Iron Man and Cloverfield

I saw two movies this weekend. Iron Man and Cloverfield.

E and I were able to put the kids to bed and E's sister's house and catch a late viewing of Iron Man. Frankly it's awesome. I don't much like reading comic books and the only Iron Man I've ever read is from the early issues of the Ultimates. But having a suit that does all those things was really cool to me as a kid. Who wouldn't want an Iron Man suit?

Cloverfield I saw on DVD while E was doing some shopping. This is one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. The filming style was completely disorienting and made it so that I, as the viewer, could never really figure out what was going on. My heart was thumping and I was gripping the arms of my chair.

Both movies are rated PG-13 and rightfully so.

Anyway, if you wait until after the credits in Iron Man you will see a scene that foreshadows where Marvel Studios is taking their movies. Imagine a whole series of movies that are both individual and tie in to the greater Marvel universe.

I've always thought a movie about the Avengers would be impossible. There're too many characters and too many famous people that play those characters. I would only be interested in such a movie if it was more in line with the Ultimates (a modern retelling of the Avengers) rather than the Avengers as they first appeared in all their comic book campiness back in the '60s.

What form will Marvel's Avengers movie take?
Well, here's the original Nick Fury:

Here's Ultimate Nick Fury:

Look familiar? Well, they got Samuel L. Jackson to show up in the Iron Man movie as Nick Fury. So I'm thinking Ultimates is where the Avengers movie is going.

If you look at Marvel's movie plans there's another Hulk movie out this year and down the way they are planning another Iron Man movie, a Thor movie and a Captain America movie. Well guess who the Avenger's starting line up is? Finally in 2011, after all these movies have been release we're supposed to get an Avengers movie.

I can't wait.

I'm, Like, Totally Offended!

...Okay, not really.

There are two great ideas I try to live by. One is: "I could be wrong." I learned this is an important outlook while serving as a missionary. If I expected people to change their life view, than I should be willing to change mine. I shouldn't smugly accept the fact that I was living the best of all possible worlds.

This blog is for me to post my opinions without sugar coating them. I accept the fact that my view may be narrow focused, misguided or simply wrong. That's why I like people to post with their ideas.

I want to thank everyone for posting on my blogs. When people want to comment, discuss or provide opposing arguments to my opinion, that's awesome.

But I am going to have to insist that people not put "I hope I didn't offend anybody" disclaimers in their posts. It's annoying.

An individual being honest with their opinions does not constitute offensive content just because it might differ from someone else's. I don't think anyone who has ever posted on this blog means to offend or be disrespectful.

If I think someone is being mean, I'll contact them about it. If you read something that is offensive, feel free to bring it up with the individual who posted it or with me and we can talk about it.

Oh, and I'm not sorry if I offended anyone.*

*Please don't make a habit of posting this kind of disclaimer either.

What's Up With Dutcher?

A recent post on my family's website left me thinking about Mormon cinema, it's overall suckiness, and the only guy who I've ever seen really get it right, Richard Dutcher.

I loved God's Army. It had some lame "living the Wymount dream" falling action. But the story seemed honest and has been the most realistic depiction of missionary life that I've ever seen, out side of reality of course.

I also really enjoyed Brigham City. It takes standard Mormon stereotypes and turns them on their ear. It's completely subversive. It drew me in with it's tried and true stereotypes and then totally spun everything around. I don't think anyone not steeped in Mormon culture would get half of what he does in this movie. And as it turns out, most people who are steeped in Mormon culture didn't want to have anything to do with it. According to Wikipedia a number of Mormon crew hands were so incensed they walked off the set.

I heard rumors that he was going to make a Joseph Smith movie, but after seeing The Book of Mormon Movie I became completely disenchanted with Mormon cinema and have avoided it ever since.

So, Today I started wondering what Mr. Dutcher has been up too. Well, first of all, I found out he completely agrees with me concerning the state of Mormon cinema. Though I completely disagree with him concerning the power of cinema. The written word will always have more power than a movie.

But he's also jumped out of the boat, so to speak. He's no longer a practicing member of the Church, doesn't plan on making Mormon themed films any more and his next movie is rated R.

I'll leave it for another post to discuss why I think R rated content is like cooking food with poop. (Yeah, you can do it, but why?) For now I'll just return a farewell to Dutcher, albeit belatedly, and also say good-bye to the promise of a good movie about Joseph Smith.