Politics, Civil War, and How Marvel's Villains are Ruining their Own Movies

I always find it so interesting how much movies reflect the feelings of their time: the Original Star Wars are widely considered far better than the prequels because the prequels were marred in the politics and corruption which gripped America at the time they were made, whereas the original trilogy were influenced by the seventies style of rooting for the little guy, the post-Vietnam era of peace and understanding rather than violence and war and the idea of promoting peace where possible and rising up against tyrannical orders who threaten peaceful ways.

In a way, I find it funny that the prequel trilogy didn't feature so much of that. Created around the rise of terrorism, we see much more of the Bush ideals of forcing democracy on a country in the Clone troopers and the Jedi as generals, something which somehow aptly fitted in with the original trilogy and gave way for that story to be told. Movies are windows into the time they are made, they show us the cultural and political landscape through which they were created and give us a way into the mindset of the people of the time.

With all that said, I suppose I should explain that this isn't just some random article about Star Wars and politics (although you might get something along those lines come Rogue One), but a review on Captain America: Civil War.

Bigger, Better, Bloodier!

If Gareth Evans is a name with which you are unfamiliar, why do you read this blog? It's about movies. And Gareth Evans is a name which, in the movie, world, is quickly becoming huge. When The Raid hit screens three years ago, it was a low-budget, gritty martial arts action film and its visceral action sequences and close camera work made it a cult hit and raked in fifteen times its one million-dollar budget.

Now, The Raid 2: Berandal is out in cinemas and it's bigger, badder and bloodier than ever before. Featuring a more expansive world, more involving story and an impressive array of detailed characters, it's still the bone-crunching, face-breaking fist-thrower the prequel was; only this time, Evans has the budget to spread it about a bit.

Pastel-Coloured Poetry in Motion: Zipping through Wes Anderson's Latest Flick

Wes Anderson was not, until recently, a name which appeared on my radar. Which is a shame, because it's going to take me so long to get this finished because I'm watching The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou as I write this. Anderson's films have a way of drawing you in, and the same can be said of his latest offering.

The new Robocop: It's good, but it's no Verhoeven...

So, as you might have guessed from the title, I went to see the new, action-packed reboot of Robocop today. It tells a pretty similar story to the 1987 original: rendered comatose thanks to a bunch of criminals, Alex Murphy is rebuilt as the titular Robocop, a robotic police officer who, in between snippets of satirical news shows, single-handedly cleans up the streets of Detroit. But when his human side begins to override his robotic body, he goes on a quest for revenge against those who made him what he is. In fact, the most notable difference is that it is not a ridiculous jab at big-money corporations, but is in fact a serious movie where they try to play the whole "robotic police officer" thing straight.

Why I kinda hate superhero movies. And trilogies in general...

Okay, so I don't know what started off the whole trilogy thing. Maybe it was the Godfather, or the Dollars trilogy. Answers vary, some even dating as far back as Boris Karloff's stint as Frankenstein in Frankenstein(1931), Bride of Frankenstein(1935), and Son of Frankenstein(1939). I couldn't say for sure, of course - I haven't seen enough films to say for certain, and even if I had my opinion is a drop in the film-review ocean - but what I do know is this:

I utterly hate them.

Two Toms on top form, in two very different movies

Having adjusted to uni life, it's been nice to relax and unwind this past week. Since yesterday, I've seen two films, and it's remarkable how good cinema has become now the summer blockbuster season is over. The two films I watched bridged the gap between vacuous action movie and Autumn Oscar-bait, and it's interesting to see the contrast, but also the stand-out performances which really make both films. So here we go: my review of Thor: The Dark World and Captain Phillips.

Love, Betrayal, and the unnerving sight of Nathan Fillion in a fat suit...

This blog is fast becoming entirely movie-related - not entirely a bad thing, mind, it's good to have some direction and an audience in mind - but then apart from movies I haven't really done anything. Except I was in Stratford on Tuesday, wandering around the big park behind the RSC theatre and eating Turkish Delight and Earl Grey ice cream (these are real things and they are AWESOME!).

And I was there to see a movie. So, you know, movies still are the only interesting thing I really do. Ho hey.

Sequels: The Final Frontier...

Okay, so got a lot to talk about. A little over two hours' worth of things to talk about, actually. See, this morning I went to see Star Trek Into Darkness, and I expected something pretty spectacular. I mean, come on: Benedict Cumberbatch as the manipulative, highly-intelligent villain; the new Enterprise crew reprising their roles and getting along a whole lot better than the first movie (well, a little better); vast, exotic worlds, far more elaborate and beautiful than the 2009 movie; bigger fight scenes, more action, a faster pace. Four years might be a long time to wait in the movie world for a sequel, but Abrams and crew have certainly delivered. There's one thing I can say about Into Darkness: it's a step up.

Blinking Lights

     Okay, so this post is going to be a load of reviews. First off, hooray! I got a new laptop, and it is brilliant. I'll talk about that in a bit. Second, I got Red Lights on Blu-ray, and I feel morally obliged to review it because I watched it in the cinema and didn't then. But before I get onto either of those things, I want to talk about Wreck-it Ralph.

New Year, New Movies

So it's the start of another year, and one I've been looking forward to very much. Every year is a new start (because no other day can be, apparently) and right now I want to start watching some new films.

I wrote on my other blog last year about my problems with sequels, but 2013 looks to be pretty good. I liked the Hobbit (apart from a few problems with the whole 3D thing - looks like it's 2D for me this year!) and The Desolation of Smaug ought to be the best of the three; from what I remember of the book, Mirkwood will be one of the most terrifying and action-packed parts of the whole thing.

Hobbit Hang-ups

So the Hobbit is coming out tomorrow. Peter Jackson's new trilogy, and it's starring Martin Freeman and a whole ton of Hollywood heavyweights, not to mention Benedict Cumberbatch. From the cast list alone I'm expecting a flashier version of BBC's Sherlock; what can I say? I'm setting myself up for disappointment here.

Seeing the Sights

Okay, so yesterday I went to the cinema, on the basis that there are so many good movies out there right now I had to go see at least one of them. I am, for the most part, a fan of British indie film, peeling away from the greedy Hollywood corporations and making movies they want to watch. Edgar Wright is a man who captures this truly British filmmaking spirit well, particularly in his latest offering, Sightseers.

Dreddhead

It's been more than two months since I posted here. Yay me. -.-

I'm not here to complain about that - I'm not trying to write some shitty Oh-woe-is-me emo blog here. If the title didn't tip you off, I'll spell it out in black and white for you: I'm going to talk about Dredd.