How to use this Page

Because I get to do what I want, I'm going to post awesome clips/pictures of my favourite scenes from each of the MCU movies. (Since Ant-Man appeared in Civil War, he is added to the roster.)

Technically, Captain America should be the first of the films to watch, but I'm going to treat it as a "flashback" movie and stick it before the Avengers, because when Cap wakes up, a lot of the events in the first two Iron Man movies, the Hulk, and Thor have already taken place.

(Because I tend to love ALL the scenes from the movies, I'll limit myself to a total of five per movie - I'll aim for three, but I can go up to five. Does that seem fair? Thank you s' much.)


Iron Man 1:

Iron Man 2:





The Incredible Hulk:
(I have only watched The Incredible Hulk once, and this was after I'd seen The Avengers and had embraced Mark Ruffalo in the role of the Hulk. So, I didn't much care for Ed Norton as the Hulk, but he had some cute vulnerable scenes, and the movie overall had some good parts.)






Thor:






Captain America: The First Avenger:







The Avengers:

Ugh! There are too many good scenes in the Avengers! I'll do my best to only choose five of the best... even though I could pretty much post the entire movie and say, "I loved it all!" But the best scenes, IMHO:







Iron Man 3:







Thor: The Dark World:







Captain America: The Winter Soldier:







Avengers: Age of Ultron:







Ant-Man:






Captain America:  Civil War:

 This movie had more scenes that broke my heart than probably any other MCU movie out there. I think it's because Steve and Tony are my GUYS, and having them angry at each other was the hardest thing in the world. Steve is the man who is already on the moral high ground and who we aspire to become, and Tony is the man who gives us the hope of attaining that moral high ground by conquering ourselves more and more each day. I couldn't stand to see them fighting.

So this is more a collection of favourite bro scenes/scenes that broke my heart (there are more pictures here because there were too many good ones NOT to post...):












And that's all for now, folks! I hope that put you back in the mood to rewatch all the Avengers movies (in order, of course!) and get totally caught up in the character development again.

Until next time, that's a wrap!

God bless!

Add a Comment

I didn't expect to like him at all. My favourite Spiderman of all times is the first one I ever saw -Toby McGuire. Yes, the effects were terrible. Yes, those movies could have used some work, and I despised MJ. But Toby McGuire was such a cute, sympathetic character as Peter Parker. He was the kind of superhero I could admire. I liked him a lot. (I didn't care too much for the Andrew Garfield remake, and I confess I did not watch the sequel to the Amazing Spiderman. It was mostly that part, where the teacher tells him not to make promises he can't keep, and Peter whispers to Gwen, "But those are the best kind," which completely ruined him for me. I mean, what? You promised a dying man to leave his daughter out of your escapades, and now you're freakin' saying broken promises are the best kind?! That's not cool at all, Bro!)



Plus, he's so genuinely nice. I mean, the first time we even meet Peter, he comes into his house and finds Iron Man having tea and some kind of bread (was it walnut date bread? I think it was walnut date bread) with his aunt, and he's so adorably awkward in that scene. Tony pretends Peter had won some kind of scholarship, and Peter is just terrible at acting along, and I was over there going, well Marvel, I can't believe you have managed to introduce yet ANOTHER Spiderman, and somehow make him someone I might actually like more than Toby McGuire.


Also, during the fight between the teams that I loved/hated (loved because the dialogue was FUNNY, hated because it was friends against friends, and then RHODEY...) it was mostly Spiderman (and Ant-Man) who made the scene less horrible than it could have been.


I liked the freshness Peter brought to the team, the constant geeking out over peoples' suits, armour and abilities, and his overall ingenuousness.

Spiderman - "Are those carbon fiber wings?"
Falcon - "I don't know if you've been in a fight before, but there's usually not this much talking." 
Spiderman - "All right, sorry. My bad."

He was so young, and I liked that we got to skip over the whole "how Spiderman came to be" backstory and went straight to where he had had these abilities for six months, and was now able to apply them. I also liked the little nods to previous movies, like where he says something to Tony that's akin to Uncle Ben's famous line, "With great power comes great responsibility," and how he feels a personal obligation to use his powers to help the "little guy."


I'm glad they cast him younger, too. I almost felt like it was a way for Tony to reconcile his conscience with the boy killed in Sokovia - that by taking this young boy and making him one of his team members, he could make a small restitution. I thought it worked really well, and I'm interested to see how this Peter Parker grows up.

Until next time, that's a wrap!

God bless!

Add a Comment

Now Playing -  Forever Young by Alphaville   RECIPE: MAY PARKER'S FAMOUS WHEATCAKES Originally made by my pal Pete's Aunt May, these wheatcakes are a great, hearty alternative to the standard pancake and will get your day off to a swinging start. INGREDIENTS: 1 cup Buckwheat Flour 1 cup Sifted Whole Wheat Flour 2 teaspoons Double Acting Baking Powder 1 teaspoon Baking Soda 1

Add a Comment

Hopefully by now you’ve all seen the debut of new contributor Kate Willaert’s column “By Its Cover” which looks at the best of the week’s cover designs—I’ve been wanting to add more craft-focused pieces to the Beat and this really fits the bill.

Kate is a pretty great designer herself, and I have to say, her infographic showing the evolution of Spider-Man’s costume deserves a place in Best American Infographics for sure! (yes there is such a book.) The infographic was created for HalloweenCostumes.com, and whatever they paid, it wasn’t enough.

One thing that i found very interesting was the change in eye holes! If I were editing Spider-man, I would go nuts trying to remember what is “on model” or not. Props to all the artists who’ve made Spider-man a comics icon despite the complicated costume.

ALSO, no change in the costume from 1966 to 1984 — that must be some kind of record!

Finally, as a reminder, here’s my review of Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Display Comments Add a Comment

TweetFriday is art day! Friday is also the harbinger of the weekend, but who cares about that? Instead, take a look at all the pretty pictures I gathered for you from the shady, cob-webby corners of the Internet you dare not venture… (I can’t say more) FF by Mike Allred (you HAVE to click on this to [...]

Add a Comment

Ruh-roh.  I’ve been having too much fun earning a living to leave enough time for blogging.  Time yet again for a super quickie point-by-point-without-the-details Fusenews!  Hold onto your hats . . .

Who are the artists overlooked by the Caldecott?  Elizabeth Bluemle has the scoop.

An East Harlem bookstore needs your help! Thanks to Heather Scott for the link.

• Can celebrities write good books for kids? One person points out that maybe they aid in giving illustrators a leg up.

• Everything in this Horn Book article Board-book-a-palooza by Cynthia K. Ritter I agree with.  Everything.

• Speaking of HB, Roger’s blog has a new format.  Love that bow-tied avatar of his.  Who drew it, I wonder?

• Don Tate has a fun piece about his time at the Highlights first illustrators intensive Founders workshop. He happened to stay in the same cabin that I did when I visited last summer.  I had no idea I’d stayed where Floyd Cooper had.  Fabulous!

• Don’t get me wrong.  I love Where’s Waldo but how dedicated am I?  Not this dedicated.  Yeesh!  Thanks to Molly O’Neill for the link.

• Dunno. If I were to find a title for this story of the 1500 pound Mo Willems sculpture of a pachyderm I think I would have gone with “Elephant and Piggie Iron”.  But that’s me.

• Who knew that random stills of that old Spider-Man cartoon could be this fun?  Particularly when they involve librarians.

Kseniya Yarosh, I tip my hat to thee.

• Beautiful vintage dust jackets from classic novels.  That Catcher in the Rye is particularly shocking to me.  Thanks to Mike Lewis for the link!

• That’s it. I’m making my own Funny Book prize.  This time for American books.  Because, quite frankly, they’re hard to write and I’m jealous of the Brits for getting to have their Roald Dahl Funny Prize.<
  8 Comments on Fusenews: Zap! Pow! Zam! (Zam?), last added: 9/21/2011
  Display Comments
  Zoe said, on 9/19/2011 11:11:00 PM
  

  I see in your Gatekeeper’s post you mention Jon Klassen’s book… he’s on my blog today talking about his bookish inspiration. I was quite surprised by his choices, I wonder what you’ll make of them. I love these round ups – like a magpie’s nest full of lovely sparkly bits I want to pick up and have a look at.

  Nina Crittenden said, on 9/20/2011 6:53:00 AM
  

  Thank for posting the Lord of the Flies link- I sent it on to my neighbor’s son (who is quite a talented young artist).

  MR said, on 9/20/2011 7:06:00 AM
  

  Doesn’t the Sid Fleischman humor award count?

  Elizabeth Bird said, on 9/20/2011 7:10:00 AM
  

  It does but I like the shortlist aspect. The Fleischman Award only goes to one book a year, yes?

  Jennifer Schultz said, on 9/20/2011 10:11:00 AM
  

  Did you see that Emma Thompson is writing a new Peter Rabbit story?

  http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/48708-new-peter-rabbit-tale-to-be-written-by-emma-thompson.html

  Elizabeth Bird said, on 9/20/2011 12:37:00 PM
  

  Oh yes. Hard not to be torn on that one. On the one hand, we all like Emma Thompson. On the other hand, is this the first time where a public domain children’s literary character had their story appropriated by a celebrity author?

  Jennifer Schultz said, on 9/21/2011 6:03:00 AM
  

  I wish she would write her own story. She’s a talented and witty writer (the screenplay for Sense and Sensibility is a treat to read); it’s not like she just decided to start writing out of the blue.

  Elizabeth Bird said, on 9/21/2011 6:17:00 AM
  

  Actually she did write a Nanny McPhee sequel. But again that was taking an existing character and expanding on it rather than thinking up her own work. She could potentially be the next Julie Andrews Edwards of children’s literature if she let herself.

  Add a Comment

Face front, true believers!

I love the way Stan Lee addressed his readers with such an intimate and glorifying phrase. True believers! Sure, you were just reading a Spiderman comic book, but he implied that this act joined you with a like-minded group, and certified your character as loyal and faithful.

I poked around looking for an appropriate “Face front” image, and found this poster in the Soviet Museum‘s digital collections. If you have a bit of time, check out the collection of pro-Lenin fairy tales.  I also found an associated grumpy thread on Metafilter, comparing the ubiquity of this style of propaganda art in Soviet Russia to something like garish ads for fast food and grocery store mailers.

Face front, true believers! Today is beautiful, and we will face it with the resolution to do good.

 

Related posts:

1. Klingon Fairy Tales I’m a bit late with this, but here’s one for...
2. True Romance! I popped in to the Tompkins County Public Library yesterday...
3. Advantages to dating Librarians The webcomic xkcd has the goods on librarians this week:...

Add a Comment

The concept for the ‘Behind The Mask’ Project (to create a user-generated video of the Gloved One’s single was awesome, but considering the excessive direction fans were given regarding their submissions — as in instructions for... Read the rest of this post

Add a Comment

Spider-Man actor Tobey Maguire (pictured, via) has joined the cast in Ang Lee‘s adaptation of Life of Pi. According to Deadline, “Maguire will play a writer who interviews the boy as an adult.”

We reported earlier that 17-year-old Suraj Sharma will debut in the lead role of Pi Patel. Other cast members include Irrfan Khan and Adil Hussain.

MovieLoverNews.com reports that shooting for Life of Pi will take place in Taiwan and India. Tentative release is set for December 2012.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

Add a Comment

I’m not telling you anything new by bringing this up now, but for those of you who may yet be unaware, the great Brian Jacques of the Redwall books passed away last weekend.  I only had the pleasure of meeting Brian once at an event at the Campbell Apartment, and he was charming.  I determined that the best way to speak to him was to bring up The Wind in the Willows, a book he adored.  When I mentioned the Pan chapter he became wildly enthused, quoting whole passages verbatim.  Later in the evening he would tell tales of fellow author and friend Paula Danziger (also deceased) and how she once leapt into a ball pen where she got firmly stuck.  There are a couple obits worth mentioning of the man.  Over at The Guardian Alison Flood recalls her talking animal phase while Julia Eccleshare writes his obit.  The Telegraph gave their two cents.  The Liverpool Echo had a great obit too, though it left me wanting to know more about the schoolteacher that taught Jacques, Paul McCartney, and George Harrison, so thank you @PWKidsBookshelf for the link.  Even the Audubon Magazine had a sweet take on the Jacques legacy (thanks to @MrSchuReads for the link).  Can’t say I’m the world’s biggest fan of this British cover, though.  A bit too symbolic for me.

Needs more fur.

• Speaking of British covers, I was a little surprised to see that the British edition of When You Reach Me (which they seem to have only just now brought over there in paperback) sports the same Sophie Blackall cover as the one we have here in the States.  Almost the same, I should say.  Can you spot the difference?

Someone explain that one to me, please.  I’m baffled.  Anyway, I think I like the Aussie cover best an

Add a Comment

Tweet

By Robin S. Rosenberg

I recently saw a preview for the musical Spider-Man: Turn Out the Dark. It’s not really a musical; it’s a spectacle. It succeeds as a spectacle, fails as a musical, and hangs itself as a Spider-Man origin story. It’s easier to find good things to say about the spectacle aspect, so I’ll start by reviewing that aspect of the play.

Spider-Man: The Spectacle

Director/writer Julie Taymor and co-writer Glen Berger wanted to create a spectacle-something that was more than a musical. They succeeded. The sets were a wonder to behold (especially in the first half of the show). Aerialists, dressed as Spider-Man, the Green Goblin, and Arachne, flew about the stage and balcony, allowing viewers to feel a part of the production. In fact, because of the numerous injuries suffered by actors during rehearsals and previews, when the aerialists flew overhead it made me wonder-what if their cables broke and they fell on the audience? (And wouldn’t that be analogous to what New York’s pedestrians would wonder if an actual Spidey and actual Green Goblin were duking it out in the skies above Manhattan, without the cables?)

Even as a spectacle, though, the pacing of it didn’t work for me. Most of the spectacular elements were in the first half of the show, so when the effects and wow elements were fewer (and repeating) in the second half, it was a let down. During the last hour of the play, I kept looking at my watch. If you see the play and leave at intermission, you’ll see the best parts. Grade for spectacle (especially the first half): A.

Spider-Man: The Musical

In a good musical, the songs move the story forward. Unfortunately, the music in this play didn’t do this very effectively. The actors often spoke a “recap” of the gist of the song in order to transition to the next scene or to move the story along. (If you see this play, bring along some tissues or napkins to stuff into your ears: some songs were so loud that I had to cover my ears with my hands; I didn’t enjoy those.)

As you may know, the songs were written by Bono and The Edge, and it showed. The songs didn’t have the structure or feel of a “Broadway musical,” which is okay in theory, but not in this execution. Sad to say, none of the songs were memorable – they didn’t have a great “hook” as do many Broadway songs or even U2 songs. Plus the feel of the music didn’t match up with Spider-Man’s character or story. Grade for music: B- (I’m being generous here, taking effort into consideration in my grade)

Spider-Man: The Origin Story

I’ve read (or seen) almost every Spider-Man origin story there is because I’m writing a book on origin stories that includes a chapter on Spider-Man’s origins. I was looking forward to this musical to see how it compared with previous origin stories of the Webbed Wonder. I was disappointed. There isn’t a whole lot of character development here, and there isn’t much more of a plot; what plot there is focuses too much on Mary Jane and not enough on Peter. Even though Peter/Spider-Man is a comic book character, his story is rich in the human drama of shouldering the burden of

Add a Comment

The recent phenomenon of multiple performer injuries on the stage, which is plaguing the Broadway production of Spiderman, is not new. Several years ago, the producers of the hit show Stomp, had to halt production of their new show Slam, when numerous members of the cast were sent to ER’s, after mosh pit accidents, during initial rehearsals. Tonto was one of the unfortunate. My left eye socket was broken along with two ribs. Shame too—it would have been a big hit with the kids.

Add a Comment

Tweet

This weekend, Michelle and Lauren took on New York Comic Con & Anime Festival and bring you superheros, speed dating, light sabers, and more.

Subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes!

Special thanks to…

Ryan Glitch, host of Sci-fi Speed-Dating

Dr. Travis Langley, Professor of Psychology at Henderson State University, director of The ERIICA Project

Dr. Robin S. Rosenberg, co-editor of What is a Superhero, author of Superhero Origins: What Makes Superheroes Tick & Why We Care (forthcoming 2011). Take the SUPERHERO SURVEY!

Matthew Silva, Creative Director at Penny Dreadful Productions

John Strangeway, Production Assistant at Penny Dreadful Productions

Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, founder of Her Universe

Laura Domholt of the Tonner Doll Company

The Ben Daniels Band

and everyone else we met!

Add a Comment

Obama to host youth town hall (in a one-hour event produced by MTV News and BET News that will see the president addressing 250 young people from varying backgrounds, taking questions from the audience and from viewers via Twitter. The special will... Read the rest of this post

Add a Comment

'Kids are not going to want to see 30-minute infomercials' (says an exec behind The Hub by way of curbing revived concerns around the commercialization of shows built around Hasbro products. CEO Margaret Loesch adds that those will comprise less... Read the rest of this post

Add a Comment

'Spiderman 4′ scrapped (for a reboot set in high school that will replace both director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire. Hmm.. but wasn't the first Raimi film an origin story? Also Paramount sets dates for the upcoming sequels to "Star Trek"... Read the rest of this post

Add a Comment

Strongly stylized graphic design for an imaginary Spiderman poster or album cover.

More at Sevensheaven.nl

Add a Comment

Two new illustrations to share with you today. Spiderman and a happy Worm.

My Website
My Blog

Add a Comment

Now we know why Disney announced it was producing its own Comic-Con like trade show! While everyone is still processing what this merger means (see today's Essentials), I was most curious about how the comic book faithful were feeling about this new... Read the rest of this post

Add a Comment

this is the latest piece i've done. a spider-man illo for drawergeeks!

-me

Display Comments Add a Comment

I’ve been travelling and working more than I’ve been surfing and sharing lately. That will change this Summer, but for now it’s the reality of what seems to be The Conference Season. Here are some nifty links that people have sent me, and ones that I have noticed over the past few weeks. Sort of a random grab bag.

• Some introspection and questions from a special collections blogger. “Why do this anyways?” If you have suggestions or comments I’m sure she’d appreciate them.
• The MaintainIT project has a guest blogger from the Tonganoxie Public Library in rural Kansas. I’ve pointed to their website before as a way that a tiny library can make use of tech tools to really expand their presence and share a lot of information. Library director Sharon Moreland is detailing her library’s move from Sirsi to Koha and it makes for great reading.
• Speaking of library blogs, Seattle Public Library has one called Shelf Talk which falls solidly into the category of “blogs I’d read even if I weren’t reading blogs for work” Right up top there’s an interview with Cory Doctorow talking about his new book Little Brother. Also noted is every librarians favorite category: lists, booklists to be exact. The blog manages to intersperse library information, local lore and trivia and book topics in a lively and attractive package. It’s a great model of what a library blog can be. Yay team!
• Dear New York Public Library, please do not invade the Andrew Heiskell Library Braille Collection (the only browseable collection of books for the blind and visually impaired in NYC) by relocating the Technology Unit there. Thanks. More info on facebook.
• Original Spiderman origin artwork donated to Library of Congress.
• Not exactly library related, but this TED talk with James Howard Kunstler talking about the despair of suburbia and the importance of creating inspired public spaces as “manifestations of the common good” is worth watching. 20 minutes.

Display Comments Add a Comment

This morning parents all over the land were slapping their heads with annoyance at having forgotten about World Book Day until being reminded that a costume would be needed five minutes before setting off to take their children to school. Or maybe that was just me.

Lack of preparation necessitated a fudge - a Nemo mask instead of a proper costume - but once inside the school gates there was little need to be embarrased. Sure, some parents (who are these people?) had really gone to town - I saw a passable Oliver Twist, what could have been a Jim Hawkins from Treasure Island and what looked like a refugee from Les Miserables. But these literary pretenders were seriously outnumbered by the Spidermen, Sportacuses and Disney Princesses, which I did feel was a little bit of a sad indictment of what our 4-6 year olds consider as characters from books.

Still, World Book Day cannot be a bad thing - children will spend the day listening to, reading and talking about books which is a cause for celebration. And, speaking personally, to make up for forgetting a costume and thinking that Nemo is a literary character, tonights' bedtime story will be a scene from Crime and Punishment.

Jeremy Ettinghausen, Digital Publisher

PS Over the next few days I'll be at the annual SXSW interactive festival. If you happen to find yourself in Austin, Texas on Sunday, come watch me try to sound intelligent talking about Stories, Games and Your Brand.

..............................................................................

..............................................................................

Add a Comment

Add a Comment

One of my favorite things in the whole world is watching movies about writers, the good ones and the bad ones.

I giggle at the effortless way their pages stream out of the typewriter, I feel inspired by their struggles at their day jobs, and I wish I could be half as witty as those writers on the screen.

Today, GreenCine has an elaborate essay about the way real writers are portrayed on the screen. It includes an impressive list of films to watch, and the writer has a real affection for these movies. Put a couple on your to-watch list and save them for a rainy day.

Check it out:

"The journey from book to film is reversed and turned in upon itself: we witness not the translation of the mind's eye of the writer into a visual, fixed medium; instead, the fixed visuals of film are used to dramatize the writer in the act of using their mind's eye."

As long as you are thinking about book and movies, why not revisit our posts about the fine art of novelization--turning movies into books. We've run features on Christa Faust (Snakes on a Plane) and Peter David (Spiderman 1, 2, 3).

(Thanks, Bud Parr!) 

Add a Comment

Everyones fav neighborhood bug! Commission piece for an online friend.

Add a Comment