The Avengers/Marvel movies

Reminder: Help ‘Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Rocket Raccoon Creator Bill Mantlo

This weekend saw the release of Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, a fabulous movie that deserves much kudos. If you’ve seen the film, then you know its gun-toting, wise-cracking, talking raccoon, Rocket, steals the show. Who would have thought that a badass talking raccoon could be so endearing, but he is. And that’s thanks in part to the character’s co-creator Bill Mantlo.

Back in February, we wrote about Mantlo, who, in 1992, was tragically struck by a hit-and-run driver and suffered traumatic brain injury. Since the accident, Mantlo, who is also credited with creating Lady Deathstrike, Cloak & Dagger, and many more characters, has been living in a nursing home/rehabilitation facility, where he needs constant care. Being as the comics creator was a “work for hire” player, he’s not getting any of that big Marvel Cinematic Universe money. So, I wanted to take the opportunity now to remind everyone that you can donate through PayPal to help with Mantlo’s very costly medical expenses.
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BTW...if you are wondering about the Cap'n Mal cameo...





SPOILERS



He was the blue cgi alien on Kyln who got two fingers of Groot up his nose. Apparently Mr. Fillion is still holding out for a BIG Marvel role.
 
jerseydevil said:
'Guardians of the Galaxy:' Can Bautista Break the Curse of Tor Johnson? | Rolling Stone

I guess they have never heard of Duane Johnson...
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They have, but they just gloss over him… and Andre the Giant… and Jesse Ventura… and they ignore Hogan in Rocky III… and they pan Piper despite They Live… Clearly just had some funny clips they thought would be clever.

There are exceptions, of course – Andre the Giant in The Princess Bride, the Rock's inexplicable rise to superstar status – and parameters to observe (no WWE Studios films, since they control that mediocre themselves, and no movies about wrestling, since that's basically the industry coming down to their level), but the Curse is very real indeed. Is Guardians of the Galaxy doomed? Probably not, but for every Jesse Ventura, there are 50 Roddy Pipers, and Hollywood just hasn't been friendly to dudes who wear tights and boots for a living. Don't believe me? Here's are some examples of the Curse at its worst:
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Also, they didn't mention

Gene LeBell (Raging Bull; The Big Brawl; The Jerk; stuntman or stunt/fight coordinator on too many to mention),
Mike Mazurki (Some Like It Hot; Murder, My Sweet; It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World),
HB Haggerty (The Big Brawl; Mickey and Maude, which, incidentally also had Andre the Giant, Jack Armstrong, and Big John Studd),
Scott Schwartz (Ocean's Eleven; The Scorpion King; Starsky and Hutch),
Ox Baker (Escape from New York; The Big Brawl).

So, yeah.
 
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LetTigerIn said:
They have, but they just gloss over him… and Andre the Giant… and Jesse Ventura… and they ignore Hogan in Rocky III… and they pan Piper despite They Live… Clearly just had some funny clips they thought would be clever.



Also, they didn't mention

Gene LeBell (Raging Bull; The Big Brawl; The Jerk; stuntman or stunt/fight coordinator on too many to mention),
Mike Mazurki (Some Like It Hot; Murder, My Sweet; It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World),
HB Haggerty (The Big Brawl; Mickey and Maude, which, incidentally also had Andre the Giant, Jack Armstrong, and Big John Studd),
Scott Schwartz (Ocean's Eleven; The Scorpion King; Starsky and Hutch),
Ox Baker (Escape from New York; The Big Brawl).

So, yeah.
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2 words:

kevin nash - grandma's boy
 
James Gunn's Hearfelt Guardians of the Galaxy Message

Gunn posted the following on Facebook:
Thanks to all of you who saw (and are seeing) Guardians of the Galaxy this weekend, from the bottom of my heart. The Guardians are a group of oddballs, outcasts, and geeks. The movie is for anyone who ever felt cast aside, left out, or different. It’s for all of us who don’t belong. This movie belongs to you. And, today, I think we’re doing okay.
I am of course happy with all the film has accomplished box-office-wise. But what touches me the most is that the film I told the folks at Marvel I wanted to make two years ago is the film that you’re seeing in theaters today – it’s that so many of you seem to be directly EXPERIENCING the film I INTENDED. The cast, the producers, the crew, and I felt like we were making something special while we were making it. But it is very rare that a director’s INTENTIONS in creating a film, or a scene, or a character, or a line of dialogue are, seemingly, specifically what is experienced by an audience (not to mention critics!), and that seems to be what has happened here. You have allowed a talking raccoon – for a moment, a minute, or a day – to make you a little more human. And for that, I am profoundly grateful.
If I relied on myself to implement these intentions, the film would be a shambling mess. But instead, I had a wonderful cast, genius producers, an incredibly brave studio, sublimely talented visual effects artists, great editors, and the best damn crew of mostly-British bastards to actually implement these intentions for me. Where I had a good idea they would, through alchemy, transform it into a great one. Many of you involved are friends of mine on Facebook. Many of you will read this somewhere else. I love you all.
You may remember me posting here a couple weeks ago how sad I was to be finishing up the film, that I was having trouble letting go of Rocket, and that I was going to miss him. But seeing him (and Groot, and the rest of the team) embraced by the world like they have been, to be UNDERSTOOD, makes it a wonderful letting go. It’s like giving a foster pet up for adoption to the most wonderful parents in the world.
And, of course, I’m not really saying goodbye as, while many of you have been enjoying the film, I’ve spent this weekend hard at work on the sequel. I couldn’t help myself! The results are nice but it’s really the creative process I love and that keeps me going. I’m on fire with this thing! The Guardians have so many hardships and heartaches and triumphs ahead of them, and I can’t wait to share them with all of you.
Onto week two…
Love, James

Read more at James Gunn's Hearfelt Guardians of the Galaxy Message
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jerseydevil said:
Box Office: GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY Lands $94 Million

$94 million. Considerably higher than the previously expected $65 million estimates. Cap'n 2 was a hit at $95 million opening weekend. Well done Marvel...but Ant Man looms.
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I am really surprised that relatively unknown comic book characters can make that much money. It helps that people are saying good things about it so there's that.

Still, the Marvel brand is really hot and as such, they should put Ant Man aside and do something more daring like a Ego The Living Planet movie. mhihi: :manybeers:
 
I considered seeing GotG, but since I found out mouth-full-of-marbles is in it, fuhgetaboutit.
 
A couple of disclaimers:

I have a big "blind spot" when it comes to certain comics, actually two: I was a huge comic guy growing up but when I hit about 18, the comic shop I went to closed. I was already into going to punk shows by then, so when my favorite shop closed I devoted myself to music and did not step into a comic shop for a number of years. Then I got back into comics for a few years and that shop closed and then I moved, again I spent a few years not seeing a comic shop for a few years. I thought I was cured. No more comic nerd/kid stuff for me! I even stopped getting Daredevil! One of my Favs.

Then my Bro dragged me to Comicon. Honestly, I tried to get out of it, I did not want to go, But I did, and loved it, Comicon is dead to me now but it got me back in.

So GOTG is in that blindspot I have no idea what that comic is, don't know the characters, don't know the story.

So I went with a couple of pals who do know GOTG and saw it.

Pretty good. Fun and exciting.

But I know this from the old days of my comic book days:

The Kree were badasses in the Marvel Uni, they were the Spartans of the universe to put it in human terms. Ronan the Accuser being one bad dude, as seen in GOTG.

And I know this: that this dude

avengers%202%208%20captainmarvel01preview4.jpg


would have ****ing destroyed had he appeared in GOTG.

Again, it must be my bindspot, my ignorance, but what the hell was Captain Marvel, Son of the Kree Empire, doing while all this was going on?!? He kicked the crap out of Ronan a number of times! He would have cleaned up and stopped all the shannanigans. Was he fighting the true enemy, the Skrull? Was he dead? (I head they killed him off for time) Too busy?

All I know is this guy ruled!

Marvel+Select+Capt.+Marvel+064sdtb.jpg

Same dude, different costumes! Trust me, he kicked ass!
 
Kings Provisional said:
Again, it must be my bindspot, my ignorance, but what the hell was Captain Marvel, Son of the Kree Empire, doing while all this was going on?!? He kicked the crap out of Ronan a number of times! He would have cleaned up and stopped all the shannanigans. Was he fighting the true enemy, the Skrull? Was he dead? (I head they killed him off for time) Too busy?
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He is dead, yeah. He's come back for short periods since his death at the hands of cancer, in that ****ing amazing story, but it's always because he was resurrected for something that didn't last long. Like, the author of that story wasn't planning for him to be for real brought back. I honestly don't recall any real efforts to re-introduce him as a regular character again.

It's good to mention him since he was brought to prominence so well by Jim Starlin, the man who created Thanos, Gamora and Drax.

I saw GotG on Saturday and, man, I ****ing loved it.

It wasn't perfect, but it was so much fun. Enough that I was more than willing to forgive the points where they deviated from the comics. I have zero problems with all of the cast members. I have to admit being somewhat unsure about Dave Bautista and Zoe Saldana in their roles, but I thought they both knocked it out of the ****ing park. As amazing as Rocket was, for me Drax kind of stole the show. He's not normally a character you expect humor out of, intentionally or not, but he brought just as much as anyone else and did so without changing his personality from the one represented in the comics.

I was also really happy that Rocket didn't sound like Bradley Cooper. Nothing against the man, but I think that really worked for the character, making sure you couldn't really associate him with the actor.

Really, I could go on for hours about how happy I was that they got the characters right. Even if they're altering the origins for most of them. The details of how they became who they are aren't anywhere near as important as who they are. So kudos and congrats to James Gunn, who has always been deserving of being a bigger name than he was. Hopefully, this gives him some extra creative freedom with future projects.

As for Thanos, my favorite bad guy in any media ever, seeing him in the flesh was pretty exciting. His skin color/look ended up not bothering me, though I do think his outfit looks kinda lame. I'm hoping that whenever we get to see him in a larger role, they alter it so it's less shiny.

Also, was somewhat disappointed that we didn't get to see much of Benicio as The Collector. Hopefully, he gets some work to do as the character in the future.
 
I really wanted more Nebula, because she looked ****ing AWESOME. I was also hoping for more Ronan. He looked fantastic and was probably the best Marvel villain so far, just in terms of really being able to **** **** up. He was actually scary.

Other than that, I'm really happy with how all of the characters were handled, and I really, really love all of them. I wasn't expecting to care so much about these characters that I knew very little about. I've seen it twice so far and I'll be going again this week.

p.s. IMAX 3D is seriously the way to go. IT'S ALL JUST SO BEAUTIFUL!!
 
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