I am Iron Man

 
With the latest Marvel movie just around the corner, here are my thoughts on the three Iron Man movies.

No, the title isn't a reference to Tony Starks' big reveal near the end of the first movie, but rather to the intro of the Black Sabbath song which scared the shit out of me the first time I heard it.

No, I don't think Iron Man was supposed to be grim, dark or ugly--like the song. But there is one short sequence that managed to be grimly fun--where Starks emerged from the cave, fought while clad in a giant black metal suit that spews pure hellfire, managed to skyrocket himself and escaped his captors, only to crash-land into the desert, in pieces. It was easily the best part of the movie--that's when his suit was crude and heavy. Not long after, he made a suit--the weightless red and gold CGI--that was too shiny, too perfect; it's just so hard to believe the bad guys would have any chance of winning. And Robert Downey Jr.'s OK, but his snarky Tony Starks' badassness is more of good guy badass, not bad badass. I'd say, it's more than two-thirds of a good movie, with a fairly unconvincing final battle near the end.

The second movie was an intentionally talky sequel, that made excuse for having Whiplash as the villain--so that he can make more boring CGI droids to fight Iron Man and War Machine, with some little help from Pepper and Black Widow, in the big finale--when Starks' biggest enemy, it turns out, is no one but himself.

I'd be happy to give this a plus for introducing the hot redhead undercover agent, even though for the most part it was like--what the fuck is going on?!--and that, not for a single frame did I ever thought that Mickey Rourke's Russian playboy-cum-wild orchid lover Whiplash, and his army of pixel soldiers, had any chance to beat Tony and his friend Rhodes (who underwent plastic surgery after the first movie), even when the pair are beyond being obviously outnumbered.
 
And finally, I'd take back the plus I gave above, for totally wasting the opportunity to make Natasha kick some serious ass, the way Josh Whedon did in the first Avengers movie.

Seriously kicking some ass.

 Oh, by the way, the first two movies had really cool soundtracks, consist mainly of hard rock staples, prominently AC/DC--which was probably meant to imply that Starks isn't only billionaire playboy inventor but also metalhead who digs AC/DC, but probably not Black Sabbath. Therefore, he's also probably gay, or bisexual.

The third film, I liked better than the second for 1) screwing Marvel fanboys in the face, with Ben Kingsley's brilliant turn as the Mandarin; 2) the Christmastime-y story of a boy and his robot-friend; 3) a measure of buddy-cop comedy which (I'm not sure why) reminds me of Shane Black's quite funny Kiss Kiss Bang Bang; 4) and the sight of Starks' only suit getting low on battery, malfunctioning at crucial moments, or getting hit and blown to pieces. Everything was fairly OK and entertaining, except for (again) the unconvincing villains, whose head honcho used to built time machines before he met Starks. (Jeff Bridges' turn as the big bad bald bearded chin is still the best villain we had, in this currently longest running Marvel solo film series.) It was running pretty fine until  the big finale when creator-playboy-billionaire decided that he'd just blew them up--his personal collection of flying CGI decepticons and his enemies. Just like in a Michael Bay movie, everything were blown to pieces--Starks' mansion, Starks' Transformer collection, everything. But despite all this, Starks feels fine about himself, because after all this time, he realized, HE is Iron Man. And nothing can take that away from him. Amen.
 

 PS: John Favreau of Very Bad Things fame directed this film series.

Erratum: Shane Black directed the third movie.

PPS: Now I know why the third movie reminds me of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Because that movie also stars Downey Jr. and a guy who looks a lot like Guy Pearce--a fat version of Guy Pearce.

Isolated, Lonesome and Inside Duster's Atmospheric Debut

While listening to an album released in 1998, which I happened to find just about a year ago (2014) - thanks to the internet - I thought, this is a great record. When I first listened to it, I was arrested by the same feelings that gripped me when I discovered some albums on the net, years ago. It is something different, yet somehow familiar, similar thoughts I had the first time I listened to The Radio Dept.'s Pet Grief and Andrew Bird's Armchair Apocrypha.

I'm talking about Duster's debut, Stratosphere. Genre-wise, their music doesn't sound anywhere near those of artist previously mentioned. The songs on Stratosphere, have the feels of, or rather would feel at home in a Grandaddy album, albeit with early-Pavement-ish production. Which is why, I probably liked them and still revisit them once in a while. The sound is comforting, even without the comfort of hooks and catchy choruses. The experience is like listening to math-indie stalwarts Tide/Edit, but without the tricky tempo changes and upbeat melodies. To cite an example, the song currently playing, called "The Queen Of Hearts" (heck, I even had to check that one, coz honestly, I haven't familiarized myself with each song's title yet), is a wordless, slow burning (or dragging) four minutes of repeated melodies. It's followed by a 19-second interlude, then by number, a little bit more upbeat, "Inside Out". Some of these also remind me a bit of Eggboy's early EPs. One may wonder, but unlike Tide/Edit, who plays purely wordless math-rock, Duster has a vocalist. This comparison was drawn, mainly because their songs also play on repetitions and because of the instrumentals. And while I am not googling now for the songs’ lyrics out of sheer laziness ("I was heading for the door" is all I can make out from them right now), I don't really care much whether or not their stories or sentiments are relatable to begin with. That the feelings the songs convey to me are, is enough for me to like them.
 

Duster's Stratosphere is among the many records I've discovered, mainly, out of curiosity. It was by this that I have gotten myself listening to Pet Grief and Armchair Apocrypha before. Albums that, sad to say, have receded into faded memories; songs which, I used to be fond of, but could afford to listen to, with only so much time. Albums in which, I could hardly remember now, a single title or melody, much a less a song. Hence, somehow, I'm afraid that Stratosphere might end up the same. It's weird, but I don't usually care or feel this way - must be the way the songs in Stratosphere flow, influencing the way I'm currently seeing (or not seeing) things. Or more precisely, the way the music drifts - like thoughts, old photographs and dusts floating, drifting in outer space. Like memories half-forgotten, half-remembered, in sepia tone, vaguely reconstructed and framed with blurred edges. Of memories that were probably fake and implanted. Like those of cyborgs and androids (and of idiots who still worship their idols, the unworthy politicians). I have a vague feeling that this album, with most of the things in this world, will end up being forgotten. I’m afraid that it would be. I’m worrying that in the future I’d wax nostalgic, for those lost beautiful melodies. Even if I'm revisiting it right now. Even though I know that there is a great album in there, waiting to be discovered.
 

 

With this anxiety set forth, that Stratosphere would end up like those albums, faded from memory. Somehow, I was comforted by the thought that I am listening to it now, with more reasons than just exploring a new discovery. That I'm listening to it right now as an imagined shared experience of isolation and lonesomeness. As if we’re floating in outer space, while falling deeper into inner space.  As if we’re sinking into the unfathomable abyss, drowning in the sea of thoughts. And in an instance, will be lost in time, and then found again. The past, present and future as one, the grammatical tense of the word, temporarily restrain. Until the next...Oh! I'm already fucking late for lunch.

* Duster is a space-rock band active from 1996-2001. Not to be confused with the all female group of same name.
** Tide/Edit is an indie quartet who plays math/post-rock. Their debut album can be found here.
*** Eggboy is an indie electronic artist. A compilation of his early works can be found here.