A New Hope...

I love movies. Good movies, bad movies, dramas, comedies, action/adventure, horror, etc. My brain is filled with more useless knowledge about movies than anything I should have retained from college. I am the champ at Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon (as evidenced by the title of this blog). As such, I have decided to start a blog about movies. Why not blog about something I love, right? So if you care, or if you don't, come along for the ride and hopefully we'll all get something out of it.

This last weekend I saw The Avengers in IMAX no less. Granted, I was so close to the screen I had to turn my head to see everything, but that's neither here nor there. I went into the movie hoping it didn't suck, but not expecting anything great. I was pleasantly surprised by the movie. Let me clarify that I am no comic book geek. Not that there's anything wrong with being a CBG but I'm just not one of them. I never got into reading and/or collecting various issues/editions of comics. As such, I couldn't tell you if the storyline was true to the backstories of The Hulk, Iron Man, Thor or the characters played by Scarlett Johannson and Jeremy Renner. Incidentally, are they really superheroes if they don't have super powers? Just wondering.

Don't get me wrong, I realize that Scarlett Johnasson (Black Widow) was kicking some major ass, but is she a superhero?  And Jeremy Renner (Hawkeye) had mad skills with a bow and arrow, but superpower?  I think that's a bit of stretch.  Again, maybe this is because I didn't read the comics with these two peeps in it, but considering they're going up with the God of Thunder, a huge green guy that is the result of gamma radiation poisoning (or whatever you want to call it), Captain of the stars and stripes who can do major things because of a "super serum", and the dude in the metal suit that can fly, shoot missiles, etc., being able to shoot a gun, or having really great archery skills seems to pale in comparison.

I think that Mark Ruffalo did a great job as Bruce Banner/The Hulk, and I've seen the Eric Bana and Edward Norton versions.  Both were meh, though Edward Norton much better than Eric Bana.  Not that I think it was his fault; I blame the writing and the fact that it was a good five years between the two movies.  In movie tech terms, that might as well be a couple of decades considering how fast special FX tech moves.

And who doesn't love Robert Downey, Jr.?  Had the best lines of the movie and delivered them perfectly.  Love the sarcastic wit, plus he's not exactly a young buck anymore but still delivers on the action making you believe he could do it.

I would recommend watching in a theater, though the IMAX 3D seemed like overkill. Especially the IMAX ticket price.  I won't be surprised if there's a sequel, or sequels to this.  Obviously they're raking in the dough for this movie (biggest opening weekend ever), and the powers that be in Hollywood will milk this franchise for every last nickel.  Hopefully, any sequel(s) produced won't get watered down and cliche.

As an aside, I'm not all up on the 3D bandwagon. It's rather distracting, I don't think it really makes it feel like the action is jumping out at you, and I certainly don't appreciate the extra cost for this "premium" service. I would have been just as happy to have watched in old-school 2D.

Summer movies are just around the corner, and here is a short listing of movies I will want to see:  
Magic Mike - Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, Joe Mangianello almost naked; 'nuff said.  
The Bourne Legacy - Can Jeremy Renner fill Matt Damon's shoes (though technically, he's not Jason Bourne in this movie)?  
Men in Black 3 - Josh Brolin sounds and looks so close to Tommy Lee Jones it's scary.  
Prometheus - Ridley Scott back at the helm of a maybe-could-be-is-it-Alien movie? Yeah, I'm going. Brave - Pixar, a definite must.  
G.I. Joe: Retaliation - Channing Tatum and the Rock. Yeah, it will probably suck, but throw in some good action with the eye candy and it may be worth the price of admission.  
Ted - If you haven't seen the previews of this Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy) movie, Google it. Just because it has a stuffed bear in it, doesn't mean it's for kids. So wrong, but so right.  
The Cold Light of Day - It's being released September 7, so technically it may not be a summer movie, but it has Henry Cavill in it and I'd pay to watch him polish silverware. Yeah, he's that yummy.

So there you have it kids. My go-to list of summer movies that I want to see. We'll see if I can actually get to all these. If so, I'll let you know what I think, whether you like it or not.  Here's hoping.

Questions, comments, think you can stump me at 6 degrees? Send it to sixdegreesofkb@hotmail.com.