Movie Review: Captain America: Winter Soldier

Captain America: Winter Soldier is the next installment in phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.  It is a superhero political thriller action movie brought to you by Anthony and Joe Russo, the guys who also brought you Community.  Wait....what?  I'm just going to start this review by saying don't worry, believe the hype, and go see this movie now.  It is amazing!


I think Marvel has been doing an amazing job with the universe they are building.  Even the lesser movies in the series are still fun to watch.  Each respective director they have chosen have done well with the material they're given.  They've also done a great job with casting.  Robert Downey Jr. was a no-brainer as Tony Stark.  Then out of left field came Chris Evans as Captain America.  I thought he nailed the part in the first movie, and he has only gotten better since then.


In Winter Soldier, Captain America (Chris Evans, Fantastic Four) has been around in the current time for a while now after having been frozen for the last 70 years.  He came from a time where loyalty, honor, and truth all meant something.  Now he's been thrust into a jaded, cynical world where you don't know who you can trust.  That is exactly what he is trying to figure out through this film.  Someone has infiltrated SHIELD and he doesn't know who he can trust anymore.  I can't go into any more than that without hitting spoilers.  To top things off, he also runs into a trained soviet killer with a metal arm, simply named the Winter Soldier, who seems to be just as fast an tough as he is.


CA:WS has the feel of an old 70's political thriller.  And it even throws in Robert Redford (All the President's Men) as Alexander Pierce.  The story at it's core is pretty grounded and intriguing, with a few of those fanciful outlandish comic book plot points thrown into the mix quite well.  If you are one who finds political thrillers a little on the dry side, don't worry, there are some amazing action scenes.....and plenty of them.  They managed to mix this great story with almost non-stop action.


If you've been following the Marvel universe, then you will be familiar with a lot of the actors and the characters they play.  We of course have Samuel L. Jackson (Snakes on a Plane) returning as Nick Fury (and if you like him, that's good, because his role keeps expanding with each film).  Then there is Scarlett Johansson (Don Jon) as Black Widow (always sexy and kick-ass).  There is some new blood as well, and they hold their own quite well against the seasoned pros of the series.  Already mentioned is Robert Redford as Pierce.  It almost seems like this role was written specifically for him, he fit it so perfectly.  The newcomer that you will all want to see more of after this movie is Anthony Mackie (Pain & Gain) as Falcon.  He basically is Captain America's new sidekick in this movie and the chemistry between those two actors is amazing.  They play off of each other like they've been doing this for years.


The Marvel movies have all done a great job of tying in with each other, but also working as stand-alone films.  This balance is one of the many things I love about these movies.  And it's another thing that CA:WS does very well.  It helps to see the other movies to get small references, but you can see it alone and still get 100% enjoyment out of it.  I know I'm a little biased for comic movies, but I've tried, and I really can't find anything at all to criticize this movie about.  The rest of the comic movies this year have their work cut out for them....and, in my opinion, the rest of the movies in general.


As a side note, there was a passing mention of Dr. Strange's name.  Exciting.  And for all my fellow Iowans, Iowa City gets a small shout out.  Bottom line, though, go see this movie.....right now.  You will not regret it.


Rating: ********** (10 out of 10)


Memorable Quote:
Black Widow: Would you like to play a game?

A Week (or 2) of Entertainment - Issue 2

A little busy with a state pool tournament last weekend, so I took a week off from this.  I know, already faltering after one issue.  But anywho, here's a few of the stories from the past two weeks that I personally found interesting or worth noting.

Last week they revealed the new logo for Fox's upcoming show Gotham.  I personally like it.  It's got everything you need.  It's dark and gritty the way Gotham should be, it's got the searchlight which will be the future sight of the bat signal, and I love the callback to the old animated series with the blimps flying through the city.  The show will be the story of Gordan's (played by Ben McKenzie) rise from detective to police commissioner.  It will also address the rise of the various villains such as Penguin and Catwoman.  The only thing that worries me is the friendship that will evolve between Gordon and a young Bruce Wayne.  I don't think I really want it to fall mostly over to Bruce's story and turn into another Smallville.  Nothing wrong with Smallville, but I would just rather see Gordon's story.  By the way, do I get some sort of commission for this since I had this idea way back in 2008 as witnessed by the end of this blog?  Anyway, I'm looking forward to checking this show out.


Another show I need to catch up on now that the first season is on Netflix is Arrow.  I was only really semi-interested until they recently introduced a little character named Barry Allen.  Coming fresh off of Arrow, he's getting his own show and they have recently showed the first pic of the costume.

I'm not going to praise or diss the costume.  History shows that you just can't judge it til you see it in action.  I'm instead just going to say how excited I am to see a new Flash tv show come to the small screen.  Rumor even has it that Jonathan Wesley Shipp has some as yet unspecified role! (He played the flash in the short lived live action show from 1990)


Speeding right along we come to a clash of the titans.  As of right now May 6, 2016 is going to be a big day for fanboys.  It's the current release date for Batman vs. Superman AND Captain America 3. (I know, more superhero news....hey, it's what I like).  I know this release date is going to change for one of the two powerhouses, because let's face it.....money.  But, how cool would it be to have two superhero movies this big open on the same day?  That would be one heck of a double feature.  Of course you have Captain America who's third movie in the well established Marvel-verse I'm already excited for if CA 2 is near as good as early buzz says.  Then you have Batman and Superman together for the first time on the big screen.  I don't care who says they hated Man of Steel.  Good or bad, this next movie is going to be a can't miss event.  Make mine Marvel and DC.


And just a quick note.  It's rumored that Sebastian Stan has signed a 9 movie deal with Marvel.  I don't want to go into spoilers for people who don't read Captain America.  For those of you who have read Winter Soldier and beyond, put the pieces together with that.  I'm excited if it means what I think it means.


Getting away from superheroes, we have a new teaser trailer for Peanuts, coming in 2015.  Normally, I groan at the thought of classic characters like these getting a makeover for the 21st century.  But watch this trailer and tell me you don't get a warm nostalgic feeling when you hear that old familiar Peanuts music start to play.  Then we get the Snoopy laugh and the signature "Good grief".  It's a short teaser, but it already feels like they have the tone of the characters done right.  It makes me smile every time I watch it.  Here's to hoping.  If the movie flops, I guess we can always pull out the old classic holiday episodes.


Speaking of old properties getting new treatment, rumor has it Ghostbusters 3 is still a go.  Of course this movie has been in the rumor mill for so long it's basically a running joke.  I love the first, and yes, even the second movie, but this third is so late in coming that I have never really paid much heed to any of the rumors.  That and the recent passing of comedy icon Harold Ramis, have left me cold to the idea of a third movie.  Recent news has piqued my interest though.  Lord and Miller are now in talks to direct.  After what they did with a children's book, an old 80's undercover cop drama, and recently children's building blocks though, you now have my attention.  Good luck, and remember not to cross the streams.


On a final note, Jimmy Fallon had what I think may be my new favorite introduction for a guest on a talk show (not that I really had one before).  Check out the clip here.


As before, let me know what you think of any of these stories, or stories I may have missed that you found interesting.  Comment below.


Until next time.....who you gonna call?


Weekend Top 10 at the box office:
1 - Divergent (new release)  $56M
2 - Muppets Most Wanted (new release)  $16.5M
3 - Mr. Peabody & Sherman  $11.7M
4 - 300: Rise of An Empire  $8.6M
5 - God's Not Dead (new release)  $8.5M
6 - Need For Speed  $7.7M
7 - The Grand Budapest Hotel $6.7M
8 - Non-Stop  $6.3M
9 - The LEGO Movie  $4.1M
10 - Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club  $3.1M

A Week of Entertainment - Issue 1

This is just a little recap of the things I found interesting in the entertainment world over the past week.


First off, the Oscars happened.  As if nobody knew that already.  I thought Ellen did a fine job, and so did most everyone else I guess.  It had the most viewers of any Oscars for the past 10 years.  I'm not sure I understand all the people who hate on the Oscars every year.  Is it all politics?  Yes. (Heck, 2 of the academy members  apparently came out anonymously and admitted to voting 12 Years a Slave as best picture without ever having seen it.)   Is it actors patting themselves on the back?  Yes.  You don't like that?  Quit complaining and watch something else.  Despite these things, I still love watching the Oscars because it's still entertaining and it's about celebrating movies.  The only time it's messed up is when they choose a terrible host *cough* James Franco *cough*.  I loved watching Seth McFarlane last year.  And Ellen was quite entertaining this year as well.  It also helped that the movies were all quite good too.  Even if some people voted 12 Years without seeing it, it at least was one heck of a film, and quite deserving.  (Even though I wanted Gravity to win, but hey, they got umpteen million other Oscars that night.)  The Oscars make for a fun night to get together with friends and celebrate the one thing that everyone loves....movies.  My wife and I had our second annual Oscar party which was quite successful and a lot of fun.  Hope to keep it going.


Now, we have been seeing a ton of trailers for Captain America: Winter Soldier, and I have been getting more and more excited about this movie.  I think this is gearing up to be one of the best of the second phase for Marvel.  Usually I don't like getting too much of a look at a movie before it comes out, but I've gotta share the clip that they sent out this week.  All I've got to say is AWESOME!  I want more!


This year seems to be the resurgence of forgotten Frank Miller projects.  This weekend saw the opening of 300: Rise of an Empire.  This is apparently what they are calling an interquel to the movie 300, which came out way back in 2006.  I guess they were sick of sequels and prequels and decided to go with movies that take place at the same time as the first.  Not necessarily new, I guess.  I mean we all saw Lion King 1 1/2 right?  But, the project I'm more looking forward to is Sin City: A Dame To Kill For, the long-awaited sequel (at least by me) to 2005's Sin City.  This week we finally saw the arrival of the first trailer.  Personally I think Rodriguez has made way too many Spy Kids movies, but I really loved the style of the first Sin City and hope to see more of the same.  This trailer really looks like it might deliver.


And last, but certainly not least, was an e-bay sale this week for arguably the most recognizable bike in movie history.  One of the bikes actually used in the movie Pee Wee's Big Adventure sold this week for $36,000.  Seriously, why did no one buy this for me?  I want it.  I'll let you know when it goes up for sale again so you can break out your wallets.


Any news that caught your eye this week?  Any opinions about these items?  Let me know.


Until next time......remember, there's no basement in the Alamo!