Directed by: Jon Favreau

Written by: Mark Fergus, Hawk Ostby, Art Marcum, Matt Holloway

Based on the classic Marvel characters created by Stan Lee, Don Heck, Larry Lieber, Jack Kirby

Starring: Robert Downey Jr, Terrence Howard, Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leslie Bibb, Shaun Toub, Faran Tahir, Bill Smitrovich, Clark Gregg, Jon Favreau, Stan Lee, Paul Bettany (voice)

Distributed by Paramount Pictures but the first fully financed movie from Marvel Studio’s

Film is released worldwide this week (April 30 - May 2nd 2008)… check your local cinema for exact date & time of first showings.

Review by Matt Holmes

There’s a moment in Iron Man when Tony Stark takes flight to the sky’s in full control of his faithfully adapted red and gold suit, looking way more convincing in the air than the ridiculous amount of money spent by rival studio Warner Brothers on their Superman character two years ago that I began to think - isn’t it great to see how far comic book movies have come in the last ten years.

Memories have soon began to fade of 20th Century Fox and their rather tepid first attempt at the X-Men franchise, not quite sure how it was going to perform despite some big name casts. They were adamant and Bryan Singer certainly complied - in grounding the film down in reality as much as humanely possible which of course meant a travesty when the suits turned up on screen and they all looked the same. Lame black all around and the characters lost much of the personality that their own individual attire had given them for years in the printed and animated form.

Fast forward to 2008, comic books have never been this popular for such a long time - adults are coming back to the medium and it’s no doubt in some part due to this terrific cinematic movement that has ruled this decade of film. By the screening I saw tonight folks - we have come an extremely long way. Iron Man will rival Spider-Man 2 as the most faithfully adapted superhero film of all time.

Everything is here that fans of the comic have come to enjoy.

The perfectly cast (not just because of his off screen persona… but also how this has played into and often heightened his on screen roles), cocky, womanising, playful, smart, witty and insanely watchable Robert Downey Jr is a revelation as billionaire playboy Tony Stark who believes he is promoting peace by creating weapons which stroke fear into the rest of the world because they only needed to be fired once to cause ultimate destruction and are not created to be left on the shelf. “Worked pretty well so far” for the U.S. Stark says - we have a comic book movie here with some political intentions on it’s mind and one that is well aware of it’s country’s reputation in the world.

Iron Man, maybe in part down to it’s older and more experienced cast like a certain Batman Begins - feels much more adult than any Marvel superhero that has so far made into on screen with the possible exception of The Punisher which went a little too dark. It’s attempt at socio-political issues (which is actually something extremely faithful to Stan Lee’s original vision) is commended and the plot that isn’t necessarily about saving the world but has more to do with the war on terror - actually makes a refreshing change. As does a romance between a superhero and the main female lead which actually has sparks.

Their chemistry is super red hot - matching Gwyneth Paltrow’s fine hairdo as loyal assistant Pepper Potts. I actually hated her casting the first time it was mentioned but to her credit, she gives her most energetic and enjoyable performance in years. You feel something for them here and you care about their relationship, though her part may be slightly under-written.

As was Terrence Howard’s role as good pal Jim Rhodes - who in this movie acts as the go between for Stark and U.S. military, allowing him to get away with things normal people just won’t be able to do. More of him next time would be great but it seems like his character is in it for the long haul.

As for the villain, I enjoyed much of what Jeff Bridges did when he was playing the warm-hearted friend and mentor to Tony and as we have seen in the past he makes a terrific bad guy but as soon as he puts on the suit he kinda bores ya. But he’s a good first villain - similar kind of arc to Liam Neeson’s part in Begins and although hardly memorable - it is difficult to stand above this film’s lead.

So it’s pretty kick ass over all. The action sequences for the most part are terrific - it manages to fulfil all the summer blockbuster criteria of big explosions, gadgets and the like with the special effects staying extremely high with very little moments of disappointment.

Iron Man is the movie Michael Bay tried or maybe should have tried a lot harder to make with the Transformers. It’s well written, doesn’t fully insult your intelligence, it’s lauded with great jokes and one-liners but not the “let’s creep around so the parents can’t see us” kind and is made by a director who understands this material - and knows exactly what he is doing.

Director Jon Favreau who is really making a big step up from his usual fare here (Elf, Zathura, Swingers) directs his first big-budget action vehicle and does it very well and he should be extremely proud of his work here. There’s more talented and experienced directors who have attempted this genre and haven’t been as successful as Favreau. His love for the character and his undeniable high production values and commitment in creating a unique and interesting feel for Tony Stark and his world is very much to the film’s huge benefit. He knows what the fans want and for the most part he has delivered it.

There are plenty of problems to be hard here for sure. As is beginning to become the norm with comic book movies, the third act is absolutely terrible. It feels majorly rushed, never seems to run at a coherent pace and when the big battle comes at the end you have dialogue and awkwardness which sometimes suggests why a literal adaptation of a comic book page is not the way to go.

I think this will come apparent from more frequent viewings but 2/3rd’s of the flick are great. 85% of the movie rules.

It was a brave move when Marvel decided to stop letting other studio’s play with their characters and to start fully financing the movies themselves but it has paid off big time here. This is a proper comic book film which is one of the best to watch as an adult. There’s so much potential for this series of films and the universe Marvel is creating if they continue making films as loud and brass as this.

This is very much a Robert Downey Jr vehicle and it’s great to see him fully blown into the spotlight here. This is an extremely bold and confident start from Marvel and I’m very much excited to see where this is taken. We get hints to lots of future things here… including mentions of a certain organisation and maybe next time we shall get a look at War Machine. “Next time baby, next time” says Jim Rhodes 2/3rd’s into the movie.

And I would be happy to see it. Bring on the sequel!

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Lionsgate have pulled the upcoming slasher film The Midnight Meat Train starring a psychopathic Vinnie Jones from it’s upcoming slate but it wouldn’t appear it’s because they are ready to dump the film.

Instead Bloody Disgusting report that it’s because they wanted to change the title of the film. It will now simply be named Midnight Train…

The film stars Bradley Cooper as a struggling New York photographer who attempts to catch “the subway butcher” on film in an effort to make himself a ton of cash. Leslie Bibb will play the photographer’s girlfriend, whilst Brooke Shields will play the art gallery owner who “befriends” him.

The film is based on a series of Clive Barker short stories titled “Books of Blood” released in the 1980’s and is gory as hell!

You can see the film’s pretty cool trailer HERE. The film is directed by Japanese helmer Ryuhei Kitamura.

Warner Bros. must really have been disappointed with the final cut of Michael Dougherty’s debut film Trick ‘r Treat which was played to the studio at an exclusive screening last night. Bloody Disgusting are today reporting that WB have decided NOT to release the movie - they deem it unmarketable.

The tongue-in-cheek slasher flick which looks to have been made along the same lines as The Tripper and Hatchet - was set to open last Halloween but was pushed back to the Spring when WB were worried about the potential of Saw IV taking away it’s audience. Or so they said at the time.

The real truth is now out and it’s obvious they weren’t confident on making any money on the movie.

Legendary Pictures will now begin shopping the film around distributors hoping to find a buyer who will give it a theatrical run.

In their favour is a cast of actors who may not be stars but they are recognisable faces to movie going audiences. Anna Paquin, Dylan Baker, Brian Cox and Leslie Bibb topline the cast.

The film features four interwoven stories that occur on Halloween: An everyday high school principal has a secret life as a serial killer; a college virgin might have just met the one guy for her; a group of teenagers pull a mean prank; a woman who loathes the night has to contend with her holiday-obsessed husband.

You can see the trailer below.

I thought the movie looked quite fun and I had been anticipating it quite a bit. Reminded me of the best horrors of the 80’s and it seemed a lot more self conscious than most slasher films this decade. Shame…

Written & Directed by: Goran Dukic

Based on the original short story from Etgar Keret

Starring: Patrick Fugit, Shannyn Sossamon, Tom Waits, Shea Wigham, Will Arnett, Leslie Bibb, John Hawkes, Sarah Roemer

Distributed by: Autonomous Films

Film will be released 23rd November 2007 in the U.K.

Review by Michael Edwards

On hearing about Wristcutters: A Love Story, I was very very excited: based on a short story by one of the greatest short story writers around (Etgar Keret), Goran Dukic’s feature debut has some seriously enticing subject matter to work with.

The premise is that a young man slashes his wrists and dies, only to find himself in a weird and depressing afterlife for people who ‘off themselves’ (commit suicide). Stuck in this grey, strange-yet-somehow-familiar world Zia (Patrick Fugit) sets about the arduous task of existence again. But one day he learns that his girlfriend killed himself soon after he did, and resolves to head off with his newfound friend Eugene (Shea Whigham) and search for her. The journey becomes a quirky road-trip, rife with all of the subtle dark humour that material of Keret’s quality has to offer… of, and of course they pick up an additional female companion or two along the way… just to spice things up.

In terms of how it converted from the original short story, I am bound to be critical given my dedication to the tale’s original form. But I have to say that despite the slight kinks in converting the story and characters from their distinctly Israeli origins into a neat Western package, and the hamming up of a few of the sentimental moments, it has worked pretty well. And importantly, the film did not skimp on any of the surreal aspects of this bizarre afterlife. The appearance of Kneller - played by the grand master of indie film acting, Tom Waits - heralds the great mixture of absurdly unimportant miracles (fish changing colour, discarded matching floating off into the sky and so on), and his bunch of oddball cohabitant including a mute Eskimo and a rambling eccentric prone to getting lost, all grace the screen with surprisingly understatement that fits so well into the weirdly muted afterlife, but could so easily have descended into farce. I do have to admit however, that I was mildly disappointed that the scene involving a talking dog who names himself ‘Saddam’ because of his ’sick sense of humour’ was not brought across from the original story. But ignoring my personal opinions briefly, I’m told that Etgar Keret had other offers to make the film but Dukic was the only one to produce a screenplay, and Keret ok’d the script himself, so who am I to disagree.

The central message of the film also remains the same in its nuanced series of observations about the nature of (after)life, the tangents which can lead to results you never sought/expected, the delusions we lead ourselves to believe when we’re caught in a moment or stuck in a rut, the benefits of freeing yourself of worry once in a while. All of these things spring up in witty, though not really laugh-out-loud, moments of insight which are likely to strike a chord with many people out there.

In all of this, the fact remains that the main draw to this film lies in the uniqueness of the short story on which it’s based. The great contrast of what is essentially an uplifting, humourous road trip tale with the grey, mundane background of an ironic afterlife rovides a welcome change from the mixed back of road movies and comedies we’ve had this year. But the cinematography was largely uninspired in my humble opinion - most of the shots were well placed, and mood was captured nicely through well-chosen scenery and good use of colour contrast, but there were just so many interesting ideas and images that I felt could have been given a far more fun treatment. But, of course, this is all tainted with my original readings of a favourite short story! And this does also ignore the fundamental sense that the director managed to imbue the film with an innate ‘coolness’. We can see this in the use of NY punk cabaret band Gogol Bordello for Eugene’s band, the presence of one of the last remaining beatniks in Tom Waits, the edgy performance of Shannyn Sossamon and the brilliant fact that the most used instrument in the final score was a kazoo! So, loathe as I am given my minor concerns and my recent spate of high ratings in other reviews, I think I have to give this one a good score because in my heart of hearts I really believe it’s a well-made film based on some interesting and original writing that is bound to provide a memorable cinematic experience.

Wristcutters: A Love Story is out in the UK on November 23rd 2007