy choices. We're meant to buy into Daphne's attempts at personal growth and redemption over the course of the film, yet (minus any spoilery specifics) the picture ends with her making an extremely selfish decision, weakly disguised as her finally having grown up. It's beyond offensive; it's repulsive.

Endings, Beginnings has a nice supporting cast, with Wendy Malik and Kyra Sedgwick in small roles as Daphne's mother and mother-like figure, and Jamie Dornan (using his real Irish accent... *swoon*) and Sebastian Stan as Daphne's potential suitors. At risk of sounding like a broken record, I think Sebastian Stan is the finest actor of his generation, and it's a shame he seldom gets a project that lets him flex more than the Winter Soldier's metal bicep. He turns in some nice work here, as does Dornan, but, really, the characters are paper dolls and there just isn't much to work with. (Broken Record II: Please check out the short-lived TV series Kings, available for streaming or download from all the usual places. Stan is magnificent in it.)

Petty annoyances: In addition to the many (MANY) overlong shots of Daphne crying herself to sleep and moping over her "suffering" Spotify playlist, Endings, Beginnings also repeatedly features dialogue overlapping the scene where it was spoken, but out of synch with the visual. I think it was supposed to be artistic. I've seen it work in other movies. Here it’s off just enough to look like someone messed up the editing. There's a New Year's Eve party with a "2019" balloon clearly visible in the background, but our hipster heroine is wearing a gold lame dress that looks like it barely escaped a 1986 prom with its life. Like the aforementioned Wild, which featured the abominable line, "I'm not even in the driver's seat of my own life!" Endings, Beginnins offers this nugget: "I don't think you understand who's next in line to be loved by you. It's YOU." (*shoots self in head*)  If you, dear reader(s), will forgive my bringing Woodley's Big Little Lies co-star Reese Witherspoon into play yet again, Endings, Beginnings is a little like a miserable version of This Means War.

Endings, Beginnings clocks in at 110 minutes and is unrated. In the absence of official MPAA guidelines, please be warned of graphic language, semi-graphic sex, alcohol and drug use, and pretty much non-stop smoking.

Endings, Beginnings offers solid evidence that sometimes people who try to "find themselves" should just stay lost. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Endings, Beginnings gets four.

Until next time...

(PS: I double-checked our web page, and the last good movie I saw was the Gentlemen on January 25th. Yikes.)

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Birds of Prey & The Last Full Measure

Despite the first real blast of winter rolling through my area this weekend, I was able to slip out to the cinema for Birds of Prey and the Last Full Measure.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

First on my agenda, the film with the unnecessarily awkward and misleading name, Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn.

Following her breakup with the Joker, Harley Quinn struggles to make her way on her own.

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is misnamed in that it is mostly about Harley Quinn and hardly at all about the Birds of Prey, who pop up only sporadically throughout and not until the very end as a unit. Margot Robbie clearly is having the time of her life as Harley, as is Ewan McGregor as the film's psychotic big-bad. The rest of the cast is unremarkable, outside of Mary Elizabeth Winstead, always a rose even among thorns. Birds of Prey doesn't look half as good as the Gotham TV series as far as its production design and overall appearance and atmosphere, but there are a couple exceptional set pieces, particularly the climactic battle in a fun house. The movie makes great use of some popular tunes and features terrific score by Daniel Pemberton.

On the negative side, Birds of Prey is unrelentingly foul in both language and content. I'm a grownup and grownup content doesn't put me off, but the movie tries to shock for shock's sake and that's just boring. I find the character of Harley Quinn rather annoying, and this portrayal hasn't done anything to endear her to me. Much like the Minions--who are the best part of any Despicable Me movie but couldn't effectively carry a whole movie--a little Harley goes a long, long way. "Fun" is the word I've most often heard used to describe Birds of Prey, which for me frequently is code for, "It isn't very good but I liked it anyway." I can definitely see why people like this movie, despite it's not being particularly well done, and I'm grateful that solid reviews and good word of mouth should make it a win for DC, regardless of a (so far) sluggish box office.

Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn clocks in at 109 minutes and is rated R for "strong violence and language throughout, and some sexual and drug material."

While Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is built of some great pieces, the whole is too dark to be fun and too silly (bordering on downright stupid at times) to be properly dark. Of a possible nine Weasleys, Birds of Prey gets six.

Next on the docket, the Last Full Measure.

A hotshot government lawyer is assigned (against his will) to review the case of an airman killed in Vietnam, whose brothers in arms are convinced he was wrongfully denied the Medal of Honor.

First and foremost, I would like to give props to my local theater for getting this movie. Even though the film is in wide-release, there doesn't seem to be much buzz around it and I was certain it would pass right by my small town. So, thank you, Marquee Cinemas, for screening the Last Full Measure.

Onward to the movie, beginning where regular reader(s) will expect: with Sebastian Stan. I've said it before and I'll undoubtedly say it again (and again): Sebastian Stan is the finest actor of his generation, and one of the finest actors I've ever seen. If you only know him as a Marvel guy, you are really, really missing out. (Shameless plug: Please check him out in the short-lived series Kings, which you can watch for free on the NBC app.) As a longtime fan, you can bet I was as proud as his mama to see his name at the top of the credits, his first real big-screen lead. This role hardly taxes his talent, but his character is the film's backbone and he serves it well. Most of the acting heavy lifting is left to the older cast members: Samuel L. Jackson, Ed Harris, William Hurt, Peter Fonda, and John Savage, but--while fine performances elevate the material--they can't really save it. The tone is overly sentimental and the script is pedestrian, at times so melodramatic as to be almost comical, which is a sad disservice to its subject. Having said all that, the film does put the spotlight on a very deserving hero, and the folks in my screening and the one before it were largely moved to tears. That's a movie that certainly gets something right.

The Last Full Measure runs 116 minutes and is rated R for "war violence and language."

The Last Full Measure is a film that strikes a nerve, not necessarily because it tells its story well, but because it tells *such* a story. Of a possible nine Weasleys, the Last Full Measure gets seven.

Fangirl points: I mean, Seb, obviously, but Linus Roache was a nice surprise!

Until next time...

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of We Have Always Lived in the Castle & John Wick, Chapter 3: Parabellum

This weekend offered a home/cinema split double-bill of We Have Always Lived in the Castle and John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

First on my agenda, a Friday-night home screening of We Have Always Lived in the Castle.

The reclusive life of two sisters and their uncle is disrupted when a mysterious cousin turns up on their doorstep.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is an atmospheric thriller that should be properly creepy but, sadly, it's just rather dull. The story crawls along at a snail's pace, sabotaging any hope of achieving a menacing tone, and dropping its big reveal like an Acme anvil on Wile E. Coyote's head. There are some nice performances from Taissa Farmiga, Alexandra Daddario, Crispin Glover, and especially Sebastian Stan, and the film looks absolutely stunning, but that can't save it from being a bore.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle runs 90 minutes and is unrated. (The movie features adult themes and some violence.)

We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a thriller that's just not very thrilling. Of a possible nine Weasleys, We Have Always Lived in the Castle gets three.

Fangirl points: Sebastian, darling, please stop making crap movies.

Next up, John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum. Having been "excommunicated" for violating the sanctity of the Continental, John Wick finds himself on the run for his life, minus his support network.

When it comes to entertainment, a project being self-aware and being more than it has to be can be mutually-exclusive. Under normal circumstances, the best you can hope for is one or the other, but the John Wick franchise somehow manages to be both.

On the surface, John Wick is your garden-variety action series with a one-note lead, and you know what? It absolutely knows it's that. It is not pretentious in any way. It lets Keanu Reeves be Keanu Reeves. More than that, it absolutely *needs* Keanu Reeves to be Keanu Reeves. BUT...these films also boast some of the most exquisite production values you'll see on a big screen, masterful fight choreography, and crafty turns that almost never fail to surprise.

After taking out an enemy on the sacred ground of the Continental in Chapter 2, Chapter 3 finds John Wick in mortal peril and minus the network that, in the past, has provided his weapons, gadgets, intel, and safe haven. Amidst almost non-stop action, he finds exotic locales and new allies and adversaries in familiar faces such as Halle Berry and Jerome Flynn. Reeves is genuinely fantastic in the lead, perhaps not the best actor in the world, but the ONLY actor for this role. The movie finds its dry wit mostly in his deadpan reactions to extraordinary circumstances, and it always fits like a key in a lock, never forced or out of place. Parabellum maintains a terrific air of tension from beginning to end, though, if I have one small quibble this time around it's that some of the fight scenes do drag on a bit. They are beautifully and uniquely choreographed, but, with the movie running well clear of two hours, a trim here and there might have done it a favor. However, it's a very small complaint with a picture that otherwise is clever, engaging, and utterly glorious to behold.

John Wick, Chapter 3: Parabellum clocks in at 130 minutes and is rated R for "pervasive strong violence and some language."

Parabellum is another strong installment in a series that I truly hope goes on forever.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, John Wick, Chapter 3: Parabellum gets all nine.

Fangirl points: Ian McShane! Until next time...

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of I’m Not Here & Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile

 

 

My frustration with the cinema experience ever-growing and the week's offerings being less than impressive, this weekend I again threw myself on the mercy of streaming services.

 

First up was 2017's I'm Not Here, a dull tale of a sickly older man reflecting on his past.

 

I'm Not Here is blessed with a couple of extraordinary leads in J.K. Simmons and Sebastian Stan, playing older and younger versions of the sad-sack main character, and it doesn't really seem to know what to do with either of them. Simmons speaks not one word of dialogue and spends most of the film staring sadly at himself in the mirror and blankly at everything else, an artistic choice that serves only to make his scenes--the bulk of the movie--seem interminable. Playing the man in his younger days, Stan at least gets to work a few different acting muscles, but the character is so broadly-drawn that there isn't much he can do with it. Both actors deserve better.

 

To say this picture is slow would be the understatement of the decade. In more deft hands the story might be moving, the lead character sympathetic. Under director Michelle Schumacher, it's a bad film school project, its emotional heft seemingly outside her ability to wrangle and its every turn so obvious you'll see it coming a mile away. While the tale is unquestionably sad, the telling lacks any ability to make the viewer sympathize.

 

I'm Not Here clocks in at an impossibly long 81 minutes and is unrated. It contains adult themes, drinking, and brief nudity.

 

I'm Not Here is a pitiful waste of two exceptionally gifted actors. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, I'm Not Here gets three.

 

I'm Not Here is available for streaming and digital download via various platforms.

 

Fangirl points: Of *course* I only watched it because Sebastian Stan is in it!

 

Next up, Netflix' Ted Bundy biopic, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile.

 

This most recent version of the oft-recounted tale of terror is based on a book by Bundy's longtime girlfriend Elizabeth Kendall. Its wordy name is lifted directly from court transcripts from the day Bundy's death sentence was handed down.

 

While lately Netflix is keeping pace (and sometimes outpacing) so-called "proper" cinema, this offering feels more like a Lifetime movie than anything you'd enjoy on a fifty-foot screen with a ten-dollar bucket of popcorn. Zac Efron, always better than I expect, is spot-on as Bundy, but the performance and the movie itself are somehow less chilling than they should be; there's just no grit. The supporting cast is filled with familiar faces, all of whom have proved more than competent, but--perhaps because the story and its outcome are so well known--it's difficult to invest in the proceedings. Well before the film's halfway point, my attention had wandered far from Ted Bundy, and the only reason I didn't turn it off was in hopes of more "Officer James Hetfield!"

 

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile runs 110 minutes and is rated R for "disturbing/violent content, some sexuality, nudity, and language."

 

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile is a lukewarm take on a story that's already been told too often. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile gets two.

 

Fangirl points:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

M-hmm. Until next time...

MOVIE REVIEW: I, TONYA

Tonya Harding rises through the ranks of competitive figure skating only to find disgrace when her husband tries to eliminate her rival.

Director: Craig Gillespie

Cast: Margot Robbie, Sebastian Stan, Julianne Nicholson, Caitlin Carver, Bobby Cannavale, Allison Janney

Release Date: Dec 8, 2017

Genres: Biography, Drama, Sport

Rated R for pervasive language, violence, and some sexual content/nudity

Runtime: 1h 59 min

Review:

I, Tonya is a solid biopic that overcomes some of the story’s drawbacks with stellar performances from the cast.  Craig Gillespie keeps his film interesting by framing the film as a pseudo documentary with interviews spliced through the entire film.  What we get are 3 unreliable narrators who weave together a story stranger than fiction even as it occasionally veers into high end Lifetime movie territory.  That’s not to say it’s not intriguing as it touches on themes of tabloid fame and illusion of the American Dream.  At its center is Margot Robbie in the titular role.  Robbie presents Harding as a doggedly determined individual who can’t reach the summit because of a variety of reasons even if some are not entirely her fault.  Underneath it all, there’s a frayed and broken person who is looking for acceptance and love.  It’s an impressive performance that’s topped off with a silence sequence of Robbie looking into the mirror running a gamut of emotions before the climatic performance at the Lillehammer Olympics.  The supporting roles played by Allison Janney and Sebastian Stan are just as strong with each leaving a lasting impression.  Allison Janney gives the cinematic world another legendary evil mother to pantheon of evil mothers.  It’s an engaging and arresting performance that just as strong as Robbie’s.  Sebastian Stan’s turn as Jeff Gillooly equally impressive as he disappears into the role, he captures the mannerisms and vocal inflections perfectly.  The film builds to the final act where we’re witness to the bumbling cast of characters that lead to the attack on Nancy Kerrigan and the subsequent aftermath.  It’s all anti climatic since we all know how the story ends but watching this collection of actors deliver top notch performances is the real treat.

B+

MOVIE REVIEW: CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

Political pressure mounts to install a system of accountability when the actions of the Avengers lead to collateral damage. The new status quo deeply divides members of the team. Captain America (Chris Evans) believes superheroes should remain free to defend humanity without government interference. Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) sharply disagrees and supports oversight. As the debate escalates into an all-out feud, Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) must pick a side.

Release Date: May 06, 2016 RealD 3D 

Runtime: 2 hr. 26 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure, Sci-Fi/Fantasy

Director:Joe Russo, Anthony Russo

Cast: Chris Evans, Robert Downey, Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie

Review:

Captain America: Civil War is a busy film that has a lot of ground to cover.  It’s the type of film that has a clear agenda and while the story is fairly predicable it never bores you much, the first act is a tad slow moving, as it moves its chess pieces into place.  The Russo brothers deserve a massive amount of praise for keeping all the proverbial balls in the air while giving each character their time to shine.  It’s an impressive trick considering the size of the cast and none of the characters feel short changed.  The new additions add a welcome breathe of fresh air with Tom Holland’s Spiderman leaving the biggest impression.  As always, the action set pieces are massive and impressive with the airport battle shown in all the promos being the centerpiece.  The best action sequence though might be a fight in an apartment building which is a masterwork of choreography.  Captain America: Civil War is a fun film with a healthy bit of pathos at play but when everything is said and done the story isn’t quite as ground shaking as some have made it out to be. 

B+

Cindy Prascik's Review of Captian America: Civil War

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for the highly-anticipated blockbuster Captain America: Civil War. Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from trailers and the odd Internet clip. 

 

Well, dear Reader(s), I've got good news and bad news. The good news is Civil War is a pretty great movie. 

 

The bad news is it doesn't even come close to the masterpiece that preceded it, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. To justify my disappointment, I'll be making some comparisons...not, as regular reader(s) might expect of me, to that *other* costumed hero grudge match movie that came out a few weeks back, but rather to some of Cap's Marvel stablemates. 

 

There are a good many positives here, though, so let's get started with some of those. This cast is a gift. Most everyone is a fantastic talent in his or her own right, and the chemistry among them is extraordinary. Stoic and steely-eyed Chris Evans remains the perfect embodiment of our all-American hero, and is 100% effective in selling Steve Rogers' Boy Scoutish worldview. Sebastian Stan is incredible, but, while he has more screen time this outing, he unfortunately seems to have fewer opportunities to really showcase his skills. 

 

Disappointing. A longtime Stan-Fan must be forgiven for being a little over-enthusiastic about the Captain America movies, as they're pretty much the only decent movies this gifted actor ever makes. 

 

The other returning Avengers are solid as always, and newcomers Tom Holland, Daniel Bruhl, and especially Chadwick Boseman all turn in terrific performances. Those are some BIG impact moments when Black Panther and Spider-Man turn up; electricity rolls through the room like a lightning strike. Civil War includes so many Marvel favorites it's jokingly been called "Avengers 2.5," yet it never shortchanges its titular hero, a remarkable feat in its own right. 

 

Much like The Winter Soldier before it, Civil War opens the action with a massive, complicated sequence that's as much espoinage as ass-kicking, and the overall scope of things leaves some dodgy CGI quickly forgotten. There are plenty of one-liners to go around, and the story itself is engaging, if not as smart or interesting as its predecessor. On the downside, permit me to copy and paste from a hundred previous reviews: This movie is TOO. DAMN. LONG. No excuse for this thing exceeding two hours, certainly it should never run longer than 2:15. 

 

Civil War needs some serious editing, and I don't mean by taking a hacksaw to entire scenes, I mean, as always, by using an Xacto knife to trim it to a sharper, more manageable whole. Civil War gives the original Avengers a run for its money in the battle fatigue department, and much of the fight choreography isn't even all that interesting, particularly by comparison to the stellar Lumerian Star sequence in CATWS. The movie's humor also misses the mark a bit too often. 

 

Unlike Guardians of the Galaxy, which expertly rides a fine line between brilliant and so-goofy-it's-actually-brilliant, Civil War often shoehorns silliness into scenes where it fits poorly with both mood and content. 

 

The deadpan wit of Tony Stark and Sam Wilson always sets well, but Peter Parker, and, to a much lesser degree, Scott Lang, are jarringly stupid at all the wrong times. By comparison to the Winter Soldier, even Henry Jackman's score feels like it's missing something. 

 

Captain America: Civil War runs 146 minutes, and is rated PG13 for "extended sequences of violence, action, and mayhem." It's not a perfect movie, but if you bring those expectations down just a smidge, Civil War is a fun, action-packed bit of brain candy. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Captain America: Civil War gets eight.

 

Until next time... 

 

 

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of The Bronze & Allegiant

 

 

 

Dearest Blog: Yesterday it was off to Marquee Cinemas for another ho-hum late-winter double-bill. On the docket: gymnastics comedy The Bronze, and the third installment in the Divergent series, Allegiant. Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you won't have learnt already from trailers and the usual Internet scuttlebutt. 

 

First up: The Bronze. A former Olympic sweetheart is coerced into coaching another hopeful from her small Ohio town. Dear Reader(s), many of you are well aware that being a Sebastian Stan fan is a hard row to hoe. My first encounter with Stan was his stellar turn in the brilliant-but-short-lived TV series Kings. 

 

Unfortunately, outside a lucky spot at Captain America's side, his projects surrounding that one bright, shining moment have been complete crap, and I can declare with authority that The Bronze ranks among the worst. And when a guy's resume includes The Covenant...well...that's really saying something! 

 

The Bronze is a mean, crass little comedy, and its occasional shots at sincere moments are unfailingly trite. Melissa Rauch is foul and unsympathetic in the lead, fronting a crew of just-slightly-less-despicable supporting characters, including Gary Cole as her long-suffering father and Stan as a rival coach; only Thomas Middletech's Ben is half-likable. The movie follows the same predictable path as a thousand bitter redemption stories before it, sans that bit where a viewer might actually be rooting for a character...ANY character. 

 

The much-ballyhooed acrobatic sex scene between Rauch and Stan (she used a stunt double; he did not) is so deeply unfunny that I was embarrassed for everyone involved. Pretty much the only genuine thing about this dud is the cute little town of Amherst, Ohio, which portrays itself in the movie and undoubtedly deserves better. The Bronze runs 108 excruciating minutes and is rated R for "strong sexual content, graphic nudity, language throughout, and some drug use." Avoid this at all costs. I mean it. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, The Bronze gets one, for the single time I laughed over the course of its painful duration. 

 

Next on my agenda: Allegiant. Tris and Four find out what's on the other side of the wall. Dear Reader(s), there's no sugar-coating it: Sitting through Allegiant is like watching paint dry, and that might be slightly underselling the entertainment value of watching paint dry. Though stakes are high for our heroes, the movie has zero tension, and there's even less chemistry between Shailene Woodly and Theo James. Allegiant's special effects are about as shabby as an old episode of Doctor Who. 

 

The dialogue is painful, and the characters are one-dimensional and uninteresting. There are a few cheap laughs courtesy of Peter (Miles Teller), and a two-hour eyeful of James is never a bad thing, but Allegiant otherwise has little to recommend it. Allegiant clocks in at 121 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense violence and action, thematic elements, and some partial nudity." It is, perhaps, the natural bane of the first half of a story split in two that it advances the plot without much excitement, but unless you're utterly invested in the whole of the Divergent series, Allegiant is hardly worth your time. 

 

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Allegiant gets three. 

 

Until next time...

Cindy Prascik's Reviews of Ricki & the Flash and Fantastic 4

Dearest Blog: This weekend, my local cinema happened to get all four new wide-releases, so I had the unusual luxury of choosing among all of them.

The presence of Sebastian Stan made Ricki & the Flash my must-see, and the schedule dictated Fantastic Four wrap up the double-bill.

Spoiler level here will be mild, limited to trailer reveals.

Following a couple weekends that gave me a couple of my favorite guys (Jake Gyllenhaal and Jeremy Renner) in a couple of pretty great movies (Southpaw and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation), I suppose I was due for a letdown. Boy did I get it.

First on Saturday's agenda: Ricki & the Flash.

Having long ago left her family to follow dreams of rock stardom, a middle-aged woman returns home to comfort her newly-dumped daughter.

In the interest of full and fair disclosure, I'll admit I hate movies like Ricki & the Flash, and, were it not for Sebastian Stan's presence, I wouldn't have seen it for a million dollars. That being said, if it were a good movie, it would have won me over, and I'm sure my tone is already telling you, dear reader(s), it did not.

Ricki & the Flash is cliched and predictable. The characters are paper thin, not one has any depth or ever, once, does a single thing that isn't exactly what you'd have expected him/her to do. There are a few genuinely funny moments, but the "humor' is mostly awkward and occasionally vaguely racist in a way that's meant to flesh out a character but instead just left me mildly uncomfortable. Even the mostly-decent classic rock soundtrack is handicapped by ho-hum performances. Not being a "musical," per se, where the plot is actually advanced by the songs, the movie would have been better served by brief clips of the band onstage, rather than the excruciating full numbers to which we're repeatedly subjected.

Meryl Streep is a goddess, and if there's a movie fan out there who'll dispute that, well, it's not this one. She manages to bring *something* to Ricki, a character that's otherwise blandly unlikeable and uninteresting. She's especially effective portraying the depressing physical realities of middle age on a person who's mentally only ever going to be a teenager.

Once again, someone has grossly overestimated Streep's appeal as a singer, but her fantastic screen presence makes that easy enough to forgive. It's hard to watch Streep's real-life daughter Mamie Gummer wallow through the movie, and I couldn't honestly say whether the blame falls on actress or character, since Gummer is pretty hard to watch in everything.

The good news is the rest of the supporting cast is terrific, if underused. As Ricki's long-suffering guitarist and beau, Rick Springfield does well in the movie's most thankless role, though he strangely looks ready to burst into tears the entire time. Sebastian Stan is great in his two minutes of screen time, for the first time in his entire career, playing the NON-problematic son of a messed up family. Go Sebastian! Finally, Audra McDonald is as glorious as always as the woman who stepped in to clean up the mess Ricki left behind when she set off to become a rock star.

It has to be one of cinema's worst crimes against humanity to have McDonald, one of the world's greatest singers, appear in a movie about a singer, yet not sing a note. Even Stan and Gummer get to sing a few lines, for Pete's sake!!

Ricki & the Flash runs 101 minutes and is rated PG13 for "thematic material, brief drug content, sexuality, and language."

A shameful waste of a solid cast, of a possible nine Weasleys, Ricki & the Flash gets four.

Next on the docket, the most recent screen rendering of Fantastic 4.

In an experiment gone wrong, four young college students find themselves physically altered and must use their new powers to save the planet.

Sound familiar? I know, right?? If there's one thing I hope Hollywood has learned from Fantastic 4's dismal reception, it's that we, genre and general fans alike, are tired of origins stories. Everyone knows why Bruce Wayne and Peter Parker are so sad on Fathers' Day, JUST MOVE ON. While that's far from the only reason people aren't flocking to see this humdrum version of some fairly humdrum heroes, it's got to be one of them.

Dear reader(s), you may count me among those who didn't mind 2005's Fantastic 4, nor its 2007 sequel. They aren't special movies, but they're fun enough. The problem with the latest F4 is that it's no fun at all. It would be misleading to call the movie a slow starter, because that would imply that, at some point, it picks up. It is, in fact, a slow starter, a slow middler, and a slow finisher. The only way to mark the passage of time at all is to note the differences in Miles Teller's acne spots.

The movie is dark, not so much in tone as in appearance, and at times it's difficult to tell what's going on at all. Jamie Bell, a fine actor (for my money, the best of the principal cast) is completely wasted, and, of those who get decent screentime, only Michael B. Jordan manages to be even half-watchable. Teller and Kate Mara are phoning it in, clearly as bored with the proceedings as the few of us who have bothered seeing the movie this weekend. The CGI ranges from just okay to laughably bad, inexcusable for a would-be summer blockbuster. It's not hard to see why Hollywood left this one in the landfill of August releases.

Fantastic 4 clocks in at 100 minutes and is rated PG13 for "sci-fi action violence, and language."

Trust me when I tell you, "fantastic" is not the "F" word you'll be saying if you waste your hard-earned dollars on this.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Fantastic 4 gets three.

Until next time..

 Rick Springfield: Four decades of being hot enough to make mediocre movies worth the price of admission!

MOVIE REVIEW: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER,

Steve Rogers continues his journey as the super-powered American soldier who's grasping to find his place in a modern world after being frozen in ice since WWII with this Marvel Studios sequel. Chris Evans returns to star, with Community director/producers Joe and Anthony Russo helming. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi

Director: Joe Russo, Anthony Russo 

Cast: Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Scarlett Johansson

Release Date: Apr 04, 2014

Rated: PG-13 for Gunplay, Action throughout and Intense Sequences of Violence

Runtime: 2 hr. 8 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure

Review:

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of Marvel’s best scripted stories thus far.  That’s not to say it doesn’t have some issues but it’s a solid attempt at trying to dig a bit deeper into some complex issues with a complicated villain.  It’s rather blunt if earnest about it’s intentions.  If this all makes it sound rather dour well it is at time occasionally turning into a plodding and somewhat joyless experience that could have been trimmed by a good 15 to 20 minutes.  Personally, I might have been more impressed if I hadn’t seen a similar story line in a certain DC animated series I was fond of but I digress.  The film, when it hits its mark, delivers some excellent action set pieces and superhero action.  Evans does his best to bring some deeper layers to the Captain and he pulls it off for the most part.  Scarlett Johansson has a larger part which doesn’t require her to runaround in her catsuit and the film’s better for it as she displays some solid chemistry with Evans.  Newcomers Anthony Mackie and Robert Redford bring varying degrees of excitement to the proceedings.  Mackie is obviously having a blast throughout while Redford’s name brings some gravitas to the whole thing but he seemed as disinterested as can be.  Sebastian Stan’s Winter Solider is in the movie title but his screen time is surprisingly small in the grand scheme of things.  It’s a game changing film that does kind of blows up a lot of the establishment from the Marvel universe so it’ll be interesting to see where they from here, hopefully they’ll remember bring a bit more fun.  

B-

Cindy Prascik's Review of Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Dearest Blog, yesterday I chose an afternoon at the cinema over an afternoon at the office. In the common tongue, I believe that's what's known as a "gimmie." On the docket, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Spoiler level here will be mild, nothing you wouldn't know from the trailers.

Captain America finds himself at odds with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s thinking, and facing a surprising and dangerous adversary.

Well, dear Blog, first I should admit I'm not quite so much on the Marvel bandwagon as most of the world. They make good superhero movies, and I like good superhero movies, but they don't make anything that sets my world on fire like that last Batman trilogy did. A matter of personal taste, I know, but worth mentioning in the interest of full and fair disclosure.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier has many positives, so we'll start with those. It's a layered story that manages to hold your attention without becoming muddled and over-complicated. The action sequences are solid, and the CGI tricks look pretty authentic. The movie is filled with familiar names and faces, and it's as comfortable as hanging with a group of old friends when they name-check other characters from the Marvel universe. Chris Evans again serves the Captain well. If he's neither as charismatic as Robert Downey, Jr. nor as interesting as Mark Ruffalo, he IS the very picture of the all-American hero, perfect for this role. For my money, though, the actor who's really worth seeing here is Sebastian Stan. I've been a fan since his work on the short-lived NBC series Kings, and am positively delighted about his jump to the big-screen blockbuster. (I'd have been more delighted with more screen time, but since I watched Black Swan for about two minutes of him, I guess I'll live.)

On the negative side: Had the action sequences been trimmed just a bit, the movie would have been sharper and better paced; as it is, it does seem to drag a bit at times. Of more concern was the reaction in my pretty-crowded cinema, almost a total flatline. No spontaneous oohs and ahhs, almost no bursts of laughter at the comic bits, no chatter or applause at the end. For a movie that's been so well received, I found that very curious, especially as the crowd seemed mostly comprised of fanboys and kids.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier runs 136 minutes and is rated PG13 for "intense sequences of violence, gunplay, and action throughout."

Some folks are saying The Winter Soldier is even better than Marvel's Avengers, seemingly the current benchmark for a great superhero movie. For my money, they're about the same: fun times that perfectly fit the lighthearted summer-blockbuster mold.

Of a possible nine Weasleys, Captain America: The Winter Soldier gets seven and a half.

Until next time...

 

 

Any room for me up in there?

[Trailers] Captain America: The Winter Soldier & Anchorman 2 US and International

A couple of new trailers have hit the interwebs over the last few days so let’s dig right in.

First up is the trailer, which looks surprisingly impressive, for the Captain America sequel. There’s a noticeable tonal shift from the first film which I never loved or hated. This one seems more like an international flavored action thriller with superheroes in the mix. Lots of familiar faces pop up along with plenty of new ones, check it out….



Earlier this week a couple of new Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues trailers hit. The 2nd US trailer showcases plenty of new footage. If that didn’t wet your appetite check out the international trailer which has even more new footage. I’m a huge Will Ferrell so I can’t wait for this, check them out below…

2nd US Trailer….



International Trailer….

MOVIE REVIEW: CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER 3D

IN THEATERS

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER 3D



Director: Joe Johnston

Cast: Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Sebastian Stan, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell

Release Date: Jul 22, 2011

Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action

Runtime: 2 hr. 4 min.

Genres: Action/Adventure

Review:

Captain America was among the list of superhero films that worried me going into this summer. It’s the type of property that’s hard to pull off because so much of the characters soul is trapped in a by gone time that might not translate to the big screen. Joe Johnston’s luckily was given a script that firmly places this origin story in its proper time and place. Shooting it with the look and feel of a WW2 propaganda film, Johnston captures so much of what makes the character and what he stands for without being overly jingoistic. Johnston paces his film methodically; taking his time with the characters and allows them to breathe. As a result, Chris Evan’s is given ample time to flesh out the scrawny runt Steve Rogers by giving him an earnestness that carries over to the Captain America version of Rogers. Hugo Weaving is good fun as the sinister Red Skull, even if the characters written a bit broad for my taste. Thanks to Johnston’s patience, secondary characters played by the likes of Tommy Lee Jones, having a ball, Hayley Atwell, Stanley Tucci and Dominic Cooper don’t come off as one dimensional as they could have. Johnston also has to be given a lot of credit for well staged action sequences which keep pepper the 2nd half of the film, some of the larger set pieces giving a decidedly Raiders of the Lost Ark to them somehow. The 3D, if you those like me who enjoy the novelty, is effectively used for effect but some of the action sequence can sort of bombard your eyes with information.

B+