Episode 5 - 13 - 13

After a brief tragic delay to allow for The Boom Operator to do some actual Boom Operatin' for a local film here in and around town(!) we're back with reviews of Iron Man 3, Mud (another A-State pride film) and the remake of Maniac. We also had to pay homage to Ray Harryhausen, whose stop-motion gewgaws and monsters enlivened so many of us growing up.

As for Maniac: I have no idea why anyone thought William Lustig's film needed to be remade, except by the horror-crazed French Aja/Lavasseur/Khalfoun, who have the love and influence to make good filmmakers, but not the actual ability. Elijah Wood is not as nasty and disturbing as Joe Spinell, which dampens some of the effect, but the slicker production and better core also highlight what made the original memorable. Still didn't justify a remake, but there you go.

Mud: The Boom Operator thought this Arkansas film was a good take on Southern culture, steered by career-defining performances from Matthew McConnaughey and Ray McKinnon.

Iron Man III: Although I enjoy the American national metaphor-interplay in the Iron Man movies, I did not like this one. Shane Black's dialogue didn't get any good deployment, nor did the Iron Man: Extremis storyline, and there just wasn't enough good in the overlong, visually bombastic story. The Iron Man trilogy was always more interesting to talk about than to actually watch, overall.


We heard music from the following:

The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, 1958 - Bernard Herrmann
Mysterious Island, 1961 - Bernard Herrmann
The Chipmunk Adventure, 1987 - Randy Edelman
Chain Reaction, 1996 - Jerry Goldsmith

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