PAIN HUSTLERS Review

Between dramatized series' like Dopesick and Painkiller to last year's unanimously praised documentary All The Beauty And The Bloodshed the whole world of the pharmaceutical scam and opioid crisis in America has been well-documented over the last few years. Director David Yates seemed to be in luck despite this barrage of similarly-themed content though, as I've only seen the Nan Goldin doc meaning this fictionalized telling of Evan Hughes' 2018 investigative feature of the same name was essentially fresh territory for me. That said, it's unfortunate Pain Hustlers or the first feature from Yates that has not been authored by J.K. Rowling since 2014's Tarzan and the first non-IP film he's made since 2005 is something he only seems tangentially connected to. That is to say that Yates, a Brit through and through, might have had a vision for how to tell this story when he read Hughes' piece, but more he likely found this distinctly American story just that therefore implying the type of vision he then defaulted to.

That default is naturally Scorsese-light as Pain Hustlers echoes recent output like The Wolf of Wall Street and similar films that came along in its wake a la The Big Short, War Dogs, and most recently Dumb Money. Each of these films center around unqualified individuals stumbling into incredible (if not always legal) situations that garner them untold amounts of money who then have to balance their greed with their inexperience before getting caught. As a piece of entertainment this moves quickly and offers enough broad insight coupled with reaches for genuine emotion to track as something worthy of your time while being informative either as a whole or about certain aspects of this crisis not yet exposed. As a novice on the subject, I found the idea at its core - the exploitation of helping people for profit rather than the greater good - naturally compelling and the details of it fascinating which made me wonder why, by the close of the film, I had no real reaction to what I'd just experienced.

KNIVES OUT Review

"The exception that proves the rule."

The movies are nothing alike in terms of what they're about, how they're directed, tone, nothing. There's nothing similar about these movies at all really except for that, from the moment they begin, there is a sense of supreme assuredness in where they're going and how they're meant to get there. This feeling arises at the beginning of a fair amount of movies because there are so many that begin with such promise yet so many of them tend to lose themselves along the way or lose momentum or more often than not encounter the issue of knowing where they want to go without being sure of the best, most effective way to get there. Nearly three years ago now, when Jordan Peele's Get Out began to play in front of me for the first time on that cold Thursday in late February, I was granted the sense of this supreme assuredness that continued throughout the entirety of the runtime and through to that perfect conclusion. It wasn't difficult to see every aspect had been labored over and planned to a to T; as if not only the script, but the way in which each shot was constructed and how each line was delivered held a certain weight and intention. Every element had seemingly been executed with precise detail so as to convey this strong, specific point of view. In short, Get Out was a movie where every piece held a purpose all of which led to a culmination that fully displayed the power of the narrative, the charisma of the characters and the masterful way in which the filmmaker used the genre he was operating in to make his complex ideas accessible. This is all said not in an attempt to remind readers of how satisfying Get Out is, but to say all of this is very much true of Rian Johnson’s Knives Out as well.

AVENGERS: ENDGAME Review

The culmination of eleven years and twenty-two films worth of story, Avengers: Endgame brings to a conclusion one of the greatest experiments in cinematic history and does so with as much grace and satisfaction as one might hope or expect a single moment to capture. That isn't to say there aren't a few hiccups along the way, but what is here to complain about feels so quaint in comparison to what the film gets right that they hardly seem worth mentioning. Directors Joe and Anthony Russo have achieved what felt damn near impossible leading up to the release of the film and that is to have met the loftiest of expectations. Having been invested in these films for over a decade now and experienced the highest of highs and lowest of lows with each of the key players, Endgame takes it upon itself to find both closure in and resolution to many of the biggest arcs that have-knowingly or unknowingly-been playing themselves out for much of this same time period. That is to say, while Endgame more than compensates the eager opening night audiences with its pure "fan service" finale, the casual viewer or even the small remainder of the rest of the general population that hasn’t seen a single Marvel movie-should they decide to invest themselves this late in the game-might find themselves rendered surprisingly affected in these times of great trial and potentially even greater consequence. Endgame is certainly something of its own beast in that it thrives on its own, very distinct, structure and strong individual character arcs (especially for the core group of original Avengers) and more or less functions as a stand alone piece if not a direct sequel to Infinity War; yet it is the kind of sequel audiences always complain they don't get enough of. Meaning, Endgame compliments its predecessor without replicating it in hopes of delivering the same type of fulfillment. In every sense, Endgame couldn't feel more different than the largely space-based Infinity War as that film was non-stop from the word go to the moment of the decimation. In Endgame, our titular heroes are dealing with the repercussions of this event, the fallout of certain relationships and the idea that maybe, for once, they won't actually be able to save the day.   

Official Trailer for AVENGERS: ENDGAME

Since the credits rolled on Infinity War nearly a year ago now and with Captain Marvel's opening weekend now behind us, the countdown to Endgame has officially begun and Marvel just ratcheted up all the feels with this official trailer release. Still holding back a considerable amount and being very picky with what new footage we are allowed to see before any of the general public actually sees the complete film, this official trailer plays more as an homage of sorts to the core original Avengers than it does a glimpse into the future of the MCU. This is a nice touch given this truly does feel like a culmination of ten-plus years of movie-watching while the tag on the trailer includes Brie Larson's Carol Danvers in an effort to move into the future as well. It's kind of surreal in a way that this was always going to be unavoidable, but somehow seemed as if it might be so big so as to forever elude us. Here we are though, less than two months out, we barely know anything about the plot of the film except for the countless theories that are floating around the internet, with this latest trailer not mentioning Thanos at all, and I can't help but know we'll all be all the better for it come Thursday, April 25th when the collective MCU fans sit down to experience the true end of an era. Avengers: Endgame also stars Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., Elizabeth Olsen, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Rudd, Chris Hemsworth, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Jeremy Renner, Evangeline Lily, Vin Diesel, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Bradley Cooper, Pom Klementieff, Dae Bautista, Josh Brolin, Paul Bettany, Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Wong, Don Cheadle, and opens April 26th, 2019.

MOVIES I WANNA SEE MOST: 2019

With a new year we are brought many a new prospects for our entertainment purposes and in looking forward to 2019 one thing is more than clear and that is the fact audiences will have an abundance of interesting material to choose from. In setting out to make a most anticipated list I actually began with some fifty-something films I found interesting or knew I'd care to see based solely on surface factors such as director, cast members, or synopsis. It pains me that movies like John Crowley's follow-up to Brooklyn, Goldfinch, won't get acknowledged here nor will James Mangold's Ford v. Ferrari, Danny Boyle's Beatles project, or Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window, but that is the way these things work. That is without mentioning the long list of blockbusters that won't appear here-including Glass, Shazam!, Captain Marvel, John Wick: Chapter 3, The Lion King, and the Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sequel-as I'm certainly excited to see what each of those deliver, but am not anticipating any with the fervor my top ten bring.

First Official Trailer for AVENGERS: ENDGAME

Avengers: Infinity War is currently and is likely to remain my number one film of 2018. What that film accomplished and the amount of expectation it lived up to is as close to immeasurable as I can imagine and so, to say that anticipation for the follow-up and conclusion of what has been a decades worth of films is high is an understatement. Since the credits rolled on Infinity War in late April of this year leaving room for only a minor Captain Marvel tease afterward there has been little discussion about what was to come in the direct sequel to the film despite coming to know how absent players like Ant-Man and the Wasp played into the events of the film. Marvel Studios will of course be rolling out Captain Marvel in March of next year and delivered a second, full trailer for the Brie Larson-fronted film on Monday night as rumors are also swirling that our first look at Spider-Man: Far From Home will be arriving tomorrow via the Sony Panel at the Comic-Con Experience in San Paulo, Brazil. Sony no doubt wanted whatever kind of teaser has been put together for Far From Home to play before the upcoming Into the Spiderverse that opens next weekend and given at the end of Infinity War that character was a pile of dust there would need to be some kind of statement from Marvel or glimpse at the second half of Infinity War so as the more casual viewers might possibly understand how Tom Holland's webslinger was back. Up until this point though, not even a title was know for the fourth Avengers film and now, as we have the title and have seen images from the film confirming it will in fact be ready to go by this summer movie season it's kind of surreal in a way that this was always going to be unavoidable, but somehow it seemed as if it might be so big as to forever elude us. Avengers: Endgame also stars Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., Elizabeth Olsen, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Rudd, Chris Hemsworth, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Jeremy Renner, Evangeline Lily, Vin Diesel, Michelle Pfeiffer, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Bradley Cooper, Pom Klementieff, Dae Bautista, Josh Brolin, Paul Bettany, Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Wong, Don Cheadle, and opens April 26th, 2019.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR Review

Where does one even begin? That is the question the screenwriters of Avengers: Infinity War must have been asking themselves when they sat down to pen what will ultimately come to be a five-plus hour finale to what the world has been witness to the construction of for a decade. There is so much happening and so much seemingly left to happen with Infinity War and whatever the as of yet untitled sequel is sure to include that it's almost incomprehensible anyone in their right mind took this on as a challenging endeavor they'd be willing to try their hand at. And say what you will about Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors of Winter Soldier, Civil War, and now both the third and what will be the fourth Avengers movies, and how they might feel like Marvel's "directors for hire" that bend at any whim studio head Kevin Feige commands, but these guys get the work done and do so in a way that is both dramatically satisfying as well as colossally entertaining. With Infinity War, the Russo brothers along with series screenwriters Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely (all three Captain America films, Thor: The Dark World, as well as Agent Carter) have somehow managed to tackle the unenviable for them, but extremely exciting for audiences in the vein of making eighteen previous movies come together and intertwine in a way that is as natural as possible with clear motivation as to why as much is necessary at this point in time all while keeping it all, as Thanos would put it, "well-balanced." Where to begin in such an endeavor is certainly not a question with an obvious answer, but Markus and McFeely begin in what feels like the most natural of places given the hints that have been being dropped since that post-credits scene in 2012's The Avengers and where we last saw Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston) after the destruction of their home world, Asgard. If you haven't been paying attention, the aforementioned post-credits scene delivered a slight smirk by a guy named Thanos (Josh Brolin) AKA a titan who sees fit to invade planets and wipe out half of their population in order to keep balance among the galaxies. This is who Infinity War centers around and in more ways than one this is Thanos' movie. This is a smart decision as this was never going to be able to be one heroes movie more than another's, but by giving this villain who we've been hearing whisperings about for almost six years now the credit he is due the movie allows this antagonist to live up to the mythos those past movies have built around him.

Movies I Wanna See Most: 2018

With a new year we are brought many a new prospects for our entertainment and in looking forward to 2018 I decided there was more than enough I was looking forward to in order to compile a most anticipated list. Too much, probably. That said, even in counting down twenty-five titles there is still plenty else that I would have loved to include. While I adored writer/director Alex Garland's directorial debut in Ex Machina his follow-up that comes out next month, Annihilation, has seemingly been shifted around in ways that make it feel less of a prospect. While I'm curious I'm not as excited to see the movie as I thought I might be. Others that were close to making the cut were director John Curran's (The Painted Veil) Chappaquiddick about how Ted Kennedy's life and political career became derailed after his involvement in a fatal 1969 car accident that claimed the life of a young campaign strategist. The film received strong reviews out of Toronto last year and I'm anxious to see what all the buzz is about when the film opens in early April. And then, there are of course the obvious big tentpoles that I'll be more than happy to see including The Incredibles 2, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, Ocean's 8, The Predator, Equalizer 2, Sicario 2: Soldado, and Mary Poppins Returns, but beyond being happy to see these come their opening weekends I'm not exactly looking forward to what they'll bring to the table. There is also supposed to be that live-action Mulan from director Niki Caro (McFarland USA) that is set to open this November, but I didn't include it here as I'm rather skeptical given we've heard little about it besides the casting of the lead and the main players in the creative team being in place. Time will tell and I'm looking forward to the film, but if we'll see it in 2018 I'm not sure. Finally, I would love to have highlighted lesser known upcoming titles such as The Diary of a Teenage Girl director Marielle Heller's new film, Can You Ever Forgive Me? Starring Melissa McCarthy as bestselling celebrity biographer, Lee Israel, or John Krasinski's latest directorial effort, A Quiet Place, that stars himself and wife Emily Blunt along with Wonderstruck breakout Millicent Simmonds in what looks to be a departure for the actor/filmmaker. Jim Henson's son, Brian, also returns to feature filmmaking with The Happytime Murders which sounds like a blast and then there is of course the likes of Red Sparrow, the new Steven Soderbergh flick, Unsane, Richard Linklater's Where'd You Go Bernadette? not to mention new efforts from both Adam McKay and Alfonso Cuaron that don't have set release dates yet, but that we can probably expect at some point this year. There just isn't enough space in the world for everything that sounds promising in 2018 and so, here are twenty-five I definitely can't wait to watch and know I'll see this calendar year. 

TOP 10 OF 2017

For me, 2017 has been something of an off year. It seems the majority of avid movie-goers and critics have found much to enjoy-too much even to be able to narrow down their favorites of the year to a simple top ten. For me, I have struggled to find ten films worthy of what I would say are exceptional pieces of work that will stay with me past the calendar year into which they will forever be categorized. Sure, there have been films with exceptional moments-glaring omissions from my favorites list that will make many others are that of Lady Bird, Call Me by Your Name, and The Shape of Water. I couldn't agree more that each of those films possess inspired moments that transcend the art form, but as a whole were they films that made an impression on me that will last, if not forever, but at least a few weeks after seeing them? Not at this point, no. I have thankfully managed to whittle the two hundred or so plus new releases I've seen this year down into ten that have stuck with me, but this admittedly pessimistic discourse thus far doesn't mean I couldn't fill out a top fifteen or twenty. There are films not present on the list below that I would highly recommend and that would no doubt come in somewhere in the next five spots just outside my top ten. Though 2017 has been something of an odd year for my own personal tastes and the lack of as many being able to meet or exceed my expectations it would be a shame not to mention the likes of the pigeon-holed Stronger as it is much better than its Oscar bait facade would have you believe, the weird and deliriously entertaining The Disaster Artist, the criminally underseen and overlooked Brigsby Bear, Steven Soderbergh's return to feature filmmaking in Logan Lucky, and Sofia Coppola's re-make of The Beguiled with a handful of pitch perfect performances all deserve your love and attention if they haven't received it already. I've pretty much seen everything I imagine might have a shot at making my list except for maybe Phantom Thread (which isn't scheduled to open in my neck of the woods until January 18th), but Paul Thomas Anderson has always been hit or miss with me given his films always feel easier to appreciate rather than enjoy. With the film being touted as Daniel Day-Lewis' final bow as an actor though, it demands to be seen and I'm eager to see what all the buzz has been about once it does open near me. Furthermore, I look forward to re-visiting award season heavies like The Post and Molly's Game when they make their national debuts in January as they were both films I liked, but came nowhere close to being the giants many in the press touted them to be. All things considered, please know that I went into every film this year really wanting to like it and the ones that follow are the ones that surprised me with their quality or surpassed every expectation I held for them. Enjoy!

Official Trailer for AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

In what will be ten years to the weekend after Iron Man arrived in theaters in May of 2008 we will see the (first part of the) culmination of the first three phases of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It's hard to believe we've been living in this world for a decade now when, looking back, those beginnings were so humble. I clearly remember sitting in the theater not knowing what to expect from Iron Man, but mainly being excited that a new The Dark Knight trailer was playing before it. Oh, how the tables have turned as we come off the lukewarm reaction and success of the rushed Justice League and see what time, patience, and care have done for the MCU with our first glimpse at Joe and Anthony Russo's Infinity War. Bringing together all of Marvel's heroes has always been ambitious, but as the MCU-train has rolled on and the roster only continued to expand it has become more and more curious as to how Kevin Feige and the Russo's might bring this all together in a cohesive manner. If this first trailer is any indication it seems they have done so with real charm and scale. There isn't a lot of details plot-wise, but there are enough shots to suggest that, if you've been following along with the previous MCU films, many of the strands from previous films will be, if not resolved, at least touched upon in this first part of what will ultimately be a two-part finale. I honestly can't get over how this trailer has made me feel. It made more hairs on my arm stand up than do in that shot of Peter Parker experiencing his Spider sense. Spider-Man's suit looks amazing, Black Panther's line in regards to Captain America is fantastic, and that music...that music is really paying off for Marvel. Good for you, Alan Silvestri. The visual scope also looks to fit the number of characters which has been something of a shortcoming for Marvel in the past with many of their films feeling great, but looking flat. The location shots among the sprawling green planes of Wakanda lend a sense of true epicness and that final tag, that final tag is just perfect. I seriously can't wait. Avengers: Infinity War stars Tom Holland, Scarlett Johansson, Robert Downey Jr., Elizabeth Olsen, Chris Pratt, Chris Evans, Benedict Cumberbatch, Tom Hiddleston, Zoe Saldana, Chris Hemsworth, Chadwick Boseman, Anthony Mackie, Paul Rudd, Brie Larson, Karen Gillan, Jeremy Renner, Cobie Smulders, Vin Diesel, Peter Dinklage, Sebastian Stan, Samuel L. Jackson, Bradley Cooper, Pom Klementieff, Dae Bautista, Josh Brolin, Paul Bettany, Tessa Thompson, Mark Ruffalo, Benicio Del Toro, Benedict Wong, Don Cheadle, and opens May 4th, 2018.

GIFTED Review

I was reading a piece last week by Jaime Weinman for Vox that talked about a shift in film criticism recently and how critics have become more socially conscious than ever. While the piece is an interesting assertion of how many movies of late have come to be judged as much for their ethics as their art there was one particular section that took me by surprise and stuck with me. In a section titled "The end of Kaelism" Weinman says, "A work of art — serious or popular — isn't supposed to be judged by how much you agree with it, but by how it makes you feel and whether it can convince you of its validity." The context of this quote is key as the writer was discussing the approach of critics such as legendary New Yorker film critic Pauline Kael and Andrew Sarris, the man who invented the auteur theory, as critics who ultimately sported an "art-for-art's-sake approach to culture." I was reminded of this approach, this train of thought, as I sat watching the latest from director Marc Webb ((500) Days of Summer, The Amazing Spider-Man). I was struck by the fact that despite recognizing the predictable tropes utilized in Gifted that I was really, really into the story and that despite the clichés of the courtroom drama Webb's techniques were overcoming them in a way that was delivering a film, a piece of art, that made me feel good; that made me appreciate movies for showing me what they can do. How they can move you. I went into Gifted expecting something along the lines of a sappy, Hallmark-style melodrama with better actors and production design, but within the first fifteen minutes Gifted had convinced me of its validity — it had convinced me of its sincerity that was ingrained in its otherwise competent execution. Sure, many will dismiss Gifted for being the type of film that is emotionally manipulative because it wouldn't be mad if you shed a few tears and/or formulaic in the way that the premise is an old cliché that has been used before (specifically in 1991's Little Man Tate which I haven't seen, but more or less sounds like the same movie), but just because a movie might indeed be full of cliché or admittedly formulaic doesn't mean it's automatically bad. Webb is able to tell this recognizable story in ways that allow it to pop. The director and screenwriter, Tom Flynn, are able to prove certain tropes aren't always bad and that doing the opposite isn't always good by delivering all that is predictable and formulaic about Gifted with a warm and wholly wonderful sincerity that comes straight from the heart.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR Review

Super hero movies, as we know them today, must walk the difficult line of being somewhat grounded in a reality audiences can relate to while at the same time embracing (not just accepting, but embracing) the inherent goofiness of the facts of the matter. In a broad scope, this is about guys and girls in colorful suits with silly nicknames duking it out with what tends to be (at least in the Marvel Cinematic Universe) a flavor of the week villain that does just enough to further the arc of what remains to be built in this ongoing series. What grounds these colorful characters sporting strange labels is the repercussions of their actions. The Avengers can shut down an entire alien race while destroying New York in the process and widely be regarded as the heroes of the scenario, but the fact of the matter is that if this were to happen in our reality there would be thousands upon thousands dead and even more injured. With the third Captain America film, Civil War, Marvel has found it the necessary time to begin giving their heroes more heady spaces to wander. Sure, there is still a bigger antagonist than either Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) or Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) in Civil War that leads to the plot being more run of the mill than I was hoping things might go, but there is enough justification and perspective to this villains plan that we go with what we're being offered. Perspective is a key word here. Not only in the driving force that puts the team at odds over the still brewing conflict concerning The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), but for these superior beings to take into account the consequences of their actions and come face to face with their shortcomings-the film more or less exploring how they deal with such realizations when they're brought up as potential charges. Captain America is a firm believer in consequentialism in that his goals are morally important enough that any method of achieving them are acceptable with the understanding of the unfortunate caveat that he will never be able to save everyone. It is in exploring such territory and being bold enough to bring their heroes face to face with such a reality that Marvel exceeds in walking that difficult line. Captain America: Civil War is very much a Marvel movie in that it is full of bright colors, genuinely funny quips, and some solid action set pieces, but bringing these characters (and these performers) into more interesting dynamics with one another notches up the reality factor with the result being an admirable balancing act that deserves to be applauded.

Movies I Wanna See Most: Summer 2016

It's that time of year again, the summer movie season is upon us. As always, this annual commencement of super hero blockbusters and action films galore with high budget comedies and low budget horrors both looking to break out in their respective genres begins with the first weekend in May. As you likely already know with the present media blitz attacking every screen you look at it will be the latest Marvel adventure that will be kicking off summer again this year, but there is a whole lot more to talk about and a whole lot you might not have heard of yet. It was actually pretty difficult to break down the release schedule this year into just ten films that I'm genuinely excited to see. There are several smaller, more non-traditional films including Me Before You, Jodie Foster's Money Monster, The Infiltrator starring Bryan Cranston and Swiss Army Man that I'm interested in, but maybe not necessarily excited for. There are also a few other sequels including Now You See Me 2, The Conjuring 2, Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, and Finding Dory that in a weaker year might have made the cut. There are of course several other sequels hitting the multiplexes this summer, but while TMNT: Out of the Shadows and Star Trek Beyond seem fun enough they will hardly be revolutionary and I can't seem to muster much of anything for either Independence Day: Resurgence or Alice Through the Looking Glass. Horror pickings are fairly slim this year as outside the James Wan sequel we have Lights Out which he also produced. the third Purge flick, and the Blake Lively-led The Shallows. There will of course be those that look to cash in on brand recognition alone including Warcraft, The Legend of Tarzan, Ben-Hur, and Angry Birds all of which could go either way, but Angry Birds brings us to what is quickly becoming the most interesting discussion of summer 2016: animated movies. Beginning with that game adaptation in May the summer of 2016 will see six animated releases over the course of four months including the previously unmentioned Secret Life of Pets, Ice Age: Collision Course, the R-rated Sausage Party and Laika's latest, Kubo and the Two Strings. Some will be hits, others will go quietly into the dark, but the sheer amount of them along with potential comedy hits this summer make them the most potentially interesting stories this year. Needless to say, there will be plenty to see at the movies this summer and since we're talking about family films let's go ahead and jump into number ten...(segue's are weird)...

New Trailer for CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

The new trailer for the highly anticipated Captain America: Civil War comes two weeks before the release of the other big super hero smackdown this year. While I'm sure Disney is keen to keep as much focus on their follow-up to Age of Ultron as possible it is likely smart they've chosen to go ahead and release this trailer for the masses to chew up, dissect, and discuss over the next week before becoming engulfed in the unavoidable frenzy that will surround Batman V Superman. Of course, the second season of Daredevil premieres on Netflix a week from Friday on the 18th, only a week prior to BvS, so maybe they don't actually care. Whichever way you cut it, Marvel looks to keep their name in the conversation no matter how many heroes Warner Bros. have stuffed into Dawn of Justice. With a month and a half or so to go before Civil War kicks off the 2016 summer movie season though, we knew this second trailer could drop at any time and the barrage of "team posters" over the last week as well as the short teasers posted on the films official Facebook page yesterday made it clear that day would be today. Working from a script by Winter Soldier scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely directors Joe and Anthony Russo return as well and look to have crafted something just as epic as fans of both the comics and the MCU could hope for. My biggest hope going into this second trailer was that Disney and Marvel would be smart enough to keep Spider-Man hidden throughout all of the marketing material as they clearly have plenty of other things to sell this property on, but unfortunately they couldn't help themselves. Captain America: Civil War stars Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr, Sebastian Stan, Chadwick Boseman, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, Daniel Brühl, Martin Freeman, Tom Holland and opens on May 6, 2016.

First Trailer for CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

The first trailer for the highly anticipated first film in Marvel's phase three has debuted and for all those (and there are a lot, including me) fans of Winter Soldier it looks like we have something very much in line with that previous Cap film. The question of whether or not this was still going to be a Captain America film after the expansive cast was announced is answered in the form of the Captain clearly being at the forefront of this trailer and presumably the film. The likeness to Winter Soldier isn't necessarily a negative comment either as I loved the look of that film and it looks to suit the very military/Avengers world in as suitable a manner as it did when S.H.I.E.L.D. was the main focus. That directors Joe and Anthony Russo are returning certainly explains a lot of the same aesthetic choices, but it also makes me excited to see what they'll be able to do with Infinity War Parts I and II. While, in the grand scheme of things, this may just prove to be a trial run compared to what they'll do in those films it looks as if the brothers, working from a script by Winter Soldier scribes Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, have crafted something just as epic as fans of both the comics and the MCU could hope. The portions that give us our first glimpse at Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther are some of the most exciting among the nearly two and half minute clip while the capper of Chris Evans' Steve Rogers and Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barns wailing on Robert Downey Jr.'s Iron Man only serves to escalate the anticipation. Also, it looks like Disney will again be pulling a Luke Skywalker and (hopefully) hiding Spider-Man from any marketing materials. Captain America: Civil War also stars Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Renner, Don Cheadle, Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Rudd, Emily VanCamp, Frank Grillo, William Hurt, Daniel Brühl, Tom Holland and opens on May 6, 2016.

Favorite Films of 2015 So Far...

It has been something of a strange year so far as much of what has garnered the most attention has been fine enough in my humble opinion, but more often than not just that and little more. Much of what I'm referring to here are the massively successful critical hits that are Mad Max: Fury Road and Inside Out. I enjoyed both of the aforementioned films and both would make my current top ten were this the actual end of the year, but considering we are just closing out the sixth month there is much more to see. The thing is, I've only seen Max and Inside Out once and have a sneaking suspicion that I will enjoy them more and more with each repeated viewing that will certainly happen before the end of the year and so there is plenty of time for things to change as well. I have also missed a few of the smaller films that have garnered critical praise that either didn't open in my comparatively smaller market or were only available to catch for a limited time that I wasn't able to make time for. I have yet to see Sundance winner Me & Earl & the Dying Girl, but hope to catch it this week when it opens in my area as well as catching up on the likes of Clouds of Sils Maria, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, Faults, The Duke of Burgundy and What We Do In the Shadows each of which have all been recently released on home video or are coming out soon. It is uncertain if any of these will leave an impression as big as some of their reviews would suggest, but I'm hopeful. Some of my choices are rather obvious as they will no doubt appear on 90% of year end top ten lists, but others I hope might not be and I've added a few close calls so as to round out a top ten for this point in the year. With so many highly anticipated releases coming this fall and winter none of these films are safe, but I'll be surprised if at least two or three of these films don't also end up on my year-end top ten, especially considering I'll have seen many of them more than once at that point.

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON Review

Organized chaos. Organized chaos is what best describes the sequel to the third biggest movie of all time. How does one top the first culmination of the first cinematic universe? Sure, bigger is always better (and Age of Ultron certainly feels bigger), but more it is the combination of broadening the scale with that of keeping the characters compelling and their story moving forward. As always, whether it be trying to manage the multiple characters or the overarching storyline that the Marvel Cinematic Universe intends to execute some things get lost in the shuffle. This is to be expected, moreso with the characters than the storyline as Marvel and head honcho Kevin Feige seem to have a pretty clear picture of where things are ultimately going if not allowing each director their own wiggle room to implement their own ideas and ambitions. Within this wiggle room we are given the titular baddie of this second Avengers film in Ultron. While Thanos has been making minuscule appearances since he first showed up in that mid-credits stinger on The Avengers and would seemingly be Marvel's biggest bad of them all, Ultron seems to be the deviation that Whedon wanted to explore and thus proved a solid enough distraction to carry the Avengers through this soggy middle ground and onto the third act of this cinematic universe they've been constructing. While Ultron is a compelling piece of artificial intelligence as far as characters go with James Spader providing a maniacally dark humored mentality to the intimidating "murder bot" the evil robots motivations are always a bit muddled. Covered up by flowery speeches and philosophical mumbo jumbo about the only way to peace being true extinction Ultron is given no motivation for his actions beyond being programmed in such a way. A program that is too smart for its own good who hijacks any physical form he can in order to execute his plan. This is all well enough reason to give earths mightiest heroes someone to fight, but it's the weakest link in an otherwise sprawling production that is everything we want it to be. Everything we've been waiting for.

Ranking the First Ten Marvel Cinematic Universe Films

If I were to go back to May of 2008 when I was a freshly-minted twenty-one year old deep in the heart of film school and brimming with the idea I garnered more knowledge than I actually did my rankings of the following films that have come out over the past seven years and created the most colossal machine in movie-making would look very different than the retrospective I'm about to outline for you. I certainly wouldn't expect to start where I do given the third film in the MCU is basically where things really got going while the first two entries are more or less setting the tone for what Marvel might do given these first efforts paid off in the right way. We all know now that at least that first effort paid off in a big way thanks in no small part to Robert Downey Jr. (who still owns this brand with something of a sadistic glee) which meant taking the MCU's only break in 2009 before spitting out a rushed sequel in 2010 that would put the end goal of The Avengers in motion. While I admired those early films in the MCU for at least having an ambition unmatched by any other franchise they have now become something of a TV series on the big screen that comes with its own challenges of having to individually stand on their own while owing much to the larger moving parts. This aspect has made the films both unique in the way we consume them while somewhat devaluing the individual stories as there is always the "what's next" question lingering as soon as the credits roll. And so, seeing as the MCU has now produced ten feature films with their eleventh, Avengers: Age of Ultron, opening tonight domestically it seems as good a time as any to recap where each of them stand in my humble opinion. Ranked mostly by their rewatchability factor with other facets considered for good measure here are the ten MCU films so far ranked from worst to best.

First Trailer for AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

The first Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer has premiered after being leaked earlier today. The first peak at the follow-up to writer/director Joss Whedon’s record-breaking 2012 film was supposed to drop during next weeks episode of ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but given the circumstances Marvel has blamed Hydra and officially released the trailer online. There is no denying the anticipation for this one is sky high and our first glance at the sequel only adds to that hype in the most positive of ways. I can remember being slightly underwhelmed by the first trailer for The Avengers as the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack never met with what I imagined it to be, but ultimately we know everything turned out okay and if nothing else it was a treat to finally see all of these characters in one place together. This time around that isn't going to enough, but what Whedon has given us a glance at here is a very different, much darker tone than the original possessed. I love the color palette here, I enjoy the musical choice, I;m intrigued as to what exactly is at stake here and I appreciate the vibe comes off as dramatic while not taking itself too seriously (though some will surely criticize it for trying to be "dark and gritty" in the vein of Nolan). Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) all return to battle Ultron (James Spader) this time around while new allies and enemies join them in the form of Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and The Vision (Paul Bettany). Avengers: Age of Ultron also stars Don Cheadle, Andy Serkis, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders and opens on May 1, 2015.

SNOWPIERCER Review

What Snowpiercer has to its advantage more than most standard action or post-apocalyptic films these days are its interesting ideas. From the opening moments of the film where the audience is exposed to a flurry of exposition placing us in a world where man has attempted to control nature and in return has damned our earth to a frozen eternity I was hooked. The only survivors being locked within a speeding train, built and engineered to last forever, traveling the same course over and over again, completing the circle around the globe once a year. We learn of the passengers at the back of the train, those who are treated on a sub-human level and the few within the beaten and battered group that are planning a resistance, a revolution. This may instinctively conjure up comparisons to Elysium wherein the rich and poor are so distinctively separated that it seems convenient for the film to be interpreted as some type of propaganda, but director Joon-ho Bong never allows his film to slip into this kind of piece. Instead the throughline of Snowpiercer remains an unrelenting and unforgiving journey from one end of this locomotive to the other wherein our protagonist Curtis (Chris Evans) not only discovers the layers and the societal structures of those who live ahead of him, but how easily they have forgotten what is taking place not three cars away. Where many a post-apocalyptic film will maintain the focus on how society has come to work in the wake of failing and in turn sacrificing character development both this and The Rover prove that it is the actions and mentalities of the characters you create that define the rules of the world and not the mounds of exposition you have them spurting so that we understand those rules. Snowpiercer wastes little time explaining things, it trusts its audience and it gives only a brief amount of set-up before diving into the narrative that Curtis, his second in command Edgar (Jamie Bell) and their wise old leader, Gilliam (John Hurt), are setting in motion to push forward. What follows is a layered and engrossing series of obstacles that avoids feeling like a video game by creating these characters and dynamics between them to where we can't help but become invested.