Last night, fellow Utility Player Shane and I decided to have a churl date and see the premiere of the latest in comic book action films - X-Men:First Class. As of late, the Marvel movies have either been a hit or a miss. For example, X-Men Origins: Wolverine still leaves a terrible taste in my mouth every time I mention it whereas Thor made me feel all warm and tingly inside. Erring on the side of caution, we decided to get there ridiculously early to ensure a prime sitting location and noticed that the theater in downtown Reno was packed beyond the telling of it with adolescent teeny-boppers - as we were walking in I noticed a number of them had textbooks sprawled across the seats in a vain attempt to multi-task. I applaud your effort to study for finals while seeing a movie, but come on, you're fooling no one. Not surprisingly, the movie was 95% filled with men, which is so beautiful. Whether you are gay or straight, we all have a desire to see fantastic explosions, inspiring mutant powers, and ridiculously hot people in tight uniforms. So in many respects, X-men will serve as the forum to bridge the gap between straight and gay men.

X-Men: First Class is a breath of fresh air - receiving an impressive score of 86% on RottenTomatoes.com - and is certainly a film that fans can be excited to see. The movie is a creation story; establishing the memorable personas of Professor X - played by James McAvoy - and Magneto - played by the gorgeous Michael Fassbender. Magneto's story begins in Nazi-controlled Poland. When taken from his parents at the concentration camp, Magneto's rage and sorrow consumes him and he shows an impressive display of power. This draws the attention of Nazi researcher Sebastian Shaw - played by Kevin Bacon - who molds Magneto into a perfect weapon and serves as a catalyst for the rest of the story. Juxtaposed to this plot line is the story of Charles Xavier, who befriends a young Mystique, and works to earn his doctorate in genetic mutation research. This movie sets the stage for all the other movies establishing the emergence of mutants into our society, the initial fear and rejection of humans to change and how the "X-Men" can to be. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. I am not as much of a comic book nerd as Shane - who was a little disgruntled by the minute details that the directors and production staff decided to alter. Literally the conversation went as follows:

Ginger: I thought the movie was amazing! I love the storyline and characters, so much better than the last 2 X-Men movies!

Shane: I liked it a lot .... but I didn't love it

Ginger: Why not?

Shane: Well ... Banshee in the original comic books is Irish - I mean they got the Ginger part right, but at that point why not just make him Irish. Darwin was Mexican not Black and that's not how Professor X actually loses his ability to walk ...

Ginger: .... nerd

Here are my top five reasons that you need to see X-Men: First Class

(1) Let's be frank, it's an X-Men movie; we love the characters, the franchise, and the special effects. Most people will go see this movie because it is an X-Men movie ... as they should

(2) If you have seen the other movies you'll appreciate the cameo appearances by other characters and suttle references they make throughout the film.

(3) Kevin Bacon ... I now have another movie to use for 6 degrees of separation

(4) The possible slightly gay relationship between fellow mutants Havok and Darwin ... this might be one of those times where I am reading too much into the movie ... but I read the sub text, I know it's there.

(5) Michael Fassbender, as I previously mentioned, is so ridiculous hot I cannot even handle. Coupled with that, Emma Frost was perhaps the sexiest and fiercest villainess we have had in a while. I have never seen someone pull off so many stylish white outfits or rock so much fur before in my life .... I want to be Emma Frost for Halloween.

Yeah me ... and every other gay man and sorority girl after seeing this movie.

An interesting combination.

This weekend I stepped into the 21st century and purchases myself an IPhone. In the past, I usually purchases the $99 with the $100 mail-in rebate. The phones that typically had a lifespan of 6 months and whose coolest feature is the ability to send and receive text messages. I learned that I was due for an upgrade with Verizon - about damn time, it only took two years of loyalty to often times less than stellar service - and perused my options. There was not much difference between the Droid phones and the IPhone but my Verizon customer representative, the attractive Derek, made a convincing argument that I would be ultimately happier with the IPhone. I was leery at first. In the past, I have been known to rant and rave about IPhones and the annoying people who decided to buy them, I even blogged about my annoyance in the past. However, I realized that my prejudice was narrow-minded, especially when I was holding my beautifully new IPhone in hand, then my perspective shifted ever so slightly. I asked my roommate the other day if it is wrong to be in love with an inanimate object, to find such joy in an IPhone. He unabashedly told me "yes" - he is also the roommate that doesn't have a phone because he feels it is a way for the "man" to subvert us through technology, so he probably was the wrong person to ask.  

Something else that brought joy to my life this weekend was the premiere of Thor. My fellow gay nerd enthusiast and I decided to go see the film featuring the talents of Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Rene Russo, and Anthony Hopkins - I would be lying if I didn't say that the chiseled body of Chris Hemsworth might have served as a huge contributing factor to my wanting to go. Based on Norse Mythology, Thor is the son of Odin - the all father and ruler of Asgard - and is line for the thrown along with his clever and mischievous brother Loki. Thor's rash and selfish with the Ice Giants - the main enemy of our story - forces Odin to banish Thor to the realm of Earth where he must learn to put aside his selfish desires for the good of his people and of mankind. It is there on Earth that he meets Natalie Portman, the energetic yet sometimes annoying scientist, who has magically come into his life to show him the error of his hedonistic tendencies and present him a better way. 

The movie was actually spectacular - not just because Thor truly is the Thunder from Down Under and tended to wear tight leather pants throughout the entirety of the movie. The movie had a believable and authentic storyline, with incredible special effects which served to enhance the overall movie - not simply there to overshadow a lack of plot which tends to happen in other movies. I recommend spending the few extra dollars and seeing the movie in 3D - the graphics in Asgard are stunning.  Make sure you also stay to the end of the credits, for with all Marvel movies, there is a little teaser paving the road for the greatest superhero cinema event of the century; the Avengers movie. Can I just say that I might spontaenously combust the day I go see that movie. Imagine, some of Hollywood's hottest leading men, in ridiculously tight costumes, fighting other men in equally tight-fitting costumes ... I'm just saying