Movie Review: Iron Man 2

It may not feel like summer in my neck of the woods, but the summer movie season is upon us. The first summer popcorn film out of the gate is Iron Man 2. The sequel picks up where Iron Man left off; Tony Stark reveals himself to the world as the self made superhero and must defend himself against the government, new enemies, and himself. Helping Tony along the way is his trusted assistant Pepper Potts (the lovely Gwyneth Paltrow), his best friend Rhodes/War Machine (Don Cheadle) and a couple of new friends Nick Fury (Samuel Jackson) and Natalie/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson).

This is what I love about Iron Man movies -- Iron Man is not a lonely, geeky, brooding, reluctant hero. He is a brazen, egomaniacal, playboy who enjoys the thrill and power that being a superhero brings. Who better to play that than Robert Downey Jr.? He can play any unabashed, cocky character and make you root for him. (If you haven't watched him in Sherlock Holmes yet, please Netflix/rent it now).

The new baddie in this movie is Ivan Vanko/Whiplash, played by Mickey Rourke, who speaks with a Russian accent and sports some funky teeth for this role. Ivan has a family beef with the Stark's and takes it upon himself to destroy Tony and the Stark legacy. Rourke does a fine job of portraying this menacing foe, but for me the real bad guy in the film was Justin Hammer, played deviously by Sam Rockwell. Mr. Hammer is one of Stark Industries major competitors and he joins up with Whiplash to annihilate any and all competition, but mainly Stark Industries. Sam Rockwell is one of those actors that fills the screen with his presence and usually plays the guy you love to hate. I think he is an intriguing character actor and definitely recommend you catching some of his older films (most notably Confessions of a Dangerous Mind).

A big to do was made about the choice to replace Terence Howard with Don Cheadle as Rhodes but the swap did not bother me one bit. Not only do I think Don Cheadle is a superior actor but I think he was a better match for the role. Cheadle's Rhodes is a no nonsense guy who doles out the tough love as opposed to Terence Howard's whiny, too cool for school take on the role in the original. Another bonus to the sequel is the inclusion of Scarlett Johansson's character Black Widow; she has a small but important role, along with Samuel Jackson's Nick Fury, in introducing and giving a little wink to the upcoming Avengers film. In her short time on screen Black Widow wipes the floor clean with bad guys and looks hot doing it. Scarlett makes for a voluptuous, kick ass female and I would definitely be interested in seeing a Black Widow franchise--little girls of the world need superheroes too.

This movie is not going to change your life but it was funny, action packed, and a good way to spend a Saturday afternoon. I think it definitely held its own against the first film. If that doesn't convince you to go see it maybe this will--after the climactic battle scene my son let out a loud "WOO-HOO" in the theater. My kid knows movies :)

Movie Review: How To Train Your Dragon

Vikings and dragons aren't the first images that come to mind when thinking of family animated movies, but in the capable hands of DreamWorks Animation, the pairing really works. Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) is the scrawny, clumsy son to Stoick (voiced by hunky Gerard Butler), the brawny head Viking in the village. Hiccup longs to follow in his father's footsteps of hunting and slaying dragons but Stoick wants to keep his boy out of harm's way. One night Hiccup takes it upon himself to join the latest dragon battle and successfully hits what he believes is a Night Fury, the most feared and rare of dragons. Of course no one is around to witness this nor does anyone believe him. Hiccup sets out to find the injured dragon and he finds just that, the Night Fury is injured and trapped. Hiccup frees the dragon and so begins a beautiful friendship and a truly touching story.

I loved this film. Of course I am a parent and a sucker for animated movies but there are themes in this movie that will touch even the most cold-hearted or cynical of movie goers. I also want to applaud DreamWorks Animation for broaching a tough subject in a kid's movie, and since I am anti-spoiler you will have to shell out the cash to find out what I am talking about. You can catch the film at your local cinema in 3-D, IMAX, or old school regular. I prefer old school but at the request of my husband and son we watched it in 3-D. I have to admit it was very cool in 3-D but for those parents with children under 5, I would suggest skipping the 3-D; although my son ended up enjoying it, the first half of the film frightened him because in Quentin's words "I felt like I was in the movie and the dragons were going to eat me". So parents beware of the 3-D action.

Speaking of 3-D, I am not a fan of the 3-D fad; probably because I was traumatized in the early 80's by two horrific 3-D experiences. The first was in 1982 when my Grandma Rita took me and my Aunt Sharon to see Friday the 13th Part III in 3-D. I was 7 years old and I remember my sad little horrified self taking off my glasses every time Jason killed someone. The other 3-D nightmare was Jaws III; Grandma Rita was there for that too. Needless to say those experiences put me off of 3-D, horror movies, and Sea World--but I still love my Grandma :) Watching How To Train Your Dragon in 3-D was a nice way to ease back into the 3-D experience and put my post traumatic 3-D disorder behind me. Regardless of which way you choose to watch the film, this is a definite must see for all.

Claud's Bonus Stuff: Article on my brother

Hello Everyone! New posts are coming but for now I want to share this great article that was written about my brother and his company for a local paper. We are all very proud of him. One thing I should clear up before you read, he did attend Devry, but for no more than 2 semesters. We don't want Devry taking any credit for his success :)

http://csbj.com/2010/04/10/aguilar-led-contracting-breakthrough/

Claud's View: The Oscars

THIS IS OUR HOMAGE TO THE SYLVESTER STALLONE CLASSIC OVER THE TOP

I want to start off by apologizing; my resolution was to write in my blog more and I have failed. Full disclosure -- I was sidetracked by a little phenomena named Twilight. I was seduced by the saga and got sucked in. Hello my name is Claudine, and I am a Twi-hard. Team Edward!!!!

Now let's get down to it.

The Academy Awards are upon us. This is my favorite event of the year; it is my Super Bowl or World Series if you will. Some may watch the show for the glitz and glamour but I watch as a lover of film. What makes this year's Oscars even better is that Inglourious Basterds, one of my favorite films of 2009 by my favorite director Quentin Tarantino, was honored with 8 nominations including Best Picture and Best Director. I am not fooling myself that Basterds has a fighting chance against the money making behemoth Avatar and the gritty war film The Hurt Locker, but as the Hollywood saying goes "it was an honor just to be nominated". Also giving the awards show a little something extra this year are the hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin. I think it was an ingenious idea to pair these two men up to co-host and I am looking forward to watching whatever they have cooked up as long as its not rehashed SNL skits.

Something else new to the Academy this year, that has turned out to be quite controversial, is the introduction of 10 Best Picture nominees instead of the traditional 5. I am on the opposing side of this argument. I think allowing 10 nominees doesn't lessen the honor per se but I truly don't believe that ALL films are worthy of the nomination; which brings me to Avatar. Most Oscar prognosticators are betting that the big Oscar showdown is between Avatar and The Hurt Locker. This bothers me immensely. I have not seen Avatar, on principle, even though my husband swears that I would enjoy it. My issue with the film is that is has been shoved down everyone's throat as the most astounding film ever. The whole thing is reminiscent of what they did with Titanic; a good movie but best film of 1997 I think not. Avatar seems visually stunning so it is well deserving of all the technical nominations but morphing an actor into a blue alien and having the majority of the film computer generated does not a best director make nor does the most popular movie qualify as the best picture. Nothing against James Cameron, he has brought my favorite female heroines to the silver screen- Sarah Connor in Terminator and Ellen Ripley in Aliens, but I think this year he should just be happy to go home with the title of cinematic maverick.

The awards are a big thing for my family. For almost 20 years now my dad, brother and I have had a contest as to who could predict the most wins. My dad even bought a "goldish" statue at a swap meet that we lovingly call "the Jorge". Andrew, my husband, and Alissa, my sister-in-law, joined the contest last year. The contest is pretty fierce, none of us share our picks with each other and we do not turn in our ballots until the day before the show. The winner gets a Blu-ray from each of the losers, bragging rights for a year, and possession of "the Jorge". I was in possession of "the Jorge" for quite some time until my winning streak ended 4 years ago. My brother has been the victor for those 4 years, but this year the "claud strikes back" and I will bring "the Jorge" home. So wish me luck readers and "may the force be with me".