Category: Personal Favorites
Doctor Strange Cast Photos
Captain America: Civil War Character Posters
Captain America: Civil War Cast Photos
Captain America: Civil War
13 – Captain America: Civil War
Ok, I know I’m way past the point of sounding like a broken record, but I don’t know how they keep doing it. They hit another home run. It is amazing, and it is why the MCU is one of my favorite franchises. So this one is a Captain America movie, but really, this probably should have been called and Avengers movie. It delved into the complex relationships between the members of the Avengers, set against the backdrop of the fallout of the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron. The Avengers are split down the middle as the United Nations draws up a document that places a measure of control over the vigilante group of un-registered superheroes, any one of whom is a potential danger to the public.
And that’s the main conflict of the movie. Some of the team agree that there needs to be a measure of accountability and oversight to such a powerful force as the Avengers. Other see it as an unconstitutional and un-moralistic infringement on their personal freedoms and liberties. What makes the conflict so interesting, is that both sides are right. But when an actual villain, played by a simple human, whose life was destroyed by the disaster in Sokovia, finds a way to tear the super team apart from the inside. That villain is Helmut Zemo, played by Daniel Bruhl. He finds a way to re-activate the sinister brainwashing of the Winter Soldier, aka: Bucky Barns, and chaos ensues.
What made Civil War so fantastic, was not just those complex moral issues, but that the filmmakers were able to pull out all the stops and bring back all the great characters we have been following in all the preceding earth-bound MCU films. The extra-terrestrial characters like Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy were excluded.And they even brought in two significant new characters in their MCU debut: Spider-Man and Black Panther, played so awesomely by Tom Holland and Chadwick Boseman, and setting both of them up for their own solo movies.
Once again, the directors, the brothers, Anthony and Joe Russo, did so many things right. They gave us a cohesive story, they stayed true to the characters and their places in the overall tapestry of the Infinity Saga, they gave us incredible action, great drama, and even a few well-placed moments of humor. The film is engaging from the beginning to the end. There were a few moments in the film that always stand out to me as phenomenal are the airport battle, and the climactic fight between Captain America and Iron Man. In both cases, they pitted hero against hero, making it hard to know who to root for. The airport battle was just a chaotic special effects extravaganza as all the unique powers of combatants like Wanda Maximoff, Ant-Man, Vision, and Spider-Man went head to head less-fantastical, but no less incredible heroes like Black Widow, Falcon, Hawkeye, and War Machine.
But the final fight was both intense and heartbreaking. Cap and Iron Man go toe-to-toe. Tony Stark finds out the Bucky had murdered his parents as the Winter Soldier, and tries to kill him. Cap knows that it was not his friend’s fault, and tries to defend him. It is here that we get that iconic comic book cover brought to life of Rogers and Stark facing each other, Iron Man firing his repulse beam directly into Captain America’s shield. Man, that was an awesome shot! The battle is brutal, each man trying to defeat his friend. And they do beat the crap out of each other. They beat each other to the brink of killing each other. But in the end, Captain America wins and nearly murders Stark with his shield. But when he knows he has won, he walks away, leaving his opponent to call after him, “That shield doesn’t belong to you. You don’t deserve it!” So he drops it and leaves. So over-the-top dramatic, and it worked! The Russo Brothers really knew what they were doing! And you have to wonder… where do they go from here? Just wait. For a clue, make sure to watch the post-credit teaser scene. Thanos is coming!
Top 10 Favorite Parts
- The fight against Brock Rumlow in Lagos
- The meeting introducing the Sokovia Accords – Asking all the right moral questions. And the heroes’ discussion later.
- The talk between Natasha and Steve after Peggy’s funeral – showing that though they are on opposite sides, they still care for each other as friends.
- The UN Bombing – T’Chaka’s death
- The introduction of Black Panter and the street chase.
- Bucky gets reprogramed and Cap keeps his helicopter from leaving – Holy S…T! Those biceps!
- Hawkeye comes to free Wanda from her house arrest.
- The Airport Battle! I loved it when Spider-Man stops the Winter Soldier’s punch like it was nothing!
- Iron Man finds out about his parents.
- The fight between Cap, Iron Man, and Buckey, especially that iconic comic book cover shot. Also – Buckey loses his metal arm.
1940 – Walter Brennan
1940 – Walter Brennan
The Westerner
Here we are once again with Walter Brennan. I never really saw him as a big name in Classic Hollywood. But I’m seeing his name pop up year after year in the Best Supporting Actor category. Maybe I have to reconsider him as a recognized name from the late 30s and early 40s. Part of that is that he is never the lead, only a supporting character. Another part is that he doesn’t really have a recognizable face, partly because he seems to change his appearance for each role he takes on.
In The Westerner, he plays the bad guy, Judge Roy Bean. He is a cowboy who is the leader of a cattle-ranching community in the old West. He wears the badge of Judge, and uses it to bully the men of Vinegaroon, TX into doing whatever he wants them to do. He is also the owner of the only saloon in town, and that’s also part of his power. He who controls the alcohol, controls the men. But he has a strange quirk that ends up being his downfall. He is madly obsessed with the English actress, Lillie Langtry, so much so that if men do not honor her, he refuses to allow them into his bar.
Playing the villain was a bit of a different role for Brennan, but of course, he did a good job. He always did. The movies he was nominated for previously saw him as a comical sidekick, or a kind-hearted grandfather. But here, we see him as a drunk, vindictive bully. But oddly enough, he was almost a sympathetic character because of that overwhelming obsession with Lillie Langtry. His desire for her was almost pure and authentic, somehow, and that was all due to Brennon’s acting. In fact, he was good enough to steal scenes from the film’s lead actor, Gary Cooper, and that’s saying something.
I especially liked the climax of the movie when Roy dresses up in his old Confederate Civil War uniform to go see Lillie perform in a neighboring town. While there, he has his final gun battle with Cooper, and is shot and fatally wounded. But cooper, being the hero with the heart of gold, carries him back stage at the theatre, so he can stare at his beloved Lillie as he passes on. And they actually treated the bad guy’s death as a tender moment. Brennan did a great job, as always, and I think he deserved his Oscar win. Impressive that this was his third nomination, and his third win, don’t you think?
The Avengers: Age of Ultron Character Posters
The Avengers: Age of Ultron
11 – Avengers: Age of Ultron
I’ll start this off by saying that this isn’t one of my favorite MCU films. I’d only give it a nine out of ten instead of a ten. But hey, it’s still a nine. Ultron, marvelously played by James Spader, was a pretty menacing villain, and for about two thirds of the movie, the Maximoff twins, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olson, were awesome villains. They were briefly introduced in the post-credit scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but here they become fully utilized characters. Well, maybe not Quicksilver, as, spoiler alert, he dies in the final act of the movie. Too bad, that. I would have loved to see where his character might have gone in the future of the MCU. And then there was the creation of Vision, played by Paul Bettany, who was also the voice of Jarvis, Tony Stark’s AI.
So why did I like it a little less than most other MCU films? I’m not exactly sure. There were plenty of awesome actions sequences and great superhero visual effects. The soundtrack was epic and the sets and costumes were fantastic. The story was fast-paced and exciting, and overall, the movie did a great job of furthering the epic tapestry of the franchise. There was a bit of drama, comedy, and lots of character development for the heroes that we have grown to love over the last ten movies. As I said this movie was still a nine.
But maybe the spectacle just wasn’t as… spectacular as the other movies. Maybe the color pallet of the film was too dim and monochromatic. Maybe it just didn’t have the same wow factor, or have as many HOLY SHIT moments as we have seen in other movies. Maybe it wasn’t as… fun as other MCU movies. But even so, those things are really just minor complaints, if I even want to call them that. I still love watching this movie, and it is still a really good film. I mean James Spader was perfectly cast, playing an insane computer program and nearly indestructible robot. His voice acting alone gave the machine an all-too-human quality that made him a cool villain.
So, enough about what I didn’t like when compared to other movies in the franchise. Here’s what I really did like. The action sequences were incredible. The opening scene where the Avengers is recovering Loki’s scepter was really cool. That one quick shot of the team all flying across the screen in slow motion was so cool! The next one is where Ultron is newly born and there is a fight scene which trashes the main room of the Avenger’s compound. The Hulk Busting scene was amazing! The fight for the Cradle which held Vision’s body was thrilling! And the final battle in Sokovia was stellar! So much exciting action!
I really loved the way they treated Wanda Maximoff. I loved her look, her costumes, the way her hex powers looked on the screen, her character arch, and the actress who played her. Her origin turned out very different than it was in the comic books, but there were reasons they laid thing out the way they did. In the comics, she and her brother were mutants who had their powers from birth. In the MCU, they were both altered by the Mind Stone, one of the Infinity Stones. And speaking of the stones, this is the movie in which Thor begins to figure out that the stones are being gathered for a purpose. Not to mention, the post-Credit scene, in which we get our first glimpse of Thanos and the Infinity Gauntlet.
This movie also introduced a relationship between Hulk and Black Widow, a development that was handled with a bit of delicacy and tact. And Hulk leaving at the end in the Quinjet, set his character up for the next time we see him in Thor: Ragnarok. There was also a little scene in the end in which new Avengers are being brought together like War Machine, Falcon, Wanda Maximoff, and Vision, thus continuing the legacy of The Avengers and building the team roster for future films. After all, there are so many great Marvel characters to choose from.
Top 10 Favorite Parts
- The opening battle to retrieve Loki’s scepter. “Please let there be a secret door. Yay!”
- The party at the Avenger’s tower and Natasha and Bruce flirting.
- Everyone trying to lift Thor’s hammer, and Captain America almost succeeding. The look on Thor’s face when it shifts.
- Ultron becoming conscious and attacking Jarvis.
- Wanda messing with everyone’s mind, showing them all disturbing visions, and taking the team down.
- Ultron stealing the vibranium from Klaue, and Klaue losing his arm.
- The Hulk Busting scene.
- The shot where the whole team is defending the core from Ultron and his robot army.
- Nick Fury shows up with the Helicarrier.
- Vision’s conversation with the final incarnation of Ultron before he destroys him with the mind stone.