Plastique - The Flash Episode Review

By Chris "Sledge" Douglas

Note:  There WILL be some spoilers.  So if you haven't yet seen the episode (and by god what's wrong with you if that's the case?) then tread carefully.

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TV Review: Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 Episode 3

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas

Episodes 1, 2

So yeah, my apologies for being so late with this. The thing is... this week's show left me with very little excitement... and that's saying something. Even though the show has had it's detractors, I had been one of the few people enjoying it for what it is (a spy show set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe with perhaps some occasional cameos), rather than what everyone else wanted it to be (straight up superhero action show).

This week though... well, read on. Of course, spoiler warnings are in effect.

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TV Review - Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 Episode 2

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Produced By: ABC Studios

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas

For Episode 1

As I mentioned in last week's review, I thought the premiere episode was a fine show. It served it's purpose, and was perfectly acceptable telivision. I fully enjoyed it.

However, much like Man of Steel, the people I talked to were sorely divided, with some saying they liked it, while others insisting it was a grave disappointment.

Will this week's episode garner that same response?

Again, read with caution, and prepare for more spoilers.

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TV Review - Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 1 Episode 1

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
Produced By: ABC Studios

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas



So tonight was the night for the Marvel Cinematic Universe to come to TV... and how was it?

Well, prepare for some spoilers!

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The Man Of Steel Trailer - An Audience's Reaction

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas

We've all seen this by now... this absolutely gorgeous trailer, that may well be the BEST trailer for any movie I've ever seen.

Let me go into this a bit before I do what I came here to do... and that's talk about the amazing reaction of my local theater's audience.

First, what I love about the trailer:

I love the music, first and foremost. the very humble piano during his childhood, the swelling as we see him get older, and finally the GLORIOUS symphonic rock out as he finally starts flying around punching things! Hans Zimmer has once again outdone himself here, as he did with his previous work on The Dark Knight series.

I also love how the trailer helps ground our expectations from the beginning, slowly leading to an amazing "wow," reaction once he's finally ready to go be Superman.

Now, for the meat 'n potatoes of this article. The audience reaction.

I've gone from being a regular movie-goer, to only going once in a while, because I'm just not interested in most of what Hollywood is offering recently. However, as I am now writing reviews, I've been going to the theater quite frequently. In short, I've been to four showings that each had this trailer.

Now, of course, the audience tends to still be talkative at this point. Either people are still having conversations, or they're talking to their viewing partners with the usual, "what is this? Who is that?" kind of conversations.

However, I've noticed something VERY interesting about my local theater's reaction to this one trailer. Silence.

Complete and utter silence. A smattering of "wow" here and there, but for each of the showings I've seen this trailer, people go from chatty to reverent silence in seconds as soon as we see the opening images of this trailer.

Well done, Nolan, Snyder, and Zimmer. Well done indeed.

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REVIEW: Why "The Avengers" is the Best Movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Avengers

Paramount Pictures / Walt Disney Pictures

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas


The Avengers.

I was not expecting to like this movie as much as I did.

Sorry, not like.  LOVE.

I unabashedly LOVE this film!

There hasn't been a movie that made me feel like the way this film did.  It catered to me as an action movie fan, as a comic book fan, as a Marvel fan, as a fan of the individual characters, as a fan of the previous movies, and, most importantly, it penetrated my jaded exterior to reach a part of me that hasn't been active in years.

Yes, I love this movie, and I'd like to SOMEHOW explain why.  Here is my attempt to do so.

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GUT REACTION REVIEW: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

Star Trek Into Darkness
Paramount Pictures

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas

Is this becoming a thing?

I mean, I've been feeling really conflicted about a lot of movies lately. You can see this in my Gut Reaction Review of Iron Man 3 and Amazing Spider-Man; movies that either had great moments but overall turned me off in one way or another, or otherwise great movies that get ruined by one or two major aspects. I'm really wondering if this is just me, or is this becoming a thing that is apparent to others.

I got that feeling again with this movie... but fortunately not as strong.

I caught a midnight showing of Paramount's Star Trek Into Darkness. As before, there will be a spoilerized review after the non-spoilered.

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REVIEW: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

The Amazing Spider-Man

Columbia Pictures

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas

The Amazing Spider-Man.

After I saw this movie for the first time, my friends asked me what I thought of it. They'd seen it, and they reacted pretty positively to it.

My reaction to this fourth Spider-Man film from Columbia?



Meh.



A big resounding "meh."



In fact, specifically I remember saying that this movie just felt empty. It had decent moments, but overall just felt like there was no heart.

Now, I'm noticing I come around on my opinions a lot more these days. Maybe it's a symptom of getting older and more jaded to this sort of thing. Or maybe I just have strong initial reactions, but then calm down considerably. Who knows?

Plus, I just felt it was way too soon to do a reboot of a franchise whose last movie was just a few years earlier. In fact, plot elements such as Dr. Curt Connors being the main bad guy seemed to only be there because the previous franchise would have gone there anyway.

So I decided to watch it again. And here is what I thought.

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The Sober Review - IRON MAN 3

OH MY GOD... THE GALL OF THIS POSTER!

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas

So... you may have seen this... my first reaction to what is apparently every mainstream critic's favorite movie, and every Marvel fanboy's ragepoint.

I came down a bit from my rage-cycle... went to see it a second time... didn't have as big of a problem with it as I did during my first showing... but maybe that was because I knew what to expect this time.

It's all explained here in my FIRST IMDB review:

http://imdb.com/title/tt1300854/reviews-603

Feel free to give that one a look and show some love, if you'd please!

If not, feel free to read my second-look review right here... RIGHT AFTER THE JUMP!

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GUT REACTION REVIEW: IRON MAN 3

IRON MAN 3

Paramount Pictures / Walt Disney Studios

By: Chris "Sledge" Douglas

You can't believe how excited I was to see this movie. After all, THIS movie:



... was my favorite movie of all time. Couple that with a series of movies that were ALL excellent to fantastic (I still don't understand the hate that Iron Man 2 sometimes gets), it's impossible to disappoint, going by that track record.

So tonight, I hit the latest show I could, and with the last $10 I had in my pocket, I took the plunge.

Well...

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