The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)

The second TV show in the MCU is not nearly as ambitious or creative as Wandavision. For the most part, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier plays it safe. It does what Marvel does sufficiently; unlike the movies, however, it doesn't stand alone as well because it relies on you to remember details about two secondary characters from the Captain America series. And so there are many call-backs that went right over my head. It's par for the superhero genre. It attempts to do what Watchmen did a few years ago. It asks a serious question about what it means to be black in America. Most profoundly it questions whether America is worthy of a black Cap. But it handles this weighty theme with less deft than the masterful HBO miniseries. Maybe you need the freedom of HBO to really do it justice, to be able to cynically say no. This is too constrained by the MCU to explore it honestly. I think it actually starts out pretty well, but it lost my interest in the latter half. The Flag Smashers are an interesting enough villain group. They're not evil and they're often sympathetic.And their cause ties in sort-of to the broader theme but it's kind of forced. And I have no idea what to make of Julia Louis-Dreyfus's character.

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

I saw this movie a couple of months ago. I guess the fact that I can't really remember anything about it is a testament to its mediocrity. I'm getting kind of sick of these Marvel Avengers movies. They are all more or less the same--this one is 2.5 hours of the same. There are just too many superheroes in this movie. It's kind of difficult to care about any one of them when they are so numerous. They introduced a couple characters without any explanation. I'm sure the comic book geeks understood their presence no problem, but I was looking for some introduction. And quite frankly, I don't remember the previous films well enough to follow all of the other story lines either. It's all a big fight. Some cool special effects I guess. I know I had more to say about it two months ago, but I just can't remember anymore.

Burnt (2015)

What I really dislike about this movie is that it preys on our love of food. That's how they get you to watch the movie, but it is not worth your time. Bradley Cooper is entirely unlikable as an irrational and erratic chef. It is one thing to be mean in the kitchen--we can watch Hell's Kitchen. But Bradley Cooper's chef is really unbearable, as are most all of the other characters. I don't think that's the fault of acting, rather poor development of already uninteresting characters.The beginning especially is just a series of short vignettes that seemingly come from nowhere, introducing a series of supporting characters to dislike.  I found it hard to pay attention or care. 

A Most Wanted Man (2014)

This is not your James Bond/Jason Bourne kind of spy movie.  There is little-to-no action, just the slow burn of an espionage thriller.  Real spy work is not glamorous, it is unrewarding and requires patience.  This movie requires the same of the audience--but patience is not my strong suit.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is excellent in his final role as a contemplative Gunther, a veteran in the spy game grappling with failure with the best German accent.  Compare this to Rachel McAdam's German accent that almost sounds dubbed. I don't think it sounds like her at all.  Robin Wright perfectly plays a role that is similar in demeanor to her House of Cards character.

The Woman in Gold (2015)

This movie is dramatization of a true story of Nazi art theft and the legal nightmare that Maria Altmann went through to recover the paintings that were stolen from her family.  These five Klimts include the iconic Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, which exemplifies Klimt's golden phase.  This movie combines two things that I like: legal drama and fine art, all set against the backdrop of the Holocaust.  Not only is the story fascinating, it is devastating. The movie is driven by themes of legal right versus cultural right. Klimt has come to be representative of Austrian culture, and his artworks are national treasures. Altmann hires a family friend to be her lawyer, an inexperienced Randol Schoenberg, the grandson of the famous Austrian composer Arnold Schoenberg. Altmann came from a wealthy Jewish family in Vienna that hosted the Austrian intellectuals of the day in a renowned salon.  Both characters are steeped in twentieth century Austrian culture, but their families were lain victim to the atrocities committed by Austrians complicit with the Nazis, yet the Austrian government has the audacity to suggest a cultural right to the paintings.

Helen Mirren is excellent as always as a woman torn between the rush of terrible memories Austria reminds her of and the pursuit of what is legally hers.  Tatiana Maslany convincingly plays a young Altmann, whose story is told in stylish black-and-white.  Ryan Reynolds plays the inexperienced lawyer and he comes across as kind of awkward, which is not necessarily a bad thing.