Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

"I am Groot." (Groot)

"What are you doing?" (Starlord to Rocket)
"I'm building a bomb." (Rocket to Starlord)
"In the middle of the living space!?" (Starlord to Rocket)
"Well I was going to put it in this box.." (Rocket)
"WHY!? would that make it better? (Starlord)

"I will not succumb to your pelvic sorcery." (Gamorra to Starlord)

Hmmmmmm chalk another one up for Marvel and Disney. They seem to understand how to get the most from their directors and actors.  They ask for some fiscal and business minded constraints....they give a great deal of artistic liberty with regards to theme, style, narrative, and more.  ( I assume they take a firmer hand when it comes to costly action sequences.)  It is this long term partnership between Marvel/Disney and those involved with production that has allowed for the creation of blockbuster after blockbuster.

Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn deserves all accolades for his bold choice to make the music of the movie the central connective tissue that will bind together millennials/gen-xers to an otherwise irrationally outlandish story. If it wasn't for the thorough musical grounding of Peter Quill in hits from the 70s, this whole movie would have been kaput.

Beyond that, I did not find the Guardians of the Galaxy to be anything special.  A good time? Totally. Worth my money? For sure. Worthy of a sequel? No doubt. Well written and acted? Super thumbs up. But a great movie? not really.

On scale of StarDuke to StarCount, I give Guardians of the Galaxy 3.7 out of 5 stars.

Oh and Lee Pace.  You are shortly becoming one of my favorite actors of the last decade.       

The Expendables (2010)

"My life is difficult.  I need more money." -Yin Yang (Jet Li)

So.......yeah I watched this.  It was everything I expected.  It was still bad.  It was not meant to be good...so EXPECTATIONS MET!!

It is unfortunate that I would have rather watched any old bad classic from any of these actors ( Especially Red Scorpion with Dolph Lundgren) than watch The Expendables ever again.  It is not a waste of life to see it....but it is a waste of time.  If you can be multi-tasking, The Expendables may have more value for you. In that scenario, you could see it as a bundled movie with all your favorite action stars.  It is still not good.

On a scale of damsel in distress to heroine in need of an all male commando team, I give The Expendables 2 out of 5 stars.   

Fiddler on the Roof (1971)

"But on the other hand..." (Tevye)
"What's wrong with being rich?" (Tevye)

Given its status as a cultural touchstone, it seems strange that I had never seen Fiddler on the Roof until now. But, this was my first experience.

So as newb, I learned 3 things about Fiddler on the Roof. 1: The script and jokes of Fiddler are awesome.  "May god bless and keep the Czar...far away from us."  2: The songs are beautiful. "Drink, L'chai-im to life!" and 3: Fiddler on the Roof is really really sad.  The larger meaning that I took away from the film was that Tradition is Tradition is Tradition and changes with time.  

I would like to see the full musical theater production someday.  I assume it might be very similar to the movie version.  

On a scale of lutefisk to gefilte fish, I give Fiddler on the Roof 4.0 out of 5 stars.