Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) * * * 1/2

Directed by:  Anthony Russo and Joe Russo

Starring:  Chris Evans, Scarlet Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Redford, Sebastian Stan, Colbie Smulders, Anthony Mackie

Captain America:  The Winter Soldier made me care.    It isn't just mind-numbing, CGI-inflated action sequences held together by flat characters and dialogue.     Thanks to numerous plot twists that I will try my best not to reveal, the film raises the human stakes which makes it all the more engrossing.    

Just to refresh, the original Captain America took place during World War II with puny, but determined Steve Rogers (Evans) injected with an experimental steroid that turns him into a muscular, fast, strong superhero that wields an indestructible shield.    After Captain America thwarts the plans of a rogue Nazi group called Hydra, his ship goes down in the Arctic and he is presumed dead.     Years later, his body is thawed out and he is recruited by SHIELD (led by Samuel L. Jackson's eye-patch wearing Nick Fury).    He may be in his nineties technically, but thanks partly to the drug (I think), Steve hasn't aged a day.   

SHIELD is compromised by its own inner rogue element, led by Secretary of Defense Alexander Pierce (Redford).    Redford is superb here, showing everyone that one doesn't have to be a cackling, screaming, scenery-chewing, one-liner spewing maniac to be an effective villain.     Also in the mix is The Winter Soldier, an assassin whose existence is considered a ghost story, since he isn't well known for leaving his targets alive.     Black Widow (Johansson) is one such person who can verify that he is indeed very real.     The backstory on The Winter Soldier is that he has committed various assassinations for "over 50 years" for the Soviets, including killing JFK.    Oliver Stone can finally rest now knowing this.   

But, strangely, The Winter Soldier (who wears a mask which covers all but his eyes and long-flowing black hair) seems awfully young to be around killing people for 50 years, unless....   Don't worry, I won't divulge any spoilers, but things get very interesting between Captain America and The Winter Soldier in some crucial scenes.     Because of the dynamic that exists, their fight scenes aren't mindless action sequences, but a fight for each other's soul.      It reminded me greatly of Luke Skywalker battling Darth Vader in Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi.   

There is also the introduction of Sam Wilson (Mackie), who dons a prototype mechanical wing set to fly and help Captain America in his time of need.    Mackie has become a reliable character actor over the last couple of years.     Captain America, as played by Evans, is a man who lives in the present, but he has to reconcile that he missed seventy years of his life and is trying to adapt.    Most of his loved ones are gone or very, very old.    He still holds on to old American values, even though America's values have changed plenty in the last seventy years.     But, thankfully he is not an uber-patriotic speechmaker extolling the virtues of "The Greatest Generation".    Captain America has plenty of room to grow in this new world.

I expected this Captain America to be like the first one, a fun ride with lots of CGI and action sequences.     But what I didn't expect, and greatly appreciate, was the depth that we see here.     Action movies tend to be much more interesting when its characters are allowed to be human and not everything is black and white. 

Hush (1998) *

Directed by:  Johnathan Darby

Starring:  Jessica Lange, Gywneth Paltrow, Jonatahn Schaech, Hal Holbrook, Nina Foch

This is one of the strangest thrillers I've seen in many a moon.    It's all setup and no payoff.    Is it a psychological thriller?    Is it a slasher film?    I think it's the former, but it contains many elements of the latter, so much so that I expected the two female leads to be fighting to the death atop a very high place.    Or the villain would be impaled on a barn tool.    Or something.     In any event, Hush requires many of its characters to behave stupidly or else the whole thing would be over in fifteen minutes, which wouldn't have been a bad thing.

Hush begins with a New York man named Jackson (Schaech) and his fiancée, Helen (Paltrow) visiting the Virginia horse farm where he grew up.    It is run by his mother Martha (Lange), a mannerly, smothering woman who has run the place since her husband died years earlier from a fall.     She wants Jackson to stay around and help her run the farm, but his life with Helen in his in New York, so they leave much to her dismay.  

Without giving away too many plot spoilers, Helen becomes pregnant and one night is attacked by a seemingly random mugger with a Southern accent.    Hmmm.     The frightened Jackson and Helen decide to take some time away from New York to help Martha renovate the farm.    Martha helps Helen through her pregnancy, but almost acts as if she is the expectant mother rather than Helen.    She slowly and creepily begins to drive a wedge between Helen and Jackson.    She spreads rumors about Helen around town and keeps a very distant relationship from her mother-in-law whom she had stashed away in a nursing home.     The mother-in-law is a kindly old lady who seems to know whatever information the heroine needs any time she needs it.    She also nurtures suspicions about Martha's intentions and for good reason.

This all sounds like it's building to something, but it doesn't.     If you're going to set up Martha as a sociopath, then is it too much to ask that she gets a satisfactory comeuppance?     I'm not necessarily into slasher violence, but at least play by the rules.     Hush is a battle between the pregnant Helen and Martha.    I've never seen a movie before in which the villain's infliction of pain on her victim is natural childbirth without drugs.     It's silly if you think about it and it's even sillier to see it.

There are only two men in the film (not counting the mugger) that are involved in the plot in any way.    Both are clueless and don't seem to harbor suspicions about anyone.     Jackson spends so much time away that I forgot at times where he was supposed to be.    The other man is a kindly obstetrician (Holbrook) who breaks more than a few HIPPA laws by divulging information on Helen's condition to Martha.     He even helpfully suggests inducing labor by using horse tranquilizers.     I won't even try and figure out how he knows that.    Such advice sounds like a one-way ticket to getting your medical license revoked.

The actors are pros and do the best they can with an absurd plot.    Lange is slyly menacing, but it is distracting that she is either holding a drink or a cigarette in her hand as some sort of prop in nearly all of her scenes.    Paltrow's Helen is a nice woman who intuits what's happening, but can't seem to convince her dopey husband of anything until the end when he suddenly decides to behave as if he has a brain.      What we have here is a thriller that doesn't thrill.   

Cheech and Chong's Next Movie (1980) * * 1/2

Directed by:  Thomas Chong

Starring:  Richard "Cheech" Marin, Tommy Chong, Paul Reubens, Edie McClurg

Cheech and Chong movies (except maybe for Nice Dreams) really don't have plots, but are a bunch of misadventures run out to feature length.     Some of Next Movie is funny, some of it is silly, some of it satirical, and some of it flat out bombs.     But the pot-smoking duo keeps trying anyway and I admire their energy.

The duo spends their days and nights trying to become rock stars to no avail and searching for the perfect high that eludes them.     Living in a condemned house and nearly getting busted by the police doesn't faze them much.     To them, the real world is just a buzzkill.     They are harmless guys, although don't tell that to Pee Wee Herman, who is heckled off the stage by them and offers to have them beat up.    This is a few miles removed from the Pee Wee of Pee Wee's Big Adventure.  

But Cheech and Chong plow manfully ahead, and there is an introduction of Cheech's cousin Red, (also played by Cheech), who sports long blonde hair and a Southern drawl.    Red is a party animal who tells goofy jokes and carries around a satchel full of weed.     Meanwhile, Cheech awaits a rendezvous at his condemned home with a sexy mamacita (Evelyn Guerrero), falls asleep, and awakes with a teddy bear attacking his private parts.

If you're looking for a plot or any kind of connecting thread between all of these situations, then you've come to the wrong movie.     I can only judge it on whether I laughed enough to recommend it.    I laughed at some of it and winced at other parts, but if you're channel surfing and come across it, give it a look.    If it's not your cup of tea, move on.    If you find it amusing and likably goofy, then keep it on and see what happens next.    Cheech and Chong are unique performers with a style that can't be duplicated....or even defined. 

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues (2013) * *

Directed by:  Adam McKay

Starring:   Will Ferrell, Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear, Christina Applegate, David Koechner, Paul Rudd, Kristen Wiig, Meagan Good, James Marsden

The plot:   The San Diego news team from the first Anchorman reteams at a fledgling 24-hour cable news network in early 1980's Manhattan.

Anchorman 2 tries so hard and throws so much at the wall that eventually some of it will stick and be funny.    Unlike the first Anchorman, this sequel is a near free-for-all without the satire.     And like any movie Judd Apatow has anything to do with (he produces here), the movie runs excessively long.    Why does a comedy have to be over two hours?    Especially one that is sporadically funny?

Will Ferrell returns as the chauvinistic, improper, but impeccably groomed anchorman Ron Burgundy who as the film opens is working with now-spouse Veronica (Applegate) as weekend broadcasters in New York.     Ron is fired by the veteran weeknight news anchor (Harrison Ford), while Veronica is moved to take over the weeknight spot, causing a monstrous blow to Ron's ego and his marriage.    Soon, Ron is back in San Diego (which he pronounces "San Diago") working as an emcee at Sea World and getting plastered.   

He is soon approached to work at Global News Network, a startup 24-hour cable news network based in New York and he gathers up the old gang to head there.     He finds his sportscaster Champ Kind (Koechner) running a dubious fried-chicken establishment, his weatherman Brick Tamland (Carell) dumb as ever, and Brian Fantana (Rudd) taking photos for Cat Fancy magazine.    They are involved in a terrible RV wreck because Ron misunderstood the meaning of "cruise control".     The RV wreck isn't funny, but instead makes you wince.

Ron comes to New York, engages in a feud with pretty-boy anchor James Lime (Marsden), and attempts to win his family back.    Other things happen and describing that will take up too much time.      There is an introduction of a love interest for Brick, a receptionist named Chani (Wiig) who may actually be dumber than he is.    Their scenes are funny, but there aren't enough of them.    Anchorman 2 begins to feel like a movie trying to shoehorn in all of its ideas.  

What's missing here is the satire.    Anchorman was a funny satire of TV news and sexual politics in the workplace.    Anchorman 2 doesn't aim that high.    It is content on taking the low road.   It even spends an entire segment on Ron going blind and taking care of a baby shark, which doesn't work.
There is a payoff to this at the end of the film which doesn't work either.     Also near the end is a rumble similar to the one in the original in which many stars make cameo appearances.     That number is nearly doubled in this sequel, which doesn't matter because the fights aren't funny anyway.    It's fun for a second to see some of these actors, but nothing is done with them.

Director McKay said that there are so many jokes and lines written for the film that a second or third version of Anchorman 2 could've been made with all new jokes.    These versions are available if you buy the DVD, but that seems like a high price to pay.     It's not a good sign if the jokes that made it in to this movie were considered the best ones. 

Scenes From A Mall (1991) * 1/2

Directed by:  Paul Mazursky

Starring:  Bette Midler, Woody Allen, Bill Irwin

Scenes From A Mall is a mostly two character movie with a creepy, annoying mime sticking his nose in on occasion.     I'm guessing whoever was running this mall thought hiring a mime to entertain shoppers was a swell idea, but it wasn't.    Thankfully, mimes just aren't something you see much of anymore.      Then again, other than TV and the late Marcel Marceau, did we ever really see mimes in our every day lives? 

Scenes From A Mall runs about 85 minutes and it has barely enough material to cover that.    It's pretty thin.    Two well-off Los Angeleans, sports agent Nick (Allen) and psychologist/author Deborah (Midler) celebrate their 16th wedding anniversary by going to the local mall to purchase things for their upcoming anniversary party and trip.    Out of the blue, Nick confesses to an affair which sends Deborah reeling.    He attempts to console her, she's angry, they scream at each other, and then reconcile.    They even wind up having sex in a movie theater.

By all accounts, the movie should be over by now, but in order to fluff the film out to feature-length, Deborah confesses to an affair herself, causing all of the same things to happen as before, except the makeup sex.    Then, the movie is over.    Other than the mime who seems to be stalking Nick and Deborah, Scenes From A Mall concerns itself with Nick and Deborah, while hundreds of extras walk by and an a capella quartet sings Christmas songs.    Oh, and I almost forgot the rappers who blast their music from a boombox.    There isn't a lot of character development here.     We count on the goodwill we have with Midler and Allen to try and pull this off.    They try mightily and are generally likable, but they don't have much to work with.   

I guess if you ever wanted to see Woody Allen wear his hair in a ponytail, this is the movie you have been waiting for.     But Scenes From A Mall is pretty much a dead zone.    What a shame to waste Allen's, Midler's and Mazursky's talents this way.  

On The Waterfront (1954) * * *

Directed by:  Elia Kazan

Starring:  Marlon Brando, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint, Lee J. Cobb, Karl Malden

The Plot:  A boxer-turned-dockworker struggles with his conscience as he decides whether to testify against a corrupt union boss responsible for murder and racketeering.  

On The Waterfront won eight Oscars in 1954 including Best Picture and Marlon Brando's only Oscar that he didn't publicly refuse.    It is gritty and idealistic, but is held back somewhat by Terry's budding relationship with Edie (Saint-also an Oscar winner), the sister of his friend, Joey Doyle, whom he unwittingly set up to be killed by mobsters.   Once he acknowledges his involvement with her brother's death, it is seemingly forgotten about when they kiss passionately.   The ending is also awkward and goes out of its way to let Terry live even though realistically the people he testified against would whack him.

In between, though, there are many interesting questions brought up, mainly by Malden's character, Father Barry, the local parish priest who investigates Joey's death.    How much would a person be willing to stay quiet about to protect his livelihood?   Or himself?    Or his family?    The workers of these waterfront docks witness corruption, beatings, and even murders almost daily.   They are rightfully terrified to speak up when local police and investigators start asking questions.     Terry Malloy is approached by investigators who want him to testify at corruption hearings, yet he is hesitant because he is given cushy jobs on the docks and a certain level of respect by union boss Johnny Friendly (Cobb).     Terry's brother Charlie (Steiger) is also a member of the union's corrupt inner circle, but Charlie does what is best for business more than what is best for his brother.

The movie's most famous scene is Terry's "I coulda been a contender" speech to his brother in the back of a taxi.     Years before, Charlie asked his brother to take a dive during a fight he easily could've won.     The fight could've turned him into a contender for the title, but instead he chose to throw the fight so Charlie's gambler friends could make money.   Now, with his fight career a distant memory, he is under the thumb of Friendly and his brother.    Could testifying be the chance to break free?    Could he be a somebody at long last?

Brando's performance earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor.     Terry is a punch drunk simpleton who doesn't want to make waves.    However, Father Barry and Edie sense his inner conflict and his fear.    He doesn't want to disloyal to Charlie mostly, but his conscience keeps nagging at him.     At one point, he says, "Conscience.   That stuff will drive you nuts."    To him, a conscience is a real inconvenience, but one he can't ignore.     In his later years, Brando could sometimes be caught "acting", but here he is very convincing as he goes through inner changes.

Malden, who co-starred with Brando and won an Oscar for 1951's A Streetcar Named Desire (also directed by Kazan), is the film's moral center.     Malden is a tall rock who is powerful and authoritative in every scene he is in.    Malden's screen presence was exceptional even in films like 1981's Miracle On Ice, when he played Herb Brooks who in real life was 25 years his junior.     Lee J. Cobb plays Friendly as a loudmouth blowhard who is always looking to tear someone's head off.     I wondered how his underlings could stand being around him.     Why would they be loyal to such a creep?  

Perhaps when On The Waterfront was released sixty years ago, it had much more power than it does now.     The first half of the film creates a hermetic, almost prison-like feel for the docks and the people who lived there.     The Terry-Edie thing is underwhelming and then the unconvincing ending.    However, the film plays best when it raises questions about how much one person can stand in the name of a few dollars and temporary security.   

Enough Said (2013) * *

Directed by:  Nicole Holofcener

Starring:  James Gandolfini, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Catherine Keener, Toni Collette, Ben Falcone

James Gandolfini died shortly before this film's release.   He shows his versatility here as a large, divorced, lonely man who finds a love interest in a masseuse who is unknowingly friends with his ex-wife who badmouths him at every opportunity.     I can't imagine why the ex-wife would badmouth him.     He seems like a really nice guy.

Enough Said is about Albert and the women who clearly aren't good enough for him.     The ex-wife is a shrew and the masseuse Eva (Louis-Dreyfus) is an easily manipulated woman who probably wouldn't even want to date this guy if the script didn't require her to.     There isn't a lot of spark in their relationship.     The way Eva fawns all over her newfound friend/client Marianne (Keener), I was halfway expecting Eva to make a move on her.  

Most of Eva's conversations with Marianne concern Marianne pointing out her ex's faults.    Until a crucial point, she conveniently doesn't refer to him by his first name.    But soon Marianne's criticisms take hold and Eva begins to question whether she wants a relationship with Albert.     Naturally, Albert learns that Eva and his ex are friends and deduces reasonably that Marianne is poisoning his relationship with Eva.    They break up and if you think they won't get back together then you're watching the wrong movie.

Enough Said isn't horrible.    It's just meh.   It's so quiet and subtle that it tends to slip into its own coma.     Situations are set up with little or no payoff.    Even the payoffs don't add up to much.    The characters use their inside voices so often that you have to listen hard to catch the dialogue.    There was a lot of clamoring about how Gandolfini should've received a posthumous Oscar nomination for this film.     I enjoyed him in it, but nothing about the performance screamed "Best Supporting Actor."   

I've seen another of director Nicole Holofcener's films, 2006's Friends With Money, which was as underwhelming as Enough Said.     There is plenty of conversation in that film and this one.    Holofcener is trying to make the dialogue seem like "realistic" conversation, but sometimes we go to movies to be electrified by powerful dialogue one doesn't hear every day.    Enough Said is whatever the opposite of electrifying is.