X-Men : the movie 2000

The mutants were finally coming to the big screen but it didn't take long for a lot of fans, myself included, to realize that Bryan Singer should have never been allowed near an established franchise.

Today, we're pampered, we're spoiled by how organized the MCU is, and looking back, we realize what a sad cluster**** this film was, in so many ways.

Parts of it were perfect, Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier was about as great as it gets for an older Professor X, he fit the bill perfectly.  Rebecca Romijn as Mystique was another excellent casting, that's lasted beyond many of the others, and she still looks amazing in body paint.

Hugh Jackman has portrayed Wolverine ever since, and although a lot of people rave about him, I have never been that impressed.  It also ruined the character when we saw Wolverine hosting the Tony Awards.  I was a lifelong fan of Wolverine, the real one, the original, but this was based on the new rendition of the character, a watered down version.  The classic Wolverine was so much better.

It was cool to see the characters come to life, especially when I knew one of them from his days in professional wrestling, Tyler Mane as Sabertooth, but the story was sophomoric at best, with a soft plot and poor dialogue and worse character interaction.

As a stand alone film, it gets 🌟 and a half out of five but as part of the MCU it's only half a star for the casting of Xavier, Rebecca Romijn in blue body paint and simply getting the characters to the screen.

 

MRM : Captain Marvel (2019)

Monday Marvel Movie Review:

Captain Marvel, 2019, taking place in 1984 & 1989 on earth, chronologically the next events of the Marvel Universe after Captain America.

Never saw this one in the theaters due to Brie Larson's comments about who she did and didn't want to come seeing her film, an act which should have garnered far more and extreme scrutiny by fans and Marvel Cinema officials, but most seemed to just blow it off.

The film is a lot better than I expected, it's good, bordering on very good but not great, like a lot of the MCU it has a lot of holes and questions.

We open with Vers (pronounced, veers) who is an operative for the Kree Empire, and her training with her supervisor/commander Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) and being told about her "true potential", which they refer to enough that it should have raised your eyebrow.  The Kree's war with the Skrulls is hot and heavy, in a mission to rescue an informant, Veers is captured and promptly escapes with help from her plasma blasts from her hands.

Ending up on earth, after crashing through the roof of a Blockbuster Video, Veers encounters a two-eyed Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson) and his rookie partner, Coulson (Clark Gregg), who pursue Veers as a potential enemy as she battles skrulls across Los Angeles.  We also see the early signs of Coulson's diehard like loyalty to Fury begin to come out.

The action and story really move well, the swerves are pretty well done, obvious but still well done, but we eventually realize, along with Veers, that her real name is Carol Danvers and she's not Kree but from Earth.

The new story behind her powers is really good and makes the film, as does her finally realizing her true potential.  You should bet a bit excited when she finally lets loose, it's a great scene.

In this film, we also learn how Fury lost his eye... really Nick?!?  Not to mention, some of the stuff that Fury pulls in this one, it's a wonder he was eventually given command of SHIELD. 😆  And also how a certain team he would later get together got its name.

Pulling at some sympathetic heartstrings along the way really helped this film, without them, it wouldn't be half the film it is, forget the power, the backstory and secondary characters make the movie.  It's not until the end that you really feel the size and scope of the war between the Kree & Skrulls, they should have put that weight on us far earlier.  Once you see one particular person, you know who are the bad guys in this one.

Sad that Cap and her is all that the world gets before the 2000's, the MCU could have/should have been given more.  Again, I've got my take on what the MCU timeline should have looked like coming up on January 1st 2022. 😉

The film gets 🌟🌟 and a half out of five ... and watch out for that damn cat ... SERIOUSLY... whatever happened to that thing??? 😺💥

 

Happy Birthday to a 3 Time Playboy Playmate

💘 Marilyn Waltz, one of only two women to be featured as monthly Playmates on three different occasions, today would be her 90th Birthday, and she is this weeks, Femme Fatale Friday. 💘

Born on November fifth, 1931 in Waokesha, Wisconsin and grew up dreaming to be a movie star.

The shapely and sunny blond did some modeling before being discovered and used the name, Margaret Scott for her first Playboy spread in February in 1954.

She came back under her name, Marilyn Waltz and appeared in the Playboy centerfold for April 1954.

Then one year later, do to her popularity, she graced the centerfold again in April 1955.

It wasn't until 1996, while researching photos for the upcoming book, The Playmate Book (which I highly recommend for all fans), that Hugh Hefner figured out that Margaret Scott and Marilyn Waltz were the same person, but by then, she had become a part Playboy history.

Outside of Playboy, Waltz did modeling, television commercials and some work as a singer but was only ever in one feature film, Love Me Madly, in 1954.

After Playboy Waltz had a successful real estate practice in California until 1993 when she moved to Oregon.  She married in 1958 and had two children.  Marilyn passed away at her home in Oregon on December 23rd 2006. 💘

 

DC TV & Movies = Disorganized Crap

 When I told some friends that I was doing a chronological movie review of the MCU one asked, and I dreaded this question, if there would be one like that of the DCEU... 😵  Which I would love to do, but there is no organization to almost anything in the DC Universe, animated or live-action, it's all a cluster**** 😡 

The last thing I remember DC doing live action that was organized was Smallville and the last thing about animated was Batman/Superman/JL/JLU/Batman Beyond (which was, and remains, the best thing that DC has done on TV or big screen in forever.)

So, I'm adding several of the live-action television shows to my Facebook page, The BoobTube Review, (I just got that page up and running when I got hit with another 30 day suspension) that will go episode by episode, but will start doing some reviews of films on here, and will do my best for some kind of order, but those who run DC have NO CLUE what they are doing.  

The people running DC couldn't stick their thumb up their own @$$ with three tries and map, there is no organization or loyalty to the characters core at all.

If someone wanted to show some brains at Warner Brothers, they would restart the JLU universe in animated and work from that source material, there are dozens of spin-off show possibilities and dozens of animated film possibilities, and that story world was REALLY GOOD, but they would NEED to strictly stick to that world!

I've already done reviews on here for, Superman The Movie and Batman Returns, but I'll work on tossing them in the mix, here and there, but probably won't do a lot of the modern movies because most are so horrible, but who knows...

Marvel & DC World Conquerors: the Good, the Bad and the Terrifying

 

When talking about the super villains of our favorite comic books, certain ones give off certain vibes that are very specific to that character.  The Joker is the embodiment of sociopath/psychopath, his vibe is just terrifying because you don’t know if he’s going to play with you, or for how long before killing you.  The Kingpin is a different kind of fear, because he’s a crime boss, but on a global scale, the average person is less than nothing to him.  On a grander scale than that, is Galactus, we’re literally less than insects to him, he simply wants to consume the planet and move on.

I want to talk about six of the real would-be World Conquerors, the ones who actively seek to take the world for themselves, the whole damn thing, and control it, long term. 

First up is Asgard's God of Mischief, Loki, Odin's adopted son and constant thorn in the side of Thor and... well, almost everyone in the Marvel Universe.

We saw what Loki did in the movies when he took over Asgard and moved Odin off to retirement, he built himself statues, had plays about himself ... but this is a very watered down version of him, a "kinder, gentler Loki".  The one from the comics and folklore is hardly watered down, he's cruel and very spiteful, towards almost anyone.  His rule would be a terrible one, filled with a lot of misery, and yes, statues to himself.  Loki is obsessed with ruling others, being the center of attention and would make for a pretty miserable world.  He's on the first of this list because his would be a rule by temperament, his swaying moods would make the world afraid of their shadow and what the infantile ruler would proclaim next.  He's certainly not the worst on this list, but he's far from the best.

Next up, we have Mongul, the ruler (used to be ruler, I can't keep up) of, WarWorld, a planet that all is set out for his pleasure and amusement, especially the battles, which he does in an arena like atmosphere, a bit like in ancient Rome, but far more vast, as he likes everyone fighting to build him up more competitors for his "games".  More than once he has tried to come to earth to take control and turn us into his own play thing.  As a ruler it would be pretty damn miserable but at least many would be safe if for that they are harmless drones (workers providing food or other duties), but it would be a brutal and bloody world for sure.  Like Loki, he really lacks the maturity to really rule, it's all about his amusement.

Thanos, the mad titan, his goal to wipe out half of life in the universe, and then just walk away, as long as the universe is grateful for his generous gift.  A genocidal madman, Thanos craves appreciation for what he see's as his being kind to the beings of the universe, determined to "set balance".  In the comics he's a bit more of a dictator, wanting to be able to command the universe at will.  He's a danger to all because, even without the Infinity Gauntlet, he's still one of the more powerful and deadly beings in the universe, with incredible fighting and combat skills, his pure strength matching even the Hulk.  The good thing about him, is after he see's his "dream" become real, he'd leave what's left of life alone.  Lucky for the survivors but not for the ones he destroys.

Easily the most terrifying one on the list, Darkseid only wants conquest, the very definition of a tyrant, his Omega Beams make him almost unstoppable.  Possessing incredible power he doesn't have the raw amount of combat experience that Thanos has, and has become a bit reliant on others to do his fighting and dirty work, but he can do that, when all he need do is think about who he wishes to slay and his Omega Beams would do the rest.  This would be the most miserable existence as he see's it as his duty to break the will of ALL his subjects, he lives for their suffering and considers it mercy simply to allow them to exist under his heel.  He surrounds himself with those who are the cruelest and most savage to keep his subjects under his constant sorrow and pain.

Back to a would-be world conqueror led by ego, brilliant genius Lex Luthor believes himself to be entitled to rule the world because of his ego & wealth.  Luthor see's it as his place in the universe to rule the earth, solely based on his belief that he deserves it.  Luthor's genius and obsession have warped his mind and soul to the point that his morals revolve only around what he wants.   In both comics and animation we've seen him become President of the United States and each time, his ego and obsession & jealousy over destroying Superman override all his decisions.  In his head, Luthor can't understand why the world doesn't worship his brilliance, many times he comes off looking like a completely spoiled and petulant child.

Finally we come to, Victor Von Doom, also well known as, Doctor Doom, the ruler of Latveria and one of the greatest villains in comic book history.  Doom is the kind of ruling genius that Luthor wishes he was.  Not only does he have the power of his brilliance and armor, his intellect might be superior to that of people like Tony Stark or Bruce Wayne, he is a man who is truly, "burdened with knowledge", far too much for his own good.  Doom is also a master of the mystic arts to the degree of almost being an equal to Steven Strange or maybe even Dr Fate.  Each time he encounters a powerful universal force, he manages to find a way to defeat them or take their power, he's done so against both Galactus and the Beyonder (Secret Wars).  It often takes a great collection of heroes to stop his plans.  Out of this list, he would probably be the most benevolant of those listed, once he has total control, that is.  While he would have the statues in honor of him, he lacks Loki's immaturity and Luthor's ego.  One of his greatest gifts has nothing to do with super or magic powers, his patience, willing to wait for an opportunity that most would not.  Doom has earned his reputation and what ego he has, he will study and explore any aspect of knowledge to gain the power he wants.  It's honestly a wonder that he hasn't accomplished his plans at some point in the Marvel Universe.  

Happy 20th to Monsters Inc.

Twenty years ago today, Disney & Pixar released one of the most memorable and unique family films of all time, Monsters Inc.

In my opinion, this is Pixar's masterpiece 🏆 so far, the story is different, the characters are identifiable and the visuals are brilliant.

The story revolves around, Monsters Inc. a scare factory, that employs monsters to scare children to collect their screams and produce energy... okay, when looking at it like that, it sounds a bit cruel. 😆  But, it's an amazing concept, this is where the monsters come from, in the night, that have been scaring kids, since the invention of the door.

James P. "Sully" Sullivan (John Goodman) is the companies top scarer, terrifying children and collecting record screams for energy.  His trusty assistant/engineer is Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal), he gets the doors for Sully to enter through as the kids sleep.  Monsters are "scientifically" put together with kids who will respond best to their assigned monster.

Company head, Henry Waternoose III (the legendary James Coburn) has run the factory since his retirement and handing off the top scare duties to his protoge', Sully.  But something goes wrong when a little girl from the human world follows Sully through a door to the Monster World.  Boo (Mary Gibbs) thinks that Sully is adorable and some kind of kitty, which she keeps calling him.  Problem is, when a human child or "artifact" is brought to the Monster World it is believed that it can contaminate everything, and when it happens, a "hazmat" like crew shows up to debug the problem, making for some of the funniest moments of the film.

When Boo follows Sully back, he and Mike have to hide her, as they fear for their careers and the existence of the monster world.  Boo followed him back through at door that Sully wasn't even working on.  A corrupt coworker, Randall (Steve Buscemi) has been collecting scares on the side, trying to up his numbers, but something even more sinister is going on in the factory.

Under the watchful eyes of Roz (Bob Peterson) the boys have to sneak Boo back into the factory and try to send her home before Randall can go through with his terrible plan to scare children like never before.

At one point, the guys are cast out of the factory and monster world to ours, but not in some home, but the great white north where they find Abominable (John Ratzenberger, yeah, he's in ALL of these films).  *On a side note, I think that the Abominable was once a scarer for Monster Inc but was cast out for losing his nerve, that would make a good movie spinoff*

In the end, Sully & Mike have to rescue Boo, get her back home, destroy her door and stop the evil plans of Randall... should be easy, right 😆 And, the guys discover that screams aren't the biggest form of power for the Monster World.

The scene of the door rides through the factory and the warehouse where they keep the doors is some of Pixar's finest work ever.  This film is a true treat for anyone and any age and is one of the best animated films of all time.  👍

The film keeps you moving, engaged and emotional throughout.  It hits all the right buttons at all the right times.

Monsters Inc. gets 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 out of five, with ease, it's one of those films you can watch over and over.

 

MRM : Captain America The First Avenger

It's #MovieReviewMonday and time to review one of the MCU's best, Captain America : The First Avenger, as we begin our weekly series to review all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with who knows what else, thrown into the mix on other days... 

Like I said, I think this is one of the best of the MCU films, it is true to the character but still has a flood of holes and mistakes in respect to the characters and their history.

Marvel decided to begin the MCU with Iron Man instead of Captain America, which I think was the first mistake.  This was to push the silly notion mentioned in "Iron Man" made by Howard Stark, "All things are possible through technology" and pushing the agenda that tech is the only savior of mankind 😵.  Now don't worry, I'm not going to get biblical on you, that's not my point at all, it's about Heart.

Like too many super hero films in the past, they tried to force far too much into the first movie, there is so much more to Caps story, the 1990 film (poster at right) being a great example. Second mistake, too much in one movie.

The Howling Commandoes, The Invaders, even the legendary character of the Red Skull deserved more than just one movie, despite his later appearances to lead souls in their search for the soul stone.  It just wasn't right given the history of the character of the Red Skull.  So their third mistake was just one film taking place in World War Two.

Personally, I'd have ended this film after Cap has rescued Bucky & the rest of the 107th, and quitting his duty as a chorus girl.  "Let's hear it for, Captain America!" should have been the final line of the film before going to credits.

Throughout the history of the character, numerous villains have admitted that Captain America is the "most dangerous" Avenger because of his leadership and inspiration of others, that should have been the focal part of the film, like the scene at the flagpole or the scene with the grenade, Heart.

In the end of the original film, when Rogers wakes up in modern times, they are playing a replay of a baseball game, we should have already heard part of it, by them doing a scene of Rogers and Barnes at the game together, showing more of their friendship, so not just Cap is alerted when we hear the game playing later.

The cast was terrific, Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Dr Abraham (Stanly Tucci), The Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), Col Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones), Dum Dum Dugan (Neal McDonough were all amazing and it's too bad that most were wasted on one movie.

The story of the Howling Commandoes and The Invaders could have also teased at later films and characters involvement in the MCU, as well as introducing Baron Zeom Sr (another reason for his son to hate Captain America and the Avengers) who could have been the key villain for the 2nd or 3rd film.  Now I know what you're thinking... "third film, when does he go in the ice?", in my plan, not until the 4th film, but I'll go through all that in my, Ultimate MCU post on January 1st 2022 😉.

There is just so much lost on today's fans by only doing one Captain America film during WWII, the importance of war correspondents, morale at home and Patriotism for, not just America, but the world to win that one.  People need to understand what Rogers and others went through and why those experiences changed so much.

One of the mistakes the studio made was not making an official poster that remade the classic Uncle Sam recruiting poster of Cap pointing forward, it seems to be like a simple given to me and many people that I've talked to, but for some reason they didn't put those out, it would have made a great teaser.  

Here we see a fan made poster about War Bonds from his showtime and work as a US Army "chorus girl" as Col Phillips called him.  The marketing for this movie was pretty disappointing, but today's Hollywood isn't much into American Patriotism, one of their major downfalls.

Compared to the rest  of the MCU, this film gets a decent score of 🌟🌟🌟 out of five, but as a stand alone film, I'm afraid it only gets 🌟🌟 out of five.  They dropped, tripped over or just plain ignored all kinds of opportunities with this one.