Iron Man

So the good news is Iron Man is a big bunch of Saturday fun out at the movies. There are good laughs and there is great action and special fx, and there are more quiet character driven moments that remind me a lot of similar scenes from the best of the Spider-Man flicks.

This is a film that does have a few nitpicks with some of the standard Marvel Comic ways of film making. Though, good news, it is by pure force of will and guts that these are soundly over come by the aggressive style of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark / Iron Man and director John Favreau who creates some solid practical effects instead of overusing CGI. Favreau also is pro active in not making Iron Man yet another Marvel Zombie film by making the film a sci-fi / tech / geek / gear head adventure rather than a superhero film. This allows him to massage his way past some of the worst offending cliches of such films and move it into a more real world / real film scenario, and for the most part it works. You find yourself caught up in the characters and what's going on more than you are caught up in spectacle ala Transformers. Robert Downey pushes the film along so fast and so intensely that when it's over, after nearly 2 hours, you feel like you're just getting warmed up for the big event, and after the credits you find out what that big event will be by the time Iron Man 2 and 3 roll around with a nice cameo from Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury as portrayed in the Ultimates comic book universe that Marvel runs outside the continuity of the regular Marvel universe - where Nick Fury is a fifty something white guy. Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch basically drew Nick Fury as Jackson in this comics universe that is more tied into the Marvel movie universe as we shall see with the Hulk, Thor, Captain America and Avengers flicks.

Alongside the DC Batman and Superman franchises, this is a good example of how you do a comic book adaptation correctly. Favreau and Downey went so far as to bring in the current creators of the Iron Man continuity to be a think tank and script advisers. They also hired in top talent from Industrial Light and Magic as well as having top actors in all key roles in the film. Suddenly they have a film that people want to see, that's well made, that's not dumbed down and that is respectful of the source material. Wow. Imagine. It's big box office and on top of that, was not affected at all by the release of other popular video games and movies at the same time! So now finally, the big realization has forced its way into Hollywood execs brains - you do a comic book movie on the cheap and it's a dud, you treat it and its fans with respect and top quality and you're rolling in the dough... and how long did that take?

This summer we're getting Iron Man, Batman, Narnia, a Will Smith Superhero flick and The Hulk. Way to go Hollywood... now if you can just put together in your head the idea that when you release months worth of crap films, no one goes to the movies... because they're crap films you might actually find a way to make a consistent dollar and become an art form instead of just a feature length trailer for folks to buy the DVD...

So... go see Iron Man if you have any need to see wide screen sci-fi / comic book guys throwing down with big bad super villains - you will have fun.

I give Iron Man 4.5 out of 5 stars, way up. Robert Downey is Tony Stark and an acting force to watch out for in the future.

The Orphanage (El Orfanato)

Available at Amazon HERE
This is a Spanish Language film produced and presented by Guillermo Del Toro (Hell Boy, Pan's Labyrinth) and directed by new Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona. As with Pan's, there isn't an English dub, merely English subtitles, but as with Pan's, this is no detriment to the film and after the first ten minutes you'll forget that you're reading subtitles.

The film is a mystery / thriller / horror film. Not so much a who dunnit, but a what happened? It also is a bit of ghost movie and in that regard, it does some good spooking. It's not about shocking violence in the way Pan's tended to be, but it's more of a what's around the corner kind of scary. It's very character driven with the central heroine played by Belén Rueda. It focuses on her and her family and the life they hope to kick start by taking over a long dormant orphanage that she was raised in.

The plot of the movie is Rueda trying to establish a school for mentally challenged children at this orphanage while trying to deal with the HIV+ young adopted son of her own. The boy begins to have some very strong relationships with invisible friends and Rueda begins to wonder just how much of this is true and how much is it her son's imagination. When her son goes missing, she uses police detectives as well as psychics to help her find him. From there it's one creepy piece of the puzzle after another.

There is a nice twist in the film, more subtle than say The Sixth Sense, but when you get to it, it's pretty jaw dropping as you immediately start piecing together the ramifications of the reveal... then there's the ending... where you go... oh sh!t... one more time.

The acting is uniformly strong, the children are creepy and the medium in a trance going through the house is very creepy and unnerving. The only role that really didn't need to be there was her husband. Compliant, ambivalent and ready to bale out is all he's about and with a tweak here and there, they could have written that part out all together. The mother is very strong and from the DVD extras, such a strong performance and such a strong script are not common in Spain... and I'm not sure why that would be or why they would so strongly underscore that in the extra making of featurettes. The only way it could have been a stronger film would have been to have a stronger director rather than a first timer, but with del Toro behind the scenes, there was a strong guiding hand.

And! I can finally say... this is a REAL horror film. It doesn't rely on gore or torture and it's actually scary and spooky and just that kind of thrill ride when you really want something solid and well done. There is some CGI, but it's not the main thrust of any of the effects. On their budget, the CGI went, apparently, to stuff like making the house big enough and that type of stuff. So kudos there as well.

I was not sure what to expect from this film, but Mr. del Toro is batting a thousand with this release following up Pan's. The pair together would make a nice weekend's entertainment.

I give The Orphanage a 4.5 out of 5. Great solid horror film here without relying on the torture of women and gore. I would give it a five, but I know that some out there really hate reading their films, but this one is worth it.

Composer Esa-Pekka Salonen

Available From Amazon HERE

Available from Amazon HERE
These are the two most recent releases by renowned Finnish conducter Esa-Pekka Salonen of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. This releases are modern classical music but its far from the atonal and repetitive compositions ala Steve Reich and others who explore sound in looping mechanical mathematical ways. This is not to say that it doesn't have it's challenges, but there is so much meat here that you are given reason to want to explore and hear the various layers of sounds and instrumentation.

There are vocals here, but they are used as another instrument. I think the fact that some of them are actual words is not the point, I think the use here is strictly as another sound. LA Variations features Dawn Upshaw and Wing on Wing features Anu and Piia Komsi. It remains rooted in symphonic music, but it also has a bit of avant-garde and it has the sweep of orchestral soundtrack. So I don't think it would be worth picking apart except to say that there is a lot of meat here. It's also not studious in the way that say John Adams or Kronos Quartet might be. It more passionate and fluid than that.

Usually, in classical music, I prefer chamber music or I prefer vocal or operatic music and I will shy away from new classical music for the very reason that it comes off as somewhat clinical and even pretentious. This is not that and for those looking for something new with a bit of a challenge and a bit of a swing, I would say look here. From these works, I did explore off to Steven Reich's Different Trains and Electric Counterpoint, Brian Eno's Music For Airports and John Adam's On The Transmigration of Souls. Glad I did... some good stuff to explore.

I like Wing On Wing slightly better than LA Variations, but I would still highly recommend both.

I rate them 4.5 out 5. For taking a chance.

Cloverfield DVD

From Amazon HERE
So I spent an hour and a half watching Cloverfield. Sigh. What it is: a proof of concept of a good idea. What it's not: A good movie. Well, okay, it is well made, it's an interesting idea, but the final product just really doesn't deliver what you want from such a movie.

CF is a monster movie. We know this by now, so no spoilers there, and it's shot from the first person perspective of a character named HUD (Heads Up Display to you first person shooter fans) who is apparently using a wide screen cinema camera. Which everyone is commonly equipped with, not a regular video, standard perspective, camera. It uses state of the art technology to bring a monster the size of the twin towers to life in the middle of Manhattan. Okay... so far so good, but first we have to get to know the characters and understand their inter relationships... and then we have to have a reason for them to run around downtown while the monster is rampaging. Ok check... we got all that. Should make for a heck of a scare film with popcorn just being gobbled nonstop.

Well, the execution of the idea makes you put your popcorn to the side as the herky jerky camera work ala Blair Witch just makes you want to puke in your shoes. By the end I did have a headache from the nonstop camera bouncing. To make matters worse, instead of it being a chance to really give the viewer a tunnel view into what is going on by picking very specific shots, you get shots of the ground, of the dark, of peoples shoes, people across the way, the sky, etc. What you don't get is shots of the monster or the military fighting the monster even when those elements are within mere feet of the camera man. In a monster movie with state of the art special effects, I want to have the camera whirl up to show me a monster wailing away just above me while I poop my pants from the vertigo of such a huge beast. I also don't want twenty minutes of shots of the hapless victims while they tell us why they have a reason to flee together. I want monsters, I want fleeing, I want cars being thrown and buildings being stepped on when I pay to see a good monster movie.

The other bad thing is many many times the film jumps the shark in the decisions the characters make. When the army is evacuating everyone and all points lead out and you know that loved ones are probably dead, okay... the hero might go on, but most likely everyone is going to get on the first flight out and the army probably wouldn't have it any other way. The characters also like to stand in the middle of the path or road where everyone else going the right way has to smack into them and push them. They also go to a near collapsed building on the vain hope that a friend is alive, climb 52 floors, climb over to that building, find her with a rod through her, pull her off the rod, and she gamely retraces the route and is never plagued by said wound for the rest of the film. This among many ridiculous plot turns makes you just want to turn the film off, and there were many times when they were shooting endless shots of dark that I almost did.

The monster is also lame. It's built anatomically strange, it's a sea creature, but instead of staying in the water, it went up on the land and started wailing away, which I don't blame it, especially after the army started shooting rockets into it.

On the geek side, there are some interesting things to see as a proof of concept, but you know what? I'm frickin' sick and tired of all the sci fi and horror films being released currently being good ideas expanded into a feature film. Could you just think it through one time?

I rate 2 out of 5. For DIE HARD monster film fans only.

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles

The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food - Jennifer 8. Lee

Our benchmark for Americanness is apple pie. But ask yourself: How often do you eat apple pie? How often do you eat Chinese food?

I went to college with Jennifer 8. Lee, who is now a reporter for the New York Times and apparently has an obsession with Chinese food. This book starts with the story of an improbable multiple-winner Powerball lottery sparked by the "lucky numbers" printed on fortune cookies. Lee tracked followed the trail of winners to various Chinese restaurants around the country and eventually back to the source of those particular fortunes.

On the way, she delves into the history of Chinese food, particularly "American Chinese food," the sort served in countless Chinese restaurants across the country. She traces the history of the fortune cookie (were they really Japanese in origin?), tracks down the family of General Tso, and discovers the man who might possibly have invented "chop suey." She ponders the link between Jews and Chinese food, tells the sordid tale of the human smuggling that supplies Chinese restaurant workers, and gives me a good reason never to buy La Choy soy sauce (which contains no actual soy). She posits the reason why Chinese restaurants, though decentralized, still seem to serve the same thing all over the country; and she tracks down the greatest Chinese restaurant in the world. And, of course, she explains the difference between American Chinese food and Chinese Chinese food.

It's an ambitious book and at some points it doesn't entirely tie together. Sure, it's fascinating that more Chinese restaurant workers get hitched on Thanksgiving (the only day they have off) than any other day of the year, but does it really tie in to the story of a missing Chinese deliveryman? A few times, Lee writes about things that I feel almost certain she's mentioned before. This may be because most of the chapters could serve as stand-alone articles, usually with the trail of the fortune cookie tying them together, and these unifying strands were tightened afterwards.

Still, it's a wonderful book filled with lots of conversation fodder. I found the poignant chapters about Chinese restaurant workers particularly eye-opening, and the book provides some history lessons by way of cuisine. It may not change what you eat, but it will certainly give you food for thought the next time you head to the China Buffet.

You can get more information about Lee and her book at her website, FortuneCookieChronicles.com.