Iron Man 3 - Some simple criticisms

Overall, I thought that Iron Man 3 was a decent movie. However, there are some elements that I just cannot wrap my head around. I just don't know what the producers were thinking.

1. The plot moves very slowly especially at the beginning. 20 minutes into the movie barely anything had happened.

2. People don't go see Iron Man to watch Tony Stark suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. Look, we know that the Avengers situation in New York with the aliens was tough on everyone - but I didn't notice Captain America going ptsd in Winter Soldier. And, in truth, if you compare Captain America 2 to the sequels for Iron Man there is just no comparison. Captain America dominates Iron Man - which is pretty surprising.

3. People don't go to Iron Man movies to watch Tony Stark fly around in and try to fix broken Iron Man suits. Especially, when there apparently were plenty of working suits in his basement all along. And then he goes and blows all of those up at the end for no reason... which leads me to my last point.

4. Tony Stark is the only superhero who seems to deliberately destroy all his weapons purposely on a regular basis. It is really not fun to watch this guy destroy all this great superhero stuff time and time again. He actually just comes off as a lunatic - which is not all that entertaining in a superhero film.

Oh yeah - and Marvel continues its tradition of never killing any good guys in its movies no matter what kind of terror befalls them.

The Cabin in the Woods is an awesome movie currently available on Netflix. It's basically a story about five friends who go for a vacation in a cabin and then all types of creepy things happen. Except there is a lot more to it. It is not your typical horror film in any way, shape, or form.

However, like many bloggers I really don't want to ruin this movie. Suffice it to say there is a whole other running plot line that is taking place as you are watching whats going on at the cabin. And, it is that other plot-line that makes the movie so interesting.

I'm not a huge horror film guy so I totally missed the many references that this film had to the horror film genre. If your not an expert you would totally miss about half the stuff that is going on in this movie - yet you would still enjoy it. If you want to see more on all the hidden messages in the film, check out this great video.

The movie has an awesome cast as well. There is the guy who plays Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Bradley Whitford (from The West Wing), and Jesse Williams from Grey's Anatomy (Dr. Avery) along with some other great actors.

Disney's John Carter - B Movie or Awesome Movie??

Disney's John Carter somehow manages to feel like the most expensive professionally produced B Movie of all time. The visual effects at times are just awesome - yet sometimes it seems so over the top that it has that Sharknado-like feel to it, if you know what I mean.

First, it is really long which gives it a sort of epic feel. It also has every sci-fi element in it that one can imagine. It takes place on Mars. It involves traveling through space by making "copies" of oneself. It has these Green Martians called Tharks that reminded me of the aliens in Avatar. It also has these beings called Therns who are immortal and reminded me of the Observers from Fringe. So it is basically Star Wars, Star Trek, Fringe, & Avatar all combined into one epic extraordinary tale.So if you are into Sci-fi you might want to have some fun with this one.

This movie was a total box-office bomb - maybe one of the biggest bombs of all time. It cost a ridiculous $350 million dollars to produce and ended up losing about $200 million when all was said and done. I'd hate to be the guy working at Disney responsible for that mess-up. Truth is that if you spent $350 million on a movie that at times feels like a B-movie you really gotta wonder. I'm not even sure what they spent so much money on. If you want to compare, I believe that The Avengers was produced for around $220 million and that one brought in way more of course, and the overall visual effect was far more impressive. There is a certain point in time when the budget grows to a point where someone has to wave that red-flag and start questioning some of the decision making.

Despite the box-office bomb, I do think it's worth the time - so long as you don't spend too much money on watching the movie. Think of it this way - a $350 million dollar movie is sure to have something in there of interest. Personally, I did enjoy many elements of the film.

That's What I Am

That's What I Am is a 2011 film that is an awesome hidden gem now playing on Netflix. The film seems to take place in the 1960's, and has a narration that gives it a real "Wonder Years" feel. I actually think that the narration of this film is what really makes it work. The film is told from the perspective of Andy who is neither a nerd nor super cool. He is just a regular kid with a crush on a girl. But Mr. Simon (the school's best teacher) pairs up Andy on a class project with "Big G", the official school nerd. Through his interaction with Big G, Andy and the viewers learn a lot about tolerance and intolerance.

The school Andy attends is portrayed quite stereotypically. There are the cool kids, geeks, cooties, "geek island", cliques, you name it. And, I think that is also part of what makes the film work. The movie doesn't spend much time trying to create a realistic and nuanced picture of high school life. Instead, the movie takes for granted the existence of this toxic school environment, and shows how a good kid can get pulled in, pulled out, or remain indifferent.

If not for Mr. Simon, Andy would never have gotten involved with a geek like Big G for fear of the social repercussions. But, once he is forced to work together with Big G, he grows to respect how Big G handles his lot in life. In fact, one of the films most endearing qualities is Big G's attitude and approach to life. At one point, Big G explains to Andy that you cannot live your life trying to change other people. There is a moment in the movie when Big G tells Andy that "I can't make them be nice people", and I think that is real eye-opening moment for both Andy and the viewers. People (adults included) often live their lives trying to change the "not nice" behavior of others. Because of his troubled lot in life, Big G has developed an understanding of the world well beyond his years. He understands that one cannott force others to be nice people, and you just have to learn to ignore them.

Though there may have been some moments where the movie moved a bit slowly, I think it is a real gem and worth the watch.