Not a great movie by any stretch, but engaging and unexpectedly touching. (It’s the perfect setup for a TV series, BTW.)

FF=1

Finally saw this. What fun. And what amazing sets and effects on such a tiny budget. A cross between space opera and an SNL skit with a Laibach soundtrack.

FF=1

Much toned down from the original. Amazing how much humanity a talented actor can singlehandedly bring to a film: Gary Oldman.

FF=2

I found this tough sledding. If the writer/director wanted me to dislike all the characters, he succeeded. Admirably. Which can work for a film that’s got skillful pacing and a gripping story. Unfortunately this has neither. It succeeds in a mean-streets/gritty Scorcese feel, but lacks his knack for characters.

FF=3

I’ve never paid attention to the NFL draft; never interested me. But I understand it – and all the backroom trading of rounds and picks involved – a little better after seeing this engaging film. The cast is good and natural – only Leary seems to be acting – and a ticking clock shows up every once in a while. And, if nothing else, it’s got the most innovative use of split screens I’ve ever seen. If you like football, you’ll like this film. If you hate Kevin Costner, you’ll hate this film because no one else is given anything to do.

FF=0

They should have quit after 3. Linden and Holder, never easy to like, squander any goodwill they built in the first 3 seasons by losing their cool and doing stupid, narcissistic things. The pacing is more plodding than usual (this did NOT need 6 hours) and the mass murder thread has a jumbled, WTF? denouement. It all manages to end on an up note, but by then I simply wanted it OVER.

FF=3

This one earns its R rating – lots of violent action, lots of gore, etc. This is not your usual Arnie film. It’s grim and wisecrack free. It’s also a mess. Great cast, chaotic, incoherent script. Gotta say, the action scenes are well done and the obligatory chase has a spectacular end, but the AND THEN THERE WERE NONEesque mystery can’t carry the film.

FF=2

Clever and intricate and engaging while you’re watching, but as the closing credits start to run you say, “Hey, wait…” A good ride that does not bear reflection upon landing. And of course, since this is yours truly, a bit too long.

FF=2

I thought I understood the title before I saw the film; now that I’ve seen it, I’m not so sure. Thomas Paine’s famous The American Crisis begins: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country.” That is, the summer soldier will bivouac when the weather’s fine, but hightails it for home when the wind blows chill and the snow falls. Captain America is not a summer soldier. He’s in it for the long haul, till the war is done. In other words, he’s a winter soldier. But then the film introduces an adversary known as The Winter Soldier who’s enhanced like Cap but little more than an automaton. Huh? Did I miss something?
Whatever, it’s an impressive action film that has something to say. Jerry Pournelle’s Iron Law of Bureaucracy states: “In any bureaucracy, the people devoted to the benefit of the bureaucracy itself always get in control and those dedicated to the goals the bureaucracy is supposed to accomplish have less and less influence, and sometimes are eliminated entirely.” This is what seems to be happening in SHIELD throughout “Winter Soldier,” and its intrusions on American freedoms in the name of “security” resonate with the real world outside the movie theater. Cap isn’t buying and this puts him at odds with SHIELD and those trying to use it for their own ends. The FF score would be zero except for my zipping through fight scenes which invariably bore me.

FF=1

“Gladiator” meets Mt. St. Helens. Need I say more? Good disaster porn but otherwise…

FF=4