GQ Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Well, Grand Theft Auto or no Grand Theft Auto, Iron Man wins at life, raking in somewhere from $32 to 35 million on Friday, depending on whom you believe. That puts it on track for an opening weekend between $90 million and $100 million, ensuring a string of sequels and a big champagne bash over at Paramount. But it may also mean a great deal for the future of one Robert Downey, Jr., who tackled the title role with spectacular wit and charm. If an über-lucrative mainstream career is what he wants, it's probably now his for the taking. His role as a blackface-donning thespian in Tropic Thunder later this summer should help even more.

All this is by way of introduction to the fantastic long-player on Downey that is this month's GQ cover story. It covers the bases of the actor's famous checkered past -- the arrests, the tumultuous rehab stints, Matt Palmieri's violent intervention -- but also his slow-and-steady return, and his current precarious, drug-free perch at the top. Matthew Klam spent the day with the actor, hanging out at Downey's Brentwood Mansion, going indoor skydiving, and having a kung fu training session during which Downey punched him in the face. He lets loose with all sorts of candid details about the man's life and recovery (endless health shakes and vitamin pills, a butler-slash-best-friend), but it's more than just a piece of celebrity gossip -- it's a genuinely interesting look at a multifaceted, one-of-a-kind talent who's been through a lot. Take a look.

So you think you know your bad guys, eh? Well, hop on over to British GQ, where they regularly bring their readers fun little quizzes to test their knowledge on a variety of obscure stuff, and try their latest challenge: Movie Villains. The test is timed, so you have to work fast, and you have to get 5 out of 5 to move onto the next level. I made it to the fourth level before I got tired -- see how well you do. Some of the questions are a bit obscure, but nothing our ace Cinematical readers can't handle. So if you think you know your Moriarty from your Lector, your Lago from your Ming the Merciless, then hie thee over to GQ and show those bad guys who's boss.

[ via Film Fatale ]

Did you know that David Smart, the guy who founded GQ and Esquire, had a Howard Hughes-style germ phobia? Yeah, neither did I. I also had no idea that Smart founded those magazines, and am sort of at a loss as to why anyone would care. Josh Lucas and Bruce Nash care, though, and they're banking on the fact that millions of other will, too, because the two of them are producing Smart, a movie about the fellow.

According to an article in this morning's Variety (the headline of which is "Nash, Bridges get 'Smart'" -- who doesn't love a Don Johnson reference with their coffee?), Lucas' just-founded 2 Bridges Prods. will team with Nash Entertainment to produce the film, in which Lucas will play a supporting role (the role of Smart has yet not be cast). The screenplay for Smart was written by Charlie Peters (of, erm, Krippendorf's Tribe and Her Alibi fame), and is expected to detail the life of a man "whose life was almost entirely consumed by his germ phobia ... Meanwhile, he led an unorthodox personal life and was known for his womanizing and affinity for shirtless photos of himself." Now, I like phobias as much as the next girl, but how many times can you watch a guy bathe after sex? There must be something else going on in the movie, though, because Lucas' character is described as "a fictional FBI investigator who infiltrates Smart's world," and you know the FBI doesn't usually check out people who use excessive amounts of soap.