Captain America: The First Avenger
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Directed by Joe Johnston
Starring Chris Evans, Hayley Atwell, Tommy Lee Jones, Sebastian Stan, Hugo Weaving, Toby Jones, Dominic Cooper, Jenna Louise-Coleman
Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures
Originally Released: July 19, 2011

What better way for geeks to celebrate this national holiday than to kick back with a few cold ones and watch the personification of the USA in the Marvel Universe: Captain America: The First Avenger.

And honestly, good ol’ Cap is more important in Marvel than you think. Sure, he leads The Avengers; but Marvel’s most popular heroes, such as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Deadpool, and now Iron Man thanks to Robert Downey Jr., tend to eclipse the important responsibility Captain America has played to the evolution of the Marvel Universe.

Captain America is the personification, not of the United States, but instead for which it stands. I’m not talking about liberty or justice or freedom or patriotism. I’m speaking about people – it’s the people that make this nation so special. And Cap personifies that element, that deep down, we all have the potential to be good people; and that it is not our abilities that make us who we are, but the choices we make.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon
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Directed by Michael Bay
Starring Shia LaBeouf, Peter Cullen, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Hugo Weaving, Tyrese Gibson, Leonard Nimoy, Josh Duhamel, John Malkovich, Frank Welker, Alan Tudyk, Glenn Morshower, Buzz Aldrin, Bill O’Reilly
Paramount Pictures
Originally Released: June 23, 2011

Dark of the Moon, the third installment of the Transformers motion picture series, is full of attention-grabbing action, with magnificent special effects that show major improvements on the previous two films. And despite a plot with logic gaps and other wanting elements, the consequence is a fun romp. Hey, it’s a popcorn movie after all!

Dark of the Moon picks up where Revenge of the Fallen left off. Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) has moved on in life – now graduated from university, he lives with new girlfriend Carly Spencer (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley) while looking for his first major job. Despite the progress forward, he suffers an inner turmoil after having been central to the trials of the battles between the Autobots and Decepticons, feeling that his future is substandard and matters less than his efforts fighting the good fight with allies Optimus Prime (Peter Cullen) and Bumblebee.

Last Ride
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DVD | Blu-ray
Directed by Glendyn Ivin
Starring Hugo Weaving, Tom Russell, Kelton Pell, John Brumpton, Anita Hegh
Madman Entertainment
Originally Released: July 02, 2009

If any one country has benefited immensely from the dawn of online streaming and on-demand, it would have to be the independent Aussie film industry. With government funding towards independent films, Aussie movies have enjoyed extensive coverage on services such as Netflix, exposing new viewers to the down under talents of Australian filmmakers and actors. One such example is the film, Last Ride.

Directed by Glendyn Ivin, and starring the phenomenal Hugo Weaving, Last Ride follows the story of a father on the run after committing a violent crime. The movie is based on the novel of the same name by Denise Young, in which Max, the suspect, takes his son, Chook, with him on the journey – as we try to learn of the sins of the father through the eyes of the son.

Cloud Atlas
Directed by: Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
Written by: Lana Wachowski, Andy Wachowski, Tom Tykwer
Starring Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, Hugh Grant, Susan Sarandon, Doona Bae, James D’Arcy
Warner Bros. Pictures
Rated R | 164 minutes
Release Date: October 26, 2012

Based on the 2004 novel by British author David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas is an epic story of the human condition in which the consequences of our decisions impact one another throughout the past, present, and future.

Written and directed by Lana Wachowski and Andy Wachowski (The Matrix Trilogy) and Tom Tykwer (Run Lola Run), Cloud Atlas is a collection of six stories that traverse time and space.

Within the first 20 minutes of this epic sci-fi adventure, you’ll be transported from post-apocalyptic Hawaii to the 19th-century South Pacific, to 2144’s Neo Seoul, where enslaved clones called ‘fabricants’ fight the status quo. You’ll then jump to 1931 Zedelgem, Belgium, to the estate of an eccentric composer, before visiting 1973 San Francisco and 21st-century London.

Each member of the film’s impressive ensemble cast, which includes Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Jim Broadbent, Hugo Weaving, Jim Sturgess, Ben Whishaw, and Hugh Grant, plays upwards of six different characters throughout the film’s multiple narratives, often switching gender and ethnicity.

Very few of the Marvel Cinematic Universe villains have lived long enough to see a sequel. But one fate that is the most mysterious so far is the fate of the Red Skull. While Tom Hiddleston‘s Loki continues to live on to be a threat to Thor and The Avengers, Hugo Weaving doesn’t seem to be too excited to reprise his role as the Red Skull, a character he captured effortlessly in Joe Johnston’s Captain America: The First Avenger.

While the actor did admit that he wasn’t keen on coming back as the Red Skull, he also said that he would reprise the role only because he is contractually obligated to do so. Here is the full quote from Collider.