Steve Jobs (2015), Captian America: Civil War (2016), Fedora (1978)

Steve Jobs (2015)

Another Steve Jobs movie? No thanks I'm not interested, I didn't see the other one. A Steve Jobs movie directed by Danny Boyle, written by Aaron Sorkin and staring Michael Fassbender? Okay I'm interested. The movie is constructed as a three act play, in fact the screenplay could probably be preformed more or less as is on the stage. Each act takes place behind the scenes just before major Job's backed product lunching's in 1984, 1988, and 1998. There are several through lines devoted to major and often strained relationships in Job's (he was a difficult man) personal and professional lives, with his daughter Lisa Brennan-Jobs, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniack (well cast Seth Rogen), mentor John Sculley (played by Sorkin favorite Jeff Daniels) and several others. Kate Winslet plays a slightly composited version of Joanna Hoffman, a member of Job's inner circle who had retired by the time of the final product lunch depicted in the film. The dialogue and performances in this are great, though the proceedings would probably seem dry to many. The movie has that look of slightly lens flair lighting which I associate with director Danny Boyle, but in tone, substance, structure, dialogue, cast and pretty much everything else this is Sorkin's movie. Behind the scenes and 'great men' that's what Sorkin is interested in, as well a stylized dialogue of course. This wasn't really a subject I was that interested in but the movie really sold me. Again I'm sure a lot of people would find this movie boring, but for me its ***1/2

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

This movie is a lose adaptation of a Marvel Comics storyline from about 10 years ago that was a big enough deal that even though I'm not much of a comics guy I was well aware of it. There have now been roughly a dozen feature length movies set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and I have seen all of them, and in all fairness and respect they have become a little old. That is the nature of comic books I suspect, mostly variants on the same handful of themes and arc types. These movie always have to have X number of battle sequences, in  X number of exotic locations, a little bit of soap operay relationship stuff, and episodically build into one another. Oh yeah and quips and cameos, can't forget the quips and cameos. It's all right, it enjoyable enough, but its not all that filling and I don't have the sense that these movies are capable of surprising or impressing me much anymore, which is something many of the earlier films in the MCU managed to do. I'm going to be nerd unpolitic here and say that I honestly enjoyed Batman v Superman more, in part because I hadn't seen the DC people do this kind of stuff on film before, and because the ending of that movie I wasn't expecting (at least not that early in the DCU). Still Civil War had it's moments, I quite like Ant-Man, and liked the new Spiderman as well as the unexpected casting for Aunt May. Still for me this is the weakest of the Captain America franchise, which I think is the strongest branch of the MCU franchise, or maybe its that I'm just bitter at the lack of Hayley Atwell in this one. None the less ***

Fedora (1978)

Director Billy Wilder's penultimate film is based on a novella by the writer and actor Tom Tryon. The film is often viewed as a companion piece of sorts to one of Wilder's best known and most iconic features, Sunset Blvd. Though made nearly thirty later Fedora's connections to Sunset Blvd are multiple, not least that they star the same leading man, William Holden. Both films are about reclusive female super stars of an earlier era, both stars live in creepy old mansions and are cared for by strangely protective handlers, and both characters lives are changed forever upon chance encounter with representatives of present day Hollywood played by William Holden. In Sunset Blvd Holden plays a down on his luck writer, in Fedora he plays a down on his luck producer who travels to a Greek island where the reclusive Garbo like star known only as Fedora spends part of each year. The mystery at the heart of Fedora is both more conventional in form and stranger in content then that of Sunset Blvd. Though this movie, which has a reputation of being one of the directors weaker films, has a stronger then I'd expected introduction, the resolution is rather long and exposition heavy, though that may have been unavoidable given the nature of its story. This film is only a shadow of its earlier thematic cousin, but its certainly watchable and an intriguing companion piece, Wilder looking back not at a Hollywood before his time like in Sunset Blvd, but at the Hollywood of early in his career seen from near the end of his career.  Also given that this was the first straight drama the autor had made since the late 1950's, in a way its impressive that it turned out as well as it did. **1/2