Tuesday's Not-So-Overlooked Film: Iron Man 3

I've been wracking my brain for a topic for this week's Tuesday's Overlooked, so since I just finished seeing it on DVD last night, this week I discuss one of last year's box office hits, Iron Man 3. Not exactly overlooked, of course, but I can say I enjoyed it quite a bit.

After the events of 2012's Avengers film, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) begins having panic attacks whenever someone mentions the alien invasion of the previous film. His fragile mental state leaves him in a bad position to be menaced by an elusive international terrorist known as the Mandarin (Ben Kingsley), with help from a fellow wealthy industrialist with a grudge against Stark (Guy Pierce). His spirit (and tech) broken and love Pepper Potts (Gwenyth Paltrow) in serious trouble, Tony must scrape together his last bits of sanity and technology to fight the double threat.

I've loved all of the Marvel Cinematic Universe films with the exception of Iron Man 2; this film makes up for that misstep. The characters are as engaging as ever, the dialogue witty, and the plot twists intriguing (if somewhat controversial among Iron Man purists). The length of the film could have been a bit shorter, but all in all, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed the movie. Marvel has done a great job overall in their self-produced live action (I'm also a fan of the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D TV series), and I'm as eager as ever to see future entries in this universe.

Thanks!

Summer Movie Preview 2013

"Summer's here, and the time is right..." for taking in the latest Hollywood blockbusters. Or at least what the studios hope will be blockbusters.

Although we're still experiencing occasional chilly temperatures here in the mid-Atlantic region, Hollywood likes to pretend the first weekend of May is the start of the summer season. Here's part one of a two-part look at some of the major motion pictures screening at your local multiplex.

Opening this Friday, Robert Downey Jr. once again dons the red and gold duds of Tony Stark, facing off against Ben Kingsley's Mandarin in Iron Man 3.



A new screen version of F. Scott Fitzgerald's acclaimed novel The Great Gatsby graces the silver screen this summer, courtesy of actors Leonardo DiCaprio, Tobey Maguire, and director Baz Luhrmann. The film's soundtrack is provided by...Jay-Z? Hmm.  Gatsby opens May 10th.



On May 17th, the long-awaited sequel to J.J. Abrams' rebooted Star Trek franchise finally arrives, Star Trek Into Darkness. It's rumored that the villain in the film is "KAAAAAAAAAHN!" We'll see!



On May 24th, the start of Memorial Day weekend, two films that are sequels to highly popular film series drop simultaneously, Fast and Furious 6 and The Hangover Part III. I haven't seen any installment in either of these series, so I'll leave it to their respective fans as to how hotly they're anticipated.



Fellow Philadelphian Will Smith and his son Jaden star together in the sci-fi film After Earth, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, opening May 31st.



On June 14th is the release of the highly anticipated Man of Steel, the reboot of the Superman film franchise. Produced by Christopher Nolan and directed by Zack Snyder, it will be very interesting to see how the film is received. With the exception of the underwhelming 2005 release Superman Returns, this is the first live-action big screen epic to feature Superman since the wrap-up of the Christopher Reeve series in 1987. As a fan of Supes, I have high hopes for it. Don't let me down, Hollywood!



This is just a sampling of the many movies to hit theaters this summer. Tune in for part 2 of my summer movie preview later this week!

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE! Marvel Action Universe: The Return of Captain America

I doubt this will be a surprise to you, but the long-awaited Avengers movie opens today, and to celebrate I present a much older uniting of Earth's Mightiest Heroes to hit the screen--the small screen, anyway.

Here is a presentation of Captain America's union with the Avengers as depicted by the Marvel Action Pack of cartoons that aired on ABC TV in the 1960s. The animation is notoriously limited, but it's fun nonetheless.

As a bonus, I also present the introduction of Hawkeye into the series as well as a Hulk feature. Enjoy! Go see the movie!

All the Hidden Endings to Marvel Comics Avengers Prequels in One Convenient Place

I've now seen all the Marvel Studios-produced films leading up to next year's Avengers movie (and my God, I hope it's awesome), and with the disappointing exception of Iron Man 2, I damn near love them.  Here, in breathless anticipation of the Avengers film, are the teaser scenes that appear after the end credits of the previous movies.

Iron Man:



The Incredible Hulk (I couldn't find the actual scene, but a piece of it was used in a TV commercial for the film)


Iron Man 2 (the worst of the films, but the best teaser scene):


Thor:



And finally, Captain America:



Avengers assemble!

Mego Superhero Doll Commercials

You know what I would've liked to have found underneath my Christmas tree this past Christmas? Some cool, good condition superhero dolls by Mego. Mego was a toy company, no longer in existense, that made some awesome superhero dolls in the 70s. Every member of Generation X I know had at least one, if not several; I had Spider-Man and the Hulk. They are highly sought after collectors' items today. Here are some commercials from back in the day displaying their awesomeness.







For everything you could possibly want to know about Mego, go to the Mego Museum here.

Thanks!

Iron Man Tribute 2

Well well well, looks like Iron Man had a great weekend. It grossed over $100 million! Nice work. So nice, Marvel Comics has already announced a sequel, along with several other new film projects, including classic Marvel heroes Thor, Captain America, and The Avengers. Check out this report from the Associated Press:

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5i6pUSbkR1IrnlbHe5nSJmn-ZKhZQD90FKS1O0

Thor appeared in an Incredible Hulk reunion TV-movie in the late 80s. Captain America appeared in a bad TV series in the late 70s as well as a bad direct-to-video feature film circa 1990; The Avengers had a brief animated series in the 90s on the UPN network. Hopefully these new projects will be bigger and better than what has preceded them. Fortunately, as with Iron Man, Marvel itself produced the film rather than licensing the character to outside forces, so that may help ensure quality control.

Getting back to Iron Man, here are the cover images I promised last week:

Lastly, here is what is technically a Captain America cartoon, but features Iron Man and the other aforementioned characters appearing together. Like my previously posted Iron Man cartoons, this is from the Marvel Superheroes Hour TV series from 1966.





Thanks! I'll see you this weekend.

Iron Man Tribute

In case you haven't noticed, the film Iron Man opens this Friday, May 2nd. I'm a lifelong comic book/superhero fan, so I'd love to see this film (as I stated in my Summer Movie Preview). For those unable to make it to the film, or are new to the character, here is a free sampling of ol' Shellhead, as he's affectionately called, in previous media.

Here is an Iron Man comic from 2004 that can be read online:

http://www.milehighcomics.com/firstlook/marvel/ironman86/

From the 1966 (barely) animated TV series Marvel Superheroes Hour, here is Iron Man in "Enter Hawkeye," including another Marvel character named, coincidently, Hawkeye. The video quality after all these years is not great, but the quality wasn't great back in the day either.





Here Iron Man fights "The Crimson Dynamo." The video is a bit better here, but the audio isn't great.





Below enjoy "The Other Iron Man:"





This is the opening sequence for the 1990s UPN Sunday morning animated series:



Once again, the trailer for the new film:



Finally, you can't mention Iron Man these days without thinking of the classic Black Sabbath song of the same name (and Ozzy makes his first appearance on my blog!):



That's all for now. I may scan and upload some of my Iron Man comic book covers this weekend if I get the chance.

Now get to your local theater!

I almost forgot: this Saturday is Free Comic Book Day! Get to your local comic book store before the theater!