Tom Hanks Movie Review: **^ Asteroid City (2023)

 This movie is very confusing to me.  Mostly it is about a family driving home to the father-in-laws residence where they plan to live for a while after the mother has passed away. Augie Steenbeck (Jason Schwartzman) has not yet told his children even though she died three weeks ago.  He is carrying her ashes in a Tupperware dish.  He is traveling with his son Woodrow (Jake Ryan) and three daughters, Andromeda, Pandora and Cassiopeia (Ella, Gracie and Willan Ferris). Those three ad some good humor as they can be vicious.  When they get to Asteroid City the car blows out.  Steenbeck contacts his father-in-law (Tom Hanks) and he agrees to come and get them.  In the meantime Midge Campbell (Scarlett Johansson) who is a movie star and her daughter, Dinah (Grace Harris) arrive in Asteroid City.  As does a bus load of people and many more coming for the annual Asteroid Day celebration.  The ceremony for Astroid Day is conducted by General Gibson (Jeffrey Wright).  And at the ceremonies they are visited by a space alien.  Consequently the town is put on quarantine, including the visitors.  The government tries to keep the story locked down,  The story deals with the father and kids struggling with losing their wife and mother.  The father too also struggles with losing his daughter.

The confusing part of this movie is the format, a movie about a television programs which is airing a dramatic play.  I can't keep track of what is what, because there is also real life going on.  The movie concludes with the line, "You can't wake up, if you do't fall asleep."  Apparently meaning you have to go on, and then you can deal with the grief or issue over time.  But again this movie is very weird.

Movie Review: *****The Black Widow

 This movie is delightful.  It is able to take a look at the Romanoff family from a different point of view, and gives us the back story for the Back Widow and for her sister, Yelena.  The family--which was put together to train the girls to be widow fighters includes Natasha (Scarlett Johansson), Yelena (Florence Pugh), mother Melina (Rachel Weisz) and father Alexei (David Harbour).  They were part of the enhanced network created by Dreykov (Ray Winstone).  In fact Dreykov has created an army of widows, and controls them through chemicals.  This movie is a struggle for the two sisters to get their lives back; and to deal with their past.  The movie is very well done how they combine family issues, from the pseudo family  and the humor is very good.  It takes a different view of the Marvel Universe.

Movie Review: ****Captain America: The Winter Soldier

 Winter Soldier is the second Captain America movie.  The Winter Soldier is Bucky, Captain Roger's childhood friend.  However he was captured by Hydra and turned into a super soldier with a prosthetic super arm.  Turns out Hydra had infested SHIELD with some very devious plans based on an algorithm predicting the future of people and eliminating those who are undesirable.  Fury is wounded in an assassination attempt because he is onto the infiltration.  Lots of great action which leads to the confrontation between Winter Soldier and Captain America.  We are introduced to Falcon who helps Captain America.  Black Widow also plays a big part.  Alexander Pierce is the Hydra leader but also Fury's boss.

Chris Evans is Captain America

Samuel L. Jackson is Nick Fury

Scarlett Johansson is Black Widow

Robert Redford is Alexander Pierce

Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier

Anthony Mackie as Falcon

In Theaters: Avengers: *****End Game (2019)

Avengers: End Game:  This is the most anticipated movie in some time; and it more than lives up to all the hype.  From Thanos’ “I am inevitable” to “I am Iron Man” and all the ride along the way, this movie is great.  Of course the thing about this movie is having all the characters together.  There is too much here to give a plot summary, but suffice it to say this movie entertains and appeals to Avenger fans, as well as Guardians of the Galaxy and Dr. Strange.  It has all the characters taking part in their turn.  There is a part during the major battle where all the women are going to protect the glove and it just seemed to miss as tried to make a politically correct statement.  And then of course the fumbled the glove anyway as Thanos had said, :He is inevitable.”  However that is my only complaint.  A couple of our major Avenger friends will not be coming back it appears, but there are plenty others who are ready for the continued Avenger Universe, including Peter parker and Spider man later this year.  This is a must see.  In fact it warrants going back and seeing all the Avenger movies.

Robert Downey Jr.     Tony Stark/ Iron Man
Chris Evans                Steve Rogers/ Captain America
Mark Ruffalo               Bruce Banner / Hulk
Chris Hemsworth        Thor
Scarlett Johansson     Natasha Romanoff / Black Widow
Jeremy Renner            Clint Barton / Hawkeye
Paul Rudd                   Scott Lang / Ant-Man
Benedict Cumberbatch  Doctor Strange
Chadwick Boseman    T'Challa / Black Panther
Brie Larson                  Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel
Tom Holland                Peter Parker / Spider-Man
Karen Gillan                 Nebula
Zoe Saldana                Gamora
and many more
Marvel Universe

Movie Review: ***^ Captain America: Civil War

This battle has lots of violence.  It pits Avengers against Avengers, as is the plan of Zemo (Daniel Bruhl).  His family was killed in fall out from past episodes of the Avengers battling evil.  Now he wants revenge.  Fall out from Avenger heroics has lead the United Nations to want to control the Avengers.  Differences in opinion cause the initial rift between the two groups.
Zemo manipulates people and things to bring Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan) and finds the secret clues to trigger his evil personality.  Captain American (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) are on a collision course.  With some new and some old Avengers taking sides.  This includes Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Ant Man (Paul Rudd), Falcon (Anthony Mackie), War Machine (Don Cheadle), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and introducing Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman.)  Even Spider Man (Tom Holland) gets into the action.  His youth attracted Tony and I must admit his character brought humor to a movie that was really action-packed, violent and dark.

Marvel Universe

Movie Review: ***^The Jungle Book (2016)

The animated version of the Jungle Book was not my favorite Disney movie.  However this presentation was new and very entertaining.  The story did not follow the book, nor the original Disney totally and the changes were well received.  The action can be very intense.  Shere Khan (Idris Elba) is very mean and ruthless.  Mowgli (Neel Sethi) is not totally helpless.  Although he is encouraged to stifle his human creativity, it is this that saves him in the end.  Balou (Bill Murray) adds a breath of fresh air to a movie that would have been too intense without his addition.  Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) provides the stability and wisdom of many years.  It was Bagheera who found Mowgli, and brought him to the wolves.  It is also Bagheera who advises Mowgli to defeat Shere Khan by fighting like a human.  King Louie (Christopher Walken) is probably the scariest character of all.  He is just so big.  However, when your house comes tumbling down it is not good.  Kaa (Scarlett Johansson) the scary snake has an hypnotic quality, as Johansen does in real life.
This movie was enjoyable.  Tony wanted to go so we took him.  I think he enjoyed himself.

Movie Review: ****Hail Caesar! (2016)

I found this movie totally entertaining.  I really loved the allusions to Jesus and Christianity.  The discussion of the religious person, a Catholic priest, protestant pries, Orthodox priest and rabbi was hilarious, but in the conversation was the importance of faith in Jesus Christ.  This is also a movie about the production of movies, which is always interesting.  Eddie Mannix, the movie studio president is played by Josh Brolin.  His job is to keep his actors out of trouble.  So when one actor comes up missing (kidnapped) his major task is to keep it from the papers.  Baird Whitlock (George Clooney) is that actor, playing a Roman Centurion in the times of Christ.  At the same time he is covering the pregnancy of DeeAnna Moran (Scarlett Johansson).  Another actor, Hobie Doyle (Alden Ehrenreich is a western actor, who is thrown into a period romance, along with all the nuance that gender offers.  It is the communists (mostly movie writers) who have stolen Whitlock, seeking compensation as the feel they have been underpaid for many years.  Whitlock actually goes for the communist spiel.  However when a major actor leaves the scene, with the money, boarding a Soviet submarine, he loses the money catching his dog.  It sinks into the ocean.  Doyle discovers the plot, and rescues Whitlock.  Moran finds a love and they become engaged, resolving the pregnancy issue.  They had thought she might adopt her own baby; but that would have been messy.
Underscoring the drama around the president, is an offer from Lockhead Martin, to go into management where he can really do some good.

Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

Marvel Comics is out with another Avengers, and this is as exciting as the first.  I thought I might hit overload with all the action taking place.  However this movie also has some humor and some drama mixed in.  We discover that Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) has a family.  The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) is still caught up with "I can't trust myself," and Iron Man (Robert Downing Jr.) is not willing to listen to anyone's advise, which gets him in  trouble as Ultron (James Spader) is born.  Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) is in love with the Hulk, and using this love to control him, at times.  We learn more about all of the Avengers, (other than Hawkeye) when they are put under mind control by a new nemesis, Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen).  Another nemesis is the the witch's twin, Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) who has incredible speed.  Thor (Chris Hemsworth) also deals with past issues so he is more effective in the present.  Captain America (Chris Evans) is everyone's favorite leader.  He too deals with issues of having outlived his time.  We are also introduced to a new character, Vision (Paul Bettany) who is the physical version of Iron man's computer, Jarvis.  Fury (Samuel Jackson) also shows up, and his support is needed in the end.  This movie is lots of fun as our heroes try to save the world with as little collateral damage as possible.

Marvel Universe

Movie Review: ****^Captain America

Captain America   This is an enjoyable sequel to the original Captain America and The Avengers.  Who knew that after the original that Hydra would be back.  That is what happens in this movie, and worse yet, they have infiltrated Shield.  Captain America (Chris Evans) and the Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) discover this by following a beacon to a secret base, where the knowledge of the Hydra scientist, Dr Zola (Toby Jones).  Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) has guided Shield to an important day where they will launch three vessels as a shield over the world.  These vessels will have incredible destructive force.  However, due to the infiltration of Hydra, this force is going to be used to cleanse the world of those who might stand in the way of Hydra, based on computer projections.  Nick Fury is shot, and presumed dead.  Falcon (Anthony Mackie) joins Captain America in first in offering a place to hold, and then in joining the team.  A surprise character is Bucky, Captain America's best friend, who was assumed lost in the first show.  His memory has been wiped, and he has been manipulated by Hydra to be an assassin.  He is the greatest rival, and Captain America wants to bring him back from the nightmare he is living.  Alexander Pierce (Robert Redford), Fury's boss is in fact the manipulator behind Hydra.
This is a fun show with great action. 

Movie Review: ****^Hitchcock

Hitchcock is a 2011 movie starring Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock and Helen Mirren as his wife Alma Reville.  It also features Scarlett Johansson as the actress Janet Leigh.  I watched it through Netflix DVD.

I found this movie very entertaining.  It is about the making of Psycho.  I was fascinating with the making of a film, and even more fascinated with Hitchcock and his wife, coming together to make a triumph.  They took a great risk with this movie, as Hitchcock could not find financial backing, and had to back the movie himself.  There were so many nuances to the making of the film that at times it seemed the project was going to fall apart. There was dealing with the studio, dealing with the censors, and dealing with personal pressure at home because of they mortgaged their home to make the film.

Overlapping this is the relationship between Hitchcock and his wife Alma.  Hitchcock determines she is having an affair, and this effects his work on the movie.  However when he collapses from exhaustion, Alma comes up to keep them going and to keep production from falling too far behind, or to keep the cost overruns from being too great. Alma was not having a physical affair, but perhaps one of loyalty as she was helping a friend write a book.

In the end, this movie was Hitchcock’s greatest success, even surpassing “North by Northwest.”  I am putting this movie in my motivational movies.  It shows what can be accomplished with a dream, determination and resolve.  

I don't think youngsters would appreciate this movie. 

Movie Review: ****^The Avengers

The Avengers in 3-D is a fun movie.  I had seen Iron Man I and II, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Captain America.  This show adds the Black Widow and Hawkeye as well as the organizer, manipulator Nick Fury.  All of these stories come together with the brother of Thor, adopted, coming to earth with the hopes of conquest, and making people bow to him.  Of course Thor comes to stop him.  The brother has a source of mind control and takes over the mind of one of Avengers, Hawkeye, who shots arrows.

The theme of the show is you are more together than just a sum of the parts.  Each of these super heroes has a big ego, and it takes a lot for them to com together.  Bickering and fighting, they finally join together to save the world from an alien invasion.  The robot monsters are cool, especially the worm like space ships.  But cooler are the skills of the Avengers, and the Hulk tackling one of those worms is too much.  This movie was a good ride and kept me on the edge of my seat.  It was almost too much action non stop at one point, but that is just me.

Marvel Universe

Movie Reviews: ***^Iron Man and ****Iron Man II

Both of these movies star Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man.  The first is in our home library, and the second on instant Netflix.

These movies turn my on deep down.  There is just something about Iron Man when he has his mask on, and when he lands after turning off his rockets, with that big thud, that is just cool.  Actually Tony turned me on to this story, and now that I have watched these movies, I am ready to see The Avengers.  The second video does a better job of introducing some of the Avenger characters.

I prefer the second movie, because the bad guy is so much more bad.  Jeff Bridges portrays the bad guy in the first movie,  being Tony Stark's business partner, but also trying to kill him.  He is able to compromise Tony's design, and make his own suit, but it doesn't work out for him in the end, as he doesn't have the experience.

On the other hand, Mickey Rourke  portrays the son of the original designer of the small reactor, who is seeking revenge for his father.  He makes his own suit with powers, and is a worthy opponent.  But he is defeated early, Stark's business competitor rescues him, and gives space for him to work his revenge.  He turns on the business partner, and takes control of the robots he made, which wreak havoc attempting to kill Iron Man.  Gwyneth Paltrow is great as the love interest, and Scarlett Johanssen as the lady from the Avengers.  Fun ride.

Marvel Universe

Movie Reviews ***^We Bought a Zoo

We Bought a Zoo is a movie about a Quixotic attempt by a father to restore his family as they are dealing with the grief of losing his wife, and mother of his two children. To do this he buys a property, which happens to include a zoo.  The zoo is previously condemned, and so it includes the efforts to overcome inspection, so they can reopen.
An enjoyable subplot is the relationship between the father (Matt Damon) and his son. The find a way to heal wounds in the son's art.  The father uses one of his drawings of a lion to advertise the reopening of the zoo.  Scarlett Johansson plays the game keeper.  This movie was pretty fun--but the Tony scale wasn't that great.  He had to go out at least three times during the movie, for a drink, for candy and for the potty.  However I enjoyed the story, and the struggle to meet the dream of the new owner as well as the zoo staff.