Moonlight Movie Reviews - Iron Man 3

Yeah, I was bad. I cut out of work early today to see the early bird screening of "Iron Man 3" at the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek. I do that sometimes. I'm kind of a bad boy, like Tony Stark...

And it was AWESOME!!!! No joke! This movie was fantastic! And I know the camp is split on this, but let me assure you, it's mainly fanboys complaining that the villain departs greatly from the comics in the third act of the film. It's a sort of twist designed for the modern-world of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and it works well, it's just different. Okay, I can kind of understand that, guys, because I've been on the fanboy side of things myself. I got pretty annoyed with Smallville at times. But, this movie was so amazing and excellent that I think you ought to reconsider. This could be the best Iron Man movie yet. Of course, Iron Man 2 was mainly just eyecandy and coolness. Story-wise, it was severely lacking and mainly acted as a bridge to the Avengers. This film is just the opposite. It is thoroughly about the story going on, and yet it still acknowledges the events of the Avengers well! But, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let me set the scene. I saw this at the most badass cinema chain around, the Alamo Drafthouse, with one of their delicious Carnivore pizzas (2 sides of parmesan) and a Coke (even though I'm trying to drink less of the stuff). Granted, I am not thrilled that they have upped the price and changed the toppings, but it still tastes pretty close to before (miss the old name, The Raging Bull, too, but I digress). Before the film were a collection of fun clips like one might find on YouTube featuring stars and characters from the film, an Alamo Drafthouse standard preshow that is a huge part of the fun (and why it sucks so bad to come right on time for the flick instead of early enough to see it all). After the preshow, something I am quite shocked about, I don't remember seeing a single movie trailer this time. That is NOT the common practice of the Drafthouse, and I am a bit disappointing in retrospect. I hear others are seeing the new Thor 2 trailer? I'll have to find it online. Anyway, the movie started up rather abruptly, as there is a bit of the film even before the opening logos!

What follows is a film that fits well with the previous 2 (3 if you count Avengers, of course), but that really takes the best elements of Iron Man 1 and 2 and makes them better. The story is about Tony Stark dealing with some new personal demons brought on by the events of The Avengers. Basically, he was a bit traumatized by the experience, and he has been soothing himself by making many, many Iron Man suits, and making them more amazing than ever. This upsets girlfriend Pepper Potts for reasons shown. Meanwhile, a maniacal and sinister terrorist has come on the scene and is doing major damage to the U.S. One such attack severely injures friend and employee Happy Hogan, which drives Tony to angrily provoke the terrorist, who calls himself the Madarin, on live TV. An attack on Tony's home follows, and events soon cause Tony to be stranded in Tennessee with a broken Iron Man suit and little else. He unintentionally befriends a small boy there while he uses his home to repair his Iron Man suit, but agents of the Mandarin are there too. Tony's suit brought him to the small town because he had previously programmed it to, being that a suspicious death had taken place there sometime earlier that might have ties to the terrorist organization. Adding another element to the story, the agents of the Mandarin are all part of an experimental program called Extremis, that gives them amazing invulnerability and fiery abilities, making any one of them a fitting adversary for Iron Man.

Okay, I'll stop there, but there's a lot more, yet there isn't so much that the film can't handle it, like, say Spider-Man 3 had going on. This is all Tony vs the Mandarin, but you've also got Tony's best friend, Rhodey the Iron Patriot (War Machine with a paint job), the love story with Pepper, the anxiety over the Battle of New York, and those Extremis freaks, and Tony's new friendship with the kid named Harley, it all works together so well though! It's all one fantastic story. The dialogue is as top notch as ever, the cast is as amazing as ever, and the effects are as mind-blowing as ever! There is a twist, yes, and the fanboys aren't liking it because it isn't comic book canon, but this is a different universe. This is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And the important thing is that Iron Man is perfect, and Pepper too. Robert Downey, Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow were born for these roles.

If I was to nit pick, I'd say this film could have used a bit more of Tony in the complete Iron Man suit. Maybe one more battle, ya know? We didn't get to see much of Iron Patriot here either, really, though Don Cheadle's Rhodey gives a much better impression this time around. The bulk of this movie is about Tony as Tony, the new Tony (steady girlfriend, struggling hero) improvising like he did in Iron Man 1. Honestly, that was pretty darn cool and bold of this flick. In truth, you could find similarities to Dark Knight Rises in this film, but while I loved that trilogy, this is the better film and truer to the title character. And if you didn't like Dark Knight Rises, don't let the mere comparison deter you. This is really very different, I just meant in ways like, well, like we didn't see much of Batman in that one either, really. Anyway, I gotta say, with a film this good, I am fine with those little quibbles about the seemingly fewer fight scenes and all. Iron Man 2 gave us lots of that stuff, but it was sooo unsatisfying storywise. This film was pure satisfaction! And there is a heck of an Iron Man loaded climax! Even Pepper gets in on the action like never before! It even ties up Stark's story so well that it's hard to believe this isn't the final film in a trilogy, but I'm still glad an Iron Man 4 and maybe even 5 can be expected down the line, according to the filmmakers, plus more Iron Man in Avengers 2. I just wish my dad could have been around to enjoy these flicks too!

So, I don't really have a lot to say about this flick, because for the most part I just loved everything about it. If you are wanting more of the flashy, rock star stuff, you should stay home and watch part 2. If you are in it for a great story about Tony and his suits, but mostly about Tony, and not so much about Tony IN the suit except at the beginning and end, ha, you'll really enjoy this. If you are a stickler for following the comic, this could piss you off in the third act, even though it was really entertaining and clever, and reasonably updated for the times. But, you know if you're a fanboy you have to see this anyway, so everyone should go see this! Just watch the first two films AND Avengers first. Oh, and definitely stay till the end of the credits. It's not really a teaser for the next film, it's more of a cute/funny bit with a cameo from one of the Avengers. It's just really great!

And that's all I'm gonna say about that. Iron Man 3, go check it out. It is EXCELLENT. I hope I get to see it again soon!

PS: A while back, I also saw two other films, "Oz the Great and Powerful" and the remake of "The Evil Dead". Sorry I didn't get a chance to review them. I have been caught up in fixing up the new apartment, beat from work and a new diet and exercise program, and still way behind on like 3 art commissions that are way overdue. I also had a very traumatic "break-up" recently. I put "break-up" in quotes since there wasn't really a relationship there, just me being a love-struck sucker and spending way too much money on someone who clearly didn't care for me at all, but enough about that. The point is, sometimes life gets in the way. I might do a write-up on those films soon though, before or when they hit Blu-Ray. Quick comments, both are worth seeing if you are a fan of the franchises, but both have good and bad qualities. Evil Dead is kinda like watching the original without Ash, but then it has this great ending that brings the Ash feeling back in an awesome new way and opens the door to some much better sequels. Oz the Great and Powerful is mostly enjoyable because of the way it mostly is true to the classic MGM film, and especially the way the finally act sets things up. Like the final act of Star Wars Episode 3, it sorta makes any problems with the film all worthwhile. The biggest problem with Oz? The casting of Mila Kunis as the Wicked Witch of the West. That... was a bit weird. Still enjoy that film though. Both are enjoyable, like I said, and I do want to get both of them on Blu-Ray. I feared far worse things from those two films. I really adore the originals of both of them, and their official and unofficial sequels. Jeez, maybe I don't need to do a posting on those two films now, that pretty much said it all. Hmm...

Oh, and yes, I will get back to the comics soon. Sorry for always saying I'm back on them and doing like one, and then no more for 6 months, ha. Just haven't had the time. *sigh* Busy trying to make the rent, ha.

Monty's Crush of the Week

Olivia Cooke

(Blackout, The Secret of Crickley Hall, Bates Motel, The Quiet Ones)

Ya know, folks, Monty's Crush of the Week isn't all about the superficialities. Olivia Cooke is fairly new on the seen, but she's loaded with talent, and that's attractive. But, if I could step out of the politically correct zone for a moment (assuming any of you have ever thought I was really in that zone), I have to say, she is probably the most stunningly beautiful actress I've seen in a while. I mean, we're talking about a girl so jaw-droppingly gorgeous that she even looks perfect with a breathing tube in her nose during every scene she has in the new Bates Motel TV series on A&E. Oh, have you not heard of Bates Motel? It's a prequel/reimagining of the origins of the Norman Bates character from Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho", and try not to confuse it with the 1987 TV movie of the same name (that was obviously a series pilot also). In the show, Norman is a young teenager played by Freddie Highmore, who is disturbingly reminiscent of Anthony Perkins at times, and Olivia plays his best friend, who has a crush on him also. But, Norman has a crush on another girl, one whom he actually (spoiler alert).....  loses his virginity to a few episodes in. Now, here is one of the glaring flaws of the show for me so far. I personally feel like losing his virginity to a peer he was crushing on would have cut at least enough of the cord to his mom to prevent him from becoming like the Norman we see in the 1960 film. Of course, this is a reimagining, I must keep that in mind... And, it clearly is a bit different, especially when one takes the origin story in Psycho 4 into consideration. BUT, this isn't a review of the show, so I'm gonna stop right now and just say that it IS one of the cooler shows I am aware of at the moment, and I'm pretty hooked, both due to the performances and the completely enchanting Olivia Cooke, this week's "Crush of the Week". The show should be on again tonight, so check it out!

Annette Funicello

1942-2013

As extreme Disney fans, we here at the Moonlight Motel are greatly saddened by news of the loss of movie star and recording star Mouseketeer Annette Funicello today at the age of 70. There are darknesses in life and there are lights, and she was one of the lights.

Monty's Crush of the Week

Yep, Monty's Crush of the Week is back, if a bit late in the week, and we're going super oldschool this time, even though this crush comes to our attention pretty recently...

Betty Bronson

(Java Head, Peter Pan, Are Parents People?, Not So Long Ago,

The Golden Princess, A Kiss for Cinderella, Ben-Hur, The Cat's Pajamas, Paradise,

Everybody's Acting, Paradise for Two, Ritzy, Open Range,  Companionate Marriage,

The Singing Fool, A Modern Sappho, Bellamy Trial, Sonny Boy, One Stolen Night,

The Locked Door, The Medicine Man, Lover Come Back, and much more)

So, a few months back, I got on a fairytale silent film kick, I don't remember why, and through that, I discovered one of the most impressive and enjoyable fantasy films I've ever seen, and it was made way back in 1924 and starred then 18 year-old Betty Bronson, the angel you see in the image above (in the role that made her famous). The film is bafflingly well made for its time, with all the fantasy elements awe-inspiringly executed. It's a joy to watch, even for someone always annoyed by the tradition of casting a female in the title role of "Peter Pan" (even though this actress was hand selected by J.M. Barrie himself). The one disappointment in the film is that they did not keep the tradition of the same actor playing both Hook and Mr. Darling, Wendy's father. The oddity of the film, the replacement of mentioning "America" at all times that England would normally be named (when the good guys take over the Jolly Roger, it's the U.S. flag that is raised up the pole!). But, the highlight of the film, no doubt, is the glorious Betty Bronson. She plays the role so well I could swear she'd been playing it for years on the stage (maybe she did get some stage practice beforehand, I don't know about that), but her gorgeous face and form (and some of her posings) do make it a bit tough to forget she is a girl. I must say, I was so enchanted by her (and the film as well) that I practically had it on a loop everyday after work for a month or two a short time ago, especially her first scene meeting Wendy and having her shadow sewn on. Outstanding stuff there. Her facial expressions are just fascinating to watch, and all of her movements (this is a silent film, after all). I haven't seen the rest of her long filmography, I must admit, and from all the more feminine photos of seen of her online, nothing beats her Pan photos (she practically looks like a different person in everything else, ha), but in this role she had secured a permanent place in Monty's Big Book of Crushes. And, no, that book does not actually exist in a printed format, sorry (not a bad idea though; but then I'd have to make so many updated editions...).

Motel Management Recommends...

Welcome back to the Moonlight Motel! Yeah, I know, I haven't posted anything new since February. Well, guess what? I MOVED. And the new place is awesome! Maybe someday I'll get back on track with making videos and you can see some of it, though I still need to do a painting for over the fireplace, get a couple more frames to hang a few more things, and get a bed, curtains, and stuff like that. May take a little time. Not made of money, ya know! I'll need to take a few trips down to my mom's too, to pick up some of those childhood treasures one just can't bare to part with, like the rest of my DVD collection, my trunk of comic books, and some of my favorite toys and statues. But, a lot of things I'll probably have to start selling! Maybe on the merchandise page of this very website! Anyway, we're back to start posting new articles now, even though I've still got a lot to do and catch up with, so it may still be a little while before we get some new comics up. In the meantime, we'll start with a last minute look at my own, personal Easter DVD and treat recommendations! 

As you may or may not know, I'm a holiday nut, and a big part of holidays for me are watching classic holiday movies and specials and satisfying my sweet tooth while doing so. Easter, however, probably gets even less attention than Halloween in the movies and TV specials department (hey, it's still doing better than Thanksgiving!). However, it's not without its own library to choose from, and nor am I! Here are some recommendations from Monty Moonlight's own library, and some not in his library (yet), but still worthy of a name drop! I'll start with my favorite Easter holiday special (because, why save the best for last?), the Rankin/Bass classic, "Here Comes Peter Cottontail", starring the voices of Vincent Price, Danny Kaye, and Casey Kasem! American treasures all (assuming none of them are from Canada; I did NOT have time to research this)!

If you don't remember, this 1971 special is about Peter Cottontail competing against the evil Iron Tail (Vincent Price) for the position of the new Chief Easter Bunny. Peter ends up sleeping through Easter and having to use a time machine to travel back to previous holidays trying to get rid of his eggs by painting them all sorts of colors and talking people into taking them. Overall, it may not be the most Easterish special since it spends a lot of time just going through the calendar. LOVE the song, "If I could Only Get Back to Yesterday", by the way. However, this remains my favorite Easter entertainment tradition. I have fond memories of seeing Iron Tail show off his plan for chocolate tarantulas (YUCK!) and Octo... pi? when watching this special on TV in Prime Time, and I believe even once at school! Love this special so much, I even have some action figures from it! Too bad they made them so large that they're waaaay out of scale compared to the other awesome R/B actions figures out there, like the Rudolph and Santa Claus Is Coming to Town ones I also have. Though, I think they're from two different companies too. But, I digress.

Next up (and by the way, there are lots of great religious-themed movies and specials to watch at Easter too, but I'm keeping this secular), the royalty of holiday specials return for their unique version of Easter in "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown"!

Surely, you remember Peppermint Patty's many failed attempts to teach Marcie how to color eggs, right? This is another of the best Peanuts holiday specials (since it's one of the earlier ones and one of the major holidays). I don't have much to say about it except that it's awesome! The OTHER Easter title that you absolutely HAVE to watch each year if nothing else. It's available alone and in some Peanuts boxed sets. I have it in the Peanuts 1970's Collection Volume 1. A shame they didn't continue with those Peanuts decade DVD sets. Maybe it's all my fault for not having had the chance to pick up 1970's volume 2 yet.

Now, this was a neat surprise from a couple of years back, the first really non-religious Easter movie I can think of (if you don't count the sci-fi horror film, Critters 2, a very enjoyable movie in its own right), and an instant favorite of mine! Full of Easter sights and sounds and a fun story with likable characters, this sweet tale of two very misunderstood guys, one a young man and the other the son of the Easter Bunny, is loads of magic and fun! I especially love the Pink Berets! If you saw the film, you'd know what I was talking about. Oh, and the fact that there is NO forced romance in the film, because they don't bother to put a romance in at all since it is not important to the story! Now, I admit, everyone I've shown this to hasn't been able to get very far. It suffers from the Chipmunks curse. Cute, CGI animals in a live-action world. It annoys a lot of people for some reason (I have a couple of theories). Not me though, and this movie is just too cute and too much fun, and so perfect for Easter if you overlook the complete lack of any mention of the religious aspects of Easter. Not that I am too bothered by that personally, but it could have made the film even more well-rounded to just acknowledge that side of the day a tad. Granted, I haven't seen this since last Easter maybe. Perhaps I am forgetting something. Anyway, I still recommend anyone who loves Easter give this a chance! I know "Rise of the Guardians" is all the rage right now for holiday fans, and that film is great, especially the Easter Bunny. However, it's not really an Easter movie. This one IS. 

Now, I also am inclined to watch a few other films around this holiday, such as the original "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," as well as "The Wizard of Oz", any Danny Kaye movie, and I'm probably forgetting some stuff as well. Someone recently asked me if I had a copy of the Family Circus Easter special (it's on YouTube, or at least it was earlier). But the previously discussed films are MY Easter go-to films. Now, quickly, here are a few I am less familiar with these days, but would like to reconnect with. The above image is a 3 disc DVD set that can be found right now at Best Buy and Wal-Mart for 10 bucks, a real bargain if you notice that even in the same stores they can run almost that much individually. I picked it up myself today but haven't watched it yet, nor have I seen these R/B specials  at all, so should be interesting! So, what do you get in this 3 disc set? Well, 2 Rankin Bass Easter Bunny specials and one Yogi Bear Easter special! What more could you want?! 

How about some Bugs Bunny? Ha, I have no idea what this special is like, but I am guessing it's a lot of classic Looney Tunes shorts with poorly made, wraparound animation. Still, I loved these specials as a kid. I'm sure they're still darn entertaining, too! I really need to pick this up!

Now, there are a handful more Easter specials and movies out there, but I doubt many of them are very good. The selections above are your best bet for a great Easter time. I also recommend not worrying about your age and coloring some boiled eggs! You can learn how to boil them perfectly with a quick web search, and when you do, they ain't bad! And, if you have someone to love, make them an elaborate Easter basket! I have mad Easter basket skills! Made a gorgeous one last year for the girl I was wooing (sadly, that seems to have recently fallen through, and I'm pretty devastated, honestly). Be forewarned that they're not going to make a girl who doesn't like you suddenly have a change of heart, but, again, I digress... They do show a lot of love and care when thought is put into them. I also like to bake lemon pies, myself. Planning to make a couple before Sunday rolls around. Besides lemon pies using the Jell-O recipe on their lemon pie filling box, here are my other top favorite Easter treats:

Yellow Chick Peeps
They have to be yellow and they have to be chicks. I LOVE these!

Little Debbie Easter Basket Cakes
Delicious and very pretty on a nice Easter plate.

And finally, Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs! Gotta have 'em every year! Best when refrigerated, as is the case with all Reese's products as far as I know.

And, of course, one could always make the classic bunny cake. Very fun and delicious, and I make them too on occasion. Just bake two round, yellow cakes (I prefer to use Duncan Hines), cut one of them into 3 curved pieces to make the ears and shoulders (or bow tie), and frost accordingly using white (vanilla) frosting that you should cover in shredded coconut for best effect. Add a bit of red food coloring to some coconut to make the inside of the ears pink. Gumdrops make good eyes, nose, etc..., but you can make the face with whatever candy you like. Next time I make one, I'll post a picture, but we're trying to go lighter on the sweets this year. Anyway, I got my Easter groceries today, so I'm all set. Cooking fajitas (one of the traditional Easter meals) on the big day as well. Now, if only I could find a place holding an egg hunt for adults, I'd strap on my bunny ears and head on over! Yes, I do have bunny ears, but they're guy ones. They came with my Hop blu-ray when it was first released at Target. Seriously, they aren't girly looking at all! They're brown! Last year, I wore them to color Easter eggs with Kiki, whom I bought some white ones for... *sigh* ... Kiki... in bunny ears... Holidays alone suck! Okay, gotta cut this short for now, but I'll be back with more stuff next week, I hope! In the meantime, enjoy Easter! I know I will (as best I can considering the circumstances). And, I"ll be back soon with a new Crush of the Week and much more!

 

Just in time for Valentine's Day...

Hey "Li'l Monty" fans! Check it out! Some Valentine's themed "Monty and Kiki" items are now available at Redbubble.com!

Besides this great Monty and Kiki iPhone case, you can find T-shirts, cards, prints, stickers and more at RedBubble.com, just follow this link:   Monty and Kiki iPhone Case

Management (kinda-sorta) Recommends...

Okay, if you've read my articles, you know I would recommend several spooky themed animated features over "Hotel Transylvania". Honestly, there was a time when I was an Adam Sandler fan, back in his Billy Madison, Happy Gilmore, Waterboy, Wedding Singer days. Sometime after that, his movies really went downhill for me. And, the biggest prob, I don't think his humor translates as well to animation as he seems to think it does. Nevertheless, I don't utterly hate this film (despite being a bit annoyed that he made a film about monsters in a hotel, while I have, for years, been writing and drawing a comic about monsters in a motel...). Like (nearly) all movies, it has some good qualities. Andy Samberg isn't bad in this, though a pretty standard computer animated film character, and I adored Selena Gomez's character of Dracula's daughter, Mavis. There ARE some funny moments in the film, though it's not an exceptional story by any means. But, the biggest problem is Sandler's annoying Dracula voice, which seems to be yakking every second throughout the film. Oy. Anyway, basically, I would only recommend seeing this if something about it truly catches your interest. If you aren't usually into computer animated films or Sandler, this sure isn't going to do anything for ya, and even if you are, it's just okay.

So, what am I recommending here? Well, if you're gonna get this or considering it (myself, I just love animation and my fellow monsters and such), check this awesome gift set out! It's a Wal-Mart exclusive that comes with a little plush of Mavis in her bat-form! It's a great likeness, if my memory is any good at all, and she is just too adorable! Honestly, I am trying to avoid getting plushes anymore. I mean, I'm an adult male and I think I might finally have a girlfriend. So, I'm being very selective with new toys. But, this is just too cute! Unfortunately for me, I might not have any petty cash while these are available (they're around 26 bucks, I believe), plus, there are other things on my "get list" right now, but if I get the chance, I'd love to pick this set up, so I thought I'd share it with you guys.

Oh, and be prepared for next week, when "Peter Pan" hits Blu-Ray on Tuesday! Even though it's a double-dip for me, these Disney releases always take priority, as I'm a Disney fanatic. It looks like Target will have another exclusive book-style case. If I'm not broke, I may try to snag it. Still annoyed I missed the Tink book version Blu-Ray (gonna try to get it on Ebay someday), but I did snag the Cinderella and Brave ones. They're pretty neat, though it's a bit redundant that the material in the book part is just the story. Ought to be production art or something. Who is going to use the DVD case to read to their kids? Anyway, I still wanna get that version, though Wal-Mart is offering one of those weird little figures in their set, so I hear. Best Buy will probably offer a Lunchbox or something and charge a lot more for it.