Author Archives: Todd Matthy

About Todd Matthy

TODD MATTHY: NEW YORK Hometown? Dreamtown? Bronxville, New York. San Diego during Comic Con. Best advice you've received? To be irreplaceable. Do you dream in color? Of course. If you are what you eat then you are... A filet mignon First concert you attended? Raffi when I was three. If not yourself, who would you be? Stan Lee

Review: Iron Man 3

“Phase Two” of Marvel’s movie plans is to focus on personal stories instead of building an interconnected universe. Iron Man 3 is a good example of what we should expect for the big screen outings of our favorite super heroes. SHIELD does not appear and references to other Avengers are almost throwaway lines. The movie is focused squarely on Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and the people who surround him.

 

Iron Man 3 picks up where Avengers left off.  While saving the world with the Avengers, Tony Stark/Iron Man came face to face with his own mortality and is suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He has bouts with insomnia, is prone to panic attacks, and paranoid to the point where he has a variation of the Iron Man armor guard him when he tries to sleep. Meanwhile, a terrorist known as the Mandarin (Sir Ben Kingsley) has been launching attacks against America using an untraceable weapon. When one of the Mandarin’s attacks hurts someone close to Tony, he declares war and loses everything only to discover the horrifying secrets behind the attacks.

 

Iron Man 3 gives Robert Downey Jr. the opportunity to explore a side of Tony we haven’t seen: his vulnerable side. Despite the charmingly cocky exterior, Tony is suffering. He’s realized he’s not Superman but a man in a suit of armor, and it frightens him. And Iron Man can’t afford to be frightened. The bruising of his ego causes Tony to make a couple of major mistakes. Yet, despite this emotional baggage he still maintains the “cool under pressure” attitude that makes Iron Man great. Robert Downey Jr. sinks his teeth into this emotional arc and plays the character so naturally that you wonder if he’s acting at all.

 

Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts doesn’t get as much screen time in this film, but when she does, she plays a different Pepper then in the previous installments. Tony’s unraveling is causing a rift his relationship with Pepper. She feels locked out of his world and it’s starting to concern her.  Pepper’s story sort of takes a cliché turn in the middle, but there’s a twist at the end that Pepper Potts (and Iron Man fans) will love.

 

Sir Ben Kingsley gets to truly show off his acting chops as the Mandarin. That’s all I can say without spoiling anything.

 

Action wise, a lot of Iron Man 3 takes place outside of the armor. It’s fun having to see Tony Stark rely on his brain rather then his gadgets. It reminds you that beneath the Iron Man armor is a “genius playboy” with a MacGyver like ability to build anything. But, don’t get me wrong there is plenty of Iron Man armor action. A whole army’s worth actually that comes fast and hard. The action scenes are well orchestrated and the CGI armor has a shiny metallic texture to it.

 

Overall, Iron Man 3 is a cocktail mixed with ideas from Marvel’s Extremis storyline by Warren Ellis, The Iron Giant, Batman Begins, and false flag conspiracy theories.  At times it goes down smoothly, at times it burns, but once you’re finished, you’re satisfied. Go see it.

 

P.S. If you liked Iron Man 3 or like Super Hero movies in general, go to your local comic book store on Saturday for FREE COMIC BOOK DAY. You get free comics from Marvel and DC. How can you say no to that?

Y&P Goes to Wrestlemania

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This year WWE brought Wrestlemania 29 to Met Life stadium in New Jersey. While the show was a little predictable, the rabid New York/New Jersey crowd’s enthusiasm made the show a fun experience. Whether rocking out to WWE entrance music during the tailgate, or dueling chants of “Let’s go Cena” against “Cena Sucks,” the fans enjoyed themselves, which in the end is all that matters. To find out what happened and see some birds-eye photos, scroll down.

 

-Intercontinental Championship Match: The Miz defeated Wade Barrett to win the Intercontinental Championship.

-The Shield (Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, and Dean Ambrose) defeated The Big Show, Sheamus, and Randy Orton.

 

-Mark Henry defeated Ryback.

 

-WWE Tag Team Championship Match: Kane and Daniel Bryan defeated Dolph Ziggler and Big E. Langson w/ AJ Lee to retain the Tag Team Championship.

 

-Fandango defeated Chris Jericho.

 

-World Heavyweight Championship Match: Alberto Del Rio w/ Ricardo Rodriguez defeated Jack Swagger w/ Zeb Colter to retain the World Heavyweight Championship.

 

-The Undertaker defeated CM Punk to extend his “Undefeated at Wrestlemania” streak to 21-0.

 

-Triple H w/ Shawn Michaels defeated Brock Lesnar w/Paul Heyman.

 

-WWE Championship Match: John Cena defeated The Rock to win the WWE Championship.

 

Westeros Comes to New York: HBO’s Game of Thrones Exhibit

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This Sunday, Game of Thrones (the best show on television) returns to HBO at 9:00. Adapted from the novels by George R.R. Martin, if you the epic fantasy series set new standards for unpredictability during it’s first two seasons, just wait until you see what this season has in store for you.

To celebrate the third season’s premiere, HBO created a touring exhibition featuring actual costumes and props from the show. The exhibition opened in New York on March 28th and will be open until April 3rd. If you get the chance head over to 3 W. 57th Street (between 5th and 6th Avenue)​ to check it out. If not, we got you covered. Check out the pics below.

 

Check Out and Vote For Shayna Keeps It Simple

In 2011, filmmaker Adam Bertocci (Two Gentlemen of Lebowski) celebrated New York’s decision to legalize same-sex marriage with a short film called Shayna Keeps It Simple.

A conversation between Shayna (Shiloh Klein) and her brother Jake (Adam Bertocci) as they discuss her impending nuptials in New York, Shayna Keeps It Simple is one of three short films nominated to be aired on New York’s PBS affiliate, Channel 13′s short film showcase, Reel 13.

Want to see it? Go to the Reel 13 website to view and vote for the film. Don’t forget to check out the other nominees.

 

Who Would you Rather Be: Iron Man or Batman?

 

Fast cars, beautiful women, and enough gadgets to make James Bond green with envy. It’s no wonder Iron Man and Batman are two of the most popular super heroes and film franchises in the world. Outside of the personal traumas that inspired their crusades, they live the lives we dream of. But, who would you rather be?

This is a dilemma. The Batmobile is a dream car but the Iron Man armor can fly. We can debate this all the way to the release of Iron Man 3. But that would involve sifting through piles and piles of back issues. However, the folks Homeowner’s Insurance.com came up with a solution. They’ve created an infographic that determines how much it’ll cost you to be either Batman or Iron Man.

Check out the infographic then let your voice be heard by posting your thoughts on which hero you’d rather be.

 

Courtesy of homeownersinsurance.com

 

 

Check Out: Chiller TV’s 13 Most Horrifying Hook Ups

Trapped tonight by the snow? Regular TV got you down? Not in the mood for Valentine’s Day? Spend the night with Judah Friedlander, horror actress/model Suzi Lorraine, and Eureka’s Colin Ferguson as they countdown the 13 Most Horrifying Hook Ups for Chiller TV.

Where will King Kong and Ann Darrow or Princess Lili and that horned guy from Legend
rank on the countdown? Find out tonight 8:00 ET on Chiller TV.

Review-Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia

The Legend of Zelda is one of the greatest video game franchises of all time. The timeless story of Link and his quest to find the scattered pieces of the Triforce has spawned countless sequels and prequels on multiple platforms achieving critical acclaim, commercial success, an iconic theme song, and a dedicated group of fanbase. To celebrate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the game, Nintendo released a coffee table book called the Hyrule Historia in Japan. This week, Dark Horse Comics released an English edition of the book.

 

Nearly 300 pages in length, the Hyrule Historia is a compilation of artwork and timeline of the Zelda games.  Additionally, there is a manga (Japanese comic book) at the end of the book that serves as a prequel to the latest game, Skyward Sword. A good chunk of the book is dedicated to Skyward Sword; it’s character designs along with commentary from the game’s developers. The attention given to Skyward Sword does take space away from earlier installments, but by no means are they glossed over. You get to see original sketches, line art, game scenarios, promotional material, and some unreleased pieces of from EVERY Zelda game Nintendo ever produced (no CD-I games here). You get to see not only how characters like Zelda, Link, and Ganon have but also the evolution of video game designs.

 

The majority of the Hyrule Historia is dedicated to the chronology of the Zelda games and Hyrule, the land it’s set in. For many, the Zelda games were our first introduction to the genre of epic fantasy. And like all fantasy worlds, Hyrule has a rich and dense history and every game is a different chapter of that history. You learn why every hero’s name is Link and why every Princess is named Zelda and you learn the proper order the games occur. The best part of all is the timeline features artwork from the stories in the instruction booklets, bringing back a lot of fond childhood memories.

 

Finally, there is the manga. The first thing you need to know is because it’s a Japanese manga, the comic book is read right to left instead of left to right like comics in America are. That can be a bit jarring at first but once you get used to the rhythm things will run smoothly. Story wise, the manga is a little bland but the artwork by Akira Himekawa is gorgeous and more than makes up for it.

 

Though I wished more time were devoted to the older games, Dark Horse’s translation of the Hyrule Historia is a must own for all Anime and video game art aficionados. Even if you aren’t an avid gamer, it is a trip down memory lane to your childhood with some very pretty scenery.