It’s quiet out there as everyone in Hollywood is en route to the Sundance Film Festival, so here’s something that should perk up your eyeballs a little bit. The always awesome Jeremy Irons has weighed in on “Downton Abbey,” and if you think the show is the height of writing and drama, Irons has some news for you.

Chatting at the Television Critics Assosciation panel for PBS’s “Shakespeare Uncovered,” Irons used the opportunity to take a swipe at the network’s hit show. “What I’m really excited about with ‘Shakespeare Uncovered’ is we’ll see some of the best British actors playing…

I care more about this for the Man of Steel info than Broken City, but at the same time, I’ll be seeing Broken City so it’s interesting too.

But there’s a lot we just don’t know about Man of Steel yet. That’s to be expected with Christopher Nolan involved I suppose. I mean even the trailers so far have not given us a lot of actual substance. And we certainly don’t know a lot about Krypton and Russell Crowe’s Jor-El in this film yet. This will mark the first time on the big screen an actor besides Marlon Brando has played Superman’s papa. Even in Superman Returns, they pulled out some…

New York Times film critic A.O. Scott is probably used to actors taking issue with his negative reviews. Last year, “Marvel’s The Avengers” star Samuel L. Jackson blasted Scott’s dismissal of the comic blockbuster by airing his grievances on Twitter. “NY Times critic AO Scott needs a new job!” Jackson tweeted.

Now another actor has come out against Scott’s barbs—though without as much vitriol as Jackson.

Jon Polito, a character actor famous for his parts in the Coen brothers’ films “Miller’s Crossing” and “The Big Lebowski,” left a comment on Scott’s pan of “Gangster Squad.” Polito has…

“Gangster Squad” is less a movie than a costume party run amok. Set in a late-’40s Los Angeles painted in cartoon colors rather than noir shadows, it is a hectic jumble of fedoras and zoot suits, stockings and cigarettes, and red femme-fatale dresses. The accessories of choice are guns of various calibers and styles, deployed to drown out — or perhaps to emphasize — knucklehead dialogue and inept storytelling.

This is post one of two on this subject. This is the review, and I have another linked list item coming up about this review.

And yeah, the entire review reads pretty much like…

John McTiernan, who directed such hit movies as Die Hard and The Hunt for Red October, will likely soon be headed to federal prison in connection with his role in the Anthony Pellicano wiretapping scandal.

McTiernan was sentenced in late 2010 to one year in prison and a fine of $100,000 after pleading guilty to making false statements to the FBI in its investigation into the activities of Pellicano, the former Hollywood private detective who already is behind bars.

Huh, I had no idea this was even going on until now. Perhaps I’ve been under a rock somewhere? Am I the only one who…

Jamie Foxx and Kerry Washington talk about working with Quentin Tarantino and how they feel about his films, how they feel about making Django, and more.

Worth checking out.

The film opened promisingly enough to a $15m opening weekend, but has only managed to hit $70m in the domestic market, a total that doesn’t look sufficient to persuade Paramount to fund round two.

The film’s global gross stands at a more healthy $153m, although according to The Hollywood Reporter the studio is thought to want that figure to reach $250m before it will countenance giving a sequel the green light.

Well that’s too bad. I would not have been sad to see more. I liked it more than I disliked it.

When we first met John McClane in 1988, he was just an everyman cop trying to help his wife and her colleagues out of an office building. But oh, how things have changed. Each installment of the Die Hard franchise has gone bigger than the last, and number five, A Good Day to Die Hard, is no exception. McClane travels to Russia not only to save his son, but, apparently, to defend democracy itself.

In real life, we saw that progression unfold over two and a half decades. But next month, you can relive it in just a matter of hours. Fox has announced that it will bring all four previous…

I just saw this via Fringe’s Facebook page. It looks like it was just posted to YouTube today. So despite having shared a Fringe trailer earlier, I must share another one with you now.

It looks to be epic, but I suppose we would expect nothing less from Fringe‘s last hurrah.