Review: "Iron Man 3"

The idea of an extraterrestrial life visiting Earth and making contact with humans has been expressed many times over. I remember spending a lot of energy on the subject, to the point where it caused me anxiety. It got so bad, my parents decided NOT to take me to see Independence Day, until I calmed down. Of course, I’m a bit more collected now, but I still wonder; how would we respond to the knowledge of intelligent life beyond our planet?

In Independence Day, we fought against an attack. In District 9, we impoverished an entire species. And in Marvel’s The Avengers, we assembled our best to protect us and send a warning. The options appear to be either A) Fight them or B) Control them, at least in the examples provided. In the case of Avengers, we get a series (the Marvel Cinematic Universe) that shows our world prior to, during and now after alien life has been exposed to all. How does the world move on in the follow up film Iron Man 3?

Better than you’d expect, actually.

Review: "I Need A Hero"

 "There are no gay characters in the Marvel Universe." - Jim Shooter

The above quote punctuates a story about one of the first appearances of gay characters in a major comic; two stereotypical gay men raping Bruce Banner in a YMCA. Such a statement would be enough to make anyone go green with rage.

"I Need A Hero" - a short documentary now touring the festival circuit - offers a glimpse into the culture of LGBT (lesbian, gay, bi sexual and transgender) comics and its representation in popular issues. When I say (or write) glimpse, I really mean just that. Clocking in at under 14 minutes, the short is made up mostly of interviews with comic book writers, featuring amusing anecdotes, interesting stories and frustrations about releasing "queer comics". While it's been a while since I bought a comic, these guys show an enthusiasm for their work that makes me want to read again. Though, I can't say that I was ever an Archie fan...

There are breaks in the documentary that feature super hero quotes that, in the context of the subject, are quite inspiring, and work as a rallying cry for progression within the industry. This is where the short shines; showing us the irony of forward thinking characters that are published and exploited by stubborn organizations.

The only thing holding this back is the length. So much to cover, with not enough time. And what it does cover is stuck in modern times - not much info about past comics. But, it does work really well as a teaser for a future feature length doc, which, if I understand correctly, is the goal. That will be something to catch once completed.

I'd like to think that America has moved forward when it comes to representing LGBT themes and characters in pop culture, but I know that there's still an uphill battle in fighting ignorance and horrible stereotypes (same when it comes to people with disabilities). We could certainly use a hero to help out. Good thing for us, the (Marvel) Universe is an awfully big place. Right, Mr. Shooter?

3/5 *'s

Why Did Roger Ebert Spoil "Super"?

SPOILER ALERT: I reveal a spoiler originally spoiled elsewhere.

For film buffs, the decision to read a spoiler can be a difficult temptation to overcome. With high ticket prices for movies, and even higher anticipation for popular movies, spoilers can provide certain audience members with the insight they need to decide whether or not they'll be catching a flick. But for most moviegoers, having a film's ending revealed unsolicited can ruin their theatre experience. Knowing this, reviewers do their best to avoid making any startling revelations.
Image by rexb via Flickr

In his review of "Super", Roger Ebert let slip the fate of the character played by Ellen Page. In the first two paragraphs. Filmmaker James Gunn immediately took to twitter, and started hashtag jokes at Ebert's expense. While a spoiler notice has since been attached to the review, I wonder - why did Ebert write the spoiler in the first place?

Personally, I disagree with his take on the movie. At the end of the review, He writes "'Super is a film ending in narrative anarchy, exercising a destructive impulse to no greater purpose than to mess with us." To me, this is a positive and is what makes the film great - it being emotionally intense and challenging (a nice way of saying that it "fucks" with you). Ebert is no stranger to emotionally challenging films, but maybe this one scene went too far in his mind. 

Image via Wikipedia

Ellen Page, as an actress, is easy to fall in love with. I can't say that I've disliked any of her performances, whether they're in low budgets like "Hard Candy" or big budgets like "Inception". And, judging from his reviews, I'd say that Ebert feels the same way. I think that when He witnessed what happened to Libby (Ellen Page) in "Super", He felt offended - how could they do such a thing to such an actress? He practically expresses this with SPOILER "when Ellen Page of 'Juno' stars in a movie, we don't much expect to see her brains dripping." END SPOILER This reminds me of the dust up He had with "Kick Ass" (another "real world" super hero flick) - how could they put that little girl in such extreme action scenes?

I don't want to suggest that He always disregards an entire movie because of one scene, but I have seen this happen before. I once showed "Storytelling" to fellow college students, and I'm convinced that if they hadn't witnessed a specific graphic sequence, they would've liked the film. I wonder if Ebert's thoughts on "Super" might change a little if graphic sequences were excised or rewritten. Seriously, one scene could make all the difference (kind of a compliment to the film, that one scene could make such an impression).  

Of course, Ebert's revelation didn't completely ruin the movie, nor did it ruin my opinion of him. Personally, I usually agree with him maybe 80% of the time (though I'm not sure how to accurately determine that). In this one case of disagreement, I find something to agree with - Ellen Page is wonderful, and seeing her in such a sequence is a shock.

Should critic's be so chivalrous in their reviews? Spoiling a movie in an effort to warn others? I dunno. That's a topic for a blogger more articulate and better disciplined that myself. Certainly, some audiences don't mind knowing a little extra about what they're gonna spend their money on. Just be sure to attach a notice BEFORE posting the review. Might save yourself from a nasty hashtag or two.