and head north to Denton to be closer to my sons, Jacob & Caleb.

Yours truly is taking a position with the Denton Record-Chronicle, with my last Advocate day being July 10.

Twenty-two months ago I came here from Ruston, La., a fresh graduate of Louisiana Tech University. I just needed a job somewhere or I was going to be a broke college graduate. After sending out umpteen resumes, it seemed like all hope was lost.  The journalism department received word of a reporter position opening in Victoria from current copy editor, and Bulldog alum, Eric Jensen.

I applied and was able to get the position. I came here covering education and finish with faith/family. I have had my share of ups and downs with my work. I have had a chance to be a part of some big stories here and I got to to learn from some good people here. I am taking that experience and those lessons with me as I move to a new place with new people and new stories to tell.

So I just wanted to thank all those out there who helped me with any story I ever worked on here. From administrators, presidents, pastors, teachers, students and everyone in between. It's been fun here.

The Advocate is going places in the world of journalism as many of its recent awards can attest to. I was glad to do my part in it.

 And yeah I know that the Angelina Jolie-fueled action flick was the highest grossing R-Rated June release and the highest grossing Jolie release, but it could have been better.

Wanted stars Jolie, Morgan Freeman and James McAvoy. McAvoy is Wesley Gibbons, an office drone with an overbearing, relentlessly mean boss, a cheating girlfriend and a worthless, pointless life. Until of course he runs into Fox (Jolie) an assassin who saves Wesley from ballistic doom at grocery store. Wesley then finds out the man who was trying to kill him, Cross, killed his father. He also learns he has the ability to be a super assassin and the only one who can stop Cross.

While there was a lot of action, there were plenty of stretches of nothing and a lot of boredom if you ask me. And I know this is one of those movies where you absolutely have to leave your brain at the door, but this movie will try you. With cars flipping sideway on purpose, driving on the side of buses, curving bullets and more, it's no wonder it's the stuff of a graphic novel of the same name.

It just could have been shorter and better. One of the only saving graces for me was the two instances Morgan Freeman dropped the F-bomb, classic.

And if we could share a moment of silence for Iron Man which dropped out of the top ten for the first time during is record-breaking run. 

Source: Yahoo!

...and it seems there will be no end to that in "Death Race," another upcoming Jason Statham action vehicle. I could get into how the guy has been typecast to cinematic Hades, but we all know that. Not to mention I actually liked "The Transporter", the sequel to it and "War."

I was sifting through the usual movie news sites I go to and found a link to a trailer for his new movie. He's framed for a murder he didn't commit (of course) and sent to a prison where inmates are put through a kill or be killed motor race where their prize is freedom.

It's not going to win an Oscar. I am sure the acting will be dreadful, the dialogue painful, and the plot laughable.

But...

There will be tires squealing, fists flying, explosions everywhere, women in tight outfits, it's the prototypical made for the male demographic action movie.

I am totally hitting up Fandango after I post this for tickets.

....and I liked it. Of course it wasn't as good as Iron Man, but it was a good effort from Marvel. It's quite a different film from the 2003 Ang Lee-helmed "Hulk" film which people thought was too much thinking, not enough smashing. This Hulk was the opposite.

It opens with Bruce Banner hiding out in Brazil, working at a bottling plant, trying to find a cure for himself. Tracking him is Gen. Thunderbolt Ross who wants the Hulk as a weapon. Of course Banner is found, chased and given reason to Hulk out a few times leading up to the final battle in NYC.

Norton is great as Banner in the first half of the movie. In the second half it seems they wanted to inject some humorous one-liners which felt completely forced. Liv Tyler does an okay job as Betty Ross, Banner's love. Tim Roth was great and believable in his role of a soldier with a thirst for the power he witnesses in the Hulk.

My gripes with the movie are minor. There's spotty CG in some places and the humor as mentioned before.

I'd like to see the cut of the film Norton wanted to release which has reportedly 70 minutes of footage taken out of the movie to make it more streamlined and popcorn flick-like to do better at the box office.

The Tony Stark cameo totally makes the film worth watching.
It's not a bad way to spend a couple hours. It could have been better yeah, but Marvel, scared of a 2003 Hulk failure, stifled the potential this movie had to be great.

The Hulk Smashes into the Box Office

This news hit me like a big green fist to the stomach.

It was bad enough to learn that Marvel Comics is trying to skip out on giving Iron Man director, Jan Favreau a higher payday for Iron Man 2 despite giving execs over $500 million in worldwide box offices sales for the franchise's debut film.

Regarding Cap's appearance in the new Hulk movie. It's been cut.

BUT....the scene WAS shot by the director, only it was deemed too harsh for young movie audiences. It has been said it will appear online sometime this week and as a bonus feature on the DVD.

I won't spoil the scene for people but you can find it here.

I wish it was in the movie, but I guess we can't get everything in the movie. I am still psyched for tomorrow.

I was checking the Web for Hulk news/spoilers/whatever I could get my hands on, and stumbled across a link that took me to a teaser for the Transporter 3. Yes Statham is back in probably his best known role as the guy to call when you need to transport some highly questionable/dangerous/secret stuff from Point A to Point B while kicking a whole lot of butts and blowing stuff up in between.

I'm a sucker for his movies, so I will admit I will probably be in the seats for this one when it comes out.

Holy #%$^ on a stick!

First it was Nick Fury in Iron Man

Now we have Iron Man in the Hulk and perhaps the Star-spangled Avenger himself, Captain America actually appearing in the movie and not just by virtue of the super soldier serum storyline? (say that three times fast)

Take a gander at a recent report from Wired:

The Marvel universe is set to implode Friday, with a slew of crossover cameos and throwback references in The Incredible Hulk.

Not only will Robert Downey Jr. reprise his role as billionaire Tony Stark with a lengthy cameo in the film, but further whetting the Avengers-appetite is an appearance by Captain America.

And it's likely to be more substantial than the measly millisecond glimpse of a shield (barely) seen in Iron Man. In a recent interview with G4's Attack of the Show, Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier hinted at the superhero's cameo, saying:

"As a filmmaker and as a fan, I like to go see movies and watch them several times, … and every time I see it, discover little things in the background. Did you know that in Iron Man, Captain America’s shield can be found somewhere? Well in Hulk you might see Captain America Himself!"

And as an extra head nod to the franchise, Lou Ferrigno, who starred as the mean green machine in the 70's television show voices the growlings and occasional "Hulk Smash!" in the upcoming movie -- a bit ironic, since Hulk rarely spoke in the televised series.

Nonetheless, it's this type of acknowledgment to the comic's lore that'll get Hulk fans into theaters to see the film, myself included, despite the foreboding reluctance of Ed Norton (who plays Dr. Bruce Banner) to promote the movie.

Jim Littler

Color me SUPER GEEKED x Infinite for this movie!

That is all.

An incredible week is upon us as the Incredible Hulk begins screening with a 12:01 show at our very own Cinemark.

I am extra geeked after seeing one of the TV spots that shows a brief glimpse of Robert Downey, Jr.'s cameo as Tony Stark AKA Iron Man. I am including the video here, if you don't want it spoiled for you, don't watch.

 Now one of the upsides of Marvel Comics producing their own movies is they could have more control over characters and do more things like we are seeing.

At the end of Iron Man, if you haven't seen it by now, there is a cameo from Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Director of Shield, who is there to talk to Iron Man about the Avengers Initiative. That video is included below.

We now have it confirmed that Captain America's shield does appear in the Iron Man movie and now Stark shows up in the Incredible Hulk laying groundwork for the eventual Avengers movie we know is coming. It should go Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America...then the Avengers, but we shall see. It takes a couple years to make just one of these movies so we'll see what they are talking about in a few years regarding the Avengers movie.

Either way, the speculation of it all is fun enough. It's a god time to be a comic book fan.