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From Deacon’s Den: The Marvel Cinematic Universe Ranked

24 Sunday Aug 2014

Posted by Victor De Leon in Movie Reviews, Sci-Fi Movies, Vic's Rankings

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Deacon's Den, Eric Jones, Guardians of the Galaxy, Guest Post, Iron Man, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Marvel Comics, Marvel Films, Marvel Movies, MCU, Rankings, Superhero Films, The Avengers, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Top 10

Rankings2

Hello, everyone! Vic here to officially announce Eric Jones from “Deacon’s Den” as my newest contributor here in “Vic’s Movie Den”

Eric of "Deacon's Den"

Eric of “Deacon’s Den”

Eric hails from Philadelphia, Pa and is a Graduate of La Salle University in Philadelphia with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. He is an educated and passionate movie lover. Eric’s approach to movies is simple and to the point: If it looks interesting, he will check it out regardless of the Genre, Actor or Director. That’s good enough for me.

Eric’s Favorite Directors are Stanley Kubrick and the great Alfred Hitchcock. His Favorite Movie is “Star Wars: A New Hope” (1977) from George Lucas.

Eric Jones with a Transformer. Digging that Superman Tee!

Eric Jones with a Transformer. Digging that Superman Tee!

Eric has graciously accepted my call to arms for guest bloggers to help out during my hiatus. I am very grateful for Eric’s assistance and he has delivered a knock out of a article for everyone to enjoy. It is his “Rankings” of the Marvel Cinematic Universe! I hope you all enjoy and please feel free to leave some feedback as I welcome Eric to “Vic’s Den Crew”

Eric Jones ranks the MCU

Eric Jones ranks the MCU

First, I would like to take a moment on this post to thank Vic’s Movie Den for allowing me a chance to contribute to his blog. Very much appreciative of this opportunity!

Now that “Guardians of the Galaxy” has been released and it marks the 10th release in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I feel a ranking is required about now. This will cover all movies to this point and I’ll probably revisit and revise once “Avengers: Age of Ultron” and “Ant-Man” are released. I had the list already made, I just needed to wait until I saw Guardians to determine where that places in the rankings. So let’s get started!

10. Iron Man 2

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The 3rd film in the franchise comes in at #10. This is the lowest film for me because it feels as if there really isn’t much Iron Man in the story. Robert Downey Jr is fantastic as always but the film is light on action. Other than a short fight at the racetrack with Mickey Rouke’s villain who by the way is underutilized, and another at the very end of the film, there isn’t much of the Avenger here. Having been excited off the original Iron Man, this really came as a disappointment.

9. Thor: The Dark World

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Suffering from a not so compelling antagonist, the use of Natalie Portman’s Jane as a plot device and not much exploration of Thor’s character after the events of The Avengers, the god of thunder’s second outing comes in at 9th place. Now what I do like about this is there is more time spent in Asgard which the first Thor lacked. However it shifts back to Earth for the finale and it feels pretty standard fare. But I will say I am a fan of the ending and what possibilities that holds.

8. The Incredible Hulk

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The red-headed stepchild of the franchise. The Incredible Hulk is certainly leagues ahead of Ang Lee’s outing in 2003. While the action in this film is top notch, especially the battle with Abomination in NY, there just seems something missing here. This makes it feel somewhat disconnected from the shared universe. Honestly if it wasn’t for a cameo from Robert Downey Jr’s Tony Stark, this could have been a standalone feature. Also I have to say I think that Edward Norton was mis-cast as Bruce Banner. He does a good job certainly, yet I never once felt Bruce Banner and then the Hulk as an extension of Banner. I just saw Norton. I do hope we see more of Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky in a future film or films.

7. Thor

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As more films come out in the MCU I really hope Thor stays in the top 10. I actually enjoy this more than it’s placing on this list indicates. Themes of Father vs Son, Brother vs Brother. A real Shakespearean effort. With Kenneth Branagh at the helm it’s likely we would see those themes present. Like it’s sequel, Thor: The Dark World, I wish we could get an entire film in Asgard. Plus this introduced us to Tom Hiddleston’s Loki and that’s certainly a plus.

6. Iron Man 3

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In at #6 is the first film in the franchise that takes place after The Avengers. The focus is the PTSD that has befallen Tony Stark after the events in New York. He has nightmares that are plaguing him and he deals with this by constantly building more Iron Man suits. Although there were liberties taken with a certain villain, I enjoyed both the action in this film and continual development of Tony Stark. His character arc sort of comes to a conclusion here. I felt this was good enough to fall just outside the top 5.

5. Captain America: The First Avenger

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Cap’s origin comes in at #5. Although it follows the standard Marvel formula of some type of powerful artifact, I love the pulpy atmosphere the 1940s Marvel universe has. Not quite a tangible as Raiders of the Lost Ark, but not serious overkill a la Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. It’s fun, it’s serious and it’s exciting. Chris Evans carries the role perfectly and the character of Peggy Carter is played so confidently by Hayley Atwell, it’s no wonder she got the Agent Carter short and upcoming series. Not often do you see well written female characters and she certainly bucks the trend. The story of the first Avenger planted the seeds that would lead up to The Avengers.

4. Iron Man

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The film where it all began. Marvel took a big risk beginning a franchise and having the first film in said franchise use what some consider a second-tier character in their universe. But it worked. Robert Downey Jr is Tony Stark. His charisma alone is the driving force of this film. We see the origin of Iron Man and with that the start of the evolution of Stark. Great effects and probably the only film in the MCU that presents any form of character development, make Iron Man maybe not the top film on my list but certainly an important one.

3. Guardians of the Galaxy

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If bringing Iron Man to the screen was considered risky, what do you call adapting a comic with characters that most general audiences have never even heard of? I admit, I know the Guardians of the Galaxy in name only, but I never read any books of that name. It appears that Marvel knew this and made a film about a bunch of nobodies who band together against a common threat. Full of humor, very offbeat and possessing great character interaction, Guardians of the Galaxy treats itself as that new person in a group of old friends. It just let’s it fly and makes you have a great time. By the way, it has an awesome soundtrack!

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

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Superheroes, spies, the role of government. These are some of themes present in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Taking a cue from the 1970s era of spy thrillers, this film has Cap questioning who does he really work for? His government says it’s to protect the people, but is infringing upon their rights the way to do so? This movie also has a great supporting cast, in particular Anthony Mackie’s Falcon. This is the movie that shakes up the franchise in a major way and it’s stripped down more grounded approach brings it to the number 2 spot on my list.

1. The Avengers

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And at number 1 comes Marvel’s The Avengers. I think on a lot of folks list this may come as number one. This is what I want my comic book movies to be. Literally a live -action comic. And like a loyal reader or in this case movie-goer, I watched as Marvel managed to juggle 4 superhero leads and devote equal opportunity to all of them.

This is due to the fact that each character got his own movie prior to this so it frees up any need for exposition. Joss Whedon may be at home in the Firefly universe but he certainly has a second home with the Avengers. Like with Firefly and Serenity, Whedon knows how to balance humor and drama when needed and one never outweighs the other. This is just a fun time at the movies regardless of if you are a comic reader or not.

There you have it. My rankings of the MCU films. What’s your rankings? Agree? Disagree? With these things there really is no right and wrong. Hope everyone enjoyed the rankings. Thanks again!

Eric from Deacon’s Den

http://www.deaconsden.wordpress.com

Enjoy some Marvel Trailers below!

 

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The “Star Trek” Movies Ranked (The Original Crew)

14 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by Victor De Leon in Movie Reviews, Vic's Rankings

≈ 22 Comments

Tags

Captain Kirk, Gene Roddenberry, Kirk, Leonard Nimoy, Nicholas Meyer, Paramount Pictures, Science Fiction, Search for Spock, Spock, Star Trek, Star Trek Films, Star Trek Movies, Star Trek Movies Ranked, The Final Frontier, The Undiscovered Country, The Voyage Home, William Shatner, Wrath of Khan

Star-Trek-Logo-star-trek-original-series-19173893-1440-900

The “Star Trek” Movies Ranked (The Original Crew)

Hey gang! Vic here with another movie franchise “rankings” post for you all to enjoy. It is my rankings of the “Star Trek” movies to star The Original Crew. I intentionally left out “Star Trek: Generations” since all of The Original Crew were not in the film. That particular movie will be ranked in a future post for movies which starred The Next Generation crew instead. On to the rankings and I hope you all have fun checking it out!

– Vic

TM & Copyright © 2002 by Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved.

6 – “Star Trek: The Final Frontier”

Directed by William Shatner

6 out of 10

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5 – “Star Trek: The Motion Picture”

Directed by Robert Wise

7 out of 10

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4 – “Star Trek: The Search for Spock”

Directed by Leonard Nimoy

7.5 out of 10

star_trek_iv___the_voyage_home_by_stormy94-d6o0953

3 – “Star Trek: The Voyage Home”

Directed by Leonard Nimoy

8 out of 10

star-trek-vi-the-undiscovered-country-52192c3423aad

2 – “Star Trek: The Undiscovered Country”

Directed by Nicholas Meyer

8.5 out of 10

Star Trek II The Wrath Of Khan (1982) 1

1 – “Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan”

Directed by Nicholas Meyer

10 out of 10

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Hope all of you Trekkies (and non-trekkies, of course!) out there enjoyed my rankings of The Original Crew “Star Trek” movies. As usual, you are all very welcome to comment below with any feedback and your own rankings. Thanks!

Enjoy the Star Trek Poster Gallery Below!

434051 images (13) images (14) images (15) images (16) images (17) images (18) Matt-Ferguson-Battle-of-Mutara-Nebula poster_thesearchforspock Star Trek the Motion Picture (1979) 3 star_trek_2__the_wrath_of_khan_by_sob666-d48id0m star-trek-vi-the-undiscovered-country-5218fcd63f91d The Voyage Home (1986) 0 tumblr_mv33bffuAf1qkyjcdo3_1280

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The “Star Wars” Movies Ranked

07 Saturday Jun 2014

Posted by Victor De Leon in Sci-Fi Movies, Vic's Rankings

≈ 31 Comments

StarWars-Logo

With the new Star Wars film (Episode VII), directed by J.J. Abrams, currently lensing, I felt that a ranking of the movies would be in timely order. This ranking is for the films only and not any of the animated incarnations. That will be a separate ranking all on it’s own. I hope you enjoy it and, of course, you can sound off below with your own rankings, please! Thanks, gang!

– Vic

Darth_Vader_Wallpaper_by_Witch_King_42

The “Star Wars” Movies Ranked

By Vic

the_phantom_menace_by_captain_cavishaw-d463zwf

6) “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace”

Directed by George Lucas

6 out of 10

star-wars-poster-AotC

5) “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones”

Directed by George Lucas

6 out of 10

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4) “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”

Directed by Richard Marquand

8 out of 10

ep3

3) “Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith”

Directed by George Lucas

8 out of 10

a_new_hope_by_captain_cavishaw-d4640e4

2) “Star Wars: A New Hope”

Directed by George Lucas

10 out of 10

the_empire_strikes_back_by_dudelitda-d6ocn2c

1) “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back”

Directed by Irvin Kershner

10 out of 10

star-wars-stormtrooper-close-up-wallpapers_36496_1366x768

Thanks, everyone, for stopping by and reading my ranking of the “Star Wars” Movies. I hope you liked it. Let me know your own personal rankings in the comments section. Thanks!

– Vic

Enjoy the gallery of Fan Art Posters Below!

cfbb3f86c9bbac2b963aa78d0a55dea3 f187510b4dcbc6e74b28f9be892eba4c mondo_empirestrikesback_tylerstout return_of_the_jedi_poster_by_loweak-d4mzjzp Star Wars - Return Of The Jedi by Matt Ferguson Star Wars - Return of the Jedi Poster star_wars_episode_v_the_empire_strikes_back_poster_by_danieleredrossini-d7a5d1m starwarsposter star-wars-poster-TFM the_phantom_menace_poster_by_loweak-d4ncfge vengesith

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The “X-Men” Movies Ranked

01 Sunday Jun 2014

Posted by Victor De Leon in Vic's Rankings

≈ 31 Comments

Tags

Brett Ratner, Bryan Singer, Comic Book Movies, Comics, Hugh Jackman, Sci Fi Sequels, Sequels, Superhero Films, Superhero Movies, Wolverine, X Men, X Men Films Ranked, X Men: First Class, X2: X Men United

x-men-logos_00406269

The “X-Men” Movies Ranked

By Vic

In time for the newly released blockbuster “X-Men: Days of Future Past” from Director Bryan Singer (Apt Pupil, the Usual Suspects), I thought I would rank the “X-Men” films in the order in which I like them. I have not seen “X Men: Days of Future Past” yet (I’m a bit behind on my new releases) but when I do I will put it in the appropriate place on the list. Hope you enjoy the post!

x-men-the-last-stand-poster

6) “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006)

Directed by Brett Ratner

5 out of 10

xmlg

5) “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009)

Directed by Gavin Hood

6 out of 10

wolverine_xlg

4) “The Wolverine” (2013)

Directed by James Mangold

7 out of 10

X-men-first-class-5058ace830a2a

3) “X-Men: First Class” (2011)

Directed by Matthew Vaughn

8 out of 10

x

2) “X-Men” (2000)

Directed by Bryan Singer

8 out of 10

x_men_two_ver1

1) “X2: X-Men United” (2003)

Directed by Bryan Singer

9 out of 10

xmen_concepts

I hope you all enjoyed my ranking of the “X-Men” movies. In which order do you rank them? Sound off below!

-Vic

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