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1. SCOTT COX: Quality is best avenger against hype

   By Scott Cox

   Friday, May 18 2012 12:29 PM

   It's a pretty rare event when things that are heavily advertised live up to the hype. Rarer still is the product that exceeds the hype. "The Avengers" is a perfect example of how it can be done.

   I'd heard about this movie for six months solid, with the last couple of months being what seemed like a barrage of trailers, all of which did their job, which was make me want to go see it. After the last week or two, enough was enough. Stop the hype, and bring on the film. Guess what? "The Avengers" is actually better than the trailers could have suggested.

   Keep in mind that I'm a reformed comic book nerd. And that all those classic Marvel characters were my favorites. Captain America, Thor, Iron Man -- all great comic characters that were turned into really good movies. (I exclude the Hulk, because, while great comics, the movies fell well short).

   So I went into the theater with high hopes and a bad attitude. Ten minutes into "The Avengers," my attitude was exponentially better. I mean the entire film is just fantastic: the story, the acting, the special effects -- everything. One of the tricks of telling a story featuring multiple heroes is folding them into the plot in a plausible way, and that's one of the amazing things about "The Avengers." They don't just drop all the good guys into the story in the first five minutes. The story progresses, and each member of the Avengers shows up when it seems to make the most sense. Better still, writer Joss Whedon does a truly excellent job of providing the interaction between these bigger-than-life characters. Like any other group of people used to getting things done their way, there's plenty of friction to go around. That's what makes it so cool when they all predictably band together for the common good.

   And all the Avengers maintain their established personas. Tony Stark (Iron Man) is glib and self-centered, Thor is super-serious and committed to the laws of his own world. Captain America is still all about justice, fair play and the ideals that made America great. Bruce Banner (The Hulk) is predictably careful about keeping his alter ego at bay, yet manages to have a sense of humor about it at the same time. Even the master assassins, Black Widow and Hawkeye, have their all-business attitudes most of the time. All this attitude makes it that much better when the heroes get to say and do genuinely funny stuff. I don't want to give away any of the plot, but I will say that this is a movie that mixes action, emotion, excitement and humor.

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2. SCOTT COX: Record stores among last links to great music

   Saturday is national Record Store Day. I only recently found this out, and I was pleasantly surprised to learn of its existence. See, for me, Record Store Day is pretty much a moot point, because I love record stores. Always have. I seek them out when I travel, and I'm glad that we have a couple of really great ones here at home.

3. SCOTT COX: Merle, Dwight talk that sound

   The Bakersfield Sound exhibit, now on display in Nashville, is a sprawling, detailed tribute to the artists who not only helped put Bakersfield on the map, but changed the direction of country music forever.
4. 

   SCOTT COX: A Buck Owens tribute band to remember

   Friday night's show at the Crystal Palace promises to be a night that will never be forgotten -- at least not by opening act Bakersfield. What will make this show special for these guys is being at Buck Owens' Crystal Palace at all. See, Bakersfield is a hard-working Buck Owens tribute band, and they're from Norway. That's right, Norway.

5. SCOTT COX: The next big thing? I'll be the judge of that

   I got a call from a friend of mine who's a huge wheel in the entertainment biz. He wanted me, with my vast wealth of musical knowledge, to be a judge in a reality show. And I can't stand reality shows. I've never watched a single episode of "American Idol," and I never will. But, after my friend explained that there was a paycheck involved, I decided to lower my standards. Of course any "standards" I have are only theoretical anyway, and I need some extra cash to finance my next Texas trip, so I signed right up. I figured making fun of some hapless tone-deaf hack for a couple of hours would be a hoot. So, if they wanted a low-rent Simon Cowell, I was their huckleberry.

6. SCOTT COX: Danny Lipco was 'one of the good guys'

   Anyone remotely connected to the Bakersfield entertainment scene is mourning the death of our friend Danny Lipco.
7. 

   SCOTT COX: Fishlips forever

   The war in Iraq started about the time that I became a regular at Fishlips - appropriate, really, considering that the owners and I would eventually raise thousands of dollars for the troops serving over there.