Through an amateur's eyes - a review of "Tropic Thunder"

I'm not quite sure what made me want to see "Tropic Thunder." Maybe it was because it stars Robert Downey, Jr. (I love Robert Downey, Jr. - the cleaned up, sober RDJ), maybe it was because I'd heard it was pretty funny, and I like funny....and maybe part of it was because the heat and humidity of the last week were wearing on my last nerve, and I can always count on the movie theater to have the air conditioning cranked.

Whatever the reason, I questioned my sanity for the first couple of minutes. After the normal studio movie previews, the film started with some phony previews of it's own. One bogus ad, in particular, was about something called a "Bust-a-nut" candy bar, and "Booty Sweat" energy drink. Can you say R.A.U.N.C.H.Y.? Yeah? Me too.

Once the movie kicked into gear, and the story started to unfold, I found myself laughing out loud quite a bit. Oh, sure, part of it was in hopes of waking up the guy that was passed out and snoring next to me, (read about that here...) but mostly it was because the crude humor tickled my funny bone. Robert Downey, Jr. was excellent, Ben Stiller (who also directed) was great, and Jack Black was a riot.

I won't be a spoiler and give away too much of the plot (yes, there actually is a bit of a plot) but suffice it to say that if you have an open mind, don't mind some very vulgar humor, and can put yourself into a "15 year old boy" frame of mind for a couple of hours, you are sure to enjoy this goof-ball comedy. I hate to admit it, but I did take Pickle (14 y.o.d.) and A.J. (15 y.o.s.) along with Hubby to see this flick. Everyone laughed, though uncomfortably at times, and it's given us a bit of new fodder to quote from. I'll give this movie a "B," I did enjoy it, but some of the crudeness was a bit over the top. Not that there's anything wrong with that...

Through an amateur's eye - a review of "Iron Man"

I will preface this review by telling you all that I am not a comic book fan. I am not a cartoon fan, nor am I particularly a "superhero" movie fan. I did love Christopher Reeve in the original Superman movies he was in, but haven't been too thrilled with the superhero stuff that has come out since. Oh, sure, George Clooney makes a pretty decent Batman (but why did the Batsuit have nipples?), but it's not so much the men in the tights that don't do anything for me, it's the stories themselves that can, at times, bore me to tears. So....predictable. (You knew that was coming, didn't you?)

Well, with that being said, let me tell you that I liked this movie. A LOT. I'm thinking that it probably did have something to do with Robert Downey, Jr. starring as the lead. I like Robert Downey, Jr. A LOT. Almost as much as I like Brad Pitt. Almost. RDJ stars as Tony Stark, a billionaire playboy with a conscience. I thought he was great, and the role showed off his magnetic personality. Iron Man also stars Terrence Howard (love him too) as Stark's old buddy, Jeff Bridges (used to love him and his brother Beau, but now they are both looking really old, and pretty creepy) and Gwyneth Paltrow (jealous of her because she was once engaged to my boy Brad.) They all play their respective roles fairly well, with Gwyneth being just a little too dizzy for my taste.

I thought the special effects were very good, with my favorite part being when Stark (Downey, Jr.) is getting "suited up" in his iron suit, which according to the character is actually "gold titanium alloy." Fun fantasy stuff to watch.

I'm not saying that this movie doesn't have it's flaws, but they're not enough to keep the film from being enjoyable to watch. The story has some wit, substance, and a little romance thrown in. And Robert Downey, Jr. Can't ask for too much more than that....I'd give this an A-