PARANOIA (2013) – My rating: 6/10

I was terribly disappointed in this movie.  I expected a great film instead I got a mediocre, unrealistic drama.  The best thing about this movie was the absolutely gorgeous creature (Liam Hemsworth) cast in the role of Adam Cassidy.   Not even the lovely Amber Heard could hold a candle to this beautiful hunk of a man.  I found his looks so distracting that focusing on the plot became difficult.  Gary Oldman did the best he could with his character (Nicolas Wyatt) as did Harrison Ford who played (Jock Goddard), the jilted CEO who became a rival of his former employee.  There’s plenty of threats thrown around and the pawn in the middle, of course, is Adam, who was sort of forced into espionage and deception.  Eventually he gets in too deep to just walk away.  I felt the characters could have been stronger and the means to the end was a little corny.

After seeing The Butler, this movie paled by comparison.  Paranoia wasn’t exciting nor did it satisfy my thirst for a good thriller.  It’s not a total waste but I suggest waiting for the DVD.

IRON MAN 3 — My rating: 8/10

Every critique of a movie is actually the opinion of the “critiquer” or the person doing the critiquing.  Having said that, I feel it’s okay to further interject with a personal opinion about certain actors portraying a character.  Iron Man 3 is the subject of this critique.

For a long while, I had given up on one of my favorite actors.  Writing him off to the wilds of drugs and too much partying.  Just when it looked as though he was about to cancel out of society, a remarkable thing happened.  As he had fallen, he got back up for the umpteen time.  Only this time, he stood tall and continues to do so.  Even though I don’t know Robert Downing, Jr. personally, I am so proud of his achievements.  In a strange way, he reminds me of Johnny Depp.  His larger than life personality and aura brings a uniqueness to every character he plays.  I believe he is up there on genius status.  He is brilliant to watch and quite pleasing to the eyes.

Iron Man 1 and 2 were so good, I didn’t want either to end.  I gave each a 10 out or 10 rating.  Iron Man 3 was also good, however I felt there was much to much destruction.  Too many scenes had us witnessing building after building being destroyed.  It really became tiresome.  The “one man’s revenge” thing has also been overdone.  Somebody has run out of fresh ideas on how to come up with a scenario that renders a good plot for evil vs. pretty good.  I know the Iron Man idea is a fantasy, however there are a select number of  folks who sometimes convince themselves that this might be possible somewhere down the line.  Therefore, some semblance of normalcy would be appreciated.  Suffice to say, I didn’t like this third sequel as much as the first and second films but I liked it enough to rate it 8 out of 10.

[IRON MAN 3 is nominated for Achievement in Visual Effects]