I’ve gotten rid of the links that were on the side of this blog and updated them with new ones.  There may be more to come.

This is yet another update which there is nothing to declare to the world.  Perhaps my life will become more interesting in the near future.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Production Company: Marvel Studios
Director: Joe Johnston
Screenwriters: Christopher Markus, Stephen McFeely

On Saturday, July 23, 2011 I went to see Captain America: The First Avenger.  I went in, expecting a solid, if flawed story of a “perfect” character who battles evil bad guys.  What I experienced, was a film that called to the classic good vs. evil struggle, while retaining a modern style and remaining a “comic book movie.”

The story is a familiar, but classic tale.  Steve Rogers (played by Chris Evans) is a patriotic, courageous young man who makes repeated attempts to enlist in the United States Army, but is physically unfit to serve due to his thin frame and poor health.  When he attends an exposition (a stand-in for the World’s Fair) with a friend, Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Rogers catches the eye of Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci).  Rogers is enlisted in an experimental super-soldier program, which has the potential to enhance his physical and mental abilities.  He emerges from the program a changed man physically, but circumstances force him to serve his country in a way he never envisioned, as Captain America.  He evolves from a mere symbol of America’s war efforts to eventually combating the forces of HYDRA, an offshoot of the Nazi regime which has taken an ambitious plan of its own.  Along the way, he developes new relationships with allies such as Colonel Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper), testing the waters of romance with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), and confronting the head of HYDRA itself, Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving).

Even though this story is very grounded in the nostalgia for yesteryear, what makes Captain America refreshing is that Steve Rogers, unlike many superheroes as of late, is a generally good, well-rounded person.  He is not flawless, though, and it is interesting to see his heroic impulses and naive nature cause trouble while still remaining a smart, capable, young man.  This is in large part to Evans.  He gives Captain America a vulnerability that cannot be given by stage directions and dialogue alone.  The action is very clearly shown, and at no point did I lose track of what was happening on screen.

The special effects used to create the illusion of a thin Rogers are near-flawless, and helps elevate the film to a higher level.  Unlike traditional superhero experiences, where the costume is the embodiment of one’s inner identity, in the case of Captain America, it’s the physical change itself that brings forth the hero within.  Instead it’s the adversary who wears a mask, if only to discard it during the course of the movie.  Despite the movie being steeped in standard storytelling mechanisms, this inversion reinforces that it is what is on the inside that determines one’s destiny.  Captain America is a superhero without a “secret identity” and he wears his heart on his sleeve

There are some minor flaws in this film which render it less than perfect.  Also, the body count is somewhat high for rank-and-file henchmen in comparison with most super hero films, calling back to the films of yesteryear.  The 3D is used to display depth and there is only one instance in the film where it is used to make the audience jump, but this restraint is appreciated and holds the film to a nostalgic 1940′s feel.

Despite this, Captain America: The First Avenger is delightful experience.  If you have seen other superhero films such as Iron Man and Thor, the tie-ins abound, but this film works very well as a piece on its own.

This is merely just a test post to make sure everything is working properly with my blog.

That I wrote the boring sentence above causes me to ask myself, “Why do I have a blog again?”

Summer is here and life continues its long march to eternity.

It turns out that my allergies have not been abated due to the rainy spring, but merely delayed   My sneezing has only grown more frequent in this early part of May.

This past April had to be one of the most rainy months I’ve endured as an adult, but in spite of the rain, hail, and cold, there is a silver lining.  The itching in my ears and nose which heralds spring has been far milder than in years past.  This could change, though, given that the rain merely delayed and dampened the emergence of pollen.  A single sunny day last week was enough to turn buds into full-blown leaves, and grasses have grown with the abundant rain.  At least winter is behind us for the next few months.  Spring is the warm-up act to summer.  I hope I can enjoy the warmth.

After numerous weeks of not updating, I decided to cave in and upgrade WordPress.

I do have news to report.  I met Sam Witwer at the Pittsburgh Comicon by this past weekend, and by “met,” I mean I became utterly starstruck by his polite, yet friendly and genuine consideration.  I lost much of my composure even though I regretfully had never viewed or heard of any of his performances.  In spite of my poor behavior, he was both professional and charismatic while remaining down-to-earth.  That he was willing to donate a few minutes of his time to me a person, not a fan made the encounter easily the most engaging experience I had that day.  I was not a Sam Witwer fan before, but now, I think I may be a Sam Witwer fan for life.  I will buy the US version of Being Human DVD when it comes out.

That being said, it was not the only positive experience I had that day.  I purchased a couple of books of comics from Chris Flick, the creator of the webcomic Capes & Babes.  He was very grateful for my purchase and pleasant, and he also gave me an creative and well-drawn poster that I’ve hung up at my office.

My father purchased a few prints of artwork from his favorite artist, Darrell O’Riley of Hotinks [NSFW]. I admit that some of these images probably shouldn’t be viewed at work if you value your employment, but there are also very clever, tamer pieces of art than can be viewed (and bought) as well.

I have learned my lesson. If I am going to update the Akismet plug-in, I must do so from the Akismet Web site itself. Otherwise, I will get errors that generate the following code:

[function.include-once]: failed to open stream:

It’s simple. Download the package from the Web site, then upload it.

2011 is three days old, and once more there is not much which I would like to write about. There have been changes in my life, some for the better, and some for the worse, but very few of these events are noteworthy or for a public audience. Perhaps that will change in 2011. May this new year be very, very happy.