I apologize heartily for my absence. My job occasionally takes me down into a deep, dark place where I am required to work full eight-hour days and not surf the Internet with the appropriate level of dedication that it deserves. Is "surfing the 'net" still a term that people use? It feels horribly antiquated, as if I have traveled back in time to watch the Sandra Bullock movie from the 90s. I'm talking about The Net here, as if that wasn't clear. I haven't actually ever seen it, but I imagine it to be a horrible representation of what computers can actually do. It's probably a bunch of spy types sitting around in control rooms staring at monitors and saying, "Enhance...Enhance...Enhance." But the use of computers and technologies in movies and TV is a subject for another day. However, I will indulge my personal favorite usage of video games on a television show, from the old NBC show Life:
A few things are apparent from this scene. First, whoever wrote it has never played a video game. They do not know how a console works. They probably don't know how computers in general work. Second, they hate people who do play video games, and they assume that everyone who plays these games are 30 year olds who live with their mother. And these are the major problems present without actually getting into the specifics of the Prince of Persia games. How did this scene happen without someone scoffing loudly enough to draw attention? But here I am getting off track again on a topic I promised to withhold for the present.
On this beautiful Thursday, I want to give the world a gift. Chances are you have already seen this by now, as it sweeps the nation, but I need to share it. I have watched this on heavy repeat the past two days to the point where the images may be permanently imprinted on my screen. It needs no explanation. Devour it.
Now I'm going to take a brief detour into self-indulgence, as I am wont to do. Punk Rock Girl and I had the pleasure of taking in Iron Man 3 along with the majority of America last weekend and conjured many thoughts in my mind, multiplying like Mickey's broom splinters dousing me in buckets of water. Some of these thought actually centered on the movie itself, but those aren't the thoughts I'm going to share today.
Jon Favreau. He was once the fat guy in Rudy. Now he is the fat guy in Iron Man 3. In between those two tentpoles, a confusing career has taken shape. Is he an actor or is he a director. Technically, I guess he's both, but while I respect him as one, I'm not sure what to make of the other. Therefore, the best place to start is undoubtedly with Jon Favreau: Writer. Swingers was released in 1996, during my freshman year in college. For context, a film student probably gets his head about as far up his or her ass as it will go during their sophomore/junior year. By the end of freshman year, I would say you're probably about nose-deep in asshole. So there's a little context for you. Granted, I wasn't actually a film student, but as my film studies classes were the only one I actually attended that semester, I think it's a fair point. Take my remembrances with a grain of salt, but this is how I remember them. Swingers was a strong business card for both Favreau and his Matt Damon, Vince Vaughn. Or is he Favreau's Ben Affleck? I'm having trouble with this metaphor. Nevertheless, Swingers was low budget all the way, produced some great lines and launched the careers of the stars. However, it wasn't good. You know how a low budget movie sometimes looks good and you say, "Wow, they really made the most of their money." This was the opposite. The production value was visually distracting. That probably makes the fact that it was watchable all the more impressive. Even today, I would probably linger on it briefly if I came across it on television. At least until Big Bad Voodoo Daddy snapped me out of my stupor with an unwelcome reminder of the 90s swing music revival. Ugh. Ok, this movie was a product of its decade. I respect that. Side note: Shortly after Swingers, Vince Vaughn made Return to Paradise. Essentially a remake of the exemplary Midnight Express with a different emphasis, it is notable mainly for a sex scene between Vaugh (6'5") and Anne Heche (5'5"). I think he actually palms her during the scene. That sounded dirty. I mean to say that he tosses he around like a tiny ragdoll. This scene may have been responsible for her whole lesbian dalliance.
After a couple of TV movies, Favreau came into his own as a director. He wrote and directed Made, a trifle that bares little attention. He broke through to the adult table with Elf, a movie that succeeded as much on Will Ferrell's performance as anything else, but prominently featured a narwhal. Next came Zathura, the pseudo-sequel to Jumanji. I think we can all agree that Zathura does actually exist. They can never take that away from him. Maybe it wasn't bad, but we were all still working on getting the taste of Jumanji out of our mouths. Now here's the baffling part: Somehow Favreau impressed Marvel enough to hand him the keys to what would become their multi-billion dollar empire with the first Iron Man. As their first feature, this was placing a lot of trust in the man, and he knocked it out of the park. Robert Downey Jr. played a large role in that, sure. Iron Man 2 was not necessarily a step back, but it also wasn't a step forward in any recognizable fashion. The last piece of film we have from him (not counting TV episodes) is Cowboys and Aliens, a humorless film that was apparently greenlighted on the basis of it's title.
What exactly do we make of this career? Is Favreau a director of note or is he just a placeholder for more visionary directors? Enter Shane Black, director of Iron Man 3 and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. In only two movies, this man has taken what Favreau began and imbued it with a new life. Maybe it's not fair to say two movies, because this is the man responsible for creating Lethal Weapon, the Long Kiss Goodnight, the Last Boy Scout...and the Last Action Hero. Chance are, if there is movie with an L in the title, Shane Black probably played a role in bringing it to the screen. And let us not forget he also wrote one of my childhood favorites, the Goonies meets Van Helsing masterpiece, The Monster Squad.
The great Disney/Marvel film program has shown a few cracks as they attempt to launch Phase 2 in the post-Avengers filmscape. But Shane Black has a fine-tuned ear for dialogue and took Tony Stark to the next level in terms of both action and humor. I'm not sure the Iron Man movies feature anything in between those two extremes, but Black plays them to the hilt in Iron Man 3. His visual language does much to highlight the shortcomings of Favreau. Put into the context of this film, Favreau comes off as more of a project manager than a true director. That sounds more insulting that I initially thought, but I stand by the assessment. He is a slave to the talent around him, giving them room to flourish but not serving as the driving force behind the creative process. Shane Black's movies crackle with a crispness that Favreau has not yet achieved and maybe never will. He sets the creative tone with his writing and dares the cinematography and special effects to keep up or fall behind. Iron Man 3 is an example of pure cinematic boldness. It's emotional impact may be null but if you were expecting that in the first place, you probably have Alzheimer's.
Now that I have built up Shane Black at Jon Favreau's expense, let me couch. I know Jon Favreau personally. What I mean is that I once had the pleasure of attending the Hellboy 2 premiere and was able to watch Favreau converse with the more talented Guillermo Del Toro from across the room. We later made plans to meet up at Disneyland, where Favreau and his family walked by while Punk Rock Girl and I waited in line for Finding Nemo. We didn't have to exchange words, we both knew what was up. As a close personal friend of Jon Favreau, I don't expect him to go away. I think he is simply waiting for the right material to take his trade to the next level. Look at how far he has come from the days of Swingers. With his supporting role in I Love You, Man, he made Punk Rock Girl laugh out loud at a volume and length that made me quite uncomfortable to be seen in public with her. That talent is priceless and cannot be tamed. Stay tuned.
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