iron man 2 rocks... guts of the ushers at arclight sherman oaks, not so much

So last night was the first official meeting of "The Summer Movie Blockbuster Club - 2010 Edition" on opening night of Iron Man 2. We went to see it at the Arclight in Sherman Oaks, which while an Arclight, is not as awesome as the original Arclight in Hollywood for many reasons... a list which got longer last night.

We'd bought out almost an entire row in the theater (there were 14 of us), and Shawn, our fearless organizer, had the seat on the end. However, when we arrived at our row, there was a couple sitting in seats 1 and 2, claiming they were theirs because they had a receipt with those seat numbers on them. Shawn had cold, hard, glossy tickets in his hands. The two ushers in the theater asked the couple to move. They refused. So instead of calling security to boot the squatters, who probably snuck in from another movie, out of the theater, they left them there (next to us - yuck) and found Shawn and his friend, who had the ticket for seat 2, seats four rows up from us. Shawn was a good sport, and then complained to Guest Services after the movie, who gave us five free tickets. But still... what's the point of having a Summer Movie Blockbuster Club when two of your members get relegated to seats away from everyone else. Arclight Sherman Oaks ushers: You are wimps who don't deserve to be ushering during Iron Man 2, an awesome film all about the opposite of being wimpy.

Speaking of which, LOVED this movie almost as much as the original. (I say almost because I had zero expectations walking into the original and was totally blown away; this time, I was expecting the awesome.) Robert Downey Jr. is the epitome of cool as Tony Stark, and has great chemistry with Gwyneth Paltrow's Pepper Potts. Don Cheadle was great as the replacement "Rhodey." Samuel L. Jackson (as S.H.I.E.L.D Director Nick Fury) had more than one scene at the end of the credits this time, which was entertaining and informative, as the lead up to The Avengers movie in 2012 continues. And, to quote and agree with my friend Diana, "This is the first movie Scarlett Johansson didn't annoy the crap out of me in."

The effects were awesome. The cast looked cool at all times. The soundtrack rocked. And everything felt really loud... perfect for the start of the Summer Movie season!