Wolf Children

And this weeks Friday night movie has been....Wolf Children!

Original image located here. Accessed 29th July 2016

I like Mamoru Hosoda: I enjoyed both Summer Wars and the Girl Who Leapt Through Time and this effort completes the hat trick.

You know, I actually don't want to talk about this movie - largely out of fear that my descriptions will undermine the movie itself.

So i will not talk about the beautiful animation. I will not talk about the craftsmanship involved in this movie. I will not talk about the appealing characters. I will not talk about the trials and tribulations these characters go through. I will not talk about the emotional roller-coaster this movie set me on. And I will not talk about the times this movie left me a blubbering mess.

Ant Man

And this weeks Friday night movie has been....Ant Man!

Original image located here. Accessed 22nd July 2016

They say that when you watch enough movies (or read enough books or play enough games) you start to recognize patterns emerging and identifying formulas. And having seen several Marvel movies in a row, i have to admit that yes: A formula is starting to reveal itself with villains that are a) egotists determined to be the best or b) misguided dudes committed to a 'greater good'. This subsequently makes the Marvel villains And Ant Man offers nothing new to the the table. Hopefully Marvel will have this problem of dull villains sorted by the time Doctor Strange rolls around (maybe this is an opening that Suicide Squad could exploit?).

As for the movie itself, it was actually another winner to the Marvel stable. I heard that this movie went through a lot of trouble to get made so to see it come through looking like it did is truly an achievement. I like the smaller scale of the movie and the heist it eventually leads to. And full credit to Paul Rudd, without whom would've made a much duller movie (and suddenly the cheers from the audience when he appeared in Civil War makes sense).
Needless to say, it will be interesting to see where this character goes next...

Captain America: Winter Soldier

And this weeks Friday night movie has been....Captain America: Winter Soldier!

Original image located here. Accessed 15th July 2016

Finally got to see this all the way through. Previously I'd started watching this but I never got around to finishing it - it got deleted off the hard drive by mistake. Yet I'd seen enough of Winter Soldier to follow Civil War. But now, of course, all the gaps have been filled.

So yeah: Great movie. Plays like a spy movie and is all the better for it. Funny thing is that whilst the sequels to Iron Man and Thor tend to pale next to their predecessor, the Captain America movies instead get better and better.

Thor: The Dark World

And this weeks Friday night movie has been....Thor the Dark World!

Original image located here. Accessed 8th July 2016

So why did I fall behind with the MCU? Well, I saw this list online of how to watch the entire MCU (that being the movies, TV series and the rest) in chronological order. I made it my goal to watch this in order but then there was the wait to get everything. Sure that may seem a bizarre reason considering this digital age in which we live in has made everything readily available but I've always maintained that things are better off discovered in your own time.

As for the movie, I do agree with the consensus that this is indeed one of, if not the, weakest link in the MCU chain. Sure it looks fantastic but everything moves at such a hurried pace that one gets the feeling there's a sizable chunk of the movie missing and what we're seeing is two thirds of a complete movie. I did like the first movie a lot but this sequel seems a let down by comparison.
And then there's Thor himself: he's the star of his own movie but he still ends up being upstaged by Loki.

Iron Man 3

And this weeks Friday night movie has been....Iron Man 3!

Original image located here Accessed 14th July 2023 

I feel ashamed to admit this but I've been dreadfully slack with keeping up to date with the MCU. I've missed half of the 2nd phase! Nevertheless, time is on my side so I can still rectify this situation. 

As for the movie itself, I feel that every Iron Man movie (and to a lesser extent, the Avengers movies), is doomed to remain in the shadow of the first Iron Man movie. Still, this movie was an improvement on No.2 and it's pleasing that Tony Stark has significant character development. Furthermore, it's always great to see more 'Genius' Tony Stark as opposed to 'Jerk' Tony Stark. Also Ben Kingsley looked like he was having fun