Stacy's Blog Has Got It Going On

"Sir!  I'm gonna have to ask you to exit the donut." -Nick Fury Six months after the events of the first film, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is more famous than ever and has fully embraced being Iron Man.  However, the arc reactor in his chest that keeps him alive is slowly killing him.  As Tony faces his own mortality, two dangerous foes look for the opportunity to strike; his industrial rival, Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell), and Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), a physicist with a lifelong grudge against the Stark family. What Works: I know a lot of people don't like Iron Man 2, but I enjoy it.  It doesn't have much in the way of plot, but if you look at the film as a character study, it's interesting.  We have a superhero who is facing his own death and the movie is primarily about his reaction to that knowledge.  With Robert Downey Jr.'s brilliant performance, Iron Man 2 works as a study of Tony Stark and the villains' evil plot is

"You're gonna vote me off, Mickey?" -Sawyer The 22nd episode of Lost picks up with Dr. Arzt (Daniel Roebuck) warning everyone that monsoon season is approaching which will send the raft towards Antarctica rather than rescuce, which incentivizes Michael (Harold Perrineau) into wanting to launch the raft the next day.  Kate (Evangeline Lilly) tries to get a spot on the raft, but Michael, Walt (Malcolm David Kelley), Jin (Daniel Dae Kim), and Sawyer (Josh Holloway) have all of the spots, but Michael begins to question his decisions when he realizes Sawyer knows nothing about sailing and Kate does.  Sawyer doesn't like this and tells Kate to back off. Locke (Terry O'Quinn) and Sayid (Naveen Andrews) bring Jack (Matthew Fox) out to the Hatch for the first time.  Jack and Locke both want to open it, but Sayid vehemently disagrees.   Michel becomes violently ill and Jack and Locke start investigating.  Jack figures out there was something in Michael&

I am very excited to announce that I have launched my own podcast: How to Survive a Horror Movie.  In it, we look at various horror movies and come up with a master list of rules on how to survive them.  You can check it out here:  http://surviveahorrormovie.buzzsprout.com http://surviveahorrormovie.buzzsprout.com The first episode is about Halloween.   I hope you enjoy! Ihttp://surviveahorrormovie.buzzsprout.com

"Hulk smash!" -Hulk After a gamma ray experiment goes horribly wrong, Dr. Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) can now become the Hulk, a unstoppable beast full of anger and power.  He flees the country and manages to stay in hiding for years before being tracked down again.  Now Banner has to return to the United States to find a possible cure, but General Ross (William Hurt) is determined to stop him at a any cost as he wants to turn the Hulk into a weapon. What Works: The best parts of the The Incredible Hulk are the villains.  Tim Roth plays Emil Blonsky who sees the Hulk as a foe worthy of fighting.  His only goal is to make himself tougher so he can defeat the Hulk in a fight.  It's a refreshing villain motivation and makes me kinda like the guy. William Hurt is the other villain.  He is interesting because he is the father of Banner's love interest, Betty Ross (Liv Tyler).  This gives him a personal connection to Banner.  He isn't just an

"You just rob banks and stay out of trouble." -Kate "Ma" Barker After a troubled childhood, Kate "Ma" Barker (Shelley Winters) has grown up to be an extremely dangerous person, but a loving mother.  After her boys are forced to flee their home after raping a woman, Kate and her sons form a violent gang and start taking money and lives across the country.  As the law closes in and the tension rises, will Kate's sons stay in line or will she have to put them in their place? What Works: I went into this film knowing nothing about it besides that it was directed by Roger Corman, who is known for making extremely low budget films and that is the case here.  I was really impressed with what Corman was able to do with his budget and we get an exciting and engaging film in the end.  This all goes to show that you can make a good film without a big budget. Shelley Winters is really incredible in the lead role.  She even manages to out

"Part of the journey is the end." -Tony Stark Spoilers ahead!!!!!!!!! With half the world's population gone, the surviving Avengers must gather their remaining strength and courage to find a way to get the Infinity Stones back from Thanos (Josh Brolin) and save everyone they've lost. What Works: Endgame gets off on the right foot with an incredible opening sequence.  We get Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) having a cook-out with his family only for all of them, save Hawkeye, to vanish.   It's a haunting scene and a great tone-setter. I absolutely love how the first act ends.  We get to see several of the surviving Avengers subdue Thanos only to realize they are too late.  The Infinity Stones have been destroyed and it's seemingly too late to save everyone.  With all hope gone, Thor (Chris Hemsworth) straight up decapitates Thanos.  All of this happens in the first 20 minutes.  This left me with my jaw on the floor wondering what the h

"I am Iron Man" -Tony Stark Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is a billionaire, genius, playboy, and the head of a weapons manufacturer.  While showcasing his latest creation in Afghanistan, Tony is captured by a group of terrorists who want him to build them a weapon.  Tony attempts to escape by building a suit of armor with a wide variety of weapons and the ability to fly, but even if he does make it home, someone close to Tony doesn't want him back. What Works: By far the best part of this movie is Robert Downey Jr.  He is absolutely brilliant as Tony Stark.  This was the role he was born to play.  I literally can't imagine anyone else playing this role.  Tony has a really great character arc as he transforms from a playboy to someone who actually wants to do some good in the world, but he doesn't lose his charisma or his cockiness along the way.  It's a great performance and really carries the film. I am a big fan of Jeff Bridges an

"I'm banking on stupidity tonight." -Wardog DaSilva This episode of Survivor wasn't anything flashy like the last few episodes, but it was refreshing.  There was lots of solid gameplay and I think the majority of the players made the right move, which has rarely been the case this season.  Let's fasten our seatbelts and figure out who played the best and who did the worst. Who Played Well: Almost everyone falls under this category this time and we'll start with Julie.  I really liked how she handled Ron not telling her about the Kelley vote.  She wasn't angry at all and understood why he made the move.  She kept him open as an ally and also went out and got a new one.  Aligning with Lauren was a good move and I think she was the one who convinced Lauren to go after Wardog and not Aurora, which is a big improvement over last episode. Lauren was smart to look for allies beyond Wardog and while I can understand wanting to keep Wardo

"We all have to pay for what we've done." -James Ducat In 1900, three lighthouse keepers are in the middle of their six week shift when they discover a dead body and a chest of gold on the island.  Soon enough, people come searching for the gold.  As the keepers prepare to defend themselves from the outside threat, they realize too late that the real threat may already be among them. What Works: The Vanishing is carried by three very strong performances with the best being Peter Mullen, who is the oldest and the wisest of the keepers.  He is the main protagonist of the film and Mullen gives a fantastic performance.  He is extremely charismatic and you can't help but trust the guy.   I was really rooting for him and felt bad that the other two keepers kept screwing everything up for him. The other two leads are played by Connor Swindells and Gerard Butler, who has one of his career-best performances.  The two of them have great chemistry and

"Okay, I'd appreciate a prophecy with smaller and more relatable stakes." -Hellboy Hellboy (David Harbour) is a demon from hell that was raised by a human, Trevor Brttenhom (Ian McShane), to be a monster hunter for the United States government.  When Nimue, the Blood Queen (Milla Jovovish), rises to rid the world of humanity, Hellboy is sent to stop her only to discover he is a vital part of her apocalyptic plans. What Works: This won't take long.  First I have to say David Harbour was a solid choice to replace Ron Perlman.  He tries his best and it isn't his fault that this film doesn't work.  He brings some emotion to the part and does have some funny live deliveries.  He is easily the best part of the film. There are also a couple of neat visuals.  The opening sequence is entirely in black and white with the exception of Nimue's cape, which is red.  Sasha Lane plays a psychic, Alice Monaghan, who can also channel the spirits o

"God, I hate YouTube!" -Tom Manning Hellboy (Ron Perlman) and his girlfriend, Liz (Selma Blair) are having some relationship troubles.  To deal with his frustrations, Hellboy exposes his existence to the entire world and it doesn't have the reaction he was hoping for.  At the same time, the Elf-Prince, Nuada (Luke Goss), abandons his exile, determined to assemble the legendary Golden Army and wipe humanity from existence. What Works: I think most of the strengths of Hellboy II comes from the fact the villain is almost the secondary plot.  The main focus of the film is on the relationships between Hellboy, Liz, Abe (Doug Jones), Johann Krauss (Seth MacFarlane), and Princess Nuala (Anna Walton).  Nuada's evil plans almost serve as a backdrop for the interpersonal conflict between our heroes which is really interesting. This movie also has one of the single funniest sequences I have ever seen and I swear I almost died from laughing.  Watching He

"This sucks" -Rick Devens This was an absolutely brutal episode of Survivor .  With two Tribal Councils crammed into one episode, I was expecting two minor characters to be eliminated.  Nope.  Instead, we lose our final two returnees, including my winner pick (of course).  There was quite a bit of bad gameplay in this episode, let's take a closer look. I'll be looking at this episode in two separate parts and giving awards out for both rounds of play.  We'll start with the David elimination. Who Played Well: We'll start with Lauren, Kelley, and Wardog who all did a good job of forming an alliance of six and getting rid of David.  This was an especially good move for Lauren and Wardog.  Getting rid of a returning player and preserving their group of three is great for them.  I don't love Kelley getting rid of David and I think this leads to her downfall.  Kelley and Lauren also both held onto their Idols. Aurora managed to sav

"We didn't come here to fight monsters." -Dr. David Reed Deep in the Amazon, Dr. Carl Maia (Antonio Moreno) discovers a strange fossil of a mysterious creature.  He returns to civilization to form an expedition.  They return to find the rest of Dr. Maia's team dead and soon find themselves trapped in the unknown Black Lagoon, where a amphibious-humanoid resides and he isn't happy that he has visitors. What Works: Creature from the Black Lagoon is a fun film and a solid addition to the Universal Monsters.  I really like the jungle setting for the movie and even though it was mostly filmed at a studio, it felt authentic enough for me to be drawn in.  I also really like that the story is mostly set on board a boat.  I like movies that use only a few locations.  I find it more engaging. This film has tons of underwater shots, which I have have more to say about later, but I must admit, they look great.  The images are beautiful and the film

"There are things that go bump in the night, Agent Myers, make no mistake about that.  And we are the ones who bump back." -Trevor Bruttenholm During World War II, the Nazis teamed up with Grigori Rasputin (Karel Rogen) to open a portal into deep space to summon monsters to help them win the war.  They are defeated, but one baby monster gets through; Hellboy (Ron Perlman), who grows up to become a monster hunter for the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense.  Soon Hellboy and his team discover Rasputin is back and determined to summon a monster to destroy the world. What Works: The best part of Hellboy is Ron Perlman.  He is perfect in the role and extremely entertaining.  You can't help but like the guy even though he is very grumpy.  It's especially funny to watch him pine over his love interest, Liz (Selma Blair), who is completely normal on the exterior.  It's bizarre to have this big, red demon get so jealous and lovestruck. You

"I can't deal with soccer moms." -Aurora McCreary Wow.  Wow.  I can barely process what I just witnessed.  I knew we were in for something special when we left for Tribal Council halfway through the episode, but wow.  That was epic, exciting, and extremely satisfying to watch.  This was easily my favorite episode of the season so far, but how was the gameplay?  Let's take a look. Who Played Well: We'll start with Kelley, who had an excellent read of the Kama group and their weird vibe.  She managed to get through Tribal on the right side of the numbers and held onto her Idol.  She is certainly a bold one.  Her partner in crime, Lauren, also held onto her Idol and got through Tribal on the right side of the numbers. Next we have Rick Devens, who earned some redemption after last week's disastrous episode.  He seemed much more flexible this time and was willing to work with Wardog, Lauren, Kelley.  He was the one who got the ball rolli