Retrospective Movie Review - Fort Apache, The Bronx (1981)

   I know what you're all thinking: “Tony, what the hell is this?” First off, watch your language, young man/lady/automated internet scammer programmed to search for keywords. Second, Fort Apache, The Bronx is a 1981 crime drama film starring Paul Newman. Today, it's little more than an answer to a Trivial Pursuit question. It's not exactly an epic masterpiece of cinema, but it at least tried to be more than it truly was. It's very entertaining, and I've rewatched multiple times in the past couple years. I'd even go so far as to say that it's an underrated classic of cop-drama cinema. It's a movie that I can't help but feel the need to introduce people to, so let me tell you about it. Spoilers ahead.

   It is the early 1980's. New York City is a crime/drug-infested open sewer and the South Bronx in particular was a smouldering jungle. Police officers face problems ranging from prostitution, to mentally disturbed people, muggers and thieves, teenage pregnancies, drug dealers who work out of hospitals, and police brutality and corruption. The film opens with a junkie prostitute named Charlotte murdering two rookie cops for no apparent reason. This gets the attention of the NYPD's 41^st Precinct, which includes Murphy (Newman), a middle-aged, veteran police officer who is pretty much coasting towards his eventual retirement. Instead of making a difference in the community, he's more concerned with simply keeping the peace. This doesn't suit the plans of the station's new Captain Connolly (Ed Asner) a gung-ho, by-the-book officer who's determined to get his district cleaned up, starting with the capture of the cop killer. Connolly orders his officers to stop turning a blind eye to petty crimes and issue mass arrests in the hopes of getting leads and sending a message that criminal behaviour won't be tolerated. Murphy and his partner Corelli (Ken Wahl) – a young, careerist, yet optimistic rookie cop – reluctantly comply.

   The public rebels against the overbearing police activity, culminating in at least two riots. During one of these riots, Murphy and Corelli witness a fellow officer – Morgan, played by Danny Aiello – throw an innocent young man off a roof, killing him. Murphy is torn on whether he should reveal the officer's identity to Captain Connolly, while Corelli advises him to keep quiet.

   Meanwhile, Murphy takes an interest in a nurse named Isabella (Rachel Ticotin). Over the course of the film they begin dating. A relationship develops. After a while, Murphy is disappointed to learn that Isabella is a casual drug user. He confronts her about it which, in combination with him expressing his indecision on whether to rat out Morgan, causes tension between the two.

   It is true that Fort Apache, The Bronx has a lot of subplots, but they all are tied together quite nicely. That's what I think sets this film apart from other cops-and-robbers movies. While FAtB does have cop movie cliches, its overall focus is mainly on how urban decay affects people and the choices they make in dealing with it. A lot of the characters are forced into compromising their own moral beliefs as they struggle with their consciences. And they're not always black-and-white issues either. Both sides often have legitimate viewpoints. That's what makes Fort Apache, The Bronx so moving and realistic.

   But it's not always depressing and serious; there are brief moments of decent comedy as well. This mostly happens during scenes in the police station and especially when we follow Murphy and Corelli around town as they work on assignments together. This wouldn't have been as enjoyable without the presence of Wahl and Newman, who display outstanding chemistry despite their dissimilarities.

   Anyways, back to the plot. After seeing Murphy drop her off, Isabella's drug dealers assume that she's doing undercover police work. So to get rid of her they set her up with a poisoned batch of heroin. The next day, a hostage situation breaks out in the hospital over a drug deal/sting operation gone wrong just as Isabella overdoses. Murphy and co. come to the rescue but it's too late for Isabella, who died while the shootout was occuring. Heartbroken, Murphy goes for a long walk alone around the filthy neighbourhood in what's easily the most powerful scene in the film. There's no dialogue or music; it's just a few long shots of Murphy walking with his hands in his pockets and all you can hear are the sounds of life going on for the indifferent city. Returning to the station, Murphy goes to Connolly's office, confesses his knowledge of Morgan killing the kid, and resigns, believing himself to be fully burnt out. In spite of their differences, Connolly tells Murphy that he was a good cop, and he tries talking him out of quitting, but without success. Moments later, Corelli does the same with similar results.

   However, when presented with an opportunity to catch a burglar who had earlier eluded him, Murphy springs into action. The movie ends on an ambiguous freezeframe – which is kind of cheesy, but charmingly so – leaving it open to interpretation whether or not Murphy's policing days are behind him just yet. I like this ending. It gives the film a sign of hope in spite of the gritty stuff we had just seen. Moments earlier we saw Charlotte's corpse hidden in a pile of rubble/garbage, wrapped up in a carpet as just another anonymous body. You know the police will never find out who killed those two rookie officers at the beginning.

   Regrettably, I must mention that there are a bunch of scenes that kind of go nowhere. For instance, the drug dealer plot could have been resolved better than with a shootout scene. Charlotte's story could have been much more condensed (take out the middle and just have her murdering cops and then later show her dead body; that's really all the movie needed). Another scene has Murphy and Corelli trying to rescue a guy from jumping off a building. It's as if these scenes were shoved in to give the movie more action/violence when it really didn't need that much of it. There's also a rather pointless scene in which Corelli spends a night at his fiancee's apartment.

   One thing that really drew me in was the film's setting. If you've ever wanted to be transported back in time to NYC's darkest period, then this is as close as you're going to get. Fort Apache, The Bronx is shot on location in the South Bronx, smack dab in the middle of a city that was at once among both the world's richest and poorest. The rubble lots, the burnt-out buildings, and the graffiti are all authentic, giving the movie a very gritty, worldly feel.

   One last thing to comment on is the production value. It isn't terrible (in fact, most of the shots look great), but it does come across as cheap at times. For example, some of the special effects aren't very convincing. The extras aren't all that great at acting (even by extra standards), and we even see the same ones recycled a few times.

   Nevertheless, I think Fort Apache, The Bronx is an underappreciated drama offering a powerful and (mostly) realistic view of peoples' lives in the midst of severe urban blight. It has relatable characters, good performances, an engaging story, and an engrossing setting. It's also a cool time capsule of sorts that's still relevant today; the date and city may have changed, but the setting and issues are the same. It's a human story, and a very enjoyable one at that.

   Grade: three and a half out of five.

Movie Review Double Repost - Captain America

Hey guys. Since last week I reviewed the newest Captain America film, Civil War, I thought it fitting if I reposted my original reviews oft he the first two movies: First Avenger (2011) and Winter Soldier (2014). Since writing these reviews my opinions on these films are pretty much unchanged. I mean, I now realize that First Avenger had a more comic-book/cartoon tone to it, but that doesn't detract at all from my enjoyment of it. I still consider this the finest Marvel-related trilogy yet produced. Enjoy.

First Avenger

   Just so you know, you don't have to be American to like this movie. Believe me, this movie is cool! To quote Conan O'Brien, “it looks gooooooood!”

   Everything about this movie is just so cool! It's well-acted, the characters are enjoyable, the environments are fascinating, and you will be invested by the intriguing plot. They did a good job of putting that silly looking costume on screen and making it look badass - it looks way better than the 1990 film's costume! The special effects are superb, especially on making Cap's actor Chris Evans look like a scrawny little guy. Red Skull looks pretty cool too.

   But don't expect to see a lot of Nazis in this movie; regardless of what you may have heard, this isn't truly a WW2 movie. There's also a lot of loose threads at the end which I guess they're saving for the inevitable sequel.

   One thing this movie could've done better is the transitions. The second half of the story seems rushed. Characters will refer to a job that needs doing and next thing you know we go straight to the middle of an action scene with no transition at all. I'm guessing this is to make up for all the time they spent building up the introductions and origins of the characters. There's also a few downright silly moments. Like how is Captain America able to sneak around without being noticed wearing that brightly coloured costume and that shield that looks like a bulls eye?!

   Oh well. Despite this, Captain America is still a very fun summer action flick. One of the best so far, I'd say it's almost as good as Thor. So what if it's not as funny as the 1990 film?

Four stars out of five.

Winter Soldier

   If you're one of those people who's been wanting for Marvel to make a “serious” movie, your prayers have been answered. Captain America: Winter Soldier is the most badass superhero movie since the Dark Knight, and it might just be the best Marvel film yet made.

   CA:WS has the Captain, Steve Rogers, living in Washington DC, working for SHIELD with Nick Fury and Black Widow. They try to initiate Operation Insight, a government surveillance program, until it becomes complicated by the activities of a certain organization and its top assassin: the Winter Soldier. I actually have read the Winter Soldier comics and they nailed it here, both in story and character: an angry, scary badass. The plot of this film goes a bit deeper than most other comic book movies, as we get a proper narration of Rogers coming to terms with missing out on 70 years of his life. We also learn more about Black Widow's and Nick Fury's personalities, something past movies have been lacking. Plus we get to see a few socially-relevant topics being played out (for example, the whole security vs. freedom thing).

   As mentioned above, CA:WS is more serious in style and tries to keep comic book absurdities to a minimum (though they're still there, don't worry). I guess it's comparable to the Dark Knight movies if the characters there didn't endlessly over-analyze everything. Think Tom Clancy meets Captain America. To up the intensity Cap's cheesy Avengers costume has been discarded in favour of a new, more believable one. The fight scenes are choreographed just as spectacularly as ever. Keep in mind, this does make CA:WS a bit more violent than previous Marvel movies. But it's a shame that that pesky shaky cam has to make it hard to observe. Hint: don't blink.

   Captain America: Winter Soldier is mandatory for action movie fans. If you felt like you weren't being treated like an adult with the other Marvel movies, then you'll be pleasantly surprised with this one. So all in all...GO WATCH THIS MOVIE!

Rating: five stars out of five.

Movie Review - Captain America: Civil War

   I'm calling it: there has never been a better time to be a Marvel superhero fanatic. Case in point: Captain America: Civil War, the highly anticipated, yet puzzlingly titled sequel to 2014's Winter Soldier, one of the best superhero movies ever made. Can this one live up to the hype? Is it a better superhero vs. superhero movie than Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice? Let's find out.

   Taking place about a year after Age of Ultron, the story follows (most of) the Avengers, who are under fire by people who have suffered personal and financial losses due to the heroes' destructive globe-trotting exploits. When the UN proposes an oversight agreement to make the super-team more accountable, the heroes are split into two opposing factions. Captain America leads the side opposed to it, while Iron Man leads the side in favour of it. The two sides clash, deeper stuff goes on, the plot thickens. The story is partially based off the 2006 event comic of the same name, though it drifts pretty far from the original story, especially towards the end. While I did like that comic (most people didn't) it's probably better that the movie did its own thing (though it does keep true to the whole “vilify Iron Man” thing). It provides for some pretty cool plot twists. It's just a shame that the whole Civil War part is left partially unresolved at the end. Like Winter Soldier, Civil War takes on the feel of a spy-thriller movie rather than a cartoony adventure. The movie raises an important issue of political nature, but just like the previous movie they sidestep around the debate when (SPOILER ALERT) it's revealed that it was all the work of Hydra. What, are we just supposed to forget about that grieving mother who talked with Tony Stark near the beginning? Was she a Hydra agent too?

   As you probably already know, Civil War boasts an all-star cast full of your favourite Marvel Cinematic Universe heroes of the past eight years or so. Pretty much the only ones missing are Thor, Hulk, and Nick Fury. In their place we get Spider-man, Ant Man, Black Panther, and even General Ross from way back, from 2008's Incredible Hulk. In fact there's so many characters that it begs the question of why this is considered a Captain America movie and not an Avengers movie. A significant amount of screen time (I'd say around 50%) doesn't feature Cap. This is just as much an Iron Man movie as it is a Captain America movie. Oh well, I guess it's not that big a deal.

   I have to say, the new Spider-man is great. Played by Tom Holland, he's a fun character to see in action, though I did think his voice was a little too high-pitched. His Ditko-esque costume looks great. They must have borrowed from the Deadpool playbook in giving his mask some measure of expression through the moving eyes. Well done.

   I also like what they did with the Winter Soldier. He's still a tortured and intense character, but he now has no problem being a team player. He's even capable of taking part in jokes. This is how character development should be done.

   With the Russo brothers in the director's chair(s), we get the same level of high-quality production we saw in Winter Soldier. However there were just a couple things that bothered me. First, the action scenes in the first half-hour or so are not easy to watch. It suffers from the old familiar combination of shaky cam and choppy editing. The rest of the movie looks OK, though. Another thing I noticed is that a couple of the subtitles (from spoken Russian) have grammar errors! For instance, rather than congratulating Bucky on his completed mission (“Well done, soldier.”), some dude instead sees fit to inform Bucky on how he likes his soldiers cooked (“Well done soldier.”).

   There were also a couple plot points/holes that disappointed me. It's mentioned early on that Tony Stark and Pepper Potts' relationship isn't doing so well. This is never brought up again, almost as if there was no point in it even being mentioned. There's also this part which looks like it's setting up a bunch of new villains for the heroes to fight towards the end, but this opportunity was completely wasted – by an off-screen event, no less!

   In conclusion, Captain America: Civil War is amazing! I know I complained a lot, but I critique because I care. OK? This movie is fun, at least as good as 2011's Captain America: First Avenger. It's (mostly) well-made and it really feels like crap is on the line. The film's universe is being shaken around and stuff is truly changing and I love it when that kind of thing happens to an established franchise.

Grade: four out of five.

Artwork: Happy Star Wars Day

So it is now the break in between semesters, and as I often do I chilled out and relaxed by doing some drawing. (Remember way back in my introduction to Anachronarchy I mentioned that I would be posting original artwork? I guess I'd better start doing that!) This time it was a drawing of some Imperial Stormtroopers. It wasn't until I was nearly finished that I realized that it was close to Star Wars Day. So consider this my holiday greetings to you all.
As you can see, the thing was done in three stages. First: the penciling, the part that takes the longest. Second: the inking, probably the easiest part. Then third: the colours. Unfortunately, colouring is not my forte; I think it looks better without the colours, which is why I've decided to post all three versions here. In total, this drawing took me 11 hours to complete, which is average for something of this complexity. Enjoy.