Big weekend for Joss by CaveTroll

REAL WORLD EVENT DISCUSSIONS

Big weekend for Joss

POSTED BY: CAVETROLL
UPDATED: Thursday, May 24, 2012 05:50
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VIEWED: 1396
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Monday, May 7, 2012 5:03 AM

It has been a long time since I felt I got my money's worth at the theater. The Avengers certainly changed that. While I did like the 3 Stooges earlier this year, I recognize that it would not have broad appeal to audiences. The Avengers would seem to have the same challenge. I went to the midnight showing on Thursday-Friday. The audience was filled with die hard fans of the comics, mostly younger, mostly male. But there was a solid representation of older couples and women.

But here's the thing; you didn't have to be a die hard fan to enjoy this movie.

Whedon put enough background to give a rough sketch of the characters for the non-fan. The set up for the villain was plain and the big battle obvious. The obligatory penis measuring fight scene between the three principal heroes was over quickly and not too badly contrived. In fact, the whole story plays out like a set piece scene from the age of comics I am familiar with. Before comic heroes were all gritty with realism and Wolverine clones.

If there is any unbalancing element in the film it is with the roster of the team. The Hulk. Iron Man. Thor. Captain America. The Black Widow. Hawkeye. The last two maybe seem a bit under powered. There is a scene where Cap, Black Widow and Hawkeye are marching toward the battle and I remember thinking; "Here's our three token humans". Though Cap certainly falls into the extreme upper end of that group.

Iron Man does the lion's share of the ass whooping in the film. Thor does copious damage, although on larger opponents. His character does come off as not overburdened with brains and heavily loaded with arrogance. I guess that comes with the package when you're a god.

And then there's The Hulk. This is the first movie featuring The Hulk where I really felt that The Hulk was not a super hero. The Hulk is a force of nature. You point him in a direction and hope for the best. I'm kind of blase about big explodey movies. Star Wars wowed my socks off when I was a kid. Independence Day gave great visuals of major monuments blowing up. I expect my explosions big and the soundtrack loud, both of which were lacking in the Avengers. However, there's a scene where The Hulk dishes out a whole CASE of whoopass on a character who shall remain nameless. It was so abrupt and so startling that I think my mouth was hanging open.

In short, this is a good movie. It isn't weighted down with a big message. The bad guys wear black hats, the good guys wear white hats. There's little sex, not much harsh language, very few commercial placements, I think the most objectionable things might be smoking and drinking. (Something that you'd expect ADULTS to do.) I'm surprised that A) Joss got a shot to direct this. B) It wasn't placed directly on a big summer movie weekend (But the 4th of July does fall in the middle of the week this year). C) We got a movie this good without studio interference.

Good job, Joss. And thank you for making a really good comic book film.

P.S. While the grand finale does bear some passing similarity to events in a book by Larry Correia from 2008, (The part where the guy put the thing in the other thing and something bad happens to the thing that's over there, yeah) I doubt the similarity was intentional.

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Monday, May 7, 2012 7:23 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

I'm glad for Joss (and glad for the pretty good reviews he's gotten for "Cabin In the Woods", too), but I have no real desire to see either movie. Of the two, I'll see "Cabin" first, I'm sure, because I tend to like a decent horror movie, and I'm just getting really sick of comic-book movies.

What next? Movies made from board games?

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero, Real World Event Discussions

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Monday, May 7, 2012 7:53 AM

PIRATENEWS

John Lee, conspiracy therapist at Hollywood award-winner History Channel-mocked SNL-spoofed PirateNew.org wooHOO!!!!!!

Gotta hand it to Joss, he knows how to cash in on Amerika's love of fantasy and hatred for reality.

The best salesmen make you laugh before they knock your head off.

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Monday, May 7, 2012 11:20 AM

KWICKO

The weekend was even bigger for Joss than you thought:

Quote:
The big news over the weekend was that The Avengers had become the first movie ever to make $200 million in a single weekend. Turns out, the news was even bigger than that. The final numbers from the weekend box office are in, and The Avengers finally tally at the North American box office was an astonishing $207 million. According to Deadline you can add another $447 million from international markets to bring The Avengers to $654 million worldwide, which makes it the #53 highest-grossing film worldwide of all time, just 10 days into its release.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Official-Avengers-Box-Office-Numbers-Ev
en-Bigger-Than-You-Thought-30796.html

So, more than $650 million in box office so far. Not too shabby, eh?

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero, Real World Event Discussions

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Monday, May 7, 2012 12:11 PM

FREMDFIRMA

Quote:
Originally posted by CaveTroll:
P.S. While the grand finale does bear some passing similarity to events in a book by Larry Correia from 2008, (The part where the guy put the thing in the other thing and something bad happens to the thing that's over there, yeah) I doubt the similarity was intentional.

MHI is freakin awesome, yes.

The thing which shines my marbles about Iron Man/Tony Stark is that underneath it all he's a HUGE geek, with enough money and resources to seriously indulge himself, which makes some folk think his "heroism" is kind of shallow ego padding, and yeah some of it is - I mean wouldn't you want some cred for helping the world ?
But he still does it - and... Tony can't STAND losing, so when he throws his lot in with the good guys, you know he just absolutely won't quit, just don't expect him to play to well with others.
I like how he gets on with Banner though, and that whole thing went right over the rest of their heads, hehehehe.

-Frem

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Monday, May 7, 2012 12:29 PM

WHOZIT

I hope Joss puts the money to good use and buys the rights to "Firefly" and "Serenity" from FOX and Universal.

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Wednesday, May 23, 2012 10:07 AM

OONJERAH

PURE GOLDER Does Joss Whedon Need To Do Avengers 2? =>
http://www.sfx.co.uk/2012/05/21/pure-golder-what-next-for-josswhedon/

Now seems the right time for Whedon to launch new ideas rather than rehash old ones.

But we all know that if there’s one old idea he’d love to rehash, it’s Firefly.
But even if he was given carte blanche to make whatever he wanted, it’s doubtful
he could ever capture that lightning twice. Assembling the Avengers would be a
doddle compared to trying to re-assemble that cast, and Whedon has admitted
many times that it was the alchemy created by bringing together that particular
group of actors that was a major part of the show’s success. Besides, he killed half
of them off in Serenity.

And if Whedon truly thinks that working on Firely was one of the highlights of
his career, he’s probably best off leaving it as a cherished memory than trying
to recreate it. It could all end in tears and tantrums.

Oonj:
It could, indeed, all go awry. But to walk away from it would be the greater
sin, abandoning the Firefly fan base.

. . .I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. ~Charles R Swindoll

If I have to react to others all the time, then they own my mind more than I do.
If I let others tell me how to feel, I lose my ability to choose happiness.
If I let others tell me who I am, I've vacated self-definition.
Finally, I realized how foolish I was to give others such power over me.

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Thursday, May 24, 2012 1:05 AM

CANTTAKESKY

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:
What next? Movies made from board games?

Yep.

They've already done Clue and Battleship. Next: Candyland, Ouija Board, and Monopoly.

http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/127147

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Thursday, May 24, 2012 2:34 AM

PIZMOBEACH

... fully loaded, safety off...

Quote:
Originally posted by Kwicko:

What next? Movies made from board games?

I'd go see Risk, even though I know how it turns out.

Scifi movie music + Firefly dialogue clips, 24 hours a day - http://www.scifiradio.com

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Thursday, May 24, 2012 4:32 AM

KWICKO

Quote:
Originally posted by PIRATENEWS:
Gotta hand it to Joss, he knows how to cash in on Amerika's love of fantasy and hatred for reality.

Isn't that pretty much the point of most movies, to take you OUT of your day-to-day humdrum and offer an escape? That's why movies did so well during the Great Depression: anything the people could do to forget their troubles, even for a little while...

Meanwhile, Avengers topped the billion-dollar box-office mark in its second weekend out. And DVD & Blu-Ray sales will push that even further.

Good for Joss - now there's a cadre of people clamoring for him to do "Wonder Woman", despite him being removed from the project earlier.

Joss has hand, and now's the time for him to use it. Serenity II, anyone? Or a "reboot"?

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I've not watched the video either, or am incapable of intellectually dealing with the substance of this thread, so I'll instead act like a juvenile and claim victory..." - Rappy

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Thursday, May 24, 2012 5:33 AM

OONJERAH

Quote Kwicko: "Joss has hand, and now's the time for him to use it. Serenity II, anyone? Or a reboot?"

I'd prefer Firefly, the series. There'd be more of it; it's a regular fix.
I suppose we could petition him. If that doesn't work, how about death threats?

. . .
=========================
I am responsible for my own happiness.

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Thursday, May 24, 2012 5:50 AM

KWICKO

I think Joss is well aware of the Browncoats' love for him and his 'verse. He even posts on Whedonesque, his own self, or at least used to.

I'd prefer more series, too, but I'll take what I can get.

"I supported Bush in 2000 and 2004 and intellegence [sic] had very little to do with that decision." - Hero

"I've not watched the video either, or am incapable of intellectually dealing with the substance of this thread, so I'll instead act like a juvenile and claim victory..." - Rappy

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