“I loved you in A Christmas Story, by the way.”

In the end credit sequence, the words, “Tony Stark will return” pop up on the screen which is appropriate, as Iron Man 3 is very much a story about the man inside his reinforced alter-ego. Since the climactic battle at the conclusion of The Avengers, Stark is at his most vulnerable. He suffers from post traumatic stress disorder, occurring from his near-death escape from the intergalactic wormhole. As you do. His panic attacks are sudden and distressing. For a man that has battled gods, swarms of aliens, and metallic monsters, a psychological disorder seems beneath him.

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Ahh, to be a fly on the wall at the Marvel Studios office. Once can only imagine the conversations that led to the release of Shane Black’s Iron Man 3. It’s true that Iron Man 2 slightly underperformed, both financially and critically, but considering the miracle that Jon Favreau had achieved with the franchise up until that point, the decision to replace him (or not pay him enough to return) for IM3 was a confusing one. On top of that, they opted to bring in yet another out of the box helmer.

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“The bike’s part of the family.”

Harper Lee famously wrote, “You can choose your friends, but you sho’ can’t choose your family, an’ they’re still kin to you no matter whether you acknowledge ‘em or not, and it makes you look right silly when you don’t.” In The Place Beyond the Pines, Luke Glanton (Ryan Gosling) is a nomadic shadow, a folk hero of the eccentric. His absurd clothes and chaotic tattoos tell the story of his life and his process. His introduction is a close-up of a toned torso; the camera follows closely behind as he makes his way towards his motorcycle and a death-defying stunt. The anonymous crowd cheers. This place and these people are his kin.

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