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.

Who's excited about Iron Man? We are, we are! And we know you, like us, are counting the days -- nay, the hours -- until May 2, when Iron Man hits the big screen. In the meantime, though, we have this little behind-the-scenes tidbit from Moviefone's recent Unscripted interview with the Iron Man himself, Robert Downey, Jr., Jon Favreau and Terrence Howard, interviewing each other with your questions.

The clip above (which is not included in the full interview over on Moviefone) is short, but funny -- how can you not like a video that includes Robert Downey, Jr. talking in a Jersey accent and saying, "What?! You feeling froggy, bitch? Jump!" Oh, yeah. If only I'd been there myself for this, perhaps Downey, Jr. would finally recognize his long unrequited love for me. Oh, wait, I'm the one who's had a crush on him forever ... ah, well.

Forget about all the fantastic action. Dismiss the disarmingly smart, wry screenplay, and ignore the phenomenal supporting cast. Feel free to overlook the dozen components that make Jon Favreau's Iron Man the most uniquely entertaining superhero movie in a long time ... I've got the one main reason that this flick is worthy of your two hours and ten bucks right here, and that reason is named Robert Downey Jr. Like many movie fans of my generation, I consider Downey to be sort of an old friend. We all wept when Jami Gertz noticed his odd demise in Less Than Zero, we loved watching his evolution in films like True Believer and Chaplin, and we all felt pretty great when the guy finally kicked his well-publicized drug addiction.

Downey is a survivor, no doubt, and he's also a refreshingly engaging actor to watch -- and boy was I thrilled when Marvel announced that this would be the guy to portray Tony Stark. To those who don't know the Stark character from the comic books, let me just make it clear: Downey is the perfect guy to play a smug yet charming, sarcastic yet likable, and perpetually womanizing multi-billionaire mega-genius with a bum ticker. We all know the guy can play sly, snarky, smart characters, so much of Iron Man's early stuff is light lifting for the actor -- but when he starts getting angry? Noble? Heroic? The guy is aces across the board. Bottom Line: Downey has paid his dues, he's been through a lot of hell, and now he's a freakin' superhero who delivers the best popcorn flick performance since Johnny Depp first played pirate. Sometimes Hollywood actually works.

I hope you appreciate the sacrifices I make for my job; having managed to successfully avoid anything even remotely 'spoilerish' about Iron Man (I was so anal I was even not watching all the trailers just in case they ruined any surprises), I finally cracked and watched four behind-the-scenes videos for the big budget comic book flick. Luckily for me there wasn't anything too revealing, although one of the videos gives you a preview of what it takes to get star Robert Downey Jr. into that suit (and let's just say it suddenly doesn't look so high tech when it takes four costume people to wedge you into the thing).

Despite starting its road to production as a low-budget comic book movie back in 1990, Iron Man has become one of the most anxiously awaited summer movies (and that is hard to do when your competition is Indiana Jones and Batman). These videos are just the latest in a series of trailers and teasers for the film, hell; there was even a VH1 satire on the Fabulous Life of Tony Stark. But all the marketing will finally come to an end, and I'm pretty sure it is going to be worth the wait. Iron Man opens in theaters on May 2nd.

The following post may contain spoilers, so beware!

The entire Iron Man crew are currently making the press rounds (they'll be in NYC on Sunday, so expect a slew of quotes to come flying next week), and already director Jon Favreau knows exactly where he wants to go with the Iron Man sequels -- so much so that he's dropped a bunch of hints in the first film, due out May 1. He tells Rotten Tomatoes, "I've got another two movies in my head; I'm ready to go and I know the cast feels the same way," he said. "Now it's out of the hands of us, of the filmmakers, and it's even out the hands of your readers. I know all the people who have been following this for two years are going to go and see the movie, and maybe they'll see it twice and I'm very grateful for that. If everybody comes out to see the movie and it's successful, then I'm sure Marvel's going to want to do another."

Be careful with that RT article because they do spoil some stuff, like whether Samuel L. Jackson actually shows up in a cameo role as Nick Fury. But perhaps the biggest set up for a sequel -- spoiler warning -- comes when Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard) glances at Stark's Mark II Iron Man suit and says to himself, "Next time baby." It certainly looks like the second film would involve Rhodes in costume, possibly as War Machine, but as IGN points out, Rhodes first dons another suit in the comics. Howard told them, "If you've read the comics you'll know that that is the next phase, but there is another intermediate phase in there where he would have to put on his best friend's suit for a period of time."

Two new (and final) Iron Man posters have been revealed, the first of which is an international poster (seen above) and then a domestic poster (seen after the jump). There's not much of a difference between the two, except the international features a full length Terrence Howard and Robert Downey Jr., with helicopters in the background instead of the jets pictured in the domestic version. I totally geeked out over the last trailer that was released, and Iron Man has now officially hit my "Holy crap am I anticipating this flick" meter - just after The Dark Knight and just in front of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Oh yes, I'm giving Favreau the benefit of the doubt and itching to see this one just a little bit more than I am Indy. How about you?

Iron Man hits theaters on May 2.

[via Impawards and Richard]

A whole crop full of new photos from Iron Man have arrived online (via Gizmodo); two of which clearly show director Jon Favreau in full suit, as a bodyguard of some sort for Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.). The photo above shows Stark at a casino table with Jim Rhodes (Terrence Howard) and Favreau, while the photo below shows Favreau carrying Stark's clothing. (Is it just me, or does Favreau look as if he's auditioning for Men in Black 3?) Among the other photos, there's a pretty cool one of Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges), and then more of Stark in various Iron Man suits. Check out a bunch more after the jump; Iron Man arrives in theaters on May 2.

Pickings are a bit slim on the indie DVD shelves this week, but here are three titles that sound like they're worth checking out.

"Instead of grousing or hand wringing" about its topic -- why the US government hasn't been able to locate certain war criminals -- Jeffrey M. Anderson said that The Hunting Party "becomes a spry, surprising and intelligent comedy." Richard Gere stars as a reporter who convinces his former cameraman (Terrence Howard) to join him in tracking down an infamous war criminal. Richard Shepard wrote and directed. The DVD features an audio commentary by Shepherd, deleted scenes, a "making of," and interviews with the journalists featured in the magazine article that served as source material for the film.

Laurent Tirard's Molière "uses the titular French playwright's life as a jumping-off point for a fanciful tale of romance, duplicity, and acting, Acting, ACTING," according to Nick Schager. "What's missing, alas, is a greater sense of surprise that might keep the film from feeling somewhat rote." Still, it's hard to find eye candy that looks better than this cast: Romain Duris stars as the playwright; with Ludivine Sagnier and Laura Morante also featured. The DVD includes an audio commentary with the director and a "making of" feature.

If you're in the mood for an off-beat doc, Confessions of a Superhero (pictured) should cure what ails you. Our own James Rocchi says that the film examines four would-be actors making ends meet "by dressing as superheroes and posing with the tourists outside Graumann's Chinese Theater." (When I lived in Los Angeles, I always wondered about those people.) He felt that the film "never loses sight of pop culture or personal struggle, and sticks with you thanks to a careful mix of big images and small moment." The DVD includes a commentary track, deleted scenes and extended footage.

The Amateurs (formerly The Moguls), the directorial debut of writer/director Michael Traeger, is an underdog comedy about a group of small-town losers who decide to raise money by making a porno film. It's got a wonderful supporting cast that includes Joe Pantoliano, William Fichtner, Tim Blake Nelson, and Lauren Graham. Cinematical recently attended a press junket with the film's stars -- Jeff Bridges and Ted Danson, who were interviewed separately. Needless to say, meeting The Dude and Sam Malone in the same day was kind of a big deal! First up was Mr. Bridges...

What attracted you to the The Amateurs and the role of Andy?

Jeff Bridges: Like most of the movies I get involved with, I resisted it as long as possible. I always try to figure out why I shouldn't do it, and with this one there were plenty of reasons not to do it. What attracted me to it in the first place is that it was so unusual. It put this porn aspect and this Frank Capra aspect together, and I thought that was really interesting, very ambitious. But I didn't know if this guy who had never directed a film would be able to pull it off. Also, I've done movies in the past that have a lot of characters, and I find them hard to follow and you wind up not caring about any of the people, and I thought that might be the case with this one. But my representatives kept telling me I should do it, so finally I said "Alright. I want you guys to organize a reading, and I want you to see that this thing's not going to work at all." So we had a table read, and it just flew, it was just great. I think it works very well.

When the release started to get delayed, did any of that old skepticism start to come back, like maybe something did go wrong?

JB: No, I didn't really get all the ins and outs of why it didn't get released, it's very convoluted and I haven't heard all the sides and the stories, but it wasn't because of the nature of the film or anything like that. I think it was more business type stuff.

Cinematical has just received the first poster for Awake (click on the image for a larger version), starring Jessica Alba, Hayden Christensen and Terrence Howard. The film tackles one of my (and I'm sure most of you as well) worst fears of all time: staying awake on the operating table during surgery. I'm not talking about getting a tooth pulled, while the dentist numbs certain areas. I'm talking the real deal -- a guy suffers "anesthetic awareness" (meaning he's awake, aware and paralyzed) during heart surgery. God, just writing about that freaks me out to no end. I imagine the entire film could be about that; dealing with it, figuring out how to make it through alive.

Nope. Awake takes it one step further -- apparently, someone is also trying to kill him. Christensen plays the guy who goes under the knife, while Alba takes on the role of his wife, a woman who must make life-altering decisions while wrestling with her own personal drama. Did she plan the murder? Or is she simply a victim, like her husband? The poster reads: "Every year 21 million people go under anesthesia. One in 700 remain awake the entire time. When they planned her husband's murder, they never thought he'd be the one." Creepy. I dig it. Awake hits theaters on November 30; check out the trailer over on Moviefone.

After watching the new trailer for Awake, I can't say I'm any more likely to shell out my hard-earned dollars to go see this movie. But, I will give writer-director Joby Harold credit for coming up with a premise that is pretty disturbing if you think about it. I should tell you though, this is one of those trailers that makes the creative decision right up front to show you as much of the plot as possible -- I can't be alone in thinking it's a bad idea to give away any of your surprises if you can help it.

Awake stars Hayden Christensen as an affluent young man who has the unfortunate luck of being one in 700 people who stays 'awake' during a surgical procedure. As if that isn't bad enough, while paralyzed under the knife, he overhears his doctors discussing a conspiracy involving his own murder. Jessica Alba stars as his somewhat 'dazed' fiancée. I'm not really sure why she spends most of the trailer staring blankly. All I do know is that it probably won't help Christensen out in the chemistry department. Rounding out the cast are Terrance Howard as Christensen's friend and surgeon, and Lena Olin as his mother.

Both Alba and Christensen enjoyed other trailer releases this month with the US remake of The Eye and Doug Liman's Jumper. This is Harold's first feature film, although he had been attached to a Zack Snyder sequel to Dawn of The Dead. Snyder already has his hands full with his big screen version of The Watchmen, so it's doubtful we'll hear about the Dead project any time soon. Awake opens November 30th.

[via ComingSoon.net]

Cinematical was lucky enough to visit the set of Fighting last night in New York City, where Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard were shooting scenes for the new drama directed by Dito Montiel (A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints). It was a night shoot, and so this writer didn't leave the set until close to one in the morning (which was their lunch!), but before I bounced home to my bed, I managed to speak with Tatum for a bit about the role, and other -- more superhero-ish stuff -- that might be in store for the actor down the line. Of course, the first thing we were wondering was whether Tatum was among those who auditioned for the new Justice League of America movie.

Has he been approached to play any superhero roles? Tatum said, "Yeah, yeah, I mean a few, a few -- I don't know, I just can't quite see myself as that yet. I like that, and eventually one day I'd like to do it; I just don't want to do it yet." Did he audition for any of the Justice League roles? "No, none of the Justice League. The only superhero I've ever auditioned for was Gambit, for the third X-Men. They ended up pulling the character out of the movie. I don't know, someone told me about a crazy He-Man thing -- I don't know, I can't quite figure it out. I need to really want it. I can only go after something that I really want bad."

Tatum also revealed that there is one superhero-ish project that he is working on: "There is a hero thing that I'm actually producing. It's called Plucker. It's a graphic novel by Brom, and I got it set up at Temple Hill, and it's now set up at New Line -- it's going to be a crazy sort of fantastical story about a jack-in-the-box that saves this boy. It's a weird, sort of darker, trippier version of Toy Story." When asked if it would be animated or live action, Tatum replied, "I don't know, we have to find a director that has a vision for it first."

Could you see Channing Tatum in any superhero roles? If so, which ones?

Cinematical has just received the exclusive poster for The Perfect Holiday (click on the image for a larger version), starring the smokin' hot Gabrielle Union, Queen Latifah, Terrence Howard and Morris Chestnut. This looks to be one of them feel-good Christmas flicks (and we need at least one of those every year ... because it's nice to just feel good). In the film, Gabrielle Union stars as a divorced mother who's too busy raising her three kids, she never finds any time for herself. Ah, but her kids are paying attention -- and when they go to visit Santa at the local mall, they don't ask for a lousy football or a Red Rider BB Gun, they ask the jolly fat man for a nice gentleman to compliment their mother. Turns out Santa himself is a nice, good-looking guy in the form of Morris Chestnut, and, well, I imagine sparks fly from there. Based on the poster, it looks like there will be plenty of characters swirling around mom and her kids; some of which are dressed up as big ass elves. Also starring in the film are Malik Hammond, Charlie Murphy, Faizon Love, Jeremy Gumbs, Jill Marie Jones, and Rachel True. The Perfect Holiday was written, produced and directed by Lance Rivera (The Cookout, Life Support), and you can check it out in theaters on December 12.

Above, you'll find the first three minutes of Richard Shepard's (The Matador) new film The Hunting Party, starring Richard Gere, Terrence Howard and young Jesse Eisenberg. In the flick, Gere plays a journalist who teams up with his old cameraman (Howard) and a TV exec's son (Eisenberg) to hunt down an infamous war criminal named The Fox -- who also happens to have a $5 million bounty on his head. In his review of the film, our own Jeffrey M. Anderson said The Hunting Party "wants to know why the U.S. has been unable to find certain outlaws, when just about any civilian with a passport, the price of a drink and a line of B.S. can do it. But instead of grousing or hand wringing, it becomes a spry, surprising and intelligent comedy." Personally, I loved Shepard's last flick, The Matador, and based on these first three minutes, it looks like the guy has finally found his groove, his style, and, along with the right scripts, some fantastic actors. Additionally, you can also listen to James' interview with Shepard here. The Hunting Party is now in theaters.

If there was ever a song that had to be played in a specific trailer, it was Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" that had to be played in the spot for Paramount and Marvel's Iron Man. Well, Apple has the first trailer up -- apparently a good 12 hours earlier than planned -- with the appropriate tune and far more footage than I could have hoped for. For something called a teaser trailer, it shows us a lot: a fairly comprehensive montage of the first act; a battle scene in which Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) wears his first Iron Man suit; the final suit and a cool flight sequence in which it is showcased. Plus, there's jokes. Myspace jokes, gang sign jokes, Da Vinci jokes. It is obvious that Robert Downey Jr. was the right choice for the lead. Of course, as it is technically a teaser, we don't see more than a few quick shots each of Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges (bald and Malovichy!). But I think they also accidentally slipped in a party shot from Downey's Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.

I have to admit for the umpteenth time that I never cared for Iron Man in the comics, but in the movie he looks pretty cool. For those of you who aren't familiar with the character, Tony Stark is a millionaire weapons maker who develops an armored suit, which he uses to fight crime as Iron Man. Paltrow plays Stark's secretary/love interest, Pepper Pots. Howard plays Stark's best friend and future superhero, Jim Rhodes (aka War Machine). As the villain, Bridges plays Stark's rival, Obadiah Stane. Also in the film are Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Hilary Swank, Ghostface Killer and, of course, Stan Lee. The comic book adaptation was written by Arthur Marcum & Matt Holloway and Children of Men scribes Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby and it was directed by Jon Favreau (Elf). Iron Man hits theaters May 2, 2008.

Update: It seems Apple may have realized their error in putting the trailer up too early, because the Quicktime pages no longer seem to be working. Check out tonight's episode of The Hills on MTV in order to see the trailer, or wait for tomorrow to see it online. Meanwhile, you can see some screen caps from the trailer on MajorSpoilers.com.

Update II: Forget the first update. Perhaps too much traffic is causing the Quicktime files some stress.