Never Mind Pop Film

Captain America has always been described as a man out of time, but nowhere is that made clearer than in a post-9/11 U.S. The world after that attack is one that is constantly under surveillance. Agencies like S.H.I.E.L.D. rely on pre-emptive measures to counter whatever enemies may throw at them. Since the events of The Avengers, acquiring funding for this 24/7 surveillance is not an issue.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is making peace with that world a little at a time. He’s catching up with the modern day pop culture (yes, he’s seen War Games, no he hasn’t listened to Nirvana), but adjusting to the new landscape is much more difficult. His mission has always been to do what’s right, but it is becoming harder to tell what is right anymore.

In a riveting Vanity Fair piece about the making of Pulp Fiction, there is an alternate universe look at a world where Samuel L. Jackson almost didn't play Jules Winnfield:

"The role of Jules Winnfield proved difficult to cast, mainly because Samuel L. Jackson was under the impression the part was his, until he found out he was in danger of losing the role to Paul Calderon. Jackson flew out to L.A. for a last-ditch audition with Tarantino. “I sort of was angry, pissed, tired,” Jackson recalls. He was also hungry, so he bought a takeout burger on his way to the studio, only to find nobody there to greet him. “When they came back, a line producer or somebody who was with them said, ‘I love your work, Mr. Fishburne,’” says Jackson. “It was like a slow burn. He doesn’t know who I am? I was kind of like, Fuck it. At that point I really didn’t care.”

"Gladstein remembers Jackson’s audition: 'In comes Sam with a burger in his hand and a drink in the other hand and stinking…

Eight directorial outings into his filmography, Quentin Tarantino has become his own genre. Riffing on gangster films, Asian cinema, war flicks, and with Django Unchained, the Western. The Western is perhaps the most sacred film to most Americans as its inception unfolded in the U.S. It seems fitting that Tarantino should try to rip the band-aid off of America's great shame in a Western.

With all of that said, all the anxiety punctuated by talk of race is swept aside quickly and efficiently. This is not a dissection of slavery, it is a tale of the lengths one man will go to save his wife. Django (Jamie Foxx, exemplifying the words on Jules Winnfield's wallet) is freed by a German bounty hunter on the hunt for the Brittle Brothers.

Only Django has seen these men's faces and Dr. King Schultz (Christoph Waltz) offers him a deal: help him find the brothers and he will help Django find Broomhilda (Kerry Washington). Schultz teaches Django the tools of the trade and he picks it…

This should quite easily wash the taste of Oscar-fare out of your mouth following a heavy November and December. I don't recommend inviting your mom to see this on Christmas, mind you, no matter how much she likes that handsome, young man from Titanic.

For our European audiences more shooting, more Samuel L. Jackson.

I do not know who decided to have Mark Wahlberg lead a comedy by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, but God bless whoever made the genius decision.
Detectives Highsmith (Samuel L. Jackson) and Danson (Dwayne Johnson) are the pride of New York City, they are the heroes that are entrusted to hold down the fort when things go bad, and then there are Detectives Gamble (Will Ferrell) and Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg).

Gamble loves nothing more than to do the paperwork that Highsmith and Danson won't and Hoitz shot Jeter before game seven, they're known as the other guys.
Will Ferrell is traditionally funnier in his straight man roles and he is here as well. Gamble is the logical, play-it-safe partner we know from such action hits as Lethal Weapon, Dragnet, and Men in Black. Hoitz is the repressed action guy that lurks underneath all desk-bound detectives. This could have ended up like Kevin Smith's Cop Out, but Ferrell and McKay make the most out of this superbly funny and timely comedy tha…

This features no footage, but if you like Samuel L. Jackson's voice - and who doesn't? - it's a good teaser.

Decals from The Big Lebowski, Pulp Fiction, The Godfather, or if you're so inclined Transformers,available from the Etsy store.

The most frequently quoted line from any movie ever. Here is Ezekiel 25:17