Hamlette's Soliloquy: Wolverine

Showing posts with label Wolverine. Show all posts

Thursday, September 12, 2024

Double the Summer Sunshine Awards

Both Taking Up Room and Nitrate Glow have nominated me for a Sunshine Award! Thank you, lovely movie mavens! I'm going to answer ALL their questions in this post :-D ::flexes fingers::

Zee usual Sunshine Award Rules:

Display the award’s official logo somewhere on your blog
Thank the person who nominated you
Provide a link to your nominator’s blog
Answer your nominator’s questions
Nominate up to 11 bloggers
Ask your nominees 11 questions
Notify your nominees by commenting on at least one of their blog posts

Here are my answers to Taking Up Room's questions:

1. Which movie of 2024 has been your favorite so far? Your least favorite?

If we're saying strictly movies released in 2024, my favorite has definitely been Horizon: An American Saga, Chapter One (2024), and my least-favorite has been The Ministry for Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024), and that is entirely misleading and horrible to say, because I enjoyed Ungentlemanly Warfare enough to buy a DVD copy for my shelves -- but those are the ONLY new movies made in 2024 I have seen this year. It has been a sucky year for movies, yo. There have been a few others I wouldn't mind seeing at some point, but I didn't want to see them enough to get me in the theater.

Now, if you want me to pick from all the movies I have watched for the first time in 2024, that's more interesting. Then my favorite is probably The Train (1964), which is spellbinding, and my least-favorite has absolutely been Sherlock Holmes and the Leading Lady (1991), which was so abysmal I couldn't even finish it, not even for Christopher Lee's sake.

2. Do you like superhero movies or are you over them?

I love them. I'm so excited that my kids are getting old enough to really dig them! But, at the same time, I am no longer watching the new MCU movies and shows because the first couple that came after Avengers: Endgame (2019) soured me deeply on where they were taking the franchise, so I am simply choosing to end the MCU there in my headcanon.

3. You have the chance to visit any movie studio or any movie production at the height of the studio era. Which studio or movie do you pick and why?

I pick the production of The Blue Dahlia (1946) because it gives me the best shot at meeting both my favorite author, Raymond Chandler, and my dearly beloved Alan Ladd. Plus his best friend, William Bendix

4. What do you like best about your favorite film genre?

I love westerns because they make me happy. I simply can't be uncheered by a cowboy!

5. Who are your favorite film critics?

My blogging friends. I pay basically no attention to "real" movie critics. If they agree with me, it doesn't change anything, and if I disagree with them, I often get mad at their wrongness, and who needs more anger in their life? Not me.

6. Are there any movies you regret reviewing?

Ugh, yes. I made a list nineteen years ago of my bottom 10 movies, and I really wish I could go back in time and stop myself from watching them.

7. Have you ever changed your opinion of a movie and if so, which movie was it?

Goodness, yes! Many times. Especially as I gradually revisit movies I disliked when I was a teen. 3:10 to Yuma (1957), Hour of the Gun (1967), and The Proud Rebel (1958) are all movies I disliked or found boring as a teen, but dearly love now.

8. What are some of the other things you like doing besides blogging?

I homeschool my kids, I read a lot of books, I write and publish books, I teach literature, I grow flowers and bake yummy snacks and take pretty pictures of books for Bookstagram. I crochet. I write a monthly newspaper column on Old West history.

9. Are there any movies that you think might make good video games? If you have any interest in video games, that is.

I do enjoy video games now and then, particularly if they are movie-related. I get a big kick out of the Lego Hobbit game, for instance. It would be really fun to have a sort of film noir mash-up game where you get to choose what classic noir detective you want to be, and then you go around solving cases inspired by noir films.

10. If you could write about any celeb or other film-related topic, what or who do you write about?

You mean, if I could write, like, a newspaper column on movies? I could write about western movies and shows for months/years. Or, if you mean, who or what could I write a nonfiction, film-related book about, again, westerns! Maybe Alan Ladd's westerns, specifically. Or Hamlet adaptations. I keep watching more of those, and I could totally write a book reviewing a few dozen of them. Which doesn't sound like a bad idea for a book, actually...

11. Who do you most enjoy seeing movies with?

I enjoy watching movies with people who are ready to enjoy them. If I'm in a theater, give me a crowd that is going to laugh aloud at funny things, maybe clap at something awesome. If I'm at home, give me companions who are NOT going to talk over the dialog all the time, but who are ready to laugh and maybe clap, maybe gasp, maybe quick share a "that's so cool!" kind of reaction.

Here are my answers to Nitrate Glow's questions:

1. What is the best theatrical experience you have ever had?

When I was fifteen, we went to see Apollo 13 (1995) in the theater. At the end, when the big, happy, wonderful reveal happens, the stoic Iowa farmers in that theater around us stood up and clapped. I get tears in my eyes just remembering it.

2. Any opinions on the future of movie theaters?

I think theaters that are showing classic films alongside new ones will stay strong. Theaters that only show new releases are going to struggle. This is entirely based on my personal experience, in that I have gone to see two new releases this year, but by the end of this month, I'll have been to 9 re-releases of older films.

3. Is there a universally despised movie you think isn’t so bad?

Well, The Lone Ranger (2013) is in my top five for all-time favorites...

4. Name a movie you enjoy from a genre you don’t usually like.

I don't watch horror much at all, but I really like Dracula Untold (2014). They put a very unique spin on his origins that I very much dig, as a writer. Also, Luke Evans. ::insert heart-eyes emoji here::

5. What do you think your best post to date is?

I've been blogging for 22 years. One best post? Ouch. Hmm.

Here are three I'm very proud of:

6. What is your favorite film from 1939?

Destry Rides Again. So quotable!

7. What are some classic film related books you would recommend?

I really loved Sixguns and Society: A Structural Study of the Western by Will Wright. Film Noir: Light and Shadow by Alain Silver and James Ursini is a delight. I learned a lot from We'll Always Have Casablanca by Noah Isenberg.

8. What movie has the best cinematography you’ve ever seen?

Well, this is tricky, because what does "best" mean? Most-sweeping visuals? Best composition? Most striking use of color? Gotta say, the best one I have seen in a long time is Midway (2019) -- they don't waste anything in their frames, and their shots showing what it was like to actually be in a dive bomber, diving on an enemy ship -- they're spectacular.

9. Name an underrated filmmaker/performer/creative in the industry you always champion.

Have you heard me natter on for pages on end about Alan Ladd and how under-loved he is these days, how really good he was in serious roles even though the critics usually dismissed him as just a tough guy, how sweet and kind he was as a person? If not, you must have not been reading my blog much for the past eight years...

10. Favorite movie soundtrack?

I love a lot of soundtracks, so I'm just gonna go with Bruce Rowland's score for The Man from Snowy River (1982) because that's my favorite movie. And the soundtrack is the first CD I ever bought. And all three of my kids were born while that soundtrack was playing in the birthing room.

11. What movie are you itching to write about but haven’t yet?

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves (2023) -- but I'll be reviewing it this weekend for the Barbarians at the Gate blogathon I'm co-hosting!

And now, the nominees are...

Nobody. I just got nominated with a third Sunshine Blogger Award a couple days ago, so I'm going to save my tagging for when I answer that one...

Tuesday, July 11, 2023

When Everything Old is New Again: "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014)

I love X-men: Days of Future Past (2014), and a huge part of why I love it is how it handles time travel. I’ve long liked the idea of time travel, especially how it can lead to awesome character development as people deal with the differences between what might have been and what now is, depending on how their actions change things.

Days of Future Past begins in a dystopian near-future where mutants have been hunted almost to extinction. Only a few have survived, including Professor X, Magneto, Wolverine, and Kitty Pryde. Kitty’s powers used to be walking through walls, but they’ve expanded to being able to send a person’s consciousness through the walls of time into their past body, which comes in handy for warning their past selves about future ambushes from the giant robots called Sentinels that have been wiping out the mutants.

Professor X and Magneto decide the best plan to save what remains of mutantkind is to have Kitty send someone to the 1970s to keep the Sentinels from ever being created. Initially, Professor X wants to go himself, but Kitty says a person’s mind can only stretch back for a few weeks—any more and it would break.

Logically, then, the only one who can get sent back as far as the 1970s would be someone whose mind and body can heal as fast as they’re broken, namely Wolverine. Which, from a filmmaking standpoint, is also logical, since Wolvie doesn’t really age, so having Hugh Jackman play him in the 1970s and the near future works without major makeup or digital effects to age or de-age him. A little grey hair at the temples for Near-Future Wolvie, and none for Past Wolvie, and we’re good to go.

Once Wolverine’s consciousness goes back to the 1970s, the real fun begins. Because he didn’t get his adamantium skeleton and claws until the 1980s, he has just his bone claws, which surprises him and leads to one of the funniest moments ever to involve a metal detector. The movies have always depicted him wearing ’70s flavored clothes, especially those awful paisley shirts, so for once, he really fits in well. Also, this allows him to meet up with younger Professor X, Magneto, and Mystique, and thus bridge the past and future versions of these characters neatly, passing the torch much more effectively than in X-Men: First Class.

But the fun 1970s shenanigans, the epic prison break scene involving Quicksilver, and the meeting of the minds between future and past Professor X aren’t why I love this movie, though they add to the wonderfulness. No, this is my favorite X-Men movie, not to mention my favorite use of time travel, because of how it ends. I’m going to spoil that here, so don’t read the next two paragraphs if you haven’t seen this, but want to, and don’t desire major spoilization.

I love the ending because it effectively wipes out the biggest reason Wolverine has to be filled with heartache and remorse: the death of Jean Grey at the end of X3: X-Men’s Last Stand. Wolvie’s actions in the past create a new future, one much happier than the one he was living in at the beginning of the movie, and not just because the Sentinels are no longer an issue.

At the end of this movie, Wolverine wakes up back in Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, which we all know shouldn’t still be standing, much less in such lovely condition. He walks out into the hallways and sees characters who had either died or left the mutant family, and we begin to hope, just like you can see he does, that maybe others who died might also have been spared in this new timeline. And then, there she is —a woman with bright red hair, standing with her back to Wolverine and to us. Wolverine’s eyes widen with the realization that he has fixed so much more than he’d expected to as the woman turns around and reveals she is indeed Jean Grey. My heart nearly burst with joy for Wolverine the first time I saw it, because my heart has ached for him for so long, for the burden of grief he’s borne over having to save the world by killing the woman he loved… and now, that never actually happened. Oh joy, oh rapture unforeseen!

Yes indeed, I like the idea of time travel. I even like it when it means that character development from old stories gets negated by new ones. There’s always room for more in the future, after all.

(This post originally appeared in the May/June 2015 issue of Femnista magazine.)

Tuesday, January 17, 2023

The "Flaming Hot... Five Reasons Why" Tag

Sally Silverscreen of 18 Cinema Lane tagged me with the "Flaming Hot.... Five Reasons Why" tag. Thanks, Sally! You know I do enjoy blog tags :-D

The Rules:

You must add the name of the blog that tagged you AND those of the Thoughts All Sorts and Realweegiemidget Reviews with links to ALL these sites.. and use the natty cat themed picture promoting this post. This picture is found later in this post…
List 5 of your all-time swoon-worthy characters from TV or Film, i.e. crushes/objects of your affection. And do mention the actor or actress who plays them, as you might like James Bond as played by Timothy Dalton and no one else, etc., etc.
Add 5 reasons why you love them, in five sentences.
Link to 5 other bloggers.
Add lovely pictures, gifs or videos of those you selected.
Oh…and post these rules.

Sooooo, I'm going to list these guys in the order in which they arrived in my life. I'll try to keep my gushing to the required 5 sentences ;-)

Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow) on Combat! (1962-67)

My beloved Saunders is devastatingly attractive, but in an unconventional way.

A lot of the time, he just looks like a kind of scruffy nobody, especially in still photos (except these, which really do capture his gorgeousness). But when you see him in action, he's mesmerizing.

I think it's the intensity. He's burning so brightly inside that you can't look away, and that inner fire is... unavoidably attractive.

Wolverine/Logan (Hugh Jackman) in the X-men movies

My darling Wolvie is the best there is at what he does, and what he does isn't very nice. Except when what he does is very, very nice indeed, and then I fall in love with him even farther.

It's that juxtaposition of feral and tender that makes him so fascinating to me.

Doesn't hurt that Hugh Jackman is unrelentingly handsome, of course. But I loved Wolvie in the comic books before the movies even came out, so Hugh's deliciousness is just a sort of bonus, not what makes me swoon over the character.

Angel (David Boreanaz) on Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004)

Is it the pensive face?

The never-ending shoulders?

The classic tall-dark-and-handsome good looks? Those all help a lot, for sure, but once again, it's who Angel IS that weakens my knees. Even if he wasn't played by the achingly gorgeous David Boreanaz, this vampire with a soul who champions the hopeless would still entrance me.

James "Sawyer" Ford (Josh Holloway) on Lost (2004-2010)

Sawyer is the one guy here that I didn't WANT to love. He starts off the show as a complete loser, and I was convinced I could never like him for approximately two whole episodes... and then, the layers appeared.

Sawyer is more than just a handsome face, scruffy beard, long hair, and delicious Southern accent (and it's real, not fake, nom nom nom). He also reads constantly, is completely devoted to refusing to let anyone ever like him at all, and has an anti-hero complex just begging to be disputed.

And he has dimples -- what more can I say?

Shane (Alan Ladd) in Shane (1953)

One of the things I like best about Alan Ladd's portrayal of Shane is how still and quiet he is.

He never wastes anything: not movement, not words, not a thing. But that means that every glance and smile and line of dialog counts extra.

And Ladd's eloquent eyes, shy smiles, assured movements, and quiet words all combine gloriously in one unforgettable performance. Handsome, magnetic, charismatic, mesmerizing -- no description does him justice in this film.

Well, there you have my five! I'm supposed to tag five bloggers, so I hereby tag:

Chloe the Movie Critic at Movies Meet Their Match

Katie at I'm Charles Baker Harris (And I Can Read)

Phyl at Phyllis Loves Classic Movies

Rebecca at Taking Up Room

Skye at Ink Castles

Play if you want to!

Tuesday, May 10, 2022

The Fandom Favorites Tag

Eva at The Caffeinated Fangirl has created a new tag AND tagged me with it! Which is perfect timing, because I was just hunting through my post drafts to see if I had any unfinished tags to share, and I didn't... but now that doesn't matter, because I have this one to fill out and share :-)

The rules for this are simple:

Compile a list of up to ten of your favorite fandoms. Books, movies, TV shows—you name it!
Tell us about your favorite character in each of those fandoms, along with an explanation of why that character is your favorite. (Your reasoning can be however long or short you’d like it to be.)
Tag however many (or few) friends you’d like to participate.
Feel free to use the tag graphic I created (but you don’t have to).
That’s it. Short and sweet!

This is just the perfect sort of open-ended tag, isn't it?

Okay, so... let's dive into my favorite fandoms, shall we? I've narrowed down my picks to eleven, though that was really hard because I am in and love a LOT of fandoms. But these are all things where I interact with other fans based on our mutual fan-ness, as opposed to being shows/movies/series/authors that I simply am a big fan of. It's the only way I could think of to whittle my list down. (I know the tag says to do ten, but I could not leave any of these off the list and still be happy with myself. Sorry, not sorry.)

I decided to talk about them in alphabetical order by fandom because putting them in order of how much I love them would be kind of emotionally hard, and I don't have the energy today. Now you know.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) and Angel (1999-2004)

favorite character: Angel (David Boreanaz)

I love Angel because he has chosen to focus the rest of his existence on helping others. Yes, he feels he needs to atone for several lifetimes of hurting, maiming, and terrorizing as a soulless vampire, but that's not really what drives him. He has a genuine love for helping the hopeless. And, since the two things I absolutely require in a character to like them, much less love them, are helpfulness and kindness, well, it's not surprising I love Angel. (Doesn't hurt that David Boreanaz is the handsomest man I have ever seen, of course.)

Combat! (1962-67)

favorite character: Sergeant Saunders (Vic Morrow)

In fact, Sergeant Saunders is my absolute favorite character of all time. In any storytelling medium. Ever. He's tops. Why? Because of his unswerving commitment to doing what's right instead of what's easy, his dedication to preserving life and humanity, and his willingness to put himself in the line of fire to protect others. I wrote this whole post a couple years ago on why he's my favorite, so if you want to know more, check that out ;-)

Jane Austen

favorite character: Anne Elliot from Persuasion

Of all the characters in this post, Anne Elliot is the one I identify the most with. She's steady, calm, quiet, reserved, helpful, kind, stubborn in her own soft way, and tends to be shy and retiring around those she doesn't know or those she isn't fond of. I love that she gets a second chance at happiness, but on her own terms.

Leverage (2008-2012)

favorite character: Eliot Spencer (Christian Kane)

Eliot, Eliot, Eliot. He sings, he cooks, he rides horses, he quotes cowboy movies, he punches people really hard, and he will leap into absolutely any dangerous situation in order to protect or rescue a child. In fact, it's probably his protective attitude toward kids that draws me to him the most. Also, he has really good hair.

Fun Fact: Christian Kane also played a regular character on Angel for a few seasons, and he and David Boreanaz are good buddies in real life.

L. M. Montgomery

favorite character: Anne Shirley

I mean, my middle child's middle name is Anne, so that might give you some idea how much I love this girl. Anne Shirley grows up an orphan in a world where orphans are valued a little more than stray animals. Maybe. She is verbally, emotionally, and physically abused by family after family who only take her in so they can have free labor to work in their houses and care for their kids. And yet, Anne does not lose her capacity to love, to wonder, to enjoy the world around her, to learn, to grow. She should be stunted emotionally forever, but her inner resilience never wavers. And, when she finally finds her own family to love and be loved by, she blooms and transforms in the most beautifully ways -- and so do they.

The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien

favorite character: Boromir

Honorable, valiant, trustworthy, loyal, kind, courageous, helpful, protective... I can go on a long time coming up with adjectives to describe Boromir. He's got so much responsibility, carrying around the weight of rescuing his people. And yet, he's always looking out for smaller and weaker people -- in the book in particular, he's always making sure the hobbits are taken care of, watched out for, considered. Is he proud? Yes. Is he human? Yes. Does he make mistakes? Yes. But he doesn't hesitate to admit his mistakes, repent of them, ask for forgiveness, and make what atonement he can. My goodness, I love him. I wrote a post on my book blog about him a few years ago if you want to know more about why I love him so much.

Lost (2004-2010)

favorite character: James "Sawyer" Ford

I think I started to love Sawyer because Sawyer did not love himself. In fact, Sawyer spent a big chunk of Lost insisting that he was unlovable, and trying to prove it to everyone around him. Which only made me grab him harder and hold him closer. His transformation from a sweet, traumatized Southern boy who became his own worst nightmare, then gradually discovered he could become a better man after all -- that's absolutely my favorite thing about Lost.

Sherlock Holmes canon by A. Conan Doyle

favorite character: Sherlock Holmes

Whenever the "book boyfriend" question comes up, I always say mine is Sherlock Holmes. He's just so darned awesome at everything! He solves crimes, he catches bad guys, he plays the violin, he infuriates everyone around him, he has the weirdest habits and hobbies, and he just... fascinates me endlessly. I do like several portrayals of him by actors, especially Jeremy Brett (who is practically perfect in the role) and Benedict Cumberbatch, but it's the Sherlock Holmes in my head that is my favorite, the one I see and hear when I read the Canon.

Star Trek: The Original Series (1966-69)

favorite character: Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner)

Captain Kirk is so many of the things I wanted to be when I was a teen: confident, bold, strong, good-tempered, charming, and did I mention confident? Oh, how I longed for his level of confidence. I still love him now, though not so much because of all the things he is that I'm not, but because I see behind his confidence now, to the guy inside who bears so much responsibility and cares so much for the people he leads. The episodes where he lets his inner worries and fears show a little often become my favorites.

This is the only character on here that I have kind of, sort of met. He's the only one I've been able to personally say "thank you" to someone involving his creation, which is very, very special to me. You can read that story here.

Star Wars

favorite character: Han Solo (Harrison Ford and Alden Ehrenreich)

I've been a Han Solo fan longer than I've been a Harrison Ford fan, if that makes any sense. He's another guy who swaggers around insisting he's a scoundrel, but you know he's actually a super nice guy inside. I love his character arc in the original trilogy, from opportunistic loner to loyal leader. Doesn't hurt that he gets loads and loads of quotable lines, too. I wrote a blog post about why I love Han Solo not long ago, where I expounded on his delightfulness more.

X-Men

favorite character: Wolverine

Yes, I love Hugh Jackman in the role for the movies. But I loved Wolverine for quite a few years before they even started talking about making the first X-Men movie. He made guest appearances in several issues of the Spider-Man Magazine, and I could not get enough of this cigar-chomping, ornery, mean, bossy, lonely sweetheart of a superhero. I do love him in the movies a LOT, but I also love to read the Essential Wolverine comic book compilations (I have the first 5 and need the last 2 yet). He's endlessly wonderful. Because, underneath that extremely unlikable exterior is the kindest and most helpful superhero I have ever found. I even wrote a sonnet about him once.

Things we have learned from this list: Hamlette has a type, and that type is protective warriors. Also, every single person on this list is resilient. They go through sometimes unimaginable and awful things and come through stronger than ever. I'm not sure I ever noticed that second thing before, regarding favorite characters of mine. Interesting!

So, now I get to tag some friends. Hmm. How about Movies Meet Their Match and Phyllis Loves Classic Movies -- and if anyone else wants to do this too, go right ahead!

Monday, September 06, 2021

Movie Music: Michael Kamen's "X-Men" (2000)

Today, class, we'll be listening to music from X-Men (2000), composed by Michael Kamen. Settle down and listen up!

We owe a lot to this movie, don't we? It kicked the popularity of superhero movies into high gear by not trying to turn the story into Serious Drama like the first couple of Batman movies, but also not descending into silliness like the last couple of '90s Batman movies. Instead, it unabashedly presented complex characters who happen to have super powers, giving them a stylish story that does not pretend it's not based on comic books.

This score contains one of the most haunting, achingly beautiful themes of any movie soundtrack I have ever heard. I'm talking about the first two minutes of the final track, "Logan and Rogue."

(This movie is 21 years old, but I'll still say it: Spoiler Alert!) In the movie, of course, this is the point where Wolverine risks his own life to save Rogue by letting her take his healing powers. It's an amazing moment in the film, the culmination of my beloved Wolvie's journey in that first film from selfish loner to self-sacrificing friend, but even if you haven't seen it, I think you'll still feel the emotions here.

My other favorite cue on this soundtrack is "Charles Xavier's Institute" (also sometimes titled "Mutant School") because of the way it conveys cautious optimism. It starts out as a happy, hopeful song, then turns quiet and contemplative, reminding us to enjoy our powers, but to take them seriously too.

That's all for today, friends!

(This review originally appeared here at J and J Productions on June 1, 2015.)

Saturday, August 21, 2021

My Ten Favorite Superhero Movies -- 2021 Update

It's been seven years since I shared my original list of favorite superhero movies. A lot of water, most of it flowing from the MCU, has washed under the bridge since then, and it is high time I updated this list.

As always, this is a list of my favorites, not necessarily what I consider to be the best movies in this genre. These are the ones I pull off my shelves to watch again and again. You'll notice that none of the heavy films are on here, because while I appreciate really serious superhero stories too, they tend not to become my favorites.

1. The Avengers (2012)

Six super-talented people assemble to save the world from Loki's (Tom Hiddleston) desire to show Thor (Chris Hemsworth) he can be cool too. This is everything I want a superhero movie to be.

2. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) travels to the past to save the future. It's got all my beloved X-men in it, sometimes two versions of them, which is unbelievably awesome. Words truly can't describe how deeply I love it.

3. X2: X-Men United (2003)

Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), and their followers join forces to keep William Stryker (Brian Cox) from destroying all mutants. Until I saw The Avengers, I thought this was what a perfect superhero movie looked like. It's still magnificent.

4. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), the Hulk/Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), and new pal Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) work together to get off a wacky planet ruled by Jeff Goldblum (Jeff Goldblum) so they can stop Hela (Cate Blanchett) from taking over the Nine Realms and unleashing murder and mayhem, etc.

5. X-Men (2000)

The X-Men help wandering mutant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) rescue Rogue (Anna Paquin) from Impending Doom. The kick-off for modern superhero movies -- we owe so much to this one!

6. Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Everything sad comes untrue, and then other sad things do happen, but the Avengers find peace for the universe and themselves, and I am so, so, so happy with how this movie wraps everything up that I am considering not moving forward in the MCU timeline. I'm happy where I am, right here.

7. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) squares off against his half-brother Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) and a younger Stryker (Danny Huston this time), and gains his adamantium skeleton in the process. This is the origin story for Wolverine I always wanted and finally got.

8. Captain Marvel (2019)

A woman (Brie Larson) learns the truth about her identity and sets about undoing all manner of injustices she was an unwitting part of. It's remarkably fun and upbeat for having such deep themes.

9. Thor (2011)

Spoiled young god Thor (Chris Hemsworth) is banished to earth, where he meets and falls in love with a lovely scientist (Natalie Portman) and battles to protect earth from his brother Loki (Tom Hiddleston).

10. Iron Man (2008)

Genius-billionaire-playboy-philanthropist Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) escapes from kidnaptivity and hunts down the people who kidnapped him. And builds a really cool flying suit that shoots stuff.

I love SO MANY other superhero movies too, and it feels wrong to leave some of them off here, but my series is Ten Favorites, not Fourteen favorites or Twenty Favorites, so... I'll just have to stop here.

Thursday, June 24, 2021

My Ten Favorite Hugh Jackman Movies

I've been wanting to do lists of my favorite movies starring more of my favorite actors and favorite actresses for a while now, but I kind of kept forgetting about it, too. Well, Eva posted her top 10 favorite Hugh Jackman movies at Coffee, Classics, and Craziness a couple days ago, and that reminded me that I've been wanting to do more "ten favorites" posts revolving around my favorites, so I'm starting that with Hugh Jackman.

Yes, yes, fully half of these are X-Men movies where he's playing Wolverine. This should not surprise anyone, considering that Wolvie is my favorite superhero, and also one of my 5 favorite fictional characters ever, the end, full stop.

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) travels to the past to save the future. My absolute favorite X-Men movie. Words truly can't describe how deeply I love it.

2. X2: X-Men United (2003)

Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), and their followers join forces to keep William Stryker (Brian Cox) from destroying all mutants. Practically perfect in every way.

3. The Greatest Showman (2017)

P.T. Barnum (Hugh Jackman) dreams and schemes his way through life, searching for a way to be important and successful. Also, there's lots of singing and dancing and fun circus stuff.

4. X-Men (2000)

The X-men help wandering mutant Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) rescue Rogue (Anna Paquin) from Impending Doom. And to think that I refused to see this at first because I thought Hugh Jackman was all wrong for Wolverine! What kind of fool am I?

5. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Wolverine squares off against his half-brother Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber) and a younger Stryker (Danny Huston this time), and gains his adamantium skeleton in the process. This is the origin story I've always wanted for him, blending my favorite elements of several backstories for him from the comic books.

6. Australia (2008)

A determined Englishwoman (Nicole Kidman) and a drifting Drover (Hugh Jackman) struggle to save each other and an orphaned Aboriginal child (Brandon Walters) in Australia's Outback during World War Two. This is the only movie that has ever given me cowboys and WWII soldiers in the same story.

7. Someone Like You (2001)

A jilted woman (Ashley Judd) writes an opinion piece that brings her national fame but jeopardizes her almost-relationship with a crass-yet-cuddlesome coworker (Hugh Jackman).

8. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

It's the X-Men versus Magneto's bunch again, with a back-from-the-dead friend turned into a foe. Actually a better movie than X-Men, but I don't love it as much.

9. Les Miserables (2012)

Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) raises his adopted daughter (Amanda Seyfried) while hiding from an obsessed policeman (Russell Crowe) during yet another French revolution. To be honest, I still wish that Crowe had played Valjean and Jackman had played Javert... but I like it this way pretty well too.

10. Oklahoma! (1999)

A cowboy (Hugh Jackman) tries to win the heart of a girl (Josefina Gabrielle) who claims she hates him. Yes, you read that correctly: Hugh Jackman. This is the London stage version, not the famous Hollywood one, but I prefer it because, well, Hugh Jackman! He lends a really interesting edge of danger to Curly that I quite dig.

Monday, September 09, 2019

The Five Songs + Five Characters Tag

Do songs ever remind you of fictional characters? Do fictional characters ever remind you of songs? If so, this tag is for you! If not... read on to see why characters and songs remind me of each other all the time.

Rules:

1. Pick five songs that you relate to fictional characters somehow. They can be characters from books, movies, shows, myths, etc. If you're a writer, they can be your own characters.
2. Share the songs somehow -- embed them in your post or link to them.
3. Explain why those songs connect to those characters for you. Is it lyrics? The melody? What?
4. Tag some friends to play too.

Here are my five! They're in order of how long I've been associating that song with that character.

"With or Without You" performed by U2

reminds me of Angel (David Boreanaz) from Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer

I first heard this song my sophomore year in college, which is also when I got introduced to the shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. The two quickly became connected in my mind.

To be perfectly honest, this reminds me of Angel's stormy relationship with Buffy more than only Angel himself. But that's all tied up in who Angel is now, who he used to be, and who he's becoming. Buffy and Angel both suffered a lot for each other, and at each others' hands. Finally, Angel realized that he feels like he can't live without Buffy, but she will be better off without him, and so he really can't live at her side either. He leaves... but he's still waiting for her too, just from a distance. The waiting is painful, but he's willing to endure it.

"Wish You Were Here" performed by the Rednex

reminds me of Sawyer (Josh Holloway) from Lost

I'd known this song for years and years before I started watching Lost. It's one my husband introduced me to after we got married, and I listened to it a lot while writing my first novel.

It makes me think of Sawyer in a really personal way because when I became a fan of Lost, I got very obsessed with the show, and Sawyer in particular. I would count the minutes until my two little kids would go to sleep every afternoon so I could watch as much Lost as possible before they woke up. Whenever I wasn't watching it, I was thinking about it, especially Sawyer, and I would sing this song in my head, about him. Sawyer liked to project this Southern good-ol'-boy vibe a lot of the time, so the "country man" moniker totally fits him. And, yeah, I missed him when I wasn't watching Lost. And sometimes minutes felt like days when I was waiting for my chance to watch the next episode.

(WARNING: THIS SONG HAS THE WORD "h*ll" IN IT REPEATEDLY.)

"Real Love" performed by the Beatles

reminds me of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in Days of Future Past

The first time I went to see Days of Future Past (2014), this song was on the tape (yes, cassette tape) my husband had in the tape deck of the car I drove to the theater. I listened to it over and over that summer because it instantly reminded me of that movie and how happy I was for Wolverine at the end of it. The chorus of "Don't need to be alone/No need to be alone" in particular made me think of him in that film, but also his overall journey over the course of the X-men movies, from total loner to the glue that holds a team/family together, to the guy willing to die to protect others.

"The Sweetheart Tree" by Bobby Darin

reminds me of Jedediah Jones in Dancing and Doughnuts

The first time I heard this song, it gave me images of a very sweet, gentle romance. It's all about finding the sweetheart you've been waiting for, and it's just a soft, lovely song.

Well, I wrote a book last year called Dancing and Doughnuts about Jedediah Jones, a drifting cowhand just looking for a temporary job. He ends up finding love with a girl who's not necessarily looking for love either. And the imagery of magical trees runs all through that book too, because it's a retelling of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses." As I wrote that book, I listened to so much of Bobby Darin's music that I ended up dedicating the book to his memory, and I realized during revisions that I'd actually written the sweet, gentle romance that this song always makes me imagine.

"Hurt" performed by Johnny Cash

reminds me of Hamlet in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

I actually did a whole post about this last year, so I won't delve deeply into it here. Basically, I was on my way home from seeing the Benedict Cumberbatch version of Hamlet at the theater when I listened to this song, which I have loved ever since Johnny Cash's version was released in the early 2000s, and I was struck by how much the lyrics related to Hamlet. Hamlet spends a lot of time remembering everything and wishing he didn't, trying to figure out if the pain he feels is helpful or something he wants to end, and pondering what he's become.

Time to tag a few friends! I hereby tap the following bloggers on the shoulder to see if they want to play:

DKoren at Sidewalk Crossings

Eva at Coffee, Classics, and Craziness

Heidi at Along the Brandywine

Katie at I'm Charles Baker Harris (And I Can Read)

Play if you want to! And hey, if you're reading this and want to do this tag, but I didn't name you, go ahead and consider yourself tagged!

Friday, February 16, 2018

My Turn with the Superhero Tag

My turn to fill out the tag! My week got suddenly crazy-busy for an assortment of reasons, and I'm only now having a chance to sit down and work through this. But at least I'm not late to my own party, eh?

1. Who are your favorite superheroes? (Go ahead and list up to five if you want!)

#1 Wolverine. I have loved Wolvie for more than 20 years. I even wrote a poem about him once. I'm writing a post about him for Femnista right now -- look for it in the next issue!

#2 Thor. I have loved Thor only for a little over 5 years, but I'm so devoted to him, Cowboy gave me an almost-life-size cardboard cut-out of him for Valentine's Day a few years back. It now guards our foyer proudly.

#3 Captain America. So delightfully honorable, loyal, and stubborn.

#4 Rogue. She's got such an interesting blend of sweet and strong, troubled and helpful.

#5 Spider-man. I love his sarcastic, snarky, scrappy ways. Tom Holland's version is my favorite film iteration, as it most-closely matches the Spidey I know from the comic books I read as a teen.

2. What's your favorite superhero movie?

Definitely The Avengers (2012). Before then, it was X2: X-men United (2003), which I really thought no superhero movie could ever top, but The Avengers is so... perfectly formed, I guess? There's nothing extra, nothing out of place. I can't think of a single scene I would change, there's no casting that feels off, and everything from dialog to music to sets to costumes just sings.

3. Do you have a favorite superhero couple?

Probably Rogue and Iceman. They're very sweet together. I feel like they really get each other and have a good chance of being happy together. They genuinely like each other, it's not just hormones, you know?

4. What was your introduction to the world of superheroes?

I was going to say it was seeing Superman (1978) on VHS as a kid, but actually I think it was this free comic I got as a little kid sometime around 1984. It's part of why I've always been a Spidey fan. I still have it!

5. If you could be any superhero for a day, who would you like to be?

Either Quicksilver or Yo-Yo because I could get a zillion things done in one day. Like clean my entire house instead of just part of one room, plus catch up on some reading and finish some craft projects....

6. Do you have a favorite supervillain?

Yeah, Magneto. He's got such a deliciously tragic backstory. Plus, sometimes he's helpful.

(Though sometimes I love Loki. I love him in Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and am varying degrees of irritated by him in the other films.)

7. Can you think of a superhero who should get their own solo film, but hasn't yet?

Black Widow probably has a strong enough character she could hold one up on her own. More than that, though, I'd like to see Jubilee FINALLY actually do something interesting in an X-Men movie. She was one of my fave superheroes back in the '90s, and even though she kinda-sorta showed up in X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), she didn't do much and most people didn't even realize who she was.

8. Do you read comic books?

I do! Graphic novels too. Not all the time, but I own volumes 1-5 of the Essential Wolverine collections, and also I think 3 volumes of the Essential Captain America collections. But my 10-year-old has kidnapped the Cap books and keeps them in his room, and I haven't actually read more than the first volume.

9. Why do you like superheroes?

Because they give us so many interesting metaphors for our problems. And because they can do things I can't.

10. Have you ever cosplayed as a superhero? Feel free to share pics if you want!

Not exactly, unless you count Zorro? I went as Zorro for Halloween when I was like 8. But I did get inspired by Black Widow to dye my hair red a few years ago, does that count?

One more post coming up from me tomorrow! I'll be seeing Black Panther bright and early tomorrow morning and then posting my initial-thoughts review of it sometime tomorrow afternoon. I'll also be posting the answers to the games tomorrow. But not the winners of the giveaway -- that's open through the end of Saturday, and I'll chose and announce the winners on Sunday. So if you haven't entered it yet, go do so!!!

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