Practices in Procrastination
I'm sitting in the library right now, in my black dress shirt, slacks, and tie eagerly anticipating the arrival of Iron Man. This will be the first time since the first Spider-Man that I didn't catch the first screening of a comic film that had an early screening.
These times are often exciting times for me, as a fan of both comics and films, I often compare these days as having your birthday fall on the same day as Christmas. It's been toned down the past several years, no matter how much bigger the films get none will ever compare to the anticipation I had when the first X-Men film came out. I was litterally in a dream state the days leading to and following that film. Iron Man wasn't my favorite character growing up, not that I didn't like him, but he was one of the few characters who I felt his rogues didn't reach the level of coolness that Iron Man was capable of. This turned me off from a lot of characters (Daredevil, Silver Surfer, and Captain America), many of whom are now my favorite comics, but I simpler standards as a child. I was looking for a good, challenging battle that was suited for it's hero, something I found mostly in X-Men and Spider-Man.
But Iron Man was always in my peripherals, I watched the cartoon, he was the character I used in the Avengers arcade game that came out in the mid-nineties (remember that?), and he was always my favorite of the Avengers, that if I bought an Avengers comic, it had to have him in it. Actually when I got into comics he was on the Avengers: West Coast team at the time, so I got them, surprisingly it wasn't until the Heroes Reborn relaunch by Jim Lee, Scott Lobdell, and Whilce Portacio that made me appreciate the character of Tony Stark. An asshole billionaire, who wore an emotional armor, that he was only able to free himself of by trapping himself in this suit of armor; but that's another story...
I've been following this film for over four years now, back to when Nick Cassavettes (The Notebook & Alpha Dog) was set to direct, at the time, Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise were rumored for the role.
And I don't care what any of you say Tom Cruise would of made an excellent Tony Stark, that I think could've only been rivaled by a Johnny Depp played Stark. To think otherwise is letting your views of him as a person cloud your views of him as an actor, but I digress. Eventually Cassavettes dropped the project and then it went into development hell until picked up by Paramount and Jon Favreau signed on to direct.
At first I thought to myself. Shit. Favreau only did a handful of films: Made and Elf were alright, and Zathura was garbage. I worried that Favreau was going to write this cardboard Tony Stark and throw in a bunch of special effects, and sully all that made Tony Stark an interesting character. My hopes of a Johnny Depp or Tom Cruise went out of the window, this films going to crash and burn.
Then Robert Downey Jr. came aboard. Here's an actor's actor cast as a superhero. A big budget film normally reserved for the young (Tobey Macguire, Christian Bale), the new (Hugh Jackman, Eric Bana, Brandon Routh), or the superstars (Nicolas Cage, Ben Affleck). Not some method actor who makes his living doing small indie films.
It felt so shocking and yet so fitting. Robert Downey Jr. It was so inspired, and so perfect. Why didn't I think of him? Druggie actor playing alcoholic superhero. It practically sells itself.
Then the other actors started signing on. Terrence Howard, Gwenyth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, how the hell did they get all these oscar nominated/winning actor's onboard for a superhero flick starring Robert Downey Jr. and directed by Jon Favreau. Suddenly all my fears started to subside.
Then came last summer and Comic-Con 2007, where I got to catch the first trailer of the film. The depiction of Stark was spot on, I know a lot of people got caught up in the special effects and the armor, but it was Robert Downey's bits as Tony Stark that further drew my interest of the film. In all honesty with the right budget, the special effects is the easiest part anyways.
Now it's mere hours away, unfortuantely I have a three hour class and the arrival of several friends that I have to wade through before I get to the main attraction, I'm antsy, I'd watch it earlier, but if I miss my class I drop a letter grade. Can't have that.
These times are often exciting times for me, as a fan of both comics and films, I often compare these days as having your birthday fall on the same day as Christmas. It's been toned down the past several years, no matter how much bigger the films get none will ever compare to the anticipation I had when the first X-Men film came out. I was litterally in a dream state the days leading to and following that film. Iron Man wasn't my favorite character growing up, not that I didn't like him, but he was one of the few characters who I felt his rogues didn't reach the level of coolness that Iron Man was capable of. This turned me off from a lot of characters (Daredevil, Silver Surfer, and Captain America), many of whom are now my favorite comics, but I simpler standards as a child. I was looking for a good, challenging battle that was suited for it's hero, something I found mostly in X-Men and Spider-Man.
But Iron Man was always in my peripherals, I watched the cartoon, he was the character I used in the Avengers arcade game that came out in the mid-nineties (remember that?), and he was always my favorite of the Avengers, that if I bought an Avengers comic, it had to have him in it. Actually when I got into comics he was on the Avengers: West Coast team at the time, so I got them, surprisingly it wasn't until the Heroes Reborn relaunch by Jim Lee, Scott Lobdell, and Whilce Portacio that made me appreciate the character of Tony Stark. An asshole billionaire, who wore an emotional armor, that he was only able to free himself of by trapping himself in this suit of armor; but that's another story...
I've been following this film for over four years now, back to when Nick Cassavettes (The Notebook & Alpha Dog) was set to direct, at the time, Nicolas Cage and Tom Cruise were rumored for the role.
And I don't care what any of you say Tom Cruise would of made an excellent Tony Stark, that I think could've only been rivaled by a Johnny Depp played Stark. To think otherwise is letting your views of him as a person cloud your views of him as an actor, but I digress. Eventually Cassavettes dropped the project and then it went into development hell until picked up by Paramount and Jon Favreau signed on to direct.
At first I thought to myself. Shit. Favreau only did a handful of films: Made and Elf were alright, and Zathura was garbage. I worried that Favreau was going to write this cardboard Tony Stark and throw in a bunch of special effects, and sully all that made Tony Stark an interesting character. My hopes of a Johnny Depp or Tom Cruise went out of the window, this films going to crash and burn.
Then Robert Downey Jr. came aboard. Here's an actor's actor cast as a superhero. A big budget film normally reserved for the young (Tobey Macguire, Christian Bale), the new (Hugh Jackman, Eric Bana, Brandon Routh), or the superstars (Nicolas Cage, Ben Affleck). Not some method actor who makes his living doing small indie films.
It felt so shocking and yet so fitting. Robert Downey Jr. It was so inspired, and so perfect. Why didn't I think of him? Druggie actor playing alcoholic superhero. It practically sells itself.
Then the other actors started signing on. Terrence Howard, Gwenyth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, how the hell did they get all these oscar nominated/winning actor's onboard for a superhero flick starring Robert Downey Jr. and directed by Jon Favreau. Suddenly all my fears started to subside.
Then came last summer and Comic-Con 2007, where I got to catch the first trailer of the film. The depiction of Stark was spot on, I know a lot of people got caught up in the special effects and the armor, but it was Robert Downey's bits as Tony Stark that further drew my interest of the film. In all honesty with the right budget, the special effects is the easiest part anyways.
Now it's mere hours away, unfortuantely I have a three hour class and the arrival of several friends that I have to wade through before I get to the main attraction, I'm antsy, I'd watch it earlier, but if I miss my class I drop a letter grade. Can't have that.