Iron Man 2

The start of the Summer movie madness has officially begun!! The sun is out, the weather is hot as hell, and Iron Man 2 is finally here!! I love everything about the Summer time. But the things I like most are the Summer blockbusters that soar into theaters and create sell out midnight showings and cheering crowds. It's almost like going to a rock concert every Friday for 3 months straight....except better. This Summer started off quite nicely with Iron Man 2 as I had the pleasure of seeing it opening night this past Thursday at midnight.

If you haven't already seen the first Iron Man just stop what you're doing and go buy it now, it's great. If you have then you're like me and have been waiting for the sequel ever since the credits started to roll after the first one. The film opens with the Russian Ivan Vanko, played by Mickey Rourke, sitting by his father as he dies right there at his side. Ivan becomes....how can I put this....fucking PISSED. For some reason or another we learn in the following scene that this is somehow Tony Starks fault and Ivan immediately goes to work on his own suit to be able to get revenge on Tony and the Stark family name. We then cut to Stark flying into his own Expo in the Iron Man suit followed by a court appearance where we then learn that he has yet another enemy who want's to put Stark out of biz, Justin Hammer, played by Sam Rockwell. Following that scene we realize that Tony is becoming poisoned by the Iron Man chest piece heart thing and he's slowly dying. That's really the entire story right there in a nutshell.

After an incredible scene at the Monte Carlo race track in Italy where Vanko and Stark battle it out, Justin Hammer soon realizes that he needs Vanko's skills, badly if he wants to create a suit that's tough enough to face the Iron Man. Hammer soon breaks Vanko out of jail and they immediately get to work. Vanko and Hammer were my favorite characters in the film and although Robert Downy Jr. is always great, I thought Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell did the best acting jobs in the film. Rourke spent some time off screen in a Russian prison to conduct research fro the role, researched and learned how to speak the Russian language, and apparently wore his own clothes during his scenes. His overall appearance was a little over the top but I actually really liked it. It was original.

Although it was fun I definitely had some complaints with the film. First off there's about a half hour of the film in the middle that I thought was really bad. It's the scene where Stark has a birthday party at his house and he ends up fighting War Machine. It was so over the top, goofy, and just kinda stupid. It just didn't work for me. Second, I hated how War Machine (Rhodey) was introduced. I mean he just hops in the suit and starts fighting Iron Man, his friend, at his own party. I understand why he did it but I thought it was poorly done and I thought in place of that ENTIRE party scene/fight we should have seen Rhodey actually learn how to use the suit. It would've been more epic. Now the result is that I don't give a shit about the War Machine character, they lost my interest now. Also they should've just kept Terrance Howard in the role because Don Cheadle didn't bring jack to the role, he sucked. Thirdly, Tony was a TAD just a TAD over the top with all his comedy. I mean it was to the point where I didn't believe that Tony Stark could even have a serious conversation with someone without cracking a joke and talking a mile a minute. But I DID like him, that was just a minor set back for me.

All in all I enjoyed Iron Man 2 but not quite as much as the first one. It's definitely a blu-ray that I will buy for sure and watch many more times, especially the Monte Carlo scene. Also another thing I loved was John Favreau's character, Happy Hogan. He was hilarious in this and had much more screen time than in the first one. Favs did a great job playing him. SPOILER- Stay after the credits to see Thor's hammer. Iron Man 2 gets a 7 outa 10.

The Informers - Blu-Ray

The three main reasons that I was interested in this film were that it's set in the 1980's Los Angeles party scene, Mickey Rourke was in it, and it was adapted from a Brett Easton Ellis novel. So despite the many bad reviews I decided to give it a shot on blu-ray.

The film centers on multiple stories all going on around each other at the same time. One about a young adult rich boy Graham Sloan played by Jon Foster, his disgruntled parents played by Billy Bob Thornton and Kim Basinger, a musician on the brink of insanity, a boy stuck in Hawaii with his asshole father played by Lou Taylor Pucci and Chris Isaak, and two guys who are all of a sudden involved with some very bad people after kidnapping a young boy, played by Mickey Rourke and Brad Renfro.

Though all the stories are pretty entertaining, they don't really offer too much into the characters that surround them. We really just see them in these moments and have no back story or know what they're thinking about whatsoever. It's kind of like a messy version of Less Than Zero also penned by Ellis, which I loved. The real attraction I had for this film wasn't the star studded cast, it was that I love seeing people self destruct in Los Angeles and then finding themselves again. Even if they don't find themselves I think that it's a beautiful thing to watch on screen if done well and it's something that can be very depressing and moving at the same time. Although it's done in a mediocre way here and I wish they focused on Grahams story much more, it's still an entertaining cinematic experience.

The film looks really great on blu-ray and the score definitely wasn't unforgettable. It's a film that can be thrown in at a party while having some drinks and watch in the background or it can be a film that you put in one night to analyze artistic cinematography and daring teen sex and drug use in filmmaking. Either way I recommend it. 3 and 1/2 outa 5.

The Wrestler - Blu-Ray

There are certain movie going experiences that I will never forget. Seeing The Wrestler at a pre-screening in Los Angeles with Mickey Rourke giving a Q & A afterwards was one of those experiences.

Mickey Rourke gives the performance of a lifetime as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a has been wrestler trying to battle his way through life inside and outside the ring. Between his part time wrestling gigs and his deli counter job, the Ram's barely able to make ends meat. Cassidy, played by the courageous Marisa Tomei, is a stripper at the local club who's befriended by Ram. Their relationship serves as a mentoring devise for the both of them. They're both on stage trying their best to entertain people and make a living. The difference is that Ram love's wrestling. It's the only thing he's ever known, the only thing that he's ever been good at, he IS a wrestler. He's so dedicated to the profession that it let his relationship with his daughter Stephanie, played by Evan Rachel Wood, completely dissolve into almost nothing as he was never around to be her father. When the Ram finds her and tries to make amends it makes for one of the most heartfelt scenes of the year as Mickey delivers a teary eyed monologue to her on the pier.

The entire film is filmed handheld which gives it a raw authentic documentary feel. The opening 6 minutes of the film really shows us who the Ram is as a person and Mickey gives us such a convincing performance that the audience is convinced by it without even seeing Rams face in it's entirety. The camera first shows him sitting in a classroom with his back to us just after a match. He's hunched over and tired. Next we follow him as he makes his way through the lobby, signs a couple of autographs, drives home blasting 80's rock, and ends up home locked out of his trailer and sleeping in his van for the night. We know right away that this guy is not doing well physically or financially. He's a mess, but he's still got a heart of gold and a kind attitude outside of the ring. There's a really great scene where Ram is walking through the halls at work making his way to the deli counter. As he's walking, crowd cheers and chanting is inserted into the scene as if he's walking out to the ring. This shows us again how wrestling is such a big part of his life as this is probably what's going on in his head every time he walks out to the deli counter. If he does this, it keeps him sane. It gets him through the crappy work day.

Mickey was nominated for an Academy award and a winner of the Golden Globe, BAFTA, and Independent Spirit awards for best actor. This was considered his comeback film after fucking up his career in Hollywood and it boosted him back to much deserved stardom and to being a respected actor once again. Mickey Rourke BECAME Randy "The Ram" Robinson and he left a permanent mark in Hollywood with The Wrestler. The Wrestler gets 5 outa 5.