Classic Movie Review Captain America The First Avenger

Captain America The First Avenger (2011) 

Directed by Joe Johnston 

Written by Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely 

Starring Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, Stanley Tucci, Dominic Cooper, Tommy Lee Jones, Hayley Atwell 

Release Date July 22nd, 2011 

Published February 10th, 2025

Captain America is returning to the big screen on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2025, with Captain America: Brave New World. Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson is taking over the mantle of Captain America in the continuation of the franchise that, after Iron Man, solidified the start of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 2011’s Captain America: The First Avengerwas a terrific introduction of the Captain America character and remains, all these years later, a high point in the MCU. Let’s look back. 

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) was a 98-pound weakling with a heart twice the size of his tiny frame. In 1942, all Steve wanted was to defend his country in the 2nd World War. Steve didn't have bloodlust or a death wish, rather, he saw Hitler as just the kind of bully that he'd spent his young life fighting against and he was eager to strike a blow on behalf of those being harmed by Hitler's evil.

Click here for my full length review 

Movie Review Kinda Pregnant

Kinda Pregnant 

Directed by Tyler Spindel 

Written by Julie Palva, Amy Schumer

Starring Amy Schumer, Brianna Howey, Jillian Bell, Will Forte, Damon Wayans Jr. 

Release Date February 5th, 2025 

Published February 11th, 2025

Because it has become quite fashionable for men to hate Amy Schumer ever since she rocketed to fame on Comedy Central and in the movie, Trainwreck, I need to say that I’ve always liked her. Despite the accusations of joke theft and a couple of movies that didn’t play to her best assets comedically, I’ve always found her style of comedy appealing. She’s irreverent, she never held back on stage, and as an actor, she had an offbeat style that made her unique from the typical movie star. 

I am mentioning all of this to head off any notion that I am an Amy Schumer hater. It’s not me trying to be part of the cool crowd when I say that Schumer’s new Netflix comedy, Kinda Pregnant is a deeply odd and wildly unpleasant film. The movie, co-written by Schumer, stars the comedian and actress as a deeply unlikable and unreal caricature of a human being. She has traits that are intended to be broadly comic but come off as unformed ideas tossed off in a pitch meeting that accidentally ended up in a completed script.

Click here for my full length review. 

Movie Review Love Hurts

Love Hurts

Directed by Jonathan Eusebio 

Written by Matthew Murray, Josh Stoddard, Luke Passmore

Starring Ke Huy Quan, Ariana DeBose 

Release Date February 7th, 2025

Published February 12th, 2025

Love Hurts stars Academy Award winner Ke Hui Quan as Marvin, a mild mannered real estate agent who is secretly a killing machine. Years earlier, Marvin left behind the life of an enforcer for his gangster brother, Knuckles (Daniel Wu), for the quiet life of a sweet, good natured, real estate agent that everyone quickly comes to like. It’s a strange transition but one that Marvin is incredibly proud of. His new life may appear dull and his persona, milquetoast, but at least he doesn’t break bones and end lives anymore. 

Naturally, the new status quo of Marvin’s life is about to be upended. Rose (Arianna DeBose), has returned after a lengthy absence. Rose happens to have been key to Marvin getting out from under his brother’s thumb. Marvin had promised to kill Rose in exchange for being able to leave his old life behind. With Rose back in town, Marvin’s lie about killing her is exposed, leading Knuckles to send killers after his little brother to find out why Rose is still alive and where she may be hiding while taunting the people who planned to have her killed.

Click here for my full length review. 

Movie Review The Gorge

The Gorge 

Directed by Scott Derrickson

Written by Zach Dean

Starring Anya Taylor Joy, Miles Teller 

Release Date February 14th, 2025 

Published February 13th, 2025 

A woman awakes in a makeshift bed in a wooded area. She marks off a day on a makeshift calendar and begins to listen for a specific sound. That sound is the arrival of a small aircraft on a tiny airstrip far from the rest of the world, and a good deal of distance from where this woman is. The unknown woman then pulls out a long range weapon with a precision scope and trains it on the door of the plane, some distance away. When a man emerges from the plane, the gun is fired, the man falls dead, and the scene comes to an end. 

Editing and visual context are all you have to go on. It’s disorienting but with purpose. The film intends to cause a little confusion and chaos because part of the journey of the movie is clearing up the confusion surrounding a bizarre new assignment for a pair of well trained killers. Our heroine, Drasa, and her opposite number, Levi (Miles Teller), have been given a bizarre new assignment filled with mystery and intrigue that they will have to clear up if they are to survive it. Naturally, clearing up the confusion will require just the kind of skills Drasa demonstrates in this opening scene, patience, intelligence, skill, and stealth.

Click here for my full length review. 

Movie Review Captain America Brave New World

Captain America Brave New World 

Directed by Julius Onah 

Written by Rob Edwards, Malcolm Spellman, Dalon Musson, Julius Onah, Peter Glanz 

Starring Anthony Mackie, Harrison Ford, Carl Lumbly 

Release Date February 14th, 2025

Published February 14th, 2025 

Captain America Brave New World continues the slow death march of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The decline in quality and storytelling from when we were introduced to Tony Stark in 2008 to today is shocking. It reveals the faddish nature of the Superhero movie. It is simply a concept that has run its course. Today, we dutifully attend the next superhero movie in vain hope that things will improve but all the while knowing that things will never be the same. Our collective dedication to superhero movies feels as hollow as the movies themselves have come to feel in the latest phase of the MCU. 

Captain America Brave New World picks up in the wake of the TV show Falcon and the Winter Soldier wherein Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) finally came to accept the mantle of Captain America. Of course, this is merely implied in the movie, having not seen the TV series, I simply accepted that since Sam has the shield and people call him Cap, that he must have become the official Captain America in that show. One of the grave flaws of Captain America Brave New World is acting like a blockbuster movie while playing like a serialized TV show.

Click here for my full length review. 

Movie Review Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy

Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy 

Directed by Michael Morris

Written by Helen Fielding, Dan Mazar, Abi Morgan

Starring Renee Zellweger, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Hugh Grant, Leo Woodall 

Release Date February 13th, 2025

Published February 15th, 2025 

Bridget Jones Mad About the Boy is shockingly good. Admittedly, I had extremely low expectations for this late period sequel about Bridget as a single mom, several years into grieving the loss of her beloved husband, Mark Darcy. What a wonderful surprise then to find that the film felt remarkably authentic, warm hearted, and highly reminiscent of the charming first chapter of this film series. Renee Zellweger has such a remarkable handle on this character today that even two decades later, instead of feeling like a perfunctory attempt to further capitalize a well known property, Zellweger's performance in Mad About the Boy is one I can’t help but fall in love with. 

Five years ago as this story begins, Mark Darcy died while on a humanitarian trip in Africa. He leaves behind Bridget and their two lovely children, Billy (Casper Knopf) and Mabel (Mila Jankovic). As a trio, they are doing okay. Bridget may rarely get out of her PJ’s but she is a wonderful, supportive, and loving mom. But, it has been five years, perhaps it is time for Bridget to get back into the world. Perhaps she needs to go back to work? Perhaps it’s time for her to start dating again.

Click here for my full length review. 

Movie Review You, Me & Her

You, Me, and Her 

Directed by Dan Levy Degerman

Written by Selina Ringel 

Starring Selina Ringel, Graham Sibley, Sydney Park 

Release Date February 14th, 2025 

Published February 16th, 2025 

You, Me and Her stars Selina Ringel and Ritesh Rajan as a married couple, Mags and Ash. Mags is the breadwinner, working a high powered job for her demanding father. Ash meanwhile is a stay at home dad and budding marijuana entrepreneur. The couple is struggling with Mags having to carry most of the load while Ash plays video games and shirks what few responsibilities he has. He’s a good dad but for Mags, he’s often like having another kid to raise as he is often hiding from his long term, unsuccessful attempts to get his business off the ground.

After a series of scenes demonstrate the various ways that Mags and Ash aren’t communicating and the ways their marriage is suffering, Ash hatches a plan. Ash has booked them a vacation at a Mexican resort where Mags’ parents had taken her as a child. It’s a costly trip and Mags is quite curious how Ash is able to afford it, but she really needs to get away for a bit, so she tries her best to go with the flow. Once in Mexico, their problems communicating follow them with Ash distracted by trying to find weed to buy and Mags growing further frustrated by his inattention to her.

Click here for my full length review.