The Avengers (2012) / super cool, super fun, super handsome

directed by Joss Whedon / starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L. Jackson

If you're looking for two hours and twenty-two minutes of fun, who you gonna to call? The Avengers.

Poor Earth. I bet there is no other planet in the universe that hostile extraterrestrial forces have more special interest in. Those evil things are always attacking us! What have we ever done? Luckily, the Earth also seems to inhabit an unusual amount of super people. And they're all funny and witty and cool and extremely good-looking. So Earth should not worry.

I don't know what it is about superheroes, but they are so incredibly cool, aren't they? Even if they weren't technically super. Maybe it's the dark, troubled stories they usually have in their past. Maybe it's because they can do things ordinary people can't, and that makes good action. Or maybe it's just because of their beautifully superior physique? Haha. Seriously though, once again I found myself wondering why more women are not into superhero movies. Even if you are not that much into action or the super scientific fantasy aspect of it, who wouldn't be into those flexed, perfectly built biceps, the sweat pouring down those handsome, strong facial features and the intense looks in the deep, fearless eyes when they charge into action, performing all kinds of incredible stunts, wearing tight, cool uniforms that really do justice to the beautiful, beautiful male body. Ahem. Not that I'm personally into superhero movies just because of that. Hahaha, okay, moving on!

The cast is full of huge names, big stars, many of whom have played their characters before and established a fan base. It must have been such a challenge to fit all those stars and personalities in one movie, trying not to favor anyone too much and give everyone their moments in the spotlight. And I think they succeeded. I'm sure there was a temptation to raise RDJ's Iron Man above others, him being the best-known, extremely popular actor, and the character's two films having been such hits. And of course he got many of the funniest lines and dramatic scenes, but who also got his share was Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye, a hero previously unknown to non-comic book freaks, including me. So yay, good job.

Robert Downey Jr. is a king, of course. That charisma is just hard to match, and so is his ease of stealing the spotlight. Iron Man is not really my type of superhero, but Tony Stark, in the capable hands and with the fast-talking mouth of RDJ is irresistibly charming, and oh so hilarious. He is the natural leader of the gang, but like I said, luckily he saves some space in that spotlight for the rest, too. I've said so much about RDJ over the years of my fangirl life, that I'm just going to stop right here.

I thought Thor was a very boring movie, and the story is not that interesting to me. I mean, demigods? Blah. Haha. Anyways, I did kind of like Chris Hemsworth's Thor in this movie. I liked how he fitted together with the others. And I like that hammer. It's so cool, just flying around. (And I have a Thor themed shirt. It says, "IT'S  HAMMERTIME!". And I made a quiz online, determining which Avenger I am, and I got Thor.) But if we talk looks (and we do, since we are talking about a movie with an insane amount of very handsome men), he's not really my cup of tea. Lovely arms, though.

It must be tough to be Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow. You are the only woman in a movie bursting with super masculine men with huge personalities. You have to wear a super tight, super low-cut costume, because the audiences will also be bursting with more or less masculine males. You have to work really hard to get to play with the boys, and you still don't have quite as big a role in saving the world as the rest. You even get a minimal amount of jokes. And they all asume you are good in communication and relationships ans persuation, just because you're a she. That all being said, I did like the character. She was quite the badass, and she didn't have nearly as many stareotypically girly moments as she could have had. She wasn't even thrown into a forced love story, although for a while it seemed like she would. That's another great thing about this movie: no unnecessary romantic subplots! And not a single sex scene! Yay! (Oh, wait, why am I happy about that again...?)

Like I mentioned above, I wasn't familiar with Hawkeye before, so I had no expectations about him. But he won me over pretty much the second he slid down on that rope. Ah, there's some silent, subtle charm about him. And the eyes! Jeremy Renner has really intriguing eyes. Makes sense that he was cast in this particular role, heh... Anyways, Hawkeye was a very pleasant surprise. It's so cool how nothing shakes him, and he is so completely fearless that it comes across almost as indifference. He's just so cool. And that bow. Damn. Why are bows so cool? First Katniss and now this fellow. I bet by the time Brave hits cinemas I will be roaming in the woods trying to make myself one...

I really hated Eric Bana's Hulk back in the day, and that's why didn't see the Edward Norton version. So I'm not really one to make comparisons, but still, Mark Ruffalo's performance stood out. Bruce Banner must be the most complex character of the bunch, and Ruffalo made him oddly lovable, yet implicitly dangerous, unpredictable and strained. Banner/Hulk caused the only proper goosebumps I got (that line towards the end before he turns green). And some of the best laughs, too. Hahaha. The epic Loki versus Hulk showdown. And the little moment of bro-bonding with Hulk and Thor. Hahaha. And well, there's something really enjoyable about watching Hulk just go and, well, smash.

Among all these super cool and badass heroes, Captain America is still my favourite. I'm not sure what it is about those stars and stripes, but my little fangirl heart sure beats for the star-spangled man. Of course he's incredibly corny at times, with his unwavering love for his motherland and his ridiculous compulsion to do the exact right thing and be 100 % righteous and good and honorable 25/8. I mean, a superhero without a dark side? How lame is that? Only it isn't. I was a fan of Captain America in the 40s, and I'm a fan of him now. Some of my favourite parts of the movie were about him reacting to the strange place he'd been pulled into. I could've watched the whole two hours of just that. That flying monkey moment was the funniest gag in the whole movie. (Biased? Me? Yeah I am!) He is a fascinating blast from the past with his gentlemanly manners, his trust for comradeship and loyalty, and the dauntless hope and persistence of a true war hero. I looked at him and still saw that skinny little man who always used to get his ass kicked for the good of mankind. He's my captain, period. And of course I don't mind that Chris Evans happens to own the most flawless body in history. But that's not the point. Haha.

So, in summary... Favourite actor: RDJ. Favourite character: Captain America. Best performance: Mark Ruffalo. Best female: Poor Scarlett. Best-looking man: Jeremy Renner (!! What? I think I'm serious, though...). Best weapon: the hammer.

That enough? You done? No? Sorry, this became a super long post. And super rambling. And I'm not even done yet. I'll try to wrap up now. Here are the rest of my random thoughts, presented ever so randomly. It won't be pretty but at least it'll be over soon.

Loki is an amazing villain. He's super evil, but not pure evil, which is good, because pure evil doesn't usually make the best villains. We know there's a reason why he is evil, so in a way we can feel for him. But at the same time, of course, we can loathe him for being such a little diva. And laugh at him, because luckily the movie isn't afraid of making a fool out of him. That's another awesome thing about The Avengers: it doesn't take itself too seriously. Just seriously enough. I loved the scene in Germany. I love it whenever someone plays the Hitler card.

I also liked Agent Fanboy, or whatever his name was. And New York. Poor New York. While Earth is always hassled by various aliens and monsters, no city gets more punches aimed at it than poor New York. And, I never thought I'd say this, but I kind of liked the 3D. Kind of. It wasn't revolting. And I liked the action. I get a little bored when there's too much action, but I don't think I got bored more than once or twice. Because the action was pretty crazy and awesome and creative. Well. The interaction between the characters was even more awesome, so maybe I would've cut some minutes of the action to let the relationships develop still a bit further. But well, I'm a girl in that way.

I want more Avengers movies! And more Captain America! And more Marvel! More superheroes! Also, I want to read comic books. Now, quickly woman, click the damn button and publish this mess before some more interesting thoughts pop into your head and you naturally have to share them.

P.S. I'm not sure if I have clearly stated what my opinion of this movie is, so here you go: I think The Avengers was a hugely entertaining movie, with a kick-ass scale of fascinating characters and good-looking actors, with brilliant action scenes and awesome humor, and with that mystical something that made the movie work so well, even though there were definitely too many spoons in the pot, and too many cooks to potentially spoil the borth or the soup or whatever. So, bravo. As far as superhero movies go, this was the best I've seen since... ever? Or Kick-Ass.

"If we can't protect the Earth, you can be damn sure we'll avenge it."

2011: A Summary of a Year

It's been an unusual year. It feels like most of the year I've been so preoccupied with everything else that there hasn't been as much movie-watching as, say, last year.  Still, there has been some gems and discoveries from both this year and previous years.

I found John Hughes (better late than never, right?) and thus added The Breakfast Club and Ferris Bueller's Day Off to the list of my all-time favourites. I watched more documentaries than ever before; I bawled my eyes out at Bowling for Columbine and Nuit et brouillard; I was shocked by The Cove and Food Inc. and swore never to see a dolphin show or eat a fast food burger again; I was entertained by Exit through the Gift Shop and Glee: the Concert Movie. One documentary really stood out, but more on that later.

The year's total is 163 films watched, out of which 52 were rewatches, which makes 111 new films. I went to cinema 23 times. And let me add, twice I saw a film with live orchestra playing the music (The Gold Rush (here at home) and the first Lord of the Rings (in Vegas; guess which one was more expensive...)). Here's the full list of the films, from another Inception rewatch to the Sherlock Holmes sequel.

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Here are some of my favourite people of the year.

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My (more or less succesful) New Year Resolution project was a nice spice to the year's movie-watching experience. Sure, due to being in the US I was behind schedule for part of the year, and in the end got to mark only ten of the twelve movies as 'over and done with'. Because, yes, that's what it was like most of the time: an obligation, something I just HAD to do, whether I enjoyed it a lot or not. This of course is NOT the attitude that movies should be watched with, but since I know myself (and what I know is that unfortunately I just often happen to dislike classics), this techinique is the best way to ensure that I watch what every movie fanatic should watch. Anyway, here's how it turned out:

The films I still need to see in 2012: Scarface, Manhattan

The film that I very strongly disliked: A Clockwork Orange

The films that bored me to death: Mulholland Dr., 8½, Goodfellas

The films I might have liked more had I been able to concentrate on them properly: Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Blade Runner

The films I kind of liked and properly concentrated on, but that failed to impress me in a way worth mentioning: Sunset Blvd., Citizen Kane

The film that I expected to like the least, but that ended up blowing my mind a little or at least giving me a pretty epic Friday night: 2001: A Space Odyssey

The film that I very much liked and that I will actually see again in the near-future (unlike the previous one): The Deer Hunter

So. Maybe the percentage of the films I actually ended up liking isn't very encouraging, but I will all the same continue this project in 2012. I need to get more classics watched.

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My extremely unofficial TOP FIVE of 2011

My Week with Marilyn

It's Michelle Williams that earned this movie a spot on my list. When I was watching her in My Week with Marilyn, there was a moment when I realized I didn't remember what the real Marilyn looks like. That's how good Ms. Williams is! Other than that, it's a cute, quite harmless little film. A little sad at times, and quite relateble, in some ways, at least for me.

Captain America: The First Avenger

 Haha. Weird? I don't know why I liked this film so much. But I did. I haven't liked a superhero this way since my ridiculous Spiderman phase when I was fifteen. There is something sincerely sweet about Chris Evans's Steven Rogers, and something admirable in the way he develops into a superhero: it's merely a physical transformation, since his mind was the mind of a hero all along.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II

Well duh. The conclusion of the adventures of everyone's favourite wizard boy was nothing less than epic, even though the conclusion of that conclusion was disappointingly ridiculous thanks to the poor attempt to make the young cast look nineteen years older. Sigh. Anyway! This was the end of another era. But Harry will live on.

The Artist

 This black-and-white silent strike of genius will be my favorite in the Oscar races next year, and I'm not alone with my opinion. It's charming and fun and tragic and just delicious. I loved the creative ways to use sound they'd come up with, in the midst of the good old Hollywood kind of title cards and wonderfully exaggarated acting. It's a love song to the roots of cinema, with a modern twist and a great sense of humor.

Life in a Day

Well, this is interesting. I never saw this little film coming. One day I read about it somewhere, watched it, and whoa, it just blew me away. The idea is wonderful, really, maybe the best idea any filmmaker ever had. People all over the world documented their lives on film in July 24, 2010. The material came together as what apparently is my favourite film of the year. In summary, I cried at people brushing their teeth. I'm determined to finish my post about this, so this is all I will say now.
If you haven't yet, see the film here.

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Well, I guess that's what we can call a mixed bunch; a Hollywood icon, a superhero, a fantasy blockbuster, a silent film and a documentary. But the list is extremely unofficial because there are many films I haven't yet seen that might've easily made the list. I still need to see at least The Help, Hugo, 50/50, Drive, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo... Still, I'm quite confident about number one, at least.

It was a pretty good year, and 2012 will probably be pretty epic. Just saying.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) - heroes are made in America

directed by Joe Johnson / starring Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weawing, Stanley Tucci, Dominic Cooper

 I realized I need to catch up on my superhero movies. I also realized it's been a month since I updated this blog. So here you go!

Ever since I saw the first trailer for The Avengers (and it looks good, by the way, even to the eyes of a Marvel amateur like me (and it's not just RDJ that makes it look good, I swear (though it's a contibutor))), I've felt the intrigue I once held for superheros start creeping back. (Spider-Man used to be The Thing for me. My wardrobe still suffers from the consequences of that phase...) There is something about them, isn't there? The men and, well, mostly men, that somehow are given a great power, and a great responsibility with it. And the thing is that the most important power they have is not their psysical strength, or their freaky, supernatural traits; it's the power of their mind, and their heart, the power they'd had all along; the power that makes them transform into superheros, instead of supervillains. This is expecially central in the case of Captain America, and one of the reasons I liked the story so much.

Steve Rogers is a skinny young man, with everything from asthma to heart problems staining his medical records. But he is brave and humble and righteous, and oh, isn't he patriotic. World War II is alluring noble wannabe-heros to go to Europe to "serve their country", and Steve keeps trying to join the army, to do his duty, but no one wants to sent a skinny little boy like him to die in the shores of France. Then Steve gets his chance: he volunteers to be a subject in a top-secret experiment, which turns him into the ultimate supersoldier. Thus, oh say can you see, Captain America is born.

I'm not comfortable around patriotism. It is possibly the aspect about this country that feels the most alien to me. It also makes me a bit angry. "Serving their country", and so on, don't even let me get started on that. But I decided not to let it bother me too much. It it vital to the story that Captain America loves America, so I just went with it. I even found the stars-and-stripes costume pretty cool.

Here's something else I found pretty cool. Chris Evans as a skinny little boy. It was weird, at first, but once you realized it actually looked realistic, and not like Chris Evans's head had been attached to another man's body, it was pretty cool. Thank you, technology. I liked how Captain America was first used as a propaganda machine, and how ridiculous that was. I liked Chris Evans. He usually plays the cocky guy, but he did humble really well, too. I liked Hayley Atwell as the tough chick love interest. Hugo Weaving always makes a good villain. Stanley Tucci is pure awesomeness. And I don't at all mind looking at Dominic Cooper. I'm totally buying that he's related to one Robert Downey Jr.

I also liked how Steve Rogers remained Steve Rogers even after he became Captain America. He never really goes through any kind of mental transformation; the main character of the movie doesn't really learn anything, or develop into something better during the film. This would usually bother me, a lot, but actually it's one of the coolest things about Captain America: there is no need for Steve Rogers to develop or change, because he had the goods all along. The skinny Steve in the beginning would have done the same things Captain America did in the end. It was just the matter of getting the right tools. He might have turned into a superhero, but he was still awkward around ladies. I suppose there might be a sequel with him exploring his darker side, too, á la Spider-Man 3 (haha, yes, I kind of liked that movie), and that would actually be really interesting.

Speaking of sequels. I want one! Or two. You can't end a movie like that and not make a sequel. Or two. 'Cause I loved the ending! I loved the ending and loved the beginning. Wasn't so thrilled of all of what what in the middle, but that can blaimed on me being a stereotypical girl. Too much action makes me bored. I need some dialogue and relationships to keep me interested. Haha. It's true, unfortunately. I'm a girl. Guilty as charged. Anyway. I'll probably get my sequel(s) at some point, but before that, I'll get The Avengers. And I bet that will be a lot of fun. And a lot of not-at-all-bad-looking men to look at. Why, oh why are women intrigued by superhero movies, I wonder? (It's not just that, though. Seriously. (Really!))

(I love the posters of this movie. Kind of old-fashioned, but still modern and sleek.)

"Arrogance is not a uniquely American trait, but you do it better than most."