Podcast Episode 55: We Assemble For AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

We're passing what feels like the halfway mark of the Marvel's grand cinematic plan and I'm happy to report that the state of the MCU is strong.

I'm a big fan of the first Avengers. It's one of those movies that my wife and I can pretty much watch at the drop of a hat, whether it be for 20 minutes for the full running time. It's light and it's fun and it's full of of these incredible moments of unbridled joy. I would caution you not to expect quite the same experience from Age Of Ultron, which isn't to say it's not an expertly crafted summer blockbuster or that it somehow lacks in entertainment value. It's just a different kind of beast. In a way, Ultron is a collection of contradictions; compared to the first Avengers, the latest entry is both darker and more exhilarating, more epic in scope yet also far more intimate in dealing with its characters. 

All your favorite Avengers are back and in fine form, but we’ve also got a host of new additions to the cast.  Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson are fine as “the twins” Wanda and Pietro Maximoff (the accents are pretty hit-or-miss) but the real standouts are Paul Bettany, who absolutely kills it with only a few scenes as The Vision, and James Spader as the titular Ultron.  Spader is such a natural fit for Whedon’s trademark quippy dialogue that I can’t believe the pairing never occurred to me earlier.  It seems so obvious in retrospect.  

I just wish that, while Ultron does actually threaten to cause a global extinction level event, the action wasn't quite so contained.  With a title like Age Of Ultron, I was expecting, well, an age.  Something that redefines civilization, the kind of singular event that is spoken about in hushed tones from generation to generation, not just a week of individual battles where it feels like the villain is largely operating in the shadows.  I wanted Ultron to truly fuck up the world for a while, crashing communications networks or global finance or something.  Ultron drones descending upon major cities all across the globe.  Chaos on an epic fucking scale.  Granted this movie is certainly very globe-trotting, with major set pieces in Eastern Europe, Northern Africa, New York and South Korea, but each incident is pretty isolated and somewhat small scale.  The new status quo at the end also feels a bit too easy.  Sure, Hulk has sent himself into mysterious exile, but Thor has just gone back to Asgard while Hawkeye has retired to his family farm and Tony Stark has very politely and amicably gone into semi-retirement.  It basically feels like, while most everyone has left the Avengers, they can all come back whenever they get bored.  If you're gonna break up the band and replace them with the B-team, I'd like there to be some real dramatic obstacles to bringing everyone together again.

Since we’re dealing with a team of superheroes, it seemed only appropriate that I assemble a team of my own for this week’s podcast.  Believe it or not, our conversation actually went much, MUCH longer but, at Jamie's suggestion, I'm trying to keep the podcasts shorter than the running time of the movies we're talking about.  We tackle Joss Whedon’s propensity for killing beloved characters, the film’s tricky onscreen romance and even answer some listener questions!

As always, be sure to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and/or on SoundCloud.

Next Week: We get classy and celebrate Orson Welles' 100th birthday with Citizen Kane!

UPDATED: I Feel Bad For That Leaked BATMAN v. SUPERMAN Trailer

Warner Bros has a big IMAX event scheduled for Monday night where they planned to unleash the first official teaser for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice.  Then the internet went and ruined everything.  That's kind of how the internet rolls.

Even if the footage hadn't been taken down, I wouldn't run it here because I have a long-standing hatred of leaked trailers, especially ones that consist of shaky phone camera footage with muffled audio that occasionally drifts out of focus.  This is a bad way for any movie to be introduced to the public, let alone something as grandiose as Batman v. Superman.  The fact that the entire trailer is made up of nighttime combat footage and overlapping voiceovers only exacerbates things.  To be honest, there isn't really a whole lot to see here, but it's a teaser trailer so that's fine.  This should really be about tone more than anything else.  And, unsurprisingly, that tone can be most accurately described here as "dour as shit."

What's worse, the trailer was leaked just hours after the official release of that newfangled Star Wars trailer, which was met with such overwhelming enthusiasm by the nerd community at large that anything released in its wake could only be considered a disappointment.  Even if this BvS trailer had been more remarkable, between the poor quality footage and the shadow of Skywalker looming large, the deck was simply stacked against it.  What's worse, because of their big IMAX event, Warners can't even utilize Marvel's clever strategy of countering the leak by immediately releasing a high quality official version.

UPDATED: Well I called that one wrong.  Warner's did end up releasing the official version online in advance of their IMAX event, which certainly makes sense.  Once it's out there, it's out there. You might as well make it look as good as possible.  See it embedded below.

Make no mistake about it.  This is a very big deal.  In a few weeks Marvel will release the money printing machine that is Age Of Ultron and before rounding the corner into the truly epic weirdness of Phase 3.  Meanwhile, DC is just starting to roll out their cinematic universe with nothing but the promising-yet-problematic Man Of Steel as a foundation.  Frankly, audiences have no idea what to expect going forward and Warners has a long road ahead of them convincing the world that they've got something that's both compelling as/uniquely different from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Right now their strongest indicator is probably Suicide Squad, which will certainly feel nothing like any other comic book movie to date, for better or for worse.

I'm probably a little more optimistic than most (I quite liked Man Of Steel!) but there's no way to overstate the value of a first impression and blurry iPhone footage is the polar opposite of what Warners was shooting for here.  The DCU is already on shaky ground when it comes to public opinion.  Here's hoping they can turn it all around.



Photo credit to Redditor Thomassaurus

You (Probably) Don't Need To Sit Through The Credits Of AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON

If nothing else, the Marvel films will be remembered for instilling in audiences a compulsive need to stay through all of the credits of most any blockbuster franchise film with the expectation that they'll be treated to a short post-credit stinger scene.  I actually kind of love this side effect, as the industry-saturated audiences of Los Angeles typically stick around as a sign of respect for the many crew members who work on any given film.  I can't help but wonder how long this phenomenon will persist, as more often than not the credits simply roll to black and whoever's still in the theater lets out a groan and feels like a sucker.

Director Joss Whedon seems to recognize the danger of disappointment, which is why he recently told Entertainment Weekly that there will be nothing at the end of the credits for Avengers: Age Of Ultron.  Kevin Feige pointed out that there will be the expected mid-credits tag, but according to Whedon, they just couldn't come up with anything that lived up to the legacy of the first Avengers's infamous schwarma scene.  And really, what could?  Tip of the hat for not attempting to bottle lightning twice.

Now it's worth noting that the schwarma scene wasn't actually filmed until after the LA premiere, so if you had asked Whedon about a post-credit stinger at this point before the first film, he would have told you the exact same thing.  I find it hard to believe that Whedon would specifically tell people not to stick around just to fuck with fans, but it doesn't preclude him (or the Russos for that matter) getting the band back together at the eleventh hour if inspiration strikes.  In other words, yeah I'll probably stick around but there probably won't be anything after all.

Also, feel free to start speculating as to what future Marvel film the mid-credit scene will set up.  Ant-Man is next on the docket but Captain America: Civil War will have already started filming.  Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if Black Panther or Captain Marvel made an appearance...

Podcast Episode 36: JOHN WICK And The Dubious Merits Of Puppy Murder

That puppy sure is cute, ain't he?

Don't get attached.

John Wick is not a movie for everybody.  Specifically, it is not a movie for lovers of dogs.  It is, however, a movie for lovers of well choreographed action scenes, pulpy crime stories and Keanu Reeves being Keanu Reeves.  I fucking loved this movie.  Bart was fairly unimpressed.  Jamie almost walked out of the theater in a rage.

We recorded this podcast last Sunday, but due to an overwhelmingly busy schedule I wasn't able to finish editing the thing until late Thursday night.  As a result, much of our attempt to parse the first trailer for Avengers: Age Of Ultron was rendered moot a few days after recording when Marvel announced their full Phase 3 slate and the upcoming Infinity War storyline.  I suppose this kind of thing comes with the territory.

That being said, it is gratifying that a number of our speculations were confirmed on stage at the El Capitan Theater, particularly the announcement of Chadwick Boseman as Black Panther.  Rest assured we cover a lot of this material in the next episode of the podcast, which we recorded last night.  With any luck, I'll have it published before Paramount abruptly shelves their Terminator remake, thus negating another major portion of our recording.

Next Week: We take to the skies with Michael Keaton in Birdman!

Marvel Says "Fuck It," Releases AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON Trailer A Week Early

This is why I love Marvel.

On Tuesday they announced that the first trailer for Avengers: Age Of Ultron would premiere during next week's episode of Agents Of SHIELD.  Then on Wednesday, a low res copy leaked on Vimeo and started getting passed around the internet by assholes with no sense of propriety or patience.  Most studios would have started throwing down cease and desist orders in an attempt to get every copy of the trailer pulled offline, but Marvel is smart enough to know when the genie is out of the bottle.  So, after a cheeky tweet blaming Hydra for the leak, they leaned into the skid and simply released an HD version of the trailer themselves, thus undercutting the shithead leakers and once again commandeering the superhero movie conversation everywhere.  What's that DC?  You finally figured out a game plan?  That's adorable.

Check this shit out:

DAMN.

The first film fairly reveled in the pure joy of seeing all the heroes finally come together for the first time, and while I'm sure there will still be plenty of humor and fun in this second outing (it is Joss Whedon after all) it's also clear that Earth's Mightiest Heroes are going to end up in some pretty dark places.  That Hulkbuster armor has me virtually vibrating with excitement and James Spader sounds appropriately menacing as the big bad.  

Plus there's still nary a sign of The Vision!  He's the character I'm easily most excited to see, as I'm incredibly curious to see exactly how his creation and his relationship with Stark and Ultron will play out.  I also appreciate the small tastes we're getting of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, particularly the sort of vapor-trail approach to the latter which easily differentiates him from Fox's iteration of the same character in Singer's X-Men films.

And that creepy-as-fuck Pinocchio song?  As my wife said upon watching it for the first time (and then once again immediately afterwards), that's just so Joss it hurts.

These next six months are going to be unbearable.