Jandy's Meanderings - Latest Comments

Re: Tunes Worth Hearing: March & April 2012

Michael W. May — Tue, 15 May 2012 06:11:18 -0000

I'm with Dan. Andrew in Drag and, to lesser extent, The Machine In Your Hand are the only two I like on this latest. I didn't much care for Realism, either, with You Must Be Out Of Your Mind and Always Already Gone the exceptions there. Both are disappointments for me with tracks I actually dislike (rare for me).

Re: Tunes Worth Hearing: March & April 2012

Jandy — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:52:41 -0000

I didn't have a whole lot to compare it to, especially not in terms of whole albums - I've mostly just listened to the mix my husband made for me of their music. That said, I do enjoy almost all of the new album, and so does Jon. The lyrics aren't always that deep, per se, but I think almost every song has a clever twist or hook that made me like it.

Re: Tunes Worth Hearing: March & April 2012

Dan Heaton — Mon, 14 May 2012 12:10:40 -0000

Jandy, it's cool to see a lot of interesting bands on here. I'm a huge fan of the Magnetic Fields, but I'm struggling with their new CD. "Andrew in Drag" is great, but a lot of it doesn't match up with their best work. I usually am drawn to their lyrics, but some of the tunes just didn't grab me this time, especially Gonson's songs. I'm going to keep plugging away and see if it hooks me, but right now it feels like a disappointment.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

Travis McClain — Sat, 12 May 2012 23:37:36 -0000

Re: "Budapesht" - 1) I feel better knowing she said that right and 2) must be that fancy shmancy sound system Jon was so enthusiastic about! Oh, well. At least I have a Cinemark where I can go see Cool Hand Luke next month if I wanna. ;)

As for Loki, I'm kind of fuzzy about his abilities to cover ground. I got the sense in both Thor and this that he can appear unexpected in places. Even if that doesn't mean he could just leave, at the very least he could have played a hell of a game of hide-and-seek. Of course, again, his plan was to be apprehended so it would have been contrary to what he wanted to do for him to take advantage of the situation. I just wish it had been clearer that someone in the movie was cognizant of the fact that Public Enemy #1 was unattended for several minutes while Thor, Iron Man and Cap read "My Pet Goat" very angrily.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

Travis McClain — Sat, 12 May 2012 23:28:11 -0000

I'm pretty sure if I was frozen for decades and then thawed out, I'd do more than sulk in a gym for those few months. I think the best template I could cite for how I might have been best mollified was the way they handled resurrected Spock at the beginning of The Voyage Home. We see him reeducating himself, but his friends aware he's not quite "there" yet. No one other than Coulson seems to even really be aware of the fact Cap is even special in any way, and other than teasing him for being out of the loop, there's no effort to explain what, if any, sense of progress he's had with his re-assimilation into society.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

Jandy — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:37:32 -0000

I was looking up Clark Gregg to see what else he's been in, and it looks like Coulson is in the animated Ultimate Spider-Man TV series, too, so he's definitely expanding his reach as a character. He's rumored to be in an upcoming Nick Fury movie, but that looks to be a prequel, telling about how Fury formed S.H.I.E.L.D., so that doesn't help with knowing whether he survived this or not.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

Patricia Elizabeth — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:20:53 -0000

Keeping him alive would be the easy decision but I'll cop to wanting the easy decision this go around. That he went from having almost no lines to being the face (heart?) of SHIELD (even, as I understand it, actually making it into some comic books) to me is a good sign that we haven't seen the last of Coulson. I can't quite figure out from interviews/articles if he's really dead and that's bugging me. They're doing a good job of keeping that under wraps.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

Jandy — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:17:52 -0000

We went back to see it again today, and I was mindful of a few of these things while we were.

First, Natasha does say "Budapesht." I was thinking she had when you first brought this up, but this time I was listening for sure, and she's definitely got the Russian inflection going on. Incidentally, I actually liked her more this time around. I'd love to see them do a straight-up spy thriller starring her. Maybe have Hawkeye in that one, too.

And re: Loki running off. Where would he go? As far as I can tell he doesn't have the ability to fly or run really fast, so even if he had started to run off, Iron Man or Thor could've easily found and caught him again. Even if he hadn't wanted to end up on the ship, it seems pretty pointless for him to have tried to run.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

Jandy — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:11:32 -0000

On rewatch, you could very well be right. I still like the idea of him actually dying, though I'd certainly also be glad of seeing him again in future films. It's a conundrum. But Fury definitely used that moment to rally the team (and Coulson knew he needed to - I didn't catch Coulson's last line being about that the first time through), so he could very well have been faking for the good of the team. We'll see.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

Jandy — Sat, 12 May 2012 22:09:31 -0000

We went and saw it again today, and I expected to the S.H.I.E.L.D. stuff to feel really long and boring, but it didn't. It actually worked pretty well for me. Almost well enough to take it off my didn't like list, but it is still my least favorite part of the film, I guess.

By "big argument scene" you mean in the lab just before Barton and Loki's other men attack? Yeah, I loved that too. I remembered more things to add to the loved column on rewatch, and fewer things in the disliked column. I guess that's a very good thing. :)

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

movieguyjon — Sat, 12 May 2012 21:49:23 -0000

We need to start a "Save Coulson" campaign.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

movieguyjon — Sat, 12 May 2012 21:48:26 -0000

I never really had a problem with Captain America's lack of further development here only because it seemed like not a lot of time transpired between the Captain America and Avengers films. I got the impression that after he wakes up in the present, there's only a month or two before he's called into action for this film. Not really a lot of time to deal with stuff.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

CS — Fri, 11 May 2012 21:56:40 -0000

Though the special effects during the opening set piece were
weak, I was not that bothered by the S.H.I.E.L.D. stuff. I
figured that they had to set up the S.H.I.E.L.D. stuff for the next Captain
America film; especially since they play such a big role in the Captain America
comics. My favourite moments include:

1) Hulk

2) Black Widow

3) The long action take

4) Loki

5) The big argument scene

Least favourite:
1) Opening underground chase scene
2) Scenes with the Skrull leader (too Star Wars for my liking
3) Lack of
Maria Hill development (she is great in the comics)
4) Hawkeye goes to the darkside

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

Jandy — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:44:21 -0000

It's possible, I suppose. It might depend on how much Joss is involved in later efforts - I would say he would leave him dead (he brought back Buffy, but even that certainly wasn't all happy happy joy joy), but he may not have the final say.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

Jandy — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:41:52 -0000

I think Cap has a lot going on personally in terms of being brought out of frozen stasis into a very different world, but it wouldn't have fit into this film. You're right, perhaps another lead-up film for him would've helped that.

I did also love the score within the film, good call on that. And also Black Widow. I don't love her as much as you do, though. I don't dislike Scarlett Johansson in general like some people do, but she's fairly wooden here in terms of line readings. I'm choosing to put that down to a Ninotchka-like characterization of her Russian background, but that's kind of a rationalization. That said, she came off better than 90% of women in comic book movies, so I'm definitely glad Joss was in charge instead of someone who has less care for female characters. And I'd definitely watch a solo film about her.

Like I said, the entire long take is through a CGI fest, but I don't mind that so much. I hear a lot of people complain about bad CGI and stuff looking fake, but I probably notice that 5% of the time other people do, apparently. Once in a while it bugs me, but generally I'm involved enough that it doesn't take me out.

Yeah, a lot of people have brought up the Loki being unattended while Tony, Thor, and Steve battle it out, and I do think that's a bit of a plot hole. But I got suckered right into caring about the fight instead of Loki, and it didn't bother me as much as it bothered everyone else. I could've included it along with Thor's return as a nitpick, though. As far as the hammer on shield, I've never read the comics where that's a thing, so I actually had no idea what would happen, and I loved it. So I guess it wasn't iconic or a "geek moment" for me, it was just like I was seven years old and seeing something awesome for the first time. And it felt organic to me.

As far as the opening goes, I didn't dislike it while I was watching it, but if I rewatched the film, I would fast-forward that part. It's definitely weakest, least interesting, and worst paced part of the film. I don't know if I'd say it's BAD, but it is the only part of the film that felt rote and by the numbers.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

Patricia Elizabeth — Fri, 11 May 2012 18:39:55 -0000

It's the "does anyone really die in comic books" bit that I'm banking on. I'm really hoping Coulson's not dead. I think the window is open for that to be true. We didn't actually see his body taken away and Fury lying about the trading cards being in his pocket, to me, means he would have lied about more if it meant getting the team working together. But I guess I'll have to wait and see.

Re: The Avengers: Things I Liked, Things I Didn’t

Travis McClain — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:10:31 -0000

Our likes/dislikes lists are pretty simpatico, Jandy. I would add:

Likes
Black Widow - She doesn't "get" to be an Avenger. She is an Avenger. Whedon is renowned for writing strong women, and there's no question Black Widow benefited from his being on this movie more than any other character. In someone else's hands, she might have been peripheral or uninteresting. Instead, I left this movie wanting a Black Widow solo flick and I'm thrilled to hear they're apparently gonna give us one.

Nick Fury telling The Council that because their decision was "a stupid ass decision," he was ignoring it. Up until then, my reading was that Samuel L. Jackson was playing Nick Fury because he's a geek and they thought it'd be cool. It was in that moment of cocky defiance, though, that it became clear to me that this really is a Samuel L. Jackson role.

Alan Silvestri's score - I can't say I'd know the tune if I heard it, but in the course of the movie itself, the music felt perfectly suited to the material. Also, Iron Man blasting AC/DC in his arrival moment was a nice touch.

The post-credits tag. I think it's my favorite since Nothing to Lose almost 15 years ago.

Dislikes
Captain America really got cheated here in the character department. We see him feeling (and made to feel) out of place, but there's so much more that could have been done to make him interesting here. I'm sure that will be the focus of his next solo movie, but I think it could easily have been addressed here in a way that didn't require dramatically changing the content of this film or stealing from a future story. I just feel like there should have been a second Cap movie before this came out, because he's the one with the most going on emotionally.

Loki addressing a crowd of Germans in English. It was one thing for Asgardians to speak English with one another and to have no problem speaking it on Earth, but why wouldn't he be just as inherently capable of speaking German? It was one scene. Surely, having a few lines of dialog translated isn't that cumbersome or expensive. Related: In the final battle, Black Widow says, "This reminds me of Budapest." Being a Russian, she should have pronounced it, "Boo-ta-pesht." This was only on my mind because I've recently seen Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and that line just felt like a spy movie cliche.

Also, I would challenge you on the following:
Things You Liked That I Disliked
The Long Action Take - That shot of Thor and Hulk on top of the, um, alien whatsit was one of the most fake looking shots of CGI I can recall seeing in quite some time. It almost looked like rear projection work and that single shot took me completely out of the moment.

Thor's hammer vs. Cap's shield - An iconic moment from the comics, sure, but that whole scene just felt shoehorned in to me, as though its whole purpose was to let geeks get to see that moment in a movie. It didn't feel organic to me at all. Of course, unlike the heroes, I was mindful the whole time that Loki was left unattended. Later, it's revealed he's pulling a Joker by allowing himself to be taken into custody so he can advance his scheme, but at the time I was just as annoyed with Loki for not running off as I was with the heroes for not at least remembering he was there.

We retroactively learn he was sizing up his adversaries, of course, but what bugged me is that none of the heroes even think to ask, "So, while we were all busy with our measuring contest, why didn't you try to run?"

Thing You Disliked That I Didn't Dislike
The opening at S.H.I.E.L.D. - It's almost a universal complaint I've encountered that the opening was "boring" and "too long." I didn't mind it. I will say, though, that it felt like a combination of something from one of the Stargate shows that then turned into the opening of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I'd be lying if I said I was in love with that section of the movie, but to say I disliked it is similarly out of sorts.

Re: Scorecard: March 2012

Jandy — Fri, 04 May 2012 16:59:54 -0000

I'm nothing if not eclectic! I've kind of dropped the ball on foreign releases so far this year - my viewing has been overwhelmingly American. Might have to step that up.

And thanks! I still need to grab one of the LAMB badges for my sidebar. It's not that I don't mean to do it, but I keep forgetting. I promise I will do it. :)

Re: Scorecard: March 2012

NeverTooEarlyMP — Fri, 04 May 2012 01:40:18 -0000

Quite a good mix of films and genres that you caught this month.

And welcome to The LAMB! I hope you are finding everything ok over there and that everyone is treating you well so far.

Re: DVD Triage: May 1, 2012

Jandy — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:27:34 -0000

I didn't even know about the Harrison doc until it popped up while I was researching this post. I was like, George Harrison doc, why is this on the front page of Amazon...oh, it's Scorsese. Cool.

I know, right? That's actually why I held the post until today - I was basically done with it yesterday, but there were only a handful of new things showing up on Instant, and I had a feeling that a bunch more would drop today. Glad I waited, there's some great stuff in there!

Re: DVD Triage: May 1, 2012

Ryan McNeil — Wed, 02 May 2012 17:17:20 -0000

As a Scorsese fiend, I'm looking forward to finally catching up with the Harrison doc. And I haven't really thought about it yet, but I'd have to say HAYWIRE is amongst the tops of 2012 for me too.

And damn - what a week for Instant Watch!

Re: Scorecard: March 2012

Jandy — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:05:11 -0000

I definitely enjoyed it a lot. You do have to be into non-stop combat with a threadbare story, though. I think I was the only girl in the entire theatre. :)

Re: Film on TV: April 30-May 6

Jandy — Wed, 02 May 2012 01:03:06 -0000

I happened to catch some of Moulin Rouge last time it was on TV, and found myself sitting and watching just about the whole thing again. Still pretty mesmerizing.

And yes, you should! Fight Club is pretty awesome.

Re: Scorecard: March 2012

Bonjour Tristesse — Tue, 01 May 2012 03:58:32 -0000

Nice update. Everyone has been raving about The Raid lately, I hope it gets released here soon.

Re: Film on TV: April 30-May 6

Jonathan A. — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 15:45:37 -0000

Exactly how I feel about Moulin Rouge! I've seen it so many times I think its charm has worn a bit thin, but still a great movie.

And I have to admit, I've never seen Fight Club. Suppose I should rectify that.