Movie of the Week: The Avengers (Marvel's Avengers Assemble)

More like movie of the year!! Because I am lazy and should technically be studying, I have just posted the review that I wrote for Galway.Studeny.me that you can read HERE even though it is not different at all, except that this one has more pictures. So yeah here it is...

Avengers Assemble: Does It Really Live Up To All The Hype?

In short, yes it does. The Avengers – or Avengers Assemble as it is known here to avoid confusion with the 1960s TV series – was forecasted to be the biggest film of the year and after witnessing it tonight in all its glory, I wouldn’t hesitate to bet on it. With plans for The Avengers stretching as far back as 2005, speculation was rife as to how the movie would turn out.

            Directed by Joss Whedon – perhaps most widely known for his work on Buffy the Vampire Slayer – and with a screenplay by Whedon and Zak Penn (X-Men: The Last Stand, Fantastic Four), the film has already been regarded as a success by Marvel fans as well as regular cinemagoers alike. The movie is one giant sequel to the previous Marvel movies featuring the key characters. Most notably Thor as the events take place a year after and are a direct result of the effects of Thor’s (Chris Hemsworth) visit to earth. Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Thor’s adopted brother, steals the Tesseract – an alien source of renewable energy – and intends to use its power to bring his extraterrestrial army of Chitauri to earth to enslave mankind. This is bad. Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson), the man behind S.H.I.E.L.D, brings together the mixed bag of heroes in order to stop Loki’s plans. This is good. The team consists of Iron Man/Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr), Captain America/Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), Thor and finally two master assassins; Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow/Natasha Romanoff and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye/Clint Barton.

The fear, with a production like this, is that one character might end up taking on a dominating role over the rest of the team. (I am looking at you Mr. Stark). However Whedon managed to give each one of the Avengers team members their own time in the spotlight without detracting from the overall story. By the end of it, you will even feel appropriately acquainted with Hawkeye who unlike the other Avengers heroes did not feature in film before (excluding his brief cameo in last year’s Thor).

And now 3D or not 3D? For that is the very important question. If you decide to go for the 3D option then you will probably wonder for the first half hour why you bothered. It does however improve. Dramatically. The movie is very decisively divided into three acts. The first act – less action, shorter scenes, more dialogue – does not bode nicely with the 3D and it is understandably where the source of negative 3D reviews originates. However as for the following acts you will be glad that you forked out the extra bob for the glasses. As the movie was not initially filmed in 3D, but instead subsequently converted, it is expected that it is not exactly going to make you jump out of your seat. If you’re not a 3D snob, go for it; if you are, then don’t; and if, like me, you intend to see this more in the cinema more than once, then you might as well mix it up.

Perhaps the most endearing feature of this 145-minute extravaganza is that it does not take itself too seriously or at least it succeeds in giving that impression. The Avengers is easy on the bloodshed and generous with the comedy continuing the tone of the individual character movies that preceded it. It does not contain a hidden message or cryptic meaning but instead it is exactly what it promises to be: a really good superhero movie.

P.S. There is a short scene after the credits. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Stand your ground (or remain in your seat) while everyone else shuffles out around you. Stay until the bitter end!

Now some stills from the movie.

image via http://www.ifc.com/

image via http://moviecarpet.com/

image via http://i.movie.as/

And finally, Thor, because Thor is played by Chris Hemsworth, who is pretty much a god in his own right.

image via http://film-book.com/

Cheers for reading,

Jane

Movie of the Week: Project X

So after last week's debut Movie of the Week post, I decided to follow it up with my most recent cinema outing to see Project X.

image via google.images.com

Project X is basically every mad night you've ever had, ever heard about and ever watched all in one. 

This high school meets major debauchery meets disaster movie is from the producers of The Hangover movies, Old School and Due Date and stars a bunch of relatively unknown young actors. There was only guy in the whole thing that I actually recognised and I am too ashamed to admit from where. Okay it was Footloose the abominable remake. 

So Project X is nothing less of amazing. Of course it will get mixed reviews because it's about a bunch of teenagers throwing a party but I think that if you even look past the storyline of the whole thing, it is actually a exceptionally well produced movie. The soundtrack is so good, downloaded already! The editing and actual filming of the movie is fantastic. I think that the idea to film it all on a hand-held camera and camera phones was such an inspired idea because it really reflects the whole kind of zeitgeist of people posting videos on Youtube and FB. It also brings you right into the movie Blair Witch style. Now this may be because my friends and I were sitting right into the front row. While the front row has glamorous connotations for anything fashion related, for the cinema it doesn't. If you do decide to go and see this movie I really recommend sitting in the front row because well, you'll just have to see for yourself! 

This movie is apparently based on the phenomenon that was Corey's Party which took place a couple of yeas ago in Melbourne Australia. If you haven't heard about this before then click HERE. I saw a video on Youtube the other day that showed Corey's "apology" and to be honest he was a total asshole! The main character in Project X is a bit of a nerd and he's quite sweet so you are definitely rooting for him the whole movie which I think is important for the whole storyline of the movie. 

I would most definitely watch this movie again. I would literally watch it tomorrow! Have way through the movie you'll be like "all I want to do is throw a party and listen to party rap music and drink shots and form dance circles and stuff!" and then towards the end of the movie you'll be like "I am never throwing a party. Ever". It has a happy ending though! I promise!

Also if you're in the Galway area then you will have undoubtedly heard about the RAG week antics last month. The lads at FlipSave made this incredible video which pretty much sums up the madness of it all!

Cheers for reading,

Jane

Movie of the Week

So I have decided to start doing a movie of the week post because, well, I watch a lot of movies.

This week's Movie Of The Week is Simon Pegg and Nick Frost's Paul. I didn't see this movie when it originally came out into the cinema and it took me a while to actually take the time to watch it and to honest I do regret not watching it sooner because it is quite fantastic. It's nice to see an alien, close encounter etc type movie redone in a new way. The overall plot of the movie is not unfamiliar and that is the charm of it; they play on alien movie clichés and use them to their strengths.

I will do a quick summing up for anyone who hasn't seen the movie. So Graham (Pegg) and Clive (Frost) are two British sci-fi enthusiasts who have made the trip from the UK to San Diego for the annual Comic-Con. While there, they decide to take a bit of a road trip around the supernatural landmarks of the states (I guess that's what you'd call them). While on this trip they encounter Paul, who after having been 60 years on planet decides that it is time to return home. The geeks take him on board their RV and in doing so the adventure really begins. While on the road they meet the bible thumping Ruth played by my girl-crush Kristen Wiig, the special agent Zoil played by Jason Bateman and the not-so-special agents whose names I can't remember played by Bill Hader and Joe Lo Truglio.

The character of Paul, voiced by one of my idols, Seth Rogen, is most definitely the best alien I have seen on the screen since E.T. He is however most definitely not a cheap copy of E.T. Instead though, Paul is everything that you would expect from an alien having spent 60 years on Earth, kicking back and advising both the government and the entertainment industry on matters extraterrestrial-related and otherwise. He smokes with a trooper, curses like a sailor and gets high like various other stereotypes. Seth Rogen, like he has done so in movies before, creates the perfect balance between being foul-mouthed and then caring and sweet. He, in my opinion, stole the show.

As far as the actual jokes themselves go, to be honest, I think if had not have been for the exceptional cast, then the movie would probably have sunk into oblivion as just being a good CGI project but nothing else. You would expect more than jokes about anal probes and being gay from the guys who brought you Hot Fuzz and Spaced. Don't get me wrong I laughed a lot, but i just expected more than gay jokes that's all. It still is a really really good laugh though so I would highly recommend it.

Overall Rating 7/10

image vie geekadelphia.com

Cheers for reading,

Jane