Speed Racer

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian handily won the top stop at the box office over the weekend, though it failed to bring in as much as the first Narnia film did in 2005.

In the "yikes" department, Speed Racer (already struggling at the box office) dropped from third place to fourth, only earning an estimated $7.6 million this weekend. Iron Man continued to set records, holding strong at second place while What Happens in Vegas took third. In fact, Iron Man was the first film to earn over $200 million at the domestic box office this year, according to Variety. Baby Mama closed out the top five.

Photos courtesy of Walt Disney

• After weeks of rumors, it's official: Jennie Garth is reprising her role as Kelly Taylor for the new 90210 spinoff series. —Hollywood Reporter
• Iron Man maintained its top spot in the box office this weekend while What Happens in Vegas and a disappointing Speed Racer still battle it out for second place. — BuzzSugar
• Jenna Bush and Henry Hager got married this weekend at the presidential family's Crawford, TX, Ranch. Check out a slideshow of their wedding album! — CitizenSugar
• Contrary to previous reports, Kate Hudson and Owen Wilson are not engaged; the ring she was seen wearing was for her upcoming movie Bride Wars. — Us Weekly
• American Idol's producers have banned David Archuleta's father from being backstage due to his alleged meddling with David's performance. David's father convinced David to change song lyrics against the producer's wishes, and consequently the show had to pay a fine. — TMZ
• Charges against Anne Hathaway's boyfriend Raffaello Follieri for writing a bad check were dropped when he paid up the outstanding $215,000 in full. — People
• Dennis Farina was arrested this weekend after a loaded gun was found in his luggage. — AP
• A London judge granted Heather Mills and Paul McCartney a preliminary divorce today. If no objections arise, the divorce will be finalized in six weeks with Heather Mills retaining custody of their daughter Beatrice. — Reuters

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Update: As of this afternoon, What Happens in Vegas beat out Speed Racer for the No. 2 spot at the box office, Variety reports.

It will come as no surprise to the majority of movie critics who screened Speed Racer that the highly anticipated Wachowski brothers' flick had a disappointing opening weekend.

Not only did Speed Racer fail to knock Iron Man out of the top spot (the Marvel action hero brought in another $50 million over the weekend), but it's still unclear if the film can truly claim second place as What Happens in Vegas is hot on its trail in what Variety is calling a "photo finish." Vegas only earned an estimated $200,000 less than Speed Racer and both films are currently hovering around the $20 million mark.

In addition to poor reviews, another problem Speed Racer had is that it seemed to only appeal to kids, and filmmakers were shooting for a broader audience. An executive for the film told Hollywood Reporter, "What's hurting us is that the picture is playing very young." The Hollywood Reporter article also points out that if this is the case, then they'll have a hard time when even more competition heads to the theaters next weekend in the form of The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

Made of Honor fell to fourth place followed by Baby Mama to round out the top five.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

My eyeballs hurt. My head hurts. I feel tired. Watching Speed Racer has me feeling all the nastiness of a hangover but without any of the hard-partying fun. I tried coming up with other analogies for the experience of seeing this nauseating, candy-colored whirlpool of a movie, with most of my attempts having to do with sugar, dizziness and a resultant sad, empty feeling, but it appears that most other reviews have already done the legwork in this regard.

Some of the descriptions with which I most heartily agree include the following:

• From MSNBC's Alonso Duralde:
  "Imagine someone pouring hot, melted Starburst candies into your corneas, and you just begin to approximate the experience of Speed Racer, an ice-cream headache of a movie."
• From The New Yorker's Anthony Lane:
  "The entire movie, indeed, is what Tom Wolfe would call a Kandy-Kolored Tangerine-Flake Streamline Baby, complete with achingly blue skies, customized deserts, fantastical mountains, and everything from Goodman’s shirt to Ricci’s fingernails daubed in lollipop hues; it makes the world of Pee-wee Herman look like Anselm Kiefer. So how did this rainbow of velocity end up bleached of fun?"
• From Film Journal International's Frank Lovece:
  "It's all a bombastic mishmash that makes you feel like you've been stuffed inside a kaleidoscope and shaken for two hours."
• From The New York Observer's Rex Reed:
  "I can sit through just about anything, but I draw the line at two hours and 15 minutes of fuchsia vomit. To suffer through this kind of hell, movie critics deserve combat pay."
• And my very favorite, from New York Magazine's David Edelstein:
  "The film is like a nightmare in which you’re trapped in an arcade with screens on all sides and no eyelids."

So, you're probably getting the picture, but still, read more

Tuesdays are big in entertainment-ville: Not only do all the new DVD releases hit Netflix, but new music also pours into stores, including iTunes. So starting today, I'll be taking a spin through each week's iTunes music releases and picking out some albums and tracks worthy of a download. Some inaugural selections:

Calling all cool cats: The Last Shadow Puppets is a side project band of Alex Turner from Arctic Monkeys and Miles Kane from The Rascals. Their album is smooth and reminded one iTunes commenter of James Bond, which I think is right on. Their album topped British charts and I personally will be downloading the entire thing.

Elvis! No, the other Elvis.: Elvis Costello and the Imposters have a new album out called Momofuku, and it's already a hit with his fans and critics alike. Check out the single No Hiding Place if you want a taste of why people love the guy.

The guy who sang that One Tree Hill song: Gavin DeGraw is back with a self-titled album full of songs in the same style that made him somewhat of a hit-maker a couple of years ago. His sound falls somewhere between easy listening and contemporary rock, and if you're looking for something mellow, this new album's for you.

For a couple more suggestions, read more

• TV Squad wants to know why some people seem to hate Tina Fey and Amy Poehler.
• Cinematical wonders how you feel about it when famous people play themselves.
• You Ain't No Picasso has the video of Prince covering Radiohead's "Creep" at Coachella.
• The TV Addict has a chat with Gossip Girl's Jessica Szohr.
• PopSugar wonders whether you love or hate Scarlett Johansson's new video for "Falling Down."
• Stereogum chats about Tegan and Sara's witty onstage banter, complete with video evidence.
• Seat42f has an interview with Moonlight star Jason Dohring.
• Speaking of Moonlight, Popwatch saw that show's shirtless opening scene last week and now wants to know about some of the other most gratuitous moments in TV history.
• The MTV Movies Blog talks to Emile Hirsch about whether a Speed Racer sequel is inevitable.

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The cast of Speed Racer saw a perfect opportunity to promote their film at the 2008 Toyota Pro/Celebrity Race in Long Beach on Saturday. Emile Hirsch and Matthew Fox looked cool and casual as they watched from the sidelines, while the ladies got a bit more dressed up. Christina Ricci wasn't going to let a sports event stop her from looking girly in her high heels and cute hair — what do you think of her wavy bob? Drew Lachey slipped into a jumpsuit to race for charity and Nick couldn't resist pulling the bunny ears for the photo op — we guess that's just what big brothers are for.

More pics of everyone above, plus Wilmer Valderrama and John Goodman, so just read more

I knew the Speed Racer trailer was the perfect opportunity to post a picture of the adorable Emile Hirsch. As the title character in Speed Racer, Emile makes my geek girl dreams come true by embodying one of my favorite cartoon characters from my childhood in the film version. Helmed by the Wachowskis — themselves geek heroes as the filmmakers of The Matrix films — Speed Racer looks like high tech action fun.

Emile's been on my radar since The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys, and while I love his work in dramatic fare like Into the Wild, I'm excited that he's tackling an action movie that won't be a typical popcorn blockbuster. Also, Emile in that helmet? Too cute.

To watch the Speed Racer trailer, read more

We just got a couple new full-length trailers for movies that, if watching them in a sober state, are pretty much . . . OK. It makes me wonder if maybe — just maybe — they're supposed to be watched under the influence? I'm just speculating here.

After the jump you can find both trailers. Opening August 8, Pineapple Express actually features a pair of potheads — played by Seth Rogen and James Franco — who find themselves being chased by criminals. My favorite parts include Craig Robinson (Darryl on The Office), who's funny even without playing someone with the munchies.

We'd already gotten a tripped-out teaser trailer for Speed Racer, and the full-length trailer is a lot of the same: psychedelic visuals, bright candy colors, cartoon-y characters (since it's, you know, based on a cartoon). I'm more interested in this one because it's just mesmerizing, though I do have to wonder what it might be like to view this film in, shall we say, an enhanced state.

To see what I'm talking about, read more