This week’s HomeVideodrome podcast finds us debating the pronunciation of the last name of John Cazale, discussing the lovely disposition of Tommy Lee Jones, as well as the goings on at the Austin Film Festival.  Of course, we also go through this week’s crop of releases in the most chaotic manner possible.  So go listen, and enjoy!

Captain America: The First Avenger is the next step in Marvel’s massive attempt at crafting a cinematic universe for their comic book creations.  Marvel’s days of licensing out their characters for stand-alone Hollywood movies are thankfully over, with Jon Favreau’s excellent Iron Man ushering in a new era of comic book moviemaking.  The visionary approach taken by Marvel is that with each movie they make, they are crafting a larger mythos, a new universe for their classic characters to play in, not unlike the Ultimates line of comics they launched years ago.  We’re getting films less concerned with being stand-alone entities, that instead have more freedom to tie into, reference, and cross over with each other.  In other words, this is the way comic book movies should be.

Chris Evans, who previously played a Marvel’s Human Torch in Tim Story’s lackluster Fantastic Four films, fills the boots of Steve Rogers, the scrawny, strong-willed nobody destined to become the Cap himself.  With the Nazi menace sweeping Europe, Rogers attempts over and over again to sign up to go fight the good fight for good ol’ Uncle Sam, however his sickly physical attributes consistently result in his rejection.  Rogers’ determination to enlist catches the eye of Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), a German scientist who has found asylum in the U.S., who wants to use the good-hearted Rogers to test his super-soldier serum.  The experimental drug turns the scrawny Rogers into a super-man, however he ends up being used as a marketing tool to sell war bonds on the home front under a persona called “Captain America,” rather than fight the enemy at their doorstep.  But when one of his best pals gets caught behind enemy lines by a rogue Nazi organization called Hydra, Rogers springs into action on his own, and soon Captain America and his Howling Commandos tear a swath in the European countryside, battling the wicked Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving) and his Hydra troops.

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In addition to the critical hit “October Sky,” Joe Johnston has previously directed several fun action movies including “Jurassic Park III” and “The Rocketeer.” With that in mind, it’s difficult to see where Johnston went so wrong in directing “Captain America: The First Avenger,” a lifeless and clichéd action film that never lives up to its title or its title characters’  ideals.

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“Captain America” tells the story of a scrawny kid named Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), who wants to join the military during World War II. Rogers, who weights in at around ninety pounds,  suffers from multiple medical conditions but his noble ambitions push him back time and time again to the recruitment office. Despite being rejected by the military repeatedly, he still wants to serve his country. After noting that people are dying in the war overseas, Rogers notes that he has “no right to do anything less than them.”

The story’s beginning has potential but the bizarre decision to use Evans’ head on a thin-rail body detracts from the film itself. It’s difficult not to focus on this “special effect,” which is awkward and out of place.

As the story continues, Rogers is recruited to be a test subject for a science experiment performed by Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci), a doctor who finally gets Rogers accepted into the armed forces. Erskine’s experiment strengthens Rogers and makes him a powerful physical weapon that can be used against the dreaded Nazis. When the experiment ends, Evans can start acting in his real body again, a welcome relief for viewers. At first, the military uses Rogers, who is now known nationwide as “Captain America,”  to help sell war bonds but when he realizes that one of his friends is missing behind enemy lines, Rogers decides to take on the Nazis himself.  He eventually goes up against Hydra, the Nazi’s science division, which is led by the repulsive Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving).

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One year ago today John Nolte reported in this space that “Captain America: The First Avenger” director Joe Johnston said the film based on the legendary comic book hero is “not about America,” and I can finally confirm that he spoke the truth.  The $140 million blockbuster, which opens at midnight, is not anti-American–it’s even kinda pro-American–but if you’re looking for that rare film that surrenders itself to the reality of American exceptionalism, don’t let the title fool you.  Johnston describes the latest from the summer movie factory that is Marvel Studios best: “It’s an international cast and an international story. It’s about what makes America great and what make the rest of the world great too.”   Now, I’m very much relieved that it’s now okay to call America “great” in Hollywood, but as far as “Captain America: The First Avenger” is concerned, self-conscious pandering to multi-cultural feel-goodism combined with some unambitious storytelling makes for an unsatisfying movie-going experience.

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“Captain America: The First Avenger” is set in the latter half of World War II.  The action begins with a scrawny Steve Rogers (a digitally depreciated Chris Evans) doing everything he can to enlist in the U.S. Army.  Rogers has all kinds of heart, but he’s gaunt and is thus 4-F.  The plot turns when an impassioned speech to a friend (“There are men laying down their lives.  I have no right to do any less than them.”) catches the ear of Dr. Abraham Erskine (a very Stanley Tucci Stanley Tucci).  Erskine is a German scientist who is working with the U.S. Army to develop a Super Solider Serum–the ultimate performance enhancing drug–and is on the lookout for a test subject.  The serum amplifies what’s inside of you, so someone of Rogers’ size and character makes him the perfect candidate for this breakthrough procedure.  Erskine and engineer Howard Stark (father of Tony) put Rogers in what looks like a retro-50s refrigerator, crank up the dials until all the power in the building short-circuits, and out comes this guy: (more…)

But-but-but director Joe Johnston assured his liberal Hollywood pals us “Captain America” (opens next Friday) would not be (no joke) “about America“ or a “sort of jingoistic American flag-waver”.

So what’s this new American-ey poster all about? False advertising?

I will now turn off the sarcasm and ask The Big Question.

For years Hollywood’s been telling us patriotism and pro-America doesn’t sell and yet here we have a major studio (Paramount) and brand (Marvel) going full “jingosim” with their major tentpole of the summer.

Why?

I guess furthering The Big Lie was no longer worth losing The Big Money. Unabashed, sincere patriotism most certainly helped “Iron Man” become a sleeper hit and an iconic classic. With DVD sales plumetting, it looks as though Hollywood — at least in some cases – can no longer afford to put propaganda above profit.

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This new trailer answers some of the questions about Steve Roger’s/Captain America’s motivations, which appear to be duty to his country. The more I see, the more I like. The production design is superb as are the effects creating “scrawny” Steve Rogers. Best of all, the film has a sense of humor about itself. Most refreshing is the character-testing of Rogers, the part about him being a “good man.” Old-fashioned ideas like self-sacrifice and a calling higher than one’s self make for memorable storytelling themes, the kind that stick with you long after you leave the theatre.

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Knowing the “Captain America” trailer had been released last night, I headed over to YouTube to look for it, found this, and thought “Wow, this looks fantastic.” Then I thought, “Wait, isn’t that the guy from ‘Dances With Smurfs?’” — which saved me from looking like a total idiot.

As far as the actual trailer, sorry but when one of the first statements out of a director’s mouth on any project, much less a project titled “Captain America,” is…

“He wants to serve his country, but he’s not this sort of jingoistic American flag-waver,” [director Joe]Johnston said. “He’s just a good person. … “Yeah and it’s also the idea that this is not about America so much as it is about the spirit of doing the right thing,” the director said. “It’s an international cast and an international story. It’s about what makes America great and what make the rest of the world great too.”

…it has something of a dampening effect on my enthusiasm. The goodwill necessary to boost my excitement just ain’t what it was when the project was announced. Could be worse, though. Johnston could’ve made the Tea Party the villain.

Anyway…

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The venerable Marvel comic book character Captain America has been, well, “Captain America” since 1941. But as of the 2011 release of the new movie “Captain America: The First Avenger,” he won’t be Captain American anymore. At least as far as the film’s  title goes for its overseas release, anyway.

Apparently, Hollywood thinks a character called “Captain America” is too gauche for foreigners to handle. And so he’s to go nameless in such places as Russia, Ukraine, and South Korea. Once again, Hollywood shows that it’s ashamed of America, its traditions, and culture.

This film already raised eyebrows for patriots when the director said that his Captain America wouldn’t be that into America.  Last July, director Joe Johnston claimed that the Captain America in his film would not be a “jingoistic American flag-waver.” Johnston’s anti-American sentiment foreshadows the dropping of the character’s name from the title for overseas distribution. (more…)

What a shocker. Captain America: The First Avenger will be Captain America in name only. According to this morning’s L.A. Times, director Joe Johnston is currently running around Comic-Con to reassure those wringing their hands with worry over the horrible idea that his $200 million tent-pole scheduled for a summer 2011 release might be too American-y, that it won’t be.

Read it and weep you suckers who thought Hollywood might give us this one. But at the same time, don’t forget to thank Johnston for disappointing us before we spent the ten bucks:

“We’re sort of putting a slightly different spin on Steve Rogers,” said Joe Johnston, whose past directing credits include “Jurassic Park III” and “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids. “He’s a guy that wants to serve his country but he’s not a flag-waver. We’re reinterpretating sort of what the comic book version of Steve Rogers was.” …

“He wants to serve his country, but he’s not this sort of jingoistic American flag-waver,” Johnston said. “He’s just a good person. We make a point of that in the script: Don’t change who you are once you go from Steve Rogers to this super-soldier, you have to stay who you are inside, that’s really what’s important more than your strength and everything. It’ll be interesting and fun to put a different spin on the character and one that the fans are really going to appreciate.” …

Much, much more predictable heartbreak below the fold: (more…)

As the central figure in the new horror film “The Wolfman,” Lawrence Talbot has suffered through what you might call a rough life. He’s stumbled across his parents just after dad brutally killed mom in the middle of the night, was banished to an asylum before getting shipped to America from his posh English countryside home, and now his brother has been eviscerated by a mysterious creature lurking in the woods outside his childhood home.

Determined to find, capture and kill whatever beast offed his brother, Lawrence has not only traveled back to his birthplace and its haunting memories, but now has to confront his father head-on for murdering his mother and ward off area townspeople who fear he’s become a beastly ‘wolf man’ himself after surviving a a vicious bite from the monster. Through it all, his primary battle is to maintain his strong sense of decency and underlying humanity from slipping away forever.

Sounds like a heady mix of action and emotions, doesn’t it? Thankfully, “The Wolfman” largely delivers on its promises – particularly through the moving performance and powerfully expressive eyes of Oscar-winning actor Benicio del Toro (“Traffic”), who rebounds from a mostly hitless past decade to sink his teeth (ok, pun intended) into the role of Lawrence Talbot and add genuine gravitas to a tragic character. It also features a strong, yet slightly oddball, performance from Anthony Hopkins, who has also suffered more than his share of box-office setbacks in the last few years but digs into the role of Lawrence’s father Sir John Talbot with the menacing glee of his famed Dr. Hannibal Lecter enjoying a dinner of Chianti and fava beans. (more…)

A lesson in why it’s important to read the whole story; because after reading the first two paragraphs my blood was at full boil:

But director Joe Johnston and the team at Marvel Studios have a plan for “The First Avenger: Captain America,” which is due in Summer 2011: They’ve added a new wrinkle to the classic mythology to explain why a scientifically enhanced super-soldier would venture out in the WWII battlefields in a costume that leans a bit heavy on the old Betsy Ross imagery.

“The costume is a flag, but the way we’re getting around that is we have Steve Rogers forced into the USO circuit. After he’s made into this super-soldier, they decide they can’t send him into combat and risk him getting killed. He’s the only one and they can’t make more. So they say, ‘You’re going to be in this USO show’ and they give him a flag suit. He can’t wait to get out of it.”

Captain America “can’t wait to get out of” wearing the American flag? Captain America’s too cool for the American flag? 

Because we all know how stripping Superman of his Americanism (and masculinity) worked out for that franchise, right? Before you explode like I did, read on… (more…)