AllThingsD » Robert Downey Jr.

Viral Video: Tech-Laden "Iron Man 2″ Trailer (and a "Robin Hood" Bonus)

Kara Swisher — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 09:30:14 +0000

Here’s the debut trailer for “Iron Man 2,” the much anticipated sequel to the superhero smash-up starring Robert Downey Jr., who plays industrialist Tony Stark.

In this movie, Stark–as well as War Machine, the alter ego of Col. James Rhodes, played by Don Cheadle–faces Mickey Rourke as Whiplash. Really, he has an electric lash he whips, as you will see below.

Debuting next May, the movie is expected to be the first of the 2010 summer blockbusters, which also include Ridley Scott’s “Robin Hood,” starring Russell Crowe (video of the trailer also below).

Esquire Flirts With Digital Reality

Shira Ovide — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 08:00:17 +0000

Hollywood stars are going virtual, in the latest effort to jazz up the printed word–and wake up consumers who have become inured to traditional ads.

Hearst Corp.’s Esquire magazine will pepper its December issue with markers that trigger interactive video segments featuring cover subject Robert Downey Jr. and other actors, as well as an ad for Lexus. In doing so, Esquire is taking advantage of an emerging technology called augmented reality, which mixes real-life images with graphics or other effects. TV networks use AR to make the yellow first-down lines on football fields.

The cover and several pages of the Esquire issue include square stickers with black-and-white designs. People can hold the magazine up to a Web camera to trigger the video segments, which are similar to some video-conferencing technologies in their lifelike quality.

Read the rest of this post on the original site

Viral Video: Hawaii Chair and Kung-Fuing the Panda

Kara Swisher — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:30:49 +0000

I dare you not to laugh at this video from Ellen DeGeneres’s show, which was put up several months ago, but is suddenly enjoying a lot of popularity on the Web.

The video speaks for itself, but it has DeGeneres trying out a thing called a Hawaii chair:

And this is a different kind of funny–warning, it is a aimed directly at teenage boys, including using one to guide the proceedings–from the MTV Movie Awards this week. It features Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black and Ben Stiller trying to make a viral video for their upcoming movie, “Tropic Thunder.”

Here’s the video: