Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

If there was one criticism that could be leveled against 2012’s The Avengers, it might be that the film was just a little too perfect.  I know that sounds like a ridiculous thing to say, but bear with me.  The second highest grossing film of all time was almost universally beloved and forever changed the landscape of the film industry with its success, but it was perhaps a little too polished.  The action was too slick, the one-liners too well-timed and well-written, the effects too impressive, the heroes too heroic and the villains too villainous.  For Avengers: Age of Ultron, the second Avengers film, the eleventh movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and Joss Whedon’s second and final outing in the MCU, that perfection is intentionally avoided and the result is a film that’s messier, dirtier, more complicated, and ultimately a richer and better film than its predecessor.

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Tonight’s Movie: Avengers: Age of Ultron

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Today’s Movie: Iron Man 3

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Tonight’s Movie: The Avengers

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Tonight’s Movie: Iron Man 2

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Today’s Movie: Iron Man

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Trailer Thursday: Avengers: Age of Ultron

Avengers: Age of Ultron posterWelcome to “Trailer Tuesday” where I talk about trailers for upcoming movies.

Marvel’s plans to premiere the Avengers: Age of Ultron trailer during next week’s episode of Agents of SHIELD were altered when the trailer leaked online last night.  Instead of waiting, Marvel decided to go ahead and officially release the trailer early, so without further ado I’m bringing it to you.  Take a look below, and read on for my shot-by-shot thoughts and analysis.

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What’s your favorite comic book superhero film?

In my review of Man of Steel, I talked a bit about the modern phases of comic book superhero movies that began with 1978’s Superman.  I’ve enjoyed some of these phases more than others (I’m not a fan of Nolan’s style), but they’ve all produced good films and bad.  So I thought I’d come up with a list from best to worst of the comic book superhero movies of the modern era.  I kept the list limited to my arbitrarily chosen “major” superheroes, so you won’t see things like Blade or Hellboy on the list (though I love Hellboy).  I’m also not including more indie comic book films, like The Rocketeer or Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, both of which I love.  I tried to just use the films people were most likely to have seen.  (Note: Green Lantern is not included because I actually never saw it.)

Lists are great for discussion, so let me know what you think!  (In other words… BRING IT ON!!! I can’t wait to hear people challenging where I have the Batman Begins saga or Man of Steel.)  If there’s anything obvious that I left off, let me know.  And then vote below as to what is your favorite comic book superhero movie (you can fill in your own choices).  Continue reading

A Few Words About Piracy

No, not this kind of piracy.

No, not this kind of piracy.

For those not familiar with WordPress, the site tracks a variety of stats for my blog, including what search terms led people here.  After a few months on WordPress, I’ve realized that having the word “Pirate” in my movie-related blog title leads some people here who might be searching for pirated movies.  I get a lot of searches like “iron man 3 pirate” or “life of pi from the pirate way,” presumably a misspelling of The Pirate Bay, the popular torrent site.  (I also randomly get people who click over to my Tomb Raider videogame review, looking for a walkthrough of the pirate ship section of the game.  To those people I apologize, and recommend they check IGN.)  So with the number of people who come looking for pirated movies, I feel like I should tell you: I am strongly opposed to media piracy.

I know many people who regularly pirate movies and tv shows. Continue reading

Trailer Tuesday Update: Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Update:  So a new S.H.I.E.L.D. trailer is out, this one giving us a much better glimpse at the new series (which will be airing on ABC this fall at 8PM on Tuesday nights).  Take a look and read on for my updated thoughts (you can see the previous trailer here):

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