Iron Man (2008)
Director: Jon Favreau
Writer: Mark Fergus (screenplay) and Hawk Ostby (screenplay)
Genre: Action/Adventure/Drama/Sci-Fi/Thriller
Story
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a weapons designer and industrialist. He is the head of a huge company specializing in building the most high tech and sophisticated weapons. When Stark goes to show off his latest weapon for sale, his group is ambushed and Stark is taken prisoner. When he wakes up he is forced to build the weapon he was demonstrating earlier, but he has other plans. Stark decides to build an armored suit to help him escape. After he escapes he comes home to give everyone the bad news that he no longer wants to build weapons because they get in the wrong hands. Now he has to stop those that already have his weapons and figure out how they are getting them.
Everything Else
The directing by Jon Favreau was quite good. There was enough action to keep the film moving and enough slow times to make the story work well. At first it looked like the story was not going to have any depth, but after a while the plot thickened. Iron Man could be compared to Transformers or most Michael Bay films in that is was more action oriented than plot driven. There were not as many cheesy jokes as a Bay film, but the humor was still there in a less cheesy way.
Favreau takes his experience with Made and Elf to make a more action packed movie that still had good character interactions and some humor. Along with the directing, the script worked well even with the lines overused in all of the previews. The soundtrack was also very fitting for the movie. The acting on all parts was really good as well. Of course Robert Downey Jr. did well as his normal character; except this time he was a little more full of himself. I never much care for Robert Downey Jr., but he is a good actor and continues that with Iron Man. Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow both did great jobs in supporting roles. I have been much more impressed with Paltrow in recent years with her more mature roles. She fit the part of Pepper Potts almost perfectly. The real stand out performance was from Jeff Bridges as Obadiah Stane. I always like Bridges, but his hair (or lack of it) alone was enough to make him look a lot different in Iron Man. At first I did not even recognize him, but as soon as he talked I knew it was him. Bridges provides a strong performance along with all of the other actors in Iron Man.
The Real Deal
I was not getting myself too hyped up about Iron Man because I knew it was not going to be revolutionary. I liked it the same way I liked Transformers, but it had more character development. There was plenty of action to keep me entertained, but my wife felt it dragged a little. The only complaint I really have is that once it got going it pretty much ended so it could have been longer and have more action at the end. The movie was fairly clean aside from the violence so if you can handle a little violence then there isn’t much to turn you away. I would recommend this for a fun movie to watch without having to think about anything serious for a while and most people could enjoy it. And of course you have to admit Iron Man himself is awesome and they certainly capitalized on that in this movie.
The Short Version
Raw Score: 804,203
Sharon Movie? Yes
5/03/2008
Review of Iron Man
4/30/2008
Val Kilmer Movie: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005)
Director: Shane Black
Writer: Brett Halliday (novel) (in part) and Shane Black (screen story)
Genre: Comedy/Mystery/Thriller
Story
Harry (Robert Downey Jr.) is a small time crook that stumbles into a chance opportunity to be an actor and goes to Hollywood with hopes of being in a movie. When he gets there he has to adjust to the new crowd he is a part of and starts to get himself involved with Harmony (Michelle Monaghan), a girl who also came to Hollywood because of a chance encounter and TV appearance on the news. Gay Perry (Val Kilmer) is a detective hired to put someone under surveillance. Gay Perry decides to take his new friend Harry and when they get there they are suddenly pulled into a bad situation. The person they are supposed to be videotaping turns up dead and now they have to get out of it. More murders and craziness continue as they dig themselves deeper and deeper holes.
Everything Else
Shane Black did an excellent job with Kiss Kiss Bang Bang except for the excessive use of language and sex throughout the film. With those annoyances aside the dialogue and story were great. Black was able to keep my attention throughout the film by making one twist after another mixed with funny dialogue.
Of course the script and story would not be much if the acting was terrible and luckily for Shane Black, he was able to get a great cast. Robert Downey Jr. is not my favorite, but he did a great job in this one. He is usually good at narrating himself and cussing a lot. Truth is he made this film work when it really may not have with someone else in the same role; he has a unique style that simply works in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
Val Kilmer
Val Kilmer’s performance as Gay Perry was my favorite part about Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. He often delivered the most humorous lines. I could not see anyone else doing a better job in this role so Kilmer was the best choice for the part. Kilmer appears in another good movie. I guess if you are in enough movies you are sure to have some good and some bad. An interesting trivia fact for Kilmer in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is he had to lose 50 pounds quick after his fat character in Alexander. Another trivia piece is that the studio offered to give a larger budget if Harrison Ford played the detective, but Harrison Ford turned it down. That would have been terrible; I am glad they got Kilmer for the part.
The Real Deal
I liked Kiss Kiss Bang Bang the first time, but it wasn’t quite as good the second time. Possibly it was the screaming baby that made the movie less enjoyable, but I still liked it a lot. Val Kilmer is still awesome in it, but the twists and turns are less interesting the second time around (hmm… I wonder why). This time I saw Kiss Kiss Bang Bang on Blu-ray though and it makes it real difficult to go back to the standard DVDs. Hopefully I will get a PS3 again soon so I can watch all the movies on Blu-ray.
An interesting note is that Sharon was here for this movie and I thought she could handle it because of the humor aspect, but I was wrong. I knew it was borderline, but it turned out she could only get through half of it because of all the language and sex. I have to agree with her; the language and sex were unnecessarily over the top. This kind of thing often makes me take the director less seriously because it would seem it is there only to draw some more people in. The thing they fail to realize is that it also alienates some people. Although, I would much rather see an R rated film in the theaters than a PG-13 cause of all the teenagers. My prime example would be Cloverfield which would have been a lot better if I did not have a group of obnoxious teenagers sitting behind me… anyway, a topic for a later post maybe.
The Short Version
Raw Score: 818,398
Sharon Movie? No
11/28/2007
A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints
This review was requested by Stephen
What's It About
One man's struggle to overcome the harsh environment in which he lives. Robert Downey Jr. is Dito a young man growing up in Queens in the 80s. Shia LaBeouf is the younger Dito in the 80s and Robert Downey Jr. is the older Dito in present day. The story follows the younger Dito and his dealings with his friends, family, and enemies. Dito struggles to survive in the world he lives in and wants nothing more than to leave Queens to go to California. The movie cuts back and forth between the 80s and present day. In present day, Dito is going to visit his father who is sick and he has to deal with the past that he had left behind. The movie may not be that uplifting (not a Sharon Movie), but it is good.
How'd They Act
Shia LaBeouf is the main stand out actor in A Guide To Recognizing Your Saints. Shia displays extreme emotions from happy to sad to scared. This was one of his best performances to date and if you are a fan you should definitely check out this movie. Robert Downey Jr. was not as impressive. I often feel like his characters are not believable. It did not seem like his role called for as much emotion, but I would have liked to see some more emotion from him at times. Overall his performance was good though. He did have moments that required emotion and they were well acted. Chazz Palminteri was Monty, Dito's father. He was rough around the edges and may have been a little over the top for what I would have imagined a father doing in the situations his character is in. He did provide a powerful performance though and one that is hard to forget. His acting was the strongest of the supporting actors. The acting overall was good, but not great.
Delivery
The movie is dark and sad. This makes it hard to get through at times because it does not seem like you are going to get out of Queens. That is the point though really. The whole movie you are wanting to get out of the muck that you are in and see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is not as dark and disturbing as Kids or Gummo, but it has some similarities because of the fact that kids are the main focus. The conversations and situations were believable and well directed. There were moments when awful things happened and the camera just skips those moments to spare you from total despair. I liked how the most emotional moments were kind of glazed over almost like the director wanted to suggest how Dito did not want to remember those times. The movie kept you interested the whole time with the switching between 80s and present time. The directing and overall was quite good and the story kept you hooked even though you often feel like you have seen this before. I have to hand it to the first time efforts of writer and director Dito Montiel. I look forward to seeing his next film Fighting which he also wrote and directed.
The Real Deal
This movie review was requested by Stephen and I am glad that he suggested it. I had looked at it a couple of times in Blockbuster, but I had not decided to pick it up. I think that the movie could have been a little more happy, but other than that it was a good movie. There is nothing here that really stood out, but it was well made and keeps you hooked.
The Skinny Version
Should you see it? Yes. 709,994 out of 1,000,000 Stars
Not a Sharon Movie!
8/25/2007
Zodiac
What's It About
So what is Zodiac about? Well, it is about a killer who called himself the Zodiac back in the late 60s to early 70s. The story focuses on the people trying to catch him and report about him more than on the Zodiac himself. I wanted to see this movie in the theaters, but I never got a chance to before it left theaters. I am not sure why it went through so fast since it is an excellent movie. Oddly enough, David Fincher made this movie and on the box it says "from the director of SE7EN and Panic Room." That seems kind of weird to me since he also made a little movie by the name of Fight Club and one of my favorites, The Game. I guess he didn't want people to get too excited about Zodiac, or maybe he is trying to get Panic Room some more play since it is obviously the lesser of the two (SE7EN and Panic Room). Who knows, but the real point is that if David Fincher made it, then you should see it. He is a genius, even if Panic Room wasn't.
How'd They Act
The acting in this movie was fantastic. Part of it might have to do with the fact that Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo star in it. Great casting provides great results in this film. Mark Ruffalo is the one that I believe stepped out of his comfort zone a little on this film. He has been in a lot of movies, but most of them seem to be chick flicks. This movie proves that he is truly a good actor. He plays the main inspector involved in the case. His character gets more and more frustrated as the movie goes on as they look for the Zodiac but are not quickly successful. Jake Gyllenhaal does a great job in this movie and proves why he is one of my favorite actors if not my favorite (lets just take Brokeback Mountain out of the picture for a moment). As Robert Graysmith, Gyllenhaal shows how someone that may not have been very much involved in the case could go out of their way to become involved and actually end up writing the book that this film was based off of. Robert Downey Jr. plays his normal quirky character that goes from very well kept successful writer to washed up. He plays the part well, but sometimes I get sick of his acting. I have to hand it to the casting director, this was an interesting mix of stars that pays off big time.
Delivery
David Fincher has a style that is very present in all of his films. He has cutting edge shots that blend seamlessly with movie. He does not disappoint with Zodiac. There were a couple of times in the movie that I actually had to my friend Drake and says, "dude, that was an awesome shot." I am a sucker for the visual presentation of the film, and David Fincher truly keeps me happy in this area. The delivery of lines between the characters works to strengthen the overall presentation. Although the movie was slow a large portion from the beginning to the middle, the acting and directing carry the film. The last hour is where I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next because of the plot. What will happen, will they find the Zodiac?
The Real Deal
I paid nothing to see this film, but would have gladly spent $20. I wanted to see it in the theaters and still wish I had. If you are a fan of David Fincher, then this is a no brainer. If you like crime thrillers then this will be great, but some will think that it is too slow and not enough happens, so be aware of this before seeing it. I expected it to be more action packed or suspenseful, but it is just plain good. That may be why it did not do well in theaters, people just want the explosions and shocks and then they want to go home feeling happy.
The Skinny Version
Should you see it? Without a doubt. 842,678 out of 1,000,000 Stars
Not a Sharon Movie at all!
