Marvel's The Avengers: Best movie of 2012

I won't claim to know all there is to know about comics and the Marvel universe. Well, actually I won’t claim to know anything. But I didn’t have to, to enjoy and appreciate Marvel’s The Avengers. This was the best movie of 2012. I give it five out of five stars. It’s got action, action, and more action. And it’s funny. You won’t find yourself falling asleep on this movie. I had a blast; superheroes brought together to fight for the survival of Earth. It’s amazing and fun.

The Box Office results for 2012 Worldwide Grosses show The Avengers as number one, grossing over a billion dollars. Check this out: The Avengers Worldwide Gross / 2012 Worldwide Grosses

And it comes in at number three under "All Time Domestic Gross"; just under Titanic, number two; and Avatar, number one.

This movie was definitely the most anticipated of the year. Well, at least it was for me and a lot of other people.

Before watching the movie, I familiarized myself with the other movies. I had already seen and liked The Hulk and the Iron Man movies. When Captain America came out in theaters, I already knew I’d enjoy it. But Thor, I knew absolutely nothing about. I was convinced to go see it, and I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. Before watching it, I just couldn’t imagine what could be so awesome about a hammer. Well, I found out. Another movie added to my Really Awesome Movies list.

Each fighting character brings something amazing and powerful to the table:

·  Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) is a mighty warrior, with Mjolnir, an extremely powerful legendary hammer, to help him defeat enemies.

·   Iron Man, aka Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr.), powered up in his armor brings speed, flight, and strength. Oh yeah, he’s also an electronic genius and a billionaire.

·   The Hulk, aka Bruce Banner (played by Mark Ruffalo), is pure strength. Never underestimate The Hulk’s smash.

·  Captain America, aka Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans), is the fearless and heroic super soldier. He has speed, strength, and courage (Well, they all have courage. Why not, when you have super powers?)

·   Hawkeye, aka Clint Barton (played by Jeremy Renner); and Black Widow, aka Natasha Romanoff (played by Scarlett Johansson), are Strategic Hazard Intervention Espionage and Logistics Directorate (S.H.I.E.L.D.) agents. Hawkeye, armed with the recurve bow, is the greatest marksman on Earth. And Black Widow is skilled in martial arts, has widow stings and cluster bombs, and she is one of the world’s greatest spies and skilled assassin.

It’s hard to pick a favorite character from this movie. I enjoyed them all. But I could watch The Hulk all day. And Loki, he is so hilarious. Here are a few examples: 

·   Loki catches Hawkeye’s arrow in his hand. Then it blows up.

·   Loki: “Enough! You are, all of you, beneath me. I am a god you dull creature. And I will not be bullied by…”

*The Hulk grabs him and starts slamming him left, right, and sideways.

Here are some of the funniest scenes and quotes from the movie:

·   Loki gets whipped by The Hulk.

·   The Hulk punches Thor away.

·  Thor: “Have a care how you speak! Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother.”

Black Widow: “He killed 80 people in two days.”

Thore: “He’s adopted.”

·   The Hulk yells to wake up Iron Man.

·   Thor: (laughing) “You people are so petty. And tiny”

Overall, it’s an awesome movie. Check out the website: http://marvel.com/avengers_movie/   

I’d like to know what you think of this movie. Do you have a favorite character or actor? What was the best scene in your opinion?  –Ann J  

Childhood Favorites

What is one of your favorite childhood movies? My all-time favorite is The Lion King. Oh! There’s nothing like it. It has the best intro every. Take a look, and listen to this: The Lion King intro

I actually like every song on the soundtrack. OK, so, I’m sure most have heard of or seen this movie at least once. So I won’t get into what it’s all about, but I will share some of my favorite scenes.

My favorite scenes:

• -Simba and Nala visit the shadowy place (elephant graveyard) and laughs in the face of danger.
• -Mufasa saves Simba and Nala from three hyenas.
• -Timon and Pumbaa find Simba in the desert and they sing “Hakuna Matata”. And then, as the song goes on, Simba transforms into an adult lion.
• -Simba’s reflection in the water turns into Mufasa.
• -Rafiki hits Simba on the head with a stick with the first swing of it. But with the second swing, he misses, because Simba learned from the first hit, and ducked.
• -Nala tries to eat Pumbaa. 
• -Simba pulls Nala into the water.
• -Simba’s decides to spare Scar’s life, but tell him to run away and never return. (But we all know Scar is evil, so he attacks Simba and gets thrown off of Pride Rock.)
• -Rain falls in the Pride Lands as Simba steps up as king.
• -The circle of life continues with the birth of Nala’s son.
• -All of the scenes where there is singing. 

I truly enjoyed this one as a child. And still do as an adult. In the movie, the scenery is so beautiful. And it’s about lions, the kings of the jungles (or should I say kings of the “plains”?). It’s about love, courage, and destiny. In the end, good overcomes evil, which is always nice.  

So, tell me, what’s one of your favorite childhood movies?

Twilight Series

How I Came to Know Twilight

The Twilight Series is pretty popular. And it has been for a while. But I didn’t know anything about it until around 2009. A friend asked if I’d seen the movie and I hadn’t so she suggested that I watch it. But, I didn’t. I didn’t really care to even watch the trailer. All of a sudden, I noticed a lot of talk about Twilight. And I noticed the books on the shelves at stores. Now, I love to read and I like to watch movie. But still, I refused. I don’t know why. Then one day, I picked up the book Twilight and opened it to the first page of chapter one. I always read the back of a book, then the first paragraph or first page of the first chapter. And from there I decide if I’m going to like the book. This has never failed me. So I read a bit and decided to buy the first book of the Twilight series.

My Obsession

Well, about two days later, when I had finished reading, I went to the nearest store (Publix) and purchased the other three books (New Moon, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn). I couldn’t wait. I had to have them that night. I was obsessed. I could hardly put them down. I took my books to work to read during breaks and lunch; I only put them down when I absolutely had to. That’s why every two days I was moving on to the next book. I couldn’t stand for it to be over, so I had to slow my pace. It wasn’t easy.

Books v Movies

I watched the fist movie after I finished the first book. I’ll tell you how I felt about that in a sec. So, after I finished reading all of the books, I waited for each movie to come out and I watched them, in theater. If possible, watching a movie on the big screen at a movie theater, getting scared, excited, and laughing along with the rest of the crowd, is my preference.

Alright, so for me, Twilight (the movie) was not all that. I just felt that the acting wasn’t as good as it could have been. Some parts had me rolling my eyes. But as each movie came out, they got better. There was more action and that made me happy. Now, having read the books, I already knew what was going to happen but WOW there was so much more to the books. There is just not enough time to put everything in the movie. I understand that. In a book you have more time to build relationships between characters. And you can go into greater detail. So, I say if you enjoy reading, read the book before you watch the movie. And that goes for any movie. I read The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks before I watched the movie. I enjoyed them both very much. Overall, I enjoyed reading and watching the Twilight series.

Here is a link to Stephenie Meyer’s page if you’d like to take a peek around:  http://www.stepheniemeyer.com

Questions for youJ:

-So, I think I was team Edward when I first started reading. After the movies, I changed to team AliceJ. What team are you?

-As I said above, I enjoyed the movies, but the books were awesome. Then again, seeing the wolves onscreen were pretty awesome. I wanted one. And how about that surprise ending, fight scene, in Breaking Dawn Part II? They really fooled me with that one. Anyway, which do you favor; book or movie?

-Where do you prefer to watch your movies? I really like the movie theater, but curling up to a movie marathon on the sofa is nice also.

-Is there a book/movie combo you recommend?

Fun Facts:

• In one of the movies, Stephenie Meyer was at the diner on her laptop. But I think I saw her at Bella and Edward’s wedding also. Hmmm.

• Stephenie Meyer was inspired by a dream she had one night.

Bonus:

Here are a few movies I recommend, staring the main characters of the Twilight series:

• Taylor Lautner in Abduction

http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/abduction-2011/

• Kristen Stewart in Snow White and the Huntsman

http://www.snowwhiteandthehuntsman.com/

• Robert Pattinson in Remember Me (There’s a twist at the end. There’s no way I could have seen it coming)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GB4yzLyVjlk

• Robert Pattinson in Water for Elephants

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFduwtnEdts

-It is said that Tai, the elephant who plays Rosie in the movie, was actually abused. Not during the filming of this movie, but five years before the movie was made. Here is a link for those of you who want to know more about Tai: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/water-elephants-elephant-was-abused-186634

And here’s a link for those of you who want to know how you can help rescued elephants:  http://www.elephants.com

Most, if not all, of these movies can be found at Redbox or on Netflix. Enjoy. -Ann J