One Minute Movie Review: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The Russo brothers, Anthony and Joe, new to the action genre, bring us the best sequel to date in the Marvel Universe with this entirely engaging, uniquely unpredictable, and thoroughly entertaining installment completely shattering all expectations and utterly upending the core of this fantastically successful cinematic matrix.  I will reveal no spoilers, but it is safe to say that not only is the second Avengers effectively set up, but the TV phenom, Marvels' Agents of Shield, is creatively and fluidly drawn in, and, finally, Cap is given the treatment he truly deserves staying faithful to both his comic book mythos and the integrity and authenticity of the character.   I thought the first was an incredibly enjoyable homage of the cliffhanger adventures of old, ala Raiders of the Lost Ark, with a nostalgic, genuine, and fun look and feel.   This follow up creates an imaginative and convincing darker conspiracy atmosphere that not only absolutely entertains the senses, but has enough plot twists and turns to keep the mind guessing and doubting.    Chris Evans has defined the Cap, like Hugh Jackman has done with Wolverine, owning his on screen identity completely.  At the same time, Johannson's Widow is fleshed out, Jackson's Fury gets a bit more of the spotlight in a more meaningful way, and Redford's role is dynamic.  My only complaint, a little more development of Mackie's Falcon would have been appreciated, but I expect to see that occur in either the next Avengers or possibly Cap's third outing.  Stan's performance is both eerie and compelling, unfortunately, I can not say anymore than that without risking spoiler seepage.   As far as the FX goes they are some of the best I have seen on screen.  After the disaster that Iron Man 3 was, I have to say, I was worried about the direction that Whedon had decided to go in, looking like he might be finally striking, or least grounding out. Well, he hit a solid  triple with Thor: The Dark World, and an undisputed grand slam with this film.  4 out of 5 Kernels: funny, fast, sleek, sophisticated, suspenseful, and action packed, this is the total package.

One Minute Movie Review: Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters

Based off of the book series which I never intend on reading, the first installment was a good little flick, heavy on the FX, light on the acting, but somewhat interesting as a definitive tween focused take on the mythology.    So I didn't expect much out of the sequel.   This time out director, Thor Freudenthal, know for such blockbuster hits as Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Hotel for Dogs (sarcasm alert), tries his hand at the franchise.  To keep it simple, this is a kids' film by all accounts just with a bit more maturity and severely overloaded with CGI.  The plot is intriguing and, again, the modernized take on the Greek legends is engaging even for the anyone above twelve year old demographic.   However, the performances do not rise to the occasion actually feeling quite stale to the point where even the actors seem bored in and with most of their scenes.   High energy from the cast is absolutely required in these type of flicks in order to capture this generations' gnat like attention spans and that is immediately absent here.     It is a shame, if the cast would have stepped it up, with all the remaining factors in place, this might have been a fairly cool film.  2 out of 5 Kernels: doesn't quite descend to the level of Hades, but still barely scratches the surface of its potential.

One Minute Movie Review: Captain Phillips

Since many of the facts of this "based on a true story," movie that chronicles one of the most dreadfully suspenseful hostage crises of the current decade, are in somewhat of a dispute, I will purely focus on the filmmakers interpretation of the events & storytelling, imagery, & cast performances that bring that perception to life.  Director, Paul Greengrass is no stranger to the political thriller & already  has many major titles to his credit, Bourne Ultimatum, Bourne Supremacy, & Bloody Sunday.   The challenge of this film, like so many others like it, is that we already know the ending, so keeping the story fresh, exciting, &, dare I say, original & unpredictable is a very tall, mostly unsuccessful order.   However, Greengrass is able to accomplish this difficult goal & more.  His victory is achieved, in one part, by a dynamic, fluid, authentic, & thoroughly engaging, tension filled delivery of a well written script.   The second, is the absolutely stellar performance of its entire cast, led most definitively by Hanks.  Despite my utter disdain for his political views, Hanks is, undoubtedly, one of the finest actors of our generation.   His performance is inspired, deeply passionate, & completely believable.   Never has a film with such a publicized outcome, kept me on the edge of my seat, riveted to the screen, & emotionally moved.   I am also proud to report, this is one of the finest portrayals of our brave service men & women that I have seen.  No matter what the whole story may be, this film is an amazing tale of bravery, heroics, & strength of spirit.   5 out of 5 Kernels: A tremendous real life act of courage under unbelievable circumstances & an equally amazing & vivid cinematic portrayal of that courage.

One Minute Movie Review: Parkland

The account of the JFK assassination, which is one of the most pivotal & tragic moments in US history, has been recreated to a point of ad nauseam, examined from nearly every conceivable angle & perspective, & cycled through any & all plausible to downright ludicrous conspiracy theories, with very little left of the story to tell in a new, fresh, or innovative way.   Then along comes author Vincent Bugliosi & this feature, based on his novels, Reclaiming History & The Assassination of President John F Kennedy, & completely shatters my prior statement.  This picture, directed by Peter Landesman, his debut in the big chair, by the way, brings us several differing but acutely focused & emotionally charged vantage points ranging from the hospital staff that treated Kennedy in his final moments, to Zapruder, the man who took the most famous & infamous 8 mm film in history, to the team of loyal, almost zealous, Secret Service agents, & finally the Oswald family, zeroing in on Lee's brother & his reaction to the consequences to one of the darkest day's in our collective memory.   The storytelling is majestic with acting, by this stellar cast, that is inspired and deeply authentic.  It is  filmed like a docudrama, with a scope & sweep that is so genuine, realistic, & moving that it is, at times, difficult to watch.   To single out one performance is futile, as every character, whether main or supporting, has a powerful & lasting impact for whatever length they serve on the silver screen.   An absolute masterpiece of a movie that brings you into the midst of the tragedy itself & its gut-wrenching aftermath.    5 out 5 Kernels: without a doubt one of the best films of 2013 that you may have never known existed.

One Minute Movie Review: The World's End

This is the third installment of Edgar Wright's eclectic trilogy starring, most notably, Simon Pegg & Nick Frost. For the sake of time and length of this review, you can Google Wright and his cast to explore their prior exploits.  The three letters that best describe this alleged final outing is WTF, which is a running, or should I say, limping, gag throughout the picture. It was hard to review this flick, because, unlike other films which I strictly critique based on their merits, production values, and definitive content, with this movie I find myself at a weird loss.  I just did not like the film, not because it wasn't written or acted well that the plot pieces didn't fit together snugly, or even the trademark British quick wit which was founded by the pioneers behind script shows like Monty Python's Flying Circus or series such as Faulty Towers.   Again, Google them if you are lost by this point.  For me, it just seemed like a goofy concept that didn't really deserve a cinematic treatment. Now, the performances were solid, authentic, and somewhat endearing.  The humor was mild but decently effective providing a few moments of sharp and fluid dialogue. However, the story was frustratingly eccentric, bordering on silly, which, believe it or not, I truly think was the goal.  Being such a fan of the Brits and their unique and biting comedy, I thought I would utterly enjoy this farce.  Rather, I found myself, just slightly entertained but mostly disappointed believing, with this ensemble cast of characters, it would be a truly creative and funny film. I was so very wrong.  1 out of 5 Kernels; an assumed Sci Fi spoof that focuses on a bar crawl among childhood friends, as far as attention span goes it ends up barely crawling at all.

One Minute Movie Review: The Lone Ranger (2013)

Alright, before I proceed any further, let me list the two good things about this train wreck of a movie, no pun intended.  The score is magnificent & cinematography is absolutely breathtaking.   With that said, every other element of this picture is utterly worthless.  When did Hollyweird decide that audiences desire to see every hero reduced to a flawed, goofy, clueless, & inept mess who more or less accidentally saves the day & is no one anyone would strive or desire to emulate? Why must we reduce our heroes to the lowest human level rather than wish to rise to theirs?  I grew up on the Lone Ranger, a lawman who was sincere, true, & brave.  It was fantasy, I knew that even as a child, but it gave me an ideal to aspire to.  Can anyone honestly say that, about any of the alleged heroic figures, LA is spewing out today?   These reboots seem to be a deliberate reflection of the directors inability to achieve the standards set forth by their muses rather than a true telling of their tales.   I thought The Dark Knight series & The Man of Steel set the new lows in turning their heroes into whiny emasculated, human punching bags, but this celluloid pile far exceeds even those travesties.   Gore Verbinski, of Pirates of the Caribbean fame, commits career suicide in the most gruesome of ways &, even more disturbingly, invites us to watch all two plus hours of it.   Depp, who is the quintessential character actor, delivers the most boring, idiotic, & downright racist performances of his career.   Was there no American Indian actors to play the part of Tonto?   The rest of the cast is as interesting as watching grass grow & then witnessing a dog defecate on it.  Add into that the most blatant anti-American story-line a liberal could imagine in his or her deepest wet dream & you have one of the greatest epic fails in cinematic history, & that includes such stinkers as Tropic Thunder, Vanilla Sky, & Elysium to name a few.   0 out of 5 Kernels: never have I wanted more to use a silver bullet to end my misery while watching this film feces.

One Minute Movie Review: Kick Ass 2

Kick Ass is back as is much of the original cast plus a few new masked faces, however, original director Matthew Vaughn is out, replaced by Jeff Wadlow (Cry Wolf & Never Back Down, & if you haven't heard of either one of these films, you are in good company).   This go round, Kick Ass is not alone in his half ars attempt at crime fighting, rather he is joined by a motley crew of costumed misfits who believe they to can make a difference in the "real" world, including Jim Carrey in his most Un-Jim Carrey role yet.    But Carrey is no Cage, which is not necessarily a bad thing anymore, but for this series it makes a tremendous difference.  Mortez brings Hit Girl back to gloriously violent & profane life while Johnson's performance is a bit more lackluster & superficial. Plasse excels playing a living train wreck, although most of his scenes are played full on tongue in cheek with great success, the dramatic moments that were needed to flesh out his character completely  miss their mark.  By the end of the film,  you definitely long for Strong's sophisticated & delightfully evil quintessential villain from the first movie.  In addition, all the uniqueness, crass, & dark humor of the original is either missing, overreaching, or supplanted with stale, almost silly dialogue & over the top action sequences that are less edgy & more designed for cheap thrills & to satisfy fan-boy cinematic blood lust.   The story is solid, but choppy, so it is not told well & even overtly preachy at times.   It feels as though they tried to do too much in the time they had to do it in.  Overall, compared to the original, it disappoints, but as a companion piece,  it somewhat compliment its predecessor & if you are looking for an amusement ride of a flick, this could be considered a win. I thoroughly enjoy the concept, it is both engaging & entertaining, in a disturbing, almost shameful guilty pleasure kind of way.  The first delivered like a powerhouse, the sequel feels more like a sidekick. 2 out of 5 Kernels: there are some very cool, truly quotable moments, & Mortez rocks, but neither is enough to truly save the day, or this film from failing to reach its potential.