Tin man gets a heart

Writing this review of Iron Man 3 was difficult in that I didn't want to reveal too many spoilers. Ultimately, this is the worst of the Iron Man movies. That doesn't mean that the movie is bad, but that the other two are pretty good. If I had to rank the movies from best to worst I would do so in the order that they came out.

Robert Downey Jr. is so familiar with the character at this point that it looks almost too easy for him to pull off Tony Stark. Somewhat surprising to myself in this one is how much screen time is devoted to Gwyneth Paltrow's character Pepper Potts. However, upon reflection, it does make sense, because the events center almost entirely around Pepper and Tony's relationship.

From the trailers I was expecting a very epic clash between a worthy mad genius foil for Tony Stark, ie The Mandarin. I will say this, Ben Kingsley can do no wrong. Spoiler alert, do not click this link about why comic book fans didn't like the Mandarin in this movie.

Apart from the aforementioned controversy this movie actually has the most tension of all the Iron Man movies. Iron Man might not make it through this time. The enemy is substantial, and the fight is larger than before. You've got all the necessary Iron Man whiz bang, and snarkiness. Don Cheadle is there to help out. And you know what, that is enough. Definitely a movie you wouldn't mind watching if it happened to be on, and you'd probably deem it a worthy waste of time.

7/10 Good cap to the series......so far, I mean they are going to make another, no way they don't

P.S. Guy Pearce is in this movie, and he is almost as scuzzy as he was in Lawless. All I've got to say about that.

AS YOU WISH!!!

At its core, The Princess Bride really is a love story. Sure, there is a ton of comedic gold, and the narrator can be jarring, but ultimately this is about Westley and Buttercup. This movie is as witty as they come, and equally memorable, but at the end of the day it is all about "Toooooo bllllluuuuuuuuuffffffff."

True love is the motivation for our principal actors, Cary Elwes and Robin Wright, respectively Westley and Buttercup. Speaking of actors who never became as big as they probably should have, this was hands down André René Roussimoff's greatest film role. Yes, he was only in five films, but so what? The guy was great in this particular movie, and how dare you denigrate his memory.

Now that I think about it, the narrator, aka Grandpa, (played masterfully by Peter Falk) really adds a lot to the film. Initially, you are kind of like "come on," but later in the movie he adds an element of suspense. In reality, all of the pieces in this narrative play a useful and enjoyable role. Miracle Max played by Billy Crystal and his wife Valerie played by Carol Kane, are such a welcome addition, and really when you think about how little they occupy the screen it is a rather outsized addition. Of course there is also Fezzik and Inigo's boss Vizzini deftly portrayed by Wallace Shawn. Full disclosure, I had to look up his character's name, because I'm pretty sure it is never mentioned in the movie. Maybe during the game of wits.

This movie belongs in the definitive collection of American films. The film has a little bit of everything for everyone. You can't go wrong watching this. Even if you aren't in a movie mood I guarantee if you force yourself to start watching it you will be happy with your decision.

10/10 will watch an innumerable amount of times in my life

Fake Movie, Real Acting

Argo is a very good movie. Ben Affleck manages to continue directing engaging, and gripping films. I would have never guessed that from the guy in the southie tuxedo in Good Will Hunting, but it is the current reality.

For those that don't know, Argo is based on the Iran Hostage Crisis, and specifically the Canadian Caper. This isn't required knowledge to enjoy the movie, but it helps you with context. I went into the movie knowing a little about these historical events and it didn't ruin my movie experience.

I think that John Goodman's performance in this movie sticks out above all the others. For some reason I totally bought him as the Hollywood insider, injected enough into the industry, but detached enough that he would have the freedom to indulge his inner patriot and help the CIA. Also, I really liked the main revolutionary guard that holds them up at the airport, I think the actor is Bahram Khosraviani. It was a small role, but I thought he nailed it.

It's kind of odd to try to analyze the movie, because it is based on actual events, so I can't really complain about a bunch of plot points. However, not all of the facts are known about the event, and as such I do think that the way that they portrayed things was well done. I didn't feel like they made the scenes too Hollywood. I guess you could quibble about the bazaar scene, or the escape from the embassy, but that seems a little extreme to me. The ending was for sure a little dramatic, and I read that the former Canadian ambassador was a bit miffed that Canada's role was not played up to its actual level, but other than that I think the movie was pretty compelling.

Solid movie which was an easy choice for Best Picture, 8/10, will see again