To INFINITY (War) and Beyond: Marvel vs. DC 5

Namaste and welcome back to my blog. If you've kept up on my blogs you will see that this is #5 in my series of Marvel vs DC blogs. After  long years, the MCU has finally reached the Infinity War; Earth's mightiest heroes vs. the galactic menace, Thanos. So, my wife and I went to the Cinetopia last night and bore witness to the marvel of this film. There may be spoilers ahead, but I'll try not to ruin the fun, as this film is an adventure in and of itself.

Let's recap real quickly what's going on in the MCU as this movie starts. Thor: Ragnarok ends with the escaping Asgardian ship dwarfed by Thanos' ship Sanctuary II. Civil War ended with Nomad, a.k.a. Steve Rodgers f.k.a. Captain America going into hiding after the fallout from the Sakovia accords and subsequent fight with former friend Tony Stark, a.k.a. Iron Man. Black Panther ended with Wakanda opening its borders with the world and spreading its technology and influence; Bucky comes out of cryo-stasis to be labeled as the "white wolf". Spider-Man Homecoming ended with Tony and Pepper getting engaged and Aunt May finding out that Peter is indeed Spider-Man, along with the revelation of the iron spider suit, which we saw in the preview trailer for the Infinity War on the "Q ship".

Fast forward to present in the MCU. From the trailer we know that Thor is found by the Guardians of the Galaxy floating through space. Thanos has presented himself as the primary villain in the MCU in movie #19 out of 22 in the Infinity arc. The last 3 movies are as follows: Ant Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, and lastly the as yet to be released title of Avengers 4. The name for the last Avengers movie is as yet to be released, as stated that the title would have been a giveaway for the ending of the Infinity War. Fair enough. I, for one, KNOW that fans are chomping at the bit to see the conclusion of this epic cinematic masterpiece. Fan theories abound as there are rumors going wild as to who or what may appear in the final movie.
But... for now, let's focus a little bit on the current film. If you are a fan of the comics or just a fan of the movies, I really do believe you will like this one. If you are completely unfamiliar with the overall story line going on, then I urge you to go in with an open mind. A LOT of stuff happens. Heroes die. Others live to fight another day. But the way the story is written, the cinematography, the direction from the Russo brothers... and THEY say that Avengers 4 is going to be even BIGGER and BETTER... I, for one, am over here thinking "HOW?!?'
Man, do I want to say it all and ask the big questions, but I really don't want to be a dick and ruin an excellent movie for all the Marvel fans who have not yet seen this film. So I'm going to leave it at MY personal opinion. On the Quiet Mouse scale I give this movie a 95%

The next movie up is Ant Man and the Wasp. After seeing the outcome of the Infinity War, it's hard to figure out when and where this story is taking place in relation to the rest of the heroes. The trailer, however, looks very interesting. Obviously we are going to see a much more felt presence from Wasp, played by Evangeline Lilly, formerly in LOST and the Hobbit movies. Paul Rudd seems back up to the regular antics of turning into Giant Man as well as his namesake Ant Man. It also seemed from the trailer that we will be seeing some venturing into the quantum realm, and possibly see the return of the original Wasp, Hank Pym's wife Janet, who sacrificed herself to stop a missile from hitting the United States. If it's as funny as the first one, it'll definitely be a hit.

Then... we have Captain Marvel!!!
Brie Larson stepped into big shoes by accepting this role. Others were considered for this role including former UFC women's champion and current WWE superstar Ronda Rousey. Yeah. So what exactly are Captain Marvel's powers, you might wonder? Considering the MCU has diverged away from both the comic and television adaptations, there are of course many similarities as well as a TON of source material as to draw inspiration from, so take all of this with a grain of salt. This could be all or just some, but in the comics she had superhuman strength, flight, and the ability to harness solar energy for photonic blasts and precognitive Cosmic Awareness, et. al. The #1 theory I've seen is that this Cosmic Awareness will somehow be used to reset the timeline to before Thanos ever took interest in the Infinity stones... or something to that effect... We shall see. Plus, on top of that, it's been confirmed that the Captain Marvel movie will indeed be an origins story taking place in either the 80's or 90's, I forget... anyway, she starts out as an airforce pilot, but we know the plot includes the Kree. This includes Ronin the Accuser, played by Lee Pace, and Korrath formerly seen as the villains of Guardians of the Galaxy. It also will include the as yet seen Skrulls, which could obviously lead into Avengers 4 and beyond. Super excited about this movie!

On the other side of the coin, since Disney and Marvel have reacquired the rights to the FOX branch of Marvel, we have Deadpool 2 coming out soon and the trailers look hilarious and action packed. As many of you know, we are going to see Josh Brolin playing Cable, in addition to his role as Thanos in the MCU. Perhaps one day we will see some crossover movies in the future. If Deadpool 2 is anything like the first one then it will be funny, naughty, action packed, and slightly gory. I believe thought, with its R rating, it is EXACTLY the movie that ADULT comic movie and action movie fans will truly love. Adding in the formation of the X Force smells like FRANCHISE material to me. Yep.

Sony is gearing up for their end of summer release of the symbiotic relationship between film namesake VENOM and Eddie Brock played by a great actor in Tom Hardy, formerly played Bane in the Warner/DC/Christopher Nolan's Batman: the Dark Knight Rises. Glad to see him come over to team Marvel. Sony also has the "Into the Spider Verse" animated film go along with their plans for an extended Spider Verse similar to the Marvel Comic Universe, but rather focused on Spider-Man and his various nemesis'. This being the case, perhaps we may even see the Tom Holland version of Spider-Man cameo in Venom. I hope so. Also, for this film, it looked highly likely that we will see other symbiotes such as Carnage, from the trailer. If they do Venom justice this time around it should be a good film. Spiderman 3 having cast Topher Grace as Eddie Brock was just tragic and the character fell flat with fan disappointment. We as fans have much higher hopes this time around.

Rounding out the non-Disney Marvel movies for the year is Dark Phoenix, a spin-off of the character that entered into X-Men Apocolypse. If you saw the movie then you obviously know that she is Jean Grey, the telepath that finally brought down  Apocolypse himself by releasing her Dark Phoenix force power. I haven't heard a lot on the movie, but will keep updates in a soon-to-be-following blog.

DCEU almost has the nail in the coffin. Marvel is releasing 5 films this year and DC only has 1 in Aqua Man. I watched the Justice League and have to say that Aqua Man is actually one of the more favorable character portrayals in the film, so I'm sure his solo movie will be interesting and mildly entertaining. For me that is a GUARANTEED RedBox rental. Not worth seeing in the theater, by MY estimation, as I have seen ALL the DC movies, except a few of the straight to video animated Batman movies, and can make an educated opinion.

Well, I talked about a lot of upcoming films as well as the currently released Avengers: Infinity War.
Thanos IS a complete bad-ass, but you will see more than just that homicidal side of him. As said before, the storytelling is masterful and leaves the audience yearning for more. This will indeed be a film to see MANY times in the theater, and those kinds of movies don't come around all the time. Like above, with the turn-around from film to video these days being so short of a time, many movies are just easier to see at home in a few months on Netflix or RedBox, like with Aqua Man.

This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse. As always I'll see you in the cinema... to Infinity WAR and beyond!

HUMAN: More Than A Mental Illness

Namaste and welcome to my friends, family, and fellow knowledge seekers to my blog. There's been a growing trend lately of violent crimes such as mass shootings in the US. A lot of this has been blamed on guns or mental illness, but I feel like there could be more to it than that.

Before we start to diagnose others, society, or self with mental illness, first we must understand that we are indeed surrounded by a lot of under-educated, opinionated, and asshole people. It is also my personal opinion that much of the quote unquote "mental illness" is caused by external forces. For example, we as individuals, are forced to endure a society that condones violence, inequity, inequality, sexism, and racism, among other negative traits. We are raised to be fearful of others, yet we don't hold the well being of others in mind hardly at all. We are raised with this ideal of nationalism and unity, but then fight amongst one another over petty differences like skin color and financial or social status, in order to keep up with the Jones's.

The real mental illness is how we go about our daily lives and all too many people ignore the injustices of the world as if this is how things are SUPPOSED to be. Daily, I see people throw cigarette butts or other trash out their car window. I see kids disrespect their parents. I read about priests and cardinals of the church molesting children. I see hard working people being denied health care just to see their premiums continue to rise. I see murder, bombings, greed, death, and much human suffering... and it really bothers me to the core. How can someone justify the dehumanization of their fellow men and women? Unfortunately much of this is caused by money, primarily the disparity of income inequality where the wealth of the nation and the world is consolidated into the hands of the few.
I wonder, perhaps, if this is how the fall of the Roman Empire began. Income inequality, constant wars, fat greedy politicians that no longer serve the will of the people, hungry, angry, and broken hearts fill the tired and huddled masses... I see the seeds of dissent and revolution, but too many folks point that frustration at one another, commit crimes against their fellow human beings, and are filled with hatred in their hearts.

I don't presume that I have the answers for all of our problems as a species, but I do have some good suggestions. Start simple with the goal to cause no harm or to leave the world a better place than when you got here. You don't have to love or even like everyone all the time. But we can show empathy and recognize that all others are going through their own respective struggles, not just us. We all know life is hard and often unfair, so why make it worse on ourselves and our fellow humans? A lesson from kindergarten we could all re-learn is the golden rule: to treat others the way we would like to be treated ourselves. No one expects perfection, just effort toward a positive direction. Baby steps. Things didn't get out of whack over night, so we cannot expect the solution to be immediate either. The goal, I believe, is to keep moving forward in the right direction. It may take several generations, but it will be worth it. I think, unfortunately, that is a hard pill to swallow for many. We, as Americans, have become accustomed to having things on demand; instant gratification. It's difficult to come to terms with the fact that the seeds we are sowing today will grow up to be the trees of the future, metaphorically. If we plant good habits and free ourselves of the hatred and prejudices and negative behaviors, future generations will reap those rewards and have a more positive life.
This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.

Hand Care

Hey there, just wanted to make a quick posting about hand care.

I work as a surgical tech. for a cosmetic surgeon who specializes in hands. I've seen a lot of crazy hand injuries in the last year.
Avocado hand happens frequently when you stab your hand while trying to get the pit out from inside. Be careful when handling the knife. Cut down onto the cutting board instead of cutting into your hand.
Spring is upon us and the incidence of injuries arise this time of year as fellas are our in the garage working with saws and smashing fingers while hooking up the trailer hitch or in the door of the car, among other things.
Even chopping up vegetables or accidentally broken glass can be very dangerous and harmful to your hands and feet.

I know that this is all, or at least should be, common sense stuff. Like I said though, I've seen some crazy shit working in my profession. I can't say more details because I don't want to violate HIPAA or anything like that. Just a fair warning to be careful and look out where you walk and put your hands. Broken bones hurt and take time to set and heal, with proper medical treatment. And ALWAYS follow your after surgery care instructions. It does help. Take care of the hands that take care of you.
Use lotion. Don't forget to clean under your nails, as bacteria and dirt like to hide in there.

Well take care now.  This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse.

Movie Reviews #2

Namaste and welcome my friends, family, and fellow knowledge seekers to my second posting of my personal movie reviews. As you might know, I'm a huge cinephile and fan of the arts.

Today I'm going to review a variety of films. Let's get started.

Thor: Ragnarok
This movie was by far the best of the Thor trilogy, but it added a special green element that was missing from the previous films: Hulk. This movie felt as much like Hulk's movie as it did Thor's. Witty levity by the additions of The Grand master, Jeff Goldblum, and the cameos by Sam Neil and Matt Damon made this movie much more light- hearted than its predecessors.
On the QM scale I'll give it a 94%.

Black Panther
Marvel scored again, big time, with this instant classic that tackles tough issues like death, colonialism, isolationism, and a family torn apart due to different ideologies. In this film we get a much larger glimpse of Wakanda than we saw at the end of Captain America: Civil War. We, as fans, also get to see Bucky Barnes again, a.k.a. White Wolf, as well as Okoye and Shuri, who are a welcome addition to the cast and lead the MCU into the Infinity War.
I'll give this movie, easily, a 97% on the QM scale.

The Big Lebowski
I know this isn't a new film, by far, but I did watch it again recently and thought I'd give my 10 cent opinion on this Coen brothers classic. Jeff Bridges is the laid back paragon of dudeism with his pals John Goodman and Steve Buscemi in a case of missing identity, kidnapping, and nihilism. This movie is funny, witty, and clever from start to finish and must immediately go on your to-watch list if you haven't seen it.  "Cause everyone knows you don't fuck with the Jesus."
QM scale rating of 98%.

Dogma
The recent health scare by Kevin Smith made me want to watch his movies once again. Amazon is super fast, so we ordered this cult classic for a night of levity and humor. The late Alan Rickman was an actor second to none. Even though the cast was littered with talent like the late George Carlin, Jason Lee, and Chris Rock, among others, to me Alan Rickman and Jay and Silent Bob really made this movie. Jason Mewes is a funny dude. He was good in Clerks too.
On the QM scale I'll give it a rating of 89% due to Ben Afleck and the weird blank crotch shot part.

Star Wars: the Last Jedi
I know this movie has been out for a bit and will be on blue ray, dvd, and 4k soon. Original fans from the late 70's grew up with the Star Wars saga developed out of chronological order, so naturally many didn't care for the prequels or the newest additions in episodes 7 the Force Awakens and 8 the Last Jedi. I for one, am here to dispel any hateful banter by saying that Episode 8 was every bit as good as Empire Strikes Back. The saga has evolved to now include Rogue One and this summer we will see Solo, the Star Wars spin-off origins movie. Overall fantastic film worth adding to your personal collection.
On the QM scale I'll give it a rating of 98%

Downsizing
Matt Damon has gotten a bad rep for acting, partly due to the guys who make South Park making fun of him. I definitely think he's the better actor between he and Ben Affleck for sure, lol. Anywho, Downsizing is a fun, emotional movie about following your heart, ecological awareness, and finding love in the unlikeliest of places. Overall a superb family movie.
On the QM scale I'll give it a rating of 93%

Murder on the Orient Express
What can I say about the acting of Kenneth Branagh. I grew up reading the murder mysteries of Agatha Christie and watching David Suchet play the adorable, enigmatic Hercule Poirot on the BBC and PBS. Branagh does an excellent job in his role of the detective, surrounded by an all star studded cast with the likes of Daisy Ridley, Judy Dench, Penelope Cruz, Josh Gadd, Michelle Pfifer, and Johnny Depp, among others. This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering WHO-DONE-IT...
On the QM scale I'll give it a rating of 89%

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and the Rock are a comedic all-star team, hands down. This time the game is played out in a video game format forcing the players to work together using strength, brains, and a little ass kicking to escape Jumanji. This movie is great for a family movie night or just kicking back solo for a good laugh.
On the QM scale I'll give it a rating of 86%

Justice League
So I finally saw it. I told my readers I would report back when I did. Admittedly I liked it better than I initially thought that I would. There are, however, a lot of things that I thought held it back. I think DC is trying too hard to compete with the MCU. I honestly believe that if they tried harder to be original and not just follow the leader, they would need putting out a much better product. They had all the tools for success: Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg, Flash, and Aquaman... but still, even with the help of Joss Whedon couldn't pull together a story that didn't feel rushed and incomplete. After millions in re-shoots and a poor marketing campaign, this movie was a basic flop, by critic and money making standards. Overall could have been a much better movie, but the studio exec's keep meddling and either firing or having their directors quit.
On the QM scale I'll give it a rating of 82%

Well my fellow cinephiles, this is it for today. I hope you enjoy these films as much as I have and of course I'll see you at the movies. This has been the one and only Quiet Mouse. Peace be with you and enjoy the rest of your day.