Signing Off With a Summer Movie Preview

Now, towards the end of the semester, I found myself having trouble determining what to write about for my weekly passion blog.  While my undying love for movies has not wavered, I began to find that my well of potential topics was quickly drying.  For that reason, I waited in order to find the perfect sign off-post, and I finally have – a look at the wonderful and exciting movies coming this summer.  So be ready to drain your bank account, because you will be spending a great deal of money at the movies this summer.

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There are so many fantastic movies opening in May that one nearly becomes overwhelmed by the prospect.  This month contains a movie in almost every genre you could wish for in the summer.

Classy & Thought Provoking – the English class favorite The Great Gatsby promises to be intricate, engaging, thoughtful and exciting.  Admittedly I have never read the acclaimed novel, but friends that have have expressed concern that the film adaptation will go over the top.  Hopefully, the film doesn’t tie itself up in the grandeur and spectacle ad forget about the heart.

Superheroes – Shamefully I have not seen the Iron Man series, but from what I saw of Robert Downey Jr in the wonderfully successful Avengers, I am sure that Iron Man 3 will not disappoint.

The Hilariously Inappropriate – I have seen both installments.  I laughed uncontrollably each time, and walked out of the theatre happy but moderately disgusted. I expect nothing less from The Hangover III, which will likely insult me to my core, but hopefully I will be laughing hysterically the entire time.

Action & Awesomeness – I cannot even begin to describe how excited I am for Star Trek: Into Darkness. The first film not only reinvented and revitalized the beloved franchise but was also easily one of the best summer blockbusters I had ever seen.  I have no doubt that the sequel will rise to the occasion, largely because the phenomenally talented Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock) will play the film’s bad guy.  **Now You See It also looks hugely promising, and I suppose Fast & Furious 6 too if you are into that sort of thing.

 

 

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Not on the list above (because it was the main article in the issue of Entertainment Weekly that these screen shots came from) is Man of Steel.  I am a Superman girl, through and through, so I am anxiously awaiting the film’s release on June 14th.  While initially I felt less than thrilled about the prospect of a British man wearing the red and blue suit as farm boy Clark Kent, Henry Cavill is certainly growing on me.

 

 

 

Other Things I Will Be Spending My Money On:

  • The Heat – It is Sandra Bullock AND Melissa McCarthy.  It is nearly impossible to go wrong with two women that talented and hilarious.
  • White House Down – Likely a good popcorn movie about the taking of the White House, but really the main attraction in this movie is clearly Channging Tatum.  For that reason alone, I will be present.
  • The Internship – Reuniting Wedding Crashers duo Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn for a wacky and bizzarre internship at Google, will either be surprising hilarious of wildly stupid.  A gamble? Yes.  But these are the risks that I take in life – small, contained, and comfortable, with the only consequence a few hours of my time wasted.

 

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To be honest, I am worried about July.  There are only two movies that I really have an interest in seeing, and I am not sure how well they will turn out.

The Lone Ranger – with Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer at the reigns I feel somewhat reassured about the films potential for greatness, but perhaps my unfamiliarity with the story is making me wary.  I want this movie to succeed and prove fantastically entertaining, but a small part of me is convinced it just doesn’t have the magic, though I can’t put my finger on it.

Despicable Me 2 – The first installment was so amazing that it is hard to imagine the sequel surpassing the original.  The second movie in part shows Gru dealing with the difficulties of fatherhood, and apparently the character has evolved to become softer and kinder to his three new daughters.  While from a moral standpoint that is great, Gru’s rough edges made him quirky, hilarious, and lovable.  Hopefully they didn’t sand him down too much.

 

 

 

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While I suppose I could see myself going to Elysium on a boring Friday night, the movie I am really looking forward to in August is not a sci-fi action thriller.  It is We’re the Millers.  The comedy reunites Horrible Bosses stars Jennifer Aniston and Jason Sudeikis and turns the idea of a family road trip on its head.  Sudeikis is a small time dope dealer who suddenly has to transport 1,500 kilos of marijuana across the Mexican border, and to allude border patrol he hires strangers (like Aniston, a stripper) to pretend to be his suburban family on an innocent road trip.  Odd?  Yes.  Hilarious?  Definitely.

 

Well, I hope this has gotten you excited for the summer.  What better way to spend months of sunny, gorgeous weather, than sitting in a dark air-conditioned theatre watching a movie?  None.

Finding Dory

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Oh yes.  Get Excited.  It is finally happening.

As an 18 year old college student I probably should not be this excited about the sequel to an animated movie, but, come on, its FINDING NEMO! (which is easily one of the best animated films ever made.)  Shockingly, the film came out ten years ago.  I can still remember the first time I went to see it when I was in the third grade.

As a reward for passing the Maryland School Assessments (MSA)s, all third, fourth, and fifth grade students got a free trip to see Finding Nemo in theaters during the middle of the school day.  We all walked as one colossal group up the massive hill that is Spartan Road towards Olney 9 Cinemas.  The theatre was sort of run-down and old but that hardly mattered – we got the entire theatre to ourselves and we could not stop gushing at how grown up we felt walking there. I sat with my friends and watched the movie and immediately fell in love with it.  I laughed so hard at Dory I nearly cried. It was the best thing an eight year old could have imagined.

tumblr_lp9otz7t7G1qmubjzo1_500Now times have changed.  My beloved run down theatre has been replaced with a Harris Teeter grocery store (one of five grocery stores servicing my town, all of which can be seen from the top of a hill).  My once charming partially rural home town has become over-populated and polluted.  My friends and I are spread out across the United States at college and my family is gearing up to move.  With so many changes, I am ready for a little taste of the good old days when the grass was green, the sky was blue, and my town/life wasn’t an armpit.  Finding Dory will do that.

 

Now to actually talk about the movie instead of rant about myself.  According to the ever reliable Huffington Post, Finding Dory will be a prequel, taking place about a year before Finding Nemo.  The plot is inspired by why Dory was alone in the ocean the day she met Marlin. She will be reunited with her loved ones and learn about her family, but the director promises that Finding Nemo favorites such as Marlin and Nemo will be back. The lesson to be learned from this movie, according to the director, is the meaning of family. “I have waited for this day for a long, long, long, long, long, long time,” said Ellen DeGeneres, who voices Dory, in a statement. “I’m not mad it took this long. I know the people at Pixar were busy creating ‘Toy Story 16.’ But the time they took was worth it. The script is fantastic. And it has everything I loved about the first one: It’s got a lot of heart, it’s really funny, and the best part is—it’s got a lot more Dory.”

The movies is scheduled to hit theaters November 25th 2015.

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To tide you over, here are some wonderful Dory moments from the fantastic original.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/02/finding-dory-finding-nemo-sequel_n_2999649.html?ir=Entertainment

 

Bad Lip Reading

Continuing with the theme of YouTube channels that riff on Hollywood films, this week we will explore the wonderful world of Bad Lip Reading.  Okay, so this is VERY tangentially related to my theme of movies, but this channel is definitely worth the step outside the box.

 

Bad Lip Reading is a YouTube channel run by an anonymous Texas-based music and video producer.  It first popped on the scene in March of 2011 when it spoofed Rebecca Black’s glorious revelation of a song, “Friday.”  The video spoof was called “Gang Fight,” and it humorously changed the words of the song to match Black’s lip movements.

 

Numerous spoofs on songs followed.

Michael Buble – Haven’t Met You Yet

 

Something very odd involving One Direction

 

The Black Eyed Peas – Boom Boom Pow

 

 

In September of 2011 Bad Lip Reading branched out from the music scene and began covering the Presidential election.  In my personal opinion, these short clips were the brief shining moments amid an otherwise horrific and long experience.

 

The First Presidential Election

 

And now, for the clips that make this seemingly bizarre and fragmented post make sense with my overall theme, here are some great Bad Lip Readings of famous Hollywood movies.

The Amazing Spider Man

 

The Hunger Games

 

Twilight

 

 

Channels like this are perfect for entertaining us during stretches of boredom on a rainy afternoon, for lifting our spirits during a particularly difficult week, and most importantly, it allows me to mock the world freely and shamelessly.  I recommend taking a break from the hassles of daily life and instead spend far too much time smiling and laughing at these odd little videos.  They let us escape from the world, even if for a brief moment, and that is a wonderful and precious thing.

 

And the NFL, just for fun

How It Should Have Ended

Wait seriously? Like THAT’S IT!? I just wasted 2 hours of my life for THAT!? For reals?

 

That is my standard reaction after sitting through a full-length film only to realize that the ending left much to be desired.  Everyone has experienced this hugely disappointing event at least once in his or her movie-going experience. Whether the film began phenomenally and jumped the shark at the end, or your eyes began bleeding and your soul started to die from the very first line (see Twilight Breaking Dawn Part II and you will understand), the outcome is always the same – a momentary loss of faith in cinema.  The solution? A YouTube channel called “How It Should Have Ended,” which creates animated shorts that change the horrible endings to popular films.

How-it-Should-Have-EndedWhat began in 2005 as a joke between friends about “The Matrix Revolutions,” turned into a hugely popular Internet short that has churned out over 100 videos.  They have everything from Twilight to Pulp Fiction, and a few hilarious superhero shorts thrown in for good measure.  Perhaps I enjoy these Internet shorts because looking at a film from the outside rather than from within the creative process, it is easy spot the flaws in a story line or in the characters themselves, and to make myself feel better I want to see the situation rectified.  Or maybe I want to lift my spirits after wasting my time and money on a pointless film.  Or I want to procrastinate on other homework by simply having a good laugh.  Whatever the case, I think you will agree that these short clips can easily put a smile on your face and brighten your day as you shamelessly mock Hollywood’s many many mistakes.  Here are a few that I personally enjoyed.

 

Twilight (you should have seen this coming)

 

Titanic

 

Captain America

 

The Amazing Spider Man

 

The Hunger Games

 

Harry Potter

 

Inception

 

An interesting note, all of the above clips showcase how the problems the respective characters faced could have easily been avoided had they thought through their decisions just a tiny bit more.  Perhaps a life lesson for us all.

 

Twilight

Unsure of what to write about this week, I decided to fall back on Old Reliable – Twilight.  Fear not blogging group, you will not have to endure 300+ words of drooling over Robert Pattinson’s hair or Taylor Lautner’s abs.  Rather, I will espouse a few reasons why the Twilight novels and films disgrace literature and film (I will explain why they suck in a way that hopefully does not come across as a rant).  I apologize in advance to all Twilight fans – I was one of you once.

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For those of you who have never heard of Twilight (though I find that hard to believe), IMDB provided the shortest synopsis ever:

“A teenage girl risks everything when she falls in love with a vampire.”

 

The atrociousness of the series breaks down into two categories: the story’s lack of heart and the horrid acting.

1. The story. The novels have engaged and touched millions of people across the globe, particularly tween and teenage girls, and understandably, at that age we tend to idealize the pop culture that we fall in love with – something is not good but rather OMG THAT WAS SO F***ING AMAZING.  However, in this case that passionate love and support is even more unwarranted than usual. The Twilight series centers entirely around the love life of Bella Swan and her decision between Edward and Jacob.  Not only does this make the story lack substance, because nothing outside of the trivial really occurs, but the characters themselves do not have enough substance to support such a flimsy story.

Bella –  The consistently awkward damsel in distress, is neither emotionally strong, sassy, confident, or endearing – she merely wines about Edward.

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Edward – People too frequently overlook Edward’s stalker qualities because of his looks and charm, but tween girls should not find it okay for a boy to sneak into your room uninvited and watch you sleep.  That’s not romantic, it’s disturbing.

Jacob – While more tolerable than the others, his only roll in the novel is to helplessly and pathetically pine for a girl who has no interest in him.

Unbelievably this odd love triangle and flimsy storyline took 4 large novels and 5 long movies to play out.

2. The Acting.  In many ways I pity Kristen Stewart, Pattinson, and Lautner for receiving the daunting task of transforming a giant pile of crud into something of cinematic quality.  However, their acting turned a relatively insufferable story into an unwittingly hilarious film series.  Stewart’s blank stares and total lack of emotion, Pattinson’s thinly veiled accent and constipated expression, and Lautner’s ability to pull his weight in the film by merely taking his shirt off was entertaining for all the wrong reasons.  More skilled and experienced actors may have been able to work more magic than these three, but they did have to work with a script that gave them lines like “We’re the same temperature now.”

50-shades-of-greyWhile numerous other reasons exist, and more detail could be given to the two reasons above, I believe that it presents sufficient evidence as to why the series should not have been made or written, as it proved a torturous experience for all.  Finally, although a side note, it does seem worth mentioning that this disastrous story spawned a Hell child (and no I do not mean Renesme the half human half vampire baby).  I mean 50 Shades of Grey, which originated as Twilight fan fiction.  Just another reason to hate Twilight – it produced one of the most disturbing “books” I have ever heard of.

Animation

Having recently acquired copies of both “Tangled” and “DreamWorks’s How to Train Your Dragon,” I have grown nostalgic for my childhood animated films and in love with those recently released.  So, to honor the awesomeness of animated films, this post will focus on how these films are made, as well some of the best pictures of all time.

 

The Process

How are animated films made? Well, it’s an extraordinarily long process which, for Pixar, can take anywhere from four to seven years.  Here is the breakdown:

 

Pre-Production

Story Boarding – drawings are made in the form of a comic strip in order to visualize the animation and effectively communicate ideas. “It details the scene and changes in the animation, often accompanied by text notes describing things occurring within the scene itself, such as camera movements.”

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Layouts – they design the locations and costumes, as well as show the character’s positions throughout every shot

Model Sheets – detailed drawings of every possible facial expression and pose for every single character.

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Animatics – simplified mock-ups of storyboards

 

Production

Layout – composes the shot and gives a rough animation to the animators as a guide

Modeling – turn the 2D concept art into 3D models.  A skeleton and skin are also developed, and the modeler sculpts all of the facial expressions and muscle shapes

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Texturing – paint in various textures as the scene requires

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Lighting – determine the lighting for each individual scene and consider how all of the various elements made by other departments will coalesce

Rigging – add bones to a character or define the movement of a mechanical object

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Animation – “the practice of meticulously planning a character’s performance frame by frame is applied in 3D graphics using the same basic principles and aesthetic judgments that were first developed for 2D and stop-motion animation.”

 

Post-Production

Composting – bring together all 3D elements produced and create final rendered image ready for film

Sound Editing – “This department is responsible for selecting and assembling the sound recordings in preparation for the final sound mix, ensuring lip sync and adding all of the sound effects required for the final film.”

Video Editing – “Video editing is the process of manipulating and rearranging shots to create a seamless final product, and it is at this stage that any unwanted footage and scenes are removed.”

 

*Also, here is a fairly interesting interview with two animators at Pixar about their process.

 

The Product

Perhaps since animated films have to go through that long and arduous process (not to mention the process of hiring and casting and writing and other things live action films also have to worry about), animated films always seem to have the best stories.  Rarely if ever have I come across an animated film with a poor story, because so much time has to be spent on creating every detail of the film, I would assume that the animation companies would ensure that their labors were going towards a worthy film.

 

Here are some of my favorite animate movies (in no particular order):

Toy Story (1 & 3)

The Lion King

Finding Nemo

Up

Shrek

How to Train Your Dragon

The Incredibles

Tangled

Ratatouille

Corpse Bride

Madagascar

Despicable Me

Wreck it Ralph

(clearly I have seen too many of these)

 

And here is rotten tomatoes list of Top 100 Animated Movies, and the Top Grossing Animated Movies from 1980-present

 

Hopefully this gets you at least partially in the mood to watch an animated movie, and maybe you can better appreciate all of the work that went into it too.

Romance and Lovey-Dovey-ness

Ahh it is that time of year again – a time for copious amounts of roses, rivers of chocolate, and valentines and kisses and lovey-dovey couples are inescapable.  For this reason, it only seems appropriate to dive into the realm of romance for this week.  These movies can be hugely entertaining and heartwarming, which make them perfect for a night with the girls and our respective significant others (mine is M&Ms, my friend’s is Oreos).  However, these movies also fill the heads of women with absurdly unrealistic expectations regarding the opposite sex.

220px-PosternotebookThe best place to find examples of this type of film comes from the portfolio of Nicholas Sparks, the author who penned such classics as The Vow, A Walk to Remember, Dear John, The Last Song, The Lucky One, Nights in Rodanthe, and most recently Safe Haven. The holy grail of such films is The Notebook.  In case you have never heard of the movie, which I somehow doubt, it revolves around Noah (Ryan Gosling) and Allie (Rachel McAdams), two teenagers who fall in love one summer in North Carolina and are later separated due to fate, war, and Allie’s mother.  It takes them years to find one another again, and realize that their love for each other blah blah blah you catch my drift.

Love-heart-cookie-italiancookieOne of the most famous lines from the very successful film came at the very end, when Noah and Allie fight over who she will ultimately choose to be with – Noah or another man (whom she met while she and Noah were apart) named Lon (James Marsden).  Finally, Noah tells her, “So it’s not gonna be easy. It’s going to be really hard; we’re gonna have to work at this everyday, but I want to do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever, everyday. You and me… everyday.”

ryan goslingThis movie is enjoyable to watch because I get to live vicariously through Rachel McAdams and pretend that in some alternate universe in the 1940s Ryan Gosling and James Marsden are fighting over me.  And that is all well and good for a night with the girls, but I think sometimes women blur the lines between film and reality, to the point where we begin to expect every man we date to become Noah Calhoun esque.  However, life is not like The Notebook, and it is unfair to expect men to act as love sick and obsessed as Noah.  I would assume that men become just as annoyed by this fantasy as women do from the cliché damsel in distress that we see in comic books.  Both of these stereotypes are perfectly fine on occasion, in small doses, with the correct company, but they do not belong in reality – leave them safely behind the silver screen.

Guy Humor & Girl Humor

It is a well-known concept that within the realm of film there exists the divide between “guy movies” and “girl movies.”  Stereotypically guy movies would include action films and super-hero films, while “girl movies” would refer to all things with a semblance of emotion – romantic comedies, tear-jerkers, chick flicks, etc.  However, these lines are often crossed, nearly to the point of making their existence obsolete, as I can enjoy Captain America and Superman as much as any guy.  Nevertheless, one divide does hold somewhat true – the line between male and female humor.

bridesmaidsStereotypically, this line would be drawn between all things crass (male) and all things with innocent intent (female).  However, as movies such as Bridesmaids (minus the opening sex scene) and The Ugly Truth (wildly inappropriate but still funny) have shown, women can easily enjoy inappropriate, grotesque, and sexual humor just like men.  So where does the line really exist?  I think I found it about a week ago while watching No Strings Attached with multiple guys.  If you have the ugly truthnot heard of the film, it revolves around the friends with benefits relationship that develops between Emma (Natalie Portman) and Adam (Ashton Kutcher).  It is  HIGHLY sexual (as you may have deduced from my description), but so much so that I felt uncomfortable.  I can laugh at Katherine Heigl (The Ugly Truth) getting an orgasm at a company dinner by inadvertently turning on some rather inappropriate underwear, but listening to the teenage Adam ask the teenage Emma to finger her, is not funny.  All of the guys in no stringsthe room laughed, but I just did not see the humor.  Further, watching the two-minute montage of their sex life was not enjoyable.

Based on this experience, I would place the line for humor (though I cannot speak for the entire female gender) lies between the sexual and the blatantly sexual.  I can handle a reference, a cleverly angled three-second scene, and well-distributed vulgar language.  But when the sexual nature of the humor becomes so obvious that it gets thrown in my face (fingering joke) I get uncomfortable rather than amused.  I suppose you could say I like crass humor, but “classy” crass humor.

Back in The Day

“Back in the day.” It’s a phrase I am almost certainly too young to use, but one I find myself saying constantly, particularly in regard to film and television.  Perhaps I am biased due to the blinders of nostalgia, or even worse I have become one of those grumpy old people that irritably shouts, “Kids these days!!” But I find that film and television targeted towards younger audiences has not just gone down hill – it has taken a swan dive off a cliff into the abyss.

The most apparent change in programming quality has occurred at the Disney Channel. (Saying this I realize I will now never get hired for that Disney semester internship where you get to work at Splash Mountain for four months, but it is a necessary sacrifice).  I will stipulate that regardless of the year, not every Disney Channel Original Movie was a gem – some were down right awful – but from 1995 – circa 2005 many of the films were actually good. I do not mean good as in complex, full of plot twists, unpredictable, or Oscar worthy, but I mean good in the sense that they did not talk down to their audience.  Many of them had substance. They were worth watching.

the-four-diamonds-296035The Color Of FriendshipThe most powerful example of this is 1995’s “The Four Diamonds,” based on Christopher Millard’s battle with cancer and the story he wrote symbolizing the qualities one needs to conquer the disease – honesty, wisdom, courage, and strength. That movie is about something REAL, something worthy of everyone’s time, and has lessons that we could all learn.  A similarly powerful film made in 2000 (set in 1977) discusses apartheid in South Africa. It centers on a young white South African girl who, through an exchange program, lives with a black family in D.C. and comes to understand the horrors of apartheid and racism. The film goes so far as to mention the brutal murder of Steven Biko (a prominent black singer who was horrifically tortured and beaten to death in South Africa at that time).

Much less powerful but still worthwhile is 1999’s “Horse Sense,” about a spoiled rich college student who lives on his cousin’s ranch for three months to learn the value of hard work and family. When he learns that the ranch is swimming in so much debt that his family will have to sell it, he learns about pride, about earning rather than simply receiving, and humility.

motocrossed2 In the early 2000s the Disney Channel tackled gender stereotypes.  First with 2001’s “Motocrossed,” about a girl who poses as her twin brother in order to compete in a motocross tournament so she can assist her family financially.  This movie too showcases the importance of family, believing in yourself, and that women can do anything men can do. Second was “Eddie’s Million Dollar Cook-Off” in 2003, which attempts to destroy the stereotype that boys do not cook and only participate in sports. Third, also in 2003, was “Right on Track,” about two sisters who compete in junior drag racing, a male dominated sport.

Disney-Frenemies-PosterEach of these films, and many others, discuss real issues and teach real lessons.  That is why I can still watch “Johnny Tsunami” at age 18, because moving, making new friends in a place where you feel like you don’t belong, and struggling with family are all relatable issues.  However, instead of portraying real issues and teaching real lessons, now the Disney Channel produces things like “Girl v Monster,” (a teenager cuts the power to her house in order to sneak past an alarm, which then somehow releases an evil monster. Oh and she comes from a family of monster hunters), “Frenemies,” (the title alone is horrid), or “Sharpay’s Fabulous Adventure,” (do I even need to comment?).

What happened to the stories of substance? What happened to teaching lessons? What happened to not talking down to the audience? (I know it’s the Disney Channel and therefore every film has an obligatory happy and sugary ending, but really?). In my personal opinion, if the movies made now were anything like those created “back in the day,” we would see a film about teens struggling with sexuality. Or maybe we would see a film where someone struggles with getting teased for having two moms or two dads.  Perhaps that is too much to ask, but I miss the films that showcased something relevant, something daring, something worthwhile.  Alas, that has not happened, and I am stuck irritably shouting “Kids these days!!” at my television like a withering old lady while kids watch “Harriet the Spy: Blog Wars.”

Superhero Films

From 2000 to 2010 over thirty films, with varying degrees of success, were created based in part on comic book super heroes.  (The very first comic book appeared in the United States in 1933.  Two of the best-known publishers of comics and related media are Marvel and DC Comics.)   After Marvel’s The Avengers grossed over 200 million dollars in its opening weekend of May 2012, the dominance of the superhero franchise was solidified.

 

Here is a look at the new superhero films opening in 2013:

 

Man of Steel

After the less than stellar Superman Returns, I had qualms about the quality of this new adaptation.  Plus, the fact that a British man is portraying the All-American Kansas farm boy Clark Kent, feels, well, wrong (Almost as wrong as English actor Daniel Day Lewis bearding-up as our nation’s 16th president, but that’s a whole different discussion).

 

PH7o5bETqAMvae_1_mX-Men Origins: Magneto

The Wolverine

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Because we didn’t have enough X-Men films, (more likely because there is more money to be milked from the franchise) here are three more installments

 

 

 

GI Joe Retaliation 3D

Iron Man 3D

I have not seen the first two films, but the charisma and humor that Robert Downey Jr. brought to the role in “Marvel’s The Avengers” makes me hopeful that he can carry the story through a third installment.

Thor: The Dark World

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An Untitled Spawn Reboot

The Inhumans 

Nation Awakes

 

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Superman: Unbound

Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2 

Superman: Unbound

Both animated feature films

 

 

 

And depending on your definition of superhero . . .

Star Trek – Into Darkness

Excited beyond words. . . 

Exactly why audiences find these films so alluring is difficult to quantify.  It could be because superhero films have a certain escapist quality, their unrelenting action sequences, or the joy of watching good triumph over evil as it does so infrequently in the real world.  For me personally it is a combination of all of these factors, as well as the very attractive men who end up playing hero.  Regardless, the box office success of these films proves they are definitely here to stay.