Monday, July 25, 2011

Captain America, Comic Con, and More!

Thanks again to Karen Walker for amusing the Army last week with her guest post – and for your awesome comments!

With temperatures around a hundred degrees, it was a good excuse to go hide in a cool movie theater for a couple hours. And I’m glad I did!

Captain America

This film was a lot of fun and one of the best times I’ve had in the theater all year. The story flowed well with solid action scenes, and the WWII setting gave it an old-school vibe. There is a certain innocence to the film, due in part to the time period and the main character. It sets up next summer’s Avengers movie, but it also stands well on its own.

The cast was great. Chris Evans really fit the role. (I’d also like to know how the CGI guys made him look so scrawny in the beginning.) Hugo Weaving did his usual great job as Red Skull and Tommy Lee Jones had some of the best lines. Howard Stark’s character is in the film, and the storyline centers around a magical cube from Thor’s world – again, setting things up for the Avengers movie.

Marvel keeps hitting them out of the park – Captain America is a great movie. Next summer’s Avengers promises to be huge!


Comic Con was this past week in San Diego and all sorts of interesting news, videos, and images were released. (Did you know they are making a Jurassic Park IV? And that Spielberg is involved?) For the best coverage, visit G4TV’s site.

Did you see Captain America? Any Comic Con news catch your attention? Did you melt in the summer heat? (And if so, can I have your Hot Tamales?) Oh, and I'll announce my next big blogfest in August. Care to make any guesses?

92 comments:

Old Kitty said...

Wet t-shirt blogfest?!!? Oh it's because of the HEAT!! :-)

Best news from the ComicCon?!!?!? Dr Who cast were there to reveal stuff!!! Yay!!! And the trailer for the new series is on YouTube and the new series will start on the 27th August. More yay!

Now back to the wet t-shirt idea...!

Take care
x

Christa Desir said...

I heard there was all sort of greatness at ComicCon, including a Joss panel. Why, oh why, don't I live on the west coast?

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Kitty, does that mean you'd participate in a wet tshirt contest?

Christa, seeing the Joss panel would've been awesome.

Bryan Russell said...

Spielberg! Dinosaurs! I like this.

Sheila Siler said...

I have friends in LA who kept tweeting about ComicCon - my 18 year old was jealous.

We saw Captain America this weekend, our whole family liked it, though I admit I liked Thor better (my daughter just says I like Thor's body better), but my husband was Captain America all the way. Can't wait for the Avenger's movie!

Jemi Fraser said...

I've heard lots of good things about Captain America - maybe even enough good things to convince hubby to go... :)

Jeremy [Retro] said...

i am in for the wet t-shirt, do i have to wear it or can it just be wet like coming out of the washer wet? i wanted to see and go to both captain america and comic con... i hate being poor, i mean not poor... poor more of the i wish i could have gone to the comic con. good news that it will be in chicago... my plans or to go and to the flashback weekend... so many stars not a lot of money.

same weekend
http://www.wizardworld.com/home-ch.html

http://www.flashbackweekend.com/

jeremy

N. R. Williams said...

Hi Alex.
I managed to go to Harry Potter last week. I love the $5.00 Monday's here locally.

Windy S. Marcus is visiting me today.

Nancy
N. R. Williams, The Treasures of Carmelidrium

George Beremov [Nebular] said...

Captain America hits theaters in my country this Friday, so I'll definitely give it a shot in the weekend. Glad you enjoyed it, Alex. I loved the previews, so I'm quite excited about it. The retro vibe of the visuals was very appealing.

Being a part of Comic Con is one of my biggest cinematic dreams, and I hope that one day this will happen.

JP3 was quite mediocre, but now knowing that Spielberg is involved I expect a lot of it.

Unknown said...

I'm afraid I did not like Captain America. I'll be posting my own review and you'll probably think I kick puppies in my spare time.

I'm excited for the Avengers, though. Joss Whedon is a great director. And the teaser trailer for Dark Knight Rises was pretty cool as well the trailer for Spider-Man.

Jurassic Park 4 I do not care to see. I loved the first, but the subsequent sequels just went downhill.

Carol Kilgore said...

I'm so glad it's a good movie. It's on my list.

Jan Morrison said...

Sounds great Alex. I wasn't going to see it but I think you've changed my mind.
Jan Morrison

T. Powell Coltrin said...

On Captain America: I think it's great the writer gave the script/movie the innocence of the era and that you noticed. That's a compliment.

Does your BF have anything to do with music?

Anonymous said...

We saw Potter this weekend and will catch Captain America on Saturday; looking foward to it.

Jeff Beesler said...

In the Seattle area we finally got our first taste of 80 degree weather this year. I just hope it's not the last. And I have a laundry list of movies I would like to see, but have to wait until they come out on Netflix before I can watch them.

Luanne G. Smith said...

I'm always running six months behind everyone else. I'll probably not see Captain America or Thor until the DVD comes out. Sad face. :(

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Sheila, must be a guy thing.

Jeremy, that's a tough choice!

George, you're right that the third movie was just average, but Spielberg's involvement raises the stakes. One year I hope to go to Comic Con as well!

Melissa, I hope you don't really kick puppies...

Teresa, the innocence really made the movie. And you'll have to wait a week to find out about the blogfest.

Jeffrey, I envy you that weather!

Unknown said...

No, just the occasional baby bird, ;) I actually like puppies.

Bossy Betty said...

I have been hearing great things about this movie.

Your next blogfest? Hummm, perhaps a favorite candy theme? I could totally get into that.

Unknown said...

Captain America? I'm afraid we're cinematically challenged over here on the other side of the pond - it isn't on yet where I live. But it sounds interesting!!

And thank you so much for following the Book Bunnies!

Rusty Carl said...

I loved Cap myself. My son said it was his favorite movie this summer.

JP IV eh? Where else can the take it? Maybe they'll go the planet of the apes route and have some fool scientist make them smart. The mental image of a T-Rex holding a handgun in it's teeny little hands makes me giggle like a kid.

Laila Knight said...

That sounds like a great movie. I still have to make time to see Harry Potter. Isn't Green Hornet next?

Anonymous said...

I will definitely be seeing CAPTAIN AMERICA but the movie I've been waiting all summer to see is COWBOYS & ALIENS. I hope I won't be disappointed.

Suze said...

Very cool that you seemed to enjoy your time in the movie theatre this past weekend as much as I did!

Heather M. Gardner said...

More than half the people I follow on Twitter were at Comic-Con. I can't stand that its on the other coast. There was so much that I wanted to see. Whedon, Fillion, Baldwin, Tudyk, Staite all together! The crew from Mythbusters. Castle. Sons of Anarchy including Kurt Sutter. And so much more nerdy-goodness I might have died a wonderful death.

I am way behind on my movies now. No Thor. No Captain. No Harry. Arggg. I need a life upgrade!

Thanks for letting me live vicariously through you.

Sarah Ahiers said...

we did see Captain America and we agreed with you. Just a really great, fun movie. And the Avenger's trailer after the credits was totally worth the wait

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Betty, the food theme keeps coming up. Guess everyone blogs hungry.

Rusty, that could be funny!

Laila, Green Hornet was last January and Green Lantern last month. Sorry!

Liz, that's the next big movie!

Heather, wrong side of the US for me as well. And stick with me and I'll help you sound like a movie genius.

Sarah, the cast is huge - I bet it's half the film's budget!

Arlee Bird said...

I heard about the Jurassic Park sequel. Now I guess I'll have to break out my box DVD set and rewatch the first 3. Seems like they went downhill from the first one so I hope they're ready to come up with something excellent.

Just think, I only live about 100 miles from San Diego - an easy less than 2 hours on the freeway. No ComicCon for me though--I hear it really gets crowded and I'm not much for crowds.

Lee
Tossing It Out

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I liked Captain America even better than Thor.

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Anyone interested in Harry Potter come to the UK, We have gone Potter crazy.
Loved the post.

Yvonne.

RHYTHM AND RHYME said...

Anyone interested in Harry Potter come to the UK, We have gone Potter crazy.
Loved the post.

Yvonne.

Unknown said...

I watched an interview with Nathan Fillion from Firefly from the CC convention.

Also, congrats for winning at Rachelle's site.

Pat Tillett said...

I can't wait to see Captain America. Finding the time is going to be a challange. JP IV? I'm sure they will do a better job than the the last couple. I hope so anyway!
Thanks for the review Alex! Try to stay cool...

julie fedderson said...

I stalked the Comic Con news about Game of Thrones, because I want to be the mother of dragons, just like Dany Targaryen. And I loved the Sons of Anarchy panel. Too much pop culture goodness! And I'm hoping to see Captain America this evening, so I'm glad to see it's getting good reviews!

Christine Rains said...

I can't wait to see Captain America. I just saw Harry Potter, so I don't think I'll be getting the chance to see another movie any time soon. I need my son to grow faster so I can take him to these movies with me! I watched some of the Comic Con stuff. Helped get me pumped up for Gen Con next week. :)

Talli Roland said...

I haven't seen Captain America, but then again we actually had SUN here in London on the weekend so no way was I going inside!

Ellie Garratt said...

I haven't seen Captain America . . .yet. Maybe this weekend! Thanks for the review.

Ellie Garratt

Mark said...

Just saw this movie and posted about it myself. Looks like great minds think alike;)

Anonymous said...

I've never been to ComicCon and its right down the freeway from me. But I penciled it in to go next year for sure.

And thanks for the review of Captain America. I'll be seeing that tomorrow. And definitely looking forward to the Avengers next summer!!!

Lydia Kang said...

I want to see Captain America. Like the first Spiderman movie, I love scrawny-boy-turns-superhero stories.

Summer Ross said...

I want to see Captain America and so does Manly Man. It looked neat in previews.

Comic Con- this may come as a complete and utter shock to you, but I have never been to one of these and the only thing I truly know about it, is it has something to do with comics and people can dress up (which by the way sounds awesome to me!) I love Archie comics, and I don't think that's one that goes with comic con- LOL

I have melted in the hot Colorado heat yesterday at the zoo- I didn't have tamales- ice cream came in instead and it was wonderful!

Have a terrific day!

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Lee, the first Jurassic Park was pure genius. I'm not much for crowds, but I'd brave those at Comic Con.

Yvonne, I saw the box office this morning and notice a big jump in figures for Harry Potter!

Thanks, Clarissa.

Pat, I'm hiding in my air conditioning...

Karen, you're welcome, and glad you got out to the movies.

Julie, you'll enjoy it.

Talli, we had too much sun, which is why I was inside!

Mark, awewsome!

Stephen, you're so close - go!

Lydia, he was scrawny all right.

Summer, Comic Con is beyond that now - it's huge!

Maurice Mitchell said...

Going this week hopefully. Your review gives me hope it will be awesome!

Gail M Baugniet - Author said...

Thanks for sharing your review of Captain America. I plan to see the movie on Wednesday and with the price of movies (and consession foods) an entertaining makes the expense worthwhile.

Also, thank you for congratulating me on winning Raquel Byrnes contest. I am eager to read her novel, Purple Knot (Shades of Hope).

Abby Minard said...

Hearing your review makes me excited for Captain America! And OMG, the Avengers is going to be sweet.

Wow, can't believe they're making another Jurassic Park. Not sure how I feel about that... the first one is one of my all time favorite movies (it made me want to be a Paleontologist when I grew up). But the rest....kinda meh. ALthough with Speilberg involved...we'll have to see.

I wish I could go to Comic con. The LOST panel would have been cool, as well as Hunger Games.

Charles Gramlich said...

wow, it looks like Cap America is a winner all the way around. I haven't heard a bad word about it.

Rawknrobyn.blogspot.com said...

I had no idea they're still going with Juraissic Park, but if Speilberg's involved it's going to be worthy.

Have a great week, Alex.
xoRobyn

ediFanoB said...

Now I want to see Captain America.
But people in Germany have to wait until August 18th.

Ciara said...

I didn't know about Jurassic park. Interesting.

Cheeseboy said...

Going to see Captain America this week and my boys are thrilled. I love that it is set back in the day, but I am not to fond of the idea of the Avenger movie moving him into modern times all of a sudden.

Looking forward to it though. My son is a huge Superhero freak.

M Pax said...

Too bad San Diego is so far, it would be fun to go to comic con. maybe some year when I'm famous, they'll pay for me to come. :D A gal can dream ...

Will have to see Capt. America then.

Regina said...

I'm really excited to take my kids to watch Captain America. It looks so good.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Maurice, it's a really solid superhero flick!

Gail, I'm sure you'll enjoy her book. And the movie!

Abby, the first Jurassic Park is one of favorite movies as well.

Edi, that's less than a month.

Cheeseboy, your kids will dig it, and when you see the ending, you'll understand why he's in modern day now.

Lynda R Young as Elle Cardy said...

The way they buffed up Cpt America is through special tracking software for sfx. It's super funky. I saw a demo of it once.

Anonymous said...

Captain America comes out here this week - can't wait to see it. Also watched the trailer for Walking Dead 2 which was apparently launched at Comic Con - all I can say is - awesome!

Susan Gourley/Kelley said...

I'm cheering and crying at the idea of another blogfest. Yikes! But I can't resist.
Can't wait to see CA.

Anonymous said...

Spending a hot day in a cool theater is the best thing I can think of. But it's a bit cooler here in Virginia, down from the 100s to the 90s. Hoorway!

Captain America sounds great. I think it's one my daughter would like. Hope it comes out soon on Netflix.
Ann Best, Author of In the Memoir, A Memoir of Shattered Secrets

~Sia McKye~ said...

I've been wanting to see Captain America. This Friday, my son wants to take his girlfriend to see a movie. Since he only has his permit and not his drivers license, Dad and I are going too. Kid and gf want to see Nasty Bosses? I think that's the name of it or another comedy sort and so we'll let them go into their movie and we'll go see ours I told hubs I want to see Captain America.

Jurassic Park IV? Interesting. Curious to see how they do this one.

Sia McKye's Thoughts...OVER COFFEE

Li said...

Usually not much on Marvel, but the WW2 hook got me. Going to see it this weekend :)

Hanny said...

I've been hearing good things about this movie too, and I normally don't go for the comic book films.

BTW, It's 71 degrees and raining at my house right now. All us Western Washingtonians crave is sun, and the rest of the country wants to cool down!

Raquel Byrnes said...

So excited for Capt. America. I've been waiting on your review. Obviously Marvel did it again. Can't wait for the Avengers.

Karen Lange said...

I just heard about Jurassic 4 over the weekend. I'm not really surprised, you know?

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Susan, get excited about another blogfest!

Ann, I will keep you posted.

Sia, let them see Horrible Bosses - you guys go see Captain America.

Hanny, I'll trade you!

Karen, they've certainly spread them out.

Copyboy said...

So glad Marvel didn't disappoint. So have to see it!

ali cross said...

I saw CAPTAIN AMERICA on Friday and LOOOVVVEEEDDD IT!!! I thought it was freakin' fantastic. And I totally didn't recognize Chris Evans from Fantastic 4, so I checked him out on IMDB on the way home from the movie theater (thank you iPhone!). It was there that that I caught the news of Jurassic Park IV!!

Anyway, the movie was beyond awesome and I can hardly wait for next summer!

Joanne said...

Going to see it on Thursday. My son is really looking forward to it!
Blessings, Joanne

Ella said...

My hubby was in CA last year when Comic Con was going on. Every place was super busy due to the huge draw~

I saw the previews; Captain America does look amazing. I'll take your word on it! ;D Yes, I melted you can have my Hot Tamales, but I want some of your popcorn?! I ended up in the attic...bleck. I had to move some stuff; I only was in there for 10 min, but I think it was 130 degrees. I returned to drape under a fan and eat popcycles, slushies and ice~ I thought I had the AC moan! Today was a bit better :D

SharleneT said...

Going to see Capt.America next weekend. And, anything that Speilberg's doing, I'll be there. That man understands tension as no other director. Do you have advance tickets?! Have a great day.

alexia said...

I hope to see Captain America this weekend... Chris Evans is yum.

Tyrean Martinson said...

Guesses on Blogfest - Comic Fest, Avenger Fest, or Heat Fest?

Michael Di Gesu said...

I haven't seen Captain America yet, but plan on going sometime this week.

Yes, I almost melted in our 100 degree heat, but luckily the temps dropped and Chicago had an award winning day today.

Samantha Vérant said...

I didn't even know they were making Captain America into a movie. Then again, I live in France. I have an excuse???

Karen M. Peterson said...

I haven't seen Captain America yet, but I want to. My main concern was with the fact that it takes place during WWII, but in Iron Man and the other films, no one seems to have ever heard of Captain America, which seemed strange to me. But after my roommate assured me that it makes sense, my fears are calmed and I'll hopefully be seeing it this week!

Anonymous said...

LOL,looking forward to~~

Hermes bags

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Ali, it was great! And Evans really blends.

Ella, stay out of the attic!

Tyrean, what's hotter than hell blogfest?

Samantha, I think we can let it slide.

Karen, when you see the ending, it will make sense.

Unknown said...

I watched Comic Con on the television over the weekend and was jealous I couldn't be apart of the fun. It was cool to watch though!

I've heard awesome things about Captain America! I instead saw Friends with Benefits, The Change-Up and Horrible Bosses... I know, nothing closely related to Captain Amercica... that's how I roll.

p.m.terrell said...

I saw it this weekend, also, Alex and thought it was great. I was also interested in how they made Captain America so scrawny in the first part of the movie. Great computer work! Love the way they set things up for a series in the present day.

Mary Aalgaard said...

My oldest son went to Captain America with his buddy and not me, so I plan to bring the younger guys to the movie when they get back from summer camp. Glad to read the great review. Now, I can't wait!

Patricia A. Timms said...

I can't believe it. Jurassic Park IV? That's awesome!

I enjoyed looking at the pics of The Ghost Adventure team taking pics with Comic Con fans. I wish I could have gone.

Shari said...

I've been looking forward to seeing this movie. So glad to see a good review! Now I'm even more excited!

Tina said...

We're definitely going to see that one! Glad it's good. As to Comic-Con, I can't help but think of "Chasing Amy". Love that movie.
Tina @ Life is Good

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Jen, you roll how you roll!

Patricia, that was just wild how they made him look scrawny.

David Andrews said...

You have a very nice website Alex, when you have the time, check out mine, http://www.comicbookandmoviereviews.com/, and maybe we could set-up a mutual link-exchange between us.

Thank you for your time in reading this message, I could not do this otherwise because I could not find a email address.

Please feel free to contact me through my site if you are interested.

Laura said...

I'm gonna have to see Captain America...
Lxxx

Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes said...

You do great reviews, Alex! Love the picture of Captain America.

Thanks for being a faithful blog visitor!

Monti
NotesAlongTheWay

Shallee said...

I can't wait to see Captain America! It sounds amazing.

Wish I could have gone to Comic Con, I've heard so much great stuff about it. Some day...

RaShelle Workman said...

Oooooh, thanks for the info on Captain America. I'm excited to see it. =D

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Nice to meet you, Reviewer!

You're welcome, Monti.

RaShelle, it rocks!

Rick Watson said...

Hey Alex, We're going to see Cpt America this weekend.
I've read good things about it.

Donea Lee said...

I'll try to catch Capt. America this weekend - Chris Evans all buffed up is as good a reason as any to see a movie! (actually, it does look good. I wondered about the scrawny thing, too...?)

My guess on the next epic blogfest is...Top 5 pictures of a hot-tamale-turned-marvel-comic-book-character. Am I close?

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Donea, would you be disappointed if I said no?

Jamie Gibbs said...

I'm hoping to see Captain America this week. He's my least favourite Marvel character, but the movie looks to be awesome (especially with Weaving as Red Skull, it promises to be awesome!)