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NICE GUYS      2.5***

         This 1977-set LA story starts with a  scene portraying the graphic automobile death of adult movie star named Misty Mountains. Later when Misty's aunt claims to have seen her niece alive, PI  Holland March( Ryan Gosling ) is hired to find her. Separately, Jackson Healey ( Russell Crowe)  is hired to stop him by force. A series of events conspire to bring the mismatched duo together, and off they go on a search for a missing girl named Amelia, the daughter of a sinister VIP from the Department of Justice (Kim Basinger).. There are a ton of bad guys standing in the way of their goal.  It's fair to say that March's and Healey's chaotic quest is propelled as much by luck as skill.

 Gosling and Crowe are cast  against their usual type: Gosling’s  icy cool and Crowe’s wounded warrior personas respectively.  They have good but not great chemistry.  Angourie Rice, playing Gosling’s precocious daughter Holly, almost steals the show from the stars. It's a great performance and a great character: she binds these two emotionally stunted men into being a good team whose individual strengths are made more effective.

“Nice Guys” was intended as a comedy/drama. I often find the best way to gauge a comedy is to see how many jokes actually get genuine laughs out of the audience. 'Nice Guys' failed that test. The number of pieces of intended humor that raised no sound at all were more plentiful than the ones that did. I laughed perhaps five times throughout the entire film and never once more than a quiet chuckle. 

A good but could’ve been better movie. Not worth theater’s prices. Wait and see it on TV.   

Rated R for violence, sexuality, nudity, language and brief drug use.

Clark 

CONCUSSION  3.0***

     “Concussion” is a movie based on a true story about a pathologist named Dr. Bennet Omalu, who uncovers the truth about the damaging effects to the brain in football players, caused by repeated concussions through normal play. It is a compelling story about how flawed the system and corporations are, when there is a lot of money on the line, and the Difficulties people will have to endure to make others aware of a problem.

This well presented and important movie is a scathing indictment of Commissioner Roger Goodell and the National Football League. As we've seen time and again over the years, the NFL will try and conceal, deny, and protect its brand against any bad information until their "backs are up against the wall" and they finally have to admit certain things to the public.

Such is the case here in this film, which focuses on the discovery of CTE (  Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy ), in  the brain tissue of the late Mike Webster (Robert Morse), the popular former center of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and subsequently several other NFL players who tragically died at an early age after retiring from pro football. This brain disease, caused by recurrent blunt force blows to the head, was discovered by Dir. Bennet Omalu (Will Smith), who was at the time the Allegheny County Coroner, in Pittsburgh, Pa.. One of the difficulties with CTE is that there is no test to detect it. Only through a post death autopsy can it be confirmed. As a result, after the word got out about CTE, some former NFL players who thought they might have CTE would commit suicide by shooting themselves in the chest so their brain could be examined.

The movie depicts Dr. Omalu's long bitter struggle with the NFL to recognize and take action to prevent debilitating concussions and brain injuries to its players. In this struggle, Dir. Omalu is helped by other physicians, who believed in his scientific evidence such as Dir. Julian Bailes (Alec Baldwin) and Dr. Cyril Wecht (Albert Brooks).

                                                                                                                                                                                          

Overall "Concussion" is a film that's an emotional drama of discovery and it searches for the truth about a deadly condition (CTE) that is now estimated to affect approximately one-third of  the NFL players, especially those who retired before this was revealed.

Clark

BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE   3.0***

            Eighteen months after the destructive battle in Metropolis (Man of Steel), Superman has become a controversial figure. Billionaire Bruce Wayne, who has covertly operated in Gotham City as Batman for nearly two decades, blames Superman for the mass casualties that resulted from his fight with General Zod. Superman ( Clark Kent in public), sees Batman as dangerous and seeks to expose him.

Past villain Lex Luthor is back and as evil as ever and wants to eliminate Superman once and for all. His plan is to recover kryptonite from Zod's failed attempt in the “Man Of Steel”  movie from the Indian Ocean to use against Superman.

Batman v Superman is entertaining but disappointing in that the premise for Batman’s hate of Superman just doesn’t ring true… it doesn’t make sense.. Nonetheless the action set pieces are impressive and the ultimate showdown between the two is indeed awesome when it finally comes. The heroes themselves are amazing. Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne is a good choice as the new Batman.. He IS Bruce Wayne. Henry Cavill is great as the man of steel. He doesn't have much to work with but he shines when he needs to. And Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman steals the screen whenever she comes on. She's perfect. And when these heroes come together to fight the common enemy, Doomsday, it's truly a sight to behold.  

Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor  is fine in the role. The character is written as an obnoxious rich sociopath with a love for mayhem, so he's basically in the shadows for a majority of the movie acting as a puppeteer to pit Superman against Batman.  . But there is something unsettling about his unassuming manner  Doomsday is fine also. The only reason he exists is to have an epic fight in the third act   He is the antithesis of Superman - a godless killing machine, a creature with no conscience, an unkillable force of nature. He serves his purpose, but there was no sizzle, no real evil in the character  to be rooting for (or against).  

The movie is too long.  A lot of stuff is crammed into the two and a half hours, and a few subplots could've been scrapped.  Good editing could have trimmed the fat, put all the pieces in the right place and kept it at a tight two hours, Batman v Superman could have been a much better superhero movie. As is, it's entertaining but too protracted. 

. Batman v Superman is a flawed movie, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do. It gives us Batman versus Superman. It gives us the dawn of the Justice League. It gives us a big screen adaptation of Lex Luthor and a juggernaut of a villain in Doomsday. All the pieces are there.  They just could have fit together better.

Rated: PG-13 for sequences of violence and strong action.

Clark

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR  3.5***

          This is the basic storyline: With many people fearing the actions of the super heroes (the collateral destruction and death caused by them) the world governments decide to push for the Anti-Hero Act, a law that would limit and control the heroes actions. This causes a division among The Avengers. Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr) stands with the Act, acknowledging their actions should be kept in check otherwise  more cities and innocent civilians will continue to be destroyed/killed. Captain America (Chris Evans) feels that saving the world is daring enough and they cannot rely on the government to protect the world. This escalates into a war between Team Iron Man( Iron Man (Robert Downey), Black Panther (Chadwick Boseman), Vision (Paul Bettany), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), War Machine (Don Cheadle), and Spiderman (Tom Holland)  ) and Team Captain America ( Captain America (Chris Evans), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Falcon (AnthonyMackie), Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp), Scarlett Witch ( Elizabeth Olson), Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Ant Man (Paul Rudd)  ) … now that’s one heck of a cast ( and I personally think they should have given MORE screen time to Scarlett Johansson.. but I always say that about her !!)

Marvel has always had a great knack for handling multiple characters and preserving their individuality while keeping them in sync with the plot, and it doesn't disappoint this time. New character introductions were hinted in the trailer  what with Black Panther and Spiderman joining The Avengers for the first time.. What is impressive is they give each character his/her own space while still building up on the story. A lot of conflict, both emotional and physical can be seen between the  two teams, each member struggling in his/her own way about facing someone who until quite recently was fighting with them side by side.

The movie not only has great writing, but it also has the awesome action we saw in the last Captain America film, but cranked up  many times over. There are several  great action scenes in this film, but the ones that stick out the most are the car chase scene, and of course, the big fight between Captain America and his gang, and Iron Man and his gang. The latter is a fantastic scene, all of the superheroes using their specific powers against each other, while occasionally another would chime in to help someone else out in a fight, and so on and so on. But it's handled with such grace that it never becomes excessive or confusing. Even with all the superhero action going on all at once, moving from one battle to the next, they still find time to put genuinely hilarious moments in all of this.  

Bold, bright, brash and brilliant, 'Captain America: Civil War' stands up alongside Marvel's other movies, and  many have said it's the best yet. I'd say it depends on what you're looking for. The joy of the Marvel movies is that they each tend to have something different. . Suffice to say it's faults are few and far between, it maintains a large cast without short changing anyone, and there are no plot holes. Chris Evans remains as perhaps the best piece of casting in the superhero genre, with new additions Spiderman ( Tom Holland) and Black Panther ( Chad Boseman) each owning the screen  as a nervy kid and moody warrior respectively.  

Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, action and mayhem. ( But kids over 6 to 8 can handle it )

Clark

SING STREET  3.5 ***        

   "Sing Street" (2016 release from Ireland; 105 min.) brings the story of Connor, a 15 yr. old boy. As the movie opens, we are reminded that this is "Dublin 1985", and we see Connor strumming the guitar in his bedroom. At dinner time, Connor’s parents inform him and his older brother and younger sister that Connor is being transferred to a Catholic school to save money. Connor has a hard time adjusting to the new school environment and is bullied by another boy and harshly treated by the Catholic Priest who is the Headmaster. Then one day, Connor notices a beautiful 16 yr. old  girl across the street. He gathers all his courage and asks her to be in a video for his band. When she says "okay", Connor realizes that he needs to put together a band, on the double! At this point we're not even 15 minutes into the movie, but to tell you more might spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the latest music-related film from writer-producer-director John Carney  who did “Once” “Begin Again”. In fact, one can make the argument that "Sing Street" is the spiritual prequel to Once, as "Sing Street" looks at the life of 15 and 16 yr. olds as they are starting to make decisions for themselves and trying to make something of their lives. And what better motivation to start a band than to impress a girl!

Carney nails the musical landscape of the mid-80s in Ireland perfectly. "  When Connor struggles to recruit like-minded kids for his band (called Sing Street), he posts fliers in various locations, "Futurist Band Forming”. The band once formed is a delightful and talented group of outcasts like Connor.

While much of the movie is light-hearted, Director Carney does not forget to shed light on some darker aspects of Irish society (mass-migration to England; a stoner older brother who is a  college drop-out, and of course the role of religion (Catholic, specifically) in society). But in the end, it's all about the music. Carney co-wrote and co-plays on all the new songs with Gary Clark,  

The cast is solid, especially the leads: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo who plays Connor. He can be charming, kind, insecure but out-of-nowhere gutsy which is an accurate depiction of a blossoming musician.   Connor's older brother Brendan at first seems to be too wise for his age, but by the end of the film it all made sense, and Jack Reynor was a fine choice for that role. Lucy Boynton (Raphine) is great as the love interest and mysterious but troubled muse.  She delivers an emotional performance and probably looks the most natural in 80's fashion, although she didn't  convince me as a 16 year-old .. maybe 18.. On the other hand Walsh-Peelo (Connor) was only 15 when the movie was shot and he's got that boyish appearance.                       

This is a great story, it got  the laughs, cheers and tears in all the right places.  I would recommend it to everyone, especially those who love music and/or a fine story.  The movie generates sheer exuberance !!

Rated PG-13 for some occassional strong language,   bullying behavior, and teen smoking.

Clark