New Movie Review From The Entertainment Critic: Ironmam

Movie Review: Ironman
The Entertainment Critic
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In Theatres Now Review
Opened May 2, 2008
By James Myers

Rating: 9 of 10

Director: Jon Favreau
Writers (WGA): Mark Fergus (screenplay) &
Hawk Ostby (screenplay)
Genre: Action Adventure Drama Sci-Fi Thriller more

Cast:

Robert Downey Jr ... Tony Stark / Iron Man

Terrence Howard ... Jim Rhodes

Jeff Bridges ... Obadiah Stane / Iron Monger

Gwyneth Paltrow ... Pepper Potts

Leslie Bibb ... Christine Everhart

Shaun Toub ... Yinsen

Faran Tahir ... Raza

Sayed Badreya ... Abu Bakaar

Bill Smitrovich ... General Gabriel

Clark Gregg ... Agent Phil Coulson

Tim Guinee ... Major Allen

Will Lyman ... Award Ceremony Narrator

Marco Khan ... Insurgent #4

Kevin Foster ... Jimmy

Garret Noel ... Pratt

Rated: PG-13 for some intense sequences of sci-fi action and violence, and brief suggestive content.
Runtime: 126 min
Country: USA
Language: English
Color: Color
Aspect Ratio: 2.35: 1 more
Sound Mix: DTS SDDS Dolby Digital
Certification: Canada: PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) Australia:M Norway:11 Hong Kong: IIA South Korea:12 UK:12A Canada: G (Québec) USA:PG-13 Germany:12 New Zealand: M Singapore: PG Sweden:11 Iceland:12 Finland:K-13 Netherlands:12 Malaysia: U Canada:14A (Manitoba) Ireland:12A Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) Brazil:14 Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) USA:126
Filming Locations: Alabama Hills, Lone Pine, California, USA
Company: Dark Blades Films


This summer’s movie season is upon us, as May 2, 2008 marked the premier of the first summer blockbuster, Ironman. The movie in its very first weekend is a runaway smash, with a box office gate of $100.7 million, the second highest ever premier gross in motion picture history. Robert Downey, Jr., is perfectly cast as the arrogant, rich, superficial, playboy arms genius, Tony Stark, the moving force behind Stark Industries, an arms manufacturer that makes the very best in rocket warfare. Tony is the second generation Stark in this business as his father started the business with his original partner, Obadiah Stane, (you won’t know who the actor is until he begins to talk; it’s Jeff Bridges, with his head shaved!). Tony is an arms genius, who as the movie opens is in a Hummer with scotch in hand, the ice clinking in the glass, making wisecracks with army personnel. The film then flashes back to a test sequence that Tony conducts of his new weapon, "Jericho Missile", an extremely destructive, multi-warhead weapon system that Tony is showing to the Air Force and his old friend, Colonel James Rhodes (Terrence Howard), a serious jet pilot. This sequence shows the genius of Stark and the destructive power of the Jericho Missile. Downey is near perfect as the missile separates in to multiple warheads in the mountains of Afghanistan in the far off distance, arms outstretched as the precise time the bombs detonate with such force that the blast knocks the hats off of the pilots. Tony grabs his drink back from the stunned serviceman says, “...here’s to peace,” and walks to his vehicle. It is a brilliant, central scene in the picture, and from then on the audience realizes that this guy might be flaky, but he’s very good at what he does.

We flash back to Hummer, which is attacked and overtaken by a terrorist group, who calls themselves, The Ten Rings. Ironically, Tony is injured by shrapnel from one of his own weapons. Led by the evil and sadistic, Raza (Faran Tahir) they capture Tony, and force him to make a Jericho Missile for them. With the help of fellow captive Dr. Yinsen (Shaun Toub), Tony takes the next 3 months to build crude but strong power armor, powered from a miniature arc reactor. The arc reactor supplies energy to an electromagnet which protects Stark's heart from the embedded shrapnel in his chest. Unfortunately, in the escape attempt, Yinsen is killed. This is the second pivotal scene in the picture, as he lies dying, he tells Stark, …”to do something to help others” and not to waste his life. Stark escapes and is rescued, eventually returning home safely to Stark Industries, where he announces that Stark will not longer build arms, but will take steps to help it’s fellow man. The stock plunges and Stane is not pleased. He then leads a coup with the Board of Directors to bar Tony from their meetings.



Back at his home in Malibu, equipped with all the state of the art computer equipment, including his virtual assistant, Jarvis, Stark goes about the task, with the help of his assistant, Pepper Potts (played perfectly by the beautiful and capable, Gwyneth Paltrow), of perfecting his Ironman exoskeleton. The second best line in the picture comes from the hilarious sequences tracing Stark’s failure to make the contraption fly, when he tells her, “…you caught me doing stranger things than this.” The test sequences of flying in the suit are the funniest in the picture.

Once the body armor is complete, and Stark leans of insurgent activity in Afghanistan by his old nemesis, The Ten Rings, the first mission of Ironman begins. He saves the people of the village and stops the insurgents, but he strengthens the resolve of Raza to build and possess one of the Ironman suits from the prototype Tony left behind. The flying sequence on his way back to the US is hilarious, too. Chased by the Air Force, Tony gives them a run for their money, while talking to his buddy Rhodes the whole time.

Realizing that Obadiah Stane has been dealing with the insurgents under the table, Tony is determined to stop him. He has Pepper retrieve files relating to the sale of those weapons and his agreed to kidnapping from the computer in his office. While hacking into the system she discovers that it was Stane who hired the Ten Rings to kill Stark, but they had reneged on the deal when they realized who the target was. She also discovers that Stane has recovered the power suit prototype (Iron Man Mk I), and has engineered his own version, Iron Monger, an oversized, beefed up version of Iron Man.

Stane, upon realizing Pepper's discovery, steals Stark's arc reactor from his chest to power his new suit, leaving Stark for dead. Using his first reactor, which was not designed to power the suit, Stark does battle with Stane in Los Angeles, defeating him when the larger arc reactor that powers Stark Industries is deliberately overloaded. Stark barely makes it out alive when his reactor almost fails completely, but reactivates, causing a terrific explosion, killing Stane as Iron Monger.

The movies ends with Tony at a press conference, initially denying he is a superhero, then in a sudden reversal, and contrary to what the government has told him to do, announces to the world, that he is Ironman. Ozzie Osborne plays the Ironman theme and the credits roll, but don’t leave your seat quite yet. As with all the Marvel Comics movies, there’s more! Throughout the film, Clark Gregg appears as Agent Phil Coulson of Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division (S.H.I.E.L.D.) trying to arrange a meeting with Stark. Following the credits, Samuel L. Jackson appears as their head, Nick Fury, telling Stark about the "Avenger Initiative". So there is a guaranteed sequel, and the buzz is that there will be 2 more Ironman pictures, with this cast.

This movie is surprising well-casted and directed. Directed by Jon Favreau (you may remember him from the movie, Swingers), he does an amazingly good job of having the right people in the right places, with the right dialogue at the right times. Downey and the rest of the cast had a tremendous amount of input into the script and the dialogue, ala Robert Altman; the film has a realistic feel in its dialogue and the relationships between the actors. The special effects and the amazing interaction between characters, (the sexual tension between Stark and Pepper is reminiscent of Bonds and Moneypenny), and Robert Downey Jr bringing his incredibly cohesive talents to this summer blockbuster, make this picture an absolute “you can’t miss this one” film. In a summer that will bring us Batman, Indiana Jones, The Hulk, Hellboy, and a new Star Wars picture, Ironman is a great kickoff to a summer season of blockbuster films. An explosion of summer fun, Ironman is a must see this summer.

The Entertainment Critics Book Review: Standing Tall

Standing Tall: A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph

THE ENTERTAINMENT CRITIC BOOK REVIEW, BY JAMES MYERS
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STANDING TALL: A MEMOIR OF TRAGEDY AND TRIUMPH
By C. Vivian Stringer
Published by Crown Publishing, A Division of Random House, Inc
Publication Date: March, 2008
Price: $24.95
304 Pages
ISBN-13: 9780307406095
Four Star Rating ****

C. VIVIAN STRINGER IS THE HEAD COACH OF THE RUTGERS UNIVERSITY WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM.
A MEMBER OF THE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL HALL OF FAME NAMED NATIONAL COACH OF THE YEAR THREE TIMES BY HER PEERS
FORMERLY THE HEAD COACH OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM AND THE CHEYNEY STATE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM
THE ASSISTANT COACH FOR THE GOLD MEDAL–WINNING 2004 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM

AN ASSISTANT FOR THE BRONZE-MEDAL 1980 USA JONES CUP TEAM

ALSO HAS HAD EXTENSIVE HEAD-COACHING EXPERIENCE IN THE NATIONAL PROGRAM, LEADING THE 1982 U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL EAST TEAM TO A BRONZE MEDAL, THE 1984 U.S. WORLD UNIVERSITY GAMES TEAM (KOBE, JAPAN) TO A SILVER, THE 1989 U.S. WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING TEAM (SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL) TO A GOLD AND A QUALIFICATION FOR THE FOLLOWING YEAR’S FIBA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP, AND THE 1991 PAN AMERICAN GAMES TEAM (HAVANA, CUBA) TO A BRONZE MEDAL.


HOLDS ONE OF THE BEST WIN LOSS RECORDS IN THE HISTORY OF WOMEN’S COLLEGE BASKETBALL

THIRD WINNINGEST COACH IN WOMEN'S BASKETBALL HISTORY, BEHIND ONLY TENNESSEE'S PAT SUMMITT AND FORMER UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS COACH JODY CONRADT

THE FIRST COACH IN NCAA HISTORY TO LEAD THREE DIFFERENT WOMEN'S PROGRAMS TO THE NCAA FINAL FOUR: RUTGERS IN 2000 AND 2007, THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA IN 1993, AND CHEYNEY STATE COLLEGE (NOW CHEYNEY UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA) IN 1982

NAISMITH COLLEGE COACH OF THE YEAR FOR WOMEN'S BASKETBALL IN 1993

NAMED THE 1993 COACH OF THE YEAR BY SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, USA TODAY, CONVERSE, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES AND THE BLACK COACHES ASSOCIATION

THE 2000 FEMALE COACH OF THE YEAR BY THE RAINBOW/PUSH ORGANIZATION, A GROUP FOUNDED BY REV. JESSE JACKSON

THE DISTRICT V COACH OF THE YEAR IN 1985, 1988 AND 1993; THE DISTRICT I COACH OF THE YEAR IN 1998

THE BIG TEN COACH OF THE YEAR IN 1991 AND 1993; THE BIG EAST COACH OF THE YEAR IN 1998 AND 2005; AND THE 1998, 1999, 2000 AND 2005 METROPOLITAN BASKETBALL WRITERS ASSOCIATION COACH OF THE YEAR.

WINNER OF THE 1993 CAROL ECKMAN AWARD, WHICH ACKNOWLEDGES THE COACH DEMONSTRATING SPIRIT, COURAGE, INTEGRITY, COMMITMENT, LEADERSHIP AND SERVICE TO THE GAME OF WOMEN’S BASKETBALL.

A FINALIST FOR THE NAISMITH NATIONAL COACH-OF-THE-YEAR AWARD FIVE TIMES DURING HER TENURE “ON THE BANKS”

HONORED BY THE U.S. SPORTS ACADEMY WHEN THE ORGANIZATION DECIDED TO NAME ITS ANNUAL WOMEN’S COACHING AWARD IN HER HONOR. THE C. VIVIAN STRINGER MEDALLION AWARD OF SPORT FOR WOMEN’S COACHING WAS HANDED OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME IN JULY OF 2002.

IN 2003, SHE WAS RECOGNIZED BY SPORTS ILLUSTRATED AS ONE OF THE “101 MOST INFLUENTIAL MINORITIES IN SPORTS,” AND DURING THE SUMMER OF 2004 SHE RECEIVED THE BLACK COACHES ASSOCIATION’S LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD.

IN ADDITION TO HER EXTENSIVE COLLEGIATE EXPERIENCE, STRINGER ALSO HAS SUCCESSFULLY TESTED HERSELF IN THE INTERNATIONAL ARENA. AN ASSISTANT COACH FOR THE GOLD-MEDAL 2004 U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM, HER FIRST USA BASKETBALL EXPERIENCE CAME AS STRINGER

A NOTED ADMINISTRATOR, STRINGER WAS ONE OF THE KEY PLAYERS IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WOMEN’S BASKETBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION. SHE CURRENTLY IS A VOTING MEMBER OF THE WBCA BOARD OF DIRECTORS, THE AMATEUR BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION OF THE UNITED STATES AND THE NIKE COACHES ADVISORY BOARD.

STRINGER HAS SERVED AS A MEMBER OF THE KODAK ALL-AMERICA SELECTION COMMITTEE AND WAS ELECTED TO THE WOMEN’S SPORTS FOUNDATION ADVISORY BOARD.


LAURA TUCKER HAS CO-AUTHORED BOOKS ON A WIDE RANGE OF TOPICS. SHE LIVES IN BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, WITH HER HUSBAND AND DAUGHTER.


“I am the last stop before the young women I coach take their place in society, and it is a responsibility I take seriously. My goal is to give them confidence to dream big and the skills to overcome any challenge they face, whether it’s under the basket or in the boardroom….For thirty years, my mission has been to create the next generation of leaders…’It’s more than a game; I’m teaching life lessons here.’ My hope is that they will come to share my fundamental and unshakable faith: that each and every one of us has the ability to triumph in the face of adversity, to lift ourselves up and succeed, no matter what trials we encounter…You have to stay true to yourself and to what you believe. The minute you allow disappointment or tragedy to stop you in your tracks, you have stolen from yourself, something more precious than you can imagine: your dreams…real success is achieved when you set your own worth, fulfill your own destiny, and stand up for what you know to be right.”

“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” Maya Angelou


C. Vivian Stringer has written an inspirational memoir about her life, called Standing Tall. Although she is a renown basketball coach, the book has very little to do with the mechanics of how to play basketball. It is more a spiritual journey of the exploration and the explanation of her life. Over and over and over again, she has demonstrated the old maxim that once you are knocked down in life, “you pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.” Her incredibly strong resilience is demonstrated in this soaring book time and time again. Born a coalminer’s daughter in the small town of Edenborn, Pennsylvania and the eldest of 6 children, Stringer’s meddle was tested early in her life. Despite being poor and making due, Ms. Stringer’s family endowed her with a sense of self-worth and tenacity to overcome the obstacles of life. The first test of her resilience was in high school. A natural athlete in her own right, V.I. as her family calls her, tried out for cheerleader at the Germantownship High School. She originally did not make the team. A member of the NAACP approached the family about protesting the decision, since he felt Vivian was the best out there and no other black girl had ever been named cheerleader. Her father put it best, “This isn’t just about you, V.I. Perhaps it’s not even for you, but for future generations of young women who deserve to be given an opportunity. There comes a point in your life when you must stand, because if you don’t stand for something, you’ll fall for anything.” Vivian went to the meeting. She and another girl became the first black cheerleaders of Germantownship High School.

This was not the last time that Vivian overcame adversity in her life. Her freshman year at Slippery Rock University, she failed out of school and lost her scholarship. She got help from her sister, slept in her room, washed dishes, and swept floors as a janitor, but she made sure she was one of the two or three minority students to graduate in her class.

Her first basketball job out of college was at “a small, poor, historically black school near Philadelphia,” Cheyney State College. She and Bill Stringer were married and she started her life’s work. She coached basketball there for 11 years without receiving a paycheck for it. When she first took over the Lady Wolves, they “stank”. The program had no budget, zero dollars a year, no staff, no cleanup, no meals, and no trainer. Almost single-handily, Coach Stringer made that team better. She and the great John Chaney (men’s coach) put their players together for practice. This made Coach Stringer’s teams very tough to beat. With a 251-51 record, Coach Stringer made the women’s team winners. Her character, strength, and perseverance was evident throughout her stay at Cheyney State.

Her character was tested again when her second child, Nina at the age of 14 months developed spinal meningitis. The doctors told her that her little girl would never walk or talk again. They told her that her child was brain dead. For six months, Vivian lived in the hospital with her child day and night. She had to be fed by the nursing staff and one time John Chaney physically carried her to the cafeteria. 7-8 months later, Nina came home, but she required round-the-clock care, and feeding her through a rubber tube. She remained partly comatose for almost 3 years. A big part of the reason Coach Stringer took the job at Iowa was the medical care and treatment they offered to Nina.

Iowa was a basketball crazy state, with a very poor women’s team. Once a gain, Coach Stringer worked her magic and the Lady Hawkeyes went to the top of the basketball world. Again, while at Iowa, Vivian encountered tragedy. Her forty-seven year old husband, her college sweetheart, died in her arms from a massive heart attack. There are multiple descriptions in the book of their life together, and it is obvious from her descriptions of their marriage that this was the true love of her life and life partner. She lost the navigator in her life, and almost gave up coaching basketball. Her children talked her into returning. That season, Iowa beat a Pat Summit coached Tennessee team at the buzzer to take Iowa to the final four. The memory of her husband haunted her so much, that despite recruiting the best class in the country, she felt she had to leave Iowa. She then took her current position at Rutgers.

Once again, Coach Stringer had to start over in a school dominated by men’s sports and football. Iowa was a place where Midwesterners had made the Stringer’s feel welcome, back east racial pressure was different. Rutgers has that largest media market in the world; they are “routinely covered by ESPN, and the New York Times,” with as many as ten newspapers all at once. Coach Stringer was given a contract that was greater than the football coaches. The pressure for her to win in the Big East was tremendous. Again, she had less than the best team to work with. Again, she made them winners. And yet again, she was confronted with a life-altering challenge; she developed breast cancer. She had surgery and underwent a course of radiation. She told no one but a close, chosen few. Not even her children. She was bounced around in the press as being aloof. She writes in her book, “I think there’s a life lesson to be learned: that life does get disrupted, no matter what you do or how careful you are. Yet even when you get pushed down, you have to pick yourself up and go on, believing that other good things are in store for you.”

In 1998, the Rutgers women went to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in its history. In 2000, they went to the final four. Another test came for Coach Stringer after the final four. Her son Justin was seriously injured in a car accident. The doctors told the Coach he had suffered a brain injury. Miraculously, Justin has made a full recovery.

In 2007, with a young team, after suffering a 45 point loss to Duke during the regular season, The Scarlet Knights went on to the NCAA championship, only to loose to Tennessee. Shortly after the loss, Don Imus made his infamous statements. At a press conference, one by one, Coach Stringer’s athletes stepped up to the Dias and addressed the media with grace and class. The dignity and class that they had learned from their coach was obvious. Imus apologized the both the Coach and the Team. Shortly after that, Coach Stringer and the team were honored in Yankee Stadium in New York.

This book should be on every bookshelf in America. It is not a basketball book as much as it is a book about the human spirit. It is a book that recognizes that all of us get knocked down in life; it is not the getting knocked down that matters. It is the getting back up and moving forward that is important. C. Vivian Stringer is a shining example of that and her new book, Standing Tall is the most inspiring and empowering books that I have read in 2008. Her ability to stand tall has made a difference; one that merits you attention to this soaring book.

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