Gaga waxes poetic on pearls and baseball in the March issue of V Magazine: “I lay down on the airplane back from Japan, tossing around some dashi, fondling my pearls. I watched the movie Moneyball for the first time. I began to laugh and smile as [Brad] Pitt talked romantically about the game. I suddenly imagined that my pearls were teeny-tiny baseballs. When a player hits a home run, the baseball is flung into an abyss of enigma and screams so great. It travels so far that only rarely is one caught in the bleachers. Where do these balls go? Where do all these wins get encased? Are they in a heavenly baseball land floating around for players who pass to acknowledge? Or do they disappear?” [ V Magazine via Deadspin ]
On the eve of a new trailer debut, Marvel has released a new poster for May’s superhero superteam pic The Avengers . Here you’ll find all your favorite heroes gathered in various states of action and repose: There’s Black Widow ( Scarlett Johansson ) stalking her prey while Hawkeye ( Jeremy Renner ) contemplates a sandwich, with Captain America ( Chris Evans ) having a senior moment in the background as Iron Man ( Robert Downey Jr. ) hogs the spotlight. Typical . Get a full look at the cut & paste wonderment after the jump. Also wedged into the same blue-tinged, explosion-filled background by Marvel’s resident Photoshop intern: Mark Ruffalo ‘s Hulk flailing for a way out (of this poster), Chris Hemsworth ‘s Thor pouting through a bad hair day, and Sam Jackson as Nick Fury looking like he belongs in an altogether different movie. Say, a serial killer cop crime thriller about a one-eyed detective who does things his own way? Starring Ashley Judd, perhaps? Meanwhile, over in the U.K. the film’s title has undergone a revamping; it will henceforth be known across the pond as Avengers Assemble , ostensibly to avoid confusion with the 1960s British spy series, and probably the subsequent Uma Thurman-starring feature-length bomb that followed in 1998. Marvel Studios presents in association with Paramount Pictures “Marvel’s The Avengers”–the super hero team up of a lifetime, featuring iconic Marvel super heroes Iron Man, the Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, Hawkeye and Black Widow. When an unexpected enemy emerges that threatens global safety and security, Nick Fury, Director of the international peacekeeping agency known as S.H.I.E.L.D., finds himself in need of a team to pull the world back from the brink of disaster. Spanning the globe, a daring recruitment effort begins. Starring Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and Samuel L. Jackson, and directed by Joss Whedon from a screenplay by Joss Whedon, “Marvel’s The Avengers” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963 and a comics institution ever since. Prepare yourself for an exciting event movie, packed with action and spectacular special effects, when “Marvel’s The Avengers” assemble in summer 2012. The Avengers is in theaters on May 4.
It’s no secret that Disney’s been scrambling to counteract bad tracking and mixed word of mouth on their mega-budgeted March actioner John Carter , so it’s worth a look to see what they’ve done with the latest (and “final”) trailer for the Edgar Rice Burroughs adaptation. And behold! A trailer filled with nearly everything that makes John Carter worth going to see: Alien creatures, political intrigue, Taylor Kitsch in a loincloth, Lynn Collins as Dejah Thoris, and lots of inventive, fantastical action. The trailer doesn’t bother trying to explain what Kitsch’s American Civil War veteran John Carter is doing on the strange world of Mars, caught between various factions in a planetary war who each want his heightened battle skills to use as their secret weapon. Nor does it try to woo the ladies, or at least what studio execs think of as the traditionally-minded romantic-leaning female demographic, by spending too much time on Carter’s series-defining love affair with the Martian princess. Nope, this trailer gives us action, and from the start: John Carter leaps over his enemies in battle, slashing his way through to victory so well that even Mark Strong’s all-knowing Thern leader has to ask, “Who is that??” We glimpse the film’s breathtaking aerial battles, but those podracer-esque aircrafts are barely seen. Star Wars similarities , begone! The trailer ends as it begins — with a John Carter fight, this time in an arena against a giant white ape. It’s one of the better action scenes of the film, and yet doesn’t reveal too much. Disney’s already (most likely) got the Burroughs diehards in the bag, not to mention whatever Pixar fans may come out to support/check out Finding Nemo and WALL-E director Andrew Stanton in his live-action debut. Does a trailer like this engage the uninitiated male demo enough to turn the tide of bad, or underwhelming, word of mouth? And if Disney doesn’t get a certain female audience with this clip, Kitsch’s niche Friday Night Lights following aside, is that okay? As a lifelong fan of sci-fi and fantasy myself, I was immersed in the world of John Carter as soon as he hit the sandy dunes of Mars. If you aren’t interested by now in at least checking out John Carter , no amount of calculated marketing is likely to change that. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
