It's not too hard to find some super-sympathetic villains right now. You can travel the Internet waves and check out Dr. Horrible, or head to toon town and watch The Monarch and the other Guild of Calamitous Intent members in Venture Brothers. You can see dudes sending in applications to the evil organizations, bad guys storm the wrong building, and even crappy reassignments that suck one's loathing hatred out of their job. These incarnations are great, addictive pieces of fun.
Could the same be said of Ben Stiller's forays into the fold? (*cough* Mystery Men) Not really. But would it help with Robert Downey Jr. and Tina Fey? Entertainment Weekly posts that both actors are looking into joining Stiller's animated villain film, Master Mind. (Christopher blogged about it here, last year.) The premise is simple. A villain accidentally kills the guy he's arching, and loses his will to live.
Having these two voices certainly sweetens the pot, but as we've learned after many years of disappointment -- amazing casts don't necessarily make even decent movies. It all comes down to the script (written by Alan Schoolcraft and Brent Simons), and Stiller's involvement. We'll have to wait and see.
Note: EW says that Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson are still on to direct, but Moviehole talked to a Dreamworks source who said that they left the project months ago. IMDb, meanwhile, says it's Gary Trousdale.
Considering the lengths to which the Tropic Thunder gang went to sell all of their Hollywood fakery, it comes as little surprise that the mock making-of Rain of Madness does exist beyond a mere trailer (embedded above, and probably not kid-friendly) and website. However, while I'm sure it'll be included on the eventual DVD, who's really going to wait that long when it's currently available as a free iTunes exclusive?
That's right: for thirty minutes and zero dollars (yep), one can follow filmmaker Jan Jürgen (co-writer Justin Theroux, acting as if making Werner Herzog's Werner Herzog were making Hearts of Darkness) as he chronicles the expensive chaos that went behind making the movie within the movie. Star/director/co-writer/probable caterer Ben Stiller explained in a recent press release: "We wanted to do a fake documentary about the making of the movie within the movie which is called "Tropic Thunder" -- not the actual movie "Tropic Thunder". The fake documentary focuses on the real movie's fake director, and what happens to the fake cast before they go into the real jungle. It's pretty straightforward."
Well, I know who I am. I'm the dude playing the dude currently downloading this S.O.B. Any of you who follow suit, share your thoughts below.
For those concerned commenters, I'm well aware that Werner Herzog did not, in fact, direct Hearts of Darkness. However, Mr. Theroux is behaving as if he were Mr. Herzog and, as such, proceeded to make a film not unlike the doc actually made by Fax Bahr and George Hickenlooper.
What I didn't know was how to directly link to any items made available through the iTunes store. I still don't, but I do appreciate the considerate ones below who were both helpful and tactful in passing the direct iTunes link on - namely, Niraj and not the exceedingly impatient Marcos.
Since it's shaping up that the two largest fan favorites of the summer will beIron Man and The Dark Knight, it's only right to hear what one superhero has to say about the other. And when you're talking about Robert Downey Jr., it means you're guaranteed a tremendous quote. Our friends over at Moviehole sat down with the Tropic Thunder/Iron Man star to shoot the sh*t and came away with one helluva quote from Downey Jr. on The Dark Knight. So, did Iron Man like the Bat Man?
"My whole thing is that that I saw 'The Dark Knight'. I feel like I'm dumb because I feel like I don't get how many things that are so smart. It's like a Ferrari engine of storytelling and script writing and I'm like, 'That's not my idea of what I want to see in a movie.' I loved 'The Prestige' but didn't understand 'The Dark Knight'. Didn't get it, still can't tell you what happened in the movie, what happened to the character and in the end they need him to be a bad guy. I'm like, 'I get it. This is so high brow and so f--king smart, I clearly need a college education to understand this movie.' You know what? F-ck DC comics. That's all I have to say and that's where I'm really coming from."
God Bless that man. Sure, I get that TDK was a tad confusing and complex at times, but so is the character and so is his universe. Personally, I enjoyed both films very much for different reasons, and think Downey Jr. is being a tad rough on his competition. Then again, maybe that's the point.
Tropic Thunder, starring Ben Stiller as one of a group of runaway actors whose work on a big-budget Vietnam epic goes horribly awry, is a funny, far-fetched mockery of modern Hollywood; the laughs don't maintain anything like a coherent intensity, but when they come, they're big enough to get you through the spaces between them. Some will mistakenly call Tropic Thunder a satire, but Tropic Thunder is in fact an example of satire's boisterous, bumbling sibling, the spoof. A satire's held with a light but precise grip, so the point can slice and the blade can cut; a spoof's more of a club, landing with blunt force and broad impact.
Star and director Stiller attacked the celebrity-industrial complex before, in 2001's Zoolander, and Tropic Thunder has more in common with that film than you might think; Stiller manages to mock action and thrills while also delivering them, and he's got a fine grasp of coarse celebrity behavior. Stiller seems drawn to characters whose self-centered arrogance is mixed in equal measure with self-loathing insecurity. We see an interview clip where Stiller's character, box office star Tugg Speedman, is informed by an interviewer how "Someone close to you said 'One more flop and it's over for him.'" Speedman pauses, and then asks his follow-up: "Somebody said they were close to me?"
The new Rolling Stone hits stands tomorrow, and as you can see to the right it's featuring the one and only Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. The cover is fairly creepy -- the orange hoodie calls to mind the actor's struggles with the law during a time when they're quickly becoming a fading memory in the shadow of his rampant, mainstream fame. He says that he's in a "transition phase, I really am trying to live as much like a lizard as I can. Hot, rock, sun, fly, tongue."
Yet he's still Downey. You can read an excerpt of the interview at Rolling Stone, but there's one charming analogy I wanted to share. Talking about his busy present, he notes that he has to be mindful of the past and says:
"I'm such a work in progress at the moment, it's crazy, and life wants me on edge, I swear to you. But as long as I don't forget the past, I'm cool. One must always be mindful, just like you might forget that old girlfriend who tried to slit your throat, but she's really still hot. If you remember the stitches more than you remember the pussy, you're going to be just fine."
That's Stark all right. Hopefully he remembers the stitches.
It's all about The Dark Knight this week. Part of the hype is the twin performances by Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, which is not undeserved. But both Bale and Ledger belong to a certain school of acting, and it's worth discussing the other schools, especially since one type tends to overshadow the other. When it comes time for acting awards to be doled out, I'm afraid that these two performances will blot out others, especially Robert Downey Jr.'s in Iron Man (375 screens). Actors use many different methods in their craft. One is what I'll call the "Brando" school. When Marlon Brando exploded onto the movie screen in the early 1950s, he brought a new style that was dubbed "raw" and "sensual." He used his entire being in his performances; his study of the "Method" taught him to reach deep into his own experiences to find real emotions to adapt to his characters.
The other school is the "always plays himself" school, of which John Wayne was probably the most pre-eminent member. Wayne had a very limited range and couldn't play all the various characters that Brando could, but he had a very specific onscreen personality that was emotionally satisfying all on its own. Moreover, within his small range, not even Brando could beat him. No one could have been better in The Searchers (1956), for example. Robert Downey Jr. belongs in this second school. Although he happens to possess the skill to play a wide range of parts, he remains chiefly true to his own personality. When you see him, it feels like you're visiting him again, rather than seeing a whole new person. His hijinks in Iron Man are wonderfully energetic and hilarious, but they bear a resemblance to his similar, wiry performances in Home for the Holidays, Two Girls and a Guy and other films.
Confirming rumors that we first reported on a couple of weeks back, Robert Downey Jr. has been formally lined up to play Sherlock Holmes in Guy Ritchie's film of the same name. Apparently inspired by Lionel Wigram's comic book as much as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's classic novels, Variety says that the film will begin shooting this October for a scheduled 2010 release.
While Downey Jr. has arguably been making his comeback of sorts since 2005 (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, hear hear!), it's naturally his immense success with Iron Man this past May that has opened a door this big. While I have plenty of faith in whatever direction he's about to take this character, I'm still curious about how British gangster maven Ritchie landed the project and in what direction he's about to take the story.
It's curious that we now have a Tropic Thunder star working on one such project, while that film's writer prepares to take on the Apatow-produced version starring Will Ferrell and Sacha Baron Cohen as Holmes and Watson, respectively. But in a world where we get to choose between the prospects of a Victorian-era Tony Stark and a detective prone to streaking in the nude, aren't we all a little spoiled?
Downey Jr. would play Zeke Jackson, a former Union Army gunslinger, who is engaged in a battle against the Apache. But the battle between settlers and Native Americans is interrupted when an alien spaceship crashes into the Silver City prairie. Turns out, they have their eye on conquering Earth, forcing the warring westerners to form an uneasy alliance.
The project has been in and out of development for years, but apparently the latest draft is catching some A-list interest. As it was written by Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus, who were behind Iron Man and Children of Men, I am immediately expecting good things out of something that, if handled poorly, could be as bad as Wild Wild West. Good writers and a good actor like Downey Jr. could make this movie incredibly fun. This is how movies like the first Pirates of the Caribbean come about.
I have to say, between this and Downey Jr.'s rumored interest in a comic-based Sherlock Holmes, I wonder if he is going to plunge into Hugh Jackman levels of geekdom. They will have to start fighting each other to get to the best comic book scripts. And that should be a movie all its own.
Robert Downey Jr. as Hugh Hefner. The idea sounded both strange and wonderful last month when Erik posted that Hef was hoping the Iron Man star would play him. At the time, he was pursuing Robert Downey Jr., and Brett Ratner had reportedly left the project. Now, according to an interview with Coming Soon, it looks like Ratner is still involved (eh), and Downey Jr. is one step closer to taking on the role (yay!).
Hefner told the site: "Our conversations with Robert were in the months immediately before Iron Man. He called immediately after Iron Man and asked: 'When were we going to do the movie?'" I'm hoping this means that he's itching to do this, and wasn't just curious about scheduling. Should Downey Jr. officially sign on for the role, he'll get to delight in the world of Hugh from the '50s to the mid-'70s, when Hefner built his large Playboy empire (rather than the epic, original plan to tackle all 82 years of the man's life). So basically, it will be Tony Stark in pajamas, with a career that involves naked women and publishing rather than iron and technology. Should all go according to plan, the script will be finished soon, and production will begin later this year.
As you Iron Man fans know, the number one question everyone's been throwing at Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. has centered on which storyline we might see in Iron Man 2. The popular consensus was the famous Demon in a Bottle storyline, where poor Tony Stark hits rock bottom in his battle with alcoholism.
But that storyline might actually be in jeopardy due to another summer superhero movie: Hancock. Favreau told Collider, "The comic book fans might see Demon in a Bottle as a fresh story line but I haven't seen Hancock yet. From what I've seen it seems there is a lot of imagery that seems to be shared. Him flying through billboards and things. The idea of the hero whose biggest enemy is himself, and him fighting through his demons, you want to come at the audience with something fresh. You don't want to feel like you are echoing something that somebody else is doing." Hopefully, Hancock will keep clear of Stark's territory, and we might end up with that fresh storyline after all. Pop on over to Collider to read the rest of the interview.
Oh, but we're not done! Earlier today, Erik shared the news that Favreau was being very vocal on MySpace regarding the Iron Man 2 release date and how there needed to be more time to create a successful sequel. He mentioned that perhaps Iron Man should take the three-year route, like Nolan's Batman films. Then, IESB dropped the bomb that the reason Marvel hadn't signed Favreau yet was because he wanted more money and they didn't feel he deserved it. Apparently, Marvel's David Maisel thinks an Iron Man sequel would kill with or without Favreau. Read more about that here.
Over at USA Today, they've got a first look at Robert Downey Jr. and Jamie Foxx in The Soloist, due out November 21st. Based on a true story, Downey Jr. plays Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez, who discovers a schizophrenic music prodigy (Foxx) living on Skid Row. On this role versus playing a superhero in Iron Man, Downey Jr. notes, "I've loved every part of Iron Man. But the last thing you want is to be seen as that guy, who just does that role." Funnily enough, he says this as he's about to play another real-life reporter not long after he took on the role of Paul Avery in Zodiac. Next up for Downey Jr.? Well, Superman, of course -- this way he can play superhero and reporter! The perfect mix! The Soloist also stars Stephen Root and Catherine Keener, and it was directed by Joe Wright (whose Atonement popped up on all sorts of awards lists last year).
Whaddya think? Can you see Jamie Foxx as a homeless, schizophrenic music prodigy?
There are four things I will always love about MTV: the videos from the '80s, Daria, the first handful of seasons of The Real World, and the MTV Movie Awards spoofs. In many cases, those suckers stick in my mind more than the films they were spoofing -- especially 1999, when Alyson Hannigan, Jaime Pressly, Chris Owen, and Charlie O'Connell took on everything from Risky Business to Cruel Intentions. The sight of Hannigan reenacting the whipped cream scene from Varsity Blues is forever burned into my brain.
This year, however, things will be a bit different for the awards ceremony. The Hollywood Reporter posts that instead of spoofs, a number of big-name actors are making their own short films for the evening, with the creative control in their hands -- namely, Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Adam Sandler, and host Mike Myers. Not much is being said about the shorts, but Stiller hired Mike Bender to write his, and Nick Stoller to direct it, while Myers' shorts focus on two new characters he's come up with.
While I love the spoofs, this should be great twist on an old habit -- and as a rabid Downey Jr. fan, I'm itching to see what he comes up with. How about you? Will these shorts convince you to tune in?
Well, he played the role of one playboy successfully -- why couldn't he take on another? That seems to be the buzz this weekend, and the Chicago Sun Times reports that Playboy magazine's Hugh Hefner is very interested in having Robert Downey Jr. play him in an upcoming biopic after watching the actor shine on screen in Iron Man. Granted, Hefner is no Tony Stark -- however, I imagine each has slept with roughly the same amount of women.
According to the paper, a rep for Downey Jr. said the actor is interested but still waiting to see a script and hear who's directing it. Oh, that's right my friends -- Brett Ratner is no longer attached to the project (so says the Chicago Sun Times), though there's a chance he may return. The film, which has the working title of Playboy, will most probably track the long (and very successful) life of Hugh Hefner. Leonardo DiCaprio was once rumored to be in the running to play Hef as well.
In all the breathless excitement, possibility and release date for Iron Man 2, it's always good to step back and hear from the main men. You might be surprised (and maybe relieved) to know they haven't really started thinking about the sequel yet. On the other hand, one immediately begins to panic, thinking "Dear God, they won't actually ditch Jon Favreau, will they?"To answer that,Entertainment Weekly sat down with both Robert Downey Jr. and Favreau, the weariness apparent in their voices as they tried to actually comprehend doing it all again.
Let's start with Stark himself on where the sequel will go. "There's this idea of Terrence [Howard] putting on a suit and coming back as War Machine, who is pretty iconic in the Iron Man and Marvel universe. Just seeing where it can all go, but grounding it in a very modern mythology. I see it as the greatest dysfunctional family story ever told .... In The New York Post a couple days ago, [there was a cartoon] of Iron Man suited up, and he's telling the governor even his super-powers can't get him out of the budget problem. That was what Jon was hoping for and excited to see the most, the idea that Tony Stark and Iron Man can become part of the cultural fabric. When we heard posters were being defaced to promote political or social ideas, he just got such a hoot out of that."
One of the many nice moments in Iron Man comes as techno-titan Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) is consulting with his artificial intelligence majordomo, Jarvis, about the fabrication of the newest version of the high-tech power armor Stark intends to use to stop evil and protect the innocent. Looking at a holographic simulation of the proposed design of the glittering, golden armor -- which enables its wearer to fly, lift cars, shoot energy beams, withstand bullets and includes many other clever bits of engineering -- Stark makes a brief request regarding the color scheme: "Why don't you throw a little hot rod red in there?" Stark seems to be saying Sure, it's fancy and expensive and technologically majestic and wonderful, but a little style can still go a long way. ...
And as it is with the Iron Man armor, so it is with the Iron Man movie. Marvel Comics' first foray into self-financed film making has movie stars and impressive effects and a script where every plot point you would expect meshes with its neighbors as precisely as the plates and pieces of Stark's armor do, but it's the touches of style that make it truly sizzle. Director Jon Favreau does not seem like a choice you would expect as the director of a comic-book movie; Robert Downey Jr. does not seem like a choice you would expect as the star of a comic-book film. Between the two of them, they give us something different from the comic-book movies we've come to expect; a little swagger, a little strut, a touch of self-mocking humor that never undercuts the pleasures of the thing being mocked. It's as if someone snuck a hefty slug of bourbon into your cherry cola; all of the sugar and flavor and fizz you expect from a well-made comic-book movie are there, but there's something a little more grown-up going on behind them.
It's not too hard to find some super-sympathetic villains right now. You can travel the Internet waves and check out Dr. Horrible, or head to toon town and watch The Monarch and the other Guild of Calamitous Intent members in Venture Brothers. You can see dudes sending in applications to the evil organizations, bad guys storm the wrong building, and even crappy reassignments that suck one's loathing hatred out of their job. These incarnations are great, addictive pieces of fun..jpg)
The new Rolling Stone hits stands tomorrow, and as you can see to the right it's featuring the one and only Iron Man, 
Confirming rumors that we first reported on 
According to 
Robert Downey Jr. as Hugh Hefner. The idea sounded both strange and wonderful last month when 
As you Iron Man fans know, the number one question everyone's been throwing at Favreau and Robert Downey Jr. has centered on which storyline we might see in Iron Man 2. The popular consensus was the famous Demon in a Bottle storyline, where poor Tony Stark hits rock bottom in his battle with alcoholism. .jpg)
There are four things I will always love about MTV: the videos from the '80s, Daria, the first handful of seasons of The Real World, and the MTV Movie Awards spoofs. In many cases, those suckers stick in my mind more than the films they were spoofing -- especially 1999, when Alyson Hannigan, Jaime Pressly, Chris Owen, and Charlie O'Connell took on everything from Risky Business to Cruel Intentions. The sight of Hannigan reenacting the whipped cream scene from Varsity Blues is forever burned into my brain.
In all the breathless excitement, possibility and release date for Iron Man 2, it's always good to step back and hear from the main men. You might be surprised (and maybe relieved) to know they haven't really started thinking about the sequel yet. On the other hand, one immediately begins to panic, thinking "Dear God, they won't actually ditch 
