Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo.

2014. Rated PG-13, 136 minutes.

Cast:

Chris Evans

Scarlett Johansson

Samuel L. Jackson

Robert Redford

Anthony Mackie

Sebastian Stan

Frank Grillo

Cobie Smulders

Emily VanCamp

Hayley Atwell

Like Thor and Iron Man we find Steve Rogers, aka Captain America (Evans), trying to piece his life back together "after New York," or the events of The Avengers. In case you haven't kept up with what's going on, Cap has an additional hurdle. He's not long been woken after having been frozen for nearly seventy years. He has a lot of catching up to do. Of course, that has to wait because there's a world to save. Some bad folks, I won't say who, have taken over SHIELD. They plan on restoring world order, and running things, by eliminating every person in the world they deem to be a threat. This numbers some twenty million people. Yes, Captain America, Black Widow (Johansson), and Nick Fury (Jackson) are included in that group. Superhero stuff ensues.

One thing we notice early on is that the tone of this movie is different from just about every other in Marvel's shared universe, with the first Captain America being the closest one. The rest go out of their way to make us laugh. While there is some humor here, that certainly isn't the case. Things don't quite veer into The Dark Knight territory, but it is a fairly serious minded superhero flick. The movie uses this to tremendous advantage by creating tension sooner and rarely diffusing it. Action scenes are given more oomph. Combine all this with the fact that neither our hero nor the people helping him are actually invincible and that tension is increased a bit more. We feel like there's something on the line.

Captain America himself is a big asset. Chris Evans has found the hero he should be playing. As The Human Torch in the Fantastic Four series, he was too much. He got to be real annoying, real fast. In other things, I've usually found him too bland to make me care about whoever he was playing. The character of Captain America calls for a certain level of blandness. Like Superman, he represents the cheesy ideals of a simpler time. He is also a physical specimen superior to the rest of us. Evans embodies all of this. We believe him when he expresses confliction over the politics at play within SHIELD and elsewhere. Unlike Superman, and what ultimately makes him a better fit for the movies, is that he is not indestructible. As enhanced as he is, he will still succumb to many of the same things we will. Granted, none of us are jumping out a plane with no parachute and landing unharmed, but he can still be taken out by a gunshot or be cut by a knife.

Helping us psychoanalyze our hero are Black Widow and Sam Wilson, aka Falcon (Mackie). Both ask him tons of personal questions. Black Widow does so mostly in an effort to help him kick start his love life. Meanwhile, Falcon tries to help him fill in the blanks created by seventy years of sleep. It's a cool way for us to get to know a little more about Cap, and inject some laughter into the proceedings. Johansson gives her best performance of the character, to date, and Mackie does a very nice job with his role. He is an actor I've admired for a while now, so I'm happy he's getting a chance at becoming part of a huge franchise on a recurring basis (hopefully). Speaking of our supporting cast, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Samuel L. Jackson. He continues to make Nick Fury his own.

All of these performers come together to tell us an intriguing story. It's the saga of a prodigal son returning, but not sure what to, and if he still belongs. It's the self-examination of a man who is struggling with his sense of right and wrong. His feelings are egged on by his lack of trust in the powers that be. These are issues he never had to deal with during his World War II days. Eliminating the enemy was easy because everyone knew who they were. With evil-doers more clandestine than ever and their identities rapidly changing, Cap has a lot tougher job than he once had.

Examining our hero's mental state is fine and dandy, but it all would be for naught in a boring movie. See Ang Lee's Hulk for proof. Luckily, this one not only has tons of action, it has tons of good action. The battles Cap gets into are some doozies. His hand-to-hand combat is shot in a way that owes a lot to The Bourne Identity. The camera is a bit shaky and closer than normal. It works to emphasize the force and speed at which our hero is moving. His best fight is one with a person who has a very interesting identity. However, the best action scene of them all might be one that doesn't include Cap at all. Instead, it features Nick Fury trying to escape with his life. It's Fury's finest scene in any movie, period.

One of the negatives in all this awesomeness is something this movie imposes on itself and wouldn't change. That problem is that it's "just" a Captain America flick. Marvel's shared universe concept comes back to bite them. By that, I mean we already know that this is a world where Thor, Iron Man, and the Hulk exist. The conflict of this movie certainly seems like a big enough issue to get their attention. Alas, none of them are even doing a fly-by to see if Cap is okay. This is by no means a deal breaker. However, it just feels a bit odd that so big a problem get such a limited response. On the technical side, there were a couple of hard to ignore continuity issues. These mainly involve just when and where Falcon is able to access his wings. He seemed to just get them out of nowhere on occasion. Again, not a deal breaker, but an annoyance.

The bigger negative is Captain America's abilities. I mentioned them as a positive, earlier. I also exclaimed how great it is that he isn't immortal. Still, just how enhanced he is is a bit vague and inconsistent. Remember that chuteless sky-dive? It looks really cool, but leaves us a bit puzzled when something of much lesser impact than landing that jump hurts him. It's a problem the character has been dealing with since long before he made the leap from the comic book pages to the big screen. Therefore, I won't knock the movie too much. It's really hard to. To be honest, this is arguably the best Marvel movie of this whole shared universe thing.

Thursday Movie Picks: Movies About Assassins

Once again, it's that wonderful day of the week that most of you only like slightly more than Wednesday because it's one step closer to Friday. Around here, Thursday has recently gotten a sprucing up thanks to Wanderer at Wandering Through the Shelves and her Thursday Movie Picks Meme.

Yes, this is the part where I urge you to swing by her place, check out the blog and join the Thursday fun.

Do it.

Now.

Just make sure you come back here, at some point.

Soon.

This week's theme is "Movies About Assassins." No shortage of those, so I didn't have too much trouble picking this week. In fact, I had way too many to choose from. I had to narrow it down some way. Therefore, I settled on three that don't take themselves serious, at all. Not even a little bit. These are three movies filled with blood soaked action, profane profanity, and situations so far over the top ridiculous doesn't even begin to describe them. All three are underappreciated, so I've no choice but to call them hidden gems.

Shoot 'em Up

Clive Owen does not play an assassin. However, he is trying to protect an infant from one. Just how insane is this movie? It starts with the delivery of said baby by Owen amidst a shootout that includes the death of the mother. Owen engages in another shootout literally while having sex with Monica Bellucci. The assassin who is always hot on our hero's trail is played with mustache twirling brilliance by Paul Giamatti. It's all a bit much to take in, but it's totally worth it when you do. Don't believe me? Take it from the late great Roger Ebert. About this movie he wrote "I may disapprove of a movie for going too far, and yet have a sneaky regard for a movie that goes much, much farther than merely too far." And he gave it 3 1/2 stars out of four.

Smokin' Aces 

This one features a cast of thousands (not quite). Most of them are hitmen trying to kill a magician/gangster played with sleaze dripping from every pore by Jeremy Piven to keep him from testifying against a Las Vegas mob boss. The roster of killers includes Chris Pine, Kevin Durand, Peter Berg, Taraji P. Henson, Common, and even Alicia Keys. Don't worry Piven's got some help from the likes of Ryan Reynolds, Ray Liotta, Andy Garcia, Common, and Jason Bateman giving what I consider his finest (and most disturbing) performance. "The Critics' Consensus" on rottentomatoes.com for this film is that it's "a violent mess of a movie." And like that's somehow a bad thing, it only earned a 28% rating. Ladies and gentlemen, I am the 28%.

Crank

It doesn't get any more ridiculous than this. Jason Statham plays an assassin who makes a hit that has some unforeseen consequences. He finds himself poisoned with a drug that inhibits the flow of adrenaline and will eventually slow his heart down enough to kill him. Well, it will kill him if he can't keep his heart rate up. To do so, he does everything you could possibly think of, and then some. Take methamphetamines? Check. Get into fights with both gangsters and the police? Check. Have sex in the middle of the street? Check. Of course, he does all this while trying to get the guys who did this to him. Does it always make sense? No. Is it often downright sadistic? Yup. Do you need to "turn your brain off" to enjoy this? It wouldn't hurt. What? I don't see the problem.

Bonus pick!

Crank: High Voltage

Just because I couldn't let you escape without mentioning the sequel. I'll keep this one short and simple. Suffice it to say when I wrote 'it doesn't get any more ridiculous than this' about the original, I lied.

Bonus Bonus Pick!!

The Big Hit

I won't say too much about this one since I used it as a Thursday Movie Pick a few weeks back. Click here.

Click here for more Thursday Movie Picks.

Movies I Grew Up With: D.C. Cab

Yes, boys and girls, there was a time in my life when I was very easily amused and the presence of Mr. T made something a must-see. Seriously.

One of the shows I used to watch as a kid was something called "Games People Play." This is the program that introduced me and millions of other Americans to the gold-laden man that pities fools. It was during a segment showing a competition for "America's Toughest Bouncer." He won, of course. Or, at least that's the way I remember it. Most notably, he destroyed the opposition during the dwarf tossing event. No, I'm serious. If you saw The Wolf of Wall Street, you probably remember the guys trying to organize just such a thing. Martin Scorcese, or Jordan Belfort didn't make that up. Shit was real.

Ahhh, the 80s.

Anyhoo, one of the other millions of Americans to meet Mr. T through "Games People Play" was The Italian Stallion himself, Sylvester Stallone. Sly was so taken with the dude, he cast him as Clubber Lang in 1982's Rocky III where he pitied more fools than I thought it possible to pity. He prescribed pain and offered to show Adrian a real man. I was hooked.

It should come as no surprise that when, a year later, his next movie hit theaters I clamored to see it. It was a comedy entitled D.C. Cab. It looked hilarious in the commercials...yes, commercials. Us normal people didn't call them trailers, yet. Like any twelve year old enamored with the phenomenon known as Mr. T, I begged Mom to take me to see it. She didn't watch "Games People Play" and didn't care for any of the Rocky movies. It was also rated R and the Raiders of the Lost Ark/Raw Force debacle was still fresh in her mind. So, she said no and stood her ground.

She just didn't get it.

Nearly a year later, a friend of mine convinced his parents to rent it and I finally got to see D.C. Cab in all its glory. I was a bit disappointed Mr. T didn't really have much to do, but I enjoyed it anyway. I thought it was one of the funniest movies of all time. It revolves around country boy Albert (a rather bland Adam Baldwin) arriving in Washington, D.C. to work for the D.C. Cab company, duh, which is owned by Harold (Max Gail of Barney Miller fame), a friend of his dad. Howard's employees are pretty much a joke all by themselves. They are played by a nice mix of people who have went on to bigger and better things and others who were unknowingly near the end of their fifteen minutes of fame.

One of those who has enjoyed a long career is Gary Busey who plays me...I mean, a cabbie named Dell. He had already been around for quite a while, but he wasn't exactly what you would call a star.Still, he gets one of the movie's most memorable lines when he lets his boss know "I don't work January the 8th, 'cause it's Elvis' birthday." He actually has a number of one liners that are among the movies funniest moments.

A few others made their big screen debuts in this movie. One of them was comedienne Marsha Warfield. She plays Ophelia, Max's only competent cab driver. Unfortunately, some guy in a ski mask keeps showing up in her cab with a gun and robbing her. Warfield shows some promise here. She would parlay that into a role on one of my favorite sitcoms of all time, Night Court. Another stand-up, Paul Rodriguez, would also debut here. Inexplicably, he still gets the occasional gig. I've never thought of him as especially funny. The most lasting talent to come out of this crop of comics is yet another making his movie debut, Bill Maher. Well, now that I'm familiar with him, it's easy to see he just plays Bill Maher, but as a cab driver.

We're actually not done with comedians debuting in this movie. Charlie Barnett was another such person. He plays Tyrone, a ball of manic energy that plays up stereotypes and tries to subvert them later in the movie. Barnett gives the movie's best performance, owning every scene in which he appears, turning it into a showcase for himself. He gets the movie's best lines when talking to Albert during a quiet moment. We know that Albert's father has died and the young man is having a tough go of it in the big city. Tyrone sobers him up by saying "...and don't think I feel sorry for you 'cause your daddy died. My father came back from the Korean War with his brains so scrambled, he thought he was Jesus! They put him in a nuthouse for five years, when he came out, he didn't think he was Jesus no more, he thought he was God. Which made me Jesus." Barnett has gained recognition as a street performer in New York City and this was thought to be his big break. Sadly, it didn't work out that way. He did a few more things, but nothing of any note. He eventually became addicted to heroin and contracted HIV. He passed away in 1996.

By the way, I also got a flashback to an even earlier decade while watching this. Of course, there's Max Gail who played in the great cop show Barney Miller. However, I'd forgotten that Whitman Mayo was in this. He plays Mr. Rhythm here, but he's best known for his recurring role as Grady on Sanford & Son.

Ahhh, the 70s.

As a whole, the movie is still light-hearted fun, if goofy and predictable. Along with Albert's fish out of water story, there is a rival cab company, Howard's failing marriage, and eventually, Albert gets kidnapped. The gang of misfits he calls friends has to band together and try to save the day.

How about Mr. T?

Like I said, he doesn't get to do much despite being prominently featured in all of the advertising for the film. He was the biggest name in the cast at the time. Every now and again, he spouts off a line, pities a fool or two, and flexes his muscles by doing something crazy alongside the Barbarian Brothers. Oh, you're truly an 80s baby if you know who the Barbarian Brothers are. They are twin brothers David and Peter Paul who showed up in a few things to do precisely what they do here, be silly while performing feats of amazing strength. Singer Irene Cara also shows up as herself for a cameo. At the time, she was known for starring in and singing the theme song to the movie Fame During the same year D.C. Cab came out, she hit it big by singing the theme for the movie Flashdance. She's in the movie for one brief scene, but like Mr. T, gets used for her name. The movie was promoted as starring Irene Cara. Those ad men, I tell ya. They know all the tricks.

I watched D.C. Cab with my son. He laughed. I laughed. A few times, we laughed hysterically. We both knew it wasn't great, but had a good time taking it all in. Okay, I'll admit it. Occasionally, I'm still easily amused. Sue me. Just not on January the 8th.

Click Below for More Movies I Grew Up With:

Enter the Dragon

Krush Groove

Purple Rain

The Warriors

Teen Wolf

New Jack City

Don Jon

Directed by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

2013. Rated R, 90 minutes.

Cast:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Scarlett Johansson

Julianne Moore

Tony Danza

Glenne Headly

Brie Larson

Rob Brown

Jeremy Luke

Italia Ricci

Porn. Once it was society's secret shame. For a brief time in the 1970s, it was chic. It scurried back underground in the 80s with the rise of the VCR. To get it, you had to venture into the back room of mom and pop video stores where the other shady characters hung out and hope you weren't spotted entering or exiting by someone you know and thinks you're a fine, upstanding citizen. Now, with the omnipotence of the internet, porn rules the world. There really are only two types of people: those who actively seek it out and those who actively guard against it. Jon (Gordon-Levitt) is definitely one of the former. He gets plenty of real sex, but prefers watching it online. He tries to change things when he starts dating the beautiful Barbara (Johansson). She hates nothing more than a man who watches smut.

Don Jon is an exploration of addiction as well as of a relationship where one party dominates the other. Although it focuses more intently on the former, it's more successful with the latter. The addiction generates most of the film's laughs as it points out the differences between porn and real life sex. It's also responsible for part of the running joke that is his weekly confession at church. Where the movie really gets us emotionally involved is in showing us a man trying to maintain his own sense of identity while trying to please his mate. It's clear he has little regard for what anyone thinks of him, including his own father (Danza). With Barbara, it's different. He wants badly to impress her because he believes she is "the one." On the one hand, we understand he watches an unhealthy amount of porn. On the other, we don't want him to give up who he is and do things he doesn't want to in order to keep her. As beautiful as she is, is she worth the price of his soul?

This is where Esther comes in. She's lived, and seems to have been sent to help our hero. Julianne Moore plays the role wonderfully. She's not alone in her excellence. as a whole, the acting is a strong suit for Don Jon. Lead man Joseph Gordon-Levitt is terrific and really drags us into this character's psyche. Of course, playing an excellently written character helps. Scarlett Johansson is also really good as Barbara. We despise her, which is what we should do. She pretty much gives us our villain. The biggest surprise, though, is how good Tony Danza is. He completely owns every scene he is in. As well as our stars perform throughout the rest of the movie, they struggle to keep up when sharing the screen with him.

Where Don Jon falls short is in connecting all the dots to form a powerful picture. Certain strands of the film are built up to be important, but never go anywhere. The two most easily recognizable are Don's relationship with his father and the one with his God. He and his dad constantly antagonize one another. To what extent this has shaped him, or what he thinks of all this is never explored. It just kind of is. That's okay, but it feels like there are more depths to be mined. This is certainly true of Jon's faith. we never see him really trying to reconcile his constant watching of porn with his religion, or express any serious misgivings about it on a level that doesn't involve Barbara. He merely shows up in the confessional, spouts off the stats on his sexual and masturbatory exploits of the last seven days to the priest and is given a number of times to say "Hail Mary" as penance. There is no evidence of an inner-conflict. The problem with this is we're told multiple times how seriously he takes his faith, yet it doesn't ring true. It seems to be a game he plays. The object is simply to see how many times he'll have to say "Hail Mary." Even if he thought this really redeemed him each week, I would like to have seen that made clear. Without that, it becomes a funny, but hollow reoccurring segment.

Don Jon is still an enjoyable picture. It's lots of fun to watch and has a cute story wrapped in all its vulgarity. The performances are a real treat, with our main cast all turning in excellent work. Both the story and the actors help time fly by. Kudos to Joseph Gordon-Levitt for not only starring in such a flick, but writing it, and using it to make his directorial debut. In front of the camera, the man is a marvel. Behind it, he did some very good work, here. It's his writing that ultimately keeps this from being a special movie. It is satisfied with giving us something entertaining, but stops shy of being thought provoking even though the pieces for it to be precisely that are all in place. Therefore, while I do like the movie quite a bit, I can't help but feel like a number of opportunities have been missed.

Attack of the Sequels Blogathon

Rhys at Feeling Fuzzier is hosting the Attack of the Sequels Blogathon. It's his very first venture into the world of blogathons. Hopefully, he'll get plenty of submissions. As a matter of fact, you should swing by his site so you can participate. Yup, you. The way this one works is...well, I'll let him explain it in his own words...

1. Pick up to 5 films that you enjoyed, but never got a follow-up film. You can include films that are already sequels (e.g.Hellboy 2: The Golden Army). Doesn't matter how ridiculous it may sound. 

2. Talk about why you'd like to see a sequel to those movies, and where said sequels would take the story.

3. Please include the blogathon banner (above) somewhere in your post.

4. The deadline is August 7th - but I'm sure I'll go easy on any late submissions ;)

Ok...

Ok...

I'm thinking...

Ok.

Got it.

I would really love to see...

For me, 1999's Mystery Men is a movie ahead of its time. Like 2010's Kick-Ass, it takes a look at comic book and superhero culture from a subversive, yet still respectful viewpoint. I found it very funny and maintain that it is some of Ben Stiller's best work. He's hardly carrying the film on his own, though. The cast around him is very capable and very game including the always awesome William H. Macy. There's also Hank Azaria, Paul Ruebens, Greg Kinnear, Eddy Izzard, Lena Olin, Artie Lange, Geoffrey Rush, and a perfectly cast Janeane Garofalo. It also did the team thing before anyone realistically thought we'd have an Avengers movie, much less one for Guardians of the Galaxy. The most important reason for me wanting another one, however, is that the movie plays like their first adventure together of many to come. Hollywood, do it now!

No?

How 'bout this one...

2000's Romeo Must Die was my first experience with Jet Li as the star of the show. He completely blew me away in 1998's Lethal Weapon 4 (no, I don't really want another of those, in case you were thinking it) and I loved him, here. It's not the greatest movie ever, but it's a fun one. There is some family thing going on with in-fighting amongst the Chinese gangsters who were also feuding with the black gangsters. Mixed in to it all was a rather tepid, but cute love story concerning Li and leading lady Trish, played by the late songstress Aaliyah. Hmmm, the fact that she has since passed away poses a problem. I think I have a solution. We catch up with our hero shortly after the love of his life has been murdered. Not only does he want to avenge her death, but the people who killed her are also after him. Therefore, Romeo Must Die...Again! I'm a genius.

Not feeling that one, either?

This last one is going to floor you...

Oh, wait...

Never mind. I meant...

Way back in 1995, Wesley Snipes and Woody Harrelson played foster brothers who were also both New York City transit cops. Snipes is straight as an arrow, while Harrelson has a serious gambling problem. On top of that, they both have a thing for J-Lo. Hey, me too! Ahem...sorry. Anyhoo, it was full of action and our two male leads displayed plenty of chemistry giving us some good laughs. Sure, it was one of a million Lethal Weapon knock-offs, but I enjoyed it all the same. Our three principals are still around and presumably up to doing an action flick. I'm up for another ride. How 'bout you?

The East

Directed by Zal Batmanglij.

2013. Rated PG-13, 116 minutes.

Cast:

Brit Marling

Alexander Skarsgard

Ellen Page

Toby Kebbell

Shiloh Fernandez

Patricia Clarkson

Aldis Hodge

Danielle Macdonald

Jason Ritter

Julia Ormond

Sarah (Marling) is a corporate spy, of sorts. The organization she works for gets hired by corporations to infiltrate and provide information on groups who perform terrorist acts against them. The East is the most notorious of these groups as their stunts make national headlines and are growing increasingly dangerous. After telling her boyfriend she's on her way to Dubai for an assignment, she dyes her hair, dons some grungy clothing, and heads off to where the local vagrants hang out in hopes of getting into The East.

The premise is an intriguing one, though I have no idea why she couldn't just be an actual federal agent rather than working in a completely made up industry (I think). It's irrelevant to the plot and everything she does, every step of the way winds up in the hands of the FBI. Still, the idea of going deep undercover in a counter-culture group like The East is ripe with possibilities. While the movie does explore many of them, it does so in a manner that feels rushed. Our heroine finds the people she's looking for, gets accepted by them after some hesitance on their part, falls in love with one of them, etc. However, it all happens so fast, it's not to be believed. On top of that, she's a lousy operative. At the first sign of trouble, she purposely blows her own cover. This presents the movie with a chance to movie in a more dramatic direction. Instead, the character that knows too much simply disappears from the movie, leaving behind only a cryptic message that everyone sort of shrugs their shoulders at when they see it. All together, we just be-bop along until we get to the inevitable Earth Day inspired finale. It's a commendable film, to be sure, but a heavy-handed and not particularly good one.

What keeps The East from being a complete waste is that there are some excellent individual scenes, and a pair of really good performances. The scenes where the group is executing their acts of terrorism, or jams as they call them, pique our interest. The second of these, involving the forcing of two corporate big wigs into waters their company polluted is emotionally charged. For my money, it's by far the best few minutes in the movie. This brings me to Ellen Page's phenomenal work. She sells the scene, and her entire role, for all she's worth. Whatever it was she thought she was going to get out of this part, she goes for it. I'll caution you to take my words with a grain of salt because I've become an apologist for the actress. No matter how good or bad the film she's in, I find her to be great. I like to think this is an unbiased opinion because I honestly don't find her physically attractive. The other good performance belongs to Brit Marling, who co-wrote this film, in the lead. It's nothing she should've gotten a statuette for, but it's wonderfully understated for most of the run-time. A lot of emotion comes through the looks on her face without her appearing to mug for the camera.

Unfortunately, most of Marling's and Page's work is negated by the underwhelming turn by Alexander Skarsgard as Benji, the group's leader. It appears the character is underwritten for what he's trying to do with it, and he doesn't have the charisma to pull it off, anyway. He, and maybe director Zal Batmanglij, clearly want Benji to be an equal to John Hawkes' unsettling, yet magnetic cult-leader in Martha Marcy May Marlene. However, he's a dollar store knock-off, serviceable, but nothing that's going to get us up in arms. It doesn't help that the next most important character, after everyone already mentioned here, is Doc (Kebbell). The movie's heavy-handedness shines most through him. His very existence is so manipulative, he's like a walking, talking public service announcement. He should just repeat the same line over and over. Whenever anyone says anything to him, he should stare directly into the camera and say "Stop corporate pollution, now!" And I'm not even joking.

Like The Purge, a movie that came out in close proximity to this one, the promise of its premise far exceeds what ends up on the screen. Instead of building a good movie about an undercover agent that works toward and finishes with a message, The East beats us over the head with that message and tries to fit the undercover stuff into whatever spaces are left. Since subtlety is lost, it brazenly attempts to manipulate our emotions. No matter how unsuccessful it might be at doing this, it continuously tries. Give it an "A" for persistence, I guess. What no one involved seems to realize, though, is that a more tactful and entertaining approach is needed, no matter how dire the situation is we're addressing. I mean, I assume we're all against Catholic priests molesting choir boys and I'll assume there are people who dislike Catholics, for whatever reason. Nevertheless, Sinead O'Connor on national TV holding up a picture of the pope and declaring "This is the real evil," was a turn off (youtube Sinead O'Connor SNL, young'uns). This movie definitely takes the Sinead approach.

MY SCORE: 5.5/10

Ranking Sam Mendes Movies

Every now and again, I'll pick out someone in the film world who just happens to be celebrating a birthday and create a list in their honor. Today, the lucky person is none other than brilliant director Sam Mendes who turns 49. A lot of people aren't necessarily familiar with his name, but have definitely enjoyed a movie or two of his. The reason more people don't recognize his name is because there aren't much more than a movie or two on his resume. Since his first big screen feature in 1999, he's only directed six movies. His next isn't scheduled to hit theaters until 2015. Prolific, he is not.

What Mendes is, though, is a masterful story-teller. Part of his magic is that not only are his characters growing human beings, they are often trying to grow on purpose. A common theme throughout his filmography is people searching for some missing element from their life that will make it all better. They don't always succeed. Another oft-used theme is imprisonment, usually in a self made prison (bad marriage, bad work situation, etc.) and the effort to escape that prison.

Enough gibberish, though. Here is how I rank the six full-length features directed by Sam Mendes.

#6

Away We Go

(2009)

Unfortunately, this one is the obvious choice for the bottom spot. That's not because it's a bad flick. On the contrary, I enjoyed quite a bit. It's just the only one I don't think is amazing. Still, I do feel it is underrated and, thus far, underseen. It stars Maya Rudolph (herself, underrated) and John Krasinski as a couple expecting their first baby and traveling to various locations in North America in hopes of finding the perfect place to raise the kid. They feel like a genuine couple and the movie is a fun, whimsical affair. It also includes a perfectly zany turn by Maggie Gyllenhaal. Call it the rom-com version of another Mendes movie, which we'll get to later. (Click here for my full review)

#5

Jarhead

(2005)

Speaking of Gyllenhaals, this one stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a marine, trained to be a sniper, stationed in the Persian Gulf during Operation Desert Shield. It's a fairly unique war movie in that it deals with how mundane war can actually be, particularly The Gulf War. Our hero fights boredom far more than he does any physical enemy. In fact, that's part of what makes Jarhead a special movie. Mendes shows so much happening even though nothing that the protagonist wants actually is.

#4

Revolutionary Road

(2008)

What's an unhappily married couple to do to bring the magic back into their relationship? It's simple. Move to Paris. At least, that's the plan hatched by the couple in question in Revolutionary Road. They are played brilliantly Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. In fact, everyone who comes onto the screen does great work. That's another trademark of Mendes, getting the best out of his actors. In addition to our two stars, Michael Shannon fares particularly well, earning an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. (Click here for my full review)

#3

Skyfall

(2012)

The transformation of James Bond into a real human being is complete with Mendes' deconstruction of the character. Sure, Bond has to save the world. More importantly, he has to figure out his place in that world. He questions everything about himself and doubts his own relevance. Mendes masterfully weaves this deep introspective version of an iconic macho man into a movie still featuring tons of insane action. It helps that Daniel Craig absolutely nails the lead role. Craig and Mendes are coming together for the director's next film, the (tentatively?) entitled Bond 24. I'm eagerly looking forward to it because Skyfall is my absolute favorite James Bond movie. Period. (Click here for my full review)

#2

Road to Perdition

(2002)

On paper, a gangster movie based on a graphic novel and starring the decidedly un-gangster Tom Hanks sounds too bizarre to work. However, in Mendes' sure hands it becomes a masterpiece of restrained story-telling. Hanks plays a mob enforcer who has to go on the run with his son after a job doesn't go as planned. Hanks is wonderful, the score is nerve racking and the look of the movie is simply breath-taking (Conrad L. Hall won the Oscar for Best Cinematography). The legendary Paul Newman earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor. However, the real treat is a ridiculously unsettling turn by Jude Law. If you've never seen this, you probably have no idea how scary Mr. Law can be.

#1

American Beauty

(1999)

Here we have Mendes' debut feature, and it's one that many people consider one of the best films ever made. I can say with confidence that most of you reading this would also put it at the top of your own list of this director's movies. In case you've somehow missed it, it stars Kevin Spacey as a guy going through one hellacious mid-life crisis. His marriage is in shambles, his teenage daughter hates him, he hates his job, and to top it all off, he starts fantasizing about one of his daughter's friends. There's even more than that going on, but I'll stop there. Spacey won an Oscar for Best Actor for his work, here, and deservedly so. In all, the movie would win five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Mendes. To sum it up, I'll just say see the movie if you haven't. It's truly a fine piece of cinema.


How would you rank them? To be honest, you can put numbers 2, 3, and 4 in any order you'd like and I'd be okay with it.

Happy Birthday, Sam!

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