Thoughts on Endgame

Some thoughts on Endgame:

-This is an epic movie that uses every bit of its 3+ hour runtime. It doesn't move nearly as quickly as Infinity War did but that doesn't mean it's slow, it just feels like events that happened 30 minutes earlier seem like a very long time ago.

-The expectations for this film were impossible and it manages to exceed them. You can come up with some minor complaints, and there is one scene that I found very contrived that took me out of the movie for a bit, but the thing as a whole is as near perfect as a movie can be, especially one that has so much to do. It's immensely satisfying.

-It's not as funny as even Infinity War though there is plenty of humor. That's largely because the film wants you to feel the weight of loss in a universe that's lost half its population, and it's heavy. It's not dreary or depressing necessarily, just more serious.

-Besides just dealing with loss there are a lot of emotional scenes in the movie. If you are invested in these characters you're probably going to get choked up at least five times.

-The movie really celebrates and honors the past eleven years of the MCU. You might get confused if you don't remember everything exactly but you'll probably be able to follow along.

-The finale is probably the best thing the MCU has put on screen. There is so much good there and one moment in particular that I pumped my fist in the air and exclaimed out loud.

-Honestly, I'm a little worried about the future of the MCU, but this was a fitting way to end the first 11 years.

Thoughts on Solo

I saw Solo this weekend and was pleasantly surprised. A two word review: "Surprisingly worthwhile." A few other thoughts:

-Some people complain this movie isn't necessary. What Star Wars movie after the first three has been?

-I've disliked some of the Disney Star Wars movies for trampling over the former stories, now discarded, in books and comics that I grew up with. Solo's origin trilogy sucked though, so no complaints here.

-The main thing for me is that there's very little to be annoyed with in this movie, and nothing that makes me want to scream at the screen like Rogue One and The Last Jedi (man, I HATE that movie).

-Alden Ehrenreich does a good job as the title character. He doesn't do a Harrison Ford impression but is definitely making an effort to be like Ford. I was quite satisfied.

-Lando is a lot of fun and could have used more screen time.

-There's a cool cameo near the end of the film.

-Shockingly, I would be up for a sequel, especially if Han and Lando had an adventure together.

Thoughts on Infinity War

It's hard to say too much about this movie without spoilers so this might be short and vague.

-One you need to know: This movie isn't a full story. If you remember, early on the plan was to film Avengers 3 and 4 together. When it was decided not to do that Marvel emphasized the idea that this wasn't necessarily one continuous story. That may have done a disservice to fan expectations, though it's probably technically true. This movie is very much like a jaw-dropping season finale that ends with a cliffhanger and leaves you desperate for the next season to start, so set your expectations appropriately.

-I've seen reviewers write that this movie is pretty demanding of fans as far as expecting you to know things. That's reasonably true. If you haven't seen Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Civil War, and Black Panther you're probably going to be slightly confused along the way.

-This movie should be called Thanos because he owns it, he's basically the protagonist and gets the most screen time. The CGI is really impressive and makes him into a character, not an effect. Josh Brolin said the other day when someone asked him which character he preferred playing, Thanos or Cable, he said Thanos because he was so amazed that you could see his performance in this hulking purple monster. It's amazing, and well worth the years of build up. As hard as it is to believe he's almost sympathetic. Some people complain about Marvel villains, they won't get any more ammunition from this movie.

-The interactions between the different sets of characters is a lot of fun and everything I hoped for. The only drawback is there's not more of it. The characters are also very consistent with their past appearances, especially the Guardians who feel like they stepped out of their own movie.

-The movie has a 2 hour and 40 min runtime and it flies by. That does mean you may want to take it easy on the soda though.

-There were a lot of young children in the showing I went to. While this isn't any more violent than other Marvel movies it feels more intense. I definitely wouldn't bring kids.

-That said, the movie is still very funny at times. There were a few lines that had the audience laughing so hard I couldn't hear the next line of dialogue.

-There are also more emotional scenes than in any other Marvel movie I can think of. There's one in particular between Thor and Rocket that brought everyone to tears and is the best thing Chris Hemsworth has ever done, it also makes up for the humor undercutting the drama in Ragnarok.

-There's no mid-credit scene and one post-credit scene. It does help set up the next movie a little, but unless you're reasonably familiar with the comics it won't mean much to you. So, basically, if you feel like you need to get out of the theater, go ahead because you might not understand it anyway.

-As usual, this will require a rewatch or two to determine my final ranking but it's hard to imagine putting it below any other Marvel movie, but it's such an achievement it's difficult to think of it as just a movie.

Thoughts on Thor: Ragnarok

A few thoughts on Thor: Ragnarok:

-Who would have thought the way to make a great Thor movie was to make it Guardians of the Galaxy?

-That's a bit of an exaggeration but this film obviously owes a ton to those two. It doesn't get made without them coming first.

-The movie is really colorful. It almost hurts your eyes. Also, if you're at all familiar with the late comic artist Jack Kirby his art influences the look of the movie very much.

-This movie is funny. Probably too funny, the humor undercuts some of the more dramatic moments. Like with Iron Man 3 I find myself liking the movie a lot but wondering what the darker version would be like.

-The Hulk is great in this movie, and he's in much more of the film than I expected.

-The movie takes material from multiple different comic stories and I was impressed that it came together as a cohesive whole. I'm also pretty surprised at the way it ended.

-I like the movie a lot but there are definitely a few details that bug me as a comic fan. Your mileage may vary.

-Cate Blanchett is good as Hela but the role isn't very deep. She's still a lot of fun though.

-Dr. Strange makes an appearance and part of it is right out of the post-credit scene that Thor appeared in earlier. It's a nice scene but the magic is very inconsistent with how things worked in his movie.

-Chris Hemsworth is a great comedic actor.

-The mid-credit scene is somewhat important, the post-credit scene is just fun.

Thoughts on Dunkirk

What do you need to know about Dunkirk? I think this statement from a 97-year-old veteran who was there says it all:

“I never thought I would see that again. It was just like I was there again.”

Which means it is intense. Early in the film there is an attack by a Stuka dive bomber and the volume increases to almost painful levels as the screaming plane makes its bombing run. I wanted to duck under my seat. Zimmer's score also keeps everything tense as I'm sure you can imagine if you're familiar with his work. It's not something you'd want to turn on and unwind with after a long day. I'm listening to it now (thanks Amazon Prime) and getting a little tense.

A few other thoughts:

-The movie is split into three stories each taking place over a different period of time: One week, one day, one hour. This is clearly indicated in the titles but many people, including myself, seemed to have missed that at first.

-"Mole" is another word for essentially a big break wall, so when you see that show up in the titles don't think the guy on the screen is a German spy. This also confused me until they used the word later in the movie.

-If water really freaks you out don't watch this movie. It's definitely as close as I ever want to be to being inside a sinking ship.

-The movie is surprising bloodless. There is plenty of violence and death but it's not gory like the opening sequence of Saving Private Ryan.

-You're probably going to jump multiple times watching this movie.

-It's a different movie than some of Nolan's previous work, like Interstellar and Inception, but I still liked it a lot. I will need to see it again to really appreciate it because the first time you sort of just survive it.

-The movie ends with one of the characters reading Churchill's famous speech in a newspaper. Here's the speech:

Thoughts on Spider-Man: Homecoming

A few thoughts on Spider-Man: Homecoming:

-I was a bit skeptical about this movie. Tom Holland was great in Civil War but Sony's involvement and the weight of all the previous Spider-Man movies made wonder if they could pull this off. They definitely pulled it off.

-This was the first Spider-Man movie to feel like it was actually taking place to a character in high school. It was nice to see high school kids played by actors that at least looked like they could plausibly (the main cast is a little older) be high school kids.

-Skipping the origin story allows us to get more time with Peter learning how to be a superhero. It's one of the only superhero movies that shows the hero screwing up big time and learning how to deal with it. That's a nice change and perfect for Spider-Man.

-Speaking of perfect, Holland is just that as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man. The previous actors could do one or the other but not both.

-The Vulture is an excellent villain. They managed to make a silly-looking character cool (comic pic below) and Keaton did a great job making him somewhat sympathetic and appropriately threatening.

 -I love that the film definitely takes place in the MCU. Even with Stark involved I was afraid they would downplay that fact but the whole story develops from the events of previous movies. I wish S.H.I.E.L.D. had been involved but that seems to be an issue with the TV-Movie divide at Marvel in general rather than this movie in particular.

-I think the Stark upgrades to the Spider-Man suit are pretty cool.

-Stark himself came off as a bit of a jerk in the movie. No doubt part of that is even having him in it for a few minutes strains the budget.

-The only things I didn't care for in the movie were two supporting characters, Flash and Michelle. Flash is a real departure from the classic version and that just didn't work for me. Michelle has a similar issue, but they go to great lengths to hide her true identity until the end.

-Spider-Man will appear again in Infinity War and his own sequel. After that it's up to Sony and Marvel to reach a new deal. Hopefully Sony doesn't screw it up, though Sony not screwing things up would be unusual.

-The mid-credit scene is related to the movie and kind of interesting. The post-credit scene is just fun but you could certainly skip it if you were trying to get out of the theater.

Thoughts On Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

A few thoughts on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2:

-This movie delivers on everything you're hoping for from a GotG sequel. In fact, it's only real weakness to me is that it may try a bit too hard to deliver those things, at least in the first 30 minutes or so.

-The director, James Gunn, promised this movie would be more emotional and he delivered. A surprising amount of this comes from Yondu and Nebula, the latter which I was surprised to find somewhat sympathetic.

-Rocket also has a major arc in the movie and "acts" it very well. It's amazing that you can completely forget a CGI anthropomorphic raccoon isn't a real actor on stage with the rest of the cast. He's also developed a fondness for Quill's music, which is kind of funny.

-Speaking of music, it's right there with the last album, if possibly slightly weaker. After listening for a few days it's a close call.

-Groot steals every scene he's in.

 -Mantis also manages to steal quite a few scenes.

-The ending packs a surprising emotional punch. Even if I had known exactly what was coming I would have been surprised at how hard it hits. Maybe I'm going soft in my old age.

-This is the first movie I've seen that does not eventually go to a black screen with letters for the end credits. It's like a continually-scrolling back cover of an old record album with small animations scattered throughout. That and the five post-credit scenes help keep you interested until the very end.

-Two of the scenes potentially set up future movies (not Infinity War) and are probably completely impenetrable to fans who don't know comics. The other scenes are funny.

Thoughts on Doctor Strange

A few thoughts on Doctor Strange:

-Benedict Cumberbatch is terrific, as you might expect. Marvel wanted a big name for this project and you can see why. Strange suffers more than most Marvel heroes as he becomes a hero and Cumberbatch makes the most of it.

-In the trailers I thought Cumberbatch's American accent might have sounded a bit off. I didn't feel that way watching the movie so it may have just been my brain reacting to the fact that he didn't sound like Sherlock.

-The visuals are the most obviously outstanding part of the movie. Kaleidoscopic would be the best way to describe most of them. Some of the scenes shown in trailers have drawn comparisons to Inception but the whole movie goes far beyond that. There are also a lot of trippy visuals drawn straight out of the original comics drawn by Steve Ditko:

-Because of that it's probably worth seeing this in 3D. I didn't last night but I might later.

-The story bears some obvious similarities to Thor and Iron Man but it is notably different than either. I think there's a lot more depth to the story and themes than you might pick up at first so a second viewing is probably in order.

-Kaecilius, the villain of the movie, has a well-developed point of view and reasonable motivations though I think a lot of people will dismiss him as not being memorable enough.

-There's a vague suggestion that the magic in this movie has some connection to science but it still works as magic, though it's Jedi-like hand-waving and not spoken spells.

-Overall I would put this in my second tier of Marvel movies, somewhere below GotG, Winter Solider, and Civil War.

-Both the mid-credit and post-credit scenes are worth watching. The mid-credit scene ties into the next Thor movie and the post-credit scene is for a Strange sequel.

Thoughts on Civil War

I meant to post these earlier but I really wanted to see the movie a second time to help focus my thoughts and some scheduling issues pushed that back. Anyway, some impressions from the movie:

-The movie is very good. I might have to think on this a bit yet but I think it's probably in a tie for the top spot.

-As for tone, I'd say this is about 65% Winter Soldier and 35% Age of Ultron. There's definitely a lot of the slightly darker and more serious feel of Winter Soldier but the extended cast and much of the humor feels like an Avengers movie.

-The action is top-notch. The main fight scene between all the heroes at the airport is the best piece of superhero action committed to film so far. Bucky also has a bit with a motorcycle earlier in the film which is one of the coolest scenes in the whole MCU.

-Ant-Man steals the show. And when he's not stealing it Spider-Man is.

-I never realized how far off the previous versions of Spider-Man were until Tom Holland showed up. He's great and his scenes with Robert Downey Jr. are fantastic.

-Black Panther is quite good too. I was unsure about him but now I'm really interested to see what they do with him in his solo film.

-Considering how stuffed with characters this film is it's amazing that everyone gets some attention, and it manages to do so without feeling overstuffed like Age of Ultron did. The screenwriters deserve a lot of credit.

-I know people are calling this Avengers 2.5 but it really is a Cap movie first, though it's fair to say Stark is the co-lead. 

-The interactions between Falcon and the Winter Soldier are especially good. These are some of my favorite moments from the movie.

-The villain in this is pretty low-key but I think he's effective and interesting. Certainly he's one of the best villains Marvel has done, though that's not necessarily huge praise.

-The final fight in the movie is brutal.

-There is a scene after the credits. It's fun but not essential if you're pressed for time or need to use the restroom, which is possible since the movie is 2 hours and 26 minutes long.

Thoughts on Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy opened on Thursday night at the local theater (7pm not 12am) so here are a few thoughts:

-I loved this movie. It's a little hard to rank because it's so different from the Marvel films but it would definitely go near or possibly at the top of the list for me. Definitely the most fun movie I've seen all year.

-A few movies or TV shows I've seen this be compared to in reviews: Star Wars (naturally), Indiana Jones, Avengers, and Firefly. I'd throw Farscape in there too.

-You know how the movie looked a little weird in the trailers? Well, it's a little weird. I'd say the tone was conveyed accurately by the trailers. If Star-Lord dancing through ancient ruins to the sounds of "Come And Get Your Love"  is too much for you then you might want to skip it.

-The music is a major component of the movie, both as part of the plot and the overall feeling of the movie. It's no accident that the songs were featured so much in the commercials.

-The movie is really funny. Most comedies would be lucky to have this many laughs, but it doesn't compromise the movie at all.

-I don't think I could come up with just ten favorite quotes from the movie, there are that many good lines. "We're just like Kevin Bacon!"

-The cast is fantastic. I had some doubts about Chris Pratt but after seeing the movie it's apparent why they chose him and it's hard to picture someone else playing the role. Zoe Saldana and Dave Bautista are both very good in their roles, Bautista in particular does a great job considering he's an ex-wrestler.

-Rocket and Groot deserve special mention. Despite being computer animated they easily match or surpass any of the actual people in the movie.

-There is a ton of stuff in this movie that I thought Marvel would never consider trying to put on the screen. At this point I'm not sure there's much they feel like they couldn't adapt from the comics.

-If you're a comic fan the scene after all the credits is worthwhile, otherwise it probably wouldn't break your heart to miss it. It doesn't relate to any upcoming movies.

Some bonus thoughts after a second viewing:

-The audience applauded after both screenings.

-The scene where Rocket is explaining the jailbreak plan is my favorite scene in a movie this year. It's just a perfect piece of comedy.

-I love the facial expressions and reaction shots in this movie. There's a ton of subtle details that really elevate the characters.

Skyfall

Saw the new Bond film, Skyfall, last night. It was fantastic. A few thoughts:

-I'd say it is the best Bond film yet, even trumping my other favorite, Casino Royale.

 -It's also the most beautifully shot movie I've seen in quite some time. Shanghai in particular stands out.

-The Bond girls are relatively unimportant to the story. That's not a problem, just a notable difference from most of the other movies.

-You'll be surprised by where the plot goes. I didn't expect many of the things that happen and was surprised by some of the choices made, but they all worked well in the end.

-Bond's classic Aston Martin DB5 makes a return.

-The movie ends with a few changes and set up for more sequels. I believe Daniel Craig is signed for two more.

Prometheus

Finally saw Prometheus tonight. Great atmosphere, fantastic visuals, incredibly dumb story. Kind of like the last Star Trek movie, except less coherent. It's more like a series of cool scenes that are only tangentially related to each other. I like Ridley Scott, but he has to find better material to work with.

Thoughts on Captain America

-I liked the movie a lot. I think most people will call it the best of the Marvel movies so far. It has to at least be a tie with Iron Man. It reminded me somewhat of Indiana Jones, mostly in tone and that it's a period piece. And also the Nazis.

-Chris Evans was excellent in the role. I had my doubts when he was cast, but I don't think anyone else would have done any better.

-The rest of the cast was great too. Hugo Weaving is excellent as the Red Skull. Tommy Lee Jones basically plays himself, or at least the character you usually see him play, but that's perfect for the part. Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter has much more to do than I would have expected and plays the role very well. She's also an absolute knockout in this movie, I expect you'll see her in a lot more films in the next year or two.

-The film is a little more violent than I would have expected. Nothing graphic, but a few places where it might take you off guard, like when a HYDRA soldier goes through a spinning propellor blade.

-There's a Wilhelm scream in the movie. I don't recall any of those in other Marvel movies.

-The score is very John Williams-ish, there's a sequence with a fight on a train that sounds a lot like a piece from Star Wars.

-Pre-serum Steve Rogers looks good in the movie, not as odd as in the trailers. The rest of the effects are pretty decent, but I think they outstripped their budget. There's a lot of scenes where it's pretty obvious that you're looking at green screen work.

-I still think the HYDRA costumes, and Cap's suit, look too future and not retro enough, but it looks okay on screen. I think they pushed the designs for HYDRA pretty hard because they were worried that the audience would think they were normal Nazis.

-The post-credit sequence is a teaser for Avengers. Definitely worth sticking around for, it got a round of applause at the showing I went to. It looks fantastic, but I'm honestly more excited to see Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark interact with Cap and Thor than any action pieces.

Auto Review: Chevy Aveo5

This week I had to leave my car at the dealer for a little warranty work for a couple days. Ford provided a rental car. Knowing that there was no way Ford was going to spring for anything besides a basic car, I was really hoping for a Ford Fiesta based on this Top Gear review:



Unfortunately the car was not supplied by Ford, but rather provided by Ford through Hertz, so what I ended up with was the 2011 Chevy Aveo5:


It left such an impression that I thought I would write something.

The Pros
-My rental car looked exactly like the picture above. It's not especially good-looking, but it's pretty inoffensive, obviously a Chevy, and a big improvement over the previous model.

-There's lots of headroom, not that I would be the best judge. (That's a short joke.) It's easy to see out of the car at all angles.

-I really didn't like the 1.6 L 108-hp engine at first, but after driving around for two days I decided it was adequate for driving around town. As long as you stay off the open road you're not going to notice the lack of power.

-It did have AC and a CD player, but no cruise control.

The Cons
-Here's what driving an Aveo on the freeway is like: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA(breath)AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH(breath)HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! This car was not designed to go over 55-mph. It has a strained relationship with the road and never feels firmly planted at freeway speeds. Add a crosswind on a bridge over the Mississippi to that and you have a terrifying experience.

-The car vibrated at idle like a two cylinder tractor. I was afraid it was going to explode.

-Those backseats are just for show, there's no way a human could sit in them if anyone was sitting in the front.

-The interior is obviously cheap, though not outstandingly so. The clock is awkwardly positioned on the dash near the windshield rather than on the CD player display.

-The interior door handles are positioned so far forward it can be difficult to open the doors, especially if you don't want to hit the car next to you.

-The car sounds hollow and flimsy when you shut the doors.

I could go on, but I won't. If you have had even a fleeting thought about buying one of these, stop. Please. No one should have to drive this car. You would be better off buying practically anything else. Heck, buy a horse. Even if it kicks you in the face it would be better than driving this car.

Captain Planet with cats!

After reading John Nolte's review of Avatar, I have to post this video, which came out months ago when the first Avatar trailer hit. WARNING: Language. And Nazis. But mostly language.

"Biblically terrible."

This review of the Honda Insight 1.3 IMA SE Hybrid by Jeremy Clarkston of Top Gear is the best car review I've ever read. And by best, I mean hilarious. A small taste:

And the sound is worse. The Honda’s petrol engine is a much-shaved, built-for-economy, low-friction 1.3 that, at full chat, makes a noise worse than someone else’s crying baby on an airliner. It’s worse than the sound of your parachute failing to open. Really, to get an idea of how awful it is, you’d have to sit a dog on a ham slicer.

And it goes on like that. Awesome. (Hat tip: Iain Murray at The Corner)

Book Club Time! - Tides of War

I promised I would put up a review as soon as I finished, so here it is.

"Tides of War" - Steven Pressfield

Pressfield also wrote Gates of Fire, so the writing style is similar. Short review: if you liked Gates of Fire, you'll like this one too. If you haven't read Gates of Fire, what are you waiting for?

The core of the story is the career of Alcibiates ( if that name doesn't ring a bell it mmight be worth looking up. Interesting fellow), told through the eyes of his long time friend, confidant, and assassin.

Comparisions to GOF: similar framing of the story, historical detail, color, and general ring of authenticity in characterisation. Overall, I didn't like it as much as GOF, but that is mostly due to it focusing on less likeable people and less heroic events. Th Spartans sacrificed themselves to attain eventual victory, Alcibiates was driven and destroyed by both himself and the city which he embodied. But I'll skip the essay and give the book thumbs up.