Movie Marathon: Robert Downey, Jr.

This is my second movie marathon (after Matt Damon's) in which I did innocently and calmly between so many final projects that were attacking me like a tsunami. In fact, this was the longest movie marathon I've ever had because of those projects, not to mention any other tasks that needed attention. Yep, so many distractions compared to when I did Matt Damon movie marathon, because most of the tasks must be done individually. Last semester, the biggest final project was done in group.

But, lucky for you, Mr. Robert Downey, Jr.... Once I started a movie marathon, then the show must go on! (Or the marathon must go on whatsoever.)

Robert John Downey, Jr. is one of my favorite actors of all time. Excuse me for saying that on every movie marathon post, I hope you don't run away after reading that certain sentence :p A little explanation why I should write it like that... I have like 15 all time favorite actors. Or more--I lose count. Because it's so many, I write 'one of''. I have my own reason why I do these movie marathons--to dedicate (?) myself as a huge fan. Yeah, maybe I will have 11 or more movie marathons according to the amount of my favorite actors, why not.

Let's get back to RDJ! I'm sure you guys know who is this handsome man, who doesn't? Raise your hand if you don't. Maybe all this time you live in a cave or stranded in a deserted island or kidnapped by aliens. Yes, he's the Tony Stark or Iron Man. Thanks to Iron Man, all people in the world, including me, knew who he was. But, do you know him before Iron Man? Maybe yes, maybe not. So, allow me to tell you more about our favorite man :)

RDJ's father, Robert Downey, Sr., is an actor and director. RDJ's first film debut was when he was 5 years old in the movie Pound, directed by RDS. If you want to see him in the movie, just search on YouTube, you'll find one. He was also one of the cast members of Saturday Night Live season 11 (1985-1986) but was fired along with most of the cast after the season ended because it received poor ratings. Then he went to play some movies (not gonna mention them here, just find on IMDb), one of them was Chaplin, where he received his first Oscar nomination for Best Actor. Post-Oscar nomination, RDJ's career started to get into troubles because of drug charges. He was arrested multiple times and had to get a drug treatment during late 1990s and early 2000s. The arrests were costing him several movie & TV roles. See? Even the seemingly perfect man like RDJ had troubles in his career. If you like him so much but end up hating him because of this thing... well, you don't deserve to be called 'fan'. RDJ was struggling so hard to leave drugs and marijuana, and now, look at him. He's such a hero.
Well, although those problems seemed to break his career down, it actually didn't. He came back, people, he came back! He won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a mini-series or television film for his performance in Ally McBeal. That's not enough? He got that Tony Stark/Iron Man role which made him so famous until now. He was nominated for another Oscar, this time was Best Supporting Actor for Tropic Thunder. Then he was cast as Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie film. And other great things that I can't mention one by one.
Oh, oh. RDJ is also a singer. He sang for several movie soundtracks and released a music album called The Futurist in 2004. His great songs and amazing voice accompanied me to study hard last year, and yeah, I finally passed the university exam :D
He has 2 sons, Indio (from his marriage to Deborah Falconer) and Exton (from his present wife Susan Downey)--and they are so adorable. Seeing Indio is like seeing the younger version of RDJ.
Okay, that's some story about Robert Downey, Jr. that you might don't know because you don't care :)

So, what makes you decided to do Robert Downey, Jr. movie marathon?
Actually, this is my second RDJ movie marathon. The first one was last year, but the movies I was watching were not that many, and I didn't write about it because it just happened haha. I decided to do RDJ marathon part 2 on his 48th birthday (April 4th 2013), but again, my time was eaten by the tasks. Then, near the end of April, Iron Man 3 came to theaters... So I watched it, then I continued with the other movies, and voila! It became Robert Downey, Jr. marathon :)
If we count the time, this movie marathon took one... two... three... four--exactly four weeks, or a month. It started on April 26th (the day I watched Iron Man 3) and ended on May 26th. The marathon was interrupted by two non-RDJ movies, Hummingbird and Star Trek Into Darkness though :p

Here's the list of his movies, according to the time I watched them:
1. Iron Man 3
2. Iron Man 2
3. A Scanner Darkly
4. Chances Are
5. Johnny Be Good
6. Heart and Souls
7. Chaplin
8. Natural Born Killers
9. Air America
10. Home for the Holidays
11. Black and White
12. In Dreams
13. U.S. Marshals
14. Wonder Boys
15. Good Night, and Good Luck.
16. The Singing Detective
17. Iron Man 3 (yes, I watched it 2 times--and this time I got to watch the post-credit scene, yay! :p)
18. Gothika
19. Charlie Bartlett
20. Love and Distrust
21. A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
22. Due Date
23. Tropic Thunder
24. The Soloist
25. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
26. Zodiac
27. Iron Man
28. Sherlock Holmes
29. Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
30. Marvel's The Avengers

After watching all of them, do you have any specific movies that you've been into?
All of them. Hahaha, no kidding. I'll always remember his movies, even the ones that are not so famous. But, for the sake of the readers (like you have even one, Wid -_-), I'll just list the ones that I really like. Okay? Deal? Deal.

The first... I guess you know. Yes, Marvel's The Avengers! One of my favorite movies ever. Six superheroes plus one handsome villain? Priceless, baby, priceless. RDJ reprised his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man. This movie was the end of Marvel Cinematic Universe: Phase One, so you got Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Captain America, plus Hawkeye and Black Widow here, fighting Loki, Thor's brother. There are so much to talk about, and this is just not enough. Best movie ever... for me :D

The second, of course Iron Man, from the first until the third. The first Iron Man was the first RDJ movie I've seen. Let's just say that if I didn't see this movie, I might didn't know who Robert Downey, Jr. was until his name was all over the internet. I first watched it with my brother, we got the front seats. You know, the seats that were right in front of the screen. Can you imagine how hurt my neck was? Fortunately, the film was much more amazing that I imagined. I didn't even care that I sat on the front seat because RDJ was so amazing to play the rich playboy Tony Stark who was forced to build an armored suit in a life-threatening incident. After that, he used his skill to expand the suit, became Iron Man, and fought against evil.

The third, Sherlock Holmes and its sequel, Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Nothing was better than hearing that RDJ was going to star as my favorite detective, Sherlock Holmes. After seeing the movie that followed the adventure of consulting detective Sherlock Holmes (Downey, Jr.) and his partner Dr. John Watson (Jude Law) to fight a nemesis who used black magic, my love for Sherlock Holmes was getting bigger. Yes, Downey, Jr. is an American, but he could portray the British detective perfectly.

The fourth, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. I can say that this movie is the second RDJ movie I've seen. I first watched it on HBO, saying "Oh, my God! That's Tony Stark acting so clumsy and funny! Hey, bro, it's Tony Stark! He's still handsome without the beard!" Hahaha. RDJ played Harry Lockhart, a thief who was disguised as an actor after escaping from police. His adventure didn't end just like that. A mystery of two seemingly different murder cases brought Harry to teamed up with Gay Perry (Val Kilmer), a private eye, and Harmony Lane (Michelle Monaghan), Harry's childhood friend and struggling actress. This movie is so funny and clever. The dialogs weren't so cheesy. There were some parts that didn't show funniness directly, but I could laugh over it. Not just comedy, you would also wonder about the murder mystery. Plus, the acting of three main actors were just great, especially RDJ's enjoyable performance.

The fifth is Zodiac. Oh, yes, you're right, I love story about serial killers, always do. Even my friends think that I'm kind of a psychopath because of this weird interest. Anyway, you do know Zodiac killer right? This killer was so famous back in 1960s and 1970s, but until now, the crime remains unsolved. This film told the story of a serial killer who call himself Zodiac, who taunted police and newspaper publisher with his letters and cryptic messages. A cartoonist, Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal) and a reporter Paul Avery (Downey, Jr.) became friends because they shared Zodiac killer as their interests. There was also Mark Ruffalo as Dave Toschi, a police inspector. Three amazing actors (and other great actors) in one movie about the famous serial killer? How could you miss it? :)

The sixth is A Guide of Recognizing Your Saints. Downey, Jr., Shia LaBeouf, and Channing Tatum in one film? Who can deny that? Hahaha. The movie based on a memoir of Dito Montiel, a musician and director about his childhood in the toughest part of New York. RDJ here played the older Dito Montiel, while LaBeouf played the younger version and Tatum played his childhood friend, Antonio. I wrote a not-so review about this movie here, please click to read more :)

The seventh is Chaplin. Yes, this is the movie about the life of Charlie Chaplin. I think you all know him. The movie, despite being criticized for the way it's describing some aspects of Chaplin's life, RDJ's performance was both critically and universally acclaimed. This led him to get a nomination for Best Actor in Academy Awards. This movie becomes one of my favorites because of RDJ's amazing performance. Watch it if you have enough time, because it's a bit longer than usual movie.

The eight, Tropic Thunder. I love seeing actors who choose various characters, not only ordinary and 'safe' character. I think, in this movie, RDJ was brave enough to take the part. I mean, he had to darken his skin for the character of Kirk Lazarus, a five-time-Oscar-winning actor. Well, in this movie Lazarus was a blonde man with blue eyes, but he had surgery to darken his skin for his portrayal of the black character Sergeant Lincoln Osiris in a movie called Tropic Thunder. There were also Ben Stiller and Jack Black as fellow actors Tugg Speedman and Jeff Portnoy, respectively. Full of action and comedy!

The ninth is Charlie Bartlett. Anton Yelchin and RDJ! Wow, just wow. Charlie Bartlett (Yelchin) was a wealthy teenager who was dumped by several private schools, and ended up in a public school run by an alcoholic principal Nathan Gardner (Downey, Jr.). Charlie teamed up with a school bully to help fellow students about their problems, usually using some prescription drugs that he got from his own psychologists, in order to become popular.

The tenth is Due Date. RDJ played an architect (love it! :D) Peter Highman who had to come home in time to accompany his wife (Michelle Monaghan) who was due to give birth to their first child. But, something came in his way and he had to be in a crazy journey with an actor Ethan Tremblay (Zach Galifianakis). This movie is so funny! I couldn't imagine if I was Peter and was trapped with someone drastically dysfunctional like Ethan when I had to be home immediately. Crazy!

Ah, I want to write about 29 RDJ movies I watched, but the post is too long already. Well, the ones that I don't write above weren't meant to be disliked by me. If I could write them all, I would :)
I am downloading Ally McBeal season 4 where RDJ guest-starred as Larry Paul, the main character's love interest during the season. I was also looking for Saturday Night Live season 11 where he was a cast member, or an SNL episode where he was hosting, but I couldn't find it anywhere in the internet :( I really hoped I could watch them though.
Oh, just FYI, RDJ is still not confirmed whether he will return as Tony Stark/Iron Man for further Marvel movies or not, although several sources said that he is in talk to return to 2 sequels of Marvel's The Avengers. Don't be sad, guys... RDJ is not only Tony Stark. He's a great actor and I'm sure he knows what's best for him. He has another upcoming movies that you don't want to miss :)

I know very little about acting. I'm just an incredibly gifted faker.

-Robert Downey, Jr.

See you in the next movie marathon post! (Candidates: Jeremy Renner, Tom Cruise, Shia LaBeouf, Anton Yelchin -- which one should I choose?)

Pics were taken from Google, then were made into a collage by me.