Friday, May 10, 2013

Iron Man 3: Can Marvel go more over the top?

Iron Man 3 was an incredibly noisy, bombastic, crazy, zany, brainless romp through movie making magic where I am pretty sure every shot has some CGI in it. Judging by the 20 something VFX companies that had all their names listed in the credits in the end, that seems about right. For some reason I don't think I loved this movie as much as some other people did. Don't get me wrong, this is better than Iron Man 2, but my goodness it's hard to like a film where almost everyone in it is unlikable. The story takes place after the Avengers where tony has turned into  a neurotic mess tinkering with suit after suit, mainly because he can't sleep. Meanwhile, his company (run by Pepper pots) is having troubles as well as his relationships and ...oh, yeah, there is a terrorist on this loose blowing things up because, well; thats what Tony gets to figure out.

Biggest props go to the Mandarin (Ben Kingsly) for easily being the one to steal his scenes...mainly because they gave his character a great arc. Robert Downey Jr. does his best Tony Stark impression meaning that his quick quips and dry, scathing wit will always overshadow the self doubt and anxiety he is supposedly feeling. I love the action hero Don Cheedle and was so excited to see Pepper kick some tail. Except it didn't happen. The ending was so sudden and uncharacteristic, it seemed either the writers were either killed, or Robert Downey Jr. wanted an escape clause to get out of playing the roll. I vote for the former. After all, what is Iron Man without Tony Stark.

Final Consensus:
See it now!!!!
See it in theaters!!! 
Rent it!!
Wait for it on TV!
Don’t Bother

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Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Sundance Film Festival 2013

This year begins my third foray into the volunteering world of the Sundance Film Festival. I will be a crowd liaison at the SLC Library Theater. I like the local flair a lot more than the freezing, sleep deprived nights I spent in Park City two years ago. There seems to be a lot of hype amongst the volunteers about location, parties, celebrities, shifts, friends and teams. Personally, I volunteer so I get to see a lot of new movies, especially fresh and exciting ones that renew my faith in the medium of film. Granted, there is a lot of crud that comes out of the festival too, but for every film I walk out of (2 last year) there is a Beasts of the Southern Wild or Safety Not Guaranteed that make it all worthwhile. So buckle up and lets see if this year will bring a lot more film related experiences and a lot more good reviews as well.

P.S. the Jackets they give us are pretty cool...