Even if you didn't watch the big game last night, you know that a) Beyonce brought the house — or was it the lights? — down, and b) six big movie trailers aired during the game: Star Trek Into Darkness, Iron Man 3, The Lone Ranger, Oz The Great and Powerful, World War Z and Fast & Furious 6. All were designed to whet the record-setting viewing audience's appetite for these films. Not all of them were successful. Below, I rank the trailers from worst to best in terms of how effective they were at making me want to see the movies they were promoting. more »
A gaggle of right-wing functionaries is furious with Clint Eastwood and Chrysler, with no less than Karl Rove calling out the actor-director-inspirational halftime huckster for a Super Bowl ad that Rove and others perceived as a thinly veiled reelection endorsement for President Obama. Wait, what?
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In a world where Spike Lee has his own variety of Absolut and Will Ferrell devotedly shills for Old Milwaukee, it's important to point out when the intersection of celebrities and booze actually results in something encouraging. Take Charlize Theron, who was photographed Sunday carrying some of America's finest craft beer to a Super Bowl party. A whole case of it.
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Need poetic inspiration for the Hunger Games haiku you're composing for tickets to the premiere? Look no further than the newly unveiled Hunger Games Super Bowl trailer, which will air this weekend and features new footage of special moments with Prim, Gale (Liam Hemsworth), Cinna (Lenny Kravitz), and Caesar Flickerman (Stanley Tucci), the all-important mockingjay pin, and the deadly goings-on in the Games.
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The mysterious Ferris Bueller-themed Honda commercial that I was telling you about last week has been unveiled. On the one hand, it's just Matthew Broderick and a string of references to Ferris Bueller's Day Off, with the actor calling out ill to work to go frolic around town in his Honda CR-V. So technically, no legacies were harmed in the making of this TV spot. On the other hand, for a guy who's supposed to be having a day off, I don't know if I've never seen Broderick work harder in my life.
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This just in: "(Beverly Hills, Calif.) January 10, 2012 – Relativity Media announced today that it will promote the Bandito Brothers’ upcoming intense action-thriller Act of Valor, which stars an elite group of active-duty Navy SEALs in a fictionalized composite of actual events, during NBC’s nationally televised coverage of Super Bowl XLVI on February 5, 2012. Four 30-second unique Act of Valor commercials, featuring exclusive content, will run throughout the program including two spots that will air during the pre-game, one spot in game during the fourth quarter and one spot in the post-game show." MUST CREDIT MOVIELINE. [Press release]
Remember that adorable Star Wars-themed VW Super Bowl commercial that went viral, about a tyke in a Darth Vader costume who's duped into thinking his Force is strong by a dad with a remote-controlled keychain? (Ah, deceiving kids. Always fun.) Well, here comes Little Thor, whose frustrated attempts to similarly use Mjolnir on unsuspecting household appliances and a golden retriever culminate in a decidedly different ending.
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Whether you watched it for the $3 million ads, the halftime show, or the men in tight spandex pants shoving each other up and down a grassy field, Super Bowl XLV was rich with memorable moments. Some got your geek pulse racing (ZOMG guys, it's Red Skull!). Others were expensive lapses in judgment (tsk tsk, Groupon) or unfortunate brain farts (Xtina, we're looking at you.) Relive the glory and the wonder as Movieline counts down the best and worst moments of Super Bowl 2011.
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