Film Review

Look! Up in the sky! It’s a tin can! No, it’s Iron Man!

Yes, Iron Man, faster than a speeding snail, louder than Metallica, and able to leap salvage yards in a single bound. Armed with powers far beyond just a bucket of bolts, Iron Man, disguised as brash playboy and arms manufacturer Tony Stark, fights a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American military complex.

Wait, wait, wait! Iron Man? Didn’t he rust out during the Nixon administration?

Well, yes. But now he’s rebuffed, re-plated and doing his part to promote recycling by filling his lead boots with a rehabbed actor.

Film Review

Ladies and gentlemen: Stop your engines!

And as you leave the track, try to avoid the mangled wreckage of “Speed Racer,” Andy and Larry Wachowski’s over-glitzed, under-written and just plain annoying remake of the Saturday morning cartoon classic.

David Copperfield, the man who made the Statue of Liberty disappear and who walked through the Great Wall of China, performs “An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion,” May 9-11, at the Opera House, in Boston.

In a world where David Blaine performs insane human tricks in public and Criss Angel is on a mission to “Mindfreak” as many people on the street as he can, Copperfield remains the illusionist to beat.

But did he forget where he taught magic at the age of 16? We conducted an email interview with him (we were told this is the only way he’ll do interviews), and we threw him a curveball at the end. He swung and missed. So we had to ask him…

Did you forget to buy your mom a present for Mother's Day? Me too. To offset our gross negligence, there are seven events in this week's Keeping Tabs that will either help you out or serve as "I'm sorry I messed up Mother's Day...again" makeup.

Have you heard about the new play by William Shakespeare? Well, old play. Except that it’s about to get its World Premiere, so I guess it’s new. Even though it’s 395 years old. Anyway, it’s called “Cardenio,” and it’s one of Shakespeare’s late plays, but he didn’t write it. Well, he wrote it — or co-wrote it — but it got lost. Or maybe it was found. In the 18th century. By Lewis Theobald. At least, that’s what Theobald claims. But he wasn’t particularly trustworthy. So who knows? Apparently, Theobald spiffed up the play (because, you know, Shakespeare was kind of a hack) and restaged it. And now it’s been resurrected again.

Got a headache yet? Trying to parse truth from legend with old Will Shakespeare tends to leave most people reaching for the Excedrin. Heck, people can’t even agree on whether or not he wrote “Hamlet,” what hope is there for figuring out “Cardenio”?

Kate Snodgrass never thought her idea would last this long.

It all started when Snodgrass and a friend were lamenting the local theater scene. Now it has blossomed into an annual event that showcases the talent of local (and mostly unheard of) playwrights.

It’s the 10-year anniversary for the Boston Theater Marathon (a program of the Boston Playwrights’ Theatre), an event that gives patrons the opportunity to see a plethora of plays, all 10 minutes in length.