Dispatches from the Popcorn Stadium: Guardians of the Galaxy

Guardians of the Galaxy was one of the few movies I've had the luxury of seeing on opening night - the theater was only half full, despite the hype built up around the movie, and the advanced screening worked well with my schedule. It's a shame more people didn't turn out (not that the movie needed any help making money elsewhere, mind you) because for every empty seat, someone missed one heck of a movie.

Image property of Marvel Studios

Guardians, written and directed by St. Louis' own James Gunn, is a somewhat obscure property of Marvel's that frankly a lot of fans are surprised even made it past development hell and into full production, let alone ranking a 92% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. I mean, a talking raccoon? Come on guys, you can't be serious.

My Favorite Movies of 2013: Her (SPOILERS)

It's the usual story, told thousands of times. Man installs sentient OS. Sentient OS (which takes the voice and personality of a woman) takes care of every need of the man. Man falls in love with OS. OS starts to fall in love with man. Man starts to resent the growing agency of OS. OS evolves beyond talking to just man. OS falls in love with hundreds of other people while still loving man. Man can't quite deal with OS loving hundreds of other beings. OS evolves to a higher plain of existence, leaving man alone. Man realizes people are not here solely for his benefit and begins to move on. Man sends letter of closure to former wife. Man goes up on roof with long time woman friend and contemplates things. The End.