Top 5 Marvel Movies

(Up to and including Endgame, but spoiler free!)

These movies have become a cultural phenomenon and defined my 20's almost as much as Harry Potter defined my childhood. In fact, it wasn't until recently that I realised they would have been a Harry Potter-like experience for many people, who started watching them at 10 would easily be 20 now.

I like positivity, so I don't rank all movies from worst to best. Instead, I like to pick my top five, the ones that stood out to me in some way over the rest. There are some movies in the MCU that I don't like as much as the others, but the fact that they all come together to make a cohesive universe is something to behold.

Also... this is my personal opinion on them! I shouldn't really need to say this, but if you think I left out a movie, write your own list. We all have different preferences, and that's okay, because that's what keeps life interesting!

5. Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol 2.
Surprised to see Vol. 2 on this list but not Vol. 1? I actually prefer it. I think that as we knew the characters better in this one, they could get right on with doing what they do best - cracking jokes and snarking at each other. I love the soundtrack for both of these movies, too. And the bright colour palette, too. Proof that not all sci-fi needs to be in muted tones. I love movies that use a lot of colours in every shot, I think it makes them a real visual treat. And speaking of...

4. Black Panther
Every shot in this movie looks amazing. Many are shot in the daylight, and the night scenes are well-lit. I really like when movies show cities lit by several tiny lights. There's so much colour, too, in the clothing, the jungles of Wakanda, and even the Seoul scene. To add to that, this was the movie that gave us (Disney Princess) Shuri, Nakia and Okoye. And it does what sci-fi does best - becomes a way for us to reflect on our own world and the reality we live in.

3. Captain America: The First Avenger
I love historical fiction, and this is almost a WW2 movie with a little alternate history thrown in. Also a catchy musical number. I love Peggy, and Cap is my favourite Avenger, so maybe this is slightly biased. But you can also see a lot of thought and detail put into things like the fashions of the time (Victory Rolls!) and it also introduced us to one of the overarching plot points of the whole MCU, the Tesseract. And there's a World Fair in it!

2. Avengers: Endgame
To be fair, I think focusing on a smaller group of people benefited this movie compared to it's predecessor, not needing to have 3,000 plot threads going at once. But it tied up the franchise amazingly well, taking risks I wasn't expecting it to. While there are a few minor quibbles, I think it was my favourite Marvel movie since 2012's Avengers. It certainly felt more like it, and showing a few scenes from that movie was a treat. There were some epic moments in the final battle, and even with the bleak premise, they managed to keep humour going throughout. This rank may be liable to change as time goes on, since it's still fresh in my memory at this point, but as of right now, this is where it stands for me.

1. Avengers (2012)
I think this movie is an absolute masterpiece of a team movie, and is the one I will rewatch more than any other. It's one of my favourite movies of all time. We get to see the Avengers come together, with help from Nick Fury and Agent Coulson. After a rocky start, they really gel. The chemistry between the original six just clicks. And the humour is bang-on, hitting just the right notes at the right points. New York is a very personal place to see attacked for a lot of people (I get the same way in Thor: The Dark World) which just drives home how terrifying a threat like this would be in real life. The movie was epic in scope, but it wasn't trying to top anything else. It did that on it's own, and set the standard for the other movies in the MCU. What a movie, what a franchise, what a cinematic experience.

Honorable mentions to Captain America: Civil War, Thor, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and Iron Man 2. (Yes, 2. Yes I know. This is my list.)

Now, if you need me, I'll be working out how soon tickets for Spider Man: Far From Home will be on sale.

A Review of The Princess and the Fangirl

The Princess and the Fangirl is a book by Ashley Poston, and the sort-of companion/sequel novel to Geekerella. Imogen Lovelace is a fan of Starfield, and campaigning hard to save her favourite character, Amara. Jessica Stone, the actress playing Amara, is just hoping she can put the blockbuster sci-fi flick behind her. As luck would have it, they sort of look like each other, and a chance meeting and a case of mistaken identity later leaves Imogen and Jessica swapping lives for the duration of ExcelsiCon.

I've never made any secrets about how much I love Geekerella, have I? However, if Geekerella was Poston testing the waters, this one is her cramming as much nerd culture in as she can, and it is glorious. One of the big reasons this works is because Poston knows her stuff, and her references are both varied and rather obscure, at times. I love seeing my favourite fictional things represented that normally never get mentioned in popular culture!

I'm starting to call this series my comfort read, like you get comfort foods. Seriously, it feels like friends. And I mean literally, I have a group of nerd friends who will debate sci-fi shows and quote memes at each other. Semi-ironically. This book feels like them.

Imogen and Jessica are two very different girls, which lets Poston get in two opinions and sides of the story. Imogen's experience with fandoms and conventions is very different from Jessica's experience with them. Imogen grew up in conventions but Jessica has only ever seen them as a work obligation that she dislikes. Imogen is impulsive, and Jessica can be aloof, coming across as mean. But they are both sympathetic individuals (the joys of a duel POV!) and with a great supporting cast around them. I would have sold my soul for more time with Imogen's family.

Poston doesn't shy away from representing the worst aspects of fan culture, too. If I could take one message away from both these books, it would be "love your nerdy fandoms with your whole heart, but be respectful about them." The big one that sticks out here is Jasper. He sticks out as an asshole from the first time we see him with Imogen, but he cements it when he meet-and-greets with Imogen-as-Jess. But it's also obvious that many of Jessica's cast and crew, the director especially, have little respect for her. Arranging a publicity stunt when it's her turn to speak is trash behaviour.

Vance Reigns is also asshole extraordinaire, cutting off Imogen opening up to him to tell her she is pretty, then proceeds to repeat synonyms for pretty during the rest of the conversation, since that's the only thing that he can ever imagine girls being, and the only part of her speech that he paid any attention to. However, Imogen is still on the naïve side, and doesn't notice the inherent condescension in how he brings it up, just her happiness about being called pretty. This is a realistic response for her situation, as girls are taught that being attractive to men is the most important thing they can be.

"Are you one of those girls who think girls who wear make-up are vapid?"
Yes. "No."
I'd like to talk about this response, from Imogen. And again, it is realistic! There are teenage girls who feel this way, I was one! To be fair, it was hugely hypocritical in my case, too, because it wasn't like I didn't wear some on occasion. And it is an attitude that needs calling out. Jessica points out that she wears her make-up as armour, and a lot of other women in the book are described as wearing it.

Elle's cameos were good to have. She's basically my literary best friend, so it was nice to see her. But there are a lot of cameos from other characters from Geekerella, and they did feel slightly gratuitous. This novel could have been a vaguely related standalone, but I would honestly have to say that you'll get more out of this one if you read Geekerella first, especially as this book spoils the first one slightly. To the extent that you can spoil a Cinderella retelling, anyway.

And, uh... didn't the first book confirm that Elle's father started ExcelsiCon when she was, like, 7? So how is this the 25th annual ExcelsiCon? Minor, but it bothered me. (Also, I picked Geekerella up to check this fact, and happened to spot that the Amara's original actress in that book was called Ellen North, not Natalia Ford. I'm sorry! I know this is such a picky complaint.) (And in looking it up, I did realise that my original memory was wrong, and the ExcelsiCon when Elle was 7 was just the first one she could remember. Maybe I just need to reread Geekerella!

Recommended for everyone who loves fandom and nerdy things. And please, give me a short story where Harper introduces Jessica to the original Starfield series.