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Quint and Terrence Howard chat about James Rhodes, Marvel and IRON MAN!!!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. I have my one on one chat with Terrence Howard here for you good folks. We talk much about the character of James Rhodes, the idea of War Machine and what to expect in the future. Plus we get a little background on how Rhodes is handled in the flick… and I swear to God it sounds like he kinda confirms the Sam Jackson as Nick Fury. Enjoy the chat and enjoy even more of the amazing, incredible, ear-drum pleasing sound-o-text!!!
Quint: Hey, man. My name’s Quint and I write for a movie news website called Ain’t It Cool News…
Terrence Howard: I think Craig [Brewer] told me… You wrote something on HUSTLE AND FLOW didn’t you?
Quint: Yeah.
Terrence Howard: That was one of the first things that Craig showed me. He was like, “You’ve got to see this website called Ain’t It Cool News.” It was one of the first things written on us.
Quint: He brought it up to Austin right after Sundance and it just really worked for us. Craig’s got such a great style and he’s got such a great eye for…
Terrence Howard: I just watched BLACK SNAKE MOAN yesterday for the first time.
Quint: It’s great.
Terrence Howard: Ain’t It Cool News…
Quint: I remember you were announced before Downey was and the rumor for a while was that you were playing Iron Man. I was actually surprised, because there has been comic book movies in the past where they have cast against the type and it has outraged the fans, but in terms of Iron Man, they were actually really open to you in the role…
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE ANSWER AND READ ALONG!
Terrence Howard: Well, you’ve got to remember, because James Rhodes puts on that suit and fights and with The Avengers… you know, goes and fights with THE AVENGERS, also, that it was within the realm of possibility.
Quint: So, it’s like…
Terrence Howard: It just depends on where they pick the story up at…
Quint: Yeah, it’s like Sam Jackson as Nick Fury, because of THE ULTIMATES version it’s still cannon.
Terrence Howard: Yes.
Quint: If it’s canon, the fans can’t complain about it like Kingpin in DAREDEVIL.
Terrence Howard: No, they just want you to stay true.
Quint: I met Favreau at the production offices before shooting started and he was talking about casting you. He was saying that he really wanted to lay groundwork in this movie to make an overall arc over three films, so he said when he cast you, he didn’t just cast Rhodes, but he cast WAR MACHINE as well for future films.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE ANSWER AND READ ALONG!
Terrence Howard: It’s kind of funny. It’s the opposite of how they cast SPIDERMAN. To cast SPIDERMAN, they weren’t casting SPIDERMAN, they were casting Peter Parker.
Quint: Yeah.
Terrence Howard: It was the opposite twist, because there’s such an expectation of who he shall become. James Rhodes gets the benefit of losing his mind. Madness gives us a freedom from anyone’s understanding of us. When he puts on that suit and ends up becoming… having his brainwaves altered as a result of being affected by Tony’s brainwaves. Whether he becomes smarter… whether he becomes more independent in nature and rebellious in nature when he’s been straight-laced his whole life, that’s the stuff I was looking forward to. The dichotomy of being you, but having someone else jump inside of you out of nowhere and not be able to get rid of them ever.
Quint: Yeah, you’re inviting another person to share your brain.
Terrence Howard: Yes, and the brain doesn’t share anything, only one nature can dominate at a given time. Beyond that, there’s war… it’s never where two ideas sit and rest equally, they’re always at war with each other.
Quint: That’s fascinating and that’s one thing that I really love about IRON MAN. I was talking earlier and saying that one of the fascinating things about a lot of the character work in there is like if you look at Tony Stark, he doesn’t have his GREEN GOBLIN really, but his main villain has always been himself and that’s unlike any other MARVEL character.
Terrence Howard: It’s battling against the weaker side of your nature.
Quint: Yeah.
Terrence Howard: You know the selfish side… He’s a child of privilege, of extreme privilege, not just financially, but also with his ability to create. He’s unlimited in his prospects of “who are you going to be? Are you going to be morally upstanding or are you going to fall into a moral quagmire?” He has taken all of those routes and the fact that Downey has been in all of those places his entire life, you know his life is very parallel to that in having his father as Robert Downey, the powerful man that he became. He started all of that, that whole real aggressive TV stuff and he’s a child of that and he’s brilliant. Have you talked to him?
Quint: Yeah, I did. He was absolutely hysterical and just so laidback and natural. It’s not like…
Terrence Howard: He’s witty.
Quint: And it doesn’t seem fake. I’ve met a lot of people where you can tell that they have a persona on, but honestly, when I did my interview with him, we sat down and it was a good interview, but it wasn’t until we started joking around with each other that I actually felt like I was talking to him, you know? I love that he opened up more and was able to just kind of be himself.
Terrence Howard: That’s him. That’s him on the set everyday and I kept waiting to see IRON MAN. I kept waiting to see Tony Stark and I saw the real Tony Stark there. He didn’t have to create a character. All he had to do was be him and he taught me how to be me now, you know? To trust you again.
Quint: In the footage that I have seen, it looks like Rhodey meets him in Afghanistan?
Terrence Howard: No no no, we went to MIT together.
Quint: Okay.
Terrence Howard: We went to MIT and he’s been… I’m the liaison between Stark Industries and the United States Air Force Acquisition department, so I’m the person that green lights any application to the military of anything… the technologies that he’s working on, so we are best friends and work together for so long.
Quint: So you knew him before he had his humbling moment?
Terrence Howard: Yes, and so I can actually see his change. That’s one of the things that we war constantly with in this film, “who are you more responsible to, to tradition or to the immediate needs of people at the time?”
Quint: Yeah. Rhodey… I’m really curious to see how much your relationship, the friendship between Rhodey and Stark, is in the movie. Favreau has shown quite a bit for as early as this is, but he’s still very wisely keeping so much under wraps to keep the surprise…
Terrence Howard: You have to.
Quint: I’m really looking forward to seeing how he balances all of the character work in the finish product.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE ANSWER AND READ ALONG!
Terrence Howard: Well he’s an improvisational director… an actor and director… so even though we may have shot a film, I think the film is going to grow exponentially by the time it gets ready to come out, based upon the expectations of the audience, based upon the resources provided and COMIC-CON has just given a green light to MARVEL to do everything they can to make this film as brilliant and as perfect as it should be, because it says they will have the support. If you spend another 40 million dollars it will not be wasted. It will not be in vain, they will come out.
Quint: It feels like there’s been a little renaissance in superhero films since BATMAN BEGINS, because all of a sudden they started getting as bad as they were getting, like with FANTASTIC FOUR and…
Terrence Howard: But you see, the casts have changed, it was Nick Nolte I think that made the change for them. They brought an incredible actor in. Eric Bana did an incredible job, but Nick Nolte…
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO THE REST OF THE ANSWER AND READ ALONG!
Terrence Howard: Eric played it so honest and Nick played it so guttural and that what’s happens when you get a real actor in there, so I think the criteria to get into this film was like you’ve had to have had an Academy Award nomination. Everybody in our cast, or the four main leads, have been nominated, if not have won, you know?
So the war that we put up to make it real, not trying to out do each other, but in keeping it real and like I said onstage, I don’t create a character, I let the people around me create the character… how they respond to me is who the character becomes and sometimes you break their response and you meet it with a bit more aggression than they had anticipated, but they still care about you as a friend first, so it works.
Quint: As much as this means to MARVEL as a property and as the first film released made completely by them, it doesn’t seem like they’re having the same kind of influence of a Tom Rothman at Fox.
Terrence Howard: What type of influence, oh yeah the…
Quint: The negative stuff, where it all of a sudden became about marketing first. Of course that’s big part of making these big event movies, but…
Terrence Howard: No, we didn’t any of that, because this is the most expensive independent film I think ever made. It’s an independent film, there’s no studio support.
Quint: The thing is MARVEL seems to be focusing on the long term as well, where they are looking at this as a franchise and they’re not looking at it as a “we need to win summer 08’.”
Terrence Howard: No, it has to be logistically credible. It has to be some historical authenticity associated with it in order for it to have a full stand.
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Terrence Howard: Because the audience is brilliant now days. They’re not fools anymore; they can actually have their voice heard. Thirty years ago an audience never had their voice heard, there was a couple of critics that would speak for them. Now people can go and speak for themselves and say “I recommend this film” or “I don’t, because of this, that, and the other.”
Quint: Yeah.
Terrence Howard: They want truth and honesty. They want accountability into the social conditioning of the world right now and of the responsibility of people to do better when they have a position of power. No longer can you go drop a bomb somewhere and nobody say anything about it and that’s what IRON MAN speaks to.
Quint: I can’t wait to see it.
Terrence Howard: Me either.
Quint: Well thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me.
And that’s it. These guys have all be great to talk to, genuinely knowledgeable and excited for this film. Can I be more excited for this flick? They better not fuck it up in the next half a year….
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
Readers Talkback
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I get the feeling that Rhodey might be donning armor and becoming Iron Monger. Maybe Stane ends up controlling him? Sounds like Rhodey's going to develop some mental issues. Might be too early in the franchise to address this issue, unless Rhodey has problems testing the armor and Stark has to don it himself.
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Loved the Con footage, loving these interviews!
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Getting a really good feel for the themes and ideas in the movie now. Howard sounds like a great choice for War Machine too. This and Wall*E are going to rule 08.
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WAR MACHINE!!!!!!!!! I still think Terrance Howard would have made a better Tony Stark.
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...couldn't have told you anything about his character, not even his alter-ego's name. But with everything sounding so promising, how can you fail to be excited? Fauvreau, Robert Downey Jr, Terence Howard, its all looking great. Great interviews too Quint, nice to see some sophisticated answers to questions about a 'Superhero' film - great to see people taking these sorts of stories seriously - instead of as a launchpad for a new line in toys. There is a whole world of brilliant comics out there with amazing stories that relate to the world around us, just with characters that are fantastical. It's good to hear that they will be getting a wider audience.
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Especially how he creates his character...letting the reaction of the other actors on set shape his character. Really interesting stuff. I love him as an actor and I love his enthusiasm for IRON MAN.
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and Howard is a great guy, really friendly, i met him at a Hustle & Flow screening a couple years back and he was good enough to chat a while. This cast is great and the film sounds like it's headed in a great direction. Here's hoping.
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OH YEAH http://tinyurl.com/2e5c7u
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Howard is (was!) my least fave cast member, but he actually HAS some things to say about the character and the movie. I stand to my opinion that you were too starstruck, and trying to be friendly and talking dirty jokes and useless stuff like that with Fav and Downey, and it lowered their respective interviews. I don’t know for the other TBers, but that kind of “dinner for friends” interviews is really bugging me, you’re far more interesting to read when you stick to the topic: the movie. All the “funny” stuff, the personal trivia and cute references is good enough for Entertainment Weekly. That’s why I’m not an EW subscriber.<p> Howard seems a truly nice guy, and his enthusiasm seems really genuine. I'm glad he spilled some beans concerning his character cause the comic-con footage was too much Downey-centered, and I was worried about the heavy changes Favreau said he applied to Rhodey. Luckily these changes seem to be relevant, and it looks like they really fleshed him out above the sidekick level. <p> Wish you continue that way for a Paltrow interview Quint. She's married, so your friendly angle won't do shit to help you bang her. Stick to the flick!
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I've liked this actor Terrence Howard since seeing him in Hustle & Flow, so I'm happy to see another quality actor in Iron Man's cast.<p>P.S. This 'bad guy' character - is he really called Iron Monger? I don't know the comic much, so can someone confirm this? I hear the name and it conjures up images of Victorian shopkeepers, not evil nemesis types. Will there also be fish mongers? A decent haberdashery wouldn't go amiss, either.
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(as in the comics - a knock-off of Iron Man designed for the bad guy) but I'm confused now as to know if Jeff Bridges puts the suit like in the comics, or if Howard does; Ash Talon's suggestion seems plausible.
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Hey Quint, you really have to stop it with that. It's making your interviews unreadable. Say something about it in the intro and then use a little audio icon next to the response. Pretty please.
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As others have said above, Howard really delved into his character a bit, and it really seems like Jon will have a concrete storyline that will cover his potential three movies. It really seems like a lot of effort and thought are going into this one. I'm getting so giddy over this one!<p>I wouldn't think Rhodes is Iron Monger, but perhaps he gets a 'taste' of wearing the armor and then becomes War Machine in the next one??
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Too bad he didn't zoom in a bit in the beginning. Well, we did see Parkman being a 'protector'...and of course Sylar (though he could be possessed by the boogie man).
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I have read a comic book on a continuous basis in 16 years, but I was a huge ass Marvel Guy but just never collected IRON Man couldnt really get into him. But, after everything we have seen about this movie so far. I am looking more forward to this movie possibly any other movie in 08, outside maybe The DARK KNIGHT.
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and the two sequels. Why rush it and jam so much into one flick? That's why Spidey 3 was a let down from two. Favereau has learned from the trainwreck that was Batman & Robin. Marvel needs to start creating a credible rogue's gallery for Iron Man. Favreau said Manderin is in this one, then what War Machine, then Iron Monger? Who else?
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Maybe not perfect, but just kickass, mostly thanks to Terrence Howard.
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Spidey 3 and Batman&Robin were sequels, which means they were supposed to wrap up story arcs and maybe create new ones. They failed for both. <p> On the other hand, it's completely different for a first movie. No one would ever shun Lucas for putting too much stuff into A New Hope: that's what helped in making a believable universe for the audience. Since Favreau also starts from scratch with IM he can put Iron Monger as the "main" baddie (the brawns), Mandy as the brains behind it, and maybe War Machine (even if I don't believe he's in it) as a potential hero-turning-bad for the next episode. I'm not saying it makes perfect sense, nor that the final movie will reflect that; but it's better to come up with a busy yet self-contained origin story and expand the universe if the success guarantees sequels completing the story arc, rather than simplistic origins going further from the main conflicts with every shitty sequel.
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And here's the thing. Why are comic book nerds completely ok with the idea of separate universes in the comics themselves - Earth 2 where Superman is old, Ultimate Universe where Nick Fury is black, Earth 2419 where everyone's a zombie - these are fine. But as soon as you do a movie and make Nick Fury or The Kingpin black, or have the Joker with a scarred mouth instead of bleached skin, or make Galactus a big cloud, fanboys freak out. Can't people just accept that Galactus is a big cloud on Earth-Suck (or whatever) and move on?
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I think the main problem is not the changes (I mean, who can reasonably argue about the biologal web shooters now? It was a fucking good idea) but the amount of trust we put in the people changing these details: Nolan is someone to be trusted, so the anger about the Joker's new look is almost unnoticeable. However, when Roy Stalin (oh, sorry, Tim "the hack" Story) makes a shitty first FF film, many were up in arms at the very moment the "Galactus-as-cloud" news came out, just because it's him. I'm sure James Cameron could've gotten away with it. On the other hand, Cameron would never direct a shitty FF movie.
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or whatever you spell it, I'm not english^^
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...it's of the upmost importance!!
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I get the feeling from this interview that Marvel are planning an Avengers movie, possibly with Terrence Howard in the Iron Man role...
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They're very pretty ...
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Said it before, say it again, IRON MAN is going to be THE summer movie of 2008. THE DARK KNIGHT will be great, but this looks like its going to be (in Tony the Tiger's voice) "GRRRRRREAT!" (At least... I really, really hope so...)
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I agree completely. This interview was far more grounded and revealed more about the film and the actor's approach to character. Very interesting stuff. <BR> <BR> I'm hoping that they don't stuff War Machine into this film. I would love to see Howard get multiple films to develop that arc, and I would hate to see Rhodes reduced to just being Iron Monger. At the same time I'm also hoping that between Iron Monger and War Machine the series isn't just about a guy in a suit fighting other guys in suits. <BR> <BR> Iron Monger Pic: <BR> http://tinyurl.com/36fdq7
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http://tinyurl.com/2ywwpa http://tinyurl.com/36fdq7
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I just scooped AintItCoolNews on Iron Man vs. Iron Monger pics. Can I get a black box or what?
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Cool pics, but I've seen 'em. Were you the dood who put 'em up originially?
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But damn! It looks like Marvel is doing a great job with this. I hope it's a huge giant massively popular franchise for them. And hopefully this will lead to some of "the other guys" bringing their properties to the screen independently.
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This just sounds so damn perfect - no Rothman-type involved to focus group the movie to death and sacrifice good film making for product placement. Howard sounds like an incredibly intelligent actor and person. With someone like that in your film, how can you go wrong? I can't wait for '08.
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I don't think I understood a thing Terrence Howard was saying... or maybe i just took everything the wrong way... but i enjoyed the RDJ interview a little more, I think...
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is show Terrance howard put on the ironman suit once or twice but not have him suit up as War Machine until the very very end... you know how they like introduce the joker at the end in batman begins, or how we get green goblin 2 at the very end of spidey 2... that shit just screams come back for the next film. If the last ten seconds are devoted to terrance howard suiting up as war machine im going to have an ultimate jissim in my pants.
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I wanna see Iron Man vs Iron Monger pics...... This shit ain't fair. First I don't get to see the Iron Man footage before it's taken down and now this. Sucks ass. Also I thought Bridges was playing the Mandarin,or atleast some form of it? I'm so confused!
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Nah I didn't put them up originally. I was just poking fun at the fact that AintItCool seems to always be weeks (months?) behind posting pics and news these days. <BR> <BR> liljuniorbrown: <BR> Try these links. There were no lines breaks before: <BR> <BR> http://tinyurl.com/2ywwpa <BR> <BR> http://tinyurl.com/36fdq7
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Which part didn't you get? I thought this interview was way more coherent than RDJ's...
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Quint, you wuss.
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Iron Man will meet expectations and then some. Its gonna be great. Cloverfield (or whatever) will be horrible. It's already over-hyped.
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Weird. Is he a henchman of Mandarin? Or did they combine the villains and create Iron Mandarin (which sounds like a Chinese cooking show)?
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I like everything I've heard about this movie so far, including the cast's enthusiasm for it. The trailer from Comic Con was great, and the the fact that the movie is independently produced by Marvel helps a lot. Definitely looking forward to this one.
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Fuck you both.
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Thought I'd share that.
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Will Tony keep his armor in his transforming briefcase?
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Good job. TH is that dude.
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those trashcans were in the Downey Jr. shots too. (fuckin' hotels)
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I dig hearing and reading his interviews. The man is always very well researched and opinionated. Plus, he is a damn fine actor.
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He was the only reason why I suffered through Crash, the worst fucking movie of the last 10 years.
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that shit is the le lamenessssss
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I thought the briefcase was a fun piece of Stark's geekiness. It's either that, or a big red pod in the trunk of his car. Considering the humorous angle Favreau choosed, I wouldn't be surprised if he went the briefcase's way.
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When did I ever say Iron Man was my favorite? I know it might surprise you, but the real world isn't black and white. I think Stark is a fascinating character and hero. I still read Spider-Man more and to this day it's the only comic I still subscribe to. You can like certain things in different books more than your favorite, but your favorite is just that because of the overall.
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but I'd rather see him in the sequel. This should be Tony's movie. http://tinyurl.com/2jfv4d
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but this movie looks pretty damn good so far, so I expect the "brown-nosing" to continue until proved otherwise.
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Rodriguez is their Eli Roth. And their scripts reviews are shitty (I remember how they praised the 2004 Gough/Millar Iron Man script - one of the worst piece of shit I ever read).<p> Scoopwise, I gotta admit they're good. But that's all.
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What gives?!
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they got that shit locked up more than the pentagon. Guards were watching every back ally on the block they were filming on, and threatening to arrest people who attempted to take pictures. I did see a flipped over truck though if that does anything for anyone.
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The footage of Iron Man from Comic-Con is hard to find, but you can see it here: http://www.boomchicago.tv/node/968
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You can see it here: http://www.boomchicago.tv/node/968 Don't know where that space came from.
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So I'll type it manually: http://www.boomchicago.tv/node/968
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Not sure what's going on with talkback. Just delete the space after "node" and it should work. Sorry for the million posts.
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nice to see someone sticking to this thread. The space is automatically inserted by the site when you type something too long without putting a space (say, the Pi decimals).
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This is how to conduct a interview with out sounding like a complete ass hat!
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