Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Chris Evans as Captain America and Chris Hemsworth as Thor in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk and Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Quicksilver and Elizabeth Olsen as Scarlet Witch in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow in Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
So last week I got the chance to see Marvel’s latest gamble in film making, Guardians of the Galaxy, and it was amazing. Marvel continues to exceed my expectations with the diversity of their film franchises. Almost every film I think won’t be exceptional proves me wrong, and in this case I’m glad that I have been proven wrong.
It all started with The Avengers (2012). Avengers to me seemed like a bad idea. You already had Iron Man (2008), The Incredible Hulk (2008), Iron Man 2 (2010), Thor (2011), and Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) preceding it, all of them giving backstory and fame to each of their titular characters (and in the case of Nick Furry and Black Widow, their secondary characters). It just didn’t look like it would work in my eyes. Each of these characters were developed prior to this film, some of them played by big name actors like Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, and Edward Norton (although he didn’t reprise his role). I predicted that the movie would rely too heavily on you having seen the previous films and that Downey would overpower the other leads with his star-power. This wasn’t the case. The Avengers was a perfectly well-balanced film that didn’t just assume that the audience knew everything about the previous ones and went the extra step of further developing each character in a logical and compelling manner.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, and Chris Evans as Captain America in The Avengers (2012)
Next came Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014). Watching all the trailers, I had low expectations for this film. I saw explosions, a dark blue Captain America suit with little red or white, and little story. I wasn’t intending to go see the film in theaters when it came out, but one day I was trying on jeans at Kohl’s when I got a text from my friend Joey who asked if I’d like to go and see it. I agreed, and I saw what is so far my favorite movie of 2014. Captain America: The Winter Soldier continued in the vein of Avengers and succeeded in my book for two reasons: It used minimal CGI (see my rant on CCP’s tumblr, I used this as an example of CGI done right) and it didn’t fall under the typical mold of a superhero film, instead acting as more of a political thriller. It proved that superhero films weren’t just about the action or the effects.
Chris Evans as Captain America in Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)
Finally, Marvel proved me wrong with it’s most recent endeavor, Guardians of the Galaxy (2014). Whereas I had low expectations going into Avengers and Captain America, I had no expectations for Guardians and that was simply because I did not even know what to expect. It was a superhero movie, starring the guy from Parks and Recreation with Bradley Cooper voicing a raccoon and Vin Diesel voicing a tree. I had never even heard of the Guardians prior to this film. It seemed like such a whacky concept that I didn’t know what to think except that it could be a huge flop. But… at the same time if Marvel could make it work, Guardians would open up a whole new world for their cinematic universe. Just like how Captain America proved that the genre didn’t have to just be action/adventure, Guardians proved that Marvel could mix a perfect comedic superhero movie.
Chris Pratt as Peter Quill in Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
Now comes my next concern: Can Marvel make Avengers 2 work? Avengers: Age of Ultron is set to come out in May 2015 with great expectations placed on its shoulders. Marvel made four movies this year, three of which proved to be some of their strongest works yet (let’s just not mention The Amazing Spider-Man 2… shhhhhhhh). Age of Ultron provides one concern for me, which is plausibility. Can lightning strike twice? Will the reason for the Avengers reassembling be worthy of another movie? Not only that but the same Avengers as the last time? To be fair, they did reunite a few of the Avengers in their standalone movies, such as Captain America and Black Widow in Winter Soldier, or Iron Man and Hulk in Iron Man 3, but will this work? I guess we will just wait and see.
In closing, I may have a few misgivings on Avengers 2, but with the way Marvel movies have been going, I think they have a good chance of making quality movies for years to come, and believe me, they’ve planned them out for several years. There are even rumors that Guardians of the Galaxy was the first step in establishing the plot for Avengers 3!
Avengers: Age of Ultron, scheduled to be released on May 1st, 2015
I've been doing a lot of cool things recently with Chronicler's Company Pictures. The logo has been updated, the YouTube channel is fancier, and much much more. Now, I'm hear to say I've launched the social media campaign.
FOLLOW ON FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/chronicles.company.pictures Here I have been doing a lot of things, I put up photos from my films, post updates of my film making, and more. I usually update this page first, so you're most likely to hear news here before the others!
FOLLOW ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/Chronicler9091 This is my personal Twitter account, but it is linked to CCP's official YouTube, so you'll always be up to date when a video is released!
FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM: http://instagram.com/sampson9091 This one triple purposes as CCP's account, Sam's Comics' account, and my personal instagram. I usually post behind-the-scenes pics here.
While it really hasn't been that long since the last movie in the "X-Men" franchise (since 2013's Wolverine or 2011's X-Men: First Class depending on if you take the Wolverine stand-alones into account), It feels like they are finally returning to the X-Men trilogy to me. Maybe it's because they are bringing back so many of the actors from the original three movies, maybe it's because I'm nostalgic that way... or it could just be the fact that I didn't like any of the movies past "Last Stand". Don't get me wrong, "First Class" was decent, but I felt it was too different from the others to be considered part of the series. All of that is about to change however, once this year's early summer blockbuster comes out... and I predict it to be a blockbuster. Why? Well let's find out why I think "Days of Future Past" has the potential to be the best X-Men movie since X2.
On an unrelated note, I just read the rumor that Disney wants to reboot the Indiana Jones franchise with Bradley Cooper playing Indy... I am disappointed by this news.
Back on topic, I see several reasons why DoFP has potential to be good. I'm going to start with the three most obvious reasons, using pics from the most recent trailer:
REASON #1: The return of Brian Singer as director
It's no real debate that of all the five X-Men movies so far, the first two (X-Men and X2: X-Men United) were the best. Some have even said that "X2" is better than "X-Men", and I happen to agree. But that's a debate for another time. But... there's something that can be said about the fact that Singer only directed the first two, and only the first two were considered to be great (again, "First Class" came close, but fell just short for me). "Last Stand" was directed by Bret Ratner and many people were severely disappointed by it. Many fans were equally if not even more up at arms over "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", which was directed by Gavin Hood. First Class was then directed by Matthew Vaughn, and "The Wolverine" by James Mangold. Now, X-Men are finally returning to the man who made them great: Brian Singer.
Patrick Stewart and Brian Singer on set of DoFP
REASON #2: The return of original X-Men Trilogy cast
Halle Berry, Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen in X-Men: Days of Future Past
Admit it. This is something we've all wanted. The only X-Men member who has been in every movie so far is Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, and even then he only had a ten-second cameo in "First Class". Sure, Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier has had equally short cameos in two of the other films, and Ian McKellen's Magneto in one, but this movie brings them all back! Well, nearly all of them. Famke Janssen's Jean Grey and James Marsden's Cyclops won't make it as far as I know, since (spoilers) both characters died in "Last Stand". This time, all the important characters are coming back, including Halle Berry as Storm, Shawn Ashmore's Bobby Drake/Iceman, and Ellen Page's Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat. Even Anna Paquin returned for the film as Rogue, although sources say her only scene ended up being cut.
REASON #3: The merging of original X-Men and First Class casts
James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier in X-Men: Days of Future Past
"First Class" took the X-Men franchise in a different direction when it went back in time to focus on the relationship of young Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr (Magneto), and the formation of the X-Men. While it was a good movie over-all, "First Class" had some issues that tripped up the continuity of the other X-Men films. It featured James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique, and Nicholas Hoult as Beast. Now, in "Days of Future Past", the original cast of the X-Men get together to send Wolverine back in time to fix something that went wrong in the past (hmmmmm?) to prevent terrible things that happen in the future. While I get the vibe from the trailer that more time will be spent with the "First Class" cast rather than the original cast, I still think this is a very smart move to pull both casts together. This makes for a diverse and star-studded cast on both ends. Plus there's that money shot in the trailer of James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart, as shown above.
James McAvoy/Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier and Ian McKellen/Michael Fassbender as Magneto in X-Men: Days of Future Past
Now there are other reasons I think "Days of Future Past" will be great. For one, the time period they've chosen for the film highly intrigues me. They are involving Magneto and Mystique in the Kennedy assassination, and there seems to be some hints at the Vietnam War and Richard Nixon in the trailers as well.
Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
I more or less already mentioned this reason while talking about the combining of the two casts, but I also look forward to the star-studded cast this film has to offer. A lot of my personal favorite actors are in this cast, including Hugh Jackman, Jennifer Lawrence, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen. I've been a fan of Jackman ever since seeing "The Prestige", of Stewart since "Star Trek: Next Generation", of McKellen since "Lord of the Rings", and of Lawrence in general... I mean, c'mon. It's Jennifer Lawrence. She's hilarious just to watch apart from being a good actress.
Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Lawrence, and Hugh Jackman in X-Men Days of Future Past
I know "Days of Future Past" was one of the original X-Men comics (or was it a graphic novel?), but I never read any of the comics. In that respect, I am viewing this at face-value just for what it is. In some ways I see that as a good thing. I have nothing to compare it to other than its previous films. As a film student, I can also analyze story elements from the trailer better than some, and what I see is effective in making me want to see it, more than just wanting to see it because it's the X-Men.
DoFP comes out May 23, 2014. I am planning on doing one of my Monthly Chronicle videos on my YouTube channel with my friend who knows more about X-Men than I do around the time the movie comes out, so if you're interested in seeing that, you should go subscribe to me! Here's the link to my channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/Sampson9091
My two biggest hobbies have always been drawing and video making, so when I can combine the two, I'm always happy. That's exactly what I did this past week while I was on break in between semesters at Flashpoint. I've been working hard on a new season of Sam's Comics for my other blog, and when I decided that this upcoming season would be the last one, I knew I wanted to do something special for it. On Sunday afternoon, I came up with the idea of making a documentary about the series. This is something I've never actually done, not even when I did the behind the scenes videos for Sam's Comics: The Movie, which I had just recently re-released. From Sunday night to early Friday morning, I've been working on it and it's finally done. My tribute to a series that's lasted eight years, seven seasons, and one feature film.
Okay, I'm getting really annoyed by how this whole Google-combining-with-YouTube-and-Blogger thing doesn't actually make my life any easier, because I used to be able to link videos from my YouTube channel directly into my blog posts, but now when I go to do that, it tells me no videos are found. When I try the search option, it won't find my videos, so I just have to again, give you the URL and you'll have to follow the link the old fashioned way: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUjDoa7Z5vo
I love it when my film making and my comic drawing cross over, and this holiday season, they have done so in a new way: Animation! Special thanks to Zach Jarom of Misconduct Films for doing a voice over!
Cast in order of speaking first:
Sam Shenberger - Sam
Shannon Asprooth - Shannon
Amelia DeWane - Amelia
Frank Padour - Frank
Zach Jarom - Zach
Sam Shenberger - Santa
Again, like I said on my Comics blog, Blogger/YouTube/Google is being buggy and I have to link it via URL.
Today, I finally got to shoot my first film school project. There's quite the story involved, let me tell you. It all started out as a horror film/comedy short, but evolved into something completely different and much more.
The original story was this: A young girl (Annie) and her friend (Claire) are watching horror films together. Annie makes fun of Claire for being afraid of the movies, saying "they're too fake". However, when she returns home that night to find her house empty and the lights not working, she begins to think she herself is stuck in a horror film. Just when she's the most afraid, the lights come back to reveal it was just a surprise birthday party. But wait! Plot twist, there WAS a killer in the house with her who now feels cheated out of killing her because of so many people.
That was the original. It turned from a house to a school due to location agreements. Then today when we got to filming it, we had to drop this story completely due to our actresses backing out. Determined not to back down, I wrote a new script on the train ride to the city and finished it before reaching the school. I'll wait to give you more details about the story until after I put it out, but here's a summery.
A girl cannot find the inspiration for her script, until a friend comes by and provides her with just the thoughts she needs.
The film stars myself and my assistant director, Amelia DeWane. She did an amazing job and I can't wait to share the whole film with you. In the meantime, here are some pictures:
