Agreed. Lawrence was a bigger name at the time, but his talents are limited--and that's not really a bad thing. Good CGI should indeed enhance a film, not dominate it. I frankly tire of the shortcuts taken to do CGI when it's bad. I miss good old fashioned models and stuntmen on wires, when they work better. Spider-Man is a great example. I have enjoyed the writing of the movies --the first two, at least--but have never liked the CGI. Peter's wallcrawling, his aerial battles, his leaps--all are really bad CGI. I wish they could have done it better with real actors, models, and wire work.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Mr. Worf" <hellomahog...@gmail.com> To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, March 5, 2010 3:31:53 PM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: Re: [scifinoir2] Iron Man 2, More Badass than Ever Martin Lawrence was pretty big. He had a string of bad comedies that were still popular such as Big Mama. I think his problem is that he is a one trick pony. There's really only one tone in his comedy, and he has no depth to his dramatic acting. Will Smith comes off as a lot more likable. You wouldn't mind if he dated your sister or something. Plus he has decent acting skills. When it comes to CGI I think it all depends on the techniques that are used and the quality and time that is spent on creating the images. CGI should be understated and not stick out and poke you in the eye like transformers 2. On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 8:38 AM, Keith Johnson < keithbjohn...@comcast.net > wrote: I'm just praying they keep the great (and nowadays, unusual) practice of minimizing CGI and going with actual live models and wire work. The reason i found myself grinning so much in "Iron Man" was all the scenes with Downey in an actual suit: testing the servos, flying above his cars, etc. The few times when the CGI was painful obvious--basically the final fight--took me out of the movie. So here's hoping the CGI stuff is still used to enhance, not to dominate the film. As another aside, isn't it weird how movies make and break actors sometimes? I was watching a bit of a retrospective on Will Smith the other day, and the film "Bad Boys" came up. I laughed to see that in the opening credits, Martin Lawrence got first billing over Smith. Now, of course, things have changed. Similarly, "Iron Man" was seen as a risk for Downey, some wondering if this talented-but-flawed actor's appearance in a lowly comic-based film indicated how far he'd fallen. People spoke of hoping Downey didn't have a relapse during filming. Terrance Howard was considered a safer choice, as were Paltrow and of course Jeff Bridges, with the feeling that the rest of the group might have to hold Downey up. I believe Howard was even paid more than Downey (or very close if not). But just like that, Downey brought all his charm and talent to a role that some scoffed at, and made it his. He helped bring more respect to comic films, got himself back in peoples' graces, and jumped right back into the A-list of highly paid actors. And Howard gets shafted by the studio, replaced by Cheadle, and has to hear some say "Cheadle's a better choice anyway". Might be true, but sucks how he was treated. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kelwyn" < ravena...@yahoo.com > To: scifinoir2@yahoogroups.com Sent: Friday, March 5, 2010 10:29:15 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern Subject: [scifinoir2] Iron Man 2, More Badass than Ever http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/07/iron-man-2-blasts-into-comic-con-more-badass-than-ever How do you top a movie that took a lesser-known character from the Marvel Comics universe and turned him into the most badass big-screen superhero to date? That's the dilemma faced by Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau, whose 2008 movie turned Robert Downey Jr. into billionaire playboy Tony Stark, the man inside the Iron Man armor. Read More http://www.wired.com/underwire/2009/07/iron-man-2-blasts-into-comic-con-more-badass-than-ever#ixzz0hJgIXgYy -- Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/
