If a bunch of inebriated film school half-wits on the brink of expulsion got together to produce a sex farce in under a week, the results might be comparable to Tom Vaughan’s What Happens in Vegas – one of the most unbearable Hollywood comedies of recent years.

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The curtain rises on Marvel Comics’ first in-house production to rousing results as their metal man of iron introduces himself to enthralled moviegoers everywhere. Just as billionaire playboy Tony Stark utilizes his technological know-how to fight evildoers, so does director Jon Favreau use his bag of cinematic tricks to lay the groundwork for yet another top-caliber franchise starring one of the biggest icons of the printed page. Delivering laughs as well as leaps of wonder, this comic-book fantasy gets it right across the board, with its buoyant tone never diluting the grounded dramatics of the story. For the flick to work, though, one needs an exceptional cast -– something this production has in spades. Sure, it’s an origin story, but to the cast’s credit, none of it ever seems tedious.

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David Mamet’s Redbelt is a kind of Karate Kid for the intellectual, philosophical set; a sober, action peppered drama that asks what value there is in honor when one’s opponents - and even adversaries - are willing to deceive and destroy lives in order to make a quick buck. It’s a cynical meditation on the themes of nobility, integrity, and truth that successfully sidesteps the clichés of the typical action drama, while still managing to deliver everything that audiences love about those films – the struggling underdog, the serpentine villain, and the knockout final brawl – all in ways that are sure to pleasantly surprise.

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It would be hard for any sequel to live up to the precedent set by what turned out to be one of the best stoner comedies ever made, but Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay is thankfully, as funny as the original. It’s just as raunchy and wild — extolling the virtues of weed and female genitalia at every opportunity — but where the first one largely concerned itself with the message of slackerdome, this one is surprisingly subversive, taking unexpected shots at the hypocritical political establishment and the ignorance that perpetuates both sides of the culture wars.

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Stories about young men unable to get over the girl who left them are as old as movies themselves. What sets Forgetting Sarah Marshall apart from the pack are the flesh and blood characters. For a first time screenwriter, Jason Segel aptly demonstrates a deep understanding of a cardinal rule in writing that everybody is flawed – capturing this in both his script, and in his performance as the severely heartbroken Peter. The movie expertly plays with stereotypes about aw-shucks good guys, horny superstars, and seemingly perfect new lovers, but it also pushes deeper into where those clichés come from. A savvy observer of human behavior, Segel treats his characters with empathy and compassion. He distills why specific romantic relationships happen, why they go on too long, and why they sometimes don’t happen when they should. Had he wanted to dig a few layers deeper, Segel could have crafted a serious story about the inability of twentysomethings to commit – the evidence suggests if he wants to try he might have a great drama in him. Thankfully, he has just as much skill as a gag writer, allowing him to wring more laughs than tears out of the pain.

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The duo at the center of Baby Mama - Tina Fey, as a corporate climber with a loudly ticking biological clock, and Amy Poehler, as the uneducated slob hired to be her surrogate mom — are to comedy what Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were to dancing. They trust each other, and they know each other’s rhythms so well they can trade off who gets to be the straight man and who gets to deliver the laugh lines. If the film were just the two of them, it would be worth recommending, but writer/director Michael McCullers likes to share the comedic wealth - he knows that giving the supporting characters good lines pays great rewards.

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The Rolling Stones are no strangers to celluloid. Their celebrated, occasionally infamous career has been saved for posterity every step of the way by some of the most formidable filmmakers of all time. Jean-Luc Godard, Hal Ashby, and the Maysals all offered up their take on the danger, the swagger, the damage, and the glory of the World’s Greatest Rock and Roll Band. While each of those filmmakers did something unique and memorable, it took Martin Scorsese to figure out how to make a film about the aspect of band that matters most – that they are men who love to play music. By filling the oversized IMAX screen with the weathered, leathered faces of Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts, and Ron Wood, Scorsese never lets his audience forget that these men have lived the kind of lives that give these powerful songs their visceral kick. They have earned the right to play these songs not because they wrote them, but because they feel them as strongly as ever. An old chestnut like As Tears Go By means so much more coming from a sixty-something Jagger than from the twenty something who wrote it, primarily because he seems to care about the song now even more than he did then.

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Kimberly Peirce’s follow-up to her award-winning debut Boys Don’t Cry, shows that many of her interests have remained even though the director might have taken nearly a decade to serve up a sophomore effort. Like her first film, Stop-Loss works best when dealing with the heightened emotions experienced by inarticulate blue-collar Americans. Ryan Phillippe and Joseph Gordon-Levitt both shine when the screenplay gives them things to do, but not to say. They have both been emotionally wounded by their experiences in the Iraq War, and now that they are home they are unable to find a healthy release for their pent-up stress. When a third friend and fellow veteran sees his new marriage fall apart, the trio sit around with some fellow Texas good ol’ boys, and use the wedding gifts for target practice. It’s an image that seems full of meaning, but this sequence is presented without any edge. Peirce seems unsure what she feels about these guys, even though she never questions their bravery or loyalty.

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