Justice League

I've generally been more on board with the DC stuff than Marvel's overwhelming orgy of comic book movies; they've generally been more grown-up in feel and more realistic in presentation (realistic being a relative term). So I'm not one to jump on the bashing boat just for the sake of piling on. Then again, it's clear that this entry in the largely Batman-driven movieverse is not quite up to snuff. The villain seems to have come out of nowhere, and has little anti-appeal. The proceedings follow a template that's well-worn by now, particularly in "get them together" flicks, up to and including the over-the-top violent ending. What saves this movie is the presence of a large number of likeable actors; the female triumvirate of Gadot-Adams-Lane alone builds a lot of goodwill. Besides, it's an Entertainment with a capital 'E'--not really trying to be anything else, and thus you're seriously off-kilter if you don't enjoy this thing at least a little bit. Not great, but nothing to be ashamed of. Mellow out.

La La Land

My first, immediate impression upon watching this movie: if all the most popular kids in your high school got together and made a movie--a movie celebrating the most popular kids in your high school--it would look a lot like this. Later in the show, my impression...was pretty much the same thing. Admittedly, these would be fairly talented popular people making this movie, particularly the ones doing the art direction; this film always looks good, from start to finish. But it's just a little hard to believe Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone as strugglers, especially long-term strugglers; they--he in particular--are just too pretty to make convincing losers. Yeah, that's right: if you strip away all the bright and sunny, or even the drama, this really is a story about losers who only eventually become winners. It's all a little hard to digest. Especially all the people that happy about being stuck in traffic. But there's entertainment here; certainly some good songs and music. It's just not the work of genius it was made out to be.

Terminator: Genisys

I really thought the producers were going to resist the temptation. No, not the temptation to make Schwarzenegger’s dialogue a kind of “greatest hits” list of lines; that happened, of course. I mean that I thought they would resist the temptation to set up further sequels and give this saga a decent ending. They had a chance here, because this film is actually a fairly good entry in the series. The revelation here (if you’re not a Game of Thrones fan) is Emilia Clarke, who makes for a very good Sarah Connor. Arnold is fine as the machine on the scene; nothing spectacular, just a par performance in his signature role. Overall, it’s entertaining, the messing-with-the-storyline strategy works (if you don’t want to nitpick too much), and there’s a pretty good not-so-subtle subtext about what technology is doing to our lives. Alas, if only they’d made the ending a real ending; even if you love these movies, you really can’t argue that there needs to be more of them.

Whiplash

Again with the jazz. If jazz is as wonderful as everyone who likes it says it is, why does it only feature in films like this? Seriously, try to find a real jazz station on the radio these days. But I digress; the more pertinent question raised by this movie may be, what’s up with these people? The film actually undercuts its own argument; since precious few viewers will be able to tell the good playing from the bad while watching this one, one wonders if the obsessive attention to perfection is in any way valid. Whom are you trying to impress? Five other people in the room?...or in the city? If that’s all there is, just your own little knowing circle, and you act like this...aren’t you just being a dick? Do movie viewers care about dicks? Perhaps I’m just being contrarian, because this film is in fact entertaining, interesting, and worth watching. Just don’t expect to find any new heroes here.

Thank You for Smoking

A good satire that doesn’t bog down too much in delivering its message. The numbers are there, figures on cigarette deaths and all that--but the data is delivered so smoothly that you never feel like you’re being preached at. And, despite the evident progress made against smoking (in this country, at least) this film’s message still remains relevant today (especially for the broader picture about the incest between death merchants, their lobbyists, and our government).

Hidalgo

There are problems, including inconsistency in the script (a jumble of languages spoken somewhat randomly) and most notably a long and unnecessary digression in the middle of the movie. So why the positive review? Mostly on the strengths: the movie's visually impressive presentation, a solid core story, and Viggo Mortensen's excellent, understated performance as Frank T. Hopkins. This is the kind of expansive epic adventure that used to be done so well, and with a little tighter focus, this one might have joined those classic ranks. It still deserves a look.

Spider-man 2

Yes, I think it is better than the first. A world of credit goes to the cast for an entire collection of wonderful performances, all deep and emotionally resonant. And it helps that the script is more interested in questions about personal identity and responsibility than in blowing things up. I'd go along with a third in the series, if they're willing to keep up the quality.

The Gift

A run-of-the-mill mystery thriller, with a little horror thrown in. Not as good as A Simple Plan, the other Sam Raimi-Billy Bob Thornton collaboration (in this case, B.B. merely wrote the thing). It does reaffirm my position that I will never move to the "deep" South.

Spider-man

Great fun. A spectacular yet emotionally true summer movie, one that (at time of release) in many ways revived the then-moribund superhero genre. The effects never overwhelm the story; some movie-makers could learn a few things from that fact.