Avengers: Age Of Ultron Review

Nothing marks the start of the summer than a superhero movie.

This year, it is Avengers: Age Of Ultron.

Tony Stark/Ironman (Robert Downey Jr.) has a dream. He will deploy a legion of robots as peacemakers.

But things go awry when Ultron (voiced by James Spader) comes to life and has his own plans. Now it is up to the Avengers to stop Ultron before he destroys the world.

The Avengers are out in full force. Steve Rodgers/Captain America (Chris Evans), The Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Natasha Romanoff/The Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) are all back and ready to save the world.

Trouble does not just come in the form of Ultron. Pietro Maximoff/Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) are a pair of twins with unusual abilities. The question is, are they allies or foes?

To be honest, I did  not like this movie as much as I liked the previous Avengers movie. Several scenes felt forced and/or stretched. What I did like was not only cameos from characters who had been in movies with individual Avengers characters, but also we saw some of the back story that had not been shown to audiences previously.  I just wish some scenes had been left for the extras portion on the DVD.

Do I recommend it? If you are a super fan and highly committed to the series, then I say yes. But if your a casual fan, I would say to wait for the DVD to be released.

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Flashback Friday-Anger Management (2003)

There are some actors that can surprise an audience. We think we know the characters that they will play, but sometimes, they step away from that archetype and into a brand new character.

In Anger Management (2003), Dave Buznik (Adam Sandler), is a nice guy with no backbone.  When an encounter on an airplane goes horribly wrong, Dave is sentenced to anger management classes. The doctor assigned to him is Buddy Rydell (Jack Nicholson). Dr. Rydell is unpredictable and unorthodox in his methods. As Dr. Rydell becomes more ingrained in Dave’s life, he seems to be the only one who can help Dave grow the pair that he desperately needs to grow.

Up until this movie, Adam Sandler played characters who while they were physically grown, they had the emotional maturity of a 14 year old boy. In this movie, he steps out of that mold and into the shoes of a man who is not quite sure of himself. As Dr. Rydell, the audience may wonder what is up with Jack Nicholson’s character. Is he onto something or is just plain crazy?

I recommend it.

The Suite Life Book Review

There are many writers who are lucky enough to have one novel that is a success. There are even fewer writers who have the chance to continue to tell their story.

Suzanne Corso’s 2013 novel, The Suite Life, is the follow up to her debut novel, Brooklyn Story.

The Suite Life starts in 1996. Samantha Conti is working at a day job that pays the bills, but her dream is to be a novelist. Her manuscript, The Blessed Bridge, based on her relationship with Tony is waiting to be published. But her dreams are hold, thanks to Tony’s long distance connections.

Then Samantha meets Alex DeMarco. Alex works on Wall Street and sweeps Samantha off of her feet in a whirlwind courtship. Their marriage and the birth of their daughter soon follows. But Alex has a few demons of his own to conquer. When Alex’s professional ambitions and financial gains know no bounds, Samantha begins to question her choices and her marriage. Can she make her dreams of being a published author a reality or will she be forced to spend the rest of her life watching her husband destroy himself and the life they have built?

I adore this book. I adored her first book. Samantha’s reaction to Alex is the reaction that any woman would have, especially after dating a guy like Tony Kroon.  A rich, handsome, confidant guy who sweeps you off of your feet and seems to take away all of your problems? Sounds like a dream. A modern prince charming who instead of riding a white steed and living in a castle, drives a Maserati and lives in  a Manhattan loft that costs more in rent for one month than some people make in six months is a dream come true for some women. But Alex nowhere near prince charming and will nearly end up destroying his marriage and the life that he and Samantha have built together.

I highly recommend this book.