Captain America the Movie

Ok, I have to admit right up front that I was worried about this movie. From the bits and pieces I read about the movie I wasn't all that thrilled.  I wasn't all that thrilled about Chris Evans as the hero.  I wasn't that thrilled about the costume.  Can you tell I wasn't that thrilled about the move?

That is until today, when I went to see it.  This is a really good movie.  The scenes of Evans as Steve Rogers before he became the Captain are some of the best.  I have to give Mr. Evans credit.  He makes this role his own.  They take a character that was always about more than the flag on his chest and recognize the ideals Captain America stands for.

One of the great scenes in the move is when Dr. Eskerine asks the puny Steve Rogers why he wants to join the Army, "to go and kill Nazis."

Steve's reply "I don't want to kill anyone.  I don't like bullies."

Now that's Captain America.

Tangled

I wanna see this when it comes out.

The Empire Strikes Back

Thirty years ago today The Empire Strikes Back was released.  I know I was in line on that first day of release, waiting with so many others, to see the next chapter in the Star Wars universe.  Even today I can still remember the thrill of watching the movie.  

Speaking of Earth...

Coming out on Earth Day....

Marilyn Chambers Dead

The porn actress Marilyn Chambers died at her home on April 12. Chambers is best known for the classic porn movie Behind The Green Door. I remember always hearing that she was the Ivory Soap baby but that isn't exactly true. She was the Mother for the baby on the Ivory Soap in the early seventies, before she made it in the porn industry. She was born in Providence Rhode Island to a middle class family. She went to California to be an actress and had a bit part in the Barbara Streisand movie The Owl and the Pussycat. Her first porn film was Behind The Green Door and she talked the producers into giving her a percent of the gross. It was one of the first xxx rated movies that featured a white woman having sex with a black man. In 2004 and 2008 she ran for Vice President on the Personal Choice Party.

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In Memoriam

Across The Universe

I finally saw the movie Across The Universe. I was prepared not to like this movie. For one it was using songs that to me are just about scared. Don't screw with the Beatles' music. But I found myself really liking this movie. And the songs worked so well with the stories. I really liked this movie.



Another version that I liked was "I Want To Hold Your Hand." I liked the way they slowed it down and made it almost more of a bluesy type song. I think some American Idol hopeful during Beatles week should do a version of this.

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Dave Robicheaux Movie

One of my favorite writers James Lee Burkes' series starring New Iberia policeman Dave Robicheaux is coming to the big screen. The main character is going to be played by Tommy Lee Jones. Read more about it here.

Morgan Freeman In Accident

One of our best actors was in an accident the other day. Morgan Freeman was driving through Mississippi, probably to his home there, when his car drove off the road and flipped and he was seriously injured. He is at the hospital where the doctors say he is doing fine considering his injuries. Here's hoping that everything is fine and he comes home soon.

San Diego Comic Con

This weekend was the San Diego Comic Con. Even if you're not a comic book fan it's hard not to have at least heard of this con nowadays. It's huge. It's become much more than just a comic book convention. Hollywood trots out all their big movies for preview and to hopefully get the fans interested enough to go home and start blogging about. The last time I went was about six years ago. The attendance than was between 60,000 and 70,000 a day. This weekend it will probably be over 120,000 people a day. It's grown so big that I can't even imagine it. My first San Diego Con was back in the 80's and I doubt that there were more than 10,000 people and I thought that was a lot at the time. For some more about the Con you can go check out one of my other blogs Life in 4 colors for some highlights.

The Dark Knight

Ok, I can't give a complete review of this movie as I missed the final act (see the following post for the full story on that) but I can say what I did see was amazing. This movie makes all the previous Batman movies look weak.

Heath Ledger is just as good in the role of the Joker as most critics have been claiming. I would be very surprised if he doesn't get a nomination for an Oscar, if not a win. His Joker is evil and crazy without going so far over the top that it appears comical.

One of the things I really liked in this movie was the secondary characters, like Gordon, Alfred and Fox. The movie gave them a depth that we rarely see in movies like this. It had me wanting to see a movie with Gordon as the main character. And the relationship between Alfred and Bruce Wayne was more than just a butler and his Master.

Go check this movie out. I plan to head back soon for a second and complete showing.

Incredible Hulk

I've been a fan of the big Green Goliath for as long as I can remember. When I first start collecting comic books he was one of those that I bought every month. For a long time I had a complete collection, save for the first six issues, of his entire run. Well I haven't kept up with the Hulk comic, except here and there, for a long time.

I'm one of the few that actually thought his first movie wasn't that bad. I admired the way that it tried to be different for a comic book movie. I think one of the biggest problems is that as one of my friends always say when I bring up this movie, "He fought a giant poodle." If they had given the Hulk a more worthy opponent this movie might not be so reviled today.

I go back to work on Monday, so this last week was my last week of staying home. It was also the first week that I'm starting to feel decent enough to get around more on my own. I decided to go to a couple eary morning movies and the new Hulk was the last one. Going at eleven in the morning on a weekday was nice, the crowd was probably no more than two dozen people.

So what did I think of the movie? I liked it. It wasn't as good as Iron Man as everyone is saying. But it was a fun movie. For fans of the comic book there are a little easter eggs scattered through out. It also included a few such highlights for the old television show. The old tv show Hulk Lou Ferrigno has a cameo and he does the voice for the new Hulk.

This is one of the movies that you don't want to think too hard about, like General Ross basically invading a college campus to capture Bruce Banner, some quick cuts that seemed to skip a little too much, but if you want a fairly good action movie this is it.

And the end is just the next step in creating the Avengers movie. (How about a movie with the Hulk and Iron Man? And as Marvel tries to tie their movies into one world is there any plans on bringing the Fantastic Four into their Marvel universe? Now that would be a great next movie, the Thing vs. the Hulk.)

The fight at the end is pretty good. The CGI on the Hulk is decent, sometimes it was better than others. For the amount of the movie I expected a little more with the look I think. Still this is all nit picking, I did enjoy the movie and will buy it when it comes out on DVD.

New Indy Movie

I went and saw Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull the other day. This is one of those movie series that have become more than a movie, it's part of our culture. I remember watching the first Indiana Jones movie in the theater and being blown away by it. The movie was such a great action movie with such a great main character. Harrison Ford was perfect in the role of Indiana Jones. He brought a humanity to the character that is easily missing in a lot of action heroes.

The sequels came and while everyone wants to argue they weren't as good as the first, they more than held up their own. Than after the third one...nothing. For a decade and half the rumors swirled that a new movie was coming. The three principals, Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and Harrison Ford, all had to agree on the script and it seemed nothing was going to bring all three to an agreement.

Until now. Finally they've all decided to dust off Indy's hat and bullwhip and get back into the game. Of course there's such a buildup for this movie that there was no way it was going to be as good as everyone expected. It's kind of like the fourth Star Wars movie. Everyone was waiting for it so long that there was no way it was going to live up its expectations. Except unlike the fourth Star Wars movie this movie doesn't suck.

Remember the first three movies were based on the old serials from the 40s. In updating the movie they based it on movies from the time period where it was based, the 50s. And in the 50s what were the big topics for the B movies of that time. Commies and aliens from outer space.

I think one of the best things they did was age Indy. Indy isn't a young man anymore. The years have passed, hints of past adventures are dropped throughout the movie. And bringing back Marion Ravenwood, Karen Allen, was a stroke of genius. The movie introduces a new character, a younger character that is being primed to take over the series.

So is the movie good? Yes, I think it holds up the tradition of the series in grand style. When Indy picks up his hat and you first seen him in silhouette, I could feel the thrills running up my back.

Before they continue with the new "Indiana" series I wouldn't mind seeing another one with Harrison Ford.

Walk The Line

Some singers become bigger than themselves. They mean more than just the songs they sing. In today's media saturated world the word Icon is used for entertainers a lot. Just because you only use one name for yourself, that doesn't make you an Icon. By all definitions of the word, Johnny Cash is an Icon. Johnny Cash represented more than the songs he sang, he represented a world view to many people.

When the movie WALK THE LINE first came out I made a point of seeing it in the theaters. It was one of my favorite movies of the year. Now I'm usually not a fan of musical bios where the actor sings instead of using the real music of the musician. There's a reason people are going to see the movie of the singer and it's because the people going to see it are fans of his singing, not the actors. But sometimes it works. THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY worked. And in WALK THE LINE it worked. Joaquin Phoenix isn't Johnny Cash (but than who is) but he pulls it off. And it made sense in the movie, with the songs being built around certain scenes it would have been hard to just splice in a song off an album.

WALK THE LINE was smart that it didn't try to showcase Johnny Cash's entire life. It focused on his relationship with the love of his life, June Carter. Ms. Carter is played quite well by Reese Witherspoon, well enough that she won an Oscar for her role.

When the movie came out on DVD I was first in line to purchase it. I wanted to own this movie so I could watch it again and again. Now the studio is releasing it again, as a two disc extended edition.

The first disc features an extended version of the movie with commentary with the Director and co-writer of the movie, James Marigold.

The second disc has mulitple features that add to the pleasure of watching this movie. My favorite are the historical featurettes such as "Sun Records and the Johnny Cash Sound" and "Folsom: Cash and the Comeback."

I'm not a big fan of movies (or cds) that come out after the first version with new extended features that try to get you to re-purchase what you've already bought once. And I have to be upfront here and admit that I didn't buy this disc, it was sent to me to review. But saying all this I have to say this is a great movie and I enjoyed the extras. Would I have bought it? I'm not sure, I would have liked to own the extras so it's very possible. If you're a big fan of the Man In Black it's worth buying this movie. And if you don't already own the movie, than by all means purcahse this version.

Something Fun

After reporting three deaths in a row I need to post something fun. How about the trailer for the new Indiaina Jones movie coming out May 22? I can't wait for this movie. As much as I'm looking forward to Iron Man this is going to be THE movie event of the summer.

Iron Man Movie Coming

This year is Iron Man. I'm getting pretty hyped about this one. Doesn't this picture look too cool?

Heath Ledger Found Dead

Heath Ledger, only 28, was found dead tonight in his apartment. It's too early to speculate on the cause of death, so we'll just wait and see. Whatever the outcome, it is tragic.

Turning Into His Dad

I was watching Letterman tonight and Michael Douglas was one of the guests. Watching Michael tonight I realized how much he looked like his father. I mean really looked like Kirk. As he gets older Michael is looking more and more like his Dad.

The Authority of the Mind

Does people not realize that this "religion" was created by a second rate science fiction writer? Listening to what Tom Cruise says in this video I can't believe he can say this stuff with a straight face.

Watchmen Movie

For comic book fans Watchmen is the Holy Grail of comic books. Created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons it was the superhero comic series that showed such work could be more than just POW! BANG! SMASH! Zach Snyder from 300 is directing the movie version of the comic. Above is a shot from the set. The character walking by seems to be Rorschach.