Weekly Random Thoughts: 5/7/10

1. I went to see Cirque Du Soleil: Ovo last weekend. It was my first time ever seeing a Cique Du Soleil show or visiting Randall’s Island for that matter. I thought it was a very good show. Some really awesome sections and some few slow spots. Either way, I’d highly recommend it unless you’ve seen the other Cirque Du Soleil shows (which I heard once you’ve seen one, you don’t see anything new). Some thoughts/questions:

• a. My first thought when I saw all the performers was of the character Yen in the Oceans movies. I love Ocean’s Eleven.
• b. There was a part where one performer was standing on one hand atop what looked like a mini-staircase without the stairs. It was definitely an impressive showing of balance and strength. But by the fourth time the person was doing it, it got kind of boring. Then again, I can barely stand up on one leg, so who am I to talk.
• c. The six jugglers/twirlers (with the big plastic kiwis and pieces of corn) were one of the highlights of the show. Yet, I kept hoping that one of them would drop the kiwi or the corn. Yes, behind my nice guy act I am a horrible person.
• d. The acrobats (or Robin’s as I like to call them) were cool, but nobody went flying across the entire stage. So I was a little disappointed. That dude Yen from Ocean’s Eleven would have totally went across the stage. Heck, Chris O’Donnell would have too.
• e. The crowd interaction part was very funny. Most people hate being picked out of the audience and made center of attention. I know I do. Actually, I only know one person who loves to be picked for this kind of stuff. His name is Sean McBride…he’s a comedian. Youtube him.
• f. The rock climbing/trampoline section ended the show on a high note.
• g. I wonder how many hours a day these people train?
• h. And I wonder how much the performers get paid?

2. Hugo Weaving has officially been cast as the new villain, Red Skull, in the upcoming Marvel film, The First Avenger: Captain America. If you don’t know who Hugo Weaving is by name, well you definitely know the face or voice. He played Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy, was the voice of Megatron (not Calvin Johnson, relax Scotty Watts) in the Transformers movies, and was also in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Since the Matrix premiered in 1999, Weaving has been in 14 movies (most recently “The Wolfman” remake). Those 14 movies have grossed $2.68bn in domestic box office, which averages out to $191.3mm per film (and that’s including 3 low budget movies that made less than $150k each). That’s Will Smith/Tom Hanks/Tom Cruise territory. But of course Weaving would never be referred to as an A-lister (a guy who could open up a movie himself). He’s basically this decade’s Jeff Goldblum. Goldblum, if you remember, was the co-star of such hits in the 1990’s as Jurassic Park, Independence Day, and The Lost World. Goldblum was the go to supporting actor for big budget films and he did it masterfully. As my friend, Jay the comedian would say - I miss Jeff Goldblum.

3. Every summer there are a few songs that tear up the radio waves and become the unofficial summer jam. Last year it was Keri Hilson, Drake, Lady GaGa, and Black Eyed Peas. It’s early, but so far my prediction for the summer jam of 2010 are:

• a. Usher feat. Will.i.am – omg
• b. Travis McCoy feat. Bruno Mars – billionaire
• c. B.O.B. feat Bruno Mars - Nuttin on You (or the new song “Airplanes”)
• d. Other artists with songs coming out soon (I haven’t heard them yet) – Eminem, Katy Perry, T-Pain, Christina Aguilera, Drake, Pitbull, Miley Cyrus, and M.I.A.

4. Some small, low budget indie film called “Iron Man 2” comes out today. Apparently the reviews have been worse than the first one (generally in the C-B/2 star range). And after having some time to digest the movie (I wrote a blog entry about it – you should read it) and reading the reviews, I can see why people think it is only an OK movie. I was probably swayed by the crowd and atmosphere when I saw the early preview. Still worth watching though. It’s a fun movie that is the essence of good popcorn flicks.

5. Last week’s random thoughts recap:

• a. Nightmare makes only $32mm. It’ll be lucky if finishes with $65mm.
• b. Met’s blow the Philly series and show no resiliency. But at least they didn’t get swept.
• c. I was 3-0 in my NBA playoff predictions – Atlanta came back and won games 6 and 7. Utah and L.A. both closed out in game 6.
• d. The answer is that you do not say “Bless You”.
  

6. NFL Draft (rounds 2 – 7) fantasy preview: I did my review of the round one NFL draft and its fantasy impact last week. Well, here are some non-first rounder’s that may have fantasy potential this year.

• a. Dexter McCluster, Chiefs – Probably won’t get many carries behind Jamaal Charles and Thomas Jones, but could see time lined up in the slot. He’s a good pass catcher, but probably won’t get enough looks to warrant drafting (barring injury to Charles/Jones). Then again, he could be Reggie Bush-like.
• b. Jimmy Clausen, Panthers – A good chance to start at some point in the season if Matt Moore fails to produce. Could have a similar first year to Jay Cutler - start by week ten or so, show promise, but ultimately not fantasy worthy unless in keeper leagues.
• c. Toby Gerhart, Vikings – A good downhill runner that grinds the yards out. Expected to take on role left by Chester Taylor, but not an excellent pass catcher. Not sure how he gets carries playing behind Adrian Peterson. Could be a fullback. See Jacob Hester.
• d. Colt McCoy, Browns – Probably won’t see the field this year, but he has a chance to be the best of this year’s QB crop. Has a little Drew Brees in him.
• e. Joe McKnight, Jets – Made Leon Washington expendable. Expect him to be used in change of pace and pass catching situations, but will fight Tomlinson for those. Won’t be fantasy worthy this year, but down the road has a chance to be like Leon.
• f. Jonathan Dwyer, Steelers – Stuck behind Mendenhall, but Pittsburgh has always employed more than one RB (think Mewelde Moore). Dwyer could play a similar role as a change of pace/pass catching back. But Mendenhall will still be the workhorse.
• g. Anthony Dixon, 49ers – Another RB rookie the 49ers hope to relieve some of the workload from Frank Gore. Not sure if Dixon will make much of an impact, but the 49ers do have a solid, rebuilt offensive line. Keep an eye out for him as a late rounder.
• h. Mardy Gilyard, Rams – Has a little DeSean Jackson in him. Could be a threat to break out a long TD catch or run at any moment, but won’t see many catches (hurting value in PPR leagues). Could develop a nice connection with Bradford for years to come.
• i. Ben Tate, Texans – Could immediately step in and be the starting RB for the Texans. In that offense, if he takes the job, he has a chance to be more fantasy relevant than CJ Spiller.
• j. Damian Williams, Titans - Hoping to follow in Kenny Britt’s footsteps as a promising rookie WR for the Titans. But Titans are still a running team and Williams might not garner enough attention to warrant any consideration yet. Could be fantasy worthy toward the end of the season, so keep an eye out.
• k. Jimmy Graham, Saints – a TE prospect that could fit in nicely with the dynamic New Orleans offense. May not be relevant this year, but Shockey won’t be there forever. Could be a stud TE in a few years.
• l. Rob Gronkowski, Patriots – Possibly the answer to New England’s TE problems. But we all know that New England spreads the ball around and TE’s are either hit or miss (see Ben Watson).
• m. Montario Hardesty, Browns – Could be the starting RB for the Browns (they don’t believe in Harrison). Will struggle behind that rebuilding team, but could have some fantasy worth weeks. A decent mid-late round flier with keeper potential.
• n. Golden Tate, Seahawks – This year’s Percy Harvin. A jack of all trades. Expect to see a few wildcat packages – he’ll run, he’ll catch, maybe even pass and return kicks/punts. He’ll be worth a pickup as a WR3.
• o. Arrelious Benn, Buccaneers – Steps into the best situation as a rookie WR, in that he has little competition. Could be the teams #1 WR on day one, which makes him fantasy relevant. But Josh Freeman is still a project and the team will not be known for its passing. A worthy bench player with upside.
  

7. Fantasy baseball update – My team is struggling, mainly because my offense sucks (I’m looking at you Justin Upton). But pitching is starting to come around (wish Grienke or Cliff Lee could actually get a win though). Here are my weekly thoughts:

• a. Tampa Bay has the best pitching staff (Garza, Shields, Price, and Niemann) right now – every one of those guys is top 20 right now.
• b. San Francisco has second best pitching staff (Lincecum, Cain, Zito, and Sanchez) – best in the NL (with St. Louis a close second).
• c. Good to see David Wright turn it around after last year’s disappointing season – 7 HR’s so far (6 on the road) compared to only 10 last year. But he still strikes out too much and that average needs to go up in the .300 range.
• d. Alex Gonzalez is headed for a career year (Toronto can mash). Watch out for David Freese and Tim Stauffer as below the radar guys who are producing.
• e. Worst teams for fantasy players (Baltimore and Pittsburgh). I could only find a handful of guys worth having (Matt Weiters, Adam Jones, Nick Markakis (DL), Andrew McCutchen, and Evan Meek) and none of them are playing that well. At least Kansas City and Seattle have stud pitchers.
• f. Buy low candidates – Jason Bay, Prince Fielder, and Josh Beckett.
  

8. NBA playoffs update:

• a. After two games, only the Boston-Cleveland series is tied. That one could go seven.
• b. I expect San Antonio to win the next two at home. They won’t go down without a fight and they are one of the best teams at making adjustments. This one could go seven too.
• c. Utah doesn’t have enough to take down the Lakers…reminds me of the year’s that the Bulls struggled to beat the Pistons (back in the MJ/Isiah days). Utah will have to figure out how to get over the hump (i.e. The Lakers) in order to take the next step. But Deron is a top ten player right now.
• d. Atlanta doesn’t have enough to compete with Orlando. Magic might have easiest road to the conference finals of anyone (I’d be surprised if they lost more than one game along the way).

9. In this week’s edition of ignorance and intolerance:

• a. I went to the Museum of Natural History a while back. As I’m walking through, I pass by one of the staff members. For no reason, other than the obvious, he stops me to tell me that the Asia history section is on the third floor. Ummm…I wasn’t asking.
• b. Went to Bubba Gump restaurant in Times Square with my girlfriend and another couple. And the first question the hostess and waiter asked us was, “So where you visiting from?” Ummm…Queens!!!

10. Friday Night Lights season four starts tonight on NBC. If you aren't watching this show, then you are missing out on the best TV show on right now. "Clear eyes, full hearts, can't lose"...

Thanks for reading and don't forget to tell your friends.

2010 Summer Movie Preview: May

May is here!!!!! And for all those movie lovers out there, that means one of the two best times of the movie year is arriving (the other being holiday movie season from Thanksgiving to Christmas). That’s right…summer movie season kicks off on May 7th. Now with any summer movie slate, there are certain guarantees.

1. The kickoff weekend will be huge for whichever movie studio claims that weekend (See “Iron Man 2”. 2009 equivalent = “X-Men Origins: Wolverine”).

2. Plenty of big budget, special effects driven movies (See “Prince of Persia”, “The Sorcerers Apprentice” and "The Last Airbender". 2009 equivalent; the aforementioned “Wolverine”, "Transformer 2", "GI Joe", and "Star Trek").

3. Sequels, Threequels, Adaptations, Remakes, and Re-imaging’s galore (See “Iron Man 2”, “Sex and the City 2”, "Twilight Saga: Eclipse", and “A-Team”. 2009 equivalent = “Star Trek”, “Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince”, “GI Joe”, “Angels and Demons”, Terminator Salvation”, and “Transformers 2”).

4. A couple of complete box office disasters (See “Jonah Hex” and “Prince of Persia”. 2009 equivalent “Bruno”, “Funny People”, “Year One” and “Land of the Lost”).

5. A couple of box office surprises (See “Splice” and "The Karate Kid". 2009 equivalent = “District 9).

6. At least one big budget movie will get great reviews and then go on to be a huge crowd favorite and make over $250mm at the box office - thus exceeding expectations (See “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”. 2009 equivalent = “Star Trek”).

7. One unbelievable Pixar movie (See “Toy Story 3”. 2009 equivalent = “Up”).

8. One comedy that outshines all the others (usually starring Will Ferrell). (See ”The Other Guys”. 2009 equivalent = “The Hangover”)

9. A chick flick that serves as counter programming. (See “Sex and the City 2”, “Eat, Pray, Love”, and “Killers”. 2009 equivalent – “The Proposal”, “Julie and Julia”, “Ghost of Girlfriends Past”, and “The Ugly Truth”)

10. And one epic action movie – usually with a historical setting with a well known legendary figure. (See “Robin Hood”. 2009 equivalent – “Public Enemies”)

11. A family friendly movie, non-Pixar related. (See “Despicable Me” and “Cats and Dogs 2”. 2009 equivalent – “G-Force” and “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs”).

12. One low budget indie that gets some Oscar buzz only to fizzle out at awards time. (See “The Kids Are Alright”, “happythankyoumoreplease”, and “Cyrus”. 2009 equivalent – “500 Days of Summer”)

Ok, let’s take a look at what movies will be taking our money and wasting our time:

MAY 2010:

Iron Man 2: Qualifies under #1, #2, and #3 above.
Opens: May 7th, 2010
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, and Samuel L. Jackson.
Directed by: Jon Favreau

Are you ready for this because this is going to be huge? The only question is how huge. Sequels are usually hit or miss. Rarely are they better than the first, but thanks to the pent up demand, the second part usually opens bigger and sees a greater amount of grosses frontloaded. But once in a while, you get a movie that actually builds on the first one. One that is arguably better (see Terminator 2, Aliens, and The Dark Knight) and outgrosses the first one. There is no doubt that the movie is grossing $400mm (it’ll break $150mm on opening weekend). But if it’s as good as the trailers look, then it’ll crack $500mm easily and be the movie to beat for the summer box office crown.

Pros: Huge demand, must see status, awesome trailers, rumors of Captain America and Thor appearances.

Cons: Can it live up to the first one? Iron Man 2 didn’t have much to work off of from the comic book source material – so they had to make up a story based on a lot of different story lines in the comics. Throw in the fact that there are no well known villains, fan outrage over Scarlett Johansson casting, and you could see a semi-Iron Man backlash.

Robin Hood: Qualifies under #3 and #10
Opens: May 14th, 2010
Starring: Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong, William Hurt.
Directed by: Ridley Scott

The team that brought you Gladiator brings you a film that will definitely be compared to Gladiator. My initial reaction to the trailers was, “Eh”. After seeing more trailers, my reaction is still “Eh”. I don’t know what to expect - just another sweeping epic with grand fighting scenes along the likes of “The Patriot”, “Kingdom of Heaven”, and “King Arthur” or a movie that tries to tell the true story behind the legend like last summer’s “Public Enemies” (And you know what, Public Enemies was pretty disappointing)? The filmmakers certainly hope that is not the case, since none of those films did extraordinarily well at the box office (and Kingdom of Heaven and King Arthur were bombs). So what does all that mean? Well, the film lies clearly on the shoulders of Russell Crowe and Ridley Scott. And neither is at the heights of their box office pull. Crowe isn’t the same star as he was after Gladiator and A Beautiful Mind. With State of Play bombing, he’s become less and less a draw. And Scott found little success with Body of Lies. Throw in the fact that the movie has to deal with the second weekend of Iron Man 2 and things don’t look so good. This could be the first box office bomb of the summer. I’m going to say it’ll end up with only $75mm gross.

Pros: The team of Crowe and Scott. Huge production values. Guaranteed to have one "F'ing awesome" fight scene involving a sword and/or bow and arrow.

Cons: Trailers that have failed to excite. Crowe at his box office lowest since "Virtuosity".

Letters to Juliet: Qualifies under #9
Opens: May 14th, 2010
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, Vanessa Redgrave, and Gael Garica Bernal.

A romantic comedy looking to serve up some counterprogramming to the big budget films Iron Man 2 and Robin Hood. It'll serve the audience looking for a sweet, romantic movie. Seyfried is an up and coming star (she was recently seen in "Dear John") and has her fans of young girls and even some young guys. Bernal (and his accent) has fans of young and old girls. And Redgrave could pull in some adults. But this movie has a limited potential (think "Leap Year" or "When In Rome") before finding an audience on cable and DVD. Final gross of $25mm.

Pros: The adorable Amanda Seyfried.

Cons: Not much seperates this movie from a thousand other romantic films.

Just Wright: Possibly qualifies under #5
Opens: May 14th, 2010
Starring: Common, Queen Latifah, and Paula Patton.

A romantic comedy starring a popular rapper playing outside his norm, and a popular actress/singer with a larger fan base than you would think. Throw in some basketball (perfect timing during the NBA playoffs) and a large African American cast (a fan base that will come out to support their own, as Tyler Perry has shown), and we could have our first surprising box office success. I could see this doing $40-45mm if it gets decent reviews.

Pros: Latifah has moderate success with these types of films (The Last Holiday - $39mm and Beauty Shop - $36mm). Counterprogramming in a summer full of films that don't cater to the African American audience.

Cons: Common as a basketball player? I guess it makes more sense than Bow Wow or Fredro Starr.


Shrek Forever After: Qualifies under #3.
Opens: May 21st, 2010
Featuring voices by: Mike Myers, Cameron Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Antonio Banderas, and Julie Andrews.

The animated series that is more successful than any Pixar franchise, yet not nearly as beloved (or good), returns for a fourth and (hopefully) final chapter. All the main characters return including the ogre Shrek, Princess Fiona, donkey, Puss N Boots, and the wonderful dragon (Parker’s favorite). Throw in a cute premise with Rumpelstiltskin and this may do better than the last entry in the franchise. However, the third Shrek left a bad taste in people’s mouth and some may have soured on the series. So expect a huge opening, say $90+mm before it finishes out around 270mm (matching the gross of the first Shrek). Of course, the key with any animated movie is the reviews. If it’s good, which I have yet to hear anything special about it (then again, I know nobody in the industry), then it could make a quality $300+mm total.

Pros: The Shrek franchise has made over $1bn at the box office. Plus; it's in 3D, which is all the rage these days.

Cons: The franchise is on its last legs. People weren't exactly screaming for a fourth one after Shrek the Third.

MacGruber: Qualifies under #4
Opens: May 21st, 2010
Starring: Will Forte, Kristin Wiig, Ryan Phillippe, and Val Kilmer

A halfway decent SNL skit was inexplicably turned into a summer action-comedy flick. This one has “A Night at the Roxbury” written all over it. Expect a lot of ridiculous jokes, gross out humor and violence, and some outlandish acting by Kilmer and Forte. The only way this goes beyond the core audience of SNL’ers is if Kilmer give such a crazy performance (which he is entirely capable of) that the movie becomes must see just for him. Either way, I expect it to make a paltry $35mm.

Pros: Kilmer at his craziest. Kristin Wiig always is worth a couple of laughs - she will be starring in movies sooner rather than later.

Cons: SNL skits to screen can be very hit or miss. Is Forte on the same level as Myers or Carvey?

Sex and the City 2: Qualifies under #3 and #9.
Opens: May 27th, 2010
Starring: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrell, Kristin Davis, Chris Noth, and Penelope Cruz.

Women get your Manolo Blaniks and Jimmy Choo’s ready (although I think in the last few years, Christian Louboutin has become the more popular brand), because this movie will feel like a must see and must get dressed up event for all the ladies out there. After the runaway success of the first film, there was no doubt that a sequel would be greenlighted. The only question is will this movie do better than the first? I’m not so sure, since the movie doubtfully picked up any new fans. Basically if you enjoyed the TV shows, then you watched the first movie. So to be quite honest, I expect more of the same. There will be a huge upfront demand, making for a big opening weekend. The movie will end with a solid $150+mm, on par with the original. Why? Because let’s face it. They aren’t breaking new ground with this movie, what you expect is what you’ll get. Still this is the must see movie event for women this summer and I doubt it’ll disappoint.

Pros: All the women who can relate to Carrie, Samantha, Miranda, and Charlotte. All the women who want a Mr. Big in their lives. All the women who loves designer clothes, shoes, and bags. In other words...all the women want to see this.

Cons: Where will the story go? How many times can people put up with the whole Big and Carrie break up or have relationship difficulties storyline, when they know they'll somehow get back together again.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time: Qualifies under #2 and arguably #3.
Opens: May 28th, 2010
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton, Ben Kinsley, and Alfred Molina
Directed by: Mike Newell

The quota for the annual-summer-Jerry-Bruckheimer-produced-film has been met with this action-adventure based on the popular video game. The trailers are exactly what you would expect from a Bruckheimer action film – lots of cool special effects, bad writing, a surprising male lead (who isn’t who’d you’d expect to be starring in this kind of film), and a pretty lady. I am curious to see how the video game translates to the big screen. The scenes with the dagger and sandstorms remind me of “The Scorpion King” to the 100th degree. Yet the trailer still doesn’t amaze me. Opening on Memorial Day weekend, expect a decent first weekend of $50mm before topping out at a shade over $100mm.

Pro: Bruckheimer is at his best in these types of productions. And people doubted Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Carribean...

Cons: Until I see it, I don't buy Jake Gyllenhal as an action star. And the trailers have yet to make me think otherwise. Actually, the trailers looks pretty stupid (even stealing the Mission Impossible 2 line from Anthony Hopkins). Plus, video games to movies are very hit or miss – and I think this one will be a miss.

Check back next week when I preview June's openings.

Robert and Me

The title is a twist on the Michael Moore documentary, Roger and Me, but I replaced Roger with Robert (as in Robert Downey Jr.). That’s right Iron Man himself. Why? Because thanks to my well connected friend, Marc, I got to see the early premiere of Iron Man 2. And it was quite an experience…

First off, we met at a Chevy’s across the street from the Times Square AMC theater. Me, the aforementioned well connect Marc, and my other buddy Sherm. Our fourth buddy, Jay the comedian, was running late and was planning to meet us at the theater. We decided on Chevy’s, since it was Cuatro de Mayo…(Happy Cinco De Mayo everyone – one of my favorite non-universal holidays). We got there and saw a line around the block that lead all the way to the Port Authority. Good thing we had reserved tickets (did I mentioned my friend Marc was well connected. I might have to start calling him Marc Walnuts). Anyway, we grabbed some appetizers and drinks while we waited for our final party member. At a quarter to seven, we got the phone call. Jay the comedian is waiting on line. We had a quick laugh and then told him to get off the line. We had guaranteed seats baby. Otherwise, I think Jay would still be in line waiting.

We got out ticket passes and made our way to the theater. Little did we know we were walking into Iron Man 2: The Game Show. Scary Jones from Z100 was there along with several other marketing partners and Paramount staffers getting the crowd warmed up. Trivia, jokes, and costumes was on the lineup…here are the highlights.

1. Prizes were awarded to people who had to answer the following hard questions:

• a. Who wrote the original comic book?
• b. Who plays Iron Man in the movie? (Followed by my buddy Jay taking out the complimentary poster and pointing to the name Robert Downey Jr - Did I mention he was a comedian).
• c. What is the name of Tony Starks’s assistant?
• d. Then they threw a curveball and asked what was the numbered edition of the comic book that first premiered the Iron Man character? A few people had no clue. I felt sorry for these people. It’s like one of the SNL skits where everyone around you gets easy questions like, “Where are you now”, while you have to answer “what is the distance from the Earth to the Sun”. After three tries, somebody finally knew the answer. You know what answer that guy didn’t know…what a girl’s breasts feel like.
• e. And then to make matters worse, the next question was another easy one - who played Tony Starks friend Jim Rhodes. This one actually has two correct answers. Where’s the consistency and fairness with the questions people?

2. Then it was time for the costume contest:

• a. One guy came dressed up as Tony Stark (you know minus the Robert Downey Jr. looks and build). This prompted my two buddies, Marc and Sherm, who work corporate jobs to ponder getting up and trying to pass off a button down shirt and a tie as “dressed like Tony Stark”.
• b. Two people dressed up as Iron Man. One guy who would qualify for the joke, “I’m in shape…I’m round.” And a little kid who had to go down as one of the cutest ever. If you were a single guy and you brought that kid to the park, you’d walk home with at least seven phone numbers. And yes, I just pimped out that kid dressed as Iron Man. Anyway, the crowd in attendance had to vote for the winner. Guess who won?
• c. I kept waiting for somebody dressed up as Whiplash to get up and beat up the guy (not the kid) dressed up as Iron Man. That would have made my day.

3. My buddy Marc decides to go to the bathroom at 7:22pm. As he leaves, Scary Jones screams out, “Are you ready to get on with the show?” We joke about Marc’s excellent timing. Don’t worry; he made it back in time.

4. As the lights went out, the screen expanded. Let me say that again. The screen EXPANDED. That’s how you get the crowd excited for a movie.

5. I won’t spoil the movie for you. Most of you probably plan on watching it regardless of what I say. If not, it’s well worth your time and money. I’d say it was a great movie. Not better than the first one, but just as good. And that’s quite an accomplishment. I’ll just say a couple of things about the movie.

• a. In the first movie, I was surprised by Gwyneth Paltrow. I have to admit, I was never a huge fan of hers and never thought she was all that. But something about her role (and her wardrobe) in Iron Man made me walk out with a huge crush on her. Paltrow was so sexy and hot in that movie that I had to bump her up a few hundred spots in my own personal unbiased rankings. Well, I got the same reaction after watching Scarlett Johansson absolutely kill it in the sequel. Like most people, I had my doubts when I heard she was cast. But she was sexy, funny, and had one of the best fight sequences ever. Ryan Reynolds is one lucky SOB.
• b. The ending action sequence is absolutely crazy. It caused my buddy Sherm to jump out of his seat when it was over. The buildup was so good and it totally hit every spot with the payoff. I’d put it up there with the ending action sequences of Avatar, Kick Ass, and even last year’s The Incredible Hulk.

6. When the movie ended everyone clapped as if they made the movie. But nobody left. Nobody. All the seats were still filled waiting for the credits to roll and for the extra scene to begin. All I can say is that the crowd geeked out at the bonus scene. It was perfectly executed.

7. The movie was so good, we’re going to watch it in IMAX. Now, that’s the best recommendation I could ever give a movie. See it.

8. Thank you Marc (and Sherm and Jay for your comedic contributions).