Rush (2013)

My idea of fun auto racing is the Mario Kart series; the real thing is even less on my radar than most sports popular in the U.S. So I was in no, eheh, rush to see a movie about it. But given Rush's awards and nominations, not to mention its place in the IMDb top 250, I decided to give it a shot.

Based largely on true events, it depicts two Formula 1 racers who were big in the 1970s. James Hunt (Chris Hemsworth) is a party animal and ladies' man. Engineering genius Niki Lauda (Daniel Brühl, convincing enough to wow the real Lauda) abandons his aristocratic Austrian business heritage and prefers not to project a congenial air; he is to be feared. By some chance, from their first race together, they form an intense personal rivalry -- but those have a way of growing to resemble friendship, especially when one of the two men has a crisis....

The Bourne Ultimatum (2007)

I've been putting this off a long time, because unlike most viewers, I got very little out of the first two Bourne entries. The Bourne Identity struck me as an odd combination of stark and semi-comically unrealistic; despite my viewing in a theater, even the car chase failed to excite me. The Bourne Supremacy, which introduced more popular director Paul Greengrass to the franchise, was too bleak to provide much fun, and I kept getting déjà vu. Fans of the third have described it as almost too intense, and less generous critics have said it is too intense (and has no actual ultimatum). Nevertheless, between its Academy Awards and its continual placement on the IMDb top 250, the threequel seemed necessary for my cinematic education.

The Netflix jacket would have you believe that the only new elements are a few moderately famous actors and several major cities on three continents, but I can do a little better at summarizing. The titular rogue secret government assassin (Matt Damon) has apparently kept a low profile for weeks following the Moscow events in TBS. Then a Guardian journalist writing about him reveals insider knowledge of one Operation Blackbriar, getting his attention -- and, less welcomely, that of the CIA. With fresh clues and the cooperation of a disenchanted operative (Julia Stiles), Jason Bourne resumes his search to fill the sizable holes in his memory, all the while evading or fighting the agency led by Noah Vosen (David Strathairn) and, more sympathetically, Pamela Landy (Joan Allen).

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

The comic book adaptations have been coming fast and furious, but this is the first 2016 entry I've seen. What can I say? My dad didn't feel like joining me for Deadpool, and the reviews for Batman v. Superman and X-Men: Apocalypse have been worryingly mixed. For this reason, I'm in no good position to compare CA:CW to BvS, and maybe that's just as well.

I had heard before that the theme of the infighting concerned new legislation that would put the Avengers under UN oversight, with Captain America leading the antis and Iron Man leading the pros. (Only Thor and the Hulk are sitting this one out.) But that conflict is rather incidental to the real reason: Bucky Barnes, a.k.a. the Winter Soldier, formerly Hydra's greatest brainwashed assassin, is the #1 suspect in a subsequent UN bombing. Cap wants to give his old friend Bucky more of a chance than the conventional authorities would. There's actually a third side: Newly minted hero Black Panther, wishing to avenge his father, would rather kill Bucky than let him get arrested. As it turns out, vengeance is a bit of a running theme....