With its high pedigree cast and Roman Polanski as its director, I expected more from CARNAGE. Set wholly during one afternoon's conversation in a Manhattan apartment, Carnage puts together an upscale couple (Cristoph Waltz and Kate Winslet) whose son has beat up the son of a more middle class couple (Jodie Foster & John C. Reilly). Waltz and Reilly are excellent, Winslet is good and Foster is so grating and angry she becomes unpleasant to watch. The constant cell phone interruptions and false exits seem awful forced. Carnage is a sheep in 'Who's Afraid of Virgina Woolf's" clothing......C.

Nobody plays dark & shady criminals quite like Al Pacino. In "Scarface" he was loud and brash. In "The Godfather" he was cool and smooth, but he's always dangerous. In CARLITO'S WAY, he's a blend of both, sporting an outrageous Puerto Rican accent like Tony Montana along with the everyday cool demeanor of Michael Corleone. In Brian de Palma's 1993 thriller, Pacino is Carlito, fresh out of prison and committed to taking a straight path out of crime. Unfortunately for Carlito, he's got the slimiest lawyer in the country in Kleinfeld, a coked up, no limit slimeball brilliantly played by a nearly unrecognizable Sean Penn. Sporting a kinky perm, big glasses and a hair wire attitude, Penn is excellent as Kleinfeld, dancing across the line between criminal and lawyer with drug & ego fueled madness. Carlito just wants to make enough cash to escape the country with his girlfriend and run a quiet rental car agency. And here's where the film runs into a bit of trouble. Carlito's girl Gail is seen in a dance hall studio, you hear about her performing on Broadway and you see a ballet practice, then she turns out to be a pole dancer. I guess, maybe she was both, I never quite figured it out. The even worse news is that Gail is played by one of the worst actresses of the 80's and 90's, Penelope Ann Miller. She's horrible. I walked out of the movie she made after this, the craptacular 'The Shadow" with Alec Baldwin, so I dont think she got any better. Her interactions with Pacino are uncomfortable their talent levels are so far apart. It's like having a four year old with training wheels ride next to Lance Armstrong. No matter what you do, that kid is gonna look awkward next to Lance. Thankfully, Pacino is terrific and Penn is stellar, along with supporting players John Leguizamo as Benny Blanco, Luis Guzman as Pachanga and James Rebhorn as a tireless DA. Director De Palma turns in one of his best films, with plenty of his signature camera work and tension to drive the story. The finale between Carlito and all the forces against him converging on Grand Central Station is a killer twenty minute showcase by De Palma of all his best techniques. Quick cutting, multiple screens at once and a great music score by Patrick Doyle work in perfect sync to deliver one De Palma's great action sequences. Some of the takes in the train station are amazingly long, weaving in and out of crowds and action in scenes that must have taken weeks to rehearse. David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Mission Impossible, Spiderman) wrote the interesting screenplay. Other than some corny narration and a somewhat heavy handed flashback framing structure, its sharp and on point. With a better actress as Gail, this could have been a great film, but its still classic De Palma and deserved a bigger box office audience than it found. Tune in for Pacino, Penn and De Palma and enjoy the violent, action packed and moody ride. Carlito gets a B.

Laughably bad, no make that astonishingly, laugh-out-loud bad, 1977's THE CAR is basically JAWS with four wheels and a giant grill. This is the kind of movie that many good actors would love to scratch off their IMDB history. Actors like James Brolin as a small town sheriff. His opening scenes feature one of the most awkward "lovers waking up together" scenes in film history between Brolin and Kathleen Lloyd as his girlfriend. Her acting is horrible, but to be fair, her dialogue is so bad that at one point, the screenwriters have her doing a James Cagney impression. Eyebrow raising bad. A huge, black car is chasing down people and killing them methodically in their town. The music swells, the car revs, and the car chases people around. It's hilariously bad. John Marley (The Godfather) is horrible as the oldest cop, Ronny Cox (Deliverance) is a great actor in a very bad performance as an alcoholic cop and John Rubenstein is a hitchhiker playing a french horn on the roadside that made me start rooting for the car. Brolin does his best and looks happy to be off Marcus Welby. The writers Dennis Shyrack & Michael Butler went on to much better screenplays, including "Pale Rider" and "Code of Silence", apparently dumping all their worst moments in this disaster. Universal made a lot of money in the seventies cranking out these B-movies with better budgets and great posters but they have NOT held up, to say the least. THE CAR stalls quickly and gets an F. A hilariously bad F, but garbage is garbage.

Picture a political drama loaded with social commentary and then wrap it in an interesting science fiction adventure. What emerges is 2019's CAPTIVE STATE from Rupert Wyatt (Rise of the Planet of the Apes). The film's opening credits barrage you with media reports that Earth has been taken over on a planetary scale. Every country has laid down their arms, governments have stepped aside. It's intentionally overwhelming and a strong start. We then move forward ten years and focus on Chicago. John Goodman is Detective William Mulligan, running a task force to track down an elusive group of insurgents battling to push back against a decade of alien rule. He reports to Commissioner Igoe (Kevin Dunn of "Veep") who reports directly to the alien rulers buried deep under Chicago. Mulligan is on the trail of the emerging rebel group, including Gabriel Drummond (Ashton Sanders of "Moonlight") who lives in the shadow of his legendary brother, dissident leader Rafe (Jonathan Majors). The secret rebel group plot to show the world that humans CAN push back on a huge scale during a unity rally at Soldier Field. The film turns into a suspenseful thriller in its middle as this operation is planned and executed by a fascinatingly eclectic group of six. There are many layers to the story. You can watch it as a pure sci-fi film and enjoy it, or you can dig deeper and see commentary on the re-gentrification of neighborhoods and the balance of government power. The aliens are interesting but not jaw dropping. The special effects are good, but not great, but the supporting cast is strong. Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel) is a hooker with a hell of a client list, Ben Daniels (Rogue One) is a a heroic rebel leader, Kevin J. O'Connor (There Will Be Blood) is an alien loving policeman and Alan Ruck (Ferris Bueller's Day Off) is among the conspirators. Loved the music score by Ron Simonsen (The Way Way Back). The movie bombed at the box office and most critics and audiences didn't like it, but I thought it interesting, well acted and plenty of fun. I especially liked the independent film vibe in an unexpected genre and the last ten minutes absolutely loaded with twists and surprises. Goodman and Sanders elevate the material throughout. CAPTIVE STATE was a pleasant surprise for me, and gets an enjoyable B.

Fast paced, moving and suspenseful, CAPTAIN PHILLIPS features Tom Hanks in one of his best performances as the hostage of Somali pirates. Based on the true story of Captain Richard Phillips, whose huge freighter was boarded by Somali pirates in 2009 off the coast of Africa, the film deftly sets up Phillips and his crew's everyday routine. It then deposits them in a tension filled hostage incident that fills the majority of the film. First time actor Barkhad Abdi is excellent as lead pirate Muse, a young man literally starving and forced to become a pirate by marauding criminal warlords. The depiction of Muse and his friends lives as a counterpoint to Phillips prep for the mission and his home life provides a powerful contrast between their environments. When those worlds collide onboard the ship, Director Paul Greengrass (The Bourne Supremacy, United 93) ratchets up the action and suspense with his cast. If you think you know the whole story, as I did, you will find much more to the events here than expected. The last 20 minutes feature Tom Hanks, certainly one of our finest actors, at the top of his game. It's a powerful role in a terrific film. Like "United 93", it immerses you in the event and generates amazing tension as the story unfolds. Hanks and Greengrass are at the top of their game and capture a solid A.

Back in 1969, my brother Mark and I saw a great double feature at the old Mesa theatre downtown, "Ice Station Zebra" and this long lost relic, CAPTAIN NEMO AND THE UNDERWATER CITY. For nostalgia's sake, I ordered it from the Warner Archive collection of old MGM films, many of them the old sixties action films made in their London studios. Aimed at kids (and a lot more enjoyable when I was our story finds five survivors of a sinking ship rescued by the reclusive Captain Nemo (Robert Ryan) and taken to his huge underwater city, Templemere, located 10,000 fathoms below the sea. I don't know is 10,000 fathoms is anything near 20,000 leagues under the sea, but I KNOW that this film pales in comparison to that Disney classic. Instead of Kirk Douglas, we get TV's Rifleman, Chuck Connors as a Senator and the gorgeous Lucianna Paluzzi (Thunderball) as a love interest living in our underwater dome. The special effects are lame, the costumes are horrific and the models are pretty low budget too. We're left with Ryan doing the best he can as Nemo, a pair of bumbling "comedic" brothers who want to steal Nemo's gold and a lot of lame dialogue. I don't know how you'd swim from 10,000 fathoms to the surface without so much as a nosebleed, or why a giant manta ray goes from docile to angry when its bumped by a ship, but apparently the filmmakers do. The Warner Archives is filled with films you haven't seen in years. But if anyone else is trying to Find this NEMO, let me save you the trouble. This waterlogged cheapie should have stayed down tangled in the seaweed where it belonged. Gurgles and fumbles its way to a D for all ages.

About 90 minutes into CAPTAIN MARVEL, I was thinking "this isn't even going to be in my top half of Marvel movies...maybe the bottom three" but damned if the last half hour pull together into a terrific finale. But you do have to wander through the first 90 minutes. The opening is terrific, with a Stan Lee devoted Marvel title sequence that's a heartfelt tribute to the man and his legacy. Then we roll into an unfocused/incoherent set up of the warring alien hero race of which Vers (Brie Larson) is a rising member. She and her team, led by Yon-Rogg (the always capable Jude Law) are battling the shape-shifting invaders who are about to threaten Earth. It's all rather dull and tired until Veers lands on Earth, crashing into a 1995 Blockbuster Video Store and blowing up a "True Lies" standup. I got excited thinking that the film was going to be filled with fun references to the 90's, but other than one or two songs and a good gag about what we used to consider acceptable loading times on a computer, the movie doesn't really bother to capitalize on the setting. It's a miss. Almost immediately upon her arrival, we meet a very young Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg). Both have been digitally rendered to be twenty years younger and the effects are perfect. Jackson has a blast and it's nice to see Gregg get some screen time for Shield. When it's clear that the shape-shifters have arrived in 1995 along with Vers, several good chase set pieces arrive, including a "French Connection" style car and train chase that's the best sequence of the first 90 minutes. Larson is very good, creating a new Marvel character with promise, but it's a shame she's given so little to do for most of the movie. Her rapport with Jackson is effortless, but it often feels more like a Nick Fury origin story than a Captain Marvel film. Thankfully, we finally creep along to the terrific final half hour. Ben Mendelsohn (Rogue One, Ready Player One) is excellent as Talos, infusing menace, drama and humor into his role. But damned if the movie isn't absolutely stolen by Goose the cat. That creature drops more laugh out loud fun into the proceedings than I thought possible. Hilarious. Brie really comes into her own in the finale. It seems like the writers finally take off the shackles and give her the reins, which she takes gladly, owning the conclusion. Too bad there are so few surprises along with way. The big twists should be obvious to anyone over 10 years old long before they happen. There are two post credits scenes, the first one is goose-bump inducing and the direct tie into Avengers: Endgame that you've been waiting for. It's perfection. The second one is pure laughs. Thankfully this one recovered, or it would be sitting alongside "Thor: The Dark World" at the bottom of the Avengers heap. Still, rather meh... Wonder Woman still stands as THE way to launch a female superhero, its a far better film. CAPTAIN MARVEL gets a C+.

Sitting in a theatre a couple months ago watching the ponderous, boring "Batman v Superman" or "Clark v Bruce" or whatever it was called (honestly I don't care enough to even try to remember) I remember looking at my watch and remembering how much fun the superhero movies used to be. If you are looking for all the storytelling, characters with relationships, laughs and most of all, the FUN that was sucked out of that film, look no further than the terrific CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. Civil War finds the Marvel universe pondering the same global issues that BVS did for DC and "Spectre" did for James Bond, wondering where the balance is between oversight and invasion of privacy and attempting to discover the point at which the collateral damage of saving the world from the bad guys outweighs the goal. After the massive amount of deaths in the final act of last year's "Avengers:Age of Ultron" and the civilian casualties in the opening scenes of Civil War, over 100 countries around the globe pull together to enforce new rules for how and when the Avengers can engage their powerful might. Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr, terrific as always) supports the rules, suddenly faced to weigh the personal tragedies behind the kick ass superhero v alien invaders. Captain America (Chris Evans in fine form) sees it differently, not wanting the rest of the world and all their individual agendas to get in the way of what their team sees as right and wrong. As our two leads entrench on their sides of the argument, the rest of the Avengers line up for battle. Falcon (Anthony Mackie), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Vision (Paul Bettany), Scarlett Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) all pick a side, while Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson...uh, wow) finds herself torn between her friends. Three great new adds bring plenty of drama and laughs to the screen by joining our team. Chadwick Boseman (42, Get On Up) brings excellent screen presence and acting to his role of Prince T'Challa/Black Panther. From his first appearance as a superhero in a superb car/foot chase in pursuit of the Winter Soldier and Captain America, Black Panther rocks. Finally, and I mean FINALLY, we have a Spiderman worth rooting for as well. Young Tom Holland brings Peter Parker/Spidey back to his high school roots. The writers brilliantly get through the Spiderman backstory in about 90 seconds and launch him full speed into the film, with a pretty awesome costume upgrade courtesy of Stark Industries. The first two Spiderman films with Tobey Maguire were terrific, with Spiderman 2 my fave superhero film for many years, but that was back in 2004. Everything Spidey since (with the exception of Marc Webb's first Amazing Spiderman film) has been a full on trainwreck or a simple disappointment, so it's a genuine movie going thrill to see the Marvel team get Spidey SO right here. Lastly, Antman (Paul Rudd) joins Captain's team for this adventure and Rudd brings all the laughs and charm he had in his stand alone film last year, to this ensemble. The film's major action set piece is a major battle between our heroes set at a huge German airport. It might be the best Marvel action scene of all time, fusing toss away humor, full on laughs, immense action and real drama into one perfectly executed sequence. Daniel Bruhl (Munich, Rush) is a bit underserved in the villain role manipulating our heroes into conflict, but he gets the job done. Just as with the last Captain America film, Cap's friend Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier serves as the catalyst for much of the action as loyalty is tested at every level. Also just like that terrific last Captain America film, our writers our Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, crafting an excellent story. I didn't see the emotional impact for Tony Stark coming in the final act. For everyone wondering why these folks are fighting, it provides plenty of emotional heft, versus the bland story mechanics you could hear cranking loudly just off screen all throughout Batman V Superman. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo are back as well, answering the very difficult challenge of equaling 'The Winter Soldier". Challenge met. This is a terrific summer film and one of the best MARVEL films of all time. I found real depth in the way the story is structured, with the very young Tony Stark seen early and cleverly at MIT echoed nicely in our first glimpses of the young Peter Parker when Tony visits his home. Spidey's line in the airport scene referencing "The Empire Strkies Back" is both funny and perfect in its context. With CIVIL WAR standing as the perfectly executed middle chapter between Ultron and Parts 1 & 2 of AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR coming in 2018 & 2019, it earns the right to be compared to "Empire". FUN (are you listening DC Films??) taut, exciting and suspenseful, CIVIL WAR should unite all film fans at the box office as a massive hit to kickoff Summer 2016. Just like "Captain America: The Winter Soldier", it gets an A+.

As a big fan of the first Captain America movie in 2011, I was really blown away by how much better this year's CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER is over the first film. Chris Evans returns as our hero, making notes in 2014 of all the things he needs to catch up on since arriving from the 50's. He isn't given much time to compile that list as he and the Black Widow (Scarlett Johannson's lethal, funny and sarcastic agent) discover a far reaching conspiracy that threatens the world. The film takes the comic book premise and transplants it into a 1970's style global political/conspiracy thriller like "Black Sunday" or "Three Days of the Condor". Condor is an especially appropriate reference point as both films share Robert Redford, appearing here as Shield leader Alexander Pierce. Redford brings a lot of power and credibility to the film throughout. Evans is surrounded by a great supporting cast of true characters, including Sebastian Stan as Steve Rogers lifelong friend Bucky Barnes, Anthony Mackie as the Falcon and of course Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. First and foremost, this is a spectacular action film, filled with enough jaw dropping special effects and fast paced scenes of mayhem to fill two films. Unlike some other films that attempt the mix (most of the Transformers films) The Winter Soldier is more than just noise and explosions. It's got plenty to say about post 9-11 privacy, a government given too much power and the war machine in politics. If this sounds way too heavy, don't worry, it's a hell of a lot of fun too. I may be the rare viewer that actually likes this movie more than The Avengers, but I do. It takes the comic book action and layers it perfectly with something much more credible and powerful. You will be rooting for the heroes because the stakes seem higher than usual and somehow the entire movie seems more credible. I'm excited to hear that Directors Anthony & Joe Russo have already signed up for the next Captain America installment. Based on this film, they have captured the perfect mix of comic book movie and adult thriller and I can't wait to see the next one. The Winter Soldier soars to an A+, ranks as one of my favorite superhero genre films and in my all time top 100.

Now THIS is the way to do a superhero movie! Action filled, tons of fun, GREAT cast, especially Chris Evans and Hugo Weaving. Reminds me a lot of Raiders of the Lost Ark with spectacular action set pieces one after another and a perfect music score by Alan Silvestri. The CGI effects transforming Chris Evans from a scrawny wannabe to Captain America are really amazing. SO much fun. A solid A for Captain America!

A perfect popcorn movie with a great cast, 1977's CAPRICORN ONE spins a fast and enjoyable tale that never stops moving. The film opens as Capricorn One, the first manned mission to Mars sits on the launch pad. The three man crew Brubaker (James Brolin), Willis (Sam Waterston) and Walker (OJ Simpson) are surprised when five minutes before the launch, they are secreted away from the capsule via lear jet to a secret location in the desert. NASA lead Dr. Kellaway (Hal Holbrook at his intimidating best) shares with the crew that the life support system on the flight would not have kept them alive and rather than scrap the mission and jeopardize NASA's future, they are faking the mission. What follows is a terrifically enjoyable summer flick for anytime of the year. As the crew plays along under threats, a NASA scientist with questions (Robert Walden) and his intrepid reporter friend Robert Caulfield (Elliot Gould) begin to sniff around something that isn't quite right with the mission. The year long ruse around the mission is further complicated when the spacecraft experiences problems upon re-entry, making our three crewmen realize that their lives are now truly expendable. Brolin, Waterston, Holbrook and Brenda Vaccaro are all terrific. James Karen as the Vice President, David Huddleston as a NASA leader and Telly Savalas as a desert crop duster pilot bear special mention for some great humor to even out the tension. Director Peter Hyams spent the seventies and eighties cranking out relaiable, lightweight, great nights at the movies, including "2010", "Running Scared" and "Outland". Capricorn One is one of his best. I don't know how The Juice kept getting movie parts, but this is one of his biggest and his acting talent is minuscule. Poor Waterston and Brolin, it's like playing off a cardboard cutout! Jerry Goldsmith provides one of his best music scores from the opening frames to the final shot. Like many great popcorn movies, you can't apply TOO much logic or the seams start showing, but when you are having this much fun, who cares! Capricorn One blasts off with an A.

One of the stranger entries in the 1960's "how do we possibly complete with the UK cinema's OO7?" sweepstakes, 1967's CAPRICE plays almost like a spoof of the genre 50 years after its release. Doris Day was nearing the end of her film career when she took on the role of corporate spy Patricia Forster. Playing cloak & dagger with secrets between two huge fragrance companies, this female OO7 seems to switch alliances every five minutes when she isn't dodging bullets, hanging off rooftops or jet setting from Paris to Manhattan. Richard Harris followed up his role as King Arthur in "Camelot" the same year, playing fellow spy Christopher White, who has ten times more chemistry with the endless parade of models on 60's style display throughout than he does with Day. Many of the scenes could be dropped into an Austin Powers movie uncut and provide untold laughs. The filmmakers are trying so hard to be current (or should I say Mod Swinging Sixties baby!) that it's just awkwardly hilarious. Day is better than you might expect. It's easy to dismiss her for the TV personality she became in the 70's than remember she was a huge box office star with respectable dramatic turns in Hitchcock thrillers like "The Man Who Knew Too Much". But she and Harris are stranded on an island of absurdity in Caprice. I laughed more than a few times, but I'm not sure I was supposed to..... By the time Ray Walston (South Pacific) was in drag and shooting at Doris and the same very bad Europe street on Fox's backlot was trotted out as an exotic location for the tenth time, interest dwindled. At one point, the film is trying so hard to be 60's cool that Doris follows a suspect into a theatre playing "Caprice" starring Doris Day and Richard Harris.....in 1967, that might have been groovy, now its just painful. Richard Harris hated the film so much that he refused to ever see it. Doris hated it too, often saying it was one of her three least favorite films and telling how her ex-husband signed her to do the film before she ever saw the script. I think we can consider this celluloid evidence of justified cause for that divorce. For all its travels through the big money world of fragrance titans, CAPRICE sure does stink. I'll give it a D in honor of Doris.