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• Iron Man Solid Gold

  May 1, 08 5:30 PM CDT
  Iron Man rockets into theaters tomorrow, and it’s so good it “practically dares the competition to measure up,” Peter Travers writes in Rolling Stone. Critics are nearly unanimous in praising the latest superhero flick, admiring its “raw vitality” and “pitch-perfect casting.” Robert Downey Jr., in particular, “brings so much creative juice to the party that Iron Man achieves instant liftoff.” More »

• People Not Smart Enough

  Apr 11, 08 1:45 PM CDT
  Critics like the big-name actors in family serio-comedy Smart People —especially Dennis Quaid, who stars as a cranky professor with much to learn about people—but think they might have been smarter to choose a different script. Screenwriter Mark Jude Poirier "is aiming for Scrabulous dialogue but his movie is barely of Boggle quality," Carrie Rickey writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer. More »

• Film Critics Fading in Cyber-Culture

  Apr 5, 08 7:54 PM CDT
  Gone are the days when film critics swayed the culture and sparked serious debate, Anne Thompson laments in Variety. None of her college film students can name a critic besides Roger Ebert, though all are intense cinematic aficionados. Instead, most turn to review roundup sites, or “get their movie info straight from the studio marketing departments.” More »

• Ebert Ready to Review Again

  Apr 1, 08 9:07 PM CDT
  Roger Ebert—beset by a series of serious health ailments in recent years—will soon resume reviewing films, he wrote in a letter to Chicago Sun-Times readers. The critic was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 2002; since then he’s undergone several surgeries, including a tracheotomy that cost him his voice, Editor and Publisher reports. But he’ll put pen to paper once again, perhaps as early as this month. More »

• Penelope: Charmingly Imperfect

  Feb 29, 08 1:55 PM CST
  Penelope, a romantic fantasy that casts Christina Ricci as a socialite "princess" cursed with a pig's nose, draws mixed reviews. "First-time director Mark Palansky is trying for a deft, hip, modern fairy-tale feel, but the odd material, sprawling story, and complicated tonal balancing act get away from him," writes Tasha Robinson for the Onion A.V. Club. More »