Elf

Elf is rapidly becoming a holiday tradition, even for me. As Christmas season dawns I can’t seem to resist the urge to just pop Elf into the DVD player. Buddy and his antics make me smile and feel like a kid again.

It’s no secret that I’m trying to become a film director, and I greatly enjoyed watching Jon Favreau react on twitter as everyone shared their Elf love this holiday season. I can’t imagine that there could be much cooler things in the world for a director that realizing that your film is beloved, and fulfilled the purpose you had for it.

I’d like to have that feeling some day.


Buddy: I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked through the Lincoln Tunnel.

Iron Man 2

While the original is still my favorite, I love that this expand the universe so much more. I can't wait to see what Marvel is going to do. It's unprecedented.



Agent Coulson: Good luck! We need you!
Tony Stark: More than you know.
Agent Coulson: Not that much!

Iron Man

A brilliant hero film. A brilliant character piece. The movie my Superman movie will have to live up to one day.

Iron Man 2

Those of you that thought I was going to plaster this blog with Iron Man 2 posts when it came out on DVD can breathe easy. I’ve been far too busy to watch the movie as much as I want, and I’m so far behind on blogging this is a micro post.

I love this movie. I love Robert Downey Jr. I love Jon Favreau. I think this film is an amazing follow-up to the original, and I am excited to see where Marvel goes from here.

Soon I will be getting my Joss Whedon fix in the form of The Avengers. Can’t wait.




Tony Stark: My bond is with the people, and I will serve this great nation at the pleasure of myself. If there's one thing I've proven it's that you can count on me to pleasure myself.

Iron Man 2

Iron Man 2 Black Widow Poster
Originally uploaded by Wolfworks2008

For those of you counting, this would be my third review of Iron Man 2. Even though I say the movie three times in three days I decided it would be best to space out the reviews so not to bore you. This time I’d like to talk about Scarlett Johansson.

A few years ago Ms. Johansson started to annoy me. I thought she was good actress, but she was falling into that typical trap of the young Hollywood sexpot – she was playing the same character in every movie. She’d show up in films as the hot young thing, that usually fell for the married man or man that was really bad for her, plenty of skin would be shown, her character would be pretensions and pretty girl vapid behavior wrapped into an “original” seeming character and at the end of the movie she’d usually end up scorned by love and worse off. It got old.

You can see why I was a bit worried when she was cast as Black Widow in Iron Man 2. I didn’t want to see yet another role where Johansson would seduce a man, then be left burnt. Thank God that didn’t happen. For the first time in years, I feel like Johansson had a somewhat original and fun character, and as an added bonus she kicked enough butt to make Sydney Bristow proud. If the trailer is any indication, there are probably a few things deleted from the film with her, that make her perhaps a more sultry character but the point is that they didn’t make it into the film – as such they are not a part of her final character. Amen. Great directing choice.

I am aching to see this film again, so you will probably be getting more reviews before Iron Man 2 leaves the theatre. Sorry. It’s just how I role. With each film and viewing I am becoming a bigger Favreau fan, and I think he’s a great dude to model my career after. I have to say the next film I am getting more and more excited about would have to be Cowboys & Aliens and I know that’s because of Favreau…

Tony: Who is she?
Pepper: She is from legal and she is potentially a very expensive sexual harassment lawsuit if you keep ogling her like that.

Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr. & Jon Favreau
Originally uploaded by pacsworld

As I stated before, I was able to take part in the promotion Paramount did for the release of Iron Man 2 and see a double feature – watching Iron Man before experiencing the new adventures of Tony Stark.

What I love so much about Iron Man - the first and second, is Tony Stark. I remember reading an interview with Jon Favreau where he talked about Stark; he realizes that unlike Superman or Batman, what has made Iron Man such an enduring character and book for years isn’t that he has a great villain like Joker or Lex Luthor, it’s the man – Tony Stark himself. All of the best known Iron Man series have been the ones where the story centers more around Tony’s own troubles than his villains (Demon in a Bottle) – Jon Favreau makes this translate so well on screen and that is what makes Iron Man so incredible a character piece, and vehicle for Robert Downey Jr.

I was afraid going into Iron Man 2 that somehow it would dampen my enthusiasm of the first installment (think The Matrix and it’s sequels, I have to ignore their existence to enjoy the original), but thankfully this did not happen. I’ve gotta give Superman the Favreau treatment one day…

Iron Man 2

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man
Originally uploaded by Movie Mania

As promise I saw Iron Man 2 a lot this weekend. I like to see movies multiple times, at least good ones.

I honestly think Iron Man 2 improves on repeat viewings. The first film is pretty simple in terms of plot – Tony Stark is captured in Afghanistan, has a change of heart about his life, creates Iron Man & comes home to skeptics while still trying to save the day. Iron Man 2 becomes much more complex.

In this film Tony isn’t recovering from PTSD, he’s suffering from something else entirely – his ego. Tony is no longer just a billionaire playboy, he’s internationally famous for being Iron Man and his ego can’t be checked by any of his friends. Pepper is trying to run Stark Industries, but all she does is put out Iron Man’s media fires, and Rhodes is feeling the pain of being part of the military until that wants nothing more than to pry the Iron Man technology from Tony for use in the military. As if those character archs weren’t enough you have Justin Hammer, a business rival to Tony that is trying to take his place in the the government arms race and Ivan Vanko who places all of his families misfortune on Tony. Then there’s SHIELD who is torn between recruiting Tony for the Avenger Initiative and keeping a close eye on his reckless behavior.

Nick Fury finally gets a decent amount of screen time in this film and I am already loving Samuel L. Jackson’s turn as the head Avenger. If it’s possible for a man to be sassy and masculine, I’d say that word fits Nick Fury. He is a dangerous man with attitude and Jackson holds his own nicely against Downey.

The film goes out of IMAX soon, so I am debating seeing Iron Man 2 a fourth time within the next week…

Iron Man 2

Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man
Originally uploaded by Movie Mania

Six months after Tony Stark revealed his alter ego to the world, he is more famous and more alone than ever. His party-boy lifestyle enhanced by his new fame, Tony finds little time for the running of Stark Industries and turns the empire over to Pepper, and takes on a new assistant named Natalie. However, this new level of fame comes with consequences – the government wants to take the Iron Man weapon away, Rhoadie is pulled between friend & country, rival Justin Hammer is the new government weapons man and an old secret from the Stark family past surfaces in the form of Ivan Vanko. Vanko is set on proving Tony Stark is a fraud and invents a rival technology and alter ego bent on destroying Iron Man & Tony Stark.

Jon Favreau has done it. He’s proven that he and his franchise have the stuff; he’s turned out a quality movie that isn’t just a great sequel to a fantastic first part, but it’s a great movie on its own. Iron Man 2 is a sequel that lives up to its original and helps to make what we love about that world even better than it was before.

One of the elements that makes Iron Man 2 such a spectacular film is that while being a summer blockbuster, and an action film Favreau and writer Justin Theroux managed to remember that the effects and action are meaningless unless there is a story behind all of it. There is a story in Iron Man 2, a great one and what makes it great it exactly what made Iron Man great – it’s story about a flawed man that decides to do better.

Tony Stark is and always will be an amazing character, and in Iron Man 2 Stark ends up on a free fall, rushing towards rock bottom as he deals with fame, life and the monster in himself. Stark has the entire world at his fingertips and yet he is living completely out of control, drunk on power and fame. Robert Downey Jr. again takes a powerful turn as Stark and lends the role great gravitas, centering Tony’s arch which is one that is eerily similar to a spiral he was on earlier in his life.

Don Cheedle is also notable as Col. Rhodes and had one of the hardest parts in the film as he took the role over from the ousted Terrence Howard. However, by the end of Cheedle’s first scene you will forget Howard completely and be glad for the grounded air Cheedle gives Rhodes and his relationship torn between his country and Stark.

Perhaps what is the most comforting about Iron Man 2 is the obvious care shown throughout the film to create the Marvel Universe. This is a film about Tony Stark, but woven throughout the film are subtle hints that perhaps there are other things going on there as well, things that Nick Fury & SHIELD aren’t telling Stark or any of us.

This is a movie that will be seen multiple times by most audience members, and I urge you that when you go, especially if you are a fan of the Marvel Universe – stay until the end of the credits.

Director: Jon Favreau
Writer: Justin Threoux
Tony Stark: Robert Downey Jr.
Rhodey: Don Cheedle
Natalie Rushman: Scarlett Johansson
Pepper: Gwyneth Paltrow
Ivan Vanko: Mickey Rourke
Nick Fury: Samuel L. Jackson
Agent Coulson: Clark Gregg
Howard Stark: John Slattery
Happy Hogan: Jon Favreau
Jarvis: Paul Bettany

Ivan Vanko: If you could make God bleed, people will cease to believe in Him. There will be blood in the water, and the sharks will come. All I have to do is sit here and watch, as the world will consume you.

Iron Man

Jon Favreau, Director of Ironman
Originally uploaded by SkullRingPics

That’s right. The day has come.

I am seeing Iron Man 2 at midnight, and in a special stroke of brilliance Paramount is playing Iron Man at select theatres at 9 pm so you can see both.

The best double feature since GrindHouse.

Of course this didn’t keep me from watching it again on my own last week. I love this movie and I am far too excited about being invited back into Tony Starks world.

Pepper: Agent Couslon, I just wanted to say thank you very much for all of your help.
Agent Coulson: That's what we do. You'll be hearing from us.
Pepper: From the Strategic Homeland...
Agent Coulson: Just call us S.H.I.E.L.D.

Iron Man

Tony sees the post-it labeled “from Pepper” and removes it from the package to which it’s attached. Curious he rips off the brown paper and lifts up the glas display case to inspect the Mark I chest piece Pepper has had professionally displayed. A smile flashes across Tony’s face as he reads the inscription around the chest piece – “Proof That Tony Stark Has A Heart”.

This scene comes around the middle of Iron Man and if you’ve seen the film you’re familiar with it. As I view Jon Favreau’s film I love the story of Tony Stark more and more because he’s a character that not only develops a conscious, but he develops a heart – a heart for the people that are hurting and a world that he thinks he’s helped be the cause of. In several significant scenes, like the one I described above, Favreau and writers actually wrote this directly into the film and slowly but surely the chest piece becomes not the power generator helping to keep Tony alive, but symbolic of his heart.

I’ve probably lost a lot of people that didn’t enjoy breaking down literature in class, or didn’t go to film school. Bear with me, I can prove it I promise. Hades, if I was still in school I could write an entire paper on the symbology of the chest piece and get a few pages out of it but this blog will not be that long or detailed.

If you want more examples why I think the chest piece is the heart of Tony Stark I can point you right back to more scenes in Iron Man. We can start with early in the film when he’s being held captive by the Ten Rings. Yensin has made a primitive form of the chest piece, hooked up to a car battery; Tony is hopeless and his world is being shattered and Yensin is literally trying to pour into Tony some of his hope and beliefs, but it’s borrowed from Yensin and Tony isn’t grasping the possibility of hope as he drags around that clunky battery. However, when Yensin finally breaks through to Tony, finally convinces him that he has a chance and can fight, that’s the first time Tony sees a chance to change what these terrorists are doing in his name, and he responds by building the Mark I chest piece and replacing Yensin’s battery with something he has created – the sparks of a plan, the start of hope.

The only other scene I’ll bring up here is a scene near the end of the film, when Tony is attacked and his Mark III chest piece is stolen, literally ripped out of his chest. This sends Tony into a spiral because not only will this removal physically disable him, but he finally learns the identity and true nature of his enemy and this emotionally cripples him as well. In order to bounce back from this “broken heart” Tony has to push past it and remember his original mission to do more good than harm and protect the people, and he literally has to retrieve the Mark I chest piece in order to save the day.

One of the reasons I love Iron Man is that it’s a movie that’s not just a summber blockbuster, or a big budget popcorn flick. This is a film that tool the time to be well rounded in all areas, the most important of which is to make sure they had a good story and a character as dynamic and interesting as his existing fans know he is and new fans would want him to be.

Iron Man is one of my favorite films of the last decade and I again implore you to see it if you have been living in a bubble and missed it.

Elf

In ten-twenty years I think that Buddy the elf will be remembered as one of the iconic characters from this decade.

Elf is an amazing little film. One that I have to watch each and every Christmas, and occasionally even when it’s not the holidays. The single best thing about Elf has got to be the juxtaposition of such an outlandish character as Buddy amidst the utterly normal characters of New York city.

I can’t imagine what it was like to be an actor opposite Will Ferrell in Elf. Everyone is so straight laced and then when you change the camera angle Ferrell will be making a crazy face, eating syrup covered spaghetti, or jumping up and down. On an episode of Dinner for Five James Caan actually talked about how he would have to turn around occasionally to be away from camera and just loose it. Ferrell makes Buddy memorable because of the wild abandon he gives the character, and the direction of Jon Favreau makes the combination of Buddy’s world and harsh New York seamless.

If you haven’t seen Elf I highly recommend that you make sure to see it soon.

Buddy: Actually, I'm a human, but I was raised by elves.
Carolyn: I'm a human... raised by humans.
Buddy: Cool.

Iron Man

Robert Downey Jr. and Stan Winston
Originally uploaded by Arnel B

I don’t get tired of talking about movies I love; when a movie resonates with you it deserves to be loved and praised and hopefully you can make others watch it. I am hoping that people love Iron Man as much as I do and that at some point through the course of my raving about it through this blog that perhaps if you hadn’t seen it, you went out and saw it.

Part of why the story of Iron Man resonates with me so much is that it hits all the story points I love. You have a flawed character, one that has all the potential in him to be so much more, an insurmountable obstacle that pops up, and the character learns the error of his ways and finds a way to redeem and conquer. When you combine that kind of story with the visuals and heart of Iron Man it’s no wonder I fell in love. This is the kind of movie magic that I fell for as a child, the kind that makes me want to make movies.

I have never been a Marvel girl per say, I was born and raised on the heroes of DC, but with the exception of the Nolan Batman films Marvel is definitely winning the movie war.

Christine Everheart: You've been called the Da Vinci of our time. What do you say to that?
Tony Stark: Absolutely ridiculous. I don't paint.
Christine Everheart: And what do you say to your other nickname, the Merchant of Death?
Tony Stark: That's not bad.

Couples Retreat

Couples Retreat is the story of a group of friends that go to an exotic island resort in the hopes of a dream vacation and to help their friends considering a divorce only to find out that the resort is also a heavy duty couples counseling center – and the counseling is not optional. Each of the four couples undergo counseling and discover a whole host of issues they didn’t know they had in this Mars vs. Venus comedy.

While I enjoyed Couples Retreat like I’ve enjoyed any joint venture between Jon Favreau & Vince Vaughn, I can’t quite say the film was cohesive. The movie isn’t as funny as the trailer leads you to believe, but isn’t bad as you might assume it would be; it’s a little clichéd and predictable at times, but altogether entertaining – something that I mainly pin on the sense of humor that radiates off the screen from almost all the actors.

What I really enjoyed about Couples Retreat was as always the partnering between Favreau & Vaughn, and I found the introduction of Jason Bateman to the mix fit well. These are actors that know comedy and know how to find the quirky or comedic beat in a moment. This is the men from Swingers if they managed to grow up and have kids outside of the LA scene, and seeing that is kind of enjoyable in a very unique way.

The one large downside to me was the character Faizon Love played; I’m not talking negatively against Love himself or his performance but how he actually appeared in the movie. For most of the scenes, including some major ones Love’s character is simply not there; either he was cut out as much as possible in editing and reshoots based on studio notes, or Love for whatever reason was not on set nearly as much as everyone else and they shot around him. The problem is that this leaves the audience feeling like his character was included for ethnic variety and that his character and conflict is never actually developed past being the sad divorcee.

Couples Retreat is a good movie and a fun watch. If you’re looking for a laugh not based on gross outs or jokes involving bodily fluids I highly recommend it – this film actually derives it’s comedy form pretty real to life situations which is kind of refreshing.

Director: Peter Billingsley
Writers: Job Favreau, Vince Vaughn & Dana Fox
Dave: Vince Vaughn
Jason: Jason Bateman
Shane: Faizon Love
Joey: Jon Favreau
Ronnie: Malin Akerman
Cynthia: Kristen Bell
Lucy: Kristin Davis

Iron Man

Iron Man is one of those movies that I can throw into my DVD player no matter what mood I am in and I know I will enjoy it and be entertained. However, I sill haven’t seen Captain America’s shield in Tony’s workshop! If you know where it is please tell me!

I know I watch this movie a lot, but I have to say that I don’t care. I really watch a lot of movies – as should be obvious to the people that read this blog. So it’s not like I watch this movie every night and am absolutely obsessed with it. This weekend alone I watched three movies in the theatre…so I guess what I am trying to say is that you just have to put up with it – I’m going to keep watch Iron Man.

Tony: I just want you to reach in, and you're just gonna gently lift the wire out.
Pepper: Is it safe?
Tony: Yeah, it should be fine. It's like Operation. You just don't let it touch the socket wall or it goes "beep."
Pepper: What do you mean, "Operation"?
Tony: It's just a game, never mind.

The Dark Knight

Every time I watch The Dark Knight it holds up. It is just as tense, thrilling and masterful as the first time.

What I have to compliment Nolan and crew on most of all is how well they stayed to the mythos behind Bruce Wayne & the Joker while making the story their own. They spent the time alluding to enough of the comic book cannon that fans feel vindicated and honored rather than ignored; it’s something that only Christopher Nolan and Jon Favreau have done with the characters they’ve been given. No one has ever done this with Superman, and only slightly so with Spiderman, and a whole slew of other characters.

I hope Gary Oldman was not guessing at Comic-Con when he said the third film would begin filming next year. I want them to make a movie as great as the first two but I am quite anxious to see Bruce Wayne on screen again.

Harvey Dent: The famous Bruce Wayne. Rachel's told me everything about you.
Bruce Wayne: I certainly hope not.

Swingers

Jon Favreau
Originally uploaded by dreadfuldan

I loved Swingers the first time I saw it and I have to say that the more I see it the more it grows on me, and I know part of that is because right now I am deep in the envy that Favreau & Limon had on that film.

Swingers swept the festival circuit, gained wide recognition and launched the careers of all the people involved with it. If I could be lucky enough to do that with END (my first feature) I would be estatic. I know that’s a very long shot as my film was made even further fromt eh studio system than Swingers but I gotta hope it can be done.

Until then, I get to enjoy Swingers and think about the wild ride their little film took them on.

Iron Man

ironman10
Originally uploaded by Alessandra Ogeda

Making a great film is like capturing lightning in a bottle, and I truly think Favreau & co. captured something with Iron Man. As great as many other comic book films are Favreau and his team managed to do what so few comic book films have – he captured the essence and story of the characters without being so literal that the non-geeks were bored.

While I am a geek, I am a prime example of the demographics they managed to snag – not only am I a female, but I am a DC girl not a Marvel one. I knew nothing about the Marvel-verse until Iron Man, since then I’ve become so interested in the characters that I’ve been learning about them and at Con I bought the Civil War trade paperback as I have an inclining that this might be where the Marvel movie franchise is going, plus the idea of the Super-hero registration act is pretty dang compelling.

I still hold that getting Iron Man 4-5 films into his career is a great thing for Jon favreau, and I would love to be in his position one day – just in the DC universe…

Agent Coulson: I'm Agent Phil Coulson with the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division.
Pepper: That's quite a mouthful.
Agent Coulson: I know. We're working on it.

Iron Man

Iron Man
Originally uploaded by carlosjtj

You have no idea how badly I have wanted to be on the set of Iron Man 2 and the fact that I have been able to keep tabs on the production through Jon Favreau’s Twitter hasn’t helped. I love Iron Man and watching it a few dozen times has not diminished the fact that I think it is one of the best films of 2008 and one of the best comic book movies to date.

I don’t think I have paid enough credit to Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts. Pepper is a fantastic modern girl Friday. When I was in high school Paltrow was what every popular girl tried to model herself as – feminine, trendy, chique, and classy. She was the ideal. I never really understood the appeal of Paltrow even though I respected her talent, but in Iron Man I finally saw something in her that I look for in all the female actors I admire – strength. Pepper is a character that is going to do what is right no matter what and be fiercely loyal to anyone that she cares about, and she gets the best one liners.

Iron Man 2 wraps on Friday and I am far too envious for my own good. I can’t wait to see what Favreau pulled together for us all come May 2010.

Tony: Where'd you get that dress?
Pepper: It was a birthday present... from you, actually.
Tony: I got great taste, don't I?

Zathura

Zathura
Originally uploaded by ivanovash

Young siblings Danny, Walter & Lisa are learning to cope with their newly divorced parents; like any typical teen Lisa is very self-involved and doesn’t want anything to do with her siblings or parents, but Danny & Walter are not coping with the divorce well. On a trip to Dad’s the boys vie for their father’s attention and this causes them to argue the whole time. When their dad has to leave for a meeting Danny tries everything he can to get Walter to pay attention to him and he finds Zathura, an ancient board game in the house. Danny starts the game and the house and the three siblings are pulled into a space adventure that cannot stop until they reach the end of the game.

I loved Jumanji when I was a teen and when Zathura hit the theatres I refused to see it because I couldn’t understand why the films were so similar – why make the movie twice. Little did I know that four years down the line I’d be a huge fan of Jon Favreau & Zathura would be on my list of films I had to see.

Zathura was the film Favreau directed right before getting Iron Man and I must say the film had to teach him a lot of the skills he needed for Iron Man. This is an effect driven picture with explosions, aliens, stunts and on top of that it’s a character driven piece. Favreau managed to take a film which should have been about the effects and make it a film about his characters, the same thing he did with Iron Man.

What had to be the toughest thing about this movie is the fact that all the lead characters are children; this puts so many restrictions on what you can and can’t do that it becomes a nightmare to shoot. On top of that a lot of child actors are difficult to work with. Watching Zathura you never see any of the difficulty. Perhaps this is because Favreau is an actor and a father so he could relate to the kids as actors, or perhaps he’s just that good.

Zathura pleasantly surprised me. I did not expect to enjoy the film, but was very glad to find that not only is it as good as Jumanji but it’s an enjoyable film in its own right.

Director: Jon Favreau
Writers: David Koepp & John Kamps
Danny: Jonah Bobo
Walter: Josh Hutcherson
Artronaut: Dax Shepard
Lisa: Kristen Stewart
Dad: Tim Robbins

Walter: Zathura. Attention space adventurers, Zathura awaits. Do you have what it takes to navigate the galaxy? It's not for the faint of heart, for once you embark upon your journey there's no turning back until Zathura's reached. Pieces reset at the end of each game. Play again and again for differnt adventures.

I Love You, Man

I Love You, Man
Originally uploaded by Mrs. JiJi Bean

The last time I saw I Love You, Man was with my younger brother, he loved it as did I. I didn’t find anything surprising in this as the movie is really aimed at the male gender, and I don’t typically like the majority of “chick flicks” out there, but I Love You, Man is right up my alley. This time I took my best friend Stefanie to the film; I was pretty sure that she’d like it but there is just enough testosterone in the film that I wasn’t sure she’d like it as much as I did.

The good news? We saw the film Friday, today is Sunday and she’s still quoting it. In fact, as we were about to play Wii golf she looked at me and said “This is my nightmare!”

I really loved I Love You, Man. While it hasn’t creped into Tropic Thunder territory for me yet, the film is definitely one of the best comedies I’ve seen this year, and one of the best films so far this year. I have never seen any of John Hamburg’s directorial efforts, but I enjoyed the styling of I Love You, Man enough that I will see the next film that Hamburg makes.

Sydney Fife: Society tells us we're civilized but the truth is we are animals. Sometimes we just have to let it out. Try it.
Peter Klaven: Blaaah!
Sydney Fife: Good. Now gently remove your tampon and try again.