Wednesday 18 September 2013

Double Bill Mini Musings: Iron Men & Iron Bars...

Iron Man 3
What's it about?
If you don't know about Iron Man by now, then where have you been? Tony Stark/Iron Man comes unstuck when international terrorist The Mandarin starts causing global chaos while the 'extremis' biological development only makes things worse.
Who would I recognise in it?
Robert Downey Jr, Gweneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, Jon Favreau, James Badge Dale, William Sadler, Paul Bettany, Miguel Ferrer.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
Better than the second, not as good as the first. In spite of few plot holes and story jumps, the script is breezy and sassy enough to make this a hell of a fun ride. Director and Co-Writer Shane Black works his sardonic magic - a summer blockbuster that's set at Christmas, a precocious kid side-kick, innumerable withering put-downs, and an audience-splitting 180 degree blindsiding reveal, all make this a thoroughly enjoyable time. Some might gripe that 'there's not enough Iron Man in it', but there's plenty of iron-fisted mayhem come the finale. Focusing more on Tony Stark this time around makes things more personal and ties up some loose character ends - Iron Man 3 is, after all, the beginning of 'Marvel Phase II' after the billion-dollar juggernaut that was The Avengers. Much better that they play with the formula somewhat rather than just stick rigidly to the same old tricks we've seen before. Good.

Click "READ MORE" below for sleazy reform...
Reform School Girls:
What's it about?
Punk-infused 80s New World Pictures exploitationer-cum-spoof in which a rabble of bad girls face-off against each other and their fascistic wardens.
Who would I recognise in it?
Sybil Danning, Pat Ast.
Great/Good/Alright/Shite?
It hits all the usual marks of the 'Women in Prison' sub-genre from the good girl, the weak girl, the bad girl, the evil warden, the sympathetic Doctor, the inevitable riot and more besides - and it makes for a sleazy-but-fun flick. Jenny (Linda Carol) and Lisa (Sherri Stoner) are amongst a new intake of good girls with bad pasts, who quickly find themselves suffering the consequences of standing up against sadistic enforcer Edna, her in-mate whipping girl Charlie (Wendy O. Williams, who also provides raspy vocals on many pieces of the soundtrack), and the Nazi-styled Warden Sutter (Danning). Not to be taken seriously, Reform School Girls is the sort of flick where all the gals wear lingerie, have group showers, and get into frequent cat fights in their underwear - it's sleazy, it's snarly, and it's pretty good exploitation fare. Over-acting, grand gestures, evil eyes and shouting are the order of the day with this semi-spoof on the WIP movies, providing a stark contrast to the last bastion of decency which is Charlotte McGinnis' Dr Norton. The movie is a bit of a box ticker, but it keeps things moving fast and fun. Good.

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