“Black Rock” hits theaters this week, starring Kate Bosworth, Lake Bell and director Katie Aselton. The latter two sat down to talk to us regarding the making of the thriller, set on a deserted island where three friends have to fight for their survival. Bell and Aselton forged a quick friendship, with Bell taking on a character far different from the one she plays on Cartoon Network’s “Children’s Hospital,” while actor/director Aselton faced off against the elements and sometimes husband/screenwriter Mark Duplass in her creation of a true labor of love.

BULLZ-EYE: Katie, could you tell me the genesis of the story?

KATIE ASELTON: It’s the story of three childhood friends who have grown apart, and in an effort to reconnect, revisit an island that they used to frequent as kids. The movie really starts off as a chick flick/romantic dramedy and takes a severe turn when they learn that they are not the only ones on the island. There are three men out there hunting. After a series of unfortunate events, they find themselves in a fight for survival in an effort to get off the island alive. My first film, “The Freebie,” was a very quiet, intimate, emotional, talky-talky movie that was all inside a very small, Spanish bungalow. I felt the need after that to get outside, move my body and maybe kill someone. It’s just something I had to do. I don’t know why.

LAKE BELL: You had to express yourself.

KATIE ASELTON: Honestly, I’m new at this whole filmmaking thing and I’m trying some different things out and experimenting with different genres and seeing what I like. This type of thriller, this approach to a thriller that is very reality based, very truthful and simple in story and concept is something that excited me. It’s the kind of movie that I love to watch. I love “Deliverance.” I love “Misery,” even “The River Wild.” I used those as my points of reference. I also loved the idea of working with women. The TV show that I am on, I am the only girl with five guys. So, it was really exciting to get the chance to sit with two girls and kick some guys’ asses. That was fun, too.

LAKE BELL: Including the crew.

KATIE ASELTON: Including the crew. I kicked their asses too. And I had female crew members as well. It was a movie about strong women made by strong women and female producers. I had a female DP. I, myself, am female.

LAKE BELL: She is female.

KATIE ASELTON: And I had Lake and Kate [Bosworth], who are super rad ladies. It was a really, really fun experience and something that I had never done before and something that I’m very glad I did.

BE: With this being your second feature, what advice did Mark give you?

KATIE ASELTON: Well, we came up together. We made all of the movies together. He is wonderful about letting me have my own independent voice that is not his movie. What’s special about our collaboration professionally is that he really lets me do my thing and tell the story I want to tell the way I want to tell it. He got to write a script that’s very different than what he’s ever written before. He’s just really supportive. I will definitely run things past him. There were certain things he was very supportive of and certain things he was very critical of and I will take it or leave it. (laughs)

BE: Did he let you practice your stunts on him?

KATIE ASELTON: Absolutely not. (laughs)

BE: Was Mark supportive of the arc of Kate Bosworth’s character, who brings you two together?

KATIE ASELTON: Absolutely. As a filmmaker, you have an idea in your head of what it’s going to look like and hopefully you can pull it off. That was definitely a moment that gets a response from a theater. It’s thrilling as a filmmaker when you can surprise an audience. It’s a really great moment and I’m really happy the way Hilary Spera, my DP, decided to shoot it and light it. I was really excited. Part of it was Ben Lovett, the way he did the score. It almost emotionally tricks you as to what’s about to happen. Everyone in editorial was like, “Oh, that’s a good one.”

BE: Was it a tough shoot filming outside?

KATIE ASELTON: No, it was really easy. (laughs) It was so hard. It was hands down, the most challenging shoot I could have ever conceived of. Everyday was a new challenge. Whether it was the weather… it rained when it was supposed to be sunny. It was sunny when it was supposed to have rained. The fog was so intense that you couldn’t even see where the characters were. The temperatures were super low. The water is as cold as we claim it to be in the story and colder. I almost killed Lake. Tides coming in and never going out.

LAKE BELL: Six hour night shoots.

KATIE ASELTON: Yes, we were shooting nights on the shortest nights of the year.

LAKE BELL: And naked.

KATIE ASELTON: And naked with no clothes on. That was my own fault. That was something I couldn’t control, but something I did encourage. (laughs)

LAKE BELL: Did Mark write that in as a goof?

KATIE ASELTON: He did. He was like, “Hey babe, take your clothes off.” It was a challenging film from start to finish. It was not like “The Freebie,” which we went in and pre-lit… where we could literally go in, plug in the plug and just start shooting. This was very different. Honestly, the logline for the film, “The fight for survival,” became a metaphor for our experience making the movie. We just needed to get out of the month of June alive. The fact that we have a movie that I love to show for it is really exciting and I’m very proud of that.

BE: How close is the film to the original concept of the film, and was it difficult shooting the nude scenes?

KATIE ASELTON: It’s hard to say if the movie was close to my original conception, because it took so many versions. I don’t remember. I know I loved the final product. I know there are scenes that far exceeded what I hoped they could be. I think you’re always critical of your own work and you always feel that you could do better, but I’m really proud of what we did. I don’t remember what I hoped it was going to be. As far as nudity…

LAKE BELL: I think because we shot it chronologically, preparing ourselves for certain moments to attack, literally and emotionally. That sort of cold, vulnerable, nude, very emotionally raw scene became just another thing to tackle. At that point, we had already done the water stuff.

KATIE ASELTON: Which, on a sidenote, she literally almost died. She went into a 24-hour panic attack. It was really cold temperatures and really scary. Anything after that was a win, because she was alive, clothes or no clothes.

LAKE BELL: Clothes, smothes. (laughs). I was like, “I can’t breathe.”

KATIE ASELTON: The way it was shot and how it was treated. We were joking that we would close the set for privacy.

LAKE BELL: Except we had, like, a four person crew.

KATIE ASELTON: Everyone had a job to do and you couldn’t tell them not to do it. It was very easy in a way.

LAKE BELL: We definitely had a moment of, “We’re doing this.” We took the robes off and it’s cold. We did the first scene and hair and makeup came over. It was one person. (laughs) They came over with the robe. We cover back up again and by the third take, it was like, “Let’s just keep it that way.”

KATIE ASELTON: It’s just a body. Everybody can see it now.

LAKE BELL: Everyone’s seen it now. The bugs certainly have.

KATIE ASELTON: We were sitting bare-bottomed. Initially, we were going to sit on a blanket, but you could see it on camera.

LAKE BELL: So, we lost that blanket.

KATIE ASELTON: A lot of ticks.

BE: Did either of you have any prior experience in the outdoors?

KATIE ASELTON: We shot, literally, in my childhood backyard. The woods that you see in the film, I played in as a child. The fort that we were in was a recreation of something that I had built with my best friend when we were five. It was horribly constructed, but it was all doodled. That was my playground. My closest friend lived three miles away. A lot of time I spent by myself in the woods. I knew them very well and the beaches that we were on. It was all very interesting and special to sit there and take a quiet moment and think that if anyone had told me that when I was six years old, and playing on this beach, that I would come back and make a movie that would end up premiering at the Arclight and playing at theaters across the country, I would think you were crazy. It was really special. My family was a huge part in making the movie. Lake and Kate became a part of my family. As far as drawing on nostalgia, yeah, because for me, it was really like going home. The town dock was my town dock. The guys on the docks were my friends’ dads from childhood.

BE: What did you guys do to keep yourselves occupied in the middle of Maine?

LAKE BELL: I have an iPhone full of weird pictures. (laughs) We would go over to her parent’s house. We lived in separate cabins. The girls lived in the girl cabin. The guys were in the guy cabin. We would go over to her parents house to the basement where we would find a VHS to play. It was like “Gee, what VHS did you get?” We had “Ghostbusters,” “The Right Stuff”… it was funny.

KATIE ASELTON: It was funny, because we shared a home together. We had a special summer camp-like experience. We’re lucky if we get a girl’s weekend all together. To get a whole month with girls that you really, really click with was great.

LAKE BELL: I went to boarding school, so I had moments and flashes of that where you’d go, “Did you see the label on my Tupperware, because that was my couscous. You can have some, obviously, but just…” It was vegan and weird.

KATIE ASELTON: There were moments where Lake and I would walk into the kitchen and Kate would be eating was eating a thing of ice cream and we’re like, “Of course you’d just eat a whole container of ice cream.”

BE: Lake, how was the chemistry with the women, and had you worked with them before?

LAKE BELL: Katie and I knew each other as sort of social acquaintances for a while. Obviously, during and after making this movie, I feel we graduated to family status. I do feel a sisterly bond. When you’re naked and in the woods with someone, embracing, shivering, crying and hitting each other, there is a certain bond that’s forged. Then, Katie was like, “In your opinion, who comes to mind when you think of Sarah? Who would be another comrade who would be super game, really cool, and a real girl’s girl?” Kate Bosworth came to mind. I knew her socially. We were pals. I really liked her, but I never got to socially hang out with her that much. So, I brought her up and told her about the script. She was interested, read it and was super jazzed on it. They met and fell in love. (laughs)

KATIE ASELTON: It was a bizarre three-way love affair. We just clicked in a way that doesn’t happen often.

LAKE BELL: You’d need to be bonded to take on this kind of endeavor.

BE: Did you guys get hurt during the filming of the movie?

KATIE ASELTON: Yes, we did. A lot.

LAKE BELL: Absolutely.

KATIE ASELTON: Thankfully, my producer’s dad came up to visit. He’s a chiropractor. In the very first fight, where they grab the girls in the dark, I wonked my back. I get whipped around and bodyslammed down numerous times. My back completely compressed and went crazy. He came in and he was like, “Are you okay?” and I’m like, “I’m better now!” It was intense. It was really intense.

BE: Could you discuss the choreography in the very intense last scene?

KATIE ASELTON: We didn’t do a lot of choreography and I think that was the key to making it look that way. I, very specifically, approached all of the fight scenes with as little training as possible, because I wanted these girls to be very relatable and very real. As an audience member, I automatically separate myself when I see someone throw a roundhouse kick I don’t know how to throw a roundhouse kick. That’s crazy. I’ve never personally thrown a punch in my life until I did this movie. Then, I was like, “Oh my god.” But they were all very sloppy and very gritty, and awkward. I wanted it to feel like these girls had nothing but their passion to survive. That’s their weapon. I think women are ferociously strong when they need to be. They’re the people who lift cars off of babies. They keep telling me that. I keep referencing it like I know it as a fact. (laughs) We have an incredible inner strength and that’s what I wanted to blast open and I wanted to really see. And that’s what happens. It becomes a battle of who wants to live more.

To look back on the controversy circling around J.J. Abrams’ reboot of the “Star Trek” franchise is like trying to remember a distant dream: you vaguely recall that the fans of the long-running sci-fi franchise were freaking out about the idea of new actors slipping on the uniforms of James T. Kirk and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise, but so many Trekkies came to embrace Abrams’ “Star Trek” so quickly that it’s almost like the controversy never happened. Y’know, like pretty much everything that ever happened in the original “Star Trek” series and movies. Or have you forgotten how Nero (Eric Bana), the villain in the 2009 film, went back in time on a mission of vengeance and proceeded to change the course of history?

Of course you haven’t forgotten. And you can be damned sure the Trekkies haven’t, either. Ever since Abrams’ film effectively wiped the slate clean on “Trek” history, theories have been flying by at warp speed about whether the next film would find Kirk and company on an all-new voyage or if the storyline might feature new takes on more classic characters. The answer? A little from Column A and a little from Column B. Thing is, we can’t really tell you much about the bits from Column B. Or, rather, we could, but we don’t want to spoil the fun…even if at least one of those fun bits has been bandied about as a plot possibility for the sequel from the very beginning.

Like its predecessor, “Star Trek Into Darkness” more or less starts off at full throttle, with the crew of the Enterprise in the midst of a mission to a strange new world which hasn’t yet reached the level of technology as the worlds within the United Federation of Planets, putting it under protection of the so-called Prime Directive. If you’re unfamiliar with the “Trek” mythos, this basically means that the planet is supposed to be left alone to develop at its own pace, but even if you barely know “Trek” at all, you still probably know that Kirk’s never been a big fan of following the rules, and as a comparative youngster in Starfleet, he’s still learning that there are significant consequences when the rules are broken. What he’s also learning is that not every officer is cut from the same cloth as Christopher Pike (Bruce Greenwood); some tend toward the hard-ass method of command, like Admiral Marcus (Peter Weller).

Come to think of it, Kirk learns a lot of lessons in the film, most of them the hard way, but, hey, those are the lessons that tend to stick the strongest. In fact, the newly forged bonds between all the members of the Enterprise crew are tested profoundly over the course of the film, with Kirk and Spock struggling to find the friendship history tells us they are destined to have, Spock and Uhura still attempting to make their unlikely romance work, younger crew members like Sulu and Chekov trying to make their mark, and Scotty testing his boundaries as the ship’s engineer and learning how far his new captain is willing to trust him.

And then there’s the film’s mysterious villain, John Harrison, played by Benedict Cumberbatch of “Sherlock” fame. He is, to put it simply, a badass, and he’s definitely one of the most intimidating “Trek” villains since…well, gosh, I think you’d have to go all the way back to Khan. Harrison’s acts of terrorism unabashedly bring 9/11 to mind, but given the history of “Trek” paralleling present day events, this is hardly surprising.

“Star Trek Into Darkness” handily breaks the curse of every other “Trek” film being lackluster, with Abrams offering at least as much action, humor, and small character moments as he did the first time around. Mind you, it’s possible that diehard Trekkies could be split down the middle on their opinion of the film – torn between whether they like the various homages to past “Trek” adventures, some of which are extremely overt, or if they wish they’d left well enough alone and just created something completely new. In the end, though, the film proves so fast-moving and infectiously fun that they’d be better off just sitting back and enjoying the ride.

While the movies once celebrated cigarette smoking as well, modern day Hollywood Boulevard makes it tricky for smokers to indulge in their passion, give or take some hookah bars and a medical marijuana “clinic.” Booze, however can be obtained with great ease. All you need is plenty of ready cash to afford the inflated prices or a clean credit card or two and you can have your fill of cocktails.

And that’s exactly what I did between classic, near classic, and merely really interesting movies the weekend of the 2013 TCM Fest. What follows is a (relatively) brief journal of the drinks I found going up and down the boulevard we call Hollywood the final weekend of April.

Now, I should add that this listing is my no means exhaustive and is, with one exception, limited to cocktails one can purchase on Hollywood Boulevard proper, no side streets allowed. They can all be obtained within a fairly easy walk of Sid Grauman’s old Chinese and Egyptian Theaters and the legendary Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, the heart of Hollywood and the home base of the TCM Fest.

And so we begin our journey across the street from the Egyptian at what is still Los Angeles’s most famous bar.

1. Musso and Frank Grill — The Martini and the Sidecar

Musso and Frank is Hollywood’s oldest restaurant and perhaps still its most famous. It’s been featured in countless movies, including 1994′s “Ed Wood,” and real deal A-listers can still sometimes be seen here. I actually spotted double Oscar winner Christoph Waltz hanging out at a booth just a few nights after the festival wrapped.

The Musso and Frank martini is easily the iconic cocktail in Los Angeles and it certainly appears that the restaurant’s most iconic bartender is Manny Aguirre, pictured above poring his signature cocktail. Born in Ecuador but coming across like Austrian-born Hollywood great Billy Wilder, Aguirre manages to be both friendly and grumpily dismissive, and he’ll be a bit friendlier and a bit less grumpy if you happen to be an attractive lady of any age. Formerly of the long defunct Scandia, a restaurant considered to be L.A.’s finest in its day, Aguirre is a true magician behind the bar.

Aguirre’s very dry martini is made to classic cocktail specification and is — James Bond and Nick Charles be damned — stirred, not shaken. It features Gilbey’s Gin and just the tinest splash of Noilly Pratt dry vermouth. It’s as smooth as silk and as crisp as celery straight from the fridge. The martini is, however, not actually his absolute favorite — and he’s right.

Manny Aguirre’s Sidecar is nothing short of a mixological miracle. Sweet, refreshing, and just tart enough to be respectable, and with a beautiful foamy top that comes out of nowhere and nothing (secret egg whites?), the shocking part is that Aguirre uses ingredients that are far from super-premium. Using standard call brands Christian Brothers Brandy, DeKuyper Triple Sec with his lemon juice, he made what ranks as one the two or three best cocktails I’ve had so far — it certainly beats my own attempts at the drink back in 2011.

A cocktail marvel. No fancy Cognac or Cointreau needed, and I have absolutely no idea how he managed it. All this, and Aguirre actually wasn’t happy with the sugar rimming, performed by a junior (under 70 years old) bartender which he found excessive, but I found to be sheer perfection.

2. The Library Bar — Last Tango in Modena

While the Hollywood Roosevelt only plays host to the TCM Fest four days a year, it’s one of L.A. best places to buy a drink at some four or five separate bars 365 days a year — though you’d better not mind paying through the nose. At a bracing $17.00 per drink, the Library Bar only charges a buck more for its offerings than the larger Public Kitchen and its cocktails are not only among the town’s most critically respected, they’re tailor made for the individual. Just tell its friendly but camera shy bartenders your preferences in booze, and they’ll come up with something really special, just for you.

It’s sort of my job to be able to appreciate most kinds of booze, so I gave my mixologist the freedom to create anything — except that I told her I’d be happier if there were somehow a cinematic connection. The result was this delightful concoction which is no smear upon the name of Bernardo Bertolucci’s “Last Tango in Paris.”

“Last Tango in Modena,” features Hendrick’s Gin, a St. Germain infused whipped eggwhite topping, and a 25 year old aged balsamic vinegar, all cooled by a single giant ice cube. The vinegar comes from where I hear all the really good balsamics are made, Modena, Italy. It really was delicious and the big ice cube means that it only gets better as you linger over it — but I didn’t have time for that.

3. Loteria Grill — The Jalapeño Margarita

A truly smashing high-end Mexican eatery that began as a counter at the Original Farmer’s Market a bit south and west of the boulevard of dreams, this rapidly growing chain appears to be hanging on to its quality despite it’s rapid cross town expansion. Certainly, I’ve had nothing but solid-to-fantastic experiences at its Hollywood Blvd. location near Musso’s and across from the Egyptian Theater. Moreover, it’s jalapeño margarita is a  modern day classic worthy of such TCM friendly Mexican-American Hollywood greats as Anthony Quinn (“Zorba the Greek,” “Lawrence of Arabia”), Katy Jurado (“High Noon”) and, “Khan!!!!!” himself, Ricardo Montalban.

I really, really love this drink but I’m not sure the ingredients that we’ve been able to dig up tell the whole story. Aside from some pretty high quality tequila, this drink is said to contain triple sec, orange juice, jalapeño juice, and a bit of Grand Marnier. The rim is dipped in what appears to be a mixture of chili powder and the usual salt.  Sold at a fairly reasonable price, especially during happy hour, this drink is one of the finest you’ll find in Los Angeles. It’s a must.

If you one of those guys who loves betting so much that you even lay money down on box office numbers, let’s hope you had week 2 of “Iron Man 3″ beating week one of “The Great Gatsby.” Gatsby opened well with a $50.1 million debut, but Iran Man hung in there after a monster opening weekend to pull in another $72.5 million to win the box office last week. It’s nice to see movies live up to the hype, at least when it comes to ticket sales.

You have to give Marvel credit, as they strung together hit after hit across all of their characters. After “Avengers” I thought the third installment of of the Iron Man franchise could end up being a letdown like we’ve seen so many times in this genre, but Marvel is firing on all cylinders, and there’s something about the Tony Stark character created by Robert Downey, Jr. You see Iron Man merchandise everywhere, including slot machines at the Vegas casinos and even virtual slot machines at Betfair casino.

Next week things will get even more interesting as J.J. Abrams is back with “Star Trek Into Darkness” which has a great shot of winning the weekend. As for hype, Abrams is getting plenty of it. With Star Trek he’s already responsible for reviving one of the great science fiction franchises, and then next year he’ll tackle the big one with the Star Wars franchise. After George Lucas belly flopped with the three prequels, let’s hope Abrams is the right choice to take Luke, Han and the others on a worthwhile journey. At the very least the next Star Wars movie will probably be the easiest box office winner to predict. But in the meantime you’ll have to figure out if the Trekkies can rise to the occasion next week.

Baz Luhrmann was born to make “The Great Gatsby.” Dazzling excess, star-crossed lovers, and tragedy are the cornerstones to nearly every movie he’s ever made, and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s novel has all three in abundance, wrapped in a searing indictment of the pursuit of wealth. All four of those elements of the story are on full display here, but there’s something missing in the execution. For a story with so much passion and longing and regret, it’s surprisingly bloodless. This is not to say that Luhrmann doesn’t hit the emotional buttons; he just doesn’t hit them hard enough. Then again, that may not be Luhrmann’s fault at all, but the source material. A bunch of clueless people ruining their lives by making bad decision after bad decision; it’s like a Mike Leigh movie, with money.

Nick Carraway (Tobey Maguire) is in a sanitarium for a laundry list of conditions (top of the list: morbid alcoholism), and soon begins telling his shrink about the summer of 1922. Nick had taken a job as a bond salesman during the Roaring Twenties, and found a small cottage in the village of West Egg, where he lived next to new-money millionaires. Nick’s cousin Daisy (Carey Mulligan) lives across the bay from her, and is (unhappily) married to old-money millionaire and unfaithful thug Tom Buchanan (Joel Edgerton). The man who lives next door to Nick is a mysterious fellow named Jay Gatsby (Leonardo DiCaprio). Jay would throw massive parties every weekend, but his reason for doing so was surprisingly sweet: he hoped that one day Daisy would attend one of them. Daisy was Gatsby’s girl five years earlier, and once Jay discovers that Nick and Daisy are related, he asks Nick to invite Daisy over for tea. This sets in motion a chain of events that would change the lives of all concerned.

The first act ends with as big of a bang as I’ve seen in the movies in years. The party scenes were as lavish and intoxicating as anything Luhrmann’s ever done – which is saying something – and after conditioning us to hear people from the year 1900 singing modern-day pop songs in “Moulin Rouge!,” it’s funny how easy it was to accept people from the ’20s dancing to Jay-Z and dubstep. The second act, however, was problematic, for a couple of reasons. The pacing is awfully sluggish following the slam-bang first act – he rectifies this with a taut third act – but the real problem is that the characters start exposing their true natures, and with the exception of Nick, they’re all pretty unlikable. This is one of the main points of the book, of course, to wave a finger at pompous blowhards who think they’re important simply because they have money. Gatsby isn’t one of those blowhards, but he’s saddled with an equally distasteful flaw, which undercuts the love story at the movie’s core. Did I use the word tragic to describe this movie in the first paragraph? That’s inaccurate. They’re not tragic: they’re pitiful.

Carey Mulligan has ridiculously expressive eyes. Luhrmann does his best to make her look like the most irresistible woman in the world, while Mulligan does her best to reveal Daisy’s shallow nature. Neither, however, can overcome her limited presence in the book versus her significance to the main character. She’s more of an idea than an actual person, and there is nothing a faithful adaptation of the story can do to change that. DiCaprio does a good job of slowly revealing Gatsby’s obsessive nature, but Gatsby comes off as a supporting player here, so there is only so much DiCaprio can do to improve the film. Tobey Maguire, on the other hand, is a rock-solid narrator, and delivers his finest performance in years. It would be a stretch to say he stole the movie, but this is the best role he’s had in ages, and he makes the most of it. Friends have told us that the movie’s 3D was stunning, but we wouldn’t know: the screening we attended was out of focus and dark, and when a fellow critic talked to the manager about it, she responded by threatening to call the police. That is not a joke.

“The Great Gatsby” was a good idea in theory. Luhrmann clearly reveres the material, and there are some truly magical moments, but it just doesn’t work like one would think it should, and truth be told, it may never work on screen without some major revisions, which creates an entirely different set of problems. Perhaps it’s finally time we just leave this one alone.

When it was announced that Jon Favreau would not return as director of the third “Iron Man” film, the producers surely fielded offers from every name director in town. So how did Shane Black land this gig, again? The guy hasn’t written or directed a feature film since 2005′s “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” and yet here he is, doing that Shane Black thing once again, only this time with superheroes, while trying his best to streamline his R-rated ways for a PG-13 audience. As it turns out, “Iron Man 3″ works, but just barely, and it’s more in spite of Black’s influence than because of it. At the beginning of the second act, Black begins to get in his own way, and for anyone familiar with his work, it’s not long before a strong case of deja vu sets in. He even set the movie during the holiday season, just like “Lethal Weapon.” And “The Long Kiss Goodnight.”

Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is not handling the events that took place in “The Avengers” well. He can’t sleep, he’s experiencing panic attacks, and he’s neglecting his girlfriend Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow). The last thing he needs is a crisis, so of course he receives two, in the form of a think tank genius named Aldrich Killian (Guy Pearce) who’s trying to woo Pepper into funding some groundbreaking genetic research, and a stone-cold terrorist named The Mandarin (Ben Kingsley) who has launched a series of unusual bombings across the country. Tony dares the Mandarin to take him on; the Mandarin responds by destroying his house. Tony Stark, one of the richest and most famous men in the world, is at rock bottom.

Taking privilege away from those who have it, and forcing them to use their wits in order to survive: it’s a fun story device, but doing it with Tony Stark is unfair to the story device. He’s too damn smart and capable to be down for more than a few seconds, and any attempt to weaken him turns out to be in vain in a very short period of time. The one thing about the story that Black nails – and it’s a big one – is the execution of the Mandarin. In the comics, the Mandarin derives his power from 10 ancient rings powered by alien technology. That isn’t going to fly in the movie universe (it would feel like cheating), and Black comes up with a rather clever way of grounding the Mandarin while maintaining his deadliness, paving the way for a showstopping performance by Kingsley. Black also gives Paltrow the long-overdue opportunity to be something other than a damsel in distress, though at the same time, he uses her as bait for a good chunk of the third act.

Indeed, that third act will serve as the barometer for how people feel about the movie overall. For those unfamiliar with Black’s work, it will probably be a non-event. It’s action-packed and entertaining and fun. For the rest, it will feel dated and silly. When Downey and Don Cheadle sneak up on the Mandarin in the movie’s big finish, it’s hard not to think of Mel Gibson and Danny Glover. People dodge ridiculously large fireballs, and Downey spends time in a dungeon in a scene that looks like a mirror image of the one from “Lethal Weapon,” though without the torture (we’re assuming the torture wasn’t in the original script, but Gibson insisted upon it). When one takes the story and thinks of it in conjunction with the bookend narration and the obligatory teaser shot at the end of the credits, it all makes sense, but in a cynical way. It reeks of hand wringing, that they manicured the script for the sole purpose of paving the way for the launch of another “Avengers” franchise, knowing that it would weaken this film, but that’s all right, because this movie will make money regardless. That’s pretty damn cynical.

“Iron Man 3″ is a movie in conflict. Marvel obviously wants these movies to be as good as they can be, but there is also the “Avengers” big picture to consider at this point. Each of these films is designed to set up another film outside of its universe, and so far they have done very well with that, but they seem to have forgotten that what started this incredible wave of momentum that Marvel is enjoying right now is the fact that the first “Iron Man” kicked ass, and it did so by putting itself ahead of the Avengers as a whole. Every movie since then – “The Avengers” excepted, mostly – has played it much safer. Some have been very good, others less so, but all of them have been about the greater good. Tony Stark doesn’t give a shit about the greater good, so it’s painful to see an “Iron Man” movie toe the line.

Leave it to David O. Russell to create a romantic comedy as quirky, dark, funny and surprisingly touching as “Silver Linings Playbook,” because the movie is almost as crazy as its two leads. One minute a fiercely honest character study about a man coping with bipolar disorder, and the next minute a charming rom-com revolving around an amateur dancing competition, the film performs such an amazing tightrope act that it’s really to Russell’s credit that it doesn’t come crashing down like a house of cards. The movie wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable if it weren’t for the risks it takes thematically, but none of that would matter without its incredible cast. Bradley Cooper finally gets the chance to show what he’s fully capable of in the best role of his career, and Robert De Niro has some great moments as Cooper’s superstitious father, but it’s Jennifer Lawrence (already so good at such a young age) who steals the show with a phenomenal performance fully deserving of her recent Oscar win.

Blu-ray Highlight: The making-of featurette, “The Film That Became a Movement,” does a great job of balancing the usual behind the scenes footage with cast and crew interviews promoting mental health awareness, while the Q&A highlights are worth watching for those who want to know more about the film’s production. And though most of the deleted scenes can be easily skipped, the alternate ending is a must-see for any fan of the movie.

You wouldn’t think that it’d be very hard for someone like David Chase – who helped reinvent the TV drama with “The Sopranos” – to get his feature film debut off the ground, but then again, “Not Fade Away” feels so hastily thrown together that it’s not surprising it took five years to do so. A good idea in need of a better script, Chase’s 1960s’set story about a kid trying to follow in the footsteps of The Beatles and The Rolling Stones to make it big as a rock n’ roll star doesn’t feature a single likable character. That makes enjoying its anticlimactic story even more difficult, because it’s hard to care what happens to anyone in the film when they’re as naïve, selfish and just plain boring as the characters here. James Gandolfini’s overbearing father is probably the most interesting (and levelheaded) of the bunch, and yet he’s portrayed almost like a villain. The music is good and the tale of failed stardom is more believable than most rock band movies, but that’s also what makes “Not Fade Away” so forgettable.

Blu-ray Highlight: Divided into three sections, “The Basement Tapes” offers a look at various aspects of the filmmaking process, including training the actors to play their respective instruments (with the help of Steven Van Zandt, no less), the 1960s setting and costumes, and the similarities between the story and David Chase’s teen years.

With the exception of her supporting roles in the two “Meet the Parents” sequels, it’s been 16 years since Barbara Streisand actually starred in a film, so it’s a little surprising that she chose “The Guilt Trip” as her highly anticipated return from semi-retirement. It’s not a bad movie by any means, but it’s one that left me feeling totally indifferent, and you’d expect more from someone as respected as the veteran actress. There’s just nothing particularly funny about anything that happens to Streisand and Seth Rogen’s characters over the course the film, and that’s mostly due to the fact that the material is really tame. Dan Fogelman’s script is incredibly formulaic, and apart from its somewhat twist ending, there are so few surprises that it would’ve been entirely forgettable without its two stars. You wouldn’t think that Streisand and Rogen would have such great chemistry, but they make the movie a lot more tolerable. Unfortunately, while “The Guilt Trip” may have sounded funnier on paper, it’s a fairly harmless mother-son comedy that fails to leave much of an impression.

Blu-ray Highlight: There aren’t any standout extras on the disc, but there’s a nice collection of behind-the-scenes featurettes and deleted scenes that should please fans of Barbara. If you can’t stand the sound of Seth Rogen’s annoying laugh, though, you might want to steer clear of the gag reel.

It’s not just the studios that get excited about the beginning of the summer movie season, but audiences as well, because the four-month period marks the release of some of the year’s most anticipated films, from action blockbusters to all-star comedies. This summer is particularly exciting, and it kicks off in May with the latest installments of some of Hollywood’s biggest franchises (“Iron Man,” “Star Trek,” “Fast & Furious” and “The Hangover”), as well as a few lower profile features with the potential to make a big impression.

Who: Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce
What: When Tony Stark’s world is torn apart by a formidable terrorist called the Mandarin, Stark starts an odyssey of rebuilding and retribution.
When: May 3rd
Why: “Iron Man 2” may be one of the weaker films in Marvel’s Phase One, but it deserves some slack for shouldering a lot of the groundwork leading up to “The Avengers.” With that said, it’ll be nice to see Tony Stark in a more standalone adventure this time out, which is reportedly based on Warren Ellis’ well-received “Extremis” arc, ushering in a change of status quo for the Iron Man armor. The film also marks a change behind the camera as well, with Shane Black taking over for the departing Jon Favreau, although the trailers suggest that it’s business as usual. That’s great news for fans of the first two films, because with the addition of Guy Pearce, Rebecca Hall and Ben Kingsley to the cast, “Iron Man 3” is shaping up to the best of the series.

Who: Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Chris Evans, James Franco and Ray Liotta
What: The true story of notorious contract killer Richard Kuklinski, from his early days in the mob until his arrest for the murder of more than 100 men.
When: May 3rd
Why: Millennium Entertainment doesn’t exactly have the best track record when it comes to releasing small movies with big stars, but the cast of “The Iceman” is almost too good to ignore. Michael Shannon tends to deliver his best work in these types of indie films, while Winona Ryder proved in “Black Swan” that she’s still capable of turning in a good performance with the right material. And it wouldn’t be a crime movie without Ray Liotta popping up at some point, so director Ariel Vromen has that box checked as well. Though most people have probably never even heard of Richard Kuklinski or his true life story, sometimes those ones are the best.

Who: Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Joel Edgerton and Tobey Maguire
What: A Midwestern war veteran finds himself drawn to the past and lifestyle of his millionaire neighbor.
When: May 10th
Why: Try as they might to spin the film’s delay positively, Warner Bros. has backed themselves into quite the corner by pushing the release date from December 2012 to this summer. Not only does it make more sense for the movie to be released during awards season, but Warner’s sudden change of heart (having already started the marketing blitz last year) has raised some concerns about the film’s quality. It’s hard to imagine that a big screen adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s celebrated novel could be such a disaster with actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Carey Mulligan in the lead roles, but then again, Jack Clayton’s 1974 version also had a great cast, and that one didn’t go so well either. Factor in the seemingly unnecessary decision to shoot the movie in 3D, and “The Great Gatsby” suddenly sounds like a pretty big gamble.

Who: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, John Cho, Simon Pegg, Anton Yelchin and Alice Eve
What: After the crew of the Enterprise find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to capture a one-man WMD.
When: May 17th
Why: It’s amazing how much a reboot can do for a franchise when executed successfully, and there’s no better example of that than J.J. Abrams’ “Star Trek,” which even made the sci-fi property cool with non-Trekkies. What was really impressive about the 2009 film, however, was the way it reinvented the franchise without alienating older fans, and now that the foundation has been laid, I’m excited to see how the relationships between the various Enterprise crew members continue to evolve in Abrams’ highly anticipated follow-up. Of course, as is usually the case with the “Star Trek” series, the films are only as strong as their villains, and for as great of a job as they did casting the Enterprise crew, hiring Benedict Cumberbatch to play the sequel’s baddie is looking more brilliant with each new trailer.

Bullz-Eye continues its look back at every James Bond film, 007 One by One, as part of our James Bond Fan Hub that we’ve created to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Bond film.

You’ve seen “Skyfall,” now how about taking a look at the other best James Bond movie you’ve never seen?

Ask a hardcore Bond aficionado what his favorite 007 entry is, and there’s a very good chance the answer will be “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.”

We don’t necessarily want to make bold claims as to what the best Bond movie is, as it differs from person to person, but “Majesty’s” should be Top Five material for any die-hard fan of the franchise. The film is littered with all kinds of “firsts” and “onlys” — both in front of and behind the camera — but the most obvious is of course its lead, George Lazenby, and it’s with Lazenby that, for better or worse, most talk of the film begins (but should by no means end).

In the year 2013, we take for granted the changing of the lead actor within the Bond series, as we’ve now had a half a dozen different 007s, but back in the late sixties there was only one James Bond, and his name was Sean Connery. During the production of “You Only Live Twice,” Connery decided to exit the franchise that made him a household name (though as we now know today, he’d return to the character not once, but twice), however, quite understandably, the producers of the series weren’t finished telling their stories, and the public seemed far from tired of 007’s adventures.

So there was really only one option and that was to recast. The search was extensive, but in the end Bond producers decided on a complete unknown – Lazenby – a model with virtually zero acting experience. Regardless, Albert Broccoli was certain he could transform the man into his new James Bond.

The debate has raged for over 40 years as to whether or not the recasting was successful, with many schools of thought on the matter. Having viewed “Majesty’s” numerous times, we feel confident in saying that it’s a shame Lazenby didn’t give it at least one more go in the part (the decision to not return was, amazingly, his own), because as it stands, he cannot help but be somewhat swallowed up by the richness of his surroundings. One thing is for certain: Lazenby in no way ruins it, or keeps “Majesty’s” from being the best film it can be. “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” is a fine, fine movie, and one that deserves to stand on its own, away from the greater picture of the whole franchise, and Lazenby – as any lead would be – is at least partly responsible for its artistic success.

The Plot: “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” relies heavily on Ian Fleming’s original text, the last Bond film to really do so until 2006’s “Casino Royale.” The story is two in one: the first is about Bond’s hunting for and eventual finding of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, and the second is about Bond falling in love and getting married (yes, you read that right) to an initially suicidal young woman named Tracy. Her father, Draco, runs a crime syndicate, and has info about Blofeld’s whereabouts, which James requires. Turns out Blofeld is posing as a high-profile allergist in Switzerland. Bond tracks him there, and infiltrates his organization by posing as a genealogist. Once the jig is up, all hell breaks loose, and Bond finds himself on the run, and only one person can help him…

The Girls: Blofeld’s mountaintop Swiss hideaway, Piz Gloria, stockpiles quite the cache of babe-alicious flesh – including a very young Joanna Lumley (“Absolutely Fabulous”) as well as the lovely Catherine Schell (“The Return of the Pink Panther”). Odd then that James zeroes in on the homeliest looking one of the bunch, Ruby Bartlett (Angela Scoular). But then again, this is also that unique Bond flick wherein James falls in love, and perhaps going for runt of the litter was the only way for him to rationalize cheating on his beloved Tracy.

It’s been a while since Hollywood delivered a truly great mobster movie, and though “Gangster Squad” falls a little short of remedying that, it’s still an entertaining and welcome return to the genre, partially because it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Will Beall’s script does a good job of balancing the drama with brief moments of humor, while Sean Penn’s gleefully over-the-top turn as Mickey Cohen is just campy enough without being distracting. The action sequences are also really well done, although the unique visual style that Ruben Fleischer brought to “Zombieland” isn’t as prevalent here as it was in that movie. If there’s one thing that really makes the film worth seeing, however, it’s the killer cast. Josh Brolin is great as the leader of the titular squad, and it’s nice to see Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone rekindle their chemistry from “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” even if both parts are poorly underwritten. The other cast members don’t get as much to do, but having top-notch actors like Nick Nolte, Anthony Mackie, Michael Peña, Giovanni Ribisi and Robert Patrick in those supporting roles definitely elevates the material. The story is predictable, and it owes a lot to “The Untouchables,” but “Gangster Squad” is enjoyable in spite of all that.

Blu-ray Highlight: It’s a shame that Warner Bros. didn’t include the original movie theater shootout sequence among the deleted scenes, but the rest of the bonus material is pretty good. “The Gangland Files” collects many of the disc’s extras (including Focus Point mini-featurettes, historical trivia and other bits) into a picture-in-picture track that plays alongside the film, while the audio commentary with director Ruben Fleischer is informative but not terribly engaging.

Based on the true story of the Alvarez-Belon family – who were separated by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami while vacationing in Thailand, only to overcome incredible odds and be miraculously reunited – the aptly titled “The Impossible” is a stunning second feature by Juan Antonio Bayona that blends physical filmmaking with raw emotion. The tsunami sequence is a remarkable technical feat that perfectly captures the danger and desperation of being caught in the storm, and the scenes that follow are every bit as harrowing and intense as any horror film. That’s because “The Impossible” is essentially a real-life horror movie, although one that features some soul-baring performances by its cast. Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor both deliver some of the best work of their careers as the two parents stuck in a difficult situation, while newcomer Tom Holland announces himself to the world with a star-making turn as the couple’s eldest son. The end result is not only an extremely well-made survival thriller, but a poignant celebration of the human spirit that deserves to be seen by all.

Blu-ray Highlight: Though the audio commentary with director J.A. Bayona, writer Sergio G. Sanchez and real-life survivor Maria Belon isn’t nearly as interesting as you’d expect considering the subject matter, there is a short but sweet behind-the-scenes featurette titled “Realizing ‘The Impossible’” that provides a cool look at filming the tsunami sequence using a combination of practical effects, models and CG.

The direct-to-video market has really improved over the last five years or so, with many films now featuring well-known actors keen to make a quick payday. But while the presence of these stars certainly makes the movies more appealing, there’s usually a good reason why they didn’t get a theatrical release, and in the case of “Pawn,” it’s down to some bad writing. Though the crime thriller starts out fairly promising, it doesn’t take long before the film devolves into a poorly scripted mess filled with stupid characters, contrived plot twists and one of the worst rush job endings you’ll ever see. The movie tries really hard to be clever, but it just comes off as unnecessarily complex, with strange decisions on both sides of the camera. Michael Chiklis, sporting a Cockney accent for some strange reason, is the best thing about the film, but unfortunately, the rest of the big names (like Forest Whitaker, Stephen Lang and Ray Liotta) don’t have nearly as much to do. With a better script, “Pawn” could have been a lot more enjoyable, but instead, it’s just another example of good actors stuck in a bad movie.

Blu-ray Highlight: The only extra on the disc is a 23-minute behind the scenes featurette that’s pretty hard to sit through. Not only does it include the usual self-congratulatory interviews with the cast and crew, but it’s done in such a confident and overenthusiastic manner that you’d think they were making a future Oscar winner.