Verily Tis Time To See "Thor: Ragnarok"

Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Rated PG-13

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Idris Elba, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Hopkins,

Directed by Taika Waititi

The Story:

Ragnarok, the prophesied end of Asgard is at hand. Hela (Blanchett), the Goddess of Death seeks to destroy all that remains of Asgard and take her place on the throne. The only one who has any hope of stopping her is Thor (Hemsworth), and he's going to have to travel across the entire cosmos to get their in time. 

You've seen the trailer, and if that didn't get you psyched to go see this one, then there's not much I can write to convince you.

Waititi delivers the best of the 3 Thor sagas on the silver screen, and yes there's a lot of humor in it...

But I don't think at any point is the humor too distracting, or not in character for any of the characters.

Hemsworth has always been fun in the role of Thor, and they finally tapped into that and let the God of Thunder be the humorous, full of bravado son of Odin that makes the character shine.

He's complemented with the return of Hiddleston as Loki, and once more the brothers find themselves allied and at odds, sometimes both in the same scene.

Many more surprises, returns and losses for this final film from Marvel in 2017.

Is it their best of the year or best ever?

That will be debatable and vary from person to person.

I'm leaning at still giving that edge for this year to Spider-Man: Homecoming, but that may just be because after 5 attempts, I felt they finally got it right.

With Thor, they never really got it wrong, so much as they didn't deliver on everything that it could be.

So go, see the movie and have a good time.

Laugh it up, because things are about to get a lot darker next year with the arrival of Infinity War.

Final Grade: A

Holiday Blockbuster Weekend Concludes: "Iron Man 3"

Not a hoax...not a dream...

This is the review after seeing the movie again at home, even though there is a perfectly suitable review for Iron Man 3 back when it was in theaters:

http://talesfromthequeue.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-tin-man-has-heartiron-man-3.html

Now, on to today's update!



I am Iron Man.

The Story:

Tony Stark (Robery Downey Jr.) returns to end the trilogy of Iron Man films.  This time, he faces the loss of everything he holds dear, including Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) and his sanity as he still recovers from the events of New York.  The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) is apparently sending suicide bombers around the globe to punish the American people.  Happy (Jon Favreau) gets caught in the cross-hairs, and sets Tony on a path of revenge.  All of these events conspire in a cyclical tale that flashes back over a decade when Tony ran into Aldich Killian (Guy Pearce) for the first time.  That chance encounter comes back to haunt him at the worst possible time:

Christmas.

Written (partially) and directed by Shane Black, of course it's Christmas!  That's his schtick.  See the Lethal Weapon franchise for further proof.  And that franchise alone will get Shane Black a pass with me on most of what he does for the rest of his career.

That said, Iron Man 3 doesn't need a pass, it's actually that good.

Is it as good as the first one?  Debatable.  It's newer...shinier...
Is it better than the 2nd one?  No question.

I had a blast watching it.  For the critics, many of whom live under my roof, who found holes in the film... well, there are holes everywhere, in every film.

They just didn't bother me so much.

: )

It has been a fun run watching Robert Downey Jr. inhabit the role of Tony Stark to the point where he IS Iron Man, pure and simple.  Someday these Marvel franchises will require rebooting, and while most roles will be easily changed out (see the Hulk...), I do not envy the person that has to pick up where Downey will leave off.

So for now, I'll forget that will happen, and simply soak in the fun and good times that Marvel is giving me with these movies.

Trust me, 10 year old me NEVER thought this day would come, so all in all, this guy is pretty darn happy.

Oh, and the whole outcry about the Mandarin?  Brilliant.  Thought it was absolutely perfect.  Remember kids, these aren't exactly based on the comics, they just contain the same characters.

Plus, these are light years more fun than anything DC is giving us to enjoy.

And finally, do stick around for the end credits, it caps off the movie perfectly.

: )

Final Grade: A (upgraded from A- in the theatrical run)

Rewatchability/Purchase Factor: Even though a few in my house moaned about some of the plot holes, I'm hoping it's under the tree this Christmas! :)

3.14 Reasons To Watch "Life of Pi"

Mmm... Pi...

The Story:

A writer (Rafe Spall) comes to Canada to talk to a man named Pi (Irrfan Khan) about a story that he hears will be fantastical.  Pi relates how when he was a boy (Suraj Sharma), his family died in a shipwreck, and he survived on the open ocean for over 200 days alone in a boat.

With a Bengal Tiger...

You think to yourself, seriously?  This was a book... and they turned it into a movie?  That must be a great story.

Depends on your point of view.

I went in with no expectations, and not really wanting to see it.  I mean, it's directed by Ang Lee, and he couldn't even film a decent version of the Hulk for Marvel.  : /

But he redeems himself here.  What's real, what's special effects... hard to gauge in this one.  It is a visually stunning movie.  Perhaps the most beautiful movie you'll watch all year.

As the story unfolds, you get wrapped into it, and like the clever breaks in The Princess Bride, we cut back to now every once in a while to get some clarity or perspective.

However, you listen, transfixed to this man's story...

And then it's over.

And then he tells another one, and it's heartbreaking and sad.

And then the whole point of the movie is made.

Some people love it, some people feel tricked.

You can probably guess by my grade where I fell.


Final Grade: A-

Rewatchability/Purchase Potential: Very likely on both counts.  The fact of the matter is, I've already watched it twice already, and I think it was even better the second time around.  Ang Lee, you've redeemed yourself for me... at least for now. : )