Ruling with an Iron Fist

I wouldn’t allow my husband to see Iron Man 2 without seeing the first Iron Man (and without giving him grief that he might have been the only human being on the planet who didn’t see Iron Man when hit theatres two summers ago).  After he had Iron Man under his belt, it was off to the big screen to see its much anticipated sequel.

Robert Downey Jr. aside (the aviator sunglasses! the swagger! the neckties! that head of hair that rivals McDreamy!), I will admit that this particular Marvel Comics installment is quickly becoming a favorite of mine (move over Spiderman!).  Of course there’s the action sequences (Scarlett Johansson, can I be you for a day?) and the voice-activated technology in Stark’s lair that I’m pretty certain won’t exist in the real world until the late 22^nd century.  But what puts Tony Stark a notch above the ever so humble Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne is his penchant for narcissism. 

Stark’s self-absorption is comical and even endearing.  Leave it to Downey Jr. to make an egotistical playboy and conceited billionaire someone I’d root for.  If you thought Stark was vain in the first Iron Man, he’s even more so in the second, having single-handedly achieved world peace.  However, it’s just a matter of time before Tony is served a rather large, welcomed ego check from two credible villains: the fast-talking weapons manufacturer, Justin Hammer, played brilliantly by Sam Rockwell and his partner in crime, Ivan Vanko, a nasty Russian villain played by badass Mickey Rourke.

When Stark reluctantly agrees to let down his armor (literally and figuratively), he is joined by an elite and super-secret espionage agency called S.H.I.E.L.D. led by Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and his assistant, Black Widow, played by Johansson.  Together they bring down the bad guys and leave the film open-ended for Iron Man 3.

Where Iron Man was short on comic book hero fight scenes and long on backstory, Iron Man 2 picks up the slack and delivers blow by blow that holds your attention and leaves you never wanting to meet Mickey Rourke in a dark alley.

A Balcony Dweller's Inspiration

How sugary-sweet is Letters to Juliet?  So dolce in fact that I'm surprised I didn't get a toothache by the movie's (ridiculously predictable) end!  People Magazine called Letters to Juliet a "cinematic wish-fulfillment fantasy composed as a sonnet" and I have to agree.  However, this romantic modern day fairy-tale's over-the-top moments is precisely what makes this movie so delizioso.

Letters to Juliet is based on the book Letters to Juliet: Celebrating Shakespeare's Greatest Heroine, the Magical City of Verona, and the Power of Love.  More interestingly, Juliet Capulet, of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, is responding to love letters from the grave!  More accurately, her secretaries are.  That's right.  For more than 70 years, a group of about 15 "secretaries," the Club di Giulietta, all volunteers from Verona, have collected the notes from the wall at Juliet's house and the letters that arrive in the mail by the thousands, and then they write back, dividing the letters up according to their languages and romantic problems.  The letters contain requests for everything from matchmaking help to kissing tips to advice on how to mend a broken heart.

Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia, Dear John) is Sophie, a fact-checker for The New Yorker and a hopeless romantic who travels to Verona with her wildly clueless chef fiance played by Gael Garcia Bernal (whom, even though Sophie and her quest take a backseat to his business, I have trouble disliking as he spends the entire movie doing nothing but sampling exquisite Italy vino and eating pasta and cheese), stumbles upon the secretaries to Juliet, and decides to answer a 50-year-old letter she finds. Enter Vanessa Redgrave (her first film since the death of her daughter Natasha Richardson a year ago) who shows up as the letter writer accompanied by her snooty yet charming grandson played by Australian cutie Christopher Egan.  They set out along the dazzling back roads of Tuscany to find Lorenzo, her Italian long-lost love from half a century earlier.

SPOILER ALERT! In the end, Redgrave's character finds her Lorenzo (played by real-life hubby Franco Nero) and they get married, Sophie finds true love with not-so snooty and perfectly charming grandson, and her story gets published in The New Yorker on her first try.  An endearing trifecta for a happily-ever-after!

If you, dear reader, are like myself in that you are a hopeful romantic with a slight obsession for the beautifully tragic story of two star-crossed lovers and are easily seduced by mass-appeal love stories then you will undoubtedly shed a few tears.  Whether, later, you will admit it to your friends is up to you.

Regardless, you will want to book a flight to Verona ASAP!