May 08 2015

Avengers: Age of Ultron Link Roundup (Ongoing) – UPDATED

Now that Avengers: Age of Ultron is finally here, and I’ve seen it (twice), I can start reading about it until my eyeballs fall out. This page will have an an ongoing list of links to some of what I’ve read that I found interesting.

Me and The Avengers movie.

Personally I prefer The Avengers. Have I mentioned that lately?

UPDATED 5/11/15 (new links after the break; you can tell they’re new because they say NEW LINK.)

As you know, I frickin’ LOVED The Avengers, the first one. To say that Avengers: Age of Ultron isn’t quite as good as the first film is like saying I’m shorter than Shaquille O’Neal. Or, to ever-so-slightly borrow a joke from the movie, that this blog post will be shorter than a Eugene O’Neill play. Bottom line: it was a lot of fun, Joss Whedon did a nice job of balancing all of the myriad demands of a film with a ton of characters and future Marvel Cinematic Universe movies to promote, and I’ve already seen the movie twice and would gladly see it again.

As expected with a summer blockbuster, especially a follow-up to a film as great as The Avengers, the Interwebs are filled with articles and blog posts and charts and click-bait about all things Ultron. I went on Rotten Tomatoes planning to read a few reviews. I got as far as one before being sucked into a rabbit hole (maybe I should say tesseract instead) of Age of Ultron related topics.

Oh, the obligatory Spoiler Alert from this point forward. I’m not going to bother watching what I say about the movie, although this isn’t a review and odds are I won’t reveal anything particularly important. But if you haven’t seen the movie yet and prefer to do so without knowing anything about what happens, stop reading now. Then come back. Don’t worry. We’ll wait. Read more »


May 05 2015

The Avengers Blu-ray-DVD Combo Deal

Here’s an Avengers Blu-ray-DVD Combo Deal for you.

Just 15 dollars at Amazon.com.

Aren’t we nice? We are.

Avengers Blu-ray-DVD Combo Deal

Yep. That’s right. You’ve seen Avengers: Age of Ultron and for some reason you don’t already own a copy of The Avengers movie from 2012. (Was The Avengers only three years ago? Wow.) Jeff Bezos has your back. (Well, Amazon does. OK, not really. But “Jeff Bezos has your back” was a fun sentence to type.) You can order The Avengers Blu-ray-DVD Combo for only 15 dollars. The disc(s) is(are) currently holding the number one spot in Amazon’s Science Fiction Blu-ray Discs section, and therefore shipping may take an extra day or two, according to the site. But it’s worth it. Take our word for it.

Source: Amazon.com: Marvel’s The Avengers (Two-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo in Blu-ray Packaging): Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Cobie Smulders, Stellan Skarsgård, Samuel L. Jackson, Joss Whedon: Movies & TV

 

 

 


May 04 2015

Age of Ultron Hard on Joss Whedon Because He Has a Family

Avengers: Age of Ultron ruled the box office this weekend. And before that, it ruled director Joss Whedon‘s life. This was, according to the director, difficult on him because he has a family. Here’s what he said in an interview:

English: Joss Whedon at the 2010 Comic Con in ...

English: Joss Whedon at the 2010 Comic Con in San Diego (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

“When I watch it, I just see ‘flaw, flaw, flaw, compromise, laziness, mistake,’” said Whedon. “The reason I set out to make another film is because I wanted to make one that was better, and I wanted to up my game as a shooter and work harder on every aspect of it and sort of give myself up to it in a way that’s hard for me, because I have a family. I started as a writer in low-budget TV, and there was always this element of, ‘This is good enough.’ And with this movie, I never wanted to say, ‘This is good enough.’” (emphasis added)

And now the explanation. Read more »


Apr 17 2015

The Black Widow and Daredevil TV Show We Could Have Gotten

Ah, the 70s. Rich with history. Bell bottoms. Missed opportunities.

This is not one of them.

This photo is from Comic Book Resources (aka CBR), via The Mary Sue, both excellent websites for all things nerdy. Maybe I should say “all things formerly considered nerdy”, since when The Avengers movie makes $1.5 billion, it’s an Avengers world now, which kind of means there are a lot more nerds out there, and therefore how nerdy is it really to be into this stuff?

Answering my own question, caring at all about the fact that David Bowie’s ex-wife Angela Bowie (about whom The Rolling Stones’ song “Angie” may or may not be about, although that’s what most people think, including me until I just Googled it — trivia!) at one time “owned the TV rights to Daredevil and Black Widow”, according to CBR, is pretty nerdy.

This is a picture of the costumes. It is very 70s.

Daredevil and Black Widow That Never Happened

Considering how good the Netflix Daredevil series is, it’s probably for the best that this show never happened. Then again, there was 1988’s The Incredible Hulk Returns, which featured Hulk, Thor and Daredevil. That wasn’t particularly good (although of course I watched it), but it didn’t ruin the current incarnation. (Which really is quite good. You should check it out. Not with your kids, though, unless you have older kids. I’ll write more about it at some point.)

Perhaps it would have been interesting to see what Angela Bowie would have done with the role of Black Widow, since as a CBR commenter points out, “Bowie’s not really the problem in those DD/BW shots, though. That Daredevil costume is ridiculous.”

Indeed it is. But… the 70s. Even the entertainment that never happened was fun.

Comic Book Legends Revealed #440 – Page 3 of 3 – Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book ResourcesComics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources.

via The Mary Sue


Mar 13 2015

Robert Downey Jr. Brings Georgia Boy Bionic Arm (DaddyTube)

The line between Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man is growing slimmer every day. Here is a video of the actor bringing a Georgia boy named Alex Pring a real bionic arm.

DaddyTips Featured Video

It’s OK if you get a little misty-eyed. We’ll wait.

The important bit here is that a group called The Collective Project made a bionic arm for a child, Alex, who was “born with a partially developed right arm,” according to the video. The arm was made by Albert Manero, “a college student who builds and donates low-cost, 3D-printed bionic limbs to kids around the world,” according to the YouTube video. Here’s a quote from the Fox 5 DC story where we found this:

“The arm doesn’t have a lot of supernatural powers, but it makes life easier on Alex both physically and mentally.”

The two then compare arms, with Downey pulling his out of a case with the Stark Industries logo.

Which brings us to what we were talking about when we said the line between Robert Downey Jr. and Iron Man is getting slimmer every day.

Remember in 2012 when we posted that Robert Downey Jr surprised kids at Comic Con? (Heck, remember 2012? I’m not sure I do.) Here’s what we had to say back then:

Marvel could easily drop this footage into ‘Iron Man 3‘ if they want to. … Have the kids shouting out “IRON MAN!”, people cheering when Downey Tony Stark shows up… Free idea from me to you, ‘Iron Man 3? filmmakers. I’ll take a special thanks and perhaps a repulsor ray if you’ve got an extra one lying around.

(They didn’t take my idea. Maybe for Iron Man 4, or a future Avengers movie.)

The second best thing about this new video (the first, of course, is the kid getting the arm, because that’s actually real-life awesome) is the moment when someone off-camera asks Alex, “Do you know who that is?” “Iron Man,” Alex replies, to the delight of everyone in the room (and us home viewers). But then comes the follow-up:

“What’s his name?”

“Robert.”

Downey does nothing to correct Alex, nor does anyone else. In Alex’s 7-year-old mind, Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man. To Downey’s credit, he’s a good enough actor that playing the super-rich Avenger has not hampered his film career; he can play other roles just as convincingly as he always has. But if he keeps this up, he might have to change his name to Tony Stark. Or maybe Marvel will just change Iron Man’s name to Robert Downey Jr. Both are about as likely to happen as me turning into Thor. But this particular blurring of fact and fiction is fun to watch.

On a more serious note, huge, massive, supremely large shout-outs to Albert Manero, who is apparently making bionic arms for kids who need them (it’s OK if that makes your head explode a little bit), and to Mr. Downey Jr., whom we like both on and off screen. And best of luck to Alex, a young man growing up in very interesting times.

‘Iron Man’ surprises boy in Georgia – DC News FOX 5 DC WTTG.


Oct 31 2014

Avengers 2 Trailer Is Awesome

In my ongoing efforts to make absolutely certain that everyone I know is fully aware of what is going on in the world of superhero movies, here is the the Avengers 2 trailer, aka “Avengers: Age of Ultron.” Is is awesome.

Avengers - Age of Ultron Poster

(image: Wikipedia)

Maybe you’ve seen it already. But I know from talking to folks who read DaddyTips that they expect me to use my great geeky power responsibly to disseminate information about upcoming movies that matter. In other words, superhero movies.

Without further ado, here is the trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron. (AKA Avengers 2.)

Get a Special Look at Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” – YouTube.

Wasn’t that cool? Don’t you want to see it, like, right now? You’ll have to wait until May 2015. To quote Weird Al Yankovic, first world problems.


Oct 14 2014

Son of Thanos Has Major Daddy Issues

If you are the son of Thanos, it would make sense that you would have some serious Daddy Issues. (Thanos, aka “who is the purple guy at the end of the avengers movie“, still a popular Google Search autocomplete. He also appeared in “Guardians of the Galaxy“, but it wasn’t as cool it could have been. “Guardians” was a great movie, lots of fun, go see it. Thanos could’ve been scarier though. Now back to the point.)

Me and The Avengers movie.

Personally I prefer The Avengers. Have I mentioned that lately?

Here is the description for a new comic book featuring Thane, son of Thanos.

At the close of INFINITY, Thane discovered he was the son of Thanos and that his touch was death.
Now, accompanied by the constantly whispered advice of the Ebony Maw, he wants to discover his father’s history, and his own future.

In other words, Thane (whoever that is) was unaware that (a) he was the son of Thanos, the mad Titan who wants to kill every living being in the universe in order to impress Death because he’s in love with her (yes, really — remember, comic books) and (b) when he touches people they die. (Which I suppose would make him pretty popular with dear old Dad.) Now he knows (a) and (b). That’s just… blech.

So yeah. Like I said. Daddy Issues.

Thanos A God Up There Listening #2 – Midtown Comics.

Marvel’s The Avengers (Four-Disc Combo: Blu-ray 3D/Blu-ray/DVD + Digital Copy) at Amazon.com