Iron Man remains the most bankable property in Marvel Studios' stable of superheroes, and as such, the next two summers will contain no shortage of hot armored action.  Robert Downey Jr. next dons the armor as part of the ensemble in The Avengers, and the summer after that will see his next solo adventure, with Iron Man 3 dropping on May 3, 2013.  Production on the second sequel will take place in Wilmington, North Carolina, and if any inhabitants of that fair city and state want to be their face to part of a crowd in the cinematic Marvel Universe, then their time has finally arrived.

For a long time before its release in 2008, Iron Man was seen as Marvel Studios mining the second-tier heroes in a long-shot attempt at comic book movie glory after the Spider-Men, Dark Knights, and Merry Mutants exhausted the cinematic potential of the genre with its heaviest hitters.  Director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr. surprised everybody by delivering a bona-fide blockbuster with a well-told origin story.  The third installment of the Iron Man franchise will be the first not directed by Favreau, with Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang writer-director Shane Black taking over.  Apparently, it might also be the first shot principally outside of Los Angeles, where the Tony Stark lays his head and his armor.

On the surface, Contagion might just seem like your average action thriller about a deadly pandemic, but in actuality it is a an exciting motion picture roller coaster ride with some serious award-winning pedigree. The film, which opens in theaters on September 9^th, was not only directed by an Oscar winner, but it also stars four Oscar winners, four Oscar nominees, and a three time Emmy winner. No matter which way you slice it, that’s a whole lot of Hollywood gold for one movie.

The film was directed by Academy Award winner Steven Soderbergh (Traffic), based on a script by Scott Z. Burns (An Bourne Ultimatum), and stars Academy Award winners Matt Damon (Good Will Hunting), Kate Winslet (The Reader), Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose), and Gwyneth Paltrow (Shakespeare in Love), Academy Award nominees Laurence Fishburne (What’s Love Got To Do With It), Jude Law (Cold Mountain), John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone), and Elliot Gould (Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice), as well as three time Emmy winner Bryan Cranston (TV’s Breaking Bad). Contagion follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving pandemic gets worse, the medical community races to find the cure and control the panic that ensues around the world. As the disease spreads, ordinary people struggle to survive in a society that is coming apart. The movie plays like Outbreak done Traffic style.

Remember that series of six character posters from Contagion, the upcoming thriller from Steven Soderbergh and his The Informant! screenwriter Scott Z. Burns?  You know, the ones featuring the famous faces of Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Kate Winslet, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Paltrow and the thoroughly unnerving warning "DON'T TALK TO ANYONE. DON'T TOUCH ANYONE."  All six were pretty memorable, but just in case you've forgotten and for the sake of efficiency, Warner Bros has gone ahead and combined all six into one convenient package.  The new Contagion poster includes all six of those actors, plus a new tagline that may not be urgent as the last one, but is certainly no more comforting.

Yesterday, Warner Bros debuted six character posters from the pandemic thriller Contagion, and in keeping with the film's virulent subject matter, each one paired the visage of a famous castmember with the urgent warning, "Don't talk to anyone.  Don't touch anyone."  Today, the first official images from the film dropped online, and two out of the three show the consequences of both talking to and touching people during a viral outbreak.  One shows Matt Damon outside a quarantine zone, while another has a wisely containment-suited Jude Law in desolate, plague-ravaged San Francisco.  Rather oddly, a third image features Gwyneth Paltrow having a really fantastic time.

A decades-long fascination with virology and a near-constant fear of a viral pandemic ensured that when I saw the first trailer for Contagion, I immediately struggled to maintain bowel control.  Steven Soderbergh's thriller depicts the global effects of an airborne virus that makes Ebola look like mild allergies, devastating the entire planet in a manner not dissimilar to the Great Mortality's multi-continental shakedown in the Middle Ages.  In order to convey the indiscriminate nature of such an virus, Soderbergh employs an ensemble featuring some of the most talented actors around, and six new character posters do a damned efficient job of reminding us that Matt Damon, Marion Cotillard, Laurence Fishburne, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet, and Jude Law are all in the movie.

Some people are afraid of spiders, others fear snakes.  Some people even fear beautiful women (it's called caligynephobia).  I happen to fear the prospect of global pandemic, with some hyper-virulent little airborne organism decimating the human population, like the Black Plague that ravaged medieval Europe, but on an impossibly large scale.  Steven Soderbergh's next film, Contagion, runs with this horrific premise to presumably thrilling effect.  The first footage from the film has hit online.  The good news: it looks damn good, with a cast that includes Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Kate Winslet.  The bad news: this footage debuted as a tease on Entertainment Weekly, meaning it's all chopped up there are obnoxious talking heads all up in it.

If you're amongst the legion of unabashed Glee fans out there, then this clip from next week's new episode will be a treat.  If you've always wanted to see Gwyneth Paltrow rock out in leather, then you'll find it doubly delicious.  And if your favorite song is Gary Glitter and Joan Jett's 'Do You Wanna Touch Me?', then you should probably brace yourself, because you're about to spend the next three minutes experiencing the perfect combination of Glee, Gwyneth, and Glitter.  See for yourself:

Netflix's streaming Watch Instantly service is fast becoming America's favorite way to watch movies.  The library of available titles is so vast and mutable that you, the avid instant watcher, could no doubt use a guide as you navigate the streaming frontier.  Luckily for you, I'm here every week to update you on the latest titles available for instant-watching, as well as bringing attention some gems out there in the instantly watchable wilds.

Garrett Hedlund sure knows how to sell himself.

Country Strong director Shana Feste recently revealed that the Tron: Legacy star auditioned at a karaoke bar.