The Huge and Awful Mistake in Avengers: Endgame that Kind of Ruined the Movie for Me

First of all, hello!  It's been for-e-v-e-r since I've been on here.

Life and all, you know.

Glad to see this thing still works.

Second of all...


SPOILERS!!!!!!!

And we want to be careful about these things...

After all, we have been rather pointedly asked by the Russo brothers not to spoil the film...

So, in that vein...

SERIOUSLY!!!!  IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ENGAME YET AND YOU DON'T WANT TO BE SPOILED, MOVE ALONG!

This post will still be here after you've seen the movie.

So, go away, see the film, then come back and bask in my nerd rage.

Okay.  Hopefully only people who have seen the film or the strange people who don't mind being spoiled (I'm told they exist) are still with us at this point.

To begin, I'm kind of amazed I didn't write a massive nerd rage post about Man of Steel when it came out.  The anger I'm feeling tonight after Endgame reminds me of how I felt after I saw Man of Steel.  I hate when a character I love is completely and utterly against type in their movies.  As Superman was by killing Zod in Man of Steel (hopefully that didn't also need spoiler warnings, its been 6 years), and as Captain America, Steve Rogers is at the end of this film.

Allright, lets get to it (again... there be SPOILERS AHEAD!)

So, the film makes a bold move by deciding to keep the last five years as a reality - hard for all of those who were snapped, they are back, which is great, but five years younger than everyone who didn't get snapped? That's kind of messed up - and its half of the population dealing with that.

Why was this decision made? Because Tony felt that it would be impossible for him to give up the life he'd built in those five years. Presumably there are many other people who feel the same way. They had moved on, built something important for themselves in that five years. It was worth holding on to.

Tony, of course, being the only one left who could solve the time machine issue was in a unique position where he got to make that sort of decision, but it shows the importance of making that decision for yourself. Is it worth having part of your life erased or changed?

What Steve does at the end of the movie is that writ large. He changes Peggy's life. And he does it without her consent. There is no way Peggy back in 1945 can know what her life will be like with Steve gone. Of course that Peggy would be overjoyed to have him return.

But Steve knows that Peggy built an amazing life after he was gone. She tells him. Her niece Sharon tells him. He sees pictures of her freaking children that she had with another man.

And then he takes all of that away from her without her leave.

What really upsets me is that the movie acknowledges Agent Carter the series by having Jarvis from that show in the movie as Jarvis. The first and only time, by the way, that a Marvel tv series character has appeared in the movies. Plenty of the movie characters have appeared in the shows, but a character from the shows, and only from the shows, had never made an appearance in the movies until this moment when Jarvis makes his appearance with Howard Stark.

Then the movie erases every moment of Agent Carter from existence. Because none of that show happens if Steve is back. The events of that television series only exist with Steve believed dead. Peggy only becomes all the amazing and incredibly things that Peggy becomes by dealing with Steve being gone and recognizing and acting on the fact that she is every bit the hero Steve is/was.

She meets the love of her life after she gets over Steve. She has a family, including children.

She literally tells Steve that she is proud of and regrets none of her life during the scene from the picture above.  She tells him her only regret is that she wishes he could have had a life too, which as the Avengers movies go on, he is in the process of building.  But that doesn't excuse him for taking her life away from her.  Especially if she is unable to decide if that's what she wants or not.  And only old Peggy could make that decision.  And it seems pretty clear from the scene above, she wouldn't change a damn thing about her life.  Because it, like she herself, was freaking incredible

But none of that matters to Steve apparently, because he takes it all away from her without her able to make an informed decision about it. She is unable to give her consent.

That's an act that Steve Rogers would never commit. It is an incredibly selfish move.  An un-Captian America like move.  It represents a complete misunderstanding and betrayal of who the character is.

And I can't believe they had this movie end on that note.

Honestly, I'm kind of surprised not to see more people upset about this, because I immediately was angered by it.  And as I set through the end credits, I got more and more angry at this betrayal of Peggy, and this completely selfish and evil act by Steve.  I did however find someone who was worried this very thing might take place.  So, at least I know I'm not alone in my rage.

What do you think?  Agree/disagree/think I'm kind of right, but you're so happy for Steve and Peggy to end up together you don't care?  Let me know in the comments.

Josh Man

TOP TEN FILMS OF 2014

The one time of year I can be reasonably counted on to make some sort of post, it is Oscar Sunday!

The weather is miserable (I'm wearing my Game of Thrones shirt proudly proclaiming that Winter Is Coming as we are expecting some sleet and ice over night.  I am very aware that much of the country is very aware of winter as it has already announced its presence, no need for any further warnings), but the movies this year have been grand.  Without further ado, here is my Top Ten from the last year in preparation for those hoping to take home Oscar Gold tonight.

As always, we will be counting down:

10.

THE IMITATION GAME

Lead by a masterful acting performance (although there were a couple even better ones as well), this is a heartbreaking story about a terrible injustice done to a man who deserved much better.  The worst part of course is that while Alan Turing was eventually pardoned after being convicted due to his homosexuality, over 40,000 other males were persecuted for the same crime and deserve the same recognition of the wrong done to them.

This film does a great job of telling the story of the code breaking that led to the Allies winning World War II as well as the early work on what would become computers by one of the most gifted minds of all time, alongside the backdrop of the horror of the disservice that the UK did to someone who should have been among their greatest heroes.

9.

THE BOOK OF LIFE

Guillermo del Toro is becoming a feature in my Top Tens, and although he only produced this film, his influence is clear.  This is a fantastic fable about love, family, and discovering who you are in relation to those who came before you.  I also love the message against violence as this film actively works against the myth of redemptive violence that so often persuades our culture, often especially in children's movies (although this is not the only one working against that, to some degree so did Big Hero 6 as well as my choice for Best Animated Feature still to come in this Top Ten).  It is a crime that this film didn't get recognition as a nominee for Best Animated Feature, but it places in my Top Ten.  Hopefully that serves as some consolation.

8.

BIRDMAN

A weird, haunting, and yet beautiful treatise on artistry, especially amongst self doubt. Open to interpretation, the story is quite interesting, but the outstanding all percussion score, which is probably my second favorite score of the year (following only the also percussion heavy Whiplash), and the long takes, reminiscent of a few scenes in Scorsese's Goodfellas who unsurprisingly gets mentioned by name as well as in the cinematic homage, both successfully bring you fully into the film, forcing you to experience it and therefore deal with the film as it seeks answers to the situations it presents.

7.

THE LEGO MOVIE

 In what can quite easily be considered as the 2nd best Batman movie ever made, Christopher Miller and Phil Lord (who also brought us the Jump Street films as well as the first Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs) continued their streak of taking films that shouldn't really be very good and turning them into something way better than you ever imagined that they could be.  Like Big Hero 6 (which will most likely win for Best Animated Feature) and Book of Life (which like this film are somehow mysteriously absent from the nominations), The Lego Movie doesn't ultimately view violence as the answer to the problem at hand.  In fact, The Lego Movie literally suggests that creativity, friendship, and seeing the best in others is the best way to deal with our problems.  The world might be a much better place if we took that lesson to heart.  Most importantly, this film gives us the ever important reminder that EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!

6.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

When this movie came out, it was immediately the best film Marvel had put out yet, and that was saying something.  It also catapulted itself into the conversation for the best Comic Book movie ever made.  It made me want a Black Widow solo movie more than anything.  But I loved it because it perfectly utilized Cap to both represent what this country should be and criticize what we too often are.  Sebastian Stan as the Winter Soldier and Anthony Mackie as Falcon also gave us two fantastic characters that could one day take up Cap's shield and continue to help lead the struggle to have the United States strive harder to become a true and shining example of freedom.

5.

GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

The Winter Soldier's reign as unquestionably the best Marvel movie of all time didn't last very long.  I have to admit, when I heard Marvel was making this movie, I was sure that the magic of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was about to be dead.  How could anyone make a movie with a talking racoon and a giant tree who can basically only say its own name (like a Pokemon) be any good?


I shouldn't have doubted.  From its opening scene, Guardians of the Galaxy reminded us how much fun comic books are, and how much fun comic book movies can and should be.  It also told an epic, fantastic story, and perfectly introduced the cosmic side to the comic universe that Marvel has been so ably building since Iron Man.  It also sported my third favorite soundtrack of the year in Awesome Mix Vol. 1.

4.

GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL

There are a few filmmakers whose films I will always be interested in seeing.  Wes Anderson might top that list.  He has a distinctive visual style that aids immensely in the stories he has to tell, and he has done it again with Grand Budapest Hotel.  Filled with the offbeat characters that he is known for, the story manages to equally surprise and delight throughout the film.  And, as always with Anderson, it looks magnificent.  Like The Royal Tennenbaums, Grand Budapest Hotel hits perfectly on all the right notes throughout the film.  Moonrise Kingdom is still my favorite Anderson film, but this is certainly in the conversation for which of his movies is the next best.

3.

BOYHOOD

An amazing piece of film-making from Richard Linkletter (who also wrote and directed A Waking Life which is one of my all-time favorite films that also subverts the common way film-making is done), this film tells a story of 12 years and was filmed over that same amount of time, chronicling one young boy's life from when he was 6 until he is 18.  Attempting to discover who you are amidst the travails of childhood, this is a film with a universal story told in a unique way.  We might never get a film told in this way again due to the constraints and inherent dangers of taking over 12 years to make one movie, but if this is the only time something like this is accomplished or perhaps even attempted, at least it resulted in a fantastic film.

2.

SELMA

I honestly don't know how the hell this didn't garner Ava DuVernay a Best Director nomination as it was, in my opinion, the best directing job of the year.  And David Oyelowo became MLK Jr.  His performance was dead on.  The only performance that was even in the same league was Eddie Redmayne's as Stephen Hawking.  That's the only actor that has any claim at beating Oyelowo, but I think Oyelowo's performance is more impressive because of how omnipresent the real MLK is in our minds.  The fact that he isn't nominated for this performance is criminal.

When we look beyond the egregious snubs in nominations, we are left with an unbelievable film.  It is a movie that reminds us of a horrendous past not that far gone that unfortunately also reminds us of our present.  As this film aired in our theaters, the same scenes were playing out in some of our cities, and the same condemnations given in the film by the racist people in power towards the courageous acts of King and those beside him are the ones we hear today against those who stand up for black lives and demand some accountability from a system that inherently treats minorities in a disparaging manner.  It is a powerful film made perhaps more powerful because of the reminder that the past is not truly in the past just yet.

1.

INTERSTELLAR

Not only was this my favorite film of the last year, it is one of my favorite films of all time.  It provokes excellent questions about destiny, freewill, and the purpose of humanity.  It looks amazing, contains outstanding acting (continuing the trend of Matthew McConaughey's transformation into an incredible actor), raises profound questions, and also thrills the audience with a tight, fantastic story.  Reminding me in many ways of another of my favorite films of all time, Contact, Interstellar was not only a fantastic film, but has also worked to further science, as the blackhole of the film has helped scientists to visualize blackholes in a new way and learn even more about them.  That's pretty impressive.


Until Next Time, In a year where half of the Oscar Best Picture nominees made my Top Ten (which is about the best we can hope for), the absence of Interstellar among those nominees is another glaring omission in a year full of them (joining the snubs against Selma, Lego Movie, and Book of Life).  But on the plus side, Neil Patrick Harris should be an epic host!  Follow along on Twitter for My Thoughts As I Had Them During The Oscars (#MTAIHTDTO) or tomorrow on Fat Train when I post the tweets in my 8th Annual My Thoughts As I Had Them During The Oscars Post.

Thoughts on the Summer Movie Schedule 2011 - Part Three

More movies!

For my thoughts on the summer schedule in regards to MAY

And my thoughts on the summer schedule in regards to JUNE

click on the above clickables...

For a look at the films due out in July, you are in the right place!

JULY

1st


TRANSFORMERS: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Or as I like to call it, Dark Side of Hollywood: Michael Bay is Still Allowed to Make Movies.  Yeah, I will not be seeing this.

MONTE CARLO

Yeah.  Luckily there are better things to do on the July 4th weekend than the movies.

LARRY CROWNE



Although, even with my annoyance with Julia Roberts, the return to comedy of Tom Hanks might be worth watching.  I doubt this is one I have to get to on Opening Day or anything, but if I get a little tired of hanging out on the lake day after day after day of the holiday weekend, this might be worth checking out.


8th

HORRIBLE BOSSES

The incomparable Jason Bateman, Charlie Day (Charlie on It's Always Sunny), Jason Sudekis, and Jennifer Aniston star in this film about three friends who conspire to murder their horrible bosses.  I'm probably in based solely on the cast.

ONE DAY

And this is a no based solely on the awful sepia colored movie poster.

Although I do have a mad crush on Anne Hathaway.






ZOOKEEPER


15th

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART TWO



Thanks to the fact that my mother made a trip out of the country 15 or so years ago, I got to read the first three Harry Potter books before they blew up here in the States.  I was at midnight release parties for The Goblet of Fire on in book stores, and have seen all previous of the seven movies at midnight releases as well.  If you aren't as pumped as I am for this film, chances are we might not get along.

WINNIE THE POOH



One of my earliest memories is seeing the first Winnie the Pooh movie in theaters.  It was showing at an old theater near the University of Chicago where they would show movies for kids in the daytime on Saturdays and my mom took me.  We set in the balcony.  It was awesome.  Now, my niece is a huge fan of Winnie the Pooh (although she came to love it through the new Super Sleuths cartoon where there is some girl named Darby that runs around with the animals of the Hundred Acre Woods instead of Christopher Robin, still weirded out by that), and I have no doubt that seeing this movie will become one of her earliest memories and no doubt she will love it.  (No doubt, I will too.)

SNOW FLOWER AND THE SECRET FAN


22nd

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER



When it was announced that Chris Evans would be playing Steve Rogers/Captain America, I admit that I had my doubts.  Then pictures of him in the costume were released and my fears subsided a little.  With the release of the above trailer, I find myself no longer worried in the least, and instead extremely pumped for this film.

FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS

In a recent post by friend of the blog Justin (Caveman Go) Tiemeyer about this very film, I commented that I liked it when it was released earlier this year under the title No Strings Attached.  Look, I'm a fan of Mila Kunis and Justin Timberlake (at least in terms of acting), but the trailer doesn't make it appear as if this film will be treading any new ground, and No Strings Attached (starring another That 70's Show alumnus, Ashton Kutcher, as well as Oscar winner Natalie Portman) was actually very, very good.  This is probably going to be a fun film, but it hurts it a bit that there was already a fantastic film this year with the exact same premise.  I'm not the only one who is making the joke about this movie already having been released this year, either.  When I put Friends With Benefits into the search bar on IMDb to get the link for the title here, No Strings Attached was the first movie it offered me.

ANOTHER EARTH

THE FUTURE

BELLFLOWER


29th

COWBOYS AND ALIENS



I don't care what you think, I am super pumped for this film.  With Indiana Jones/Han Solo and Not James Bond under the direction of Jon Favreau (Iron Man), I truly believe this movie is going to be far better than it has any right to be.

THE SMURFS

This one, on the other hand, will probably be even worse than we can even imagine.

CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE


Until Next Time, July is shaping up to be pretty hot in terms of movies.  (I apologize for the terrible pun.)