Iron Man 3 is this Weekend...Power Up the Reactors!

Looking Forward to Iron Man 3 this weekend

I have not seen the new Iron Man 3 movie yet, but I have my tickets to see it on Friday.
I’m excited and hoping it is a good movie.  Iron Man 1 was great, 2 was okay.  I’m hoping this one is a at least good.

Iron Man has always been one of my favorites ever since I was a kid of 7 and 8.
When I first started trading empty bottles for nickels and dimes and dimes for comic books, my favorites were Batman, Captain America and Iron Man. 

Batman in those days was a silly detective and the books would give you clues and you would try to solve the crime before Batman and Robin did.  Batman was fun in those days, not the psychologically burdened Dark Knight that he became later.  I liked Batman, everybody did.  He had a TV show and was super famous.

Captain America was pretty well known as well.  But Iron Man seemed to be somebody only I was reading about.  None of my friends knew Iron Man.  He had no TV show.  In my circle of friends and family, I was the only one buying and reading stories about Tony Stark and his crazy technological inventions.  Tony wasn’t a drunk or a psychological mess in those days either—he was a respected business man with a suit and tie with a secret identity and secret skills the people around him did not know about.  As a young Mormon kid, that was how I felt.  I had to be proper and wear a tie, but secretly I wanted to do things and learn things I wasn’t supposed to be doing and learning.  I dreamed about building a secret lab with secret planes and rockets and robots and stuff.  But mostly my secret life was filled with comics and books from the library full of stories I wasn’t supposed to be reading.

I also learned how to draw by copying the pictures in those comics.  Then I would put my own dialog on the pictures.  I’m still kind of doing that these days.

Later, as I got older, I started realizing that Iron Man’s armor was kind of a metaphor for all our technology.  I learned that no matter how we wrap ourselves in metal cars and planes and extend our senses with TV and satellites, that we are still biological animals with limitations and issues that cannot be solved with technology, that we are still scared little monkeys no matter how cool our toys and how powerful our inventions.  Tony Stark showed me a lot of that, and it has remained true even as I have learned a lot more than what could be slipped into a comic book.

Iron Man comics have been all over the map from horribly bad, to corny, to incredible (I’m looking at you Matt Fraction).  But even at their worst, they are always enjoyable.  I’m hoping this movie will be an addition to the “Incredible Iron Man” list.  But even if it is corny, I will still enjoy it.

See you at the movies.  And then let’s go save the world!

-- Jay

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Don't forget, Next Week is LarsenGeekery's next show:

May 11 &12th 2013, Pacific NerdWest 13 - Bellingham WA

Games, Art, Vendors (including LarsenGeekery), and I hear Fargo from Eureka is going to be there!

Mourning for Aurora

I spent the morning going through a series of reactions to the horrible massacre at a midnight showing of the new Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado.

My daughter and son-in-law were at a midnight showing of the Batman movie, so my first fear was that the news headlines might be a local story.  Then I was very glad to find my kids were safe and sound.  Then I was heart broken to think about the parents, friends and lovers who's loved ones will not be coming home safe from the movies.
Then I started to wonder what kind of darkness could have invaded a person's mind and soul to make them plan and carryout such a horrific attack?  I would like to believe that it takes a monster to do such a thing.  But I have a sinking feeling that any one of us can get into such a state if we let our internal lives become dark and angry and empty enough.  This guy had to be freaking out in some really bad ways to do this!

Then I started wondering: How many people around this kid noticed that he was having trouble and didn't reach out?  How many times did this kid struggle with his problems and not reach out for help?  Did he feel so isolated by our modern world and his personal situation that he had no one to turn to?
I don't know that we will ever get any good answers to those questions.
But I do know that we have to monitor our own internal spaces, our own feelings and thoughts, and if they are getting too dark and too angry or hopeless we need to reach out for the help we need.  We cannot lash out like this.  And if we have people around us in need help and healthy human contact we must try to reach out to them.

I am a huge Geek.  I love comics, including Batman.  There is lots of violence and psychosis on display in these books and the movies based on them.  Do I think that those displays of fictional violence and madness make people do these kinds of things in the real world?  NO!
Hundreds of thousands of Geeks gather every year at a variety of events like the San Diego Comic Con without any major disturbances.  In fact, fewer disturbances than comparably-sized events of other types (sporting events, political rallies, etc) seem to manifest.  Geeks are pretty peaceful lot.  Geeks like me prefer for our violence and craziness to be Fictional, safely contained and displayed in comics and movies where we can deal with it as mythology and story.  We do not want this kind of violence and madness in the real world of kids and families.  We like Geeking Out about things, not Freaking Out.

My heart breaks for Aurora, America and the World.

Humans are an empathetic and communal species.  We share in the joys and pains of those around us.  And despite horrible incidents like this one, this kind of violence and murder is on the decline.  We have a lot of possibility as a species.  But we do have to continue to find ways help members of our families and communities that are having difficulty before they devolve to the point that they will lash out in such a brutal and destructive manner.
We need to Freak Out Less and Geek Out More.

-- Jay Larsen
(It probably doesn't need to be said, but Yes, I modified that panel of a batman comic.  The words are mine.  The art is not.)

Thanos Glimpse Via Avengers Leads to Raccoon

In recent Marvel Comics history, if Thanos was being thwarted, that meant the Guardians of the Galaxy and one tiny raccoon with really big guns: Rocket Raccoon!!  I don't know why I find the little guy so appealing, but when it comes to the Raccoon I can only say, "I am Groot!"

So when Thanos was spotted for two seconds at the end of the Avengers Movie, my hope was kindled that the Guardians might be making a comeback after a couple of years of comic book cancellation purgatory.
Last week the cartoon, Avengers: Earth's Mightiest Heroes, had the Guardians, complete with Groot and Rocket, show up for a cameo then split into space again.  That was fun, but I miss my regular Guardian cosmic fix.
But now Marvel is teasing us with Raccoon possibilities on the cover of Avengers Assemble #6, which won't be out until August.  And spilling the beans that Zodiac (the Avengers' current bad guys in the series) is being controlled by Thanos himself.

Sounds like a job for the Guardians, except that Peter Quill and Richard Rider were all busy getting dead that last time we saw them at the end of The Thanos Imperitive.  But if their foe Thanos made it out (and into the movies), maybe Starlord and Nova will make a return as well.

Don't know what the hell I'm talking about?  Go read the Guardian comics (the 2008 - 2010 ones, not the horrible 1970's Guardians) written by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning (two of the best writers in comics).

Not Everyone is Happy with The Avengers Movie

I loved the Avengers Movie.
I loved seeing all these Marvel Heroes come to life.
It was not "high art" by any measure, but it was a great action movie, and a very good adaptation of the comic book Avengers.  I have seen it twice already!
But not everyone is happy with the film:

At the end of the film the defeated alien overlord is groveling before a mighty throne out in space.
We get only a brief view of the crinkly chin of the being who apparently was secretly pulling the strings of the Chitauri aliens who were pulling the strings of Loki.  You would be excused for not knowing who that purple chin belongs to.  I thought it was a standard Skrull chin at first.  But the second time I watched the film I noticed it was purple, and Skrulls aren't purple, they're green (unless of course it was a Skrull shape shifting to look like someone with a purple chin).
So that means the chin most likely belongs to Thanos, the Mad Titan.
Does that mean we get Thanos in Iron Man 3 or Thor 2?
Where Thanos treads the Silver Surfer, Nova and Captain Marvel are usually to be found.  That would be cool.  But then Marvel needs to do a full out Guardians of the Galaxy Movie with Rocket Raccoon in it.

More likely would be some as yet unannounced Avengers sequel?
Who knows?
But I would watch any and all of the above mentioned movies.

I bet Thanos is not pleased with his scant screen time in Avengers.  And Thanos does nasty things when he is in a good mood!  So watch out Marvel Movie Universe.

And what the heck is Shawarma anyway?

Airplane Mashup

If you haven't seen the movie Airplane, then this will make no sense.
If you have seen the movie, this still might not make any sense.
But you bought your ticket, you knew what you were getting into.  So I say let 'em crash!

I saw the new movie John Carter.  It was great.
I wrote a review over at LarsenGeekery.com (click to read it).

Just like when I was a kid reading the Edgar Rice Burroughs' books, Dejah Thoris, the Princess of Mars, steals the show.

I am delighted that Disney's horrible marketing haven't ruined the movie, but it was directed by a Pixar veteran.  And Pixar seems to be the only source of good Disney films these days (and Marvel I hope, looking ahead to The Avengers).

Geeking Out on Avengers...

OK, just saw the new promo for Avengers, the movie due out in May.
WOW!  This is going to be great!



This is why Avengers are going to win the Avengers vs X-Men thing.

Sorry Siona, X-Men are cool, but they are going to get schooled by the Avengers.

I know, I know, all you continuity geeks are saying: Hey, Movie Avengers are really an off-shoot of the Ultimates, which isn't really the same Marvel Universe as regular Avengers.  And it's Regular Avengers that are fighting Regular X-Men all year in the mega crossover event to end all crossover events.
Like I said, I know.  But did you know that Movie Avengers aren't really in the same continuity as the Ulitmate Universe?  Well, that's a lot of continuity to keep straight.  And it doesn't really matter if the story is good. But I am still excited to see this movie.

I have modest hopes that John Carter (of fraking Mars) is going to be better than its marketing so far would lead us to believe.
But I've got good feelings about Joss Whedon's Avengers.  It's already won the marketing war with fellow Disney movie, John Carter (of bleeding Mars).
And it will probably be better than Avengers vs X-Men, which will most likely fail to be the crossover event to make us forget about all other crossover events.

Avengers Assemble!

Another Look at The Avengers Movie

Entertainment Weekly has some photos from the new Avengers Movie, which is in production right now.  I couldn't help but re-present a few for you and me.

Holy Projectiles Batman, that's some hot lead and broad heads headed our way.

(Batman doesn't exist in the Marvel Universe.  But Hawkeye could put Nick Fury's eye out with that shaft of his.)

 Steve Rogers and Tony Stark can't take their eyes off that red-headed ex-Russian spy, but they are red-blooded American boys after all.

 But if the boys watch Black Widow for too long, there are bound to be explosions!

I know how they feel.

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That probably should have been a Mashup, but any excuse for showing sexy red-headed spies is a good excuse.  Apparently Joss Whedon agrees with me.  Looking forward to the movie. 

Avengers Assemble!

Cap is Back

The Captain America movie opens today.
I have high hopes, which I hope survive the actual movie experience.
Hit 'em hard, Cap!!

OK is NOT a BAD Thing

I saw Green Lantern. I saw the mostly bad reviews of Green Lantern.
I thought the reviews were unfair.
The reviewers seem to want Green Lantern the film to be as great as Lord of the Rings or more recently, Game of Thrones (excellent by the way, best TV show since Battlestar Galactica, No Really, it was that good).  But truly epic films are one in a thousand.  So many perfect things have to line up to get a truly unforgettable film in the can and on the screen, the odds are stacked against such a thing happening.  As a person who has managed multiple year-long, multi-person projects, I can tell you that you swing for the fences every project and try as hard as you can for perfection (or at least greatness) and if you are lucky you get a “good” product, a “solid” and “respectable” result from all your team’s efforts.  But epic greatness?  You aim for it, but you don’t get it.  Except for once in a while the gods smile, the fates are kind, the stars align, some mysterious thing happens (which you can’t explain or duplicate later) and one project out of hundreds turns out stellar, epic, wonderful and magical.

I hope that every movie I go to see is going to be the next miracle movie.  But I don’t expect them all to be EPIC.  I do expect that the movie making team tried for FANTASTIC.  I encourage them to try.  But I am happy with a GOOD movie.  And Green Lantern was a good movie.  It was a chili dog and fries movie.  It was a straight ahead fantasy action film.  And it delivered a good ride.  It was not fillet mignon and lobster.  But I don’t want surf and turf every meal.  Green Lantern was a plastic action figure.  It was not a Faberge Egg.  But plastic toys are fun to play with.  Who ever got to play with a Faberge Egg??  Give me LEGO and GI Joe any day.

And more than anything, Green Lantern the Movie gave me what I can honestly say is the thing I get the most enjoyment from in a movie: ANTICIPATION.  For about a year I got the solid joy of wondering how good the Green Lantern Movie was going to be.  Would the special effects be convincing?  Which plot points from the comics would they keep?  Which characters would they highlight?  How would they pronounce "OA"?  How silly would the little blue Guardians look?  Would they make radical changes to the mythos or the characters?  I enjoyed all of that speculation and anticipation.  A Lot.

And then, the movie was good.  It was fun to see what had been worked on so hard by so many people.  And then it was over.  Thanks, Green Lantern Team!  In brightest projector, in blackest theater, no popcorn shall escape my sight!  I had a fun time playing with the plastic action figure they presented.  I even hope they make a sequel.  Fighting Sinestro will make for a much better plot than fighting Parallax anyway.

I see no reason to give the film bad reviews.  It wasn’t an epic masterpiece for the history books.  So what?  But it was not a BAD movie.

And now?  The anticipation turns to Captain America: The First Avenger coming in July.  Will the shield look stupid?  Will the Red Skull be scary or just silly?  Hugo Weaving is always cool, so I have high hopes for Red Skull, the movie version.  But it might not be a great movie.  It might just be OK.  And I am okay with that.  Avengers, Assemble!

What'ch Lookin' At?

I have seen the new X-Men: First Class Movie.
It was fun.  It had X-Men in it.  It was in the 60s.  It was a prequel.

I liked the movie.  It wasn’t a great movie.  But superhero movies seldom are.
It was not a bad movie.  I could watch this thing 10 times before feeling as abused as the Transformer movies have left me feeling.

As with most things X-Men, there are too many characters to do justice to any of them.  And the best comics and movies usually focus on 1, 2 or 3 characters and give us time to get to know them and what drives them to do what they do.  There are so many X-Men and Others in this movie that we don’t know why they do the things that they do.

The groovy 60s aren’t nearly groovy enough in this film, in my opinion.  And the female characters get treated like crap.  Emma Frost is one of the strongest characters in comics, but in the film she comes across as just psychic arm-candy.  Even the CIA agent starts off strong, but she ends up wishy-washy and lovelorn.

Add to that the fact that this is a prequel: so the film has all the problems that prequels always have.  The script gets hemmed in by the fact that the end point is already known to everyone.  So there can be no “real” surprises, just cleaver reveals and sideways winks.

The biggest disappointment for me personally, was The Helmet.  Magneto has always had this helmet that protects him from psychics, psychics like is old best friend Charles Xavier.  So where did he get the psychic-nullifying helmet?  Well, when the movie gets rolling, Shaw (the bad guy) has it.  And he introduces its origins simply by saying, “The Russians made this.”  That’s it?  The Russians who are shown to be bumbling idiots throughout the film are the genesis of this masterful piece of technology?  Really?  They might as well have said it was magic: half of a pair, which includes a spear.  (Spear and Magic Helmet…get it?  Elmer Fudd and Bugs Bunny?  No?)

But with all that said and done, let me restate for the record: X-Men: First Class was a fun film and I enjoyed it.  And that is all you can expect.  It was not a great film, but very few films are.  I liked it.  And I will watch it again when it comes out on DVD or whatever space-aged technology we are using to watch films on in the future.  Go see it.  You’ll like it.

And now we wait for Green Lantern, Captain America and Cowboys and Aliens.  There are a lot of comic book movies this summer.  Gotta like that!

Look Who's Coming

Thor opens this weekend in America.  But apparently it has been playing all week in England.

What's up with that?  We get Doctor Who at the same time as the Brits, but they get Thor before us?

Oh well.  I'm trying to decide if I need to endure the 3D version or not.  I like my comic book heroes two dimensional.

Star Trek Redo is worth a Review

I will admit to being a Star Trek fan. I grew up on the original series which was in reruns when I discovered it at 8 years old. I was a huge Mr. Spock fan. I admit that once I was old enough to own a VCR, a Sony Betamax, I spent the next year recording every single episode. I rode that rollercoaster that was Star Trek films. Some of them sucked. Some were pretty good. I watched every episode of Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise—even when they were not very good episodes, it was fun to visit the Federation again. But it has been a long time since we had really good Star Trek and I was beginning to resign myself to that fact.

So it was with some trepidation that I waited for the latest Star Trek movie to come out. I avoided the hype and the behind the scenes websites. I just waited for the film. And when it finally came out I took my wife and kids and got in line with a lot of other people and sat down and watched.

WOW! I felt like a teenage again watching this movie. The action was great. The actors were better than the original cast. The writers came up with a fairly clever way of keeping everything we know about classic Star Trek and still restarting the franchise in a way that will let them tell new stories without having to bend over backwards to keep the continuity in place. Did I say, WOW!? I wanted to go right back in and watch it again.

If you have never watched Star Trek, this would be a great place to start. If you are an old fan, even a disillusioned fan, go see this film—it will respark the Trek flame. As soon as I can, I am going to find a way to see it again. The ships looked right. The old shuttle craft were back—gotta love that. The characters were right on without seeming to be imitations. In some ways the characters felt more genuine than the originals. It was funny without being slapstick. It was intense without being melodramatic. I really think this film is going to restart the Star Trek franchise the way the Dark Knight films have restarted Batman.

Did I say, WOW!?

I know where Mike will be January 25th

My friend Mike's favorite movie is Rambo. I don't know why. But Mike just couldn't let Rambo die. And neither could Sylvester Stallone. Rambo will be helping missionaries in Myanmar. He has apparently been living as a hermit all these years. Too bad he didn't stay there, because Mike will see it. And then he will quote all his favorite lines for the next 20 years. And my brother who sees every movie released by Hollywood will feel obligated to see it. And then he will talk to himself about it on his blog. I think I'll stay out of it.