Picoreview: F1 – unexpectedly good, but also hoo boy. I’d been wibbling about going to see F1, because Brad Pitt is Problematic and I’m not much of a car race fan, but also…I like movies, and it looked like it might be decent. Somebody whose film opinions I frequently agree with saw it and said it was, in fact, a terrific underdog story (a thing I’m a sucker for), but also that Pitt was “uncannily flat” in it. So I became kind of more interested in seeing it, because it…
Picoreview: Brave New World: This is the weakest of the Cap films, but it’s still in the top third of the MCU, as far as I’m concerned. Maybe the top ten, but I haven’t stepped back to do a top ten list lately. But I thought it was solid and sort of uncannily timely. Prior to its release (possibly in the relatively early stages of production) I’d heard that it was going to be “Sam’s journey toward earning the shield” which would have been FINE if they hadn’t JUST DONE…
Picoreview: Falcon & Winter Soldier: I liked this show a lot the first time I watched it, and I think I like it more the second time. The storyline I’m more invested in is Bucky’s, because I am a SUCKER for a good redemption story, but Sam’s arc is a really good one, and the eventual payoff of the title changing to Captain America and the Winter Soldier was emotionally really satisfying. I now recall how much I despised the extreme closeups on Bucky & the shrink in his sessions…
Picoreview: Infinity War: I still love this movie, but for my reCap purposes, it turns out Cap is actually barely in this one until the end. We get the amazing arrival with a beard scene, and a good fight there, and then basically there’s very little with his storyline until the end, where he faces Thanos (and Groot, with that amazing “I am Steve Rogers” line, which honestly is also still just so in keeping with the character.) But by this point he’s fully transformed from Righteous Soldier into Righteous…
Picoreview: Civil War: This is probably my second favorite MCU film*, in part because Evans & RDJ do SUCH A DAMN GOOD JOB in their roles. The scene where Tony brings those pens to the table is SO GOOD. They’re really powerful performances from both actors, and without their convictions being so believable, the story wouldn’t work at all. And it not only builds on Steve’s isolation and his desperation for a connection (connections; there’s the whole Peggy thread of these two movies, too) to the world as he knew…