Most Memorable Scene: Highway Fight Scene (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

I absolutely love Captain America: The Winter Soldier. It's been forever since I've seen this movie and I can't believe it's been 10 years since it was released in theatres on April 4, 2014. It's just crazy how time just flies by. But you know what, it still holds up as an amazing movie. Anyway, this is the perfect spy/espionage thriller. It follows as Captain America, Nick Fury, Black Widow and Falcon uncovering a terrifying secret that Hydra was in control of S.H.I.E.L.D. and as well as having infiltrated the US government.

Now for this scene, the highway scene was so unexpected because they were totally ambushed by Hydra. And Hydra was going to do whatever it took to take them out. It didn't matter if there were people around they were nothing more than casualties. Which is sad but not unexpected. Despite Captain America, Black Widow and Falcon being out numbered and dealing with a lot fire power, that didn't stop them. Which unfortunately they were temporarily captured by Hydra but it didn't last long thanks to Maria Hill. I'm really going to have re-watch this movie.

Disability Pride Month: Geeky List #1

Happy Thursday!

It's Disability Pride Month and throughout these last couple of weeks I want to post a few Geeky Lists of shows and movies that have disabled characters. Whether they are main, recurring or guest characters, representation is important. Everyone has a story and no two stories are the same. Especially for a community who tends to be overlooked in our society.

For this first list, I included three shows and three movies that highlight a variety of different stories.

Happy 8th Anniversary, Captain America: The Winter Soldier!

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is one of my favorite movies and it was released in theaters eight years ago on April 4, 2014. I can still remember going to the theatre to see this. I love everything about this movie, it's so amazingly well made. I still think this is the best Marvel movie out of the entire MCU movie series, I have rewatched this movie more than any of the others.

I wouldn't change anything about Captain America: The Winter Soldier, except giving Sharon Carter more scenes. From the amazing story to the character development, the way the story unfolded, the fight scenes, this movie is absolutely fantastic.

Art of the Day: Winter Soldier

Artwork: Winter Soldier by GinebraCamelot

Question of the Day: Which Movie Soundtracks Do You listen to the Most?

I love movie soundtracks and as archaic as it might seem I also like to buy the CD whenever possible. It's just something about having a physical copy in a digital world. I have a lot of soundtracks and there are some I still haven't listen to yet: Justice League, Wonder Woman and Star War: The Last Jedi. But here are some of the ones I listen to the most:

Side Note: I know I've mentioned this before but why is there such a lack of women composers? This is why I can't wait to hear the Captain Marvel soundtrack because Pinar Toprak was selected as the composer.

Iron Man 3 by Brian Tyler
Captain America: The Winter Soldier by Henry Jackman

Art of the Day: Falcon

Artwork: Falcon - Captain America: The Winter Soldier concept art by Josh Nizzi

Art of the Day: Winter Soldier

Artwork: Winter Soldier by Evan Kart

Art of the Day: Black Widow

Artwork: Black Widow by Liubov Korotkova

Video: Captain America's Fight Scenes

From punching Nazis in Captain America: The First Avenger to fighting Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War, this is a good compilation of nearly all of Captain America's fight scenes from the movies.

Steve's fighting style is very scrappy, I feel like he pretty much taught himself how to fight. He did get a little bit of basic training while in the Army but once he became Captain America he was fighting with everything he had. So his moves are not perfect nor polished but kind of knock-down, drag-out at times using his enhanced strength to his advance to end the fight.

Poster: Falcon (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

I like this Falcon poster for Captain America: The Winter Soldier because Sam Wilson could have stuck to an easy life after getting out of the army but he made the decision to help his new friend Steve Rogers a.k.a. Captain America. He had no idea what he could possibly be going up against and without a second thought he geared up and went into a war against Hydra. Like Steve, he was extremely committed to doing the right thing. What else can you ask for in a hero.

My Defense of MCU Sharon Carter

Yesterday, I posted artwork of Sharon Carter and it got me thinking about all the hate I have seen directed towards MCU Sharon Carter. I've seen where people will say they loved everything about Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War. That is except Sharon Carter. They call her useless, annoying and irrelevant which are words I often see aimed at female characters. I see where many have said that Sharon shouldn't have been in the movies at all. To be honest she was barely in the movies yet she's still memorable. They hate her for being Peggy Carter's niece and Steve Roger's love interest. I've even seen where many have said that Steve never showed any interest in her until Civil War or that she's standing in the way of their non-cannon ship, Steve and Bucky.

I know that there is no rule that says fans have to like every character (I wouldn't want there to be one) but the hate just seem so mean especially when some of it's directed at actress Emily VanCamp. I do wish Sharon had gotten more screen time but from her limited amount of time, you can see in The Winter Soldier that she's a dedicated S.H.I.E.L.D. agent (but perhaps not at the level she is in the comic books). She's loyal but doesn't go along blindly, she was the only one who spoke up asking why Steve Rogers was now being hunted down by S.H.I.E.L.D.. You can see that she doesn't agree with Alexander Pierce's explanation but her real test of strength came when she didn't back down when Brock Rumlow wanted those helicarriers launched.

Now in Civil War, you find out that she is related to Margaret "Peggy" Carter but she didn't want to build her career on her family connection. Her loyalty towards Steve is still there. She was willing to give Steve and Sam Wilson the information they needed to find James "Bucky" Barnes and not to mention giving them back their uniforms and equipment.

As for Steve showing no romantic interest in her until Civil War, well that's simply not true. The first scene they are in together in TWS shows Steve flirting with Sharon in the hallway of their apartment building. You can clearly see that there is a mutual attraction between them which is why he was a bit perturbed in that scene where he passed by her on his way to Pierce's office. He thought she was just his neighbor and not an undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agent assigned to keep an eye on him. He definitely liked her otherwise he wouldn't have been that bitter about the whole situation. However, at the end of the movie he was still interested in her, even if Natasha may have brought up the subject but he certainly didn't balk at the idea of giving Sharon a call. And in Civil War that attraction was still there.

Although the movies only gave viewers a glimpse of who she is, I will say that Emily VanCamp did a great job with the limited amount of material she had to work with. But in my opinion she was truly shortchanged in both movies especially in The Winter Soldier where her importance and personality was given to Black Widow (who is not even in the book Captain America: Winter Soldier written by Ed Brubaker).

On a side note, I think the MCU has done a great job with how Sam Wilson (played by Anthony Mackie) was introduced and continued to be used. He has been in two movies: CA: TWS and CA: CW and had cameos in Avengers: Age of Ultron and Ant-Man giving his character a chance to grow. Which is why I've rarely seen any fan hate towards Sam and from what I have gathered, fans seem to really love him.

I'm still waiting on Sharon to get this same treatment, because she was so underutilized in both movies and deserved more screen time. I hope the fan hate will lessen towards her because she really is a great character.

Art of the Day: Sharon Carter

Artwork: Agent Sharon Carter by ratscape (Arne Ratermanis)

Post Election Watch Party: Wonder Woman and Captain America

I watched Hillary Clinton's concession speech and it was so moving as well as being heartbreaking. It brought tears to my eyes. I would just like to say don't ever feel bad about crying, it's therapeutic. It truly made me feel a little better but I'm still sad. However, to pick myself up a bit I'm going to watch the Wonder Woman animated movie followed by Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Captain America: Civil War.

It's okay to feel down, angry or any other emotion you're experiencing, the main thing is to take care of yourself. Don't let anyone make you feel bad for how you are dealing with this election result. I'm going to take the time to let myself feel everything I'm feeling today and tomorrow I will be my same kind and caring self who sees the beauty in diversity and equality.

It's no coincidence my avatar is Wonder Woman reading a book because from my parents and from my love for comics and superheroes I have this inane sense to fight injustice. My parents are wonderful loving people who have taught me so much but what I love is that they taught me speak out and not to look the other way when you see something wrong.

Take care everyone, I won't be posting anything else until tomorrow. I'm off to watch Wonder Woman.

Wonder Woman

Description:

On the mystical island of Themyscira, a proud and fierce warrior race of Amazons have raised a daughter of untold beauty, grace and strength Princess Diana. When an Army fighter pilot, Steve Trevor, crash-lands on the island, the rebellious and headstrong Diana defies Amazonian law by accompanying Trevor back to civilization. Meanwhile, Ares has escaped his imprisonment at the hands of the Amazonians and has decided to exact his revenge - intending to start a world war that will not only last for centuries but will wipe out every living being on the planet, starting with the Amazons! It is up to Princess Diana to save her people and the world by using her gifts and becoming the ultimate Wonder Woman!

Art of the Day: Falcon (Captain America: The Winter Soldier)

Artwork: Falcon by mr-joshua

The X-Men: Apocalypse Poster, was the Controversy Warranted?

The controversy of this X-Men Apocalypse poster has turned into several think piece articles around the internet and sparked many of conversations about domestic abuse. I would like to try to discuss both sides of the issue, first I would like to speak in defense of those who found the X-Men poster to be offensive. Perhaps Fox should not have used that image from the movie as a promotional tool. For some, the image of Apocalypse choking Mystique although fictional may be a trigger or evoke bad memories for some who may have undergone attacks or abuse.

Many of the complaints spoke of the image promoting violence towards women. The complaints did cause Twentieth Century Fox to issue a statement of apology and to remove the posters. Here is the statement:

"In our enthusiasm to show the villainy of the character Apocalypse we didn't immediately recognize the upsetting connotation of this image in print form. Once we realized how insensitive it was, we quickly took steps to remove those materials. We apologize for our actions and would never condone violence against women."

Now for the other side of the coin, the poster was just marketing that Fox used to promote the movie. Where some say the image shows violence towards women with Apocalypse choking Mystique others see it as a standard if not cliché comic book scene. Case in point in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Thor lifted up Tony Stark by the neck nearly choking him.

Also in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve Rogers was getting choked by the Winter Soldier.

After pointing out both sides, my opinion is I don't necessarily see the X-Men poster as promoting violence against women. Granted neither scene from Avengers: Age of Ultron or Captain America: The Winter Soldier were used to promote either movie. However, I found the X-Men image to be no different than the others, therefore it almost feels as if there is a double standard. Violence affects both men and women. I've seen comments where many have painted Mystique as this powerless female being choked by the domineering Apocalypse. Meanwhile, you could use that same defense for Thor vs Tony Stark. Because without his Iron Man suit, Tony is powerless. I can make the same claim for Steve Rogers vs Winter Soldier.

I'm trying to look at this in an objective way, I do think it was good that Fox apologized and removed the posters. However, if people continue to see women as helpless victims we will never be able to move past that stereotype. When I look at that X-Men poster, I see a Mystique that has this defiant look on her face like she's about to kick his butt. Since, I have not seen the movie, I have no idea what happens in this scene.

A few years ago, that image probably would have been overlooked but with society becoming more aware of negative things happening in the world and social media giving them a way to voice their opinions. Marketers and businesses need to be more conscientious of the images they choose to put out into the world. Because not everyone sees the same thing when they look at an image.

DVD Tuesday: Captain America: Winter Soldier

There is no way I am not going to pick this up today. This movie was absolutely fantastic. When I saw this movie in the theaters I thought it was great. It had an amazing story and great action. This does exactly what a sequel is supposed to do and that's be better than the first movie. And it's by far one of the best.


Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Description:

After the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk.

Joining forces with the Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever-widening conspiracy while fighting off professional assassins sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy-the Winter Soldier.

Happy Captain America Day!!!

Happy Friday or as it's going by today as Captain America Day. I can't wait to see Captain America: The Winter Soldier, I'm going to try to go this weekend but if I can't, then I will most definitely see it next weekend.

I hear that fans are going to be wearing either Captain America t-shirts or anything in red, white and blue when they go see the movie. I think that will be interesting to see. If you go see the movie, let me know if people show up at your theatre all decked out in the red, white and blue.

Picture: Nick Fury Poster for the Captain America: The Winter Soldier movie

Still can't wait to see this.