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New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments 73: The Bounty Hunter

Posted on February 11, 2013 by sexyarmpit

What I loved about the movie Hitch was Kevin James’ dance practice sequence. Unfortunately none of Kevin James comic relief was present in director Andy Tenant’s 2010 feature, The Bounty Hunter. With the supporting cast including the likes of comic actors such as Jason Sudeikis, Jeff Garlin, and Christine Baranski, it didn’t really make me laugh much. But luckily, it wasn’t as bad as Tenant’s 2008 movie, Fool’s Gold. But, since today is her birthday, I figured I’d post about a film starring Jennifer Aniston…and New Jersey!!!

Butler and Aniston in front of the Taj Mahal’s main escalators

There’s wacky hijinks galore as the former Friend plays Nicole Hurley, a reporter who is targeted by her ex-husband and bounty hunter Milo Boyd (Gerard Butler.) Hurley jumped bail and Milo is pursuing her in order to gain a big pay day. In the mean time we’re supposed to be on the edge of our seats to see if all this hot and heavy action will cause them to rekindle their romance.

A vibrant shot of The Atlantic City Expressway

Considering the abundance of New Jersey appearances, I still couldn’t bring myself to love this film. I definitely didn’t hate it either. It had some real potential to be a fun time, but it’s ulterior motive to be a rom-com is what keeps it from getting to the next level. It’s no surprise that I dozed off toward the end of the film, but I saw enough of it to make the assessment that it was steaming with mediocrity.

Butler does shine as Milo though. His snarky attitude and arrogant overtones work as a scoundrel, a Han Solo-type of guy. Butler brought Milo to life in a realistic way, but all gets weird when we see his macho bravado is all a front and he’s still actually in love with his ex-wife played by Jennifer Aniston. As Hurley, Aniston seems like she’d rather be sunbathing on some exotic beach getting photographed by hidden TMZ photographers. Even with that said, it’s hard not to like her…or LOVE her. Especially when she’s handcuffed to the bed. YUUUUP! That’s in the movie!

The film would like the viewer to believe that Monmouth Park Racetrack is in Atlantic City

If you’re familiar with Jersey and you’ve seen the film, you probably noticed that the horse racing scene took place at Monmouth Park. The sequence pulled me out of the film because it was made to seem as if the race track was actually in Atlantic City and a line in the film confirms it. It makes more sense to the viewer, after all, but the filmmakers probably assumed most viewers had no idea that the Monmouth Park race track is over 80 miles away from Atlantic City. That’s easily overlooked.

Making up for any of the negatives here are some gorgeous shots of A.C. In fact, The Bounty Hunter contains probably the best modern-day footage of the Atlantic City shoreline in movies. Most of the films I’ve covered here at The Sexy Armpit that have depicted A.C are much older and America’s playground was clearly nowhere near as impressive as it is now. If only Jersey had nicer weather year-round, A.C would be as big of a travel destination as Las Vegas. Look out for scenes in the Taj Mahal, the White House Sub Shop, the boardwalk, the A.C Expressway, and numerous mentions of The Borgata.

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.72: Gremlins 2

Posted on January 14, 2013 by sexyarmpit

Clamp Corner would make a great replacement for Xanadu at the Meadowlands

CLAMP: “…This is what I’ve been looking for.”
BILLY PELTZER: “You want to buy it?”
CLAMP: “No I want to build it…for my next project over in Jersey. This is terrific! This is what people want now, the traditional community thing…”

Since we’re in the new year, I bring you a moment from The New Batch. It just makes sense.

It seemed like a bit of a stretch for Warner Brothers and Amblin to pull another Gremlin out of their hat 6 years after the original was in theaters. According to the entry on Wikipedia, they held out until Joe Dante agreed to helm the sequel for them. To me, Dante rules – and not just because he’s a Jersey guy, but mainly because the majority of his work incorporates a few of my favorite things: horror, monsters, and comedy. 1990’s Gremlins 2: The New Batch isn’t quite as incredible as the original, but it’s still so good and isn’t praised nearly enough.

One of other reasons why I enjoy Dante’s films is because he usually makes it abundantly clear that you’re watching a Joe Dante picture. His style oozes out of every frame and his go-to actors always show up (i.e Dick Miller.) Some of his other notable films include Piranha, The Explorers, and one of my all-time favorites The Burbs. The bulk of his films include elements of fantasy and the supernatural as well as throwbacks to old b-grade monster movies.

As much as I want to sing Gremlins 2’s praises, there’s a few things that keep me from fawning over. I love that it’s probably the most prototypical Joe Dante film ever, but I felt that he went slightly too self indulgent with it. It was really more of a straight up comedy, or cartoon come to life, rather than a horror film. The original Gremlins offered a nice balance of horror and dark humor, it was creepy and maintained a tense atmosphere once the Gremlins started showing up. With the Mogwai being such a mysterious and likable little character, it lent a bit of fantasy to the film as well. Once the sequel rolled around it became “how ridiculous could we make these little creatures?” The sequel brought an array of different Gremlins, too many actually. The best one out of all of them is Brain Gremlin. I would love to be friends with him in real life. I wouldn’t have fallen asleep in class if he was giving a lecture when I was in college.

Dante was given full creative control on the project. For a big studio film that’s usually unheard of. The plot was interesting and I think if it built up more of an eerie atmosphere and dropped a few of the gags, the film would have become a classic. Nowadays (even today in fact) you can pick up a DVD copy of Gremlins 2 for $5 bucks on Amazon.

Other aspects of the sequel really stand out. The cast was fantastic, including the often overlooked, Marla, played by future Garden State Playmate Haviland Morris. The film’s score is trumped up and more fun than it’s predecessor, but just as cool and creepy. The opening credits include a sweeping shot of New York City with the Twin Towers in all of their glory. According to IMDB, this happens to be stock footage from the opening of Superman IV.

Even with my minor complaints, Gremlins 2 is an absolute riot and simply a fun film to watch in a very cartoony way. To hit that concept home, Gizmo dances to Fats Domino and the movie even begins with an animated intro with Bugs and Daffy. The original is more serious and offered less slapstick and in-jokes, and I still hold that as my favorite of the two. The big difference is that we get a New Jersey reference in Gremlins 2: The New Batch, courtesy of the billionaire owner of Clamp Enterprises, Daniel Clamp himself.

*Joe Dante was born in Morristown and grew up in Parsippany, NJ.

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.71: The Oranges

Posted on November 14, 2012 by sexyarmpit

Our featured writer N.J Holden is back and this time around

he’s providing his thoughts on the 2011 film The Oranges

This is what happened when House and Gossip Girl visited The Oranges (Well, sorty of). With fall comes not only the changing of the leaves and temperature, but a crop of films, from the ones that litter the multiplexes like poppies on a bagel to the smaller fare that fly under the radar. The Oranges has just opened in limited release in theatres scattered about the Garden State, and one should think that New Jersey would be proud. An acclaimed cast led by everyone’s favorite angry doctor House and a semi-serious look at the middle aged would be cause for celebration. But aside from the cast, the film is probably the first pro-Jersey film NOT filmed in Jersey. As witnessed by the end credits, New York stands in for nearly the entire film save a fleeting glimpse of the Atlantic City Boardwalk and the nice hand-painted sign that welcomes the visitors to the Oranges. But regardless, one should find time to check out this rare oddity.

David and Paige (Hugh Laurie and Catherine Keener) and Terry and Cathy (Oliver Platt and Allison Janney) are neighbors on the same block in the NJ suburbs of the title, both well to do and constantly enthralled with the latest gadgets on the market. But when Nina, Terry and Cathy’s free-spirited, nomadic daughter, Nina (Gossip Girl Leighton Meester) returns home after a failed relationship, everyone’s happy existence is thrown into chaos. David and Paige’s daughter Vanessa (Alia Shawkat) is embittered by her sheltered life and fleeting dreams of being a designer and their son Toby (Adam Brody), who was thought to be a perfect fit for Nina, is conflicted when the free spirit instead finds a kinship and romance with the older, but miserable, David. What ensues is a comedic look at how marriages survive and wither as well as an insightful look into how happiness eludes people in favor of normalcy and comfort.

New Jersey (despite not being shot in NJ) is shown in an appeal not seen in a certain shore show or long-off-the-air Mafia cable drama. The Oranges is an idyllic, decorative suburb with manicured lawns and a Rockwell-esque appeal that demonstrates that the Garden State is far more beautiful than it is given credit for, and kudos to the production team for finding locations that fit the state without making it too much of a distraction. It is odd that the film, while nowhere near a big-budget noisemaker, could not be filmed at least in a nearby location such as Montclair or Verona, towns that could easily fill in for the Oranges. But the film survives due to the appeal and witty exchanges between the characters, and Meester actually does a lot to distance herself from the bitchy society girl on Girl and makes you feel for and against her devil-may-care character who is far from the typical whore found in such fare, just a girl falling into unfortunate situation after situation. Another standout is Keener, a wife trying to (and ultimately, in hilarious fashion) put on a brave smile while her happily framed life falls apart all around her.

So, instead of the usual fare that is soon quickly forgotten just as soon as it has arrived, give The Oranges a view, a great Jersey film that isn’t and wasn’t at the same time.

by N.J Holden

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.70: Paul Lynde Halloween Special

Posted on October 21, 2012 by sexyarmpit

Paul Lynde’s classic Halloween special aired in 1976 and what kind of show would it have been without a joke about New Jersey? Even back then Jersey was the butt of jokes. On behalf of our state’s capitol, we were honored to be uttered in the same broadcast with the likes of KISS, Donny and Marie, and the Wicked Witch of the West herself, Margaret Hamilton!

Returning from a commercial break, Witchiepoo from H.R PufnStuf was reading The Exorcist and the Wicked Witch was reading Rosemary’s Baby, and then Paul Lynde materializes.

The Wicked Witch of the West Margaret Hamilton: “Welcome back, did you have a nice trip?”

Paul Lynde: “Terrible! The broom broke down over Trenton!”

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.69: Alice Sweet Alice

Posted on October 16, 2012 by sexyarmpit

Alice Sweet Alice is a Jersey horror movie that isn’t afraid to admit it. This independent film was certainly influential to the slasher genre, especially since it was released in 1976. Some horror fans swear by it, while others are luke warm. Either way, Alice has become a cult classic. Rather than go into a long, boring dissertation of the film, I’ve gathered comments on the film from several fellow bloggers on the Internet. After you read those, I’ll give you mine!

The film was a pioneer not because it was Brooke Shields first film, but mostly because of the killer’s creepy as hell mask and raincoat look. Jeff from Dinner with Max Jenke supports this claim: “Slasher icons like Freddy, Jason, Michael Myers, and Leatherface are celebrated for their iconic looks, but to my mind, none of them can hold a candle to the creepy countenance of Alice’s diminutive killer.”

What I loved about Dave Stewart’s review at Bloody Terror was that he pointed out the New Jersey aspect of the film. “In fact, the atmosphere is key to the flick’s effectiveness. Shot in the ’70s and set in the ’60s, Alice Sweet Alice has a terrific feel for its working class New Jersey backdrop.”

Aside from offending devout Catholics, Alice Sweet Alice didn’t leave a huge impression upon it’s release. It’s impact has been felt more in the decades that followed. Captain Cadaver points out at his Happy Horror Blog that Alice was shot in the summer of ’75, way before slasher movies really took off with Halloween in ’78, and goes on to praise the film: “As many shocks as Psycho, as much religious commentary as The Exorcist, with as much atmosphere as The Haunting, there’s no reason why this well written, acted and directed genre masterpiece shouldn’t be listed as a classic right beside all of the aforementioned.”

One aspect of the film that I only found a few bloggers mention is the feeling of being short changed by the resolution. I was let down by the film, but that’s not to say it’s without merit. The majority of horror films feature a swerve, and I was expecting it, even from an early slasher like this one. But I felt unfulfilled. Andre from Horror Digest also had a minor gripe with it as well, and I completely agree with her statement that “…I still think Alice still stabbed the aunt.” You should watch it and decide for yourself! Andre sums it up by saying that the film “…was suspenseful, surprising, and really kept you on edge.”

Being let down by horror movies seemed to be a trend, at least for me as I was growing up. I’d go to the video store and pick horror movies based on whether the VHS cover scared me or not. That turned out not to be such a successful system. Horror Movie a Day brings up a good point about this: “The only thing that really bummed me out was that nothing in the film was as creepy as the film’s poster which used to scare me at the video store as a kid.”

Considering that Psycho is the grandfather of all slasher films, Alice Sweet Alice has got to be looked at as the original niece of the slashers. The issue for many viewers is that we’ve seen so many incarnations of essentially the slasher same film since the ’70s that Alice doesn’t feel as original as it actually is. Perhaps if I saw it back in ’76 it might have been more disturbing. It’s still awesome to see Paterson, NJ in the mid ’70s, especially the scene at Great Falls waterfall. I’ll end with another quote from Jeff at Dinner with Max Jenke – in fact, the same quote he ended his review with – “If you want to know what scary is all about, go ask Alice.” I’ll let you determine that yourself, or you can wait for the remake!

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.68: Eerie, Indiana

Posted on October 12, 2012 by sexyarmpit

“My name is Marshall Teller. Not long ago I was living in New Jersey just across the river from New York City. It was crowded, polluted, and full of crime…I loved it. But my parents wanted a better life for my sister and me, so we moved to a place so wholesome, so squeaky clean, you could only find it on TV. Unfortunately nothing could be further from the truth…”

Fellow horror fans were few and far between when I was a kid. Even in my teenage years I really only had one friend who was into horror like me. And nowadays all it takes is a Google search and you can see that the Internet is literally overrun with horror blogs. It doesn’t get any better than that. But let me go back to when I was a little kid. Those were some important years in the ’80s and ’90s for the genre of horror. On a much different scale, horror was marketed to the kids. There were movies, comics, and TV shows. Horror and Sci-Fi began to merge together to incorporate thrillers, the unexplained, spooky mysteries, and anything remotely…eerie. One of the first shows that successfully blended all this together for young kids in a neat package was Eerie, Indiana.

“…nobody believes me, but this is the center of weirdness for the entire planet…Eerie, Indiana, my home sweet home…”

Eerie premiered in September of 1991 and I began recording each episode as they aired without even knowing if I would like them or not. I just had a feeling that it exactly my type of show. The pilot turned out to be classic. The plot revolves around our main character Marshall’s (Omri Katz) neighbors, a set of twin boys whose mother preserves them in a type of human Tupperware called Foreverware when they go to sleep at night. It was directed by Jersey guy Joe Dante and it’s in line with all of his other superb genre work. From there, Marshall would investigate all kinds of weird stuff around his town. The show hit home for me since Marshall was constantly comparing his new whacked out hometown to his old neighborhood in New Jersey. Ironically, in the show he uses Jersey as his measuring stick for normal. Obviously we’re far from it!

“Normally I wouldn’t be afraid of pancakes, but back in Jersey, breakfast was always a serve yourself bowl of cereal. Mom had me worried.”

Predating Eerie, Indiana’s premiere by a couple of years, New Jersey had their very own magazine which was basically the same premise as Eerie called Weird NJ. I wonder if the shows producers did a little borrowing? It was quite a few years before the magazine blew up and became world renowned, but local Jersey folks were well aware of its existence. The publishers, Mark and Mark are local icons who eventually branched out into books and their own specials on the History Channel. You might say I was spoiled. Add this reading material into my TV watching routine and you can pick up on what kind of a kid I was and why I related to Marshall.

I had an insatiable appetite for anything I could devour with a creepy tone to it. Eerie, Indiana was my must-see TV for the season that it aired. When I was even younger I would watch Amazing Stories, The Goonies, The ‘Burbs, Monster Squad, The Explorers, The Gate, Haunted Honeymoon, Tomes and Talismans, Twilight Zone, and Tales From The Crypt. On stormy days in the summer my sister and I used to watch the video tape from the Clue video board game. Most times we didn’t even play the game, we just liked the mysterious video. Heck, after Eerie, Indiana was basically dead in the water I even watched Ghost Writer on PBS. That show rocked too. Are You Afraid of the Dark began in the same year as Eerie, Indiana and, a few years later, so did Goosebumps, so it just goes to show that there was a demand for that type of programming.

I would nearly wet myself when the promos would start airing for Shocktober on Channel 11 (WPIX here in the Tri-State area) as Halloween season neared. Friday and Saturday nights were spent staying up late and falling asleep on the recliner after being petrified by Werewolf, Tales from the Darkside, and Freddy’s Nightmares.

As I got older there seemed to be less and less of the types of genre movies and shows that I loved to watch as a kid. I was hooked on Buffy The Vampire Slayer when it first aired. Presently, with shows like True Blood, and Vampire Diaries, I prefer to watch Supernatural and My Babysitter’s a Vampire because they’re not as much adventure/horror as they are a blend of drama and romance. Those shows seem blatantly geared toward women. I’m not looking for comedy, but it’s a special feeling I get when watching the Monster Squad – nobody makes stuff like that anymore. The closest I’ve seen is the animated show Gravity Falls on Disney Channel that seems to be directly influenced by Eerie, Indiana. It’s the combination of fun and spooky adventure that appeals to me. If you were brought up watching Scooby Doo as a kid, you probably watched Eerie, Indiana when you were a little older! I want to see more shows like this, how about you?

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.67: I Wanna Hold Your Hand

Posted on September 25, 2012 by sexyarmpit

I Wanna Hold Your Hand: Protests, Police, Prostitutes, and PAUL!!!

Some DVDs linger on my “must watch list,” but for one reason or another keep getting passed up in favor of repeat viewings of Mr. Mom and Nightmare on Elm Street. Those things happen. I’m rendered powerless when I turn on the TV and see Psycho on, but when there’s a hundred movies that I’ve been meaning to watch for years and I still haven’t followed through, then that’s a problem. Recently, I finally watched one that has literally been on my list for more than 5 years.

Talk about underrated! I hereby add 1978’s I Wanna Hold Your Hand to the most underrated comedies ever. While growing up I never even knew about this film. It didn’t really play on TV all that much and it didn’t make a ton of money at the box office either. Considering all the movies that have gone unnoticed in theaters and eventually became legendary on VHS and DVD, by rights this should be one of them, but it’s not. As we take a closer look you can be baffled along with me as to why I Wanna Hold Your Hand doesn’t always show up on those lists of classic rock and roll comedies.

There’s several reasons why you’ll want to check this movie out. What’s most noteworthy is that the film was written and directed by Robert Zemeckis and get this – it was produced by Steven Spielberg! If they aren’t the movie Mega Powers, I don’t know who is! Secondly, my notion of the film before I watched it was that it was probably some sort of Beatles biopic like a more straight laced version of Spinal Tap. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. The Beatles merely serve as the catalyst for the teenage characters to get to the Beatles legendary performance on the Ed Sullivan Show. Remember when Clark Griswold said “Getting there is half the fun, you know that!” Well that is definitely the case and the Beatles take a back seat to all the craziness that happens along the way.

I Wanna Hold Your Hand has more in common with a teen period piece like American Graffiti than a straight up rock and roll film. It’s a time capsule of Beatlemania. Naturally it will have more of an effect on you if you lived through the ’60s, but that didn’t phase me one bit. The cast is fantastic and it includes Nancy Allen who makes out hardcore with Paul McCartney’s bass, the late Wendie Jo Sperber in her film debut (you may remember her from Bosom Buddies and as Mary McFly’s sister in Back to the Future) in her funniest role, Marc Mclure (Marty McFly’s brother), and Eddie Deezen who played the geek Eugene in the Grease films.

In 1999, the KISS version of this film was released as Detroit Rock City. That’s not an exaggeration. DRC is one of my favorites, but I couldn’t believe how much that film borrowed from I Wanna Hold Your Hand. Oh, and last but not least…the film opens in Maplewood, New Jersey!

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.66: Piranha (2010)

Posted on August 5, 2012 by sexyarmpit

Oh shit SHARK WEEK starts next week! To prepare for one of the highlights of the summer, let’s take take a look at a movie based on another scary creature that lives underwater – PIRANHA! The 2010 remake of the film was lightweight, but a surprisingly refreshing horror comedy. And what’s a horror comedy without references to the great state of New Jersey?

Before we get into the Jersey name drop, I’ll tell you about another Jersey connection. The cast of Piranha was like a who’s who. As unpopular as this next sentence is going to sound, I’m a big fan of Jerry O’Connell, and he’s perfect as the obnoxious “Girls Gone Wild” knockoff producer Derrick Jones. And GREAT SCOTT! It’s Adam Scott and Doc Brown himself, Christopher Lloyd. The film also features Richard Dreyfuss in a cameo nod to his role in Jaws. As for hotties, Riley Steele and Kelly Brooke provide some eye candy, and on a milfier note, scoring one of the main roles is Elisabeth Shue who grew up in New Jersey.

In the scene pictured above, Sheriff Julie Forrester (Shue) is on a mission to find out why the local lake is being infested by Piranha. She stops over to see Mr. Goodman (Lloyd), a local fish store owner who knows all about different species, and luckily a lot about Piranha. As she and Novak (Adam Scott) bring a bucket with a Piranha over to an empty tank, Mr. Goodman’s wife deduces what must have happened:

“You know I’ve heard of this happening, it’s like those baby alligators in New Jersey, someone leaves them and then they breed…” – Mrs. Goodman (Devra Korwin)

I didn’t get to see the film in 3-D while it was in theaters, but it was still fun to watch. Piranha is silly, mildly scary, and still pretty awesome, much like the 1970s original. With a running time of 88 minutes you won’t have a chance to get bored. Even though it’s sequel, Piranha 3DD, is schlockier than it’s predecessor, it has David Hasselhoff as himself basically reprising his role as Mitch from Baywatch, but it doesn’t offer Riley Steele and Kelly Brooke swimming naked to the euphoric sounds of Lakme: Flower Duet by Delibes…in 3-D, but both films offer vomiting and castration…in 3-D.

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.65: The Fighter

Posted on July 31, 2012 by sexyarmpit

Micky and Dicky stare across the ring in awe of

Micky’s formidable opponent in 2010’s The Fighter

Nearly 2 years after The Fighter hit theaters, both of its stars are still enjoying huge success. This summer, Mark Wahlberg scored big with Ted and obviously Christian Bale tossed the batarang out of the park with his powerhouse portrayal of Batman in The Dark Knight Rises. Previous to those blockbusters, as “Irish” Micky Ward and his half brother Dicky Eklund, Wahlberg and Bale give us the performances of their careers in The Fighter.

Most of The Fighter was filmed in Massachusetts, but one early pivotal scene was set in Atlantic City. Micky, a welterweight, was set to fight an opponent in his weight class, but a middleweight fighter who was 20 pounds heavier than him replaced the original opponent at the last minute. *SPOILER* Micky gets his ass beat. Micky’s actual match did indeed go down at the first casino hotel in Atlantic City: Resorts, but IMDB does not list Atlantic City as one of the filming locations so I doubt that this scene was filmed in New Jersey. They just merely slapped the Resorts turnbuckle on the ring and BAM! We’re magically whisked away down to Atlantic City in no time.

As far as I’m concerned, the film should’ve won best picture, but it did take home both the awards for best supporting actor and actress. Amy Adams isn’t hard to look at either.

New Jersey’s Great Pop Culture Moments Vol.64: Captain America

Posted on March 20, 2012 by sexyarmpit

“Oh, you’re from Paramus now? You know it’s illegal to lie on your enlistment form. And seriously, Jersey?” – Sgt. James “Bucky” Barnes

Prior to becoming The First Avenger, the meek Steve Rogers lied on his enlistment forms in his many attempts to get into the army. His various physical issues disqualified him from serving military duty in World War II. I love that Captain America himself lied and said he was from New Jersey to get into the army. Captain Paramus just doesn’t have the same ring.

Prior to its release, the concept art and trailers for Captain America were enough to sell me on the Marvel Studios film. Still, that didn’t mean I would be motivated enough to actually venture out to the movie theater to see it! Unless it’s a huge event for me, I wait for Redbox or Netflix. Sure, Captain America looked awesome, but it didn’t get me as psyched as you would’ve thought. Last Friday I finally sat down to view the film on bluray, better late than never, right? It turns out that I didn’t fully agree with the majority considering it has a fresh rating of 79% on Rotten Tomatoes.

In my world, one of the cards stacked against Marvel is that I’ve always been a DC guy. That doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy Marvel characters, comics, or movies, but I’m just more into DC comics. Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk were both brought to the screen in a very cool way. Shit, I even liked Fantastic Four! Although, during the time Thor was in theaters, all I kept hearing was how bad it was from friends of mine. After I finally saw it, I thought it kicked ass! It was so much better than I had heard. It wasn’t the greatest super hero film ever, but it was definitely a fun movie. After seeing Thor, I got pumped for the upcoming Avengers film and wanted to make sure I saw Captain America next.

As exciting as it originally seemed, Captain America fell a bit short of my expectations. I was convinced that this would be Marvel’s best superhero film thus far, but Iron Man still holds that title. That’s not to say Captain America was bad at all, in fact, the more I think about it, the more it seems that it was everything it could have been. The fact that it’s an origin story held back the action. Just the thought of a sequel sounds more exciting than the first. The casting of the film was fairly dead-on. Chris Evans played Cap perfectly, Hugo Weaving was killer as Red Skull, and Stanley Tucci was awesome as Dr. Erskine. The only exception for me was Hayley Atwell who was pretty bland as leading lady Peggy Carter. All the elements were there, but it still wasn’t a complete home run for me.

Overall, the film lacked the high level of adventure that Iron Man and Thor had. Again, that was most likely due to the hindrance of having to tell Cap’s origin story. If you are comic geek like me then you can do without origins because we’ve heard them all before. Reintroduction of these iconic characters is a necessary evil though. Many folks in the country don’t even remember TV’s Captain America from the late ’70s and Albert Pyun’s take on the character from 1990. Finally, we have a definitive Captain America film that looks superb on bluray, so, mission accomplished Cap! Now onto The Avengers!