Whenever we're watching action blockbusters and the hero's tearing up highways and crashing through buildings, we often wonder, um... who's cleaning up the mess?
"Hancock" is sort of a version of that story. Will Smith plays a down and out drunken superhero in LA who spends lots of time saving lives but causing millions of dollars of damage in the process. Obviously, he has a very love-hate relationship with the public.
One day he saves the life of a PR guru (Jason Bateman) who decides Hancock could use a better image. When he sets out to help as a favor, Hancock gets involved with the man's hottie wife (Charlize Theron) and all sorts of self-examination ensues.
We hear it's entertaining--and, hey, it's really the only decent opening this holiday weekend. Just don't go into this one thinking Hancock's a Marvel comic.
The feature was filmed entirely in Los Angeles, so we're giving you some things to explore there with your superhero self.
Summer's big action-adventure flicks are finally surfacing and "Wanted" won't disappoint. Angelina's back as a gun-toting, ass-kicking secret society trainer for a young man who finds out his father was an assassin. (You can barely tell she'll soon be a mother of 5!)
Wes Gibson (James McAvoy) is a boring office drone popping anti-anxiety meds when he meets Fox (Jolie) and finds out his father was a member of a secret society of assassins called "Fraternity." Fox takes him under her wing and trains him to bring out his own special powers and avenge his father's death. It's a comic book come to life, in which all the characters are stunning.
"Wanted" was shot in stunning Prague, so this Friday we offer you some cool things to check out in the Czech capital.
When the "Lord of the Rings" movies came out, Australia sat by and watched neighboring New Zealand steal millions of tourists eager to see the scenery where Frodo Baggins frolicked. Now that "Australia" is nearing release, it's time for the Aussies to get their revenge.
As for the tourism marketing campaign, it should be pretty easy to connect the film to the nation, since the movie is simply called "Australia." It's set around World War II times, but the landscape still looks pretty sexy. Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman don't look half bad either.
Australia's tourist board has put together a huge "See the movie, see the country" advertising campaign, including movie maps and location guides, so once the movie's released in November this year, nobody will be able to escape the mysterious pull to visit Australia. And that probably includes us.
"The Love Guru" opens today with Mike Meyers as another completely zany character, Guru Pitka. Originally an American, Pitka was raised outside the US by a host of other gurus. He returns home to launch a self-help business--and solve the romantic and professional problems of a pro hockey player.
We hear it's chock full of the off-color jokes and ridiculous nicknames (think Guru Tugginmypuddha and Harenmahkeester) that only a Meyers movie could claim.
This one was shot primarily in Hollywood North (Canada), so we've gotten creative and offer you some guru-themed spots worldwide to check out instead. Good luck with enlightenment--it'll take some extra work to attain after seeing this one!
Hey, remember those awesome scenes in "The Da Vinci Code" where Robert Langdon and Sophie Neveu went into a church and discovered "Jesus" could be her middle name? (It was something like that.) Well, hope you enjoyed those sweeping Ron Howard shots, because the Vatican is cracking down on filming requests for the Dan Brown prequel "Angels and Demons."
When the Catholic Church was unable to kill the best-selling thriller and the train of books that followed it, it struck back by blocking Tom Hanks and Howard from shooting inside two Rome churches, Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria, which supposedly figure prominently into the plot of "Angels and Demons."
(We've never read it, but we assume it takes Langdon the symbologist from idyllic desert childhood to kill-happy atheist. It's a prequel, after all!)
Church cooperation or no, look for "Angels and Demons" to hit theaters sometime in 2009, with new costars Ewan McGregor as a Vatican hotshot and Ayelet Zurer ("Vantage Point," "Munich") as the requisite hot-lady scientist.
The season's much hyped horror hit from M. Night Shyamalan, master of all things terrifying, opens today. "The Happening" is the story of a family on the run from a natural crisis that threatens humanity.
Mark Wahlberg plays a science teacher named Elliot Moore who tries to figure out why everyone is committing suicide in violent ways. Pretty gruesome, but it sounds like M. Night to us.
Plenty of The Happening was filmed in lovely Philadelphia, one of our favorite cities. In that vein we offer you some cool things to do in Philly this summer:
Where to Stay: Penn's View Hotel Right in the heart of the Old City, Penn's is a refurbished 19th-century colonial building that's now a cozy boutique hotel. Some of the Premium King and Queen rooms have views of the Delaware and private balconies. The on-site restaurant, Panorama, has one of the most highly regarded wine lists in the city.
"Sex and the City"-themed bus tours were rolling around New York long before the movie came out. So Radar Magazine sent two intrepid reporters to ride along with On Location Tours and see the streets the way Carrie and her friends would. And as you can imagine, the tour took them vibrator shopping, bar hopping and stoop-spotting.
If you're looking for some relief from the summer heat this weekend, head to the theater for some ultimate comedic cheesiness: "You Don't Mess With the Zohan."
Adam Sandler is Mossad agent Zohan Dvir, who fakes his death so he can re-emerge in New York City as a hair stylist. He proceeds to romance his clients with "extra services" in the back of the salon and then risks being found out after he's eventually recognized. Hey, we didn't say the plotline was super-complicated or anything...
As this one was shot all over, we're going to avoid the hair salon locales and offer you some cool things to check out where the wind can blow through your locks!
Where To Stay:W Hotel Honolulu Check into this sleek, serene spot and make sure you're in the "Extreme Wow Suite" where your private wraparound lanai has the ultimate, breezy views of the Diamond Head crater and Pacific Ocean. Sneak out there at night and watch the winds whip off the ocean in flickering candlelight.
