TAGGED AS: Certified Fresh
This week at the movies, we’ve got just one new wide release: Captain America: The Winter Soldier, starring Chris Evans, Samuel L. Jackson, and Scarlett Johansson in the latest Marvel superhero adventure. What do the critics have to say?
It’s become fashionable in some film-going circles to dismiss the recent spate of comic book adaptations as evidence that Hollywood is bereft of ideas. Critics say Captain America: The Winter Soldier offers a powerful rebuttal, delivering outstanding performances and a thoughtful political undercurrent to complement its visceral thrills. This time out, Captain America (Chris Evans) is working undercover for S.H.I.EL.D., but quickly discovers that the organization is far more secretive than he suspected. Meanwhile, a mysterious assassin known as the Winter Soldier has carried out a series of killings — and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) seems to know more about his identity than she’s telling. The pundits say the Certified Fresh Captain America: The Winter Soldier should please both newcomers and Marvel diehards — it’s slick and action-packed, and most intriguingly, often has the feel of a paranoid thriller from the 1970s. (Check out this week’s Total Recall for a list of memorable superhero franchise part twos..)
Ilo Ilo, a drama about a the trials and tribulations of a middle-class Singaporean family during the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, is at 100 percent.
Afflicted, a horror film about a young man suffering from a sinister condition while on a globetrotting vacation with a friend, is at 92 percent.
The Retrieval, a Civil War-era drama about a man and his nephew on a mission to apprehend a fugitive ex-slave, is at 90 percent.
Alan Partridge, starring Steve Coogan as the narcissistic chat show host he made famous in Britain is Certified Fresh at 86 percent.
Under the Skin, starring Scarlett Johansson in a sci-fi thriller about a predatory alien disguised as a woman, is Certified Fresh at 82 percent.
Errol Morris‘ The Unknown Known, a documentary portrait of former U.S Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, is Certified Fresh at 81 percent.
Watermark, a documentary about humankind’s complex relationship with water, is at 75 percent.
The Borderlands, a horror film about a group of tasked with investigating paranormal activity in rural England, is at 75 percent.
Lars von Trier‘s Nymphomaniac: Volume II, starring Charlotte Gainsbourg and Shia LaBeouf in a drama about a sex-obsessed woman who tells her life story to a stranger, is at 65 percent.
Island Of Lemurs: Madagascar, a nature documentary narrated by Morgan Freeman about the adorable but endangered primates, is at 60 percent.
Dom Hemingway, starring Jude Law and Richard E. Grant in a dramedy about a wild-and-crazy safecracker who tries to reconnect with his estranged daughter, is at 55 percent.
The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came To Eden, a documentary about intrigue and murder among a group of eccentrics on a remote island, is at 50 percent.
In the Blood, starring Gina Carano and Danny Trejo in an action flick about a woman who goes looking for her missing husband, is at 42 percent.
The Players, starring Jean Dujardin in a series of comedic sketches about infidelity, is at 35 percent.
Goodbye World, starring Adrian Grenier and Gaby Hoffmann in a dramedy about a group of old friends who gather in a remote house to wait out the apocalypse, is at 25 percent.
Alien Abduction, a found-footage sci-fi thriller about a vacationing family that encounters extraterrestrial life, is at 25 percent.
Frankie & Alice, starring Halle Berry and Stellan Skarsgård in a drama about a woman suffering from multiple personality disorder, is at 24 percent.
