My favorite movies of 2015 (abridged)

If it isn't abundantly clear at this point, my only free time to add to this blog seems to come at the end of the year. No matter. That's when I like to look back anyway, and to that end, I'm offering single-sentence reviews of all the films I saw this year, ranked in order.

Here we go, starting with the worst.

11) Avengers: Age of Ultron - A paltry 2 hour setup to the same ending we've seen dozens of times in these movies (see: Ant-Man).
10) Man from U.N.C.L.E. - Flashy style and great performances from Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer wasted on a film with no plot and no original ideas.
9) Ant-Man - A really cool heist movie becomes generic blah Marvel nonsense in the last act.
8) Spectre - Sam Mendes eliminates any goodwill with a bloated offering that manages to make Christoph Waltz uninteresting.
7) Steve Jobs - A play shot on the big screen that, like the movies above, isn't sure how to find a resolution without becoming generic and uninteresting.
6) Jurassic World - Dinosaurs run around unencumbered, while Chris Pratt does his best to save this sinking ship.
5) The Hateful Eight - Tarantino's eighth film features more hyper-violence and the dialogue we've come to expect, but the importance of the central "mystery" and bloated run time hold this Western back from being great.
4) Star Wars: The Force Awakens - An imperfect tribute to what made the original trilogy great, while also introducing an intriguing new generation of characters.
3) The Revenant - Leonardo's no good, very bad day has a perfectly good point and its performances are spot on, but its story is a complete mess once you get past the beautiful cinematography.
2) Spotlight - An old-timey feeling film that perfectly captures the triumphs and plight of the print journalist without getting bogged down in hero worship.
1) Mad Max: Fury Road - An action movie that isn't, George Miller's movie defies all expectations and keeps you gripped to your seat for two hours.

Still want to see (look for an update): The Big Short, Inside Out, Ex Machina, Straight Outta Compton, Trainwreck

Sticky Floors and Salty Popcorn Movie Review-Captain America: The First Avenger

In the midst of dubious foreign policy in Libya, a looming debt crisis being spoken of in apocalyptic terms, and even our biggest sports stars involved in what appears to be money-grubbing labor negotiations, perhaps now is the perfect time to revisit the ideals (real or imagined) that make this country great. Enter Captain America: The First Avenger, a shot in the collective arm of the United States to the tune of $65 million in its opening weekend. The film is a competent companion to Marvel's current stable of independent Avengers flicks, establishing a narrative focus for the character while also providing some impressive fireworks along the way. However, like those other films, Cap lacks the ideological depth that films like Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Kick Ass, and the current Batman trilogy illustrate the comic book medium is capable of.

To that end, the performances here fill stock roles that we've come to expect from the genre, without any particular character dominating the action in any memorable way. Evans (THE HUMAN TORCH WAS DENIED A BANK LOAN!) is a pretty believable Cap, exuding the charm, charisma and selflessness we would expect from America's hero. When he tries to bring some emotional depth to the character in the form of mourning for a fallen soldier, however, the act gets a bit tired. The love interest (Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter) is similarly forgettable and formulaic. Sure, she grabs a tommy gun at one point to take out an assailant and puts a wayward private on his ass in boot camp, but her appearances throughout the film are meant mainly to bring out Evans' doughy eyes and remind the audience the American spirit can conquer anything it sets its mind to (which, of course, works on two levels, as Carter is a Brit enlisted in the American army for some reason or another).

Tommy Lee Jones, Stanley Tucci, and Hugo Weaving all provide perhaps transcendent ensemble performances. Jones is your typical Doubting Thomas, brought into the cult of Cap just as easily as Carter eventually falls for the leading man. Tucci once again attempts to steal the prize of Actor Who Takes The Least Number of Flattering Roles from Steve Buscemi by portraying a grizzled and disenchanted German scientist who defects and mentors Cap through the transformation process. Weaving steps into the role of villain as masterfully as ever, though he's given little to work with other than Red Man (I knew there was some anti-Commie stuff in this film, too!) who wants to destroy world and rebuild it with himself as leader. We've seen this a hundred times before, and while Captain America brings some interesting period piece elements to the show, it doesn't do anything interesting or meaningful with them.

In fact, all the shortcomings of the film could be attributed to a shallowness that pervades all 2 hours and 4 minutes of its run-time. Nazi ideology and iconography is removed completely from the film, replaced by the faceless Hydra who walk, talk and act like Nazis but allow the film to make a PG-13 point about war and America without dragging unnecessary political baggage into the fold. In fact, after the first hour of the film, the mention of Hitler and the Nazis ceases altogether, leaving the believability of the film to hinge on the ideas and values Cap stands for. Of course, those ideals and values include the introduction of the token African-American soldier who is Harvard educated and drops in at just the right moment to save the day. The viewer expects a certain amount of vapid ideology when walking into a movie called Captain America. But this film takes that presumption and uses it as a license to make a film that says little, if anything, about America that doesn't seem to be tired or a cliche in this modern world, and ignores completely (through the loss of Nazi ideology as the enemy) any moral high ground upon which America's (and thus Captain's) superiority could be argued.

Still, on the other hand, Captain America does exactly what a comic book movie providing exposition for an obligatory multi-hero sequel film should do. It provides a creation narrative for both the idea and the abilities of the hero in question without allowing ideology or unnecessary plot complications to get in the way. Put simply, Captain America is a thrilling ride that pays homage to conceptions of America that may or may not still exist in this modern, complicated world in which we find ourselves. It will certainly be interesting to see how Marvel handles the transition to the modern world for Cap in the upcoming Avengers film. As an independent picture, however, Captain America answers the call of duty...but does little to go above and beyond it.

3D Note: If you're thinking of seeing the film in 3D, I'd advise against it. The only cool effects occur during one particular combat montage in the middle of the film, otherwise you're getting pretty basic touch-up animations that have little, if any, "wow" factor.

Verdict: 3.5/5 stars