Ant-Man

Review by Ric Nimrod

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been around exactly as long as my son, well... two month longer than my son. The first Iron Man movie came out 2 months before his birth and it kickstarted a seemingly unstoppable film franchise. Together my son and I have discussed possibilities, great scenes and pure superhero joy; these films mean something to us. His first big movie experience was the first Avengers movie and he has seen every one of them in the theater since, and he has loved them... but with the exception of the non-stop pace and space adventure that is Guardians Of The Galaxy he has not had to sit through an origin story. Ant-Man is an origin story.

As my son and I walked out of the theater after seeing Ant-Man I asked him how he felt and he replied with 'I thought it was boring'. I was taken aback as I found the film to be another solid home run for Marvel. Then I realized why my 6 year old didn't love the movie like I did, there was not as much action as he is used to in these type of movies.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

Review by Pete Roche

Hard to believe it’s been almost a decade since Will Ferrell introduced the world to everyone’s favorite mustached misogynist newscaster in ANCHORMAN:  THE LEGEND OF RON BURGUNDY. 

Don’t remember Ron?  Of course you do.  He’s kind of a big deal.

ANCHORMAN saw Ferrell’s vainglorious TV meathead hustling for his desk jockey job at KVWN in San Diego after TV bigwigs added ambitious blonde Victoria Corningstone (Christina Applegate) to the Channel 4 lineup.  Set in the early ‘70s, the comedy lampooned the rampant sexism of Ford and Carter eras, playing women’s lib ideologies off the old-school, man’s world mentality shared by Burgundy and his dream team:  Smarmy field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), cowboy sportscaster “Champ” Kind (David Koechner), and IQ-challenged weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carell).

Prince Avalanche (November 9th and 10th at the Cleveland Cinematheque)

[PRINCE AVALANCHE screens Saturday November 9th at 9:25 pm and Sunday November 10th at 6:30 pm at the Cleveland Cinematheque.]

Review by Milan Paurich

A two-hander with heart, PRINCE AVALANCHE is the latest film by David Gordon Green, a director whose career trajectory ranks among the most unusual in contemporary cinema. Like Richard Linklater, another American regionalist, Gordon Green’s stubborn refusal to be pigeonholed has produced a body of work as eclectic as it is sometimes frustrating. (His long-gestating--and surely doomed--remake of Italian giallo master Dario Argento’s horror classic “Suspiria” seems to have
been abandoned, thank heavens.)

From the faux Malick-isms of GEORGE WASHINGTON (2000) and ALL THE REAL GIRLS (2002), to the stoner commedia dell’arte of PINEAPPLE EXPRESS (2008) and YOUR HIGHNESS (2011) and the gleefully non-p.c. HBO raunch fest Eastbound and Down, Gordon Green has consistently marched to the beat of a different drummer, sometimes to his own detriment. I’m sure even Gordon Green would admit that his chicken-fried 2004 Gothic UNDERTOW was a bad idea.

Admission

Review by Pamela Zoslov

For several years, I've been on a committee that selects candidates for a graduate school scholarship. Consequently, I understand why Portia Nathan, the Princeton admissions officer played by Tina Fey in ADMISSION, finds the process depressing. Nothing highlights the inadequacies of your own life like reading transcripts, personal essays and lists of accomplishments by super-achieving youths with bright, shiny futures. At times, you're tempted to do as George Costanza did when awarding a scholarship on Seinfeld: pick the underachiever who reminds you of yourself.

Portia, it seems, was poised for better things than a career in college admissions. The daughter of a famous 1970s feminist author and named for a Shakespeare heroine, she was a promising literary prodigy who got derailed into a stagnant job and a longtime relationship with a patronizing English professor (Michael Sheen) who pats her head like she's a Golden Retriever. She's an expert in the art of selecting students with the best chance for success (she tells eager candidates “the secret is, there is no secret”). She's competing with a devious rival (Gloria Reuben) for a promotion, her relationship is on the rocks, and a secret from her past surfaces and collides with her career. The movie's title has a double meaning – will Portia admit to the buried secret from her past?

This is 40

Review by Matt Finley

Judd Apatow has his fingers planted in so many pop cultural pies, it’s easy to overlook the fact that, directorially, his output is far less prolific than his production credits. THIS IS 40, his fourth film overall, and first since 2009’s FUNNY PEOPLE, returns to the tumultuous marriage of Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann), who originally appeared in KNOCKED UP as a perpetually squabbling married couple.

Though the film is neither tonally nor topically surprising, pairing Apatow’s usual mix of raunchy improvisation and scripted pathos with situational comedy torn from every “take my wife/husband… please” bit ever written, what is surprising is how well it works. Comedically, mid-life crises, flagging sex lives, and parenting foibles are well-worn to the point of forming ruts. 40, like all of Apatow’s best work, manages to balance these ubiquitous banalities with an acknowledgement of the sublime rage, sadness and joy that come along with them, eschewing typical mechanical catharsis in favor of realer, messier (though, sometimes, just as sappy) emotional conflict.

Wanderlust

Review by Pamela Zoslov

The comedy of David Wain, who comes from Shaker Heights, Ohio, is not for everyone. After the preview screening of his latest movie, WANDERLUST, some older audience members made their way out of the aisles shaking their heads and saying words like “disgusting!” Well, I certainly wouldn't recommend it to my 86-year-old dad. But tastelessness is a style choice, and has long been the hallmark of sketch comedian Wain (WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER, THE TEN) and his longtime writing partner, Ken Marino. If you don't mind a lot of gross absurdity, Wain and Marino's comedy can be pretty hilarious.

Our Idiot Brother

Review by Bob Ignizio

Seems like every year there's that one indie (and I'm using the term loosely here) comedy that pitches itself so perfectly down the middle of the road that it becomes a crossover hit. OUR IDIOT BROTHER aims to be this year's model. It tries its hardest to follow the same quirky/cute formula (with just a hint of edginess) as LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE, JUNEBUG, and THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT. Personally I think these kind of movies have only slightly more indie cred than a Kristen Bell rom-com or TRANSFORMERS sequel, but I'll admit to enjoying some of them (although it should be noted that I loathe LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE). But I digress.On to the film at hand.

Wet Hot American Summer (June 18 at midnight at the Capital Theatre)

Review by Charles Cassary Jr.

WET HOT AMERICAN SUMMER received a benediction from that journal of taste and gratuitous Glee references, Entertainment Weekly magazine as a three-and-a-half star masterwork of film satire. Well, maybe on a scale of 1 to 7. I'm sorry, I really don't see the wonderfulness (I don't watch Glee either), even if several Shaker Heights expats had something to do with the film: debuting director and co-writer David Wain, music composer Craig Wedren and comic actress Molly Shannon. If EW mag had such excess affection for Shaker Heights, why didn't they show more love for the teen drama BATTLE OF SHAKER HEIGHTS?

How Do You Know

Review by Pamela Zoslov

It’s been a long time since we encountered the eccentric style of James L. Brooks on the big screen – his last major film (unless you count Spanglish), was As Good As It Gets in 1997. The multiple Emmy and Oscar-winning writer, director, actor and producer, whose credits span television’s top tier (The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Taxi, The Simpsons), is not a prolific filmmaker, having made only six movies in 27 years. Brooks has described filmmaking as “lonely,” which may explain why he doesn’t do it often.

Brooks’ reticence is reflected in his movies, which are all about talking and not talking. The characters in his new romantic comedy, How Do You Know, are forever telling each other not to say anything, calling to say they’re not calling, walking away from a conversation, or berating themselves for saying things they regret. In a sense, Brooks’ dialogue is about the importance, and the peril, of words – a metaphor, perhaps, for the writing process, with its frustrating blocks and endless revisions. In a Brooks romantic comedy, there’s a lot more thinking, talking and explaining than lovemaking.