X-Men: Days of Future Past

Review by Bob Ignizio

With X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, filmmaker Bryan Singer reminds us that before Marvel started taking cinematic matters into their own hands, he had already shown that super hero movies that treat their source material with respect can be successful with fanboys, general audiences, and critics alike. The X franchise is where the modern super hero film truly began, and while the series lost its way when Singer left to pursue other projects, the situation for the team of mutant heroes improved considerably with his return (in the capactiy of producer) for 2011's X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. That film was a step in the right direction, and things have only gotten better now that Singer is back in the director's chair.

The East (now on video)

Review by Bob Ignizio

Sometimes the best way to get a good film role is to write it for yourself. That seems to be Brit Marling's philosophy, and so far it seems to have paid off. Although the actress has worked in films for other people, her most high profile roles have been in the movies she has co-written with her directors, 2011's ANOTHER EARTH (with Mike Cahill) and the same year's THE SOUND OF MY VOICE (with Zal Batmanglij). Marling teams with Batmanglij once again for the political thriller THE EAST, which is her best work both as writer and star to date.

Marling plays Sarah, a former FBI agent now working in the private sector. Her current assignment is to infiltrate a group of activists (or eco-terrorists, depending on your point of view) called The East. The information is then passed on to Sarah's superior (Patricia Clarkson), who delivers it to the corporate clients footing the bill.

Touchy Feely (November 29th and December 1st at the Cleveland Museum of Art)

[TOUCHY FEELY screens Friday November 29th at 7:30 pm and Sunday December 1st at 1:30 pm at the Cleveland Museum of Art.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

TOUCHY FEELY is yet another facile indie film populated by characters who are little more than the sum of their quirks dealing with banal, self-created issues that are the very definition of “first world problems”. The particulars here are that massage therapist Abby (Rosemarie DeWitt) suddenly develops a revulsion to human skin right after deciding to move in with her boyfriend Jesse (Scott McNairy). Simultaneously Abby's brother Paul (John Pais) seems to develop the power to heal the patients at his dental practice merely by touch, leading him to take reiki classes from Abby's teacher Bronwyn (Allison Janney).

Not all is well with Paul, though, as his daughter/dental assistant Jenny (Ellen Page) is starting to feel stifled both living and working with a dad who doesn't respect her abilities. Jenny also worries that her dad wouldn't support her decision to go to college, so she fills out applications but never mails them. The whole thing is sprinkled liberally with new age philosophizing and talk about “energy”.

To Rome With Love

Review by Pamela Zoslov

Woody Allen, who has just released his 43rd film, TO ROME WITH LOVE, has become like that aged uncle you remember from your childhood for his brilliant sense of humor, but whose increasingly feeble jokes you now laugh at out of polite nostalgia. He remains a formidable filmmaker — last year's MIDNIGHT IN PARIS was a thoroughgoing success — but his insistence on making a film every year means that lately there are more misses than hits, and the misses are all the more disappointing.

TO ROME WITH LOVE, set in the colorful Italian capital because backers put up the money for it to be shot there, is based on a collection of half-developed ideas Allen had tucked away in his desk drawer. The randomness (and mustiness) of the stories is evident.

Super (opens in Cleveland April 22nd at the Capitol Theatre)

[SUPER opens in Cleveland April 22nd exclusively at the Capitol Theatre.]

Review by Bob Ignizio

I liked last year's KICK-ASS. Liked it quite a bit, as a matter of fact. That said, the movie didn't really make good on it's premise. It claimed to be about what would happen if ordinary people in our ordinary world decided to become super heroes. No powers, not even any special training or gadgets like Batman. Just a costume and the determination to do it. But by the time the first act was over, the main character essentially had super powers, and we were introduced to a couple of other would-be costumed crime fighters who were as proficient at taking down the bad guys as any Hollywood action hero. It was fun, it was clever, but it wasn't what it professed to be.

James Gunn's SUPER actually follows through on the idea of an everyman hero. When his recovering drug addict wife Sarah (Liv Tyler) goes missing, Frank D'Arbo (Rain Wilson) has a vision from God telling him to put on a costume and save her. With a little advice from comic store clerk Libby (Ellen Page), Frank becomes The Crimson Bolt and sets out to fight crime and get back the love of his life.