Pop Culture Will Eat Itself » Comics

AC/DC Video Shows New Clips from Iron Man 2

Sean — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:32:21 +0000

The soundtrack for Iron Man 2 is going to be a little different than the normal blockbuster. Instead of gathering together songs from a bunch of hot bands, fronted by a single that doesn’t really seem to fit the movie but plays over the end credits anyway, the folks at Marvel have decided to fill it with high-octane hits from just one band: AC/DC. Director Jon Favreau felt that the band’s music perfectly matched the film, and that’s just fine by me. I’ve probably listened to Back in Black 200 times, so you won’t hear me complain.

The studio has released a video for AC/DC’s classic “Shoot to Thrill”, and it features a bunch of footage from the trailer, plus a few new shots. And it shows just how old the band has gotten. Hey Angus, can you go ahead and put a hat on for us buddy? And a shirt? Thanks.

via SlashFilm

Spider-Man 4 Starting Over!

Sean — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 04:09:03 +0000

It seemed like Spider-Man 4 was on track for its scheduled May, 2011 release. Director Sam Raimi and star Tobey Maguire were on board, and filming was set to start this month. Then there were script problems. Big ones. Like “director and studio can’t agree on a villain” big. So the filming date slipped back a bit. Then a bit more. Now Sony has decided to start over, scrapping the script, the director, and the entire cast. Ouch.

So instead of getting something that builds on the mediocre Spider-Man 3 apparently we’re going to get a complete reboot of the franchise. The script will be based on a script by James Vanderbuilt that, according to Sony’s press release, “focuses on a teenager grappling with both contemporary human problems and amazing super-human crises.” They’ve also pushed back the release to 2012, so no new webs next year, spider fans.

Two New Trailers for Kick-Ass

Sean — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 03:27:16 +0000

So far, with what I’ve seen from Kick-Ass, I’d have to say it’s appropriately titled. The tale of a normal schlub turned would-be superhero, without any powers, looks quirky, exciting, and fun. There are two new trailers out for it. The first is fairly normal. The second is a red band, and it is FAR from normal. Check them out:

Red Band “Hit-Girl” trailer

Kick-Ass comes to theaters April 16th.

The First Trailer for Iron Man 2 is Awesome!

Sean — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 01:58:09 +0000

It seems like just yesterday we were talking about how great Robert Downey, Jr. was in Iron Man, yet it’s already time to start talking about how great he’ll be in Iron Man 2. The movie isn’t set to come out until May, but the first trailer is already out, and it’s good. Really good. Mickey Rourke looks like serious badass as Whiplash. Scarlett Johansson is as hot as ever. And Downey looks like he’s picking up where he left off the first one. Check it out:

Iron Man 2 flies into theaters May 7th, 2010.

Brace Yourself for the Trailer for Kick-Ass

Sean — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:26:45 +0000

Sorry comic fans, but in real life there are no superheroes. This is a problem that one man attempts to solve in Kick-Ass, a movie based on a comic by the guy who wrote Wanted. Dave Lizewski asks the question “Why are there no superheroes?”, and decides to become the answer. Only he doesn’t have any powers. No biggie.

The teaser trailer is out, and I’m intrigued. It looks like a great mix of tongue-in-cheek superhero stuff and decent action. And it’s got McLovin! Check it out:

Kick-Ass swoops into theaters April 16, 2010.

Leftovers: Inglourious Basterds, Klosterman, and Psycho Tom Cruise

Sean — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 21:48:31 +0000

Just in time for Christmas, Quentin Tarantino’s masterful Inglourious Basterds is coming to DVD and Blu-Ray. And it’s not some sort of slapped together, bare bones, rush job either. It’s a two-disc edition, with all sorts of bonus material. It comes out December 15th, but you can pre-order it 50% off at Amazon. Mom, if you’re reading, you don’t need to ask what I want for Christmas…

Let’s shift from movies coming out on DVD to movies getting ready to made. If you’re a fan of Chuck Klosterman’s writing you’ll be happy to know that his book Fargo Rock City is getting made into a movie. That, in and of itself, is kind of interesting. But what makes it more interesting is WHO is making the movie: Craig Finn, lead singer of The Hold Steady, and Tom Ruprecht, a writer for Late Night with David Letterman. No word on a release date yet, but you can bet I’ll be there.

Speaking of Chuck Klosterman, I just finished reading his new book Eating the Dinosaur, and it’s really, really good. It’s a collection of essays about topics ranging from the connection between Nirvana’s In Utero and the ATF’s raid of the Branch Davidian complex to the artistic merits of ABBA and the proliferation of the read option in college football. Yeah, it’s all over the map, but each essay is well written and thought-provoking, and comes from Klosterman’s slightly off-kilter perspective. If you’re a fan of his writing, or of any writing that entertains and makes you think, I highly recommend it.

Moving from writing about music to the music itself, uber-hip rock band Spoon has announced that their followup to 2007′s Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga will be called Transference and will be out in January. Can’t wait.

Going back to movies, there was a pretty big casting announcement this week for Thor. Anthony Hopkins has signed on to play Odin, Thor’s dad and chief muckety muck of the gods. I have no idea if this movie will end up being good or not, but it certainly has some talent associated with it. Kenneth Branagh is directing it and Natalie Portman is on board to play Thor’s love interest. We’ll have to wait a while to see how it comes together though, since it isn’t set to hit theaters until May 20th, 2011.

In slightly funnier movie news, Christian Bale revealed the influence for his maniacal portrayal of serial killer Patrick Bateman in American Psycho: Tom Cruise. Apparently Bale got the idea from seeing Cruise on Letterman. He said Cruise had “very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes”, which seems like code for “batshit crazy” to me. Congrats to Bale on noticing this long before most people realized just how nutso Tom Cruise is.

Finally, BoingBoing posted a video of what seems like the best possible use of office time: lip-synching “I Want it That Way” by the Backstreet Boys. There are five co-workers involved. Four of them are really into it, dancing and acting out the song. One is not. She’s what makes this funny. Check it out:

Fan-made Trailer for Green Lantern

Sean — Tue, 26 May 2009 01:39:49 +0000

Technology + time + fanatical devotion = Awesome. Case in point: Jarod Pitts has created a trailer for his vision of the Green Lantern movie, currently slated for release in 2012. Pitts combined footage from a ton of different movies to make a version of Green Lantern with Nathan Fillion as Hal Jordan, Earth’s protector, who happens to be allergic to yellow. Check it out:

See, pretty freakin’ cool. It’s similar to the one that came out a few months ago for Thundercats, but I think it’s actually better. Want to know where all the footage came from? SlashFilm has the whole list.

Devoted Fan Makes Real Wolverine Claws

Sean — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:03:10 +0000

Since X-Men Origins: Wolverine just defied critics of online piracy and destroyed the competition at the box office this weekend, it seems like a good time to pay tribute to one of the character’s biggest fans. This guy took his fandom to a new level by creating a set of fully working, retractable Wolverine claws. Then he set a video of him using them to terrible music. Check it out:

The Dark Knight Meets Superman

Sean — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 01:02:10 +0000

Ever wonder how Superman would handle Batman’s job of protecting the streets of Gotham? If not, ponder this: Superman’s villains typically have super powers, while Batman’s are just crazy dudes with cool toys. Keep that in mind as you watch:

Part 1

Part 2

Leftovers: Freddy Kruger, Iron Man, Karate Kid, and Leno

Sean — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 01:43:05 +0000

Fresh off his masterful portrayal of Rorschach in Watchmen, Jackie Earle Haley is going to be Freddy Kruger. Haley seems like a good pick, though as a child of the 80′s (whose father made some questionable choices about proper movie choices for his young son), Robert Englund will always be Freddy for me.

From the “Someone’s coming to their senses” file: The remake of The Karate Kid isn’t a remake anymore. The Jackie Chan/Will Smith’s kid movie will be called The Kung Fu Kid instead, and will just borrow some things from The Karate Kid. So instead of being an embarrassing and heretical remake, it’s just a ridiculous and pointless knock-off. I guess that’s a step up…

How bad are the Pittsburgh Pirates? They lost to a community college team in an exhibition game. Ouch. That’s just bad.

Radiohead is doing something cool again (of course it’s something that doesn’t involve their music). They’re testifying against the RIAA in a case against an alleged file sharer. Just like when they tried out the “pay what you want” marketing for their last album, the band seems to be ahead of the curve again. Now if only their music didn’t suck…

There’s a new twist in the late night shakeup. You may know that Conan is taking over Leno’s 11:30 timeslot, and that NBC is giving Leno a 10pm nightly show. The twist is that some of the network’s affiliates aren’t happy about it. Boston’s WHDH has announced that it won’t air Leno’s new show. NBC isn’t very happy about this and it threatening to kick WHDH out of its club. I can’t say I blame WHDH. I know I won’t be watching the spectacularly unfunny Leno.

Iron Man 2 is getting ready to start filming, and Robert Downey, Jr. let it slip that Tony Stark won’t be an alcoholic yet. The story will revolve around Stark’s adjustment to becoming a super hero, and they’ll leave the heavier stuff for a later movie.