The Avengers (2012)

Starring: A bunch of people

Director: Joss Whedon

IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0848228/

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Avengers_(2012_film)

Many of you have never heard of this small independent film that explores the deep realms of the human psyche by analysing the most intellectually intriguing phrase of our time: "HULK SMASH!!!!!"

Or it just might be about something completely different...

The movie starts off with Loki (Tom Hiddleston) coming to Earth with the intent of becoming its supreme ruler. It is up to a familiar group of superheroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Black Widow, and Hawkeye (respectively played by Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner) under the guidance of Nick Furry (Samuel L. Jackson) to stop him. However, they first have to learn to work together as their conflicting personalities soon become apparent.

Umm...it's awesome! Nope, I don't have anything to add to that; I think I've made myself pretty clear. Okay, fine, if you insist...

I was expecting this movie to be pretty good even though I have mixed feelings about the previous Marvel movies that preceded it. "Captain America" was great and "The Incredible Hulk" was enjoyable. The "Iron Man" movies were pretty good though I feel like they could have been better. "Thor"...was okay, but I say that generously since it had major flaws. Still, I figured this movie would take enough of the best elements from each of them and be able to create a competent story. And...it did! It really just goes all out: it makes the most of the characters and how they interact with each other, it has a number of funny moments that are actually funny, it has some good serious moments, and (perhaps most importantly) it has lots and lots and LOTS of action!!! What more can you want?!!!

That's pretty much it. I really can't elaborate on it any further, at least not without spoiling it. Too be honest, I can't really criticize it either. The only part I really questioned was how the characters seemed be clued in on a bunch of the major details about each other and the situation at hand. But they explain how the film takes place about a year after the other ones ended and given how persistent Nick Furry has been about keeping tabs on people (and how high profile some of their individual circumstances were in the media) its seems logical that they would all have a basic idea of what was going on. Which is good because it minimizes the number of scenes needed to do all that explaining and cuts straight to the good parts!

So...yeah! It is a really solid, excellent movie. Most of you who are reading this are probably going to see it anyway or have already done so, but if you are on the fence for some reason, I definitely recommend it. I can't think of any other superhero movie that will be able to beat this one this summer...

Hmm...forgot about that one...

P.S.: As you would expect, there is a scene after the main closing credits that...okay, I will not spoil it. And if you wait until the end of rest of the credits, there is something else. Just in case you wanted to know.

Review: Due Date (2010) TH

Having toleration is an understatement

After Peter Highman (Robert Downey Jr.) gets a quick look at the guy who just hit the door off of his chauffeur's car at the airport, like with everything else he's a busy man who doesn't think very much about the bearded guy who's probably got more than an issue or two hidden behind the facial fortress. But soon enough that man with a perm to match turns into that person who just won't go away. He's the most foulest, unashamed "companion," but one who instead acts more like a capture of his every next move. As the saying goes, "Sometimes you have to give a little to get a little," but no matter what he does to compromise, the pesky man named Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis) just keeps getting worse and causes Peter to nearly reinvent himself along the way so he can just get to his wife's labor in time but first he has to cover a stretch from Atlanta to L.A. Simple enough, right?

This is easier said than done, as he's got no ID, money, luggage or car, and he just got put on the No-Fly list due to a misunderstanding involving Ethan. Now, the man who just caused him enough grief offers him a ride in his rental car with his little dog Sonny because he's going to Hollywood to become an actor, face-shot portfolio, impressions and all. Peter grudgingly excepts, because how bad could it really be? Well, he probably puts up with more idiocy than Charles Darwin himself researched and catalogued. He's the Clint Eastwood of comedies as he's a man of fewer, quicker words and isn't used to opening up. Ethan, on the other hand, is an imploding, extroverted personality all his own. Though he's a walking, talking conundrum: nice, but rude, giving, but takes, a talker, but not a listener, and then sympathetic in one way and a jerk the next. If that wasn't enough Peter meets all kinds of contradictory characters in middle America that he might not have ever seen or wanted to see ever again. Including rude and violent employees and drug dealers who want him to watch their obnoxious kids while they score a deal.

"Due Date" is a comedy/adventure that is often delivered with deadpan humor that revolves around the ridiculousness of the situations and interactions, rather than droves of inventive dialogue or witty one-liners. The whole trip is a trip, so some impossible and implausible scenarios happen that can insult one's intelligence from getting into fights, near death accidents and possible trouble with the law, but that is only if you take it seriously. Zach Galifianakis puts on a detestable but commendable role as a delusional, sheltered man who's naive and unapologetic but he doesn't even realize it himself. Robert Downey Jr. plays it straight but is able to still line up the comedic scenes and slip in a few lines of his own when it gets the best of him. The R is for drug use, frequent cursing and some minor sexual references. The greatest aspect about this movie, is it never lets up. Even when there's a supposed sad and touching scene, something still manages to goof up, go unexpectedly wrong or put the two actor's back on the ropes. Like the old gag of pulling away with a handshake, it puts the unsure audience on edge but still leaves room to anticipate what will happen next. It's still a growing experience that breaks down their barriers to make the two leads who are entirely different people beforehand now either best friends or just knowledgeable chums that are still at each other's throats.

Director: Todd Phillips (Road Trip, Old School, The Hangover)
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, Michelle Monaghan, Jamie Foxx, Juliette Lewis
Website: IMDB

Quotes:

Ethan: "Dad, you were like a father to me."

Heidi: "You know, only, like, fucking jerk-offs get perms."

Ethan: "I'm not an accountant Peter. I'm not even Jewish."

Peter: "How have you made it? How have you not run yourself over in a car?"
Ethan: "I've done that."

Ethan: "God Almighty, holy moly. It's like I'm traveling with a child!"
Peter: "Did you use the restroom?"
Ethan: "Good point. I need to take a pee-pee."

Review: Gothika (2003)

Director: Matthieu Kassovitz

Starring: Halle Berry, Robert Downey Jr., Charles S. Dutton, John Carrol Lynch

Do you ever wonder what happens to horror movie heroines after their ordeals are over? Because I do. In movies like this, about a young woman accused of murdering her husband and her trial to figure out what really happened...don't you just wonder what they do after the credits roll, when their whole lives are destroyed and everything they know has been completely screwed to all hell? Because I'm pretty sure it wouldn't end with a happy alternative rock song like Gothika does.

This movie is just cruel, is what it is. I mean, what the hell am I supposed to gain from this? A normal young woman is married to a guy who secretly made horrific torture porn snuff videos underground in some remote shack in the woods before she was possessed by a ghost and slaughtered her own husband with an ax? Frankly, all this movie really is is a test of the human will. Cruel act after cruel act is pushed onto the poor woman. Imprisoned in a mental hospital, unfairly judged by people she was once esteemed by, repeatedly sedated, locked up and looked down upon, and all because the vengeful ghost of a girl that her husband raped and murdered is trying to get revenge; don't you hate when that happens? And that's not even counting the rising horror when she finally figures out what her husband was really up to on those late nights when he didn't come home from work on time. I mean good god, what's next? Are you going to have her legs amputated and have her be raped by a crazy Vietnam veteran? It doesn't seem that far off, movie. It doesn't seem that far off!

I will say that this movie is not that badly put together on the surface. The colors are nice, the setting is creepy - although so archetypical of this kind of psychological horror that it almost looks like some kind of parody - and the effects are good. But what's the point? It's a sideshow gallery of misery. Yes, I get that there is a "meaning" to what is happening on screen, but it's not like this stuff hasn't been done before. And the whole core of the movie just comes out to being something that I didn't really feel justified in watching at the end. I didn't feel like any modicum of justice or revenge or anything had really been exacted.

Or was the movie supposed to be some kind of atonement because Halle Berry's character "didn't know how to listen" to her patients? Well, that plot just isn't elaborated on enough.

Gothika tries, but falls short of the mark. And let me remind you that it decided to sum up all of its emotional and mental stressors with a happy, soothing alternative rock tune over the end credits. I think this movie needs to see a psychiatrist more than the characters in it; it's so confused. Watch at your own peril, for all you will really get out of this one is a lot of pain and a little confusion.

Review: Iron Man 2 (2010)

Director: Jon Favreau

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Don Cheadle, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mickey Rourke, Sam Rockwell

So the long awaited Iron Man 2 is here, and what do the geniuses at Hollywood have in store for us this time? Well, I have to say this is a bit of a step down from the first one, even in spite of all the bells and whistles and the longer length. This is a movie that tries REALLY hard, to the point where I don't really want to come down on it too hard for its faults, but they are there.

Iron Man 2 just tries to do way too many things at once. It's trying to be like The Dark Knight with its multiple plot threads, but really it isn't near as well articulated. It kind of comes off as a mess, with too many of the threads being a bit dull and just not really that entertaining. As much as I don't want to sound like a shmuck who only wants instantly gratifying action scenes and explosions, but...yeah. Yeah, that would be a big help in this movie! The first one had a lot of down-time without action, too, but there I found it pretty interesting. Here there are about five or six different plot lines going on at once, all very boring, businesslike things that just don't engage me that much. That's the best, most simple way I can put it. None of the characters are that likable, and the ones who are don't get enough screentime. And it just isn't all that memorable, without any kind of defining moment that people will think about and say 'that's Iron Man 2.' It doesn't really have anything like that.

I do appreciate the effort that went into this, as it's clear that this was no half assed effort. They spent a lot of money and you can see a lot of it on screen, with big effects and explosions and really cool looking suits. At the end we do finally get a good fight scene with a really cool setting in this nature-dome place of Stark's, and that is almost worth seeing this movie for, as it really does pack it all: good scenery, witty dialogue, great lighting and colors, and above all, good action. It's a shame it's so damn short.

In the end they simply tried to take on more than they could handle with this. This movie has some fun moments, but at the end of the day, a lot of the stuff going on didn't interest me that much, and I wish they had stuck to a more focused and concise story. This was just OK.