February 7, 2014 at 11:17am
Writer's note: This will be my last installment of recommmended films you can find at local libraries. Enjoy.
If you still wonder why Iron Man 3 felt like a movie straight out of the '90s (this film opened with Eiffel 65's "Blue" and dressed a character as Vincent Vega from Pulp Fiction, for starters), I'd ask writer-director Shane Black. The author behind the Lethal Weapon franchise and (at least to me) the ultimate Schwarzenegger vehicle, Last Action Hero, brought to IM3 his trademark witty dialogue and penchant for setting Christmastime crimes in warm climes. And he must also like Robert Downey, Jr. (who doesn't, right?), since both appeared in an earlier Black film, 2005's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.
The first kiss in Kiss Kiss happens between Downey and Val Kilmer in an alley at night. The second and final kiss we see comes later, between Downey and Michelle Monaghan in bed. Swirling around these pecks is a fast-paced, intricate and very enjoyable plot involving an accidental screen test, a severed finger, and Jonny Gossamer, writer of a series of potboilers that always seem to have the words "live" or "die" in their titles. And I can't forget all the murders and shooting (hence the Bang Bang).
As he proved with Last Action Hero, Black knows all too well the ins and outs and upside-down strangeness of La-La land and uses it all to great comedic effect in KKBB. Always in deadpan mode, Downey's meta voiceover admits to us frequently his crappiness as a narrator, and at the conclusion to his own character's tale he ruminates on sappy endings in movies. One of the best moments comes when Harry Lockhart (Downey), a petty thief running from the cops, stumbles into an audition and reads from a script that describes his situation perfectly.
Lockhart gets the part (cuz it's Downey, doy!), gets whisked off to an insider party and there meets a private eye known as Gay Perry (Kilmer) and spunky aspiring actress Harmony Faith Lane (aww!). Perry and Harmony each stumble across a corpse, with Harry getting thrown into the middle. But could both murders have a connection??? I'll go with the old "to say any more would spoil it!" cliche here.
Despite all the memorable one-liners and winks at life in L.A., and all the shit gettin' blowed up, this story really comes down to three people who don't exactly sync with the city and just need others for connection. The interactions between Harry and Harmony crackle with potential romance, and the film ends sweetly on Perry and Harry recovering together after their ordeal, strangers turned friends after one very unusual week in SoCal's dream factory.
News and entertainment from Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s most awesome weekly newspapers - The Ranger, Northwest Airlifter and Weekly Volcano.
Thanks for posting! But I want say that Walkie Talkies are really required while organizing fun...
Really nice album. I have already purchased Vedder's Album. Listening to the song of this album,...
about Eddie Vedder’s "Ukulele Songs" available today - and I don’t hold a candle to that shit
Your post contains very beneficial content. Kindly keep sharing such post.
Vedder's album is really nice. I have heard attentively
about Eddie Vedder’s "Ukulele Songs" available today - and I don’t hold a candle to that shit
amazing information for getting the new ideas thanks for sharing a post
about 5 Things To Do Today: Art Chantry, DIY home improvement, "A Shot In The Dark" ...
446th Airlift Wing, 5 Things To Do, 62nd Airlift Wing, 7th Infantry Division, Air Force, All Ages, Army, Arts, Awards, Benefits, Best of Olympia, Best of TAcoma, Bobble Tiki, Books, Business, Camp Murray, Ceremony, Chainsuck, Classical Music, Comedy, Comment The The Day, Community, Concerts, Condemn or Allow?, Contest, Day Tripper, Deals, Defense Department, Deployment, DJ/Electronica, Events, Facebook, Fashion, Federal Way, Fife, Fircrest, Food & Drink, Future Things Are Coming, Games, Gay Rights, Genius, Gig Harbor, Green Crush, Happy Hour Hug, Health, History, Holidays, Honors, I Corps, In Their Words, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Judging by the Trailer, Keeping Up With The Coffeehouses, Kids, Lacey, Lakewood, Legislature, Madigan Army Medical Center, Marines, McChord Field, Media, Memorial, Military, Milton, Morning Joe, Music, National Guard, Navy, Nerd Alert!, New Beer Column, News To Us, Night Moves, Not Cool, Olympia, Outdoor Addict, outdoors, Photo Hot Spot, Podcast, Pop Culture, Poster of the Day, Puyallup, Radio, Rangers, Retail, Rocket Science, ROTC, Ruston, Schools, Screens, Sex, Shout Out, South Sound Sidekick, Spanaway, Special Forces, Sports, Steilacoom, Strykers, Summer Tip, Sumner, Tacoma, Talking Shop, The Mouth, Theater, Tightwad, Tournament of Burgers, Tournament of Mac and Cheese, Training, Travel, Twitter, University Place, USO, Veterans, Video Hot Spot, Volunteer, Web/Tech, Word, Wounded Warrior
Read Comments