Captain America, F* Yeah

I wish I had a pale, English girlfriend.

Chris Evans has been in a lot of movies. I remember seeing him in Not Another Teen Movie where he mirrored Ethan Embry’s role from Can’t Hardly Wait. I liked Can’t Hardly Wait, it came out when I was about to be a freshman in high school so in some ways it conditioned my expectations for what high school would be like. I was annoyed by Chris Evans in Not Another Teen Movie. He infuriated me in the Fantastic Four movies. I was mad as hell when I heard he was going to play Captain America. There was never a cartoon for these movies when I was a child. I have no enured, nostalgic fondness for either the Fantastic Four or for Captain America but I thought: come on, this guy was terrible in one Marvel film – why put him in another?

I watched Captain America a few days ago with my family. Guys and girls – I’ll say it here. I really, really liked it. I don’t think that Joe Johnston is aiming for any artistic ideal, I think he just likes telling good stories. Johnston started off working as one of Steven Spielberg’s helper elves but broke off on his own in 1989 when he directed Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. Since then he has directed two of my favorite films – October Sky and Hidalgo.

I like Johnston because he makes incredibly solid, entertaining movies with heart and soul. You hear terrible directors like Roland Emmerich say they make movies to entertain people and they don’t care what critics think, because they’re making movies to entertain people. I think Johnston does that too but Johnston isn’t an asshole, or at least he doesn’t seem like one.

He can do spectacle but he starts conceptualization with good characters and works around them. Although I love how bombastic a movie like Independence Day gets – there are no real characters in it. Just Will “Willenium” Smith:

See, the AV Club recently ran this article about how story is treated by Hollywood Executives. I know people in Hollywood are running a business and I know I’m a snob for movies about things like characters, and ideas, and feelings. But there’s hope for me folks – I loved Captain America. Its loud, its silly, Hugo Weaving probably needs to up his SPF and Samuel L. Jackson is as ridiculous as ever but I really enjoyed this movie.  But I have to hand it to Chris Evans. Evans takes a character who is as manufacturedly iconic as a character can be and invests that character with heart and soul and purpose. I rooted for him. I hope he becomes a big movie star as a result of this. And I hope, when he’s a big movie star, that he keeps making interesting choices. Did you see him in Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World? How about Sunshine? Evans might be one of those people who can be interesting in movies despite being ‘cursed’ with leading man looks. Hopefully he doesn’t wait until he’s a million years old to start making those interesting movies (cough, Brad Pitt, cough, cough).

I’ll finish with an inevitable dash of pretension.

This movie is another part of the now inoxerable lead-in to the Avengers event and I’ll say that it is the least distracting part so far. And I’m putting my hands together to the filmmakers for leaving out that smug asshole Clark Gregg – you hear me Gregg? I’m tired of your bullshit in these movies. There’s a teaser trailer at the end of this movie. It is a teaser in every sense of the word. It is constructed to allow the audience to perceive that there are images but the images pass by so quickly as to deny them a chance to actually see anything. Probably, I will write more about this trailer later on.

The Book of Eli

What do I want to call this rule? Denzel Washington is an incredible actor. He has presence. When he’s good he moves and even when he’s bad he entertains. His movies perform. To quote Nacho Libre – the people, they like him. I like Denzel too – which is why I’ve sat through maybe a half a dozen movies I wouldn’t have watched without his name on the bill. Fallen is the only one I wouldn’t watch again.I think I’ll go ahead and call it the Denzel W Rule of Actors who always transcend their material. This isn’t a bad rule but I believe it will hold true as he ages.

I would like to meet the hero of this film. I watched the Book of Eli because I like post-apocalyptic movies and because I like Denzel Washington. I was not disappointed. The film is a story of a man who survived the destruction of our civilization as a child and now wanders its ruins as an adult. He is safe guarding a mysterious text from those who would take it from him. The movie’s action follows from that point.

Eli raises some interesting questions about the transmission of culture and its function in maintaining civilization. The nameless wanderer motiff is ancient. It never occurred to me before but post apocalypses are westerns, aren’t they? Eli also makes some suggestions for what might come next. The cinematography is gorgeous. Atticus Ross’ soundtrack is also gorgeous. Panoramic is one of the best instrumental pieces I have ever heard. Even the fight scenes are framed and treated in interesting and distinct ways.

I’ll add that this isn’t a movie that demands to be watched – but it is a movie that offers a sophisticated spin on a genre that is weary with cheaper imitations. The Book of Eli is violent – it earns its rating through direct visualization and implication, but it offers some spurts of insight. What does it mean to be literate? What is the value of belief? What is the purpose of religion in a society that does not propagate symbols for hope? I could go on for a while about that last question, particularly in light of our American political crisis – but I’ll only say that Eli suggests that heroes are defined not by their strength at arms but the strength of their faith.  This is a true idea and an anachronistic one. Eli is not Parsifal the Fool at the beginning of the Grail Quest – he is Parsifal the Hero at its end.

The Tree of Life

I walked out of Terrance Malick’s newest film, The Tree of Life.

I did this before. I  bought a ticket to see ‘500 Days of Summer.’ I was in the theater with 3 middle aged women who sat inexplicably close to me. One of them fell asleep and started snoring. I got up and left to see District 9. Best. Decision. I’ve. Ever. Made.

Needs more Wikus.

I know there have been other times that I’ve left movies but I can’t think of them now. I’m sure I’ll do it again too, I want everyone who reads this to know that I walked out of The Tree of Life.I have seen two of Malick’s other movies – The Thin Red Line and The New World. I think The Thin Red Line might be one of the greatest war movies I’ve ever seen.  I own them both on DVD. They are beautiful, reflective pieces. Malick’s films evoke another world unlike any other filmmaker who is working today. Artistically, he is his own man. I will qualify that statement by saying that his movies are also dry and lack the traditional narrative structure of modern films.

The Tree of Life follows the style of those other films but it covers new thematic ground. I’m going to call Brad Pitt for the Oscar this year. He’s certainly been huffing and puffing for the last little while, I think this film will do it for him. He plays the patriarch of a family in 1950’s Texas. He’s a cruel, selfish man who terrifies his children. When push came to shove I just didn’t want to watch it. I make myself a hypocrite here – I’ve called for more serious narratives and elaborations on more realistic themes. When I get them, I leave the theater.

I’ll quote Uncle Walt here in my defense: “Do I contradict myself? Very well, I am vast. I contain multitudes.” This movie cut a little too close to home and did not offer much else to support the nastiness of Pitt’s character. The ineffable truth of the family in America is that children really are vehicles for their parents’ ambitions. This truth, once revealed, does not make me happy. I don’t think it adds anything else. I left The Thin Red Line with a sense of my own mortality and the unnecessary avarice of war. The New World made me think about what God (or nature) has given man and what man has done with it. The Tree of Life made me think that fathers are assholes and mothers are too weak or unwilling to stop them. Then it demanded that I feel like that was ok. I don’t. If it is meant to be true then I deeply resent it. So I hesitatingly recommend The Tree of Life as a big concept movie that people probably won’t enjoy. Go see Captain America instead, seriously – its much more fun.