Category Archives: Reviews

My thoughts on Television episodes and movies

New Who at 10: The Empty Child

Easily the most liked of the 9th Doctor’s adventures, “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances” is a classic episode. This episode has always held a special spot in my second heart. This was the episode where I officially got on board with this whole Doctor Who thing. When I started watching, I had people suggest that I start with “Blink,” but I am a completist, so I had to start at the beginning, or some kind of beginning, so I started with “Rose” and worked my through the first season. The first few episodes were ok, but kind of weird. This was the episode, though, that really sucked me in and kept me coming back through the rest of Eccleston’s time. It has everything I think you need to get to know your Doctor. In fact, if I were introducing someone to Doctor Who, this would be the episode I would tell the to start with, to maybe start with “Rose” and then skip to this two-part story.

Watching this again (and it was the first time in a while), it was interesting to see what stood out to me. I think the first time I watched it, I was focused on how creepy it was. The empty child was really pretty scary. I have a sister-in-law who watched the beginning of Doctor Who, but stopped at this story. I don’t think she even watched the second part, she was too creeped out. That is probably pretty extreme, but I can say I always felt like this was kind of on the scary side. Not horrifying, but I admit I was checking around corners and stuff afterward. Watching it this time, though, the creepiness factor was gone. I knew what Jamie was, I knew how it was going to end. As a result, I noticed other things that really make this story stand out.

One thing that really stood out to me was how the Doctor interacted with the kids, Nancy specifically, but all the kids too. He was friendly and warm to them, and comforting. He applauded them for being so bright as to steal food during the air raids. It was really kind of nice. I think, watching the episodes leading up to this one, we don’t see that side of the Doctor much, so it is nice to see it here. I like how he encourages Nancy to keep going and talks about how Britain and her people were so brave to stand up to Hitler, and how amazing they were. I love that kind of stuff. It really was an amazing thing that the British did stand up, alone, against Hitler for so long. The story of the Air Blitz on Britain is pretty incredible, historically speaking.

I also really liked the Doctor’s interaction with Dr. Constantine. This gives a glimpse of the Doctor’s character, who he was and what he’s been through. When Constantine says that at the beginning of the war he was both a father and a grandfather, but now he was neither, but he was still a doctor, and then the Doctor says “Yeah, I know what you mean.” We begin to get a glimpse of what the Doctor has lost, and part of why he is always running. Maybe not running away, but always to something, somewhere where he can help.

For me, the one down side, and I am ready for the negative responses, is this is the first appearance of Captain Jack. One of my least favorite “companions” of the Doctor. I just always felt slimy when he was on the show. Like he was always working something, and that bothers me. I know he is supposed to be a scoundrel, like Han Solo, but his character never hits that mark for me. It didn’t help to rematch it this time and seeing Arrow, where he plays Malcolm Merlin, who is always trying to pull a fast one. Unfortunately, that’s all I can see with Jack. I know that I am really in the minority here, and that’s ok. I get that people like him, and this is nothing against the actor, John Barrowman is a fantastic performer, and from what I’ve heard, a decent human being. I just don’t like Jack.

My favorite part of this episode, however, is the very end, when the Doctor shouts out “Everybody Lives, Rose, everybody lives!” This was the first moment in new Who, I think, when we see the Doctor as a hero. We have that doubt, since the first episode when Rose seeks out the computer guy who has been searching for the Doctor and tells her that death and despair follow him around. This is the moment I always think of when it comes into question whether the Doctor is a good man. I think of this moment every time, and think, “Yeah, he is a good man.”

What were your thoughts of “The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances”? Is it a classic, or is it just simply the best of a mediocre season? What were some of your favorite parts? Let me know in the comments.

The next episode I will be taking a look at, as chosen by our Facebook followers, it “The Parting of the Ways.” That should appear next Wednesday.

 

Revisiting the MCU: The Avengers

marvel-avengers-movie-logo-viewing-gallery-movie-picture-marvel-avengers

 

It was a movie event years in the making. This was the culmination of everything we had seen up to this point in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There were so many expectations riding on it, so much for it to live up to. And more than almost any other film it lived up to all those expectations. With The Avengers, Marvel rewrote what people expected from super hero movies and completely changed the landscape. DC, previously on the fence about the idea of a Justice League movie, now realized that they had to do it in order to keep up. If they were smart, they would copy Marvel’s formula. Forget about people accusing them of ripping Marvel off, they need to do it exactly how Marvel did it. They’re not, and that is a post for another day, but let’s hope they have enough of the formula there to make it work. Don’t worry, though, it all comes full circle since The Avengers in the comics were a direct response to the Justice League comics, so there you go.

I loved this movie, from start to finish, and watching it again made me really excited for Age of Ultron. There is just something special about the Avengers films, having all the heroes together in one movie is just so much more amazing than their individual movies, in my opinion. There is just more excitement, more fun. Plus, the chemistry that they all had together was incredible. Part of why it all worked, a really big part is that we knew all of these characters already, including the main villain. The story wasn’t bogged down with any back story of the characters. We just saw how they were all finally brought together. Plus it was cool that they were somewhat true to the source material. The Avengers originally came together in t a story in which Loki tried to put Hulk against Thor, and the result was the Avengers forming. Of course, Cap wasn’t part of the team, but still, it was cool that they went that direction.

The action in this film is nonstop. It starts right at the beginning with the appearance of Loki (explained as a result of the teseract) and him stealing the teseract, as well as Hawkeye and Doctor Selvig. It doesn’t slow down from there. This made for an exciting and enjoyable movie, and you don’t really notice the length. It gets heavy in some parts, but not overly heavy, like when they are all arguing on the carrier. It starts to get heavy, but it’s followed up with a great action sequence, that leads into about 5 minutes of rest, before going right into the climax and the final battle.

Overall, this film has a great story, showing how the team is formed. It follows all the classic stages of team building-Forming (happens at the beginning as well as the films leading up to it), Storming (Starts basically when Black Widow goes to get Banner, continues when Cap meets Stark, and hits its peak in the research room on the carrier), Norming (the team comes together a little bit when Hawkeye attacks and Loki is freed, it continues through when they find out about Coulson’s “death”), and finally Performing (the final battle, as Cap takes charge, and they are finally the Avengers). This is classic story telling, and really how team building works in real life. Minus the super powers and alien invaders.

Watching this movie again made me really excited for Age of Ultron.  I can’t wait to see where Whedon will be taking the team next. I have a feeling they won’t be ending on a high note, since this next movie leads into Civil War. We’ll see. In any case, The Avengers  is one of my all time favorite superhero movies and has everything I want. Good team chemistry, a good story, great action, and very entertaining. You almost don’t notice little inconsistencies, like how did Thor get down to Earth? It’s never really explained.

This was a great conclusion to what Marvel called “Phase 1.” It was a very satisfying ending to the Phase 1 story line, and led us well into Phase 2, which will now be wrapping up with Age of Ultron. It also does a great job of setting up Phase 3, where we are ultimately going with all of this, the Infinity War. We see Thanos for the first time, as well as seeing shawarma for the first time. I wonder if there were little shawarma shops through out the country that saw a huge boost in business after this film came out…

What did you think of Marvel’s conclusion to Phase 1? Was it as good as the hype, or did it not really live up to it? Let me know in the comments. We are just over half way there now as we get closer and closer to the May 1 release of Age of Ultron.

Revisiting the MCU: Captain America: The First Avenger

Captain-America-The-First-Avenger-captain-america-the-first-avenger-19352794-1920-1200

 

As we move through the Marvel Cinematic Universe, our next film is Captain America: The First Avenger. As I sat down to watch this movie, I was going to try to be as unbiased as possible, but it’s hard because Cap is my favorite of the Avengers, and there is a lot I like about this movie, even if there is a lot that I don’t. The hard part is that the stuff I like I really like, and it can out weigh the stuff I don’t like and maybe I don’t notice it as much.

I really like Chris Evans as Captain America. I wasn’t sure at first, because I couldn’t get past him as the Human Torch in Fantastic Four, and Johnny Storm and Steve Rogers are two totally different personalities. Once I saw the movie, though, it’s hard for me to remember him as the Human Torch at all. He does a great job pulling off the clean-cut, always do the right character of Steve Rogers, and equally as Captain America.

I also like how they built up the character of Steve Rogers as he is becoming Captain America. The scenes during his boot camp are some of my favorites in the movie. Particularly when he brings down the flag pole to give the flag to his drill sergeant so he doesn’t have to keep running, and when they throw in the dummy grenade and he throws himself on it. Those are moments that define who Captain America is before he is Captain America. It shows that there is more to him than his powers that come from the super serum. I also chuckle when he is trying to enlist and he meets Dr. Erskine for the first time, and he thinks he has been caught lying to enlist. And of course, another defining statement is when he is asked by Dr. Erskine if he wants to go over to Germany to kill some Nazis. He responds by saying he doesn’t want to kill anyone, but he doesn’t like a bully. That’s Captain America in a nutshell.

Overall, I always enjoy this movie, it is fun, it is exciting in parts, and I love Captain America, so mostly it’s a win. However, there are a few plot details that drive me nuts. The US government, and especially a US government that later has an organization like SHIELD, would never spend that much money and time and resources to create a super soldier, have it be successful and then not use him for combat. It’s just kind of silly. I struggle with that every time. When Tommy Lee Jones says he was promised an army, and all he got was Rogers, and he wasn’t enough, it’s almost laughable. So, basically, you didn’t get your army, so your still going to go and try to win the fight against Hydra without the one weapon you did get. Seems reasonable. No, the reality is that Rogers would have been on the first boat to Germany and sent to the front lines. Of course he only gets there after spending time as a glorified dancing Uncle Sam, and then going awol to find his missing friend. That’s when the army realizes, “Hey, you know this super powered guy we have that can do almost anything? Maybe we should use him to do stuff.”

Other than that, the film is pretty watchable. It runs a little cheesy and over the top at times, but Captain America was originally cheesy and over the top. This isn’t really our introduction to the modern Cap, it’s our introduction to who Cap was during World War II, and it gets him to our time with the whole freezing thing. Really, it’s a 2 hour set up for later jokes, like in the Avengers when he gets excited because he got a reference to Wizard of Oz. We laugh because we know he just barely got thawed and was stepping out go 1945. It is a film to establish frame of mind, so we understand who Cap was and who he is. In Winter Soldier, we get the modern Cap, and he is awesome, but that is a review for another day.

What did you think of First Avenger? How does it stack up tot he preceding Marvel films like Iron Man and Thor? Let me know in the comments. Always love hearing from you.

Revisiting the MCU: Thor

Thor (2011) Wallpaper 1

 

The next stop on our tour through the Marvel Cinematic Universe is Thor. For me, this is where I feel like the MCU is really expanding. Up to this point, we have only seen two Iron Man movies and a Hulk re-boot. With Thor, we are getting something new and really different. I have always had a soft spot in my heart for Thor because of my Danish ancestry, so I was really excited about this movie when it came out. I was also really nervous. With all the fantasy elements to Thor, there was always a possibility that it could be really cheesy and lame.

Fortunately, Thor was neither cheesy nor lame. Or at least not overly cheesy and lame. I mean, when Thor talks in his normal fancy speak, it can come across as pretty lame, but Hemsworth does it just right. This film was a great addition to the MCU and a great expansion into bigger things. I think they nailed the casting with Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Hopkins as Odin, and of course Tom Hiddleston as Loki. I had never heard of Hiddleston before this film, but afterward, he was a household name, and with good reason. He played the role to a T. Just an excellent job.

This movie was interesting because it was an origin story, but it was different from most origin stories. Usually, the main protagonist gets his powers and there is a period of time where he or she is getting used to their powers and how to use them and all of that. There is none of that in this movie. Thor is born a god, and has his powers from birth, so he doesn’t have to get used to them. The real origin story here is how he becomes fond of Midgard, or Earth. In the beginning we see a reckless young god who makes poor decisions and doesn’t value the lives of his enemies or his friends. He is immortal, and he knows it.

This story follows what happens when he is banished to Midgard by Odin to be taught a lesson. He doesn’t really get what’s happening at first, and along the way he meets Jane Foster and her team and befriends them. They are there for him when he discovers that he doesn’t have his powers anymore, and he decides to stay with them when Loki visits him and tells him he can never come home. We see Thor grow as he begins to care about these people and develops a new perspective about what it takes to be a leader. Before, battle was all about glory and things like that. Now he is beginning to count the costs and value life. It’s not all about glory. It’s important for him to get to this point before Loki sends the destroyer down to kill him and everybody else.  Because he is at this point, he is willing to face off against the giant himself with no powers. It is at this moment that he becomes the hero. He becomes worthy of his hammer, Mjolnir.

This was a fun movie in typical MCU fashion. It’s full of humor and wit. It also has great shout outs to fans of the comics. For example, when he puts on the shirt that Jane gives him and the name tag say Donald Blake, MD. This was the identity he used to assume in the comics. Of course he continues to assume it in the movie. That was cool. The best line or humorous moment was when he refers to Agent Coulson as “Son of Coul.”  That was great.  Overall, in the beginning of the movie we have a hard time with Thor and his reckless character, but part way through, we find ourselves agreeing with Hawkeye when he says he’s going to start rooting for this guy. And of course, I can still remember how excited I was when at the very end of the credits it says that Thor would be returning in The Avengers. It was only a year away at that point.

What were your thoughts on Thor? Did it hold up against Iron Man and Incredible Hulk? Or was it a disappointment? Let me know your thoughts in the comments.

Revisiting the MCU: The Incredible Hulk

MCDINHU EC040The next film my wife and I enjoyed on our road to Age of Ultron was the Incredible Hulk. I know, this is out of order, since we have already watched Iron Man and Iron Man 2. I’m sorry, that’s all I can say. We had planned it all out and somehow had this one scheduled after the first two Iron Man films. I got called out for it on Google +, and I wish I could go back and fix it, but unfortunately, I can’t, so you are all stuck with reading a review for The Incredible Hulk, after my review for Iron Man 2. I promise I will keep the rest of them straight from here on out.

It’s hard to really place this film in the MCU. It is, in a lot of ways, the awkward uncle that’s definitely part of the family, but everyone is just fine seeing him only on major holidays, because he just doesn’t fit in. There are a lot of reasons for that, in my opinion. The first thing is what is this movie, exactly? Is it a sequel to Hulk? Is it a re-boot, meant to launch a series of Hulk centered films? Or is it just one chapter in the Avengers Assemble storyline? Another thing is the fact that this film, this one film, is Universal. The other MCU films prior to all coming under the Disney umbrella, were all Paramount. This one film stands out as the only Universal film. Then there’s the Edward Norton aspect. He is only Bruce Banner in this one film. That’s it. In fact, we have seen three different versions of the Hulk, and Mark Ruffalo is the only guy to play Banner twice now. Taking all of this into consideration, it is sometimes hard to see where this film fits into the grander Marvel scheme.


The truth is, this film does fit in with the rest of the MCU films, in that it is really a great movie. In almost every way that Hulk failed, this movie was a success. This was obviously not a sequel, and they let us know that right at the beginning when they retold the origin story of the Hulk, and it was different, slightly, from the previous movie. That was all we needed to know. I hope they revisit this concept with the next Spider-Man film- condense the origin story down to the opening credits and then jump into the action. I loved that when I watched it this last time. I really hope they do something similar with Spider-Man. Just like Spider-Man, we all know the basic story of Hulk’s origin, so no need to go into super fine detail.

Despite not being an origin story, the film does quite a bit to develop the Bruce Banner/Hulk character. In this film, we get a sense that Bruce is really all alone and wandering the Earth. He wants to get rid of the Hulk, find a cure. We see him trying to learn how to control his anger. He doesn’t want to control Hulk, he wants to subdue him totally. That’s his goal. We also see that Hulk is not a mindless beast. He knows who Betty is, and he wants to protect her. Despite all the destruction he causes, we also see that he is really the victim here. He is being attacked again and again, and he is just trying to protect himself.

We also learn in this movie that here is a tie between Hulk and Captain America. Before we have even seen Cap on the big screen, General Ross has already exposed us to the idea of a super soldier, and Hulk was the result of one of their attempts to re-create the super soldier experiment. Of course, Banner realizes that they would never be able to control an army of Hulks. Or even just one, which is all they would need.

Overall, this is a pretty good film. I am not a huge Hulk fan, but this movie is probably my favorite telling of a Hulk story. It has the despair of being alone, plenty of action, and some pretty good humor. Going away from Edward Norton, though a fine actor, in favor of Mark Ruffalo was the right choice. I enjoyed Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner more than Norton’s. Norton was just to unemotional, to removed. I didn’t feel anything for him. Buffalo brings in all the emotions that Banner should have, and does it well. Despite that, I would say that everyone keeps looking for a Hulk film in the MCU, and when are they going to announce a standalone Hulk film, and I say we have this one already, and it’s not too bad.

Sunday Night Flicks: The Princess Bride

Some of my fondest memories growing up revolve around our old tube TV and VCR and sitting down with my family to enjoy a great movie. In fact, almost all of my favorite memories growing revolve around good movies and good company. There was something special about going on a Friday night to the local Video store to pick out a movie or two and then coming home and watching it. Staying up late, bringing out all the blankets from your bedroom and making a big pile of blankets and pillows on the floor, lying on your stomach, head perched on your hands, kicking your feet back and forth and watching those opening credits. It was almost always magical. In some ways, kids today will never experience that kind of magic. Their idea of movie night is sitting down with the iPad and selecting a show to watch on Netflix, and their movie night happens every night, and is rarely together. Although when they have setups including TV’s and soundbars like the ones you can view here, I’m must admit, I get a little jealous of the quality. But in all seriousness, they will never know the joys of going to the video store, spending an hour at least trying to find the perfect film. I remember browsing for so long thinking about trying something new, but often times, I would settle for an old favorite. My favorite movies were like good friends. I know that sounds sad, but I don’t think I minded.

Sunday Night Flicks is my attempt to get some of that magic back. I think part of the magic was more than just the experience. Part of the magic were the great films we watched. I want my kids to experience those films. I want my kids to be the kids who look down on other kids who don’t know classic films. I want my kids to appreciate a good film for being a good film, and not just the latest and greatest. In short, I want my kids to be geeks like me. I don’t think it’s too much to ask.

The Princess Bride was one of those old favorites for me. If I couldn’t find something new at the video store, I would pick this film. Eventually, we owned it on VHS (ahhh, the glory of VHS), and the case quickly became battered and well worn as we watched it over and over again. I could recite almost the whole film from start to finish. I would run through the house with anything I could find that resembled a sword and yell, “Hello, you killed my father, prepare to die!” It was just such a big part of my childhood, that I felt it was an appropriate place to start with my kids. And, we had just bought it on iTunes and watched it for Valentine’s. Let’s be honest, there is nothing wrong with watching The Princess Bride two days in a row.

The key was finding a way to entice the kids to watch it. My kids rarely agree on anything when it comes to watching a movie. Plus, they rarely want to watch something not animated. We can talk about all the ways I have obviously failed as a parent later. I’m working on it. I started with my oldest daughter, Eliza. She was going to be the easiest sell. I asked her if she wanted to watch a princess movie. Before I could say anything else, she was on board. No problem. She loves all things princess, and I like to show her princess stuff that isn’t Disney. Like Star Wars (wait…well it didn’t start out as Disney).

Next, I had to convince my oldest child, Johnny. I wasn’t sure how to do it. I knew he would love the movie, but he had to get past all the kissing and stupid stuff like that. Then I remembered the way the Grandpa in the film convinced the Grandson to listen to the book. I asked Johnny if he wanted watch a movie with sword fighting, and giants, and a fire swamp, and pirates. He just kept getting more and more excited as I added more things to what was in the film. He was sold. The other kids would fall in line as long as the oldest 2 were on board.

Then we started the film. At first, I think Johnny agreed with the Grandson. He thought I had tricked him. Eliza loved the whole “As you wish” thing and started repeating it over and over. Except when I asked her to do something for me. Then she only remembered how to say no. Apparently she doesn’t love me. Johnny was about to be bored and ready to walk away, about the time that Buttercup runs into the 3 kidnappers. Now, i am going to assume that most of you have seen this film, so I am going to be pretty free with any spoilers. Anyway, as they kidnapped the princess, Johnny was suddenly interested again. When she jumped overboard and the eels started circling her, both Johnny and Eliza were on the edge of their seats.

Johnny thought the Man-in-Black was pretty much the coolest guy ever as he beat Inigo in their awesome sword fight, and then when he beat Fezzik. Johnny thought he was pretty much a superhero at that point. Eliza was thrilled when he turned out to be Westley, because she thought he had died. I thought that was funny, because I always thought that it was pretty obvious that he was Wesley from the beginning. I guess not when you’re a kid and this is the first time you have seen the show. They enjoyed every minute of the film, and something fun happened as we watched it. We all started out in different spots on our sectional, but by the end, we were all cuddled up together.

As I sat there with my kids all around me and my wife and I only separated by a two-year old, I thought about how good movies always did this when I was I kid. They brought us closer together. They gave us inside jokes to enjoy together, they gave us laugh and tear together and all-around gave us a common experience that brought our family together. That was what was happening now with my young family. It gave me a thrill to see that they were enjoying this movie as much as I did as a kid. After the movie, I asked they liked it. Eliza said yes right away. Johnny kind of shrugged his shoulders, like he didn’t care or he was too cool for it, but the smile on his face gave it away. The best indicator was that they wanted to watch it again tonight.

I can’t wait to show them more great movies. Each week will be anew experience and hopefully it will bring us closer together as a family. Hopefully, it will help my kids to appreciate really good movies with really good stories. Hopefully, it will make them want to tell really good stories. Who knows. Mostly, I hope it will be fun, and someday, maybe they will have blogs of their own where they write about stupid little stuff like this that always seems to mean so much more than the big stuff.

Sunday Night Flicks: Back to the Future

In a continuing effort to expose my children to more than just the stuff that’s on today, we are choosing a different movie each week that we think they might kind of enjoy. Maybe I can see if any ATT Bundles have good film channels we can all watch together. This week was Back to the Future. I would like to take full credit for selecting this movie and making my kids sit down and watch. This was an absolute favorite when I was a kid. It was just so cool. I wanted to be Marty McFly when I grew up. Who wouldn’t want to be him? He was just so cool. In fact, I distinctly remember a period of my life where I was slightly angry with my parents because they did not name me something cool like Marty. Or maybe Jason, but that’s not related to this at all, so I probably shunt have mentioned it. Not only was the premise to the film cool- Kid gets accidentally sent back to the past, where he runs into his parents and has to find a way to get the two of them together and find a way to get back to the future- but the way he went back in time was awesome. He was trying to get away from Libyan terrorists in a DeLorean that is also a time machine. I was convinced that the DeLorean was the coolest car ever when I was a kid. When Doc mentions something about if you’re going back in time, you might as well go back in style, he wasn’t lying. I loved all three BTTF movies. They really were such a big part of my growing up. For all of those reasons, I wish I had thought of this movie being our second attempt at Sunday Night Flicks, but it was my wife’s idea. And of course it was, because, well, my wife is cooler than yours. When she suggested it, I was totally on board with the idea.

My kids loved last week’s Sunday Night Flick, so when I suggested doing it again, they were totally stoked. This time, they didn’t care what the movie was. I told them anyway. Johnny thought it sounded awesome, while Eliza just asked if it was funny. I told her it was, and then hoped at least some of the jokes wouldn’t be over her head. Fortunately for me, anytime someone falls over while trying to put pants on, and they have purple underwear, she thinks it’s hilarious (it happens more often than you’d think). Overall, the kids liked the movie, although it took them a little bit to get the concept of time travel, which was surprising since they have watched so much Doctor Who with me. Maybe I should have explained that the car was like Marty’s TARDIS. Maybe that would have caught them on to it more quickly.

I wish I could say that this week went as smoothly as last week, but unfortunately, it didn’t. Jak was not interested at all in the movie, which is fine. He usually isn’t, and we don’t try to force him. That wasn’t why it didn’t go as smoothly. No, the problem this time was equipment. I think our Blu ray player is getting older and had been well used. I mean it is going on 5 years, which for cheap tech nowadays, is more than a life time. It had a hard time reading the disc. We would get a little bit into the film, and then it would just freeze. We tried cleaning the disc and starting it from where we left off, and then it would just freeze again. Now, if you have ever been in a similar situation as this, with 5 children, then you’ll know how well kids remain patient. I mean my kids just sat there quietly while we tried to get it to work and politely asked to help. And then monkeys began flying out of my posterior (Garth). What really happened is that the kids were so excited about the whole thing, that when the movie stopped working, they had not choice but begin running around the family room and jump on our sectional and start our very own version of the latest WWE pay per view. That’s what kids do when they are expecting to be entertained, and all of a sudden the entertainment stops working. The good news is that I actually find all of that chaos very therapeutic and calming so it really helped me work through trying to get the Blu ray player to work without getting frustrated at all. After messing with it for 20 minutes, and just before the kids’ main event, which was going to have Johnny facing off against Jak for the Dietz Family Heavyweight Championship, I decided to just download the movie from iTunes. Which worked like a charm.

This is how good Back to the Future is: I started the movie off where we had left off, the kids immediately sat down and were quiet and glued again to the TV. That is being written, by the way, with no sarcasm. That is honestly what happened. That is the mark of an exceptional film, at least by our standards. It’s like this: I would give that movie 2 out of 5 kids- in other words it got 2 of my 5 kids to sit down and watch it. Forget stars, that’s how I rank movies. How many of my children will the movie hold captivated for the length of the movie? If it’s less than 3, it’s not worth my time. This movie got 4 out of 5 kids sitting and watching it. We have only come across a few 5 kid movies: My Neighbor Totoro, Frozen, and Hal’s Moving Castle. Those are truly magical films because they keep the other kids sitting and watching, and Jak is even interested. 4 out of 5 isn’t bad, though. Even my little 2 year-old was just sitting on my lap for the whole movie and was glued to it. So, despite the 20 minute forced intermission, it worked out well.

Now how’s this for a truly geeky moment: As I was watching the movie, we had just had Stake Conference and one of the speakers had spoken about Family History. So, as I was watching BTTF, I kept thinking, this a really good endorsement for the importance of Family History. Marty had a whole new respect for his parents as he got to know them. It made me want to go out and do my own Family History. A little search online took me to Genealogy Bank, where you can research your roots. It may be a little time-consuming, but interesting nonetheless. There is a quicker way… I just have to remember where I parked my time machine…

Revisiting the MCU: Iron Man 2

Iron-Man-2-2010

 

We go from the movie that started it all, that surprised everyone, to a movie that was a big disappointment in a lot of ways. It is hard to catch lightning like Iron Man in a bottle twice, but Paramount and Marvel were certainly going to try. Iron Man 2  may be thought of as one of the worst, if not the worst of all the marvel films. That puts it above most other superhero movies. I think part of the problem when I originally saw the film was that my expectations were really high after Iron Man. There was no way that the sequel was going to live up to the hype. That’s only part of the problem with this film. I really feel like the biggest issue is that they were trying too hard. They were trying too hard to be funny, trying too hard to be cool, trying too hard to throw the Avengers hints out there. That was the real issue, I think.

The dialogue in this movie tried to be as smart and as funny as the first one. What made the first Iron Man film so good is that it wasn’t trying to be anything. The whole thing was cool just by being what it was. Iron Man 2 was obviously trying to be that cool, or cooler. The lines all seem forced, instead of natural, and they just seemed to come one right after the other. It almost gets a little painful part way through. Tony Stark becomes more of a character, than an actual character. He is so exaggerated and over the top, it just becomes ridiculous. As a result, the other characters follow suit. Justin Hammer is just as stupid as Tony. The two characters are competing with each other throughout the film, but they both win first prize for “Most Over the Top Billionaire.”

The biggest thing that happens in this film, story wise, is that Marvel is making it absolutely clear that they are leading up to an Avengers movie now. In Iron Man, it was hinted at and little clues told you it was possibly coming. They were planning on it if Iron Man was successful. In Iron Man 2, it is clearly going to happen, and they can’t help but throw in clues, like Captain America’s shield and Thor’s hammer. These aren’t Easter eggs. These are almost obnoxious with how blatant they are. We also get to meet Black Widow for the first time, which is exciting. We have no idea how important she will be down the road, and it is fun to go back and watch it now, knowing what role she will play later.

One of the biggest disappointments in this sequel is the character development, which is almost nonexistent. Whatever growth and maturity Tony Stark attained in Iron Man is completely erased at the beginning of this second installment. Tony is right back to being Tony, making you wonder what the point of the whole first movie was. In addition, whatever blossoming relationship was there at the end of Iron Man between Pepper and Tony, is completely gone for 99 % of this movie. It is really like the whole first movie never happened as far as the actual characters go. None of the characters came out of this sequel more developed than they were at the end of Iron Man. Most barely made it back to where they were at the end of the first movie.

One of the biggest changes in this movie was Don Cheadle stepping in as Rhodey. Personally, I liked Terrence Howard’s Rhodey better, but the whole contract did not work out, so Cheadle became the sidekick in the two sequels. The inclusion of Rhodey, though, did mean we got to see War Machine for the first time, and the possibilities of the two working together seemed endless. The way it worked out, though, we got one elongated scene and most of it was spent with Rhodey’s suit out of his control and trying to kill Iron Man. Of course, all of this is at the hands of Whiplash, who is basically the Russian, poor version of Tony Stark, the only other person in the world who has figured out the Arc reactor, and he happens to hate Tony Stark. This character just did not work out well. It wasn’t Mickey Rourke’s fault. The writers gave him crummy lines, and Mickey just tried his best to deliver the garage he had been fed. I think there was a lot of potential there, but again the delivery was lacking.

Overall, the film is not the worst movie I have ever seen, just the worst Marvel movie in recent memory. It was still fun in parts, and although the Avengers stuff was almost distracting, on a certain level, it was also pretty fun. That kind of describes this whole movie, overall it was kind of distracting and obnoxious, but on a certain level is was also kind of fun. Overall, I gave it a 2.5 stars.

What did you think of Iron Man 2? Is there someone out there who absolutely loves this movie? Am I in the minority for not really liking this one as much? Let me know your thoughts in the comments. I would love to hear from you. You can also check out my review of Iron Man here.

Revisiting the MCU: Iron Man

4bc5c7b0e371a

 

My wife and I thought it would be fun to try to have a Marvel Cinematic Universe Marathon leading up to the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron. Sure, we could have gotten tickets to the 26 hour long marathon that is playing at select theaters, but unfortunately we have a life outside of these movies, and we have these other beings that live with us, called children, that make a 26 hour long movie marathon kind of hard. Plus, my wife barely makes it through 10 minutes of a movie before she falls asleep. She would probably slip into a coma if I took to something like that. No, we decided instead to take it kind of slow and try to work our way through each of the 11 films that currently make up the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Then I thought it would be fun to offer reviews of these films as we watched them.

We decided to start at the beginning, the film that launched a universe- Iron Man. I should start by admitting that I am not a huge Iron Man fan (Sorry Eric, I know he’s your favorite). In fact, in the upcoming Civil War movie, I am not entirely sure what the whole disagreement will be about, but I am almost positive I will be on Captain America’s side. At least, I was totally positive until I watched this film again. I was convinced that at 7 years old this film would be starting to show a little age, look a little dated. For the most part it didn’t. It still holds up pretty well. I also expected to find a bunch of holes, like they weren’t totally sure they were going to build the massive universe they have, so you would see things or hear things that would end up happening totally differently. Also didn’t happen. We meet Agent Coulson for the first time and he is totally Agent Coulson.  Fury even shows up at the very end and basically says that Stark is now part of a much bigger world full of Superheroes. Marvel had their master plan all along.

This movie was just as enjoyable as it was the first time around, and maybe even more now that we know a little bit about where the story has headed. I remember being totally surprised by the success of this film. Iron Man was always kind of lame in the comics, at least I thought so. I just figured the film would flop. It didn’t, as we all know, and it continues to impress.

This is solid movie from a character standpoint as well. It develops the Tony Stark Character really well. He is such a jerk in the beginning. Then, of course, he has a whole new perspective after his vehicle is attacked  and he is taken prisoner and forced to build a weapon to help the 10 Rings. I mean, who hasn’t had an experience like that? Of course you come out of it changed. This of course leads to him becoming Iron Man, and Marvel’s resident genius.

My biggest disappointment in this movie is simple. It is a complaint I have had since I saw it for the first time. I get coming back to the good ol’ US of A, and I the first thing you want is a cheese burger. Absolutely on board. What I don’t get is if you are a billionaire, and you live in California, why in the world would you go to Burger King? That’s not happening. At the very least, head over to In-n-Out Burger. I mean, it just almost makes the whole movie unbelievable for me.

Overall, I think this is one of the better films in the MCU lineup. It is easy to see how this movie was as successful as it was, and to see how it would open the door for the movies to follow and lay the foundation for the Avengers. The sequel, on the other hand, well, that’s a tale for another day. 4.5 Stars overall for this great movie. If it’s been a while, check it out before Age of Ultron.

 

Avengers:Age of Ultron 2nd Trailer Review

The first trailer we got for Avengers:Age of Ultron gave us a glimpse of Ultron and just how scary and ominous he might be. Using the Pinocchio song definitely upped the eery mood:

Today, january 12, marvel dropped their second Age of Ultron Trailer, this creepy little number:

I’m not quite sure what to think about this new trailer, or the new Avengers movie as a whole. Don’t get me wrong, I think it looks amazing, and I truly believe that Joss Whedon can literally do no wrong. I just wonder about how dark this film is going to be. Looking at these first two trailers, Avengers 2 does not look like a happy-go-lucky kind of movie, like the first one was. It looks dark and dreary and Batman like. Can Marvel pull that off? One of the driving factors to the Marvel movie success has been their humor and their jokes and their wit, which all seems to be missing from this film, or at least the previews. Maybe it is there in the film, and I am worrying about nothing.

In any case, it looks intense and exciting and I have no doubt that Marvel will be taking my money on May 1. And, like I said, with Joss Whedon at the helm, I will probably be leaving the theatre thinking this was the best Super Hero film ever.

What do you think of the latest trailer? Are you excited for the movie?  Let us know in the comments below.