Kevin's Watch

Posted: **Tue Aug 05, 2014 8:05 pm**

Personally, I think Loki will gather the stones together and present them together with the gauntlet to Thanos as a "I'll give you these if you don't hurt me" gift.

Posted: **Wed Aug 06, 2014 10:02 pm**

I went to see this again because I felt like getting out of the house tonight, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time. The plot doesn't bother me at all; it's a pretty standard structure but the writing and visuals are what carry the film.

The villains are paper thin, though. They really should have developed Ronan more - leaving out his backstory, as the enforcer of Kree justice, makes him a totally generic bad guy. (His introductory speech really does just make him sound like some random guy who's decided he knows better than the Empire, to anyone who doesn't know the character already. I didn't know the character until I read a little background earlier this week.)

This is definitely up in the top tier of Marvel films along with The Avengers and Winter Soldier.

(I still don't quite like Karen Gillan's accent in this.)

Posted: **Thu Aug 07, 2014 12:54 am**

Sorry to say this, Hashi, but Batty kind of blew a hole in your theory just now.

She says Kevin Fiege from Marvel has said that the Infinity Stones in the movies are not the same as the ones in the comics. So we're not going to have the mind gem, the soul gem, etc., in the movies. As far as we know, she says, the stone in Loki's staff is connected to the Tesseract, but it's not an Infinity Stone in and of itself.

I haven't read the comics, so all I know is what I've seen in the movies. Batty, however, is nuts about the Avengers in general and Tom Hiddleston in particular.

So she's been following all this stuff.

Anyhow, we saw "Guardians of the Galaxy" this afternoon and I thought it was terrific -- funny and fun -- and with songs I knew all the words to.

I think Peter Quill is the Han Solo of the Marvel universe -- or at least he seemed to be so in this movie. I gather he's a little more than that in the comics.

Posted: **Thu Aug 07, 2014 4:45 pm**

aliantha wrote:Sorry to say this, Hashi, but Batty kind of blew a hole in your theory just now. She says Kevin Fiege from Marvel has said that the Infinity Stones in the movies are not the same as the ones in the comics. So we're not going to have the mind gem, the soul gem, etc., in the movies. As far as we know, she says, the stone in Loki's staff is connected to the Tesseract, but it's not an Infinity Stone in and of itself.

Not a problem--Marvel still hasn't signed me to do any of their screenplays so my ideas are mere conjecture, at best. I am not the only person to think the Staff has the Mind Gem in it but I suppose we'll just have to see.

Anyway....back to the movie....GotG already had its sequel given the green light before it was released--not many movie franchises can make that claim. Its opening weekend beat Dark World and came close to beating Winter Soldier. There will probably be a cartoon adaptation for TV soon--any avenue for making money--and the merchandising should still be strong for the upcoming holiday shopping season. "I hope Santa brings me a Rocket and a Groot!" (clearly they will be the favorites with the kids)

Posted: **Thu Aug 21, 2014 3:33 pm**

After a little more reflection, I have to disagree with Batty (whoever that is). The Tesseract had been on Earth for centuries, possibly millenia, meaning that it was never in Thanos' possession and thus making it impossible for the Staff to be powered by the Tesseract. When Loki met with him and received the Staff, the Tesseract was still on Earth in SHIELD's custody. Yes, they are linked but only because they are both Stones. I am uncertain how Thanos was able to remotely activate it to send Loki to Earth but then he knows more about how to use them than I do.

How did Thanos come to know that the Tesseract was on Earth in the first place? Simple--the Red Skull told him. Schmidt didn't die at the end of the first Cap movie; rather, he got sent elsewhere. After some interrogation, Thanos figured out how the Skull got there based on his descriptions of the Tesseract.

Tesseract = Space, Aether = Power, Staff = Mind, and Orb = Soul (this explains both how/why Quill saw his mother and the Guardians were able to collectively stabilize their contact with the Orb). This leaves only Reality and Time unaccounted for. I suspect Thanos has the Reality gem, which is why it doesn't bother him for them to be out of his possession--he can very easily get them whenever he wants to. He knows where three of them are (Earth, Knowhere/Collector, Earth)--everyone thinks the Orb is locked up on Xandar but I suspect Quill palmed the real Orb and still has it in his possession--so all he has to do is locate Time and then he can go gather them whenever he wants to.

Of course, what Thanos doesn't know right now is that Odin isn't Odin. Odin and Loki are playing that hand really close to the chest in order to surprise Thanos. To Loki's credit, no one ever questioned him about where he had been, with whom he had been dealing, or how he received the Staff (or even what it was).

Posted: **Thu Aug 21, 2014 4:52 pm**

Batty is my eldest daughter.

She's a member of the Watch, but she hasn't been here in ages. I'll try to get her in here so that I don't have to play middleman, but I make no guarantees.

Posted: **Fri Dec 12, 2014 5:04 pm**

Just watched this two days ago while I was home sick. LOVED IT!!! I put it back on for a re-watch with my wife and she didnt really 'get it'.

Posted: **Mon Dec 15, 2014 8:00 pm**

I should have picked it up this weekend but we were too busy; I will correct that mistake this evening. I had already picked up the soundtrack--one of the best soundtracks ever--but not on cassette (no, seriously--they released Awesome Mix Tape #1 on tape)--because we don't have one of those at this time.

Posted: **Mon Dec 15, 2014 8:03 pm**

I picked up the soundtrack almost as soon as it was released.

Looking forward to Awesome Mix #2, whenever they release the second movie....

Posted: **Mon Dec 15, 2014 8:19 pm**

Any speculation as to which Barry White song will be on Awesome Mix Tape #2? I am thinking "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" but I am also thinking ABBA will be one it but I don't know which one, probably SOS or Winner Takes It All.

.

Posted: **Mon Dec 15, 2014 8:22 pm**

Hashi Lebwohl wrote:Any speculation as to which Barry White song will be on Awesome Mix Tape #2? I am thinking "Can't Get Enough of Your Love" but I am also thinking ABBA will be one it but I don't know which one, probably SOS or Winner Takes It All.

.

I hadn't even thought about the playlist! That's a good choice for Barry White. You think they'll include ABBA? They're a little later chronologically than the choices on the first tape. But presumably his mother would have been older when she made the second mixtape, so...

Posted: **Mon Dec 15, 2014 9:37 pm**

Escape by Rupert Holmes is from 1979. We know that Peter received the first tape in 1988 and had probably been listening to it for a couple of years already so any song up until at least 1987 is open for addition. Maybe--just maybe--there could be a Paul McCartney song (either My Love or No More Lonely Nights) but don't look for anything from Double Fantasy (despite being an exceptionally good album) because Yoko Ono holds onto those rights extremely tightly. If they want a great upbeat track they should choose Hold On Tight To Your Dreams by ELO.

Posted: **Fri Dec 19, 2014 7:35 am**

I didn't realize the movie was out on dvd. missed the chance to ask for the movie and st for Christmas.

Posted: **Fri Dec 19, 2014 1:43 pm**

I just saw it and enjoyed it. Most explosions I've seen in one movie in ages. To me it had a lot of the original Star Wars feel.

Groot - wookie
Peter - han solo
Gamora - princess Lea
Zanos - darth vader
Thanos - emperor

Interesting casting. James Brolin was Thanos. Bradley Cooper was the voice of Rocket and Vin Diesel was Groot.

Posted: **Fri Dec 19, 2014 5:21 pm**

lorin wrote:I just saw it and enjoyed it. Most explosions I've seen in one movie in ages. To me it had a lot of the original Star Wars feel.

Groot - wookie
Peter - han solo
Gamora - princess Lea
Zanos - darth vader
Thanos - emperor

Interesting casting. James Brolin was Thanos. Bradley Cooper was the voice of Rocket and Vin Diesel was Groot.

Vin Diesel had the easiest lines to remember

"I am Groot" and "We are Groot". Thats it..... no other lines.

Posted: **Fri Dec 19, 2014 5:45 pm**

It's all about the delivery.

Posted: **Mon Dec 22, 2014 10:36 pm**

lorin wrote:I just saw it and enjoyed it. Most explosions I've seen in one movie in ages. To me it had a lot of the original Star Wars feel.

Agreed. In fact, GotG is more of a Star Wars movie than either Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones, or Revenge of the Sith are.