Four Christmases (2008)

I think the current economic crisis has contributed this film being a hit. It was number 1 at the box office for two weeks. With times seeming so bad and maybe getting worse, people need something light and really quite, frankly, stupid to watch. Four Christmases is one of the worst movies I have seen all year.

It was starts with a good premise. The premise that that people work so hard to develop themselves into the people they want to be, but their families still see them as they saw them before they left for college. So, the movie could have explored the conflict was when these people have to confront the conflict in contrast.

Another thing it had going for it is the cast. It was like trying to be the ultimate date movie. It stars human Barbie-doll, Reese Witherspoon. Every girlie-girl loves her. Then for the guys it has the Swingers reunion with Vince Vaughn, Jon Favreau, and the guy who played "Sue." Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek and a few country guys round out the cast. They could have added the Jonas brothers to make the movie try to appeal to larger demographic or just added one minority I don't remember seeing one person of color of any kind.

The idea of this movie that a unmarried couple go to see their families for Christmas. Both families are divorced and our mismatched couple of Vince and Reese have been avoiding these type events for the past few years. I am not denying that this could have been a good movie but it is so cheesy that it would make the Bollywood audience embarrassed. In fact, the only thing that this movie is lacking is a series of song and dance numbers.

Many other things don't work as well. Reese and Vince as a couple. Vaughn towers over her like the Empire State Building to a hotdog vendor. Reese as a former lesbian doesn't work either. Nor does the excessive shots Vaughn gut. He has really let himself go.

Really the word banal does cover the blandness of this one. In these times we don't have money to spend on such crap.

Iron Man (2008)

It was the best thing out in a while on May 2nd. Iron Man, it looked good from the previews. Maybe it would be a better Superhero film, or maybe it would just go in the trash like The Punisher, Daredevil, and Ghost Rider. In the end, Marvel has enough superheroes to last another 10 years.

Ok, but this one looked better. First off was the cast, A-listers; Robert Downey Jr., he was nominated for an Oscar stars. Gwyneth Paltrow actually won an Oscar. Then it’s directed by Jon Favreau, the guy from Swingers. Maybe there would be a Vegas scene and some guy saying “money!”

The trailer was cool. Iron Man was cheeky, and the movie takes place in Afghanistan, so maybe it is up-to-date. It could be something that we can relate current events to or something to make feel like we are winning that war. How many movies even mention Afghanistan?

Finally, it made over $100 million, it’s first week. It is the first major hit of the summer of 2008 film schedule. So it must have done something right. Marvel now has a film studio to make sure we are not superhero deprived ever again.

So, all of that stuff did work good enough. Iron Man is in no way classic or even a movie to see twice, but it is good. Favreau threw in touches a la Swingers to take it out of the Marvel Universe to make you forget you are watching comic book movie. There are scenes in Vegas, pole dancers, and plenty of hard liquor. You wish that there were more of those touches. Downey keeps the movie going with his delivery and charisma. In fact, Downey carries the film.

There is one cool actions scene, but the big one at the end was lame. Nevertheless, expect see more of Iron Man. Iron Man II in a couple of years. Tony Spark, Iron Man, makes an appearance in the new Hunk movie this summer, and if you wait till the very end there is an interview scene with Stark who alludes the Avengers, which is an Marvel comic. Don’t be surprise to see an Avengers movie at some time.

The best thing about this movie is that it doesn’t really seem like a hero movie. The character is really well developed for any movie, and Tony Stark does have any real powers except being a really smart guy, which is refreshing.