Late night eye-candy: gif edition

The Avengers (2012)

June has been an extremely successful month for my cinema addiction, not only have I seen three movies, two of them have been quite the hits and like with everything, even the luckiest movie lovers get a miss sometimes. There’s a long list of movie reviews I have yet to write, but no worries, they are all on their way, including some certain shows that I need to talk about and actually watch because I’m falling behind on things. Even my summer is so hectic that the few shows that I love happen to be lost in my weekly schedule – not for long, Sunday will be entirely reserved for them!

Enough of this chit-chat and let’s get down to a more serious topic and that of The Avengers! Can’t stress enough of the fact that I am a big Marvel fan and here’s something that supports this well known fact.               “Hey, look, it’s Iron Man!”

Well, now you know, I own a really awesome shirt and it will explain a lot of things I’m going to share in this very superhero filled movie review.  The Avengers has so many favorites of mine that I was especially glad that I saw it on a big screen with my best friend who gets all the jokes and shares all my excitement when it comes to Jeremy Renner wearing really tight pants (I’ll explain later). For the most part, the movie was totally unknown for me because I had stayed clear from everything related to it, including the trailer. That not only helps me to enjoy the movie more but it also allows me not to know the whole story before I actually see it: trailers do tend to give away way too much. In the end, when the final-final scenes of the movie had finished I was glad I skipped everything regarding The Avengers because seeing it without any knowledge about the punch lines probably made the whole movie better.

The entire plot revolves around the chemistry between all these superheros. Really. Everything in The Avengers seems to happen around these guys (and one lucky lady) and their relationship to each other. Captain America, who I know as Chris Evans wearing a tight outfit, is in a fighting relationship with Iron Man, who is Robert Downey Jr wearing a robotic suit and an ironic attitude. They also had a three off with the hammer dude called Thor (Chris Hemsworth), who despite his anger towards Loki (Tom Hiddleston), his step-brother and the villain, wants to reason with him – oh, and they are both gods. Everybody is a bit afraid of the scientist (Mark Ruffalo) who might get angry and turn into a big green thing still wearing his pants. Then they have the good-turned bad-then good again guy (Jeremy Renner) who can aim perfectly because he has a hawk eye thing going on and who secretly loves and is loved secretly by the teams only woman (Scarlett Johansson) who has some really strong hair (I wonder what kind of conditioner she uses).

No, I’m not mocking the movie, far from it, I’m just enjoying it that way because although superhero movies are prone to violence and action, they do have the element of humor in them. Comedic action movies, that’s what they should be called and The Avengers is a great example of that new genre that is gaining its success. Add some of the biggest names in Hollywood (at the moment) to the cast list and you got yourself a movie that gets fans into the cinema like a porch light attracts moths. (Wow, I was really poetic for a second there, must be the chocolate chip cereal I had in the morning.)

So the main plot comes to the surface after the Captain America movie and possibly close to the whole Loki being punished by Thor and all the previous superhero movies, including Iron Man’s two movies, the endless Hulk movies where all the Bruce Banners look different and that’s about it. Every superhero in this one has already appeared in a Marvel movie one way or the other and there is no way they stop with these characters any time soon. Not only are they great way to earn money but the IMDb score of 8.6 on The Avengers pretty much says that they are putting money in their pockets in a great way. Making good entertainment and giving us what we want to see. Iron Man being all ironic and funny, a superhero with an attitude is superb! Captain America hasn’t been in the present for a long time but he has his moments and not to mention the whole brother issues between Thor and Loki. Is it just me or is Loki the most lovable villain out of all the Marvel ones? Or is it just the Tom Hiddleston’s charm that gets me every time.

Although Loki is the one causing the main end of the world situation in The Avengers, the team itself is so mal(e)functioning that the problem at hand gets out of their hands. But in the end they all together save the world, not even sure who gets the most spotlight in this situation because everybody does something. If I had to pick, I would say Iron Man was the coolest out of them all with his knowledge in science and the ability to blow up the bad guys Loki “hires”. And he has the funniest comebacks and punch lines, although he does get a lot of awesome guys to help him and a girl. I keep forgetting the Black Widow because I want to, never really cared for Scarlett Johansson which would be an unpopular opinion. I do like her strong hair though – and I can’t get over that one. Her thing with Hawkeye was also mainly enjoyable because of Renner.

The Avengers’ success is hidden behind the comedy, at least for me. I guess it’s the fact that the action part is typical for any action movie but the comedy might come off as bad or not be present at all. That’s not the case with this one though, everybody made at least one joke. Even The Hulk, who didn’t do much except literally ruin things, got a comedic scene together with Loki. So all that humor and smashing put together and I have a great cinema experience in my mind! Besides, the movie had Jeremy Renner who is turning out to be one of my favorites and not only because he wore some really tight pants in MI: 4 and did some exercise moves while having his back turned to the camera (very nice angle, Mr. Renner), but because he is good. There’s a reason he is the main guy in the next Bourne, the next MI and Hansel in the newest fairy tale turned action movie (just like Snow White is suddenly all bad ass and does no cleaning and cooking what so ever!) Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters. Now as the superheros are so awesome, all the fairytale characters want a piece of the action, literally. But no thank you, I’m sticking with the real heroes!

PS: Joss Whedon, if you happen to read this post, I’m just going to let you know that I think you & The Avengers are awesome and by the way, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

# 235 – What’s Your Number

Going to the movies is something I do with movies I really want to see, What’s Your Number was one of those movies I really-really wanted to see. Not only because of Chris Evans who happened to hate clothes in this particular movie but because it seemed really nice and realistic (as realistic as a rom-com goes). After watching it I’m just gonna say that it was a bit cheesy at times and the end would’ve been too cheesy as well if it weren’t for that one line that sort of mocked the romantic comedy genre and basically saved the end.

Anna Faris for me was always the dumb blonde – House Bunny would be the example of what I am talking about when I say “dumb blonde”. What’s Your Number was a smarter role for her and I hope she gets more of those after this one. She was sweet and funny and sexy – not like scary sexy that she does a lot but hot sexy. Next to Chris Evans though, sorry Anna, but my eyes went straight for the captain. He is really popular lately, which is awesome cause I never understood why he didn’t get his big screen roles. His character in this movie was pretty much the slutty-guy-neighbor who helps Anna out with her man quest which brings me to the story.

Anna Faris plays Ally Darling, a young woman who has let to many men enter her “bedroom” and is now faced with an article that says: once you go 20 you never get married. She, determined to find all her exes cause one of them has to be the ONE, gets help from Colin Shea (Evans) who somehow knows how to do background checks. Zachary Quinto, Joel McHale, Martin Freeman, Andy Samberg and Dave Annable are just few of her exes that meet us on the screen. One of the exes who gets the oportuinity to be on a screen a lot is Chris Pratt – he is actually married to Faris (a fact that I keep forgetting).

So the story it self is again typical but I liked how it all played out and I thought Anna and Chris were great. Was there a lot of chemistry and unbearable tension between them, maybe not  all the time but to be honest, Anna likes the other Chris (Pratt) so I bet it was hard to concentrate on Evans six-back (or was it eight – should watch the movie again to be sure) that should have been on the poster of the movie. 5,6 on IMDb is pretty solid, I’m giving it a 4 out of 5 which is a record (it seems) cause I like both the leads and they kept it cool the entire time.

“Oh, what’s that Chris, you want me to watch the movie again? Aye aye, captain!”

# 206 – Captain America: The First Avenger

I’d say I’ve seen almost every Marvel Studio’s superhero movie – I’m not gonna say all of them cause I’m not sure of the numbers but since I’ve watched a lot of them I reckon I’ve seen most. That being said, it’s quite obvious that I like them as they are better than the ordinary action movies cause they do have superheros and that makes all that super-power logical not like in those action movies where the main guy is just an ordinary guy but he has unnatural powers that aren’t explained. Anyway, yes, superhero movies are unrealistic but at least they behold some logic behind the a**-kicking and killing and saving the world. This is a spoiler post (those are rare but I felt like telling a lot about the story rather than doing the summary):

Captain America: The First Avenger is no exception when it comes to world-saving: no surprise there. Written by the two guys who have given the kids the Narnia movies Captain America comes finally  alive and with a rather well organized story-lines. Before I get all wrapped up in the story (this is gonna be a rather long post) I would start with the cast: first of all – I like Chris Evans! As a typical America’s good guy this role as Captain America suits him quite brilliantly. Love interest is played by Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones is the helping father figure (kind of), Sebastian Stan plays the friend, Dominic Cooper gets to play Tony Stark’s father, Hugo Weaving is the villain and Stanley Tucci is the master mind behind Captain America. Two names that pop for me are of course Chris Evans and Dominic Cooper – he actually looks like Tony Stark aka Robert Downey Jr which, in my opinion, is an awesome casting decision.

Now on to the story: it starts off as Captain America being all not so captain but very much American. He is this little guy who wants to do great things and defend his country (the movie is happening during World War II) and he is much braver than he looks. The computer department did an amazing (and quite terrifying) job with altering Chris Evans into this tiny thing who has no muscles and is a lot shorter than Evans in real life. So he is the chosen one (obviously): gets to have a large amount of power (similar to the villain in this movie) and he goes off to be an entertainer – it’s an interesting twist cause he doesn’t become a hero right at the very moment when he gets his body altered, he becomes a joke before all that saving and superhero stuff begins! He rescues a bunch of soldiers and blows up the facility where the villain is making bombs/weapons and that makes him a real hero and he gets his first mission – destroying the weapons. With some help from his friend and other soldiers they finally make it to the last battle (minus the friend – a story-line that was obvious from the start).

Then the saving of the world begins and he of course wins but not without sacrificing himself for the greater good. This would be a sad ending to a movie that actually had some comedy in it as well (superhero movies usually do want to make us feel a lot of emotions including making us laugh) but the movie isn’t over: he wakes up in the future while having been asleep for 70 years and this is the awesome part – the movie has a sequel coming up in the beginning of next year. A movie that is directed/written by Josh Whedon and stars not only Chris Evans as Captain America but also these following names: Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man, Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and many others. So not to be overly excited but I’ll be waiting for The Avengers more than Christmas.

Giving this a 4 out of 5 although IMDb has a much lower score, 7,3 for this: I just can’t lie about my love for superhero movies – I think they suit me.

• Images are from CinemaBlend.

# 147 – Captain America: The First Avenger

The first look at this new superhero – new meaning that this is a new version of the already existing Captain America and it is coming out on December 1st. Long wait for those who are waiting for this superhero to save the world but for me, I can handle it just fine.

Chris Evans plays the Captain America and I have to admit, he sure seems fit for the role. I’ve seen him in so many supporting roles and he does have that Captain America vibe going on. Tommy Lee Jones, Dominic Cooper, Sebastian Stan and Neal McDonough are also in this. Since the Super Bowl was yesterday and it is well known that it shows many new commercials and trailers it is possible to add a teaser trailer for Captain America. It doesn’t say much but what more can be said about a superhero movie – guy becomes superhero, hero is faced with a bad guy, hero gets beaten up by bad guy, hero saves the girl, hero saves the day/world/universe – pretty much the same with this one as well I think.