Blogorium Reviews Assemble!: Iron Man 2

 Iron Man 2 is a classic case of "too many good ideas for one movie." From the "making of" documentary and featurettes for the film, it is evident that director Jon Favreau felt rushed to complete the film in order to meet Paramount and Marvel's release date, and the wear on him physically and mentally is apparent. He also mentions how little time they have, how the script isn't quite finished, that costumes aren't done, effects shots and casting come down to the last second. There's a moment where screenwriter Justin Theroux comes in to help feed lines to Sam Rockwell in order to set up the War Machine subplot. Based on the pressure to keep things moving and the suggested lack of connective tissue, I would wonder if that was more the norm than the exception.

 Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), having revealed that he is Iron Man at the end of the previous film, is now facing scrutiny from the U.S. Government in the guise of Senator Stern (Gary Shandling) for not wanting to share his creation with the military. Stark boasts he's "privatized world peace" but it's clear he isn't the only person capable of making an arc reactor. For one, there's weapons manufacturer Justin Hammer (Rockwell), who has been unsuccessful in making his prototypes work but is more than interested in selling them to hostile countries. There's also Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), the son of a Soviet defector that helped Howard Stark (John Slattery) create the arc reactor technology. When his father dies, Vanko decides to create his own suit and instill chaos into Stark's life as Whiplash. Meanwhile, Tony is running out of time as his current reactor is slowly poisoning him, bringing tension to his relationships with Pepper Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow), Happy Hogan (Favreau), and Colonel Rhodes (Don Cheadle, replacing Terence Howard). Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) intervenes and assigns Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) to keep an eye on Stark, along with the mysterious Natalie Rushman (Scarlett Johansson), his new secretary. That may be the least of his worries when Hammer and Vanko join forces to create an army of Iron Drones, just in time to ruin the annual Stark Expo.

 Frankly, it's impressive that Iron Man 2 holds together at all. There are at least four competing stories in Iron Man 2 that don't always seem to fit together. Let's take a quick look:

 1. Tony Stark's greatest invention is killing him, and his friendships are suffering. The only hope is to reconnect with his deceased father in order to discover a way to stay alive and do good, but he's running out of time to find a stable substitute as his celebrity continues to rise.

 2. The Stark family history (including the Expo) hide a secret about what Howard Stark did to get where he got and the people who were stepped on along the way, including the Vanko family. Not only does Tony have to continue to be accountable for the Stark history of warmongering, but he faces a very palpable threat in the guise of a wronged man and a rival weapons dealer.

 3. Tony has to deal with the possibility that not only can the Iron Man suit end up in the hands of his enemies, but also his friends. When "Rhodey" takes a Mark IV suit with him and returns it to the military, they immediately set about working with Hammer to create a "War Machine" along with Hammer's drones, and use Stark Expo to unveil their new weapon.

 4. Stark's place in the larger Marvel Universe if offset as the film sets up The Avengers by introducing Johansson as Black Widow (I'm assuming you've seen Iron Man 2 by now or at least the trailers for The Avengers so that's not a spoiler) and increasing S.H.I.E.L.D.'s role in the film with Coulson and Fury making extended cameos in the film. There are also direct references to the events of The Incredible Hulk (which appears to happen simultaneously with the end of Iron Man 2) and the arrival of Mjolnir - Thor's hammer - on Earth at the end of the film, a tease that has no direct bearing on Tony Stark.

 All of this happens in two hours, and that's not including the first fight with Whiplash that derails a Grand Prix in Monte Carlo, a prison break for Vanko, an action scene for Black Widow (and, for comic comparison, Happy Hogan), and the showdown between Whiplash, his drones, and the Iron Man / War Machine tag team, also during the Stark Expo. The various plotlines are resolved haphazardly, if at all (the Justin Hammer character basically disappears in handcuffs promising revenge) just in time for Tony and Pepper to get together after his new suit saves his life. Black Widow doesn't really make much of an impression at all, as there's not a lot of time for an arc for Johansson in someone else's movie. And hey, there's Agent Coulson in New Mexico! He found Thor's hammer!

 There aren't many "villains" in Iron Man 2, at least in the conventional sense that Jeff Bridges' Obadiah Stane was as Iron Monger in the first film. Ivan Vanko is a man who comes from a family wronged by Howard Stark and is justifiably angry with Tony's glorifying being Iron Man. Justin Hammer is a guy who desperately wants Tony Stark to be his friend, or at least consider him as an equal, to no avail, so he acts out in foolish ways to get even. Even Rhodey only steals the suit because Tony is being a drunken mess during his birthday party and using his own suit to blow up bottles and watermelons. The drones are just that - drones. You don't really feel anything for them so it's no big thing to see them wiped out en masse at the end. Even the perceived threat of Stark's mortality (played up repeatedly in the film) is a straw man, because we all know he's not going to die in the second movie.

 So how is it that Iron Man 2 works? How is it that, despite the overstuffed narrative and the rushed schedule and the various "needs" being addressed to facilitate more Marvel films, that I still mostly enjoy the film? Well, it is still funny - Robert Downey Jr. brings a sardonic quality to his impending demise, and his conversations with Jarvis (Paul Bettany) continue to make me chuckle. Likewise the relationship between Stark and Coulson, which actually figures prominently into The Avengers (kinda SPOILER), and the scene where a hungover Tony meets Nick Fury at a doughnut shop. Favreau and Theroux poured every ounce of themselves into the film, as did the cast and crew, and despite the fact that Iron Man 2 just shouldn't work it almost makes it.

 It doesn't collapse on itself (like Captain America) and doesn't lopsided in one direction (Thor). The Incredible Hulk's connection to the Marvel world is more tenuous - watching the film again I noticed that all mention of Stark Technology and of S.H.I.E.L.D. appear during the opening credits and the Super Soldier Serum is mentioned by name only once. Were it not for Robert Downey, Jr. appearing at the very end of the film to talk to William Hurt's General Ross, there'd be no tie between Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk at all. That's not really on Iron Man 2, which has a "blink and you'll miss it" screen of footage of Hulk's college campus showdown with the military, but one does get the impression that Marvel felt the need to overcompensate now that the stage had been set.

 I'm curious to see Shane Black's Iron Man 3, which has the opportunity to largely be free of the need to set up other Marvel heroes or to feature S.H.I.E.L.D. so prominently (that's what The Avengers 2 is for), and to see where they go with Iron Man's rogue's gallery next. Favreau left the series (and The Avengers) citing a disinterest in moving into the "mystical" realm, although watching the extra footage, I wouldn't be shocked if exhaustion didn't factor in as well. One of the last things you see him doing is recording the audio commentary for the film - before Iron Man 2 is released. He admits it feels surreal to be speaking about the finished film without any context of its release, reaction, or with any distance from its production. Iron Man 2 was a race to the finish line, and it just manages to cross before collapsing.

2009 Recap: The Cap'n Presents His Favorite Films of the Year!

And here we are, finally to it! I'll keep the intro short, cut to the chase, and so on. As with before, if there's a review, I'll link to it so you can read that.

Before I begin, I forgot to mention two movies which I neither hated nor considered to be "Honorable Mentions": The Invention of Lying and Watchmen. Neither of them really did anything for me, but to be honest I didn't care enough about them to knock them down a peg two days ago. So there you have it.

Without exception, you should see all 14 of these movies as soon as possible.

In no particular order, and absolutely not numbered, My Favorite Films of 2009:

Moon - I've been counting down the days until I can watch Moon again on Blu-Ray. Only a few weeks left, and it can't come soon enough. Duncan Jones, Sam Rockwell, and Kevin Spacey did something very special with this film, one that ought to owe heavily from Silent Running and 2001, but manages to live and breathe all its own. The theatre we saw Moon in had horrible sound, and frequently cut out during important conversations, but I still think the world of this movie, the first of two great science fiction films on this list.

Inglourious Basterds - Somebody's going to have to explain to me why you didn't like this movie. There's so much animosity out there for Inglourious Basterds, and if it's just because Quentin Tarantino promised a "men on a mission" movie and then gave you a film with greater scope and considerably more depth, then boo hoo. If Christoph Waltz isn't nominated for Best Supporting Actor come Oscar time, I'll be shocked. Mélanie Laurent should also be considered, although I fear she won't in favor of better known Americans.

No part of this film was boring to me. No beat went too long, no flourish was unnecessary. Quentin Tarantino took all of his favorite film fetishes and put them to service a narrative that sweeps over you and I, for one, was enthralled from the opening moments. Each game of "cat and mouse", where it's clear that nothing good can come from what's happening on screen, had my rapt attention. There's no way this movie is two and-a-half hours. I don't believe it.

On a total side note: if there's nothing else you watch Inglourious Basterds for, see it for Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt)'s stunningly awful Italian accent. It's hilarious.

The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans - I completely and totally understand why critics are crazy for this movie. The trailers sell you a film that doesn't exist; a complete trainwreck from beginning to end, capped off by Nicolas Cage's batshit Mega Acting. And yes, those are all scenes in The Bad Lieutenant: Unfortunately Long Subtitle That's Totally Appropriate, but Werner Herzog's mad genius constructs a bafflingly wonderful film out of such disparate elements. What you see SHOULD NOT work, but I'll be damned, it does.

Because it's not easy to see, I'll have to recommend you buy or rent it when it arrives on dvd. You'll hear no derision from the Cap'n for doing so.

The Men Who Stare at Goats - Not at all what I was expecting. That's the long and the short of my reaction to Grant Heslov's The Men Who Stare at Goats. You go in expecting something goofy that maybe goes nowhere, but come out on the other side quite pleased at the film. Ewan McGregor is a wonderful comic foil for George Clooney, who in turn gets to pal around with Jeff Bridges' "The Dude" and Kevin Spacey. The secret to this movie, one I continually forget to mention, is that Jedi powers are attainable only with a mustache. Watch The Men Who Stare at Goats and disagree.

Up - If the first fifteen minutes, which set up the story of Carl and Ellie Fredrickson, doesn't tug at your heartstrings, I can't help you. You might even be more of a heartless robot than the Cap'n is, because Up had me from minute one. To its credit, the film quickly turns from tearjerker to adventure and whisks you along for the ride. I have the distinct impression that Coraline will probably take the Best Animated Film award from Up because it's not Pixar, but I cannot agree with that decision. Between Up, Wall-E, and Ratatouille, Pixar is on such a roll that I just don't think that Coraline, as good as it is, is the better film.

Drag Me to Hell - Sam Raimi made me eat crow, and I've never been happier to do it. I hate, HATE Ghost House movies like The Grudge and Boogeyman, and I loathe PG13 horror films that rely on cheap shocks in lieu of good, lasting chills. It turns out that so does Sam Raimi, because he took Ghost House and PG13 horror back to school to show us how it's done. Drag Me to Hell is funny, it's scary, it's cleverly manipulative in scares, and Alison Lohman brings a sense of sympathy that Bruce Campbell could not have (no slight on Bruce, but at this point we revel in Raimi torturing him). The running gags involving horrible liquids going into Lohman's mouth, or the gypsy woman ripping her hair out, to the twisted seance or the anvil!

Folks, you just don't know what you missed by skipping this. I nearly skipped it, and the Cap'n is sure glad he didn't. This is the kind of horror that gets an audience behind it, one that doles out the guffaws and the screams in equal measure.

Thirst - It wasn't until I watched Lady Vengeance several weeks later that Chan-wook Park's Thirst really made sense. I thought the jump from Oldboy to Thirst was a bit odd, even if I really enjoyed Thirst, but all of the black comedy that Park's vampire film carries is evident in Lady Vengeance: the music choices, the bizarre dream sequences, the nochalant approach to violence. I realize that people are pretty "vampired" out right now, but just as seriously as I advocated Let the Right One In, so too must I insist you watch Thirst. It's funnier, for what that's worth.

Anvil: The Story of Anvil - Both hilarious and pathetic. Hilarious, because Anvil has the worst luck in the history of metal bands: This is Spinal Tap couldn't make up half of the shitty things that Anvil have to put up with while on tour. Pathetic, because Lipps and Robb Reiner really want the band to work out. They never got there, when so many others did, and the sense of hope tainted by disappointment really moves Anvil: The Story of Anvil from Behind the Music to something greater.

District 9 - I'm still in awe of how well put together the Johannesburg of District 9 is. Of how the film is not afraid to let characters behave selfishly and betray others for their own benefit. I'm intrigued at the ways the story can continue, and how well Neill Blomkamp toys with your expectations about the "found footage", or the documentary that frames the entire narrative. Like Moon, District 9 is science fiction that's willing to be more than silly "kid's" stuff, one where the violence is disturbing rather than merely gratuitous, and that invites you to go back and follow the details from opening to closing. Bravo.

The Hangover - The sense of impending doom from Bradley Cooper's "we fucked up." at the opening promises you a dangerous experience, and with the three man squad of Cooper, Helms, and Galifianakis, I'm ready to travel down that road again with them any time. There's no real redeeming message about film here, just a ride of pure fun with some true howlers of plot twists.

Observe and Report - After my review, which I feel people took as negative, I stepped back to think about Observe and Report. Normally, something I feel so conflicted about would make it to the "Honorable Mentions" category, but for Observe and Report to affect me the way it did, there's something greater at work in the mind of Jody Hill. I'll be revisiting this film again soon...

Tyson - Mike Tyson, in this documentary, is more than simply the beating machine or the washed up tabloid punchline; he is, at times, an awkward philosopher of his own life. There are very few things he won't talk about, and the portrait he paints is seldom flattering or self serving. Nevertheless, Tyson is the kind of documentary you put on and can't pull your eyes away for one moment, even if you know the "greatest hits".

Zombieland - Like The Hangover, Zombieland makes no pretenses about being "high art". It is a film of pure, unadulterated fun, a zombie film that realizes the survivors of any apocalypse are likely to be just as bent and out of shape as their undead counterparts. Woody Harrelson and Jesse Eisenberg are a team that could carry another Zombieland or a dozen other kinds of movies. I love the way Zombieland's opening credits spoof Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead titles, while all the time reminding you that this is a horror-comedy. Sure, it may lack much in the way of deep social commentary, but dammit: Zombieland is fun!

and a special "Finally!" exception for Trick R Treat, my new favorite Halloween movie! - I realize that Trick R Treat was made in 2007, and that it's been traveling around as a "Roadshow" attraction since then, but when the Blu Ray finally arrived in time for Halloween, I understood what the hoopla was about. It is a criminal shame to withhold this film from audiences, when Michael Dougherty so clearly gets and loves what's scary about Halloween and horror films. Plus, it's a great anthology film, something we get so few of any more. I really hope that the success of the dvd and Blu Ray sales (which sold out widely on the day of release) push Warner Brothers to green light another Trick R Treat anthology, but at the very least I now have one movie that's guaranteed for every Horror Fest from here on out.


I wish I'd seen's for 2009: Big Fan, The Road, Up in the Air, The Hurt Locker, A Serious Man, Where the Wild Things Are, Antichrist, The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus, Best Worst Movie, and The Informant!

Blogorium Review: Moon

So tonight we saw Moon, the first of hopefully many joints from Duncan Jones. While we saw it at the Carmike, Moon opens at The Carousel tomorrow and I highly recommend you go see it. I may need to see it again at The Carousel because the experience of watching the movie was a bit tainted, even if Moon more than made up for the technical deficiencies.

Normally I try not to talk about the nitty gritty theatrical experience. In theory, the review should almost always be about the movie, but the Carmike had seriously damaged this print, to the point that vertical scratches ran the entire length of the movie and the sound cut out, became muddy, or was distorted throughout the running time. For a movie like Moon, the sound is very important, which is why I feel like seeing this again might be necessary beyond simply enjoying the movie.

After the movie, Andy commented that he was happy to be able to see Moon without any preconceived notions or too much knowledge of what the plot was about. "I was able to let the experience take me along for the ride", which is exactly what a movie like this does. I could tell you some of the plot sketches involving Sam Rockwell (playing a character named Sam Bell) but the truth is that you're better off not knowing. If all you know about Moon comes from the trailers or the frequent comparisons to 2001 and Silent Running, good. That's all you need.

I'll add one more note, which is to say that Moon fulfills the promise abandoned two thirds of the way into Sunshine: a science fiction film for adults that takes the premise seriously and is actually thought provoking. Aside from a few chuckles at the "face" GERTY, the base's computer (voiced by Kevin Spacey) makes, Moon never winks at the audience and says "we know, it's just science fiction."

The film takes a few left turns when you'd expect more conventional story twists, and finally breaks with the "Evil Robot" motif so prevalent in the genre. I won't say how or why, but GERTY is much more important to the film than merely an obstacle for Sam when things get weird. I also found the references to Jesus' disciples interesting; Sam works alone on a Moon base for 3 year jobs, running harvesters named Mark, Matthew, John (although John is crossed out and replaced by a handwritten "Judas"). The recurring motif of 3's is also worth revisiting next time I sit down and watch it.

Sam Rockwell does some of the best work I've seen from him in years, although he frequently reminded me of Edward Norton for some reason. *MILD SPOILER ALERT* It may have had something to do with the persistent bruising and bloodying after the accident being vaguely Fight Club-esque, but even the "other" Sam was vaguely reminiscent of Norton.

The "twist", if you want to call it that, is handled quickly and in a rational manner. Almost as soon as you realize what's actually going on, one of the characters identifies the development and instead of trying to dupe viewers, Jones is smart enough to let the film play out. I admire both the story and Jones' direction, which lingers frequently, allowing you to soak in the details of the moon base and the minutiae of Sam Bell's world. There's some very impressive camera trickery to boot, which I won't risk spoiling.

I realize this review is probably quite useless, but I feel it fair to both recommend you see Moon but also not to tell you too much going in. Moon is the sort of film that works best when it happens to you, not one you should be trying to work out right away.