Aaron Johnson

Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) may be down for the count, but Kick-Ass (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Hit-Girl (Chloë Moretz) are not on their own in the red band trailer for Kick-Ass 2. The trailer for the sequel to 2010's Kick-Ass reveals the superhero duo is hitting the streets again to fight crime in New York City. This time, they have to fight the original movie's Chris D'Amico (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who's been reborn as baddie The Mother F%&*^r. Good thing they have fellow caped crusader Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey) and his loyal canine companion by their side.

I'm so excited for this movie — Hit-Girl is one of my favorite superhero characters of all time, and now that she's on her way into adolescence, I think her skills (and foul mouth) are only going to get more awesome. I also find that Carrey is at his best playing flamboyant characters like this, and I can't wait to see what he adds to the team. Kick-Ass 2 opens Aug. 16, and you can watch the trailer after the jump.

It's been three years since Dave Lizewski (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) suited up in Kick-Ass, but the homegrown superhero is back, and we have the first peek at Kick-Ass 2. This time, our titular hero is no longer an amateur. He's down a partner since Hit Girl (Chloë Moretz) got busted, but he's joined by a new vigilante team headed by a former mobster, called Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey). That's Carrey in the picture, looking very patriotic (it's kind of as if Captain America had to make his own uniform and only had his dad's old army duds to work with). I can't wait until more pictures come out, particularly of Moretz and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (whose previous alter ego, Red Mist, has been reborn as The Mother F%&*^r), but you can check out this image and the full-size version for now when you read more.

Director Oliver Stone's new project Savages hit theaters this week, and it's an intense thriller featuring three of Hollywood's young talents. Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson star as Chon and Ben, friends since high school who have perfected the science of growing weed. Their business has attracted a lot of attention, some of it welcome — as from O (Blake Lively), the beach-haired beauty they share in bed — and some of it a little more sinister. Threatened by the big slice of pie the duo is taking out of her profit, Elena (Salma Hayek), the brutal boss of a major Mexican cartel, essentially offers to buy them out. When they rebuff her because of their high moral fiber (they're the "good" drug dealers), Elena retaliates by capturing their most prized possession, O. Before you write it off or buy your ticket for Savages, check out my reasons why this movie might be for you . . . or might not.

Why you should see it:

1. Stone's take on modern drug dealers is hilarious — in a good way. If there's one thing I learned about ruthless drug lords from Savages, it's that they love Skype. It's a little disconcerting to see the same technology I use to talk with my mom put to use by a vicious marijuana queen-pin, but it's also pretty amusing. Elena's right-hand man, Lado (Benicio Del Toro), is also a man of modern convenience. He enjoys iced beverages from Starbucks and frequently eats from the refrigerators of the men he's been ordered to kill. I chuckled when one of the goons in charge of keeping O captive in her prison cell is seen mesmerized watching Ashley Hebert moan to her girlfriends on The Bachelorette.
2. It's visually beautiful. Chon and Ben live in a stupidly expensive Laguna Beach abode overlooking the ocean, the house that their eco-friendly marijuana empire built. The lush beach town is ripe for sweeping coastal shots, but even the way Stone shoots the intimate scenes is pretty magnificent.
3. Taylor Kitsch shows his butt. I knew this would be an R-rated movie and I expected some nudity, but I thought it would probably be from Lively. I was admittedly taken aback to see Kitsch bare his impressive assets in the opening moments of the film. I'm not complaining, but it's lucky the theater was dark, because my face was crimson.

To see the reasons why this movie might be a pass for you, just read more

You would think Keira Knightley would be sick of period pieces after movies like Pride and Prejudice and Atonement, but the actress has teamed up with director Joe Wright yet again for Anna Karenina. Taking place in the high-society circles of 19th-century Russia, Leo Tolstoy's novel tells the story of a young girl who has a scandalous affair with a count (Aaron Johnson), despite being married to government official Alexei Karenina (Jude Law).

Though it feels like we've seen Knightley in roles like this a million times before, why fix it if it ain't broken? She seems like a great fit for Anna and I didn't even recognize Johnson as a blond. As expected, the costumes look beautiful but the imagery depicting the elegance of the parties (I didn't know they had indoor skating rinks in the 1800s) is even more fantastic. The movie is set for release on Nov. 9, but check out the trailer after the jump.

Blake Lively is no stranger to juggling multiple men as Serena van der Woodsen on Gossip Girl, so it's not much of a stretch to see her with two lovers in Savages. In the Oliver Stone film, Lively plays O, a woman who's romantically involved with a pair of big-time pot dealers (Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch), who also happen to be best friends. The love triangle gets even more complicated when the guys refuse to go into business with a Mexican drug cartel, and O is kidnapped in an attempt to change their minds.

The trailer for the film is dark, gritty, and sexy: Johnson is the brains of the operation while Kitsch is the brawn, and there's no shortage of gratuitous violence, as they get deeper into trouble. There's also plenty of star power in the supporting cast here, including John Travolta, Salma Hayek, and Benicio del Toro. The film hits theaters this Summer, but see the trailer when you read more

• Christina Applegate has been cast in a new NBC comedy pilot from Lorne Michaels — Inside TV
• See some creepy, spoilery pics from Scream 4 — /Film
• Read Dave Grohl's inflammatory comments about Glee — TV Squad
• Is Robert Pattinson being considered for the Daredevil reboot? — Moviefone
• Billy Bob Thornton is in talks for Bad Santa 2 —The Wrap
• Five reasons to see Paul — MTV Movies Blog
• Aaron Johnson and Jude Law join the cast of Anna Karenina — Coming Soon
• Eight Disney stars turned moguls — SavvySugar

Now that the world has seen controversial comic-based movie Kick-Ass, I thought I'd revisit some of the more interesting things that the cast told me when we chatted at Wondercon. Here are the five best tidbits from my interviews with Chloe Moretz, Aaron Johnson, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Clark Duke!

5) Chloe Moretz got into the action: "I did all my own stunts, except for running up the wall and crazy stuff like that."

4) If he were offered another action film, Christopher Mintz-Plasse would like to portray a girls' toy: "Is Bratz considered an action movie? I'd want to be one of the Bratz girls."

To hear what Aaron Johnson and Clark Duke spilled, including a sequel secret, just read more