Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Jack and I found this goofy sci-fi action picture a fun way to spend a couple of summer hours. Chris Pratt is a humble, handsome hero well-suited to this slapstick Marvel movie. Last blogged in Her, he carries all of his scenes as a man who was abducted from earth as a boy in the 1980s, his only tangible reminder a cassette called "Awesome Mix Vol. 1." The opening credits are pretty awesome, too, as Pratt dances around to the first song on the cassette (Come and Get Your Love by Redbone, released in 1974). More on the music in a moment.

Pratt is supported by, among others, Zoe Saldana (most recently in Star Trek: Into Darkness), covered in green makeup, and the voices of Bradley Cooper (last in American Hustle) and Vin Diesel, as a talking raccoon and a walking/talking tree, respectively. And wrestler Dave Bautista's character Drax, who "can't do metaphors," has recently been in the news because a blogger's autistic brother loved seeing the screen version of his own inability with metaphors.

Directed and co-written by James Gunn (the only other of his work we've seen is a segment of Movie 43, the deserving Razzie Worst Picture winner last year), this project clearly shows that Gunn has promise.

Despite Marvel writer Stan Lee's lack of contribution to the Guardians of the Galaxy comics, the producers were wise to include him in a cameo, as the Xandarian Ladies' Man.

The soundtrack album "Awesome Mix, Vol. 1" reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, the first film soundtrack ever to reach number one without a single original song. The preceding sentence is directly plagiarized from the 104 items in imdb's trivia page for the movie, recommended for fanboys and -girls to read after seeing the movie. Also recommended are this one about so-called Easter Eggs (and here's a definition) and this one about the music.

Speaking of the music, although I enjoy listening to soundtracks while writing, I can't compose sentences while listening to Awesome Mix Vol. 1. I would be too caught up in singing along! All twelve songs on the album (for sale on amazon and iTunes) are available for you to stream for free:
I'm Not in Love, performed by 10CC
Come and Get Your Love, performed by Redbone
Go All the Way, performed by The Raspberries
Hooked on a Feeling, performed by Blue Swede
Escape (The Pina Colada Song), performed by Rupert Holmes
Moonage Daydream, performed by David Bowie
Fooled Around and Fell in Love, performed by Elvin Bishop
Cherry Bomb, performed by The Runaways
Ooh Child, performed by The Five Stairsteps
Ain't No Mountain High Enough, performed by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
I Want You Back, performed by Jackson 5

What I have been listening to as I write is this playlist of the original score by Tyler Bates (blogged in Killer Joe). It's pretty typical of action movie soundtracks. This experience would have been many times less enjoyable with only the Bates soundtrack, but it fits where it's used.

Number one at the box office after its fourth week of release, rated 92% by Rotten Tomatoes' critics and 95 by audiences, this movie doesn't need our recommendation. If you like the genre, go see it. Oh yeah, there will be a sequel, already listed on imdb for 2017.