Thor: The Dark World - A movie review (and love letter)

A few nights ago, my son, Jonathan and I had the pleasure of previewing the film, Thor: The Dark World in LA.

If you don't already, please read about my great über-nerdy love of the character of Thor here.

I was so thrilled to receive the invitation from Disney Pictures to see the film. Especially because I got to share the moment with Jon.

But just before we went in...

Me (engulfed with a sudden surge of insecurity): "Jon! I'm wearing orange."

Jon: "What does that matter, Mom?"

Me: "We're in LA! Everyone knows you're supposed to wear black and attempt to look hipsterish in LA."

He smirks at me.

Jon: "Quick! What's the name of the realm where Thor lives?"

Me: "Asgard. Duh."

Jon: "What's the name of the gatekeeper of Asgard?"

Me: "Heimdall. Why?"

Jon: "Where was Loki born?"

Me: "Yodenheim. To the Frost Giants. What's your point?"

Jon: "I think you're good, Mom."

That, as any middle aged mom knows, was truly the highest praise. In we went to watch the 2nd installment of Thor: The Dark World.

In Real 3D. There's a mellower, realistic quality to Real 3D, as opposed to just regular 3D. For once, I really enjoyed it . Who knew?

Our consensus on the film: Chris Hemsworth as Thor is still magnificent as The God of Thunder. Particularly when he bursts out of nowhere and expertly wields Mjolnir. That's the name of his hammer. Pronounced: "Mee-yol-neer." (Wow. You probably had no idea I was this über-nerdy.)

Tom Hiddleston is the best good guy/bad guy ever. You hate him. You love him. You laugh at him. You root for him. You trust him. You don't trust him. He's evil. He's conflicted. He's hurt. He did what? Your mind is blown. Seriously, Marvel. Thank you for such a wonderfully watchable and complex character.

I'm not going to go through each member of the cast or spoil the movie, but when you see it (and all you über-nerds out there, you MUST!) please pay attention to Rene Russo as Frigga, Thor's mother. Her scene is one of the most brilliant and beautiful mom moments ever. (I may or may not have gasped and cried. Your interest is piqued now, isn't it?)

Thor: The Dark World is beautifully made. The story is compelling. The characters are all utterly engaging. I liked Natalie Portman as Jane! The special effects enhance the plot and move the story along which is not always the case in these days of easy CG effects (I'm looking at you, Transformers).

Best of all, I got to enjoy it and spend an über-nerdy evening with my teenage son. We talked about all the plot twists and turns all the way home. And for that gift, I'm über-grateful, Disney Pictures and Marvel.

Also, be sure to sit through all the credits until the very end. But if you're a Marvel über-nerd, you already knew that.

Thor: The Dark World opens in theaters everywhere on November 8th, 2013.

Marvel's The Avengers (A Winner)

Thanks to all of you who entered the giveaway for the Very Uber-Cool and Uber-nerdy Avengers gift pack from Marvel.

I love that you guys are as caught up in Avenger Madness as we are.

And because I personally can't get enough of Thor, here's yet another photo from the film.

Isn't that just beautiful....umm.....lighting? (I know. Shut up.)

Congratulations to the winner of the Marvel The Avengers Gift pack:

Congratulations, Shelby! Please send me an email with your snail mail address and your preferred tshirt size and "Hey, Marta! I won stuff on your blog!" in the subject line. I'll forward to the good folks at Marvel so that they can get your goodies out to you ASAP.

This is what you won:

Marvel's The Avengers T-shirt.

The Avengers pins.

The Avengers 3-D glasses.

We're almost finished with our movie countdown. Thor (be still my heart) is on tonight and Captain America is up on Wednesday.

Speaking of Thor and Captain America, I almost wept when I saw this clip. Watch. And love.

The Awesomeness is in theaters everywhere on Friday, May 4th. And yes, we're seeing it in IMAX 3D.

That's just how we uber-nerds roll.

Tony Stark: "Doctor Banner, your work is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Bruce Banner/The Hulk: ..."Thanks."

Friday can't come quickly enough.

Calling All Uber-nerds! Marvel's The Avengers (A very cool giveaway)

If you remember from this post a few weeks ago, you know that we are all suffering uber-nerdy anticipation for the release of The Avengers (the movie) in theaters on May 4th.

Read the comments on that post and you'll see reader Lourdes M's genius suggestion of watching all the Marvel super hero movies beforehand. We have been doing exactly that for the past few weeks.

Our movie line-up has been as follows:

• Week 1 - The Incredible Hulk
• Week 2 - Ironman
• Week 3 - Ironman 2

We are saving Captain America and Thor for next week.

And then....on May 4th.....

I can barely wait for the awesome.

My friends at MARVEL (<--click on this link and be prepared to lose hours of your life) asked if I wanted to host a giveaway while we're waiting for the movie to be released. You can guess how quickly I responded with a great big YES, PLEASE!

I am greatly, greatly pleased to offer the following MARVEL Avenger coolness to one lucky winner.

- MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS t-shirt in adult  sizes of S, M, L, XL

- MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS set of 6 buttons

- MARVEL’S THE AVENGERS one pair of limited edition 3D glasses

 To enter the drawing for this cool MARVEL Avengers Giveaway of Awesome, please answer one or all of the following questions:

• Which one of the Avengers is your favorite?
• If you were an Avenger, what would they call you?

Remember that if you want to enter the drawing for the MARVEL Avengers gift pack, you must leave a comment on this post and I'll choose a winner on Sunday, April 29th, 2012 at 7pm PST. 

If you don't already, go "like " The Avengers on Facebook. Sooo worth it for the fun facts (and eye-candy, but that's not important right now).

My answers?

• My favorite Avenger starts with "Th" and ends with "or."
• You could call me Cubanasa. Porque si. ;-)

My (Super) Hero

A few months ago, my son, Jonathan (16) breathlessly runs in.

"Mom, you've got to see this!" He then proceeds to show me the following movie trailer:

Explosions! People in peril! ! MARVEL SUPERHEROES ! ! (Win.Win.WIN!)

He knows (because I've told him repeatedly, as I have all four of my kids) that I was a nerdy comic-book-loving kid. That's right. Little known fun fact.

{WARNING: Over-sharing-Uber-nerd Alert!}

My dad used to take me to the local drugstore on weekends and let me pick out 3 or 4 comic books every week. It's how I learned to read in English. This probably flies in the face of all kinds of English as a second language research, but, whatever....

I would very carefully choose a variety of comic books, from the Harvey classics, like Richie Rich to the "teen" comedy, Archie (for the record, I was always very pro-Betty, but that's not important right now). I also really loved the action/adventure Marvel comics.

Thor was my favorite of the Avengers. Mostly because he said cool things like:  

"WE'LL NEVER BE BEATEN! FOR WE ARE...THE AVENGERS!"

(By the way, the only time you should EVER use the Comic Sans font is in a comic book. There. I said it.)

Back to the Avengers. And specifically to Thor. The Mighty Thor. I loved Thor. He had the hammer. The cool Viking vibe. When I was in high school we were The Mighty Vikings. It like one big cosmic Thor Love-fest.

In fact, when Adam was three, I dressed him as Thor for Halloween. I did. I swear. (Excuse me while I go dig up some proof.....)

Ta-da!

Hey! Superheroes come in all sizes (and my son has since forgiven me). But that's not important right now.

As I got older, my comic book consumption diminished, but my love of all things Marvel did not. In the late 70's, I religiously watched Bill Bixby/Dr. Bruce Banner turn into Lou Ferrigno/The Incredible Hulk . (Who didn't?)

So back to Jonathan and The Avengers Movie Trailer....

1. I am thrilled that my 16 year old and I have such awesome common ground.
2. We are out-of-our-skin excited to see the film. In theaters everywhere on May 4th.

Were doubly excited that the makers of LEGO are also aboard the Avengers-train. Embrace the awesomeness:

And so is Target. This is seriously the cutest ad ever. Watch. And love.

We are definitely going to be following the Awesomeness that is The Avengers on Facebook. And counting down to May 4th. (Thanks, Disney Pictures!)

I don't know about you, but in our family, nerdiness does not skip a generation.

So, any other uber-nerds out there? I know there are. Come on. Talk to me.