Viewed: Theater (25 minutes of trailers!)

Back in the 80s and early 90s, I was a fan and collector of Iron Man comic books. By the late 90s, the writers were doing some really strange stuff with Tony Stark and I lost interest in the stories. But this movie. . . this movie makes me love Iron Man again. I think this movie will bring non-comic-fans to know Tony Stark like the original Spider-Man movie brought Peter Parker to the mainstream consciousness of the general public.

If the movie-goer didn’t know Iron Man was a comic book, they’d see this movie as pure science fiction rather than a super hero tale. You don’t need to know anything about the comic book to get into this movie story. This movie stays pretty true to the comic book origins for Iron Man, but updates the setting to the modern-day. The writers did an excellent job with this updating, and I am very pleased with the result — this movie is great.

We see Tony Stark, the billionaire playboy industrialist weapon designer become the billionaire defender/avenger. We see his near-death experience — which literally “scars” him for life — and his obsession with perfecting the armor he first created out of scraps from high-tech weapons. The movie takes us through the Mark I, II, and III armors so well that the advancement feels perfectly smooth and logical.

The writing is great, the acting is great, the special effects are superb, and they all come together to make a truly fantastic movie. I’ve been excited to see the movie since the first teaser trailers started coming out last year, but to be honest, I had my doubts as to whether it would actually be good. I so love it when my fears are so thoroughly wiped away.

For me, this movie is on the high-quality level of Transformers from last year. I’d even go so far as to say this movie is better because the writing, plot, and story are tighter. It’s just a damn good movie. I’ll see it again in the theater.

My only complaint about watching this movie has nothing to do with the movie itself. Twenty-five minutes of trailers before the feature is just ridiculous. Really. There should never be more than 15 minutes of trailers, and more than 10 should be rare.

There is an extra scene at the end of the credits, and for comic book fans, it’s definitely worth staying to see.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Viewed: DVD

I’m usually not the least bit interested in “teenager movies.” I aged out of that audience many years ago. But although this movie looks like a teenager movie, it’s so much more.

Two life-long friends are nearing high school graduation, and are about to go off to different colleges; this is their last few weeks or days together. Seth (on the left in the poster image) gets invited to a year-end party, and he agrees to take on the responsibility of bringing the booze.

Evan (on the right) isn’t sold on the idea, but he goes along with his friend. They enlist the aid of an associate who’s getting a fake ID, and they think they have things all set, until they see the ID: “McLovin, a twenty-five year old organ donor from Hawaii.” Oh, the hilarity that ensues!

All three guys really just want to get sex, and the alcohol is their ticket for the ride at the party. And once a guy thinks he’s set the right course to get sex, he’ll go through hell to reach the destination.

The writing for this movie is fantastic. The acting is superb. The casting is spot on. The story is surprisingly poignant for being so funny, and at times vulgar. The dialogue is laugh-out-loud entertaining, but the underlying, and resulting, story is warmly satisfying.

I could go on and on about this movie, but I mostly want to just quote lines and scenes. It’s probably more a guy movie than a chick flick. If you’re a guy, especially one who felt awkward in high school (isn’t that all of us?), and ever went through some ridiculous obstacles to get sex (isn’t that all of us?), this movie is all you — it’s great, see it. If you’re a chick, see it with your guy; you can laugh as much at him as you do Seth, Evan, and McLovin.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

Viewed: Theater

When I first saw the trailer for this movie, I thought it could be awesome or it could be awful. I purposefully avoided Web sites with speculations about the monster, but I still saw a few ideas — Godzilla and Cthulhu were mentioned by name. I also saw mention that this monster would be something completely new. Other than those monster guesses, I knew nothing about this movie other than what I saw in the trailer. But I watched the trailer probably a dozen times.

What really got my attention the most in the trailer, and made me hopeful, was the idea that the movie might not actually show the monster in full. Imagination is much more terrifying and exciting than any CGI could be. I watched the trailer probably a dozen times, and I had high hopes for this movie — I foolishly set myself up for disappointment. But I am happy to say I was not disappointed at all. It’s a great movie.

It’s less than an hour and a half, but it doesn’t feel short. I didn’t time it, but I’d guess the setting and character introduction is about 15 minutes. And then, without foreshadowing or warning, it starts happening. I was pleasantly surprised that the first roar and rumble didn’t occur as shown in the trailer — it really surprises you. Although, the monster’s roar sounded much better in the trailer — the trailer roar should have been kept.

The characters are well developed, the relationships (including the driving love story) are well established, and the acting is quite good. It’s hard to talk about this movie without giving away parts that should stay unknown to the viewer until they happen.

As for the monster, at first the characters (and the audience) only get glimpses of “something.” As the movie progresses, you see a little more, until probably two-thirds into it when you get a good full view of it. But the full views are quick. I really wanted the movie to not show the whole creature at all, because, like I said, imagination is more powerful than CGI. The creature is never explained in any way.

The entire movie is a recording taped on a handheld camera by a total amateur. This means there are lots of “shaky cam” moments, and moments of nothing but ground or darkness when the characters are fleeing from danger or running to safety. This will annoy some, but it is to be expected from the basic premise that the whole movie is taken from a recovered personal camera. (Recovered from the area “formerly known as Central Park.”)

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie, but there were a couple of moments very near the end that strained my willing suspension of disbelief. I want to, and will try to see it again.

There’s a very brief piece of audio after the credits, but it’s an unintelligible radio transmission. It’s truly unintelligible (by intentional design), so it’s not worth waiting to hear. When I heard it, I thought I just didn’t hear it well enough to understand, but I’ve since read about it on the Web, and it requires technology to unscramble, not just personal attention. Don’t wait for it; look it up online — after seeing the movie.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com

I met someone I didn’t think existed: someone who has never seen any Star Wars movie. I can understand not liking Star Wars (I don’t really like the latest three episodes, myself), but I’m really surprised that any adult in America has managed to go their whole life without ever seeing even just one of the movies.

Star Wars is a cultural phenomenon, whether you appreciate it as such or not. I’ve heard Star Wars references from people I had thought wouldn’t like the movies. I’ve read Star Wars references in sources completely unrelated to the movies. Star Wars is as American as baseball, apple pie, and . . . and whatever the third thing that goes with that list is.

I don’t like baseball, but I’ve seen a game. I love apple pie, and I’ve had lots of it. I’m sure I’ve experienced that third thing I can’t remember, too.

To never have seen any Star Wars movie? That’s inconceivable. When I learned this fact, of someone I had relatively just met, I had a difficult time trying to relate to him. He seems like a nice guy, but he dismissed the movies like they were some cancelled TV sitcom. He said they don’t interest him. The Nanny never interested me, but I’ve seen an episode.

Bullgrit
bullgrit@totalbullgrit.com