MCU Good Parts

Avengers: Infinity War

Current rank: 5 of 33

Before rewatch:

• Scenes I love: The fight in New York, Wanda sacrificing Vision, the Guardians finding Thor

• Expectations: This is such a fun movie, but for all the hoopla around Thanos being the main character here, his stuff is still the least interesting to me.  He’s certainly a more compelling villain than most of the MCU villains, but it’s his demeanor and implacability that makes him interesting, not his “hero’s journey.”

Rewatch stats:

• Time to process: 33:00

• Length of cut scenes: 10:33

• Length of iffy scenes: 6:54

• Length of total movie: 2:29:07

• % with cut scenes: 93%

• % with iffy scenes: 88%

• Hero scenes kept: 91%

• Villain scenes kept: 69%

• Action scenes kept: 100%

• Time of scenes I love: 15:46

After rewatch: All the iffy/cut stuff was Thanos-centric.  My opinion and ranking of this movie has not changed.

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Current rank: 8 of 33

Before rewatch:

• Scenes I love: I might love this movie irrationally.  I find it super fun, and the light-hearted nature is such a nice change of pace from the usual Marvel fair.  It’s great to see Wasp get equal billing, and of course there’s Michelle Pfeiffer.  Ghost is the weak point of this film.  And woots, more Luis!  And the introduction of Agent Woo!

• Expectations:  Ghost will get cut the most.

Rewatch stats:

• Time to process: 29:00

• Length of cut scenes: 11:04

• Length of iffy scenes: 0:52

• Length of total movie: 1:57:50

• % with cut scenes: 91%

• % with iffy scenes: 90%

• Hero scenes kept: 100%

• Villain scenes kept: 83%

• Action scenes kept: 100%

• Time of scenes I love: 10:07

After rewatch: Still love this movie.  I cut the credits and a minimal amount of Ghost.  I think it comes between the two Avengers movies - Super fun, but the inner geek loves the epicness of massive team ups more, and Ultron has too many good moments.

Captain Marvel

Current rank: 21 of 33

Before rewatch:

• Scenes I love: The costume coloring scene?  Carol destroying tons of spaceships is amazingly satisfying.   

• Expectations: This is totally a middle of the road MCU movie, and I think it’s going to drop a couple of slots.  It’s more meh than middle of the road, the more I look at the rankings.

Rewatch stats:

• Time to process: 40:00

• Length of cut scenes: 12:21

• Length of iffy scenes: 13:28

• Length of total movie: 2:03:31

• % with cut scenes: 90%

• % with iffy scenes: 79%

• Hero scenes kept: 88%

• Villain scenes kept: 64%

• Action scenes kept: 78%

• Time of scenes I love: 5:47

After rewatch: Yep, a few solid scene, but nothing that makes it stand up.  I did love the scene where Carol gets back up and her powers are fully unleashed.  A great hero moment paired with some inspiring visuals.  Jude Law is the common factor across all the cut/iffy scenes.  I still couldn’t tell you his character’s name.

Avengers: Endgame

Current rank: 1 of 33

Before rewatch:

• Scenes I love: “Avengers!  Assemble.”  I think it’s literally my favorite movie moment ever.  Ever.  

• Expectations:  Best MCU film for that scene alone.  Everything else is gravy.  

Rewatch stats:

• Time to process: 1:30:00

• Length of cut scenes: 11:06

• Length of iffy scenes: 4:49

• Length of total movie: 3:00:57

• % with cut scenes: 94%

• % with iffy scenes: 91%

• Hero scenes kept: 92%

• Villain scenes kept: 81%

• Action scenes kept: 93%

• Time of scenes I love: 1:18:35

After rewatch: Wow, SO much of this movie is stuff I love.  It’s not even close.

1. Avengers: Endgame

2. Captain America: Civil War

3. Captain America: Winter Soldier

4. Avengers: Infinity War

5. Avengers: Age of Ultron

6. Ant-Man/Wasp

7. Avengers

8. Spider-Man: Homecoming

9. Captain America

10. Black Panther

11. Iron Man 2

12. Iron Man

13. Ant-Man

14. Dr Strange

15. Iron Man 3

16. Captain Marvel

17. Thor 3

18. Thor

19. Thor 2

20. Guardians of the Galaxy

21. Guardians of the Galaxy 2

22. Hulk

Ant-Man and the Wasp, Books of Magic, Beware the Creeper, Brother Lono

Ant-Man and the Wasp

So much fun.  I immediately wanted to watch it again.  A bunch of laugh out loud moments, a straightforward “Let’s bring mom home” goal, imaginative action scenes - this movie has it all.  The villains are (yet again) a little lackluster, but the heroes more than make up for it. Paul Rudd, Evangeline Lilly, Michael Douglas, and Michael Pena up their game from the previous movie in all aspects.  And I love Michelle Pfeiffer as much as I did in the 80s. Which was a ton. More of her in future Marvel movies, please.

Batman Returns (1992)

Stardust (2007)

2018.  Will always love her.

Regret watching?  No

Would watch again?  Yes

Would buy on DVD?  Yes

Rating: Good

Brother Lono 1-8

Brian Azzarello reveals that Lono didn’t die at the end of 100 Bullets.  He found God and assists at an orphanage in Mexico, repressing his natural instinct and knack for violence.  When a DEA agent shows up and entangles herself with the local drug lords, Lono’s forced to revert to his former self.  

The miniseries reads a lot more clearly than its parent title, but there’s something missing from it.  100 Bullets was largely a creature of cities and modernity. In transplanting its sensibilities to the open spaces of Mexico, Azzarello retains the darkness but loses the noir, if that makes any sense.  It doesn’t help that Lono was one of the less interesting characters from 100 Bullets. It’s entertaining enough, but feels like a superfluous coda.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Fine

Beware the Creeper 1-5

I love how my comic shop packages single issue runs of series and sells them at a massive discount.  That’s how I acquired this, based on the low price tag and Cliff Chiang’s name on the cover. I knew nothing else about this title.  On the reread, I remembered almost nothing about my first time through, only a vague recollection of the Creeper’s secret identity.

For some reason, I thought that this would be a candidate for cutting, but I was happy to find that not to be the case.  Jason Hall crafts a wonderful story that’s different from anything else I’ve ever read. Set in post-WWI Paris, twin sisters search for their individual identities amidst the rise of the Surrealist artistic movement and the emergence of the mysterious Creeper.  It’s paced very differently from most comics, without the traditional fight scenes or antagonists. This is one of those pleasant forgotten surprises that makes me happy to be going through my entire collection.

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? Yes

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Pretty good

Books of Magic 1-4

I’m not really sure why I still hang on to this.  There’s not much to it - Four of DC’s occult characters take Tim Hunter on a journey through the worlds of magic.  It’s really a travelogue with some beautifully painted art. The words by Neil Gaiman are fine, but this is not some of his better work.  The final issue, in particular, is as bad I remember it, a jumbled, chaotic mess. Why am I keeping it? Nostalgia? It’s not good enough to even deserve a Major Feels rating, but it’s sticking around.  

Regret buying? No

Would buy again? No

Would read again? Yes

Rating: Didn’t Suck