Captain America: Civil War (2016) ****1/2

As the comic book juggernaut (pun not intended) continues to grow, there are going to be numerous comparisons between movies as they come out and how much better this film was over that one. A film should be allowed to stand on its own (even though I am going to be writing a special comparison between this film and the clash film from the “other” publisher). After the mediocrity that was Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War has the ability to continue the greatness of The Winter Solider. It doesn’t have to stand on the remains of the film before it, even though Civil War plays more like an Avengers sequel, this is Captain America’s story.

As the film begins the world is angry after the massive collateral damage that’s occurred in the battles of the Avengers. Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), faced with the real life cost of their wars, spearheads the idea of the Avengers to be monitored and controlled by the government. Of course this splits the Avengers into two camps, which is going to happen when such a revolutionary idea is placed upon a group of people. This is coupled to the fact that Captain America (Chris Evans) has the added stress of finding and helping his friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) a.k.a. The Winter Soldier. As the story progresses we learn that there is a puppet master pulling the strings on the situation, continuously driving a wedge between the already fractured Avengers. 

Civil War is what a great movie should be. The film takes the audience for a ride, literally and emotionally. We travel the world as this characters, many of whom we grew up with since we were children, build for their cause. It's these same characters that cause us as an audience to finally choose a side in the ultimate confrontation that builds throughout the film. It's an experience that sucks you in and involves you in the action that's happening up on the screen. A hallmark of any good film. In a world flooded with comic book films this film will be one that stands out.

This film has everything in place and gels in every way and is currently the one stand out in a summer movie season that seems to be more about malaise than masterpieces. Obviously there will be more films and Civil War makes me want to see them. The film made me want to go back and check out what I missed (Ant-Man- review coming soon). A stunning film in a bloated market.

Author! Author (1982) **

Sandwiched between the controversial Cruising and the controversial Scarface lies this Al Pacino vehicle that finds him as a dysfunctional play write, juggling a dead marriage, a house full of kids, and a fully backed play perpetually looking for its 3^rd act. AP stars as Ivan Travalian, the atypical New York writer who comes home one day to find that his wife (TW) has left, leaving kids from various marriages throughout the house.  Hilarity ensues as Ivan struggles to maintain a household, a career, and figure out whether or not he still loves his wife or the star of his play (DC).

Author! Author! feels like a sitcom. I mean it really feels like a sitcom to the point that you’ll be in hysterics at the title theme song. Pure Friday night on ABC drivel that doesn’t really go anywhere, just spinning around in circles. The only thing that progresses in this film is the play. Everyone is in the same place as they were in the film, with Pacino epiphany being unheralded and lacking everything. Tuesday Weld plays her role as sympathetic to start, then you just don’t care about the selfish…. Dyan Cannon is the rebound and pretty much disappears when her part of the story is over, which is sadly the best part of the film. If they could have dove into their relationship and how another adult deals with the offspring of another it would have made this film much more interesting. But it abandons that idea half way into it.

Did AP lose his way after the greatness of his 70’s films? It’s hard to say, but AA is an unexcited, dull adventure into divorce

Key Largo (1948) *****

Key Largo is a film noir piece set in the Florida Keys where Frank McCloud (Humphrey Bogart) arrives to visit the family of a fellow soldier that died during the war (Lionel Berrymore and Lauren Bacall). Problems arise when the gangster Johnny Rocco (Edward G. Robinson) has holed up the hotel run by the family, waiting to sneak back into the country after being deported. Add into this the hurricane that will be making a direct hit on the south Florida island.

Whenever you get John Huston and Humphrey Bogart together you’re going to get something special and Key Largo isn’t any different. The film has a deep noir feel, yet it transplants itself from the typical locale of seedy neighborhoods of the inner cities to what was a more quiet area that becomes isolated even further by the hurricane hitting. Bogart is the reluctant hero, beaten down by the war and the post war world that wanders into this situation by accident. He’s not looking for trouble, but is prepared to deal with it if necessary. There is an attraction between McCloud and Nora (Bacall, the groomless fiancé), but nothing really comes to fruition due to the situation they’re in, giving us believably that wasn’t seen in films of this era. There’s too much going on for this people to become romantic. Other circumstances may allow it, but not this set. Of course, Edward G. Robinson playing an egocentric gangster is his calling card. He’s great in the role and plays it over the top when needed, but still has the ability to tone it down when the situation requires.

Key Largo is a movie that builds onto itself, with a kind of snowball effect that compounds itself as the film goes on. There is a sense of claustrophobia when the film begins, that opens up as the film rolls on right along as Johnny Rocco loses control of the situation. And yes, the hurricane represents a huge character in the film is the boss over all that it surveys. Huston plays this card, but doesn’t over play it, a great move by a master. Key largo is one for the ages, a great noir piece that paces great with wonderful acting. A testament to all of those involved in the film.

Class of 1984 (1982) **

In the early 1980’s high schools in the United States had a reputation of being filthy, violent places that were overrun by gangs of rebellious students that can’t be expelled for one reason or another (why these hardened criminals would want to hang out a high school all day is beyond me). Films such as Teachers, 3 O’Clock High, and others regurgitated that idea throughout the early part of the decade. Class of 1984 is another member of that genre. The formula follows and idealistic teacher (Perry King) that represents a young go getter, ready to change the world by teaching. You need a leader of the thugs (Timothy Van Patten) who gets into a conflict with the idealistic teacher and drags that person down to his level in the end. The idealistic teacher has to have a spouse (Merrie Lynn Ross) that is semi oblivious until the danger appears at the front doorstep. Finally, you must have the older, fed up teacher (Roddy McDowell) that serves as a mentor to the young, idealistic teacher, but will probably end up a sacrifice to fuel the revenge fire.

Class of 1984 is an average film from this genre. Very predictable if you’ve seen any film like this from the 1980’s. The only standout in the film is the performance by Roddy McDowell, who pushes his character beyond its generic function. Otherwise, the film doesn’t really stand out from any high school centered version of Death Wish. Class of 1984 serves its purpose more as a time capsule of the era than delivering anything new. This is a totally forgettable film.

Big Trouble In Little China (1986) ****

Big Trouble In Little China is a film where our perceived hero Jack Burton (Kurt Russell) isn’t really heroic at all. He’s actually a buffoon that’s pulled into an extraordinary situation with Wang Chi (Dennis Dun) being the true hero of the film. Jack acts like he knows what he’s doing, but he’s as clueless as anyone thrown into this situation, making a refreshing look from this fantasy/karate hybrid.

The film opens with Jack accompanying his friend Wang to the airport to pick up Wang’s love of his life. In the hectic arrival of a loaded airplane, she is kidnapped and after running into Gracie (Kim Catrall), who has some kind of involvement in the situation, Jack and Wang travel to Chinatown in an attempt to save his love, but stumble onto an otherworldly fight by Lao Pan (James Hong) to use the green eyed girl to restore his flesh. A mishmash of kung fu and fantasy follows as they attempt to stop Lao Pan’s misuse of Wang’s lady.

Big Trouble is a fun movie to watch. The film has a great flow to it, even though when examining just the plot itself leaves a kind of clunky feel as you run it through your head. John Carpenter smooths over the rough edges by giving us great visuals (even by today’s standards) and very nice acting work, particularly from Russell. As I said before, Jack Burton is not the hero of this film. He’s more of a loud mouth that is lost in this underworld of Chinatown and it’s a wonderful look at how the presumed hero may not be the sharpest knife in the drawer. It really is a great performance from Russell, cementing his trilogy of John Carpenter films.

After revisiting this film a thought occurred to me. With all of the movies that are making a return after being defunct for 30+ years Big Trouble in Little China is a film that I see that could succeed by doing something like this. After 30 years I was still left wanting more from this story and these characters. This is one of these films that makes its own kind of definition and really makes a good impression on a viewer. A fine ‘80’s ditty.

The Lost Weekend (1945) *****

Looking  at the films of the 1940’s. many of these films featured high society types in zany situations, gallivanting between set up and set up and setting up the lunacy of life as something to mesmerize by the viewing public. Movies were kind of like TMZ is today. In The Lost Weekend director Billy Wilder gives us a look into the fall from grace of writer Dan Birnam  (Ray Milland) caused by his raging alcoholism. The title of the film has a double meaning when watching the film. It could refer to the weekend holiday planned for Dan and his brother Wick (Phillip Terry) that Dan ruins by alienating his brother with his alcoholic ways or, the more obvious answer, the fact that this weekend ends up lost to Dan in an alcoholic haze. Even after all of the turmoil and disheartening that’s caused by Dan’s dependence of the bottle, his best girl Helen (Jane Wyman) still holds out hope that Dan can be saved from his affliction, going so far as sleeping on the steps outside his apartment that is financed by his brothers charity.

This film is really about the fall and rise of one man. Dan has been an alcoholic for six years and even though we haven’t followed him that entire time, other than flashbacks to watershed moments in his relationship with Helen that always include a bottle or two, it’s this weekend that represents the fork in the road that Dan has been working towards all of his life. The film depicts how desperate a person can be in any addictions, not just alcohol. Eventually the addiction even kills Dan’s dreams and wants to the point where all he cares about are the rings left on the bar top by his whiskey glass. Dan has pathetically hit rock bottom.

Ray Milland deservedly won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of Dan. It’s a real haunting performance that becomes the focus throughout the film. Everyone else is reacting to Dan’s behavior and each of the personality types are represented. The brother who gives up. The girl that stands with him no matter what. The disagreeing, yet enabling bar tender. This film is as much about following Dan’s story as it’s an examination of how people react to an alcoholic, almost comparable to the stages of grief if we compared it to anything at all. Some people can take it and some can’t. This is Ray Milland’s film though and he creates a presence where the audience feels those same feelings that those in relationships with Dan feel. Anger, disgust, sympathy, maybe a little guilt. It’s all there for us to dissect in our heads.

Director Billy Wilder (who also won an Oscar, as did the film itself as Best Picture of 1945) achieves a remarkable feat when making this film. Dan, who is surrounded by the people in his life and living in New York City is hopelessly alone in his addiction throughout the film. There are times, especially when we’re in the apartment, that Dan feels like he’s a million miles away locked in a claustrophobic filled tomb of alcoholism. This really pushes the film over the top into being a great achievement. Instead of hazy shots and wobbly cameras, Wilder opts to go with the feeling of being an alcoholic. Not the surface feeling of being tipsy, but the never ending alone feeling that no drink can every wash away.

The Lost Weekend is one of the best films to come from the 1940’s. It’s a tale about alcoholism and addiction, but it doesn’t talk down to the audience. This is not a temperance sermon, but an exploration into the soul of a man darkened by drink. A true masterpiece.

Black Mass (2015) ***1/2

Black Mass is Scott Cooper’s bio-pic about the legendary Boston gangster Jimmy “Whitey” Bulger (Johnny Depp) and his reign as the most feared man in Boston. Bulger takes an unconventional route to the top by not only being the brother to State Senator Billy Bulger (Benedict Cumberbatch), but he is also an informant for F.B.I. agent John Connolly (Joel Edgerton). The film follows the two decades of Bulger using his law enforcement contacts to protect himself and his business. Whitey may have been a rough and tough guy, but he was far more intelligent than he is given credit for.

Depp plays Bulger with a kind of resolve and immersion that we haven’t seen from the actor in a long time. To rob Breaking Bad, he becomes the danger. People fear him and he knows it with Depp playing the role perfectly. It also turns out that this story also belongs to Edgerton’s character, who feels the link to South Boston, but unwittingly falls into the corruption of the Bulger organization without even himself realizing it. The film is not so much a cat and mouse film as it’s seeing what Bulger can get away with next, and he gets away with quite a bit. Most of the performances in the film are spot on and give the film a richness it needs.

The issues that come with this film are in the presentation of the story. For a quarter of a century people have tried to reinvent the vibe from Goodfellas (even Martin Scorsese is a known offender). Black Mass is no different and it pulls you from the story because it feels like the director is trying too hard to recapture past gangster film triumphs. There’s a reason why we never see films attempt to repeat The Godfather’s karma- many have failed and are lost to our memories. Black mass may go beyond going down the drain of films forgotten, but it still feels forced. Add to that the connections between this film and Scorsese’s The Departed and you add to the issue.

A word of warning when watching this film. If you have seen The Departed you will be reminded of bits and pieces from that film. Of course The Departed is a re-make of the Asian film Infernal Affairs and the broad premise of the film is based on Bulger’s life, which doesn’t help in the matter. It will take the first forty minutes of the film to go by before you stop comparing it to The Departed, taking away from the experience I’m afraid. Overall the film is a well acted piece that really tries too hard to be a classic gangster film. This will probably be a forgotten piece in five years time, reminding you of its existence on late night television. This is really a shame because Depp’s performance is one of his best in recent memory and shouldn’t be thrown away and forgotten. A well acted film that fails to really capture the audience because none of the characters are very sympathetic. A missed opportunity.