At The Movies

IRON MAN 2 - After seeing the first IRON MAN movie 2 years ago I have been eagerly awaiting this sequel. Next to the new BATMAN movies I would say the first IRON MAN movie is one of the best super-hero movies out there. In fact, I thought the first one was so good that any sequel would not come close. So I'm pleased (and a little surprised) to say I really liked this movie. In IRON MAN 2 Robert Downey Jr. returns again as Tony Stark, the weapons developer-turned-superhero. Many of the original cast members return, but we are also introduced to several new faces, most notably Mickey Rourke as Ivan Ranko (aka "Whiplash.") and the introduction of "War Machine," Iron Man's new partner. Following the standard script for sequels IRON MAN 2 gives us action first, story second. But fortunately many of the same traits that made the first movie so appealing are still present here (namely the chemistry between Downey Jr. and Paltrow.) Also, the movie never gets too heavy or too full of itself, which keeps it fun. To paraphrase a review I read online, "this isn't SCHINDLER'S LIST, this is a super-hero movie." It's everything you want out of a summer blockbuster/popcorn flick...just a lot of mindless entertainment. The original IRON MAN signaled the beginning of Marvel Studios, where the comic-book writers were going to stop relying on major movie studios (like with the Spider-Man franchise) and begin making their own films. Since then they've produced IRON MAN 1 & 2, and the latest HULK movie starring Edward Norton. What's so fun about these movies is how Marvel is trying to tie them all together, (much like how the characters pop up in each other's comics.) Also, there's a recurring trend going on with these films. At the end of each movie you get a "lost scene" that hints at a greater storyline going on, and the one at the end of IRON MAN 2 is pretty cool. Most sequels fall short of their predecessors (I'm looking at you MATRIX trilogy,) but in this case IRON MAN 2 is a worthy partner to its original. I will definitely be seeing it again, and I'll probably get it on Blu-Ray in a few months. Oh yeah...Thor and Captain America are due out next summer. Can't wait!

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY - In the spirit of TV shows like "Ghost Hunters" and "Ghost Adventures" comes this horror flick. This film is about a couple trying to "document" their ghostly hauntings. Shot with hand held video footage and starring two unknown actors the film tries to convey a documentary feel, much like BLAIR WITCH PROJECT in 1999. While the story is pretty irrelevant here, the "haunting" scenes here are very effective. In fact, I felt like kicking myself for falling for them. (Usually I don't jump at all watching horror movies.) The ending is pretty ridiculous, but by that point it doesn't really matter. You're already freaked out. Anyway, this made for a pretty good rental.

THE MEN WHO STARE AT GOATS - George Clooney must love "dramedies," cause he's sure in a lot of them these days. In this film, Ewen McGregor plays Bob, a reporter writing a story about the U.S. military's "paranormal training" research; mainly with psychic powers. The story leads him to Lyn, a self-proclaimed super-soldier with training in psychic powers and invisibility, played by George Clooney. The story here is only mildly interesting, but the witty dialogue keeps you engaged through the first two acts. And though the comedy here isn't really funny, (more humorous) some of the performances here are really worth seeing (like Kevin Spacey's performance as Larry.) Still though, this is one of those films that is okay but could have been better. Something about it just missed the mark with me.

WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE - "Let the wild rumpus start!" Never before have I looked forward to a movie that ultimately disappointed me as much as this one did. Based on the acclaimed children's book written by Maurice Sendak, we meet Max...a mischievous little boy with a wild imagination. One night after refusing to eat his dinner he travels to a far off land of his own creation and becomes king of the wild things. Oh wait! That's what the book is about. In the movie version we get an angst-ridden "pre-teen" Max who after getting into an argument with his mother (and bites her) he runs off to his fantasy land and engages in mind-numbing dialogue and goes around breaking things. Somewhere in the production of this film the soul of the book was thrown away and replaced with anger. How many times have I seen Hollywood just muck up a good story. Geez! I don't normally say "I hate this movie." But....uh...never mind.

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON - Ben and I saw this in 3D a few weeks ago. Not only did Ben like it, I was surprised how much I liked it as well. Hiccup is a young viking who isn't necessarily your typical viking. He's skinny and easily frightened, everything his father Stoick (the brave village leader) is not. The story opens as the village is attacked by a swarm of dragons. In all the confusion Hiccup ends up injuring a small dragon, nicknamed Toothless. As he nurses the dragon back to health Hiccup and Toothless form a bond and eventually help the village and dragons live together in harmony. Not only was the film fun to watch in 3D, but there was also a lot of heart here and a good message for kids (things I can't help but notice now that I'm a parent.) Anyway, really liked this one. Nice surprise.

THE CLASH OF THE TITANS - This is a remake of the classic mythology flick made in 1981, and the story is pretty much the same as the original. Perseus, played by Sam Worthington, is the son of Zeus who vows to save mankind from the dark forces of Hades. His travels will take him to fight giant scorpions, evil witches, and the wicked Medusa herself. Oh yeah...then there's the Kraken. Anyway, the film certainly looks much better than the original, thanks to CGI. But it seemed like the producers spent too much time trying to make a LORD OF THE RINGS clone rather than something more original, (the film's introduction is eerily similar to the introduction at the beginning of FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING.) Anyway, one has to remember this is a popcorn flick and nothing more, and as far as mindless entertainment goes it was okay I guess.

THE OBJECTIVE - This was one I had never heard of until I read some interesting things about it online. A covert group of soldiers are recruited to travel to Afghanistan to find a tribal leader. But once they arrive in a remote region of hills and mountains the soldiers start experiencing some strange things. They witness strange lights in the skies, they hear strange voices that come out of wars fought long ago, and they even see shadow figures. Not sure whether they are dealing with the enemy, or ghosts of Christmas past they all begin to turn on one another...and then crazy antics ensue from there. The first half of the movie was actually pretty decent. There are enough twists and turns here to keep you interested. But the final payoff at the end was a bit of a head scratcher, and left me more confused than satisfied. That kind of ruined the whole movie for me at that point.

MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY - Never before have I looked forward to a movie that ultimately disappointed me as much as this one did. Oh wait! I've already used that one. Anyway, for some reason I heard so many good things about this one back when it was released in theaters. But after finally watching it I found myself laughing out loud at how annoying it was. The story begins the morning after a one night stand between Jo, played by Tracey Heggins, and Micah, played by The Daily Show's Wyatt Cenac. Both Jo and Micah realize they know nothing about one another after their one night fling, and so they try to spend a day together to get to know one another. The film earned praise on the festival circuit but I'm not sure why quite frankly. There is so little dialogue between these two characters it's almost laughable, and the lines you do get are simply "want to go get some coffee?" and "let's go to the museum." This is becoming a pet-peeve of mine with movies like this. If a movie is about young twenty-somethings in a big city, for some reason one is always a writer, one is always an artist or photographer, and all they ever do is go around and drink coffee at freakin' coffee houses. I mean in the course of one day these two do nothing but go to three coffee houses, two museums, a dance club, a park or two, and wander aimlessly around city streets. AAAHHH! Do something! In fact, the movie seemed more like a video postcard for San Francisco, because all you get out of it are locations. One other thing - the movie was shot on video, and for some reason the cinematographer didn't turn off the camera's "auto focus" function. I know I'm nitpicking here technically, but it looks bad when you're watching the film and all of the sudden it goes out of focus because the actor moved their head or something. Anyway, in case you can't tell...I didn't care for this one.

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS - Written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, this is the story of a group of U.S. soldiers hunting down Nazis in World War II. Watching this I got the sense that there were two films here. One side of the movie focuses on the american soldiers teeming with testosterone and bullets. But on the other hand you get a true WWII film here about Jews escaping Nazis. While Brad Pitt gets top billing here the top performance in the film goes to Christoph Waltz, who plays Col. Hans Landa...a cunning Nazi bent on tracking down Jews. I can easily see some Tarantino fans not liking it, expecting something more like PULP FICTION or JACKIE BROWN. I admit, I had to remind myself a few times that I was watching something by Tarantino. But overall I thought this was a good movie.

THE SHIELD: SEASON 1 - Based on a recommendation from a trusted source, I was advised to check this show out. THE SHIELD is a show that first aired on FOX, was then cancelled, and was then brought back to life at the urging of fans and eventually settled into the FX lineup. This is a show about a branch of the Los Angeles police department. Some of the cops are good and honest, while others are dirty and corrupt. I would liken this show as something between THE WIRE and LAW & ORDER, or maybe more like THE WIRE but with a lot more adrenaline. This is a gritty cop show but the characters are interesting and draw you in. I will definitely be checking out Season 2. Great show!

30 ROCK: SEASON 3 - Jenny and I have slowly been catching up on this show, after having missed the first 3 seasons. At first I really wasn't a fan of this show, but I find myself slowly warming up to it. I think it's the character of Jack (Alec Baldwin) that has drawn me in. I love his capitalistic/materialistic personality. The writing on the show is pretty good most of the time, (though sometimes they settle for the quick gag.) But I would say Season 3 has been the best out of all the seasons so far. We'll probably continue on with Season 4 when it comes out.