Well… that certainly is a thing.

So, what exactly does a “heroic men’s frangrance” smell like? Shall we take a  gander at the product tags? Yes, let’s… because apparently each perfume is “painstakingly created to invoke affinity for its character.”

Mark VII Armor Up Cologne: A resolutely sophisticated cologne forged from the elements and a touch of devil-may-care whimsy. Smell just like Tony Stark!

SMASH! Be Angry Cologne: Rare materials create a cologne evoking both timeless freedom and a single-minded passion for life. Smell just like Bruce Banner!

Worthy Possess the Power Cologne: Sensual. seductive dark amber and cedar wood protect and enhance a deep, almost God-like musk. Smell just like Thor!

Patriot Your Attack Plan Cologne: Paying homage to the confident, stand-up-to-bullies, hard-working average Joe in every man. Smell just Steve Rogers!

I did not make any of that up. That’s the actual product description on the website. I love whoever writes the taglines for perfumes. Genuinely. Without them, this blog wouldn’t have half as much content as it does. I mean, they actually used the phrase “deep, almost God-like musk” to talk about a perfume that’s supposed to smell like Thor. I couldn’t make this stuff up.

Anyway, what interests me most about product is the fact that they claim to “smell just like” whichever character they’re talking about. Honestly though, I don’t know if the first thing that comes to mind when I think of “stuff the Hulk would smell like” is “timeless freedom.” In fact, I’m not sure if I know what “timeless freedom” is, let alone what it smells like. Does freedom have a smell? As such, I have revamped the character-based cologne to be a little more accurate.

Money Charmingly Smug Cologne: Perhaps unsurprisingly, the cologne based on Iron Man smells a little bit like a the inside of the metal shop class that your school made you take – tangy and a bit like rust. But becuase it’s based on Iron Man and not just iron, you more subtle after-notes of alcoholism in the form of expensive whiskey fumes. Smell just like Tony Stark (and his drinking problem)!

SMASH! Emotional Instablity Cologne: It’s hard work being an over-sized, emotionally unstable, slightly radioactive green guy, and as such, the Hulk cologne smells predominantly like sweat with competing scents of brick dust from all the buildings Hulk has inadvertently smashed. In tribute to Bruce Banner and his science-y ways, there has been also a subtle after-smell of disinfectant. Smell just like the Hulk!

Hammer Time Luscious Flowing Golden God Hair Cologne: Given that Thor is a God from another dimension, we couldn’t really make his perfume smell like all the things that Thor actually smells like on a day -to-day basis. However, upon arriving in our dimension, Thor did quickly discover the wide range of hair care products needed to keep his golden God-locks in check. Thor’s cologne is a heady mix of floral shampoo and conditioner scents. Smell just like Thor (and also like Chris Hemsworth, because that isn’t a wig, so I assume he mostly just smells like the hair care aisle at a supermarket)!

‘MURICA! Patriotism n’ Eagles n’ Shit Cologne:  Last but not least, we have The Cap. Naturally Captain America smells exactly like what America should smell like: a giddy mix of hotdogs, bald eagle feathers and the inside of a baseball glove. It’s the perfect cologne for the patriot you know you are. Smell exactly like Steve Rogers!

What do you think? Sound a little more true to character? I like the fact that they neglected to include Hawkeye and the Black Widow as part of their team, but since those two are basically just shiny assassains they’d probably smell like blood and the tears of the doomed. Nobody wants that, really. If you’re interested and didn’t click the link before, the box set of four retails for $59.99 and is apparently perfect for father’s day or graduation gifts. They also have a range of Star Trek themed colognes, one of which features George Takei’s face. Awesome.

So we were browsing online and came across this creative fashion blend for girls to display their love for their favorite superhero character.

We are excited to see what other looks we can find, so there you have it. We do have a feeling that judging from how much bashing Loki got from the hulk, no one would like his outfit  ..xo… By the way, our favorite looks will be that of  Thor and Iron man…I’m sure you all know why x_x

Hahahahaha! Just occurred to us that we have/had super heroes in Naija as well, people like Fela, Dim Odumegwu Chukwuemeka Ojukwu “THE IKEMBA” – GBURU GBURU ONE , Isaac Adaka-Boro, King Jaja of Opobo, Usman Dan Fodio, Queen Amina of Zaria and many more. Please add your comments with names of Nigerians who you believe are or were superheroes.

First off, I’m delighted that Joss Whedon has signed on for Avengers II, I think he’s by far and away the best man for the job, and the magic he worked with Avengers Assemble proves that he is right up there with the best of the best, especially when it comes to nerdy, comic book, sci-fi type… stuff. He works absolute wonders with huge casts- now, Avengers Assemble (AA) was a pretty decent sized cast with a lot of main characters needing their stories told, and vying for the attention of the audience. I’d be incredibly disappointed if there were no additions to the current Avengers team, as the size of the Marvel universe is just huge, with so much unlocked potential and great characters which at the moment remain relatively unknown. Therefore, we can only imagine an even bigger cast and who better than Whedon to get them to gel and work together to create a genuinely believable group of characters? Even if, in some remote galaxy, I were to have 100% control over any film, Whedon would for definite be the man I would want by my side.

Next big thing is the title. It needs to really sell the film, and Avengers II is just dull, predictable and downright boring. Coming up soon we have Captain America: The Winter Soldier which I think is an awesome title. Not only does it give the audience a huge clue as to what storyline will be told (it practically just tells them, let’s be honest now) but for those unfamiliar with the comic book stories, it’s intriguing enough to make them come back to watch another bout of Steve Rodgers.

Whereas we then have Thor II: The Dark World. Now, although this follows relatively the same theme, to me, it just lacks imagination. It seems a bit boring in contrast to The Winter Soldier, and that might just be me personally, but I feel as though, it sounds a bit too vague, and it doesn’t roll off the tongue as easily as TWS does. Because TWS just sounds cool, it really does, and The Dark World sounds a bit too much like it’s trying to be edgy and, well, dark. I haven’t even begun to contemplate a future title for the Avengers sequel, but I just hope it’s something eye-catching and original, or at least, something based on either the villain or the storyline.

Now on to new additions to the Avengers, I feel that there ought to be two or three new characters, and obviously, these should get their own feature films before 2015 to introduce the audience to them and their origins, basically. Nobody wants to go into a huge blockbuster film with a massive cast to be introduced to three completely new characters, because by the time they’ve been properly introduced, the audience have lost interest, lost valuable time from the storyline and action, and even then still won’t get to know them or care about them as much as them having a feature length film all to themselves.

Word on the grapevine is that two new MCU (Marvel Cinematic Universe) films are in production before Avengers II comes out, and it’s been confirmed that one of these is Ant Man, the tale of the genius scientist Hank Pym, inventor of the Pym particles which causes his character to grow or shrink to the size of, obviously, an ant. He also wears a helmet which allows him to control insects during battle, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this bit was cut from the film and the Avengers sequel because it just sounds a bit too far-fetched, and, with the exception of perhaps Thor (who luckily, had a feature length film which did superbly in which he was properly introduced) all of the superheroes who make up the Avengers at the minute manage to remain the right side of unbelievable.

I have mixed feelings about an Ant Man movie. I’ll hold my hands up and say that out of all the Avengers and perhaps all the Marvel characters, Ant Man (AM) is the one I know least about, and care least about, so the film could be huge, or shit. There’s a part of me that thinks a film titled Ant Man just sounds a bit too ludicrous, a bit too weird, even for Marvel. It just sounds kind of boring, and almost childish. To me, it sounds like a film for kids, not a film about a genuine, arse kicking, cool superhero who could then flawlessly join onto the third most successful film of all time. Would Hank Pym bring anything to the franchise?

First off, he is a genius. That’s probably his biggest plus, he really is mentally insanely sharp, far more intelligent than Bruce Banner and Tony Stark. But in Banner and Stark, AA had arguably their two most well received characters. They were clever, but humorous. Their scenes together worked well and they had a bit of banter going on, which showed they were human, and quite funny. AM could come in and join in with that, but I have a sneaky feeling that next to Banner and Stark he’s just going to look like a dork. Marvel could really throw a spanner in the works and bring out an ingenius AM film which really bulks up his character. But Pym is essentially a guy struggling with his role as both a husband, and a superhero. Banner already takes that slot on the team; only towards the end of AA do we see him relish his role as Hulk.

So to summarise my thoughts on Hank Pym, he’s going to come into the Avengers line up, and stood next to Tony Stark and Bruce Banner, he’s going to look like a moody, hormonal, nerd. And I mean a bad nerd, not a cool, Marvel nerd. Like me.

The next big thing is the Wasp, also known as Ant Man’s wife, also known as Janet van Dyne. I actually think Marvel has perhaps been quite clever in choosing to release AM, even though I personally think it’ll suck. This is because they can introduce Janet in the full film, meaning instead of just two, they can have three new superheroes joining the Avengers, without having to fund three separate films, and this could be actually work out quite well for them, if AM is successful.

My problem with Janet van Dyne is will she be treated as a genuinely strong, standalone female superhero, an actual member of the Avengers, or will she be seen by the audience as Ant Man’s wife? Given Whedon’s track record with strong female characters, you kind of have to hope it’ll be the first, although it would probably all depend on how she’s received in AM itself. Also I think the issue with having a husband and wife on the team is you never know if the producers and directors are going to try to include rom-com type moments. Luckily with Whedon on board, it seems very unlikely, but if they did, it would basically just ruin the film. Without meaning to sound like a weirdo, I think The Incredibles actually handled a husband/wife relationship within a superhero team really, really well, and something similar would work wonders here. The Fantastic Four films should be the handbook here on what not to do when including family in a film.

Finally I don’t know if the Wasp is the best female superhero Whedon could recruit. I personally am a huge fan of The Scarlett Witch and her twin brother, Quicksilver, AKA Magneto’s children. But the problem there is while Sony still own the rights to X-Men, they are never going to feature in an X-Men film, therefore having them in the Avengers would just be absurd. They would either have to be standalone characters without their backstory, or would have to be reintroduced as Magneto’s children in a later film if the rights were ever given back to Marvel Studios, and then it would just look stupid not to have mentioned it before. Also, I saw a good point raised on a recent article about how believable the characters are (as I mentioned earlier, for example, about AM being able to control insects) and mutation is just perhaps a step too far into the realms of disbelief for the Avengers that Whedon has shaped. Another option could be Ms Marvel, but again a separate film would really be needed to explain how she went from human to superhero, Captain Marvel would need to be introduced, and again, perhaps her powers just aren’t realistic enough.

Moving swiftly away from female characters (because I think X-Men characters aside, none of them are strong enough for the solo film which would be needed- I say just keep the Black Widow and carry on making her more badass, which means keep her away from Hawkeye) to the other member of the Avengers they could introduce.

To me, there are two equally promising options here. First, Doctor Strange, who I feel would work very, very well, especially with Iron Man III revolving around The Mandarin, suggesting it may be located mainly in the Orient- ideal for introducing Dr. Strange. He’s a character who even on his own is interesting enough to attract viewers, and he brings a kind of mental power to the group which is lacking.

However, and I’m really, really, really hoping rumours are true and it is him, is the Black Panther. To me, he is absolutely the right guy to join the Avengers. A black superhero has never been covered movie wise before, so there is huge potential for a big audience here. The idea has already been set in Iron Man II, where the map pinpointed to TBP’s fictional country of Wakanda; so the ball could already be in motion. He’s just an awesome superhero, and there is so, so much potential for a great feature film, and a brilliant addition to the Avengers.

The Black Panther film alone I feel would do much, much better than Ant Man. It would be much more interesting, he’s a more exciting character, and the setting would be incredible, something really new in the MCU. His back story is genuinely exciting, and it’s the classic father murdered must seek revenge type that is so familiar to the audience. Any story like that instantly makes the character likeable. The only main issue I could potentially see could be casting, as he would need to be perfect.

Other ideas floating around for the Avengers sequel are Falcon, who is being introduced in CA: TWS. While I don’t see him as being a main character, he could definitely play a very interesting small role, and it just carries on increasing the roster available to Nick Fury.

In terms of villains, I think Thanos could work quite well. The character has been kind of introduced to the audience, but there’s still enough mystery to make a really interesting story out of him. Loki is going to be in Thor II, and given his popularity, more than likely in the Avengers sequel regardless of how large a role he plays, so there’s more potential there. But I’d like to see a villain who’s not associated with Thor so much; we kind of had that with Loki, and Thor was swept away by Iron Man, Hulk and Captain America, kind of overshadowed in a way. X-Men villains are the best, and it is my dream for a complete reinvention of X-Men (with Marvel Studios having the rights) culminating in an epic X-Men versus Avengers finale, but that’s unlikely to ever happen, so the cool villains are ruled right out. Doctor Doom is one of the best super villains, but after the dog’s dinner made out of the Fantastic Four films, that seems unlikely too. I think that for the simple reason that all the better villains are ruled out for various reasons, Thanos is probably the most feasible villain, although the fact he was only voted #47 on IGN’s list of Greatest Villains shows that he’s not that memorable and there are better villains out there. It’s just a shame that different rights and films exist which make it difficult to include them in an Avengers sequel.

It would perhaps be quite cool to see the main villain be one associated with Captain America, as I’d really like him to continue stepping into the leader role he began to take on towards the end of AA,  but Red Skull aside, his villains are quite lame. Unfortunately, excluding X-Men, Spiderman and Doctor Doom, DC villains are, in my opinion, much better. Marvel obviously has better heroes though. I’m also a little pissed that Sony have chosen to reboot the Spiderman trilogy, it’s obvious they’ve done so now to prevent Marvel trying to buy the rights back, but it kind of prevents Spiderman’s appearances in the Avengers, unless some kind of deal is made. Now there are rumours he’ll appear in the sequel, and Garfield himself has said he’s interested, but in all honesty, I doubt anything will come of it. Spiderman has some really good villains so it’s a shame they can’t be used either.

I just really don’t want it to be Loki again. He’s a great character, and Hiddleston is a superb actor, but it’s obvious he’s going to have some sort of role in Thor: TDW, and four films in a row with him as a central villain is just a bit repetitive. Surely at some point, he’s going to either give up, or we’re going to lose interest, and I really would hate for that to happen.

Thanos it must be.

To summarise, I think Ant Man might be lame, The Wasp could or could not work, Doctor Strange could be very interesting but Black Panther must happen, Thor should step up, Captain America should man up more, and Thanos by default should be the villain. And Whedon should never be replaced. Ever.

Now I do have borderline insane plans for an X-Men reboot, but I think after two consecutive nerd overload posts, I’ll return back to the more mundane realms of my life, so my next few posts will venture away from comic books, although I’m sure my inner nerd will be unleashed again soon.

First things first, I’m not a Marvel bandwagon dork, when I say I love Marvel, I seriously do. I know my stuff. Most of it. A lot. I mean, I’m not pretending to be some psycho comic book adict, but I do read them, I love the characters and the storylines, I love pretty much every single Marvel superhero, and the resulting comics, TV series and films. Specifically, I’ll add, X-Men which I do believe to be my specialist subject,  but sadly they don’t feature in the Avengers. Yet. Damned Sony and their stupid ownership. There’s also no Spiderman, for anyone who isn’t in the loop when it comes to Sony versus Marvel Studios.

I’ll cut straight to the chase.

AVENGERS (or Avengers Assemble as us Brits sadly had to have it called) IS ONE OF THE GREATEST FILMS I HAVE SEEN IN RECENT YEARS. THERE IS A REASON IT IS THE THIRD MOST SUCCESSFUL FILM OF ALL TIME, AND IT IS WITHOUT A DOUBT THE BEST COMIC BOOK ADAPTATION EVER CREATED, not that it will ever have much competition, oh wait, Justice League is coming out… *SNORT*

It really, really is just that good.

For proper hard nut Marvel/Avengers/Whedon fans it is just incredible, exactly what everyone was looking forward to. For the everyday cinema fan, casual superhero or action film fan, or family, it’s an incredible enjoyable film which you can really enjoy without having to know anything about comics or the characters.

Let’s start with the characters, shall we?

Iron Man runs the show, and huge fans of Captain America or the others *may* but probably may not get a little peeved by this at times. RDJ is undeniably the biggest pull for the everyday movie fan, and his charisma as Iron Man will perhaps never be matched. He makes the film comical, enjoyable and believable, carrying on with his stellar performances of the man in the suit.

Captain America is brilliantly played by Chris Evans. Like a lot of fans, I was a little unsure when Evans was announced as the man to play Steve Rodgers, but out of all the recent Marvel films, CA is by far and away my favourite. At times he’s a little overshadowed by IM, but he puts so much emotion into the performance that you’re really able to believe that he is a guy in a completely different world, struggling to understand things, and grieving for the loss of everything he’s known. Towards the end of the film, he really steps into the leader role and kicks genuine ass, which is really great to see.

Hemsworth my future husband is again, great as Thor. The chemistry between himself and Hiddleston is superb and really demonstrates what great actors they are. There are also some really great comedy scenes involiving Thor. My opinion, however, and as huge Thor fan it kind of saddens me to say this, is that out of all the characters, Thor is the one that gets pushed aside, purely because Evans, Ruffalo and RDJ in particular give such great performances. Thor does have some really great scenes, but to say that the supervillain is hisbrother I just kind of expected to see a bit more of him. Maybe that’s just me and my Thor love, I’d like to know what everybody else thinks. I just feel that, when you leave the cinema, you’re really impressed by Hulk and Iron Man, and Captain America if you’re a particular fan. Perhaps you’ll hear folk talking about Hawkeye and Black Widow because they’re new to a lot of people and relatively unknown, and people will definately be talking about Loki, and the CGI, and the action, and the gadgets. But probably not about Thor, which is a shame, because Thor the film was awesome and I really expected a little bit more. Sorry hubby.

General consensus is that Hulk, played this time by Mark Ruffalo, is the stand out performer in Avengers, and I’d be inclined to agree were it not for my unwavering loyalty to CA. In Ruffalo, Marvel have finally found somebody who the public really like to play Bruce Banner, and I’ll be very, very surprised if a new Hulk film isn’t in the pipelines. Ruffalo is capable of showcasing comedy value and his great acting talent even behind the CGI of a giant, green monster, and his scenes can be very, very funny at times. He shows a more human side to Banner which I feel Bana and Norton were lacking, and was received really well by both the audience and the critics, so win win for Marvel, great casting.

Black Widow and Hawkeye were great additions, they didn’t overshadow the actual superheros but played a big enough role to kind of get to know the characters, and I’m looking forward to hearing a little bit more about them in future films. My opinion though is that neither Johansson or Renner are strong enough in character to warrant a feature film, nor are the characters popular enough, but I’d be surprised if we didn’t hear more about them one way or another. I think their relationship which is kind of touched upon in the film has great potential for future storylines.

Moving swiftly on so as not to ramble, Smulders and Gregg give great performances as the SHEILD agents, Gregg in particular building on Agent Coulson’s popularity following his after-credit and short appearences. At times he is surprisingly humurous, and is one of the few characters, superheroes aside, that the audience really gets a feel for. There’s a very poignant scene there too.

Nick Fury shouldn’t look anything like Samuel L. Jackson, enough said. Jackson gives a solid enough shot, nothing spectacular but there’s room for origin stories galore. He is certainly badass and perhaps that’s what matters.

Finally, Loki. Loki is, in my opinion, one of the best Marvel villains of all time, and I figure his popularity will continue to increase. Hiddleston is a very, very good, young, up and coming actor, and he gives both mocking and menacing performances. His chemistry with Hemsworth really adds to the brotherly feud feel going on in the film, and I’m very sure this will not be the last we see of him. It was a great choice by Whedon to use Loki as the antagonist so soon after Thor, as his role in that film was very popular and well received. By having an already introduced character, he makes a lot more time for dialogue and storyline which is vital in this film.

The film itself is fast paced and action packed, with superb special effects and CGI. The cast as a whole come together really well in a very unexpected way; with the exception of perhaps RDJ, nobody is overshadowing anybody else, and RDJ does so in an effective manner. So many new things are introduced in this film ready for the sequels, there’s potential immediately for another villain, the Avengers are shown as a genuine team, the technology is incredible.

But, you’ve probably all read Avengers reviews, seeing as though the film was out months ago. Let’s get onto the DVD. I purchased the standard DVD, I don’t have Blu-Ray so that was out of the question, and the Six Film pack, although pretty good value (I spotted one for around £30) wasn’t really standing out for me seeing as though I already own all the DVDs… I also feel that including Norton’s Incredible Hulk is a stupid play as he really is re-invented in Avengers. So the bog standard it was, which I bought from Tesco for £12.97, although have since seen it online for around £8. Stupid impatience.

It sucks.

I love the film, and cannot fault it, and would have bought it regardless of any type of features just so I could own the film and watch it whenever I wanted, and that hasn’t changed. I’ve already watched it once, and it’s still as spectacular as it was in 3D in the cinema.

If you’re after special features (which I was) you’re unfortunately going to be very disapointed if you don’t have Blu-Ray. The Blu-Ray version seems to be packed with extras, bonus clips, deleted scenes, commentary, which you just are not getting on DVD, and it seems really unfair, and it basically stinks. I don’t have a HD TV, because to be quite honest, I don’t see the point, so I don’t use Blu-Ray. Why does that mean I should only get to see a six minute behind the scenes footage?

Yeah, that’s it.

Six minutes of an interview with Whedon, and a couple of director type guys, and yeah, some interesting points are raised with regards to how they made their decisions on what to include, and the location and all that. But really, it is nothing special at all, Marvel could have released a six minute youtube video and had exactly the same effect.

What I wanted to see on the DVD (yeah, the D V D not just the Blu-Ray) was genuine behind the scenes footage, out-takes, that kind of thing. There’s a huge cast with some really big names who could be interviewed on how they found the whole experience, but instead we are treated to approximately nine seconds of Samuel L. Jackson on an ego trip. Marvel is a huge company and the DVD had the potential to attract a lot of Avengers Assemble fans to the comics and more films. It could (and I believe should) have featured the origins (comic wise) of the characters. There was scope for deleted scenes, which I, like a lot of fans, was hugely looking forward to, but I’m not willing to invest a stupid amount of money in a new TV, new Blu-Ray player, and pay considerably more for the disc just to see them.

I understand, and appreciate, that Blu-Ray is a big, and still increasing market, so perhaps a few extra features should exploit that. But to fill the disc with features that the fans are yearning for, and put nothing but six minutes on the DVD just really pissed me off. When I buy a DVD, I buy it mainly for the film, but I enjoy the special features, and in some cases, such as this one, look forward to them. There wasn’t even any theatrical trailers, which nowadays is pretty standard on most DVDs. It feels like DVD users are being sold a cheap deal here while the Blu-Ray market is getting a massive amount more. And it stinks.

Also, I wanted a cardboard sleeve.

And I wanted Captain America on the side, not Iron Man.

STOP THE IRON MAN OBSESSION, VOTE CAPTAIN AMERICA <3

Anyway, I hope if you buy the Blu-Ray, you enjoy your extra features, and I mean that with no bitterness. And if, like me, you’ve just bought the DVD, I’m sure you’ll enjoy what remains an absolutely excellent film.

/rant.

PS, my next post will be about how I believe Marvel should follow up on this. Regardless of sequel rumours. So, if I were in control of the franchise, what I would do. And here’s a sneak preview, screw Ant Man, I want the Black Panther.

It didn’t turn out as bad as I thought it was after I got a hang of the colour palette. Painter 12 lags slightly on my com, ouch.

So I decided to indulge in a drawing of RDJ as Sherlock Holmes. Not quite getting the colours right though. Think I’ll probably be changing the hair colours, they dun seemed to go right with the face colour palette. Hoping to get into some regular sketching again. Also trying to figure out Painter 12…

Quoteability: 7/10

Scary Scenes: Jump out of your seat moments, some out of control hulk action, and one sad sad death, but otherwise acceptable for a 9 year old

The other 18% of users are usually as civil as that awkward nice guy who somehow wound up as a guest at a bridal shower. Politely outnumbered.

Some men, however, can be as snarkily stupid as Pinterest’s female trolls. Ryan Marta‘s comments on this pin of a 21 year-old model, whose stomach (GOD FORBID) folds when she sits down, is a prime example.

Rather than commentary, I’m just going to use GIFs of Robert Downey Junior in blackface.

“Controversial”, eh? Ryan certainly thinks so.

You reap what you sow, Ryan. Hell hath no fire like a woman body-snarked:

Justice. Sweet, sweet internet justice. Ryan should repent immediately or, as that seems unlikely, get himself off Pinterest and onto a more “man” friendly platform.

as per Laineygossip.com

Marvel confirmed that they will, in fact, make Guardians of the Galaxy before The Avengers 2, which will tie into the villain revealed in The Avengers stinger and will likely get off the ground in Thor 2, which is now officially called Thor: The Dark World. More exciting, though, is that Captain America: The Winter Soldier is coming in 2014. That’ll bring back Cap’s supposedly dead friend Bucky, and also (should) tie into Black Widow’s back story.

We meet Professor Grady Tripp (Douglas), an English teacher who is trying to deal with his wife leaving him while also trying to cope with the affair he’s conducting with the married chancellor of the University, the fact his editor Terry Crabtree (RDJ) is in town and wanting his second novel, and the various escapades of his friends and pupils. Tripp is not a contented man, he has writer’s block and smokes marijuana in times of stress but his smoking sometimes causes him to have black outs. One of his pupils, James Leer (Maguire) is a very strange young man who has a flair for writing dark fiction but is generally a bit disturbed, not helped by his living arrangements. At a houseparty thrown by Sara Gaskell (the woman Tripp is having an affair with) reveals she is pregnant, and the night culminates in Leer shooting their dog, which Tripp then hides in the boot of his car.  During a night on the town, there is a series of events which get more and more bizarre, culminating in the police coming for Leer for stealing some belongings and shooting the dog. We follow Tripp as he tries to sort everything out, including himself, his affair (and unborn child), his wayward editor and a pupil who is interested in him but also lives with him.

It’s quite a complicated plot line, and I’ve deliberately skimmed over some points because it’s just so difficult to explain succinctly. The main focus is on Tripp and Leer, they both grow in different ways and ultimately end up happy in their own skins – something that is missing at the beginning of the film.

I have to say I enjoyed it, Michael Douglas is fantastic as Tripp, really drawing you completely into his depressing life and showing the audience how trapped and helpless he is. His growth throughout is what really makes this film, with the series of bizarre events being there more for comedic value than anything else. It is listed under the dark comedy genre, and it definitely fulfils the dark part, you have to have a specific sense of humour to find this funny, I smiled a few times but there’s no gut-roaring laughs.

The aspect I found most bizarre is the relationship between editor Crabtree and pupil Leer. When we first meet Crabtree he has picked up a transvestite on the flight over, but dismisses him pretty quickly after spotting Leer at the houseparty. They get together that night and their relationship seems to continue from there, with Crabtree taking Leer to New York to publish his book, but in general it is just a bit weird. Maguire plays Leer as a confused young man whilst RDJ is confident and sexy, but Crabtree coercing a drunk Leer upstairs was just a bit of an odd detour for the plot to take as it didn’t really add anything and wasn’t for comedic value. Yes it aided the conclusion of the film, as Crabtree helps Leer to get out of the charges being pressed against him, but Leer’s sexual awakening wasn’t really explored but also wasn’t ignored. It was just a random little meander that almost seemed to be there just so that they could have a gay storyline. Apparently in the book it is better explored, and their relationship is more overt, but it fell flat in the film.

It wasn’t particularly well received, with most critics saying that it was lack lustre and one commenting pretty accurately that Hanson was “so intent on getting us to like his characters that he didn’t give them enough juice”, and I think that is what all the problems in this film boil down to. It would have worked well as a gritty drama or a comedy, but mixing the two just didn’t quite work. It’s failure at the box office is mainly attributed to a poor advertising campaign in the run up to the film’s release, but I maintain you have to be a specific type of person to enjoy this film.

All in all, I enjoyed it. Would I watch it again? Eh, maybe, but it wouldn’t bother me if I’d never experienced it.

I love portraits!

Separating Downey Jr. from the characters he plays is not always easy – he channels Tony Stark at every Avengers appearance and flirts with Jude Law as if he really was the Watson to Downey Jr.’s Holmes. I get the feeling that he’s decided to make life a stage – that very few people get to know the real Robert Downey Jr., and in a field where your private life tends to become fiercely public, I think it’s commendable – and adds to the mystique.

He’s an entertainer: he’s talented, he’s funny, and he doesn’t give a damn. But don’t take my word for it – take his.

From the Avengers press event, in which he informs us of his intention to be as silly as possible:

“Just being a worker amongst workers is where I started out, and it was nice to not really have to carry a movie.  I think everyone really, really, really, really is equal, in this venture.  It’s great.  That will be my last sincere answer of the afternoon.”

In which Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson pointedly don’t answer an annoyingly misogynistic question:

Q. I have a question for Robert and Scarlett. Firstly, Robert, in Iron Man 1 and Iron Man 2, Tony Stark started off as a very egotistical character but now learns how to fight as a team, so how did you approach this role bearing in mind the kind of maturity of the human being in the Tony Stark character and did you learn anything throughout the movies that you make? And to Scarlett, for getting into the shape of Black Widow, did you have anything special to count as a diet, any specific food or that kind of thing?”

RDJ: “If I’ve learned anything, it’s that people are much more interested in… your second question to Scarlett than any answer I have to give.”

SJ: “How come you get the really interesting existential question and I get the rabbit food question?”

In which he is exceedingly honest:

“I just thought Hugh Grant was a dick, that’s all. And I still do. You know, and that could be something that has to do with me, or it could just be that not everyone in this industry is someone I’d care to hang out with.”

In which he mercilessly makes fun of Iron Man costar Gwenyth Paltrow:

“I think a hero is someone who, if abroad or traveling, they go to the GOOP website to see what shops to go to, what restaurants to eat at, what clothes to buy, and they do that not fearlessly but in spite of their fear.”

In which he gets deep (from Esquire Magazine):

“Do I want to be a hero to my son? No. I would like to be a very real human being. That’s hard enough. Every dad casts a shadow, you know? And that shadow is you’re disappointed, you’re resentful, or you feel so supported and loved you don’t understand why life is so hard anyway — or, you know, it’s so long and so dark that you can never step out of it, so you might as well not even try. Right? So. So ‘hero’ to me is not applicable to the human experience.I think that we all do heroic things, but ‘hero’ is not a noun, it’s a verb.”

On his connection to Iron Man (from Playboy Magazine):

“Oh yeah. I feel connected to Stan Lee on some trippy level in that I was wearing nappies when he was creating this character who went through all these transitions and was for years considered a second-tier superhero. By the way, if he had been considered anything else, the movie would have already been made. And so every single thing about it was right.”

In which he is an adorable rogue:

Q: “You’ve got two movies under your belt as the star of the show, Iron Man and Iron Man 2. What was it like having to share the spotlight with so many [in Avengers]?”

RDJ: “Less shooting days. Had time to knock up my wife.” *grins at the camera*

On where he’s been, and where he is:

“I think life changes every year. This is just a little more comfortable.”

My dear readers,

When my sister traveled independently for the first time, she had a little pink bunny oh-so-cleverly named… Pink Bunny. I’m sure it had another name, but I have no recollection as to what it was. When I went out of the country (aside from Canada) for the first time it was to Australia, New Zealand, and Fiji. And when I went, my sister lent me Pink Bunny to take with me and snap silly pictures with.

When I went to Japan, I want to start my own trend. My uncle and I had been exploring the streets of Portsmouth and we found a little wind up robot that was absolutely adorable. I named him KillRoy (if you know the reference, you get a cookie!). He was fun, but unfortunately Japan seemed too much for him, and he short circuited into retirement.

While scrolling around the travel section of WordPress, I stumbled upon the blog Meandering Around, which stars a stuffed purple hippo going on adventures. This reminded me of Pink Bunny and KillRoy and suddenly I was struck… I no longer have a travel companion. And that’s no fun.

So it got me thinking… Who could be my new travel companion? I kinda wanted to keep with the robot theme I had going for myself. Plus I’d love to incorporate my geekiness into it, considering I’m incredibly proud of my geek aspect; comic books, manga, anime… Almost everything nerd appeals to me.

That’s when I was reminded of a small buddy of mine. He’s not quite a robot, but he’s powered by a robot! He’s a hero who has saved millions of lives and jobs! Sure he’s a bit a player… and likes booze a little too much… But hey, everyone needs a vice!

Plus he’s played by Robert Downey Junior, the sexiest man alive.

Yeah, my travel buddy is going to be Iron Man Mark IV. Though since Iron Man Mark IV is way too long to type, I’m just gonna call him Tony. He is adorable.

If you hadn’t figured it out, I’m a giant Iron Man fan. I’m overly obsessed to the point where it might not be healthy. Anything Iron Man themed, I gotta have, to the point where I do spend the ludicrous amounts of money on the delicious Hot Toys that they put out for Iron Man. Plus I have as many articles of Iron Man clothing as possible.

It only makes sense that Tony will be my travel companion. He’s strong, reliable, and one of the best superheroes ever. So he will now accompany me on every adventure I take, whether in country or out of country.

Until my Next Adventure,

Viviana Ayre