"The Amazing Spider-Man"

     Peter Parker is just a normal, everyday, geeky teenager who is just trying to figure out his life. While he lives with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben and loves them dearly, he still wants to figure out why his parents left him with them and never came back for him. When he finds out that top researcher Dr. Curt Conners at Oscorp worked with his father, he sneaks into Oscorp and winds up getting bitten by a genetically modified spider. This bite gives him all the powers of a spider. But it's only when tragedy hits that Peter finally understands what it takes to be a hero.

     Directed by Marc Webb, this film stars Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy, Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Conners/The Lizard, Denis Leary as Captain Stacy, Martin Sheen as Ben Parker, and Sally Field as May Parker. I loved this movie!! I was so excited for this reboot, especially after the debacle of the third Sam Raimi Spider-Man film.

     Now there was some confusion about whether or not this was a continuation of the last three films... It is not. This is a reboot. Meaning that the past three films have nothing to do with this one or any of the subsequent ones. After watching this one I went back and watched the original trilogy, which I loved when it came out, and then it hit me that the original trilogy is not really that good after all. Tobey Maguire has to have made Spider-Man one of the whiniest superheros ever. Thankfully Andrew Garfield went away from the whiny teenager, and stuck more to the nerdy and awkward Peter Parker of the comics. I feel like Andrew really embodies the traits and characteristics of Spider-Man better than Tobey did in the Sam Raimi Spider-Man's. I'm not trying to discredit the original trilogy, but these new movies are shaping up to be much much better than them.

     Sadly Spider-Man is owned by Sony, which means that we will not be seeing Spider-Man, or anything affiliated with that property in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Same thing with X-men and now Deadpool which are owned by Fox. I really love what these companies have done with these franchises, but I really wish they were back under Marvel so they can add them to the ever expanding Universe and then they can do something like the "Civil War" comic series! I would absolutely love that!

I would rate this film a 8.5 out 10! I will be reviewing The Amazing Spider-Man 2 next week so be sure to check it out next Sunday! Make sure you follow me on Twitter and like my Facebook page!

Peace,
Jake

    

"Guardians of the Galaxy"

     What do you get when you combine an 80's loving mercenary, a green alien who is the perfect killing machine, a genetically enhanced raccoon and his friend who is a talking alien tree, and a no-nonsense tattooed alien out for revenge? You get the Guardians of the Galaxy. The most unlikely superheroes you'll ever meet in space. They come together through necessity, and who would have ever guessed they would be able to save a planet, never mind save themselves. When Ronan the Accuser, a Kree radical decides to destroy the planet Xandar, a stronghold in the defense of the Galaxy,  he hopes to break the tenuous treaty between the Nova Corp. and the Kree. In doing so he enlists the help of Thanos and his two "daughters" to help him find one of the Infinity Stones that would allow him to destroy the world just by touching it to the planet. Now the rag-tag team of the Guardians must put aside their differences and help save the world before they lose everything.

     Directed by James Gunn this film stars Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Vin Diesel as the voice of Groot, Bradley Cooper as the voice of Rocket, Lee Pace as Ronan, Benicio Del Toro as Tanaleer Tivan/The Collector, Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Glenn Close as Nova Prime, and Josh Brolin as Thanos.

     This was an amazing movie! One of my favorite Marvel movies! I thought the Avengers cast melded together nice, but this movie takes it to the next level. The actors did an amazing job, and the different personalities they all brought to the characters were out of this world good.(pun intended) One of my favorite scenes has to be where they were trying to figure out a plan and then an argument ensues because the one plan they have wasn't good enough! It reminded me of the many
"conversations" me and my siblings would have during one of our many band practices. James Gunn did a marvelous job bringing this movie to fruition. There is somewhat of a fine line you have to walk in order to bring these movies across without them looking cheesy. I mean a genetically altered raccoon, or a talking alien tree could look very silly if you don't put them in the right light. I think he was more than able to walk that line, and make them some of the coolest heroes to come out of the Cinematic Universe to date!

     Alright lets talk about end credits scene that got everybody who was not born before the 80's wondering what the heck is a duck doing there and why is he drinking a cocktail.... That was Howard the Duck. The star of his own movie back in 1986, this was actually Marvel's first big budget film. Costing over $35,000,000 to make and with little to show for it this film bombed at the box office and practically ended the career of Willard Huyck. Surprisingly George Lucas was the executive producer on it. Having him at the end credits was merely a nod to what came before and got me and the other nerds like me excited to see another character from the classic era of Marvel brought to justice on the big screen. This does not mean that Howard is going to get another stand-alone film, but it could mean we might see other cameo appearances from him in future Marvel films.

I would rate this movie a 10 out 10!! From the box office numbers I'm guessing most of you have already seen it, but for all those who haven't what are you waiting for! You are missing the best movie of the summer. Make sure you like my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter!

Peace,
Jake

P.S. If you want to read my other Marvel movie reviews here are a few links to them.
"X-Men: Days of Future Past"
"X-Men: First Class"
"Captain America: The Winter Soldier
"Captain America: The First Avenger"
"The Wolverine"
"Thor: The Dark World" part 2
"Thor" part 1
"Daredevil"
"The Avengers"
 

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

     In New Orleans on November the 11th, 1918 a boy is born with all the looks and the problems of an old man on his death bed. This boy is named Benjamin Button and he has a remarkable oddity that as he gets older he actually get younger. Almost as if he lived his whole life backwards. It's a story about love, loss, pain, joy, or simply put, it is a story about life.

     Directed by David Fincher, this film stars Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button, Cate Blanchett as Daisy, Taraji P. Henson as Queenie, and Julia Ormond as Caroline. This has to be one of my favorite films, and I know I say that a lot, but I have a lot of movies in my favorite films list! The combination of Brad and Cate is just brilliant! They really have a lot of chemistry on-screen.

      When this movie first came out I was not very interested in it. I heard a lot of good things about it, but I just didn't get into the hype. I decided to put this on my long, long, long list of movies that I want to watch, and finally I got around to watching it. I was so mad at myself for not wanting to watch it in the first place, because as I said before, this turned out to be one of my favorite films. Usually I don't listen to critics, because 8 out of 10 times their idea of a good movie doesn't do it for me. This just happens to be one of those rare times where I actually agree with the critics who liked it.

     This film took me on an unexpected emotional roller coaster. I became so invested in the characters lives. Needless to say by the end of the film I was feeling very emotionally strained! I loved it so much though! I love it when a movie takes you by surprise with how good it is, especially when you had low expectations for the film. To me, it makes the whole movie that much better!

I would seriously suggest you all watch this if you haven't seen it yet! I would rate it a 9.5 out 10!
I'm back! I will start doing a blog every Sunday when I can! Hope y'all had a good Summer! Make sure you follow me on Twitter and like my Facebook page for movie news and links to the latest blogs!

Peace,
Jake