New Beginnings in the Old Hometown

I was looking for an appropriate film to post on Easter Sunday.  I, as per my wont, was looking for something a little quirky, but instead found this film.  It's definitely not one that would have appeared on my radar, since it has all the earmarks of a Hallmark movie, (egad!).  But the message of it appealed to me.

I invited my sister to watch it with me, She is a much more dedicated Christian than I am, and she liked it. I didn't have a whole lot of nitpicking to go with it myself.  The redemption message that is typical in Christian movies is a bit subdued, if you ask me, although I admit I haven't had much experience with these kinds of movies.  Do most of them wait until the last 10 minutes for the complete transformation of the main character? (I mean, in the end, despite all the change that seems to have been happening to Stone, he is STILL willing to ditch it all for his own purposes, up until the final 10 minutes, anyway.)

The film has mostly people I never even heard of, but it does have former wrestling star Shawn Michaels. It also had D. B. Sweeney as the pastor of the church for which the main character ends up doing community service.  Now Sweeney is a somewhat familiar face, especially if you've seen what is my favorite sports movie, Eight Men Out. (Sweeney plays Shoeless Joe Jackson in that one.)

The Resurrection of Gavin Stone (2017):

Gavin Stone (Brett Dalton) was a former child actor, who had been a darling of the TV world as the star of a TV series when he was young.  But as often happens (at least "often" in the Hollywood world of child actors), Stone has had some bad luck as an adult.  He is currently on trial for having done some bad things, including trashing a hotel room.  As his probation, he is required to do community service, which is to be done in his hometown at a local church.

The pastor of the church, Allen Richardson (D. B. Sweeney), lays down the law from the outset.  Gavin isn't going to just be able to waltz through his community service.  Pastor Allen expects Gavin to actually work. Which means, at the beginning his is pushing a mop....

In addition Gavin has to move in with his estranged widower father, Waylon (Neil Flynn), who is also not going to let Gavin just ride the easy wave.  

Gavin, of course, is still a bit manipulative, a leftover attribute from the easy life he had as an actor.  When he finds out that the church is going to put on a play on the life of Jesus, he does his best to get into it, because, not only is he an actor, but this would represent an easy way to get through his community service.

The play is being run by Kelly (Anjelah Johnson), who, eventually turns out to not just be another member of the church, but is in fact the pastor's daughter.  (Which makes it a bit difficult when Gavin tries to work his charms on her).  

Not to mention, one of the rules for being able to play a role in the play is that each member has to be a Christian and give his testimony.

Of course, Gavin is not a Christian.  But he is an actor, so he CAN pretend to be one. (Although how the rest of them aren't wise to his subterfuge from the outset is a bit perplexing.)

Gavin keeps trying to change the script and direction to put more emphasis on himself as the actor, this all despite the fact that he is cast as Jesus Christ, and his self-promotion as an actor is in direct contrast with the image that the person he is playing would exhibit.

Gavin eventually starts to come around to Kelly's way of thinking and it would seem that maybe, just maybe, he is having a change of outlook. Except that he gets a call from his agent that a primo part is available for him in L.A.  Despite all the effort he has put into the play, he decides to abandon it for the L.A. gig.

But, as usually happens in such movies, he finds the old Christian style luring him back and he deserts L.A. to go back to the church. Where, wonder of wonders, does he not only give a bravura performance as Jesus, but he may just decide to stay on for a bit longer. And probably will be a good real Christian in the mix.

Once again, the story does not rank in the kind of movies I usually do for this blog, but if you are among those of my readers with Christian values you might find this one a pretty good movie, whether for Easter or not.  For my part, I am going to spread it around tomorrow at church. Yes, I do go to church... hope you aren't surprised...

Quiggy

 

 

Save the Drive-In

 

So, some of you may know I recently changed locations of residency. I now live with my sister in Pottsboro, just south of the Oklahoma border.  The move has been a bit stressful, in terms of library access.  Pottsboro, a town of only about 2000, has a small library (in what used to be the post office when I was growing up, although the town got big enough it built a bigger post office.) The two nearest towns, Denison (pop. 25,000) and Sherman (pop. 44,000) each have their own libraries, although the combined 3 libraries only have maybe 1/4 of what was available in the library of my last residence in south Texas.

As such, my resources are limited.  But as I was looking through the available DVDs at the Sherman library  I came across this gem.  I had never even heard of it, although it has won a few awards in the film community albeit mostly local... For instance one of the awards for it was Best Local Feature at the Philadelphia Film Festival (fitting since  the subject drive-in is a Philly drive-in).

The dedication of the people involved and their love of the drive-in experience really shines through here.  And, at least currently, it is still going strong. Their Facebook page has updates often (I just found it).  Unfortunately, from my perspective, they don't dwell too much with the 50's and 60's themes.  Much of what I saw in the film, as well as what I saw in my brief scan of the FB page, the movies tend to be 70's, 80's and some 90's stuff.  But that's a far cry from some of the more recent "new wave" drive-in theaters which are showing current run movies. The Stars and Stripes Theater which opened down the road from my old stomping grounds in New Braunfels fits that category. 

(Note: I realize that in it's heyday drive-ins ran first run films. I just wish there was a retro drive-in that ran that same stuff now.)

Of course, if you know this blog from it's beginnings, I grew up here in north Texas, where I now reside, and the Sherman and Denison area had two twin theaters (Coincidentally located directly across the highway from each other; The She-Den Twin and The Twin Cities Twin). I spent quite a bit of my early teens and twenties going to just such theaters.

At the Drive-In (2017):

The film basically opens at the start of the 2016 season. Jeff Mattox, the owner of the Mahonic Drive-In in Lehighton is preparing for the new season.  He says he got his start at showing films while still serving in the Armed Forces.  After his term of service he got involved with the local drive-in.

One of the problems he ran into prior to the start of the current season was trying to get keep theater running with the new digital age, but he found that the cost of doing so was prohibitive. So he made a decision to run movies that were still available in the old 35MM format. Of course, that meant only older movies.

 

The first few weeks they were sometimes showing these old movies to only 4 or 5 cars. And they ran in the red for a while.    The film points out that their first double feature was The Wizard of Oz and Willy Wonka (the Gene Wilder version). That apparently is now a tradition that they run those first two films on opening night at the beginning of each season.

Jeff managed to get two helpers who had the same dedication as he and whom eventually became partners in his venture, Matt and Virgil.  He also had a holdover from the days when it was still running newer movies, Jessica. These 4 people are the driving force behind keeping the Mahonic a going concern.

 

 

The Mahonic managed to acquire many dedicated advocates including several people who went on to volunteer helping out, including one guy who drove 6 1/2 hours one way because of his dedication. One of the guys says he is a fan of the place because he loves old "shitty" movies. (Sounds like a fellow I would enjoy spending a few hours with in conversation). A few of them spend their entire weekend at the Mahonic, going so far as to crash at the place to save $$ so they can get up in the morning to do the necessary maintenance of the place. 

The ultimate end for me is I now would like to put a trip to the drive-in some day on my bucket list. An interesting little piece for anyone interested in the background in this classic movie venue.

Quiggy

MCU Sunday #17 Thor: Ragnarok

 

 Preface: As promised last year, I plan to review every single currently available movie in what is known as the  Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) over the year 2024. These will appear in order of their release over that time period. This is the seventeenth installment. (Oh, and by the way, after I've exhausted all of the currently available MCU movies I will be rounding out the year with some of the other available movies made from the Marvel comics pantheon.)

Notes: In each of the MCU installments you will be seeing references to two recurring events that occur in nearly every MCU movie.

Where is Stan Lee?: Stan Lee was the driving genius behind Marvel Comics.  He usually shows up in a cameo.  Sometimes these are so quick you gotta be sure you don't blink. Occasionally he gets a line  of dialogue.

And the Credits Roll: You should always stay in the theater for the credits when watching a MCU movie, because during the credits and at the end there is a teaser (or two) that is worth the wait.  Often they were a teaser for the next installment of the films.

 

 

 

OK, first off, according to Wikipedia, Chris Hemsworth had started to get a little bored with playing a straightforward serious Thor.  So with this entry you get Hemsworth with a chance to show off his comedy chops. And I like a little comedy in my action movies, although actually I prefer one liners to actual long extended sequences.  But this film doesn't overdo it, even when the sequence is extended (such as the opening tête-à-tête  between Thor and Surtur)

Thor: Ragnarok: (2017)

Thor is a prisoner. Surtur (voiced by Clancy Brown). is preparing to initiate the Norse "end of the world" known as Ragnarok. To that effort, he must go to Asgard and unite his crown with The Eternal Flame.  But since it is being kept in Asgard under lock and key, as it were, Thor tells him  that might prove a bit difficult.  But Surtur reveals that Odin is no longer in charge at Asgard, and the throne is empty: Asgard defenseless.  

But Thor is not exactly a prisoner, after all.  He was apparently just lulling Surtur into a state of confidence in his capture.  He summons his hammer, Mjolnir, and does battle with Surtur and his devilish protectors. (all to the background music featuring Led Zeppelin's "Immigrant Song", which any time you get Zep as the background music, the scene improves 100 fold.)

 

With Surtur (apparently) defeated and his crown in Thor's possession, Thor returns to Asgard to find that Odin is still in Asgard....  Only he is idling and watching a play performed by Asgardian actors (and very pitiful actors at that, but that's not due to the REAL actors in the roles... after all, on that stage you get cameos by none other than Chris Hemsworth's brother, Luke, Sam Niell and Matt Damon.  They pull off the terrible acting with panache...)

 

The "play" is one that is a retelling of how Loki, the hero of Asgard, saved Asgard from destruction... Hmmm.  You know it and I know it and even Thor knows it.  That's not Odin.  The king is a fake.  It's really Loki posing as Odin.

Thor makes Loki take him to where Odin is, but Odin is not where Loki left him (a retirement home on Earth, ye gods).  And while Thor and Loki stand by observing the demolition of the rest home where Odin supposedly was, Loki disappears leaving behind a calling card that Thor finds that leads him to...

Dr. Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch).  And the doctor has basically one goal, to dispense with any perceived threats to the peace on Earth.  So he helps Thor find Odin (Anthony Hopkins) on the agreement that once he is found both Thor and Loki will return to Asgard, thus eliminating the threat to Earth that Strange perceives them to be.

 

In Norway they find Odin who informs them that Thor did not actually prevent Ragnarok.  The Goddess of Death, Hela (Cate Blanchett), is on her way and Ragnarok, which had only been kept from happening while Odin was still alive is now imminent.  (And yes, sorry folks, but Odin must make his exit... sorry Hopkins fans...) And one final reveal from Odin before his departure.  Hela is Odin's firstborn, ac sister that neither Thor nor Loki knew about.

 After Odin disappears (in virtually a puff of smoke) Hela makes he appearance. And proves to Thor and Loki that she is one Hela of a woman (sorry couldn't resist.) When she tells them both to kneel before their new queen, Thor decides that is not an option and tries to show her the error of her ways by throwing Mjolnir at her.  But she dispatches Mjolnir to rubble in quick order.  (OK, now we're really getting somewhere with the Thor saga.)

 

She ends up going to Asgard and naming herself queen, leaving behind Thor, who is not  exactly the same man without Mjolnir.  He ends up on the planet Sakkar, and attacked by warriors. 0And he ends up being captured by  them.  But he is rescued by Scrapper 142 (Tessa Thompson) who defeats said warriors and captures Thor for her own purposes.  (Gotta love these warrior women in the Thor saga, they are some real badasses,) And what are her purposes?  She intends to sell Thor to the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) of Sakkar as a gladiator to fight in his battles, known as the Contest of Champions. Basically the same thing as those entertaining battles the Emperors of Rome used to entertain the masses in Ancient Rome, I guess.

 

He is helped to adjust to his new life by a rock man named Korg (played by the movie's director Taika Waititi). Meanwhile, back on Asgard, Hela lays waste to the entire army of Asgardians who are not so receptive to their new ruler. Not exactly the best way to treat your new subjects, if you ask me.  Killing off all your subjects and you rule a world, sure, but rule over whom? Well, for starters an army of undead warriors brought to life from the power of the Eternal Flame.

So ultimately, back on Sakkar, Thor has plans to get his freedom back.  After all, all he has to do is defeat this Grandmaster's ultimate champions and his reward for doing so, as promised by the Grandmaster will be the freedom he wants. 

Where is Stan Lee?

In preparation for his fight, Thor has to get cleaned up. Including a trip to the barber.  And guess who the barber is?  (Man this guy really gets around...)

 

So Thor enters the ring to face the champion.  And surprise, surprise, the Grandmaster's champion is none other than... The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo). (You were wondering where he had been all this time, weren't you?} 

 

Although Thor eventually starts to win the battle, The Grandmaster stops Thor from his win.  It seems the Grandmaster is not one who appreciates having to concede anything, especially if it is not in his favor.

Also during this time Thor discovers the true identity of Scrapper 1t seems she is the last of a race of warrior women called the Valkyrie. (And my hopes rise up  that somewhere along the way in this film,  the music will cue of for one of my favorite classical pieces... you know which one I mean...) Thor tries to appeal to her as a former vaunted warrior of Asgard, but initially she refuses to even acknowledge she is a Valkyrie.

Back at Asgard, Hela charges Skurge (Karl Urban) with the task of rounding up all the dissenters to her claim to the throne.  (Author interjection: I liked Urban as Skurge for the most part, but I found his choice of using a Cockney accent for the character a little off-putting.  Every other Asgardian uses a cultured accent for their roles, but he sounds like a dockworker from the  backwaters of London.)

 

Thor and Hulk try to escape from the Grandmaster, and eventually the Valkyrie comes on board to help.  It seems that, as the only surviving Valkyrie who were all defeated at the hands of Hela before Odin cast her into exile, she wants revenge on Hela just as badly as Thor.  Thus Thor forms a group called "The Revengers".

The escape from Sakkar is eminent.  Through a wormhole named "The Devil's Anus" (I didn't make that up... Really.. That's it's name...) Of course, the Grandmaster doesn't like it when he is not totally in charge.  So he intends to do everything within his power to prevent The Revengers from escaping.  The Grandmaster is not really a villain here, he's more like the comic relief of the film.  (And after all, have you EVER seen a movie in which Goldblum was an entirely evil villain?  I find it hard to hate him, even when he is not a sympathetic character.)

On Asgard, the final battle occurs as the sibling rivalry of Thor and Loki has now been replaced with the sibling rivalry of Thor and Hela.  And while Heimdall (Idris Elba) and the rebellion fight Skurge and his army of enforcers, Thor and Hela fight for supremacy on Asgard.  But will Asgard survive to be a realm worth ruling? One way or the other, we get to see a final battle which includes (oh, happy day!) Led Zeppelin's return to the soundtrack.  (OK, I'll try not to let it go to my head...)

 

And the Credits Roll:

In a mid credits scene Thor and Loki discuss whether it is a good idea to bring Loki back to Earth. And a spacecraft appears.  In the post credits, The Grandmaster confronts the revolution to take over Sakkar and proclaims it to be a "tie"... Maybe not.

OK. Final words on Thor: Ragnarok.  At this point it is a fight between Captain America: The First Avenger and this one for supremacy at the top of the rankings.  I haven't quite made my final decision at posting, but both are really good.  You know, if you've been following along this series of posts, that I prefer action over character development, and this one does not disappoint on that level.  I doubt there is anything longer than a 5 minute interval where something cool is not happening, and the battles in this one rival anything in that other movie.

On a personal note; I'm pretty sure that there are many alternate choices to have played Hela and she would have been just as intimidating.  But I don't think anyone else could have pulled off the role of The Grandmaster that Goldblum did.  Even though he is basically just a side story to the actual plot, I enjoyed every moment that he was on screen and was somewhat disappointed when his presence finally came to an end. 

And so, really, the only disappointing part of the film, as I stated earlier my hope, was that the classical piece "Ride of the Valkyries" did not make it on the soundtrack.  Of course, that piece was meant as a battle of multiple characters (it is "valkyries", after all not "valkyrie") so I guess I can give it a pass.

Well folks time to board the spaceship (or it's substitute, the old Plymouth0 and head to Earth (or home, as it were.  Drive safely.

Quiggy

MCU Sunday #16 Spider-Man: Homecoming

 

 Preface: As promised last year, I plan to review every single currently available movie in what is known as the  Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) over the year 2024. These will appear in order of their release over that time period. This is the sixteenth installment. (Oh, and by the way, after I've exhausted all of the currently available MCU movies I will be rounding out the year with some of the other available movies made from the Marvel comics pantheon.)

Notes: In each of the MCU installments you will be seeing references to two recurring events that occur in nearly every MCU movie.

Where is Stan Lee?: Stan Lee was the driving genius behind Marvel Comics.  He usually shows up in a cameo.  Sometimes these are so quick you gotta be sure you don't blink. Occasionally he gets a line  of dialogue.

And the Credits Roll: You should always stay in the theater for the credits when watching a MCU movie, because during the credits and at the end there is a teaser (or two) that is worth the wait.  Often they were a teaser for the next installment of the films.

  

The first thing to note here is that Spider-Man: Homecoming is not an origin story. For the origin of the current Spider-Man you will have to wait until after the MCU Sunday series ends, because The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 are not considered a part of the MCU series. These will appear in the Marvel Movies series that will follow after the MCU series has been completed.  

Andrew Garfield, the actor who had original played Spider-Man in those first two Spider-Man movies' was replaced.  Apparently there were some issues with Garfield and the studio, the best I can figure is that Garfield was not entirely on board with the way that the brass wanted to promote Spider-Man..  A story I read was that was a no-show for a promotional event, which probably wasn't the only issue (otherwise his ouster would seem rather egregious..)

Tom Holland was the next one in line for the role.  And Holland, in my opinion, was just a substitute for Tobey Maguire. His performance is mostly indistinguishable from Maguire's portrayal in those earlier Spider-Man movies. But by the time Captain America: Civil War came out Maguire, at about 40,  was way too old for the role.  But Holland did the part justice, especially as a teenager who is over-exuberant about his potential role as a superhero.

In the tradition of previous entries in the MCU, the studio got yet another big name to play the role of the villain: Michael Keaton as Vulture.  Having Keaton in the role was probably one of the better decisions made by Marvel.  Considering that Parker is a young, inexperienced (read: not-hardened) superhero, he really needed a (somewhat) sympathetic villain, and who else but Keaton (or maybe Tom Hanks) could have pulled that off?

Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017):

The movie opens just after the Battle of New York (see The Avengers).  After the Avengers defeated the Chitauri's plans to invade, New York City was a mess.  Adrian Toomes (Michael Keaton), the owner of a salvage company, is running an operation to clean up the damage. But a government bureaucracy gets involved and shuts down his salvage operation.  (And surely, his wasn't the only company involved in salvage, I'm sure, but then, I guess he was the only one who turned to super-crime as a result.)

But Toomes finds out that all of the Chitauri stuff they got had not been turned over to the authorities, and he decides to use it to make stuff (including what will become known as the suit he uses to be The Vulture.)

Flash forward to the present.  After having been called in to help in the fight with Captain America (see Captain America: Civil War), Peter. "Spider-Man" Parker (Tom Holland) is desperate to become a part of the Avengers. But less important things...you know...things like school, and keeping his role as Spider-Man a secret from his Aunt May (Marisa Tomei), keep getting in the way.  And then, of course, there's that whole "I want to be  a superhero", but he doesn't have a clue when his help is needed and when he is just butting in on regular things that aren't really crimes.

For instance, stopping a guy from trying to jimmy the lock on his car with a Slim Jim because he locked his keys in the car, thus not only annoying the actual car owner but setting off the car's alarm and annoying the rest of the neighborhood, too,  Including..

Where is Stan Lee?:

One of the neighbors, who was just trying to get some sleep, apparently, opens up his window and yells "Don't make me come down there, punk!"

 

The good thing is Spidey finally gets to do some good when he spots some guys trying to rip off an ATM. The bad news is the bad guys have some wicked technology that proves to destroy not only the building, but pretty much mess up half a city block.  When he finds the backpack he had his regular clothes in stolen he has to sneak home.  Only to find his best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon) waiting in his room 

And Ned, being the total nerd, is stoked that his best friend is Spider-Man. But struggles with that whole "can you just keep a secret identity a secret, dude" thing.  Thus causing some seriously difficult situations... such as causing a girl he really likes, Liz (Laura Harrier), to invite him to a party because she wants him to bring his friend, Spider-Man, whom she is crushing on.  (Because, you know, Ned told her that Peter knows Spider-Man).

But while Peter is changing into the Spider-Man suit on the roof he sees something dirty going on across town and goes to check it out instead.  Where he finds a couple Toomes men engaged in trying to sell some of their advanced weaponry to a small-time hood who really only wants something like a simple revolver, not a super ray gun.

As the bad guys try to get away, Spidey gives chase. But just when he is about to catch up, in pops The Vulture, who wraps him up in a parachute that is part of Spidey's suit arsenal and drops him in the East River.  (Which would be bad enough, even if he wasn't tied up with trying to get entangled from the parachute... have you heard how much a mess that river is...?)

Spidey ends up having to be rescued.by Iron Man (Robert Downey, Jr.)  Or at least one of his remote controlled suits, since Stark is elsewhere.  And even though Peter tries to explain that he had a handle on it, Stark tells him to lay off the big stuff and just try to be the "friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

Meanwhile, Toomes, still as The Vulture, has some serious words with the guy who is supposed to be "discreetly" getting rid of some of the weapons. Like the anti-gravity gun he left behind at the scene. He shoots the underling, who had been also known as The Shocker, and gives the moniker to the next guy in line, who is now The Shocker (Bokeem Woodbine).

And back on the home front, Peter, who has found the discarded anti-gravity ray-gun is trying to figure out what makes it work. And it turns out it has a tracking device that tells him where the bad guys are. Which turns out to be the same area where his school is going to a Jeopardy-like school function.  And since Peter is the smartest guy in the school, he gets on the school team.

But while he is doing his thing as Spidey, the team has to do their function without him.  After they win they celebrate by going to the Washington Monument.  Where the tracking device, which his friend Ned has in his backpack, also turns out to have some capabilities you don't want in a tall building.  Like turning into a bomb...

Spidey has to show up to save his friends who are on the elevator at the top of the Washington Monument before all hell breaks loose and the elevator makes an unscheduled descent. After saving the day, Spidey, who is gradually learning the things he can do with his suit by trial and error begins to track down The Vulture.  (If you've ever watched the old TV show The Greatest American Hero, you know how much difficulty he's going to have with that whole "trial and error" thing.)

(And hey, BTW, just in case you think I've been a little flippant in this review, I think the whole point might have been to kind of use that old TV show as a template for this entry.  The film has more funny moments than the entire series of MCU movies up to this point.  Which is not necessarily a bad thing.  The MCU could use a shot in the arm at some point.  It was getting a bit serious.  But it is going to get serious again real soon...)

So back at home base, Toomes is starting to get a little perturbed.  8 years without any frustration from either the government or even, God forbid, those "costumed bozos in Stark's tower". And then along comes this red-suited pipsqueak to put a kibosh on his work.  So he has only one choice; kill him.

When Spidey tries to stop the transfer of illegal weapons on a ferry, The Vulture shows up and tries to convince him that's a bad move.  To make his point he uses his own weapons to cause the ferry to split apart.  Even though Spider-Man makes a valiant effort to keep things together, ultimately it requires the help of a convenient appearance of Iron Man. And Iron Man/Stark is disappointed in Peter and takes away the enhanced suit he provided.

So Peter has to resume a normal life as what he is supposed to really be; a high school student just trying to get through the daily grind of life as a teenager. (How boring!)  But guess what?  The bonus is that, by just being a regular kid, he gets to go to the high school homecoming dance with Liz.  But when he shows up to picker her up for the dance he discovers that Liz's dad is Toomes. (geez, from bad to worse.  I mean your would-be girlfriend being the daughter of your would-be arch-nemesis?  That's really gotta suck...)

And because good old dad is driving the two to the dance he gets to chat a little with Peter.  And gradually comes to the conclusion that Peter is actually the guy who has been giving him problems in his illegal activities...  And he tells Peter in no uncertain terms that he'd better lay off or some really bad things are going to happen to the people he loves.  Especially, and make that ESPECIALLY, don't try to stop him from his current plan.  Which turns out to be a hijacking of a plane loaded down with advanced weaponry that belongs to the Avengers.

Without the advanced suit that Stark had provided him, Peter has to go back to his old suit.  Which may (or may not) be up to the task of defeating The Vulture.  The end result is Toomes is captured, of course, but in doing so Spidey also saves his life.

Once again, the ultimate battle in the tradition of superhero movies is the part we've all been waiting for, and the ultimate showdown between Spider-Man and The Vulture does not disappoint.  One thing I'd like to say: of all the villains and their advanced gadgetry that has appeared so far, I think my favorite is the Vulture suit. Although you don't get to see the villain's face when he's wearing it... (at least the comic book version of the Vulture wasn't afraid to let everyone know who he was.  And I do miss that neck line.  Although just before the final confrontation, Toomes is wearing a tufted jacket reminiscent of the comic book villain.)

And the Credits Roll: 

Toomes, now in jail, meets up with a former associate who says he heard a rumor that Toomes knows the secret identity of Spider-Man, but Toomes pretends ignorance.

So where does Spider-Man: Homecoming rank in the MCU pantheon?  I loved the comic twists that appeared in this one.  And as I said way back last year, because I was a teenager when I discovered Spider-Man, he is one of my favorites in the Marvel comics world.  Personally, however, I don't think Tom Holland is quite up to Tobey Maguire in terms of presence on screen.  But he will do for now.  He is definitely more entertaining a character than say Norton as The Incredible Hulk, and somewhat better than Ant-Man.  And thus, Spider-Man: Homecoming gets into the upper third of the pantheon on my rankings list.

Time to get all this spider goo off the Plymouth and head home.  Drive safe, folks.  You never know.  With Spider-Man on the job, you might have to deal with him thinking you are a criminal on the run from the law if you speed...

Quiggy

MCU #15: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

 

 Preface: As promised last year, I plan to review every single currently available movie in what is known as the  Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) over the year 2024. These will appear in order of their release over that time period. This is the fifteenth installment. (Oh, and by the way, after I've exhausted all of the currently available MCU movies I will be rounding out the year with some of the other available movies made from the Marvel comics pantheon.)

Notes: In each of the MCU installments you will be seeing references to two recurring events that occur in nearly every MCU movie.

Where is Stan Lee?: Stan Lee was the driving genius behind Marvel Comics.  He usually shows up in a cameo.  Sometimes these are so quick you gotta be sure you don't blink. Occasionally he gets a line  of dialogue.

And the Credits Roll: You should always stay in the theater for the credits when watching a MCU movie, because during the credits and at the end there is a teaser (or two) that is worth the wait.  Often they were a teaser for the next installment of the films.

 

One of the best parts of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol .2 is the reunion of Kurt Russell and Sylvester Stallone in another film.  Not sure why Kurt Russell was never cast in the Expendables, although one site said it was because he didn't like the idea of ensemble casts in films. (Sort of like, I guess, "I'm OK with another star sharing screen time, but 6 or 7?  No,  thanks.") Anyway, after Tango and Cash, which was a success at the box office, you would think the pairing might have happened again, but it didn't.

Now, admittedly, this is not the same, since they never appear in the same scene in this one, but to have both in one film again was pretty cool. And, by the way, if you have a quick eye, you might also spot Ving Rhames in Stallone's character's crew of associates. 

 

 

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: (2017)

The opening scenes involve a young couple driving down the road, singing along to the looking Glass song "Brandy". as it turns out, the couple is Peter Quill's (Star-Lord) parents, Meredith (Laura Haddock). an Earthling, and Ego (Kurt Russell/Aaron Schwartz), an alien. 

(Author question: Obviously Ego has told Meredith he is an alien, but did she accept it on face value or did he have to show his anatomically enhanced prowess first?)

Ego has taken her to a forest to show here something he has planted, which he says will grow and soon be all over the universe.  (That's some serious reproductive capabilities).

Flash forward to present day.  Our heroes, the Guardians, have been hired to protect some fancy batteries from a inter-dimensional creature called an Abelisk. 

 

Having succeeded in defeating the giant alien squid, the Guardians return the batteries to their employer and collect their reward, which turns out to be Gamora's (Zoe Saldana) sister, Nebula (Karen Gillian).  The plan from there is to turn over Nebula to the Xandars in exchange for a bounty on her.

But Rocket (Bradley Cooper) has stolen some of the batteries for his own purposes.  And, of course, the employers, the Sovereign are not exactly sympathetic and seen forces out to take the batteries back, They need to escape and are helped by a mysterious figure who destroys the entire fleet of remotely controlled Sovereign ships and crash land on the planet of Berhert.

So who is this mysterious figure who helped them?  We don't have to wait long to find out, as he has followed through the portal to Berhert.  It is Ego, who informs Peter that he is Ego, Peter's long lost father.

 

It turns out that Ego is a Celestial, (possibly the only one his kind),  and he created life in order to find purpose in life. (or at least, that's what I gathered,) He met Peter's mother during his quest and fathered him.  After his mother died, Ego hired Yondu (Michael Rooker) and the Ravager's to bring Peter to him.

But Yondu, being less scrupulous, betrayed his mission and kept him. So Ego has spent his life trying to track his son down.  And after hearing that Peter had held an Infinity Stone in his hands without suffering immediate death, he knew that Peter must be his long lost son (because, apparently  only a Celestial, or his progeny, can do that.)

Back on Berhent, Yondu attempts to recapture the Guardians.  But only Rocket, Baby Groot (Vin Diesel) and the hostage, Nebula, are on the planet.  Nebula convinces Baby Groot that she must be freed from her bondage so she can help.  But her purposes are not exactly altruistic (of course).

When Yondu proves to be too sympathetic to Peter, a mutiny occurs and Taserface (Chis Sullivan) takes command, capturing Yondu as his prisoner and executing all of those who side with Yondu.  Nebula agrees to help them, but she wants Gamora for her own, because she wants to kill her sister. And also, she wants to collect the bounty on the Guardians by the Sovereign. Using the Ravagers sense of mercenary tactics, she convinces them to join with her, taking only as her part, her sister and 10% of the bounty.  The money she plans to use to buy a warship to take and fight her father, Thanos, whom she hates almost, but not quite, as much as Gamora.

Oh, and something I forgot.  Apparently Yondu had too much of a tendency to go out on his own, disregarding the edicts of his Ravager race, so he has been an outcast from his own society.  And Stakar (Sylvester Stallone) has been holding on to a grudge against him ever since. 

 

Yondu and Rocket break out of prison and go looking for Peter, while Nebula is also looking for Gamora.  They use a kind of warp drive to get to where he his, passing through 100s of other worlds, which includes one populated by a race called The Watchers (See the Marvel comic book or the TV series What If for more on these guys.)

Where is Stan Lee? 

Stan is on the Watchers world giving a background on himself as says "Well, at that time I was a Federal Express man" (referring to his cameo on Captain America: Civil War, which some people postulate means that he is basically playing the same character throughout the series, only in different guises...) 

 Nebula finds Gamora and attempts to kill her, but wrecks her ship and Gamora saves her.  The two end up reconciling after a heart to heart talk, although Nebula still holds on to her grudge against her father for pitting the two of them together in the first place (and his sadistic dismantling of her physical being to be replaced by mechanical things...)

Ego and Peter have a talk and Ego reveals to Peter his true nature as the son of a Celestial.  But Ego has some ulterior motives that are not revealed to Peter at the time.  Yet Ego's "ally", Mantis (Pom Kiementieff), has a line on what Ego really intends, which she eventually reveals to Drax (Dave Bautista).  Yet Ego does reveal that he has impregnated thousands of women on thousands of worlds, but when the offspring failed to show signs of Celestial power, he had them killed.  He also reveals that he was the one who caused this death of Peter's mother (which of course does not set well with Peter). 

So Peter, it turns out, is not on board with his father's plans to remake the universe in his own image.  And thus the real villain of the film is revealed.  And the guardians now have a goal to prevent Ego from following through with his nefarious plans.  But can a cadre of mortals really defeat a god?

And the Credits Roll:

 In one scene, Kraglin (Sean Gunn, brother of the director James) tries to learn how to use Yondu's mind arrow. In a second scene Stakar addresses some allies reuniting the Ravagers. In a third(!) scene, the leader of the Sovereign has created a new A.I. which she hopes will be capable of destroying the Guardians.  And it yet even another (fourth!) post credit scene, Peter admonishes a now teenager Groot for having such a messy room.

 

The final solution may (or may not) be satisfying. Personally I think it was too easy, considering that he is indeed one of the most powerful villains to appear in the franchise. Of course, if they didn't defeat him it would still be an ongoing battle even now.  As much as I liked the interaction here, though, I have to say that Vol 2 is not in the top 10 of my favorites (even now with only 15 movies reviewed.) It remains to be seen how long it stays as far at the bottom it is, however, since I am only ranking these upon this cycle of viewings.

Time to fire up the old Plymouth and head home.  I sure am glad I don't have to pass through 700 dimensions before I get there.  Drive safely, folks. 

Quiggy

 

The Dickens, You Say!

Note:  This post marks a landmark in my blog.  It is the first movie I have reviewed that is still in the theaters as of the time of the writing.  A special thanks to Hamlette of Hamelette's Soliloquy for giving me the notice that it was even in theaters.  I don't own a TV, so I had no idea it was out.  But after seeing the trailer, and reading one negative review by some twit in England (which only increased my determination to see it), I went to a theater yesterday to see it.






I have mentioned now twice on this blog that my favorite Christmas story is A Christmas Carol, a story by Charles Dickens.  The story came out almost 175 years ago and was a phenomenal success for the author.

What this movie (and the book it was based on by Les Standiford) brings to light is that Dickens, after the success of Oliver Twist, which had made him a household name and brought him great recognition, was suffering from a spate of less than stellar follow-up success.  Both Martin Chuzzlewit and Barnaby Rudge had been critical and financial failures.  His publishers were considering dismissing him.   

 The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017):

The movie starts out in 1842 with Charles Dickens (Dan Stevens) on tour bin the United States, being celebrated in ways that harken some film stars being feted, given standing ovations and applause as a celebrity of the day.  But 16 months later, Dickens' success has waned.  The last three books he has written were not very well received and were financial failures.  So his publishers are about to dismiss him.

Dickens makes a promise to bring out a new story in time for Christmas.  The only problem is he is suffering from a severe case of writer's block.  He just can't come up with an idea.  But while walking around London with his confidante,/agent he encounters several things which spark his creative juices, including a funeral for a rich man who has no mourners.

Dickens finally comes up with the perfect name for his character, Scrooge (Christopher Plummer) , and like many authors claim, actually has conversations with Scrooge to get his identity down.  Scrooge actually shows up (more or less in the flesh, to give him insights into the character.  But Dickens has other problems that threaten to derail his writing.

For one thing he has trouble convincing his staff to leave him alone when he is in the midst of his writing.  One young maid, Tara (Anna Murphy) is a constant source of interruption, but as it turns out is a reliable sounding board for his story, too.  But Dickens also has his father to deal with. John Dickens (Jonathan Pryce) is a big fat pain in the butt to say the least.  And of course, Dickens never really forgave him for deserting him as a child.  (Well, he didn't REALLY desert Charles; he was arrested and sent to debtor's prison, resulting in Charles having to go to work in a boot blacking factory.  And this is a demon that haunts Charles even to the present day.)

The story plays itself out with lots of neat little a-ha moments if you are familiar with the story.  I'm not entirely sure whether the movie is factual or just anecdotal.  It's probably a foregone conclusion that Dickens didn't actually see and talk to a physical manifestation of Scrooge, but other than that I can't say for sure if this is how it all panned out.  It is factual that Dickens barely finished A Christmas Carol in time for it to be sold for Christmas of 1843, and it is true that it was a success and probably saved his career, but as far as the rest, well, who cares?  It's good entertainment even it turns out to be hooey.

However, much as the distributors seem to want to market this movie as a family movie  (at least three of the coming attractions were cartoon movies...), I'm not entirely sure this is as much a "kid movie" as it is "an adult who is a kid at heart movie".   That's not to say I didn't thoroughly enjoy it, but as I've pointed out before, I am no longer a kid...  But if you are even slightly enamored of the original story, I think you will get some enjoyment out of this one.


Quiggy