“This is the kind of movie the business 10 years ago may have leapt at. But now, you don’t really see movies like this. We have a studio offer and we’re trying to back into a budget number, like we always have to do, without gutting the piece.” That’s Don Cheadle telling The Wall Street Journal that the Miles Davis movie he wants to star in and direct is on the edge of coming close to nearing the zone of being a possible studio project. The actor, who also plays trumpet, explained that the film itself wasn’t a pure biopic, but “a gangster pic. It’s a movie that Miles Davis would have wanted to star in. Without throwing history away, we’re trying to shuffle it and make it more cubist. The bulk of it takes place in ’79, in a period where he actually wasn’t playing. But we traverse a lot of it his life, but it’s not a cradle to grave story.” Cubist? Picasso would be proud. So would later-life Miles Davis. This is the kind of comment that leaves heads being scratched, and that may be the best kind of real start for a picture about the man who gave birth to The Cool and whipped up a mean Bitches Brew. Cheadle also responded to the announcement of another Miles Davis biopic being directed by George Tillman, Jr. (Notorious, Faster) saying, essentially, the more the merrier. He remarked that he had rights to all the music he’d need [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

“Clever” is the best way to describe John Michael McDonagh‘s directorial debut, The Guard. In dialog, structure, the characters, and so forth, it all has a sense of cleverness. The playwright has made a dark comedic western built around (mostly) ignorant characters set in the mysterious and strange land of Ireland. Ever heard of it? Me neither. Many will be pointing out the similarities between John Michael McDonagh’s The Guard and his brother, Martin McDonagh‘s beloved film In Bruges, but there are distinct differences, and that’s clearly an important fact to John Michael. Outside of a specific similarity I mentioned to McDongah, The Guard is its own dark comedy with a could-be-iconic lead, Sergeant Gerry Boyle (played by Brendan Gleeson). Here’s what writer/director John Michael McDonagh had to say about his writing process, the button pushing ways of Sergeant Gerry Boyle, and twisting conventions:

What is Movie News After Dark? This is a question that I am almost never asked, but I will answer it for you anyway. Movie News After Dark is FSR’s newest late-night secretion, a column dedicated to all of the news stories that slip past our daytime editorial staff and make it into my curiously chubby RSS ‘flagged’ box. It will (but is not guaranteed to) include relevant movie news, links to insightful commentary and other film-related shenanigans. I may also throw in a link to something TV-related here or there. It will also serve as my place of record for being both charming and sharp-witted, but most likely I will be neither of the two. I write this shit late at night, what do you expect?

The ass-kicking superhero sequel Iron Man 2 opens and gives the Fat Guys a chance to talk about the kick-off of the summer movie season. They also lay down a Fat Guy Five about awesome superhero sequels… which was a lot harder than they thought it would be.

If you ever wondered what kind of stuff happens at a press conference, this is the article for you. Plus, we learn a few things that are actually about the movie, too!

Earlier today, Paramount Pictures released their final press kit for Iron Man 2, and with it come a few brand new pictures. There are also some old pictures. All of them are in very high resolution, which I’m sure will interest some of our readers — as high resolution photos of everyone’s favorite badass tin can make for sweet desktop wallpapers. Amirite?

As we here at Reject HQ prepare to preview for you the must see movies of summer, we are ever-mindful of how necessary it is for us to include some of the smaller movies. You know, those scrappy little movies that might not make it into the mainstream spotlight. Like Iron Man 2.

A week ago today, the international theatrical poster for Iron Man 2 was released on the web. The reaction was less than enthusiastic from commenters on this site, many calling out the mediocre Photoshop skills employed to put it together. I have a feeling that the reaction to the domestic theatrical poster, which was released today via MySpace, will be similar.

A flash of undeniable style. Hard-hitting wit and charisma. Samuel L. Jackson asking a man in a bright red, iron suit to exit a donut. Yes, it must be another promo spot for Iron Man 2, perhaps the most anticipated movie of 2010.

Just in case the fever generated by the newly released Iron Man 2 trailer has not worn off just yet, Paramount Pictures has released a set of images showing us what some of the in-theater marketing for the film will look like.

In a manner of speaking, it is perfectly acceptable for someone like Tony Stark to upstage the Oscar ceremonies — it fits with his modus operandi perfectly. And while I will accept the fact that Tony Stark is a fictional character played by Robert Downey Jr. and the Academy Awards are very (mostly) real, the assessment still stands: this brand new Iron Man 2 trailer, which debuted on Jimmy Kimmel Live this evening, is far more exciting than the Oscars.

Kevin Carr sits his chubbiness down weighs in on Alice in Wonderland and Brooklyn’s Finest.

It’s a monumental time for the Fat Guys at the Movies. Both Kevin and Neil have seen the movies for the week, but they can’t agree on a damn thing… especially in regards to Gentlemen Broncos in the DVD Roundup. It’s a Fat Guy Smackdown all around!

Having just this morning seen the premiere of Antoine Fuqua’s latest film Brooklyn’s Finest, I can now officially confirm that this is one director that knows what to do to keep me coming back for more.

Iron Man is back. And while I’m not exactly soiling myself over the first trailer for the sequel to Jon Favreau’s fantastic 2008 superhero flick, I am excited. And you should be, too.

Some days it doesn’t take much. In fact, when the news is slow here in the movie blogosphere, a trailer-for-a-trailer is all that you need to make a big splash, especially when it’s for a movie like Iron Man 2.

The Iron Man 2 footage from last month’s Comic-Con in San Diego has finally appeared online, courtesy of some dude and his video camera.

What do NBC’s The Philanthropist, Secret Millionaire, and Seven Pounds have in common with Iron Man, Batman, and Bono? This week’s Culture Warrior will tell you.

West Coast editor Robert Fure checks in with his own video blog reaction to the panel that blew the roof off Comic-Con’s Saturday line-up, Marvel Studios presentation of Iron Man 2.

The folks at Yahoo Movies have debuted one brand new photo from the upcoming Marvel Studios actioner Iron Man 2 this evening, which shows off Scarlett Johansson looking hot as Natasha Romanoff.