Marvel's The Avengers
Notice how they stuck "Marvel's" in the title so we wouldn't forget where it came from?

As someone who has read the comics and worked in a comic shop in the mid-1970s, I swore off comic book adaptation flicks with the first X-Men movie. I simply don't like the way Hollywood too often changes character backstories, and in the case of a superhero ensemble, sometimes teams up characters who never appeared in the comics together. Hollywood thinks it knows best, despite the fact there are some damned good comic book writers out there.

So, I had to see The Avengers because it was getting so much hype, and because it was scripted and directed by the great Joss Whedon, who I still respect all the way back to Buffy the Vampire Slayer (the TV series).

I was not disappointed! In fact, this movie exceeded my expectations. Please let Joss do the next one!

It helps a few bits in the flick if you've seen other Marvel movies (which I mostly haven't), and/or read the comics. But it's not necessary.

(500) Days of Summer
I'm a huge Zooey fan, but I had this DVD for at least a year before I opened it up. She can make some horrible choices for movies to do, but I don't think this is one of them. Yeah this is another stupid romance comedy, but it worked for me.

For me Zooey is always cute, especially in her Siri TV ad. She's cute in this movie and does some neat eye movements. You can't have eyes that big and blue without making use of them somehow.

The added/extended scenes do help flesh out the movie as long as you remember what the original ones were.

With only about 3 scenes, Chloë Grace Moretz almost steals this film. She's quite a talent.

Dragonslayer
On Amazon Prime. I've seen it at least a handful of times. So what? I saw it again. One of the best dragon and sorcerer movies I've ever seen.

The Hunger Games
#1 at the box office until The Avengers came along. At this point it is tailing off and there were only two dozen people in the theater, which had a smaller seating capacity than probably any of the others in the local AMC complex.

No surprises in the plot because you knew Katniss wasn't going to die in the games. The surprise was who else survives. Lots of heart-tugging moments during the game. Yeah, I was affected by them even though I'm a guy -- so what?

Jennifer Lawrence is visually captivating in this film, and does some great acting with facial expressions when she doesn't have any lines to speak. She's probably going to win an Oscar some time -- of course she's already been nominated for Winter's Bone. Was that a hot red dress she wore to the Oscars, or what?