Iron Man 3

Released September 24th on DVD, the third installment of the Marvel film Iron Man lived up to all its hype. This action packed movie really gave the audience what it was looking for. Audiences dived into Tony Stark's past, we got to see the negative impact he faces after fighting against Loki in New York city in the Avengers, see new and improved Iron Man suits, as well as, seeing his romantic relationship with Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) grow. So not only did the third installment expand the series and the storyline but also added new effects and plot twists. As Tony Stark faces panic attacks, along with insomnia, he spend most of his time creating more and more Iron Man suits, one of which can respond and attach to him with a wave of his hand. It is not magic just micro-chips planted inside his arm to control his suit. This new creation of his suit allowed for more exciting scenes within the movie.

Pepper Potts in the Iron Man suit

One of my favorite scenes was when Tony's house was being destroyed by the enemy and to save Pepper from harm he sends his suit to attach to her. This is one of many exciting scenes held within the movie. The dialogue was witty as usual for a Robert Downey Jr. movie but he also gave the audience some serious moments as well. The storyline left nothing to be desired, it stay on track and did stray the audience and leave us with unanswered questions. There were a couple of plot twists within the movie that audience never saw coming until director Shane Black wanted you too. The whole movie was a woven web that by the end everything thing was tied up into a nice little bow.

***SPOILER ALERT***
I would rate this move a 4.5 out of 5. I think it becomes very difficult to create a third installment of a movie. Most the time its the same characters different storyline but with Iron Man 3 we see a more in-depth display of each character. We get to see Tony's and Pepper's relationship come to the front burner and see how they handle situations together. We see new ideas such as the suits becoming independently helpful without a host inside as well as attaching to different people such as Tony, Pepper and Tony's friend, Colonel James Rhodes. Like I mentioned earlier, the twists and turns throughout this movie allowed for the audience to stay in-tuned and on the edge of there seats. The audience thought there was just one bad guy and the movie was about Tony's struggle to save the day but that is far from the truth. The audience learns that the main antagonist, The Mandarin, is nothing but smoke and mirrors to the actual villain, Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), a person from Tony's past. We also see that it is not just Killian but also the vice president, played by Miguel Ferrer that team up together to create world war. We also see scientific innovation that Killian and his partner Maya Hansen (Rebecca Hall) create that allows for the human body to heal itself of any injury. With a layered storyline like that it is no surprise that amazon rated Iron Man 3, 7.4 out of 10 and Flixster gave it an 81% liking, along with rave reviews.

Now why do you think Iron Man 3 made the top charts in the summer box office, making a worldwide gross of $1.21 billion. I believe it had to do with marketing and advertising. As the countdown began, trailers and T.V spots were all over the television. The way the main trailer was cut and edited makes a hugh impact on whether a person will or will not go see the movie. Yet since Iron Man 1 & 2 were popular, why wouldn't the 3rd one be? I believe people like sequels, I think they get attached to a characters and want to know more and more about them. We can see that in reality television such as Real World, Teen Mom or Project Runway, we as a culture watch those shows because we get invested in the people's life and struggles, whether we agree with their lifestyle or not. The same goes with movies but we just have to wait longer to see what comes next, if at all. I believe that writer/director Shane Black did a great job balancing an in-depth look at the characters while also giving the audience a spectacular action film.


Below are some of the marketing and advertising that Iron Man 3 producers did to make sure that this summer blockbuster became number 1 at the box office.


Posters 

Magazine Ads

Trailers & TV spots

Trailer

Super Bowl TV Spot

Other Media Influences

Use of Twitter is becoming a major factor
in influencing the film industry

The main actors going to Comic Con to
answer the questions of the fans

As you can see there is multiple ways that films can grab the attention of their audience. With social media becoming so expansive there is endless possibilities to help get the next summer blockbuster the number 1 hit movie.

Monster University and the American Dream

Monster University is a Pixar and Walt Disney prequel about the beloved characters James P. Sullivan and Mike Wazowski. As the first film was released in 2001, 12 years later we get to see the start of the beautiful friendship between Mike and Sully. The movie is set at a college university, as Mike and Sully are first year freshman. Mike, an unlike little monster, wants to be the greatest scarer of all time yet lacks the one thing to be the best, being scary. Mike is the know it all, he works harder than anyone and does it with a great attitude. Then there is Sully, his father is a legendary scarer, Sully has the makings for something great. Sullivan has the scariness down but it is the book smarts he lacks. With a final semester exam conducted by Dean Hardscrabble, scare majors must past or get kick out of the program altogether. As things start to look grim for both Mike and Sully they decide they need to team up together to prove that they are worthy.

**SPOILER ALERT**
Mike and Sully did not get off on the right foot in meeting each other. Mike thought Sully was a lazy, 'everything is handed to you' person, while Sully thought of Mike as a know-it-all nerd that would never become a scarer. It was the typical jock versus nerd scenario, yet throughout the movie we see that together they have their own struggles and that understanding each others problems they became the solution. This movie was definitely a feel-good movie made for the whole family. I watched the movie with my sister and her family, from 3-32 years old we all laughed and enjoyed the movie together. The most interesting part of the whole film was not the way Mike and Sully became friends or how they created a team of nobodies and still came out ahead or even how Sully cheated to help out Mike which in turn made Mike go into the human world to prove himself. No, it was the moral of the story that was very interesting since it was in fact a children movie, aiming to mold young minds. What do you ask is the moral of the story? It is that you do not need education to accomplish your dream. All you need is hard work and dedication, and not to be afraid to start at the bottom. So as you've guessed or already know, Mike and Sully get expelled after their first year of college and go on to the mailroom at Monster Inc. From there they have a good attitude and strive to be the best at whatever low position they held. They worked together climbing the ladder of success and finally after years of hard work and a positive attitude they made it to the scare floor. All this learned from the last two minutes.

Greek Scare Contest

Throughout this movie the writer Dan Scanlon, Daniel Gerson and Robert L. Baird portray college life in true form, not sugaring coating it. There was orientation, which they added overly annoying cheerful and helpful characters, as to make fun of the real life scenario, which is true at any first day at college. Then meeting your roommate for the first time, classroom settings and teachers, and who could leave out the fraternities and sororities. The bulk of the movie was about winning this Greek Scare Contest to see who is the best scarer, nothing about school itself. It makes you wonder the importance the the writers are putting on education versus good ole' fashion hard work.

Orientation day

As a culture we are learning that even with a college degree in your back pocket that does not always get you a job. I think students are learning that the hard way. Some students are shocked and offended when they have to start down on the totem, thinking that their education earns them a spot higher up. The American dream is to work hard and striving towards your goal without giving up and if you can do that you will get your dream. Monster University shows that in every way, yet still respecting those that want or have a degree, the overall take from this film is to change the way we as a culture see accomplishing our dreams. It has been drill into our heads that getting a degree and even going onto a higher educational level will get you your job, but what about your dream?

1st day on the scare floor
(The teams ultimate dream)

Most the time students are just going to school to get a job so it can pay the bills, we are missing out on what it is like to work hard for your dream. Monster University helps us channel our inner child and start to dream that American Dream again.