Ant-Man (2015)

Ant-Man is a Marvel comic book character who has existed for more then fifty years, but you probably hadn't heard of him until you saw previews for this movie. Yes Marvel Studios great success and need for a steady stream of product has lead the powers that be to dig a little deeper into the barrel for characters to build movies around. That being said Ant-Man certainly has his place, he's even welcome because not only is he that rare super hero property who you don't start the film knowing everything about, but as a result of that you don't bring a ton of pre-existing expectations to the film and it can thus be easier to enjoy on its own terms. Not that the other films in the Marvel series are oppressive by any means but the tone here was refreshingly light, in part both to the script co-written by Edger Wright of Shaun of the Dead fame but also as Ant-Man is the perfect super hero character for Paul Rudd, who of course is a lightly comic actor here playing a lightly comic hero. I also liked how the story line here didn't feel needlessly out-sized, forgive the obvious joke. Ant-Man is a fun, straight forward super hero comedy that is delightfully unpretentious. Enjoyable. ***

Jaws 2 (1978)

Sequel to the iconic 1975 blockbuster Jaws, Jaws 2 is perhaps needless to say a lesser film. In fact there isn't that much to Jaws 2, its basically just a retread of the first film, a large aggressive Great White starts to feed on folks off the coast of Amity Island during the summer tourist season, Sheriff Roy Scheider wants to get right on that and close down the beaches but the towns commercial interests don't want to listen to him so more people needlessly die. Scheider is the only of the big three from the first film to return for this sequel, Robert Shaw was dead in the franchise, and then actually died a few months after this movie came out, and Richard Dreyfuss's character is said to be unreachable on an expedition in the arctic ocean. Still Jaws 2 is watchable, while the character moments were often a bit pained there is enough action and suspense to generate excitement. Passable enough, Jaws 2 doesn't fill me with a lot of hope for the later films in this series however. ***

Midnight Run (1988)

Mismatched buddy comedy/road trip movie in the 80's tradition Robert De Niro is a former cop turned bounty hunter who must locate and escort a former mob accountant (Charles Grodin) from New York to LA in a five days, or in reference to the title by midnight on Saturday. Gordin had stolen $15 million from a mob boss (Dennis Farina) and given it to charity after discovering that the seemingly legitimate firm he worked for was in fact a mob front. Upon locating Grodin , who was in hiding, De Niro must keep him safe and moving as they travel across the country dodging the mob, the FBI, and a rival bounty hunter in an effort to get him back in time to save a bail bondsman from bankruptcy. The movie goes about where you'd expect it to go story wise, though perhaps a little slower and in a slightly more restrained fashioned then I'd anticipated. Well made, enjoyable, but also not quite as deep or insightful as it may have intended to be, but only by a little bit. Still ***

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

I really enjoy Wes Anderson movies, and this one is  just about perfect. A boy and girl, both wise beyond their years at age 12, run away together on a small wooded island off the Atlantic seaboard in 1965, just a few days before a massive hurricane is do to hit the area. Wes Anderson indulges his YA sensibilities expertly and gives us a sweet childhood fantasy of young love in the best of ways. Complete with his trademark visual sense and large cast of characters, a lovely retro piece that is perhaps the best film about scouting since Follow Me Boys. I hearty enjoyed the proceedings. Most of this is good family material but their are one or two scenes which would give me a little pause about showing to youth under age 13.  ***1/2

The Green Berets (1968)

John Wayne's pro Vietnam War movie feels like a film in denial, both on the realities of the Vietnam War as well as on what constitutes an engaging viewing experience. Nominally based on a 1965 book by Robin Moore the film has been described as a sort of World War II movie in Vietnam clothing, and while such a description isn't 100% accurate it does capture the essence of this film, it does not feel quite real, almost as if it comes from another dimension or is about a different war. Wayne is an Army colonel given command over FOB near "the border" in South Vietnam, the two big action sequences are an enemy siege on the base, and after that Wayne leading his men on a secret mission to kidnap a North Vietnam general, these sequences play almost like two different movies. Worse still when there is no shooting going on its almost unspeakably boring. David Janssen appears in the film as perhaps the only American reporter to go to Vietnam as a skeptic of the war and come back a supporter, and all the other Americans in the film are squeaky clean.This production also made the mistake of filming mostly in Georgia, you should not film your Vietnam War movie in Georgia, Georgia looks nothing like Vietnam, it is not a jungle place, in a few shots you can see the leaves on the trees starting to show their fall colors. Roger Ebert put this film on his "Most Hated" list but perhaps the best summation of The Green Berets comes from Renata Adler writing in the New York Times "It is vile and insane. On top of that, it is dull." *

Jurassic World (2015)

Fourteen years after the release of the last 'Jurassic Park' movie comes this late entry in the series entitled Jurassic World, and given the records its been breaking it pretty much ensures that there will be a Jurassic Park 5, which they even did a pretty good job of laying the groundwork for in this movie. I've been a little surprised by the number of people I know who did not like this movie and I can certainly see their points, there are structural, story and character problems (or cliches) here a plenty, but it was still a fun enough ride for me to enjoy the thing. Chris Pratt is at a point in his career right now were he can make everything he does work. This film does not have the same spark the first movie had, but it manages to produce a reasonably passable imitation of one. ***

Django (1966)

Quinton Tarantino got his main characters name and cool theme music for Django Unchained from this classic 'spaghetti western' simply titled Django.  Django here is not black but rather white, though he does take on the Ku Klux Klan, as well as Mexican bandits as a union veteran in the post civil war southwest.The film features Italian actor Franco Nero as Django, as well as a Claudia Cardinale type, model/actress Loredana Nusciak as Django's love interest Maria. Most memorable among the supporting cast are Jose Bodalo as leader of the bandits and Angel Alvarez as Nathaniel.

Django starts the movie lugging a coffin around and murdering some Klansman after they kill some banditos to retrieve Maria who spurned the attention of there raciest leader Major Jackson (Eduardo Fajardo). Django then takes Maria to a nearby town that though practically abandoned, has become a kind of demilitarized zone between the Mexicans and Jackson's men, largely it seems because there is a brothel there, run by the character Nathaniel. Django takes up residence at the brothel then provokes Jackson and his men into attacking in mass so that he can slaughter most of them with the machine gun he's been keeping in that coffin. Django does this because Jackson was apparently responsible for the death of his wife. After laying the Klansman low Django then appears to team up with the Mexicans, but its all just part of a secret plan to steal some gold so he can start over and 'bury his old self'.

The film feels a little scattered but is still enjoyably off kilter. Django would spawn literally dozen of lose sequels that kept the characters name, but apparently not much else. Given this films obvious resonance to Tarantino I thought it would be worth a see, and it was. Not amazing, but odd and memorable. **1/2