Summer Movie Musings: Avengers - Age of Ultron

This past weekend saw the wide US theatrical release of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the much anticipated Marvel team-up film that continued the momentum of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) started all the way back in 2008 and has continued with several awesome movies and television shows.

It's hard to top the unique movie event that was the first Avengers movie, but Age of Ultron (AoU) succeeds at being a ton of fun, just like all of the entries in the MCU. With some amazing action set pieces, cool new characters, and a global scale to the proceedings. Ultron is a suitable villain, but these movies still are struggling to create as good a villain (and as persistent a one) as Loki.

Even with a stuffed cast of characters, a frenetic pace, and some universe building to do, the movie doesn't feel as unfocused as other superhero films were trying to do the same (Amazing Spider-Man 2 comes to mind). We get precursors to future solo movies (most importantly Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther) as well as the Infinity War saga. I appreciated these nods as well as the introductions of Vision, Quicksilver, and Scarlet Witch. They're all cool new characters that fit right into the established MCU.

Ant-Man is the next entry in the MCU (which I am really curious to see) and it will continue to expand the history of the Avengers, SHIELD, and looks to keep the same vibe of action and fun. I'll continue to review all the movies I see this summer, which will (hopefully) include Pitch Perfect 2, Inside Out, and Ant-Man (there are other movies this year I'm looking forward to as well, they just come out way later).

What did you think of Age of Ultron? Did you see it in 2D/3D? IMAX?

Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Geeking Out About This Week - 02/27/15

Greetings! Here's what is going on in my world this week:

** EDIT: Condolences to the family of Leonard Nimoy, who passed away today at the age of 83. You will be missed.

• Parks and Recreation Series Finale

I watched the finale the day after it aired with my partner (we wanted to watch together) and I was very pleased with how they sent off the series. While it is really hard to ever live up to the high expectations of a series finale, Parks and Recreation definitely went out on top. This entire final season was awesome and should serve as a textbook for other sitcom finales. I foresee this show being one I'll go back to and watch again and again. It cements itself as a classic show that will surely stand the test of time. Thanks for the memories, Parks and Recreation!

• Avengers: Age of Ultron

Some new little tidbits about the film came out from unexpected places. The official movie poster for Age of Ultron came out, and some awesome nerds discovered some interesting cast listings, such as Anthony Mackie, Idris Elba, and Hayley Atwell (some having been rumored, others thought not to be in the film). I'm particularly excited for Anthony Mackie to be featured in the film in some capacity since I know he is passionate about the role of the Falcon. All of them are awesome actors with equally awesome characters so I'm glad they're all in the movie (they all also add some diversity to the film). We've also gotten some better looks at Vision recently, which also make me happy. I can't wait for this movie!!!

• House of Cards Season 3

I've been looking forward to this since the end of last season. This Netflix exclusive series is an amazing dramatic political thriller led by the incomparable Kevin Spacey. Having Frank Underwood as the President of the United States only makes the stakes higher and the intrigue more deep. I'm intrigued to see what he does with his new power or if it stifles him and he loses everything he worked so hard to obtain. I'm not sure when I'll get to watch all the episodes so I'll have to do my best to avoid any spoilers! Definitely check out seasons 1 & 2 on Netflix if you haven't already. They're awesome television!

Thanks for stopping by!

Top Movies I'm Looking Forward to in 2015

2015 is looking to be a standout year with some awesome big films on the horizon. While 2014 has its triumphs, the slate of movies coming down the pipeline have me really excited. Only time will tell if I still feel the same way this time next year, but for now, here is what I'm looking forward to this year in movies:

Avengers: Age of Ultron

This is pretty much a given. The two trailers we've gotten so far look amazing and I'm a big fan of what Marvel has been churning out lately with their movies and television offerings. Ant-Man has me curious but doesn't make the list since I have only seen the one trailer and have no basis for the character. Once some early reviews come in for that one I might come around but for now, Age of Ultron is going to be my big movie for the year that I know should be great.  If you haven't kept up with Marvel's movies and television shows, I recommend you catch up since this should be the movie event of the year!

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part 2

After seeing Part 1 this past fall, I am very eager to watch this final chapter. The previous movie did a good job of setting this one up for success and I have really gotten into the whole Hunger Games universe. It's an engaging, smart, mature story that is something good for young adults to explore. I haven't read the books so I don't know how it ends, but I have heard the ending isn't great so I'm curious to see if it is changed for the film at all. I didn't really expect to like this film series but after three solid movies, I'm hooked!

Inside Out

A new original concept from Pixar, Inside Out is about those emotional voices inside our heads and how we make decisions based off them. As many others also do I'm sure, I have loved pretty much all of Pixar's movies. The Toy Story movies, Up, and Wall-E, are some of my favorites of the bunch. This premise looks like it could be really good so I'm excited to check it out. I'm glad they're making some unique like this too, since something like Monsters University was good, but felt like a good concept was there that could have stood on its own without the Monsters Inc universe hovering over it.

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens

While this one should be another given, I'm still cautiously optimistic about this one until I see a full trailer. The teaser did get me excited but we still don't know a lot about the movie or characters. I'm always stoked to head back into the Star Wars universe but this movie could end up not being able to live up to the high expectations it has just like the Prequel Trilogy, and perhaps now it has even higher stakes because of the lackluster former movies. It has to be amazing in order to reclaim all the lost faith in the franchise, it can't just be okay. We'll see what comes of this soon as we see more and learn more about the film.

Pitch Perfect 2

The first film was a breakaway success, especially amongst the college aged crowd I am privileged to serve everyday. I enjoyed it as well, as it was a fast, fun, and smart movie with a great cast. While comedy sequels have classically struggled, I am willing to give this one a chance. Anna Kendrick is always awesome and I have faith she can carry the movie through well. This may be the most shaky movie on the list but I really hope it is good!

Thanks for stopping by!