Home for the Holidays

I think it’s not becoming a yearly tradition for me to watch Home for the Holidays. Seeing as this movie isn’t as cheery or bubbly as White Christmas or A Charlie Brown Christmas, it may seem odd that I look forward to watching this movie during the holiday season. However, I think part of what I like so much is that this is a very realistic look at a normal, though slightly exaggerated family and how most people view the stress around the holidays.


Claudia: Nobody means what they say on Thanksgiving, Mom. You know that. That's what the day's supposed to be all about, right? Torture.

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.

Due Date

Peter Highman just wants to get back to LA in time to be there for the birth of this child, but meeting Ethan Tremblay throws that plan out the window. Through a series of unfortunate events Ethan and Peter end up on a no fly list and decide to road trip together to LA. What ensues is a road picture that would make Bob Hope & Bing Crosby die laughing; Todd Phillips does not disappoint with his follow-up to The Hangover as Due Date does not disappoint.

The best thing about Due Date is the interaction between Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. Comedy chemistry can’t be faked and these two actors have it in spades. While I am partial to the talents of Downey, I have to say that this film would be nothing if Galifianakis couldn’t match him turn for turn. My single favorite scene in the film would have to be the acting exercises Downey’s Highman puts Galifianakis’s Tremblay through to prove his chops; it’s the kind of scene that you know the actors had to loose it in more than once during filming.

The one thing that Due Date suffers from is that it is Phillips follow-up to The Hangover. Too many critic’s and audience members have gone in expecting The Hangover 2 instead of this film, and that’s affected how they viewed it. Due Date presents a whole new sets of scenario’s and jokes than The Hangover and is proof that Phillips can turn out comedy, and not just one comedic film.




Director: Todd Phillips

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.

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
Originally uploaded by salvame maria

One of the best things about my love affair with the movies is that I can see a movie more than once and get something different out of it every time. The movie can take on a new meaning, inspire me, force me out of a funk or just relax me for the night. I watched A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints this week and this time this film has inspired me in a way that makes me want to start making another film.

I can’t quite put my finger on why I love this film so much, or why I find it uplifting instead of saddening, but I do. When I watch A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints I know this summer in Dito’s life was traumatic and horrible, but watching the film you know that it was actually transforming, it was something that made him who he is today and he can’t escape that which is why the last line of narration in the film is so damn important – “In the end – just like I said – I left everything, and everyone. But no one, no one has ever left me.”

For me, everything I love about this film actually goes back to the style inherent in the film. It’s incredibly unique and that’s why I find it so inspiring. From the music choices, editing style, actors chosen, time line and narration of the film every element in this film works together perfectly to give you a snapshot of a summer and a man, and the style gives it a clear insight into what he must really be like and who he’s become.

The fascinating thing about A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints, at least for a film intellectual like me, is the perspective of the film. Dito Montiel is played as an adult by Robert Downy Jr, and as a teen by Shia LeBouf; it’s about the summer that changed his life and that he ends up writing a book about as an adult and comes back to visit his neighborhood. However, Dito Montiel is also a real person, not just any person but the man who wrote and directed the film and actually wrote a book about these events in his life called A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. This might be one of the most autobiographical films I’ve seen in a long time and I can only imagine how unique an experience it had to have been for Montiel to put it on screen himself.

Right now A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints is making me wonder if there is anything in my life, stylized or not, that would be just as entertaining to watch and as healing to put from page to screen. I don’t know the answer to that, but you can bet I will be thinking about that. I can’t imagine what that would be like as an artist to have something I can put out there that’s so literally personal, and how freeing it might be.

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.

Weird Science

Weird Science
Originally uploaded by MacQ

High school is hell, especially for geeks Gary & Wyatt. Tired of being bullied and not being able to get a girl Gary & Wyatt decide to do the most outlandish thing they can think of – make a girlfriend ala Frankenstein, using Wyatt’s computer. Enter Lisa, their creation; she’s everything the boys want and makes them the envy of their high school and their bullies, but there’s on problem – Lisa isn’t content to be their dream girl, she wants to pop them out of their shell and make them the boys she wants them to be.

John Hughes has made a lot of movies and to my experience so far Weird Science is the strangest. I’ve never seen Hughes dabble in science fiction before but I have to say his take on Frankenstein was entertaining.

As always Hughes has incredible characters. Gary and Wyatt are fun, entertaining teens to watch that never leave you wondering why they are the center of the film. They have a bond that is second only to the ladies in Sex & the City; they finish each others sentences, spend all their time together and admire the opposite sex as their greatest hobby. However, Hughes does what he does best and somehow infuses these crazy, hair-brained teen boys with a human heart and soul.

What I honestly forgot about Weird Science is that Robert Downey Jr. plays one of the bullies. Man was he young, but even then he commanded the screen. Also sharing the screen was Bill Paxton as Wyatt’s older brother and what was funny to see was that he has looked exactly the same for his entire career – even then you can see the influences that will later make great characters like Hudson in Aliens.

Weird Science is a quintessential teen movie that has to be seen by a Hughes fan or anyone that still remembers the horrors of being a teenager. So pop in the DVD, get loaded up on sugar and remember what it was like to be in high school.

Director & Writer: John Hughes
Gary Wallace: Anthony Michael Hall
Lisa: Kelly LeBrock
Wyatt Donnelly: IIan Michael-Smith
Chet Donnelly: Bill Paxton
Ian: Robert Downey Jr.

Wyatt: Gary?... By the way, why are we wearing bras on our heads?
Garry: Ceremonial.

Sherlock Holmes

My mother and I have a tradition. Every Super Bowl Sunday she and I do what we can to avoid the big game and that usually involves a movie. This year that movie was Sherlock Holmes; even though I’ve already seen it I put up no protest – a Robert Downey Jr. film that I love? Don’t you think it must be so hard to get me to that.

On second viewing I still love Sherlock Holmes. The fact that Guy Ritchie and crew could take the great detective, keep his essence and world intact and somehow make it exciting and vibrant on screen is astounding. Sherlock Holmes has been a lot of things, but he’s rarely been exciting when put on the silver screen. Holmes himself is a character that is always in his head, thinking steps ahead of the other players, and when put on screen in everything I can think of prior that makes for a film that is intellectual with a good mystery, but suspense, excitement and the threat in Holmes world never makes it to screen.

I have to give props to Rachel McAdams as well. This is an actress that I adore and isn’t in nearly enough movies; however, since she is so selective she tends to make really damn good movies and Sherlock Holmes is no exception. What becomes truly astounding about her character in Holmes is that of everyone on screen (from the books) her character is one that had the least source material to work with. Irene Adler is only in one short story, very briefly and somehow the writers and McAdams formed Adler into a fully formed, well rounded character that belonged in the majority of the film second only to Watson.

I’ve heard plenty of people say they are unwilling to see Sherlock Holmes because it looks like all action and no story. To those people I say to not just a film by it’s trailer and go and make a judgment from the actual film. You might be surprised by what you find.

Inspector Lestrade: In another life, Mr. Holmes, you would have made a excellent criminal.
Sherlock Holmes: Yes, and you an excellent policeman.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes
Originally uploaded by edieamber

I was excited and confused when I found out Guy Ritchie would be doing a Sherlock Holmes film. I was even more excited once I realized that Robert Downey Jr. would play Holmes. However, despite my excitement I still remained slightly doubtful; while Sherlock Holmes is a very interesting character I didn’t understand how he could fit Ritchie’s style or how exactly it would be a more entertaining film than the past Holmes films, yet still have that core being we all know to be Sherlock. I am here to tell you that Sherlock Holmes was an amazing film.

Somehow Ritchie did what I thought might be impossible, he married his very modern style to a period piece. This blend of classic literature and modern Ritchie gives Holmes the edge that was always under the surface of the character and makes the carriages, waistcoats and constables relatable to a modern audience. Sherlock is a character not a part of his time or the society around him so Ritchie adding his stylized flair to the film is a perfect match.

I know some people that were doubtful that this modern, cheeky Holmes would be at all accurate to the Holmes they remember from the novels. To those that say this I challenge you to reread a Holmes story after seeing the film. Holmes has always been a willing outcast and rebel; he’s bored by convention, doesn’t like society and would prefer to drink, experiment and leer at those below him. Holmes is not neat and tidy; his intellect renders the world around him dull and lifeless and the only escape he has is to solve mysteries. If Holmes doesn’t have a mystery to solve he goes into a state of isolation and depression – just as he did in the books.

The absolute pitch-perfect element in the middle of an already entertaining movie is Downey as Holmes and Jude Law as Watson. These two have fantastic chemistry playing off each and every twitch, sigh or smirk of the other person. The movie is alone worth watching for those two sharing screen time. It’s beyond entertaining to watch Watson try to back out of Holmes’ world out of a sense of duty while Holmes knows just what carrots to drop casually that have Watson eagerly running back into the fray, even though he thinks he doesn’t want to. Law and Downey might be my favorite pairing on screen this year.

I hope that you take the time to go see Sherlock Holmes while it is on the big screen. Not only is the film one of the most entertaining things you would do with your holiday, but now that Guy Ritchie is climbing back to the top of his game it is more than worth applauding.

Director: Guy Ritchie
Writers: Michael Robert Johnson, Anthony Peckham & Simon Kinberg
Sherlock Holmes: Robert Downey Jr.
Dr. Watson: Jude Law
Irene Adler: Rachel McAdams
Lord Blackwood: Mark Strong

Holmes: You've never complained about my methods before.
Watson: I've never complained! When have I ever complained about you practicing the violin at three in the morning, or your
mess? Your general lack of hygiene or the fact that you steal my clothes?

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.

Home for the Holidays

I had a pretty dang good childhood and I have a great relationship with my parents and my siblings, I really don’t know how to get through life without them; this is why I cannot figure out why I love Home for the Holidays so much. This film is about a hugely dysfunctional family. Tommy & Claudia get along fabulously but Tommy’s still secretive, and neither of them gets along with their sister. All in all, this is a family that proves you can be blood and not know one another at all.

However, there is a heart behind this film that is sorely lacking in other dysfunctional family films. Granted, I just watched The Family Stone but that’s the first dysfunctional family film that pops to mind – everything that I think the characters and Stone family are missing in that film Jodie Foster was able to include in Home for the Holidays. There is a heart in this film that drives the story and in the end these characters are totally likeable and a much truer depiction of a real family and their problems.

Watching this film again I do genuinely think part of the reason I love it so much is the relationship between Claudia and Tommy. These siblings love one another in a way that I can relate to because I have a relationship like this with one of my brothers. At the beginning of the film Claudia is devastated by what’s happening in her life and grief-calls Tommy and leaves a message on his machine laying everything out and telling him she misses him and doesn’t know what she’s going to do without him coming home for Thanksgiving. In the middle of the night Tommy shows up claiming that he didn’t get Claudia’s message but that his sales job dropped him in the neighborhood so he decided to spend the holiday with them. Durring the climax of the film Tommy reveals that he did come home because of Claudia’s message and when their sister rips Tommy and his life style apart the scene in the kitchen when Claudia and Tommy console each other still moves me.

Like Drew Barrymore did with Whip It, Jodie Foster proves that actor/directors tend to have the ability to get phenomenal performances out of their actors. This is not a bubbly, light hearted film, but I do think it’s a film that should be watched and enjoyed.

Adele: I'm giving thanks that we don't have to go through this for another year. Except
we do, because those bastards went and put Christmas right in the middle, just to
punish us.

Chaplin

I think I need to see Scent of a Woman. You might think this is an odd way to start a review on Chaplin but you know I’m a bit eccentric and I swear relevance is coming.

I need to see Scent of a Woman because I want to see why it was so applauded; I need to see the performance of Al Pacino. Pacino is an incredibly talented actor who deserves much acclaim, and I need to see this performance because he won the best actor Oscar for it. I need to see it so I can figure out if he should have won over Robert Downey Jr, because to this day I cannot watch Chaplin without marveling over the sheer amount of talent, care, and the complete transformation that happens on screen. I need to see why Downey didn’t get the Oscar, because if he didn’t get it Pacino must just about melt the screen in Scent of a Woman.

Movies about movies hold a special place in my heart, and Chaplin is one of the best. The fact that the film is a true story, an excellently done one at that makes it all the better. I love that I can see the history of the industry in Chaplin and how mixed with our nation and world’s cultures the movies really are. The fact that Chaplin is an excellently made film just makes it all the better.

Mack Sennett: Now I know this is all new to ya, but remember something, we're all new. This is not an ancient industry. This whole place here is built around speed. Start the story, start the chase. I get bored easy.
Rollie Totheroh: How much you reckon Mack? Couple yards of Mabel?
Mack Sennett: Hmm, yeah. Nah, make it three. But don't go thinking we sacrifice quality. I never make more than two motion pictures a week, but I'll spend up to a thousand dollars on each of 'em if I have to.

Gothika

Miranda Grey has a good life working with the criminally insane at a mental institution. She is the head therapist and her husband Douglas is in charge of the institution. One night she leaves late in the middle of a downpour and has to take an alternate route home. Half way there she gets in an accident where she sees a burning woman. Three days later Miranda wakes up to find that she is now in the institution because she went home and killed her husband; Miranda insists on her innocence and proceeds to try to find out what really happened while being used by a vengeful spirit and locked in with her former patients.

Gothika is a movie I avoided when I was in film school. I just was not really into Halle Berry after Monster’s Ball, I’m still not the biggest Berry fan. However, I finally broke down and netflixed it when I saw that Robert Downey Jr. was in it, and it was one of his first big films after he was out of prison.

This is an interesting movie. I’d never heard of director Mathiue Kassovitz before but if Gothika is any indication he has a stunningly visual eye; Gothika is an incredibly well shot movie that uses a monotone color palette in a way that somehow makes it pop off the screen. His use of shadows, color, light and movement was the first thing that drew me into the film. Shockingly it was the story and performances that kept me there.

I will be very forward in saying that Gothika is not as original as it thinks it is; while the story is pretty similar to most European/Asian horror, it still has it’s clichéd and predictable moments – the camera movements that clue you into the coming jump, the sound ques, etc. But it does execute them pretty dang well. I actually jumped at one of the jump moments – something that I don’t normally do. But it is predictable, maybe just because I watch so many movies but I was able to figure out a few of the upcoming plot points. It was still pretty entertaining though.

I also found that I liked Halle Berry & Penelope Cruz; both are actresses that I don’t normally enjoy because I think they don’t really do much to add to their characters (other than add sex appeal) but I think Gothika gave them a chance to play different characters and step outside of the pretty girl box. Of course I loved Robert Downey Jr. as well, but we all know that basically goes without saying.

What keeps Gothika from being a really good movie is the end of the film, not the last act but literally about the last 3 minutes of the film. It feels like a studio tack on ending, something that was added because the studio was afraid of Halle Berry’s character having to face up with the dark things that had been done through her when she was possessed. Instead, they literally jump from the denouement where some character threads and questions should be answered to a year later as Penelope Cruz & Halle Berry walk down a street discussing how they are in better mental places now. Everything that you want to see about Miranda, her patients, the doctors and the aftermath of the whole incident is just gone – brushed under an invisible rug and we are in a totally different locale. It feels like a cheat and makes the last hour plus you’ve spent in the world feel like a waste of your time.

If the ending were better, Gothika would be a pretty dang good movie.
Director: Mathieu Kassovitz
Writer: Sebastian Gutierrez
Miranda grey: Halle Berry
Pete Graham: Robert Downey Jr.
Douglas Grey: Charles S. Dutton
Sheriff Ryan: John Carroll Lynch
Phil Parsons: Bernard Hill
Chloe: Penelope Cruz

Chloe: You are not a Doctor in here. And even if you the tell the truth... no one will listen. You know why? Because you're crazy. And the more you try to prove them wrong, the crazier you'll appear. You are invisible now. Can you feel it?

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.