the buzz log

Let blockbuster season begin! Superheroes will be landing in a multiplex near you, with the man of iron the first one to alight. The only others who dare venture into his arena are McDreamy and a young British boy with delusions of Sylvester Stallone.

1. "Iron Man" (PG-13). Based on the Marvel comic, this film adaptation finally put long-suffering devotees out of their aching misery with Thursday advance screenings. Giddy film critics—whose rave reviews range from "deliriously entertaining" to "awesome"—merely echo the fan hysteria which has catapulted the superhero flick in the top 200 searches. In the past 12 months, look-ups for "Iron Man" have outstripped even "The Dark Knight," as the public hunts for the blockbuster's trailers, movie posters, games, torrents, costumes, comic, soundtrack, and lyrics. Robert Downey, Jr. channels his wry charms (or what Entertainment Weekly calls his "eager narcissistic wit") into his starring role as billionaire Tony Stark. Downey's costars include Gwyneth Paltrow (atoning for her deadening performance in "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow"), Terrence Howard, and Jeff Bridges. Although Downey lags behind Patrick Dempsey in look-ups (see below), the women and men who do search on the actor also look up Christian Bale, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Depp, and Brad Pitt. Heroic company, indeed.

2. " Made of Honor" (PG-13). Shades of "My Best Friend's Wedding," this flick shows Patrick Dempsey following in the romantic-comedy footsteps of his "Grey's Anatomy" costar: Here he plays a procrastinator who doesn't 'fess up to his love for his best friend (Michelle Monaghan) until she asks him to be her wedding attendant. Dempsey's character takes a kinder approach than Julia Roberts' antics in the 1997 film, befitting a man whose searches outpace Downey's, as well as his leading lady's. The chick flick however lags a waaaay distant third. 

3. "Son of Rambow" (PG-13, limited release). A young Brit from a puritanical sect decides to make his own movie after watching a pirated copy of "First Blood." The coming-of-age British comedy provokes mild interest.