The Avengers has come and gone, and now we get to see Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) dealing with the trauma he apparently experienced in New York. He has insomnia, and it strains both his work on the latest Iron Man suit as well as his relationship with Pepper (Gwyneth Paltrow). His bodyguard Happy (Jon Favreau) is now head of security for Stark Industries. And, all around the world, there’s broadcasts from a strange terrorist figure named “The Mandarin” (Ben Kingsley).
The movie opens with Stark recounting a New Year’s Eve party way back in 1999. He’s at a conference in Bern, trying to bed a buxom botantist, Maya (Rebecca Hall) before the year’s turnover. He’s interrupted by pimply geek Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce), who’s trying to start a think tank and wants Stark’s help. Stark blows him off, and if the use of Guy Pearce didn’t already suggest it, Stark states outright that it was the beginning of trouble.
Thirteen years later, Aldrich shows up at Stark Industries, again seeking support, though he does seem more interested in rubbing everyone’s nose in his success. He has created a new whatsit kind of technology called “Extremis” that allows the brain to regenerate tissue…and, somehow, make the patients melt things with their hands. (Dr. Curt Conners from the latest Spiderman films is going to be smacking his head with his tail when the inevitable crossover comes.)
Earlier this week, we got a new poster and the first official look at the Mandarin. Now, here it is folks, the first trailer for Iron Man 3 starring Robert Downey, Jr. and written/directed by Shane Black, the guy who wrote Lethal Weapon. In this one Tony Stark “has his back against the wall on a quest to find his enemy. He also discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man?”
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say it’s a bit of both. Of course, there’s also another question that needs to be answered: Is he getting too old for this shit?
Iron Man 3, which also stars Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle and Ben Kinsgley, will be in theaters in Digital 3D and RealD on May 3, 2013.
Steven Soderbergh seems to have found his new Clooney, as Matt Damon has helped the man snag a #1 spot twice now with The Informant! and as of this weekend, Contagion.
Hard to believe a film about a virus wiping out the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Jude Law, and Laurence Fishburne could bring in $25 million worldwide in the first weekend, but that’s just what it’s done. Not terrible, considering the film’s budget was a measly $60 million (most of which likely went to the ensemble cast).
Following up in the top 5, The Help finally got knocked from its #1 spot for the first time in 3 weeks and finally hit the $140 million mark. In third, another new release, as the “Rocky of UFC” movie, Warrior, opened to a quiet response, with only $5.6 million.
In fourth place, political thriller The Debt managed to drop off significantly from last week and only pull in an estimated $5 million this weekend.
Even though he’s said he’s going to retire from film directing soon, that hasn’t stopped Steven Soderbergh from continuing to make some pretty great films. From his first effort Sex, Lies and Videotape through one of my favorites The Limey, the Oceans 11 trilogy, Traffic and more he’s constantly demonstrated his skills as a storyteller.
This time around he’s turned his attention to something that scares the crap out of many people: a virus that can kill all humans. In his latest film Contagion, Soderbergh tells the story of a virus that mutates quickly and starts killing the world’s population faster than we can find a way to stop it.
The film features an amazing ensemble cast including Matt Damon, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Marianne Cotillard, Kate Winslet, John Hawkes and Gwyneth Paltrow who, sadly, doesn’t seem to have a happhy ending in this one. We’ve got the brand new trailer for the film to share with you right here.
Gotta say this looks pretty good. Also, it looks pretty scary.
Check out Contagion on September 9th. See the trailer after the break.
File this one under guilty pleasure. This sudsy soap opera is set against the angst-ridden world of country music, and it jams everyLifetime Televisioncliché imaginable into a running time just shy of two hours. There’s a constant barrage of booze, drugs, depression, adultery, love, and loss. I’d be flat out lying if I said I didn’t enjoy it immensely.
If you are the type of person who can’t wrench yourself away from the Lifetime Movie Network (guilty as charged) you will eat this stuff up. I’m already fantasizing about when this movie will go into heavy rotation on cable.
I can’t really defend the movie as fine film making. It’s a mess of a story that jumps all over the place. Writer and director Shana Feste seemed to try to cram way too many storylines into the film, and it suffers as a consequence. It’s also not particularly original, if you have ever seen any movie about the country music industry.
However, what this film has got going for it is Gwyneth Paltrow, and a talented supporting cast. Gwyneth seems like a ridiculous choice to play a country western star. She’s an elitist blueblood actress who was born into a heavy-hitting Hollywood family (Blythe Danner is her mother, the late Bruce Paltrow was her father) and has alienated a lot of her fans with her self-righteous Goop website.
