Iron Man

Video Game Rating: 4.0/5.0

CHICAGO – For every “Iron Man” or “The Dark Knight,” there are a half dozen movies like “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer” or “Elektra” littering the marketplace. Naturally, those of us well-versed in the world of superhero entertainment consider ourselves lucky if every other product featuring caped men (or women) actually works.

CHICAGO – The highly acclaimed and anticipated “Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2” hit store shelves recently and fans of Spiderman, Wolverine, Iron Man, and the rest of the Marvel gang should check out the awesome trailer that Activision sent over and stay tuned to HollywoodChicago.com for an upcoming full review.

CHICAGO – After being tipped off on Jan. 28, 2009 from a reliable HollywoodChicago.com source that “Couples Retreat” with Vince Vaughn, Kristen Bell, Malin Akerman, Jason Bateman, Kristin Davis and Jon Favreau (who also wrote the film, directed “Iron Man” and will direct “Iron Man 2” in 2010) would be filming in Chicago, we have now confirmed this information and have a Vince Vaughn set photo so you can visualize the scene.

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 – In episode three of the HollywoodChicago.com podcast, staffers Adam Fendelman, Dustin Levell, Patrick McDonald and Lauren Fendelman discuss “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (which opened on Friday), DC Comics

CHICAGO – Hellboy is plugged as the world’s brawniest, kitten-loving superhero. While that paradox is supposed to be both funny and action packed, “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” from famed writer and director Guillermo del Toro falls flat on the funny front and instead winds up on the funny farm.

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 – With superhero films as hot in 2008 as psychedelics were in the 1960s, the new blockbuster superhero film “Hancock” fits in with the label but without any of the ancestry.

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.