So, I made it through my crazy weekend in (relatively) one piece. Here's a brief update (since I know you're all dying to know every detail of my weekend):

( Details behind the cut... )

So, that's it. I did get my advanced submission story for the Writer's Conference into the mail, so that's good. I need to get writing done this week and finishing reading Anatomy. I'm sure there's a bunch of other stuff I need to do, but I don't have enough caffeine in me yet to know what they are...

Let me just say this: Iron Man is Fan-fucking-tastic.

Absolutely awesome.

The storyline, dialogue and acting are so tight throughout this whole flick. It's enjoyable and fun and there was really no part of it I didn't like. There were a lot of grins and chuckles - no real laugh out loud parts except a couple - but Robert Downey, Jr. has created the coolest superhero character - EVER. He was completely believable as a superhero, which I honestly didn't think he could do.

Gwyneth Paltrow was okay as Pepper Potts, though Pepper was a bit more ditzy than I'm used to from Gwyneth. I kept seeing her in Sky Captain which I think was a better fit. I did like the constant low-level sexual tension; that was really well done.

Here were my two favorite pieces of this movie - both minor, but both very unique:

1.) The Robots - These are actually robots. They don't look like humans, they look like robots - they're basically long motorized arms. But they have...personality. Or do they? Stark talks to them as if they're real...even berating them at times. And they seem to respond to him. But do they? Does the one robot actually droop when Stark threatens to sell him to a community college? Or are we anthropomorphizing it the way that Stark (who is clearly a lonely man) is?

This is BEAUTIFULLY done.

2.) The Last Line - This is the best line in all of superhero-dom. It was totally unexpected, and J. sat through the credits (we were waiting for the Samuel L. Jackson thing) and kept repeating that he couldn't believe that Stark said that.

I loved that! Brilliant!!

(P.S. - The Samuel L. Jackson thing is probably worth sitting through the credits for if you're a total geek and don't want to miss anything, or if you want a hint of what the sequel will be. But it lasts about 5 seconds and you could probably find it on YouTube, so...)

Jet Li vs. Jackie Chan...what's not to love?

This is a modern fairy tale, with a completely likeable American boy who knows Kung Fu only from movies. He then gets zapped into ancient China. He has to return a staff to the Monkey King to save the world from the Jade Warlord, and he's being chased by a demoness with freaky living white hair. To help, he has two teachers: Jackie Chan, a drunk, and Jet Li, a serious (mostly) monk. There's also a gorgeous girl who has pretty serious kung fu and refers to herself as "she".

It's a lot of fun. A lot. It's cute, funny and the good guys win - The Karate Kid meets ancient China. Plus, there's a big fight between Jet Li and Jackie Chan, and that's worth the price of admission.

However, there's something not quite...there....about it. It's fun, don't get me wrong, but it's one of those movies that could be GREAT, but never quite hits it. There were a couple of times that I thought "that's it?" or found myself disappointed at the outcome of the fights. It didn't really take away from my enjoyment of the movie, but there was definitely a threshold that the movie NEARLY hit, but didn't.

Still, it had one of mine and J.'s new favorite lines. When the girl asks the boy how good his Kung Fu was, Jackie Chan yells: "He has no Kung Fu! NONE!"

We say that constantly, including on the escalator in front of an older asian guy who just looked at us and rolled his eyes like we were soooo white.

Finally, I leave you with a Quote of the Day-able line, spoken by the main character as they're walking across a desert toward their final destination:

Damn! This desert is HOT!

Okay, so...I didn't have high hopes for this movie. J. wanted to see it, but I would have preferred 'Jumper' or even 'The Bank Job'. Were people even around in 10,000 BC? If so, I doubt they spoke the Queen's English. And I don't think there were wooly mammoths at the pyramids.

And you know what?

It didn't matter. This story was TIGHT, despite its fantastical elements. As J. put it: "I think this is more a fantasy and not necessarily a documentary." It was very easy, once you thought of it as an alternate reality-type thing, to set aside your disbelief and get caught up in the story.

Dialogue was sparse, but utilized well. The protagonist had his weaknesses, but his strengths, too, and the balance never tipped to one or the other the way some movies do. The female character was pretty flat, but the movie wasn't really about her - it was about the male character's fight to get to her, and the men who accompanied him. The secondary characters were balanced and interesting, as well. He had an older retainer who anchored the secondary characters, and was my favorite. (I did find myself actually saying out loud: "Get him, Tik Tik, get him!", which I never thought I'd say.)

They did a good job of not explaining too much, thereby allowing you to just accept what you were seeing and get into the fantasy of it. The use of the narrator (who was never introduced) was also well done, which it hardly ever is.

All in all, I think it's worth seeing, especially if you enjoy fantasy. Go. Root for Tik Tik.