Two more have been added to the ever large Iron Man 2 roster, according to The Hollywood Reporter and with production all nice, quiet and secret save for Jon Favreau's Tweets, we can speculate endlessly on what their additions might mean.

The first is a no-brainer, as Clark Gregg is returning as Agent Phil Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. Having hammered out the acronym, he gets to come back and try to keep Tony on the straight, narrow, and heroic. I think that's nice. You could just have any old agent, but they're keeping Gregg.

The female addition is what's really interesting. Kate Mara has joined the cast in an unspecified role. I'm going to just throw out a random guess (based largely on her looks) that she's playing Bethany Cabe. I can't believe they'd throw another love interest or action chick into the mix, but Cabe helps to defend Tony against Whiplash and Justin Hammer. She also suits up in some old Iron Man armor alongside Rhodes' War Machine to battle the giant robot Ultimo. The groundwork is there, but it's an awful lot of action and romance for one film. Perhaps Cabe will simply show up as Stark Industries' Head of Security, ready to do her part later on? Maybe she's just a love interest for Hammer? We'll know soon enough.

But wow, three redheads in one Marvel film? I thought it was Wolverine who had that particular fetish. Go Tony!

With one of next year's biggest films now in production, the race was on yesterday to snag the first photos from the set of Iron Man 2. Director Jon Favreau spent a little time on Twitter, offering fans a glimpse of his director's chair and some warning sign, but what folks really wanted was a first look at the cast in character (and costume). Just Jared and SpoilerTV managed to snag some shots, all of which include Robert Downey Jr. (as Tony Stark), Gwyneth Paltrow (as Pepper Potts) and Don Cheadle (who replaced Terrence Howard as Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes). Favreau also left this note on Twitter as day one of production wrapped up: "First day went great. I've never worked on a sequel before. It's like we picked up where we left off."

In addition to these new photos, IESB reports that comedian Garry Shandling (of all people) has not only been cast in the sequel, but he was also on set for the first day of shooting. They claim he's "a reporter or Senator or some sort" who pops up in a continuation of the final scene from the first Iron Man (when Stark proclaims, "I am Iron Man" and all that). Does that mean Iron Man 2 will literally pick up right where the last one left off? Seems so, especially since it looks like Downey Jr. is wearing the same shirt and tie from the final scene of the first film. Check out larger versions of the three images above down below. Iron Man 2 hits theaters on May 7, 2010.

Movies can be very educational, especially if you look beyond the obvious marketing messages that are used to sell them. This past Friday, for example, James Gray's romantic drama Two Lovers was sold as "the movie where you can see what Joaquin Phoenix looks like without a bushy beard and a Grizzly Adams haircut" -- that's why he appeared on David Letterman, right? Tom Tykwer's The International was advertised as a "the movie where you can learn what the banks are really doing with your money." But both of these advertising campaigns obscured the educational possibilities of the films.

Two Lovers. This quiet character study follows the emotionally-wounded Joaquin Phoenix and his relationships with the beautiful Gwyneth Paltrow and the beautiful Vinessa Shaw. Single folks might be surprised at Phoenix's incredibly successful pickup technique. What I learned: He does nothing. Abso-frickin'-lutely nothing. His parents invite Shaw and her parents to dinner, and then she confesses to an interest in him. (Bear in mind that he attempted suicide, like, an hour before.) Shortly thereafter, he meets Paltrow, a new neighbor, in the hallway outside his parents' apartment. Whammo! He's juggling two relationships.

The International. The intended lesson to be learned from Tom Tykwer's tepid thriller is that bank debt is evil and makes CEOs do wicked things. (And here I thought it was simple greed and ignorance.) What I learned: Museums are dangerous. Stay out of the Guggenheim! That place is a shooting gallery. If you carry that thought through to its logical conclusion, then what the movie is really saying is that art and culture aren't good for you. Which ties in to its theme that corporations have taken over the world and there's nothing you can do about it. Unless you're Clive Owen with a three-day beard.

(We're reposting our Two Lovers review from the Cannes Film Festival to coincide with the film's theatrical and VOD release.)

By: Kim Voynar

Cinematical has received this exclusive poster for Two Lovers, starring Joaquin Phoenix (in his final movie role?), Gwyneth Paltrow and Vinessa Shaw. Directed by James Gray (We Own the Night), Two Lovers is a Brooklyn-set romantic drama that follows a troubled man who returns to his childhood home and falls for two very different women: the lovely and caring family friend (Shaw) and the mysterious, volatile neighbor (Paltrow). Which woman will he choose, and will she set him on a course for happiness or turn him in the complete opposite direction? Two Lovers also stars Isabella Rossellini and Moni Moshonov, and it will arrive in theaters on February 13, 2009.

Click below to view entire poster.

Despite the heavy hints in Iron Man that Jim Rhodes, best friend to Tony Stark, would come to play War Machine in a future film, it won't be Terrence Howard reprising his role as Rhodes in the forthcoming sequel, but rather Don Cheadle. According to the Hollywood Reporter, there hasn't been a formal announcement by Marvel Studios about it, but the casting swap appears to have come as a result of money matters (natch).

Returning still are stars Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, in addition to director Jon Favreau, as Justin Theroux, fresh off the success of Tropic Thunder, currently tinkers away at the script. Last month, amidst the press blitz for the Iron Man DVD, Favreau confessed to wanting to incorporate both 3-D and IMAX technology in the making of the sequel (to which the world collectively replied "[BLEEP] yeah!").

Alas, it remains for the Paramount/Marvel number-crunchers to determine in which format exactly we'll see Downey Jr. and Cheadle team up come the summer of 2010.

Would you have ever imagined that Dennis Hopper, the writer and director of Easy Rider, would one day write and direct a seven-minute commercial for an ultra-chic and pricey ladies handbag? No? Me neither.

Above you can check out his short film commercial called Pashmy Dream. Gwyneth Paltrow stars as herself, meeting a sexy journalist for an interview amidst a troupe of clowns and performers. But then the dreaded paparazzi descend upon her and she scurries off without her Tod's Pashmy bag (the horror!), leaving the journalist to rush to get it back to her. Hopper says of the commercial: "Cinderella has her shoe. Gwyneth has her Tod's Pashmy bag." But unlike Cinderella, Gwyneth still gets red carpets versus dirty floors and rags.

If you exchanged the bag for some retro-wear, and added drugs into the mix, it would be slightly reminiscent of Rider, but it's still a fashion commercial. What do you think? Sound off below.

[via Just Jared]

When it comes to Shakespeare's tragedies, King Lear never made the short list of personal favorites. Maybe it was Cordelia, one of the biggest doormats in dramatic history, or maybe a play about madness and aging isn't best served to high school students. But, as long as there are actors who want to sink their teeth into lines like, "As flies to wanton boys, are we to the gods. They kill us for their sport", then the mad king will live on. The Guardian has now confirmed that Naomi Watts will be joining Keira Knightley and Gwyneth Paltrow as the 'daughters Lear' in the big-budgeted version of Shakespeare's classic play, also starring Anthony Hopkins.

The story of Lear centers on a mighty king dividing his estate among his three daughters: Cordelia (Knightley), Regan (Paltrow) and Goneril (Watts). When Cordeila is unable to blow enough smoke up the royal butt, she is disowned, and the lion's share of the throne goes to her sisters. But we all know about 'fatal flaws' in Shakespeare, and it turns out that Regan and Goneril are hardly the loving daughters they claimed to be.

The project was announced back in May at Cannes, with a projected budget of $35 million. Most of that is expected to go towards the epic battle sequences that occur when the kingdom descends into the family feud to end all feuds -- not to mention $35 million can buy an awful lot of tights.

King Lear is expected to start production early next year and should arrive in theaters in 2010.

William Shakespeare. He's the guy to go to for stories, either as old-English recreations or complete reimaginings. We've had a million tales of Romeo and Juliet and other classics like Macbeth, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. We've gotten a stunning look into pulpy Will with Julie Taymor's Titus. We're still not getting a big-screen Coriolanus (argh!), but we are getting more King Lear.

The Telegraph reports that a new $35 million feature adaptation of the famous play has been announced at Cannes. Anthony Hopkins (who happened to play Titus in Taymor's film) will play King Lear, Keira Knightley is set to play his youngest daughter, Cordelia, and Gwyneth Paltrow has been tipped to become Regan, the middle sister. (Goneril, the oldest, hasn't been cast yet.) Talk about a sweet Shakespeare cast! This will pit Hopkins against Ian McKellen's work in a Channel 4 adaptation of the play (one that has Sir Ian in the buff), but I imagine he'll hold his own quite nicely.

If you need a Lear refresher -- this is the tale about King Lear's decision to divide his kingdom amongst his three daughters -- the size of each split determined by how wonderfully they praise their father. Cordelia refuses to continue the dishonest flattery, and gets disowned. Not surprisingly, her crappy sisters become cold to their supposedly cherished father, and Lear begins to see the error of his ways. The adaptation is said to feature "epic battle sequences" of the wars that follow.

I'm digging the cast so far, but who should play Goneril? Julianne Moore?

One of the many nice moments in Iron Man comes as techno-titan Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) is consulting with his artificial intelligence majordomo, Jarvis, about the fabrication of the newest version of the high-tech power armor Stark intends to use to stop evil and protect the innocent. Looking at a holographic simulation of the proposed design of the glittering, golden armor -- which enables its wearer to fly, lift cars, shoot energy beams, withstand bullets and includes many other clever bits of engineering -- Stark makes a brief request regarding the color scheme: "Why don't you throw a little hot rod red in there?" Stark seems to be saying Sure, it's fancy and expensive and technologically majestic and wonderful, but a little style can still go a long way. ...

And as it is with the Iron Man armor, so it is with the Iron Man movie. Marvel Comics' first foray into self-financed film making has movie stars and impressive effects and a script where every plot point you would expect meshes with its neighbors as precisely as the plates and pieces of Stark's armor do, but it's the touches of style that make it truly sizzle. Director Jon Favreau does not seem like a choice you would expect as the director of a comic-book movie; Robert Downey Jr. does not seem like a choice you would expect as the star of a comic-book film. Between the two of them, they give us something different from the comic-book movies we've come to expect; a little swagger, a little strut, a touch of self-mocking humor that never undercuts the pleasures of the thing being mocked. It's as if someone snuck a hefty slug of bourbon into your cherry cola; all of the sugar and flavor and fizz you expect from a well-made comic-book movie are there, but there's something a little more grown-up going on behind them.