Posts Tagged ‘robert downey jr.’

  • 27 Apr

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    Review: The Soloist

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    The Soloist one sheet

    Director: Joe Wright (Pride & Prejudice, Atonement)
    Book: Steve Lopez
    Screenplay: Susannah Grant
    Producers: Gary Foster , Russ Krasnoff
    Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Jamie Foxx, Catherine Keener
    MPAA Rating: PG-13
    Running time: 109 min

    (3/5)

    Has there been in recent memory a more maligned film by virtue of its marketing campaign than Joe Wright’s The Soloist? Like the overkill of the Vantage Point trailers in every theater and seemingly in front of every film I saw in 2008, The Soloist was sold to the public in a way which had an adverse effect, sure people were talking about it, but what they had to say wasn’t pretty. Shelved nearly half a year, the film is being unloaded the weekend before the summer movie season begins, a notorious dumping ground for beleaguered projects. Is this a colossal fuck-up by the marketing department, a heavy-handed trailer edit of the movie’s dramatic value to court the Academy’s quaint notions of worth, or is the source material ultimately at fault?

    Having now seen the film, I would have to say it’s a bit of both. The uncomfortably naïve evocation of liberal guilt and white man’s burden as depicted through the trials and tribulations of L.A. Times reporter, Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.), in his efforts to befriend Nathaniel Ayers, a Julliard trained musician since homeless (Jamie Foxx), is palpable in the script. Driven home through the voice-overs as Steve talks into his tape recorder and through the clumsy exposition as he confides to his ex-wife (Catherine Keener), the story is forever pivoting around social touchstones that make this just the kind of touchy feely public interest column that I suspect garnered Lopez his book deal in the first place. The only saving grace in the storytelling is that the mental issues that Nathaniel is dealing with are not reduced to some particular event, even though strangely the flashbacks seem to suggest that just such a revelation is around the corner.
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  • 08 Dec

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    For Your Consideration: Kirk Lazarus for Best Supporting Actor

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    Paramount has been releasing For Your Consideration ads for the upcoming Oscar season. Except in a simple stroke of hilarity, they are making the push for Kirk Lazarus rather than Robert Downey Jr. – check it out for yourself (under the seat)

    True, these campaign ads are made with their tongues placed firmly in their cheeks, but to go in line with the film, I think this is Paramount’s legit way of pushing for that Oscar nod. I’ve been saying it since I saw Tropic Thunder on that fateful day: an Oscar nomination for RDJ is very likely – and deservedly so. While the movie itself isn’t without major flaws, RDJ gives what can only be described as an epic comedic performance.

    Sure, we all know who is going to win Best Supporting Actor this year (at least I have no doubts), but that doesn’t mean Mr. Downey doesn’t deserve some the recognition anyway.

    “I don’t read the script. The script reads me.”

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  • 10 Sep

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    Trailer for Joe Wright’s The Soloist

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    The Soloist Movie StillWhen I see the name Joe Wright, the first thought that comes into my mind is “Event Film”. It started with Pride & Prejudice which Wright made his own even though he had the odds stacked high in front of him. Can anything really be as good as the BBC version? Likely not but Wright’s attempt was great in its own way.

    Then there was last year’s Atonement, a film which some people felt was undeservedly well praised and though I agree that it’s not perfect, it’s difficult to dispute Wright’s talent. Though both films have been both critical and box office successes, his name isn’t exactly “household” but that may all be about to change.

    The Soloist stars Jamie Foxx as a talented Celloist living on the streets, and man of the moment Robert Downey Jr. as a reporter who meets the talented player and sees an opportunity for a story. Catherine Keener also makes an appearance though it’s not quite clear how large her role is.

    It’s a bit odd seeing the modern world through Wright’s camera, mostly because I’m so used to the period pieces, but the trailer suggests that it’s the same Joe Wright (it features a few of his key trademarks – sweeping camera movements and a lingering on faces). At the moment, this is my most anticipated film of the year (right up there with Blindness).

    The Soloist opens November 21st.

    Trailer is tucked under the seat!

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  • 22 Aug

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    More Tidbits on Sherlock Holmes

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    Guy Ritchie had a little chat with USA Today about his upcoming Sherlock Holmes adaptation. People seem to be pretty unsure about where he is taking this, the tone of the film, and how far it will stray from the source material. Myself, I’m very eager to find out and having very little connection to the original source material, I won’t be particularly offended or annoyed if they do stray.

    “It will be a very big production, visceral and intellectual,” Ritchie says. “His brilliance will percolate into the action. His intellect was as much of a curse as it was a blessing. He was a deeply layered character.”

    They’re aiming for a 2010 release and it will indeed be set “in the olden days.” As stated before, the movie will focus on both Holmes’s brilliant deduction, as well as his skills as a fighter. Doing some research, it was referred to quite a bit in the stories that he could have been a great prize-figther, that he knew martial arts, and that he had no qualms with punching people out if need be.

    The villain hasn’t been announced yet, but there will be a character based on sort-of love interest Irene Adler – the most notable female figure from the Holmes stories.

    RDJ – who is hotter now than he has ever been – became involved because his wife Susan was a producer on Ritchie’s upcoming RocknRolla. RDJ wanted to work with Ritchie and Ritchie – citing RDJ’s accent as “flawless” – wanted to work with RDJ. It seemed like a match made in heaven.

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  • 19 Aug

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    Cinecast Episode 95 – Fcuking Amazing!

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    cinecast_promo.jpg Matt Gamble

    Episode 95:
    In which Mr. Matt Gamble of Wherethelongtailends.com joins the fray to help discuss Tropic Thunder, some more Woody Allen, a new top ten list and other goodies and tangents.

    Click the little Audio Icon until we get our Widget back in order:

    Cinecast Episode 95 [ 0:01 | 92.05 MB ] Play Now | Play in Popup

    To download the show directly, paste the following URL into your favorite downloader:
    http://www.rowthree.com/audio/episode95.mp3

    Unwrap the complete Show Notes…
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  • 19 Aug

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    Rank ‘Em: Robert Downey Jr. Films

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    A little older. A little wiser.

    Since this is officially The Summer of RDJ, let’s get a little discussion going on the man and his movies. Everybody knows about his run-ins with the law, the times he spent in prison, his career being all but over after being given so many chances. Some of these younger folk that are now beginning to idolize him this summer don’t realize that Robert Downey Jr. has been prevalent in the business since the mid-80s (did you know he even spent a season on Saturday Night Live in 1985?). Decades from now, we’re going to see a biopic made of this man and all of his struggles, because really, he is one-of-a-kind.

    So, without further ado, here’s my top ten.

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  • 15 Aug

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    Review: Tropic Thunder

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    forgettingsarahmarshall.JPG

    Director: Ben Stiller
    Screenplay: Ben Stiller, Justin Theroux, Etan Cohen
    Starring: Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Jay Baruchel, Brandon T. Jackson
    MPAA Rating: R
    Running time: 107 min

    (3.5/5)

    I have to admit that I was one lucky camper to be able to find my way into the Los Angeles premiere of Tropic Thunder this past week (yeah, I’m bragging a bit – I can’t help myself). Once I got over the dizziness that goes along with being a little starstruck, I made my way into the plush theatre, plopped my butt down on the seat, and as the film began to roll I knew within the first few minutes – a collection of fake trailers that put those in Grindhouse to shame – that I was in for something real spectacular… and spectacular it was.

    The movie follows a director (Steve Coogan) and group of actors who are shooting a big-budget Hollywood war film based on the memoirs of an old veteran named Four Leaf Tayback (Nick Nolte). After disaster strikes the set due to a clash of the actors’ egos, the film itself is put in jeopardy by a greedy studio executive (Tom Cruise in a hopeful image-changing role), Four Leaf tells the director that the only way to save the movie is to film it by throwing them right into the middle of the Vietnam jungle and use hidden cameras to capture it all – “guerilla style” as the director appropriately puts it. Naturally, things don’t go as planned, and they are quickly mistaken by a drug lord as being real American soldiers. Hilarity – and plenty of action – ensue.

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  • 04 Aug

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    Downey Jr. Talks Sherlock Holmes

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    Boy oh boy, am I the only one who thinks it has been way too long since I wrote something about Robert Downey Jr.? Raise of hands? Yep, thought so. So, it’s great to hear him have something to say about one of his upcoming projects, this one being Guy Ritchie’s take on probably the most famous detective in fiction, Sherlock Holmes.

    He reveals that the tale will be all-new, not based on any of Arthur Conan Doyle’s previous stories and he once again confirms that Holmes’s passion for boxing and martial arts (something from the original books, but not focused on very much in adaptations) will be central to the story.

    “Sherlock Holmes, we start October 6th. Guy Ritchie’s take on it was that…it’s like [we’ll be] making a contemporary version of a very classic portrayal of exactly how it was. But it’s not telling one of the stories from one of the books or anything like that. Watson… it’s all there. The cool thing about Sherlock Holmes was he’s actually a very skilled martial artist. So it’s going to have elements of that… it’s not just his deduction and all that stuff. It’s going to be a very action-packed version of that. To me it’s really exciting. I’m always training. I’m big into martial arts. We’re putting together a team of people, we’re going to try to do something a little more transcendent and interesting. I love the idea of martial arts and bare-knuckle boxing… before the Queensbury rules, where it was all kind of proper, it was this real balls-to-the-wall, brutal type stuff. Guy Ritchie’s a martial artist, and martial arts student…so we’re going to have a real fun time doing all that.”

    It should definitely be an interesting take on the famed detective, especially to an audience that is used to the pipe, the hat, and all of the mind-boggling reasoning, and not a Holmes that will kick ass and take names. For me, what I’m looking forward to most is hearing RDJ’s British accent again.

    But for you, would you rather see the more classic, less action-oriented take on Sherlock Holmes or are you looking forward to this as a (hopefully) smart, action-driven flick? And who should be playing Watson here?

    Source: IESB

  • 14 Jul

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    Tropic Thunder in Theatres Two Days Early

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    We just heard through the grapevine that Tropic Thunder is set for release on August 13th now instead of August 15th. Personally it seems a bit strange to be pushing movies forward unless there is a holiday or if the movie has been really hyped up. Given that, I’ll still be there on opening night to catch this one. Everything I’ve seen from Tropic Thunder has me pumped for this one.

    Tropic Thunder
  • 10 Jul

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    Robert Downey Jr. is the Next Holmes

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    Robert Downey Jr.I started writing a post about this earlier today only to realize that Jonathan noted that Robert Downey Jr. was already in talks to star in one of the two upcoming Sherlock Holmes films – namely the “serious” one being directed by Guy Ritchie. Yeah, it’s interesting news but it’s not new yet Downey Jr. is now enough of a big player to get coverage over his every move.

    I’ll follow suit, mostly to bring up something else. It has now been confirmed that the great Robert Downey Jr. will star in Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes which is in the pipeline for a 2010 release.

    I love the fact that Downey Jr. has re-entered the Hollywood stratosphere and is getting the attention he deserves but I’m curious to see if he’ll ever make the return to smaller filmmaking. Like Christian Bale, have these actors become such big stars that we’ll never see them in another Chaplin or American Psycho? I’d like to think not but looking at both of these actor’s upcoming filmographies, I don’t see anything of particular interest and sadly, it feels like we’ve “lost” two great actors to the Hollywood blockbuster/celebrity machine. I sincerely hope that’s not the case but it certainly feels that way at the moment. The best I can hope for is that even within the trappings of big studio/big money productions, they continue to expand their horizons and provide viewers with the top notch performances we’ve come to expect. At least in that respect, it looks as though Downey Jr. and Bale will not disappoint.

  • 09 Jul

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    Tropic Thunder: Rain of Madness

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    Before the thunder… comes the madness.

    Here’s a documentary about the harsh realities involved in the making of Tropic Thunder. I won’t say any more, just watch it.




    Check out the official site while you’re at it! Seeing stuff like this above and the recent Hellboy 2 promotions really makes me want to get into marketing.

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