Alien, Fire in the Sky, Independence Day, Men in Black, Starship Troopers, Cloverfield, Signs, Prometheus. These are some of the many movies that have successfully explored contact in some form with extra-terrestrial beings in some form. And then you have movies like E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Cocoon, Contact, Solaris, District 9, Gravity, Interstellar, and The Martian that are also movies about either extra-terrestrial encounters or innovative space exploration that deal more with the human component or relationship building than they do action, adventure, and/or a post-apocalyptic future. Add Denis Villeneuve’s (Sicario, Prisoners) Arrival as the latest movie to try to get itself on this impressive list. The critics (93% on Rotten Tomatoes) and audiences (82%) have both enjoyed this movie. I wouldn’t say that I disliked this movie, but I don’t have the same praise as many others. If you haven’t seen Villeneuve’s Sicario, please see this movie. It was one of the five best movies of 2015. I haven’t met many people who have seen this movie and didn’t like it. It’s an incredible movie. I hoped Villeneuve could recapture that same success with this follow-up, but, ultimately, it was a movie that I found interest in. Still, one that was a little all over the place and not one that I could ultimately relate to or, to an extent, even understand its purpose.
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Category Archives: Jeremy Renner
Captain America: Civil War (2016)
Captain America: Civil War is perhaps the greatest superhero movie that Christopher Nolan has not directed. My two favorite superhero movies (The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises) belong to him. As of this post, my third favorite would probably be a toss-up between Batman Begins, Iron Man, and Captain America: Civil War. There are others (such as The Amazing Spider-Man, Iron Man 2, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, etc.) that are up there, but there is clearly a distinction between the top 3 or 4 and all of the others. I hope that superhero movies continue to get better, but unfortunately, it feels like we get 3-4 bad ones for every good one we get. So when we get a movie like Captain America: Civil War, it’s important to take pause, see it, praise it, and encourage more movies like it because we know that poor movies will continue to be made because all of them seem to gross over $100 million easily. And the reason they do is our fault. We continue to see these terrible movies. But that is a different story for a different day.
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Kill the Messenger (2014)
After stints in movies that have limited his ability to showcase his range (Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol, The Avengers, The Bourne Legacy), the talented Jeremy Renner returns to the type of film that has helped establish him as one of America’s best, under the radar actors. With Academy Award nominations in back-to-back years (The Hurt Locker – Best Actor, The Town – Best Supporting actor), Renner brings his acting prowess back to the big screen for the first time in four years in Michael Cuesta’s (Showtime’s Homeland) Kill the Messenger. While researching this movie, I learned that Renner is signed to continue the Bourne, Mission Impossible, and Avengers franchises. Now while I’m never going to chastise an actor for getting as much money as they can, it would be my wish that he exit two of these three series (the Bourne series is tired and played out, and there is no need for his character in the Mission Impossible franchise) and concentrate on roles that bring out more of the actor in him. Then, of course, he would still have The Avengers movies for name recognition and bigger paydays. I feel like this man has a handful of Academy Award nominations (and hopefully a couple of wins) in his future if he continues tackling these more character-driven movies.
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American Hustle (2013)
My review of David O. Russell’s (Silver Linings Playbook, The Fighter) American Hustle will be much quicker than some of my other recent reviews. This movie isn’t exactly flying under anyone’s radar. As of this post, it most likely will earn Oscar nominations for Best Picture and Best Director (though it probably will win neither) and has a chance to land nominations for four of its actors, though the only one that seems certain is Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook, Catching Fire) for Best Supporting Actress. There are many critics out there (currently rated as 93% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. who will rave about this movie, including Richard Roeper, who listed this as his best movie of 2013. I am, therefore, in the minority. Perhaps the expectations were so astronomically high going into this movie, perhaps it was I had watched The Wolf of Wall Street just two days prior (a movie that dwarfed this one), or perhaps it was that I was just bored. Still, for whatever reason, I was very, very, very underwhelmed.
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The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Fans of the Jason Bourne Trilogy (The Bourne Identity, The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum) will, in all likelihood, enjoy The Matt Damon-less The Bourne Legacy. However, I’m wondering how many new fans this movie will attract. Director Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, Duplicity) repeatedly references Jason Bourne in this movie. Those looking to enter the franchise and think that this is the right time because Jeremy Renner (The Town, The Hurt Locker) is cast in the lead role instead of Damon will be disappointed if they don’t do their homework ahead of time. I would have been very frustrated watching this movie without seeing the other three first. I would have wanted to understand better what was going on. In The Bourne Legacy, Gilroy doesn’t seem interested in recapping a story that has already been told. You are out of luck if you have not seen a previous Bourne movie or need to research. Gilroy feels it’s not his job to keep you informed. For those wishing to see this movie without seeing any of the predecessors or if it has been a while since you’ve seen The Bourne Ultimatum, I suggest you visit this site first. The Bourne Legacy Primer: Five Things to Know Before Seeing the Franchise’s Latest Flick – E! Online. Even if you saw The Bourne Ultimatum the night before seeing this movie, I’d recommend checking out this link. It won’t hurt to do so.
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