Because Anya and Parker are enjoying an extended stay in San Antonio, I've recently had the opportunity to check out a few movies at my favorite theater, the Alamo Drafthouse. I haven't seen a lot of movies this year, but I think the ones I've seen have been pretty darn good, especially the ones below.

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Iron Man

Holy crap! This movie was so surprisingly good that I hope to have another opportunity to check it out. "Iron Man" is probably one of the superheroes that I know the least about. I knew the basic mythology (weapons maker has change of heart and fights evil) going in to the theater, but I didn't know any of the characters' names, with the exception of Tony Stark.

But damn, this movie was all kinds of bad ass. Robert Downey Jr was amazingly good in the part. It was just fun seeing a superhero that actually enjoyed being a superhero and wasn't some angsty teen like Peter Parker or any of the X-Men. The part was written really well, giving Robert Downey Jr a lot of material to work with. But I've always been pretty impressed with his work, so I don't know why this would be any different.

The rest of the cast was solid, especially Gwyneth Paltrow. Character chemistry can be a tricky thing, but they really had it and then some. The love thing was central to the story, but it felt very natural and unforced to me. It fit right into the flow of the overall movie.

Jeff Bridges was good...but damn, it's *really* hard not to think of the Big Lebowski when I see him now. The whole time, I was like, why is the Dude wearing an iron suit? Terrence Howard was also really good as his military ace in the hole. There wasn't a lot for him to do, but he did well with what he had.

I also liked the robots in the movie. They were their own characters and really brought a lot of lightness to the movie.

The effects were amazing. I am a special effects stickler and think that bad effects can really bring down the quality of a scene. But the effects in the movie were strikingly good. If you have the chance to see "Iron Man," see it on a big screen with *good* sound.

The music was alright. I can't remember a discernible theme anytime "Iron Man" did anything, but I do remember that the music, with its heavy guitar power chords, did the trick in enhancing the scene.

I also really dug the concept that a weapons maker would have to go out and fight people who are using his weapons. There weren't many (maybe one and a half) scenes of him actually fighting terrorists and other bad guys, so I hope they show more of that in the sequel.

Some people have been knocking Jon Favreau's direction, but I found it to be strong, particularly in how he edited the movie. The action scenes were well filmed and the pacing always felt consistent throughout. Can't wait to see what he has in store for this franchise.

"The Dark Knight" is going to probably be the best superhero movie of the summer, but I think "Iron Man" is going to give it a run for its money.

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Speed Racer

I saw "Speed Racer" about an hour after I saw "Iron Man." Overall, I have to give it a good review, but it by no means blew me away.

I should premise this by saying that I was a really big fan of the seminal 60's anime show of the same name. I remember loving the (at the time) new to the US animation style coming from Japan. Loved the singular background that gets cycled over and over again. Loved the cheeseball dialogue which came out of mouths that were animated over still pictures of the characters. Loved the yelling that they would do right before they crashed.

And for any other "Speed Racer" fans out there, I'm happy to report that they're all there. Chim Chim the monkey is there. Trixie's there in her motorcycle. The music, though transcribed in wonderful bombastic fashion by Michael Giacchino, is there. Racer X is there.

The SFX were awesomely over the top. I loved the visual style of this movie. It was like the Wachowski Bros ripped over a 10 year old's imagination and put it on screen, especially in regard to the racing scenes. These are the race tracks that I've always wanted to see on screen. I'm talking about the kinds with big metal spikes that jut out of the ground, patches where rocks fall on you, and where patches of ice come from nowhere.

If I have one gripe with the SFX it's that the cars don't really conform to the laws of physics. They're don't carry the same amount of weight that they would carry in the real world. I don't think this movie should have been ultra-realistic, because I loved the nature of how over the top this movie was, but I think the scenes would have been cooler if they had carried a little more realism to them.

The acting was okay. John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, and Matthew Fox had the most to do here and they were all pretty good. But just as I can't see Jeff Bridges in a movie without thinking of "the dude," it's hard to see Matthew Fox as anyone other than Dr. Jack Shepard. Susan Sarandon was really good as well.

Emile Hirsch was perfect for the part, but he didn't have much to do outside of looking good in a race helmet.

I *loved* the Chim Chim and Spritle scenes. They were pretty funny, especially the scene where they're fighting in the anime style. Any movie that has a monkey doing things that a person would do is a-ok with me.

My favorite part of the movie was all of the stuff where they're racing across country. It had the speed racer music, the speed racer feel to it, and it even had him jumping out of the car the way Speed did in the original series' opening credits.

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Forgetting Sarah Marshall

I thought this was one of the best comedies I've seen in years, due in part to the fact that there really is no big gimmick to it. It's not Borat. It's not Team America. It's not Anchorman. No, this is just as funny as those films, but it's just a straight up comedy.

The acting was good. The writing was excellent. The direction was pretty good too.

I usually HATE movies that are set in Hawaii or Miami. I just have never liked the whole tropical, beach paradise motif in movies. Maybe it has something to do with the Hawaiian shirts, the music, or just the fact that they're usually not very good movies to begin with. But this one was actually good. It takes a lot for me

Too many funny scenes to mention. Go check it out.

- Matt