Nerd in the 'Noke

The Avengers (2012), PG-13, 142 minutes - Wow.  I'm completely nerding out right now.  I've had high hopes for The Avengers for a while now.  Ever since the idea of cramming a bunch of super heroes into a single movie was teased with the post credits scene of Iron Man.  Hopes were raised even more when Marvel announced that Joss Whedon would direct.  That's right, Joss Whedon.  He who has an amazing resume when it comes to highly entertaining tv and film revolving around character driven stories with a large, diverse cast.  The Avengers really couldn't have been put in better hands.  But even though I had raised my hopes so high, the comic book nerd in me wondered if The Avengers would really work on the big screen.  Could you fit that many characters in a movie that wasn't five hours long?  And if you could get a script down that solved those potential problems, could you piece together a cast that could set aside egos and bring it a...

So here we are, May 4th has arrived, and with it the release of The Avengers!  I am posting this earlier in the day than I have my previous entries because some of you may be seeing The Avengers as early as this evening (if you haven't seen it already - and if you have, I'm jealous).  I have some family in town this weekend and am currently planning on checking out The Avengers Sunday afternoon/evening.  If you aren't seeing it before then, be sure to check back here for my review.  Anyway, my review for Captain America: The First Avenger from last July completes my re-cap countdown and should help get you primed for Joss Whedon's adventure with Earth's Mightiest Heroes.  My personal ranking of these five Marvel 'feeder' films is posted and discussed at the end of the post. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), PG-13, 124 minutes - This new Captain America movie (there was a terrible one made back in 1990 ) checked in at #3 on my personal Most Antici...

Welcome to day 4 of my countdown to The Avengers! Today I am re-sharing my review of last summer's Thor.  I think I'd probably rank Thor number two if I had to list these five Marvel films in order of my favorite (maybe even a close number 3).  Either way, I enjoyed it a lot and it is very entertaining.  I'll share my personal rankings tomorrow when I post the last installment of the countdown! Thor (2011), PG-13, 115 minutes - May is upon us and with it the release of the first wave of big summer blockbuster releases, and with that renewed enthusiasm for someone such as myself to share my opinions with the masses (otherwise known as the five people who regularly check in). This marks a nice 'return to form' so to speak as I've been tied up watching more NBA and NHL playoff games than movies over the past few weeks. Thor has been one of the films that I've been most anticipating for quite a while now and I am pleased to report that it did not disap...

The third installment of my countdown to The Avengers is my review for Iron Man 2.  This was review was actually one of the earliest reviews posted here on my blog back in May of 2010.  I think I still prefer the first Iron Man to this one, but it was another strong installment in the franchise, and it further teased The Avengers. Iron Man 2 (2010), PG13, 124 minutes  - Iron Man 2 kicks off the 2010 summer movie schedule with a bang. It's bigger, louder, wittier, and more action filled than the original. Version 1.0 however, is still the superior story. Robert Downey Jr retains his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man in a film that sees the character struggle with even greater levels of fame (after his admission of being Iron Man at the end of the first film) and deteriorating health (his body has an adverse effect to the element powering the arc reactor in his chest), while trying to stave off a new threat to his 'privatized world peace'. Downey Jr continues to be the perf...

The Incredible Hulk came out the same summer as the first Iron Man (2008).  In my opinion it is probably the weakest of the five movies that feed into The Avengers, but that doesn't mean that it is bad.  That's more a testament to how good the others have turned out.  It is definitely better than Hulk from 2003.  It is a shame that creative differences led to Edward Norton cutting ties with Marvel upon this film's release as he was a pretty darn good Bruce Banner.  I'll be very interested to see how Mark Ruffalo (the third actor to tackle the part of Banner on the big screen) portrays the part in The Avengers. Here's  part 2 of the countdown to The Avengers! The Incredible Hulk (2008), PG-13, 112 minutes -  I had to put off seeing this for a week because it was the film of choice to view on the way back from the annual trip to Charlotte for HeroesCon (yeah I'm a nerd, but it's not like we didn't already know that).  The amazing thing...