This time last year, when the heavyweights of Summer 2008 were being announced, few would have considered Iron Man much of a contender against the return of Batman and Indiana Jones. At least I didn’t. I never held much stock in this Marvel creation compared to X-Men and Spiderman and the likes.

But….

Starting with the initially bizarre but incredibly smart move of naming Swinger Jon Favreau as director and following one of the best casting moves ever by naming Robert Downey Jr. as the new Tony Stark, it was starting to look like Marvel’s first solo endeavour was full of the kind of risky, ballsy moves that give lazy studio execs nightmares.

Now, after taking a look at the trailer, it’s clear that their risks are paying off and Iron Man has now shot up my list of Summer hopefuls. Favreau is clearly keeping things light and comedic here, but in a cool way, not like the pantomimic comic-book laughs of the Fantastic Four, Daredevil and countless other Marvel misfires. Robert Downey Jr. comes across as slick and hilarious as ever and if you ask me, that man can do no wrong. Truly one of the greatest and coolest actors around, this role should do for his career what Jack Sparrow did for Mr. Depp.

So, it’s time to officially get excited about Iron Man. The dark horse of Summer 2008. Click below for the latest trailer in standard or HD, courtesy of IGN.

 Trailer

Dave Corkery

Where have all the good action heroes gone?

Besides Jason Bourne, our current movie decade’s hero output pales in comparison to 80s cinema. The Reagan era of gung-ho all American heroes is ancient history, replaced by renegade good guys that run from their own government instead of fighting for it. Is it any wonder then that Bruce Willis and Sylvester Stallone have optimistically re-donned their filthy vests and tank tops to once again dodge explosions and be too old for this shit? No, it’s not.

So, what reason has Rambo to kill people with his shirt off this time? Some God-faring blonde chick, that’s who. When we first revisit our hero, he’s living the simple life that we all dream of; as a cobra-farmer in Thailand (we’ve all had that dream, right?)

Richie Davies

The problem facing anybody who enters the Alien and Predator franchise is the expectation of the films’ cult-like following. The Aliens anthology boasts a wealth of significant input, from Ridley Scott, James Cameron and young wipper-snapper David Fincher, and in that sense has a lot to lose (granted, Alien Resurrection and AVP tainted the body of work). The Predator franchise, despite its immense following (myself included), must be perceived as an example of schlock Horror that it clearly is (entertaining nonetheless).

Dave Corkery

Now that I’ve finally figured out how to get audio on the site, here’s a review of Juno I did for Spin FM’s ‘We Love Movies’ a couple of weeks back.

The ‘Cult Corner’ feature that the presenter, Gordon Hayden mentions at the end is a regular series that we’ve been doing, which focuses on a different cult film every week. Now that The CinemATTIC has entered this new and terrifying era of audio interactivity, I will be uploading an episode of the cult corner every two weeks as they air. The first three will be up over the next couple of days, starting with Escape from New York.

Shaun O Connor

After watching Cloverfield in the Gate cinema, Cork, I strolled off to use the toilet facilities. Some guy standing at a urinal asked me:

“Were you just at that show Cloverfield?”

“I was”, I replied.

He frowned, and said: “It thought it was the shittest movie I ever seen”

Oh my freaking God, it’s here.

Click here to check out the first ever official trailer for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, in full glorious, non-pirated glory.

And if your heart doesn’t skip several beats at the sound of THAT music and the sight of THAT hat, then you’re dead inside. And possibly outside too.

Dun dun dun daaa…. Dun dun naaaa…..

by Dave Corkery

There’s not too many behind the scenes stories that could themselves be made into a movie. But the ‘overnight success’ of Juno’s first time screenwriter Diablo Cody is as good a yarn as any. Scooped from her popular blog, ‘The Pussie Ranch,’ which followed her exploits as a stripper (you couldn’t make this stuff up), Cody was approached by producer Mason Novick to see if she had any screenplays floating around. Responding as most blogger/strippers probably would, she laughed and dismissed it. But Novack insisted, with a most serious face, that he was indeed interested and so, Juno was born (no pun intended)

Juno is the tale of a teenage girl (Ellen Page) who discovers a bun in her proverbial oven after a one-night stand with her geeky best friend Bleeker (Michael Cera). Deciding that abortion is not for her, she seeks out a couple suitable to adopt her soon to be newborn. And so she comes across an ad in the Penny Saver for seemingly perfect, upper middle-class couple Vanessa and Mark Loring (Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman.)

by Puptentacle

Whether you’re running from a masked madman wielding a kitchen knife or tearing your Buick down the streets of New York in hot pursuit of some drug-pushing scum peddlers, everyone knows that chasing is way more fun in the movies than it is in real life (primarily as the movies won’t slap you with a restraining order.) So in celebration of the age-old tradition of chasing somebody down an open highway or down a dark alley, here are the ten best movie chases according to us…

10. Terminator 2 (1991)

This must be the most successful marriage of science fiction and action of all time. They improved Arnie’s role from the virtually mute T-800 of the first film, and added Robert Patrick as the T-1000, arguably the most terrifying cop in cinema history. The scene early on, where the T-1000 tears after John Connor’s dirtbike the way only a homicidal cyborg can, makes audiences sit up and take notice. Motorbike and enormous semi truck soon compete in L.A. storm drains to decide the fate of the future.

Heath Ledger has died at the age of 28. The Australian born actor was found dead by his housekeeper this afternoon in his New York apartment. As yet the precise cause of death has not been determined.

The former Home and Away star’s career was launched by the hit teen romantic comedy, 10 Things I Hate About You. He went on to earn an Oscar nomination for his role in Brokeback Mountain in 2006 and his latest performance was as a version of Bob Dylan in ‘I’m Not There.’ The late actor is due to appear later this year in ‘The Dark Knight’ in which he plays Batman’s nemesis, The Joker. He had been in the middle of shooting The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus with Terry Gilliam when he died.

It’s is an immense tragedy to see such a talented actor pass away at such a young age. May he rest in peace.

by Puptentacle

If there’s one thing the Coens do well it’s a big story in a small town. Two more of their favourite ingredients are murder and greed. It may come as no surprise, therefore, that No Country for Old Men tells a story of blood and drug money in arid West Texas. Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), out hunting one day, as you do, stumbles upon the body-strewn site of a Mexican gang feud in the desert. He decides to relieve them of the suitcase full of money, apparently intended to pay for a truckload of heroin.

Hot on his trail are a deeply sinister psychopathic hitman, Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem), with a novel weapon of choice; the private detective (Woody Harrelson) hired to track him down; and the ageing sheriff (Tommy Lee Jones) following the trail of bodies.