Wednesday, August 31, 2016

Gene Wilder



I was saddened to hear about Gene Wilder's passing.



I liked all of his movies, but my favorites were Young Frankenstein and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.




I enjoyed the movies he and Gilda Radner did together also.




Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Suicide Squad


In Suicide Squad, U.S. intelligence officer Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) assembles a group of dangerous supervillains to fight a mysterious enemy.

Suicide Squad is an okay, not great, movie.  The acting is good.  The performances of Will Smith as Deadshot, Joel Kinnamin as Rick Flag and Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn in particular are enjoyable.  Jared Leto is good as the Joker; however, I prefer Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson,  That isn't a reflection on Leto as an actor; it's a matter of preference.  The movie in general isn’t especially impressive.  Making criminals do the government’s dirty work is an interesting concept, and there is plenty of action, but it doesn’t work here, largely because of the weak plot. I like the Batman cameo, although it doesn't make much difference in the overall storyline.

I read the comic book in the late 80s-early 90s, and I don’t recall Harley Quinn being with the Suicide Squad, and I don’t remember them dealing with Batman, at least not often.  He may have made a few appearances, but he wasn’t the focus of the comic.  I don’t recall them dealing with Joker either, although again there may have been a few references.  Admittedly it has been a while since I have read the stories, and I do realize movies based on books or comic books will be different.

I liked, didn’t love Suicide Squad, and it’s not a movie I care about seeing again.