MOCKINGJAY - Part 1

Review: (no real spoilers) 

I believe it is important to say upfront that I really enjoy The Hunger Games movies. I think they are one of the stronger book series that have been written in the last 10 years. I have read all three of the books and feel that they have done a good job of adapting them for the big screen. I cannot wait for the last movie to come out in 2015! With all of that being said , I believe some people will be a little disappointed with part 1 of the final movie. I am going to list a few pros and cons of the film.

Pros -

1. The movie is very well made. The crew is amazing, and by this point in the series, they have really hit their stride in producing quality, well-told films.
2. They successfully captured the deep trauma that an individual would face if they were forced to go through what the tributes had to face in the name of entertainment, and as a reminder of the cost of defying the capital.
3. The film makers accomplished the difficult job, once again, of staying true to the original book, but still adding some outside material to enhance the big screen adaptation. The author's strong presence was essential to it's success.

Cons - 

1. The film truly feels like half of a movie. I know that for the studio it made sense to milk the final book for all it is worth, but Mockingjay is only 16 pages more than the first book and 1 less than Catching Fire. The first 2 books were only 1 movie.
2. The pace of this movie is slower than the first 2 movies. The start of the third book is slower, so I somewhat expected a slower-paced movie.
3. And the worst part is we all have to wait an entire year for the next movie. It would have been better to put these 2 movies release dates closer together.

Even though there were a few things I thought could be better, I really liked the movie. Since I have read the book I can't wait to see how they handle the second half of this book. There is a lot of good material to make for some very interesting scenes for the final movie. Let me just say in conclusion... "may the odds be ever in your favor."

Superhero Movies: Are You Ready?

What are you doing for the next 5 years?

If you like superhero movies then you will be well satisfied. This is just a list of the Marvel and DC movies coming out in the next 5 years and it has 23 movies on it. This list does not even include Sinister Six (2016) and Amazing Spider-Man 3 (2018) to be released by Sony Pictures. At the end of the next 5 years, the world will either continue its love affair with superheroes or, somewhere in the middle of this, the box office may come to a screeching halt.

• Avengers: Age of Ultron (M2) - May 1, 2015
• Ant-Man (M2) - July 17,2015
• Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (DC) - March 25th, 2016
• Captain America: Civil War (M3)- May 6, 2016
• Suicide Squad (DC) – August 5th, 2016
• Doctor Strange (M3) - November 4, 2016
• Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (M3) - May 5, 2017
• Wonder Woman (DC) - June 23rd, 2017
• Thor: Ragnarok (M3) - July 28, 2017
• Black Panther (M3) - November 3, 2017
• Justice League (DC) - November 17th, 2017
• The Flash (DC) - March 23rd, 2018
• Avengers: Infinity War Part I (M3) - May 4, 2018
• Captain Marvel (M3) - July 6, 2018
• Aquaman (DC) - July 27th, 2018
• Inhumans (M3) - November 2, 2018
• Shazam (DC) - April 5th, 2019
• Avengers: Infinity War Part II (M3) - May 3, 2019
• Justice League 2 (DC) - June 14th, 2019
• Cyborg (DC) - April 3rd, 2020
• Green Lantern (DC) - June 19th, 2020
• Man of Steel 2 - TBA before 2020
• Batman - TBA before 2020

Where does this leave us? Here are a few questions to be discussed.

1. With so many choices can some of the lesser named heroes compete or will people just wait until the next movie comes out? I believe that the early movies will set the fate of the later movies for each of these studios. Even Marvel is going to have to prove themselves again with this many choices in movies to watch.

2. Can DC compete with the juggernaut that is Marvel Studios? In many ways. I seriously doubt that the DC movies will out preform their Marvel counterparts. Wonder Woman and Justice League are the potential wild cards to watch. The way it has been laid out, nothing seems to have a prayer in touching the crown that is waiting to awarded to the 3 Avengers movies.

3. After 2020, what happens next? It is clear that Marvel will try to continue on some of its phase 3 heroes while it decides if and how they will reboot their franchises. Where could they possibly go from here? What happens next for DC is probably tied closely to the performances of their new heroes. If the movies don't perform strongly at the box office I am sure that DC will just go back and release independent Batman and Superman movies.

Grab your popcorn and movie ticket and head to your favorite theater because if superhero movies is your genre, then your movie schedule is full for years to come!

Marvel's Phase 3

At the end of October, Marvel Studios released its phase 3 slate of movies to carry them through 'til May of 2019. With only Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, the last movie of phase 2 set to release in July of 2015, It is time to start talking about phase 3. This is the phase that brings most of the earlier movies to their conclusions. It looks like this phase will start out with a lot of discord between our heroes. Then, it seems Marvel will be using the second half of the 3rd phase to introduce new characters set up the future of the Marvel Universe.

There are several movies in the 3rd phase that look interesting. Doctor Strange has great potential because, like the Guardians of the Galaxy, this movie has the opportunity to explore parts of the marvel universe that have not been explored. Thor: Ragnarok should have strong Loki and Thor screen time. Captain Marvel has been announced as the Carol Danvers version of this hero which means finally there will be a female lead in a Marvel superhero movie. It will be interesting to see if this juggernaut can continue past its original phase one stars. What does the future hold for Marvel Studios? I am excited to watch and see.

Captain America: Civil War (2016)

Doctor Strange (2016)

Guardians of the Galaxy 2 (2017)

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Black Panther (2017)

Avengers: Infinity War Part I (2018)

Captain Marvel (2018)

Inhumans (2018)

Avengers: Infinity War Part II (2019)

Top Five "Will it" Videos from Rhett and Link

Rhett and Link are a comedy team that produce two
daily videos on YouTube. These two friends have been together for a very long time. They seem to really enjoy what they are doing and it is obvious if you take the time to watch a few of their videos. They have three channels: Rhett and Link, Good Mythical Morning, and Good Mythical More.

On Good Mythical Morning (and Good Mythical More) the duo like to explore the different questions that have been plaguing humanity for almost its entire existence. (That might have been a little bit of an oversell.) They sacrifice their own health and well-being to answer life's great mysteries. (Again, I wonder if it might be an oversell.)

Recently, they have been answering the question: Will it _______ ?

This is a short list of my top 5 videos they have produced.

5. Will It Jack-O'-Lantern? (Oct. 29, 2014) - In this video, they explore different possible choices for that Halloween icon.

4. Will It Cereal? (Oct. 14, 2014) - Ceral is great but have you ever wonder if you are missing out on some other items that should have milked poured on them.

3. Will It Ice Cream Sandwich? (July 29, 2014) - This deserves to be in the top five if for no other reason then they made an ice cream sandwich out of BACON!

2. Will It Double Awesome? (Sept.16, 2014) - Rhett and Link asked the question if an object by itself is awesome if you put 2 of them together will they "double awesome".

1. Will It Taco? (May 5, 2014) - Will It Taco got it all started so in my opinion it deserves to be number 1.

A few episodes that did not make my list, but deserve to be mentioned, are: "Will It Deep Fry?" and "Will It Pumpkin Spice?". They have a tremendous amount of fun producing these videos and if you have not checked them out, I would recommend you popping over to Rhett and Link and viewing a few of these. Be prepared to get addicted.

Veteran's Day 2014

Freedom is never FREE! 

I want to say thank you to the brave men and women 

who have served in the armed forces to protect our nation.

Wildcat and Black Canary

Arrow last night gave us just a glimpse into these new characters. Wildcat (Theodore "Ted" Grant) trains the new Black Canary (Laurel Lance) to fight and defend herself. Laurel is still struggling with the lost of her sister Sara and is looking for an outlet for this pent-up rage. In the coming weeks, fans will get to see a whole new side of Laurel and what she is capable of if she focuses herself. Ted is going to provide that stabilizing force she needs at this time. With all the heroes, Starling City will have to be one of the safest places on the entire planet. It will be very interesting to see the character development unfold on characters like Atom, Speedy, Black Canary, and Wildcat.

If you are not watching Arrow,.... Why?

I encourage you to catch up on Netflix or Hulu and see what all the buzz is about this show.

Arrow... not just another superhero show.

Confirmed: Loki will return

Loki is BACK!

Marvel’s Kevin Feige has confirmed that Tom Hiddleston will return in both Thor: Ragnarok and Avengers: Infinity War. This is great news because any time Loki is in a movie, you already know that there is something great headed your way. Since Tom first took on the role as the trickster he has owned that role.

He had some of the very best scenes of all of the Avengers. The scene between Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Hiddleston in the movie was some of the best delivered and most believable lines. 

Loki: The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?
Tony Stark: The Avengers. That's what we call ourselves; we're sort of like a team. "Earth's Mightiest Heroes" type thing.
Loki: Yes, I've met them.
Tony Stark: Yeah, takes us a while to get any traction, I'll give you that one. But let's do a head count here: your brother the demi-god; a super soldier, a living legend who kind of lives up to the legend; a man with breath-taking anger management issues; a couple of master assassins, and YOU, big fella, you've managed to piss off every single one of them.
Loki: That was the plan.
Tony Stark: Not a great plan. When they come, and they WILL, they'll come for you.
Loki: I have an army.
Tony Stark: We have a Hulk.

Also, his scene with Hulk is the funniest scene in the entire movie.

Loki: Enough! You are, all of you are beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied by...

[Hulk flattens Loki with repeated smashes into the floor]

The Hulk: Puny god.

Needless to say, I am very glad that Loki will be back. We will have to wait and see if he happens to make any cameos before his return in Thor: Ragnarok. Everything I have seen makes it look like Marvel is going to close off Phase III with all the excitement and action that they started this journey with in Marvel's Iron Man. In the words of Stan Lee... "Excelsior!"