Movie Reviews Iron Man 2

So this past weekend was pretty great for me. Mother's Day, just a weekend from working too much, and of course the release of Iron Man 2. I was set to go see it with my mom and some friends that Friday night but others decided to catch a mid-night release instead... which I did end up going through with. Tons of people were around, and many lines, and many popcorn, and many, many, MANY women dressed like they were about to go to a club which does sound unnecessary but hey I didn't complain =p

My friends and I sat in our chairs for two hours just to make sure we GOT seats to begin with and make sure it was a nice view, and a really nice view it was if you get my drift. 12:05am hit and the trailers let lose starting with The Last Air Bender which was an AMAZING trailer and even though I'm NOT a fan of that show, the movie DOES look fun and promising. More trailers roll through but none that really caught my attention with the exception of the next installment of Shrek and another Cloverfield-esque trailer for Super 8(?). Oh and I cant forget the trailer for Grown Ups starring a main cast of the most funniest comedians on screen, another Happy Madison film.

Now about the movie itself. It starts off in Moscow, Russia with our main antagonist Ivan "Whiplash" Vanko witnessing Tony Stark make his live speech announcing to the world that "He is Iron Man" which is actually the basis of this story. Tony Stark pays the price for busting himself out and now the whole world wants his suit for better or worse, mostly worse, reasons. Not only that, but Tony is going through some internal conflicts for both emotionally and literally so the audience will be expecting more drama and a darker tone to this story than the first one. There's also much more of everything in this movie aside from the drama. There is much more comedy, much more development, and definitely much more action though it falls short of what many were hoping for. The whole cast from the first movie returns with the unfortunate exception of Mr. Terrance Howrad who played Tony Stark's grounding man James Rhodes, who is now played by Don Cheadle. New cast members who are consisted of Scarlet Jo-hot-as-hell-hansson who plays SHIELD agent Black Widow, Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, and Mickey Rourke as Tony Stark's rival Ivan "Whiplash" Vanko.

Now with the casting being great already, do they deliver? Or is the script to blame for some of the things i have to pick on about? First being the fact that Sam Rockwell's character, Justin Hammer of Hammer Industries, is the equivalent to Jar-Jar Binks. Now don't get me wrong but i love Sam Rockwell's performances but in Iron Man 2, there were just some parts of his acting that just made me cringe sometimes. Another thing i need to pick about is how the hell did Don Cheadle's character James Rhodes get into the War Machine suit?! I mean obviously because he was the one who brought it in and of course hes got some time with it but HOW?! And out of no where... so a lacking on development there and a little bit inconsistent. now the biggest gripe i have against this movie is Mickey Rourke's, a.k.a Ivan "Whiplash" Vanko, screen time. He had very little screen time and for most of the time he didn't even have too much dialogue. Mickey Rourke is known for big roles especially his ground-breaking performance in The Wrestler, and i can't really say this sticks out too much but hey, you get to hear him using a Russian accent and literally "whip" some ass.

Overall, id have to agree that this was a pretty good movie as is though some improvements would've been nice. It was great to see more of the Avengers Initiation, especially getting to see more of Nick Fury played my Samuel L. Jackson, and newly introduced on film Black Widow played by, once again, Scarlet Jo-my-goodness-shes-friggin-gorgeous-hansson. Did i mention she kicks ass? And the music that plays right after she does that crazy move on the guy, right before she sprays that pepper spray... very sexy-girly, which adds to the hotness. But putting that aside, I loved the balanced amount of drama, comedy, action, and none of that seemed to be useless to my eyes and it all flew by smoothly. If you're a long time Marvel fan, you'll especially enjoy this movie because there are plenty of winks and nods at some older sub-plots and even to some possible future tricks and treats that Marvel would have to offer to us. I can't say the same for those of you who just have no clue about the Marvel universe and you are just someone who just enjoys the movies. There might be some confusion as to why Sam Jackson is in this movie and who is the character he's playing. It might not be that exactly but i would definitely have to say that this isn't for the clueless, as they might heavily judge the movie based on what they see and most of the movie felt more like a set-up for upcoming Marvel movie releases anyway. But if you take my word for it? Its worth seeing. Could've done better but I'm happy with what they gave us.

IM BACK!! sort of...

so as i enjoy the rest of my weekend, well its 11:20pm... pretty much a quarter till midnight so my weekend is also pretty much done... im uploading and editing some videos/reviews and at the same time i taking some test shots to see how my pictures would look like if i actually took night-time pictures instead of having to rely on mostly natural daylight. and luckily enough they came out pretty decently... decently enough that i should actually upload them onto photobucket and share them with you guys as a nice way to also update this long un-updated blog -_-

i decided to go with my recent purchases that were made during this past wonder-con, and also using some of my other figures so here they are =)

this first one was just a simple test shot using the all white Unicorn Gundam in its iconic Unicorn Mode




next weve got the famous Gurren Lagann




another revoltech figure, Overman King Gainer




an SD kit that ive had laying around for a while just like the SD Blitz, Kakuka Virsago




and now finally the one that im most excited to announce... S.I.C kamen rider ultimate kuuga from the kamen rider kuuga vol.13 set




well there you go!! i hope you guys enjoyed in some way... as far as future updates im thinking photo-based updates and/or reviews will be the way to go but until then... ciao!!

SD Blitz Gundam WIP // painting phase 1

whats up people!! so this would be my first post of the year and im glad thats its not some bullshit post about me ranting on about something you guys dont care about so with this i give you some photos of some of the pieces of the SD Blitz Gundam kit that ive been working on

this first image is just the exhaust vents on the shoulders, done with black lining marker but im wondering weather or not to outline the boarder with gray to give these pieces more of a thruster look rather than just keeping it plain red



and then these next images are just different angles of the eyes which was done using both lining and paint black gundam marker, and clear paint colors over plated silver gundam marker. i still dont know what the name of the effect is called...





this last one just shows the differences between when you paint the eyes vs. using the foil stickers that Bandai provides



make sure you guys check out the following paint video on my VersusEclipse channel come back for the 2nd photo phase here!!

a personal update but important enough

ok guys so the season has ended and new years is in a few days and as ive said 2010 is a year for change; a new decade... which is big i mean c'mon... and it has come to my attention that i should really be getting back into school because as you all know ive been dragged into a working life rather than a balance with work and school life like how it used to be. i dont know if i will actually be able to get into a the school id want to get into this spring let alone qualify for any form of financial aid which is tough considering my current job isnt stable and doesnt pay very much but im not mad... at least its still a job right? anyway, what does that mean for future video content? well it only means REVIEWS will be more rare due to the fact that i would really want to focus on which ever class/es more. we all say, and myself included, do what you have to do, and put life ahead of your hobby... well... this is me doing just that... i have high hopes for getting back into school even if it isnt exactly full-time and im not completely bummed out at all or anything about my sort of hiatus from gunpla and on top of this, everything is still all in planning stages so anything can change i mean i might not get into the desired class or i might, but i guess the other question is... what of the gunpla i said i would review in the future? well of course ill still get the 00 kits all the way up until i feel that ive gotten what i only need rather than what i only want like the MG GN-X and any other interesting MG's from 00, HG Reborns(maybe trans-am), Masurao and Susanowo(maybe trans-am as well), Gadess, Arche, and Seraphim(super late).

ok so i must be losing you guys in my rambling again so basically: ive declared for myself that id step my life up, or at least step a few things up in my life, for this new decade. i wont be getting any younger... i cant live the way i am forever either... so im making a change with what ever will i have to my better liking. if things go the way id like them to it would most likely mean either a rarer output of reviews... or just a total hiatus(which is less likely cuz i know id miss you guys anyway like i always do, no homo). am i ready to make these changes? no... but will i try my best to see it through? of course... so no matter what the outcome, 2010 will be my year

2010 gundam 00 movie gundams

heres the link to the original post

yeah im not too sure about the look of the new gundams BUT i can pick favorites right now and that would have to be either the Harute(\Allelujia Haptism) or the Raphael(Tieria Erde)... they look really awesome and i bet they would look much better as model kits either in the HG or the MG line. im totally not sure about whats going on with the 00 Quan[T] because to me its really beginning to look alot like some kinda of robo-organic gundam and more closer to an Innovators' suit... even more so than Tieria's Raphael Gundam. aside from that im not really feeling the a-symmetrical look with the fangs concentrated on one side... i hope that the 00 Quan[T] will have some other weapons to hold on his right arm to kind of balance that look. but the swet thing about the design is the Nu Gundam homage...hmm... and Zabanya(Lockon Stratos)... probably not as weird looking as the 00 Quan[T] but it does its job as a fire-arms based gundam. who knows what those things hanging from its waist are based on what we know to date but hopefully their functions get revealed soon. i would guess that theyre missile pods or something which would be sick and all i can think of is getting that kit an giving it a Heavyarms custom paint job(ideas here people get creative!!)



anyway... thats just my initial take on those gundams... and like before my thoughts on them might change overtime. as model kits though i do believe they would be pretty interesting though i can only imagine that they would NEED a action base or stand for them to really look good... or let alone stand on their own. but well see what Bandai can pull out of their sleeves with these kits but all i have to say about these designs is: "i guess they make sense for 'movie' gundams"

look out for a video response to the original post too on my VersusEclipse channel