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Review by Robert Hurst*WARNING! SPOILERS AHEAD!* Just returned from a 'sneak peek' of "Iron Man" in Dallas. On a scale of 1-10, I give it an 8 1/2. Director Jon Favreau has made a comic book movie for the masses. You don't have to know anything about the Iron Man comics to appreciate this movie. The movie has a message about the U.S. involvement in the Mid-East and the economic impact of the country's military industrial complex. Robert Downey, Jr. is perfectly cast as Tony Stark/Iron Man. Jeff Bridges as Obadia Stane chews up the scenery and Gwyneth Paltrow aptly brings Pepper Potts to life. It's a great 'origin' movie and gives us insight into Stark's background as a 'boy genius' who had to stand in his father's shadow. Jon Favreau does double duty as Happy Hogan, Stark's chaffeur & semi-bodyguard. Terrence Howard shows that he's ready to play War Machine in the sequel. The script closely follows the Lee/Ditko origin story seen in Tales to Astonish back in the early 1960s.
Stark is kidnapped by terrorists set on making him pay for the horror his family business has caused worldwide. With the help of another prisoner, Stark builds the Iron Man suit to escape his captors. Upon returning stateside he sets about cleaning up the mess his family business has created worldwide as a military weapons manufacturer by improving upon the Iron Man suit. Unbeknownst to Stark, he's being screwed over by the person he trusts the most in the family business. Corporate intrigue feeds into the superhero storyline with a throwdown between Iron Man and War Monger in the movie's climactic battle. For those who thought Nick Fury* might show up as the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. or that Black Widow might make an appearance...sorry. There's great humor along with the drama in "Iron Man". I'm ready for the sequel! Question is: who will play The Mandarin?
- Robert
*Editors Note: If you're real patient and manage to wait through the entire length of credits, you'll be rewarded with a brief scene that has Tony Stark and Nick Fury meeting in Stark's home. Fury is played by Samuel L. Jackson. Best of all, he's there to talk about the Avengers with Stark. Looks like an Avengers movie is definitely in the cards for all of us Marvel fans. Enjoy, MH
Review by Mike HeronimeNobody told me about this movie. I never saw a trailer for it. I never saw it listed in theaters. No commercials. No reviews. Nothing. The fact that a movie about the true story of physical evidence of alien life has somehow escaped my attention makes me think "possible conspiracy to conceal the truth." Conspiracy or not, it's definitely a crime that this wildly entertaining movie isn't getting more props.
Alien Autopsy is the true story about two guys from England who come to the United States to try to make a fast buck. They're chasing down vintage Elvis content to resell when they come across a guy with black and white film footage of an Elvis performance. They buy the footage cheap and a little while later, the guy that sells them the footage comes back to them with another proposition.
So, one of the two friends goes with this guy to his Florida home to find out what he's got that is so great. There he screens a film made by the guy while he was in the military during WWII. It is a film of a government run alien autopsy. Apparently, the military had acquired a dead alien in New Mexico (Roswell) and were cutting it open to learn more about it and they grabbed this guy because he was a military cameraman and had him shoot the whole thing. Twelve copies of the film were made and as a result of typical government efficiency, he ends up in possession of one of the copies. Now, (which in the movie is 1995) he wants to sell it to this British wheeler dealer for $30,000.
The Brit doesn't have the money so he borrows $30,000 from a Russian gangster who loves crop circles and is interested in acquiring a copy of the film. The Brit does the deal and gets the film. Only one problem. Ever since they opened the film canister in Florida, the film has been deteriorating. By the time the Brit gets the film, it appears to be completely ruined. He freaks because he is sure that the Russian is going to kill them. So these two guys do the only thing they can do. They get their friends together and stage an alien autopsy and film it. The Russian falls for it. The boys are in the clear.
That's when they get the bright idea to show the film to other people. One thing leads to another and all of a sudden, their film is being watched and accepted as the real McCoy on television stations all over the world. The whole time, they are on the brink of being exposed as frauds. But somehow luck stays on their side throughout the whole ordeal.
This story is fascinating because it's true. Hysterical because it's so crazy. And entertaining because it's so surprising. If you are one of the few people that have seen this movie, pat yourself on the back. And tell a few more friends about it. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a huge favor and go rent it tonight. And if you know anything about this movie that everyone else should know, please leave a comment for the rest of us.
Review by Mike HeronimeWhen the last season of Lost ended, we couldn't figure out what we would do with our Wednesday nights so we decided to re-watch the last three seasons of Lost before tonight's premier of Season Four. We watched a couple of episodes each Wednesday until we got to January and then mapped out how many episodes we had left before January 31st. In January, we watched about 4 to 5 episodes each week. Last night we watched the last two episodes of Season Three in our final preparation for Season Four's commencement (God, we sound like such dorks).
Like so many others, we have been captivated by the mystery of Lost. With every new story thread it's easy to doubt that the creators of the show are following a central plot. Or that they even know themselves what the answers are to their web of questions and puzzles. It's not hard to believe that Lost's creators aren't even sure how this whole crazy thing is going to end yet. And then, when you pour over the episodes again, you see how all these things are connected, even if you still don't know what they mean.
Near the end of Season Three, you start to imagine that you're so very close to learning the answers to the secrets of Lost. Hanging out with the Others revealed so much, but in typical Lost fashion, raised so many more questions. And with a stroke of genius, they feed us a flash-forward which totally turns everything upside down again. Then comes the promotions for Season Four. "Lost is now Found," they say. "All your questions will be answered," they promise.
Tonight's episode does what Abrams and Lindeloff and company have done so well for the last three seasons. It convinces you that you know what everything means, and then Jack walks in on Hugo and Hugo apologizes, "I shoulda gone with you instead of Lock." Whoosh! What happened? How did Hugo end up off the island if he went with Jack? What's Charlie talking about? Is Hugo crazy? And if Jack's not crazy, what's Kate's problem? The flash forwards are amazingly effective as story telling devices. Maybe even more so then the flash backs. That might be the biggest surprise yet. Every season, nearly every episode, these guys rewrite the rule book, spin their story in a new direction, introduce new characters and new story threads, create new devices, and of course, new mysteries.
Tonight's season premier of Lost is just like all of the other episodes. It's unexpected. Exciting. Perplexing. Mesmerizing. And satisfying in it's ability to leave you wanting moe. So much more. Here's to a new season of Lost.
Review by Mike Heronime
Last Saturday, we drove from Dallas to Denton (about a 40 minute drive) to cruise the campus (UNT), have dinner, and catch a movie. We were pretty intent on seeing Cloverfield having exchanged Cloverfield for the Bucket List the night before. Given all that we were trying to accomplish during our Denton trek, its no wonder that we ended up at the movie theater with no time to spare. The guy at the ticket counter warned us that the movie was pretty full and that we would likely have to sit in one of the front rows. And as he put it, "it might make us throw up."
It was at this point that I realized two things: Cloverfield was going to be an experience that I was not entirely prepared for. And Mexican food for dinner was a bad idea. Luckily we were able to score a couple of seats together in the middle of the theater after sheepishly asking a few people to move closer together to make room for us. Good thing too. I'm not a squeamish person but after sitting through J.J. Abrams answer to the question, "What happens when the Blair Witch Meets Godzilla," I was pretty happy that I wasn't sitting in the front row.
By now, you've probably heard about the unorthodox approach taken by the Cloverfield creative crew in filming their monster movie. From beginning to end, the audience experiences the entire film through the lens of a hand held video camera being shared by a small circle of friends. These friends are enjoying a fun -- if not overly typical -- going away party for one of their group when the Manhattan apartment they are rockin' starts shaking violently. Rushing to the roof they begin to witness the spectacle of an exploding Manhattan.
For the next hour and half, this group of friends rushes outside where they nearly get creamed with the head of the Statue of Liberty, try to leave Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge where they lose one of their friends to a giant tentacle or tail that smashed the bridge to pieces, attempt to escape through the Subway where they are attacked by monsters, rush to a stranded friend's aid in a collapsing skyscraper, and fly out of town (or almost out of town) in an open helicopter. All along the way, we're treated to glimpses of a giant monster on a mindless rampage.
This movie risks a lot by taking such an unconventional approach to what would typically be a summer blockbuster type action movie. And I think their risk pays off. From watching this movie, you get the feeling that you now know what it would REALLY be like if you were in a city when it was attacked by Godzilla or King Kong. Thankfully, this level of reality was never spoiled by attempts to explain the origins of the monster or long involved plans to destroy the monster. Just the simple human reaction to crisis and the need to survive.
Best of all, the movie ends the way a horror movie should end -- unhappily.
If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be trapped in a subway with the son of Rodan, be sure to check out Cloverfield before it comes out on DVD. This is definitely a flick for the big screen. And if you're really adventurous, be sure to take a seat in the front row.
Enjoy.
Last Saturday, we drove from Dallas to Denton (about a 40 minute drive) to cruise the campus (UNT), have dinner, and catch a movie. We were pretty intent on seeing Cloverfield having exchanged Cloverfield for the Bucket List the night before. Given all that we were trying to accomplish during our Denton trek, its no wonder that we ended up at the movie theater with no time to spare. The guy at the ticket counter warned us that the movie was pretty full and that we would likely have to sit in one of the front rows. And as he put it, "it might make us throw up."
It was at this point that I realized two things: Cloverfield was going to be an experience that I was not entirely prepared for. And Mexican food for dinner was a bad idea. Luckily we were able to score a couple of seats together in the middle of the theater after sheepishly asking a few people to move closer together to make room for us. Good thing too. I'm not a squeamish person but after sitting through J.J. Abrams answer to the question, "What happens when the Blair Witch Meets Godzilla," I was pretty happy that I wasn't sitting in the front row.
By now, you've probably heard about the unorthodox approach taken by the Cloverfield creative crew in filming their monster movie. From beginning to end, the audience experiences the entire film through the lens of a hand held video camera being shared by a small circle of friends. These friends are enjoying a fun -- if not overly typical -- going away party for one of their group when the Manhattan apartment they are rockin' starts shaking violently. Rushing to the roof they begin to witness the spectacle of an exploding Manhattan.
For the next hour and half, this group of friends rushes outside where they nearly get creamed with the head of the Statue of Liberty, try to leave Manhattan on the Brooklyn Bridge where they lose one of their friends to a giant tentacle or tail that smashed the bridge to pieces, attempt to escape through the Subway where they are attacked by monsters, rush to a stranded friend's aid in a collapsing skyscraper, and fly out of town (or almost out of town) in an open helicopter. All along the way, we're treated to glimpses of a giant monster on a mindless rampage.
This movie risks a lot by taking such an unconventional approach to what would typically be a summer blockbuster type action movie. And I think their risk pays off. From watching this movie, you get the feeling that you now know what it would REALLY be like if you were in a city when it was attacked by Godzilla or King Kong. Thankfully, this level of reality was never spoiled by attempts to explain the origins of the monster or long involved plans to destroy the monster. Just the simple human reaction to crisis and the need to survive.
Best of all, the movie ends the way a horror movie should end -- unhappily.
If you've ever wondered what it would be like to be trapped in a subway with the son of Rodan, be sure to check out Cloverfield before it comes out on DVD. This is definitely a flick for the big screen. And if you're really adventurous, be sure to take a seat in the front row.
Enjoy.
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