Now Playing: Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Since Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War has been so highly anticipated and has been made to live up to such high expectations. And when we saw the more disappointing followup to The Avengers that was Age of Ultron, we had to ask ourselves with wringing hands and shaking heads: could Civil War live up to the hype? Could it match Winter Soldier or even exceed it? The answer is yes. A thousand times yes.

Falcon and Scarlet Witch are Avengers. Bucky is running wild. We've recently met Ant-Man and Vision and now there is trouble brewing between the Avengers. Following the past few years of major destruction across the world due to the superheroes, the UN has created the Sokovia Accords which makes regulation of superheroes lawful. This includes deciding when, where, and how the Avengers act and making their uniforms and weapons government property. Ridden with guilt, Tony Stark wants to sign the Accords while Steve Rogers doesn't think it's an idea that promotes individual liberty and responsibility. The Avengers pick sides, teams begin to form, and soon we have, you guessed it, a civil war.

The Russo brothers have once again made a superhero movie that just stands out, not only in the MCU but in the huge vault of superhero movies in general. The story and technical aspects of Civil War were phenomenal and came together to make a near-perfect movie. And this is coming from someone who has never read a Captain America comic and for a long time didn't really enjoy comic book movies.

Civil War was bigger than Avengers in that it had so many more superheroes and these superheroes were actually fighting each other. With so many characters, this movie could have easily been a chaotic mess with no good focus on each character. Thankfully this was not the case. We delve deeper into characters we already know and love and are introduced to new characters that make us excited for Marvel movies to come. Most people, including myself, loved the new Spider-man and Black Panther. Tom Holland and Chadwick Boseman brought their characters to life and made us all fall in love with them. This is the Peter Parker we've needed and Black Panther is such a unique superhero; we haven't seen anyone quite like him before. Spider-Man: Homecoming and Black Panther are future films that are already met with great anticipation because of the heroes' amazing appearances in Civil War.

The Russo brothers have also created this perfect formula for superhero movies that includes a good balance between action and character moments. With comic book movies, you expect big fight scenes and spectacle. There was plenty of that in Civil War. The stunt team has been praised highly since this film's release and they well deserve it. From Bucky's Legolas-esque motorcycle move to giant Ant-Man being taken down via Spider-Man's Empire Strikes Back suggestion, Civil War has incredible, edge-of-your seat action without being redundant or boring. Superhero movies suffer, in my opinion, when they are bogged down by fights and explosions. Humanizing these heroes is important, and that is another thing that this film does well. We get real moments with each character and learn about their motivations and sympathize with their feelings. I am not an Iron Man fan, but even I felt bad for him in this movie. We get so much more from the Winter Soldier, Scarlet Witch, and Falcon than we have in previous films. For such a complicated comic book film, these moments are important in helping us understand why these great superheroes are fighting each other this time instead of a super-villain.

Like Winter Soldier, Civil War stands out from other superhero movies with cinematography and editing. People loved Winter Soldier because it reminded them of political spy thrillers from the seventies. Civil War also had that same vibe. Each time the movie cut to a different location or year, that place or time would be written in this great font and style that just fit the tone well and felt kind of retro. I also love the history of the Captain America movies and that was done well. We go back from the nineties to the present frequently and I think showing the Soviet Union juxtaposed with the States is important in understanding the story and ideological discussion behind Civil War. 

And that brings me to one of my favorite, if not my most favorite, thing about Civil War. Most superhero movies are relatively predictable, with a story that includes hero versus villain and the villains all have pretty similar reasons for becoming villains. There are bigger political and moral issues in Civil War that are presented through this creation of the UN Accords to start regulating superheroes. This film showed both sides of the argument well without tipping towards one or the other and without getting too preachy. It shows the cons and pros to both sides. Tony Stark meets the mother of a son he killed in Sokovia. The Secretary of State reviews the past few years (or past few movies) of mass destruction caused by the Avengers with the heroes themselves. I liked this part, because it finally addressed the trope in comic book movies in which an entire city gets destroyed but no one seems to care and there are no repercussions; that's all I thought about during Ultron. One can understand why Tony and his fellow team members would want a government check on their great and sometimes uncontrollable powers. But then Steve Rogers brings up the fact that the UN, and all governments of the world, are run by people with agendas. To put the Avengers' total fate into the hands of the government could lead to bigger problems and take away their basic freedoms. He states that sometimes property is destroyed and people are killed, and it isn't a good thing, but the Avengers always try to do the right thing in the end. As someone who is not a fan of either Iron Man or communism, I am on Team Cap. And I particularly loved how by the end most of the heroes joined Cap's side. Because he's right, of course. But no matter what side you are on, you have to admit that this film addressed both sides fairly. It's not often you leave the theater after seeing a Marvel movie and you're ready to have a philosophical discussion on morals and political ideology. But that's just the beauty of Civil War. 

Captain America: Civil War has set a new bar of excellence for superhero films. It's a great addition to the MCU and the Captain America series, but even on its own, it still works as a great, exciting movie. And it makes me so much more amped for the future Russo-directed  Infinity Wars because I know it will be in good hands. If you haven't seen it yet, go and see it! You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll delve deep into your personal moral psyche. Let the good times roll.

#TeamCap

  

Cult Film Friday: Attack of the Killer Tomatoes (1978)

Before The Stuff. Before Big Ass Spider. Before Sharknado, there was Attack of the Killer Tomatoes. Despite the small budget and initial negative reviews, this 1978 film had such a cult following it led to three sequels and is still considered a cult classic today. It's been a while since I've done a Cult Film Friday, but I saw Attack of the Killer Tomatoes for the first time in probably over decade and I had to write on it.

Spoofing disaster and monster B movies from the fifties and sixties, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes tells the story of evil tomatoes that grow gigantic and kill innocent people all over America. The government constructs a team led by Mason Dixon to save the country. Dixon must deal with spying newspaper reporters, government conspiracies, and bad pop music before he eventually destroys the fiendish fruit.

When I first watched Attack of the Killer Tomatoes as a kid, I thought it was funny just because it was such a bad movie. But it's actually a very cleverly written spoof of those awful films. This movie parodies everything from Jaws to Donny Osmond and is very funny. The tomato design was amazing as well. They talked but not in words, more like strange squeaky sounds. And they just rolled around. There was nothing really scary about them except they were big and rolled around. It was just great. It perfectly spoofs B movies, even though the film itself was made on a budget of less than $100,000. The lack of resources worked in this movie's favor.  There are some strange, non-PC moments in it (which is just reflective of the time), but overall it's a great comedy.

One of the aspects of Killer Tomatoes that makes it so funny is the music. It opens with the incredible theme song about tomatoes killing various people with a sound that reminds me of the old Zorro TV show theme. Again, watching it as an adult, I have no memory of all the musical numbers in it. The songs pop up as such random times and they're all so strange and funny. The song that the two main characters sing at the end is stupendous. It's a love song with clearly dubbed operatic voices. It's so over the top, it's amazing. The best song in the movie, the one I remember most, is "Puberty Love:" the loathed pop song that ends up being the weapon that destroys the killer tomatoes. In the film, "Puberty Love" is performed by the fictional Ronny Desmond (a wonderfully obvious spoof of Donny Osmond). The song is actually sung by Matt Cameron, who later grew up to be the drummer for both Soundgarden and Pearl Jam. Go figure.

Beyond the writing and music, I quite enjoyed the set design in this movie, oddly enough. I love movies that perfectly capture a certain era and this movie was so '70's. Every room was decorated and painted a certain way and I felt like I was in A Clockwork Orange or something. The rooms were painted bright orange or green and the furniture was very retro. I mean, just look at this office. Look at it.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is a very surprising and fun movie, and very deserving of its cult status. Its humor resembles that of other comedies made around the same time, like Monty Python and the Holy Grail or Airplane, but the film totally stands on its own as a weird, musical comedy. If you're in the mood for something bizarre and silly, Attack of the Killer Tomatoes is perfect. But beware. You may be scared to eat ketchup for a while.

Now Playing: The Kid (1921)

I am quite fond of silent films, and you just can't go wrong with Charlie Chaplin. Recently I was able to see one his most famous movies for the first time: The Kid. This movie is less than an hour long, but it is packed with drama, comedy, some interesting special effects, and a whole lotta heart.

The Kid stars Charlie Chaplin as the beloved Tramp and Jackie Coogan as "the Kid" (he later grew up to star as Uncle Fester in the 1960's sitcom The Addams Family).  This movie has some interesting firsts. It was the first full-length movie that Charlie Chaplin ever directed and it made Jackie Coogan one of the first child film stars in history. It was a huge success when it was released, becoming the second highest-grossing film in 1921 right behind Rudolph Valentino's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. In 2011, it was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. Today it is regarded as one of the greatest silent films of all time. The combination of great visual storytelling and Chaplin's talents make it easy to see why that is.

The film begins with a single mother who is struggling to take care of her baby. She leaves him in the backseat of a nice car, leaving a note explaining that she hopes the driver would be able to take of her child better than she could. She later regrets doing this and returns to find that the car and the child are missing, taken by thieves. The thieves later leave the baby on the street. The Tramp discovers him, and decides to care for him. Five years later, the Tramp and the kid, now named John, make their meager living as con artists. The movie shows their many misadventures as Chaplin tries his best to take care of John.

This story was very heartwarming. It was interesting to see the Tramp as a parental figure. Chaplin totally made it work. The movie had the dramedy formula down pat. In one funny scene, we see the Tramp fight a thug whose shirt was clearly stuffed so it looked he had muscles; in another scene, we are desperate for the Tramp and John to stay together as the police try to tear them apart. We also feel for John's mother, who had become a successful star while John was growing up. She does a great amount of charity work to overcome the guilt of losing her son. She even runs into John a few times with no clue that he is her son; these moments make your heart ache.

In the few Chaplin movies I've seen, I always love the Tramp. But in The Kid, I was super impressed with Jackie Coogan in particular. First of all, he was just the cutest kid. He had long hair and wore huge baggy pants just like the Tramp's. Coogan was able to keep up with all of the Tramp's comedic stunts and he was just overall a likable character. It was also just interesting to see a main character that is a kid in a silent movie. It does make sense that Jackie Coogan was one of the first successful child actors because you just really don't see a lot of kids in silent movies.

I really do have to mention the most entertaining and fascinating scene in The Kid. Towards the end of the film, the Tramp loses John; the child has been reunited with his mother but the Tramp doesn't know that. Distraught, he falls asleep on some steps and enters "Dreamland." Everything in the town changes. Flowers and fancy decorations appear on the houses and streets. People dressed in white robes with fake wings show up out of nowhere and start dancing and celebrating. Even John shows up with this new angel getup to greet the Tramp. The Tramp gains his own wings and robe but as this happens three men dressed in devil costumes enter the scene. They "tempt" a young woman to seduce the Tramp. They both begin to kiss as her boyfriend shows up; he is the thug who fought the Tramp earlier in the film. The devils then tell the boyfriend to be jealous and so he starts to fight the Tramp. A giant angel mob surrounds them and eventually an angel policeman shoots the Tramp dead. The Tramp is then awakened from this dream by a real policeman. This scene is captivating on so many levels. First of all I do just love the set design and costumes. The special effects are also amazing for the time. Everyone is flying; you know it's just strings, but it must have been cool to see back then. It reminded me of a silent film version of Peter Pan. They even put wings on a dog and made him fly around. The "Dreamland" also goes beyond just a regular ol' comedy movie. It represents the turmoil the Tramp is feeling. Not only is he always getting in trouble with John, but now he thinks he has lost John forever. Overall, I think this scene was just something really different and I loved it.

If you want to see some of the greatest American movies made, The Kid should definitely be on that list. It's a wonderful silent film, a wonderful Chaplin film, and overall just a fun movie to watch. I know that the idea of a silent movie seems boring to some people, but this movie was engaging all the way through. For an era in film that was starting to delve into real plots and real characters, The Kid stands out as one of the greats.