Saw The Avengers this afternoon in good old 2D (nice not to have to wear those glasses that end up giving you a headache after 2 hours).

The movie is good silly fun where all the money put into it shows up on the screen. It ain't rocket science but its is fun to see so many Marvel characters up on the screen.

Tony Stark ala Robert Downey Jr as always, saves the movie from being just alot of noise and special effects. His character always has a good punchline and common sense. I also thought The Black Widow ala Scarlett Johansen was also solid. The Hulk also gets a few good lines/scenes near the end of the movie.

Liked that Tony Stark when he's not Ironman wears a Black Sabbath t-shirt (still don't like that they don't use the song Iron Man when he appears in the movie). Instead its a AC/DC song.

We also get an appearance at the end of the movie of the upcoming Acura NSX which is one of the sweetest looking cars ever. I drive an Acura TL and salivate about the Acura NSX!!.

My showing had plenty of seats as it was a matinee. This theater has an compromised IMAX screen but I was fine with the regular screen in 2D.

Not sure if the movie is better in 3D.

Best scene? At the end of the movie at the Shawarma Cafe.
Second Best scene? The "puny god" line by The Hulk!

They did play Iron Man at the very end of Iron Man 1.

rented "new year's day" last night, my wife was in the mood for a romantic comedy.

what a load of crap this movie was, simply wretched.

my question:

how in god's name do they get oscar winners to be in these schlock movies with TV stars. it baffles the mind. swank and deniro right there with duhamel and belushi, amazing! can they possibly need the money that bad? are their agents that bad? are their script-readers that inane? is there something in their contracts that force them into these things?

Ashton Kutcher being in a movie makes it a non-starter for me.

Plus, it was one of the worst-reviewed movies I'd seen of late.

From boxofficemojo.com:

Weekend Report: 'Avengers' Shatters More Records, 'Shadows' Mostly Sucks
by Ray Subers


May 13, 2012


With Dark Shadows providing little in the way of competition, The Avengers had no trouble at all extending its stranglehold on the box office this weekend. Marvel's superhero team-up fell 50 percent to an estimated $103.2 million, which is by-far the best second weekend ever ahead of Avatar's $75.6 million. It also topped The Dark Knight for best second weekend hold for a movie that opened to more than $120 million. Other new records include fastest movie to $300 million and $350 million, and highest eight-day, nine-day, and ten-day grosses.

Through Sunday, The Avengers is estimated to have earned $373.2 million, which ranks 18th on the all-time domestic chart. It's now inevitable that the movie will finish above $500 million, and it should also claim third place on the all-time chart ahead of The Dark Knight ($533.3 million).

As expected, Dark Shadows couldn't hold a candle to The Avengers, though its estimated $28.8 million opening is still a bit of a disappointment. Among recent Johnny Depp and Tim Burton collaborations, that's a tiny fraction of Alice in Wonderland's $116.1 million and around half of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory's $56.2 million. Those were both colorful, fun, recognizable properties, and Dark Shadows is much closer to Sweeney Todd and Sleepy Hollow. It significantly out-grossed Sweeney Todd ($9.3 million at 1,249 locations) but was a bit off from Sleepy Hollow ($30.1 million).

Dark Shadows's underwhelming debut can be attributed to a handful of factors, not least of which was the tough release date. The second weekend of May is a notoriously difficult time to open a movie, as Warner Bros. experienced with Poseidon in 2006 ($22.2 million) and Speed Racer in 2008 ($18.6 million). The challenge was magnified this year thanks to The Avengers, which is outperforming even the most bullish pre-release forecasts.

It doesn't help that vampires who don't sparkle (read: aren't in the Twilight franchise) don't tend to be overly successful at the box office, and the Dark Shadows soap opera upon which the movie is based isn't nearly as popular as other TV source material. Perhaps more importantly, though, this mediocre opening seems to suggest that Johnny Depp may be losing some of his mojo thanks to disappointing recent movies like Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and The Tourist. Because of this, a movie can't be sold on Depp alone, and the fish-out-of-water comedy and outlandish sex scenes portrayed in the movie's marketing weren't enough to seal the deal for most people.

IMAX presentations only contributed $1.15 million, which is likely a result of splitting showtimes with The Avengers. According to distributor Warner Bros. Pictures, the audience was 57 percent female and 73 percent over the age of 25. They awarded the movie a poor "B-" CinemaScore, and with three new nationwide releases coming up next weekend there's little chance that Dark Shadows holds up well in the long-run.

In its fourth weekend, Think Like a Man eased 22 percent to an estimated $6.3 million. So far, the ensemble romantic comedy has earned a very strong $81.9 million.

The Hunger Games took fourth place with an estimated $4.4 million, which is off just 21 percent from last weekend. The blockbuster has so far grossed $386.9 million, and will yield 2012's top spot in the next few days to The Avengers.

The Lucky One rounded out the Top Five with an estimated $4.06 million (a light 24 percent decline). The movie has now made $53.7 million.

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel expanded to 178 locations and added an estimated $2.65 million this weekend. That was good for eighth place on the weekend chart, and the Fox Searchlight geriatric comedy has now earned $3.7 million.

Girl in Progress, the latest release from Lionsgate/Pantelion, opened in tenth place with an estimated $1.35 million from 322 locations. The movie received a "B+" CinemaScore, and the audience was 70 percent female and 57 percent over the age of 25.

The Artist received one final push from The Weinstein Company this weekend, though it didn't really take advantage. The Oscar winner expanded to 751 locations but made just $161,000, which translates to an awful $214 per-theater average. The Artist has now earned $44.4 million, and is unlikely to make much more before the end of its run.

I finally saw The Muppets yesterday and basically I wasn't much of a fan before I saw the movie and I'm still not. There were a couple good laughs, everyone sang The Rainbow Connection together which was the best thing in the whole darn movie, Kermit and Miss Piggy got together again, Animal really came into his own, and the welcoming but surprising cameos by Jack Black and Selena Gomez was really cool, but overall I found the movie to be sort of dull in places and the corny song and dance numbers certainly didn't help any. The last 30 or so minutes were good, but other than that I didn't find much to be excited about. In the long run I guess I'm glad I finally saw it, but it wouldn't have been a travesty if I hadn't.

Believe it or not I felt the same way. It was a good Muppets movie but it didn't do anything different than all the other Muppets movie's I've seen over the years. Same corny formula they perfected in the 70's.

In 1976, Henson created his signature project -- The Muppet Show, a weekly prime-time variety show filled with songs, sketches and talented guest stars. Kermit the Frog is the charming and mostly unflappable host, presiding over a motley crew of performers, including diva Miss Piggy, hopeful comedian Fozzie Bear, daredevil performance artist Gonzo, young eager gofer Scooter, and the house band, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. The Muppet Show was a huge international success, making unlikely stars out of the Swedish Chef, Dr. Bunsen Honeydew and his assistant Beaker, Sam the Eagle, and the two old cranks in the balcony, Statler and Waldorf.

Hope to catch The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel soon which I think is a good movie. The trailer looks good.

The crowds will be at Battleship and The Avengers so I hope to sneak into Best Exotic with all the rest of the old people.

The trailer certainly leads the audience to believe that they're in for a fish-out-of-water comedy, but the movie is more of a campy melodrama, IMO. The humor is pretty low-key, and the best bits are in the previews. Even some of those gags seem half developed when viewed in context. It made me chuckle a time or two, but IMO the trailer promised a lot more than the movie delivered.

yep, Dark Shadows is on my DVD rental queue when it comes out in October.

Saw The Avengers tonight and it was fantastic I must say. Very loud, entertaining and the cast was great. I really like Mark Ruffalo as The Hulk and I usually don't care for him. Scarlett Johansson was so hot and those few shots of her butt in that costume were worth every penny.
The CGI was typical overkill, but I didn't mind it-isn't that what films like this are for? And man, did a ton of things get blown up!
Love Robert Downey Jr. in a Black Sabbath "Never Say Die" t-shirt throughout the film-nice touch (after all, he is "Iron Man"!).
Some damn funny jokes in the script as well and a few that were cringe-worthy-but not too many. Amazing, that after a few weeks and on a Tuesday night at 6:30 the theater was sold out all the way to the front row.
I must say I had no idea who that was at the end during the credits, but a comic book nerd let out a yelp and everyone laughed at him. (I now know who it is, but will not say).
Anyway, a great time at the theater and for once there are many things I will be trying to see this summer.

We're gonna see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel tonight after a nice meal at Bellissomo's of Amityville. I'll save Battleship or The Dictator for another day.

We really liked The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel as its a tour de force of British acting. Never understood the appeal of going to India but it looks like a place for the adventurous.

Battleship: a.k.a Transformers at Sea. Dimwitted, noisy action flick very loosely based on the kid's game. Lots of explosions, at least. And a cheaply manipulative turn of events in the last 20 mins., which, I hate to admit, was pretty effective, but doesn't redeem the rest of the movie. SPOILER: nobody says "You sunk my battleship!"

What to Expect When You're Expecting: I'm sorry. I'm sooooo sorry. Look, I promise, no more ensemble dramedies with parallel storylines about insufferable people expecting bundles of joy, with dialog so excrutiating that I felt embarrassed for the actors (which, shockingly, doesn't include Kate Hudson or Jason Bateman). Just, please, don't revoke my man card.

No Dictator??!!?? Pregnant chicks instead!??!! I know it's bad at the bijou but really! A Seth Meyers... really?!

Oh yeah, I saw The Dictator too. A straight, scripted comedy from Cohen this time, not a mockumentary. Like his other vehicles, some scenes are hilarious, while others push the envelope of bad taste so far I just couldn't laugh. Kind of an obvious parody too. Save 10 bucks and wait 'til it's a rental. P.S. Many of the jokes seen in the commercials and trailers didn't even make the final cut.

I like the " your less hairy than Kim Kardashian" line.

I believe this may be yours...it was left in the lobby.





Alan

I know New Years Day was a dog and Friends With Benefits was so bad....I turned it off after a half hour but I refuse to sit through a movie about women getting pregnant and whining about it (and making their husbands lives miserable). Who keep ok'ing these awful movies?

Not heard in the movie.

Bummer.....Megan Fox isn't in the movie.

Actually, she is in the movie--they just went with a different joke.