Iron Man 2 review by Suzannah B. Troy

Mickey Rourke wore his soul on his skin in his comeback film "The Wrestler" and he was breath taking in his first few minutes of Iron Man 2 when he actually has dialogue.  Rourke is superb but this was not a script heavy movie and he doesn't get much dialogue or screen time but he is riveting when he does get to speak and I loved the head to toe Russian Mafia tattoos.  If you haven't seen Eastern Promises, a serious film not a cartoon movie, than rent this memorable film about the Russian Mafia in England. Iron Man 2 is fun.  The critics were less than enthusiastic and for good reason but the movie will do really well at the box office.  There is a superb supporting cast including the sexy siren Scarlett Johansson, John Faurvre not sexy but fun,  who also directed the movie and although Samuel Jackson has a very small role he is super!   There are plenty of cameos including Christine Amanpour for global news buffs, internet billionaire Larry Ellison as well as an amazing retro-car with hand painted flames that I would love to go for a ride in!  I was bored to tears in the over the top fight scenes that were techno-extreme fighting meets professional wrestling and maybe it's just me...if I have to see fighting than I would rather see be hunky guys in the flesh not cartoon like machine.  At this point in my life over the top special effects are too much for me and I would have preferred to read a good book during those scenes.  Even the coming attractions were over the top over, stimulating tech heavy, leaving me longing for small films like Crazy Heart.




The movie is fun and will make big bucks at the box office. Also for New York lovers Queens is also a star in Iron Man 2  as well!!!!! I am obsessed with "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".  There is a tattoo scene in this film that is unforgettable although the film is too violent for me.  I am reading the book and even got the poster in Swedish. For tattoo buffs -- The NYC Tattoo Convention 2010 is this Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  I special shout out to Clayton Patterson who helps put on this convention because he had my art in the window of his Outlaw Art Museum! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQ0uQwNxPNg

Happy Mother's Day to everyone!

Suburban Atlanta, GA - Happy Mother's Day everyone! I can't remember missing celebrating Mother's Day and it was vitally important for me to give my Mom the gift of my help here in Georgia. See, my Mom still insists on working, and I see that as a personal failure on my part because I believe if I made enough money she would not have to work. I give her money each month, as of this writing it helps but not enough to compel her to just stay at home.

Yet as I write this, i'm not sure that would keep her at home cooking and tending garden. While she does do that - tend garden and cook - I really think working around people is Mom's way of staying connected. She's a United Airline retiree but if United called, she'd answer it in a heart beat.

Mom's tried working for me but following Internet trends can be boring if you really like being out and about with folks. Not that I don't, but that's my Mom. It's good therapy for the passing of friends over time.

The one curse of old age is that your friends die. While the logical and uncaring mind would say "just make new ones" it's also a young mind that would form such a thought. Friends are supposed to be and are special people in your life. Friends know you. They're the people who have license to open your door without knocking or tell you what they think because it's for your own good.

Friends are people who borrow money from you and pay you back. They keep your secrets, well, at least the ones that are worth keeping. When you lose friends you lose a part of you. (And while I'm thinking about it, for those who are dating and hear the words "let's be friends", anyone who says "we're friends" and does not meet the criteria above isn't a friend. Don't kid yourself. In my experience, real friends come with benefits. But enough about that for now.)

I think if I were married with kids that would keep Mom at home because kids are the center of her life. It doesn't matter who you are, if you're around my age, your my Mom's kid and she talks to you that way.

I remember a neighbor of mine mistakenly and she will tell you stupidly poured gasoline on the side of the street in full view of my Mom, who was visiting. Well, she got it from my Mom. And while I didn't know her well at the time, and do didn't know what to expect as a reaction, I realized Mom has a way of putting things such that people know she cares and isn't being malicious. She has that way about her.

But fortunately, even though I'm not a father and believe I'd be an incredible one, I'm also not suffering through a divorce or discovering that my wife's cheating on me, either. So, I suppose there's a bright side too.

But I digress. I'm here for my Mom, who I love very much and always will. From the practical perspective, she's my only remaining family and I'm the only child, so I travel here each month to help her. But even if that wasn't the case, I'd be here anyway!

Happy Mother's Day! Give your Mom a kiss if she's near by and a call if she's not - even if you argue with her, at least enjoy that you're able to!

Lawrence Taylor says his golf game is always good

LT. talks about his golf game

This NFL Draft installment (thanks to the Inn at Irving Place, part of the Small Luxury Hotels of The World brand) comes from The NFL Draft Red Carpet - New York Giants and NFL Legend and Dancing with The Stars star Lawrence Taylor was trying to flash by the media at the NFL Red Carpet at the 75th NFL Draft, but this blogger managed to halt his stride with a question about his golf game.

Lawrence Taylor is known for his love of the game, and of late he was playing in pro-ams with celebrities like Donald Trump. L.T., the center of a joke by NFL Hall of Famer Jerry Rice that he'd better leave because "L.T's coming," stopped to directly inform me that his golf game was "always fine."

Little did anyone know that could mean his talent for scoring hole-in-ones didn't apply to just the links, or that Jerry Rice's playful run out of the picture might have a double meaning. Lawrence Taylor was charged with 3rd-degree rape in a bizarre case that Taylor first claimed was set-up and that he never had sex with a 16-year-old runaway girl under the control of a pimp, and is now saying there was "some contact" and he was told she was 19 years old.

If that was the case, and The Huffington Post reports that it is, then from that narrow perspective, Taylor was set up. But only to have sex with someone he thought was of age. Beyond that, the picture looks bad and opens a ton of questions, but the main one is this:

Why was L.T. even of the mind to pay for sex with a young girl considering he's got a wife at home and was dancing with an enormously beautiful woman on Dancing with The Stars?

What kind of mindset does L.T. have? If the teenager was beaten by this Rasheed Davis pimp from The Bronx before she had sex with Taylor, did L.T. even notice that she was hit by someone? Can't he tell a teenager when he sees one? Also, did L.T. just have to have a young girl to be with? Why?  And I'm not buying the sexual addiction excuse.

And the most pressing question is why would Lawrence Taylor place himself in such a low-life position, laying down with people who live a kind of life that keeps them in trouble? Look, if he was going to do that, why not a high-class escort in her 30s? How about a New York Knicks Cheerleader?  Why not an Upper East Side socialite?   How about a Columbia law student?

If he was of a mind to fool around, New York's teaming with lovely, smart, successful women single and married and all well over 21.  But then with a wife as devoted to a man as Taylor's is, publicly stating her support for him, L.T. should have just took his rear-end home.

What the hell's wrong with him?

Stay tuned.

Mr. Hudson and Jay-Z sing Forever Young on SNL (Saturday Night Live)

The last time we heard Hip Hop Super Star Jay-Z singing, or more appropriately enabling a singer of the song "Forever Young" it was Jay-Z with his wife Beyonce at the Coachella Music Festival. It was a moment that was the talk of that event then and is still searched for online today.

Mr. Hudson 

This time Jay-Z's with someone named "Mr. Hudson" who sounded like some guy who just popped onto the stage from the Saturday Night Live audience until his pipes got warm. The performance was a kind of tribute to the suddenly ever-present actress Betty White, who was the host of SNL tonight on Mother's Day eve.

From all accounts, the 88-year old actress was excellent in something that started as a Facebook campaign and evolved from the dream of a few to a reality for Betty White.

And it's really heart-warming to see that through New Media we can make sure people who've been such cultural treasures as Betty White continue to be remembered and not forgotten.

But I digress. Who the hell is Mr. Hudson?

His real name is Benjamin Hudson McIldowie, and he's a British Hip Hop artist signed to Kanye West's G.O.O.D. Music, according to Wikipedia.

But the reason he's not well-known until now is he just hit the scene last year with his first album, Straight No Chaser, which was released on my birthday, August 4th.

It's amazing how fast these artists are introduced today. MGMT just his the scene five years ago. American Idol's popping out stars faster than one can keep up with, and each new one serves to throw a PR blanket over the last ones.

It's almost as if we're saturated with new musical talent. When do we reach the point of over-saturation?

But I digress.

Happy Mother's Day Betty White!

Calling 311 Mike by Suzannah B. Troy artist NYC

I had to call 311 tonight...call it the good citizen thing or what ever. It took a half hour of holding to do what I wanted to do and I can only say this....the people that answer the phone tend to be the nicest people on the planet. Saints...They are so polite and so nice.

It took 20 minutes of holding to speak to the very first extremely kind nice person. She sounded very tired but still very professional and despite her fatigue down right nice....thought to myself she is a good person working hard and it is clearly a busy night. Maybe do to the high winds tonight 311 is extra busy, the high winds have been causing a lot of trouble here in NYC....time to snuggle with loved ones and watch The Wizard of Oz.

The mayor had a good idea, 311 but it doesn't work that well because like everything here in NYC there are not the "dollas" to back up the ideas.

I have to laugh when I think of this funny older white guy with gray hair, a bit nerdy, can't think of his name that shows up to the MTA meetings and always gives Mayor Bloomberg hell. He says to solve the MTA budget crisis all we need to do is hold Bloomberg upside down and shake him. I assume he means like the salt shakers nanny mayor Mike Bloomberg would have us put down even if it takes a gun to our heads except Mike is anti-gun.

Mike 311 is a great idea but it seems like your idea is under staffed and by the nicest of New Yorkers and you can't really make the idea work.

More and more NYC resembles communist Russia with capitialist prices. I first used that term to describe the high price of health insurance here in NYC but now it seems like that is the "state" of NY unless you are a fat cat politico, ruthless in any number of categories etc., just not the category called "the people of New York" aka "the tax payers". At the rate we are going we may be heading towards NYC resembling Greece. Don't worry mayor Mike, I am not talking about grease, greasy food or turning you upside down like a salt shaker to cure our mega-billion dollar deficit. New York City may start resembling Greece more and more and I am not talking about the Parthenon. By the way, did you see The New York Post's coverage of the "protest dog" that shows up for every major riot in Greece?

For non-New Yorkers, our mayor is called the nanny mayor because he wants to make sure we cut down our fat intake, our salt intake, but drinking is okay! That is the one industry he has no qualms with...just look around the streets at night for proof.

If anyone hasn't noticed here in New York, Albany was suppose to balance the budget by April 1. An appropriate day except the tax payers are losing everything dollar and sense except for a sense of humor, perhaps. Maybe instead of a billionaire we should have a comedian for mayor. No forget that. The accidental governor, Dave Patterson always sounded like he was auditioning for Saturday Night Live until he got himself implicated in three scandals, than he lost the bad stand up comedy and he still refuses to step down. Thanks Dave!

By the way getting back to Mike, is there a clause in "New York city gov law" that says if the mayor has a 2nd income and that 2nd income earns over 2 billion dollars that he has to pay a special tax like half of his multi-billion dollar income from his 2nd job...? Didn't think so but I had to ask.

Mike, I want to ask you are we going from a recession to a depression? 

Hello, 311, I want to report a budget catastrophe here in NYC waiting to happen  like an oil spill in the East River...a disaster...help!

Thirty minutes later I hung up but before doing so I told 311 operator, Angel no. 2, the specialist thank you, praised her but told her I don't like our mayor. Thank you and bless you!

Amy Adams, Leap Year and interracial romance

Amy Adams in Leap Year

As I write this blog post, I'm about 40,000 feet up in the air on the way to Atlanta, by way of Chicago. It's something like 1AM PST Saturday morning.

The plane is a United Airlines Boeing 777 bound for O'Hare and I'm in seat 24 B. I've had much better seats and much worse seats. But the worst is the movie I just saw called Leap Year with Amy Adams.

Leap Year is one of those romantic comedies I wouldn't pay to see unless I were dragged to do so or held captive on, well, an airplane. Leap Year is not a bad film. Amy Adams plays her role as a woman caught between what she has and what she needs very well. But the problem for me is that like most films of its type, I'm compelled to like it but feel angry after I see it.

When you watch a film you place yourself in it in some way. You can't help it. You think of yourself as one of the characters. It helps if the person you think of yourself as looks like you. In Leap Year's case, I wanted to put myself in the role of Matthew Goode, who plays the Irish taxi cab driver that develops a connection with Amy Adams' character so much she dumps the white doctor guy she originally wanted to marry.

Take this scene for example...



I enjoyed the film until the annoying realization that no one in the flick was black kept clawing at my sensibilities. But it wasn't that really. I kept trying to think of a film, a mainstream movie, that featured an interracial romance between a black man and a white woman where the focus wasn't on skin color.

There have been a number of films that have been the reverse, a black woman and a white guy, like The Bodyguard, or Star Trek (remember Spock is a white Vulcan; there are black Vulcans). There are also commercials like eHarmony's latest segment, for example. Regardless of the reasons, the message is that its more acceptable in the media and in film for a white guy to be with a black woman than for a black guy to be with a white girl.

But the reality away from media and the movies is more black white pairings have been black male and white female, and while the reverse is catching up, it's not there. And so it's really annoying to see a movie like Leap Year and realize that there's no well-distributed movie that's has a black male, white female relationship as its story and yet is not making a racial statement or a weird film like Obsessed...



Obsessed was a movie about this impossibly hot but really screwed up blonde woman played by Ali Larter who makes her black male boss (Idris Elba) the target of her deadly desire, pissing off the impossibly hot Beyonce and leading to an epic cat fight.

Race had nothing to do with the movie, but why did it have to be about a screwed-up chick? (Not saying that Ali is, just that she played one, OK?)

If you say that's impossible, that such a movie that has a black – white romance automatically makes a racial statement, my retort is that a movie like Leap Year makes one as well: that's it's perfectly normal to have white male and white female relationships. So much so that we have big stars like Amy Adams in them.

All of this has to contribute to the overall frustrations men and women have in the 21st Century when it comes to dating. For me, I tried to sum it all up with someone I was out with for a period. I was trying to explain that for me, class and demographic cultural cues were more important than race. It was the first time I was able to clearly articulate what I'd experienced in my life.

For example, if I say "I've got a George Costanza Wallet" a woman who knows what that means is someone I'm more likely to click with and date than someone who's not. See? That woman can have any race or ethnicity, but there are other things which go with that. Food, music, wine. I think you can see where I'm headed.

Skin color becomes less important.

We're in a society where more and more relationships are interracial and black male, white female relationships are common. But what's holding back the completion of society's progress are films like Leap Year that continue to send a racially-exclusive message. Such films add to the image that women have in their mind about what "the ideal guy" looks like.

And for a lot of women in their late 30s and 40s and 50s who've been raised on the idea that "the ideal guy" should be of the same race or ethnicity as they are, they're consistently disappointed. Black and Latino women complain that black and Latino men don't have jobs and have prison records. White women complain that a white guy might be Gay or bisexual. Asian women complain that Asian men aren't as aggressive as they'd like. And all find that some of "their guys" are married. Yikes.

So, many women decide to open up. By contrast and by experience, younger women have fewer issues with skin color. Maybe that generation will produce the kind of movie I'd like Leap Year to be.

It would be cool to see a film like Leap Year that I could insert myself into without feeling excluded in the process. That's true progress.

(I'd like to create a list of movies that have black and white romances but race has nothing to do with the story, because there must be some out there that were just not seen by a lot of people. If you know of such a movie, send an email to zennie@zennie62.com)

Plaxico Buress cel trouble post by Suzannah B. Troy

Plaxico Buress shot himself in the foot as opposed to his thigh according to The New York Post when he lied to a prison guard misleading the guard to believe he had permission to use his cel phone to call his attorney when in fact he did not!

Buress has 7 months left to serve on his 2 year prison sentence and I am angry because I was one of those people that did not want him to go to jail. I preferred that he be able to stay with his family and do a hard core anti-gun ad campaign and very serious community service but be home to be a parent. I am disappointed to read this news.

The only thing that is confusing about The New York Post article is the date of when this occurred but either way Plaxico Buress got busted and lost his recreational privileges for a month.  No report on whether or not this will impact his release date.

For movie buffs that don't want to leave their home I did a short YouTube movie review of entertaining rentals and one of the most unusual is The Big Fan written and directed by Robert Siegel who wrote the screenplay for The Wrestler.  For football fans or people that like dark off beat films The Big Fan is a must see and possible cult classic.  I also talk about Moon, another possible cult classic directed by Duncan Jones, David Bowie's son and he looks like the wrestler version of his Dad and of course The Hangover!