Captain America: Civil War (2016)

“He's my friend.”

“So was I.”

            There are SO many superhero movies out today. The market is flooded with them and it seems most of them have the same themes and endings. The most common theme seems to be certain superheroes do not like each other at first and then through some kind of coincidence or magic they respect each other and come to be on the same side. Not totally bashing that storyline but it is just seems overused. Captain America: Civil spins that overused plot around by having the superheroes of the Avengers be friend and then become enemies.

            The Avengers are in serious trouble. They caused an insane amount of damage in the small country of Sakoia trying to fight off Ultron and in this film they accidentally blow up a building where innocent people were working. The United Nations believe that the Avengers should be kept in check. They propose The Sakovia Accords which is a rule/guidebook for the Avengers to sign and agree to that would give them limited power and only fight where they are assigned.

            Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) believes that every one of them should sign. He feels terrible that a young man died and his mother gave him a photo of her son. Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), on the other hand, does not want to sign he believes that they should be able to go wherever in the world they are needed to help people.

            Steve gets himself into some deep crap when he helps his friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) aka The Winter Soldier. The United Nations conference for The Sakovia Accords was bombed and in a surveillance photo Bucky is the one who set the bomb in a news van. Steve does not believe Bucky would do something like even if the photo clearly shows him setting the bomb. He believes his best friend is innocent because Bucky remembered who he was slightly in The Winter Soldier. Iron Man and a lot of others think Steve is insane for defending Bucky and they want to stop him before things get out of hand.

            Obviously, there is a big clash between Tony and Steve and an even bigger one involving the other Avengers and some newer superheroes such as Spider Man, Black Panther, and Ant Man. The regulars from the tales of various Avengers pick their sides and do battle with their leader friends.

            In the end Steve and Tony do not settle their differences and the once friends remain divided.

            I was dying with the battle between Captain America and Iron Man because Ant Man was in it. The scene where Ant Man/Adam Lang is introduced to Steve is quite possibly my favorite scene of the movie. It just makes me so happy to see Paul Rudd in this superhero universe. Black Panther is an awesome character. He had a very interesting story that I am not going to give too much away because it is a major plot of the story and he is getting his own movie soon. The whole battle between the Avengers was incredible it was funny and intense and action packed.

            As much as I liked Civil War I do have a few complaints. I do hate to compare Marvel to DC but I have to say that DC did an awesome job in Batman vs. Superman with giving backstory into/slash an explanation as to why Batman and Superman fight in the first place. There is no need to watch Superman: Man of Steel before this although it might help a little but a lot of information and backstory is given in the movie. With these Marvel movies if you have not seen one you are shit out of luck and may not have any idea what they are talking about. Like if you have never seen Age of Ultron you will have no clue who Vision and Scarlett Witch are, you will have no clue what Sakovia is and why it is significant, and you may have no idea who Sharon Carter is from The Winter Soldier (I watched The Winter Soldier and even I forgot who she was) and a whole bunch of other points of the story. My major complaint may be the love aspect between Sharon Carter and Steve Rogers. Sharon Carter for those of you who may not be able to guess was Agent Carter’s niece. Like, ok, I completely understand that Steve has to move on from Peggy Carter, she got to age and she had to move on but with her niece? Seriously writers?! Steve and Sharon kissed and it felt like such shit it was so forced. (Plus I have an issue with Sharon Carter. If we are to go by the story shown in the TV show Agent Carter, Peggy’s brother and only sibling died in World War II and he was not married so therefore no kids from him. If that is true how is Sharon’s last name Carter? Sure, she could have changed her last name because her aunt was fucking Queen of the Universe and kick ass in every way, but if not then how the hell is her last name Carter?)

            Captain America: Civil War was a great movie. It is one of my favorite Marvel movies along with Captain America: The First Avenger, Ant-Man, and Deadpool. I like how everyone started off as friends and colleagues and by the end they were divided by these two men over how they were supposed to protect the people of the world. I do have to say I do not understand why Captain America had such an issue with the accords and being monitored, it seems like something he would agree with. But at the same time I can see why he would not want to be monitored and would want to just go and save whoever needs saving because that is the basic idea of Captain America: he wants to be the good guy, he wants to help everyone he can without restrictions. Captain America: Civil War is definitely a movie to go see in theaters as soon as you can. The action is great, the story is intense and interesting, and it will leave you very satisfied.

PS. Just in case you guys could not tell I am 100% #TeamCap. I loved seeing him beat the crap out of Iron Man. 

Ant-Man (2015)

“My days of breaking into places and stealing shit are over! What do you need me to do?”

“I want you to break into a place and steal some shit.”

 “...makes sense.”

            One of the reasons I love superhero movies is because of all the gadgets and technology they use and all the scientific stuff goes into making some of the superheroes. Some of the science in these movies such as Ant-Man is so far-fetched but I absolutely love it. I love thinking about how intelligent the people must be, even though they are fictional characters, to have come up with the technology for these superheroes to use. Ant-Man was one of the most technological and scientific of the Marvel universe (well to me anyway. Maybe Iron Man beats him out). And, also, in my opinion, the most unique.

            Ant-Man begins with Scott Lang (Paul Rudd) being released from jail. He got thrown in jail on robbery charges. He is trying his hardest to go straight he does not want to be a thief anymore because he wants to see his daughter Cassie again. Cassie’s mother (Judy Greer) does not want Scott to come around again to see Cassie unless he can get himself together, get a job, and pay child support. Scott tries to get a job but no one wants to hire an ex-con. A thief buddy of his has a job lined up to break into the safe of some old rich guy his cousin cleans for. Scott and three of his other jail bait buddies break into the house only to find what looks like a motorcycle suit. Scott tries the suit on and it makes him smaller! The incident freaks him out and he tries to take it back to the house and of course the cops come. While in jail a group of ants bring him the suit and he can hear the same voice that was with him when he first put the suit on. The voice tells him to make himself smaller and get to his (the voice’s) house.

            The voice belongs to Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) who is the creator and innovator behind Pym Industries and the creator behind the Ant-Man suit. Pym had issues with his suit when he was younger. S.H.I.E.L.D and Howard Stark (and Peggy Carter!!!) wanted the suit but Pym refused to give it to them because he knew that they would not use it for good. Pym’s protégé Darren Cross (Corey Stoll) is obsessed with finding Pym’s formula for the Ant-Man suit and selling it. Darren has created a suit but he cannot get the right formula for shrinking human things. Pym and his daughter Hope (Evangeline Lilly) are working together to bring down Cross so he cannot sell the technology to create human weapons.

            This is where Scott comes into Pym and Hope’s plans to steal Darren’s Yellow Jacket suit and destroy the technology. Scott had broken into a high tech building when he was younger so Pym thinks Scott would be perfect for the job while wearing the suit.

            The cast of Ant-Man is awesome. Besides the writing and the action Marvel knows to bring together excellent casts for their movies. I beyond loved seeing Paul Rudd as an action superhero. I never would have picked Rudd to be a superhero but he was so perfect! I cannot see anyone else in the role. If anyone has ever read my reviews of the Captain America movies you will hopefully know that I am obsessed with and have a massive girl crush on Hayley Atwell. When I found out Agent Carter was in Ant-Man I freaked out. She is only in the beginning for a few minutes but that is alright I never care how long Agent Carter is in a marvel movie she is just so incredible. And so is Hayley Atwell. Evangeline Lilly was a delight to see in a Marvel movie. I am so glad she is getting these big roles like Ant-Man and The Hobbit. Michael Douglas made a great former superhero. Pym was not a totally cranky old man or even a crazy nutty old man he was perfect. Pym was still with it and he was not cranky. Sure he had some demons but doesn’t everyone in superhero movies? I was also very excited to see Judy Greer in a big movie. I just like seeing her in movies in general. Corey Stoll made one of the most perfect bad guys ever! I have to give a big huge mention to the actress who plays a character simply known as “The Writer” at the end of the movie. That actress is Anna Akana. Akana is a YouTuber who also happens to be a writer and a director. She is incredibly talented and funny and insanely creative. Her videos are hilarious and the editing is goals. Go right now and check Anna Akana out and subscribe to her channel.

            Ant-Man was so much fun watching. It did not feel like I was watching a Marvel movie because it was not as serious as the others. It is not as dramatic as the others it was a great mix of comedy and action. The technology in Ant-Man was awesome. It is crazy to think about what the world would do with technology like Ant-Man where men can shrink and attack without even being noticed. It is a really scary thought actually. I have zero complaints about Ant-Man I liked it that much. I am looking forward to the next Ant-Man and seeing Paul Rudd back in a superhero suit! 

They Came Together (2014)

Whatever happened to good spoof movies? It seems like after Mel Brooks made Robin Hood: Men in Tights all the spoof movies after that just went to shit. With Brooks’ movies and other such as Airplane they were subtle spoofs. Nothing was in your face or trying to be funny they were just funny. I cannot even tell you how many times I have seen Brooks’ Young Frankenstein or Blazzing Saddles or High Anxiety and I catch things I did not catch the other thousands times I watched them. The only modern movie I can think of that follows in the same line as Brooks’ spoofs has been Wet Hot American Summer from 2001 which spoofed a summer camp in 1980. That movie was written and directed by David Wain and Michael Showalter and they recently wrote and directed They Came Together. Yet again it is a spoof movie and it is one of the best spoofs on the romantic comedy genre.

            Joel (Paul Rudd) and Molly (Amy Poehler) are at dinner with their friends Kyle (Bill Hader) and Karen (Ellie Kemper). Kyle and Karen discuss how they first met and want Joel and Molly to discuss how they first met and fell in love. Right away they say their relationship was like a romantic comedy with the third character being New York City and that if it were to be a movie it would start off with aerial shots of the city. And sure enough it does.

            They say their relationship was hate at first sight. Neither was looking to be in a relationship at the moment. Joel worked for a large corporate candy company and Molly had her own small candy store. Joel’s company was creating a large store right across from Molly’s and planned to put her store out of business. They wind up meeting at a party at their friends house. They hate each other and say really funny and very stupid things.

            After this the movie follows the typical rom-com formula but this being Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd in a comedy made by David Wain and Michael Showalter with so many popular comedic actors the way the story plays out is anything but typical. It takes the typical rom-com clichés and completely blows them out of proportion. I cannot even explain what happens because nothing would be funny you would have to see the movie to understand. There are a lot of running gags that usually happen in rom-coms like a character telling another to wait and then they something important like “Thanks” or “I’m sorry.” Another one has Joel and his younger brother Jake (Max Greenfield) talking about how Jake does not have a job and he is trying to start up a company that will not go anywhere, and that Joel had to raise Jake after their parents died, etc. It's got a montage, crazy parents, crazy ex-boyfriends and girlfriends, and silly life-realization scenes that are just totally genius. 

            They Came Together is absurd, ridiculous, and perfectly entertaining. To me it is one of the best comedies I have ever seen. The cast could not have been better. Amy Poehler and Paul Rudd were fantastic together. I do not think either one of them has a serious bone in their bodies. Christopher Meloni is in a few scenes, yes Stabler from Law and Order: SVU is being funny and hilariously so (if you want to die laughing at him watching Wet Hot American Summer). I just love the way it makes fun of rom-coms. The way rom-coms are written today is just awful. They are so predictable and just stupid. They Came Together shows just how predictable and stupid they have become. Yet you know the characters are just comedic versions of “serious” rom-com characters and, oddly enough, you still root for Joel and Molly to be together.

            My review of They Came Together really does not do the movie justice. Just trust me when I say that if you enjoy comedy movies in any sense you will like this one. As you watch it you can pick out about ten different rom-coms that this movie is making fun of and you will most likely never see them the same way again. As I said it follows in the steps of Mel Brooks and does a pretty damn good job. 

Admission (2013)

“You all want to know the secret formula for getting in. To do your job well, an admissions officer must be on the receiving end of an entire nation's application panic, endure the frustration of all the parents who just realized there isn't room for every organically-fed, well-tutored offspring. Of course everyone thinks we're sadists, that we like saying no. We are in this job for one reason, to say yes.”

           

            When I was applying for college nine years ago (damn I just made myself feel really old!) I did not go into panic mode like some of my friends. I wanted go my community college (which was voted one of the top five community colleges in the country) for two years then transfer to a university. I mostly wanted to go to community college first because I could have cared less about scoring high on the SATs. Plus, I was not ready to leave home. Then seven years ago I applied for Montclair State University and fortunately without a problem I got into that school. Even graduate school I got into the school I wanted without issue. I never went nuts applying for schools. Well, I will say I was little nervous that my application was light because I was bum I did not do any extracurricular activities or any sports but apparently that does not matter to any of the schools I went/go to.

            In the movie Admission thousands of students apply to get into Princeton University. Princeton is an Ivy League school and all the smartest kids in the nation apply every year. It is up to the admissions office to go through every application and choose exceptional students that will add to Princeton’s legacy and reputation. Working in the admissions office is Portia Nathan (Tina Fey). She has been at Princeton as an employee for sixteen years. She does her job well and seems to enjoy it. She even has a boyfriend who is a professor on campus.

            One day the Dean of Admissions announces that he is retiring and that Portia is one of the people in the running for his job. In order to get more admissions applications Portia travels to a new school called Quest that is run by a man named John Pressman (Paul Rudd). The school is like an alternative high school where the students are not kept in an actual classroom and are encouraged to think and speak freely. After her presentation John tells Portia he knows her from when they were at Dartmouth together and needs to talk to her about something but she keeps brushing him off.

            The visit to the school and meeting John and his brightest and unconventional student Jeremiah, Portia’s life is thrown for a complete loop both personally and professionally. John tells her he thinks that Jeremiah is her son she had in college and gave up. Portia does everything she can to make sure that Jeremiah gets into Princeton like he wants even though he was not a stellar student.

            I loved Tina Fey and Paul Rudd in this movie together. They made an interesting couple. When I think of them I think of their comedies, I think of Liz Lemon and I think of Rudd being in Our Idiot Brother as a stoner. I believe that their comedy helped them to be somewhat serious in this movie because you can see they are both a bit awkward being dramatic (or at least it looked like they were awkward to me). I give Tina Fey a lot of credit because she always does silly comedies and then to do a somewhat serious role where she has to show emotion she did fantastic. I wish she would make more movies like this. Paul Rudd is just awesome he gets better and better every movie I see him in.

            Lily Tomlin plays Portia’s feminist mother. She is hilarious from her first scene to the last. I would not mind seeing her play Fey’s mother in something else.

            One of my grad school teachers works at Princeton in the archives. He told the class that when Admission was filming on the campus Tina Fey would take a break from filming and say hello to the people waiting and sign some autographs. One of his friends brought his young son and the son met Tina Fey. After that the son said he wants to go to Princeton and the father told him “You know Tina Fey isn’t always here” and the son paused then said again “I want to go to Princeton”. Ha ha.

            Admission is a very good movie. The story is sort of predictable and sort of not. You think you know where some of the plot is going and then it goes somewhere else. The acting is very good and the story is different. Highly suggest seeing Admission, especially if you are currently applying to colleges.

 

This Is 40 (2012)

I always hate when I set my expectations for a movie and my expectations wind up getting crushed. I adore Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd. I loved them both to no end in Knocked Up so I was very excited to see them and their characters get their own movie in This is 40. I am fifteen years away from being forty (god that sounds awful!) and I hope and pray during these fifteen years I will have my shit together unlike Debbie and Pete. I found This is 40 to be funny at some parts and most of the time I could not believe how outrageously dysfunctional and annoying they were.

            The movie takes place eight years after Knocked Up (**it’s been eight years already?! It feels like I just saw that in theaters yesterday. I was seventeen!!**). Pete is still working in the music business but now he has his own record company that is not doing very well. Debbie has her own shop that is losing money because of one of the employees stealing money. They are having issues with their oldest daughter Sadie who is now fourteen and going through some changes and hates everyone. Debbie and Pete are dealing with their own paternal issues which did not need to be in the movie at all.

            In the beginning all is somewhat well and then towards the middle to the end things get too heavy. The movie goes from being a comedy in the first ninety minutes to an annoying drama until the end. There are some hysterical moments after the first ninety minutes but they are infrequent.

            What I did not like at all is how I liked the characters of Debbie and Pete at the beginning and by the end I could not stand them. I know that sometimes people just do not grow up and are immature. I know that relationships can be dysfunctional. When the immaturity and the dysfunction mix my god I cannot think of anything more annoying. I felt terrible for their kids. I would die if Debbie and Pete were my parents. I think by now you have guessed my age. I am my age and still living at home (damn stupid economy and my degree). If my parents acted like Debbie and Pete I would have been out of the house long ago. Judd Apatow wrote and directed the movie based off of his life with Leslie Mann and their daughters (who play the daughters in this movie). Seriously if this is what their home life is like one, how are they still together and two, I hope someone helps their daughters out.

            Leslie Mann and Paul Rudd were awesome I have no complaints about their acting. I hope Mann and Rudd make another movie together I like their chemistry. The bit characters were annoying and unnecessary. There is a story line about Pete’s dad that was annoying to no end and did not need to be shown. Megan Fox was actually not that bad her character was part of the unnecessaries but she was good. Melissa McCarthy is in two scenes and she steals the whole thing. The woman is so damn funny that I was crying laughing with her scenes.

            I unfortunately had some expectations for This is 40 and they were shit on. The movie is an hour way too long that by the end it felt like Apatow was rushing to get to a happy ending that was not very happy to watch. I was expecting something better from Apatow but it seems that his movies are getting worse and worse. This is 40 is worth seeing once because as I said there are some really hysterical moments in it and Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann are great together. One viewing is plenty enough.