Iron Man 3 (2013) - Review

When: May 18th. Format: 3D Cinema. Genre: super-hero-movie. Trailer: here

The iron finally got emotions

Iron man 3 shows us that behind that suit there is a man, and that man is struggling to keep it together. After saving the world in Avengers, Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) has never been able to fully recover, mentally... He's begun to suffer from anxiety attacs and can't sleep. When a terrifying guy calling himself the Mandarin threatens both the president, Tony Stark and the people closest to him, it all becomes personal. Soon we see the fantastic Iron Man all alone, on the run, without his superpowers. Finally the brilliant mastermind that is Tony Stark resurfaces. He has to start compleatily from scratch with only a little boy and a garage at his disposal.

This could either be fantastic or an enormous disappointment. Iron Man's third installment is the first post-Avengers film released by Marvel, and with the inevitable comparison to the immensely popular movie that Avengers turned out to be, that could either be a blessing or a curse. I love super-hero-movies so I already knew I had to see this one as well, but the second movie about the metal-covered billionaire made me question if there was anything exciting and new to the story. Last time I missed the originality and the heart that was put into the first one. Luckily this one brought both. In spades.

Marvel has clearly learned a thing or two from its recent success. Heart, emotion, great characters, a brilliant nemesis to fight, the feeling that literally anything could happen, great action without being too much... and the constant stream of funny moments and one-liners to brighten the mood. So very many movies don't tick those boxes! They forget one or the other. Marvel's done it in the past, but this time they did their work right. The stakes are high, the threats are real, the losses are great and the characters and emotions are heartfelt.

To me, this probably marks the best Iron Man-film to date... It reminds me of The Dark Knight Rises (as a lot of other reviewers have mentioned) but it's so clearly not the same concept. Equally as good, but in a different way. And a lot of that has got to do with the ever-present humor surrounding Tony Stark. It lightens the gloomy and tense mood of the plot and action and makes the movie highly enjoyable and re-watchable. I loved it a whole lot more than I thought I would. Not everything is perfect, but while watching it there was nothing that particularly bothered me...

Make It Up (Sam Tsui) - Album Review

Details: "Make It Up" by Sam Tsui (prod. Kurt Hugo Schneider)

Released: May 11th 2013

Who Is This Guy?

Sam Tsui is a part of this next generation of pop-stars born and breaded on the internet. Together with his childhood-friend, Kurt Hugo Schneider, they have been making music videos on YouTube for over four years, and together they've really worked their way into the music industry from the bottom and up. Sam was the cute boy with the incredible voice and Kurt was the music-magician that breathed life into the music and knew how to actually piece all the different pieces together. I've already written a post about Kurt and his work, so I strongly suggest you head over here to read more about the man behind the music! 

Last year they announced that a full-length debut album was already under production, and this time around it contained all original music as opposed to the covers they usually do. Instead of signing with a record label they wanted to make this all by themselves, and to do that they certenly needed their fans' help. Several years of brilliant content had made both their YouTube channels very popular, and with Kurt's 2,3 million subscribers (KurtHugoSchneider) and Sam's 500 000 (TheSamTsui) they actually got their own fans to finance this album through a Kickstarter-project. They even got twice the money they needed!

Album Review

The album itself consists of fourteen songs, and surprisingly they are actually not as similar to each other as I feared! Since I am one of the contributors to their Kickstarter-project I actually got an early digital download of the album over a week ago, so I have been able to listen to it quite a couple of times... And this is actually one of those albums that grows on me and gets better and better each time. 

Ever since hearing his covers of songs like "Titanium", "Just A Dream" and "Don't You Worry Child" I knew he really could sing... But when I played this album loud in my headphones, without being "distracted" by some beautiful music video, his voice was so perfect it took my breath away! 

The greatest thing about this album though, except from his incredible voice, was the lyrics. I've only seen him do covers, so I was not fully prepared for the heart and emotion he had put down on the paper. Pop is not usually my genre since a lot of it sounds exactly the same and most of the lyrics are pretty shallow. Even though Sam's songs too are mostly about love I could actually feel the emotion... It was very easy to tell that he had put his heart and soul into this and was writing based on his own experiences. 

The weakest songs, according to me, were Wherever You Are and Bring Me The Night. The funny thing is that they were the only ones that lacked that emotion I mentioned. Wherever You Are is probably a great party-hit but Bring Me The Night played too much on clichés. They were ok, but also the reason this album does not get a topp rating from me.

However, the album was fantastic all in all! Let me show you why...

Make It Up

The leading single from this album is actually so perfect for me and the situation in my life right now that it's ridiculous! Uplifting, enjoyable and with great lyrics I know means a lot to him personally. And accompanied by a fantastic music video, this is a guaranteed hit!

Me Without You

Such a gripping song... I know firsthand how a single person can change your life for the better. 

Worth It

A very honest song that should be able to touch anyone's heart. Arguably the best song of the entire album. So raw and filled with emotion. He manages not to just sing the song, but actually preform it.

Next Best Thing

This is a subjective review, so I feel fully justified saying that this song touched me so hard I actually broke down in tears. A lot of people need to hear this message, even if they don't want to, because being a person's second choice is not a good place to stay. Way too many are fine with being under-appreciated and settle for less than they deserve...

(Get it on iTunes)

April Update - A Neon Colored Life

Another month flew by way too quickly.

The fun has ended. From now on the studies and exams' got the upper hand...

Did you do anything exciting?
This month I've been home for a couple of days to visit friends and family. I even got to go to my good friend Sara's eighteenth birthday. I've also been to a christian youth-camp just outside Bergen together with Simon, Jonas, Ole and Benjamin. The camp was even better than I expected and I got to know lots of new people! I even got to know some girls... What? It might come as a shock for some of you, but I don't only ever talk to guys!

Funniest thing that happened?
This is always the hardest question! Too many great moments to choose from...
But one moment that made me laugh the most was probably during blind man's buff. Simon, Jonas, Benjamin and his brother Tom and myself was visiting a guy named Robert. After playing various childhood TV-games for a while we suddenly decided to be even more childish and play blind man's buff. We turned off all the lights in the entire apartment, removed anything that could easily get broken and turned on some scary "haunted house"-music. One person then got blindfolded and the fun could begin! Let's just say that screaming, laughing, pushing, running and falling quite a lot was all a part of the game. Throwing mattresses at people and turning on vacuum cleaners was perfectly within the rules too. Being the only girl, it was quite a challenge not to reveal my identity too easily, but all in all it was some of the best hours of fun I've had in a while! You aren't fully grown-up until you dare to be childish...

Best Movies you've seen?
Shockingly enough I've actually only seen two movies during all of April. Luckily they were awesome! The first one was The Amazing Spiderman and it was so much better than I expected. The second one was Casino from 1995 (reviewed here), and it was just like watching a masterclass in both acting and moviemaking...

Favorite edible thing?
Again the winner is Zupperia! It's starting to become a favorite restaurant of mine. This time I had deep fried scampi. Even for a person not too fan of seafood this tasted heavenly!





Which songs have you listened to the most?
This month it's definitely been all about punk-rock and other alternative sub-genres. I had a week of walking down memory lane with Panic! before the brilliant and fantastic thing that was FOB's Save Rock And Roll (reviewed here) was released. Now, however, I need some new bands and artist to listen to so I wouldn't go tired of the ones I already love. I also see myself drifting towards the more "quiet" genres of music... I guess it is required to keep up the musical balacne or something? Of Monsters And Men, Ben Howard and Birdy became my saviours...

"The Phoenix" - Fall Out Boy

"cute as a button" "avenue maintain" "mint candy apple"

"Young Volcanoes" - Fall Out Boy
"Life In Color" - OneRepublic
"Little Talks" - Of Monsters And Men
"Trade Mistakes" - Panic! At The Disco
"Miss Missing You" - Fall Out Boy
"Burning Bridges" - OneRepublic

Favorite material thing?
Bright and flashy colors is not usually something that can be connected with me. But this spring I decided to give it a try and bought sweaters in neon-orange and mint-green and bright blue. And nail-polish! (From Essie of course. Where else?)

Something that made you proud?
This blog actually... I've invested quite a few hours designing and improving both the layout and the content, and I actually feel like I've got it just how I wanted it to be in the first place. That's a great feeling!

What did you learn?
That strangers are just friends you haven't gotten to know yet.

What are you looking forward to?
Well... First I have three exams... But after those I get to go to London with my amazing best friend!

Copyright: Bente (thebenteway.blogspot.com)