Zack Snyder's directing not one...but two sequels...

No, Really...this is news...

..okay. It's not great news, but it's good news...

...(sigh) you're right. 

Some Avengers 2 news..?

...which I'm sure all of you have heard about while I've been away.

Sir Joss has was interviewed recently and mentioned several things about Avengers: Age of Ultron.

Most of what I read was your typical pre-hype hype about the making of the film.

But what really caught my eye was this, referring to the first post-credit scene from CA: TWS:

“I would say that the Age of Miracles, as Strucker says at the end of that tag, could be a part of that, but the key to their origin is in that tag,” he said. ”They’re not very happy with The Avengers. Their powers are not insignificant and they’re quite different from what the Avengers have faced before.”

"Age of Miracles" huh?

Here are my htoughts - 

* Why oh why do I get the feeling that there will be a #AgeofMiracles in the near future?

* Who's they? Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch? What would they have against the Avengers? Strucker and HYDRA? That would make sense, but what experimentations have been taking place?

* Could it be that Strucker et al did some genetic manipulation experiments resulting in the development of powers in each of "the twins"?

* If these two kids are indeed twins, and Magneto is out of the loop, who are their parents?

 My guess is that Ultron will be one of two stroylines.

He'll be a HYDRA-ated version of J.A.R.V.I.S. who will cause no end of trouble...

...and become Vision by film's end.

The second storyline will be about "the twins",

who will undoubtedly become enlightened to the Avengers' cause,

but won't actually join the team until Avengers 3: Time to Bring Thanos in Before We Start Phase 4,

or whatever the hell they'll call it.

Now don't forget, 

Daredevil: The Netflix Original Series is coming, (supposedly) in January, 2015.

Five months before A2.

So there's more Marvel goodness to come...

...as long as there's some, you know, goodness and not just badness.

'Cause I'm gettin' tired of all the badness...

Monday Movie Roundup...4/28/2014

...and we're back.

Okay. So CA: TWS got knocked down to second place over the weekend with only 16 additional million Domestic dollars.

I can live with this.

It still made $224.8 million in the States so far, plus $420.3 million in the Foreign market.

For those playing at home, that's over $645.1 million worldwide,

and that's pretty effin' amazing.

Using Worldwide Numbers, CA: TWS is now in third place amongst Marvel Studio films,

beating out Thor: The Dark World and trailing Iron Man 3.

You remember Iron Man 3...the second Marvel Studios film to break $1.2 billion...

...with a b?

Now do I think Cap et. al. have the stuff to pass the billion bar? No. I don't. 

But I will say this - 

while Adorkette and I were out and about last weekend, we saw a building with a balcony.

And on that balcony was a sheet.

And on said sheet were the following words:

"YOU DO NOT KILL NICK FURY!"

Wish I had a camera.

'Nuff said!

Post-poned due to school vacation...

I'm going to be busy for the next few days...it's Adorkette's school vacation week. 

Yeah, that's how I'm feeling.

Not that Adorkette isn't cool, she's just tiring...

...like 14-year-old-daughter kinda tiring.

See you guys Monday!

...and (finally), Cover #25

The Nimrod.

* I get the look. It's meant to visually show that the machine is adaptable to any attack/threat. Sooorta like the T-1000 "liquid metal", but that look's already taken by Colossus.

* Wouldn't it be cool though if they worked the look from the comics into the film a la Captain America?

Just as an Easter Egg?

* The movie version is intimidating, but it's black...like most everything else in this future. Note to Hollywood: "Black" and "Dark" are not the same thing. 

Just sayin'...

Cover #24...

...featuring Colossus!

I've always loved this character, and am really glad we'll see more of him in this film. However...

* I'm not happy with this particular image. I've seen the clips of him, and he looks awesome, just not here. Is it me - or does his head look too big?

* I see he's got the same black garb as most of the others, but it doesn't seem to work with his organic skin-tone. They should have either made his clothes darker, or his skin more reflective. Or how about showing Piotr mid-transformation? That would have been cool!

Monday Movie Roundup...4/21/2014

Good Morning all...

So - Captain America: The Winter Soldier kept the top spot three weeks in a row!

It made $26.6 million over the weekend in the States.

That brings the Domestic total to over $201.5 million so far...

...which is (finally) creeping towards the Foreign total of more than $385 million.

Worldwide, that means CA: TWS has made $586.6 million to date.

Where does that put it along side it's kin you ask?

Well, among all Marvel Studios' films, it's now in 5th place, between Iron Man 2 (#4) and Iron Man (#6).

And yes...it's made more than Captain America (#8).

(Between you and me I think Cap will move past Iron Man, and finish somewhere around $640 million Worldwide.)

Speaking of movies based on comics,

Amazing Spider-Man 2, which opens here May 2nd...the weekend of FCBD...opened overseas.

Yeah...and it made an estimated $47 million.

Upon further investigation, it seems the film hasn't been released everywhere overseas...just selected countries.

Places like Austria, Mexico, Israel and Denmark have it...

...but Argentina, Bolivia, Iceland, Japan and Russia have to wait until this weekend.

I don't get it either Jean-Luc...

I mean $47 million in (at least part of) the Foreign market is nothing to sneeze at, but still...WTF?

Okay Marvel Studios...let's talk

What the hell are you up to?

Iron Man 3 was the official beginning of your now-famous 'Phase 2' set of films.

You remember Iron Man 3, where you took away Tony's armor...

...his house...

...let's not forget his chest RT...

...and sucker-punched the entire world.

Oh sure. You tried to make up for that with the All Hail the King One-Shot...

...and left us with yet another cliff-hanger.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

And don't for a minute think I didn't notice the "Tony Stark will Return" bit at the end.

Not "Iron Man will Return"...

"Tony Stark will Return".

Then you gave us Thor: The Dark World,

where we discovered another Infinity Stone...

...at the end of the film!

And what else happened? 

Oh yeah - 

Thor's mother was killed...

...Thor's father was killed?...captured?...what?...

...and Thor's brother, believed (by Thor) to be dead, was in fact pretending to be Thor's father.

Uh HUH!

Now there's Captain America: The Winter Soldier...

...where we learn S.H.I.E.L.D. is a joke...

 ...S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are a joke...

...bad guys go around Washington D. freakin' C. shooting people, places and things...

...and aren't even stopped never mind caught...

...and things go freakin' MISSING!!!

Now, according to many sites - including your own - there's only one more movie before Avengers 2:

It looks fantastic, and even has humor in it.

But I'm willing to bet the house that this film will end on a downer too.

This makes me angry.

In truth, there's only one thing I can really blame all of this on:

 Mrs. Adorkification explained it to me like this:

"The heroes have to face adversity before they can win."

She's right.

I know she's right.

But there's a problem.

Yes. In cinema, the second act is always where the main character(s) face,

and lose to,

 the challenge they eventually overcome in Act Three.

I understand this. Don't like it mind you, but I get it.

Here's the thing - 

Act Three usually happens in the last 20+ minutes of the film!

Granted, Empire is one long Act Two where bad things happen to good people.

Said bad things don't get resolved until Act Three... three years later.

But let's take a closer look at that most famous of Act Twos.

Threepio gets blown to bits...

...but gets fixed.

Luke loses his hand...

...and gets a new one.

The Rebellion loses the Battle of Hoth...

...but remains strong enough to have several ships full of people traveling together.

Han gets frozen in carbonite and taken by Boba Fett...

...but we know he's still alive!

And Yoda, who isn't able to complete Luke's Jedi training,

lets it slip that Luke isn't the Jedi's only hope.

"There is another..."

All of this - by the way- happen in the damn film!

So even though this Act Two is most certainly a "downer"...

...it shows HOPE!

Okay Marvel Studios...show me the hope.

Is that it?

Really.

After what I've seen so far, you're expecting me to believe that A2 will be uplifting in any way?

I call bulls#!t.

I call bulls#!t on that right now.

 And again. I get where you're going.

I understand the thought processes behind your actions and see the direction you're taking.

But it's still wrong.

Not the what.

Not the where.

Not even the why.

It's the how.

From what I'm seeing, I'm going to have to deal with two more films...

...and another fifteen months...

...before I see any chance of heroes kicking villain ass and taking names.

Oh, that?

You mean the show that's been highly anticipated...

...became somewhat dull...

...started hinting at greatness...

...only to put the characters (and us) through week after week of hellish depression...

...until the season finale, where Coulson will (most likely) finally meet up with Fury...

...and nothing else will happen.

Except that all the HYDRA agents will use all their newly acquired tech to chase what few good guys are left all over the world...

...oh, and Coulson will finally learn that Ward is a bastard.

The problem here is cliffhangers.

You've got too many of them.

I don't hate cliffhangers.

In fact I respect them a great deal.

But they are exhausting.

Especially when there's more and more of them everywhere I turn.

Not one resolution, not a single plot tied-up.

Not one damn iota of hope.

Maybe Game of Thrones is partly to blame.

You're looking for a level of audience reaction on a par with Red Wedding.

Okay, but the only ones truly surprised by that...never read the books.

The show isn't reinventing the wheel, it's just telling the same story through a different medium.

You guys are telling stories...

 ...different from the source material.

And that's fine.

But you have to give your audience more than anger, frustration and hatred if you want them...

...us...

...to continue spending our hard earned cash on your products.

You're alienating me.

Stop it.

Bring back the hope, before it's too late.