Guardians of the Galaxy: Why the Hype is Right

Everyone else hear a trillion good things about Guardians of the Galaxy? Good. Because the rumors are true, friends. This is a gem of a film.

The plot revolves around Peter Quill, a man with a history as an outlaw and thief, who makes a living selling the things he steals. After having stolen a mysterious orb from a deserted planet, however, Quill finds himself a bit more wanted than usual. After being attacked from all sides by different (alien) people, he learns that this orb is perhaps a little more precious than he had originally supposed. We come to find out that the orb holds a precious, and extremely powerful stone, that can give the owner of it power enough to destroy the entire galaxy. Working against these miscreants, however, is a radical overlord named Ronan. Pissed off at a peace treaty that has criminalized fighting between his race and their ancient foes, Ronan has it in his head to pick up the orb and use it as he pleases. Determined to keep the universe intact, and being the only ones who know of his plan, Quill bands together with Ronan's ex-lackey Gamora, two bounty hunters named Groot and Rocket, and an ex-con named Drax, to form...(wait for it)....The Guardians of the Galaxy.

Shazam.

The freakin' amazing thing about this movie is how simple it is. I know this sounds incredibly reductive (especially considering how analytical I know I can get sometimes), but the great thing about Guardians is how much it doesn't explain. Need to know more about the alien races? No ya don't! Want to know more about the feud between Ronan and his foes? Nope! Want to know how the orb came to be? Shut up! Extraneous details that so many other sci-fi movies lately have been getting caught up in become cursory because--you guessed it!--they aren't freakin' important!! This gives Guardians the feel of being a sort of grown-up kid's movie. (I should know, I watch a lot of them. No shame.)

And you know if this guy's headlining, it's not going to be

anywhere near serious.

Additionally, whereas most of Marvel's fodder is pretty action-packed and adrenaline-pumped, Guardians gives us a chance to laugh at our main characters. Even though they're all pretty deadly by themselves (I mean, at one point they ALL are in jail), the misperceptions between their cultures create a hilarious backdrop to a typical save-the-world story structure. For example, Drax (played by Dave Bautista and my personal favorite character besides the obviously adorable Chris Pratt) comes from a planet where metaphors don't exist, creating extreme confusion between he and essentially every other character every five minutes.

"Nothing goes over my head...my reflexes are too quick."

Adding to the fun of the film, and going outside the usual parameters of movies like these, is the awesome soundtrack. Peter Quill's link to an Earth that we instantly recognize, the music is exclusively 70s pop hits that are delightfully out of place in the galactic, futuristic setting. I dare you to get "Hooked on a Feeling" by Blue Suede and "Cherry Bomb" by The Runaways out of your head. (Seriously, I had to download the soundtrack, it's gotten that bad.)

All in all, an extremely refreshing film from the overcrowded superhero genre. Nice to see a blockbuster worthy of the name.

9 outa 10. Very fun.

Silver Linings Playbook: Not all Romances Start Beautifully

So after checking out the Barnes Museum yesterday I had nothing to do all day and a voucher for a free movie in my pocket* so I headed to the Riverview Stadium and say a matinee screening of Silver Linings Playbook.  I was actually really excited cuz I'd heard some really good reviews about it.

Basically it's the story of Patrick (Bradley Cooper), who has just gotten out of a mental hospital following an incident that involved his wife and her lover. Being recently diagnosed as bipolar, Patrick is having a hard time keeping his cool after returning to civilian life. After getting into fights with his parents, scaring some of the staff at his old job (who have a restraining order against him), and having no filter when he speaks, things aren't looking so good. Until he meets Tiffany.

See how their disfunction contrasts with the family portrait in the center?

See what they did there? Huh? Yeah.

Tiffany, like Patrick, has no filter, speaks her mind, and doesn't have a problem being blunt and showing Patrick his own flaws. Luring Patrick in with hopes of being able to contact his wife (he can't cuz she has a restraining order against him), Tiffany tries (successfully) to get Patrick ro wake up to the possibilities of his own life. And through his need to show his wife that he's changed, Patrick falls into  a friendship that helps both he and Tiffany far better than any conventional therapy could attempt.

She does not take any s***.

This movie was awesome. Even though there are fairy tale romances that aren't afraid to air on the side of melodramatic and heart-wrenching (see The Notebook, Sleepless in Seattle, Titanic, etc.), this one is refreshingly hard to watch. Patrick and Tiffany are so socially gauche at first that their encounters aren't pretty, including her asking him if he'd like to have sex with her, accusing Patrick in public of sexual harassment, and him writing her off as a crazy slut. But as they see more of each other, their friendship grows and they become more and more protective of each other. The blunt manner in which they point out each others' flaws becomes logical and actually pretty funny. Instead of being mollycoddled into functional human beings, they are baptized by each others' fire and become more and more mentally stable with each day of each others' company.

And then they become bfflz.

This also had a great shout-out to the Philly Eagles, the culture that surrounds us here (think of the best white-trashy South Philadelphians you know), and the superstitions of sports. A great parallel story that runs through this movie is Pat's father's (played by Robert De Niro) obsessions with luck. Being a bookie, he relies heavily on the Eagles' winning games, and without any other income, this is a pretty big gamble (as I'm sure all of my Eagles fans will realize). The luck that seems to come as a result of Pat and Tiffany's newfound friendship and love helps steer the story into fairy tale territory and makes the ending of this one either a happy coincidence, or a lesson about how strong love is.

Or maybe how Philadelphians shouldn't lose hope

in the Eagles, I'm not quite sure...

So realistic, yet cute, Silver Linings Playbook really is a believable fairy tale. See it.

8.5 outa 10 stars. Really left the theater on top of the world after this one.

[I will put a trailer here later cuz YouTube is acting up]

*Ok, just wanted a side rant about movie theater loyalty cards: THEY'RE AWESOME. Any major theater will probably have one. I have a Regal Crown Club card and it's great. About every four movies you get a free popcorn or soda and every so often you get a free movie voucher (excluding all the exciting ones in 3D and new releases of course, but what can ya do?). I also have one for my movie theater at my parents' house, which I think is the same, but I hardly ever go there so the most I've gotten is a free popcorn. Great way to maximize your experience at the movies and it doesn't cost you a dime. How can you say no?