Tuesday's With Movies: 10/1/13 (and 9/24/13)

10/1/13

The Croods: I like when a film surprises me. Went to see this with my family not expecting much - and it was way better than I thought. Review is here.

This is the End: This summer I was able to see nearly all of my Top 10 movies I wanted to see this summer. In fact, surprisingly, I was able to see eight out of 10. This is the End is one of the two I did't get to see. So, I am definitely looking forward to seeing it.

Frozen Ground: Nicolas Cage and John Cusack star in this 50 Cent produced product. Never heard of it, in fact I had to look it up to see if it was even released in theaters - and it was. It actually didn't get horrible reviews - sort of mixed. But, not something I am going to run out to watch.

100 Bloody Acres: A couple of guys in the fertilizer business are running low on their 'secret ingredient' - which apparently is human bodies. Not going to check this one out.

Fright Night 2: Apparently a sequel - not sure if it's the Colin Farrell starring film, or the one from 1985, but I don't really care. This one is direct to DVD. I am guessing it's great - haha.









9/24/13

Iron Man 3: Leaving this film from the theater, I have to say I had mixed thoughts. No, the big reveal was not an issue for me - in fact I enjoyed it. But, there was just something that was not as great as the original. Though, I want to definitely look at it again - there were some great things in it that I loved. Review is here.

Unfinished Song: A man helps finish a project that his wife was working on before she died - and apparently it helps him reunite with his son. Not for me.

Kings of Summer: This one looks like it can be really good. I love a lot of the supporting cast and the music sounds great. Really want to check this one out.

Room 237: A documentary that looks at The Shining and many different people interpreting it. I have never seen the film its based on, so not really important to me to see this.

Something in the Air: From what I can tell, looks like a French film. Based in the 60s, a group of Europeans look to continue the revolution. Definitely staying away from this one.

Redemption: I remember when this was originally called Hummingbird. Why the change? Either way, I will want to watch this eventually. Jason Statham is one of the main action stars of this generation - I have a lot of his films I still need to check out.

V/H/S/ 2: How do they seriously turn these out so fast? A second one a year after the first? Either way, the first one didn't interest me - nor does this.

I Spit on Your Grave 2: At least this one was three years after the first - but read the above, it's pretty much the same.

Theater Review: Iron Man 3

I have to say it was pretty smart of Marvel to drop an Iron Man film as the first to follow last year's Avengers.

Iron Man was a surprise hit in 2008 and Robert Downey, Jr. became both Tony Stark and Iron Man - his quote at the conclusion of the first film was perfect, "I am Iron Man!".

But, as much as the original film was a surprise hit, it feels like Iron Man 2 was a bit of a let down to many movie goers. Sure, it was definitely a step backwards - especially since the villain was actually much better, but Whiplash was never really the villain he should have and could have been.

Plus, the main reason for Iron Man 2 was to pretty much setup The Avengers film - with the introduction of Black Widow and Nick Fury inviting Tony to join the Avengers Initiative.

So, now we have Iron Man 3.

I would probably put it somewhere between the original and its sequel. I feel it was better than the last one, but still can't live up to the first.

Since the events that happened in New York in the Avengers, Tony has had trouble sleeping - and has spent that time creating new and different Iron Man suits. His relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) continues to grow, but Tony's issues that he gained after almost dying in the alien invasion have strained it somewhat.

In a flashback, we learn that Tony spent a night with Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) and also blew off Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who wanted to speak to him about an experiment he is working on.

Killian, now with a new backer, returns to Stark Industries - this time speaking to the new person in charge, Potts. But, like Tony before her, she turns him down because of the ability to possibly weaponize is product.

Over seas, a terrorist much like Osama bin Laden, is threatening the United States and he goes by the Mandarin (Ben Kinglsey). After Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) is injured during an apparent attack by the Mandarin, Tony tells him to come after him at his home - and he does.

With Stark's home destroyed - and feared dead - he is flown to Tennessee by his suit, until it loses all of its power. Tony teams up with Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins) to track down information on some of the attacks that have been happening, and to also recharge the Iron Man suit.

After the Mandarin steals Iron Patriot - formerly War Machine - from James Rhodes (Don Cheadle) so that he can kidnap the president (after already kidnapping Pepper) - Rhodes and Tony team up 80s-cop style to rescue them both and put a stop to the Mandarin once and for all.

Pretty tough to recap this without giving things away - but I think I did. Some great surprises happen, which I honestly did not see coming.

Best parts of the film, hands down, are the interactions between Stark and the kid. It was pretty darn funny and the kid held his own pretty well with Downey, Jr. Second has to be the final battle scene.

I am not giving anything away here because it is shown in the trailer - but Stark has really not been sleeping much and he has created a ton of new suits - some of which do many different things.

The culmination has all of them coming together to take down the Mandarin and help Rhodes and Stark rescue Potts and the president (William Sadler).

If this is the final Iron Man film, it went out pretty well. The story was wrapped up in a nice bow - but it felt like there was also more to tell if it continued.

Downey, Jr. is in the renegotiating phase with Marvel for his salary to continue as Tony Stark - which no doubt will be for Avengers 2 and Avengers 3. As more and more standalone features are announced, Iron Man has not been one of them. And, I don't have a problem with that - I am fine with him continuing to just be part of Avengers and maybe cameo in other films along the way.

But, this film made a butt-load of money and I doubt Marvel (and Disney) will just stop altogether leaving this much money on the table. It's obvious people still love their Iron Man - and if they can get Downey, Jr. under contract - I really expect another film in the future.

Grade:

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Top 10: Summer 2013

Every so often there is a summer that is robust with films that I want to see. Occasionally, there is a pretty bland summer with just a few, but looking over summer 2013 it looks like another great year for movies.

I know that the summer movie season seems to be moving further and further into the spring (and sometimes end of winter) months, with G.I. Joe: Retaliation, Oblivion and even Jurassic Park: 3D being released already. But, I am only going to count the months of May-August for my list.

 So, here are my Top 10 movies I am most anticipating this summer.

Honorable Mentions: The Internship, Lone Ranger, Pacific Rim. All three of these movies look like they could be good, but as of now they did not crack my Top 10.

10) The Wolverine

This would probably be higher because of how much I have enjoyed the X-Men series, and I even liked the Wolverine origin story. So, I will no doubt enjoy this as well. But, the first couple trailers have not pulled me in as much as some of the other films on this list. Although I am anticipating seeing this, for now it is at No. 10.

9) Elysium

Last week this may not have even been on this list. I don't think I had even heard of it, but I finally was able to check out the trailer a couple days ago and it looks amazing. Although I wasn't as big a fan of District 9 as everyone else seemed to be, it did look great. This one, so far, looks like it may look great and have a good story to go with it.

8) Now You See Me

Probably the least likely film on this list out of all the summer blockbusters. However, I love me a good heist film - the Ocean's Eleven movies will always hold a special place in my heart. This looks great - using magic to pull off the heist. And, it has a ton of fun actors in it as well.

7) This is the End

This will be incredibly stupid, but also - I am hoping - incredibly funny. The red-band trailer that came out a few weeks ago was down-right hilarious and if all of the gags weren't in that trailer than this film should not disappoint.

6) Monsters University

Honestly, as much as I love Pixar, even I am getting a bit irratated about the amount of sequels they are churning out. But, if the story is funny and has that Pixar heart involved, I am definitely going to be checking it out. Knowing the main characters already just helps with the attachment to the film - and looks like some of the new ones will be just as funny.

5) Man of Steel

I guess it's a good thing that I have slowly gotten into superheroes, mostly because of my son, because there are an absolute ton of superhero movies being released. I really thought about making this No. 4, but as cool as Superman is there just has not been a great movie made about him, in my opinion. This one has the chance to be the first, but I was burned with Superman Returns. Hopefully, they got it right this time.

4) Fast and Furious 6

Though I might be more interested in Man of Steel in the end I went with what was more familiar and what has worked in the past. It's odd that we are now on the sixth film of this franchise (seven if you count Tokyo Drift) but, for the most part, all of the films are really enjoyable. And, with the gang back together it's even better.

3) Kick-Ass 2

Didn't check the first film out in the theater, and I think it took me awhile before I finally checked it out on DVD, but I absolutely loved it. Hit-Girl is an amazing character and I have probably watched the trailer for this movie 15 times. Very excited to check this one out.

2) Iron Man 3

As of right now, Kick-Ass 2 is pretty darn close to being No. 2 on this list - but my love for The Avengers last year and knowing how great the Marvel films have been I am still expecting a lot from this movie. I really don't think they will let us down with the first film after Avengers.

1) Star Trek: Into Darkness

Was there even any doubt? When Star Trek came out in 2009 I was so pumped - and for the film to not only live up to my expectations but to surpass them was amazing. One of the first films in awhile I absolutely had to see again as soon as I stepped out of the theater. And, I feel this new film may even have a chance to out do the original - which may have been my favorite movie in the past four years.