The Robert Downey Jr Post

I'm gonna go ahead and admit it- like every girl across America who saw Iron Man, I am jumping on the massive-crush-on-RDJ bandwagon, and boy is it worth it. For everyone who was a bit disappointed with Indy IV (and when I say everyone, I mean everyone), Iron Man is pretty much The fun summer movie that people look forward to once summer movies start coming out (and no, Prince Caspian isn't it.) I have seen it twice in theaters, something I haven't done for a very, very long time.

Iron Man is officially the best Marvel hero movie that has been made, and yes, I am including Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD. Where the X-Men and Spider-man films never felt like they had very much meat and punch behind them, Iron Man has a great cast (Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard, Shaun Toub, and Mrs Chris Martin, even though I've never been a fan), a relevant story line that has been suitably updated into our world (here, Los Angeles and in general, a post-911 world), and thrills and giggles. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. I am not very familiar with the Iron Man of the comics, so I don't know how purists feel about the film, but on its own as a film- it's excellent. Definitely check it out, it's probably still in theaters.

If you're all over the place for more Robert Downey Jr, I'd like to recommended Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, starring the man himself in addition to Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan. I meant to see it when it came out, but a Blockbuster monthly pass plus this newfound RDJ obsession made sure I gave it another go, and it's well worth the- whatever it is that you do to get your movies.

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang is an updated noir-comic film, with "chapter titles" that just so happen to be the names of Raymond Chandler novels. And as you know, Raymond Chandler just so happens to be God. The film follows Harry (Downey Jr), who stumbles into a film audition after a botched toy store robbery and so impresses the audition people that he is brought to Hollywood. He is assigned to accompany Val Kilmer's gay detective character on the job so as to do research for his upcoming role, and as you can except, gets into all sorts of trouble. Michelle Monaghan plays a girl from his past. You get the idea. Dark alleys, corruption in the seat of authority, perversion, strange situations, ladies. The movie takes appropriate genre elements and uses them to its advantage.

Downey is ideal as the ironic antihero, interrupting his own narration when he remembers things he has forgotten to tell us. He's in over his head, and Downey plays Harry to perfection. It's especially fun to watch Downey and Kilmer square off, with Kilmer's character making it clear that he has little use for movie detectives in general or Downey in particular.

Although there are many laughs, this is a violent film, as Black honors the genre while he plays with it. This is not a "Scary Movie" style spoof where we don't have to take anything seriously. People get hurt and some die in the course of the movie, and sometimes it does hurt. That's part of the reason these films continue to resonate. It's not merely about solving the mystery. There are some real human emotions at stake. [Daniel M Kimmel]

The movie is a lot of fun, the characters interesting, dialogue sharp, good pacing.

• Watch an interview between Val Kilmer and Robert Downey Jr

Aand, if you're not gonna go see the Hulk this weekend, here's the TV spot with Tony Stark. Yippee.