At the Movies

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    Avengers: Endgame — An epic treat for Marvel fans …

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    Let’s talk about Avengers: Endgame.
     
    WARNING — ALL THE SPOILERS AHEAD. SERIOUSLY, IF YOU HAVEN’T SEEN THE MOVIE YET, TURN BACK NOW!!!
     
    YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
     
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    WHAT I LOVED:
    1) The focus on the original six Avengers: I loved that we go to spend so much time with Steve, Tony, Natasha, Clint, Bruce, and Thor. It was fitting that they were the focus since this was their mission and the finale for some of the characters.
     
    2) The Easter eggs: I love Easter eggs, and there were so many callbacks and nods to previous MCU films. Probably my favorite was the Cap elevator scene, which mirrored the one in Winter Soldier, only with Steve pretending to be Hydra Cap. Ha!
     
    I also loved hearing Sam say “On your left” when all the heroes start arriving for the final battle. And Tony saying “I am Iron Man” at the end. And the funeral wreath with Tony’s first arc reactor and proof that he has a heart.
     
    3) The cameos: This goes hand-in-hand with the Easter eggs. It was wonderful that so many actors came back to do cameos in the various time travel scenes — Robert Redford, Rene Russo, John Slattery, Frank Grillo, Tilda Swinton, etc.
     
    If you count all the cameos, Endgame probably has the greatest overall cast of any movie ever.
     
    4) Seeing previous MCU scenes from different angles: I loved the time travel scenes, and it was great seeing various classic MCU scenes from different angles, like the Battle of New York — and then getting to go even deeper into the scenes and get more information, like what the Avengers did after they defeated Loki in New York.
     
    5) Cap finally (!) wielding Mjolnir: Just like Thor, we all knew Steve was worthy. Several people in my theater cheered when this happened. This was one of my favorite moments in the whole movie. I also loved Steve getting back up to face Thanos and his army seemingly all by himself.
     
    WHAT I LIKED:
    1) Loki disappearing with the Tesseract: I like the idea that a version of Loki is out there in a timeline somewhere still making mischief.
     
    2) Old Man Steve: I was so happy that they didn’t kill off Steve, and I loved that he got to have a life with Peggy (in some world/timeline). I hope that Chris Evans will come back and do an Old Man Steve cameo in the Falcon/Winter Soldier series.
     
    3) Nebula and Scott: I feel like Scott and especially Nebula were the quiet MVPs of Endgame. Paul Rudd was great an injecting some humor into the movie, and “time heist” is my new favorite catchphrase. And Nebula was just a badass from start to finish, especially when she kills her younger self (!).
     
    4) Gamora: I thought it was really clever how the writers brought Gamora back from the dead, but didn’t make her have her emotional connection to the other Guardians. You have to believe that Guardians 3 will be “The Search for Gamora”.
     
    5) The game of keep-away with the gauntlet: Having Black Panther take the gauntlet from Clint and then give it to Spider-Man, Captain Marvel, etc. was a great way to showcase the future of the MCU. Nice passing of the torch, so to speak.
     
    WHAT I DIDN’T LIKE:
    1) Professor Hulk: I was really meh about Professor Hulk. I would have liked to have seen Banner/Hulk reach an understanding without necessarily merging into one person. And no Hulk rematch with Thanos was very disappointing. I didn’t think Professor Hulk really had much to do in the final battle, which was also disappointing.
     
    2) Killing off Natasha: I can see why the writers did this. Natasha finally got to wipe the red out of her ledger and redeem herself by helping Clint the way that he helped her years ago. But killing off another woman to get the Soul Stone seemed a little unnecessary.
     
    Plus, IMO, Natasha was a much more interesting character than, say, Banner, who I feel like they only kept around to be the “science guy” since they killed off Tony. With Tony and Steve gone, they should have made Natasha the leader of the Avengers. A missed opportunity.
     
    3) Making Sam the new Cap: I would have preferred that Bucky be the new Cap. Bucky dealing with his past as Winter Soldier while trying to be the new Cap would have been more interesting than Sam being Cap, IMO. Although you have to think that Sam being Cap will be the focus of the Falcon/Winter Soldier TV series.
     
    4) No Cap/Bucky resolution: So much of Winter Soldier and Civil War was about the Cap/Bucky relationship, but I feel like they never got to sit down for 5 minutes and hash things out in either Infinity War or Endgame. I would have loved a scene with Cap/Bucky at the very end. Another missed opportunity. This is one of my biggest disappointments in the whole MCU.
     
    5) Thanos: I still think Thanos is a weak villain. He wants to wipe out half the universe because … reasons? He likes balance? And who would want to save only half of everything in existence? His plan/logic/motivations still make no sense to me. Whatever, dude.
     
    WHAT MADE MY HEAD HURT:
    1) The time travel: I think time travel is always tricky to do. For the most part, the writers did a good job explaining it … but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes.
     
    Even if Cap put all the stones back, I think you would still have a bunch of alternate timelines, just because the Avengers went back and changed things to get the stones in the first place.
     
    Also, I was disappointed that they didn’t go back and undo the snap around the time that it happened. By bringing everyone back 5 years later, you’ve basically given everyone PTSD (at the very least), both the people who lived through the snap and the people who lost five years of time. There are just so many logistical questions with that — rebuilding, people finding their families, etc. — that I wish the writers hadn’t gone that route.
     
    OVERALL:
    Endgame is not perfect. No movie can be perfect to everyone. But Endgame is just about as close as you can get, considering all the characters, Easter eggs, cameos, etc. It’s a fitting send-off for some of our heroes and a truly impressive film-making accomplishment. A big kudos to the Russo brothers and everyone involved.
     
    WHAT THE MCU MEANS TO ME:
    I’ve always loved superheroes, but the MCU really reignited my interest in superheroes, comics, etc., especially Winter Soldier and the rest of the Cap trilogy. Those will probably always be my favorite MCU movies, and I feel like I’ve grown up with the original Avengers characters, even though I wasn’t a kid when the movies came out.
     
    I kind of feel like the movies won’t be as good for me going forward just because I love Cap, etc. so much. I hope that’s not the case, but we’ll see. I also hope that Marvel doesn’t do one space/sci-fi movie after another. To me, some of the best MCU movies are the ones here on earth that are a little more grounded in reality (Winter Soldier) or with slightly smaller stakes (Ant-Man).
     
    But I’m looking forward to the future and to hopefully enjoying MCU films for many more years to come.
     
    What did you guys think about Endgame?
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    Movies, movies, movies …

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    Is it just me, or are there a lot of good-looking movies coming out this year? I don’t go to the theater all that much, maybe two or three times a year, and usually just to see the Marvel superhero movies or the latest James Bond movie. It’s just easier to stream a movie or get the DVD.

    But this year, there are several movies that I want to see in the theater. Here are some of them, and I’ve linked to some of the trailers as well:

    the-lego-batman-movieThe LEGO Batman Movie — Feb. 10 — This looks really fun. If it is half as entertaining as the trailers have been, it will be one of the best Batman movies ever.

    Beauty and the Beast — March 17 — The original animated Beauty and the Beast is one of my all-time favorite movies. I hope this one is just as good.

    Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 — May 5 — The first movie was so much fun, and this looks like more of the same. I’m also hoping that the soundtrack is as good as it was for the first movie. Plus, is there anything more adorable than Baby Groot?

    Wonder Woman — June 2 — We are finally getting a Wonder Woman movie. Enough said.

    Spider-Man: Homecoming — July 7 — I’m not a huge Spider-Man fan, but I enjoyed his appearance in Captain America: Civil War. And I like the fact that this is not another origin-story movie but rather Spider-Man already being Spider-Man.

    Dunkirk — July 21 — Wheezley really likes World War II movies, and he wants to go see this. Me too. It’s based on a true story, and it looks really intense.

    Thor: Ragnarok — Nov. 3 — Thor isn’t my favorite Marvel character, and the other Thor movies are just so-so. But Tom Hiddleston is always great in these, which is one of the main reasons why I watch them.

    Justice League — Nov. 17 — I did not like Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and I’m hoping that this one is much better. At the very least, it looks like it has a much lighter and a much more fun tone.

    What about you guys? What movies are you looking forward to this year?

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    Free Comic Book Day — and keeping movies and books fresh …

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    Mountain Empire ComicsNote: This post will also appear today on Magical Musings.

    If you follow me on social media, you know that I love, love, love superheroes. So, naturally, Free Comic Book Day is one of my favorite days of the year. 🙂

    Free Comic Book Day is always held the first Saturday in May — May 7, this year. During that day, comic book stores across the country and world give away free comics, host costume contests, and much, much more. As part of Free Comic Book Day, I will be signing books starting at 10 a.m. and going until noon (or maybe even a little later, depending on the crowd) at Mountain Empire Comics in Bristol, Tenn. The store will be giving away free comics, and the street will be closed off for all kinds of vendors.

    So why is Free Comic Book Day one of my favorite days of the year? Because not only do I get to sign books, but I also get to hang out at the comic book store and talk about all things related to superheroes, along with fantasy books, movies, TV shows, and more. This year, I expect much of the talk to be about Marvel’s newest superhero movie, Captain America: Civil War, which opens on Friday, May 6.

    As an author and a reader, I’ve seen tons of blog posts and articles about how to keep a long-running book series fresh and interesting, not only for fans of the series but for the author writing it too. I think that Marvel does an excellent job of this when it comes to their superhero movies.

    Captain AmericaI’ve seen several articles and comments from Marvel filmmakers talking about how all of their movies are superhero movies, but how they all explore different ideas and genres, which helps keep them fresh and interesting for the audience, actors, and filmmakers. For example, Captain America: The First Avenger is a World War II movie. Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a political thriller. Guardians of the Galaxy is a space adventure. Ant-Man is a heist movie. And so on and so forth.

    I find myself doing the same thing when it comes to my Elemental Assassin urban fantasy series. Each book is an assassin story at heart, but the books also contain elements from other genres besides urban fantasy.

    One of the reasons that I started writing about my assassin heroine, Gin Blanco, was because I thought that there were so many different stories that you could tell with an assassin character. So far, 14 books have been published in my Elemental Assassin series, along with several e-novellas and short stories.

    Book #15The more books I write in the series, the more I think about incorporating elements from other genres. For example, I’ve always wanted to write a western, and part of Unraveled, book #15, Aug. 30, takes place in an Old West theme park. So the book is my take on a western, with Gin facing down some evil cowboys, among other bad guys.

    I’ve also always wanted to write a spy thriller and a heist book, among other stories, and I think that Gin would be the perfect character to help me explore those genres. Hopefully, readers will enjoy seeing my nods to other genres in my books.

    Who knows? Maybe my Elemental Assassin series will be like the Marvel movies and just keep going and going and going … 🙂

    What about you guys? What are some of your favorite book and superhero series and movies?

  • August movies, here I come …

    2 Comments

    Note: I blogged about this last week over at Magical Musings but wanted to share it on my own blog as well.

    Going to the movies is a summer pastime for many folks. Comedies, action-adventure flicks, snacks. They’re all good. And I don’t know about you guys, but I certainly enjoy the dark and the air conditioning at the movies after all the bright, hot, humid days. It’s definitely a bonus.

    Captain America The Winter SoldierIs it just me, but are all the good movies coming out in August this year? I just haven’t been all that excited about most of the movies that have come out so far this year.

    I’ve seen tons of trailers, but very few movies have interested me enough to go see them in the theater. Except for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, which was awesome.

    But August? It’s loaded with movies that I want to see — Guardians of the Galaxy (playing now); The Expendables 3 (releases Aug. 15); and, yes, even Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (playing now).

    So what appeals to me about these three movies in particular? They just look like fun. Guardians of the Galaxy looks like a zany superhero movie set in space. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles looks like a zany superhero movie with teenage mutant ninja turtles. And The Expendables 3 stars every action hero who hasn’t already been in the first two Expendables movies.

    The ExpendablesPlus, action movies are my favorite, and all three of these should have plenty of action, especially The Expendables 3. If you’ve seen the first Expendables movie, you know that the franchise features car chases, fights, and explosions galore.

    Plus, it’s still summer, and I want to be entertained before we all buckle back down for fall.

    What about you guys? What movies are you looking forward to? What’s the best movie you’ve seen so far this year?

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    Holiday books are here …

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    Over the past few weeks, I’ve noticed something becoming more and more common at my local bookstores — holiday books.

    Yep, those snow- and Christmas-themed covers are here, along with the holiday stories that fill the pages.

    Sleigh Bells in the SnowOne holiday book that I’ve been looking forward to is Sleigh Bells in the Snow by Sarah Morgan. I enjoy contemporary romance, and I usually read at least one or two holiday stories this time of year.

    But it’s not just new holiday books that are on the shelves now. You can also find many different editions of classic holiday stories like A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens or The Night Before Christmas by Clement C. Moore.

    For Christmas several years ago, Wheezley bought me a copy of A Christmas Carol, and it was interesting to read the story versus seeing all the interpretations in other books and holiday movies.

    Now, I enjoy a good holiday book, but I am totally addicted to all the holiday romance movies on TV stations like ABC Family, Lifetime, and the Hallmark Channel. I love a good holiday rom-com, and I’m looking forward to seeing what new movies come out this year.

    What about you guys? Do you read holiday books or watch holiday movies? Do you have a favorite holiday book or movie that you read or watch every year?