He he he...

God to I love being in on the ground floor when something that is going to change everything shows up.  Seeing XMEN: First Class tonight at 12:01am on a whim was probably the best idea I have had in a while:

Wow, just wow.  I was blown away.  Iron Man (which I loved), Batman Begins (which could be my favorite comic movie of all time), eat your heart out.  XMEN:First Class sets the new standard for comic movies.  Sure as no comic movie is perfect exactly there were flaws.  Young Mystique was hit or miss and I think the flying Troll (Banshee) was definitely a big miss.  But for the most part they got it right.  Remember that first time you saw X2 and wolverine actually stabs the guys invading the house, hacking and slashing his way through them.  Yeah the whole movie was full of moments like that.  Another thing, the movie was chalk full of cameos, some expected some out of left field.  And what a villain does Kevin Bacon make.

If you were planning to see this movie great, enjoy!  If you were on the fence about seeing this movie... go see it.  If you weren't going to go see it but now plan too, awesome!  If you weren't planning to see it and still aren't... What is wrong with you?

Iron Man 2, no spoilers

What can I say, I am a bit of a power armor fanboy so it should be no surprise that I am an Iron Man fan. I collected the comics when I was a kid and I pick up Iron Man graphic novels when ever I come across them now. So no surprise, I love the movies and seeing Don Scheadle taking on the role of Brody and ending up as the bad ass Warmachine as seen to my left, you can only imagine my delight.

Last night I descended on my local movie theater at the 12:01am time slot and watched the second part of what I am sure could only end as a three part trilogy, and probably before we ever get to Avengers. So approaching this movie as part 2 of a 3 part story I can honestly say it was a good movie, much better at least then Matrix: Reloaded or part 2 movies of its like (no one has been able to match Back to the Future 2, and I hope they never do).

It featured all the same bits as Iron Man did, but with a twist as all sequels do, falling a bit into how can we make the first movie again... but different trap. As most sequels go they update existing characters, add new ones, and make the whole thing more flashy. The new characters include Mick Rourke as Whiplash (the new villian), Scarlett Johansson as the undercover shield agent Black Widow?, and Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer. Rourke does an okay job of filling the shoes to power armored enemy that Jeff Bridges's Obadiah Stane was in the first Iron Man. Scarlett Johansson did what Scarlett Johansson does, dominated every scene she is in and make you forget that there are other actors on the screen, except when facing down Gwyneth Paltrow who out shines her surprisingly in every scene the pair appear in over the course of the movie.

Sam Rockwell does a good job of portraying Justin Hammer, a conceited and jealous rival to Stark's success, who I am sure will be back in Iron Man 3. The real breakouts for me in this movie though were Paltrow's portrayal of Pepper Potts, who moves from a spunky supporting star to full on main stream character in Iron Man 2; and Don Scheadle's Brody, who acted merely as comical relief in the first movie, but ends up as main stream bad ass as Warmachine, the yang to Iron Man's yin, though they completely kill Warmachine's original origins which disappoints me a small amount.

Finally Sam Jackson returns as Nick Fury (still do not like him in this role) and the Avenger plot thickens. He plays his bad ass (read I am Sam Jackson playing Sam Jackson that he always plays) self. Look for nods to many of the Avenger characters through out the movie, they are there to see. Last but not least, remember, stay til after the end credits, just stay till the lights come up, stay...

Good movie, suffered from the middle movie syndrome some, but still a fun film and one I would recommend to the Marvel fanboy and action fan alike.

AVATAR

Avatar, by now everyone has heard of it, a movie by James Cameron of Titanic, Terminator, and The Abyss lore. When Cameron sets out to make a movie he does not do so lightly so when I say Avatar meets all the hype Cameron has promised and more, I hope you believe me. I do not know how to generalize Avatar or what movie it could compare with. I guess if Gorillas that Dance with the Last of the Fern Gullians was a movie then you could start there. Cameron has fused multiple elements together from a score of different genres to mesh together Avatar. The depth of the film still has me realing. I am having a hard time find the right words to describe it.

If you are like me and walked out of District 9 moved, See avatar. If you walked out of Gorillas in the Mists and wanted to save the Gorillas see Avatar. If you watched dances with wolves and loved it see Avatar. If you are a fan of seamless special effects and alien worlds, see Avatar. If you are a fan of action movies and love the amazing battles scenes of movies like Star Wars Episode 3, Matrix Revolutions, or District 9, see Avatar. If you are a fan of romance movies like the Lion King, See Avatar. If you are a fan of... You get the point. See Avatar, you won't be sorry.

Oh, an if you happen to have a chance check it out in 3D do so. It took 20 minutes or so for me to get used to it, but after I did it was well worth the additional $3.50.

Autobots Transform and Roll Out!

These famous words caught the imagination of my generation and "Transformed" us into fans of giant robots duking it out for supremacy on our home world of earth. The new movie, Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen opened for all to see tonight at 12:01am and yours truly was in attendance. I will not give you any spoilers, but encourage you to give the movie a go. Did you like the first one? Yes, see the second one tomorrow, trust me, I will be seeing it again tomorrow, and Thursday, and Friday, and... and... it was that good. Or, so you sort of liked the First one but found some of it cheesy. Okay, see it this weekend, give it a shot, I think the stuff you thought cheesy is done a lot better this time around.

Okay and that small percent of you that hated the first movie (what is wrong with you???) give it a week or two, then, once the crowds have died down go sit in the theater, wave hello to me and the rest of us fans who with be in the middle of an "and... and..." moment and drop your predetermined thoughts and give it a go, you may be surprise by how much you will enjoy yourself.

Okay, enough Transformers for now, more later. For those tuning in for 40K and painting goodies, fear not, I have some stuff coming down the pipe that will wet your whistle. It has been a busy month with little time to edit photos but I am going to see what I can't do to find some time this weekend to take care of several event reports, modeling progress shots, and up coming event info to share.

Until I walk this way again.