Intimate Iron Man

Amazing, intimate and warm pictures of...Iron Man the movie. 

Best of all, shot by Mr.Stane himself, Jeff Bridges. (Link takes you to Jeff's personal website.)

Many of you are fans of the movie I'm sure.  This will solidify that feeling.   We here at G.O.F. have the DVD.  Movie stands up, even for the non-comic geeks out there.  

And speaking of all things comic and geek...I caught Ed Norton's Incredible Hulk.

Ewww boy. That is one bad film.  Hulk is actually one of my fav comic characters.  Hard to say why, maybe because he's so...basic.  Big Green Guy.  Monster Strong. Super Angry.  Plus there's all the great Jekyll and Hyde stuff.  Read some of the good Peter David comic runs if you don't believe me. 

Anyway.  To the incredibly-bad Hulk.  The final fight scene. Wow.  First, I've never seen a multi-million dollar movie like that where I thought the effects were WORSE than a video game.  You got a fine actor like Ed Norton, and then a CGI Hulk that looks like an insert in a Final Fantasy Game or something.  Yeech.  Plus, Hulk grimacing in pain?  Getting his ass handed to him by the Abomination?  Not quite green?  No no no.

(And it has to be said as a Torontonian. That does not look like New York City.  You can go and put up a sign that says Apollo Theatre.  It's still Toronto's Yonge St. and Dundas.  Probably one of the most recognizable intersections in Canada.)

 

Amazing fumble by the Marvel comic company there. I'm now convinced the only way to do Hulk is without CGI. Get a really BIG guy and make him look even bigger using smart camera tricks like they employed in the Lord of the Rings series.  It sounds retro I know but think about it. If they can make John Rhys-Davies appear Gimli-sized, certainly it's doable.  Plus, it gives Hulk what he's missing, the human touch.  CGI has come a long way, but for the moment we're still experts in recognizing true human emotions.  Seems to me a human actor, with the 2008 version of green-screen technology is the best of both worlds.   

 To sum up:  

• Bridges - still a heck of a cool guy and evidently a great photographer.
• Iron Man - solid movie, G.O.F. guaranteed. 
• The Incredible Hulk - steaming pile of gamma-radiated refuse.