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Iron Man, a review by KinkyCyborg

Iron Man



Title:Iron Man
Year: 2008
Director: Jon Favreau
Rating: PG-13
Length: 126 Min.
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1
Audio: English: Dolby Digital: 5.1, French: Dolby Digital: 5.1, Spanish: Dolby Digital: 5.1
Subtitles: English, French, Spanish

Stars:
Robert Downey, Jr. [Robert Downey Jr.]
Terrence Howard
Jeff Bridges
Gwyneth Paltrow
Leslie Bibb

Plot:
Suit up for action with ROBERT DOWNEY JR. in the ultimate adventure movie you've been waiting for, Iron Man! When jet-setting genius-industrialist Tony Stark is captured in enemy territory, he builds a high-tech suit of armor to escape. Now, he's on a mission to save the world as a hero who's built, not born, to be unlike any other. Co-starring TERRENCE HOWARD, JEFF BRIDGES and GWYNETH PALTROW, it's a fantastic, high-flying journey that is "hugely entertaining" (Joe Morgenstern, The Wall Street Journal).

Extras:
Scene Access
Bonus Trailers
Deleted Scenes
Featurettes
Closed Captioned



Time for my pick and I decided that since I just picked up the sequel I should get around to watching the first installment.

If you are looking for a good action movie to watch you can rarely go wrong by picking any one of the Marvel comic book film adaptations and Iron Man certainly delivered. Combine all the explosions in this movie and you have another Hiroshima! I like how the birth of Iron Man unfolded, using current day conflicts as a vehicle to tell the story. Not my favorite comic growing up (I was always partial to the Fantastic Four) but I sure liked his character in the movie.

This movie marked Robert Downey Jr's complete comeback from a drug induced abyss that took many good years away from his career and in so coming back he has actually ascended into the superstar stratosphere. Great for him but it has evolved into something that is now quite a pet peeve of mine. Every interview, every awards appearance, every time he sticks his face in front of a camera he is posturing, shades on, and playing the role of THE MAN which was funny and somewhat deserving at first but c'mon... zip it already! 

Interesting role for Jeff Bridges as the sans hair villain and I think he plays a bad guy very convincingly. Gwyneth Paltrow was neither her nor there in this one for me... probably they overpaid for a star for what could have been filled by any number of young, cute actresses. Much was made of the exclusion of Terrence Howard from the sequel but I'm not disappointed. Nothing about his performance stood out and I feel that Don Cheadle, his replacement, has much more personality anyway.

What impresses me most about Iron Man was that is was a great movie coming from director Jon Favreau, who also had a bit part in this one. I've always disliked his loudmouthed, vulgar roles as an actor save for his performance in Rocky Marciano. If this movie, it's sequel and the upcoming Cowboys & Aliens is any indication, perhaps he has finally found his calling. If he can consistently put out big budget, blockbuster caliber movies than he can thankfully put his sub-par acting career to bed.


KC

Rating:

(From KinkyCyborg's Random Reviews 2010 on November 27th, 2010)

True Grit, a review by Rogmeister

True Grit  (1969)
Directed by Henry Hathaway
Music by Elmer Bernstein
Cast: John Wayne, Kim Darby, Glen Campbell, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Corey, Jeremy Slate, Strother Martin, John Fiedler

Matty Ross (Kim Darby) tries to find someone to track down and bring in the killer of her father and she winds up teamed with a cantakerous U.S. marshal named Rooster Cogburn (John Wayne) and a headstrong Texas ranger (Glen Campbell).  Lively directed by Henry Hathaway and featuring John Wayne's Oscar-winning performance as the one-eyed Cogburn.  Glen Campbell once said his acting was so bad that he made Wayne look so great by comparison that he won the Academy Award.  I'm not sure that's altogether fair...but Campbell is definitely in over his head in this film.  But other first-rate films have had a bad performance or two (remember Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo?) and he doesn't bring it down too much.  Overall we have some fine performances (including John Wayne apparently having a heck of a time) and a first-rate western.  There is some nice photography here in picturesque locations and a solid musical score by Elmer Bernstein.

I have the Special Collector's Edition of this disc and it does have some nice features including cast and crew (including Kim Darby and Glen Campbell) talking about what it was like working with Duke and a too-short piece where a few historians talk about real western outlaws of the Old West.



(From DCO third annual November Alphabet Marathon - discussion/review/banter thread on November 29th, 2009)

Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Marathon, a review by addicted2dvd

9. Season's Greedings (12/4/94)
God Rest Ye, Greedy Gentlemen. A fired, embittered toy maker devises a sinister toy that turns Metropolis's generous citizens into childish, gasping gift-grubbers just in time for Christmas.

My Thoughts:
Now this is a very good Christmas episode. Not only does it have a fun story... I really laghed at the gang acting like greedy children. But there is a load of familiar faces in it as well. There is Dick Van Patten who runs the orphanage. Denise Richards as a love intrest for Jimmy. And of course Isabelle Sanford and & Sherman Hemsley as the toy maker and his assistant.



10. Metallo (1/1/95)
Scientists turn Lucy Lane's new boyfriend, a loses with a rap sheet, into a cyborg criminal. This looks like a job for Superman - except the cyborg is powered by Kryptonite!

My Thoughts:
Hmmm... what did I think of Metallo? It was good... but not great. While entertaining it really was pretty average. If I am not mistaken... they got a different actress here to play Lios' sister Lucy in this episode.



11. Chi of Steel (1/22/95)
Superman, master of martial arts.A mysterious Chi warrior steals Perry White's life savings, which leads Lois and Clark into a confrontation with a corporation that exploits Chinese immigrants.

My Thoughts:
Another good but not great episode. Pretty standard stuff. It was fun seeing a little martial arts thrown into the mix.




(From Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman Marathon on July 22nd, 2009)