Hancock
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What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday
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. In addition to my picks below, you can now pick up Fred Claus starring Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti.
Box Office: Hellboy and Friends Kick Box Office Butt
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.
Hancock Is a Box Office Superhero
A surprise to no one (but still a delight to me, since I find this Will Smith movie to be pretty fun), Hancock won the crown at the box office over the Fourth of July holiday weekend. According to Variety, the movie "is the eighth Smith film in a row to open at No. 1 domestically, as well as his fifth — and most successful — Fourth of July outing."
Hancock: A New Kind of Superhero Movie
I'm not totally sure who the intended audience is for Hancock. The superhero aspect is campy enough for kids (and sometimes way too campy for adults), but there's definitely language that doesn't seem suitable for youngsters. Perhaps the teenagers will most enjoy the movie, though as an adult I liked it well enough and I certainly applaud what the story attempts to accomplish: tell a superhuman's story with the emphasis on the "human" experience.
Movie Preview: Hancock
I gotta say, I really like the premise for Hancock. There's a complicated, surly, alcoholic superhero (Will Smith) who grates on peoples' nerves rather than earning their adoration. Thus, he needs a PR pro (Jason Bateman) to help him gain the trust of the public.
First Look: Hancock
Hancock, Peter Berg's directorial follow-up project to The Kingdom, stars Will Smith as a ragged modern-day superhero who has fallen out of the public's favor. When he hires a PR guy (Jason Bateman) to help clean up his public image, Hancock winds up falling for the man's wife (Charlize Theron).
This new teaser trailer for the movie — which opens July 2 — is a little bizarre, as drunk modern-day superheroes are wont to be, and not entirely interesting, but there are some funny bits.
Other Search Results
Song of the Day: Norah Jones, Herbie Hancock, "Court and Spark"
Get this: Legendary musician/composer Herbie Hancock is putting his jazzy spin on a whole bunch of songs, vocal and Instrumental, composed by or influential to Joni Mitchell. What's more, he's collaborating with various musicians on these songs, making for entirely new musical creations that still bear Mitchell's familiar sounds.
The album, titled River: The Joni Letters, will be released September 25 and features vocalists like Leonard Cohen, Tina Turner and Joni Mitchell herself.
West, Winehouse Win Big at 2008 Grammys
Sunday's 50th annual Grammy Awards were packed with powerful performances — including Kanye West's tribute to his mother and Beyonce's duet with Tina Turner — and musical luminaries from both the past and the present. But awards-wise, the night belonged to Amy Winehouse. Winehouse, who performed via satellite from London after being denied a visa, won five of the six awards she was nominated for, including Best New Artist and both Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Rehab."
2009 Kids' Choice Awards: The Kids Have Chosen
The kids have slimed a whole new generation at this year's Kids' Choice Awards — in place of Miley Cyrus for fave TV actress there's Selena Gomez. Where Jessica Alba reigned as favorite movie actress, the kids have now crowned Vanessa Hudgens. And the Harry Potter series has been replaced by the Twilight series in the "favorite book" department.
The Dark Knight, Grey's Among People's Choice Nominees
Last year's edition of the People's Choice Awards was awfully bizarre because of the writers' strike, but hopefully this year's version will be a return to form. The nominations for the 35th annual show came out today, and as usual, it's a pretty eclectic list — from The Dark Knight to Grey's Anatomy to Robert Downey Jr. to Rihanna.
The most intriguing category this year is a new one, Favorite Star 35 and Under, with a long list of nominees including Blake Lively, Angelina Jolie, and Taylor Swift.
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