currently on at the 'pictures':

[philcom55]

It's a shame you don't 'do' TV by the way Rab as Stan Lee turned up in tonight's episode of SHIELD as well!

- Phil R.

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

yes, Stan is a real character, Phil!

I expect he is making serious money nowadays, what with being an executive advisor on these Marvel outings: it's a shame he is more than likely pretty rich so late in life---a lot of his creations are 50 years old!

I am now in my ELEVENTH YEAR of absolutely no TV at home: my old cathode-ray tube set has been chucked out, it was simply taking up space and hadn't been switched on for years.

I did visit the cinema FIVE TIMES this week [Mon-Fri] including Captain America [twice]

I also have a front-projector and screen at home which is used at weekends only: last week's screening : BEN HUR [1925 silent version!]

[starscape]

Wow, that was good.

Cap wasn't so much a superhero film as a superspy film. Really terrific. Twists and turns, lies and intrigue, plus comicy guest stars and names everywhere.

Tell you what though, when Stephen Strange was mentioned, I just had the brilliant thought of a Defenders movie. Y'know, the original Defenders, where Subby, Chrome-Dome, Greenskin and Magician stop arguing occasionally to get the job done. That'd be great.

[philcom55]

With Guardians of the Galaxy coming up I guess anything's possible!

- Phil R.

[davidandrewsimpson]

Re: "...I just had the brilliant thought of a Defenders movie.."

Sorry to tell you, that's not likely to happen. Marvel are doing a series of TV series on Netflix starting with Daredevil then moving on to Luke Cage, Iron Fist and Jessica Jones before ending in a Defenders mini-series teaming all four of them together. So not really The Defenders.

[philcom55]

I'd guess that Marvel would prefer to introduce 'Big-Hitters' like Namor and Doctor Strange in their own films before thinking about putting them in teams - as they did with the major Avengers. Incidentally, last week's appearance of Lorelei in TV's Agents of SHIELD (with Sif apparently waiting in the wings) suggests that we might be seeing some version of the Defenders' Valkyrie before long.

- Phil Rushton

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

I just got back from my third viewing of Captain America/winter soldier. Great stuff, my film of the year so far.

My favourite lines include:


'REINFORCED GLASS INTEGRITY: ONE PER CENT'.




'AIR CONDITIONING....FULLY OPERATIONAL'.

[JT Mirana]

Reminds me of my favourite line ever from Dr Who: 'I underestimated his intelligence...but he underestimated the power of organic crystalography!'

Beat that, Downton!

[George Shiers]

I'm not sure if it's been mentioned but has anybody seen the Lego movie? I thought the animation was so fantastically done that it really did look like stop-motion.

[philcom55]

I thought the animation was awesome. In fact....

Everything is Awesome, everything is cool when you're part of a team, etc., etc...!!!!

- Phil R.

[George Shiers]

Oh no! Now that song is in my head again!

My favourite quote from the film was easily:

"Octan are awesome! They make ALL the history books, voting machines... Wait what?"

[Muffy]

Hoping to see 'Day's of Future Past' in the next 10 days. I read the original comics (Uncanny X-men issues 141 and 142) and was impressed, though this is re-worked.

I still have a soft spot for Joh Byrne the artist.

[JT Mirana]

I'm one of the few comics fans I know never to have read the original 'Future Past' story, so I'll be seeing the film with no preconceptions. Next week, I hope.

Byrne's run on Fantastic Four was just AMAZING!

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

---here ya goes, JT, but do of course feel free to add yer own input, me old China.



X-MEN: Days of Future Past ***


Official trailer here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pK2zYHWDZKo


Saw this yesterday: and although I certainly recognize the central characters , I'm damned if any single scenes or setpieces from any of the previous X-Men films have managed to register at all in my memory, so I held out little hope for this serving.

Happily, this new outing grabbed the interest a lot more, with the bulk of the action set in 1973 [that old 'we-must-go-back-to-alter-the-past-in-order-to save-the-future ' chestnut is still being flogged like the proverbial dead horse, even today]: although there are lots of [admittedly often confusing] cross-cutting to the future and back to 1973.


The year of 1973 is well-realized, [it was an era that never seemed especially hi-tech, even at the time, what with bulky push-button technology, grainy pseudo-color TV with thick glass screens, etc] and is cheesily please-able in it's depiction of the appallng fashions and 'culture' of that much-malinged period.

Tricky Dicky Nixon gets the lookalike treatment, and the onscreen mayhem is of the usual high calibre, with much ultra-slow-motion scenarios thrust to the fore.

Not exactly a 'must see', more of a 'must endure' if you like to keep abreast of modern sci-fi trends.

Not bad at all, if hardly the Citizen Kane of modern sci-fi.


[3 out of 5]

[alanultron5]

Hoping that a "Dr Strange" film might happen! I have many original 1960s "Strange Tales" issues and would like to see the likes of `Dormammu` `Eternity` and the `Living Tribunal` on screen! Latter two- even more powerful than Galactus!!