I caught up on some movie viewing recently:
1. Iron Man -- See it now. Seriously. See. It. I didn't know what to expect, but had heard from many people that it was quite good, and I do think Robert Downey, Jr. is incredibly talented. He makes this movie. He commits to it 100% and it is because of this that it works. His Tony Stark is a fully fleshed out character and not just some comic book caricature. I was really impressed that Jon Favreau didn't merely pull off such a big blockbuster film, he nailed it. So... yeah. See it.
2. Knocked Up -- Didn't really know what to expect, but it wasn't this. I'm a little embarrassed to say that I actually found it very sweet. The scene where Paul Rudd's character talks about how he can't accept his wife's love just really hit home for me. I guess I was expecting the movie to be all raunch and toilet humor, and it actually dealt with some real issues, ones that pretty much everyone I know is dealing with. I guess I didn't expect it to be as relatable and universal as it was, though that would explain how well it did at the box office. Slate's Meghan O'Rourke does a great job dissecting it in this article.
3. I Heart Huckabees -- Existential angst sent up rather hilariously. Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman are so fantastic in this. I wasn't ready to like this film, but a friend of mine loves it, so I gave it a chance and I'm really glad I did. It's well worth seeing.
4. Death Proof -- It was a close call, but I did like this one better than Planet Terror. I also realized as I watched it that I was in an acting class with one of the girls in the movie a few years back. I guess her career has gone pretty decently since then. :) Anyway, I loved the sense of menace in the first half of the movie. It's just downright creepy. The second half of the movie is way more girl-power, but in the best of ways, and the car chase is exhilarating. If it doesn't get you cheering the good guys on, there's something wrong with you.
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