Yes, I am Ironman

A bit late of a review for the most costly produced 2008 Summer blockbuster, but at least it didn’t disappoint. So let’s get the most important question, is it good? Yes. Yes it does. It’s not on the realistic level of Batman Begins so I would put it in between Spiderman and Fantastic Four. I placed it there because although the film deals with realistic issues of war and terrorism, it also has a lot of gags and jokes in the film. (I especially thought the visual metaphor of fisting to be very very cheeky)

The film would most closely resemble Spiderman 1. As the film starts off pretty quickly with our hero, Tony Stark, in a situation that grants his power. In this case, he is mortally injured and must create a device which sustains his life… evolving into the Ironman suit. 

Audience is then taken on a journey of Stark learning his abilities and using it for good. In the end, using it to defeat an adversary. Though, I am yet to see a superhero film with an actual hard villian to defeat. When are we going to see a Sephiroth?

The casting was well chosen with Robert Downey Jr. fitting the part of a wise cracking jerk billionaire turned physical philanthropist truthfully. The whole film was essentially on his shoulders. I felt that the other actors didn’t do too bad, but Gwyneth Paltrow and Terrence Howard’s characters needed much more development. I felt that they only had dialogue to give RDJ something to work with.

Terrence Howard actually looked like he was going to be in tears in every scene of his. Maybe he was sick? Oh, and wait for extra footage after the entire credits, “That’s so gangsta!” was the response of this dude that commented throughout the whole film. And for Jeff Bridges? Well, as I said, I’m yet to see a villain that is deep. Maybe The Prince of Clowns will fulfill that missing narrative in The Dark Knight.

I was a bit confused with two locations in the film. For someone that has no idea how the Airforce works, I did not know where the air traffic monitoring scene was set in. Also, a scene where Pepper Pott had to access computer files, it wasn’t clear who’s office she went to. That scene was meant to be suspenseful, but after seeing the screensaver of a hot rod, I was thinking how is it scary to go to Tony Stark’s office?

The action in the film was top notch. Ironman dodging F22 Raptors and fighting militias were cool, but not as on the seat action as Superman Returns were (saving a falling plane is just crazy.. just Super). The CGI in Ironman was flawless. I guess that’s the advantage of modeling inorganic objects.

Overall, the film was a good watch and I would say is just under Batman Begins and Spiderman. It would’ve surpassed those films if the writers chose to put Tony Stark in harder situations and have more to lose than just his family’s honor. But I guess Ironman is just too smart to get into sticky situations. As Christopher Nolan, director of Batman Begins said, “The turning point for Bruce is when he realises that he’s not immortal, that even as Batman, he will still fail. So we made him fall off a building in flames.”

4/5

Add comment | May 7th, 2008

New York almost done

Well, I have only 5 more days in New York, until I start my journey back to Sydney. First stop, Hong Kong.

The past two months here after parting with my parents and girlfriend has been one sole purpose. To use the opportunity I have in New York to film at least one short film. This goal, I have achieved. 

I wrote a first draft of my Love themed New York story in a cafe in Greenwich village, S’nice on 7th Ave and W 4th St, during my stay in New York in the later part of 2007. That was during my feature film writing course. When I was stuck on writing a new scene of my feature, I opened a new document in Celtx (a scriptwriting program) and wrote a five page screenplay.

Later on, I realized that this short film was doable. After several rewrites and then a 3 month break traveling the States and Europe, I come back to New York with equipment that my parents brought over and the pre-production process began with my Producer, Stine. A student of the Producers course at NYFA, which I met when I helped at other friend’s film shoots.

Casting was relatively easy. I wrote the character descriptions and gave it to Stine. She placed an casting call on NYcastings.com for actors and she received a lot of replies. Even though this was a non-paying job. In the end, struggling actors would work for free, because they’ll never know if the project they sign up for would be a hit or miss. They just need as much exposure as they can get.

While she was locking down on which actors to get in for the auditions, I was scouting locations. I also cut a scene out of my film and replaced it with a different one. A scene I felt would develop my character more and also pushed the film to another level. Fortunately, Stine agreed with my decision.

So actors and locations were locked down. Stine helped me with getting the permits and organizing a shoot schedule. I also got some extra equipment for myself, the shotgun microphone NTG-2 by Rode and also the Manfrotto Fig Rig, which I was exposed to back in film school while watching “Timecode”.

The film shoot last four days without much hassle. The hotel room that I envisioned in my mind and storyboard didn’t look right, but at least the view had an iconic New York building. But the scene I filmed at the Financial District didn’t go as smooth. Although I got a permit to film in that area, building security of two different buildings kept hassling me that I was not allowed to film their entrance. So as you’d expect, I didn’t get the best shots I wanted. Mix this in with really cold and windy weather, it didn’t help.

Overall, the film is now cut to a tight 8 minutes with enough characterization I wanted in the first place. The film is actually on my Facebook page, but only people on my friend list can watch it. The main reason for this is that I have placed music of signed Indie musicians as the soundtrack. I need to deal with licensing issues.

Hopefully I can get the songs I want for a low price. Or else I’d have to rescore the film. Although, that’s not such a bad idea either.

Add comment | May 5th, 2008

Storm Riding a second time.

These guys still got it.

But filming in Thailand? Damn you Pang Brothers! The first film was sick, so let’s hope the sequel would be better. “Best CGI film in Asia” - Pang Brothers…. Let’s hope so.

Add comment | May 2nd, 2008

Harold and Kumar Escapes from Randomness

When I watched the first Harold and Kumar, I thought the film was hilarious. Two Asian dudes that goes on a crazy adventure just to get themselves some burgers. Memorable scenes were, Freakshow, Bobby Lee as the student, EEXXXTRRREEEEMMME, the Black guy in jail scenes and beating the Bag of Weed wife.

Unlike the first film, I don’t think there were such memorable or funny scenes. But does that make the sequel bad? No. Why? Because this time, we have a plot! The quest is not just one linear goal now. The first film had Harold believing in himself and not doing other people’s work, whereas Kumar had accepted that he is good at medicine. This second time around, their emotional goal is to grow up and find love.

Having hilarious flashbacks, EMO HAROLD, the writers “plant the seeds” for what happens later on in the film. And it works effectively. It gives the film a full circle appeal and much more touching than the first film. Neil Patrick Harris cameos in this film again, but I don’t think his scenes were that funny. Not as funny as how he humps Harold’s driver’s seat in the first film.

Again, this film really is just a series of gags and racial commentary from start to finish and this time with more boobage. The love story is the icing on the cake which made me enjoy this film more than the first. Not all the scenes were good though, I didn’t really find the George Bush scene that funny, but I guess it was written as a device to get keep the story going.

So the writers and directors, Hurwitz and Schlossberg, have definitely matured form the first film. At least in their writing, mimicking the Apatow group, ie, 40 yr old virgin, Superbad and Knocked Up, has given the characters more depth instead of just randomness. 

This film, I would say, has grown from Family Guy to South Park quality. Harold and Kumar are will probably be memorable characters in film history. Wether or not they will make a third movie remains to be seen. The ending closes up nicely, but seeing that they made over $14Mill in their first weekend might say otherwise…

3.5/5

Add comment | April 29th, 2008

Clive Owen or Ironman?

Tonight, I had the chance to either go to the Apple Soho store presenting Clive Owen or to an Advance screening of Ironman at the Regal Stadium on 42nd St. Both free events and both most likely will draw a crowd.

What did I choose?

Seeing a good actor live in person than some CGI dude flying around of course. In fact, I’d prefer to go to this Clive Owen session alone than watch a movie alone.

Answering questions that Director, Mary Harron, whom directed American Psycho, the film that would’ve brought Christian Bale to a wider audience before Batman Begins. She asked him questions from his theatre days to getting nominated and Closer. As well as his new films. But most of the interview session was about his love of acting and how even though he started in theatre, Film is still the medium he enjoys most because of the collaboration with many many talented people to do one project.

He also said he was very close to the film Closer, because he was there from day one, six years ago when it first opened to public as a stage play. Though, he acted as Jude Law’s character.

Then it was audience’s turn to ask him questions. This one is when a woman told him that she loved him in Extra in a comic role. And that if he finds himself choosing action films. He replied that he doesn’t see himself as an action star, though, Sideways was a fun action shooter. But mostly, it depends on a good script and good dialogue.

Clive stands after the QnA session as if to pose for the public. Overall, he’s a very talkative person and answered every question Mary and the public asked fully.

Questions he answered were who he wanted to work with, he said anyone that has a good vision and script. That he doesn’t know much about Sin City 2. And that he’s a focused actor at the moment and won’t think of Directing or writing yet, unless something really interests him. I should’ve asked a question, like would he do more BMW films with the new car lineups or if he’d clad a leather outfit too like Christian or Will.

I hope he gets his deserved Oscar. From stage to tv to films, he’s a real actor that wants to make good films and enjoy acting, instead of doing it for fame or fortune. Hopefully I’ll get to work with him one day. He’s worked with Cate Blanchette and Naomi Watts now. Time to work with an Aussie Director? 

Add comment | April 26th, 2008

Superhero Films

In the next few months will be when a batch of comic book superhero films come to theaters. Which has inspired me to write a bit about this subject, as the target audience and also as a writer director.

I’m not an avid American comic book reader. The closest I’ve been is buy the first issues of the Amalgam titles. Which is a crossover series between the Marvel and DC universe. Other comics I have read as a child would just be Akira Toriyama’s Dragonball sagas.

As a child from the late 80s, the closest Superhero film that I was close to is Tim Burton’s Batman Returns. Main reason for this is that I owned it on video when I was a child. But I have seen the previous Batman and also Superman films before then.

Superhero films were put on hiatus for 3 years after Joel Schummacer’s Batman and Robin. With big names and, even though Mr Clooney does not admit it, it catapulted him into stardom. The movie failed due to it taking the material to a comedic level, insulting the audience.

Although the previous films were commendable for their times, they lacked the Super in the superhero name. It was not until the digital effects age. The Phantom Menace came out in 1999 and George Lucas showed the world the advancement in CGI. Then came Brian Singer’s XMEN in 2000. This film brang the Super in superhero. It also gave us a story, which is very important. But this film was surpassed two years later.

2002, Spiderman came out. This, I would say, is when the superhero films became mainstream. The film had all the elements that audience will love. Great special effects mixed in with a classic story-line about a regular person gaining powers and learning to control it. Using these powers for good and helping people. An enemy that makes him feel loss.

Though, no superhero film has heightened the loss and vulnerability of a hero than in 2005 with Christopher Nolan’s, Batman Begins. The loss of Bruce’s parents has caused him to understand the criminal mind, the catalyst for him to take up the Batman persona. With a cast that is believable, unlike Daredevil or Punisher, this film made Superhero films realistic… without super powers.

Now, we come to the summer blockbusters of 2008. The Dark Knight, The Incredible Hulk and finally, Iron Man. All three very different as one is a direct sequel, another a semi-sequel and the last, an origins film. One thing is certain though, the popularity of the films would really depend on several factors. The film should give what the audience expects from the film’s genre with a bit of twist for the extra bit of zing.

With The Dark Knight, audience expects a darker film than the first. Delving even deeper into the criminal hive that is Gotham City with it’s only defender, Batman. Though, I think this film would mainly focus on the rise of The Joker and Two Face.

The Incredible Hulk should focus on what The Hulk is good at. Smashing. Set in New York, this film has a lot of potential for visual destruction. Penned and starring Edward Norton, we can expect the film to be much harder than Ang Lee’s adaptation.

Iron Man, as an origin film, should mostly focus on how he gains his powers and intends to use it. Watching the trailer of the film, it’s pretty certain that the film will follow the narrative structure of a regular man that goes through turmoil, acquiring a power source. Learns to use it several times, then must control it to defend the ones he loves. An interesting part of Iron Man though, is that it is a bit similar to the Fantastic Four, as he goes public with his identity. Oh, and he’s a gambler and weapons dealer, how badass is that?

I believe that the Superhero film genre will stay in the film industry. I hope that many more original and good films would be done. If we look closely, the superhero films that didn’t do well, such as Spawn, Daredevil, Elektra, Punisher and Ghostrider was mainly because they lacked a strong story. Taking a note from Christopher Nolan, I too believe that heroes must come to a point and realise that they are merely heroes.. they are not immortal. That there will be loss and suffering.

Heroes do not only change physically but they also emotionally. 

Oh, let’s not forget that there is Hellboy 2. Less mainstream, but looks like a fantastic film also.

Hhmmm… originally, this post was suppose to be my opinion of what makes a good superhero movie, but it seems that I have turned it into my list of appreciation of breakthrough superhero films. I might write up a more indepth guide to a workable superhero film later.

Add comment | April 10th, 2008

Less than 3 - New York… Day One

Day one of filming has just finished for my short film, entitled, Less than 3 - New York.
In short, it is about a Japanese guy whom comes to New York in search of a girl that he’s fallen in love with.

Locations were Battery Park and a Hotel in NYC. More updates in time. Real tired, since I was DP also.

2 comments | April 5th, 2008

Butters on the Park… South Park

I don’t watch too many TV shows, but South Park is one of them. And my favourite character? Butters of course. He’s the naive and innocent kid that gets into sticky situations.

Add comment | April 4th, 2008

Wong Kar Wai @ Apple Soho.

Alrighty, Wong Kar Wai was a special guest director to talk at the New York Apple store in Soho. Organised by Indiewire. The event opened up with a teaser of Blueberry Nights, starring Jude Law, Norah Jones, Natalie Portman, Directed and Written by Wong Kar Wai. Then the interviewer asked a series of questions which has been documented below. I could not be bothered to document the questions by the audience.

Crazy ass crowds standing in the background.

No photos were allowed during the event, but I sneaked a few right before WKW left… Sorry for the blurriness…. I guess he was in a hurry. Probably he’ll talk on a talk show tonight or the next few nights to promote Blueberry Nights, which premieres in NY this coming Friday.

How happy is the Interviewer?

Packing up to LEAVE.

Both so happy. Happy Together?

Slow mo… WKW style

People still want some more WKW…

Note: My Blueberry Nights was based on a short film that Wong Kar Wai did. And also, he filmed a restaurant scene where Maggie Chueng serves Tony some pie in In the Mood for Love that didn’t make it into the cut.

Below is the live blogging of Wong Kar Wai at Apple Soho New York. I only decided to write it up and post each paragraph around 5 minutes into the QandA. The below post has not been edited.

—————————————————————-

WKW:

This film is different from previous practice. With whole brand new team. In a short period of time like seven weeks. It attracted me to work from the very beginning.

I need someone to work with me on the script. Since it’s only sven weeks. Especially final draft was not in english. Cast surprised and happy, since thought there wasn’t going to be a script. 

Not authentic enough, cause I don’t know this country so well. So instance collaboration with crew and Larry.

Use other locations because NY would be expensive for entire film.

America is the best showcase for American culture. Which we all are a bit influenced. No matter where we live. Each city has it’s own artisitic references. We took 3 tripps, the more place, the harder to choose. Had to go with the essential to me. Half of the south, cause of the music. We thought we’d make a film, with chapters.

On the way to west coast, we got lost in Nevada. Drove for 12 hours, and ended in small town. Korean lady run small grocery stall and gas station. Explain histroy town, cooked me noodles. Busy in the 20s, all ppl that go to LV from LA stops there.

Instead of taking story to Vegas, have most story in this town then end in Vegas.

- Clip of Norah and Jude is played.

- Clip of Norah in a bar is played.

———-

Q: “Did u have to direct established stars diff?”

WKW: Didn’t see a diff between Tony and Jude. Or Rachel with Gong Li. Great actors need the guidance and the space. This method, or the way we work, brings to them something fresh. They enjoyed it… as far as i know.

Q: “Now you work with a new DP, what is it like? Since you worked with CD so much before”

WKW: Instead of meetings, we take a car, travel and take pictures Over 1000. Compare work and pov. Later we publish a book. Very diff than work with CD. Since we’ve worked for over 15 years. He knows what i want with camera and lighting. This was a diff experience. Never worked on feature, but with commercial. Darris has a huge respect for Chris, he asked me how would Chris do it, I said no point, you should do what you want. Both of them are very sensitive, they are both really involved in the film process besides DP.

Q: “How you came about your music choices? And how they matched this film?”

WKW: When we were travelling, we realised the music changes on the radio. I took this music as a reference to time. Since the film is 4 chapters. Showing where she is. In NY or Memphis. It represents space. We listen to Cat Powers a lot. so we decide to use the music of Chan for NY, and Ottis for Memphis. Then link the chapters together . Interested in Cat Powers, she doesn’t like taking photos. I sent my DP to see her… he returned and said the camera will love her face. I asked her to visit the set, I told her that Jude had ex gfs, I asked her if she want to do it. She asked if there’s kiss, I said maybe… she said DEAL.

- Clip of Nat Portman playing poker.

(WKW is frowning… in his black suit and sunglasses…) 

- Clip of Jude Law and Norah talking about PIE… BLUEBERRY PIE!

Q: “You’re not a fan of BB PIE”

WKW: “I don’t like desserts”

WKW: “The owner of the real shop told me the BB Pie is the least fav.”

Q:”What is romantic with Diners?”

WKW: “Well, not just diner, but i’ve chosen cafe and delicassens. I know the best in HK for writers, cause i’m always there. I consider those places to be very intimate place. I spent a lot of hours in those places, I notice the feeling of the characters. Then I thought, we can make a film of these ppl. Because people goes to bars, because they want to meet strangers. We went to bar at night, Diner for breakfast, to understand the community.”

Q: “Any similarity for filming overseas, like Happy Together?”
WKW: “Well, HT was a bit diff, since they were chinese and they don’t speak the language in Argentina. I can imagine this story from a Chinese POV. BBN is differemt, since it is about Americans that live in America. It can’t tell this story authentically. I have to deal it like a traveller. That’s why I need my collaboraters to work with me. I always felt rested and self conscious. Not knowing if this is the right choice. At the end of the day, I feel I’m not writing a script, but a telegraph. Writing the most important things. And let the cast to bring out the flesh and blood.” 

Q:”Anything surprise you working here?”

WKW:”Firstly, there are a lot of paper work, because of union. We never had problems in HongKong, since we didn’t have lunch break problems. When working in a country, we need to respect the rules.”

Q:”New version of Ashes of Time”

WKW:”I’m trying to save it, to collect it, since original edit is deteriorating. We wanted to restore.. but I felt we do something more than restoration. This is something I’m going to deal with when I go back to HK”

3 comments | April 2nd, 2008

10,000 BC

Ronald Emmerich’s heavily publicized film delivers the goods in visual splendor that follows the journey of, as the film’s tagline says, The First Hero. Though, the word Hero is thrown around about nowadays, the film touches on the most basic form of hero story telling, the Monomyth. It follows it so clearly, that it seems that all the writers had to do was think of the setting (Everywhere…) and fill it in with the archetype characters. 

Passing the script on a traditional method is fine. George Lucas did it. The Wachowski brothers did too. In fact, this film follows the Monomyth so well, that there was everything which was to be expected of it. There are no original stories. Stories are just told differently. And the downfall of this film was it’s dialogue. Within the first ten minutes, I cringed at the overly romanticized dialogue between the childhood version of the two leads. It reminded me of when I read the novelization of The Phantom Menace’s scene between Anakin and Padme… I’m glad that George Lucas didn’t play that scene out in the film as it did in the novel.

The locations in 10000BC range from the snowy mountains to the desserts. Each shot was filmed to heighten the vastness of the journey. Shot filmed in open areas were crisp and colourful. Even for the shots filmed in the dark. But then later on in the film, the scenes in the rooms seemed to be very grainy, which ruined the film’s look for me. 

The acting in the film wasn’t too bad either. At times they were believable, especially during the action sequences. Which I guess, doesn’t really need any acting, but more of a physical endurance factor. But there lacked a bit of charm and connection of the characters with each other. Maybe since they’re meant to be cavemen, they have to be a bit dead to each other. I felt that the camaraderie of the Hero’s father offscreen between the other characters seemed more believable than the film’s main Hero’s interaction with them.

I found it a bit weird that the female lead’s childhood counterpart looked Eurasian… and I sorta expected her to grow up looking like Maggie Q. And the wiseman/Obiwan actor looks like an older version of Kal Penn.

CGI of the film isn’t too bad. The Mammoths looked realistic in the day shots, much more real than “I am Legend” infected people. The tall grass scene reminds us of how good Jurassic Park was with the Raptors. And the Sabretooth tiger was as fake as I am Legend’s lion.

Overall, I felt that this film was enjoyable and it just followed a bit too closely to the story blueprint it was based on. Making it predictable without any plot twists or urgency to the characters and at times, cheesy. In fact, if this film was an animation, expectations wouldn’t of been as high and would contribute to some family fun. But what am I saying? This film was catered for children.

2.5 out of 5

1 comment | April 1st, 2008