INFINITY WAR!!!

Avengers: INFINITY WAR

Nerdgasm: the Movie.

As a long term geek and awkward weirdo, I’m a little shocked to see the success of comics come to the cinema. Often relegated to the bargain bin or direct to cable, cartoonish adventure movies with heavy costumes were always “beneath” the attention of the main stream. Kids laughed at me, teachers scoffed, and so on and so forth… so here we are in the year 2018 and the biggest blockbuster event is a culmination of ten years of film blowing up into a single cross-over event featuring A-list actors, a huge budget, and nearly every local theater being completely sold out for almost every showing and forced to open several past midnight.

Avengers: Infinity War is the ultimate adaptation of the Marvel Universe cross-over material that we’ve seen in comics for so many years. It’s huge—Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, The Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther, Spiderman, and Doctor Strange and so many of the side characters in each of those franchises plus the other Avengers and, finally, Thanos. All on one screen, all with a two and a half hour long extravaganza that barely takes any time to catch a breath. It’s overwhelming at times, the spectacle threatening to overshadow the story any number of times. And then there’s Thanos.

Your heroes are scattered, broken, and desperate. They cling to hope, they fight, and some will die and they are going to try and stop Thanos from collecting the Infinity Stones and using the Gauntlet to wipe out half of all life in the known universe with a single snap of his fingers. They’ve faced evil before and they’ve overcome- they’ve even faced the threat of a number of stones, and they have overcome. They have faced Gods, Titans, and so many threats and they have overcome. But then there was Thanos.

There is no joy in what he does. There is no glee in his task. He is not a madman, he is not a tyrant s he’s been made out to be, and he is not a monster. He’s a broken man- shattered by realizations, torn by the weight of the galaxy, and he is driven to complete his goal because it is necessary. It is horrible and it is tragic and it is necessary. There is no pride in what he does- there is purpose, there is reason, and the logic is sound. Thanos hasn’t come to destroy the galaxy, but rather to save it. He doesn’t expect gratitude, he doesn’t expect to rule, he just wants to save it from a horror that he understands will be far worse. He knows it because he’s seen it.

And this is his story.

Iron Man struggles with the weight of earth on his shoulders, burdened with great intelligence and cursed with arrogance. When all is said and done, he feels responsible for opening that door- for bringing heroes to earth, for the heroes he inspired, and for the symbol he represents. He is still carrying the weight he has shouldered since the first film- how much can he be reasonably expected to be held responsible? It doesn’t matter, because he feels it all.

Steve Rogers will fight because all life is precious and he has to do the right thing. It’s what he does – whether he bears the mantle, throws his shield, or rides in wearing all black and sporting a new beard. He is going to fight because it’s right, he’s not going to sacrifice anyone to do it. He is the moral compass of the Marvel Universe and he always will be. Whether he likes it or not.

Thor is broken. Thor has failed. Time and again, Thor has failed to be what he always thought he deserved to be. The arrogance of a god strips him time and again, but he keeps fighting. He is driven by ignoble purpose- revenge, anger, and resentment. And he will fight because Thor doesn’t know any other way to be.

Gamora will face her father. She will face the doom of her people, seeing the threat the galaxy faces, and she will try to overcome the love and respect she has for the man that raised her. She will fight because she knows what he intends to do and what kind of affect that will have on the world.

But then there is Thanos.

This is not a story about your heroes. They may succeed or they may fail, but it is ultimately not about them. It is not about the technological marvels of Wakanda, it is not about the boyish innocence of Spiderman, the mystic wonders of Dr. Strange, or the romance and human connection between a cybernetic life form and a science experiment. This isn’t about the Guardians or their little family, this isn’t about rogue heroes defying their government, this isn’t about pitched battles or desperate gambits. This movie has all those things, but it’s not about those things.

This movie is about Thanos.

See it.

9 out of 10.

Rampage & Isle of Dogs: Nostalgia and Da' Feelz

RAMPAGE

It was the summer of 1987, the horseflies were biting and the river was cold but I had enough gumption to go out and collect bottles, mow lawns, and pick weeds for a number of houses around the neighborhood. I usually took my cash down to the local video store, rented a movie, had a slice of pizza, and rode my bike home- but sometimes I had a little something extra for the video games in the backroom. Paperboy, some Indiana Jones game, the ever-shifting Pinball machine, the four player dungeon crawl game I forgot the name of, and Rampage. The goal was simple… destroy the city. Smash the buildings, eat the people, destroy the tanks and jets and helicopters, and get more points than your opponents. It was a three player game with a lizard, a gorilla, and a giant wolf. Simple.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson stars in the film adaptation of that game and the simple storyline is given a few zings and whistles regarding plot, but the film remains as simple and as enjoyable as the game itself. He’s the caretaker of an albino gorilla named George, and an accident aboard an orbiting satellite brings a few samples down to earth and infecting three animals with altered DNA. Giant monsters, destroyed cities, and general mayhem.

Look, this isn’t a great movie. It’s actually pretty stupid and the stunts are outlandish, the contrivances are silly, but the movie never tries to take itself too seriously and the action is big enough to satisfy fans of the boom and bombastic. But if you’re looking for Shakespeare in the park, then just go to the park. This is just a fun movie for the sake of a little nostalgia and a lot of silliness.

6.5 out of 10.

Isle of Dogs

I was not in the mood. Wes Anderson’s animated film looked like a sappy love letter to dogs and dog lovers everywhere and I was just not in the mood. My wife picked the movie out of a handful that were showing, and it was the least annoying option for me and so we went to the movies and I sat in a theater and mentally folded my arms with a sad little spoiled pout. The movie started…

Atari is a twelve year old orphan whose Uncle is the mayor of Megasaki, a city of Japan’s near-future. A recent epidemic has stricken the city’s dog population, and ordinance has banished them to an off shore island. This includes Atari’s faithful dog, Spot. The boy makes a daring rescue attempt, aided by a rogue pack of dogs. The five go on a journey to find Spot and, perhaps, undermine the efforts of Atari’s uncle.

Almost two hours later, I had tears in my eyes and an odd smile in my heart. The film wasn’t JUST a love letter to dogs and dog lovers. The movie explored deep feelings of loyalty, honor, compassion, and love- it weighed in on society’s ills in placing trust with a misguided leadership and entertained throughout. The film took daring risks, choosing to allow many of the human characters to speak in their native Japanese with English translators and the rare subtitle. This film was pure joy from beginning to end.

10 out of 10 and a must watch.

PS: I remember the name of the game. And if you guess below you'll win some kind of "no prize" from me. It won't be shipped, it won't be mailed, it won't be of any value, and it won't be a tangible thing you can hold. But you can name the game and be all sorts of big and bad.

BOXCAR at Paper Wing Theatre

The Mexican border along the United States is not an easy topic to discuss or approach in this day and age. With our President and his supporters demanding that we "build a wall" and others demanding a "comprehensive immigration policy", no one ever really tackles the serious issues surrounding the people. In Sylvia Gonzalez's "Boxcar (El Vagon)", the issue is approached from a much more personal and direct approach when five travelers are trapped in the sweltering desert heat and two border patrol officers investigate. Inspired by a very real tragic event from the mid-80s, Boxcar places a human face on a political hot button that haunts many countries today.

Full Disclosure: This is not my usual cup of tea. Let me get that right out of the way- I am at a stage in my life where I try to keep from commenting on hot button shows that have a political issue. I've actively avoided commenting where any comment I make could be misconstrued and taken as offense. But having a few friends in the cast, I wanted to support them and see their performances. I wasn't going to write a single word. What happened, however, is that the claustrophobic nature of the play wormed it's way into me and sucked me in despite my hesitation. This is, at it's core, a deeply scarring horror experience as we witness five men trapped in a boxcar with very little air and a sweltering desert surrounding them. And I love me some good old fashioned human HORROR. And while I'm sure many would see this as a human drama, this is very much the core of a horror story to me.

Roberto (Christopher Lopez) and Bill (Erik Fleming) are two border patrol agents interviewing one of the five men trapped in the boxcar, a Salvadoran teen named Noel (Emilio Sapien). He relates the story of his passage north for the two men- a story that eventually leads to his arrival at the boxcar and his introduction to the other four men. All five have paid the Coyotes to smuggle them across the border to the United States, and this leg of the journey involves travel along the rails, across a desert, in a locked boxcar.

We meet the pious Francisco (Alexander Henson), the jovial Huero (Jason Roeder), the irreverent Pepe (Andres Reyes), and the indomitable Manuel (Jose Miguel). The four men quickly bond over their stories of travel to the United States, taking Noel under their wing and offering him advice on women, studies, finding work, and avoiding deportation. But the heat is steadily rising and they are in greater danger than they realize. Everyone delivers on their performances, giving the audience every reason in the world to sympathize with each of them.

A great weight lies on Manuel, however- a man of humor, intelligence, and compassion. He is the one who allows the door to be locked and he is the one who has to try and urge the others through their journey, to try and find a way to survive. Jose Miguel's performance is top notch, and it's no surprise to see him open the show with an early interaction with Patrol Officer Roberto. Both characters are central to the themes being explored as Roberto is forced, by duty, to send Miguel back in the opening moments of our play.

Christopher Lopez hits hard with his own performance. the second generation child of a Mexican immigrant, Roberto questions his duty, his past, and the very system that he enforces. He's also forced to realize that there are no easy answers. He butts heads with his partner, he wrestles with his conscience, and he's ultimately left to make a choice.

The entire package is brilliantly produced and directed by Linda Felice. She makes very deliberate lighting choices and develops a sound track that works in cohesion with the performances to lure the audience into a very emotional experience.

10 out of 10. And I don't make that rating lightly. 

A QUIET PLACE & READY PLAYER ONE-

A Quiet Place

Directed by and Starring John Krasinksi (The Office), A Quiet Place tip toed into theaters and the silence was deafening. Heh? HEH? Play on words… ain’t I the clever bastard? Eh? Anyway, moving along- we are following a rural family of five (With one on the way) in the aftermath of some sort of devastating invasion. The ldest daughter was born deaf, so the family communicates via sign language, they’re tip-toeing on sand, they’re trying to see to their medical needs in the wasteland around them and they are desperately afraid of the slightest noise. It’s the noise that attracts… something.

A tense film that smothers the theater in silence, “A Quiet Place” pulls no punches and stretches taut the razor wire through your nerves. Every jostle, every breeze, every single creek of a leaf or sharp intake of breath could mean certain doom. Kasinski proves himself with an adept skill in true fear and delivers the goods for emotional pay-offs. As a father myself, it’s very easy to identify with Kasinksi’s character as he’s forced to make necessary decisions to keep his family safe. He’s a good man with a good heart, but his nerves are exposed and raw. He is joined by his real life wife, Emily Blunt, as a mother who is trying to plan for the birth of a brand new CRYING baby and trying desperately to preserve the lives of all her children. Millicent Simmonds, a deaf actress, plays the eldest daughter and carries much of the emotional weight of the film- Her malfunctioning cochler implant means she can’t hear what noise she could be making- she can’t hear the danger approaching, but she is resourceful and intelligent and she wants to do more than her father seems ready to teach. Noah Jupe and Cade Woodward are the younger brothers, each carrying a different responsibility to the emotional devastation the family is experiencing.

10 out of 10, A Quiet Place is a perfect horror experience with deep chills, tension, and an emotional climax that releases the gauge with explosive relief. Don’t miss this one.

READY PLAYER ONE

Based on the runaway bestselling novel by Ernest Cline, Ready Player One takes all the nostalgia from the novel and shuffles the story up a little and recreates the intended feel of the pop culture love letter. Steven Spielberg’s latest film virtually boils with Easter Egg references, planting the bulk of the film’s narrative in the Virtual Reality landscape of The OASIS where anybody can be whatever they want to be. Fantasy fulfillment is just a click away. Not only has it become a form of entertainment for the overpopulated earth, it’s become the primary economic resource with large corporations “mining” game resources and trapping indebted players with indentured servitude in the game. (Not as farfetched if you know about the World of Warcraft mining industry in third world sweat shops.) After the death of the games creator, he’s left a puzzle game behind that will allow a random player the opportunity to gain controlling shares in The OASIS and, essentially, control the world.

Tye Sheridan (X-Men: Apocalypse) is cast as Wade Watts (AKA: Parzival), a player in the game who has devoted the past several years to tracking the founders clues and attempting to solve the riddles and defeat the game in order to escape his unfortunate life amongst the dregs. Through his obsession with the life of the games founder, Wade discovers the mistakes his idol has made and ultimately comes to make decisions that will pull him away from a similar path.

The film moves along briskly and explores the nostalgic effect of pop culture, speaks lightly of the dangers of escapism, and ultimately delivers what one friend refers to a “treat for the senses” with its engaging visuals and f/x.

7.5, and a high recommend.

RedcapJack's Rules for Reviewing...

 

I've posted this before, but thought I'd do a new post about it. 

 

1.      Review the Show you are seeing, not the show you want to see.

-         THIS is my most important rule above all others.

-         I see it all the time. A reviewer goes to see a play or a movie and they don’t like the subject matter. They don’t like the set because they hate the color brown or they think an actor is “too old” to play a role or they find a pet peeve in the show that sticks in their craw- whatever. Or they went to a show and they wanted to see Shakespeare and instead they got Sam Raimi. It is not my job to tell you about the show I wanted to see- it is my job to tell you about the show that I am seeing. If a theater decides to insert post-modern sensibilities into the tale of Romeo + Juliet, then did they do it well or was it a jumbled mess that confused everyone? If I watch “Evil Dead: The Musical”, did the actors pull it off and did the gore get the crowd excited and were the jokes hitting or is the blood not plentiful enough? My “taste” has nothing to do with what is being presented and I may not exactly BE the target audience… but the target audience may read what I am writing and I have to serve as a guidepost for whether they choose to bring their money to this product. It’s not fair of me to impart MY tastes on their decision. Only my interpretation of what is being delivered and what sensibilities I feel are being aimed for. Write about whether the show achieves what it sets out to do, nothing more and nothing less.

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2.      Buy something.

-This may seem a little odd, but I honestly don’t believe that anyone has the right to say word one about a show or movie if they don’t put skin in the game. You might get a free offer to see a show, but while you are there you had better buy a concession item or two and you better not act as though you “deserve” a freebie just because you’re writing. Some people have told me that I deserve a free ticket because my writing helps to sell a show, but the truth is that I have nothing to write without the show to begin with. So I often buy my tickets- I support the arts when I can and the only time I even accept a freebie is when I simply can’t afford a ticket because I’m on a low a budget. And, even then, I occasionally scrape some funds together to see a movie or a play because I have a special interest in it. The added bonus is that I can say whatever the hell I want because I laid down some skin to watch it or see it or read it and that makes it, essentially, “mine” to do with as I choose. Buy something, for heaven’s sake.

3.      Don’t take notes during the show:

I really HATE it when I see people writing in a journal as they’re watching a show. They see something, they jot something, and they’re missing something else that’s happening. You want to keep it fresh, wait for intermission or set change or whatever- but don’t take a note in a book while you’re watching a show. You are MISSING something if you do. If you’re there in a “professional capacity”, then act like a professional and absorb the full experience before you start writing an opinion on something that might become further informed as the show progresses. I’ve read several reviews that have left me completely confused because the plot they describe is NOT the plot taking place on the stage, or  a line of dialogue is taken completely out of context solely because the writer glommed on to something and started to take a note rather than pay attention to the rest of the scene.

4.      Take a Program or Read the Credits:

This shouldn’t even need to be a rule, but here’s the thing: I’ve seen names misspelled, I’ve seen characters misidentified, and it’s annoying as hell. Even with the program, I occasionally make a mistake- but I always try to correct it in the editing. A Program for the play or the Credits of a film will often give you the most basic information you need to have in identifying who is involved with what. With the creation of IMDB, this is even easier for reviewing films because the names are there to do research on and see other projects the people are involved with.

5.      Identify and be specific-

-         I’m going to give an example of what I mean for this- I dislike James Cameron’s film “Avatar”. Not only do I dislike it on a personal level, but on a professional level as well- that doesn’t negate the fact that I realize it is an amazingly beautiful film with fantastic special effects. It doesn’t mean that I don’t acknowledge the action or that certain actors in the film do a good job of presenting the story. What it does mean is that I call out James Cameron for writing a near carbon copy script for “Dances with Wolves” or "Fern Gully" and created such a generic and passé series of driving motivations that he literally chose to use the word “unobtainium” in order to describe his MacGuffin. I’m describing precisely what I did not like about the film, precisely where I found fault, and exactly why it didn’t work for me. But I also praised precisely what I thought was incredible and worthwhile for someone who WOULD like the film and that there is value in it.

-         Too many times these writers simply try to create an art form unto themselves in tearing apart something they don’t like. They offer zero credit to anyone or anything and the review becomes about them or about their cause. I don’t have to love everything, but there was hard work put into a production and the good stuff needs to be pointed out just as much (probably more) as the bad.

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6.      DO NOT SPOIL:

-         There are ways to talk about a movie or film synopsis, to talk about specific performances, to talk about specific “moments” without spoiling the rest of the film. I’ve read a number of reviews where the writers just flat out tell you the whole of the story, including the twist ending and then stared at the article wondering if I should bother seeing the movie or show. What’s the point? It’s already been spoiled.

-         First off- these reviewers are occasionally wrong. They totally miss the point or they see something happening that is not happening. It’s confusing and you feel at a loss, but chances are more than likely they had their head down while taking notes and missed something. Don’t spoil the show.

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-         Star Wars: A New Hope features the story of a young man who joins an elderly old warrior to help rescue a princess from the Galactic Empire- we need never read about the death of Luke’s Aunt and Uncle because that is a twist in the story, a dramatic moment that loses all impact the moment the audience is informed of it. Don’t talk about the twists in a review, don’t spoil the ending, and don’t spoil the show.

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7.      Be fair: “It’s Personal- take responsibility for it.”

-         A review is always a personal interpretation of what the reviewer is watching, reading, or listening to. Not only that, but the art they are reviewing is a personal thing that is being created by someone(s) who is likely going to read those thoughts if they are published in any medium (even a lowly blog on the interwebs). As much as I may wish to say something “isn’t personal”, it is and I’m responsible for what I write. As such, I have a responsibility to the performers, writers, and producers to be fair in what I’m writing. To view their product on a level where, even if I don’t understand it, I’m being fair with it and I’m not letting my personal feelings interfere with an honest review. But that doesn’t mean “lie”- be honest and responsible for that honesty. If I don’t like something, I owe it to myself and my credibility to say that I didn’t like it and to explain why. If I do like something, I owe it to myself, my credibility, and any readers that what I am writing is worth their time.

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8.      Keep a ratings scale:

-Thumbs up, thumbs down, that stuff doesn’t fly for me because there are so many levels to regard whether something is good or not.  I used a five point rating scale based on the Netflix *Star* program, mostly for ease of effort. I've changed to 10 points in recent years. Much of the scale is subjective and occasionally may seem inconsistent when set against my reviewing history.

Let me be blunt; I enjoy B movies, zombies, horror, bizarre comedy, and thrilling adventures… A family drama surrounding the personal problems of a daughter, son, mother, or father is not necessarily my cup of tea. It’s not something that cries out “Come see me!” and then sends me running to my piggy bank in hopes of cashing out- but they can be really good and really well done. On the other hand, something appeals to all of my senses but maybe came off a little oddly- something wasn’t perfect and it could have been any number of things, including my particular mood.