Lessons learned from an entire afternoon at the movies ( now with spoilers....)

( brought to you tonight by Naughty by Nature's "Hip-Hop Hurray" among others...)

So, I decided to take a MAJOR break from life and go to the movies not once but twice (for the aforementioned Iron Man previewing and see below)-- --Cliff note version: AW HELL NAW. That movie ain't for no 6 year old boy. It shows weapons of mass destruction and they use very graphic depictions of the horrors of war that Stark Industries (aka Haliburton) has caused.

Ingman Note Version:

This was a near-blatantly obvious critique of the current war AND might be it's most subversive cuz this movie is gonna make BANK! BIG TIME!

I loved it. It was probably my favorite of all the Marvel comic movies. Tho, I still think Silver Surfer was pretty fuking cool.  Saw it at the Drafthouse (of course, b/c I live within walking distance of a drafthouse--aka the coolest fuking theater on the planet. It was a major factor in my consideration of current relocation loacales).

If it weren't for all the war stuff, I'd say the movie  *might* be okay b/c the superhero aspect of it is really well-done. Tony Stark is played to utter perfection by Robert Downey Jr. Favreau is clearly a fan of the comic series and it shows in his face--he's in a scene with Stan Lee (who MUST, according to some unwritten code of conduct, appear in EVERY Marvel movie). Favreau has this shin-eating grin like, "I'm in a scene with Stan FUKING LEE--every comic book geek's godhead!" Not only that, he (Favreau) made the damn movie and it's like a kid living out his superhero dreams when Iron Man goes flying around L.A. There's a certain nostalgia in it's retrospective vision of adulthood and atoning for one's mistakes. I thought it was ultimately very sweet and well done. So glad to see Robert Downey, Jr. working again. If you have yet to see him in Zodiac. You must. Go. Now. I'll still be here.

(at some point in the near- to mid future): See? He's good, isn't he? He plays that character to the nines. Jake is good too. But, he's Jake; so there's that. Was that movie just too gruesome to win an award at the Oscars or have we all been lulled into a stupor by the Jigsaw series and The Scary Movies? I dunno. I love that opening montage.

(insert awkward transition here)

A little more editing and Iron Man *could* have been PG. But, see above. Nice job, Favreau. Many people clapped. I love it when an audience claps. It's like this shared experience of seeing something exceptionally well done.You're moved to show appreciation for it as a piece of work--like a well played solo or concert. Who cares if the film-makers et al can hear you? Though, umm, I have been to those and it was awkwardly less enthusiastic than say, today's movie. LOVED the fact that they got the song. Like many in the audience (at least those of my age), I went home and put it on the iPod. mini-SPOILER: Be sure to stay through the credits for a preview of the sequel featuring Samuel L. Jackson. I think it's...Captain America (they made a movie of that a long time ago that I don't think ever came out to theaters); Hulk; Spider-man; and Iron-Man. I might note that according to IMDB there's an Avengers movie scheduled for release in 2011. There's also another version of the Hulk coming out. What Ang Lee's version wasn't good enough for you? The man won a fuking Oscar, give him a break. I'm out of my element here though b/c I wasn't that big of a comic book geek. Baseball cards, now, are a different story. So, I'll climb down off my soapbox and let somebody else (Taylor? Michael? Anybody?) take on the issue of comic book adaptations.

THEN:

I decided to make a day of it and bought a ticket for Forgetting Sarah Marshall. I've wanted to see it for a while as it's an Apatow affair and Jason Segal is in it (assuming that one of the other F&G people would show up along with Paul Rudd)  SPOILER: who actually is in it. OTHER SPOILER: Jason Segal goes full frontal on several occasions. Apparently after Borat anything is possible. And while we didn't get the same bang for the buck as it were from FSM as we did with B, Jason Segal apparently is well hung. It's almost like--check me out, ladies. I'm an actor. I wrote this movie AND I'm hung like horse. But, that's another Apatow trademark....The dude who plays the British Rock Star Boyfriend (did they actually give him a name? Oh, Aldus or something like that?) is good. He's got this Dominic Monoghan on Lost aspect to him and it works well for the character. The song that is his "Big Hit" is a great bit of parody. Segal had fun with that, obviously. THIRD SPOILER: There's this quick little bit in the middle of the credits with Jason Bateman and Sarah Marshall appearing in a CSI-like drama coming to NBC this fall. It's such a tremendous FUK YOU to NBC from Apatow that I was moved. The Bateman rocks! Unassuming FOURTH SPOILER: Cake's "Love You Madly" is the theme song to FSM. Yeah, Cake! I hope that they/he got something out of it. (NOTE to SELF: Must look into rights for using music in documentary b/c otherwise I'm gonna have to pay up the wazoo for them later. Go with smaller bands... Cake?)

Now that I think of it, though, F&G is good b/c of Paul Feig's scripts as well as the actors' performances. Maybe Apatow is not as godhead as he's being made to be. Hmmm.

One last comment about FSM, puppets? Why puppets? I think I get why baldomom doesn't like them. They might have just climbed a wrung up my heebie-jeebie ladder. Seems a bit like, "Let's see what we can get away with".... but without the cajones to go as far as Meet the Feebles. BTW, yep, that Peter Jackson. Weird. Weird. Weird.

Since I had to run over to make the initial screening, I missed the previews and the Drafthouse's notorious pre-screening entertainment for Iron Man (I saw it later after my screening finished). I was determined not to miss the ones for FSM as I've been really wanting me some F&G. And, they showed an episode beforehand. I didn't get to see but the last few minutes, but it was won of the later ones.

Lessons learned:
1) Sometimes, a day at the movies is the best thing you can do for yourself.
2) Pineapple Express looks absolutely awesome. When Apatow and Rogen write together, they rock. One of them alone and it's not quite up to the same caliber.
3) Regardless of what the credits say, you can tell when someone else has had a hand in a solo project at some stage. See above and/or Amee Mann's cover of "One"; Kurt and Courtney; Kurt and Dave Grohl. I could go on all night
4) Still didn't get my pimp-cane. But my knee is feeling better. Maybe I just got to keep resting it as much as possible
5)  No more running across the street to get to that screening of whatever when you leave 5 minutes before said screening, Jim.
6) Gotta get on the summer camp tip manana. Multiple messages left ought to get some response, eh?
7) Most importantly, the path of least resistance might be the best path of all. THIS coming from Mr.Sarcasm himself, Dr. House.
8) I really want to learn to play some Cake songs on the guitar.
9) I'm going to my reunion not for the obvious 20 years later reasons, but b/c I want to go.
10) Hawaii is so fuking gorgeous.  Must start saving money for that condo/ shack in the fishing village of Kihei.

I'm getting tired and there's school tomorrow. I said I'd have some grading done, too. Oh well..
Aloha,
J