Avengers for the Fourth Time Four Weeks Later

Did I ever tell you the story of how we saw The Avengers the first time?

Yes, it was midnight like I said before. It was a 3D showing; the only option available. The trailers were great. Then, there was...nothing.

Really? Not only was it after midnight but we WAITED FOUR YEARS FOR THIS FREAKING MOVIE!
We get told that we will be moving across the hallway to a new auditorium with an untested 3D system.

Untested!

Yay!

The 3D was not as impressive as we were expecting, not as impressive as the Avengers trailer the week before. When I took the glasses off, there often no blurriness...the telltale hallmark of a 3D screening.

When we took the nephews, she was glad that it was 2D. However, I went a third time and it was 3D in the auditorium that we had started at. I thought it had been a lot better and my mom began wondering about what it would be like in real, professional 3D.

Thus, I went for a fourth time and she for a third time at a different theatre on June 4, 2012, exactly one month after our first midnight viewing.

The 3D was WAY BETTER!

I noticed this as soon as Loki appeared.

It's Tom Hiddleston and he's HUGE! HUGE all the over the screen and it seems like I could touch him!

*tries and fails*

My mom has decided that Loki is so popular and beloved because of Tom Hiddleston and in particular, his eyes. She says that his eyes are mischievous and happy and you can't believe that he could actually be capable of evil.

I will never get over how much I love Coulson is the first real face we see or how Clint gets to show how smart he is...well, every good Doctor Who knows this but...


I also keep forgetting but yes, I did notice the second DW reference later on... "reverse the polarity"

Oh Joss, I love you and if you ever a slow point again, I WANT a DW episode from you!
Actually, I always wanted a Torchwood one more but...

Have you guys read Nick Fury's Big Week yet? If not, you should. Not only does it explain whether Loki picked Barton on purpose or not...it has him driving back from New Mexico while Phil sleeps in the passenger seat...ADORABLE!

I admitted to my mom how whenever I see "Tasha" or "Natasha" jewelry at work, it makes me smile.
My mom: But she doesn't actually wear any. I don't think it would work out well in her line of work.
I really like her necklace in India though.

I also read the Avengers issue of D23. It's extremely expensive but my mom bought me my very first issue ever...I think it helped that Black Widow was on the front and Hawkeye on the back. Anyway, it has articles by the same guy who wrote The Art of The Avengers. It was extremely interesting including mentioning Stan Lee's OTHER scene. He encourages Steve to ask out the waitress, aww.

Also, there has been a lot of discussion, especially on Tumblr, about Steve's costume and why it became so skintight, well...

"Joss was very interested in a much more tight-fitting costume than the World War II version."

Thank you Joss, hehe.

I'm still disappointed that we don't really get to see Natasha's power suit in action. The book makes it look really cool with tasers and things.

Every time I watch, I see new stuff and still manage to miss other stuff. I did see everyone's floor on the blueprints this time with their symbol. My mom noticed Loki's spit on the wall. I keep getting distracted by their faces. We also made a point of noticing how the borrowed pants have a belt. My mom and I had a whole conversation on whether Bruce would bother with wearing a belt. Wouldn't it be painful when transforming? However, there didn't seem to be a problem. I still want pants like his, too. How freaking durable are those things?

Well, we had another Hulk conversation, too...

My mom: But his hand, it just...juts out and hits him. (mimes)
Me: But I think the Hulk is a lot more flexible than Bruce. He seems to be double-jointed.
My Mom: But I just don't think I could ever do that, not even when I was younger.
Me: I really don't think you should feel bad that you can't hit Thor like the Hulk can...

The book has some excerpts from the script but it just leaves me wanting more. For Cabin in the Woods, it was obvious that it had all these layers upon layers of depth but here's the sneaky, sneaky truth...

I think Avengers is just as bad but we get so distracted by the pretty and the explosions that we don't notice.

For one thing, reflections...

I don't know if you've noticed, they're EVERYWHERE! Natasha is in a mirror in Bruce's shot in India. Bruce is in Tony's shot on the Helicarrier. Loki is reflected in the containment glass.

It's not just the physical aspect of being able to have both characters without a static two-person shot...so many characters and actions mirror each other.

( Tony Stark )

( Bruce Banner )

( Natasha Romanov )

( Steve Rogers )

( Nick Fury )

( Loki )

My Mom (randomly in the car afterwards): But we still don't know what happened in Budapest!
Me: I KNOW!!!!!!

Another quote from D23:
""I really thought the script was amazing; it was full of action, it was full of heart and spectacle and wit-and really, really funny."

Tom's right."

He usually is...

Just because...

So hot and that shirt is so see-through...ooh, they can't get pants to fit either! That makes me really happy even though it shouldn't...

So, quiz time...



I don't think I would have recognized him here. He looks like a cross between young Christian Bale and Shia Lebeouf. However, my mom guessed Tom right away, lol.

Avengers Addendum

It was kind of late last night and I feel I didn't do Natasha justice so I'm going to copy what I posted in another journal:

http://workerbee73.livejournal.com/136438.html

I still really want to know what the movie universe beginning is...

We know she TOLD Loki Barton had spared her life when she was a criminal.

We don't know for certain if she was telling the truth.

We do know that SHIELD wouldn't send her to spy for Stark if she had already tried to screw him over before so that rules out the original comic origin of getting Clint to help her get Stark's money/secrets.

I also find really interesting the parallels between Natasha and Loki which is another reason why she alone could have done it.

Both Loki and Natasha started off as pawns, war trophies. Royalty that was born into the wrong circumstances. Loki was a sort of Frost Giant midget. Natasha was a Romanov born in a country created out of destroying her family and their birthright to the throne. Both were kept from who they truly were, trained to be someone else and then had to face the truth of who they really were as well as what was done to them.

It reminds me of what Pixar would say about Woody and Lotso in Toy Story 3. They were both faced with abandonment by their owners but what made all the difference was in how they coped with that.

Natasha decided that if she couldn't depend on anyone, she could only depend on herself. She turned inward and started fending for herself the best way she knew how.

Loki still wants external acceptance in order to accept himself. He feels he needs others to justify his existence. He thinks this could be done through power but makes a series of deals and mistakes that he tends to regret. As Phil said, he lacks conviction because he doesn't have a real plan, he just knows what he wants.

However, the key is that Loki had a childhood where he was able to be a regular boy like Thor and Natasha was never allowed to have a childhood. Love is for children because she was never given it in the first place. Loki did have that love but it was under such false pretenses while constantly being taught how evil the Frost Giants were that he can't let himself trust Thor or his adoptive family again.

I realized something as I was watching Buffy today. No matter what some characters do, we end up forgiving them everything. Namely, there's Spike. He comes in as a villain. He's killed two slayers, has a Buffybot created and tries to rape Buffy yet we continue to root for Spike to succeed and be a better person, even wanting him to be with Buffy despite all of it. It reminded me a lot of fandom and Loki at the moment.

Tony had also spent his whole life wanting outward acceptance. Since he was rich, brilliant and handsome, he was very successful in getting it. Now, he's having to learn how to find it from himself and how to give greater power over his happiness to certain others, like Pepper. Calling Pepper when he thought he was going to die was a huge step. Unfortunately, she did not pick up and he will have to cope even more with being hurt by those he's let into his tiny circle. Still, I'm intrigued about further character development.

Also, I neglected to mention another aspect of Tony and not being a "solder". When most celebrities and journalists visits Afghanistan, they try to dress the part. Tony wears a suit. He wants to be visibly distanced from those around him. Then again, he does this most of the time. Everyone else, apart from Natasha, kept on what they were wearing when called to the Helicarrier, Tony changed into a new suit; black but with enough casual sense and color not to be confused with Coulson or the others. Yes, sadly, I counted at least two others wearing suits, too...