Iron Man 3 Review: Marvel's 'Phase 2' starts off strong

Dir. Shane Black
130 Minutes
Rated PG-13

The Avengers, love it or loathe it, changed the landscape of superhero films.  Warner Brothers is now trying to play catch-up with a Justice League film that has disaster written all over it and Disney has a chokehold on superhero properties as it gradually sucks up more and more famous comic book characters (Daredevil and Ghost Rider just passed on over to the House of Mouse).  So now with The Avengers under their belt, that gives the company virtually unlimited directions to head in, and it will be interesting to see how some of these big ideas play out - especially with James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy.  But to usher in the second chapter for Marvel Studios is the hero that started it all: Tony Stark. In his fourth big screen adventure, Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.) is going solo again.  After the events in New York (the whole wormhole opening up a rift in space thing), Stark is suffering from a little anxiety.  Sure he has his girl, Pepper Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow), by his side and his partner, Rhodes (Don Cheadle) at his back, but a new terrorist force, the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), is causing a ruckus. Throw in a mentally unstable scientist (Guy Pearce) with a 10-year grudge against Tony, and the crock pot is fully stirred for action.

Summer 2013 Movie Predictions

Hey people, Iron Man 3 was just officially released in my homeland of America, kicking off the summer season of over-budgeted mega-blockbusters to a great start (I'd say beating The Avengers  at the international box office is a pretty big deal).  So I thought it'd be fun to play the ol' guess the box office game that I've seen many bloggers participate in.  I've never done it, so who knows what could happen? H'yuk!

Pain & Gain Review: Michael Bay believes in fitness

Dir. Michael Bay
129 Minutes
Rated R

[WARNING:  This is based on a true story, so spoilers for real life ahead]

Pain and Gain is based on a true story which was featured in a 1999 Miami New Times article recounting a group of criminal bodybuilders who kidnapped, extorted money, and tortured victims, two of whom ultimately received the death penalty.  The film marks a return to roots for Michael Bay, who took a break from having giant robots punch each other in the Transformers series for a low budget action picture similar in expense to his directorial debut Bad Boys. The cast, including Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, took pay cuts to keep costs low for this "little," more character-driven piece.  But never fear, it's still as bat shit insane as anything else Bay has produced.

Mud Review: A modern take on Huckleberry Finn with amazing performances and a surprising amount of heart

Dir. Jeff Nichols
131 Minutes
Rated  PG-13

MUD.  Despite having a title that will put general audiences off, Mud is the third feature film from director Jeff Nichols, who continues his string of low budget, deliberately paced Southern dramas with this little number that got a lot of buzz coming out of the Cannes Film Festival.  The eternally hunky Matthew McConaughey is also continuing his lucky streak from films like Magic Mike, Killer Joe, and Bernie with another incredible performance that I believe tops all those previous films.  The plot follows these two boys, Ellis and Neckbone (Tye Sheridan and Jacob Lofland), who find an odd man named Mud (McConaughey) hiding in the woods, living in a boat lodged up high in a tree.  They develop a curious relationship with Mud and become friends.  But bounty hunters are on the lookout for him because he killed a man - a man that beat his girl, Juniper (Reese Witherspoon), while pregnant with a baby.  So as you can imagine the stakes are high, and what envelops is a deeply layered, exciting coming-of-age tale that deals with love, family, and loyalty in a superbly acted and directed movie.  So go see it!

Oblivion Review: Puts the sci-fi genre in a blender, but tastes bland

Dir. Joseph Kosinski
126 Minutes
Rated PG-13

I can't say that Joseph Kosinski's name is something that gives me hope going into a movie.  Having directed the over-hyped TRON: Legacy, I wasn't exactly jumping up and down to see him cover the sci-fi genre again.  However, the name that did jump out at me in the credits list was cinematographer Claudio Miranda, who just recently won the Academy Award for Life of Pi's beautiful camera work (and also came close with Benjamin Button in 2008).  Plus, I still like Tom Cruise, and Ghost Protocol proved that he can still pull off great action.  And there was a cool spaceship that looked like a sperm.  So I still booked it to the theater to catch this one.

The Place Beyond the Pines Review: A daring drama that deals with the dark side of parenthood

Dir. Derek Cianfrance
140 Minutes
Rated R

A few years ago I caught a little indie movie called Blue Valentine while it was briefly in theaters, and I was introduced to two wonderful actors who I'd seen and heard before, but then skyrocketed to the top of my radar: Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams.  In Derek Cianfrance's follow-up to Blue Valentine, he's reunited with Gosling and adds in Bradley Cooper and a bunch of other recognizable faces (to me at least) for another great "actors" movie.  This is one of those films where a major plot twist happens early on, so I'll stay away from spoilers, but the gist is that Gosling is a pro motorcycle rider, separated from his ex-girlfriend (Eva Mendes), who finds out he has a kid.  Although he has no money, he wants to provide for his son, so he teams up with a back-alley auto mechanic and decides to rob some banks.  The rest I will consider spoilers, but Bradley Cooper plays a cop hot on his trail.

The Lords of Salem Review: Rob Zombie tries to be Kubrick, doesn't pull it off

Dir. Rob Zombie
101 Minutes
Rated R

(Sorry if this review is too vague!)

Besides the Halloween movies, which were just alright, I've pretty much loved everything Rob Zombie has ever done, music or otherwise.  His first two movies, House of 1000 Corpses and its sequel The Devil's Rejects are in my mind two of the scariest horror movies of recent memory, and introduced this gang of terrifying, and somehow likable, degenerates to the genre.  All the main cast members of the 'Firefly' family were amazing in their roles and should go down as one of the scariest horror families ever put to screen (I'd even rank it up there with the Sawyer family from Texas Chainsaw Massacre).  So, I was pumped before seeing this.  It was Rob going back to doing original movies (no remakes or sequels or any of that bullshit).  I'd kept up with all the news about the film as it was coming out, then an awesome trailer came out, and I got even more psyched.  How could this go wrong?  Rob Zombie given unlimited creative control, going back to his roots?  Sign me up.  Well, it pains me to say this as someone who will probably be a Rob Zombie follower until the guy croaks, but this is one of the worst things he's ever put out.