Iron Man 2 (2010)

How does a movie that cost $200M make money? Star power, special effects, surprises, and a pretty good story. This movie has them all and made more than 50% back on the opening weekend. How nice for the suits in Hollywood.

The sequel itself was better than I expected and a lot of fun to watch. I can highly recommend the Blue-ray version with the surround sound turned WAY up.

Robert Downey Jr returns as the barely-in-control Tony Stark. Supposedly his character is based on the Oracle founder Larry Ellison who has a cameo role to go along with his liberal product name placement throughout the film.

Gwyneth Paltrow returns as Pepper Potts and gets her shot at the top spot. No spoilers here.

My favorite new character is played by Scarlett Johansson. Her boss is played deliciously by Samuel L. Jackson.

Don Cheadle comes on board as Rhodes. I actually like his version better.

Mickey Rourke clearly did his homework here. Best thing he has done in a long time.

Watch this movie with someone who will enjoy sitting back, turning it up, and rock(et)ing OUT!

Sherlock Holmes (2009)

Who would have thought the best thing to happen to Guy Ritchie's work would be to dump Madonna? In my opinion, everything he has done since their break-up is fun to watch. If nothing else, his movies are way more marketable than before. Any ideas why?

Any other ideas why he used an American to play Holmes however? Okay, fair enough, perhaps only the massive ego of Robert Downey, Jr. could replicate that of the fictional Holmes. What? Am I wrong about that?

Jude Law is perfect as the faithful Dr. Watson, and Rachel McAdams is devilish as Irene Adler, the only woman Holmes ever saw as an "equal" in the original series of stories.

The bad guys in this tale are played well by Mark Strong (a Guy Ritchie regular) and Ed Tolputt, though we never see Tolputt's face.

What seems odd to me here is that the story spins as if Holmes had never heard of Professor Moriarity before. In the original Conan Doyle stories he was the arch-nemesis of Holmes. So one might think this story a prequel. But wait, at one point in the story Watson reminds Holmes that Ms. Adler is the only criminal to outwit Holmes twice. These stories are part of the well-known Holmes lore. So the coexistence of those two characters in the same story under these conditions is a little inconsistent. That is by no means a spoiler by the way.

Watch this movie with someone who knows the basic characters and can keep up with the rapid fire dialogue.

The Soloist

Every once in a while a good story comes along that reminds us how we could and maybe should treat each other. I think this movie is one of those.

Jamie Foxx is a genius. How does one prep for this job? Here we find a great craftsman at the top of his game. Any comparisons to Rainman characters are completely founded. Foxx does as well with his portrayal of mental illness as Dustin Hoffman or Jack Nicholson in As Good As It Gets. As I look back at the excellent role choices Foxx has made over the last 5 years I'm sure he has a lock on more in the future.

Not since Chaplin has Robert Downey Jr. turned in such a great dramatic performance. I foresee more nominations on the way; for both these actors. I'm glad Downey's recent successes as fictional super heroes has allowed him the chance to take on roles like this one.

This story answers a great question which may apply in many other situations. Sometimes all someone needs is a friend. We don't need to rearrange their whole world to match ours. Sometimes all we need to do is validate their existence with a smile and a kind word.

Watch this movie with someone who loves Beethoven.

Tropic Thunder

Dude, this is a movie pretending to be another movie disguised as a funny movie. I want my 2 hours back. To be totally fair however, I must say this movie had a few bright very funny moments. But not nearly enough.

One of my "good movie" rules is that there has to be at least one character who is likable or believable. This movie had none. Despite a very high-octane cast who clearly had a good time poking fun at themselves and the Hollywood movie machine, the result was not entertaining to me. The most fun I had to pointing out how many other movies and TV show they made fun of. But, there has to be more to a movie than that - for me. Oh, and the Tom Cruise role was gross as it was intended to be. His dance scenes were the best laugh for me.

Yes, this movie has won, and may continue to win, awards. To me, that means industry insiders are at least pretending to be amused with this "travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham". Best Comedy of 2008? Hardly. If the movie audience has lowered it's expectations to this level, I fear for the future of comedy.

Watch this movie if you must, but deny me of the chance later to say I told you so.

Iron Man

Welcome back Robert Downey Jr. Again. His over-the-top performance and self-mockery totally "make" this movie. The whole cast is great fun. More on them later.

Superhero movies are supposed to be fun. This is a very fun superhero movie. I remember the joy of losing myself in a good action comic when I was a kid. This movie brought that all back for me.

Love interest Gwyneth Paltrow and business partner, an almost unrecognizable Jeff Bridges, are perfectly cast for this story. Paltrow is subdued and Bridges is overtly brilliant. How unusual are those performances? Find me another one where the usual performances are so flip-flopped.

We have good guys and pretty girls. You have evil bad guys and stern government agents. Pesky press and super-serious military officers. Oh and the robots are great comic side-kicks.

Watch this movie with a big bowl of popcorn and someone who thinks YOU are a Super Hero.

To Live and Die in LA

Almost 25 years ago this movie introduced bungee-jumping to a very wide audience in the US. It also brought a very hip soundtrack to life, and gave outsiders a glimpse of what living in the LA basin can be like. Angelinos and tourists alike should enjoy this fast romp through the streets and hills of SoCal. Fun fun fun.

Willem Dafoe is young here, pre-Platoon even, and shows why he had been a powerful screen presence for the last 3 decades. Here he plays a Secret Service agent tasked with catching counterfeiters. His partner is played by William Petersen of CSI fame. While the two look a bit older and wider now, their chemistry on screen makes this story well worth watching.

Some other now-familiar names here you might recognize here are John Turturro, Robert Downey Jr, and Dean Stockwell.

The soundtrack is a fun flashback to 80's rock. Remember Wang Chung? Otis Rush? Junior Wells? How about Rank & File? If your 80's party needs a good compilation, choose this one. Put on some polyester and flex-out!

Watch this movie with someone who has lived in or visited LA often.