Thompson on Hollywood

Immersed in Movies: It's All About the Hulk in 'The Avengers'

Features

Leave it to Joss Whedon to round up the Avengers in rip roaring fashion and momentarily stave off superhero fatigue as we head into the summer season. He certainly knows how to handle ensemble pieces...

By Bill Desowitz
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May 3, 2012 11:20 AM
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Trailer Watch: The Avengers Teaser Features Explosions and Egotistical Superheroes

Joss Whedon's The Avengers -- a.k.a. superheroes playing with other superheroes and congratulating each other on being masters of the universe -- is in theaters May 4, 2012. Check out what the film has in store in the teaser below. It allows everyone to talk except Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow, so we are going to go out on a limb and guess that this film will be no great step for womankind.

By Sophia Savage
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October 12, 2011 4:58 AM
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D23 Expo Adds Two New Pixar Pics on Dinosaurs and the Inner Mind, Promos John Carter, The Avengers

The warmth in the Anaheim Convention Center Hall at D23 for Pixar and Disney animation czar John Lasseter was expressed, loudly, with a standing ovation. Also getting one was Billy Crystal (make him Oscar host already!), who's back with John Goodman in Disney/Pixar sequel Monsters University (2013). Borrowing a few pages from Comic-Con, Disney is using its direct relationship with fans and marketing synergy to promote its characters and products at its huge three-day D23. Not getting as warm a welcome as Lasseter was Disney chairman Rich Ross, who still seemed stiff in front of the teleprompters, even when he cried, "cupcakes for everyone!"

By Anne Thompson
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August 21, 2011 1:48 AM
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Hero Complex Fest: Captain America, Favreau, Downey, Iron Man, Cowboys & Aliens, Avengers, Comic-Con

Geoff Boucher has a good gig. His Hero Complex print/blog combo gets first crack--along with EW and MTV Movies--at the best access to the top genre movies, including set visits and early interviews. The guy's a strong reporter--he's been at the LAT for some 20 years--and his enthusiasm for the Comic-Con universe is genuine. The LAT has been promoing his second annual Hero Complex Film Festival, which took place last weekend.

By Anne Thompson
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June 13, 2011 11:01 AM
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Will Thor Be Latest Jewel in Marvel Crown? Marvel Talks Recipe for Success

Marvel Entertainment is a model for a company that has cannily looked out for its own interests as it seeks to exploit and protect its rich endowment of comic characters and stories. With Shakespearean actor-director Kenneth Branagh's epic adventure Thor hitting theaters May 6, Anthony D'Alessandro parses the Marvel performance thus far. Like the hammer-wielding god Thor, Marvel Entertainment has smashed the film industry’s bias against superhero projects ever since rolling out the 2000 feature adaptation of Spider-Man ($822 million worldwide B.O.), ushering in the golden age of comic-book cinema. To date, the Marvel feature adaptations, both licensed and inhouse productions, have racked up $7.4 billion at the global box office. The media company will continue to raise that figure with the 22nd Marvel superhero adaptation this weekend, Thor, which is on tap to rake in $55-$70 million at 3,955 theaters (the average domestic bow for a Marvel title is $65 million) after collecting $125 million abroad.

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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May 6, 2011 3:45 AM
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Mark Ruffalo Talks Sympathy for Delicious, The Hulk

Mark Ruffalo can be forgiven for trying to help out an old acting school friend by directing him in his script, the morality tale Sympathy for Delicious. But this is one of those cases where what's fun and challenging and feels good to the folks making the movie doesn't necessarily work for the audience.

By Anne Thompson
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May 1, 2011 2:18 AM
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Superheros Send Wrong Image to Boys, Kristen Bell's Indie Role, Edie Falco on Sopranos Movie

-The identity of the American male is in flux and current superhero movies are sending the wrong image to boys, say researchers at the 118th Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association. There's a difference between today's movie superheros and the past's comic book heros, says Sharon Lamb, PhD: "Today's superhero is too much like an action hero who participates in non-stop violence, he's aggressive, sarcastic and rarely speaks to the virtue of doing good for humanity. When not in superhero costume, these men, like Ironman, exploit women, flaunt bling and convey their manhood with high-powered guns." Past comic book heros were characters that boys could "look up to and learn from because outside of their costumes," she adds, "they were real people with real problems and many vulnerabilities."

By Sophia Savage
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August 16, 2010 9:30 AM
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Super Hero Glut: Will Marvel and DC Projects Get Repetitive?

There are many many comics movies in our future. How many of them will moviegoers be able to ingest? How many will turn out to be any good? Will fatigue set in, as Matthew Vaughn, the director of X-Men: First Class, predicts?

By Anne Thompson
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August 10, 2010 4:54 AM
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Jolie Transcends Gender, Action Star Shortage, Banks as Tinkerbell

- Angelina Jolie is the first actress to transcend gender. It's hard to argue that any other actress, dead or living, can do what she can. Sony paid her $20 million up front for Salt, reports THR. Producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura agrees that it's unusual for a female to be an action star. But in Jolie's case, "She's not a female action star; she's an action star. She's really the first female to transcend gender. I don't think it's occurred before."

By Sophia Savage
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July 15, 2010 3:47 AM
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Ex-Hulk Norton Could Learn from Franco

So Marvel has dumped Edward Norton as The Hulk. Their reason: he's not a team player. (Norton had assumed, per statements by Jon Favreau, that he was out of Marvel's super-hero ensemble The Avengers, but Marvel's Ken Feige did make Norton a low-ball offer--and the actor was interested--but Feige then decided to go another way. UPDATE: Mark Ruffalo is now in the running.) Here's Norton's Facebook note to his fans.