My Own Little World

The Marvel movie machine is an unstoppable force that will earn its money whether or not they produce good films. Thankfully, they have a high standard for their films that makes them critically successful as well as commercially. However, that standard has been slipping as of late, with Iron Man 3  and Thor: The Dark World  drawing in some of the poorest reviews of the series. Does the second installment of the Captain's story bring Marvel back to its former heights? In short, yes. The Winter Soldier  succeeds where the recent Marvel films have not: the story. Writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely make The Winter Soldier 's story suspenseful yet thematically rich at the same time. Like The Dark Knight trilogy, it mixes political undertones and themes prevalent in our world today with incredible action sequences and tense, chaotic moments, propelling the movie through its 150-minute running time quite quickly. It never lets up on its relentless pace, mak...

Noah is the first Biblical epic in quite some time to be a good film. It focuses on bringing a heavenly story from over 4,000 years ago into the modern age of film, and it does so quite well. The acting is impeccable, and the great ensemble cast exceeds expectations. Russell Crowe delivers one of his best performances as Noah, making him gritty and realistic enough to relate with. The entirety of Noah's family also has good performances, especially Emma Watson and Logan Lerman as Ila and Ham, respectively. Meanwhile, Anthony Hopkins delivers as Methuselah, Noah's primary mentor, making him very similar to Odin in the Thor movies. Ray Winstone also has a fantastic performance as Tubal-Cain, being both physically and mentally imposing as the antagonist. Overall, a beautifully acted movie that will get overlooked come next awards season, as all early releases are. Noah  is fantastic visually as well. The direction from Darren Aronofsky shows a personal touch that is often mis...