Iron Man
 

Iron Man...
93% so far on rottentomatoes.com.
Interesting.
Anyone going to go see it?

I thought we'd discuss the big summer movies in their own threads. Just for fun.
I know a few people who are going to go see it tomorrow at midnight.

I think the trailer is decent.

I've no desire to be a first responder. But I'm interested if it gets good word-o'-mouth.


I think I'm mostly keen to see it because of Robert Downey, Jr. I know zero about the comic book.

I'm interested in word of mouth too. So far the few critic types I know who saw it (I couldn't get to it) weren't particularly impressed though they thought it was decent enough dumb fun.

But if I have to pay for it myself I'll probably wait a few years to get it from Netflix. Too many comic book movies this year. The Dark Knight is a must. Indy is a must (I know, not a comic book movie but in the vein) and I'll probably see the new Hulk just to compare it to the Ang Lee monstrosity.

And Speed Racer and the next Bond movie fill out my franchise movie dance card for the year. But if word is really good I'll go see it (though that got me in trouble with Superman Returns and The Transformers).

We'll be seeing it Friday afternoon. I'll let you know what the boy and I think.

Not reading reviews. And I. Can't. Wait.

I cannot picture RD Jr. as a badass because he isn't a badass.

Cough, Michael Keaton, cough.

Michael Keaton as Iron Man? That would be odd.

Thank you.

As far as I'm concerned, Robert Downey, Jr. can be anything he wants to be. If I were a straight man, I'd probably have a man crush on Downey, Jr.

Something about how Robert Downey Jr looks in the trailer I find off-putting. I don't know why...

Just heard a review from a friend...."IronMan is AWESOME."

I liked his over-the-top snarkiness. I don't know how it fits with the character (from the comic books), but it works for me in the trailers.

I'm sure you know he was Batman- but just in case.....

I'm planning to see Iron Man. It looks good, the kind of movies I like to see. Hopefully this weekend.

Same. Totally.

No he didn't. It was Val Kilmer and then later Christian Bale!

Okay - I saw a couple of print ads for this movie and didn't realize until I read it here that it even WAS Robert Downey, Jr.

ROBERT DOWNEY JR....YUM.

Reviews are very solid so far. My interest is growing.


Michael Keaton taught me never to pshaw casting until you see the person in the role. Christian Bale is a killer Bruce Wayne but Keaton remains (imo) the best Batman.


Tom Cruise was another one people groaned about as LeStat ... until he freaking nailed it.

I like Keaton but those two movies are a mess. Christian Bale is Batman.

On the other hand, I am looking forward to seeing Iron Man as well. I may go this weekend. The new mall in Glendale, which happens to be right next door to the old mall in Glendale, is an attempt to re-create the glory of The Grove, so I may check it out and then see the movie.

Ok, it's been a while since I've seen thiS film, but i don't remember cruise nailing Lestat at all. I hated his portrayal.

To each their own. Batman Returns is a masterpiece, and Cruise was fantastic as LeStat in the crappiest movie ever made of a great book.



And that's the truth, in my book. Your mileage and all that.



But Robert Downey, Jr. got arrested for having gay crack-addict sex behind a sleazy motel in my town ... so he's ok by me, and I like his work.

Tell me more about this so called "book" of yours.

Keaton had the face of Batman, just not the stature.
Bale erases the painful Batman films of the 89-90's.

I look forward to seeing IronMan. I'm actually very happy to see Mr Downey get back in the spotlight in a positive way.

Okay, I'll fess up. In my comic book days there were only a few titles that were important to me: Spidey, Avengers, FF, X-Men and above all IRON MAN! Yeah, I've been waiting for this one for a while. In fact, when the first Spiderman came out, and they did it right, one of my first thoughts was, "Okay, when do I get Iron Man?"

Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark? I'm looking forward to it. Stark is a flawed hero, actually sharing a lot of the same demons RDJ has struggled with. The look is right, and he is a brilliant actor.

The CGI of Iron Man looks great. I remember seeing the first trailers for Spiderman and turning to Erin and whispering, "Oh my God! They got it right!" That's what I'm getting here as well.

So I'm excited. Of course, my weekend is full and I won't be able to see it till next week.

ron

Keaton
Clooney
Kilmer
Bale


But it's Bale I would eat with whipped cream and a spoon:D

Ah... I forgot about Clooney.

And I would eat Michelle Pfeiffer (as Catwoman) with my tongue.

The spoon gets in the way.

VISIBLE MOJO!

Tom Cruise nailed nothing. Interview was a terrible movie, I hope you realize. The only good person in the film was Dunst. LeStat should have been played by Julian Sands (you know, back when he had hair). Cruise was the worst possible choice for the character and it showed. Bleh!

Also, Batman Returns was stinky. I'm not a huge fan of any of the Batman movies. The one I like the most is Batman Begins. But even then, it's not in my DVD collection.

I'm going to see Iron Man sometime this weekend.

The only superhero movies that are great are Spiderman 2 and the first Superman.

I'm giving up some love to:iSm:; I too thought Cruise nailed the role (and boy did my junior high school heart whine and moan when he was cast), as did Dunst. Everything and everyone else was crappity crap, crap, crap. True, Cruise wasn't the sort of physical perfect I imagined when I read Interview with a Vampire, but no actor really could be, such is the unearthly way those men and women are described by Rice. But I thought his characterization was surprisingly spot on.

And, Julian Sands, GC?! Really?! He was only good really good in 1 movie (A Room With a View), good in 1 movie (Impromptu) and okay in a really bad but fun movie (Warlock).

Sigh, how can GC (or whatever he's calling himself today) and I love each other so much when he has the crappiest movie taste?


I would never have imagined Tom Cruise in the role in a million years, and he astounded me with how well he made it his own. EH1812 is right about that, about Durnst, and about everything else in that film being the crapiest crappity crap.


Sorry, GC, Batman Returns is one of Tim Burton's best, and therefore a great film. Free of the set-up story, it's the only one to successfully mingle multiple villains (usually the kiss of death, e.g. Spider-Man 3). The script was witty and well-paced. DeVito was brililant, Pfeiffer at the top of her game, Walken excellent, and Keaton terrific.

Best.Batman.Movie.Ever.




So, Mr. Cricket, let's go see Iron Man Sunday night - - and fight about in the lobby afterwards. :D

Au contraire. Begins (I don't recall your opinion of Begins, but I love it) did it too (Raish Al-Gul and Sandman). AND it had origin story. AND Returns really only had 1.5 villains since Catwoman is only kinda morally ambiguous.

That said, Returns is still a f*cking brilliant movie

Of the actors to choose from at the time... he's the only one I would have chosen. He had a darkness about him at times that I totally thought would have worked for LeStat.


I honestly don't understand what anyone sees in Batman Returns.
"I am Catwoman, here me roar." I roll my eyes everytime I think of that line. I found it dull and boring.
But to each his or her own.

As for Burton's best... I'd have to say either Beetlejuice or the short Vincent... maybe Frankenweenie. Sleepy Hollow and Sweeney were enjoyable as well.

And GD and I have had words over this one before but I hated Nightmare Before Christmas. Again... boring.


AND the whole world knows that innerSpaceman's taste in movies is famously bad. Ahem *Crash* and *Notebook* cough barf.

:p

Ah, I'd say that Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice are his best, followed by Batman and Batman Returns. Sleepy Hollow was beautiful but made a terrifying tale anything but terrifying. And I flat out HATED Sweeney Todd.

I also loved both his stop animation films, and am in the minority of those who a) liked Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and b) preferred it to the Gene Wilder movie, which irritates the crap out of me (I know, I know...).

Did GC really just leave out Edward Scissorhands in his short list of best Burton films?!?

And he says there's evidence of MY poor movie taste. Au contraire, indeed.



(Oh, and yes, GD is right, Batman Begins, a fine film btw, did juggle multiples quite well.)

Scissorhands Schmissorhands.
It was decent.
Diane Wiest was good.

Ed Wood is another one I like.

Big Fish... meh.
Corpse Bride... boooooring.
Planet of the Apes... Yuck!

oh and another I love...

Pee Wee's Big Adventure.
:)

You are The Crazy©

I will admit, there is a bit of slowness in NBC, but overall it's an awesome film!

As for Iron Man (topic? what topic?), I am looking forward to seeing it, but alas, it's gonna be a while because I injured my leg last Saturday and wouldn't do well in a cramped cinema seat. :(

how can you forget gothic? breasts with eyes! i adore julian sands.

I agree with you on both accounts.

And now, since I have no desire to see Iron Man I'll step back out of this thread.

Holy ****, I forgot Ed Wood and Pee-Wee. They are up there with Edward Scissorhands and Beetlejuice.

I LOVED the Corpse Bride. Yes, I wish the song lyrics were a bit easier to understand, which was my same gripe with Elman's work in Charlie, as well.

Def. agree about Planet and Big Fish.

I haven't seen Gothic. I just realized, watching some of his later work, that he's not that good of an actor.

Be careful of that. It may make you short and curmudgeonly.



:D

I actually loved Iron Man, amazing huh?! It's the first super hero movie in a long time that I enjoyed. It wasn't overpowered by CGI, which has started annoying me when they rely on it too heavily. Iron Man had a great mix of everything and the humor was brilliant in spots, predictable in others, but over all a good movie. I'm sure we'll see it again later when Gary gets home.

:blush:

I loved it as well. Robert Downy Jr did a great job, IMHO.

I'm seeing it tonight. Not very excited about it really, but it's something to do with friends. With my expectations this low it HAS to be good!

With a name like Smuckers...

Oh, smuck you.

Turns out Lani wanted to see it so we did.

Not mindblowingly great or anything (there have been several better superhero movies in the last 8 years) but perfectly good fluff entertainment.

Surprisingly understated.

I saw it to-day at the Americana at Brand. It was an interesting experience -- the new mall was packed to the gills, which is hard on both me and fish. Just way too many people for my tastes; I started becoming uneasy within moments are getting there. On the other hand the new cinemas are as nice (maybe better?) then the ones at the Arclight -- which is saying something!

So far as my thoughts on Iron Man ... to use the parlance of the day, it was awesome!

It could have used a little more action, something in the mode of Robo-cop, which this film does resemble in a way (or, two), but that is a minor complaint

I enjoyed it too! Nothing earth shattering, just an enjoyable romp into super hero land.

My friends were commenting on how odd it was that Robert Downey Jr. actually looked sexy, and Gwyneth Paltrow didn't look like a hildebeast.

OH... and if you do see it, there's a little thing after the credits so be sure to stay for that!

Big Top Peewee was better. You DO have crap taste.



just kidding. Mr Bradeni Crickbrad. ;)

Crap, I missed it. Had to pee.......:rolleyes:

Here's what happened after the credits:

Forget the new mall or IronMan ...what did you think of the huge mural at the theater??? (My brother-in-law's creation)

At the Arclight in hollywood they had one of the actual iron man suits worn by Robert Downey Jr. (in the main lobby, not in the dome). He's a pretty small guy, actually!!

And Jeff Bridges just looked ridiculous in the movie.

Most actors are small, Joseph.



We could have been StArS!!!

Thanks for pointing that out, Ms. Desmond ;)

You'd all be ready for your close up, if they could find you. :evil:

Lower dear, just a bit lower.





That's not a line from the set to the cameraman. That's a line from the casting couch to Joseph.

I found it to be the most enjoyable "summer movie" I've seen in years. Downey Jr. was really terrific. I knew nothing about the character or the comics before going, and was thoroughly enthralled with the fun and the humor and the character developments. Favreau did a heck of a job, and I think his talent grows with each new project (I guess the projects themselves grow, too.)

While in the theater, I made a bit of a realization. Paramount is going to have a hell of a summer. Iron Man, Indy, Tropic Thunder... I think all of them are going to be #1.

I thoroughly enjoyed this movie.

Didn't stay for the end, and this is the first time we've decided to do that in the entire time we've been together.

Why, oh why, did I avoid this thread?

OH yeah, it's because I was hyped enough without you guys...

Gah!

I was entertained, but I had heard it was perhaps the best super hero movie ever, and it was from from that for me.

I didn't get into the hype. I wasn't expecting "the best super hero movie ever". I was looking for a good action movie based on a comic book story. And that's what I got. It helps to keep expectation realistic I suppose....

I liked Iron Man.
I enjoyed Downey's performance as well as Paltrow's. Jeff Bridges left me kinda cold. Wonderful special effects.

I thoroughly enjoyed it but I still call Spiderman 2 the best superhero movie. That and Superman I.

$100.7 million for Iron Man and $15.5 mil for Made of Honor. Wow. What a gap!

The passage of time was definitely all kinds of screwed up. But since I was entertained, I didn't care at the time and am willing to try not to examine it too much after the fact.

I liked it a lot. Funny, actiony, comicbooky, all in good measure.


I loved Robert Downey, Jr. and that didn't surprise me a bit. I was a bit surprised to enjoy Gwyneth Paltrow and a bit surprised to be underwhelmed with Jeff Bridges.

But a damn fine comic book movie, as far as those go. Completely enjoyable. I'm not asking for anything more from this particular genre.

Ditto the Jeff Bridges sentiment...

Higher, higher, higher!

That's not just a line from Robert Downey Jr. to his Iron Man suit. It's also the brainwave pattern Steve has before opening his mouth. ;)

I feel so isolated from the summer blockbuster hype. I have no idea when things are opening here... Is there a lot of dialog in this? I might go see it here but I'm sure it will be dubbed.

When I first heard RDJ was going to be playing Tony Stark I was a little worried. He just didn't seem like action hero material to me. But after I saw the first trailer he won me over. He plays Stark perfectly. Of course, what I know about Iron Man I know only from the cartoons.

So I saw it Friday night. I had my hopes very high and I wasn't disappointed. Awesome, awesome, awesome! I'm looking forward to seeing it again soon.

The dialog is some of the best parts, and RDJ's delivery is key. I'd rather wait to see it in English than watch it now dubbed.

Yep, that's what makes this a good film. It's not a silent movie you can watch without the original dialogue or any dialogue, like too many of this genre. The dialogue is key, sometimes predictible, but very often clever.

We tried to make time for this last night but the time got away from us. I definitely want to hit it up though, after all the raving here. Bummer about Jeff Bridges.

Jeff Bridges does LOOK caraaaaaaaaaazy tho :p

I had no problem with Jeff Bridges. Just thought the character was completely obvious from the beginning but that isn't really his fault.

He was on Craig Ferguson last week and let me say that he looked better in his Andrew Weil impersonation than with both the beard and his full head of hair.

I didn't have much of an issue with Jeff Bridges.

I'm just so pleased that RD Jr. didn't end up dead in a crack house somewhere, because for years I've been dreading what I feared was the inevitable conclusion of his up and down life.

Did I say I thought Iron Man was awesome? And RD Jr. was amazing?

*nods head slowly*

Awesome.

I have found it playing in Basel with French and German subtitles. How is there any room left on the screen? I may take a trip on Thursday.

When I was in Singapore I watched a Japanese movie that was shown with three sets of subtitles (if I recall correctly it was a Japanese movie dubbed into with English, Chinese, and Japanese subtitles).

It was pretty distracting to start, but as usual with subtitles I quickly got used it.

It was great, great, great fun. Excellent all around. And seeing it on a digital screen was the wise choice. The picture quality was beautiful.

I saw Iron Man on Saturday and it was FANTASTIC. Originally I just didn't get Robert Downey Jr as a "super" hero. RDJ completely won me over. It just goes to show me how good of an actor he is.

Well I finally saw this today with Matt. I really liked it and really would like to see it again. One of the best "comic book" adaptations out there - and I do hate the whole "comic book movie" ghetto thing. It's an action film based on another medium that happens to be a comic book. Arrgh! ;)

I thought everyone was great - Gwenyth was good but got kinda mellodramatic in the end. Bridges did a good job as Obadiath, though in the comics he was a bigger jerk. Terence Howard was kinda understated and I know we'll see more of him in the next film.

Lots of tip of the hat to those who know the comics. It was pretty faithful to the comics and like alot of the others films (Spidey/ X-Men) they took from several storylines and combined some things. But unlike the 3 X-Men films they did a nice job of combining the storylines. They basicly took the first year of Iron Man (1968'ish I think) and another big storyline from the mid 1980s. I was kinda dissapointed they didn't go with the comic ending with Obadiath killing himself with the repulsers.

This get's 9 bornieo's out of 10!

We just got home from watching Iron Man.

I had heard a lot of great reviews about the movie, nothing really about RDJ.
I am not one who particularly cares for action/superhero films.

Wow. RDJ was fantastic. He was perfect for this role. I loved the close ups and the way his face was lit up in the helmet. His eyes showed emotion that went with what was happening in the movie at the time.

What a hot mf.

And, a chance to see Terrance Howard? :snap:

Egads, all of those movies mentioned!!! I get the Tom Cruise as Lestat, I prefered Pee Wees' Big Adventure, crack up about the Batman Catwoman quotes {always cracked me up when the kids watched it, they had the costumes at the time...}

It was funny because I hadn't read this thread. The Boy wanted to see it but has been sick.

I wanted to hear the soundtrack, I can't remember the name, is it Prodigy? The song Institutionalized? Love that song!

Hope I didn't slip any spoilers...I think I am sick from eating movie popcorn...blech!!

Institutionalized is Suicidal Tendencies. (All I wanted was a Pepsi)

I have not been able to fully appreciate Terrence Howard since the Elle interview where he said that women are "unclean" if they wipe with dry toilet paper instead of baby wipes. This is about the time in an actor's rise to stardom when I appreciate the press-shy actors who keep their private lives private. I don't want to know these things about actors - I want to watch them act. (Which is why I try to stay away from gossip rags. Too bad they accost me more than I'd like!)

Thanks, NA!!! I wish I had a memory like yours! I used to, loved to name off bands, song titles, etc. Now I get a nice little *blank*. I knew the name, it just didn't come through. :(

Hee hee, we used to tease the boy with that song, but all he wanted was a Coke...

LSPoorEeyorick~ Oh no he didn't!!!! :eek: Ew, yeah, I don't think he should say quite so much about what goes on in his head.

Reminds me of that Roseanne episode where she is in bed with Dan but imagines Fabio. Dan speaks {starts to ruin her fantasy} and she says 'Shut up!' or something like that.

Thanks ladies for your input. :snap: :D

Hmm, as stated, it does seem creepy and misogynistic. But I have to wonder, perhaps he holds himself to the same standard. There's nothing in there that says ONLY a woman needs baby wipes, perhaps he uses them himself. Still kinda weird and creepy, but not necessarily sexist.

Tons of people around the world think all Americans are unclean for not using a bidet. I try not to think about the fact that I agree with them.


Of course, I'd never say so in an interview ... yet here I am saying it on the internet.