Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist

Tony Stark is all of those things listed above and so much more. In this post I want to talk about what is, in my opinion, one of the greatest superhero movies of all time: Iron Man 3. Most films of the genre end with the battle and the heroes saving the day and woohoo all is great and life is swell. What's interesting about IM3 is that the story takes place after the battle. Things happened to Tony during the battle of New York (The Avengers) that would seriously mess a person up mentally. What I love about this film is that the screenwriters didn't portray Tony as unscathed. He's scarred like anyone would be after flying through a wormhole into space thinking you were going to die and then falling back down to earth and your best friend, who happens to be a giant green rage monster, catches you and saves your life. IM3 shows the downsides of begin a superhero and also helps explain his actions in later films that led to the creation of Ultron who you know tried to kill everyone on earth. Tony Stark loses his suit and is shown for what he truly is: human.

Tony loses a bit of himself after the battle of New York. His wit and charm is still there but he has more of a darker tone when he says things or does things. He tries to hide it but slowly realizes he cant always do that. The first instance we see this in the film is when he's out to lunch and some kids ask for him to sign a drawing they did of him going through the wormhole. Upon seeing this something happens to him that makes him run out of the restaurant thinking he was poisoned; however, Jarvis informs him that he just had a panic attack. One of my favorite things about this movie is how it portrays mental disabilities, such as panic attacks, and doesn't try to sugar coat it. He has them multiple times throughout the film and they are always shown in their entirety. Here is this superhero, who millions of people look up too, suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This subplot is all about Tony finding himself and reconciling with who he is as Iron Man. The entire middle part of the movie he spends out of the suit with a little kid named Harley and has to solve everything without his gadgets. Even without Jarvis. Tony goes completely on his own and has to figure out who he is and how to stop the villains with nothing but his brain.

The film doesn't have a lot of action sequences such as earlier films like The Avengers and Iron Man 2. What it lacks in action though, it makes up for with superb character development. Tony Stark is the control freak of all control freaks. He is a man of science who desperately needs to be in charge of the room and control everything that's happening in it; however, after New York that changes. He just fought off an alien invasion and flew a bomb through a wormhole into outer space. I don't think control is exactly what he's feeling right about now. So now that suddenly he can't explain what happened and the science behind it he has to go back and re-evaluate his entire life. Imagine tomorrow finding out that everything you ever though to be true was a lie. Anyone would struggle with that. That's one of my favorite things about the film is that it shows that even hero's suffer this way. And at the end of the movie, Tony isn't even the one who saves the day and beats the villain. It's his girlfriend Pepper that ends the fight against Killian (villain of the film).

One of the unsung heroes of the film is Harley, the young boy who Stark spends a lot of his time with in the film. Tony discovers that he wont be able to have the suit for his next attack and has another panic attack. Harley basically says okay you cant have what you're used to, so go make something else to help. Without Harley Tony never would've been able to help stop Killian and who knows if he would have reconciled with who is he and the problems he experiences. That moment is the last panic attack we witness Tony having, showing the importance of Harley's words.

The superhero genre is usually filled with lots of action and little character development; but, Iron Man 3 does the complete opposite, and it works. With so many films in the Marvel Universe non-stop action would get boring and repetitive and would sacrifice plot to add more action sequences so the plot makes no sense with the rest of the films *cough cough Age of Ultron cough cough*. Iron Man 3 is, in my opinion, what all superhero movies need in their sequels. Personally I'm not a fan of one or two dimensional characters. They're boring. Iron Man 3 expanded the characters and who they are and created some incredible three dimensional characters that were beautifully crafted. Only to have it all torn down and ripped to shreds up the monstrosity that was Age of Ultron... but we'll talk about that next week.


photo credit: http://www.comicsonline.com/2013/05/movie-review-iron-man-3/

No more rhyming now I mean it!

Its a movie everyone can quote, but almost no one has seen. Yes, Im talking about The Princess Bride.While it didn't do well at all at the box office, once it came out on VHS it became a hit. The entire script is both quote worthy, and cringe worthy. It's about as corny a movie as it gets. The first time you watch it you cant believe people actually like it; then, you watch it again and can quote the entire movie.

So what is it about this movie that keeps people coming back? The plot is standard: boy and girl fall in love. boy goes away and is presumed dead, girl has to marry another boy, 1st boy isn't dead and comes back to save her. Pretty straight forward. What is so significant about this movie though, is the script. While is gets awfully cringe worthy in some places ("But death cannot stop true love... All it can do is delay it for a little while") it is also insanely clever and frankly hilarious in others ("Surrender!"..."You mean you wish to surrender to me? Very well, I accept.") The script is very clever and hilariously quote worthy, which keeps people coming back for more.

Another reason the film has remained in people's minds, are the characters. While Westley is the main hero of the story, he's not the only one. Inigo and Fezzik are two incredibly caring and passionate characters who lead the subplot in all its glory. Inigo is trying desperately to avenge his father's death, and Fezzik does nothing but try and help him accomplish that. The sub plot is the one everyone whose heard of the film either knows about or can quote, and they may not even realize it. Inigo's mantra is "My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Everyone knows the line but not everyone truly knows the meaning behind it and why it's important. [SPOILERS AHEAD] Towards the end of the film when he is fighting his father's murderer he says that line over and over and over and over and over again to the point where it gets annoying; however, it was explained to me why he was doing that and now it makes complete sense. Inigo is injured and has already lost to this man once in his life. He does not want to let his father's death go unavenged, otherwise he will have wasted his entire life training and preparing for nothing. That is why he keeps saying that line over and over again. Not just to say it, but to inspire himself to keep going and not give up. He says it to remind himself that his father is gone because of this man, and the more he says it out loud, the more angry he gets which only refuels his energy though he is seriously injured. The audience loves his courage to keep going, and also people love the story of an underdog not only storming the castle, but tearing it down.

Buttercup, though the only woman in the film (and frankly quite annoying at times), is quite a strong character when you think about her. She's a woman of action (except in the fire swamp but I wont go there) and isnt afraid to step in and say no. She's strong willed and if she says shes going to do something, shes going to do it and that's the end of it. The film toes the line between fantasy and reality so well that all generations can relate to its story and its humor. The interesting characters, the hilariously witty script ("You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."..."You seem a decent fellow. I hate to die."), and the plots of the century there's really no question as to why The Princess Bride has become the success it is.

photo credit: https://www.guthriegreen.com/event/638

"If we numb sadness, we also numb joy"

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While some argue that the Disney Pixar's film Inside Out is to lighthearted for the subject matter it deals with, I have to respectfully disagree. While yes the film does deal with very heavy subject matter, the lighthearted nature of the characters and plot makes it easily accessible for the audience they are trying to reach: children.

I remember sitting in the theater with my mom watching this movie and talking with her about it afterwards. I brought up all of the incredible ideas and lessons that the film talks about and she asked me "do you really think a kid is gong to pick up on all of that?" Kids are a lot more perceptive than people realize. This movie is so fantastic that psychologists and therapists are using it to help with their patients. If that doesnt tell you how wonderful it is then Im not sure what will.

The story starts with an 11 year old girl named Riley who moves with her family from Minnesota to San Francisco. Her parents, particularly her mom, inadvertently tell her that it's not okay to be sad about the move and she needs to keep being happy to make things easier on her dad who is struggling with a new business. Her parents don't mean to harm their daughter and push her away, but that's exactly what they do. By telling her she has to be happy they force her to hide her real emotions and withdraw from her friends and family because she believes it's not okay to feel the way that she does.

Though Riley is the source of the plot line, she is not the main character. The main characters are her emotions: Joy, Sadness, Anger. Fear, and Disgust. Joy is the undisputed leader of the group and is always doing what she can to keep Riley happy, even going to extreme lengths like trying to keep sadness away from the control board and staying in the "circle of sadness." Joy sees Sadness almost as an enemy at the beginning of the film, but throughout the movie she discovers how closely intertwined the two emotions really are. The film deals with the idea that joy can be bought on by sadness and letting oneself feel sad. If you allow yourself to feel that emotion and tell your close family or friends or someone else in your support system, then they will most likely come to help you and comfort, bringing a sense of belonging and love to the person feeling that emotion. Joy realizes this when she is looking at a memory of Riley's. Riley was upset about missing the winning goal in a hockey game, but the only part of the day Joy remembered was that the team and her parents came to cheer her up and made her happy. "They came to help, because of Sadness."

 Dr. Jania Scarlet, a licensed clinical psychologist, illustrated the idea above when she said "if we numb sadness, we also numb joy."   Emotions are very closely intertwined with each other and often coexist in specific events. For example at the end of the movie Riley finally comes clean to her parents about how she feels. She's sad of course, but once her parents begin to comfort her she also feels happy. The memory for her is two emotions at once. This shows kids that emotions are a one or done deal. You can feel multiple things at different times and that's okay. It's okay to feel sad or disgusted or confused or happy or all of those at once. Emotions are important and they are there for a reason and you should never have to hide them, especially from the people you love. You also cant force yourself to be happy if you arent. Sadness will keep creeping until eventually you've worn yourself out and dont feel anything. The movie addresses this with kids by Joy and Sadness physically not being at Headquarters and saying the its impossible for Riley to be happy without them there. People make the argument that this takes away a persons freewill in how they act and feel, but they have to remember it's a kids movie. This is the best way to address the problem they are trying to address. That if a person tries to force themselves to be happy then happy disappears.

The main takeaway from the movie is that emotions are okay and its okay to feel them. There is no villian in this film. Sadness is not evil and it's okay to give in to that emotion. It's okay to feel things and express those feelings to people. It's possible to be happy, sad, and scared at the same time. It's possible to have everything be going great in your life but still be sad. This movie shows kids these things and tries to enforce the idea of expressing yourself. It also warns parents about accidentally forcing emotions onto your children and instead accepting how they feel and not invalidating their emotions because of age or gender. Every person in the film has the exact same emotions. Their brains might be run by different characters, like sadness for the mom and anger for the dad, but they all have the same characters inside their heads. Everyone feels emotions and Disney Pixar wants everyone to know that it's okay to express them!

Holy doodle, here we go.

So the first thing I want to talk about is in my opinion one of the best shows on television. The lead actress is so incredible she causes an uproar when she doesn’t get an Emmy nomination, and then again when she doesn’t win. This show is making people realize that Science Fiction is an incredible genre that deserves recognition and shouldn’t just be thrown to the side during award season. The show I’m talking about is Orphan Black.

Orphan Black opens by introducing us to one of the main characters, Sarah Manning. She is, in the words of Paul, a “punk rock hoe”, who has come to her home in Canada to get her daughter back Kira back from her foster mother Mrs. S. Things don’t exactly go as planned though when Sarah runs into a woman on the train platform who looks exactly identical to her. Think Parent Trap but with a less happy “reunion”. Then as soon as they look at each other the woman, looking defeated, turns and walks on to the tracks getting hit by a train and killing herself. Then Sarah steals her purse, decides to have her foster brother say that Sarah is the one who killed herself, take the dead woman’s identity, con her bank and steal all of her money, and then run away with Kira with all of the money she steals. And that’s just the first 15 minutes. The rest of season one involves corporate espionage, illegal cloning experiments, a Ukrainian serial killer, murder, and a kidnapping. And again, that’s only season one. The show only escalates from there.

Now It is a clone show, so there has to be someone playing two characters right? Or twins who are both actors play the characters! That’s it! Yeah no that’s not it. This is the reason that people cause an uproar when this woman isn’t nominated for an Emmy. Tatiana Maslany plays every clone on the show. Oh and she also plays clones pretending to be other clones. She’s so good, she confuses her own mother when she’s watching the show. As of now shes played: Sarah, Cosima, Alison, Katja Beth, Helena, Rachel, Jennifer, Tony, Krystal, as well as a tiny imaginary scorpion named Pupok. The title of this post is actually one of my favorite quotes from Alison. Along with holy freaking Christmas cake and what the dickens.  

This show’s importance doesn’t just sit with the incredible acting done by the entire cast, but with its incredible plot that introduces all different kinds of people and doesn’t define them in their “typical” roles. There was a transgender character on the show in an episode along with multiple gay and lesbian characters. There may even be a bisexual character but due to the nature of the show to not focus on that aspect of people’s lives we don’t know for sure. The show focuses on people and how far they are willing to go to protect the people they care about. It also shows how families aren’t always blood. Family is what you want it to be and the people in your life who will fight for you and do whatever it takes to protect you. This isn’t always an easy task and sometimes sacrifices have to be made, and those aren’t always easy to make. Felix summed it all up when he told Krystal (an unaware clone), “The only thing you need to know is that you are one of a kind. You’re a survivor, Krystal, and you’re not alone.” People are stronger when they band together. Sarah starts off the show fighting for herself and by herself, but by season 3 she has the equivalent of a small army backing her up. They are stronger together and face the unimaginable and sometimes they lose, but they do it together.

The show deals with a lot of issues such as bodily control, forgiveness, family, protecting those you care about, sacrifice, gender roles, LGBTQIA issues, and the empowerment of women. If you are looking for mystery sci-fi adventure thriller that also tackles serious moral dilemmas then this is definitely the show for you.

What This Blog Is About

All of my life I have loved analyzing films. My friends and I always spend hours after watching a movie discussing the various plot points and camera angles and what worked and what didn't. I've decided to take that love of movies and turn it into a blog. Here I am going to discuss my personal opinions on both films and tv shows and what I think makes them great, or in some cases not so great. There will be posts comparing movies in a series or spinoff series that are more important to a universe than people realize. I'll discuss films from The Hobbit to Age of Ultron, and shows like Orphan Black and Agent Carter. These are the pieces of work that mean the most to me and ideas that I am truly passionate about. Characters that are underestimated and forgotten and movies that sacrificed their plot for an action sequence. On this blog, I'll talk about them all.