Jeremiah Johnson (5 Stars)

Robert Redford died earlier this week, but today is my first chance to watch a film in his honour. I was busy with the Stuttgart Fantasy Film Festival and various other things. I even went on a wine-tasting trip to Weingut Weihbrecht the day after the festival. It was an interesting experience. It's a small vineyard, only seven hectares (17 acres), which is probably the smallest a vineyard can be to remain profitable. They harvest the usual Württemberg grapes (Trollinger, Lemberger, Schwarzriesling), but they're increasing the production of Mucaris, a new grape variety that was created in 1987. It's a very sweet wine. Normally I don't drink sweet wines, but the taste fascinated me, and I bought a few bottles to take home with me.

But let's get back to Robert Redford. He's truly a great man of cinema. Unfortunately, "Jeremiah Johnson" is the only film I have in which he plays the main role. He also appears in some of the recent Marvel films. I rewatched "Jeremiah Johnson" today, and I'll probably look for some of his other films over the next few weeks.

I already knew that the film is based on a real life character, but it wasn't until today that I learnt that he was a famous hero of America's Wild West. The last mountain cabin he lived in was moved to the tourist information centre in Montana, where he can be remembered forever. He was given an honourable grave in a small cemetery, admittedly far from civilisation, but it's a celebration of his life.

His grave might look overgrown and uncultivated, but it's deliberate. It's a picture of the rough life he had living alone in the mountains.

The events in the film aren't given a date, but after checking Jeremiah's life story, the majority of the film takes place from 1846 to 1847. He was disillusioned in the Mexican-American War and deserted. He wanted to get away and live by himself, so he moved into the mountains of Montana. It didn't turn out quite as he planned. He adopted a mute boy called Caleb, and he married an Indian that he was given as a gift by a tribal chief.

This is his wife Swan, played by Delle Bolton. Strangely, this was her only film role.

This was Jeremiah's family. It was a quiet affair. Swan couldn't speak any English, and Caleb couldn't speak at all.

The family life didn't last long. Swan and Caleb were murdered by Crow Indians, and Jeremiah spent years wreaking vengeance on them. He supposedly killed over 300 Indians single-handedly in the next few years. This is only shown briefly at the end of the film. Evidently, the director wanted to concentrate on the positive aspects of his personality in his early life. It's difficult for me to see him as a hero, because he must have been a terrifying man.

Robert Redford
August 18, 1936 – September 16, 2025

Success Rate:  + 12.4

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Avengers: Endgame (5 Stars)

Stan Lee didn't create the character Thanos. He was created by the writer/artist Jim Starlin in 1973, when Stan had already given up most of his writing activities at Marvel. Nevertheless, Stan Lee laid the foundation for the Marvel Universe, and he created the Avengers and most of the other heroes in the film. His contribution to comics and modern culture overall can't be underestimated.

The Blu-ray disc of "Avengers Endgame" that I watched today has a short tribute to Stan Lee. It's not a full tribute, it's just a review of his cameo appearances in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

These words, spoken by director James Gunn, express my thoughts precisely:

"My hero. The greatest man alive".

Stan Lee has passed away since this photo was taken, and the world is a poorer place without him. However, for me he still lives on in his writing. In the course of writing my Marvel Years posts I read his comics regularly. I'm up to mid 1971, close to the end of his regular writing. Other less capable writers stepped into his footsteps. Some of Marvel's writers were good, some were average, some were poor, but even Marvel's best writers weren't Stan Lee. He had a spark of genius that others could only dream of.

The most touching part of the tribute is when Robert Downey Jr kneels before Stan Lee and kisses his hand. That wasn't an empty affectation, it's a sign that he truly loved him. As do I.

Asking whether there will ever be another Stan Lee is like asking if there will be another William Shakespeare. It's not impossible, but it's highly unlikely.

On an unrelated matter, I've been running into the limitations of Google's Blogger (Blogspot). I add labels to posts to list the actors who appear in a film. Not every actor, just the ones that I consider to be the major actors. That's five or six actors per film, on average, but the last two Avengers films, "Infinity War" and "Endgame", have an overwhelming ensemble of big actors. Blogger limits me to a maximum of 20 labels per post, so I've been forced to omit some of the actors. Originally I omitted the actors who play smaller parts. Now I've decided to do the opposite. I've omitted the labels for the actors who play the biggest roles, because people know they're in the film anyway. The actors that I have omitted from the labels are:

Chris Evans (Captain America)
Chris Hemsworth (Thor)
Mark Ruffalo (Hulk)
Robert Downey Jr (Iron man)
Scarlett Johansson (Black Widow)
Samuel L. Jackson (Nick Fury)

Nuff said!

Success Rate:  + 5.8

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Avengers: Endgame (5 Stars)

This is the third time I've seen "Avengers: Endgame". The first time I saw it was in a German cinema. The second time was in an English cinema. Today I watched it in a friend's house, in beautiful 4K resolution and supposedly Dolby Surround Sound. I say supposedly, because I wasn't aware of being surrounded by the sound. It seemed to be coming to me from the front, like a normal stereo soundtrack. I'm saying that as a compliment. If I'm watching a film that's taking place in front of me, I don't want to hear the noises behind me.

I feel quite jealous of the beautiful movie system that I enjoyed today. It's not a matter of money. I could afford it if I wanted to. My trouble is the size and layout of my room. The furthest I can sit away from the screen is 135 cm (53 inches), so the largest screen that would be sensible for me is 49 inches.

Yesterday I watched "Avengers: Infinity War", which helped me to appreciate "Avengers Endgame" in its context. "Infinity War" has action all the way, whereas "Endgame" is slow and  mournful, with only occasional action scenes, all of which are splendid when the action breaks out. For the first hour very little happens at all. We meet the characters, and we share their sorrow after having lost so many friends.

I'm pleased to see that Captain Marvel's powers haven't been toned down in the film. Of the highly powered heroes, she's the only one who lives up to her strength in the comics. This makes her the most powerful hero in the MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe), unlike the comics, where several heroes have greater power, such as Warlock and the Silver Surfer. The original male Captain Mervel in the comics was also stronger than her.

Where do the Avengers go from here? Where does the MCU go from here? Kevin Feige, the producer of the MCU, has promised that there won't be an early reboot, starting the Avengers again from the beginning with younger actors. In "Endgame" several characters were killed, and others will disappear because the actors haven't renewed their contracts, so now they've gone for good. They'll be replaced by other Marvel characters; there are so many to choose from. This is a good idea, but we can't go on like that forever. The best, most appealing characters are the ones that Stan Lee invented in the 1960's, and cinema audiences will grow bored when they've disappeared. A reboot is inevitable, but when will it happen? I don't know yet. The Marvel bosses will make a decision based on the viewing figures.

"Avengers Endgame" has become the highest grossing film ever, if the figures aren't adjusted for inflation. That's one of the advantages of my Success Rate. It's a relative number from comparing the budget and the box office takings, so inflation doesn't play a role. My way of calculating the Success Rate makes "Endgame" the most successful film in the MCU, but less successful than the non-MCU Marvel film "Venom", which scored + 6.6.

Success Rate:  + 5.8

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In the review I wrote yesterday about "Avengers: Infinity War" I said that Thanos would never retire and become a hermit or a farmer. One of my friends sent me a message, saying that I was mistaken. He pointed out, quite correctly, that after he lost the Infinity Gauntlet to Adam Warlock he became a farmer, "scraping out a living from the soil". However, this is what he became after losing the Gauntlet. He would never have become a farmer if he had remained the universe's supreme being. He was exiled to live alone on a remote planet by Adam Warlock, so what else could be do except to farm the land?

As we can see, he's become very stoic. He accepts his new position in life. However, I don't believe he would have taken this position voluntarily.

The story of Thanos continues in Marvel comics, some of them written by Jim Starlin, but for me this page isn't just the end of the Infinity Gauntlet saga, it's the final end of what I consider to be Marvel canon.

Avengers: Endgame (5 Stars)

While I was in Birmingham this week I went to see "Avengers: Endgame" again. It was suggested by my daughter Fiona. She saw it last week, but she didn't understand it. That's not surprising. The first MCU film that she watched was "Black Panther". "Endgame" – I'll shorten the title – refers to so much of the early films that it must be totally incomprehensible to any johnny-come-latelys. Or should that be spelt johnny-come-latelies? I don't know if there's a special rule for the plurals of adverbs.

I sat explaining to Fiona the previous 21 MCU films, concentrating on the ones most prominently referenced in "Endgame": "The Avengers", "Thor: Dark World" and "Guardians of the Galaxy". At first she sat attentively, but as I continued she was overwhelmed by the long list of names and her face went blank. She found a full review of "Endgame" in YouTube and listened to the first minute, but it was awful. The reviewer was just rattling off the plot at a breakneck speed, which confused her even more.

So we went to the cinema. There was a 4DX screening at Cineworld on Broad Street, which we chose because neither of us have seen 4DX films before. If you don't know this technology, it's a way to immerse the viewer in a film by provoking his other senses, not just sight and sound.

This is the 4DX theatre in Cineworld Broad Street. Eight rows with 20 seats each, arranged in groups of four. The gap at the front left is possibly for wheelchair users, but I would have to ask about that. I don't consider 4DX suitable for wheelchair users, unless the functionality is limited.

I know that it's officially been allowed to give away "Endgame" spoilers now, but I shan't. I'll just review the 4DX experience.

There are extensive warnings on the door before you enter. You shouldn't use 4DX if you're pregnant, you shouldn't use 4DX if you're shorter than 1.30 meters (4'3"), plus many seemingly random restrictions. The cinema obviously wants to protect itself from all possible lawsuits.

When you sit down you're supposed to put your head on the headrest and your feet on the footrest. The only controls on the seat itself are for the water. You can turn off the water sprays to stop yourself getting wet. That's a setting for wimps. Why would anyone want to stay dry in a cinema?

The most enjoyable feature was the chair motion. The chairs move in all directions at different speeds. When there are fights the motion is fast and jerky. I found it effective that when a plane was flying the chair very slowly tilted forward, giving the impression of movement.

There was frequent wind blowing, mainly from my left. That's possibly because I was sitting on the left of the four-chair group. It gave me the impression of being outside. This was mostly appropriate.

One strange feature is the vibration of the chairs. This was usually done whenever there was a loud noise. I found it somewhat arousing, because the vibrations went straight through my testicles. I suspect that it might be even more exciting for women. However, I have to admit that despite the cheap thrill this did nothing to enhance the movie experience.

During the fights I was sometimes poked by a rod underneath my right shoulder blade. When I checked the chairs afterwards I found two rods, on the left and the right, but the left rod was never used. Maybe it was broken on my chair. This was a weird feeling. It would have had to hit me a lot harder to simulate a fight.

There was a very pleasant smell in the scene where Thanos is walking in his garden. I liked it a lot. The scent feature was only used in this one scene. I would like to experience it in a film more often, so I can compare the scents, whether they change from scene to scene.

One thing I didn't like was the lights that flashed on the sides of the theatre when there was an explosion or something similar. This was highly annoying.

What about the water? "Endgame" isn't a very wet film, but I experienced it in one of the opening scenes. When Hawkeye killed the Japanese Yakuza boss I felt his blood splashing on my face. That was a nice touch. In a later scene, when it was raining, I felt a few drops of rain on my face. That wasn't enough. I should have walked out of the cinema with my t-shirt dripping wet.

My overall impression is that 4DX is a nice gimmick, but it's not something I like enough to want to do it often. 4DX costs £4.70 more than the normal ticket, and for that price it's really not worth it.

Avengers: Endgame (5 Stars)

This is the 22nd film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, released in April 2019.

You won't find any spoilers here, so look somewhere else.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (5 Stars)

This is the ninth film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, released in April 2014. I consider it to be the best film in the MCU so far, although it's difficult to decide. The best MCU films are all very good, so I might change my mind when I watch them all again in order.

Stan Lee's cameo scene lasts 16 seconds, of which we see him on screen for 14 seconds, making it one of his longest cameos. He plays a security guard in a Smithsonian museum. (I'm not sure whether the museum is in Washington DC or in New York. Maybe one of my readers can help me).

There's an exhibition with life size models of Captain America and his Howling Commandos, wearing realistic replicas of their uniforms. When Captain America lost his modern uniform he sneaked into the museum and stole (or rather borrowed) the replica of his old uniform. When Stan Lee saw that the uniform had been taken on his watch he moaned, "I am so fired". Poor Stan.

This film is a key part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with implications for the following films and the television series "Agents of SHIELD". It's revealed that Hydra infiltrated SHIELD when it was formed, and it has lain dormant for 70 years waiting to strike. Now is the time. An assassination attempt is made against Nick Fury. He goes into hiding by pretending to be dead.

This is Nick Fury's gravestone. Note the Bible quote, "The path of the righteous man...". If you check your Bible you might be confused. This is the text of Ezekiel 25:17 from the most common modern translation, the New International Version (NIV):

"I will carry out great vengeance on them and punish them in my wrath. Then they will know that I am the Lord, when I take vengeance on them".

There's nothing about a righteous man in the verse. Indeed, there's nothing about a righteous man in the whole of the chapter. Only attentive film fans will understand what's happened. In the film "Pulp Fiction" the hit man Jules, also played by Samuel L. Jackson, says that he's memorised Ezekiel 25:17, and he always recites it before he kills someone:

"The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of the darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee".

If he quoted that to his teacher in Sunday School he would get a Fail. The last part of his quote approximately matches what the Bible says, but the beginning is a pure invention. It's better not to quote the Bible at all than to quote it incorrectly, especially if the misquote is used as a justification for killing people.

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" introduces a new member of the Avengers, the Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie. I know very little about him as an actor, but he puts on a memorable performance in this film. I ought to know him, because he appears in six non-MCU films in my collection. I'll have to watch them again. Eventually. At the moment I don't want to make my to-watch list any bigger.

Here's another snapshot of Stan Lee from his cameo scene. Just because I can.

Success Rate:  + 2.0

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Jeremiah Johnson (5 Stars)

The way that you wander
Is the way that you choose.
The day that you tarry
Is the day that you lose.

"Jeremiah Johnson" is one of the most beautiful westerns ever made. What makes it so good is that it doesn't stick to the usual clichés of the western genre. It's the story of a man who is trying to find himself by leaving everything else behind.

The film is loosely based on the life of Liver-Eating Johnson, who lived from 1824 to 1900. From what I've read, the real life character was a vicious man. He earned his name by single-handedly killing over 300 Crow Indians and eating their livers. This terrified the Crow, because they believed that nobody could enter the afterlife without his liver.

The hero of the film is placid and stoic. He's an ex-soldier who was disillusioned after fighting in the war against Mexico. He wanders into the mountains of Colorado to live a life of solitude. He intends to survive by catching and eating his own food. He's not very skilled as a hunter and almost starves. Luckily he meets an old mountain man, Chris Lapp, who teaches him the skills he needs to survive. After a few months together he moves on.

Over the next few years he meets very few white people. He doesn't go unnoticed though. Several Indian tribes are observing him. He wins respect as a great hunter. The Crow even build a monument in his honour.

The chief of the Flathead tribe gives Jeremiah his daughter Swan to become his wife. At first he wants to refuse, but he's warned that if the insults the chief's generosity he will be killed. Initially he feels awkward at no longer being alone, but he grows accustomed to female company and settles down with her.

Robert Redford stalks through the film, constantly aloof, rarely expressing his feelings. It would be wrong to say that the viewers like him, but we admire him. We admire his strength and his tenacity. I feel a certain jealousy, because I see in him a man that I could never be. He's everything that a man should be: strong and self-sufficient, but tender when it's required of him.

The film also impresses with its magnificent cinematography. The beauty of the mountains makes us want to walk at Jeremiah's side. Though set in Colorado, the film was actually made in Utah. I never knew that Utah had such beautiful scenery.

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier (5 Stars)

Let's start a new tradition. I'll watch Marvel films every Easter. If I forget about it next year and watch other films I invite my readers to yell at me. Don't y'all forget now!

This is a film with fantastic action from beginning to end. Moreover, it's the first film in which Captain America acts like Captain America. He flings a shield to owerpower opponents instead of firing a gun. He takes the moral high ground whenever anyone, including Nick Fury, suggests a course of action that contradicts his feeling of justice and the American way. This is classic 1960's Captain America as written by Stan Lee.

Of course, Stan Lee has a cameo in the film. I ought to publish a gallery of his cameo appearances, but I'm sure others have already done it. I'll check out what other people have done, and I'll only make my own gallery if I think I can do something better, or at least something different. If not I'll just publish a link to whichever gallery I think is best. I won't do it any time soon. I think that the end of the Marvel Cinematic Universe Phase 3 would be the best time.

At the moment I'm trying to remember if Natasha Romanoff was ever referred to as the Black Widow in any of the Marvel films. She certainly wasn't in this film. I'll have to play close attention the next time I watch the MCU films from the beginning. That would be a good idea for a film marathon. Maybe next Easter. I already own the first 12 films on Blu-ray. I might have a few more by then.

"Captain America: The Winter Soldier" includes the first hints of a romance between Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. The film starts with her suggesting girls he could ask out on a date. That's a typical strategy for a woman who doesn't want to admit she's interested in a man. Later in the film she gives him his first kiss for 70 years. That's special. Let's see if anything develops from this in the next few films.

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Captain America: The Winter Soldier (5 Stars)

Today was the first time I've watched this film for almost 18 months, when I saw it in the cinema. I'd forgotten how good it is. The action is fast and exciting from beginning to end. The shock of seeing SHIELD be corrupted from the beginning hit me even on seeing it happen for the second time. This is one of the best Marvel films ever, coming a close second to Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man".

More than anything else, this film shows the real Captain America. They finally got it right. He carries a shield, not a gun.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (5 Stars)

Finally Captain America (the character) has got into his stride. This is the sort of film that the first film should have been. It makes up for the disappointments first time round.

The film takes place in the present day. Trying to fit it in with the comics continuity, it combines the origin of the Falcon (1969) with Captain America's disillusionment with authority (early 1970's) and the return of Bucky Barnes (early 2000's). In a way this is yet another case of the telescoping in Marvel films, but it's very difficult for me to regard any post-1990 Marvel stories as canon. The disintegration of the bullpen community has led to the death of continuity. Any contradictions are explained away as simply having happened in an alternative universe. That's the perfect "Get out of Jail Free" card, the only difference being that you do pass Go and you do pick up $200. But that's enough cynicism for today. Let's get back to the film itself.

We find out that ever since it was founded, SHIELD was infiltrated by Hydra. In the film mythology the two organisations were founded simultaneously shortly after the Second World War as secret agencies to further the aims of the western powers and the Third Reich respectively. (In the comics Hydra's origins are unclear, though it seems that they existed since the days of the Egyptian pharaohs. SHIELD is a modern organisation, not created until the 1960's). Nick Fury is removed from SHIELD by an assassination attempt, so that Hydra can use SHIELD's newest high tech weapons to achieve world domination. Captain America and the Black Widow team up to fight against SHIELD, aided by a young war veteran, Sam Wilson, who becomes the Falcon. Hydra's top fighter is a man called the Winter Soldier, who we find out is Captain America's old friend Bucky Barnes, who he thought had been dead since 1944. In the comics Bucky was a teenager, probably 16 at the time of his death, but in the films he's shown as a fellow soldier.

The film's action is first class. It was exciting from beginning to end, and credible within the parameters of comic book films.

In the after-credits scene we see that Hydra's boss, Baron von Strucker, has captured "the twins", Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. This will lead to a conflict of interests between the respective film studios. The characters in the Avengers films and their spin-offs belong to Walt Disney studios, but Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch are the children of Magneto, a character who belongs to 20th Century Fox. I'm sure that some sort of ugly fudge will be made to solve this problem.