"Ain't No Thing Like Me Except Me!" Guardians of the Galaxy Assemble in Latest Trailer

After my wedding and all that lovey dovey stuff, the greatest moment of my life was hearing the voice of Rocket Raccoon.  I've watched this new trailer a half dozen times already.  I gotta monitor my expectations now, but I'm all verklempt over here.  Seeing Rocket strapped with some heavy artillery, totally jazzed at the firepower...seeing Rocket handcuffed, "Ain't No Thing Like Me Except Me" - gosh.  I'm not quite sure its up there with the "I'm Always Angry" moment of The Avengers, but dang it, those two tiny moments get right to the heart of the character.  And the quizzicle "I Am Groot" from Vin Diesel?  The film had me already, but now I'm ready to cross state lines and give Polygamy a try with this trailer.  The Wife seems cool with it.  Plus, we get our first look at Lee Pace's Ronan The Accuser and Glenn Close as Nova Prime.  This is happening folks.  Miracles exist.

-- Brad

Just Another Guardians of the Galaxy Poster?

There is nothing really special about this new Guardians of the Galaxy poster other than the fact that it's a GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY POSTER!!!!  Yeah, I'm still not over the excitement of seeing Rocket Raccoon on the big screen.  I'm just floored by the notion.  Last night, Matt, myself, and a bunch of other friends saw the new Godzilla film (Holy Cow! That Movie Was Good), and as we were chatting about the possibilities of the rest of the summer movies, we were debating Guardians's chances with mainstream audiences.  That seems to be the big question.  Will the muggles show up?  Personally, I think Marvel's brand is at such a point that it practically guarantees a number one on opening weekend?  But will it do Winter Soldier numbers?  Doubtful.  But it doesn't need to too.  I just don't want a flop; I want America to embrace the weirder realms of comics.  This morning I finished Jonathan Hickman's New Avengers 18 in which Black Panther addresses a pantheon of ancestral ghosts.  It's a beautiful moment, and a truly strange sequence that I am just dying to see adapted.  As I've said a dozen times before on this blog, a smashing success from Guardians of the Galaxy will equal a delightfully varied selection from future Marvel Studios films.  Please, give this one a chance on opening weekend.

--Brad

A Fistful of Summer Anticipation 2014 (Brad's Picks)

So, technically, the Summer Movie Season starts this weekend with the release of Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man 2.  That seems phony baloney to me.  We're already a month into Summer Movies thanks to April's Captain America - The Winter Soldier.  In fact, I don't think this world is ever NOT in the Summer Movie Season.  We've been marching towards this moment since Jaws lined the blocks.  Now, we could all hang are heads and moan at the loss of Big Budget Drama Dramas like Citizen Kane or Kramer vs Kramer.....or we could all just admit to ourselves that we never liked those films in the first place.  I kid!  I kid!  I love Citizen Kane like all self-respecting film freaks should, and I love the little films, the art films, and the serious films as much as I do the spandexed ones.  But I'm a film freak born out of Star Wars, and I will always be a genre boy at heart.  So Jaws gave us B Movies with A Budgets and I've lived my entire life joyfully under its spell.  

2014 has been a lot of fun so far, and as I look at the Summer calendar, I find myself giddy with anticipation.  I feel much better about this year's crop than last; I feel no nagging trepidation in regards to any of the films listed below.  No Star Treks Into Darkness.  No Pacific Rims.  And dear god, hopefully no Prometheuses, as that's a disappointment I'm still kinda in denial over.  Sure, I can't really claim that I'm overjoyed to see the over-stuffed Amazing Spider Man 2 or X-Men Days of Future Past.  In the era of Marvel Studios and the geekgasm of The Avengers, it's hard to take these missed marks coming from Sony & 20th Century Fox.  The Suits, try as they might, don't seem to have an understanding of their characters in the same fashion as Marvel.  I'll be there opening night (got my ASM2 tix already), but the jonzing is simply not there.  Prove me wrong Electro, but I was not impressed by the previous film or any of the 19 millions film trailers you've assaulted the internet with so far.

But I love crap!  And there looks to be a lot of silly movies coming out over the next four months to keep my inner hipster cackling.  The Expendables 3!  THREE!?!?!  How is that possible?  The first two films are so wonderfully dumb, and 99% of my enjoyment is stolen straight from a nostalgia for those beautifully barbarian 80s.  However, that warm fuzzy memory seems poisoned these days.  Dullards like The Last Stand, Bullet To The Head, Escape Plan, and Sabotage have spoiled the childhood sheen a little bit.  Nine years ago, Robert Rodriguez brought Frank Miller's hardboiled terror noir comic Sin City to the masses, and it was a visual feast of unapologetic hedonism.  I have very mixed feelings in regards to that film (Jessica Alba's Nancy as Stripper Goddess?  Uh no), and after a string of DIY disasters I'm not sure I really care for another round.  Transformers Part IV?  Dinobots.  That's cool.  Maybe.  I recently rewatched Michael Bay's autobot behemoths, and I found them culturally fascinating but mostly boring.  Still, the insanity of Pain & Gain is fresh in my noggin and I'll be there for the next wave of Baysplosions.

Crap could turn to gold, or it could just sit there stinking.  Wading through Trans4ormers, Maleficent, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Hercules, etc may leave even the staunchest of Blockbuster Enthusiasts queasy from the sour popcorn dreams.  That's certainly how I felt last September.  This year though, we do have a train of Little Engines That Could hiding under the tentpoles.  I am really excited to see Joe Lansdale's novel Cold in July adapted for the movies; I might not have dropped Michael C Hall into the lead role but Sam Shepherd & Don Johnson are inspired casting.  Filming over the course of 12 years, I am really curious to see how Richard Linklater's Boyhood tackles a coming of age in real time.  Luc Besson promises a return to female ass kickery with Scarlet Johansson and Lucy.  The Weinstein's can't keep a good Korean director down, as Bong Joon-ho's Snowpiercer finally barrels into theaters.  And I am crazy excited to see The Wachowskis tackle John Carter of Mars with Jupiter Ascending.  Don't hate.  These guys are the perfect choice to elevate Flash Gordon family adventure into big dollar mainstream acceptance.  Looks silly?  Sure.  But werewolf Channing Tatum for the win.

And speaking of the adorable genius of Channing Tatum, let's get to this Summer's Big Guns....

5.  22 Jump Street:  Wow.  What a difference a few years can make.  Not too long ago, I had no problem mocking the acting chops of Channing Tatum.  GI Joe - Rise of Cobra...yeash.  But the man kept working.  And he got a whole lot better.  The 21 Jump Street reboot was a serious revelation for me.  Not only did it transform disdain for Tatum into an uncontrollable man-crushing adoration, but it proved directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller to be the saviors of lost causes.  Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs, Jump Street, The Lego Movie.  These guys prove that talent can turn any needless cashgrab into art.  Give them Ghostbusters 3.  Give them Freddy vs Jason vs Ash.  Give them Before Watchmen.  Give them whatever, I will anticipate it.  And I sure as hell will show up for another outing between Jenko & Schmidt.  "Fuck You Science!"

4.  All You Need Is Kill (a.k.a. Edge of Tomorrow):  On paper this sci-fi Groundhog Day has very little appeal.  But then you see Tom Cruise in that mech suit...and then Emily Blunt unsheathes a crazy large Warhammer 40K broadsword, and suddenly I'm jittering in my seat.  It's no secret around here that I have a soft spot for late-in-life Tom Cruise pictures.  Knight & Day, Jack Reacher, Oblivion.  Haters gonna hate, f 'em.  The man does earnest, and that's essential to whacked out worlds like this one.  Doug Liman might not be your go-to action director, but the man loves his wonky high concepts, and I'm hoping he's finally struck gold with this robotech thriller.

3.  Dawn of the Planet of the Apes:  Apes on Horses!  Apes on Horses!  That's it.  Done.  Oh, you want more reasons to see this film?  How about the fact that we're finally getting to the hell of living on the Planet of the Apes.  Rises's origin story wasn't half bad, but James Franco was checked out for most of the film and he was easily upstaged by a computer monkey - er, ape.  Andy Sirkis also happened to deliver the best we've seen yet from mo-cap performance, and I have a feeling he's going to hit Oscar heights with this new & improved rebel leader Cesar.  End of the World stories are fun enough, but the Post-Apocalypse has always been the more interesting tale for me.  The Last Men vs The New Apes.  War.  Yes.  Jason Clarke?  Yeah, forget Franco.  Matt Reaves is a director dying to prove his talents, and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is going to be the film where the rest of the world sits up and notices.

2.  Godzilla:  I spent several months prepping for Captain America - The Winter Soldier.  And boy did that fanboy fetishizing pay off in a big, big way.  Gareth Edwards's Godzilla remake is the next film to entice me into crazed backlog devouring.  I've always been a big fan of the original film, but I'm a late comer when it comes to Mothra, Rodan, Gigan, and friends.  As I've been picking away at the various rubber suits, I'd love to say that my inner kid has been reawakened...but that kid has never been asleep.  I'm a proud stunted youth, and I spend the majority of my time reveling in the art of cartoons, comics, and movies.  Duh.  But that stomp towards the remake has certainly kept the inner kid satiated.  Not just goofy fun.  There is a thrilling display of imagination in those films.  Ishiro Honda may not have had the budget or even the talent to deliver badass monster movies, but he certainly had the freedom to dream whatever kooky world he wanted.  He never let a reality roadblock get in the way of telling a King Kong story.  Now Edwards, he's got the budget.  And based on Monsters, he's got the talent.  I have high hopes that this Godzilla is going to deliver in a way that no other Monster Movie has.  Bold talk.  Bold hope.  I had a similar dream for Pacific Rim.  I like what I'm seeing from the trailers.  Fingers crossed.

1.  The Guardians of the Galaxy:  Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Thor.  You may have thought it was all leading up to The Avengers, but you'd be wrong.  All Marvel Studios has built has been leading to The Guardians of the Galaxy.  They've sold the world on Super Heros.  Now, if we're going to continue down this rabbit hole, we need to branch out into the weirder, wilder stories of the four color realm.  Iron Man 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11, 14, 20.  How long can that character hold our interest?  If James Bond is any indication, at least 40 years.  But Marvel has a whole helluva lot more characters to offer, and I want more from them than just capes & cowls.  Guardians of the Galaxy looks like it could be an energetic mix of Star Wars knockoffs.  Take the best of Ice Pirates, blend in some Buck Rogers, and a little dash of Krull and you've got what could be a rollicking time out at the movies.  But talking trees?  Rocket Raccoons?  Is the world ready?  I am.  Whatever blood James Gunn squeezes from this stone, I beg of you, please go out and see Guardians opening weekend.  We want more than Captain America Part 15, right?  We want Doctor Strange.  We want Black Panther.  We want another Howard The Duck.

--Brad

Rocket Raccoon & Groot Steal The Galaxy (and the Internet)! Marvel Goes Prose Again

Marvel is making a big push to force the world (ie the internet) into full blown Guardians of the Galaxy mania.  I sure hope it works.  We've proven the worth of Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor to the public, but it's going to be a little tricky convincing them that Rocket is one badass genetic experiment and not just a cute little furball.  Not to mention the walking trees, the reality bending gauntlets, and various other cosmic oddities.  Last week the trailer hit, and the fanboys out there seemed properly teased.



Ooga Chakka Ooga Ooga Ooga Chakka!  Ice Pirates is alive and well and living in director James Gunn's heart.  Sure, that's pretty much 90% of what we saw at Comic Con last year with a few extra glimpses of Benicio Del Toro's Collector & Kieron Gillen's Nebula.  Still no Lee Pace Ronan, Rocket Raccoon Cooper voice, Vin Diesel Grooting, or real any real sense of the plot.  Just enough to get giddy.  And I am giddy.  Looks like I'm not alone.  Went to the comic shop two days after the trailer blasted the net, and they were all out of Guardians comics (with the exception of the recent Brian Michael Bendis trades, but let's be honest - they are lame).  What I'm really interested in are the two Annihilation maxi-series that Dan Abnett concocted a few years ago.  Cosmic Marvel never really interested me much as a kid, but thanks to Jonathan Hickman's recent work on Infinity, I'm quickly turning into a Thanos junkie.

Well you might have to shell out a Ben Franklin or two for the Annihilation Hardbacks (for now), but in July you'll get a chance to read that author's brand new Guardians of the Galaxy prose novel, Rocket Raccoon & Groot Steal The Galaxy.  In an interview with Newsarama, Abnett describes the book as "John Woo's Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."  I'm not sure exactly what that means, but I think he's attempting a tone of kickassery plus goofy space adventure - you know, Rocket Raccoon folks, big guns to match those big doe eyes.  I'm down.  Marvel has been cranking out the Mega Event novel adaptations like Civil War and Breakout for a while, but it's nice to see them attempting something original with their licenses.  And hopefully this Guardians of the Galaxy media onslaught will result in a hit film.  I want the movie to be good, but I want even more for it to be successful.  If Guardians makes a buck we won't have to settle for Thor 3, Cap 4, Iron Man 5, Avengers 14, over and over and over again.  Let's see some of our favorite Wannabes - bring on Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Silver Surfer, Namor, The Peanut Butter Barbarian.  Let's get weird.  Let's show the world that Geek truly is the new Jock.  Let's vote for Rocket Raccoon in 2014.  If Marvel doesn't expand beyond spandex then the bubble will surly burst, and this golden age will crumble back into a sea of sports talk.  No one wants that, right?

--Brad

A Fistful of Marvel Wannabes! (Brad's Picks)

Phase 2 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe begins this weekend with the release of Shane Black's Iron Man 3.  It's a brave new world.  One that's going to include The Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, & Doctor Strange.  W.  T.  F.   Yes, 2014 is going to see Rocket Raccoon blast onto the big screen and if he's received well by the public than we might be entering an unstoppable black hole of super hero cinema.  Of course, that's a big "IF" and we may still be a long way off till a proper Howard The Duck adaptation.

Iron Man 3, Thor 2, Captain America 2, and Avengers 2 are sure fire successes.  But let's just say they're joined by The Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, & Dr. Strange.  Where do you go from there.  I say, let's get nuts.  Maybe we hold off a bit till we break out the D-Man blockbuster, but I've got a handful of other crazy characters I'd like to see get the Hollywood treatment.

5.  The Pet Avengers:  Yes, they exist.  When the Inhuman's teleporting dog Lockjaw acquires the Mind Gem from the all powerful Infinity Gauntlet, he gathers a colorful cadre of super pets to seek out the remaining gems while avoiding the terrifying violence of The Mad Titan, Thanos.  The team includes the X-Men confidant Lockheed, Speedball's feline counterpart Hairball, the central park Thunder amphibian Throg, the falcon Redwing, and Aunt May's Ms. Lion.  Special Guest Stars could include the Savage Land's Zabu, Bo the First Dog of the United States, and the Fantastic Four beastie Giganto.  Look, Disney needs to partner Marvel with Pixar.  It's just gotta happen.  DC Comics has had plenty of success with the Direct to DVD animated market, and even if we can't be granted the glory of Pixar, maybe we can get a solid cartoon out of the deal.

4.  Namor - The Submariner:  Since Captain America didn't quite capture the Nazi threat of WWII, let's travel back to the battlefields of the 1940s where Prince Namor can rise from the Earth's oceans to smash Hitler's blitzkrieg domination.  And the best thing about Namor is that when he's done crushing Nazis he's going to inevitably turn on the Allies.  After all his finest characteristic is his hatred and contempt for all land lovers, and through that anger we can get some delightful rage-filled social lecturing.  Once Adolf gets his Inglourious Basterds just deserts and Namor turns tidal waves upon our shores, the good old U S of A can unleash their Human Torch (of the android variety - never mind the flaming Fantastic Fourer) and the two titans of Marvel's Early Days can go mano y mano in a Kaiju-styled flattening of New York City.

3.  Hawkeye:  This is not a cheat.  As much as I love Joss Whedon's Avengers, Jeremy Renner's Hawkeye was easily the most disposable character in the film.  He spent most of the time under the control of Loki & when he finally got free from the pokey stick, Hawkeye spent the rest of the film looking stern as he shot arrows at jet skiing aliens.  The Hawkeye film I want to see stems directly from Matt Fraction & David Aja's current comic series.  Focus on the wannabe hero when he's not being an Avenger.  The guy who passes his time as super of an apartment building, fighting back the small time crime of the track suit mafia, and caring for a pizza scarfing dog.  The great thing about the Marvel Universe is that it can house multiple genres, even within the capes & masks.  Hawkeye is your 90s, quirky post Pulp Fiction crime tale a la 2 Days in the Valley.  And since Marvel doesn't shy away from recasting let's kick Renner outta the picture and bring in Ryan Gosling.  Hmmmm...while I'm dreaming why not bring back Shane Black from Iron Man 3 for the snarky buddy cop banter with teenage sidekick Kate Bishop.

2.  Devil Dinosaur:  Ok, this is just a fantasy.  But you know, before you start saying this will never happen remind yourself that ROCKET RACCOON! will soon be a theatrical reality - a talking raccoon from space who kills aliens with an array of laser rifles!!!!  Dammit, Devil Dinosaur & Moon Boy can happen!  This is not an animated film.  I want a dark, brooding, dead serious Quest For Fire saga.  Sure, that's not really what we got in the original nine issues from Jack Kirby, but I've been on a 2001 kick lately and it's got me craving the savagery of ape men.  Devil Dinosaur could sate that thirst, a boy & his dog story in which DD & Moon Boy go up against the warring clan of the Killer-Folk.  This is goofy stuff, but with Pacific Rim nearly upon us & and a new Godzilla on the horizon, I want Marvel to contribute their Monster Mash movie.

1.  Luke Cage:  Marvel's somewhat pathetic attempt to cash in on the Blaxploitation phenomenon eventually yielded one of their most endearing characters thanks to Brian Michael Bendis's exploration in the pages of Alias & New Avengers.  You look at that picture above and you see a goofy dude in disco duds fighting a ridiculous atomic abomination.  But the Luke Cage film should be a brutal, mean-spirited crime flick.  Think Chinatown PI plot with a 70s Hell Up In Harlem backdrop, and a neighborhood gang war poisoning the citizens with sex & drugs.  Luke Cage encounters some small time crime that leads to Kingpin conspiracies and eventual street fighter showdowns.  Fred Williamson is a few decades too old , but I'm thinking Michael Jai White can shake the comedy of Black Dynamite and step into the real deal.

--Brad

Thanos Courts Death! Avengers Post-Credits Sequence

The Marvel hype machine is hard at work.  The Avengers blu ray hits September 25th and here comes the first of many teases.  The first post credits sequence featuring the universe's Death obsessed son of Titan, Thanos!  Marvel Studios is promising all kinds of crazy with the inclusion of Thanos and hopefully the announcement of 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy will deliver.  Gosh.  Rocket Raccoon.  Still can't wrap my head around that bit of crazy.

--Brad

Marvel NOW!

Well here you go.  Marvel's response to DC's New 52. But they're telling us that Marvel NOW! is not a reboot, just a revamp.  All new #1s to help new readers jump on board the Marvel bandwagon.  But it's not happening all at once?  It's a five month roll-out?  Okay.  That's weird.  This will stem from the current Avengers vs X-Men event currently boring through the 616 universe and should be starting in October.  First thoughts:  I don't really mind.  This is the way of comics.  And if it does succeed the way The New 52 seemed to for DC than I'm all for bringing new readers to comics.

Also, check out Rocket Raccoon at the bottom.  He's got a gating gun.  That's amazingly cool.  And I really do hope we see the little fella in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie hitting theaters in 2014.  And we get Black Nick Fury in the Super Soldier outfit.  Iron Man's got his new getup.  Cyclops looks crazy.  We should apparently give a damn about Nova.  And Jean Grey is back....again.

According to Newsarama, the books to launch Marvel NOW will be Uncanny Avengers from writer Rick Remender & artist John Cassady, All New X-Men by writer Brian Michael Bendis & artist Stuart Immonen, the bi-weekly Avengers by writer Jonathan Hickman & artist Jerome Opena,  and New Avengers by writer Jonathan Hickman & artist Steve Epting.

--Brad

Dork Art: The Avengers & The Guardians of the Galaxy

I love this splash page from Brian Michael Bendis & Mark Bagley's Avengers Assemble comic that pits the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy against the cosmic baddie THANOS.  Frankly, this image is all about Rocket Raccoon.  He's adorable.  He's a badass.  He will kill you.

--Brad