Alphabetical Movie – Iron Man
To the few folks who enjoy my Alphabetical Movie Blogs, sorry for the lengthy dry spell. Fringe and the Renaissance Festival tend to slow down my movie viewing. For everyone who isn’t reading them anyway, this preamble was completely unneccessary.
I actually talked quite a bit about Iron Man on Episode 5 of Geeks Without God. My feelings about the recent slate of Marvel movies have been quite positive but having re-watched most of them recently, I feel Iron Man continues to be the best.
Alphabetical Movie – The Iron Giant
The Iron Giant was a movie that felt set up to fail. I watched the film on it’s release date – August 6th, 1999 and on opening day, I was forced to go to an afternoon showing because there was not a single showing scheduled after 5:00 PM. Exhibitors had no faith in the film, the studio had no faith in the film and audiences weren’t given any opportunity to watch it so they could decide for themselves.
On that same day, two other major films were released. One was Mystery Men, which I watched immediately following The Iron Giant. The movie is fun but not particularly memorable.
Yes, I do own a copy of Mystery Men. I said it was fun.
Alphabetical Movie – Irma La Douce
I realize it isn’t universal but why are so many movies about prostitution a romanticized version of the profession? Is it that we can’t deal with the fact that the reality is pretty ugly? Being a prostitute is nothing like the world of Pretty Woman. Or The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
Irma La Douce is interesting because in it, I can see Billy Wilder hinting at the ugliness that surrounds prostitution while staying carefully within the confines of the slowly disintegrating Hayes code. Yes, it is romanticized, but it also shows us an abusive boyfriend/pimp and the unhealthy mental programming most prostitutes accept without even realizing it.
Alphabetical Movie – Intolerable Cruelty
It’s been a slow week of blogging for me. I’ve got these shows coming up – perhaps you’ve heard of them?
So Intolerable Cruelty is about two people who are so much better looking than everyone else in the world, they could only be destined for each other. In fact, I think the title refers to the cruelty the Coen Brothers are inflicting on their audience by forcing them to remember they will never be as attractive as George Clooney and Catherine Zeta-Jones.
I’m not talking sexy. I’m talking attractive.
Alphabetical Movie – Insomnia
I’m trying to be a good geek. Really. I love a good Super Hero film and Christopher Nolan has made two of the best already. I’m super jazzed for The Dark Knight Rises. I don’t know if it is going to be great but I want it to be great.
I have a lot of faith that Nolan can deliver.
So it is with almost a whisper I admit that I don’t think The Dark Knight is Nolan’s best film.
I think it’s Insomnia.
Alphabetical Movie – Inside Man
Inside Man is a heist movie that, like most Spike Lee movies, has an agenda. While it is possible to enjoy the movie as thriller and ignore all the deeper philosophy, I’m not going to do that.
Because one of the central philosophical issues the film asks us to consider is one of redemption.
Alphabetical Movie – Inglourious Basterds
I was at a panel about Tarantino films at CONvergence this weekend. Because the convention theme was Wonder Women, the panel was about Tarantino as a “feminist” filmmaker.
I’m not going to rehash the entire panel but the question of Tarantino as a feminist filmmaker is a complex one. Some of his films pass the Bechdel test but by no means all of them. Inglourious Basterds, for instance, does not.
Alphabetical Movie – Inherit the Wind
Inherit the Wind is one of my favorite movies of all time. Spencer Tracy, Fredric March, Gene Kelly and, in fact, all of the main actors are amazing. I could write an essay about nothing but how much I love the film.
But I’m me. So I’m not going to do that.
Instead, I’m going to talk about how this movie impacted my thoughts on science and religion.
Alphabetical Movie – Indiscreet
Indiscreet is probably best characterized as a romantic comedy even though the first part of the film is more of a romance and the second is more of a comedy. They are sort of slapped together like one of those crackers that is a cracker on one side and a different kind of cracker on the other.
Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman are the stars and constitute the sole reason to watch the film. The movie isn’t bad but I can’t recall a single memorable bit of dialogue or particularly notable scene. And I just watched it.
Alphabetical Movie – Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
Here’s the thing about the Ice Age franchise – which is about to release it’s fourth film.
The movies are good but not particularly memorable. I’ve never walked out of the theatre thinking “damn, I just wasted ninety minutes of my life” but I also never walk out of the theatre thinking about scenes that I just totally loved.
Grail Diary 