Never Mind Pop Film

Another year, another Comic-Con, which means another cool banner poster for Joss Whedon's upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron. All of the regulars from the first Avengers are onboard, along with additions Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and if you look into the top left corner, you can see The Vision.

Avengers: Age of Ultron hits theatres May 1st, 2015.

Captain America has always been described as a man out of time, but nowhere is that made clearer than in a post-9/11 U.S. The world after that attack is one that is constantly under surveillance. Agencies like S.H.I.E.L.D. rely on pre-emptive measures to counter whatever enemies may throw at them. Since the events of The Avengers, acquiring funding for this 24/7 surveillance is not an issue.

Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is making peace with that world a little at a time. He’s catching up with the modern day pop culture (yes, he’s seen War Games, no he hasn’t listened to Nirvana), but adjusting to the new landscape is much more difficult. His mission has always been to do what’s right, but it is becoming harder to tell what is right anymore.

How difficult it must feel to be lonely surrounded in a city of 8 million people. Wrapped up in your devices, eyes glued to your shoes on a crowded street. Removing one's self from society is easier than ever in the digital age. Plug in the ear buds, tune out the crowds, bury your head in your iPad and divorce yourself from reality. Women who would be completely unattainable in person are available at the convenience of a few clicks.

Spike Jonze excels in his studies of characters that fall back in the crowd and Her is perhaps his finest entry to date. Romantic comedies are largely considered a dead genre, but Her is proof that when a romantic comedy is done well, it can be one of the finest experiences moviegoers can have in a theatre.

Retirement is rapping at Alfred Hitchcock's (Anthony Hopkins) door and he is becoming acutely aware of it. North by Northwest has done smashingly well, yet Hitch is unsatisfied. Critics have him down to a T, he will never make another film as good as Lifeboat or The 39 Steps, they say. Maybe he should just call it quits.
Inspiration soon strikes him in the form of Ed Gein, the notorious killer from Wisconsin, whose exploits have turned into a scandalous new novel. The likes of which Hitch thinks he can make a great horror film with. The problem with that is Hitch is trying to make that film in 1960s America. Moral codes and overly cranky members of ratings board are going to make it nearly impossible for the infamous shower scene to be made. With Paramount also holding that tidy bit of information, it will be difficult for the Mr. Hitchcock to get the picture off the ground.
Still, Hitch has his wife Alma (the always wonderful Helen Mirren) in his corner. That is until he puts th…

For all of the questions of whether or not Anthony Hopkins or Scarlett Johnannson would look like Hitch and Janet Leigh, the newly released trailer seems to quell those complaints. Fox Searchlight may have a winner on their hands come awards season.

There’s always something worth watching in a character, whom in his means of turning to good only succeeds in making things far worse than ever imagined. Like The Dark Knight and Spider-man 2 the plight of Iron Man 2 is escalation. In the six months following the aftermath of Tony Stark's (Robert Downey Jr.) revelation that he is Iron Man, there is an unprecedented peace across the planet. With a nuclear deterrent ready to go at a minute's notice the Stark legacy may finally be remembered for peace and, with the resurrection of Stark Expo, a better planet.
Legacy is an important part of any man's life in Tony's case - as a former arms dealer - it is especially important. Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke) provides an unique take on a villain that is essentially a mirror of Tony. Both men had fathers who were pioneers of science, unfortunately, only Tony used his gift for good. Sons have always been burdened with the task of becoming more than their fathers, when you're fa…

There are those airplane conversations with a stranger in which you reveal far more about yourself than you ever could to someone you know. For Bob Harris (Bill Murray) and Charlotte (Scarlett Johannson) it's simply because you're in a space with someone who speaks the same language.
Charlotte's husband (Giovanni Ribisi) is a photographer who in his short time in Tokyo has adapted it as his home and tells Charlotte that she wouldn't have any fun going around with him anyway - more likely is that he is infatuated with the attention he receives from starlet Kelly (Anna Faris). Bob is an actor whose career has relegated him to doing caricatures of Roger Moore for whiskey ads. Murray doesn't go for broke in playing Bob rather being wryly sardonic than play for the guttural laugh. It took a lot of restraint for Murray to play Bob Harris and he was handsomely rewarded with a nomination for Best Actor for it. 
This year's Best Actor race reminds me quite a bit of th…