Best movie you've seen

Handruin

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I'll get to see it this Saturday. I caught up on the other Marvel movies in preparation. No strippers for me though.
 

Stereodude

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I'll get to see it this Saturday. I caught up on the other Marvel movies in preparation. No strippers for me though.
The wife and I are caught up as of last Saturday, but we won't be going to see The Avengers in theaters. I'll wait for the blu-ray.
 

Handruin

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The wife and I are caught up as of last Saturday, but we won't be going to see The Avengers in theaters. I'll wait for the blu-ray.

A bunch of friends and I are going for a Saturday matinee figuring it'll be cheaper and hopefully less crowded.
 

BingBangBop

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Sat. Matinee's are kiddie days. If you respect the movie, pick another time unless you have some children to take with you for then it doesn't matter.
 

Handruin

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Sat. Matinee's are kiddie days. If you respect the movie, pick another time unless you have some children to take with you for then it doesn't matter.
I respect the movie and I'm not too concerned about the people in the theater. I've found the later movies are worse when the older teenagers come to the theater and...act like teenagers. A fast-paced action movie that has lots of noise is going to drown out the kiddies.

If it is anything like the theaters around here, it will be less crowded, but everyone will be 12 years old and talking continuously.
I'll let you know how it goes.
 

Mercutio

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Is this now the "Best movie you've not yet seen" thread?

Well since I *have* seen the Avengers, I can safely say that it's at least been a couple years since I've seen a movie I've enjoyed so much.

The movie has all the Marvel movie cast in it, most especially Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson) in it, and it was directed by Joss Whedon, who also gave the world Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and Firefly. Just based on that, there was more or less no way I wasn't going to like the movie.

But boy oh boy does it deliver. The enormous green surprise from the whole movie is Mark Ruffalo, who plays play Bruce Banner with a different mix of nebbishness (i.e. less so) and intensity than Edward Norton did. Ruffalo is also the first movie actor to actually perform as the Hulk, using some variation on technology created for Avatar. And the Hulk basically gets all the best moments in the movie. I mean that in the best possible way. If the Hulk is doing stuff, it is a crowning moment of awesomeness, whatever it is. This is a funnybook movie, and Whedon gets that. It's funny. Really funny, both in Whedon's trademark dialogue and in occasional moments of physical humor. It's also brightly colored and upbeat and positive in a way that defies Nolan's Batman films, but without losing focus on the need for genuine (comic book) drama and character-defining moments. This is a movie that kids can go see and they will love it.

Basically every character gets at least one big scene in the spotlight. I was really quite impressed with the way the second act worked, giving the characters the opportunity to engage with one another. If any character got short-shifted, it's probably Thor. On the other hand, the Avengers as a movie draws most heavily on characters and back-story from that film (and least from The Incredible Hulk, if anyone is wondering). The audience does get real justification for why some redheaded chick in a catsuit (Black Widow, who was introduced in Iron Man 2) and a guy with a bow and arrow (Hawkeye, seen but not named in Thor) are doing hanging around with those other guys, something that a lot of internet people were bitching about. I kind of want to say that The Avengers is the "Nick Fury" movie, or the "Captain America" movie, but it's really not. There's just an elegant split between the whole ensemble.

Plot? In the opening moments of the film, Loki steals the Tesseract (Cosmic Cube, for those in the know) that was last seen being retrieved from the ocean depths at the end of Captain America. Loki has enlisted the aid of a race of alien invaders in a plot to use the cube to allow them to come and conquer Earth, which he wants to do in the name of his ongoing rivalry with Thor. The first act then introduces the various characters, followed by 40 minutes of the characters coming together in various sorts of conflict (it's a Marvel trademark that its heroes fight when they meet each other: Here we get Iron Man and Thor, settled by Captain America; Black Widow and the Hulk, settled by Thor; Black Widow and Hawkeye, settled by a steel rail). The second act flows seamlessly into the last 50 minutes of the movie, which essentially a non-stop action sequence. I kind of want to describe individual moments that are the cinematic equivalent to comic book full-page single panels. I shouldn't. I can't. But they're there.

It should be noted that the version of the movie I saw has TWO stingers, one after the short, animated credits sequence and a second one at the very end of the movie. The second stinger was filmed by the cast as a last-minute addition the the movie and as I understand it, it wasn't included in copies of the movie that were released in Europe ahead of the US premier.

Marvel Studios exists entirely to continue this franchise. Its movies, just like the comics, share a world that will continue into the indefinite future. I'm sure we're going to get a Hawkeye or Hawkeye/Black Widow movie. There's been talk of doing Ant-Man, Black Panther, Runaways or Doctor Strange. My friend was concerned that there would be a sequel. There will be a sequel. There will be more Thor, more Captain America, more Hulk and more Iron Man. More characters will be introduced and there will be two or three Marvel Studios movies per year until 2016 or so. But the Avengers was the concept that has been building since Iron Man, and it worked better than I ever could have imagined.

If you suddenly become interested in the comics, the thing to say is that it would be nearly impossible for a new reader to go to a shop and pick up current Marvel Comics titles with any chance of having a comprehensible experience. Don't do that. You will not know what the hell is going on. The Avengers movie is a complicated mish-mash of creator vision that does not easily translate from the comics. Furthermore, Marvel's publishing arm has a really weird policy on printing and re-printing collections of issues, which means that it can be very difficult to track down the best stories to recommend to new readers. However, if you really want to read something, the first two volumes of "The Ultimates" by Mark Millar are probably the closest to the movie universe, and the story there is self contained. Just don't read any of the other "Ultimates" comics because they are god-awful. I'd also suggest Ed Brubaker's Captain America, particularly the omnibus collection containin issues #1 - #25. Iron Man and the Hulk are both VERY hard to get a handle on, but the omnibus collection of Matt Fraction's Iron Man can currently be had on Amazon for $16 and is probably closest to the movie version of Tony Stark. J. Michael Straczinsky's run on Thor does not have an omnibus collection, but there is a shorter trade paperback containing at least one recent character arc. Finally, Loki is currently starring in a series of his own called Journey Into Mystery. It's not the same Loki (it's complicated), but the series is largely self-contained and it is massively entertaining. If you really, REALLY want to pick up individual comic issues, Marvel titles with a .1 (point one) numbering are either self-contained, more self-evident or the start of a new character arc.
 

Mercutio

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Is this now the "Best movie you've not yet seen" thread?

Well since I *have* seen the Avengers, I can safely say that it's at least been a couple years since I've seen a movie I've enjoyed so much.

The movie has all the Marvel movie cast in it, most especially Robert Downey Jr., Samuel L. Jackson and Clark Gregg (Agent Coulson) in it, and it was directed by Joss Whedon, who also gave the world Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog and Firefly. Just based on that, there was more or less no way I wasn't going to like the movie.

But boy oh boy does it deliver. The enormous green surprise from the whole movie is Mark Ruffalo, who plays play Bruce Banner with a different mix of nebbishness (i.e. less so) and intensity than Edward Norton did. Ruffalo is also the first movie actor to actually perform as the Hulk, using some variation on technology created for Avatar. And the Hulk basically gets all the best moments in the movie. I mean that in the best possible way. If the Hulk is doing stuff, it is a crowning moment of awesomeness, whatever it is. This is a funnybook movie, and Whedon gets that. It's funny. Really funny, both in Whedon's trademark dialogue and in occasional moments of physical humor. It's also brightly colored and upbeat and positive in a way that defies Nolan's Batman films, but without losing focus on the need for genuine (comic book) drama and character-defining moments. This is a movie that kids can go see and they will love it.

Basically every character gets at least one big scene in the spotlight. I was really quite impressed with the way the second act worked, giving the characters the opportunity to engage with one another. If any character got short-shifted, it's probably Thor. On the other hand, the Avengers as a movie draws most heavily on characters and back-story from that film (and least from The Incredible Hulk, if anyone is wondering). The audience does get real justification for why some redheaded chick in a catsuit (Black Widow, who was introduced in Iron Man 2) and a guy with a bow and arrow (Hawkeye, seen but not named in Thor) are doing hanging around with those other guys, something that a lot of internet people were bitching about. I kind of want to say that The Avengers is the "Nick Fury" movie, or the "Captain America" movie, but it's really not. There's just an elegant split between the whole ensemble.

Plot? In the opening moments of the film, Loki steals the Tesseract (Cosmic Cube, for those in the know) that was last seen being retrieved from the ocean depths at the end of Captain America. Loki has enlisted the aid of a race of alien invaders in a plot to use the cube to allow them to come and conquer Earth, which he wants to do in the name of his ongoing rivalry with Thor. The first act then introduces the various characters, followed by 40 minutes of the characters coming together in various sorts of conflict (it's a Marvel trademark that its heroes fight when they meet each other: Here we get Iron Man and Thor, settled by Captain America; Black Widow and the Hulk, settled by Thor; Black Widow and Hawkeye, settled by a steel rail). The second act flows seamlessly into the last 50 minutes of the movie, which essentially a non-stop action sequence. I kind of want to describe individual moments that are the cinematic equivalent to comic book full-page single panels. I shouldn't. I can't. But they're there.

It should be noted that the version of the movie I saw has TWO stingers, one after the short, animated credits sequence and a second one at the very end of the movie. The second stinger was filmed by the cast as a last-minute addition the the movie and as I understand it, it wasn't included in copies of the movie that were released in Europe ahead of the US premier.

Marvel Studios exists entirely to continue this franchise. Its movies, just like the comics, share a world that will continue into the indefinite future. I'm sure we're going to get a Hawkeye or Hawkeye/Black Widow movie. There's been talk of doing Ant-Man, Black Panther, Runaways or Doctor Strange. My friend was concerned that there would be a sequel. There will be a sequel. There will be more Thor, more Captain America, more Hulk and more Iron Man. More characters will be introduced and there will be two or three Marvel Studios movies per year until 2016 or so. But the Avengers was the concept that has been building since Iron Man, and it worked better than I ever could have imagined.

If you suddenly become interested in the comics, the thing to say is that it would be nearly impossible for a new reader to go to a shop and pick up current Marvel Comics titles with any chance of having a comprehensible experience. Don't do that. You will not know what the hell is going on. The Avengers movie is a complicated mish-mash of creator vision that does not easily translate from the comics. Furthermore, Marvel's publishing arm has a really weird policy on printing and re-printing collections of issues, which means that it can be very difficult to track down the best stories to recommend to new readers. However, if you really want to read something, the first two volumes of "The Ultimates" by Mark Millar are probably the closest to the movie universe, and the story there is self contained. Just don't read any of the other "Ultimates" comics because they are god-awful. I'd also suggest Ed Brubaker's Captain America, particularly the omnibus collection containin issues #1 - #25. Iron Man and the Hulk are both VERY hard to get a handle on, but the omnibus collection of Matt Fraction's Iron Man can currently be had on Amazon for $16 and is probably closest to the movie version of Tony Stark. J. Michael Straczinsky's run on Thor does not have an omnibus collection, but there is a shorter trade paperback containing at least one recent character arc. Finally, Loki is currently starring in a series of his own called Journey Into Mystery. It's not the same Loki (it's complicated), but the series is largely self-contained and it is massively entertaining. If you really, REALLY want to pick up individual comic issues, Marvel titles with a .1 (point one) numbering are either self-contained, more self-evident or the start of a new character arc.
 

LunarMist

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Well that was a double post about the film, but what about the lady friend?
 

Mercutio

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Actually, I know that because she was talking about it online yesterday. She said it was AWESOME.

It was pretty funny because she's seen all the Marvel movies more than once but doesn't know anything about the comics. So the whole way back to Indiana we had a big long conversation about the differences between the movie characters and the comic versions. She's all fired up to read some of the books I was talking about now.

Today I'm going to an IMAX showing.
 

paugie

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Last Monday, my wife and I were at a mall to while away our time until a later appointment. The mall had 12 theaters and all were showing THE AVENGERS. And everyone of those theaters had long queues. Wow!
 

Mercutio

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I've seen the Avengers five times now. I've seen the IMAX 3D presentation twice, regular 3D once and the normal version twice. I continue to feel that 3D doesn't add enough to the movie to be worthwhile, especially since it's at the expense of better color contrast. The non-3D presentation is a much brighter movie. Avengers is one of those movies that wasn't actually shot in 3D and everything is CG editing. So it's pretty "meh" for that. The only reason I've seen the 3D version as many times is because those have been convenient showtimes for me.

I went to a 9:30AM showing today specifically because there were a few lines that I simply never got to hear because the audience reaction from some preceding moment made them inaudible. One of the best lines in the movie is like that.

I don't really dress up, but after viewing #3 I was at Target and I found awesome Hulk Hands to wear, so now I have those. They go in my shoulder bag and come out at relevant moments, which amounts to any time the Hulk is on the screen.

It's kind of a toss up between The Avengers and Iron Man. I think both are better than the Nolan Batman movies, but it's tough to decide of extra Robert Downey Jr. makes up for kind of a weak third act in Iron Man, vs. all awesome wrapped up in the full cast and writing of the Avengers.

I'm debating if I want to go again tomorrow, but I've already taken everyone I know what wanted to go and now I'm out of excuses to see it again.
 

Handruin

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Saw the Avengers this afternoon and there was no problem with kiddies or children causing problems. The show had sold out and was packed. People laughed, clapped, cheered...it was fantastic. I can't remember the last time I was this excited to see a movie and it turned out to be so enjoyable. I definitely want to see it again. Maybe not 5 times, but at least a second time.
 

LiamC

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SAw it with the kids today. No clapping and cheering, but a lot of laughs. The bit where Tony/Robert/Iron appears with a background track of "Shoot to thrill" was just grin inducing. Well worth the price of admission. I felt a little strange about the whole thing as my daughter has been going to archery for the last four weeks, and the class was packed this morning and the last. Talked to one of the instructors and he blamed it all on Hunger Games/The Avengers, but didn't know who Hawkeye was or anything about the character.
 

LunarMist

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$207M in three days? I don't understand the appeal at all to an adult. Am I stuck in the Twilight Zone?
 

LunarMist

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In the early 70s I thought of having almost that same phrase on my headstone.

Do you remember where you were when Rod Serling died? I do, like it was yesterday. Weird.
 

Mercutio

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$207M in three days? I don't understand the appeal at all to an adult. Am I stuck in the Twilight Zone?

Costumed super-heroes have been part of our culture for 80 years. We've had comic books, radio dramas, movie shorts and TV shows about them. Some are so thoroughly ingrained in our culture that most people can name secondary or even tertiary characters in a hero's supporting cast (Jimmy Olsen, Perry White, J. Jonah Jameson, Commissioner Gordon...). Even putting aside comic books, in the last 30 years we've gone from the Super-Friends to the ridiculously high quality Bruce Timm version version of the DC Universe that every single person who is now 25 years old rushed home to watch after school. On the Marvel side of things, there have been X-men and Spider-Man cartoons on TV more or less constantly for the last 20 years (and Spidey at least has had several runs before that).

These are hugely popular media enterprises and they're also cultural touchstones. We know who Batman and Spider-Man are. We grew up with them.

The remarkable thing is that we now have the technology to make a believable version of what has been shown in comics and cartoons in a live action movie. And even more than that, there are creators working in positions of power who can take the material seriously enough to give it a proper treatment.

For the last five years, Marvel Studios has been working to realize its comic book universe on film. It started with Iron Man, a third-rate property that had never been optioned for film before. They cast a well-known recovering addict in the lead role and had the guy who made the bro-comedy Swingers direct. And they made something that was absolutely perfect. They encapsulated Marvel's version of a comic book on screen. Now you can say that not all the Marvel Studios movies have been as great but the truth is that Marvel has been building to the point where all of its characters can be together on screen in a way that makes sense. Everything that came before the Avengers was just an extended origin story and that's been the plan since Iron Man. They did it and it worked beautifully. Assuming Marvel ever gets the rights to some of its biggest characters back, some day we might see Spider-Man swinging across Four Freedoms Plaza (home of the Fantastic Four) on his way to Stark Tower to meet up with the Avengers. That's the dream.

And if you're a kid or a young adult who watched all these characters on TV or if you grew up with these characters in comics, that is something you've wanted to see for pretty much your whole life.
 

ddrueding

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I was never into the comics as a kid; I didn't have any geek friends to introduce me, and I didn't encounter them on my own. If I had, I would have been hooked. Even now, being exposed to them for the first time in the theaters (and secondarilly via heroclix), I can understand the desire to build the story (and justification) for a reunion tour of all the baddies. This will be great.

(pui)
 

Santilli

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Marvel comics are were aimed at high school/college level reading. I started reading in third grade. Comics 10 cents. They seriously helped my reading and comp skills, and along with having a teacher for a mother seriously helped my Eng com skills.
They have been the mythology/religion for many for 50 years. Stan Lee was smart enough to realize the potential waiting for movie skills being able to keep up with his imagination and Jack Kirby's.

My mother kept my comic collection, and bagged it, while I was in Hawaii/Santa Cruz. The value turned out to be in the sold for 4000 dollar range, true value higher. Not bad for about 200 dollars invested.

God Bless her, and may my stepfather earn his just deserts.

I had Xmen 94 in near mint condition. Among other Xmen, and many others.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_X-Men_94

compare.ebay.com/like/320862546586?var=lv&ltyp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar&_lwgsi=y&cbt=y
 

Santilli

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Merc, I can see going again to see the Avengers.

I went tonight, 2D for me, and the movie was pretty incredible. I enjoyed the Loki-God Meets Hulk scene in particular;-)

Went at 11PM, and it was still 30% full, on a Thursday night.

The Cosmic Cube had to lead to Thanos. Seems to me they better have the rights to the Fantastic Four and Spidey back for that one.
Not to mention the Silver Surfer.
 

Mercutio

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Sony has Spider-Man and characters related to Spider-Man.
Fox has X-men and characters related to the X-men. Fox also has rights to the Fantastic Four and related characters, which explains why the aliens in the Avengers are Chitauri and not Skrulls. This also means no Dr. Doom, Galactus or Silver Surfer in a Marvel movie. I believe Fox also has Daredevil, but its rights might lapse if a new movie isn't in production by the end of the year. Fox also has the Ghost Rider license, I think. Not that anyone cares. Blade just reverted to Marvel as well.

Supposedly, the new Spider-Man movie is completely hated internally. No one wanted to make it, but of course if it wasn't made, Marvel would get its IP back and that would be a poor decision from the studio.

We'll probably see a move into TV shows soonish, but a few character names that keep popping up for movie treatment are Luke Cage, Ant-Man, Doctor Strange, Black Panther and the Runaways. Reginald Hudlin, who is some kind of bigwig at BET, has written Black Panther comics. Brian Bendis, who is basically the architect for most the last 10 years of Marvel comics, is a huge, huge Luke Cage fan. Between that and the fact that the Avengers were so white they were transparent, I suspect we'll get some heroes of color soon. The Runaways could work as a TV show. Given that the characters include a gay teenage girl who emits rainbows as she flies (who just, and I am totally not making this up, recently met the OTHER Marvel universe teenage girl who emits rainbows as she flies, and they're going on a date), another girl who can't use her powers unless she's bleeding and a sentient dinosaur, it's probably not the best fit for the Disney channel, but the relative new-ness of the characters and the youth orientation would play better in that format.

Joss Whedon has said he wants another woman on the Avengers for the next movie, too. That suggests Wasp, Scarlet Witch or Ms. Marvel. Scarlet Witch is most iffy. Ms. Marvel might be too similar to Thor (very strong, nigh-invulnerable, flies, absorbs energy) but she has an awesome iconic costume and she'd look great in frame with Thor and the Hulk. I don't think they could get away with She-Hulk.

Bendis's comic series Alias would also be a good fit for TV, but obviously the name would be an issue.
 

sechs

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Apparently Paramount's rights were bought back by Disney on the Avengers. Still their logo appears on the film.
If I recall correctly, Paramount retained the release rights in North America; Disney has the rest of the world.
 

Mercutio

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The Avengers XXX is not as good as the regular version in most respects but then on the other hand at least the Black Widow does the thing you really want her to do in the porn version.
 
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