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The Avengers and more MCU, Phase 1

A wait of eight years

On March 13, just a couple hours before the COVID lockdown in New York State, I ran to the Pine Hills branch of the Albany Public Library and grabbed seven Marvel Comics Universe (MCU) DVDs to check out. Sure enough, the library was closed the very next day. Three months later, they remained totally unwatched.

I then decided that Alan David Doane’s very good idea of rewatching all the films in order was going out of the window. I had plenty of movies to see, and not just the seven. Fortunately, every single one that I did not have I could catch on cable.

MCU, Phase One

I saw all of these within the year of their release, except IM 2 and The Avengers. I’ve not rewatched any of them.

Iron Man (2008). I liked it quite a bit, as I noted.

The Incredible Hulk (2008). I never saw the 2003 movie directed by Ang Lee. My recollection of this film, which starred Edward Norton as the scientist Bruce Banner, was that it was murky. It looked weird, the storyline was confusing, and the behemoth was unimpressive.

Iron Man 2 (2010). It wasn’t as good as the previous one, but I saw it on video, not the big screen. Don Cheadle replaced Terrance Howard as James Rhodes.

Thor (2011). I remember liking it well enough. Yer basic god kicked out of Asgard and set straight.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). Now, THIS film I unabashedly liked a LOT. A great telling of the origin story. The Red Skull. Government experimentation. A man out of time. Chris Evans played Johnny Storm in those non-MCU FF movies; this is quite a step up.

Put the brakes on

But then I stopped watching the MCU films. There was a great dispute at the time over the credit that the late Jack Kirby, co-creator of almost all the Marvel characters, should receive for the films. (The general consensus: Jack was owed a LOT, including monetarily.) When the situation was finally settled in 2014, I never got back to see the ones I missed. Until now.

Marvel’s The Avengers (2012), which I watched in late June 2020. Having all those characters in one film could have been a recipe for disaster. It’s a bit slow as the formation of the group develops. But it turns out to be an entertaining enterprise, filled with action. And it had a REASON to get together and fight as a team, “to stop the mischievous Loki and his alien army from enslaving humanity.”

A lot of its success involves the humor among the disparate characters. It may have been the most fully realized comic book to hit the screen to that time. The action sequence, which must go on for a good half hour I allowed myself to get sucked into.

The graphic novel as learning tool

Meryl Jaffe is the rock star in the graphic novel as an educational tool genre. She’s been to New York Comic Con, promoting the gospel.

Worth A Thousand Words As you may know, I used to work at a comic book store called FantaCo on Central Avenue in Albany for 8.5 years, May 1980 to November 1988. It was the second-longest job I ever had.

During this period, Marvel put out something they called a graphic novel. It was a squarebound comic book of the X-Men, 81/2″ by 11″, with much nicer paper, and a price of $4.95, when regular comics were still under $1.

How the graphic novel has changed. I came across Meryl Jaffe through her participation in the ABC Wednesday meme. She has a blog Departing the Text, which is still interesting, although she has’t updated it in a few years. She wrote Using Content Area Graphic Texts for Learning: A Guide for Middle-Level Educators (2012), which is more readable that the title might suggest.

Meryl is the rock star in the graphic novel as an educational tool genre. She’s been to New York Comic Con, promoting the gospel. Yet she makes a confession in the preface of her new book, with Talia Hurwich, Worth a Thousand Words: Using Graphic Novels to Teach Visual and Verbal Literacy (2019).

“Until fairly recently, I didn’t think graphic novels were appropriate for my classroom or for my kids’ reading at home.” But her children, “as comfortable reading Neil Gaiman as Alexandre Dumas,” gave her I Kill Giants by Joe Kelly and J. M. Ken Nimura, and Meryl did a 180. BTW, Talia Hurwich is Meryl’s daughter.

Chapter 1 addresses the fears of using the graphic novel in the educational setting. Chapter 2 is the necessarily “scholarfied” stuff to sell the concept to the principal or school board. It uses the word “multimodal.” Several times.

After that, Worth A Thousand Words is a great read, very practical and hands-on. The book has sections on how to interpret the elements of graphic novels – narrative and thought balloons, e.g.

The authors show how to teach reading, but also how to do create instruction in writing, with students encouraged to create their own illustrative narratives. And it’s not just for prose, but social studies, science, even math. I realize that my creative daughter might be able to use the tools laid out therein.

A commercial: I will be reviewing March, Books One, Two, & Three, graphic novels by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate Powell for the Friends of the Albany Public Library on April 16 at noon at 161 Washington Avenue. Not incidentally, the March books are cited in Worth A Thousand Words.

Oscar nominated short films for 2017: animated

I got the sense that Negative Space was a really personal story for the creator.

Presidents Day means that the family goes to the cinema, as usual to the Spectrum Theatre, its parking lot full. We saw the five Academy Award nominees in the category of Best Animated Short, plus three others.

Dear Basketball (USA, 6 minutes), narrator/writer Kobe Bryant describes achieving his dream and then needing to walk away. I liked the pencil drawings; the guy behind me clearly LOVED them. This has no chance of winning after Kobe’s sexual assault charges some years ago.

Garden Party (France, 7 minutes) – when the humans are away, the amphibians will play all over the house. the animation here was so realistic that one could be forgiven for thinking it was live action. The ending was a surprise, though the clues were there. If the best-looking film were the sole criterion, this would be the winner.

LOU (USA, 7 minutes) – a toy-stealing bully wrecks recess until he’s thwarted by a “Lost and Found” box. This opened for the Pixar movie Cars 3 in theaters, and is of the usual quality of the studio.

Negative Space (France, 5 minutes) – a boy is able to connect with his oft-away dad because dad taught him how to pack a suitcase. I got the sense that this was a really personal story for the creator. My pick to win.

Revolting Rhymes, Part One (UK, 30 minutes), Roald Dahl’s retellings of classic fairy tales (Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Three Pigs) with lots of twists. I enjoyed it a lot. I need to somehow see Part Two. Or does it really end like that?

As is usually the case, there were bonus shorts, ones that didn’t get nominated but were considered.

Weeds (USA, 3 minutes) – on the face of it, the story of a dandelion, stuck on the wrong side of the driveway, where there’s water on the other side. On another level – and my wife really picked up on this – it’s about the “struggle and distance someone may have to travel–against all odds–to find a better life.”

Lost Property Office (Australia, 10 minutes) – no one wants the stuff they’ve lost on the train. Will the powers that be want the guy in charge of tracking those items? The sepia monochrome gives the impression of a less than ideal ending, but it finishes with whimsy.

Achoo! (France, 7 minutes) – The tiny Chinese dragon, suffering from a cold, seems outmatched by two others, who are cocky and a bit mean. Can our bumbling hero put on the best show using his incendiary powers?

Oscar-nominated short films: Live action

The first, third, and fifth movies all were based on true stories and suggested the possibility of violence.

All the short films my wife and I saw at the Spectrum in February 2018 were quite good. Dekalb Elementary (USA – 20 minutes) involved a 2013 school shooting incident in Atlanta, GA. It was really intense, but the lead female’s role was remarkable.

The Silent Child (UK – 20 minutes) is about a profoundly deaf four-year-old girl, whose busy middle class family care for her. But she lives in a world of silence until a caring social worker teaches her how to communicate. The arc of this story was very touching, and a bit heartbreaking.

My Nephew Emmett (USA – 19 minutes) is set in 1955 and based on the true story of a Mississippi preacher who tries to protect his 14-year-old nephew. I knew almost immediately, though my wife did not, what this story was all about, which I suppose lessened the impact only slightly.

In The Eleven O’Clock (Australia – 13 minutes), the delusional patient of a psychiatrist believes he is actually the psychiatrist, and they end up analyzing each other. As the only comedy, and a cleverly funny one at that, it broke up the tension in the theater somewhat.

Watu Wote – All of Us (Germany/Kenya – 23 minutes). “For almost a decade Kenya has been targeted by terrorist attacks of the Al-Shabaab. An atmosphere of anxiety and mistrust between Muslims and Christians is growing. Until in December 2015, Muslim bus passengers showed that solidarity can prevail.”

The first, third, and fifth movies all were based on true stories and suggested the possibility of violence. DeKalb was probably my favorite among these, but I suspect Wote Watu will win the Oscar because it’s so timely.

As a teacher of English as a New Language, my wife really related to The Silent Child, knowing children often need advocates when they are “different.”

The one thing I hated in the presentation is that, during the closing credits, they had videos of the filmmakers hearing that they’ve been nominated for Academy Awards. It really ruined the mood, especially the stirring end music of Wote Watu. Now if they’d run the clips AFTER each the credits, it would have been better, serving as a brief respite before another heavy topic.

Nevertheless, a very good crop of films.

The 50 greatest films of the 21st Century

This is one of those well-regarded films that, for some reason, left me cold

The BBC surveyed 177 film critics “from every continent except Antarctica. “For the purposes of this poll, we have decided that a list of the greatest films of the 21st Century should include the year 2000” because the year “was a landmark in global cinema.”

Though I started this blog in 2005 and reviewed many of the films I’ve seen over the years, I wasn’t as detailed in the beginning. Still, my reviews will be the items that are hyperlinked. The movies I saw, the number will be italicized. A few movies I am not familiar with I’ve designated DK (don’t know).

I know that sometimes a movie doesn’t work for me – or you – for reasons not in the film. There are at least three films on this list that most people I know love, and they just didn’t work for me, in the theater, on that day. Very few films on this list did I see first on video; actually only one.

50. The Assassin (Hou Hsiao-hsien, 2015) -DK
49. Goodbye to Language (Jean-Luc Godard, 2014) – DK
48. Brooklyn (John Crowley, 2015) – I was captivated
47. Leviathan (Andrey Zvyagintsev, 2014) – DK
46. Certified Copy (Abbas Kiarostami, 2010) – DK, even though it has Juliette Binoche in it, I’ve discovered
45. Blue Is the Warmest Color (Abdellatif Kechiche, 2013) – I really wanted to see this, but it played too briefly here
44. 12 Years a Slave (Steve McQueen, 2013) – No I didn’t see it. I didn’t want to see it.
43. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011) – this I DID want to see about a rogue planet about to collide with Earth, and how that affects people
42. Amour (Michael Haneke, 2012) -it’s very good but depressing as hell
41. Inside Out (Pete Docter, 2015) – the research done for this animated film about the emotions of a preteen girl makes the film work so well

40. Brokeback Mountain (Ang Lee, 2005) – I remember being impatient with the sprawling scenery part taking too long, but crying at the end
39. The New World (Terrence Malick, 2005) – saw the ads about the Pocahontas story, but we weren’t seeing films then
38. City of God (Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund, 2002) – saw the trailer often, and read enough about this to know it was probably too violent for my taste
37. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (Apichatpong Weerasethakul, 2010) – DK
36. Timbuktu (Abderrahmane Sissako, 2014) – DK
35. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (Ang Lee, 2000) – I remember being mesmerized by the action sequences
34. Son of Saul (László Nemes, 2015) – this Holocaust film I saw the trailer for about a half dozen times, and IT was depressing
33. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008) – I found Heath Ledger’s death depressing and just wasn’t into seeing this at the time
32. The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, 2006) – saw the trailer, looked interesting – the monitoring of East Berlin residents – but didn’t
31. Margaret (Kenneth Lonergan, 2011) – DK, and this film has an interesting backstory

30. Oldboy (Park Chan-wook, 2003)- DK
29. WALL-E (Andrew Stanton, 2008) – it took me a while to get into it, and I was distracted. As I reread my review, I liked it better than I recall it.
28. Talk to Her (Pedro Almodóvar, 2002) – I didn’t see this one? Don’t know why; it was on the list of films to see at the time.
27. The Social Network (David Fincher, 2010) – I liked it. My review gave it short shrift because I was seeing lots of films at that time.
26. 25th Hour (Spike Lee, 2002) – Meant to see this one! Didn’t.
25. Memento (Christopher Nolan, 2000) -Meant to see THIS one. Didn’t.
24. The Master (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2012) – Thought to see this one…
23. Caché (Michael Haneke, 2005) – ANOTHER Juliette Binoche film I DK; the Daughter WAS one y.o.
22. Lost in Translation (Sofia Coppola, 2003) – this is one of those well-regarded films that, for some reason, left me cold. Well-performed. I feel the need to see it again.
21. The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014) – I was exceedingly fond of this, starting with the trailers

20. Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, 2008) – there may be no film I wanted to like more than this, and… Actually, I enjoyed most of it, but I got lost in the final acts.
19. Mad Max: Fury Road (George Miller, 2015) – with all the Oscar-nominated films out there, this wasn’t at the top of the list, and time not being fungible, never saw
18. The White Ribbon (Michael Haneke, 2009) – saw the trailer, didn’t see
17. Pan’s Labyrinth (Guillermo Del Toro, 2006) – Oscar-nominated, thought to see, didn’t
16. Holy Motors (Leos Carax, 2012) – DK
15. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Cristian Mungiu, 2007) – I wanted to see this, but knew I had to be in the right frame of mind – two students in Romania who try to arrange an illegal abortion – and I never did see it.
14. The Act of Killing (Joshua Oppenheimer, 2012) – saw the trailer. It’s a “documentary film about the individuals who participated in the Indonesian killings of 1965–66”. I thought to see it, but I suspect it didn’t stay in town long enough.
13. Children of Men (Alfonso Cuarón, 2006) saw the trailer about “global human infertility, civilization is on the brink of collapse as humanity faces extinction”. Yet I probably would have seen, given time.
12. Zodiac (David Fincher, 2007) – I just wasn’t in the mood
11. Inside Llewyn Davis (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2013) – well-acted, with authentic performances, and a great atmosphere. But the title character was SO pathetic, I didn’t much enjoy the film.

10. No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen, 2007) – Oscar winner, and it looked so violent that I passed
9. A Separation (Asghar Farhadi, 2011) – saw the trailer, really wanted to see
8. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (Edward Yang, 2000) – DK
7. The Tree of Life (Terrence Malick, 2011) – wish I had seen, because people seemed to either love or hate this
6. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry, 2004) – the only movie on this list I saw on a video. I love this film, I relate to this film, about memory, and whether one can/should block them out. My favorite movie on this list.
5. Boyhood (Richard Linklater, 2014) – yes, I enjoyed it, but I was probably more awestruck about the commitment of the director and the actors to a dozen-year project
4. Spirited Away (Hayao Miyazaki, 2001) – I remember enjoying it immensely, and realize that The Daughter might enjoy it.
3. There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2007) – Oscar-nominated, Daniel Day-Lewis, and I STILL wasn’t in the mood to see it. A few months later, I stumbled over the LAST 10 MINUTES of the film, on YouTube. Yes, I watched it. Now I feel I ought to see the rest.
2. In the Mood for Love (Wong Kar-wai, 2000) – DK
1. Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001) – didn’t watch the television show Twin Peaks (I tried), and I’ve never seen a David Lynch film, except Elephant Man. Hmm.

So that is 12 of this 50, plus 14 of the other 52, making 26 of 102. Some of these I plan to see, now that I’ve been reminded of them. Quite a few I will NEVER see. And that’s all right.

Thanks to Don, my Facebook compadre, for the idea.