Iron Man 2

Tony Stark is back as we get the follow up to phenomenally successful Iron Man, yes its, er Iron Man 2.

Basically we pick up the story a few months after Tony's declaration of hero status. The world it seems is a more peaceful place but Tony is under increasing pressure from the government, his business rivals and feeling the physical strain of being a full time hero. Then a mysterious Russian scientist emerges to push Tony's world out of control.

Now much like the first outing it's Robert Downey Jr who drives the film along as he once again mines that charisma but this time was a darker edge as the cracks begin to show. And once more it's the chemistry between him and Gwyneth Paltrow that really brings heart to the film as Tony and Pepper continue to spark of each other.

Elsewhere Mickey Rourke is the fore mentioned Russian crazy man (and Mickey gives good crazy) but he and follow supporting player Scarlett Johansson doesn't get enough to do and feels rather wasted. Don Cheadle as Col. Rhodes gets more to do as he gets to put on a robo suit of his own and he slips into the ensemble cast with ease, striking up a likable double act with Downey in their scenes together.

Sam Rockwell's business rival Justin Hammer however is a weak link and never really convinces coming across as a petulant buffoon more than genuine credible rival for Tony.

Much like the first outing the film is again fairly light on action and relies more on it's characters to entertain which thanks to the mostly excellent performances and writing, they do. Of the action we do have the early Monaco set mid-race face off is by far the most effective whilst the ending sequence feels over familiar and once more comes down to power suited face off. Sadly the film lacks a good solid, strong villain to really focus the action. Rourke's scientist is underserved and so feels a little like an afterthought in the end.

In the midst of this the march towards The Avengers continues as SHIELD and Nick Fury get a little more screentime to lay the starting blocks a little more, but whilst offering promise of what is to come it does make the film feel like it's still building up to something, which for a sequel is not what you want.

Iron Man 2 is not as X2 was to X-Men, it feels more like a scene setting movie all over again. But whilst this may seem quite negative it is an enjoyable watch with a sense of fun running through the whole project. So not the all out spectacular you might have expected (in fact there is quite a lot in the trailers not in the finished film) but it is still high quality entertainment.

The Box

The Box is the third film from director/writer Richard "Donnie Darko" Kelly, taking the short story Button, Button as a starting point it seems a married couple presented with a strange choice. Press a button on a box and receive $1m but known that someone will be killed. Or well, don't.

It's an interesting question to be set but sadly our suburbanites Norma (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur (James Marsden) are not really fleshed out enough for us to ever believe it is a genuinely difficult choice for them to make. So the early premise of the film is quickly done with and the button is pushed.

For here things get increasingly bizarre as the consequences for pushing the button become increasingly outlandish, it is a shame as the film does climax on a genuinely nightmarish choice for the young family but the route taken to get there is so daft it has stripped away all credibility by the time you get there. However to say what this course is would be spoilerish in the extreme and I suspect fun can be gleamed from the film in a first viewing by sheer disbelief of the events.

I do wonder though if this could have been made much better by being much gritter and more grounded. If it simply was built around a series of escalating choices I think it would have been an excellent little thriller. I can't help but think it would have been good material for the likes of David Fincher whose 'The Game' has certain traits in common.

It seems Kelly can't resist the surreal and bizarre though and it is fair to say there are still similarities with 'Donnie Darko' here. He still shows the odd bit of flair and the 70's setting is well realised but he is straining to hard to be different. Increasingly sadly it looks like he first feature will be a flash in the pan as this third outing is even more disappointing than the sprawling mess that was 'Southland Tales'.

One of the best I've ever seen..

To continue World Cup build up let us all admire this goal from France '98. For Dennis Berkamp to take a ball under control after it's traveled some thirty yards is impressive. To do it when it's coming over his shoulder is even better.

To then take the defender completely out of the game with his next touch is stupidly good. To then rifle the ball into the net giving the keeper no chance is excellent. To do this all with three touches of the ball is football genius. It is still one of the vest goals I've even seen...

Go Go Godzilla.

With the World Cup less than fifty days away excitement continues to build (well it certainly does for me anyway) and I've already picked the team I will support alongside my obvious national inclination.



Yes this year I will be supporting Asia titans Japan! Making their fourth consecutive appearance at a finals the team will be looking to once again progress past the group phase. It will be a tough ask with Cameroon and the Netherlands in their group alongside the Danish but they have a chance.

Shunsuke Nakamura will be the player most familiar to most people having played at Celtic for a number of seasons and the they kick off their campaign against Cameroon on the 14th of June.

So I've ordered the strip, started the research on the squad and coaching staff and noted their match dates. I'm all ready to go.

And that Nakamura can sure take a free kick or two..

I'm TNT...

Something of a random one but I present a video that has cool music and represents one of my fondest gaming memories...

Trailer Of The Day: The Other Guys

Ferrell and McKay take on the buddy cop picture.

Mega Movie Update

Right I've not updated this for awhile now so it's time I think for a quick summary of a number of films I've seen since Easter time;



Charlie And The Chocolate Factory ; I'd not seen Burton version of Dahl's book until watching it on the telly the other week. The film looked great, the production design of the various factory rooms was brilliantly imaginative as once the styling of the family's house.
Depp's Wonka was a bit of a strange creation, channeling Jacko unmistakeably and adding a layer of sentiment to the character. However the performance wasn't has strong as it could be, Gene Wilder's Wonka dominates the screen whenever he's on but Depp's did not grab the attention in the same way. The supporting cast were fine but not outstanding. Overall it was decent but something that fadded quickly from the memory once over.

Clash Of The Titans : The update of the old sandal and stop motion epic was like the above a fun piece of entertainment whilst it was on but nothing that lingers with you. Sam Worthington was the same as he is in every other role I've seen him in, Gemma Arterton looked stunning but was sadly left with a role that made her Miss Exposition. Elsewhere Fiennes caught the eye with a good creepy turn as Hades.
A couple of really effective sequences exist in the film (giant scorpions, Medusa's lair) but sadly the final climatic appearance of the Kraken was underwhelming and rather a anticlimax.



The Hangover : Watched on DVD the other week this breakout comedy hit of 2009 is a great little "bromance" comedy as three friends pull together to find thier soon to be married friend after a hellish night out in Las Vegas. It takes familiar scenarios but does put it's own spin on things with Bradley Cooper as a likable lead and Zach Galifianakis in particular providing excellent support in the crazy mate role. Perhaps not the work of genius made out by a lot of others but still a very amusing watch.

Land Of The Lost ; Will Ferrel's update of the TV show is a strange one indeed. Seemingly pitched as a family comedy but packed full of jokes that would take a lot of red faced explaining from parents to the younger ones the audience. Still it does have a couple of chucklsome moments and the final pay off joke is almost worth the previous ninety odd minutes alone.



Kick-Ass : This was simply great. An imaginative and stylish pastiche of the superhero genre which like all good pastiches celebrates it's target as much as it pokes fun. Matthew Vaughan brings Mark Miller's comic book to vibrate stylish life (with help from Jane Goldman) packed with laugh out loud moments, pulsating action set pieces (a sequence inside a dark warehouse late on is a real standout) and genuine heart. Highly recommended and the it's one where I'm more than pleased to hear the cast are already signed up for two more outings.

So there you go, that's what I've been watching recently

Trailer of the Day : Resident Evil : Afterlife

I know it will be rubbish, you know it will be rubbish but we all still know...it will be AWESOME!

The New Doctor Is In

So much like the rest of the internet I'll take a bit of time to talk about the first installment of the new look Doctor Who. The series began afresh on saturday under the stewardship of new chap in charge Steven Moffat (for some reason British TV doesn't quite have the same show runner setup has those Yanks) and so including a number of new things to signal a new era.

New logo, new titles (they might take time to grow on me), new assistant and of course new Doctor in the form of Matt Smith.

So far I like him, but then I liked David Tennant to begin with but ended up preferring Christopher Eccelston's take. Truth is it's going to take seeing him in a couple of more dramatic episodes before I really commit to what I think but early signs are good as he seems to have a strong sense of comic timing and can certainly do the slight mad babbling and the look (once chosen) worked well.

Karen Gillan as new assistant Amy Pond has promise too, seems to be a strong and feisty type and hopefully not someone who make eyes at the Doctor all the time, though again it's still early days and we'll have to see how well she develops. Plus of course those skirts might cause a distraction.

Overall for the episode itself I'd say it was one of the strongest, if not the strongest series opener. It managed to introduce us to all the people it needed to (Amy, new Doctor, family members)and drop in things for the series to come with out feeling too forced. Plus it managed to have a bit of creepy presence with 'prisoner Zero' who was quite sinister as man and dog, heck even quite sinister when it was Olivia Coleman.

We got some comedy, some scares (it's an old trick but the door suddenly being open in back of frame was well used), a Patrick Moore cameo and somewhere that wasn't Cardiff or London! All this without a wildly pitching tone as well, the thing held together very well successfully including a beginning, middle and end which a lot of Russel T Davis' own stories never quite managed.

Davis did well to bring the show back to screens and make a hit of it (though I still believe Christopher Ecceslton deserves more credit than he gets for this)but I get the feeling under Steven Moffat the show is going to be stronger than ever this year.