Results tagged “Robert Downey Jr.” from Modern Mythology




Note: this video starts off in French for a minute or so but not all the way through.

There may have been some other behind-the-scenes videos for "Iron Man 2" but this eight-minute one from CanalPlus.fr is the first I've seen.

Director Jon Favreau and actor Robert Downey Jr. speak extensively about what and who Iron Man AKA Tony Stark will be up against and the ease of doing a sequel to a super hero film compared to the origin story set-up film.

In this new storyline, the military wants Stark's technology but the character is also acknowledged as being a hero.

"So he's living the life of someone who is both loved and detested," Favreau said in the video interview.

Downey Jr. discussed his experience working with filmmaker Guy Ritchie on "Sherlock Holmes" and that main character's bare-knuckle martial arts fighting skills. The kung fu practitioner told CanalPlus.fr that he was ready to rumble when principal photography began on "Iron Man 2."

"Anyone can put on a suit and kick ass but it's another thing to know how to fight," Downey Jr. said. "I came in excited to fight."

I hope he's ready, Mickey Rourke's Whiplash looks like he's going to be tough to handle.  The movie opens May 7, 2010.


 

 

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Robert Downey Jr., center, and director Jon Favareu, right, sing as producer Kevin Feige, left, looks on during a panel for their new movie "Ironman 2" at Comic-Con International 2009 convention held in San Diego Saturday, July 25, 2009. The annual comic book and popular arts convention attracts over 100,000 people and runs through Sunday July 26. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy)

SANDY COHEN
AP Entertainment Writer

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Robert Downey Jr. said he wish he could don a Mexican wrestling mask and stroll the Comic-Con floor to check out all the collectible toys and geeky-cool stuff. Peter Jackson joked about ducking out of a discussion with director James Cameron -- which drew thousands of fans to the San Diego Convention Center's largest meeting hall -- to walk the floor with fewer crowds.

Stars love Comic-Con -- and not just because it's a great place to promote their movies. They're moved by the passion of the fans, and it seems to rejuvenate their own passion for working in film.

Fans at the pop-culture convention "not only celebrate fantasy and science fiction and fantastic worlds, but they celebrate each other, and they celebrate their geekness, and there's a sense of solidarity," said Cameron, who premiered footage from his anticipated 3D sci-fi adventure, "Avatar," to conventioneers on Thursday. "And what this group does is they make filmmakers do better. Because if you don't live up to their standards, you're not going to get past this. This is the launch pad right here."

The stars of "Twilight" -- Taylor Lautner, Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart -- said fans' overwhelming response at Comic-Con helped make their first film such a success. Kristen Bell, a veteran of five Cons, said, "it's the best place for super-fans."

Director Tim Burton, who showed a piece of his forthcoming "Alice in Wonderland," said he first came to Comic-Con as an aspiring filmmaker in the 1970s.

"I saw a slide show for the first 'Superman.' People were very passionate about it and it kind of scared me," he said. "It's a very pure form of passion that it transcends business and anything else. Passion is a very good thing. And that's why you make movies that you hope people respond to, and so it's good to see and feel that energy here."

Actor Ben Foster, attending his second Comic-Con, also felt the fear.

"It's a zoo. It's a Halloween zoo," he said. "I have no idea how to process this place. It's funny. And then you have these waves of fear. ... I'm not accustomed to seeing this many people dressed up in samurai outfits and aliens, all in one space."

Comic-Con continues through Sunday.

 

AP Entertainment Writer Ryan Pearson contributed to this report.

 




On Christmas Day 2009 I will have a chance to redeem myself for going to see "The Spirit" last year.

Sure, the idea of Guy Ritchie at the helm of "Sherlock Holmes" may give you pause, but watch this trailer and tell me you aren't the least bit intrigued. As a director, Ritchie has dropped the ball on some flicks ("Swept Away") and he's been really entertaining with others ("Snatch").  

Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson?  What do you think?    
randys.jpgIs Iron Man kickin' it at Randy's Donuts in Inglewood?

On a Twitter post by "Iron Man 2" director Jon Favreau there's a photo of the iconic giant donut on top of Randy's. That donut is particularly iconic to 405 Freeway drivers with intense sugar cravings. For me, It's a sign that I have arrived in the city of Inglewood.

Anyway, thanks to photos from People and some sleuthing by MTV Splashpage the theory is that one of the small figures resting in the big donut is Robert Downey Jr. in partial Iron Man attire (Pictured on the right).

In the Marvel Comics universe Tony Stark A.K.A. Iron Man doesn't spend much time in Southern California but in the movie-verse he does.  So it stands to reason there would be a scene at Randy's. (Quite aThumbnail image for 050709_ironman2.jpg few other flicks shoot there too.)

Marvel also released a shot of Downey Jr. to fire up fans for May 2010 when the sequel is released.

Check out the different sets of armor in the background of that image below.



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ironman.jpgLOS ANGELES (AP) -- Robert Downey Jr. is officially back in the superhero business.

Production started Wednesday on "Iron Man 2," the sequel to his 2008 blockbuster about the Marvel Comics character.

Downey reprises his role as a billionaire genius who fights bad guys in a high-tech metal suit that's loaded with gadgets. "Iron Man 2" reunites Downey with co-star Gwyneth Paltrow and also features Don Cheadle, who replaces Terrence Howard as the superhero's military ally.

Mickey Rourke is signed on to play a villain, and the cast also includes Scarlett Johansson and Samuel L. Jackson, who had a cameo at the end of the first "Iron Man."

Jon Favreau is back directing again for the sequel that hits theaters May 7, 2010.

Thumbnail image for ledger.jpgContrary to some reports there were a few surprises this morning when the Academy announced its nominees.

For me it was Robert Downey Jr with a Best Supporting Actor nomination for "Tropic Thunder" (which I liked a lot) and writers Andrew Stanton and Jim Reardon for "WALL-E" for Best Original Screenplay.

The nomination for Heath Ledger was expected, especially after the posthumous Golden Globe win, but no love for "The Dark Knight"  in the Best Picture category.

Clint Eastwood was left out of the top categories as well for "Gran Torino."

There were 13 nominations for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."

This pits Ledger's performance against Philip Seymour Hoffman's in "Doubt" and Downey Jr.'s (very bold) actor-in-black face role in Tropic. (That's not as bad as it sounds but some other actor's scenes actually made me cringe.)

thunder.jpgAnyway, it's Iron Man vs. The Joker?  Game on.

View a complete list of nominees via The Los Angeles Times.





 
holmesweb.jpgBad guys going up against this Sherlock Holmes better not get caught because he may beat you down.

SlashFilm has the photographic skinny on this not-so-skinny Holmes played by the resurgent star Robert Downey Jr.

Director Guy Ritchie is at the helm of this new take on "Sherlock Holmes" and I hope the heat on Downey Jr. post "Iron Man" brings some back to Ritchie. The guy has terrific visual and editing skill and I am pulling for Holmes to work out.

I don't mind talking up Ritchie too much even if his film "RockNRolla" did not get a lot of love from the critics. Too many things can go wrong in making a movie sometimes and maybe this pairing is the right opportunity for Ritchie to get something back on track.
Iron_man.jpgNo way -- the guy from "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang?" The dude who played the actor dude who was playing another dude of a different ethnicity in "Tropic Thunder?" He's going to be an even bigger star than before?

Marvel Studios says yes to all of the above. Actor Robert Downey Jr. will reprise his role as Tony Stark/ Iron Man in "The Avengers," based on the Marvel Comics superhero team. That means the "Iron Man" team comes along, right?

Jon Favreau will produce the film and Don Cheadle is confirmed to come back as Jim Rhodes (WAR MACHINE) after "Iron Man 2" which should hit the screens in May 2010. More details can be found here at Comingsoon.net.

This is a huge triumph for Downey and Favreau who have been on the fringes of the mainstream with their earlier works. Favreau directed "Made," "Zathura" and "Elf." "Elf" was the big boxoffice hit for Favreau earning $220 million worldwide.

More later.




Robert Downey Jr. expects to strengthen his reign as current king atop the action/fantasy films mountain in the lead role of the Guy Ritchie directed "Sherlock Holmes."

Props to Entertainment Tonight for having this video interview with Downey and making it embed-ready for those of us who will appreciate him discussing 'Holmes.' Sorry, it auto plays so just click the picture below.

The film will also star Rachel McAdams ("Red Eye") as a super-intelligent master villain and is planned to drop in 2010. I believe we can expect "Ironman 2" around that time as well.

All this goodness is after the actor publicly looked "The Dark Knight" in the eye and fearlessly told DC Comics what he thought about the Batman film. That took some guts because now Downey can also expect to forgo that role in the "Justice League" movie he may have wanted. (Yeah, right.)

But that's not the real evidence of Downey's bravery - He's got guts for taking on this picture under the directorial eye of Guy Ritchie.

Ritchie is the guy fans of slick visual film making love to hate and hate to
love. You may not want to say you enjoyed "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" or "Snatch" but you did. His
miscues could be mentioned but he still has some style. Check the trailer to "Rocknrolla" and the interview with Downey below



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Jon Favreau talks 'Ironman 2'

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Iron_man.jpgRobert Downey Jr. and his band of hooligans are at it again. Downey has already told off DC Comics and now "Ironman" director Jon Favreau is representing by letting everyone know what's up with the sequel.

OK, maybe I made that sound more gangsta than it needs to be, but after reading that Rotten Tomatoes has some details-hints on the next Iron-film straight from Favreau then I had to talk trash on their behalf.

Yeah, "The Dark Knight" produced out of Warner Bros. and DC Comics is the great "geek movie" equalizer and will likely earn some film award love from the performance of a certain late actor. But Downey struck back by claiming the number one box office spot when "Tropic Thunder" knocked the Bat out of first place in its debut weekend.

So now Justin Theroux, the 'Tropic' screenwriter, will pen "Ironman 2" and Favreau is dropping hints about shooting some of it in IMAX. Sound familiar?

Sounds like there is a lot of enthusiasm in this project from the creators and it has potential to be as good as the first.

And while I know he is not as cool a villain as the Joker (by far), there is some mention by Favreau of how to handle Ironman's nemesis the Mandarin.

My suggestion? Diminish as many of those demeaning Asian-villain stereotypes as possible. Once again, check out the article here
thunder.jpgWith an estimated $26 million take against the estimated $16.7 million of "The Dark Knight," "Tropic Thunder" beat the box office champ last weekend.

This turn is following some anti-Knight sentiment from 'Thunder' co-star Robert Downey Jr., some protest of the use of the word "retard" in the film and, yeah, I'll say it ... a dude in blackface.

Under most circumstances this would bother me too if I didn't understand that "Tropic Thunder" is a movie about moronic people making a war movie. Audiences and critics (Entertainment Weekly gave it an 'A') apparently get it and placed no PC boundaries on their sense of humor.
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The film also stars Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Tom Cruise and 22-year-old Brandon T. Jackson, who plays a rapper turned actor. EW gives Jackson some love for his work as the straight man in this group of crazies.

Don't mourn for the 'Knight' because last week it moved ahead of "Star Wars" as the second highest grossing domestic film of all time. It is more than a $100 million short of "Titanic" and may burn out before reaching it.

I do hope it makes it to the top, not just for comic book movie supremacy, but so we can stop talking about "Titanic" being number one.

ironman.jpg I'm not sure whether Robert Downey Jr. meant it but if these reports are true he has caused a slight ripple in the internet force about his comments on THE DARK KNIGHT.

Downey, the star of Marvel Comics' IRON MAN, dismissed the film as too high brow in his comments to Moviehole and to top it off he said "F--k DC Comics. That's all I have to say and that's where I'm really coming from."

There have been those who have rushed to the defense of the star and suggested that maybe the movie was a little on the heartless side and others like the post at Slashfilm who call it a "bitch slap" to the biggest "fanboy movie of all time." 

I have had this discussion all ready... the Bat-flick didn't strike me as too high brow because I sort of knew where it was going as it was telling a story readers of the comics had seen depictions of.

That's a cheat on my part and I know it. Truth be told, I am still asking about what happened in a couple parts of the film. Does that make it too high brow? Nope, I think it was very good just unclear in some spots.

Was IRON MAN clear? Yeah, crystal clear and a lot of fun.

I suppose these comments was Downey's way of saying he's down with Marvel Comics. We'll see what happens, if Christian Bale disses IRONMAN maybe it'll stoke the fire of a renewed Marvel vs. DC feud. Either way it ought to be interesting.

And what about TROPIC THUNDER? Stay tuned...

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