With 12 movies in 8 years, the Marvel Cinematic Universe can feel a bit crowded sometimes. Here we have the existential crisis of the Superhero - should he exist at all? It was part of the trial in the Dark Knight Rises, the Congressional hearing in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and now the U.S. military sees our heroes as a threat. Of course they are!
What do they do? Choose sides, 6 apiece, for a winner-take-all battle. The crashing Iron Mans can get a little slow after (how many?) movies but at least you know what to expect. The most unexpected comes in the smallest package of Ant-Man. Cheers to bringing a few new characters such as Black Panther into the fold. And a recycled Spider-Man. Maybe the next 12 movies will be OK after all.
Prince's untimely death this last week at age 57 prompted this rerelease of his signature movie and original soundtrack Purple Rain. A thinly veiled biopic, it is the story of an androgynous performer called "The Kid" who is paying his dues at a club in Minneapolis while seeking to be understood and find his place in the world.
At the same time, he finds competition from a new girl in town Apollonia as well as his chief rival Morris E. Day and his band The Time. The Kid is smitten by the lovely Apollonia but he has commitment issues based on his poor relation with his explosive and abusive father. It's all about the father in the biopic.
He struggles with finding just the right song. No one really understand him or his music, not even the band. When Lisa and Wendy try to get him to play a song they wrote, he dismisses it out of hand. But when he sees the light, he turns their song into the iconic power ballad Purple Rain. The movie ends with the awesome back to back I Would Die 4 U/ Baby I'm a Star. A strong musical finish, like Dirty Dancing.
A very 80s movie, with perhaps the best soundtrack of all time. Some of the cinematography reminded me of another 1984 movie The Terminator (the cars, the alleys). Costuming was great as well. The acting is a bit thin, but the soundtrack makes this a classic.
Prostitutes -- they're just like us. Funny how the movies glamorize the call "girl" - Pretty Woman - but don't like the seedy side of Tangerine that much. I guess that what will play in Peoria.
Here we have Sasha Grey (IRL a porn actress gone mainstream). She's got a boyfriend, an apartment, a job. She enjoys shopping, she's a good listener. That's what her Johns pay here for - we see them going to the movies, to dinner, talking about their day. And an occasional roll in the hay.
Set in the waning days of George W. Bush, it's got a lot in common with Up in the Air as we teeter between prosperity and despair. Directed by Stephen Soderbergh, we also see bits of Sex, Lies and Videotape, kind of a dry reality look at more of everyday life than some exciting other world.
It must be a good premise because there is a new TV show on Starz about this GF Experience. But again, just middle America fantasy.
Both Superman (born 1938, Action Comics No. 1) and Batman (born 1940, Detective Comics No. 27) have been around a long time. We've heard the origin stories, we know the players in their lives. Is is too much to ask for something new?
Christopher Nolan did it with Batman in the 2000s and he's even back with part of this movie. With a $250 million budget, not much expense was spared. Lots of CGI and buildings crumbling - you'd think it was before 9/11. And the epic battle at the end between the two - lots of punching, not much blood.
Of course the biggest plot point is "Should everyone get together again?" Setting up for the Justice League of America and the best part of this movie, not Batman, not Superman (maybe Amy Adams as Lois Lane) but the first appearance of Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Great eyebrows she has. She'll do fine.
The world didn't end with Ben Affleck as Batman- he does a serviceable job. Jeremy Irons as Alfred is the proper Englishman. And Henry Cavill is clean-cut Clark Kent/Superman. Laurence Fishburne is a decent Perry Grant at the Daily Planet.
DC Comics/Warner Bros. is not going to let Marvel/Disney get all the Superhero money available. I expect will see everyone again in multiple new movies. And to think, Superhero movies were at one time a gamble.
Listening to the classic rock station and hearing "On the Dark Side" made me tell this story of this movie. The 20-something gym instructor had never heard of either.
Turns out that was a pretty good lead-in for this plot. The story unfolds as a mystery - whatever happened to Eddie? His body was never found after that crash off the bridge. And whatever happened to the tapes of the final music he made?
It fades back in time to 1963 where the band got its start in New Jersey. A very early precursor to Jersey Boys. It was an 80s movie through and through, and reminded me of Dirty Dancing, St. Elmo's Fire and especially Stealing Home, a flashback book at the old days.
Starring an early Tom Berenger and Ellen Barkin.
Turns out Eddie was ahead of his time. He'd be making a million off the classic rock craze. Like I said, I'm still listening to it and telling the next generation about it.
Reminds me of a famous story about classic rock. "Like many parents of teenagers, Steven Tyler can't believe the music coming out his son's room - 'He's listening to the same music that I listened to at that age'
