1939 - Thor: The Dark World

I have to be deadly honest here.  This is the first of the Marvel films that I've been 'meh' on.  And it was especially disappointing because the first Thor was so goddamn good, and I expected very little from it (maybe why I liked it so much).  In some ways I think that they just attempted to do too much, be too big.  We don't need every single Marvel film to be about saving the entire world - do the stakes really need to be THAT high every single time?  The more sci-fi the films get the less interesting they are.  And I'm not down on sci-fi films, I think the problem is that they found a way to really ground the early films in this series, but now that all the fantasy elements are in place it just muddles it a bit.  I liked that Iron Man had to deal with that to some extent though.  I don't know, I guess, for me, I just think they can do so much more with simplicity and don't give themselves enough credit for that.  It's the small moments in these kinds of films that really speak volumes - and this one had no small moments.  Shame, really.  It was nice to have Portman integrated into the plot in a much stronger way though.  I should end with saying that I didn't hate the film - I just didn't really enjoy it all that much, and it's one that I likely won't find myself revisiting.

1733 - Cabin in the Woods

I'm late to this film and all those in the geek-a-verse have already gone on and on about it, and I'm not going to go into specifics and ruin any of the fun.  What this is is a genre-bending meta-fest that in a really fun way plays with and deconstructs the horror genre.  It's a film that you can't really pick apart in any serious way because the whole thing is intended to be ridiculous.  You could say it's a bit too clever for it's own good, but it's a lovely amount of fun.  It's still in the theatres if you haven't treated yourself to it yet. 

1727 - The Avengers

I was getting pretty excited about this film the days leading up to its release.  I've been following all the lead-up and previous films.  I mean, it's a tremendous plan and very smart the way that Marvel has gone about building their universe.  You can only imagine what they'd be doing if they still retained the film rights to all of their characters.  It becomes slightly difficult to combine the reality-based world of Iron Man where regular people use machines to be super, and then something like Thor where it's something else entirely.  That said, I think this worked and the tones blended together nicely.  It's hard to juggle that many stories and characters, but Whedon does it and with grace and style.  Each character works very very well and builds on what we've seen before.  It's nice seeing Tony Stark comfortable with Pepper Potts, and cracking wise on the side.  It's awesome to watch Captain America turn into an actual leader of his dysfunctional group.  It could be that Hulk was my favorite of the whole bunch though.  I loved Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, but I thought that the choices they made with Hulk were inspired. Lots of great stuff there (although his shift wasn't well explained...)
If I have a complaint it's that I felt like waaaay too much time was spent on that ship in the sky.  I swear we spent well over half the film in that location and it made the film feel a bit small because of it.  I don't envy the Marvel team as they go back to the stand-alone films to lead up to an Avengers sequel.  Once you've put the bar so high, how do you do a stand-alone justice?  And how do you explain why these guys (or some of them) aren't just always helping the others out?
Of all the solo films coming up, the one I'm hoping for most is a Hulk film starring Ruffalo.  I'd line up for that one.

1723 - Thor

Decided to re-watch this 'cause it was on Netflix (Huzzah!), and since I believe that Loki is to be the big-bag in Avengers, I figured this was probably the most relevant of the Marvel Universe films to revisit.  This was just as fun as the first time.  I love the set-up to the character and then as soon as he enters our world it becomes a bit of a fish-out-of-water comedy for a little bit.  What a great choice by the filmmakers.  I think that Thor probably has the strongest character arc of any of these films so far.  When he gets his powers back you REALLY believe that he's earned them.  Love it.  Portman is lovely as always, even if she isn't given enough of a range of things to do with her character.  Kat Dennings… well…. I've lost my enjoyment of her ever since I saw that pilot of 2 Broke Girls.  Amazing how one little thing can kind of turn you off of someone.
I'm getting pretty excited about the Avengers this Friday.  All of these films leading up to it have been pretty well done, so it'll be nice to see what happens when they throw them all together.  Trying to keep the expectations low.

1573 - Thor

This was a film that I was only half thinking of going to see, so when a friend suggested that we see it I didn't put up too much of a fight.  Besides, this is the kind of film that you really want to see on a big screen (Bridesmaids, the film I wanted to check out, arguably, works just as well on a small screen).
So for those who don't know Marvel has been doing a pretty cool job of laying the ground work for a series of films all leading up to The Avengers, and this film is no exception.  It has a simply stunning cast.  (I had no idea that was Idris Elba until the end credits!  Nor that it was Colm Feore under all that Frost Giant make-up!)  Chris Hemsworth is really excellent here.  I find myself falling a little out of love with Kat Dennings these days, and far more in love with Natalie Portman. 
The best thing about this film is that it's a fun ride - and it's got a wicked sense of humor.  It spends the first act taking the character seriously inside of his world, and then throws it all on his head when he gets to ours.  I won't ruin any of the comic greatness - you'll just have to check it out yourself.
Hiring Kenneth Branagh to direct this film was an inspired and interesting choice.  As a man who knows his classic theatre, with the Norse Gods involved I have to say that I'm sure he found the themes and storyline compelling, but knew how to weave them and not take the film itself too seriously.  Lots of great stakes and character turns - great fun for the entire family.
So for a guy who didn't really care about seeing this film at all, I'm walking out with a decent recommend.  And it's under two hours, which is impressive since most companies think that epic and long belong in films like this just for the sake of it.  I could go on about it's many virtues, but I'm tired.  Ready for bed.  So if you haven't already, and are the least bit interested - give it a shot while it's still in theatres.