Adam Fendelman

CHICAGO – While Hollywood slapped “PG” on the hotly anticipated “Speed Racer” to line its pocketbooks with the widest hodgepodge of people (ahem: kids) everywhere, those same kids will leave the theater with that lollipop nearly sucked to the stick but then yanked away with confusion.

CHICAGO – Move over, Superman. This lush, high-octane playboy never tasted so good.

Robert Downey Jr. fittingly opens “Iron Man” with a cocktail in hand and all the arrogance in the world. As the story goes, his conceit is indeed respected as Earth is his oyster both for the playing and for the taking. With the American marketing machine in full effect for 2008’s first summer blockbuster, the inaugural one lives up to the buildup.

CHICAGO – As a testament to its set design, it wasn’t immediately clear if certain structures were naturally part of the Strawdog Theatre space or if they were fabricated specifically for the “Old Town” production.

CHICAGO – The Texas “killer burger” is literally sold right across the street from a state-mandated death house that brings convicted felons to their legal demise.

CHICAGO – While Johnny Depp’s portrayal of the demon barber of Fleet Street in the 2007 film iteration sells you on his fiendish ways, actor and singer David Hess in the musical bobbles more in purgatory rather than living hysterically in hell.

CHICAGO – The Joker played nice on Thursday and delivered new fan fruit for “The Dark Knight”: a movie poster sporting the new statement “welcome to a world without rules”. He used his popular viral site WhySoSerious.com to unleash the award.

CHICAGO – Chicago’s John Cusack will play a mad scientist’s hunchbacked lab assistant in the animated feature film “Igor” from The Weinstein Company.

CHICAGO – Following our recent interview with “Young@Heart” director Stephen Walker, choral director Bob Cilman and choral member Dora Morrow, we’re now announcing a new HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film that you’re guaranteed to win so long as you reply in time.

CHICAGO – Paramount Pictures on Monday released a flood of new production stills for the highly anticipated film “Iron Man” with Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Samuel L. Jackson, Hilary Swank, Leslie Bibb and Stan Lee. Directed by Jon Favreau, the film opens on May 2, 2008.

CHICAGO – After being blitzed by an onslaught of attention-demanding advertising that begged the question “who is Sarah Marshall?” even before you realized it’s a film, anticipation was ravenous.