Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Its getting to the point where I can pretty much write the same review for 90% of these Marvel films. Basically I, for the most part, enjoy the viewing experience but most of them have the same two big issues.

1) Ever since The Avengers, whenever one of the stand alone characters has to deal with a major crisis you immediately wonder why they don't at least place a phone call to some of their super cohort. Iron Man III sort of got around this by barely acknowledging the wider universe, but since Captain America's conflict deals directly with the potential dissolution of S.H.I.E.L.D. it makes no sense that the other avengers wouldn't at least send an inquisitive text. I guarantee Hawkeye didn't have anything else going on.

2) My favorite part of the film is still just hanging out with the characters as they bounce off of one another and just go about their business. The big action set pieces, especially the end, just distract from this aspect (not to mention make me acutely aware of point #1), and end up being a little boring. I'd almost prefer it if the budget were cut and they made the conflicts a little more individualized. It'll never happen, but it would be nice. I guess what I'd really like is for Joss Whedon to make a TV show, with the Game of Thrones budget, to explore the world more deeply (this is part of the reason I'm so annoyed that agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. isn't better).

Still, the fact that Marvel's achieved that hard part and made me enjoy being around the characters more that the action can't be sniffed at. I just hope that some of the future entries move beyond the current format and try something new (even if that means scaling down a bit).

The Grand Budapest Hotel

I'm all in on Wes Anderson so of course I enjoyed the film. Still, I'd probably enjoyed it the least of his recent offerings. Basically it works best as a screwball comedy, but whenever it tries to get serious the pacing really falters, and the stab at the profundity at the end really falls flat and feels tacked on. Its not that I don't think Anderson can effectively mix comedy and emotion (that was a poorly constructed sentence) - I just don't think he succeeds here.

Still, its worth seeing and I'm sure I'll watch it multiple times in the future.

Veronica Mars

Veronica Mars is probably the most flawed T.V. show that I watched regularly (at least on DVD).* The compelling well-drawn central character and witty writing was often offset by supporting acting that ranged from sub-par (piz) to laughably bad (Duncan). Still, the central relationships between Veronica and her father (as well as some great side characters - Dick and Vinnie to name a few) meant that more often than not I really enjoyed the show. The movie, for better or worse, embodies both of these qualities. First the good. It was a lot of fun seeing (most) of the characters again, and the dialogue and relationships settled right into the rhythms that made the show much fun. There are too many in jokes for a non-fan to understand** but anyone who enjoyed the show should have a lot of fun with it.

That said, there are two main problems with the film. The first rolls over from the show, the second is new. The old one is that for some reason creator Rob Thomas thinks that Veronica's romantic life is inherently interesting. The problem is that every one of her major romantic interests (including the two in the film) are decidedly less than compelling screen presences (to put it mildly). As a result its difficult to care much about the relationships.

Second, they've really heightened the villainy to almost cartoony levels. The original show was never a bastion of reality, but it never had anything as blatant as the upper class using the police department to run roughshod over any semblance of rights for anyone else. I get that they want to go big for a film, but still it was jarring.

So there you go. Just like the source material, the film is really flawed but I still enjoyed it. Put that on the poster.

*Fr those of you who will throw One Tree Hill in my face, I can only say - How Dare You
**Seriously someone who hasn't seen the show is going to have no idea of what's going on