It's been too long since my last post, and even longer since I reviewed a new movie.
My school schedule has led to a reduction in movie-going, but not as drastically as reflected on this blog. This posting will be devoted to short (two or three sentence) reviews of the movies I saw but never took time to fully review. Next time I hope to return to the full review format.
"Captain America" had its moments. In my opinion there are film adaptations of comic books which rise above their source material (example: "Superman" and "The Dark Knight"). Other movies are basically video comic books themselves, which is the category in which "Captain America" finds itself. These can only be judged against each other, as they lack certain elements which good films must contain. Therefore, "Captain America" is better than "Thor", "Fantastic 4", "Daredevil" etc. But that's not really saying much.
"Cowboys and Aliens" contained actors who pretended that they were in a far better movie than I got to see. I had heard how excited Harrison Ford was to be in a Western, and he played his part with plenty of charisma. Daniel Craig seems to play the reluctant hero so naturally, and he was just right for this role. Unfortunately the overall movie didn't measure up... "Alien" (way back in 1979) set a pretty high standard for what a scary alien should look like. Movies like "I Am Legend" have proven that Hollywood can digitally make creatures which are imposing and effective antagonists. It appears as though the makers of "Cowboys and Aliens" have been living in a cave for the last 32 years, because their aliens are neither imposing or effective. If this movie had stuck to cowboys and forgotten about the aliens it would have been a far better movie.
"Midnight In Paris" has Owen Wilson playing a younger Woody Allen in a Woody Allen movie. There is a dreamlike quality to this film which I don't think Woody Allen has done before, which was very well done. While I really enjoy Woody Allen's dialogue and sense of humor, it was helpful to have something different going on to keep it fresh and interesting. Out of all the movies I'm discussing in this post, "Midnight In Paris" is the only one I have any desire to see again.
"The Debt" was good up until the last 5 minutes; too bad. I recommend that the writer and director of "The Debt" watch the next movie I review here, "Drive" in preparation for their next movie. If you don't know how to end a good story, just stop. A movie is better off without an ending than with one so cliche and unnecessary as we're given in "The Debt". On a side note, one thing I'd like to point out about "The Debt" is the double-back storytelling element it utilizes. While many films use this device to build tension, "The Debt" uses it for another purpose... I was happily surprised by the affect.
"Drive" is one of those movies which tests Quentin Tarantino's theory on effective violence. Graphic violence has less impact than implied violence. What makes the main character in this film so scary is how quiet and calm he is. While ultimately the hero of this film is a tragic one, it is nice to see a film take the time to explain who the hero is and why, without offending the audience. The supporting characters in this film are also well defined (as much as necessary) which made this one of the better films I've seen recently.
"Killer Elite" reminds me why I like Robert De Niro. His scenes are better just because he's in them, as is the movie as a whole. Otherwise this was basically a standard action thriller, doing the action well, not really delivering on the thriller elements. Now that I think of it, another viewing of "Heat" probably would have been a better way to pass the time. Here's the dilemma; while there's almost always a better movie than the one I just saw, does watching the sub-par movies make me appreciate the great ones even more? Or do I just become more and more jaded? It's a catch-22.
