“Iron Man 3”: A Movie Review

May 3, 2013September 6, 20152 Comments

My friend and I managed to get tickets to watch Iron Man 3 one day before it is supposed to come out, so here is my review (spoilers free of course).

The movie takes us back into Tony Stark’s past– back to 1999 to be exact. We once again see Tony in his partying days, where he basically pisses off everyone he meets by being an arrogant, stuck up billionaire. Here, we meet Aldrich Killian, who tries to get Stark’s attention as he has an idea he wants Stark to help fund. Of course, Stark brushes him off, and in anger, he decides to seek revenge, working with a mysterious character who calls himself The Mandarin. I must say, I love Pepper more than ever in this film.

That was an overly simplified version of the movie, but I will say that it was very funny. There were lots of laughs throughout the film and I enjoyed it. One thing I really liked was how they humanized Tony Stark. Sure, he is Iron Man, but following his encounters with aliens back in the Avengers, and the knowledge that there was so much more out there, we now see Tony getting panic attacks because of his experiences. Really, this is to be expected for anyone who has to go through such a stressful experience, but we usually forget that superheroes can be affected by stuff like this. It really helps us relate, even if just a little, to these big guys. So huge props to whoever made that part of the story.

I wonder what will happen with Robert Downey Jr’s contract, as it expires after this movie, but I am sure they will work something out with him for the Avengers 2. This movie also leaves a little to be questioned… and I will leave it at that since I do not want to spoil anything.

Iron Man 3 comes out tomorrow, and I would recommend seeing it for some light superhero action, coupled with some great laughs! Plus, Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow are beautiful people. Stan Lee’s cameo was funny as well!

And yes, stay after the credits for a little Science Bros action (Tumblr reference, sorry!).

-Karen

Marketing Post #4: Let Me Tweet, Instagram, Share, Pin and Reblog This.

March 10, 2013September 6, 2015Leave a comment

The rise of social media is upon us, and it seems that every company– both big and small– are scrambling to establish themselves these platforms (if not all of them). But the question is, do they really need to force themselves onto these social media sites?

I have seen some businesses that are on every social media site they can get their hands on. But how effective is Blackberry and their twitter account, where they throw info on where their demos are, as well as constantly reminding the world that they simply need a Blackberry (urging you to go to their closest carrier)? Or a pet food company’s Pinterest where not know what they should pin resort to posting pictures of dogs and cats?

While connecting with customers through social media sites have proven to be effective, I agree with what blogger Amy Wray says: “It’s not about self promotion”. Going back to the Blackberry example, they simply decide to tweet in hopes of promoting their latest products to customers. On the other hand, it is evident that Samsung Canada’s twitter does a lot of interaction with their customers, replying to tweets and fostering a relationship. This is a clear example of not simply signing up for social media, for the sake of simply having social media.

Before deciding to jump into the world of social media, a company should identify their goals for having an account on a site. Maintaining these accounts take time, and if you do not understand why you are investing the effort, it will all go to waste. Different sites also may be best depending on who your target market is. Pinterest is known for being popular among women audiences, and Google+ has more males as its users. I agree that social media is important, but I would urge a company to carefully evaluate their options, and make decisions accordingly– or else they will simply be wasting their time, or worst– make huge fools of themselves.

External blog references:

http://blogs.constantcontact.com/product-blogs/social-media-marketing/social-media-planning/

http://modprbyamy.com/2013/03/10/why-social-media-marketing-is-key-for-small-businesses/