For the last two years I've written a blog highlighting a movie that I felt was underrated, misunderstood or forgotten and I wanted to clear things up about it. This year I decided that instead of going with a movie that failed to reach an audience, I would write about Magic Mike, a movie that was very successful for all the wrong reasons. Now once again keep in mind that this is my opinion and it isn't fact or anything, it's simply the movie that I feel got a bad wrap in 2012.


I'll start by stating that the marketing for this movie is atrocious, besically showing that all it is is male stripping sequences back to back for 2 hours and this couldnt be less truthful. The first thing that should help pursuade you to see this movie in a different light is the fact that it's directed by Steven Soderbergh (of Oceans 11, Contagion and Traffic fame) so you know it'll at least be shot well. The truth...

I saw a lot of movies this year but if I had to pick a favorite I would have to go with Looper since it was both entertaining and original. I found the marketing to be a little misleading however as they sold the film as Bruce Willis fighting JGL the entire time and while this is a big part of the movie I found there to be so much more.

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Are You Excited for Amazing Spider-Man?


When I look at this summer's movie line-up I see a lot of potential blockbusters (Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsmen, G.I. Joe) and some guaranteed shlock (MIB 3, Battleship) but there's one movie that stands out to me because I can't see whether it'll be good or bad, or even if it's anticipated by people or not, and that movie is The Amazing Spider-Man.


This is of course the reboot to the Spider-Man franchise after Spider-Man 3 divided audiences and Sam Raimi/Tobey Macguire decided to leave the franchise after Spider-Man 4 plans kept falling through. This is even more strange then the reboot to the Hulk as Spider-Man had a pre-established series with three movies and an unfinished story. The fact that these enormously successful movies are being completely ignored and the story...

PROS:

- Simply having 4 great, iconic characters that were all successfully introduced to the audience in the same movie is reason enough to make this a pro. It should be applauded that Marvel Studios actually accomplished this event, this is truly an epic of Hulk proportion.

- Every character got it's due, from Iron Man to Agent Coulson, and NONE of it felt forced. That right there is an achievement. Any other "team movie" would try to hard to make sure that every character had that one slow motion shot that they could stick in the trailers, this did not sink that low. Yes it's true that all the characters got "fan service" moments but since it was never forced it never distracted from the film, only added to it.

- The banter was great, and fit the already...

PROS:

- The action scenes in this movie were awesome, from the Brazil chase scene to the Hulk vs. Abomination one it all felt big, loud and suitably Hulk-like. When I think of this movie the first thing that always pops to mind is how tense and well made these scenes are.

- Using the pulse monitor to show the audience how close Banner was to "hulking out" was brilliant, and it was a cool way of getting you pumped up for when the Hulk would show up. I doubt we'll be seeing this in Avengers but I really thought it worked well.

- Tim Roth played a very cool villain, one who comes off threatening even before he becomes the Abomination. What other man would go toe to toe with the Hulk and not even flinch?

- Holding off on fully showing the hulk until...

PROS:

- Loki was a great villain, and they did a great job making him sympathetic but still a bad guy. He's easily the villain in this series with the most depth and I can't wait to see more of him in Avengers.

- Chris Hemsworth was very good as Thor, I think he added a lot of charm to the character that a lesser actor would have lost. He also definitely looks the part after building a lot of muscle, and although a wrestler type actor would LOOK the part more Chris is a huge reason why I love this movie.

- I love the humour in this one, especially when Thor is on earth. I'm a sucker for "fish out of water" films and I think this is one of the best I've seen. I also appreciate that all the characters (save for maybe Loki and Odin) have a slight lighter tone to them, which helps...

PROS:

- Mickey Rourke was a pretty cool bad guy, he always seemed threatening and although he never had much to say he always demanded attention. I can understand why some fans were less then thrilled with the combination of two villains into one but it never bothered me.

- Don Cheadle was great as Rhodey and blew Terrence Howard out of the water. I feel that Cheadle was able to go toe to toe with stark and that the chemistry between the two actors was much stronger. I also believed him as a member of the airforce.

- Mad Men's John Slattery as Howard Stark was perfect casting, I love him on the show and he was great here. No one man can add so much to a character in a 5 minute role as well as he does.

- The end of the movie is much better the the first movie, it...

PROS:
- Robert Downey Jr is simply perfectly cast as Tony Stark. He's a convincing leading man and pulls off the arrogant but loveable billionaire playboy perfectly. I truly think every man wants to be this character and every woman wants him. He can pull off all the emotions needed in this film and his great performance catapults this film from good to almost perfect.

- Gwyneth Paltrow played a great Pepper Potts. I think she was the only actress who could pull off the roll as she's beautiful, believably smart and she can hold her own against Robert Downey Jr. The rapport between the two of them is brilliant and I find myself catching new lines every time I watch it.

- Blending humour, drama and action perfectly. I don't think any super-hero movies have mastered the art of fun more then...

PROS:
- Chris Evans was the PERFECT choice for Steve Rogers/Captain America, he manages to be charming, weak, strong, caring, threatening and most importantly a believable leader and I never once questioned him being a kid from 1940's Brooklyn. I cannot wait to see more of this character in The Avengers and the Cap sequels.

- The supporting cast is one of the strongest i've seen in any super-hero film, I constantly had a smile on my face when the Howling Commando's were on screen, or the hilarious Colonel Philips spat out a line. Peggy Carter was the best of the Marvel series' love interests and I really felt a connection between her and Steve. Bucky Barnes was great too and I really hope to see him as Winter Soldier in the Cap sequel.

- Red Skull was a great villain...

PROS:
- Ray Stevenson was a great Punisher, I truly believed he could kick some mean ass as apposed to Jane in the first film. I thought the scenes when it was just him on the screen were the best of the film.

- The action is over the top and exciting. As an action movie fan I found myself very happy with Castle blowing away countless bad guys in some hilarious and cool ways. These scenes are often sold on Stevenson's acting alone.

- The movie is slick, boasting much better production values then the terrible box office numbers will tell you.

CONS:
- The villains suck and almost wreck the whole film. I can put up with Jig Saw but the roy jumpers and Loonie Bin Jim take me out of the film every time they appear.

CONCLUSION:
I prefer this...

PROS:
- The actual story line is one of the better revenge action films I've seen. Being a big fan of action films I thought it was at least average in regards to how the story unfolded.

- The villains were decent. I thought that the big guy who attacks Castle in his apartment was a pretty good choice as the fight was good and it pays homage to the comics.

- Thomas Jane is a convincing leading man and I thought his performance was pretty good, particularly when he is with him family at the beginning. He wasn't the right choice for the role however as I get into in the Con section.

- I thought the end was solid, and was the highlight of the movie as is usually the case in these revenge type films. The end shot with the Punisher logo burning in the cars was pretty great....

PROS:
- Nicholas ing Cage. Some people may view his terrible, over the top, psychotic acting as a negative, but I found it to be the best part of the movie. This is the craziest I've ever seen Cage, this is like watching the Bee's Scene from Wicker Man for an entire film. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1GadTfGFvU There are actually some parts that I honestly believe Cage wasn't acting, he was actually freaking out. It's amazing. There's even a part when Cage runs up to a man and slugs him in the face, and I'd have to see the script to believe it wasn't Cage actually running in during a scene and slugging the actor.

- The Ghost Rider effects are much better this time around as the original skull looked to white and clean. The bike, smoke, fire, skull and weapons all look grittier...

PROS:
- The characters are much better this time around, I feel like they don't scream there stereotypes at you as much as before. I also thought that all the characters (actors too maybe?) felt more comfortable around each other which made it easier to care.

- Doctor Doom Version 2.0. Doom was so much better this time around, he seemed much more "Doom-like" and felt a lot more like his comic book counterpart instead of just a weak villain. Im glad they brought back a villian twice which is something that most Super-Hero movies seem to think is impossible (see my upcoming Spider-Man 1, 2 and 3 reviews for more on this).

- The action scenes were much better then the first one. Things just felt...clunky in the first film as they had to find something...

PROS:
- The Thing. Michael Chikilis did a great job as Ben Grimm and it helped a lot that the make-up on him was perfect. I'm SO glad they didn't go the CGI route with him because he looks amazing.

- The humour, it was stupid but it made for a fun movie that I like to pop in the blu-ray player on a lazy Sunday afternoon and turn my brain off. My favourite humorous scenes are those between The Human Torch and The Thing. Regardless of my reasoning I know a lot of people won't see eye to eye with me on this one and thats fine.

CONS:
- The overall plot and tone is very generic. I never felt that this movie left the super-hero movie stencil and that it was basically like a Mad Libs "Lets Make A Super-Hero Movie" book.

- Doctor Doom was really, really weak....

Since The Avengers is here in just 2 weeks I thought it was a good a time as ever to go through the entire Marvel movie collection that has been steadily releasing since 1998's Blade. Since I'll be watching so many movies, from X-men to Punisher: War Zone I want to have a simpler Pros and Cons type review and only elaborate shortly on things if I feel the need too. I won't be going in any particular order, just as I grab them off my blu-ray shelf (I own every Marvel movie on Blu-ray). The other purpose of this is to get other CAG's opinions on these films so please speak out in the comments.


PROS:
- The Hulks face. It looks great and although I prefer the body of the 2008 Hulk this face matched it's actor much better.

- Sam Elliot. I thought he did a great job as General Ross and did a much...

Last year I wrote a blog highlighting a film from that year that I felt was underrated and forgotten and I wanted to draw as much attention to it as I could. It went pretty well so I thought I'd make it an annual thing and this year I decided that I would write about Water for Elephants. Now once again keep in mind that this is my opinion and it isn't fact or anything, it's simply the movie that I feel got a bad wrap in 2011.


Let me start by pointing out the odd similarities between this years and last years pick. Both star Robert Pattinson, both have roughly the same IMDb score and both received a 9/10 from me. The most significant similarity between the two movies however is that they were both marketed wrongly as romance films. The film does have a romance going on between Robert Pattinson and Reese Witherspoon but the real story is of a young, recently orphaned...

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