Check it Out! - Captain America: The First Avenger

Since I have definite plans to watch "Avengers: Age of Ultron" whenever it gets to our local $3 theater, I realized that it would probably be a good idea for me to watch both Captain America movies before I saw Ultron, since from what I've heard that "Winter Soldier" gives a lot of background for Ultron, and of course you never watch a sequel before watching the first movie (not if you're me, anyway).  So I've finally watched "Captain America: the First Avenger".

It was kind of interesting, seeing as how I've already been acquainted with Cap thanks to "Avengers", to go back and learn his beginnings and to get to know him better.  I knew that he was a really good guy with strong morals, but I had no idea that he had that much strength of character!  (As I told a friend after I watched the movie, "I have found my soulmate!"  She thought it was funny for some reason...)  What was a little surprising about the movie was that, even though I KNOW what happens later on, I STILL cried twice during the movie.  I mean, obviously Cap doesn't die when the plane crashes (and from what I've read of "Winter Soldier" I know that (spoiler!) Bucky doesn't die, either), but there I was with tears rolling down my face like I'd lost a close friend.  All I can say is that the writers and directors of these movies do a GREAT job, making them both emotional and enjoyable.  The humor in this one wasn't quite as prevalent as it is in Avengers or even in the Thor movies, but it was always very well placed.  And I love that, while all of the movies have incredible action sequences, none of them are bloody, which is what I can't stand.  I can take computer-animated aliens all day, but one gory, bleeding limb and I've got my eyes shut for the rest of the scene.

Since I have done my posts on Avengers, Thor I, and Thor II in a character-analysis format, I figure I might as well stick with that theme.  So, here we go...

Steve Rogers aka Captain America:  Oh, where to start on describing him?  How about we just say "perfect" and go with that?  ;)  Ok, ok, he isn't perfect, but boy, his positive characteristics sure outweigh his negatives by a long shot.  He could be called stubborn, but a lot of that came from his background of being bullied and of not allowing that to define who he was.  It was from that background that he developed his strength of character.  If you are never tested, you never grow.  Then after he is changed from the sickly little guy into the super soldier, he doesn't let his new power go to his head.  Instead he uses it to defend those who were in the same position he had been in.  As he explains when he is asked why he wants to kill Nazis, "I don't like bullies."  The one thing about him that helps remind us that he is still human, though, is that he is awkward around most girls and doesn't understand much about them, which could be infuriating if you were actually with him but for us outside observers it can be kinda cute.  :)

Johann Schmidt aka The Red Skull:  The head of Hitler's scientific research unit (HYDRA), he believes that what was viewed as magic in the old days and what is now considered science are connected.  He finds the Tesseract and uses it to create a line of vaporizing weapons, and then ditches Hitler and decides to take over the world for himself. (In a video clip shared below under a different profile it explains how he became the Red Skull, which fortunately just looks like a glowing red face without a nose and isn't all that creepy).

James "Bucky" Barnes:  You first meet Bucky as he is pulling a bully off of Steve.  While it is never said how long the two friends have known each other, you get the impression that they have been close since childhood, and that Bucky as always stood up for Steve.  He doesn't quite understand why Steve is so "stubborn" and why he always insists on not "staying safe", but his loyalty is unwavering, even unto the point of death.  (One of my favorite parts of the movie is when Steve has asked him if he's ready to "follow Captain America into the jaws of death", and Bucky says, "[Heck] no.  That little guy from Brooklyn who was too dumb to run away from a fight?  I'm following him." <3 )

Dr. Abraham Erskine:  The scientist who created the serum that changes Steve into a super soldier, he is the one who saw beyond Steve's physical appearance and saw his character and his potential.  The scene below I think is one of the most powerful in the whole movie.

What a wise man!  And then as he is dying on the floor after being shot, he just taps Steve in the chest like he's trying to say, "Remember who you are in here.  Never change that."

Agent Peggy Carter:  A special British agent who has been "allowed" to be an assistant in the American army, she has encountered a lot of rebuff and stigma while trying to prove that she really is capable of doing a man's job, and because of that she has become hardened and cynical about all the men she meets.  Then she encounters Steve.  You can almost see the moment when she falls in love with him.

And who wouldn't?  When you've been surrounded by arrogant, big-talking men for a long time, and then someone (even, or maybe I should say especially, if he is a shrimp) shows that he has more guts and concern for others than anyone else, you're naturally going to be drawn to it.  She doesn't let on about it until close to the end because of the wall of protection she has had to build around herself to succeed in her business, but as her feelings grow they get harder and harder to hide.

Col. Chester Phillips:  The commander of Steve's unit, he is not only the one who has to help Dr. Erskine find a guinea pig for his experiment, he is also the one who gave Peggy her chance to do what she felt called to do.  And at times he regrets doing both.  It takes him a while to see that Steve really was the best choice for the experiment, and once he finally does, he's as much behind him as anyone else.

Howard Stark:  This is the guy who started the whole Stark empire (which is later under the care of his son, who might just be a familiar character in an iron suit...I must say they did a great job finding an actor that looked like he could be related to Robert Downing, Jr.).  He helps with the experiment on Steve, helps Steve pull off his first mission, and then creates for Steve a new, more functional uniform and, most importantly, his iconic shield.  While he does have a few similarities personality-wise with his son, he isn't as snide or egotistical and is a bit more open and friendly.

Cap's Commando Squad:  When Steve rescues Bucky from the Red Skull, he first found a whole bunch of other guys who were being held captive.  The ones who lead the way for getting out of the compound while Steve was still searching for Bucky ended up being asked to become his special group to help him break up all the other HYDRA bases.  And what a group they were!  A crack unit full of unique guys  (or, as Steve refers to them lovingly at one point, "a bunch of idiots").  They were: "Dum Dum" Dugan, a bowler-wearing muscle-man, Gabe Jones, an African-American who can speak both German and French, Jim Morita, a Japanese-American who proves invaluable, Jacque Dernier, a former French Resistance fighter, and James Montgomery Falsworth, a trusty British soldier.


Overall, while this movie was very well done, I think I like the Thor movies a little bit better.  I couldn't really say why, but that's just my personal preference.  I will say that if I had to choose between the character of Thor and the character of Steve Rogers, I would pick Steve, but out of the movies about them Thor's were just a bit more enjoyable.  I am still planning on watching "Winter Soldier", though!  So be on the lookout for that blog post.  :)

Best of the MLB Fan Cave

Time to get back into this blogging thing!  Sorry about the short hiatus.  So, let's kick this off by talking about something that has come to an end (who doesn't love a good irony?)
   
Back before this current baseball season started, it was announced that after four years the MLB Fan Cave would cease to exist.  It's kind of sad, but I do have to admit I'm not surprised.  Last year I didn't even keep up with it much, a large reason being the fact that we (the fans) didn't have any input as to who the Dwellers were and therefore didn't have any kind of investment in it.  And from the little bit that I did see, the videos didn't seem to have the same homey, personal flavor the previous three years had had, and had a more on-the-road, finding-the-players-where-they-have-to-be-and-interviewing-them feel.  The Fan Cave was missing aspect where we got to see the Dwellers  goofing around with the players and seeing the fun side of different athletes' personalities by having them doing things that were not necessarily baseball related.  That was what made the first three years so enjoyable to watch.  So, in remembrance of the Fan Cave's glory years, here are my top favorite Fan Cave videos (or at least some of them.  During the first two years there were so many fun ones it's hard to remember them all or find them again).

Bullpen Mafia, 2011

First Cave Dweller Mike O'Hara really was the best guy to help get people into following the Fan Cave.  He just had the right personality, talent and humor to draw attention to what the Cave was doing (wingman Ryan Wagner was pretty good, too).  Honestly, after the first year things just started slowly going downhill.

Marty Dolan Takes over the Fan Cave, 2011

This is the only clip that I couldn't find on YouTube, which is a pity because I think it is one of the funniest ever done.  I loved Mike O'Hara's alter ego, Marty Dolan, and his snarky attitude.  "He" added a whole new dimension to the Fan Cave, and of course in this clip he is allowed to go wild.  (The very last part of the clip is my favorite!  Because you know that Nick Swisher would've said, "Yeah, man! I'd love to!"  :)

Jose Bautista "The Hitman", 2011

C'mon, who doesn't have an ever-so-slight fascination with the mafia?  Even if it's because of all the dark guys in nice suits there's still...something. One thing that impresses me the most about Jose Bautista's performance in this is that you would never guess that he wasn't from da Bronx or another big gangster city.  Absolutely great job.

"Batters that I Used to Know", 2012

This is a very well done parody, and now that I've experienced the trades of some well-loved players (e.g. Martin Prado, Ian Kinsler, Craig Kimbrel) the emotion behind this song is much more powerful.  Whenever I hear the original song playing in a store or somewhere, I find myself singing under my breath "You're a Giant and a Dodger now..."  Yeah, I'm messed up.

Dueling Harry Careys, 2012

The Fan Cave brought every Harry Carey impersonation fan's dream come true!  Pretty much as soon as Ryan Dempster was traded to the Rangers (oh, happy day!), a bunch of people began speculating when a Harry Carey-off was going to occur.  Thank you, Fan Cave!!!!!!!!  (Personally, I think Ryan's version is the best).

The Nationals' Bullpen Reads 50 Shades, 2012

This is so awkward it's funny.  This is the closest I am ever going to get to reading the book OR seeing the movie, and as far as I'm concerned this is perfectly fine.


"MLB BFF", 2012

This is so cute!  Where can I get an MLB BFF???  I do have friends that like baseball, thank goodness, but they aren't anything like J.J. Hardy.  ;)  (Jk!)

Miguel Cabrera's Telanova, 2012

I'm not into soap operas, but this is a pretty funny spoof.  Several of the physical gags in the clip are very well timed.

Craig Kimbrel Staredown, 2013

There is no way I could have survived that game!  Using a distraction tactic like one of the guys in the video would have been my only hope (if I could have thought of a good one, which under those circumstances would have been very unlikely.  I would have been so starstruck!)  I miss seeing Craig in a Braves uni. :(

Rangers do Dumb & Dumber, 2013

If I remember correctly, Derek Holland did actually get a cameo in the movie (I don't think Justin Grimm did, though.  Probably because he was traded to the Cubs and they didn't want to bother tracking him down).  And what's a movie nowadays without bloopers?  :)

I'm sure it would be impossible to do a video with Dutch and not get some pretty good bloopers out of it.  He just seems like that kind of guy.


BONUS!!!!!!

I had to include my favorite Dweller submission video.  And the best part is that it worked!  His impression of Brian Wilson still cracks me up three years after first seeing it.

RIP, MLB Fan Cave.  Thanks for bringing us joy while you existed (and I have to admit, a part of me still wishes I could have been a part of it).

Character Comparison - "F Troop" v. "Hogan's Heroes"

During this cold, cold February, there hasn't really been much to do besides try not to worry about what the Braves season will be like, revive this blog, and watch TV.  As I believe I have mentioned before, I really like older TV shows, specifically from the '60s.  They are clean and they are funny, which can't be said as much for modern shows (at least not what I have seen of them).  Two of my favorites are F Troop (which I talked about briefly in an earlier post) and Hogan's Heroes, which I was only introduced to within the last six months.  I got to thinking recently about how these shows share some similarities.  They both have an armed forces setting (one in a US Cavalry fort, the other in a WWII POW camp for members of the Allied Air Forces), they both have a wide variety of characters that somehow work together to make a fantastic blend of delightful humor, and it turns out that several of the same writers worked for both shows, which probably explains some of the similarities.  Anyway, since I have the same amount of experience with both of them (F Troop had two seasons and I've seen two seasons of Hogan's Heroes) I thought it could be fun to compare the characters and see who was who's closest counterpart.  So, let's go!

*one character is missing from the F Troop pic, and one additional one is in the Hogan's Heroes pic.


Sgt. O'Rourke v. Col. Hogan

Sgt. Morgan O'Rourk, US Cavalry - A veteran of the Mexican-American war, O'Rourke is tough as nails and has gained all the smarts needed to not only run Fort Courage without his commander realizing it, but to also own the local saloon AND run a souvenir business with the local Indian tribe to supplement his Army pay behind the Captain's back.  Out of all the men in F Troop, he is the only one who truly fits all the qualifications of a soldier and a leader, and he does take advantage of it.  Despite his rough exterior, there are times when his Irish sentimentality comes through and he will do something for someone else without any thought of what he will get in return.

Col. Robert Hogan, USAF - After he was shot down over Germany and taken prisoner, Hogan decided to take advantage of being behind enemy lines and turned his prison camp, Stalag 13, into an underground base for sabotage and for helping to get fellow prisoners and defectors out of the country.  He and his men wreck havoc on anything that the Germans put within their reach, all under the nose of the camp's commandant and, after a while, the Gestapo.  He also has something about him that makes him pretty irresistible to almost all the women on the show, which more often than not he uses to his advantage (although he will admit that sometimes he doesn't come out unscathed from those encounters).

These two are definitely the ones that are the most alike.  They are both schemers, they are both sneaky, they are both a bit cocky and VERY self-assured, they are both skilled, charismatic manipulators, and they both have the luck to be able to pull off their schemes most of the time.  The main difference is who they are doing it for.  O'Rourke is doing it for himself to make a fast buck, while Hogan is doing it to aid the Allied cause.  As to whether that makes Hogan's plans more ethical or not is up for discussion.  But it can't be denied that no matter which of them is doing the planning, laughs are almost always sure to ensue!  And of course there are times where their plans backfire and they have to scramble to try to keep everything together (and always somehow manage to do so).

Chief Wild Eagle v. Cpl. Newkirk

 

Chief Wild Eagle - The chief of the small, peaceful Hekawis Indian tribe, he heads the Native American side of O'Rourke Enterprises.  While he is a willing partner with O'Rourke, he also stands up for his people's rights in the partnership and makes sure that O'Rourke doesn't take advantage of them.  He frequently offers  helpful advice to others on the show who are having a problem (or, to be more accurate, tries to offer, but more often than not it "looses something in translation", as he puts it).  He also has to put up with his heir-apparent, a brave named Crazy Cat, who keeps "pushing" him to try to become chief sooner.

Cpl. Peter Newkirk, RAF - He is the one that Hogan goes to whenever any kind of con work needs to be done.  A skilled slight-of-hand artist, he uses his talent to lift "important" objects off of other people and to distract others while information is being gathered or while incriminating things are being hidden out of sight.  He is also the resident safe-cracker, forger and card shark.  He occasionally becomes the weakest link in Hogan's chain thanks to his tendency to fall for a pretty face (but he never, ever gets the girl in the end.  Ever.  Which is a surprise considering his accent, in my opinion.  ;)  I guess Germans just don't find a Cockney drawl attractive).   

*Update: After seeing all six seasons of Hogan's Heroes, there are a couple of times where Newkirk does get the girl, but it's very rare.

These two characters don't exactly have similar roles in their respective shows, but their personalities are a bit more alike.  They both can be pretty sarcastic at times with some pretty good one-liners, and they both can be about as sneaky as the duo mentioned above, with Wild Eagle even pulling a few over on O'Rourke (if Newkirk wasn't on the same side as Hogan, I bet he would have occasionally, too.  Or at least checkmated him).  There are also times where they are left scratching their heads at the plans that they are asked to assist in, and as often as not they don't agree until they have weighed how harmful or beneficial the possible outcome could be to them personally.  But they always come through in the end, either because of their conscience bothering them or because of getting a good deal.

Capt. Parmenter v. Sgt. Carter

     

Capt. Wilton Parmenter, US Cavalry - Descended from a long line of army heroes in which he is a misfit, the Captain earns his officer's bars by accident, by sneezing during the Battle of Appomattox close to some retreating soldiers who thought he was saying "Charge!" and who obeyed the "order" and changed the tide of the battle.  As a result of his "bravery", he is given the command of Fort Courage and F Troop, the most inept group of soldiers in the whole cavalry.  Wanting to do the best he can with what has been thrust upon him, he is hardly caught anywhere without his Officer's Manual.

Technical Sgt. Andrew Carter, USAF - He is the group's bomb and explosive expert.  He is never happier than when he is working on a plan to blow something up, responding to Hogan's requests with his trademark "You got it, boy - er, sir!"  And, as Hogan puts it, Carter is the soldier who "looks more like a German than the rest of us", so he is usually their go-to whenever they need a physical impersonator, especially of Hitler.  It is also mentioned in one show that he is a Sioux Indian (but he can't be full-blooded, since he IS the most German-looking of the whole group.  Go figure).

These guys are shown as the simple-minded sweethearts of their respective shows (which I don't think is quite fair to Carter, because sometimes he does some very quick thinking that gets his buddies out of trouble).  Both of them are very tenderhearted, have strong moral codes, always try to think the best about people, are a bit naive, and can be depended on to stick to their duty whatever the cost.  And like the Captain came into his roll by accident, in one show Carter admits the he doesn't know why he was ever drafted.  The biggest difference between them is that the Captain is a klutz.  Thankfully for the boys in Stalag 13, Carter isn't.  Even without that they have enough close calls with his experiments!

Cpl. Agarn v. Cpl. LeBeau
                                                                                                                                                           

 

Cpl. Randolph Agarn, ditto - He is O'Rourke's right hand man and vice president.  He's not much better than the other soldiers in F Troop, thanks to his fear of blood (and a good many other things), but he is very good with mimicry and impersonations, which they sometimes use to get out of scrapes.  He can be just as greedy as O'Rourke, but isn't half as smart.  Whenever he does come up with a good idea, it is usually met with by an exclamation of "Agarn, I don't know why they say you're so dumb!"  (which he first treats as a compliment, then responds to hours later with, "Who says I'm dumb?!?!?!?")

Cpl. Louis LeBeau, FAFL (Free French Air Force, translated) - Possibly the first POW to be imprisoned in Stalag 13, he is the group's master chef. He uses his cooking skills to aid in the distraction and/or wooing of various Germans.  He also has the best relationship with the guard dogs, which comes in handy quite often.  Because he is much smaller than the other members of the group, he usually gets stuck into tight places to eavesdrop or to gets smuggled into somewhere that the others couldn't otherwise get in to.  And the fact that he is the only Continental European in the group makes him invaluable since they frequently run into other French people.   

These two don't have as much in common on the surface, but when you dig a little deeper you see that they do have some similarities.  Both of them are very romantic and flirtatious (and a bit gullible with women, although LeBeau isn't as bad as Newkirk and occasionally does get his girl), almost always wear their feelings on their sleeves, can be pretty loud at times, and whenever they get involved in something they give 250% with loads of enthusiasm.  They also both have a somewhat tongue-in-cheek sense of humor, and out of all these comparisons they are the ones that look the most alike, at least as far as coloring and height.  And Agarn can do a pretty decent French accent.

Wrangler Jane v. Sgt. Kinchloe

  

"Wrangler" Jane Angelica Thrift - She runs the local trading post and Post Office and is the town's resident sharpshooter, star horsewoman and great cook.  A spunky tomboy, she has her cap set for Captain Parmenter, and isn't shy about showing it (although the Captain is sometimes still oblivious).  She joins the soldiers in their battles against the ferocious Shug Indians, and usually nails more of them than the whole fort combined.  Because of her being the local Postmistress and telegraph operator, she also serves as the fort's pipeline for communication with the rest of the army and usually gets word of what's going on before anyone else does.

Staff Sgt. Ivan Kinchloe, USAF - Kinch serves as the group's radio man and mechanic.  He is also most often the one used whenever they need a voice impression of a German for phone calls or radio broadcasts.  As the most level-headed of the non-coms, he serves as Hogan's unofficial second in command, even though he is technically outranked by Carter.  Because he is an African American in a European country, he isn't able to participate as freely in the groups' sabotage missions and is usually left behind to keep things under control at Stalag 13, although he does help on some night missions and when they are wearing masks with their costumes (such as when they impersonate a Gestapo execution squad).

Bear with me a bit on this one.  The first similarity between these two is that they are the minority on each of their respective shows.  Wrangler is the only girl that's regularly on F Troop, and Kinch is the only African American with a main role on Hogan's Heroes (until he was replaced in the sixth season, anyway).  They both serve as the primary connection with the outside world for both groups of soldiers, both use Morse Code as a part of that connection, and they are both the most steady and dependable characters on their shows.  They are always there and always ready for whatever happens, and they are the most trusted and relied on by their associates (because of Wrangler's superior ability to shoot and ride and Kinch's understanding of the mechanical devices they depend on for information).


Unfortunately, I couldn't come up with comparisons for any of the other wonderful characters on either of these shows, specifically Col. Wilhelm Klink or Sgt. Hans Schultz, the bumbling commander and staff sergeant of Stalag 13.  But the fact that they are the "enemy" on Hogan's Heroes and that F Troop has no regular "enemy" made it well nigh impossible to come up with anyone to compare them with.  So I will have to leave them just as they deserve to be, unparalleled.  :)

I don't think Hogan is impressed with that.

My Top MLB Commercials, Endorsement Edition

This poor blog has been neglected for way too long, and I have nobody to blame but myself.  It's tough as a writer to get motivated sometimes!  So, to break this long silence and to help myself with my baseball offseason blues, I'm now wrapping up my trilogy on MLB commercials.  Seeing as how it's been almost a year since I did the first one, it's high time I finished it (good heavens, have I really been doing this blog for a year now?)  I have covered commercials done by different MLB teams, as well as the commercials done by SportsCenter, so now let's look at my top five commercials of players doing endorsements.  These are done in order from the least entertaining out of the five to the BEST ONE EVER MADE (aka my obvious favorite, although number 2 is pretty close behind it).  Here we go!

#5 - Derek Jeter, Ford

 
In my opinion, the kid is really the star of the commercial.  He is so cute and expressive!  "Are you sure you're not a baseball player???"  And it reflects Jeter's apparent affection for young fans.

#4 -  Justin Verlander & CJ Wilson, MLB 2K12

Guys and their video games....... *ninja* 
I bet games between these guys probably do get pretty intense sometimes.

#3 - Joe Mauer, Head and Shoulders

I had originally been looking for a different H&S commercial with Joe, but this one is just as funny.  Good ol' Joe just can't tell a lie.

#2 - Nick Swisher & Jonathan Papelbon, Philips Norelco

This right here is what made me become a fan of Nick Swisher.  He is so adorable, just like a puppy!  The way he's grinning like he's so proud of himself at the end of the commercial gets me every time.  :)  (He's also a pretty good actor.  He makes it actually look like he's talking across the screen to Papelbon).

And......drum-roll, please!!!!!

#1 - Tom Glavin & Greg Maddux, Nike

This commercial should seriously be placed in the Hall of Fame along with its' two stars.  Stick a little TV screen between the displays dedicated to Glav and Mad Dog and have it play on loop, that would be perfect!  This commercial is also what kicked off the whole thing with "Chicks Dig the Long Ball" and its' several variants.  (Personally, I dig anything that will win the game for the team I'm pulling for, but specifically walkoffs).  ;) 


Well, there you have it!  Maybe now I'll be motivated to get back on here and post more often.  We'll have to see!  And please, baseball, get back here soon???? 

Check it Out! - Thor, the Dark World

I know I haven't done a post in FOREVER.  The main reason is because I am currently juggling two part time jobs, which really cuts into my free time.  But, what with Labor Day weekend and all, I finally have some extra free time, which means I not only have time to blog again, but I also had time to finally watch the second Thor movie!!!

Overall, I enjoyed it.  It was a little weirder than the first one in some respects, but it also had a lot more emotion in it, so I can't decide which one I like better.  I was kind of surprised by it, though, because even though I had read the basic storyline some time back, I had gotten the impression from the trailers and clips I had seen that some things happened in a different order than they actually occurred (which was actually kind of nice). Since both my blog about the first Thor movie and about the Avengers movie were done in a character-analysis format, I'm going to do this one in the same way.

Thor: He is still absolutely wonderful.  Brave, honourable (it seemed appropriate to use the British spelling), loyal, gentle, funny, and as good looking as ever.  And he still has his knack of creating cool entrances.

 

He doesn't even need to be moving to create a great entrance.  ;)

 

 

Jane:  Boy, she gets put through the ringer in this movie.  First she's trying to get over the heartache of thinking that Thor has forgotten her, then she gets sucked into some strange kind of space warp and gets infused by the all-consuming AEther.  Then Thor pops up again and whisks her out of the polices' clutches and off to Asgard to try to find a treatment, then Thor's mom Frigga dies protecting her (I know!  I was almost in tears).  Then they go through a harrowing escape from Asgard in which they have to rely on the unreliable Loki, THEN she gets the AEther taken out of her in a way that wasn't all that gentle, and then she has to help save the world from being thrown into eternal darkness and Thor almost gets killed (again), and then he has to leave her again to try to patch things up with Odin.  After all that, she deserves a month-long vacation in Hawaii or something.  But at least Thor does come back again in one of the post-credit scenes and makes everything ok.  :)  (Interesting side note: The woman Chris Hemsworth is kissing in that scene is not Natalie Portman, but actually his own wife!  That's why it's so sweet and wonderful).

Loki:  Loki is a lot more understandable in this movie.  While in the others he seemed to have some kind of personality disorder, from the very beginning of this one you can tell that he is just plain bitter.  Bitter about everything and everyone.  But then the woman who raised him and loved him is killed, and even though he had told her that she wasn't his mother he cannot deny that it hurts him to the core, and that gives him something outside of himself to live for: revenge.  That is what causes him to show that when he wants to he actually CAN be a good guy!  He also gets to show more of his wonderful quick wit (the scene of their escaping Asgard is my favorite out of the whole movie because of that and his and Thor's sibling bickering).  But the end of the movie...what does that mean?!?!? Was Loki saying "Thank you" for giving him a chance to redeem himself and for what Thor said in his honor?  Or does he have another scheme up his sleeve?  I hope not!  I like the better, helpful Loki.

Darcy:  Jane's assistant has a bit more of an important role in this movie.  She's not only the one responsible for getting Jane interested in her work again, but she's also the one who has to hold down the fort in London while Jane's in Asgard and Eric (the other scientist) is being held in a medical ward for mental examination.  And I have to admit, I'd probably be handling it about the same way she did: "Will somebody PLEASE tell me what the heck I'm supposed to do here?!?"  I feel for you, girl.  But through it all she is still her funnily honest self.

Sif:  Her loyalty is really put to the test in this one.  Not only does she have to meet the woman who has claimed Thor's heart, but she also has to be the one to break her out of prison so that they can escape.  But her love for Thor is enough where she does it no matter what her personal feelings are.  In some ways she's the strongest character in the whole movie.

Volstagg:  He isn't quite as much of a teddy bear in this movie, but once he has all his bases covered, he's up for anything!  And he'll enjoy it the whole time.  :)

Fandrel:  You get to see a bit more of him in this movie than in the first one, and one thing that I love about him is that, while everyone else was threatening Loki to behave, he just goes ahead and mocks him.  You definitely get to see why he's called Fandrel the Dashing.  (And what's even better is that in this movie he is played by the same guy that voiced Flynn Rider in "Tangled".  I totally need to see Zachary Levi play a character like Zorro or something.  That would be so cool!)

The one thing I would have changed about this movie was having more of Frigga in it before she got killed (which really was heart-wrenching!  The fact that Thor got there a split second after it happened...)  She was such a strong character, and a pretty good fighter, too.  So, to finish up this post, I am including a deleted scene from the movie which would have really been helpful if it had been left in which explains a bit more about her and her relationship with her two sons.

Check it Out! - The Lone Ranger

I recently re-watched "The Lone Ranger".  And I mean the 2013 version, not the old, old classic version.

It's hard to believe it's been a year since the former came out.  And I still don't get why it received such a bad rap from critics.  I mean, yes, it does have its downsides, but overall I think it was very well done.  Here's a quick list of what I see to be the pros and the cons.

Pros:

• The action.  There is nothing that gets your adrenalin pumping like a couple of horsemen galloping at top speed with their pistols blazing while "The William Tell Overture" is being played in the background by a full orchestra.  But even if they didn't have all those components, the various action sequences are very impressive (for example, the Lone Ranger riding Silver along the top of a moving train), with some of the stunts being a bit reminiscent of "The Pirates of the Caribbean".
• Armie Hammer in a Stetson.                                                                                                            
  
  
                                                                                                                                                     'Nuff said. :)

• The acting and character development.  I personally think the best acting job in the movie was done by William Fichtner, the guy who played the nastiest and crustiest of the bad guys (Butch Cavendish).  From watching an interview clip with him and the other stars, it really showed what a great job he did.  Also, the way you see both the Lone Ranger and Tonto "grow up" during the movie is well presented.  They were both adults, but they hadn't quite matured into real men yet.  It is also really great how they made Tonto into an almost dual-main character along with the Lone Ranger, going into his back story and showing the two of them forming a partnership instead of what Tonto had been during the radio and TV series (which at the beginning at least was just someone for the Lone Ranger to talk to.  I guess it's kind of hard to keep a radio audience interested when the main character can only talk to his horse).
• The humor.  This is also a bit reminiscent of "Pirates of the Caribbean", with snappy dialog and good one-liners.  (I think the director or somebody on the production end of this movie also worked on the "PotC" movies, which is why there are some similarities).
 

Cons:

• The movie is rated PG-13 for a reason.  Actually three main reasons.  

                  1) There is some gore.  They do show some pretty realistic-looking blood in parts of the movie, and one of the bad guys practices cannibalism.  They don't actually SHOW him doing it (thank heavens), but they do enough implying of it (aka seeing him with a knife, "juicy" sound effects, and one of his companions vomiting) that it's almost as bad as if they did.  There is also one part with some carnivorous rabbits, which is super creepy. 
                 2)  There is some promiscuity.  At one point in the movie the Lone Ranger and Tonto visit a "house of ill-fame" that is located in a "hell on wheels" (a moving town that followed the railroad crews) to get some information from the owner about the bad guys, and at other points there are innuendos about other "rated" stuff.
                3)  The language isn't the cleanest.  The profanity actually isn't any worse than some PG rated movies, but it's still there.

• There is some kind of weird Indian "religious" stuff thrown in, and Tonto talks about having visions from the Great Spirit and nature being "out of balance" and some other stuff like that.  You can kind of ignore it, but it still might bother some people.
• There is one fairly important historical inaccuracy.  The movie is somewhat focused around the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, but it's also supposed to take place in Texas.  The Transcontinental RR went from Omaha, NE to Sacramento, CA.  There is no way it could ever have gone through Texas.  They do have the site of the two halves joining correct, Promontory Point, UT, but that isn't anywhere near Texas, either.  This is the kind of thing that will only bother you if you're a history buff like I am.

Overall, I think the good outweighs the bad.  Here is a synopsis of the storyline (I apologize that it's a bit long, but the movie is close to two and a half hours so a lot happens in it).  Since the movie was done in a bunch of flashbacks, I'm going to do this mostly in chronological order and not quite in the order it comes in in the movie.

The movie starts in 1933 at a fair in San Francisco.  A young boy dressed as the Lone Ranger walks through a large tent that has a wide variety of Wild West themed displays, and he runs into an ancient Native American man who claims to be the real Tonto.  The boy doesn’t believe him at first, so the old man starts to tell him the true story of the Lone Ranger.

The movie flashes back to Texas in the year 1869, and young attorney John Reid is on a train headed home after being in the east for nine years.  Also on the train is notorious outlaw Butch Cavendish, who is being taken back to the town of Colby as a prisoner to be hung.  In the boxcar with the shackled Cavendish is another prisoner, an Indian (Tonto).  Cavendish’s gang ambushes the train, and when John hears footsteps on the roof of his train car he follows them to the car where the prisoners are held and sees through a crack in the door that Cavendish has killed his guards and is about to kill his fellow prisoner.  John breaks in the door, and after a lot of back and forth which is greatly complicated by the fact that he doesn't believe in violence, John winds up handcuffed beside Tonto while Cavendish and his gang ride away from the runaway train.  Through the open door of the car they see the station of Colby whip by, and see John’s older brother, Dan, waiting there with the rest of his fellow Texas Rangers to get Cavendish off of the train.  Tonto is able to get their chains unhooked from the floorboards and they escape to the roof of the train together.  From up there they see that they are nearing the end of the completed railroad and that the train is going to crash.  Dan and his men catch up with the train and he, Tonto and John unhook the passenger cars from the engine, which can’t be stopped, and it carries Tonto and John off towards the end of the line.  They surprisingly survive the following crash, and then John tries to re-arrest Tonto, but Tonto’s having none of it and tries to get away.  But Dan and his men show up and stop him and take them both back to town.

During all of this, you get the impression that there is some kind of strain between the two brothers, although there is affection as well, which is seen much more a bit later.  You learn what that strain is when they get back to town and John sees Rebecca, his old sweetheart and Dan’s wife.  He also meets his nephew Danny for the first time, as well as a man named Latham Cole, who is the head honcho of the railroad doings in the area.  Dan gets his band of Rangers together to go out after Cavendish and deputizes John so that he can/has to join them.  As they are riding along, they notice a white horse way off in the distance, and Dan tells John that the Indians called it the “spirit horse”, and jokes that that meant that John was going to die soon.  After riding for more than a day, the posse approaches a canyon, and after sending their scout up into it they deside to risk it and start to ride through.  It was a big mistake.  They are caught in the middle of an ambush and all of their companions (except for the scout, who is a traitor) are killed.  Dan almost makes it out, but after John’s horse is shot Dan goes back to get him and gets shot himself.  Then while John is trying to drag Dan out he gets shot and they fall side by side.  Then Cavendish and his men ride up. 

The next few minutes of the movie is a part that you can fast forward through, because…you remember I said that one of the bad guys practices cannibalism?  This is the spot where they show it.  And you won’t miss anything important.  You just learn that Cavendish and Dan have a bit of a history, and then Cavendish cuts out the still alive Dan’s heart and…and you also learn that John is still alive, but only subconsciously, because you see one of his eyes crack open while all the horribleness is going on.   When you see Cavendish and his men leave the canyon, you can quit fast-forwarding and get back to watching.  Which is exactly what Tonto had been doing from high up on the canyon rim.  Tonto digs graves for the Rangers, but before he covers the bodies with dirt, he sees the Spirit Horse approach John’s grave and stand next to it.  Tonto tries to talk the horse into bringing Dan “back to life” instead of the “useless” John, because, like everyone who’s watching the movie, he had become enamored with Dan the first time he'd seen him in action.  But nope, the horse keeps going back to John, who still isn’t quite dead.   So finally Tonto gives in, does what the horse wants and gets John healthy again.  After John has recovered, Tonto explains that a vision had told him that a “spirit walker”, someone who cannot be killed in battle, would help him on his quest to get revenge on the men who killed his family.  John is about as thrilled with the idea of the partnership as Tonto is, but they both realize that they don’t have much choice.  Tonto makes a mask out of Dan’s vest for John to wear so that no one will recognize him, because, as he explains to John, a dead man strikes more fear into people than a live one.

John and Tonto head out to a hell on wheels to get some information about why the Rangers' scout might have betrayed them.  After a lot of finagling that doesn’t really work, they gain the wary trust of a saloon owner called Red who has her own personal reasons to hate Cavendish.  She tells them that Dan and the scout had come in some time back and had a big argument about something they had found out in the desert, and that they paid her with a chunk of raw silver.  While they are talking a mob forms because someone had seen Tonto, and because of that John and Tonto learn that there had been some Indian raids along the border of the Indian/settler lands.  This makes John scared for Rebecca and Danny’s safety on their farm, so he and Tonto escape (barely) and make their way to the homestead.  They get there to find it in smoldering ruins, and after examining the dead body of the hired hand, Tonto proclaims that the raid was not done by Indians at all.  They soon find proof of that by discovering a few of Cavendish’s men in Indian get-up who had stuck around to plunder. Thanks to a very lucky shot, John kills two of the men, and the third one escapes to tell Cavendish that there is still one Ranger around who is mad and bent on revenge.  When that man gets to Cavendish’s camp, you learn that Rebecca and Danny are being held prisoner by the outlaws.  Cavendish then tells the Rangers' old scout to take them and shoot them.  The man can’t bring himself to do it, so he tells them to run.  While they are running a man on horseback comes up and shoots the scout.

Meanwhile, John and Tonto have headed out into the desert to try to find Cavendish.  Instead, they find railroad tracks, which must have been discovered earlier by Dan and which violate the treaty with the Indians.  After they discover the tracks, they are taken prisoner by a band of Comanches.  While in their camp, John learns the truth of Tonto’s past.  As a boy, Tonto had rescued two white men in the desert and had ended up showing them some mountains which were rich with silver.  The men killed all of Tonto’s family to keep the mountains a secret.  One of those men was Cavendish.  Tonto, unable to live with what he had done, became a little crazy and made up stories for himself to help him cope with it.  The Indians end up leaving John and Tonto behind as they go out to fight the cavalry troop that has been sent out to pay them back for the raids that they had supposedly done on settlements.  John and Tonto go to find the mountains where the silver is, and as a result they find Cavendish’s camp.  After a successful ambush on the camp, which is followed by a big argument where John confronts Tonto about his true past, John rips off his mask in disgust and takes Cavendish back to civilization to face trial.  He finds Cole’s railroad camp and, seeing Cole as a pillar of civilization and progress, hands Cavendish over to him to be incarcerated.  But soon after John is invited into Cole’s private railroad car, he learns several important things.  One, that Cole was the other man who killed Tonto’s people; two, that he doesn’t intend on seeing Cavendish punished because they are still partners; three, that he has gotten the commander of the cavalry on his side so John has no one in the law to turn to; four, that he is holding Rebecca and Danny prisoner; and five, that Cole intends to make sure that John doesn’t get in his way like his brother had tried to do.  Soon John finds himself facing a firing squad.  But thanks to Tonto doing a little work behind the scenes and the Comanches deciding at that very moment to attack, John is able to make it out alive and escape from Cole.  After a harrowing escape through some railroad tunnels and a river, both he and Tonto come to live-changing realizations.  As Tonto watches the remnants of the Comanches final stand float down the river in the darkness, the memories of his childhood come back to him and he has to accept what he did all that long time ago.  And John realizes that just because something is done in the name of the law does not make it right.  As he says to Tonto, “If these men represent the law, I’d rather be an outlaw.”  Tonto hands him his mask.  And they set to work on a plan to destroy Cole’s empire. 

They decide to stage their attack on the day that the two halves of the Transcontinental Railroad are joined, and, with some help from Red, they set off a chain of events which end in Cole, Cavendish, and the cavalry captain all getting their just reward.  After everything is over, the railroad offers John a job, saying that the railroad can always use a lawman on its side.  John declines, says goodbye to Rebecca and Danny, and rides off with Tonto, the two of them bickering about what name John should go by.
 

While the movie isn’t the best ever, or even in my top 5, it does hold a special place in my heart.  Here’s why.  Back before the movie was first released, I saw quite a bit of advertising about it, and from what I saw I became pretty interested.  So I told my dad about it and suggested that we go see it sometime.  At the time he was battling melanoma, so he said, “We’ll have to wait and see how I’m doing when it gets to our local $2.50 theater.  If I’m up to it then, definitely!”  In September my dad passed away.  During all the running around my mom and I had to do afterwards, I happened to notice that the theater had gotten the Lone Ranger.  So I asked my mom if she wanted to go (even though she isn’t really into that kind of movie) just as a way to escape for a couple of hours.  She agreed, and while she didn’t like the movie as much as I did, she did think that parts of it were well done.  And it did (unintentionally) give us something to laugh about.  After the movie was over and we were talking about it, I happened to say that “Dan’s death just rips your heart out!”  My mom looked at me and said, “That wasn’t a very good choice of words!”  Oops! :) 

My Top MLB Commercials, SportsCenter Edition

Good grief, it's been almost a month since my last post.  Looks like it's time to do another one!  Let's see, how about a sequel to my top MLB commercials post with the focus this time being on ESPN?

A little while back, the MLB Fan Cave came up with a list of their top 10 "This is SportsCenter" baseball commercials.  I don't really watch ESPN, but I do think they have come up with some pretty great commercials over the years.  And I don't quite agree with the Fan Cave's list.  I'd say that maybe half of the commercials they picked deserve to be on the list, but not in the order they put them in.  So, here is MY Top 10 "This is SportsCenter" MLB commercials.  :)

10: Andrew McCutchen, the Pirate*

 
*Note that will make this more understandable/enjoyable: "Lox" is minced, brined salmon that is put on bagels.  I guess since these guys are "seafarers", they really like fish.

9: Jose Reyes, "It's in the Hips"

Totally not what you were expecting.  ;)

8: Josh Hamilton hits long home runs

This was from back in 2010 after Josh participated in the Home Run Derby, breaking the record for home runs hit by a player in one round.

7: Jason Heyward on bat making

The tree is the mascot for Stanford University.  Poor guy.

6: Tim Hudson sees something weird

 

This isn't actually a "This is SportsCenter" commercial, but it is still by ESPN.  (The reason I'm including it is because the commercial I had been PLANNING on using is no longer on YouTube, darn it).  I miss seeing Huddy in a Braves uni.  I bet somebody in the Braves' front office has been kicking themselves after seeing what a year Huddy's been having, too.

5: Tim Lincecum and his voice mail

I have to admit, I've never really cared for Lincecum all that much, but this proves that he does have a sense of humor.  :)

4: Buster Posey and the Umpire

One thing I noticed about this commercial: it takes three strikes to get a batter out, and three outs before the team on defense can go back to their dugout.  The umpire asks three questions, and then Buster says he's going "Out."  Very subtle moving, SportsCenter...

3: Clayton Kershaw, slow day at the office

That's why he's won a Cy Young, y'all.  ;)

2: David Ortiz, "Traitor"

"It's not what you think!"

1: Derek Jeter and his razor

This is even funnier when you know that Jeter has/used to have (I don't know if he still does or not) an endorsement with Gillette.  So "naturally" he's very picky about his razor. 


To finish up, I've included one that doesn't really have to do with any sport at all, but has a pretty funny/cute exchange between some of the SportsCenter broadcasters.

Honorable Mention: Dinnertime

They have their priorities straight.  ;)