Munsch Ado About Nothing

Ok...This has been in the news a bit lately so I feel (as Always) that I have to comment.   I know...you're shocked, right?  It seems beloved child author of such classics as "Mortimer"  and "I Love You Forever" has announced to the world that he had an addiction to alcohol and cocaine.  Also, he has bipolar disorder and has suffered with this from the time he was a child.

My Opinion...get ready for this...it'll knock your socks off.  WHO GIVES A CRAP!.  I mean seriously.  Yes he may be a child's author and storyteller, but he's also a human being.  This day and age many many many people suffer with addictions.  Whether its alcohol, tobacco, pot, cocaine, internet porn or video games, literally hundreds of thousands of people suffer with various addictions.  Some may say that this may deminish his credibility, to me it doesn't do a thing.

Bottom Line, he is a brilliant author and wonderfully engaging storyteller.  So he has some personal issues..that's what they are ...PERSONAL.  In no way should this effect his professional life or how people view his public self. With any celebrity they have a "public" persona which is what we all see and their "Private" Persona which they reserve for people who they associate with, friends, family etc.  To me the fact that he's come out and told the world about this makes him even more special to me.  He could have easily kept it to himself and secrectly received treatment, but he chose to share his plight with the world and say "Yes, I'm an addict, and yes, I am getting help for that addiction".  This is what a real stand up person does...not sneak off to some secret celebrity rehab facility...this guy has got the right idea.

GO PUBLIC, GET BETTER, MOVE ON

As an aside...alcohol addiction has literally plagued dozens of famous authors....as Brad Paisley wrote in his song "Alcohol".... "I've influenced Kings and world leaders, I helped Hemingway write like he did, and I'll bet you a drink or two that I can make you, Put that lampshade on your head"

Iron Man 2 - A Solid Sequel

Let me begin by saying this, in my life I am blessed with a really awesome wife.  Not only is she a wonderful cook, mother and house-keeper, she also enjoys movies based on comic books almost as much as I do.  When X-men Origins:Wolverine came out she was right there waiting in line with me.  The Dark Knight?....yep...she was waiting in that insanely long line at the Galaxy cinemas Guelph that wrapped all the way around the side of the building, almost as eager to see this movie as I was.  So when my birthday rolled around on May 11th, it was a no brainer that we were going to see Iron Man 2 as part of the celebration (after a really yummy steak dinner of course, a man has to eat right?)

I am going to keep spoilers to a minimum, but let me start by saying this, Iron Man 2 is an extremely solid second offering in the series.  I love comic book sequels because you don't need all the back story and character development, just jump right in to the story. Buckle up, it's going to be a good one.  Starring the always wonderful Robert Downey Jr as our hero, supported again by Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts and Director Jon Favreau pulling double duty as Stark's driver Happy Hogan. New to the series this time around is Don Cheadle, replacing Terrance Howard as Rhodey, Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow, Mickey Rourke as Ivan "Whiplash" Vanko, and Sam Rockwell as foil for RDJ, Justin Hammer.  

Now a lot of reviews I have read have been a little negative, citing too many characters and too many subplots as a detrement to the movie.  Obviously these reviewers have never been comic book readers.  The Marvel Universe is all about lots of characters, subplots, hidden agendas, etc.  That's what make Marvel superior to DC (save for the Batman Franchise which is positively Marvel-esque in its depth of plot and Character library)  The use of secondary characters to build to something greater is a huge part of this movie and, in this humble reviewer's opinion, totally awesome.  

You have the whole buildup to the upcoming Avengers Movie with appearance of Sam L Jackson reprising his role as Nick Fury, and the use of some clever imagery in one scene to foreshadow the upcoming Captain America Movie.  I'm not going to go into spoilers here but, fellow geeks, the scene is classic and you will all know what I'm talking about when you watch this movie.  But, back to the review of the actual movie.

Plot is Solid, showing Tony battling his own ego as well as blood poisoning from his chest implant.  Not to mention that he has basically failed to do what he always does, find the solution, when he is unable to find a replacement for the chest piece that is slowly killing him.  The introduction of fellow weapons designer Justin Hammer played by Sam Rockwell, who always plays the part of slimy arsehole to perfection, as a foil/wannabe to RDJ's Tony Stark make the plot even thicker.  Top that off with Rourke's Ivan Vanko, revenge-driven son to Stark Sr's former partner, and brilliant mind in his own right as the newest "Super-Villian" and you have yourself a story worthy of any of the Marvel books.

Cast's performances are again, up to snuff, with RDJ playing the lead to perfection, Cheadle is good as Rhodey, although I think I may have liked Terrance Howard's version better.  Scarlett is awesome in her role (not to mention Drop Dead Gorgeous) And Paltrow is, well I've never really cared for her as an actress...but she's fine I suppose.  The return of a lot of familiar faces from the first film used both as plot devices and as humor points are very well done.


To Sum Up...I loved this movie...an excellent sequel, but stands well on it's own.  

A MUST-SEE ON THE BIG SCREEN

Wheeeeee

OK Iron Man 2 ROCKED

Full review coming soon

Separated at birth??

Chastity Bono is now officially, legally a man now as reported here. Just Call Me Chaz  Take a look

hmmm....kinda looks like someone else we all 
have seen before