2018 Media in Review: Movies at Home

In addition to the 15 movies I saw at the theater in 2018, I also watched 32 movies at home, half of which were part of the Road to Infinity War MCU series. As such, only 9 movies (28 percent) were new to me. I started 2018 tracking release dates and genre and films by month, but as I raced through all the Marvel movies between February and April, everything started to blur together and eventually I just gave up on that. So, sadly, once again I can’t get very mathy.

Here are the Top 5 movies I’m glad I watched in 2018, the 5 I could have done without and a few miscellaneous things to wrap up my 2018 non-theater movie experience.

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Another Look: Avengers – Infinity War

It took three viewings (twice in the theater, once at home with audio commentary), but I think I’ve finally come down on the side of Infinity War.

SPOILER TALK: Avengers – Infinity War

This is the post full of Infinity War spoilers and commentary on them. Don’t read it if you haven’t seen it. And if you read it before seeing it, don’t complain to me. Most of these words right here are just filler in the event that the cross-post to Facebook doesn’t respect the cut tag like it doesn’t respect photos.

But seriously, don’t read this if you don’t want to know.

Avengers – Infinity War (spoiler free)

Given that I watched five movies in two days just to be all caught up/reviewed for Infinity War, it shouldn’t come as any surprise that I love the MCU. Even the one movie I legitimately don’t like has good things in it.

And I think it’s 18 films’ worth of adoration for these characters that left me liking Infinity War. It’s full of amazing moments that are poignant and shocking. There are great character beats, and it handles its frankly enormous cast extremely well.

But I also walked out of the theater feeling a little underwhelmed. I’m hesitant to really expand on that here, because I really feel like this is a movie that’s almost impossible to talk about without spoiling something. And I don’t want to spend a week and a half figuring out how to not do that just so I can ultimately say “I need to see it again, because that was a lot to take in. And I need Avengers 4 to be here now so I can put everything that happened into context.”

Really, about the only thing I feel confident saying is that if you like the MCU, you’ll probably like this movie (but maybe not think it’s the best thing ever omfg). If you just tag along with people who like the MCU but you don’t really care about it…it might not be a good time for you.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a post full of spoilers so come back then and dish with me, won’t you?

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The Road to Infinity War: Phase 3

I made it! I hopscotched over The Incredible Hulk way back in Phase One, but have otherwise trekked through 18 Marvel Cinematic Universe films to stand at the gate of Avengers – Infinity War with just over an hour to go. So let’s take a brief look at the last three  films and then may I introduce the comprehensive Leisure Time MCU List of Ranking. If you’ve been following along, you probably already know what’s at the bottom.

The Road to Infinity War: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is another Marvel movie that I have complicated feelings about. Not as complicated as Civil War, by any stretch, but still complicated.

The Road to Infinity War: Black Panther

I might not be the last MCU fan to see Black Panther, but I’m probably pretty high on the list. And the wait was well worth it.

The Road to Infinity War: Captain America – Civil War

I have complicated thoughts about Captain America – Civil War.  There are definitely things about it that are bothersome — to both minor and kind of major degrees. On the other hand, there are some things about it that I really like and appreciate, and I think it pretty much all boils down to I like Civil War, but it’s not topping any lists. So let’s take a look at the juggling act that was my Civil War Second Viewing experience.

Road to Infinity War: Phase 2 Wrap-up

I might not get through all the Marvel movies before I see Infinity War on Friday, but I’ll come close. In this post: Avengers – Age of Ultron and Ant-Man. For me, they both hold up.

Road to Infinity War: Guardians of the Galaxy

I lived in Alabama for a few years after college, and there was a (regional, I think) pizza place called Pizza Perfect. I never had it, but the joke around the office was that it was Pizza Adequate.

That’s kind of how I feel about Guardians of the Galaxy.