Robert Downey Jr.

CHICAGO – Oliver Stone’s “Natural Born Killers” is easily one of the best films of the ’90s, an experimental, daring, visually mesmerizing study of not just violence but America’s obsession with it. At the peak of his directorial abilities, one of the best filmmakers of the ’80s and ’90s turned his lens on the way we turn evil people into tabloid heroes and he did it with such vibrant style that “NBK” has just as much resonance as it did fifteen years ago.

CHICAGO – Stars Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. do absolutely nothing wrong in Joe Wright’s “The Soloist,” now on Blu-Ray and DVD, and there’s more than enough inherent power in the story of a musical genius lost to mental illness and the horrible way we treat the homeless in this country for a quality drama, but this cinematic solo misses too many notes to have the impact that it should have with this much talent involved.

CHICAGO – For audiences increasingly accustomed to watching movies at home instead of at the multiplex, it was an interesting year for DVDs and Blu-rays.

CHICAGO – Heath Ledger’s searing performance as The Joker in “The Dark Knight” has been earning acclaim all year and the late actor landed a posthumous Golden Globe nomination this morning when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association revealed their choices for the best of 2008.

CHICAGO – For “Tropic Thunder” star and Chris Tucker protégé Brandon T. Jackson, the fictional Booty Sweat literally is his Hollywood calling card.

CHICAGO – While the leap from 2008 blockbuster film “Iron Man” to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s titular mega sleuth wouldn’t seem the most logical next move for “A”-lister Robert Downey Jr., he will indeed play perhaps the most famed detective in literary history: Sherlock Holmes.

CHICAGO – The 62nd-annual Tony Awards, which were held on Sunday night, reflect a diverse but weak year for original theatre. Revivals bested originals nine to two.

CHICAGO – Technology has done double-edged service and disservice to the legendary Hulk superhero character from Stan Lee’s Marvel Comics.

In peering at the CGI-created ripped body of nothing remotely reminiscent of Edward Norton, the 2008 film iteration of “The Incredible Hulk” has a leg light years up on Lou Ferrigno’s character in the 1978 television series of the “The Incredible Hulk”.

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 – 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.