In X-Men: First Class, Kevin Bacon assumes the role of Sebastian Shaw, a villainous scientist hellbent on world domination. How did Bacon transform himself onscreen from a small-town teen who just wants to dance to sneering supervillain in the sexiest comic-based film yet? You can always trace a direct line through a few important roles to illustrate what led to an actor's current success. As such, let's look at nine pivotal performances that track the evolution of Kevin Bacon.
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As the makers of multiple Tony winners like Spamalot, Billy Elliott, and Hairspray (among many, many others) know, adapting hit Broadway musicals from movies can be quite rewarding -- commercially and creatively. But since these days it seems like Broadway folk are dipping into the Hollywood playbook for just about any kind of material -- nun-themed disco comedies, '80s-set Adam Sandler pics, even the Patrick Swayze-Demi Moore romance Ghost, complete with potter's wheel cheesiness -- Movieline's got your guide to the five most promising future movie-to-Broadway adaptations to watch for.
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In Terrence Malick's Tree of Life, Brad Pitt assumes the role of 1950s disciplinarian whose no-nonsense form of parenting complicates the evolution of his own offspring. How did Pitt transform himself from the free-spirited cowboy hitchhiker in Thelma & Louise to the stern father who escorts his sons to church every Sunday in this weekend's Palme d'Or-winning drama?
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Kung Fu Panda 2 is chock full of famous voices (Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan), which makes you wonder: Why? Why are celebrity voices an (apparent) essential of the genre? Truth is, recognizable voices are comforting, and animated movies are all about shelling the pacifying capabilities of cinema. Here are our 10 famous voices in animated classics, ranked for your clicking comfort.
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The latest definition of critic-proof? Try The Hangover Part II. The Todd Phillips-directed sequel is currently rocking a mere 32 percent Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and yet headed for at least $100 million at the box office over Memorial Day weekend. Sorry, critics! It seems you can't account for taste -- or the need for audiences to see Ed Helms with a face tattoo. Ahead, the nine most scathing reviews of The Hangover Part II.
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Hollywood has a habit of tapping unrealistically attractive actors to play onscreen outcasts, like in I Am Number Four (available on DVD and Blu-ray this week from DreamWorks), which boldly appointed bad boy Adonis Alex Pettyfer as its alien loner and blonde beauty Dianna Agron as his nerdy shutterbug crush. In honor of these ironic casting choices, Movieline has compiled nine other knockouts that played high school outsiders.
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Look, it's too easy to get exercised about the proliferation of luxury gift bags at awards shows and their free distribution to multimillionaire celebrities. Families from Joplin to Japan recently lost everything they own in disasters lasting mere minutes, and here we are receiving press releases about the new "custom-designed 2011 MTV Movie Awards gift bag for celebrity nominees, presenters and performers attending the live event." That's life, I'm afraid. But as we all rummage through its high-end contents, maybe the question to ask ourselves is: "How much of this crap would I actually want?"
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If you thought the upcoming Sarah Palin documentary sounded like a bit of a joke, you're not alone. For the last few hours Twitter users have spent precious work time coming up with pithy alternate titles for The Undefeated (the film's actual title), and now you can join in on the fun as well. Click ahead to read the ten funniest #palinfilmnames, and then add your own in the comments section.
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Ron Howard may have built an Academy Award-winning career around finely-tuned dramas like Parenthood, A Beautiful Mind and Frost/Nixon, but the Happy Days star was only able to do so after proving his directorial worth in the lighthearted chase romp Grand Theft Auto (available on DVD this week as part of a double-feature set from Shout Factory). In honor of Howard's unlikely entrée into filmmaking, Movieline has compiled five other unusual directing debuts from Oscar-winning directors.
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As Oprah's reign as chatfest czarina comes to a close this coming week, it's time to lament some "favorite things" that Ms. Winfrey will never give us: screamed welcomes of hard-to-pronounce celebrity names. I'm sorry, but "JOHN TRUH-VOLE-TUH!" and "mee dear perznal freend JULIAR RAHRBERRRRZ" are downright easy to bellow. Why didn't Oprah ever challenge herself? Join us as we list a bunch of difficult, movie-related names that Oprah never got to introduce with a loving caterwaul and disturbing hand gestures. We also provide Oprah-fied phonetic spellings of each!
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In Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Johnny Depp reprises the most popular and beloved character of his career, Captain Jack Sparrow. How did Depp transform himself from an '80s teen TV idol to one of the most talented and idiosyncratic actors in film today?
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