Critics can't stand Green Lantern, but that won't matter so much to the bean counters at DC Comics and Warner Bros. so long as the film makes green. The Burger King to Marvel's McDonald's-like rule over the comic book film industry, DC Comics has still made quite an impact at the multiplex, and Green Lantern hopes to continue the tradition. Ahead, nine indispensable box office facts about DC.
The early glimpses from the set of Rock of Ages promise a number of garish '80s-era delights, most covered in thick, wiggy shag and threads reclaimed from a wardrobe shop just across the street from Hell. But the first look at Tom Cruise as rock star Stacee Jaxx promises something leaner, inkier and... well, not as Cruise-y as you're accustomed to. Click through for a glance.
· The ubiquitous Ken Jeong is still ubiquitous. For his latest appearance, The Hangover Part II star dresses like John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever in this American Heart Association PSA about giving CPR. Just an FYI: It's a little bit better than his Pepto-Bismol commercial. Click through to watch, then stick around for more Buzz Break.
You've seen the Captain America: The First Avenger trailer, the character posters, the extended shield play, and that tremendous Hitler punch. Now, all Marvel Studios has left to tease for its July 22 superhero release are stills from the film, beginning with this frightening look at Hugo Weaving's Red Skull.
Thanks to The Hangover Part II, Bangkok has been on the short end of jokes recently -- and not just because of its schoolyard-taunt friendly name. The film presents the Thailand capital as a city of squalor -- even referring to it as such -- filled with scum and villainy known only to Mos Eisley. But, guess what? It kinda sorta is -- at least according to the general-director of the Thailand tourism department.
The New York Times outsourced its review of Page One: Inside the New York Times to former New Republic editor Michael Kinsley, and his response was less than fawning: "The movie, directed by Andrew Rossi, is, in a word, a mess," he says, soon adding, "Like a shopper at the supermarket without a shopping list, Page One careers around the aisles picking up this item and that one, ultimately coming home with three jars of peanut butter and no 2-percent milk. [...] The Times deserves a better movie, and so do you. See His Girl Friday again." Still seeing it. And I'd pay double to watch David Carr square off against Roz Russell. [NYT]
Linkin Park is as synonymous with the Transformers franchise as Shia LaBeouf. Or at least Tyrese. The rap-rock group has contributed songs to all three films in the series, and their latest, "Iridescent," has gotten its very own Dark of the Moon trailer. Not only does this new bit of marketing feature some fresh footage from the Michael Bay-directed blockbuster, it also makes everything look really somber. Translation: Sad Shia Alert! Click through to watch, but contemplate bringing a tissue before doing so.
"What has Rob Zombie been up to lately?" you asked to no one in particular. Directing a horror spoof commercial for Woolite, of course! "[S]ome of the consumers in our focus groups described what their clothes go through with laundry detergent like a 'torture,'" Jiri Kulikwe, general manager for U.S. household marketing at Woolite parent company Reckitt Benckiser, told the New York Times. "[We] got this crazy idea of the washing machine like a torture chamber for your clothes, and then we describe Woolite as the savior." Something like that! Click through to watch the Zombie-directed new spot.
Jason Reitman is busy. Hot on the heels of the news that he plans to adapt Joyce Maynard's 2009 book Labor Day with Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin in starring roles, comes word that Ivan's son has been hired to do some rewrites on Burt Wonderstone. Reitman won't direct the Steve Carell-led magician comedy -- 30 Rock's Don Scardino will do the honors -- but, per THR, "sources say he sparked to the idea of putting his stamp on an A-list comedy project such as this." Sure. [THR]
We now visit that famously vague, gossipy realm of Internet discourse known as the IMDB message boards, where a translation of a French-language interview with Tree of LIfe DP Emmanuel Lubezki has surfaced to announce that director Terrence Malick hasn't finished tinkering with the film. To wit, who's up for a six-hour cut?
Blackest night is right, Hal Jordan! At least judging from the critical consensus about Green Lantern, which is currently rocking a 22 percent rating over at Rotten Tomatoes -- better known as a worse percentage than previous summer punching bags The Hangover Part II and Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. Ouch. Pledge allegiance to a lantern, and click ahead to read the 9 most scathing reviews of Green Lantern.
Also in this Friday edition of The Broadsheet: Charlie Day circles Pacific Rim... Darren Aronofsky heads to HBO... Alison Brie loves breakfast in bed... and more ahead.
Enough trailers. And posters. And character posters. And nostalgic featurettes. This is the last stop. The final Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II trailer is also the final Harry Potter trailer ever. At least until the reboots in ten years. Click ahead to watch the epic.
At Sundance we described The Devil's Double as the outrageous, over-the-top Iraqi Scarface you've been waiting for, then we evaluated the movie's incredible trailer, and now we have more information to prove that Dominic Cooper's dual roles in the film (one as Uday Hussein) are as buzzworthy as the project itself. Cinema Blend has two new images of Cooper that show his transformation during the movie, and [spoiler] they're grittier than his role in An Education. He's also talking to himself in one of the photos, which is cute.
Who's ready for another comics hero to make the leap from the page to the screen? I said, who's ready... Enh, forget it. Let's just get on with it: Your Weekend Forecast is here, and it's looking... troubling.
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