This will be a few short reviews of the movies I have seen in the past month.
Starting with the movie Criminal, an action thriller directed by Ariel Vromen, written by Douglas Cook and David Weisberg. It stars Kevin Costner as an ex-con man named Jericho Stewart, and Gal Gadot as Jill Pope, with Tommy Lee Jones as Dr. Franks and Gary Oldman as Quaker Wells and Ryan Reynolds playing deceased CIA agent Bill Pope. The premise for this particular film is the implantation of Bill Pope’s memories and skill set into convicted Jericho Stewart, so the government may finish an incomplete assignment. The film had an extraordinary well known cast who did their best to present the premise of the film as best they could. Unfortunately, the dialog was ordinary and there appeared to be a feeble attempt to create an older version of The Bourne Trilogy (with a little Inception thrown in for good measure). It, however, fell short and flat. Costner is no Damon, but I will say that he gave it his best shot. I am not a fan of voiceover and it was used throughout this film and not very well. The backstory was handled fairly and I like the use of intertile cards to let the audience know where it was. The chase and action scenes were okay…lots of shoot ‘em up, bang, bang…very gruesome and violent. and very ordinary (seen many times before). It did not need the sappy happy ending, nor the set up for what I really hope is not a sequel to this film. If you haven’t seen this film, don’t! GRADE: 1 of 5 crowns 
Now on the opposite side of the spectrum is the exceptional science fiction movie Midnight Special, written and directed by Jeff Nichols. The film stars one of my favorite actors Michael Shannon as Roy, the father of Alton, played extremely well by young Jaeden Lieberher, Kirsten Dunst is Sarah, Alton’s mother, Adam Driver is Paul Sevier, the FBI investigator, Sam Shepard is Calvin Meyer, the leader of a religious cult, and Joel Edgerton plays Lucas, a state trooper and friend of Roy. Simply stated, the film tells the story of Roy, Sarah, and their biological son, Alton Meyer, and their friend Lucas trying to escape federal and local officers, after they discover that Alton has some very special powers. It starts with a religious cult in Texas with eight-year-old Alton who has developed what appears to be otherworldly gifts. An amber alert is issued for Alton as Roy and Lucas attempt to bring him to an unspecified place and date where a celestial event is to occur. They are unfortunately in a car accident and with the help of Elden, find a place to hide out. The FBI is investigating the cult and PaulSevier is interviewing members who have seen Alton’s abilities firsthand and who is unable to function in the daylight. At a nearby gas station, Alton manages to pull a satellite from space and causes sparks to fall like rain on the area. Alton and Roy run into the woods to hide in a cave so the air patrol cannot find them and because of the fits Alton is having from the beams of light that emit from his eyes, he says that he needs to be in the sunlight. Here we learn where Alton’s abilities come from, another plane existing above Earth and that he is from there. Unfortunately, the cult and the FBI kidnap Alton where he is questioned by Sevier, exhibiting his supernatural powers, and is helped to escape to meet his parents so they may go to Florida where the event is to take place. In the everglade, the ground shakes, an explosion of light surrounds most of the southeastern area, where otherworldly architecture appears in the sky. Alton then disappears along with the structures. Roy and Lucas are imprisoned, Sarah escapes, dying her hair to hide who she is. The film ends with Roy wearing an electroencephalography device and a glowing light shining from his eyes as did Alton’s.
This film was written directly for the screen and contained minimal dialog, which at times was very hard to decipher as the southern accent spoke particularly by Shannon was way too thick, but his ability to express his emotions was exceptionally well done. The visuals, CGI, cinematography, makeup, costumes, editing and direction were excellent, as was the acting by the entire cast. The theme for this film I have to believe was faith versus reality and it had besides a strong supernatural bent a rather strong religious feeling. (At one point, I though Alton was an angel…and I am still not certain that is what we were lead to believe.) It was a really good film. GRADE: 4 of 5 crowns 
The thriller slasher horror film Green Room was written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier. It stars Anton Yelchin as Pat, Alia Shawkat as Sam, Joel Cole as Reece, Callum Turner as Tiger, and Patrick Stewart plays Darcy Banker. The movie’s plot concerns a punk band that finds themselves at a remote club in the Pacific Northwest, with a group of neo-Nazi skinheads after they have seen a murder in the club. The band,The Ain’t Rights, consists of Pat, Sam, Reece, and Tiger, who meet a local radio host who get them a job outside Portland. Arriving at the club, which is a neo-Nazi skinhead bar in the deep woods, they perform their set with a song that angers the audience. Sam forgets her cell phone in the green room and Pat goes back to get it and finds two of the regulars standing over a dead body of a young woman with a knife in her head. The band is put into the room with two bouncers as they wait for 911 to arrive or the club’s owner, Darcy, whichever comes first. Guess who does? Darcy decides that the band needs to be eliminated as they are witness to the murder. The group does overpower the bouncers, but Darcy manages to maneuver them into releasing the gun; however, when doing that, Pat’s left hand is broken and his arm is mutilating from repeated stabbings. Reece chokes the other one. As much as they try, there is no escape from the club. Finally deciding to make a break for it, they leave the club, but are then attached by pit bulls, who kill Tiger. Reece is also stabbed to death as he tries to leave. Pat, Amber and Sam go back to the room, where the club’s manager meets them and decides to help, but he is shot and killed, while Sam is shot and mauled to death by another pit bull.
I guess by now and through all the descriptions I have already given you that this is a gory, violent, bloody slasher film, but…there is a lot more which I will spare you the details. But I will spoil it here for you now: Pat and Amber do manage to escape into the surrounding woods, where they discover Darcy and two of his men disposing of the other band members, making it appear as though they were killed by dogs while trespassing. Pat and Amber kill all three and then they sit on the side of the road, waiting patiently for the police to arrive while the last pit bull silently walks passed them to one of the men who has trained it and lies its head on him. The movie ends with Pat and Amber watching the dog walk passed them. Audience…a last chuckle to loosen the mood!
I am not a fan of these types of films, but this film had Patrick Stewart playing a really evil guy, not his normal type of role, in which he nailed it. It was written and directed intelligently with a cast that acted exceptionally well. It had great music, set design, and for those who love guts and blood, the makeup was awesome and then this is the film for you. One problem was Stewart t(o appear more menacing), talked way too softly at times. It was hard to hear him speak over the very loud punk music playing in the background. GRADE: 3 of 5 crowns 
My absolute favorite movie I have seen in the past month was Hello, My Name is Doris, directed by Michael Showalter, who along with Laura Terruso wrote the screenplay about a woman in her 60s who tries to act on her attraction to a younger co-worker. The film stars Sally Field as Doris Miller, Max Greenfield plays the younger man, John Fremont, Beth Behrs is John’s girlfriend Brooklyn, Stephen Root is Doris’s brother Todd, Wendi McLendon-Covey is his wife Cynthia, and Tyne Daly is Doris’s friend Roz. The entire film deals with Doris, with the help of her best friend’s 13-year-old granddaughter, scheming to get the attention of a younger co-worker in her office. The film is delightful, thanks to the acting of Sally Field that displays a sincere and honest appraisal of a lonely older woman looking for a life in a society that is hung up on youth. As fantastical as it seems, the story moved along thanks to the acting talents already mentioned, the excellently written scrip, great cinematography, music, editing, direction, makeup and costumes. I found the theme of the film to include NOT aging gracefully, be yourself and that age is irrelevant. I particularly liked the ending, which left the audience up in the air as to whether or not the relationship could (or would) work with merely an elevator door closing and…well, you’ll have to see it. I know I intend to see it again. GRADE: 4 of 5 crowns 
I did see Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, directed by Zack Snyder and written by Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer. It starred Ben Affleck at Batman, Henry Cavill as Superman, Amy Adams, Jesse Eisenberg, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Jeremy Irons, Holly Hunter and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman (the best in the film…maybe Ben too.) Besides introducing Wonder Woman, it also showed Aquaman, Cyborg, Doomsday, and Flash and set the audience up for the DC Universe’s Justice League. The movie’s plot is a simple one: Lex Luthor (played way over the top by Jesse Eisenberg) manipulates Batman into a battle with Superman, whom Lex is out to defeat. The film was inspired from the Batman comic book and was influenced by the “Death of Superman” story. The first week out, it did very well, but historically dropped off in week two. Here’s the best I can say about this film: It had no heart. Jesse was annoying. It was boring as hell except for Wonder Woman and mainly because there is little filmography on her story. GRADE: 1 of 5 crowns (and that’s being generous because of Gal Gadot) 
Last, but most certainly not least, is the action film Captain America: Civil War, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely. It stars Chris Evans as Captain America, Robert Downey Jr. as Ironman, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier, Anthony Mackie plays Falcon, with Don Cheadle as.War Machine Jeremy Renner is Hawkeye, Chadwick Boseman is Black Panther, with Paul Bettany as Vision, Elizabeth Olsen is Scarlett Witch, with Paul Rudd as Antman and Emily VanCamp as Sharon Carter, Tom Holland is Spider-Man, Frank Grillo plays Cossbones, William Hurt is Thunderbolt Ross, and Daniel Bruhl is.Helmut Zemo, the villain. Marisa Tomei has a small part as May Parker, Spider-Man’s aunt and as always, Stan Lee has his normal cameo, this time as the FedX delivery man.
The storyline for this movie is set one year after the Avengers: Age of Ultron and the disagreement within the group due to the international oversight of them which breaks them into conflicting groups, one lead by IronMan (Tony Stark) and the other by Captain America (Steve Rogers). The film starts with a flashback to 1991 when Hydra brainwashed Bucky (Winter Soldier) to intercept a car that is carrying a briefcase with super soldier serum and to kill the car’s occupants, which we learn later on in the film are actually Tony Stark’s mother and father. A year after Ultron’s defeat, part of the Avengers manage to stop Rumlow from stealing a weapon in Lagos, but Scarlett Witch in her zeal to displace the blast from Rumlow ’s bomb, destroys a building, killing numerous workers. Ross then informs the group that the U.N. is going to pass an Accord establishing a governing body to control the Avengers. The team is divided about this. Faith and guilt play into it.
Another bomb explodes and the King of Wakanda is killed. The video surveillance shows that the Winter Soldier is responsible for the placement of the bomb and the king’s son (Black Panther) states that he will kill him. The real villain is actually Helmut Zemo who is responsible for the bomb, and killing Winter Soldier’s handler, stealing the book which has the trigger words to activate the brainwashing. He uses them to have the Winter Soldier work for him. Captain America rescues Bucky, learning that Zemo is going to where the other brainwashed super soldiers are being kept in cryogenic stasis. This is where the team splits. Stark and his team intercept Rogers’s team at the Airport, where they have this HUGE fight (well choreographed with the use of excellently crafted visual and special effects). Rogers and Bucky escape, but the rest of his team is imprisoned, while War Machine is paralyzed due to being shot by Vision.
It is at this part of the film that Tony learns about the frame up by Zemo of Bucky, and goes to the Hydra facility to talk to Rogers and Bucky, but unbeknownst to him, the Black Panther has followed him and is determined to kill Bucky. They do discover that all the other super soldiers have been killed by Zemo and it was merely a ploy to get the Avengers together and try to kill one another as they killed his family. Tony also learns that it was Bucky who killed his parents and shoots his robotic arm off. Tony’s armor is disabled, Zemo, who attempts suicide is thwarted by Black Panther, War Machine gets an exoskeletal brace and he walks again and Captain America to the rescue…he helps his comrades escape. Bucky returns to cryogenic sleep, hoping for a cure to his brainwashing, and in a post credit scene, Spidey gets a new toy from Tony.
Now, this film I liked. I guess I must be a Marvel comic fan and not a DC comic one. Sorry about that. (Although, I am looking forward to the Suicide Squad movie this August.) But this film really had a fantastic superhero showdown that the Batman vs. Superman movie lacked, plus it had a great storyline, plot, cinematography, visual and special effects. The direction and editing, with the excellent choreographed fight scenes, combined with the humorous aspects of Spider-Man and Antman, helped to keep the action from going too far over the top. I particularly liked the use of intertile cards to let the audience know just where it was at and to connect the various different storylines going on. There was a lot of action…maybe too much. You needed to take a breath every now and then and digest what was just seen and you did not have the chance. But it was a really, really good film. GRADE: 4 of 5 crowns 
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