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I caught an early preview of Iron Man (My Rating: 10/10) last night with my two brothers, Robbie (one of my brother’s friends) and Josh Wilkerson over at the Regal Cinemas Exchange 20. (8:10pm on DLP) The movie was, in a word, awesome. I’m not going to spoil the movie, as many have probably not seen it yet but here some general thoughts I had on the movie:

• Robert Downey, Jr. was born to be Tony Stark. Seriously. They could not have chosen a better actor to play the man. He nailed it.
• While much of the tech was unrealistic, they still made it all seem very plausible. (Think Batman Begins.)
• Gwyneth Paltrow was great as Pepper Pots.
• I will be seeing it again. It’s one of the best comic-based movies I’ve seen.

Paramount Adapting Dune Again. As long as it doesn’t suck, I’m down.

CAUTION… Don’t read any further if you don’t like SPOILERS. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya.
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Movie Trailer: Iron Man. Not gonna lie to ya… I giggled when I saw the this.

We did it: We survived seven-and-a-half straight hours of Pauly Shore movies. Don’t ask why we did it. I doubt any of us could really explain it. But we did it.

I’m not sure how Scott and Patrick decided on it, but we watched them in this order: Jury Duty, In the Army Now, Son in Law, Bio-Dome, and Encino Man.

Seeing as I was the oldest out of the three of us, I was the only one who had seen all five movies in the theatre. (This isn’t something I’m exactly proud of…) Anyways, Patrick has already chimed in on his thoughts on things, so I thought I’d add my two cents… (Here’s how to interpret my ratings: 1 – Unholy Bile, 2 – Awful, 3 – Bad, 4 – Poor, 5 – So-So, 6 – Not bad, 7 – Good, 8 – Great, 9 – Fantastic, 10 – Perfect)

1. Bio-Dome 7/10 (Extra points for the brief and unexpected Tenacious D appearance in this movie.)
2. Encino Man 6/10 (Brendan Fraser went all out as the caveman. Pauly was actually quite the philosopher. It’s pretty bad when the Weasel is the wiser of two idiots.)
3. Son in Law 6/10 (Pretty good, well rounded movie.)
4. Jury Duty 5/10 (Meh… not great, but lots of great cameos.)
   
5. In the Army Now 5/10 (I didn’t hate it… and I certainly remembered liking it more the last time I watched it.)

The one thing I learned from watching all of these flicks again was that Pauly Shore wasn’t half bad… He was an icon back in his day… albeit a very annoying one. But his movies represent what was good (and bad) about the 90’s.

I am glad we didn’t decide to have a Steve Buscemi or Gilbert Godfried marathon. I probably would have killed someone if subjected to their flicks… Maybe next time…

Just read a brief post over on SCIFI.com titled, “Iranians Decry 300 Portrayal” and I’m in disbelief…

Iranians Decry 300 Portrayal

Zack Snyder’s hit 300, about the Greco-Persian Battle of Thermopylae in 480 B.C., has drawn the wrath of Iranians for showing their ancestors as bloodthirsty “savages,” the Agence France-Presse news service reported. (The Persian Empire evolved into what is now modern-day Iran.)

Iranian press, officials and bloggers have united in denouncing the film as another example of “psychological warfare” against Tehran by its American archenemy at a time of mounting tension over its nuclear program, the AFP reported.

A cultural advisor to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad described the film as “American psychological warfare against Iran.”

The film, based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel, has been a huge hit in North America and other countries, notably Greece. The AFP reported that it is highly improbable the film would ever be screened in the Islamic republic, but contraband DVDs of the latest American movies are often available on the streets no sooner that they are internationally released.

I nearly choked when I read the quote that 300 was “American psychological warfare against Iran.” The 300 graphic novels came out nearly a decade ago… They are a work of fiction and fantasy (and a wonderful read at that!). Yes, the storyline is based on the Battle of Thermopolyae, but never once has the film or the graphic novels been presented as a complete work of fact. People get too mired in analyzing the details and finding flaws and faults, that they fail to see the big picture: It’s only a movie.

Battle of Thermopolyae - In the Battle of Thermopylae of 480 BC, an alliance of Greek city-states fought the invading Persian army at the pass of Thermopylae in central Greece. Vastly outnumbered, the Greeks held back the invader in one of history’s most famous last stands. A small force led by King Leonidas of Sparta blocked the only road through which the massive army of Xerxes I could pass. After three days of battle, a local resident named Ephialtes betrayed the Greeks by revealing a mountain path that led behind the Greek lines. Dismissing the rest of the army, King Leonidas stayed behind with 300 Spartans and 700 Thespian volunteers. Though they knew it meant their own deaths, they held their position and secured the retreat of the other Greek forces. The Persians succeeded in taking the pass but sustained heavy losses, extremely disproportionate to those of the Greeks. The fierce resistance of the Spartan-led army offered Athens the invaluable time to prepare for a decisive naval battle that would come to determine the outcome of the war.^[1] The subsequent Greek victory at the Battle of Salamis left much of the Persian navy destroyed and Xerxes was forced to retreat back to Asia, leaving his army in Greece under Mardonius, who was to meet the Greeks in battle one last time. The Spartans assembled at full strength and led a pan-Greek army that defeated the Persians decisively at the Battle of Plataea, ending the Greco-Persian War and with it Persian expansion into Europe.^[2]

My brother and I caught the new Ghost Rider movie on Friday night. Ever since seeing the trailer for it late last year, I’ve been looking forward to seeing this movie. I didn’t even care that Nic Cage was going to be playing the lead (as I did when the new Superman movie was still in development). I could see Cage as Blaze…and he didn’t disappoint (for the most part). The movie was pretty close to how I remember the comic books being. Visually, the movie was great to look at. The special effects with the Ghost Rider character were awesome. As far as story is concerned… it could have been a bit better. But, it was still one of the better comic book adaptations that I’ve seen in a while…