Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Directed by Anthony and Joe Russo

Screenplay written by Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely

Based on the Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby 

Starring Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo and Scarlett Johansson

Caution for potential spoilers ahead!

11 years ago, Marvel released the first Iron Man movie, and nothing has been the same since. Every year since then, Marvel has released movie after movie introducing us to more and more amazing superheroes to fall in love with, and more villains to root against. Every year I kept thinking how could they top themselves, then they released last years Avengers: Infinity War which merged many Marvel superheroes including The Avengers, Black Panther, Doctor Strange and more. After that movie ended with such a cliffhanger, myself and every other Marvel fan have been eagerly awaiting Endgame-- dare I say, the glorious, bittersweet end to the past 11 years. 

The movie begins just a short amount of time after the tragic events at the end of Infinity War. The remaining Avengers; Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) and Rocket (voiced by Bradley Cooper) are joined by Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and together they plan to track down Thanos (Josh Brolin) and steal the infinity stones to reverse the actions they caused. After Thanos reveals that he already destroyed the stones, Thor kills him. The movie then picks up 5 years later, with Scott Lang aka Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), returning from the Quantum Realm and proposing that they travel back in time through the Quantum Realm to stop Thanos from ever getting the 6 infinity stones. 

This movie is an amazing way to reward all the loyal Marvel fans who have been following these heroes for more than a decade on screen. Everything that happens in this movie is so incredibly satisfying for someone who has seen all the movies. The time traveling aspect may seem a little corny at first, but it is actually the perfect way to bring in some characters from all the other movies one last time, and to give some characters the happy ending they deserve. The merging between the different movies in Endgame is even better than in Infinity War-- as this time we get to see some characters from Thor, Doctor Strange, Captain America and even the latest lady hero, Captain Marvel. 

For those who maybe haven't seen every Marvel movie from the past 11 years, you will still thoroughly enjoy this movie you may just miss some references, or you may not cry so hard with nostalgia like the rest of us!  

The Marvel movies have always had a lot of comic relief thrown in with the action, but this one seemed to hit harder with the comedy. It seemed to hit harder with all the emotions actually. Thor brings a lot of comedy, since he is now an alcoholic with a beer gut and no more chizzled abs. His character has gone through tremendous loss and is experiencing a lot of guilt from not killing Thanos, so he is in rough shape in the beginning of the movie. But, his condition does give for some big laughs. Even though this film has less of the characters we know and love, it adds a few of the older ones we didn't get to see in Infinity War like Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) and Ant-Man. 

As fas as acting performances go, Chris Hemsworth wins the gold with his new version of chubby and sad Thor. Robert Downey Jr. brings some real change to Tony this time around, while he's no longer the arrogant and selfish man he has been in the past. Paul Rudd is fantastically hilarious again as Ant-Man, Mark Ruffalo brings a new level of acceptance for being The Hulk, Scarlett Johansson brings a lot of emotion this time around to Black Widow, Brie Larson is a bad-ass as Carol Danvers, saving the day more than once.  The whole cast does an amazing job. I was so happy with the smaller cameos from people like; Tessa Thompson (Valkyrie), Rene Russo (Frigga), Evangeline Lilly (The Wasp), Hayley Atwell (Peggy Carter), John Slattery (Howard Stark) and Tilda Swinton (The Ancient One). 

The 3 hour run time may seem a little daunting at first, but it flies by with all the non-stop excitement. It pays homage to not only the Avengers but the Marvel Cinematic Universe, so brilliantly it will give you goosebumps, make you laugh and undoubtedly cry. There is a scene of the Marvel women all together that did all three for me actually, I thought I would combust. 

10/10

The Kids Are All Right (2010)

       

Directed by Lisa Cholodenko

Written by Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg

Starring: Annette Bening, Julianne Moore, Mark Ruffalo

     After watching this movie, I can see why its only the kids that are all right. Lisa Cholodenko wears two hats as Writer and Director of this drama/comedy film, and scored her first Academy Awards nomination for best writing for an original screenplay. Cholodenko brilliantly tells a story that American film has never really seen before of two kids both conceived through artificial insemination  that are on the search for the man who donated his sperm to their moms over a decade ago.
     The movie begins and you meet Laser (Josh Hutcherson) and I was immediately hooked because come on, his name is Laser! How unbelievably cool is that! Right off the bat you can tell that Laser is the rebellious younger child while his sister, Joni (Mia Wasikowska) is the older, responsible child who is in the midst of her last summer at home before she heads off to college. Then we meet their moms, Nic (Annette Bening), the authoritarian hard working doctor and Jules (Julianne Moore), the free spirited budding landscape designer. Joni and Laser are well aware of the circumstances of their conception and once Joni is "of age" her and Laser begin the process of finding the man who donated sperm to their moms all these years ago. When bohemian restaurant owner, Paul (Mark Ruffalo) is contacted by the sperm bank that two children would like to meet him, he is caught of guard but intrigued and agrees to meet with them. Fast forward past a first awkward lunch between the kids and Paul to a dinner with Nic and Jules with the children and Paul. Nic, being very type A personality, becomes very territorial over Paul's sudden impact on her families life. She is uncomfortable with how much her children and wife warm up to him, and she makes that very clear. Nic's actions seem a bit over the top at first, but are soon appropriate when a heterosexual relationship begins with Paul and Jules.
     Jules craves attention and affection, which are two things she is not getting from Nic. Thus she jumps into the arms of the first guy or girl that can give her that, which happens to be her and Nic's once anonymous sperm donor. Though their predicament is very unusual, it is not just because they are a couple of the same sex. Similar issues can be found in more conventional households. That Cholodenko decided to tell such an interesting story of the forces that can dominate a relationship with a homo-sexual couple is very different and refreshing from what we as an audience are used to seeing.
     Bening's performance as the outspoken perfectionist, Nic was one of my favorites and one of the reasons I enjoyed the film so much. At one point she says something along the lines of "I need your observations like I need a dick in my ass." My mouth was agape for a solid ten seconds after that line. The audacity that her character has to just say whatever she wants was very fun to watch and I was not surprised she got an Oscar nomination for her role in this. Mark Ruffalo did an impressive job of bringing some light comedy to a movie that otherwise would have been too dark. I have always been a big fan of Julianne Moore and how she is able to play such a wide array of characters, so seeing her play this role was very pleasing.
     Cholodenko leaves the film with a lot of loose ends not neatly knotted, but I still left the movie feeling oddly satisfied. There's really no "happy ending." She really did leave the characters feeling "all right." My satisfaction with the ending comes from the feeling of just being told maybe not your conventional story where some sort of catharsis is reached, but an honest atypical story. The Kids Are All Right was more than "all right" to me.

I give The Kids Are All Right a...

7/10