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Showing posts with the label robert downey jr.

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR - REVIEW

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Review available on the new website .

IRON MAN - REVIEW

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Review available on the new website .

SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING - REVIEW

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With the last Spider-Man reboot still fresh in our minds, Marvel and Sony's new collaboration needed to break the mould and try a different approach to keep everyone interested. Tom Holland's new incarnation of the iconic web-slinger being one of the most popular aspects of  Captain America: Civil War , this one looked like a promising re-imagining. Wisely bypassing the familiar origin story to give us a brand new take on things, Spider-Man: Homecoming is arguably the least faithful adaptation of the Spider-Man comics out there and yet what it introduces is so cleverly weaved into the new Marvel Universe that it would take a rather stern purist to crucify it for the liberties it takes. Set soon after the events of Civil War, the film first introduces us to Michael Keaton's villain Adrian Toomes who was part of the clean-up crew post-Avengers until Tony Stark made his job obsolete. Toomes vows to come up with a new way to cash-in on the alien technology left behind and

LESS THAN ZERO - REVIEW

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Robert Downey Jr. stars in Less Than Zero , a 1987 film based on Bret Easton Ellis' novel. It also stars Jami Gertz, Andrew McCarthy and James Spader. The film follows three friends as their lives evolve (or devolve) after college: Clay (McCarthy) and Blair's (Gertz) relationship ends when the latter has an affair with Julian (Downey Jr.) and, some time later, a now successful Clay returns to Los Angeles to spend Christmas with his family and reconnect with old friends, including old flame Blair. Unfortunately, Julian's drug problem quickly becomes a liability for everyone. Robert Downey Jr. gives a reliably strong performance as the ebullient yet wounded Julian and James Spader is, of course, entirely convincing as the main antagonist. The film itself works best when it focuses on the sleazier side of L.A. and how the pressures of fitting in and making it big in the city can turn people into mindless cocaine-fuelled zombies, probably on a downward spiral to self-destr

BOWFINGER - VIDEO REVIEW

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Here is the video version of my Bowfinger review.

CHAPLIN - REVIEW

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Back in 1992, Richard Attenborough directed Chaplin , a biopic of Charlie Chaplin chronicling the auteur's childhood and rise to fame starring Robert Downey Jr. in the titular role. The film was partly based on Charlie Chaplin's autobiography but we get the feeling that Attenborough probably thought Mr Chaplin was being tight-lipped about parts of his life in it hence why the movie's framing device is Anthony Hopkins' fictional biographer interviewing an older Chaplin further. Very early on, it becomes apparent that, despite him not being British, Robert Downey Jr. was the ideal choice to portray the comedian. The actor being not only physically close to how Chaplin looked but delivering a layered, convincing performance throughout. Attenborough appears to make a conscious decision to not recreate Chaplin's films instead focusing on the man himself and showing clips from the actual classics right at the end. The film gives us a lot of information on who Chapl

THE JUDGE - REVIEW

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Robert Downey Jr. tries his hand at a more serious, low-key drama in The Judge , a film in which the actor plays a lawyer having to go back to the town he grew up in following the death of his mother only to find himself defending his father (Robert Duvall) in a court battle. Based on a true story, The Judge is both about a cocky dude coming to terms with his past and himself and about a father fighting for his honour despite it potentially costing him his freedom. As a character study of both characters, the film does a great job making us feel for both even with their obvious shortcomings and keeping us interested in this court case which could easily go either way. We also learn more about the truth bit by bit so you're kept suspicious throughout. The performances are very strong with Downey Jr. showing a wider range of emotion recent comic-book movies have allowed him to portray and Duvall giving a courageous, quietly affecting, layered performance which earned him an Osca

IRON MAN 2 - REVIEW

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The first Iron Man took people by surprise in that it was actually pretty darn good. After the catastrophe that was the Fantastic Four franchise, this was nothing short of a miracle. Was Marvel finally ready to take on more challenges? Make more decent superhero films? Hell yeah! With Robert Downey Jr. officially back in everyone's good books after his career tumbled despite taking on the Charlie Chaplin role in Richard Attenborough's critically acclaimed biopic, a decent run in Ally MacBeal and the fact he's one of the most talented actors around,  this sequel was able to give the actor a little more creative freedom and allowed the franchise to go wild and have some fun. Tony Stark goes through quite a few ups and downs in this movie as he starts to enjoy his fame as the self-proclaimed Iron Man a bit too much, even defying U.S. officials in typical cocky, flashy fashion before losing control completely and finding refuge in alcoholism following a bad run-in w