A PInoy At The Movies: Captain America: The Winter Soldier

(The offiicial Korean poster. 

Whose image do you think

is so photoshopped?)

Having seen the actual shoot of Avengers 2, Age of Ultron, here in Seoul, I was encouraged to watch this film, which is part of Marvel Studio's superhero series of films. Chris Evans was here in Seoul to film his scenes in Avengers 2, by the way. But lucky were his fans who saw him.

As a superhero film, Captain America: The Winter Soldier was expected to be super. And it was! Even on the early minutes of the movie, anyone can see that Captain American isn't somebody you mess with. Chris Evans, with all his bulked-up muscles, could still be Captain America even without his shield. 

And looking at the official poster above, although we all know that Scarlett Johansson has the body, I don't think her waistline is that small. Can we at least be realistic with her built since she's a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, which means she needs to eat her carbs and pizza to fight off bad guys in hand-to-hand combat? And her red hair in the film isn't that long. Natasha Romanoff's cut was just above her shoulder. Oh, well. So Photoshopped.

If you saw the first of the series, Captain American: The First Avenger, it would be easier for you to understand the beginnings of this superhero. In this film, his early years from being drafted as a soldier in World War II were told in dialogues and a few visits to the Smithsonian.

Even though this was more than two hours long, the fast pacing of the film and the action scenes made sure everyone in the audience were kept awake and eager to enjoy the next action scene.

And speaking of action scenes, the ambush of Nick Fury in the middle of Washington D.C. was especially amazing. As he was being shot at, chased and bumped at, I was thinking what it would have felt like to see such explosive and violent stunts involving dozens of cars in Gangnam. Instead of those fiery mash-up, what I saw, along with hundreds of spectators that day in Gangnam, were slow-moving cars in front of shops and cafes. It wasn't even a chase; it looked more like a parade. Ha-ha-ha! (Watch the video here.)

And being a superhero action film, that wasn't the only action I enjoyed. There were more, and you should watch it.

Perhaps, the only disappointment for me was Robert Redford playing a S.H.I.E.L.D. senior official, Alexander Pierce. Although he turned out to be a bad guy, Redford looked more like a professor in his role in Lions For Lambs, a film with Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise released in 2007. (That's also where I first saw Andrew Garfield in a film before he went 'Social' and 'Spidey'). Here, Redford looked so bland, monotonous and preachy. With white hair and a few wrinkles, I could play his role! Ha-ha-ha! 

What surprised me in the movie was the sudden appearance of Emily VanCamp of the drama series, Revenge, who was Chris Evan's neighbor and turned out to be an agent. She definitely could use the martial arts skills she learned from the drama series in this film. (But I wondered why she hasn't used those in breaking Victoria Grayson's neck as part of her revenge). 

I love watching superhero films because the superhero always wins in the end. But Captain America is different in a way. He was an exemplary soldier before he became a superhero. He's a gentleman, respectful and ready to do anything for his country, with or without a shield. 

In the meantime, can Marvel Studios please hurry up the next Marvel comics movie?

Avengers Age of Ultron Goes....Gangnam Style!

Maybe Joss Whedon, the director of Avengers: Age of Ultron is a fan of Psy's Gangnam Style. Why? Because he included Gangnam in the select locations for his movie. I wonder if the Avengers superheroes are fans, too.

I like Gangnam. If you like to people-watch or enjoy dinner and drinks with friends on a Friday night or weekend, this place has lots of restaurants, bars and cafes. 

           (Captain America shuts down Gangnam-daero.)

In 2013, I included this place as one of the stops my friend Maria had to see during her five-hour stopover in Seoul.  I made sure she set foot in the place Psy made famous worldwide. In case you don't know yet, at Exit 11 of Gangnam Station, Psy is there, or at least his silhouette, waiting for anyone to pose with him for picture doing that Gangnam Style pose.

But on April 6, 2014, a Sunday, there wasn't any posing with Psy at Exit 11. Everyone's attention was on the location shooting at the main Gangnam Avenue, or Gangnam-daero.  A week before that, when I ventured to take a peek at the location shooting on Mapo Bridge with my friend Andrew, we didn't see anything from the vantage of Yeouido Park. 

                          (Crowds waiting for the shoot)

           (If the chicken crossed the road, so did this crowd.)

This time, since it was in the middle of Gangnam, I was luckier and closer! I simply took the Blue Bus 241 from Hannam-dong, my neighborhood, crossed the river and got off at the Yeongdong Market bus stop, and just walked towards the Gangnam Station.

As they closed the northbound lane of the main street, it was weird finding the lane empty and without any car, taxi or bus on it. I would have wanted to take a selfie right there in the middle as it wasn't every day the whole place get to be empty, but I wondered whether the Incredible Hulk was just down the road and would slam anyone ruining his shot. Ha-ha-ha!

                 (The silver gray jeep stars in the scene!)

                      (Followed by a black van with a jib.)

(Looking forward to watching this scene in the movie.)

As expected, people were walking towards the middle of the block and I could see that crowds were already there watching whatever was going down, and even the bus stop in the middle of the road was full, mostly of curious onlookers and people who seemed to work in the area and were just waiting to cross. 

When I got to a spot on a sidewalk, right in front where I thought the scene would be shot, I joined the crowd and waited. I chatted with Ja-Yeon, a store manager for a sportswear brand, who was standing there and taking photos as well. He told me that they were already shooting scenes a few times already; so, I stood and waited, too.

And a few minutes later, it started. Silver, white and gray cars, an orange taxi, a few vans started rolling slowly, followed by a silver-gray jeep, which was trailed by a black van with a mounted jib or camera boom. "So, this is Hollywood," I said to myself, "right in the middle of Gangnam". But I wondered, why were the vehicles running slow? This is Seoul, where even the delivery guy from the Chinese restaurant riding the motorbike runs 60 KPH on the sidewalk! Ha-ha-ha! 

                   (Cars and drivers waiting for their cue)

                (Cameras and crew on a Gangnam alley)

After watching the shoot at the main street, instead of going back home, I was tempted to walk around the inner alleys. And I was happy I did! There was another scene being shot! Right on the alley where, at its corner, there usually was a dakko-yaki stand that sells my favorite street food at night. And here, there were more fans watching! 

This scene was even more interesting than the one with cars on the other side of the block. This one has extras!  The movie production hired a few Korean background actors, who were required to walk up and down the sidewalk during the scene, which made me wonder again. Why on the sidewalk? In these Gangnam alleys, nobody walks on the sidewalk; everyone walks in the middle of the road! Ha-ha-ha! Mr. Whedon should have hired me as assistant director; I was free that day.

                      (A thicker crowd watching here)

(Background actors on the sidewalk waiting for their cue)

 

So, there. I was able to finally take a peek into one of the location shootings of Avengers 2 while it was shot in Seoul. 

I am looking forward to watching the movie, especially these scenes shot in Gangnam. Would there be any Gangnam Style dancing inserted in the film? Or would that song end up in the soundtrack? 

I guess, we'll all just have to wait until next year. Its scheduled release is May 2015. By then, we can all be sure that all the Avengers superheroes will fly into town for the premiere. 

Paging Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures! Can I score a movie premiere ticket, please?

                                        *  *  *  *  *

Today, November 12, 2018, Stan Lee, the man behind Marvel Comics and the creator of the superheroes on this film that was shot in Gangnam, died.

Rest in peace, Mr. Lee. All your fans and superheroes will miss you. :-(

Of Avengers And Super Heroes

Seoul has been busy hosting scenes from the Avengers: Age of Ultron this past week. And like most Hollywood movie fans in the city, I also wondered whether I would be able to take a peek on an actual movie shoot for a blockbuster Hollywood movie. I have seen Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt, Tom Cruise and Nicolas Cage during their movie premieres in Seoul over the years. I thought of adding a few more Hollywood names to that list.

So, when the city government published the dates and the locations where the scenes would be shot, I thought of maybe dropping by...uninvited. Ha-ha-ha!

         (Crowds watching the shoot on the Mapo Bridge)

                                   (The Mapo Bridge)

So, last Sunday, the production shot scenes on the Mapo Bridge. Like all of the locations in Seoul where the scenes were scheduled to be shot, one side of the Mapo Bridge was closed to both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. 

Luckily, I didn't have to take the public transport heading towards the Mapo Bridge. My friend Andrew, who was attending a wedding in the Sinsa-dong area with his friends that Sunday morning, offered to pick me up from Hannam-dong on his way back to the Mapo District where he lives.

    (Red and white boats sitting idly below the Mapo Bridge)

But instead of going straight to the Mapo area, we instead decided to hang out at the Yeouido Park, which actually has a good vantage of the Mapo Bridge. On our way to the park, I could see that most cherry blossoms had already bloomed ahead of the forecast. This was the reason why last weekend, the organizers of the annual Yeouido Flower Festival immediately advanced the starting date of the festival by a week. There wouldn't be any blossoms left on the original opening date had they not done so.

                       (A portraitist and his works of art)

When we finally found a parking spot and started walking towards the Mapo Bridge, we saw lots of people already swarming at the park:  couples, groups of friends and families, including their pets! Moms pushing their babies on strollers, granddads and grandmoms playing with their grandkids, fathers helping a son fly his kite and even moms riding bikes with daughters.

That day, the spring weather was perfect for everyone to get out of their homes and spend time with their families outdoors. 

               (A flyboarder amuses everyone at the park)

         (I want to borrow his toy this summer. Whom to call?)

And when we got near the Mapo Bridge, we could see a few activities both on and off it. A few vehicles were visible running on the bridge, while two boats, a red and a white one, were below the exact spot where the vehicles were. Perhaps, those rescue boats were just there in case someone or something fell off the bridge. 

Other than that, people watching from a distance were just relaxing by the banks of the Han River, perhaps curious like me in case there was some big action scene with an explosion that would be seen from where we were. 

                 (They looked amazing as they moved
              through the Han River on their flyboards.)

What actually amused me and the crowds at Yeouido Park that morning was not the Avengers 2 shoot on Mapo Bridge but a couple of guys performing the flyboarding on the river. 

Flyboarding is a new aqua sport where a person, whose legs are attached with the flyboard, is propelled through the air with the power of the water propulsion generated by a water craft, which in this performance at the Han River looked like a jet ski. Here is a VIDEO of their flyboarding which entertained a lot of kids...and their parents!

For a moment, Andrew and I thought that these two flyboarders were joining the Avengers 2 shooting. We thought that maybe they would travel nearer to the shoot and a few scenes would catch them performing on the river as part of the background.

But that didn't happen. They just travelled to the other side of the Yeouido Park and entertained the kids and everyone else on that side of the river. Watching them move above the water with those propelled water oozing from their boots was amazing. They flew over the water like Iron Man without the need of a suit.

I heard Chris Evans was taking part on the shoot that day at Mapo Bridge, but unfortunately, Andrew and I weren't close enough to see anything or any action hero that day.

But I realized, we didn't have to look that far to see for ourselves some super heroes. They were all right here next to us at Yeouido Park: the hardworking mother and fathers who toil during the week to provide for their families, the grandmothers who help look after their grandkids so that the kids' parents could work full time and not worry about staying at home to take care of the kids, the grandfathers who must still be working even at their old age just so he and his wife wouldn't be a burden to their children who now have their own families to take care of, or perhaps, some of these dutiful children treating their parents to lunch and to a fun day at the park as a sign of gratitude for their parents' hard work enabling them to finally finish college. 

And I think I was right.

I didn't have to look at what was happening on Mapo Bridge, where Chris Evans as Captain America might be shooting scenes as he saved the world. Real life super heroes were just around me that day, not in their super hero costumes, but in their super hero lives. On this nice spring day, they weren't saving their own world; they were spending time with the people they would save the world for.