Review

Iron Man (2008)

iron-man.jpg

Iron Man (2008)

Director:

Jon Favreau

Starring:

Robert Downey Jr.

Gwyneth Paltrow

Terrance Howard

Plot:

After being held captive in an Afghan cave, billionaire engineer Tony Stark creates a unique weaponized suit of armor to fight evil.

Review:

It’s been a few years since I’ve watched the movie that started it all. I’ve seen it more than a few times, but rewatching movies is not something I have much time for right now. However, with Endgame coming up SyFyfangrrls decided to rewatch everything and I decided to try as well. So here goes!

Iron Man has aged surprisingly well. It is kind of crazy to think that when this movie came out Bush was still in office and the housing market hadn’t quiet yet crashed so the Great Recession hadn’t happened. All of that really explains the opening scene. The world was a different place.

I’m not normally a fan of showing something super exciting and then flashing back for setup, but in this case it sets the mood well and there’s still a lot of even more exciting stuff to come.

The stripper flight attendants, Tony sleeping with the reporter, the Trans joke Tony makes to Rhodes are all things I feel like haven’t aged well, but the CG looks great.

Tony, Robert Downey Jr., needs someone to push him to be better. He’s very much an entitled male billionaire. He could have very well died in that cave if it wasn’t for Yinsen, Shaun Toub. After making his dramatic declaration he would have forgotten all about it if Obadiah, Jeff Bridges, hadn’t challenged him. He’s not a bad person, he’s just a dick.

I honestly wondered if I would even like the movie anymore since I’m not a big fan of Iron Man and pretty much hate him now, but I still do. I think enough time has passed that there is a tiny smidge of nostalgia, but mostly it’s just a damn good movie, and a great start to one of my favorite franchises.

4/5

Side Note:

The only inconsistency that I really found was that S.H.I.E.L.D. was often referred to with it’s full name and not just Shield and we learned in Captain Marvel that’s not accurate. Other than that everything else seems to hold up, which is kind of amazing.

Second Act (2018)

Second Act

Second Act (2018)

Director:

Peter Segal

Starring:

Jennifer Lopez

Vanessa Hudgens

Leah Remini

Plot:

A big box store worker reinvents her life and her life-story and shows Madison Avenue what street smarts can do.

Review:

Second Act reminded me of Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter is Dead in that we had someone conning their way into a job they weren’t qualified for, but actually it turned out that they were. There were fewer moments of Lopez’s character floundering, which felt a bit unrealistic. The fact that the only person that suspected she was inexperienced and lying was her enemy was a bit contrived. I did like the fact that she made a very public reveal because it meant that she kept all the power and not her enemy.

There was some Working Girl vibes as well here, but Working Girl did it much better. The addition of Hudgens character being her daughter that she had to give up was too much for me. It made everything too pat and I could have done without it.

All in all Second Act was an entertaining movie with an overall premise I enjoyed that just needed a little editing.

3/5

Single AF

Single AF

Single AF (Social Experiment #1) By: Sherelle Green

Plot:

SINGLE: Unmarried or not involved in a stable relationship.

MEEKA
The pure term ‘being single’ makes me want to gag every time I hear it. To me, the worst part is the fact that you’re constantly reminded of your status. Like, do you really think I can forget I’m single? I’ve dated more Mr. Wrong’s than I can count, and now, the network that I work for wants me to share my messed up dating history with the world. To make matters more humiliating, my arch nemesis — aka Mr. Missed Opportunity — has a front row seat to my walking, talking mistakes.

TONE
To say working with Meeka on this assignment is bound to go badly, would be an understatement. We’ve never gotten along, and I have a good reason for staying clear. Everything about her screams … extra! So, of course when our network needs me to assist her with her project, I’m intrigued to hear what her exes have to say about their past relationship. Maybe I’ll get some insight into her character or validate my assumptions. Or unbeknownst to me, I might just find myself connecting with this loud, crazy woman more than I ever thought I would. They say don’t mix business with pleasure. Funny, I never liked that rule.

Review:

This book is worth reading for the first chapter alone. It’s freaking hilarious! I actually found it because Alyssa Cole tweeted about the first sentence and that sold me.

Meeka was…honestly people kept calling her crazy but she was not at all. She was a planner and a dreamer and I related to her a lot. She was maybe a bit too eager at times, but I loved her. Her ratchet rhymes had me laughing so hard.

Tone was HOT. Incredibly attractive inside and out and a worthy match to Meeka. I loved that he was willing to fight for her, not just take on an evil ex, but when she learned something that he should have told her earlier he wasn’t just going to let their new relationship drop. He was also willing to give her space to process and was just all around perfect. It was wonderful especially after seeing the losers she’d dated. She deserved to find a prince.

My only real complaint with the book was that it moved really fast and I wished the ex-boyfriends had been fleshed out more and there’d been more of them. It was over way too fast, but I’ve already got another book by Green purchased and ready on my kindle, so at least I’ve got that to look forward too.

4.5/5

Of Blood and Bone

Of Blood and Bone

Of Blood and Bone (Chronicles of the One #2) By: Nora Roberts

Plot:

They look like an everyday family living an ordinary life. But beyond the edges of this peaceful farm, unimaginable forces of light and dark have been unleashed.

Fallon Swift, approaching her thirteenth birthday, barely knows the world that existed before—the city where her parents lived, now in ruins and reclaimed by nature since the Doom sickened and killed billions. Traveling anywhere is a danger, as vicious gangs of Raiders and fanatics called Purity Warriors search for their next victim. Those like Fallon, in possession of gifts, are hunted—and the time is coming when her true nature, her identity as The One, can no longer be hidden.

In a mysterious shelter in the forest, her training is about to begin under the guidance of Mallick, whose skills have been honed over centuries. She will learn the old ways of healing; study and spar; encounter faeries and elves and shifters; and find powers within herself she never imagined. And when the time is right, she will take up the sword, and fight. For until she grows into the woman she was born to be, the world outside will never be whole again.

Review:

So, I wasn’t a fan of the last book, but it properly set my expectations so I knew what I was getting into with the second. Of Blood and Bone is still much darker than I’m used to with Nora Roberts, but there is a lot more light too.

Fallon is young, just 12 when it starts out, but her true training begins shortly after her 13th birthday. For two years she is taught and excels, and passes test after test, until she’s done. The entire book is getting to know her, her strengths and weaknesses. The world has already been created, and the setting feels mostly built, this book was about introducing us to The One.

She loves her family, she’s smart and analytical, but she doesn’t ignore her emotions. I liked that, I liked that going cold and logical wasn’t her goal, and while she could be passionate she wasn’t always hot-headed.

The side characters from the previous book weren’t ignored, we got glimpses into their lives. A lot has happened for them since we left, and thankfully, most of it was good. People are thriving. The world is different, but there is still a lot of darkness and unrest and basically anarchy in most places. It’s not a pretty place, but there are bubbles where it isn’t bad, yet.

If this was any other Nora Roberts book I would assume that Deacon is Fallon’s fated love, and it really does look like that will happen, but I can’t say I’m much of a fan of his. He’s fine, but their relationship is imbalanced. They’re both powerful, magically, though Fallen is definitely stronger. My problem is that he is a year older than Fallon and already has quite a bit of experience with sex. She doesn’t, which is fine, but I don’t want her to be this virginal prize for him. I’m not a fan of that trope.

We’ll see what happens. The book ends with a minor battle. Some people die, but no one you’re really attached too, but it means something to the characters. Deacon says some thoughtless things, but they seem to make up, and he goes off because he can’t be near her. Fallon is left with her family and to raise an army.

I am more excited for the next book than I am for this, but I’m also cautious because I’m afraid of what Roberts will do. We’ll see.

3.5/5

 

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018)

Into the Spiderverse

Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018)

Director:

Bob Persichetti

Peter Ramsey

Rodney Rothman

Starring:

Shameik Moore

Jake Johnson

Hailee Steinfeld

Mahershala Ali

Lily Tomlin

John Mulaney

Chris Pine

Nicholas Cage

Kimiko Glenn

Katheryn Hahn

Plot:

Teen Miles Morales becomes Spider-Man of his reality, crossing his path with five counterparts from other dimensions to stop a threat for all realities.

Review:

I was told by the entire world to watch this movie, which I’m grateful for because I had not even heard of it until my Twitter blew up about it and suddenly people who couldn’t agree on anything were agreeing this movie was amazing.

Sadly, I had to wait until Red Box got it, but then I ended up buying it immediately because damnit, it is just that good.

Miles Morales, Shameik Moore, is a teenager just starting a new preppy school and life kind of sucks right now in an angsty teenage way. Then, when he’s getting his groove back, a spider bites him and his super powered existence begins.

Just when things are starting to look up, the original Spider-Man is going to teach him everything he needs to know, things again get shaken up, and he’s all on his own. His father has made it clear that he’s not a Spider-Man fan, but I truly believe if Miles had gone to him it would have been alright. He was clearly a supportive father that loved his son deeply, though, he probably wouldn’t have let him participate in the whole multiverse thing.

I bet if he’d told his dad his dad would have insisted he go and do the thingie that had to be done with the goober and he would have died instead of who died and we still would have had a Spider-Man origin story, but damn this one was SO much better than that.

Anyway, I love that Miles has a loving and supportive mother and father. I do wonder if his dad figured out who he was there at the end. Lily Tomlin as Aunt May is something I had no idea the world needed until now and I hope she is in future movies because she was great.

Have I mentioned the art? Holy fucking shit it was incredible. It was mind boggling good. I don’t think I’ve ever seen something that looked so amazing, definitely not a full length movie. It was just…hold on I need to go watch it again.

If you haven’t seen Into the Spiderverse for whatever reason, watch it. It deserved every award it received, it deserved all the hype, it was so.good.

5/5