Iron Man set photos, video and new Downey pic

I talked a little about next summer’s Iron Man comic-to-film adaptation last week, and now news and photos are pouring in faster than I can keep up with them.

IESB has posted awesome set photos of a fight being filmed between Iron Man — better known as gazillionaire military contractor Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.), who uses his own creations to battle international evil — and Iron Monger — also known as Obidiah Stone (Jeff Bridges), who uses similar (and bigger and meaner) technology for significantly less benevolent purposes.

This follows on the heels of this really cool video IESB posted of a stuntman moving around pretty ably in the Iron Man armor. When he’s moving around on the ground, you can tell just how mobile the suit really is.

One of my favorite websites — Superhero Hype! — posted these high-resolution shots of the now-famous Entertainment Weekly shot of the Mark III armor and a dapper new photo of Downey as Stark.

All of this looks like it walked right off the pages of a comic book, and I’ve no doubt that this will be a fun, exciting movie next summer.

We’ll also be getting The Incredible Hulk (with Ed Norton and Liv Tyler) and The Dark Knight next summer, along with a Hugh Jackman Wolverine solo movie — set in the 1970s! — sometime in 2008.

Tony Stark might have to borrow the projector and convert it into some kind of energy weapon midway through the first showing of Iron Man at the theater near you on May 2, 2008.

Gilmore Sounding Board no. 152

The Pre-Game Show

Welcome to the Sounding Board, Gilmore Fans! Tonight’s episode — “Unto the Breach” — is the second-to-last Gilmore Girls we’ll ever get, ever.

Before we dive in to the usual festivities, let’s take a few minutes to get caught up on what’s been happening behind the scenes recently.

As you know, Warner Bros. and The CW jointly announced last week that Gilmore Girls will end its seven-season run with the airing of the May 15 episode, “Bon Voyage.” (Yes, I realize that’s next week. We’ll cross that bridge when we get there.)

TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello posted this interview with Lorelai Gilmore herself — Lauren Graham! — on Sunday night. In the interview, Lauren talks about some of the thoughts and feelings that built toward the (almost last-minute) decision to make this season the show’s last.

Lauren’s responses are thoughtful, smart, bittersweet and funny. (As if I needed more reasons to start planning the wedding.) However! Though she doesn’t reveal how the final episode ends, she does shed some light on where it ends. So if you’re avoiding reading anything about the finale, don’t read her response to, “Were you happy with the show creatively this season?”

One of my favorite parts of the interview is her response to Ausiello’s question about her favorite memories from doing the show. “There was a real kind of high — that’s the only way I can describe it — when we’d get these big athletic speeches and then nail it after 35 takes,” she told him with a laugh. “And that is a feeling that I really haven’t had with another part. To do that language all systems have to be go; you have to really have a lot of concentration. And that feeling was really exhilarating.”

(For what it’s worth, Lauren, it was just as exhilarating for those of us watching at home.)

She also talks about working with new/current show-runner David S. Rosenthal — who inherited the shambles Team Palladino had left of Stars Hollow last season — to make sure all the characters got a chance to shine in the finale. Lauren finally got a producer credit this season, after all, and it’s nice to know she treats the responsibility as more than just a fancy title.

Yep.

I think I might like her. :)

Anyway, the interview is there now if you can’t wait. My suggestion, however, would be to wait and read it after next week’s episode has aired. That way you’ve still got something kind of new to look forward to when the show’s over.

Where were we again? Oh, yeah. “Unto the Breach,” which airs tonight.

Here’s what The CW has to say about “Unto the Breach”:

On the eve of Rory’s (Alexis Bledel) graduation, Emily (Kelly Bishop) and Richard (Edward Herrmann) throw her a party and perform a song in her honor. At the party, Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Christopher (David Sutcliffe) are reunited for the first time since their separation, and both are relieved to find they can still be friends. Logan (Matt Czuchry) surprises everyone at the party by proposing to Rory, but she is too shocked to give him an answer and begs Lorelai to help her decide what to do. On graduation day, Rory and Paris (Liza Weil) receive their diplomas, and Rory finally gives Logan her answer.

Meanwhile, Lorelai is embarrassed about her karaoke serenade to Luke (Scott Patterson) the night before, and Luke is hurt when he overhears her saying it didn’t mean anything.

Melissa McCarthy and Sean Gunn also star. Lee Shallat Chemel directed the episode written by David Babcock & Jennie Snyder.

Other Gilmore goodies on The CW’s site include a trailer for the episode here, a Director’s Cut clip from the episode here, a Gilmore-inspired pop culture quiz and — in case you haven’t taken it yet — Kirk’s video tour of Stars Hollow.

You can also enter the Kirk’s Town Tours sweepstakes if you want, but the grand prize is a trip to the set, and since filming is now finished forever, I’m not sure how that’s going to work out. Oh, well. I entered it, and I think you should, too.

(And here’s a fun bit of trivia: Sean Gunn, who plays Kirk, is the brother-in-law of Jenna Fischer, who plays Pam on The Office. That’s a lot of funny for one family.)

What’s that? You need even more Gilmore goodness to help you through the day? Well, you’re in luck. My buddy Katy has an archive of amazingly written Gilmore reviews that are bristling with thoughtfulness and bursting with heart right here on her slam-dunk dazzler of a blog, For the Record. Her Gilmore reviews are the best you’ll read anywhere, and you can take that to the bank.

And! Big thanks to Melissa for sending me this link to Lauren Graham’s appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show today. And she sings! It’s ridiculous how much I love this woman:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqOqvVQrRig]

Hey! Lauren! I’m single! Pick me! Pick me! Somebody get me on the phone with Ellen DeGeneres — we’ve got to make this happen.

Anyway, it wouldn’t be a Gilmore Sounding Board without a bonus photo of Lauren Graham for me to swoon on and on about:

Oh, Lauren Graham. SHAZAM! Somewhere out there in this big old universe, there’s a blue almost as bright as the light that starts on the inside and shines right on out through your eyes. I’ve still got that wedding to go to on Friday night right here in New Albany, and the invitation I made to you last week to be my date is still on the table. It starts at 7, and it’s okay if you show up late! It’ll give us something to laugh about over slow dances and cake at the reception.

Previous Gilmore Girls coverage:

Update: No more Gilmores!

Gilmores no more? Or maybe so? The latest (sort of) news!

Gilmore Sounding Board no. 151

Gilmore Sounding Board no. 150

Gilmore Sounding Board no. 149

Gilmore Sounding Board no. 148

Gilmore Sounding Board nos. 146 and 147

Gilmore Sounding Board no. 145

And that’s the end of this week’s pre-show events. Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll pop in later tonight to post my review at the end of this post. With only two episodes left, please try to watch it with friends and savor the last few moments of Stars Hollow goodness while you can.

The Review

I don’t have a lot to say about this one yet, because some of it’s still sinking in. What I do know is that I was hoping for just a little bit more out of the second-to-last episode of the series, though in all fairness they didn’t know the series was definitely going to be ending when they wrote it.

First, the good stuff. And there was a lot of it!

I loved Richard and Emily’s song for Rory. The lyrics were heartfelt, hilarious and even a little awkwardly sweet in the way that a homemade birthday card or Valentine might be, where all the little imperfections are the very same things that make it perfect. Between Richard’s rascally razzle and Emily’s debutante dazzle, it was definitely one for the history books. Rory’s reaction was sweet, and Lorelai being on the verge of tears was so moving.

I loved the town meeting, and how Lorelai could only sit there in shock as everybody started throwing out crazy (and funny) ideas for Rory’s graduation party. It was so sweet that everybody in town wanted to go to Yale for Rory’s graduation. With Rory having been in college for years, and with a whole world full of opportunities and possibilities now at her feet, it’s sometimes easy to forget just how much Rory Gilmore has been and always will be the pride and joy of Stars Hollow. I really felt that tonight, especially out of Babette. Sally Struthers has gotten some priceless material to work with over the last few episodes, and I love how Babette and Miss Patty have been our Stars Hollow eyes and ears on the Luke/Lorelai situation.

Over the course of the last few episodes, we’ve seen lovely little scenes that wrap things up for certain characters, like the Lane/Zack talk in last week’s episode or the Sookie/Jackson talk the week before. Both of those scenes — especially the one between Lane and Zack — were written and played so well, and they really treated the characters well, too. They were so good, in fact, that if you told me right now that I’d never see those characters again, I’d be okay with it because I’d know they walked into the Connecticut sunset in ways that were perfect and meaningful for those characters.

Tonight, I felt that moment with Paris Geller. (And while I was watching the show, I found myself wondering if Amy Sherman-Palladino had the foresight when she chose Paris’s last name to make it started with “G,” so that when she and Rory graduated from Yale they’d get their diplomas one right after the other. Was she looking that far ahead? I think she probably was.) When Paris told Rory that she knew Rory was going to do so many good things in her life, and then gave her a huge, totally un-Paris bear hug, and then turned around quickly to hide the tears she was only barely holding back from Rory, I felt one of several throat lumps I got while watching “Unto the Breach.”

In other words, these girls have come a long way from, “What’s up? What’s up, Quippy?”

As much as Paris has always tried to be The Dragon Lady, she’s always been so fragile and vulnerable underneath. And you know that Rory Gilmore has always been Paris’s hero. If that hug is the last I ever see of Paris Geller on my TV, I’ll be okay with that. Liza Weil played that moment so well that it immediately won a place beside some of my other major emotional highlights from this season, such as Lane and Zack asking Luke to be the twins’ godfather, Lane asking Rory to be her Lorelai Gilmore, the photo of Lane and Rory as kids that we got a glimpse of in that same episode, Luke standing up to Anna about April, and the triumphant Lorelai/Luke bickering about whether her bike needed a bell, and if it did, she wanted a horn.

I always appreciate the little things, like Richard offering to take the photo of Rory accepting her diploma so that Lorelai could see the moment with her own eyes. And how much more Lorelai could you possible ask for when she jumped up with tears in her eyes and yelled, “Yay, Rory!” There were lots of little moments in this one where Lorelai was moved to tears, and Lauren Graham plays that kind of thing with such beauty. (I’m sure she also picks her nose beautifully; I’ll admit that I’m a little biased.)

Even during the moments I dislike Christopher, I’ve always enjoyed David Sutcliffe’s portrayal of him. He was sort of relegated to just being “there” in this episode, though I’ve no doubt that Christopher felt plenty hapless after things fell apart with Lorelai. Not to mention the fact that he’s got to know that it wasn’t his influence or support that got Rory this far. It was Lorelai’s. I really don’t have a lot to say yet about Christopher’s presence in this one.

Part of me also thinks they played Luke a bit too stiff, but then when I look at it in the bigger picture, it makes sense. Of course he was stiff with Lorelai, because you know he’s been getting his hopes up and it had to take the wind out of his sails to hear her telling Babette and Miss Patty that her serenade didn’t mean anything. And of course it meant something — and I loved how excited Sookie was at the prospect of Lorelai opening herself back up to her feelings for Luke — but I guess Mr. Rosenthal is doing his best to keep them off the same page until next week. I did like how feisty Lorelai was getting when the talk she and Luke were having about Rory’s potential engagement began to mirror their own foiled nuptials. It was a good scene, but it felt a little like a step backwards from the level of goodness we’ve been consistently getting the last few episodes. (Though I’m sure next week’s finale will make me forget all of my grumblings.)

But for all the things I loved about this episode — and even the things I’m still a bit uncertain about — I can’t believe how poorly they handled that last scene between Rory and Logan. And I suppose the argument could be made that it went down the way it did because it was all so abrupt and unexpected, but that still doesn’t excuse how awkward (and really, kind of awful) that scene was. I keep thinking back to all the great Logan moments we’ve gotten over the last few episodes, and how much he’s grown up as a person and, most importantly, how much he truly sees, understands and appreciates what a good influence Rory has been on his life, and how much he loves her, and how much he wants Rory Gilmore to be the sun that lights his skies every day for the rest of his life.

And I can see how Rory might not be ready to marry him, and good for her for listening to her heart, but I still think the scene was really poorly done. He gives up way too easily, dismisses her way too quickly, delivers a terse “Bye, Rory,” and that’s it? That’s how we say goodbye to Matt Czuchry and Logan Huntsberger? I think both Matt and Logan deserved something way better than that. I need to watch it again to see if my feelings about it change or if there was maybe another layer to it that I’m missing. All I know is what my initial, gut reaction was, and it wasn’t good. The next scene, where Rory and Lorelai talk about it, also felt hollow, and the soft little sigh Rory let out when she looked at her apartment for the last time had more impact for me than the entire Rory/Logan breakup that preceded it.

As much as I liked everything else about this one, that scene really left me cold. They needed a goodbye on par with the Chris/Lore parting of ways in “Farewell, My Pet,” and it needed to end with Logan hugging her and saying, “See you around, Ace.” That’s what I needed.

Oh, well.

And so we bring the second-to-last Gilmore Sounding Board to a close. Sorry to end this one on somewhat of a sour note, BUT! Did you see the preview for next week’s finale? If that didn’t get your heart racing, then I quite frankly don’t know what else to do with you.

In the meantime, thank you so much for stopping by and please share your thoughts on “Unto the Breach,” as we wait to see how things in Stars Hollow turn out on May 15.

Despite the nearly unforgivable Rory/Logan stumble this week, I have a feeling that next week’s bon voyage — “Bon Voyage” — will truly be something grand indeed.

Der-BBQ 2007

Every May, my friends James and Cathy host a giant eaty on Derby Day. This year, the food was better than ever.

James always smokes a brisket and usually one other meat. This year he chose a 13.7-pound brisket and an 8-pound pork loin.

(There were lots of “Boston Butt” jokes.)

His brother Dan and I went over there Friday night to stay up with him as he smoked the brisket and tended to the smoker overnight.

In addition to the delicious rub he conjured up for the brisket, this one also had intermittent slits he’d cut into it, which he then stuffed with 13 whole, strategically placed garlic cloves. (Just close your eyes and imagine all of that goodness cooking into the meat for 18 hours. Whew.)


(11:21 p.m.) The brisket and the pork loin, already prepared and ready to smoke, await their fate in garbage bags on the kitchen table.


(11:25 p.m.) Meanwhile, outside, the first batch of hot coals is heating up.


(11:26 p.m.) James cleans the smoker by the light of a lantern held by Dan.


(11:33 p.m.) James soaks the wood chips for maximum smoking performance.


(11:35 p.m.) James consults the meat guide one last time.


(11:40 p.m.) Back outside, Dan only barely resists the temptation to rip off a huge, raw chunk of brisket with his teeth.


(11:41 p.m.) The coals with flash.


(11:41 p.m.) The coals without.


(11:42 p.m.) The brisket goes on …


(11:44 p.m.) … and the smoking begins.

Many times overnight, James had to go out to add more coals and wood chips to the smoker. So, to keep ourselves going, we watched the entire third season of Arrested Development and Tombstone, which gets better every time I see it. (I love it when Billy Bob Thornton is contemplating pulling a gun on Kurt Russell, and Kurt tells him to “skin that smoke-wagon and see what happens.”)

Early Saturday morning, we started prepping everything else. James made the slaw — with bacon, onions, diced green peppers and his own homemade dressing — and the potato salad — with onions, chives, green olives, mustard and mayo — entirely by hand. Dan and I chopped a pepper here or diced an onion there, but for the most part James was an unstoppable make-it-from-scratch machine. He made his own cheese ball with crumbled up bacon on the outside — none of those cheap imitation bacon bits, mind you — from the ground up. And he made his famous Beans, which is a crock pot full of all kinds of beans with Italian sausage, chopped green peppers and onions, ketchup and BBQ sauce mixed in. He also put the pork loin on the smoker.

Meanwhile, Dan and I prepared the shrimp inspired by a cooking show James and Bob and I had seen on TV. We took big, raw shrimp, took off the shells and tails, and spread a thick paste of cream cheese, garlic, parsley and oregano into the slit cut along the center of each. Then we wrapped the whole thing in a slice of bacon and slid a toothpick through the middle to hold it together.

As if that wasn’t enough, James then mowed the yard.

Melissa arrived first, bearing garlic bread with hummus and a huge Kentucky Derby brownie. Bob and Courtney and Oliver showed up shortly thereafter, with Courtney’s famous nacho bean dip and a new concoction, which was scooped nachos filled to the brim with shredded chicken soaked in buffalo sauce with a dollop of sour cream mixed with chunks of bleu cheese on top.


(1:40 p.m.) Melissa holds the spectacularly hatted Oliver.


(1:41 p.m.) Oliver and James hang out on the floor.


(2:18 p.m.) James gives Oliver his first-ever glimpse of a cooking brisket.


(2:21 p.m.) Oliver continues to rock the hat.


(2:25 p.m.) Ollie navigates the underbelly of the table on the deck.


(2:26 p.m.) Oliver prepares to eat his way out if need be …


(2:26 p.m.) … or maybe just push it over if the gnawing doesn’t work.


(2:28 p.m.) I’m too busy smiling to notice he’s chewing on a wood chip.


(2:33 p.m.) Ollie considers a newfound pot of dirt and thinks, “I can eat this.”


(3:15 p.m.) The brisket and the pork loin are looking good.


(3:15 p.m.) I thought this shot was cool because it looks kind of like James’s arm is made of flame, like that guy from the Fantastic Four.


(5:25 p.m.) Almost there …


(5:27 p.m.) Ollie loves his daddy, and his daddy’s Slurpee.


(6:16 p.m.) The chocolate on Ollie’s face came from the little chocolate chip and Rolo cookie James just fed him.


(6:21 p.m.) My baked white cheddar shells — with parsley, oregano, garlic salt and shredded mozzarella on top — come out of the oven.


(6:22 p.m.) My bacon-wrapped cream cheese garlic shrimp, and some other shrimp James marinated in Italian dressing, come off the grill.


6:24 p.m. — “Ding! Brisket’s done,” says the thermometer.


(7:00 p.m.) James prepares the brisket and the pork loin for serving.


(7:00 p.m.) Brisket.

Of all the briskets James has smoked over the years, this one was by far the best. The meat was so tasty and so tender. The bulbs of garlic he’d slid through slits into its innards really did the trick and added a whole new dimension of flavor. And if you happened to get one in the bite you took, it melted in your mouth like butter.

The pork loin was so tender that, when we were taking it off the smoker, it collapsed into pieces when we barely touched it. It was one of the most flavorful and tender meats I’ve ever tasted in my life.

Massive, massive, massive thanks to James and to Cathy for once again going above and beyond the call of duty to put out a spread of food prepared with much heart, thought, planning and love. We get so overwhelmed by how good the food is when we’re eating it that we’re lucky to remember our own names, and it’s easy to take for granted how much of himself James puts into making this food the best it can be. It’s appreciated, buddy. And please know it was worth it.

See you next year!