Film Review: Iron Man 3

So I haven’t blogged in a while, but nothing much happened in April. So I give to you another Movie Review, this time for Iron Man 3.

As those of you who read my Avengers review know I love Marvel movies (though not such a big fan of Captain America as compared to the others.) When I found that Iron Man 3 would be released here now in April I was excited to go. This is the first of the Iron Man films that I have seen in theatres and I wasn’t at all disappointed, in fact it might be my favourite of the trilogy.

Beware Spoilers Ahead!!!!

The film starts of differently from the other two, Tony is telling his story – it only makes sense when you see the after credits tag, which I won’t spoil.

Also the opening song is “Blue” by Eifel 65, which I haven’t heard in at least 10 years. It set the tone for the laughs of the film. The opening is also a flashback, which gives the spark for the whole story. I was so intrigued by the story that it was easy to forget that it was a “comic book” movie. The idea of Tony being traumatized by what happened in The Avengers and the terrorist plot was a nice adult theme.

The film was filled with quite a few comedic moments, balancing the drama quite nicely. Although it did seem like at points I was the only one laughing in the theatre, I think this is because some of the jokes when translated into Japanese subtitles don’t have the same impact. My favourite of the comedic moments is Tony’s interaction with the boy who’s garage he breaks in to. Though their funny moments do turn a little dark, it was great to see those moments.

There is also a lot of action. It seems even more action than The Avengers. The action at points had me tense because of the high speeds and the explosions and also the peril some of the characters were put in. My favourite action point was the display of suits that Tony has been working on.

Though the action and comedy were high, there was also a sadness underlying the whole movie. It made it seem more human and more real. A few moments I had tears in my eyes, though if I say when it will give away big plot points. Let’s just say that the reason Tony fights in taken away and you can see his pain.

The acting in the film was also phenomenal. The entire cast does a great job and there isn’t one weak link. Gwenyth Paltrow gives her best performance of Pepper Potts, again showing why Pepper is the perfect partner for Tony. Guy Pierce is great as the scummy business/scientist. Ben Kingsly as Mandarin gives a great performance as the bad guy, proving that he is quite the gifted actor even when not tackling epics like Ghandi or Schindler’s List. But the real star is Robert Downey Jr. He is Tony Stark and I don’t think there is any other actor who could have brought him to life in quite the same way. He plays the comedic moments with excellent timing, but it’s Tony’s darker moments where he really shows how great of an actor he is and how he will be around for years to come.

Though the film was dark and the plot build up intense the part of the ending can be seen to be a little cheesy, but it is easily ignored as Tony continues his story. It creates a nice ending to the trilogy – unlike the cheese-tastic ending that was The Dark Knight Trilogy, because that was a terrible way to end those movies.

It also provides a nice new starting point for Tony Stark in The Avengers films or if they want to make any more Iron Man movies.

Well I thought the movie was great and if you want a nice afternoon out to see a funny and action packed movie go see Iron Man 3.

5/5 Stars

March Adventure Day 5: March 9th, 2013 – Osaka

My last day with Mom and Donna was our most relaxing of all the ones that we spent together. It was the only day that I didn’t have anything set in place for us to do. It was a going to be a day for Mom and Donna to choose what they wanted to see.

We ended up spending the last day in Osaka, shopping and then visiting the castle. It ended up being quite a warm day and so we were able to ditch our jackets and spend the Saturday in the sun.

After our late start in the morning I took the ladies to the famous Shinsaibashi shopping street. It was great because it was right next to our hotel. Even though we had a late start we were still there before all the shops opened. So we walked south down from Shinsaibashi station to the Dotonbori Canal where we got to see the Glico Candy running man sign.  After snapping a few photos we turned around and headed back up the store-lined street. We did stop into a couple of the stores and I was able to add a few new clothing pieces to my wardrobe.

After our shopping excursion we grabbed a bite to eat and then returned to the hotel to decide what we were going to see next.

After a little bit of a rest we made our way to Osaka Castle. We started at one end of the castle park grounds. In the heat of the day children were out and playing in the fountains, some people were enjoying ice cream but everyone was out enjoying the sun on a lazy Saturday.

As we were walking I noticed a crowd of people by a fence and I was intrigued as to what they were looking at. So I made my way over and saw what was a field filled with plum, cherry and apricot blossoms. It was beautiful even from a distance to see the sea of pinks and white. We decided that we would see the inside of the castle first and then take a stroll though the grove.

The castle was quite full. When I got to the top to look out at the city I could hardly find a spot to look out. We didn’t spend too much time inside the castle, just took a look out at the city and then made our way back down the stairs, stopping every once and a while to read up a little on the castle.

Osaka Castle from the grove.

From the castle we made our way back down to the plum tree grove. Seeing cherry blossoms is nothing new for me, as we have a cherry tree in the back yard, but seeing so many together in one place was quite beautiful. The garden was full of people milling about or taking photos of the pink and white blossoms and some even were sitting under the trees enjoying a bite to eat. The whole grove was quite astonishing, though I can imagine it to be even more beautiful when the petals begin to drop and gusts of wind blow them up like small bursts of snow. Cherry Blossom time is a great time to be in Japan.

We had gotten our fill of blossom and then decided that it was a good time for dinner. Heading back on the subway we made out way down close to the Namba area. Here we had our last dinner together in Japan and we decided on yakiniku. Yakiniku is Japanese or Korean style bbq, where you cook the meat and veggies yourself. We got a huge platter of meat, enough to satisfy our hunger. The restaurant we went to was somewhere on Sennichimae-dori between Nipponbashi and Namba subway stations. The style of the restaurant was done to reflect Japan of the 1930s and the atmosphere and food were delicious.

When we had eaten our fill we made the walk up from Namba to our hotel. It was a nice way to enjoy seeing Osaka at night and in one of the busiest areas of the city.

The next day was saying our goodbyes with Mom and Donna heading back to Toronto and me back to Niihama. Overall it was a great mini vacation and I had a wonderful time, sharing with my Mom some of the parts of a country that I have truly come to love.

March Adventure Day 4: March 8th, 2013 – Kyoto

Our second last day together was spent wandering around Kyoto. Kyoto is an amazing city and one of my favourite places to visit. This is because of the mix of old and new that exists almost seamlessly in different areas of the city. It creates this image of a city that is modern, and yet keeps a deep connection to its past.

On my first visit to the city I saw the northern sites. This was the Golden Pavilion, the Zen garden of Ryoanji and a stop at Nijo Castle. This trip I gave my mom and Donna the option of seeing these things or of seeing the eastern part of the city. They decided that because I hadn’t seen the eastern part that we should see those sites.

We didn’t have such an early start, but we did get to the city early enough to spend the entire in the city. The first thing we did was to buy a city bus pass. If you are ever in Kyoto I recommend picking up one of these, as taking the bus is a fast and efficient way to see a lot of the city.

We started out first at Kiyomizudera. This is a Buddhist temple that is found on a small mountain. This walk up to the temple was full of people out enjoying the day. When we finally reached the temple we found quite a few people dressed in yukatas taking photos. We decided to skip going into the actual temple, as it was quite full.

From Kiyomizudera we decided to walk through the Higashiyama District. This is one of the best-preserved historic districts in city. The streets are lined with shops and restaurants that maintain the facades of the old capital. We saw quite a few great things as we walked along. Including two women dressed as geisha. The walk of Higashiyama leads to Yasaka Shrine and one end of Gion.

Gion was a major stop in our visit of the city as all three of us were keen to do some shopping. We all ended up buying these beautiful tenugui used for decoration. I ended up picking out 3 different designs that I will get framed when I finally get home. We also made a stop into a store to pick up some other small gifts and trinkets. We hadn’t done much shopping for Japanese items or souvenirs at any other stop; we had been saving it for Kyoto. It was well worth the wait for the different things that we ended up getting.

After our walk through Gion we caught the bus to Ginkakuji or the Silver Pavilion. The Pavilion itself is quite plain, it doesn’t have the same impact as the Golden Pavilion, but the garden that it is in is very beautiful. With the sun setting over the city the greens of the garden were really beautiful. It was a nice relaxing end to a quite full day.

The Silver Pavilion

It was also another night for non-western style food for dinner. We ended up back in Gion and we ate a t the same place that Dad and I ate at when we visited Kyoto in December. This time we decided to split しゃぶしゃぶ (shabu-shabu). The meal is a hot pot which vegetable and then meat and finally glass noodles are added to cook. It’s a very much grab your own helping as the portions cook. It was quite delicious and filling. It was a great meal and an excellent dessert of macha mousse.

Over all it was great o experience Kyoto again – this time not in the rain and to get to see parts of the city that I hadn’t before.

Up next is my last day with Mom and Donna where we get to see a little bit of Osaka.

Also photos are up on FB.

March Adventure Day 3: March 7th, 2013 – Hiroshima and Miyajima.

Our third day was our earliest start. We were up by 6am to catch the Shinkansen (Bullet Train) to Hiroshima. This is another place that I have now visited 3 times and it is my second favourite place after Nara.

I was very excited for this day, so this might be a long and wordy blog post.

My bag of cranes in front of the Atomic Dome

3 years ago after I had visited Hiroshima I said to myself that if I ever were to return to Japan I would bring with me 1000 folded paper cranes. (On that trip I was given paper to make one crane and I placed it there.) I was following in the tradition of Sadako Sasaki and countless others who have brought cranes for wishes and peace. I had made a small box full at home, but I didn’t bring them with me as they would have taken too much space in my suitcase. However with the Daiso selling origami paper for 100¥ I was able to stock up.

The first crane I made during training (all the way back in June) and the last crane I made, in February. I finished 1000 cranes within a year and just in time for this visit with Mom. Unlike some crane batches mine had no set colour scheme or style, I just wanted to reach that goal. And I was so happy when I did.

At the park I carried my bag of cranes past the Atomic Dome, where a woman who thanked me for making the cranes and asking how long it took to make them stopped me. I told her that I started back in June with the goal of bringing them to Hiroshima. She once again thanked me and then told her friends in Japanese what I had said. They gave slight bows in thanks.

From there I walked to the children’s monument where cranes are taken and left in class boxes on display. I unpacked my two bundles, attached them together and included a Canadian flag to the offering, something to show in part where the cranes came from.

I felt really good after I placing them. It was great to be able to be a part of something like this, something that has such history and something that means a lot to people.

From the Children’s Monument we made our way to the museum. I still can’t get over how much I like this museum. It’s haunting and informative and a must see if you ever happen to be in Japan.

After our time at the Peace Park we hopped on the streetcar and made our way to the harbour to catch a ferry to Itsukushima.

Itsukushima or Miyajima as it is more commonly known is a small island just off of Hiroshima. My last visit with Dad happened late on New Year’s Eve, but this time we got there just after noon and were able to see the island in the daylight. With the bright sun the island was quite busy.

The island is known as a shrine island with quite a few temples and shrines. The most striking sight is the giant torii standing in the water, leading to the old entryway to the main shrine. The main Itsukushima Shrine was something that I wanted to walk around and see, as my two previous visits I didn’t enter the shrine. Our stop into the shrine yielded a surprise as a wedding was being held. I was able to get some shots of the traditional Shinto outfits of the bride and groom, as well as a great shot of the wedding party with the shrine and pagoda in the background.

From the shrine we took a walk around the island. I was looking for this little pathway that to one of the temples that is lined with statues of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Unfortunately I couldn’t remember how my friend and I found it all those years ago, so we didn’t get to see that. We did get to see more deer and to see the first hints of cherry blossoms of the season.

After our time on the island it was back to train station where I took Mom and Donna to eat my favourite Japanese food. Hiroshima style Okonomiyaki. They both enjoyed the food and the atmosphere of the cooking area. I know that I will be going to Hiroshima again – maybe just to eat.

After that it was the Shinkansen back to Osaka. A tiring day, but really fun and fulfilling.

Up Next: Day 4 – Kyoto.

As always full photo album on Facebook.