[Crudblud]

Iron Man 3 (Shane Black)

I say without a trace of humour, sarcasm, or irony (although I guess that is a pun) that Hominem Metallum Tertius is a pretty fucking solid action movie with fluid storytelling, worthwhile characters with good chemistry, and humour that works. Even Tony Stark, who is noticeably shaken following on from his experiences in The Avengers, comes across rather sympathetic; his wisecracks, one liners, and snarky attitude are written so as to be desperate and pathetic in a way that really humanises the character, which is a great boon for a series I had not until now been enjoying very much. Maybe the first two movies would have benefited from such a treatment of the character, maybe they had lowered my expectations for Iron Manganese Lithium to the point that I enjoyed it just because it wasn't dull as fuck, but I think really this slow progression over the course of several features actually works out for the character very well.

A lot of people complained about the way the Mandarin was used in this film, but I thought it was hilarious. Ben Kingsley doing a sort of Russell-Brand-in-thirty-years'-time act (I thought it was particularly apposite how they had that character underlying a phony revolutionary figure who spouts very flimsy rhetoric and analogies) was the comic highlight of the film. He gets to showcase his chops and brilliant timing, and it was pretty clever how his phony accent slips a few times in the hijack broadcasts. Guy Pearce makes for a good slimy villain, at times reminding me of Kirk Douglas in Jacques Tourneur's Out of the Past, and his introduction was very understated and well acted enough that I didn't even recognise him at first. The plot, partly taken from a Warren Ellis Iron Man story (even before I read up about the source, the whole thing had a very Ellis feel to it), was neat, and its threads tied together across the 130 minute runtime very smoothly, and there was little that didn't make sense, although there were a few parts that seemed to be there just because bang zoom kaboom punch vagina.

I'd put it on par with Captain America: The First Avenger, much as it surprises me to say so. The guys behind the MCU are on a roll, it seems, so let the Odyssey continue.

[Ghost of V]

W-wha... no.. this is all wrong..

[Vongeo]

Listen to me, that little witch is messing with your mind. You're stronger than her, you're smarter than her. You make her family line look like

[Vindictus]

W-wha... no.. this is all wrong..

[Crudblud]

I finished Twin Peaks.  I was going to write a few paragraphs on my overall impression of the show, but the last episode irritated me.  What the hell was up with that?  I feel like Lynch just slapped me.

I wonder how they're going to handle that ending in the new season. Not just because a crazy amount of stuff could happen in the 25 year gap, but also because Frank Silva is dead. They're going to have a lot of trouble getting around being unable to show BOB unless they use stock footage, which would look awfully cheap but might actually work well in a Lynchian kind of way.

Quoting so that this is relevant: The Twin Peaks revival looked like it was dead in the water after Lynch tweeted about stepping down due to budgetary problems, but now it is back on with Lynch directing all episodes and for a longer season than the original nine episode plan. So excited!

[Rama Set]

Crudblud-When are you watching CA:WS?  I want to know what you think of my favorite MCU film.

[Crudblud]

Crudblud-When are you watching CA:WS?  I want to know what you think of my favorite MCU film.

I have The Dark World to watch first, and I'll probably watch it tonight, so maybe Winter Soldier will be some time next week.

also...

His Girl Friday (Howard Hawks)
Classic fast talking anti-romantic comedy with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell as a divorced couple who both work in the newspaper business. Solid, fast paced, darkly humorous at times and with a great central cast, the film rips along through 90 minutes in what feels like less than an hour. I really dug it.

[Crudblud]

Thor: The Dark World (Alan Taylor)

Eh... my reaction to this was lukewarm. The story feels like it was taken from a collaborative concept album by Linkin Park and Dragonforce: there are elves, there is darkness, there is also flying blood. I dunno, man, flying blood, it makes things dark or something. Meanwhile, Loki sits around not doing stuff or maybe he is doing something and he might be evil or he might not be, then he is evil, then he isn't, then he might be evil again, and I think I stopped caring about half way through the film whether he was or not. Everyone else is basically the same character they were in the previous film, so there's not much to talk about in that regard. Not much to talk about in general, it's Thor doing Thor stuff, and Christopher Eccleston slumming it as a villain even less remarkable than Loki in the original Thor, and Kat Dennings being cute. The best performance in the entire film is Benicio del Toro being flamboyant as fuck, but that's a mid-credits scene, which really shouldn't count as part of the film itself.

Eh...

[rooster]

It's not a question of whether Loki is evil or not. It's just whether or not you can trust him. Guy is god of mischief and all. Sometimes he helps and sometimes he doesn't. You don't question it you just accept it.

Although, in the comics Thor always trusts Loki. He just loves him too darn much.

[Snupes]

Thor: The Dark World (Alan Taylor)

Eh... my reaction to this was lukewarm. The story feels like it was taken froma collaborative concept album by Linkin Park and Dragonforce, there are elves, there is darkness, there is also flying blood. I dunno, man, flying blood, it makes things dark or something. Meanwhile, Loki sits around not doing doing stuff or maybe he is and he might be evil or he might not be, then he is evil, then he isn't, then he might be evil again, and I think I stopped caring about half way through the film whether he was or not. Everyone else is basically the same character, not much to talk about. Not much to talk about in general, it's Thor doing Thor stuff, and Christopher Eccleston slumming it as a villain even less remarkable than Loki in the original Thor, and Kat Dennings being cute. The best performance in the entire film is Benicio del Toro being flamboyant as fuck, but that's a mid-credits scene, which really shouldn't count as part of the film itself.

Eh...

This very accurately echoes how I feel about the movie. Not a fan of it. Sitting through it a third time while I guided my nephew through the MCU was a drag.

[beardo]

Thor: The Dark World, as well as Age of Ultron, are the only MCU films I've only watched once. Both for obvious reasons.

[Saddam Hussein]

I didn't think that TDW was awful, but it's definitely the weakest of the MCU's "phase two" movies, and currently bears the distinction of having the lowest approval rating of the entire MCU on Rotten Tomatoes.  Still, I'm certain it'll at least be better than Taylor's latest film, that awful-looking Terminator reboot starring Emilia Clarke (because GoT is really big right now, and they've got to capitalize on that!) and the generic lughead whom nobody liked from that Die Hard sequel that nobody liked (because Hollywood just knows for a fact that he's a rising star, even if audiences simply haven't grasped that yet!)

[Snupes]

Who also played a Terminator in the last Terminator, which is confusing

[rooster]

Who also played a Terminator in the last Terminator, which is confusing

What?

[Vindictus]

I didn't think that TDW was awful, but it's definitely the weakest of the MCU's "phase two" movies, and currently bears the distinction of having the lowest approval rating of the entire MCU on Rotten Tomatoes.  Still, I'm certain it'll at least be better than Taylor's latest film, that awful-looking Terminator reboot starring Emilia Clarke (because GoT is really big right now, and they've got to capitalize on that!) and the generic lughead whom nobody liked from that Die Hard sequel that nobody liked (because Hollywood just knows for a fact that he's a rising star!)

"make her boobs HUGE"
- Terminator Genisys poster guys

[Saddam Hussein]

I love how none of the marketing so far seems to give a fuck about how blatantly they're giving away a plot detail that will presumably be treated as a major twist in the movie.  Are they desperate or something?

Who also played a Terminator in the last Terminator, which is confusing

What?

I would say that Snupes is confusing Jai Courtney and Sam Worthington, but let's face it, there is essentially no difference between these two bland and charisma-free Australian wannabe action stars:



Hell, maybe they really are the same person.  Worthington did seem to fade away just as Courtney suddenly entered the public eye.  I'm sure this kind of thing is possible.  For example, I'm still not convinced that Alex Jones isn't a joke character that Bob Odenkirk invented one day.

[rooster]

Except that they don't look alike aside from being white muscular males with shaved heads.

[beardo]

I'm still not convinced that Alex Jones isn't a joke character that Bob Odenkirk invented one day.

Do you think he can turn from skinny to fat at will too?

[Saddam Hussein]

Except that they don't look alike aside from being white muscular males with shaved heads.

They're literally identical.  Literally.

I'm still not convinced that Alex Jones isn't a joke character that Bob Odenkirk invented one day.

Do you think he can turn from skinny to fat at will too?

He might just wear a fatsuit.

[beardo]

They're literally identical.  Literally.

Literally no. Look at the eyes, the nose, the ears, the chin and jawline. There's nothing identican between these two men, and I'd say Jai Courtney has a much more dopey face too, and Worthington seems to have a bit of that Eastwood scowl going on.