Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy #1 has a pretty fantastic opening. Artist Valerio Schiti and colorist Richard Isanove treat readers to a double page of the monstrous Annihilus and Brood Queen (who were relegated to talking heads in the Galactic Council in the previous volume of Guardians) planning domination of the universe. But then they are never heard from again, and this issue is filled with quipping (and repetition of the same jokes sadly), a little action, some arguing, and a third act that is over too early. Also, all the characters seem distilled to one character trait, except for the Thing, who gets a few solo pages to spread his wings and enjoy his freedom in space away from the Fantastic Four. For example, Rocket Raccoon is angry, Drax uses big words, Flash Thompson is awkward in space, and Kitty Pryde has a tense relationship with the absent Peter Quill. In fact, this whole issue is overshadowed by Peter Quill instead of letting him be king of Spartax while the Guardians go on cool adventures.

Ant-man hits theaters on Friday, and with its release marks the end of Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with Phase Three kicking-off next May. Depending on how big of a Marvel fan you are, this news will come as either exciting, or painfully boring. A surprise appearance by Agent Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) in …

Marvel is winning the blockbuster war. The Disney owned company’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, despite getting less positive reviews than its predecessor, still managed to gross a whopping $191.3 million its opening weekend. This number is slightly down from the first Avengers flick, but not as much as might be expected, considering the idea of “superhero fatigue” that is …

Many comic book companies, including the Big Two of Marvel and DC, offer digital copies of their comic books for sale. However Marvel has something extra to offer with its Marvel Unlimited Service, a subscription service that has access to over 15,000 comic books. Using the website or the Marvel Unlimited Application available for download …

Hugh Jackman has played Logan aka Wolverine in seven different films. It’s an impressive number that will shortly increase with a third solo Wolverine film and possibly X-Men:Apocalypse, although at the time of writing he has yet to be officially cast. A few other names are snapping at the heels of Jackman, notably the cast …

Are you still rubbed the wrong way by the winners of this year’s Oscars? Wish that if they have 10 nominations, they should realistically use them to nominate cool movies everyone has seen like Guardians of the Galaxy and The Fault in Our Stars, and if you’re not going to, why not just go back …

The notion that a relatively low-performing sitcom airing on broadcast television could have within its stable of stars two MCU superheroes (Ant-Man, coming this summer) is relatively ridiculous, even given that one of those stars is Paul Rudd. But Chris Pratt has spent seven seasons on Parks and Rec showing time and again why he has the charisma to help turn a no-name team-up of comic book weirdos into one of the highest grossing movies of 2014.

After taking time last issue to decide what to do with the mysterious Black Vortex, the Guardians of the Galaxy and the X-Men finally come to blows with their cosmically transformed teammates. But while Star-Lord and the other heroes debate their next course of action, another hero may just lead the charge in his place…

After an extended introductory issue, Marvel’s “Black Vortex” event dives right into the cosmic fray with Guardians of the Galaxy. After securing the Vortex, the Guardians and the X-Men get a moment to decide what to do with the artifact. But with a rift forming between them, can the heroes get their act together before their enemies catch up with them?

One year after the Guardians of the Galaxy and the X-Men teamed up for the first time in “The Trial of Jean Grey,” the two teams reunite to contain the mystical artifact known as the Black Vortex. After glimpses and whispers of the artifact in the pages of Legendary Star-Lord, does the power of the Vortex justify the massive amount of characters in play here? And is there enough intrigue and mystery to last thirteen issues?

Ever since since it’s introduction in 1984’s Secret Wars, the Venom symbiote and it’s offspring have been shrouded in mystery. Despite it’s popularity, the origin of the symbiote species has never been definitively explained. That all changes in Guardians of the Galaxy #23, when after causing it’s latest host, Flash Thompson to lose both control and consciousness, and attacking and possessing his new teammates, the Guardians of the Galaxy, it commandeers their ship and finally makes a sojourn to the fabled symbiote homeworld. But is it worth the 30 year wait?

15. The Immigrant  – If one were to rank the films of 2014 based solely on innovation, The Immigrant would probably end up near the bottom. Writer-director James Gray’s languid melodrama tells the tumultuous story of a resilient Polish woman looking to find a slice of the American Dream, without much in the way of …

40. Night Moves Since 2006, Kelly Reichardt has found a way to reach inside of the hearts of her audiences, plucking out strings one by one with desolate re-imaginations of the American Pacific Northwest, seen through the eyes of people not so different than ourselves. With Meek’s Cutoff, she departed from her typical genre and moved …

A few weeks after Roberto Orci was removed from ‘Star Trek 3’ and left the director’s chair open, leaving the 2016 film in a bit of trouble, it has been reported by CBR that the ship now has its captain in the form of Fast Five’s Justin Lin. The director is known for revitalizing the Fast and Furious franchise …

On the face of it, 2014 has been a rather strange year for film, a step down from an annum of classics and simultaneously a slalom dodge into the realms of adventure and discord. Here I take a look at five movies and the four lessons they taught us in 2014, for better or for worse.

Guardians of the Galaxy #22 Written by Brian Michael Bendis Pencils by Valerio Schiti and David Lopez Published by Marvel Comics In part 2 of the “Planet of the Symbiotes” arc, the Venom symbiote, thought to have been captured by the Guardians, has done what parasitic aliens do best and escaped captivity, and is bouncing …

Disney XD’s Senior Vice President of Programming and General Manager Marc Buhaj announced production has begun on Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy, an upcoming animated-television series featuring the now popular characters introduced in the hughely successful Marvel Studios film of the same name. Some early test footage was released at NYCC and features Rocket Raccoon evading …

    Guardians 3000 #1 Writer: Dan Abnett Artist: Gerardo Sandoval Colorist: Edgar Delgado Publisher: Marvel Making their first appearance back in 1969, the Guardians have been fighting Badoon for centuries. Caught in a seemingly endless loop in an alternative universe, it appears time has rest itself again, for Guardians 3000 #1 brings the old crew back …

Although the events in Ferguson, Missouri have created a social media firestorm over the last week, much of the media cycle was dominated by the death of Robin Williams on Monday. Tributes have been pouring in, including this one and this one from Sound on Sight, and there has been some absolutely beautiful writing to …

It’s really a testament to the scope and variety of the things one can see at the Fantasia International Film Festival that my top 5 Fantasia films this year can contain a big-budget sci-fi Blockbuster and a movie so obscure and bizarre that I’ll likely never get a chance to see it again. The entire spectrum of film making is encompassed in Fantasia’s 2014 program, from the ultra-budget to the micro-budget, and all places in between. Old and new, comedy and tragedy (and mixes thereof), you can see it all at Fantasia, and no matter what it is, odds are it will be something you’ll remember for a long time to come. This year five films in particular left a lasting impression on me, and they seem to encompass that all-important Fantasia variety quite nicely.

Of course, Guardians isn’t perfect, as it struggles to find a consistent tone. Sometimes it wants to be more adult, with bawdier language and sexual innuendo. For instance, Quill’s rumination that “If I had a black light, this place would look like a Jackson Pollock painting!” is pretty sophisticated for mainstream PG-13 fare. Other times, it feels as though the filmmakers are pandering to a much younger audience. You can almost visualize a ‘Dancing Groot’ doll gyrating in your kid’s Happy Meal.

Movie poster artists are without a doubt some of the most vital yet overlooked contributors to cinematic history. Long before the invention of the television and the internet, filmmakers relied on movie posters to persuade audiences to watch their films. Ever since the late 19th century, posters (or then simple 8 x 10 inch lobby …

For every good sequence, there’s one that’s muddled with bad camerawork and editing. Like a lot of blockbuster action, it’s barely legible; you have to work to keep up with it, and that work interferes with the enjoyment. The story also sags in the middle, as it seems to exist mainly to fill out the run-time. The protagonists take the MacGuffin to a dude they wish to sell it to, but the only real function of the section is to exposit what it is. It turns a big chunk of the plot into a shrug.