Get Ready For "Captain America:The Winter Soldier"

If you haven’t seen “Captain America:  The Winter Soldier” yet, here’s a piece of advice-get everything you need from the snack bar before the movie starts because you will not be leaving your seat.  

Then hold onto your popcorn and get ready for two hours of nonstop, sit on the edge of your seat fast paced, action and fun at its best. This latest edition in the Captain America and Avenger movie series are what Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios and Marvel does best-combines the excitement and rip roaring adventure of a fast paced action movie with the brilliant comedy and delivery of some of the best one liners around and you have yourself what movies are supposed to be all about-an escape from reality. Based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series, first published in 1941, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” is produced by Kevin Feige, p.g.a. directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, from a screenplay by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely, and stars Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily VanCamp and Hayley Atwell, with Robert Redford as Alexander Pierce and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury. 

“Captain America :The Winter Soldier” is the second installment in the Captain America franchise. Without giving away too much of the plot, because the twists and turns and surprises are what makes this movie a cut above the rest, after the cataclysmic events in New York with The Avengers, Marvel’s “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” finds Steve Rogers, aka Captain America, living quietly in Washington, D.C. and trying to adjust to the modern world. But when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack, Steve becomes embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk. Joining forces with Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow, Captain America struggles to expose the ever- widening conspiracy while fighting off assailants sent to silence him at every turn. When the full scope of the villainous plot is revealed, Captain America and the Black Widow enlist the help of a new ally, the Falcon. However, they soon find themselves up against an unexpected and formidable enemy—the Winter Soldier. 

Just when you think you have it all figured out and you know who the bad guys are, you quickly find out that you don’t. Can anyone be trusted? Has Captain America really gone rogue? Does Robert Redford ever age? 

Here's A Clip from "Captain America: The Winter Soldier"

For me, the best part of this movie was the fact that it is great story telling and character driven-it has heart and it is that heart and soul that dictates the direction of the plot.  Most super hero movies have me leaving the theater feeling that I had a good time, but that they probably could have cut off 30 minutes and I would have been OK with that but not so this time. “Captain America: The Winter Solider” is the perfect blend of story telling, combined with just the right amount of incredible but not over powering action, all done in a way that helps to advance the plot. In other words it has something for everyone and it leaves you wanting more.  Make sure you stay until the very last credit has rolled for not one but two surprises.  Make sure you check out “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” this weekend and hold onto your seats. You’ll be sitting on the edge of them the entire time.

Join in the conversation with other Captain America and Marvel fans by going to Facebook and Twitter:

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Go See “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” now playing in theaters everywhere!

Gayle is a lifelong educator by day and avid blogger by night and is the owner and cofounder of the Disney Gals, one of the most popular Disney blogs around! Proud mommy to 5, Grammy to 4 she is blessed to share her life with amazing family and friends who encourage her to chase her dreams no matter where they may lead.  When not in the classroom, she can be found following her son as he dances his way through life, or working with young performers in free nationally recognized after school children’s theater program that she founded 13 years ago. On any given day you will find Gayle skipping her way through life with a giggle and a smile knowing that today is meant to be lived and enjoyed. To learn more about Gayle, click here.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe

A  Guide to the Marvel Universe

With the upcoming release of "Captain America: Winter Soldier" this Friday, we thought it was time to take a look at how this Marvel Comic came to the Silver Screen. And who better to take us through the Marvel Cinematic Universe than our own Bob Eckman, lifetime lover of all things Marvel. 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is opening next Friday, April 4th. It will be the third film of Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe culminating in the Avengers: Age Of Ultron opening next May 1, 2015. And what does any of that gobbledygook mean and why does it matter? Well the short answer is it’s all Disney! ‘Nuff Said!! If you’re still not convinced you should know superhero movies aren’t just for the boys anymore.

A long time ago back when dinosaurs roamed the earth my grandfather gave me a box of Superman and Batman comics. I couldn’t read yet but the bright, colored pictures sucked me in and I was able to puzzle out enough of the words to get the gist of what the stories were about. I was hooked on what became known as the Silver Age of Comics of the 50’s and 60’s. I got a little older and didn’t come back to comics until Hollywood special effects caught up with them and movies like the first Superman films and later the Batman films of the late 80‘s and 90‘s became a reality. But even these films, as visually stunning as some of them were never really held my interest as the stories usually included a pretty fair helping of campy ridiculousness taking their cue from the entirely campy, though wildly popular Batman TV series of the late 60’s. It was as if Hollywood didn’t believe anyone could take comic book characters seriously. They had to not only inject a large helping of humor but also make the heroes look like buffoons in the process.

In the 80’s the comic book world started changing. There started to appear large-scale graphic novels with sophisticated stories that were serious and with serious ramifications for the characters. Back in the 60’s when Marvel comics started introducing characters like Spider Man, X Men, Iron Man and a host of others their stories had been a bit more serious with elements of teenage angst. The graphic novels of the 80’s exponentially pumped all this up and by the 90’s Hollywood was ready to finally get started getting serious about comic book characters. The successful and ongoing series of X Men movies starring serious actors like Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan and Hugh Jackman arrived in the late 90’s. These people might be pretty strange but they had serious human problems and situations. And the action and special effects rocked!

A few years later Marvel, the comic book company behind Iron Man, Hulk, Spider Man, X Men, the Avengers and many others decided to get directly into the movie business instead of licensing their characters out to other studios. But they did it with a difference. They had a big super hero team, the Avengers, which included a variable and ever changing groups of characters. Why not make several separate movies featuring the solo adventures of various characters leading to a big team up movie with an earthshaking adventure that only the whole team could possible solve and survive? And furthermore why not put some crossover bits into every solo movie thus solidifying the concept that all these heroes existed in the same world? Thus the Marvel Cinematic Universe was born. And in 2009 Disney bought Marvel lock, stock, and barrel.

So far we’ve had Phase One, which included solo films featuring, Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America and culminated with the Avengers in which the heroes saved the world and simultaneously tore up a lot of New York City. This film left enough questions unanswered that the fallout has affected all the main heroes in their next round of Phase Two movies. Iron Man aka Tony Stark was so torn up about what happened in the Avengers that he spent a large portion of Iron Man 3 trying to cope with it and ultimately gave up all his Iron Man suits and technology. Thor managed a rough reconciliation with his brother Loki, one of the main adversaries of the Avengers film only to lose (?) him at the end of the last Thor movie. And now it’s Captain America’s turn. We get to see him go through the wringer next week and then next year we get to see how the whole Avenger’s team deal with whatever fierce challenge Marvel has been building up to.

I, for one, am getting very excited about seeing Captain America: The Winter Soldier. I try to stay as completely ignorant of what happens in these films as possible prior to seeing them but the advance buzz and reviews are pretty spectacular so far. In fact Disney is so excited about the film that they’ve already hired the director and screenwriters for the next Captain America film without even waiting to see how this one does at the box office. That’s entirely unheard of. April 4th can’t arrive too soon.

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See CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER in theaters everywhere on APRIL 4, 2014 !

Get Your Shields Ready-Captain America:Winter Soldier Opens April 4!

"Captain America:Winter Soldier"

Ok anyone that knows me knows that when it comes to a new action adventure movie, I am ready to go on a moment’s notice. And if that movie just happens to be part of the Marvel comics kingdom, I will sit through it no questions asked without even a kernel of popcorn, although I must admit popcorn makes every movie better. To say that I’m more than a little excited over the upcoming release of “Captain America: Winter Soldier” on April 4 goes without saying. I’ll be the first to admit, there may have been a time or two that I might just have run around with a garbage can lid keeping the universe safe from the bad guys but then who hasn’t?  Is there a person around that can possibly not be enamored with this magnificent not quite a super hero, super hero? 

With his boyish next-door good looks, charm and wit, here is someone that was once considered too frail to enlist in the U.S. Military during World War II, so he did what any young red-blooded patriotic citizen would do -volunteer himself to receive an experimental Super-Soldier Serum. Suddenly enhanced to the pinnacle of human physical potential, Captain America was born-or reborn.   But as anyone will tell you, behind every successful man, super hero, or not, is a woman showing him the way, even when he may not readily admit it and thus even though her name is not in the title, this latest installment from the brilliant team of Marvel and Walt Disney Motion Picture Studios, the real star of this movie just may be The Black Widow. In  “Captain America: The Winter Soldier,” Steve Rogers, teams up with Natasha Romanoff, aka Black Widow, to battle a powerful yet shadowy enemy in present-day Washington, D.C.  For those that somehow have been living on a deserted island for the last few decades, the Black Widow, once again brilliantly brought to life by Scarlett Johansson, was first introduced to the Marvel audience as a Russian spy and antagonist of Iron Man. Recognizing that good always triumphs over evil, she eventually defected to the United States, and became an agent of the spy agency S.H.I. E. L. D as well as a member of the superhero team. The Avengers.  Check out this latest clip from “Captain America: Winter Soldier”:

And as an extra bonus, check out this behind the scenes featurette that finally gives Winter Soldier his day in the sun:

Will Captain America and The Black Widow, along with The Falcon be able to save the world from The Winter Soldier and annihilation? 

And is there more than meets the eye between our beloved Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff? Only time will tell. In the meantime join in the conversation with other Captain America and Marvel fans by going to Facebook and Twitter and Like Captain America on Facebook: Captain America Movie and by

Following Captain America on Twitter: @CaptainAmerica

See CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER in theaters everywhere on APRIL 4TH! 

Gayle is a lifelong educator by day and avid blogger by night and is the owner and cofounder of the Disney Gals, one of the most popular Disney blogs around! Proud mommy to 5, Grammy to 4 she is blessed to share her life with amazing family and friends who encourage her to chase her dreams no matter where they may lead.  When not in the classroom, she can be found following her son as he dances his way through life, or working with young performers in free nationally recognized after school children’s theater program that she founded 13 years ago. On any given day you will find Gayle skipping her way through life with a giggle and a smile knowing that today is meant to be lived and enjoyed. To learn more about Gayle, click here.

Kid's Korner: Captain America: Winter Soldier Activities for the Superhero In Your Life

Ok I admit, I am more than a little bit excited for the upcoming release of  Captain America: Winter Soldier. When it comes to superheroes and action movies, no one has done a better job of building up the Avengers as a team as well as promoting each of the individual team members than Marvel has. Add in a partnership with Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures,  and it’s the perfect fit.  I’m not sure if it’s the non stop, sit on the edge of your seat action these movies provide or the brilliant one liners, or a combination of both, but when Captain America: The Winter Soldier makes it’s way into theaters on April 4, I’ll be right there in the front row popcorn in hand. Let’s be honest, I defy anyone not to be enamored with Steve Rogers aka Captain America.  With his boyish next-door good looks, charm and wit, here we see someone that was once considered too frail to enlist in the U.S. Military during World War II, so he did what any young red-blooded patriotic citizen would do -volunteer himself to receive an experimental Super-Soldier Serum. Suddenly enhanced to the pinnacle of human physical potential Captain America was born. Using only his shield, way with words, and a few superhuman powers here and there, Captain America has become a living legend and the embodiment of freedom.  What’s next for our Captain on April 4 when Captain America: Winter Soldier hits theaters?

Captain America is Calling on You to Join Forces!

Photo Courtesy of Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures

Saving the world from destruction with The Avengers can be tough even for the best of super heroes, including Steve Roger, aka Captain America.  Trying to live quietly in Washington DC and adjust to the modern world, a tall order for even someone as tough as our adored Captain. Everything changes in a flash when a S.H.I.E.L.D. colleague comes under attack. Once again we find Steve Rogers become embroiled in a web of intrigue that threatens to put the world at risk.