Hellboy II The Golden Army

Welcome back to my Buzz Gift Guide series for all the entertainment lovers in your life. Yesterday I entertained myself, actually, by sorting through all the great pop culture-related t-shirts I'd love to get for the men in my life, and today I'm tackling a bigger project for the guys: the best in music, books, TV, and movies of 2008.

Now, this is by no means a definitive list of the best entertainment stuff that came this year. These are simply gift ideas that I think the lads will like. For example, I think the best piece of writing to come from a TV show this year has to be the tome by How I Met Your Mother's Barney Stinson: The Bro Code. The product description cracks me up:

Historically a spoken tradition passed from one generation to the next, the official code of conduct for Bros appears here in its published form for the first time ever. By upholding the tenets of this sacred and legendary document, any dude can learn to achieve Bro-dom.

It was also a great year for movies, and I'd be hard-pressed to think of a guy in my life who wouldn't be thankful to receive The Dark Knight and Hellboy 2 on DVD. As for TV in '08, I honestly don't know many guys who haven't given the FX comedy It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia a chance yet, and my friends who are uber-fans will be gifted the show's DVDs this year. Finally, in regard to music, I know a lot of dudes who are really into the Bon Iver album released this year (me too!) as well as new music from The Hold Steady.

I've included several other ideas below so scroll through to check them out!

Check out HolidaySugar for all of our holiday coverage and gift guides.

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue.

Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Oh, man, I am so excited that Hellboy II is out on DVD today. Even though the Summer was jam-packed with superhero movies, this sequel to Hellboy did not get lost in the shuffle for me. Guillermo del Toro lets his imagination fly in this second installment and the movie is littered with creatures and goblins that are a sight to behold.

I could go on and on about my love for this big red tough-guy-with-a-soft-spot-for-kittens but I'll stop here. Basically, if you didn't catch it in the theater I'd highly recommend bringing it home. Special features include an in-depth look at the creation of Hellboy II, a peek into the production workshop puppet theatre, deleted scenes and a tour of the Troll Market with Guillermo del Toro!

One more title up next so read more

Selma Blair continued her one-woman Hellboy world tour yesterday, posing for a photo call in Madrid. Her collection of LBDs isn't only thing she's been traveling with — her new man also came along for the ride. Touring the globe alone can be exciting, but having a companion by your side makes seeing the sights all the more sweet.

Source and Flynet

Selma Blair looked pretty and polished in black at a photocall for Hellboy II with Guillermo del Toro in Berlin today. While there were plenty of laughs on the set of Kath and Kim, Selma was probably psyched to ditch Kim's crazy wardrobe and rock her own style again. Yesterday she was spotted strolling through Germany with a new man, but it seems that her Hellboy is the only guy she's ready to talk about for now.

Source

Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy II: The Golden Army won the weekend box office with an estimated $35.9 million, not only handily beating the current competition, but also surpassing the first Hellboy's opening weekend earnings ($23.2 million). Yippee! I'm happy for that ragtag group of superheroes.

On the other end of the spectrum was Meet Dave, which Variety described as "one of the worst opening grosses ever for an Eddie Murphy pic." The details are even more painful. Consider this: It cost $60 million to make Meet Dave and it only earned an estimated $5.3 million over the weekend. That's not a pretty picture.

Hancock remained a draw (fun aside: at the movie theater over the weekend, a group of young boys sped past me while one yelled, "Hurry up! I don't want to miss a single second of Hancock!"), coming in second place, followed by the 3-D action flick Journey to the Center of the Earth. Pixar's Wall-E came in at No. 4 followed by Wanted to round out the top five.

Photos courtesy of Universal Pictures

I was awed and amazed by Pan's Labyrinth, and I really liked the first Hellboy movie, but I can now say with certainty that I am officially in love with Guillermo del Toro's beautiful brain. Hellboy II: The Golden Army is like being cast back to a time when your young imagination had no boundaries and no inner editor. Del Toro's vibrant, exciting, sometimes nightmarish and often funny work of creative genius is a constant delight. At times it veers into cheesy superhero stuff, and viewers who don't like this kind of thing definitely won't be on board for this movie. But viewers who do like it — and those with a soft spot in their hearts for big Red — may be totally delighted.

When we catch up with our hero Hellboy, he and his lady love Liz (Selma Blair) and their good buddy Abe (Doug Jones) are still working for the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, using their superpowers to help people out. But even so, the public gives them no respect, no respect at all. And now they have the problem of Prince Nuada (Luke Goss), a rebellious leader of the creature world who is determined to summon the Golden Army, a vast army of robot-like warriors, to destroy all humans. Hellboy, Abe and Liz are joined by the ectoplasmic Johann Strauss (voiced by Seth McFarlane), along with the leader's twin sister Princess Nuala (Anna Walton) to stop Prince Nuada's evil plan. Meanwhile, Hellboy and Liz are having issues, Hellboy is struggling with his job, and Abe develops a bit of a crush on Princess Nuala.

For more of my take on the movie, read more

If you're anything like me, you're back at work today after a long weekend of fun, trying to get back in the groove but needing a boost that even coffee can't bring. Luckily, I've found something to perk me up, and I have hopes it will work for you, too.

I've already admitted my love for Hellboy, the big, goofy red guy whose second movie hits theaters on Friday. Hellboy 2 has me psyched partially because of director Guillermo del Toro's awesome visual storytelling, but I also love how adorable and bumbling Hellboy himself (played by Ron Perlman) can be.

Well, some smart executive has also picked up on Hellboy's more endearing qualities, producing a series of videos with Hellboy playing video games with NBC's Chuck, being interviewed by Inside the Actor's Studio's James Lipton, and even doing a "The More You Know"-style public service announcement with a cat. They've already had me giggling at my desk all day. You can see a whole bunch over here, but if you just want to see my favorites, read more

Selma Blair slipped into a sexy black jumpsuit for Saturday's LA premiere of Hellboy II: The Golden Army. She didn't have any date on her arm, but looked happy to cuddle up to director Guillermo del Toro on the red carpet instead. Jamie King showed off yet another new hair color, what do you think? While sultry Selma's big movie hits theaters in a couple weeks on July 11, there's more good news about her upcoming new TV show with Molly Shannon, Kath and Kim. NBC ordered six more hours of episodes bringing the total to 13. Action star Selma is fun and all, but I really can't wait to see her dry sense of humor on the small screen.

To see more photos including Guillermo del Toro, Jamie King, and Lori Petty, just read more

Hold on to your red horns because the official full-length trailer for Hellboy II: The Golden Army has arrived and it looks awesome.

Although the first trailer was quite long and full of information, this new peek at director Guillermo del Toro's follow-up to the first Hellboy reveals more of the heart-stoppingly creepy monsters that rumble through the city.

I'm so glad the Hellboy franchise is in this director's hands as he truly understands what it takes to visually tell a great story, and he's one of the few people capable of creating a world where — as the trailer puts it — forces beyond our understanding reside.

We also get a little glimpse at the funny and adorable "I have a crush on you" banter between Ron Perlman's Hellboy and Selma Blair's Liz Sherman. Are you excited as I am?

Hellboy II opens in theaters July 11. To check out the new trailer with an introduction from Guillermo del Toro himself, read more

Yeah, I'll admit it: I loved the first Hellboy movie by Pan's Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro. I love the big red Hellboy (Ron Perlman) with his wry humor. I like Selma Blair in her role as Liz. And I love all the creepy, fantastical elements that the imaginative del Toro cooks up for his movies.

So naturally, I'm stoked to see a teaser trailer for Hellboy II: The Golden Army. The story goes like this: "The mythical world starts a rebellion against humanity in order to rule the Earth, so Hellboy and his team must save the world from the rebellious creatures." And as the movie's official site points out, "He may be red. He may be horned. He may be misunderstood. But when you need the job done right, it's time to call in Hellboy."

Hellboy II opens in theaters July 11. To check out the teaser trailer, read more