Tag Archives: Captain America

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The Avengers (At The Theater 2012 #6)

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Thank you Josh Whedon! So many people predicted in the press that you couldn’t bring all these A-list Hollywood actors together, put their egos behind them and create a great ensemble film. Those people were so wrong. Could The Avengers have been more perfect? I was grinning during this movie from the opening scene through the second end credits scene. You did stay for the second end credits scene, right?

Actually, I was grinning from the Dark Knight Rises and Amazing Spider-Man trailer through the end of the movie. I thought last year was the year of the comic book fan at the movie theater. But clearly, it’s this year.

I liked Edward Norton in The Incredible Hulk, but Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk makes me want a Hulk movie.

SPOILERS AFTER THIS PICTURE OF THE HULK PRACTICING SHOT PUT!

Like anyone affected by the deaths of Wash and Shepherd in Serenity, I had a feeling that Joss Whedon was going to kill off a fan favorite in The Avengers. I didn’t know who it would be. Black Widow? Hawkeye? But Agent Coulson? Why?! No!! Damn you, Whedon!

RIP Agent Coulson
How awesome was it when Iron Man said “Cap’n”?

First end credits scene: Thanos! Thanos! Thanos! Are we getting The Infinity Gauntlet in Avengers 2? Please say yes. What about the Thanos Copter?

Not his best moment.

Second end credits scene: They went out for shawarma! Awesome! Wait, what is shawarma?
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On The Couch 2011 #29: Captain America

There were too many comic book movies this year. As a lifelong comic book reader, I never thought I would say that. But it’s true. There were too many, and they were released way too close to each other. X-Men: First Class and Thor were both great, but when Green Lantern came out to middling reviews, it transformed all the I-gotta-see-all-these-movies momentum I had for comic book movies into “Eh, maybe I can wait for Netflix on a couple of these.”

That said, Captain America is wonderful. I rank it a little under X-Men: First Class, which I loved and a little above Thor, which I really liked. Marvel had a banner year for movies this year and I am super-excited for next year’s Avengers movie. Joss Whedon + Mark Ruffalo + RDJ’s Tony Stark = I will not be waiting for this movie to hit Netflix!

I cannot wait for this movie!

The CGI in Captain America is really cool. At first, I thought another actor was playing Steve Rogers before he was injected with super soldier serum. But then I realized no, that’s Chris Evans, special-effected in a reverse-Hulk way to make him much punier than he actually is.

If this movie was made 15 years ago, would the producers have approached Chris Evans with “Look, Chris, the CGI isn’t there yet. Would you mind losing 90 lbs for the early parts of the movie?”

Stanley Tucci continues to be the King of Supporting Actors, playing the German refugee scientist Dr. Erskine, creator of the Super Soldier formula.

The Tooch does it again!

If you are a Captain America comic book fan, there are so many Easter eggs dispersed throughout this movie. My second favorite was seeing the original Human Torch encased in glass at the World’s Fair pavilion. My favorite was when Dr. Arim Zola was first shown, and his face was seen distorted through a lens as if it were on a screen, foreshadowing his appearance in the comic. It sent my geeky heart aflutter.

Did you catch this brief appearance by the original Human Torch?


I really recommend seeing Captain America, as well all of the other Marvel movies that are leading into next summer’s Avengers.

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Summer’s End and the Movies I Missed

Summer’s over, and with it so is the summer blockbuster movie season. I caught some of the big ones, but managed to still miss out on movies that should be hitting us on DVD and Blu-Ray in time for the holidays. Movies like…

Green Lantern

How did I miss it? I love comic books. I mean I LOVE comic books. When it was announced that Green Lantern, currently one of my favorite comics, was coming to the big screen I was psyched. I thought they went with the wrong Two Guys & A Girl alum when they cast Ryan Reynolds over Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan, but that didn’t sway my excitement. But then the movie came out. And the best review I heard of it was “It’s nowhere near as bad as Transformers 2.” That doesn’t inspire confidence.

Will I See It? I don’t know. I haven’t seen a lot of the less than great comic book movies out there (Fantastic Four 2, Ghost Rider, Punisher: No Mercy). But I’m more likely to see this than any of those.

Captain America

How did I miss it? Like I said, I love comic books. And I’ve been buying Captain America every month since writer Ed Brubaker started on the title a few years ago. Growing up, the Mark Gruenwald era of Captain America was one of my favorite comics. So how did I miss this movie? At the beginning of the summer, one of my closest friends complained about suffering from superhero movie fatigue. I thought he was nuts. But then Captain America came out and while it looked cool, I just didn’t have the desire to see it. After X-Men and Thor, maybe I OD’d on comic book movies. Or maybe Green Lantern just killed the idea of seeing a superhero movie for me this summer.

Will I see it? No doubt I’ll catch in on DVD. It does look good. I actually would have liked to see this in the theater.

Transformers 3:  Dark of the Moon

How did I miss it? Better question, how did anyone not miss this movie? After Transformers 2: Revenge of Fallen, anyone who went back to the theater to see Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon is like someone who goes back to their lying, abusive spouse. You know it’s a bad idea walking in and it’s not going to end well. Can we stop paying Shia LaBeouf to further ruin our beloved 1980s franchises?

Will I see it? Only if I lose a bet.

Horrible Bosses

How did I miss it? It was either Horrible Bosses or Midnight in Paris when we went to Reel Pizza in Bar Harbor this year. I was really happy with Midnight in Paris, so I can’t complain about missing Horrible Bosses. Sadly, once we got back from Bar Harbor, it was no longer playing at my neighborhood theater.

Will I see it? Definitely. Just looking at this poster makes me laugh.

The Help

How did I miss it? I heard the movie was great. I heard the book was great. I even bought the book for my mom for her birthday.  I just wasn’t that excited for it.

Will I see it? I might read the book first, but yes, I’m sure I’ll catch it at some point, either on DVD or TBS.

Crazy Stupid Love

How did I miss it? These large ensemble cast romantic comedies that have become popular over the last few years have made a lot of money for the studios, but have pretty much been movies worth avoiding, so I wasn’t excited to see Crazy Stupid Love despite Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone being in it.

Will I see it? After it was released, I heard it was good. So…yes.

Have you seen a movie that was awesome this summer that I haven’t blogged about? Let me know, as I’m always on the hunt for something good to see. Likewise, if you saw something I should avoid, I’d appreciate the warning.

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At The Theater 2011 #8: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2

For more of my thoughts on the new Harry Potter movie, including who I think are the top 5 actors of the franchise, download episode 2 of my new podcast, The Billy and Bryan Show, available for free on iTunes! While you’re there, download the first episode too!

Unlike when I saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, aka Hermione Granger and Red Dress of Awesomeness, I somehow managed to keep my awesome British accent in check while walking around in Harry Potter glasses before seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2, which surprised my friends who were bracing for a night full of cockney from me.

Sadly, the red dress of awesomeness was no where to be found in Hermione Granger and the Red Dress of Awesomeness Part 2. But we did get this outfit, so who am I to complain?

The new Harry Potter movie was great; the crowd that was in the movie theater with us was not. A big group of us caught it at the Union Square Regal on the Friday night of opening weekend. I found the staff at the Regal to be nice and friendly, but I cannot recommend going there to see a major blockbuster like this on opening weekend. There were about 8 people ahead of us on line on the sidewalk when we were let in, but somehow there was a mass of people already in the theater when we walked in. It seems that Regal had people queuing up on the sidewalk outside, while also having people on line next to the doors of the theater inside, and other people just hanging around inside waiting to pounce once people started being let in. Line management is not their forte. The other major frustration of the night was that the group of people behind us would not shut up throughout the entire movie. It was like they opened up a Regal Court St embassy in the middle of our theater in Union Square! My friend Sarv almost went all Umbridge on the people behind us!

I’m happy to report that I found the movie to be great. I made the conscious decision to not reread the book before seeing the movie, because even by splitting the book into two movies, I knew there would be some changes, plus I wanted to be surprised by what was happening on the screen. Before the movie started, the only things I remembered from the book were that Harry and Voldemort fight and 19 years later, Harry’s kids are heading off heading to Hogwarts.

Kiss him, you fool!

Speaking of the epilogue, I thought they did a good job with it, but man did they make the Hogwarts crew age in unflattering ways. Ron, what happened to you? Have your wife whip you up a fitness charm and get rid of that gut! Also, how are there any bald wizards in The Wizarding World? I’m looking at you, Draco Malfoy. You’d think male pattern baldness would have been eliminated centuries ago! Time travel? Check! Resurrections? Check! A cure for baldness? “Eh…we’re wizards, not miracle workers.” Hermione needs to tweak that polyjuice potion that went awry and turned her into Catgirl and market it to the folliclely challenged.

No more Hermione?!?! Noooo!!!
I’m going to miss heading to the theater with my friends for new Harry Potter movies. But I’m sure there will be more franchises that we’ll get wrapped up in, and more opening weekend outings. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was the movie I was anticipating since the beginning of the year. Now that it’s passed, I’m not sure what new or upcoming release to latch my excitement onto. Captain America? Cowboy and Aliens? Both look great, but I’m not counting down the days until I see them. Actually, I know what movie has just replaced Harry Potter in my Can’t Wait List…