Review: "Iron Man 2" - 5/17/10

"Eat this, Andretti."

It’s amazing the way one churlish grin from Downey Jr. telegraphs to the rest of us to leave our spidey senses and batarangs at home. But I guess, for an actor who’s as disarmingly impish as he is, it comes with territory where you’ve had to see how bad things will get before you can see how good they are. So with one wise little wink and a nod from our man, and you know that to expect the same serious sensibilities to which most other franchises have attached to themselves would be asking a bit too much. It’s a refreshing fact that most of us appreciate about the first installment of John Favreau’s take on the prodigal entrepreneur turned mechanized wonder.

Review: "Sherlock Holmes" 1/18/10

Though some of you might not enjoy the fact that Conan Doyle’s beloved violin-touting gumshoe has been transformed into a raggedly stylish fisticuffs enthusiast, you might appreciate the degree to which Guy Ritchie has rejuvenated the classic serials without completely abandoning the source material as a pretext to flout his usual style. (Shrug) Maybe it’s because he didn’t write it.