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Iron Man 3 starring Robert Downey Jr, Guy Pearce and Ben Kingsley: Fun, Fun, Fun

Posted on August 26, 2013 Written by ripitup

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iron-man-3-poster
Image via marketsaw.blogspot.com.

 

If I had to choose just one word to describe Iron Man 3, it’d be fun. It’s a fast-paced, action-packed, and highly entertaining superhero movie. It could use some more rock numbers that made the first 2 awesome, but overall it is the right type of film for the series.

Of course like any movie, Iron Man 3 isn’t without its haters or discontent viewers. But given that you know what to expect, you shouldn’t be disappointed – especially if you like director/co-writer Shane Black’s more mainstream work (the action classic Lethal Weapon, for instance).

In addition to the usual cast of Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle (who took over from Terrence Howard after the first Iron Man), we get Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley (Gandhi, Schindler’s List, House of Sand and Fog), and Golden Globe nominees Rebecca Hall (The Awakening, Vicky Cristina Barcelona) and Guy Pearce (Memento, Lockout, LA Confidential).

Keeping in mind Robert Downey Jr.  has 2 Oscar nominations, Don Cheadle has one, and Paltrow has one Academy Award, we can add the cast of Iron Man 3 to the superhero movies that casts critically acclaimed actors who also happen to be box-office draws – e.g. check out the cast of Man of Steel.

Some viewers weren’t happy with the twist, but I found it quite fun- it was one of those laugh-out-loud moments for me, and it was perfectly acted and directed.

It was also fun to see our beloved cheeky hero Tony Stark to be suffering from anxiety attacks after everything they went through in The Avengers. Alien attacks can get to a guy, apparently…

And yes, there are clichés in the movie.

The Story:

In 1999, at a Christmas part in Bern, we meet the ever-cheeky Stark hooking up with an intelligent hottie (Rebecca Hall), and ignoring anyone who is not his date. Among the ignored and humiliated is Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), a geeky scientist adoring Tony’s work and wanting to work with him.

Fast-forward to now, Tony is with his former assistant/current managing partner/acting CEO Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow). While she is busy running the firm, Tony is obsessing over creating back-up Iron Man outfits, paranoid that there can be other alien attacks he will need to protect Pepper from.

In the meantime, the recent terrorist leader The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) who is hacking satellites and distributing scary messages and threatening the president (William Sadler).

When a different kind of bomb badly injures Tony’s friend/head of security Happy (Jon Favreau, director of the first Iron Man) and puts him into hospital, he openly threatens The Mandarin, and Mandarin responds more openly and violently than anyone could have predicted.

With his house and lab pretty much destroyed, Tony has his intelligence, Jarvis on zero battery and smart kid he runs into to deal with Mandarin, as well as the weird Terminator-like human/robots who just don’t get killed easily…

**

Have fun!!!

 

Also on Robert Downey Jr.

Due Date starring Robert Downey Jr. & Zach Galifianakis

Sherlock Holmes starring Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Mark Strong and Rachel McAdams

Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard

Iron Man 2 starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Scarlett Johansson, Mickey Rourke

Also on Guy Pearce

Death Defying Acts starring Guy Pearce & Catherine Zeta-Jones 

Guy Pearce Trivia

Lockout starring Guy Pearce & Maggie Grace

The King’s Speech starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter & Guy Pearce

 

More on Gwyneth Paltrow 

A Perfect Murder starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Viggo Mortensen and Michael Douglas

Shallow Hal starring Jack Black and Gwyneth Paltrow

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Ben Kingsley, Don Cheadle, guy pearce, Gwyneth Paltrow, iron man 3, iron man 3 cast, Jon Favreau, Rebecca Hall, robert downey jr, robert downey jr. iron man 3, shane black, shane black iron man 3

House of Sand and Fog starring Jennifer Connelly & Ben Kingsley: Bad Things Happen to Stupid People

Posted on March 6, 2012 Written by ripitup

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House of Sand and Fog starring Jennifer Connelly & Ben Kingsley
House of Sand and Fog starring Jennifer Connelly & Ben Kingsley. Image via moviegoods.com

I really wanted to like this movie. I did. I was ready to and I guess I’d have if it hadn’t lasted 126 minutes (whose 26 minutes or more consist about characters being extra stupid and shots being extra slow- making the audience lose any ounce of sympathy we might have built). It is not all bad, but with its premise and actors, it should/could have been so much more.

Let’s go over the premise first and then we will get into the flaws…. Oops. I meant the details.

Bad Things Do Happen to Stupid People

Kathy (Jennifer Connelly) is a “former” alcoholic who was dumped by her husband 6 months ago and works as a cleaning lady. She’s depressed, and not very close to her family (as in her mother doesn’t know about the husband leaving) and is not paying attention to the “mundane” details of everyday life- such as reading her mail.

So she is shocked to find out that the government is evicting her from her house because of  $500 worth of unpaid business taxes. Of course she doesn’t own a business, but the she is evicted regardless. The only person who is remotely helpful is the deputy sheriff Lester (Ron Eldard). He helps her move her stuff out, and tells her where she can get legal assistance.

Her legal advisor Connie (Frances Fisher) tries her best to solve things soon, but things get complicated when former Iranian soldier Behrani (Ben Kingsley) wants to relive his glory days in America and he is sick of doing hard labor to get there. When he realizes he has enough money to buy Kathy’s house at an auction at less than half its price, he jumps at it. He moves there with his wife (Shohreh Aghdashloo) and son.

Kathy’s life of course soon spirals out of control as she doesn’t have enough money to pay the motel bill and sees that her house has now new residents- but their family “leader” Behrani has no intention of showing this girl any understanding.

He plans to renovate the house cheaply and then sell it with lots of profit. Kathy’s only “friend” Lester helps her with her residence issues, but he is not exactly a model citizen in letting Kathy drink again- as well as leaving his family behind to be with her.

As things get more personal and complicated for Kathy and Lester, Behrani doesn’t notice how far things will go for all of them….

*

So why is it disappointing?

Don’t come criticizing me for being too easy on “mediocre” movies (to most people “mediocre” is either mindless action or romantic comedies) and being too hard on “artistic” efforts like this one.

I am ready to be fond of “less” artistic movies for the sake of entertainment. It is their job to entertain. They may not always leak with genius, but if they make sure we have fun, then all is well at my end.

But you see, when you put Jennifer Connelly and Ben Kingsley together, adapt a novel with a very humane story and get three Oscar nominations, I really expect to feel some things other than depression, contempt (for the characters) and boredom.

I expect to find at least one character who gets something right- and I expect that to be one of the main characters-not the lawyer of the girl who has about 10 minutes of screen time.

Why the contempt for characters? Well- let’s start (yes, there are spoilers!):

Kathy (Jennifer Connelly):

–          She is so not connected with her family that her mother doesn’t know her husband left. 6 months ago!

–          She is so out-of-it, she hasn’t read her mail. In months.

–          As unbearable as your mother is, surely she is better than being evicted, sleeping with a married man, starting drinking again, harassing the not-so-understanding owner of the new house, getting all suicidal….yes, her list continues. Frankly I’d listen to a mother lecturing me instead of all that.

–          She doesn’t try to get a better job, therapy or…anything. And this woman has no friends? Seriously? Nada?

Behrani (Ben Kingsley):

–          So he is basically a bastard for the 98 % of the movie- not listening to his wife or son, not being understanding to Kathy, hitting his wife once and filling in his son’s head with utter crap. It is more important to impress his daughter’s stuck-up in-laws than to help someone. Oh, then he goes all saint-like when the girl attempts suicide. Lovely. Believable. Right….

The Wife (Shohreh Aghdashloo):

–          It is a great idea to run a hot bath to a girl who has just attempted suicide where she could drown herself and leave her alone in the bathroom. No, she doesn’t try to drown herself. Why should she when she can access the woman’s pills?

–          I am not even going to question her taste in men- I am guessing she didn’t really have much choice.

The Son:

–          Goes from the voice of reason to the stupidest character in the history of film. Wonderful character development, wouldn’t you say?

 

Lester (Ron Eldard):

–          He comes on to a girl when she is at her most vulnerable (and who wasn’t thinking straight before that), encourages her to drink again, leaves his family to be with her but leaves her alone in a country house because his wife is causing scenes, abuses his job to threaten Behrani, shows up at their house to save Kathy, doesn’t listen to Kathy when she is ready to move on…If Kathy’s IQ is well under 90, his is probably lower than 70. 70 was Forrest Gump’s.

 

*

Final Notes

So when you have so many characters acting like idiots, it is hard to feel or root for them. It  doesn’t earn any points for the director that he added tragedy for tragedy’s sake.

Adapted from the book of Andre Dubus III by Vadim Perelman and Shawn Lawrence Otto. Directed by Vadim Perelman.

I don’t really have anything against the Oscar nominations of the film though. They were for Ben Kingsley’s acting (Best Actor), Shohreh Aghdashloo’s acting (Best Supporting Actress) and James Horner’s music. The acting was solid, so was the music. Too bad the characters and editing weren’t.  And does Jennifer Connelly have to take her clothes off in every movie? Yes, she is a great actress and she happens to be gorgeous. So what?

 

*

Also on Jennifer Connelly:

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly & Paul Bettany

Coming Soon:The Dilemma starring Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin James, Winona Ryder and Channing Tatum

Jennifer Connelly Trivia: 14 Facts About Actress Jennifer Connelly

Dark City

Requiem for a Dream

He is just not that into you

Of Love and Shadows

6 Hollywood Couples: Gorgeous, Glamorous and Happy Together

Also on Ben Kingsley:

The Last Legion starring Colin Firth & Ben Kingsley


 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Andre Dubus III, Ben Kingsley, ben kingsley Oscar nomination, drama, frances fisher, house of sand and fog, house of sand and fog cast, house of sand and fog movie, house of sand and fog movie review, Jennifer Connelly, jennifer connelly movies, movies, ron eldard, Shawn Lawrence Otto, Shohreh Aghdashloo, Vadim Perelman

The Last Legion starring Colin Firth & Ben Kingsley

Posted on June 22, 2010 Written by ripitup

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The Last Legion starring Colin Firth, Aishwarya Rai, Ben Kingsley, Thomas Sangster, Kevin McKidd and Rupert Friend
The Last Legion starring Colin Firth, Aishwarya Rai, Ben Kingsley, Thomas Sangster, Kevin McKidd and Rupert Friend. Image from: http://img5.allocine.fr/acmedia

Romulus Augustus (Thomas Sangster) is the new emperor of Rome. He might be young but he is carrying Ceasar’s blood in his veins. Even though he is protected by his parents and his new protector Aurelius (Colin Firth), they fail to protect him and themselves from the Goth attack. The king and queen are murdered and Aurelius loses his army. Rome is in ruins and Romulus is now a prisoner of the Goths. The only reason he is not dead- despite the wishes of the king’s right arm Wulfila (Kevin McKidd)- is his former caretaker/teacher Ambrosinus(Ben Kingsley)-who persuades the king that killing a young boy will not gain respect. So the kind decides to imprison Romulus and Ambrosinus.

By this time, Aurelius has gathered what’s left of his men and the guard their ally Constantinople’s messenger (Alexander Siddig) has assigned him. To his surprise, the masked guard turns out to be a very attractive woman named Mira (Aishwarya Rai), who fights just as well as he does.

The Last Legion with Colin Firth and Aishwarya Rai
Aurelius (Colin Firth) and Mira (Aishwarya Rai). We knew something was up when we learned he was single. Image from: http://images.allmoviephoto.com/
Colin Firth and Aishwarya Rai in The Last Legion
So, every couple has a different way of foreplay...Image from: http://www.pocandpoch.com

However they soon realize that saving their young emperor will be the least of their problems as even their own senators and allies turn against them and they will need to go to Britannia and find the last legion- their fellow Roman soldiers who never returned home. They will however have resistance and another and stronger nemesis….

This movie is pure fun. It is all there is to it. I am not really interested or knowledgeable when it comes to histories, legends and myths. So while lovers of the legend (I am not going to say which because it might be a lovely surprise if you don’t read the plot or tagline on IMDB) might be disappointed, I don’t see how entertainment and movie addicts like me- who also happen to be Colin Firth fans- will fail to have a good time. It has all the fun and glory of a fun little epic: strong and loyal characters, betrayers, romance potential, lots of fighting and battles, good-looking leads, some true wisdom, friendship, loyalty and more. It doesn’t hurt that it comes with a cast that features Colin Firth, Kevin McKidd, Ben Kingsley, Rupert Friend and Alexander Siddig. For  those of you who have seen Love Actually- also featuring Colin Firth and Thomas Sangster- might enjoy watching Thomas as a teenager. Love Actually was made 4 years prior to this film and featured an almighty British cast including Liam Neeson, Bill Nighy, Alan Rickman, Emma Thompson and Hugh Grant. Thomas plays the stepson to Liam Neeson’s character. And they do have an adorable relationship. Which reminds me, I should write about Love Actually.

Kevin McKidd seems to be getting his fair share in epic movies as he also co-starred in Kingdom of Heaven (starring Orlando Bloom) and he played in the critically acclaimed TV show Rome. I first watched Scottish Kevin as he played the Scottish fiancé of Michelle Monahan- the love of Patrick Dempsey’s life-in Made of Honor. He and Patrick continued to act together when Kevin joined the cast of Grey’s Anatomy as Dr. Owen Hunt. It is nice to see Kevin go all evil here.

I am pretty sure Ben Kingsley needs no introduction but I feel his roles in Gandhi (as Gandhi) and Schindler’s List should be mentioned. He is also seen in a big role in Prince of Persia alongside Jake Gyllenhaal as his uncle.

Well, watching Alexander Siddig- albeit in a small role- was fun all the same. My recent admiration for the actor comes from watching Cairo Time. May he be in more and more leading roles without killing people. As he is quoted (from imdb)on his role in Cairo Time: “It was a real treasure, a treat, to find a character, a role, that wasn’t intent on trying to blow up the White House or hijack an airplane”. Well, he has been cast in 24. Boys might also remember him from Star Trek Deep Space Nine TV series.

Rupert Friend plays in Pride and Prejudice, Chéri and The Young Victoria.

Of course, I need to mention James Cosmo. Did you think the big warrior next to Kevin McKidd’s Wulfila seem familiar? It is because he played Campbell, Hamish’s father in Braveheart.

So, this is a movie about honor, loyalty, love and friendship. It may not be one of the best but it does show a good time. Of course there are many who disagree as the movie was rated a 5.4 on IMDB. Watch and see for yourselves. I think it is a 7.

Posts Featuring Colin Firth and his movies:

Dorian Gray

The British Actors We Love

22 Tall Actors From Hollywood

Apartment Zero

Trauma

St. Trinian’s

The Accidental Husband

 

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: action, adventure, Aishwarya Rai, Alexander Siddig, Ben Kingsley, Cairo Time, Colin Firth, epic, James Cosmo, Kevin McKidd, Love Actually, movies, Rupert Friend, The Last Legion, Thomas Sangster

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