The American President (1995)

With Valentine's Day on a Presidents' Day weekend, I knew just what to watch: a White House romance. I'd seen this one in a theater, but I could barely follow along at 13 or remember much after 30 years. Even if I could, I'd want to compare my adult perspective.

Amid a reelection campaign, widowed Pres. Andrew Shepherd (Michael Douglas) must continue governmental decisions such as how ambitious a gun control bill to support, what to do about an attack in Libya, and how much reduction of carbon dioxide to endorse. He still finds time to pursue a new love interest, lobbyist Sydney Ellen Wade (Annette Bening), who gradually overcomes her intimidation. The press, of course, pays inordinate attention, and candidate Sen. Bob Rumson (Richard Dreyfuss) sees an opportunity to trash his opponent's morals. Shepherd understandably gives no comment, but that doesn't help his odds of winning a second term -- or Wade's devotion.

Badlands (1973)

My previous exposure to Terrence Malick consisted of his co-writing of Dirty Harry, which I liked; and his solo writing and direction of Days of Heaven, which I found dull and forgettable. With his 20-year career hiatus, he doesn't have an extensive filmography, and the few other titles I recognized seemed pretty unpromising. So why'd I see this, his debut as a director and as a producer? Partly for its reception and partly for my first Meetup in a while.

Only afterward did I learn that the story is inspired by true events, albeit under different names and with a lot of details changed. Kit (Martin Sheen, younger than I'd ever seen before), a 25-year-old newly fired garbageman, takes a shine to 15-year-old Holly (Sissy Spacek, also younger than I'd ever seen before). Her father (Warren Oates) disapproves, of course, but Kit is undeterred. Things escalate quickly, and Kit shoots the old man dead. Kit and Holly take to living in the wilderness, but they can't stay put for long, and Kit perceives little choice but to kill again....

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

I was not pleased when Sony announced the release of another Spider-Man origin story only ten years after the last. It's not that focuses on origins always bog down superhero movies -- Batman Begins and Iron Man are among my favorites -- but it sounded utterly unnecessary. If Spider-Man 3 was bad enough to induce a reboot, why not try showing him at a later point in his life, like most of the franchise outside cinema? Nevertheless, when I found this title on the library shelf, I got curious to see what changed.

I hope you don't mind heavy, albeit spoiler-free, comparisons and contrasts to Spider-Man (2002) and, to a lesser extent, Spider-Man 2 (2004). It's a bit hard for me to think about the reboot on its own terms, because the original series is something of a sore spot for me. Despite usually liking popular or even middling adaptations from comic books, and despite liking Spidey at least in concept, these entries utterly failed to take my breath away. No way would I check out the threequel. TAS-M has slightly lower ratings across the usual sites, but I knew that I might well beg to differ.

Selma (2014)

It's not easy to review a film with a focus on a civil rights hero. Viewers' passions are bound to run high, and some might take even a slight criticism as a sign of racism. Others might roll their eyes at me for going too easy on it, thinking I'm racist in its favor. Well, all I can offer is my earnest impression.

The story begins with MLK (David Oyelowo) preparing to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Before long come two indicators that he still has a lot of work to do: a church bombing and a ludicrous suffrage obstacle. Since talking to the president will accomplish only so much, he organizes a protest march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama. The march itself doesn't get a lot of screen time; there's more than enough drama in just preparing for it, what with threats of arrest and physical violence from multiple parties. It doesn't help that the FBI is typewriting the activist leaders' every move, as shown right on the screen.