Forget what he thinks of Kim Kardashian , Kanye West is awesome. Earlier this week, the rapper dedicated a song to his baby mama during a concert in New York City, while also taking time to rant against the paparazzi and declare that he isn’t any kind of real celebrity. He also went off on the question of whether he would perform a sketch on tomorrow night’s Saturday Night Live season finale to “humanize” himself. The short answer? Probably not. “I ain’t here to apologize to no mother—-ers, man,” he says in the following video. “It ain’t about me humanizing myself. At what point did I become un-human where I had to turn myself back? Or maybe I was demonized. Or maybe I was treated inhumane and not human in that kind of situation.” Watch the diatribe in all its hilarious glory now: Kanye West SNL Rant
The end for Dexter Morgan will begin on June 30. But what sort of ending will it be? So fans of this long-running drama are now asking themselves after viewing the first official trailer for Dexter Season 8 , which kicks off next month and which will clearly focus on the aftermath of Deb’s murderous actions. Just how far will Deb fall? And will she take her brother with her? Watch the preview now for fresh footage and to be introduced to a new, key character: Dexter Season 8 Trailer
Only a handful of movies have ever made $1 billion. Shockingly, Miley Cyrus is not in any of them (The Best Of Both Worlds Concert Tour .only made $70 million???). Well, the club just got one member fuller, as Iron Man 3 has passed the $1 billion mark worldwide. Shane Black directs the third film in the superhero series, with Robert Downey, Jr. making what may be his final Iron Man film. Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Guy Pearce, Ben Kingsley, Rebecca Hall, James Badge Dale, Stephanie Szostak, Jon Favreau, and Ty Simpkins also star. Iron Man 3 has only been in American theaters for two weeks, topping the box office the entire time. With the premiere of Star Trek Into Darkness, however, the Marvel film may just drop down the rankings. Read our Iron Man 3 review to see why we think it deserves all the success its seeing.
Only Tony Stark’s last outing, ‘Marvel’s The Avengers,’ had a bigger opening weekend. By Ryan J. Downey Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark in “Iron Man 3” Photo: Marvel
Iron Man 3 screened in Times Square last night, and though it’s practically impossible to talk about the Mandarin without spoilers, I’ve got to say that he is the most daring creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe so far. As Ben Kingsley , who portrays the villain, said again and again and again in the trailers, “You will never see me coming,” and that line resonates even more now that I’ve seen the movie. Director Shane Black, who also co-wrote the movie with Drew Pearce , created a character that took me completely (and happily) by surprise. And, after all that blogosphere grousing — myself included — about casting the half-British, half-Indian Kingsley in the role of a character that, based on the Marvel comics universe, is a China-born descendant of Ghengis Khan, the Oscar-winning actor turns out be a genius bit of casting. There’s only one other actor I could imagine doing justice to the part, but I’m going to hold off on sharing his name for now for fear that his body of work would be too much of a clue. Maybe I’ll drop it in the comments section after the picture opens. The Mandarin: A True 21st Century Villain I have a feeling Black and Pearce’s construct for the Mandarin is going to piss off a lot of comic-book purists (while, at the same time, making die-hard fans of The X Files smile), but I applaud them and Marvel Studios for taking the chance. The Mandarin turns out to be a villain for the media-saturated, perception-is-reality 21st Century, and that’s a lot more memorable (and unsettling) than some dude with magic rings. I wish I could write more about this, but that’s about as far as I can go without spoiling a key chunk of the movie. What did I think of Iron Man 3 overall? I liked it, but it didn’t blow me away. In part, I wish that Marvel, Pearce and Black had taken even more chances with the movie. In addition to the Mandarin storyline, Gwyneth Paltrow’s Pepper Potts character gets an interesting subplot , but the movie’s ending left me with the distinct impression that Marvel is so concerned about messing with the success of the Iron Man franchise that it waffled on really exploring the possibilities. Superhero Movie Saturation Point There’s another factor, too, that is largely personal. My enjoyment of digital effects laden superhero movies is approaching its saturation point. Despite being one of those scrawny, bespectacled geeks who came of age poring over The Amazing Spider-Man and Deathlok The Demolisher , I’ve reached a point in life where movies about human struggles are vastly more engrossing than superhuman ones. Downey and the Iron Man franchise remains my favorite of the genre because the actor brings so much humanity and wit to his character, and so, besides the surprising Mandarin reveal, I was grateful for the subplot involving Tony Stark’s mostly unsentimental relationship with a wisecracking Tennessee boy named Harley (Ty Simpkins) whose aid he enlists. My favorite line from the movie, which evoked a mixture of gasps and laughs from the audience, came when Harley reveals his fatherless existence to Stark. “Dads leave,” Downey replies. No need to be a pussy about it.” I’ll remember that line long after the action sequences have faded. The Problem With Trailers And they are already fading. Let’s just say that an army of Iron Men is cool to behold, but it does not necessarily make for better action sequences. But what does? The first effects-rendered action sequence that has turned my head in a long time is the scene from the most recent Pacific Rim trailer in which a Jaeger robot uses an oil tanker as a Louisville Slugger to bash in the skull of a Kaiju. Speaking of trailers, they diminish the impact of some of the best action sequences in Iron Man 3 (and other tentpole movies) because they reveal too much play for months before a movie’s release. By the way, I think most moviegoers will disagree with my assessment of Iron Man 3 based on the reactions of the crowd that saw the movie with me. The 3D glasses that were being passed out came in a number of collector’s variants, and entering the theater, I encountered a scrum of moviegoers jostling each other to get a particular version. During the movie, the crowd’s reaction was enthusiastic and, after watching the disappointing post-credits scene with Mark Ruffalo as the Hulk ‘s alter ego Bruce Banner, I heard a middle-aged woman excitedly telling someone on the other end of her cell phone, “I can’t wait to see it again.” If you’ve seen Iron Man 3 , let me know what you think in the comments section. More on Iron Man 3 : ‘Iron Man 3’: Is The Mandarin An Extremist Fringe Republican? Marvel Studios Says Iron Man 3 Villain The Mandarin Isn’t Chinese, He’s International Iron Woman? If Pepper Potts Has A Future In Armor, She Needs To Kick Villain Ass REVIEW: ‘Iron Man 3’ Proves Its Mettle Despite Symptoms Of Franchise Fatigue Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
If you’ve read about the Iron Man 3 footage that Marvel Studios has shown to bloggers, then you know that, during the Mandarin’s helicopter attack on Casa Tony Stark ( Robert Downey Jr. ), Pepper Potts ( Gwyneth Paltrow ) ends up flying to safety in one of the armored suits. It sounds like a cool scene, and I won’t be surprised if it’s a set-up for another later in the movie. But I’m not so thrilled about Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige’s recent comments that Potts could suit up for her own adventures in future Iron Man installments. Kevin Feige Talks About Pepper Potts’ Possible Future In Armor Here’s what Feige says in an interview with About.com : I will tell you this. In this movie [ Iron Man 3 ] we play with the convention of the damsel in distress. We are bored by the damsel in distress. But, sometimes we need our hero to be desperate enough in fighting for something other than just his own life. So, there is fun to be had with “Is Pepper in danger or is Pepper the savior?” over the course of this movie. In terms of where we go with future movies, we’ll see. In the comic books she does get a taste for the suit and becomes her own hero named Rescue, who doesn’t necessarily battle other people, but is on missions to help people and to save people. Will we do that down the line with Gwyneth Paltrow? Who knows. But her being in the suit is something we have been playing with since Iron Man 2 , where we did some designs and it didn’t end up fitting in that movie. But the little taste you saw here [in an Iron Man 3 clip] is something that we’re certainly interested in. Why Pepper Potts As Rescue Is A Jump-The-Shark Idea I hope it’s a passing interest because the idea of Paltrow’s character donning her own metal suit (insert Spanx joke here) to rescue families threatened by a hurricane or some other catastrophe sounds like a jump-the-shark premise that is devoid of the tension and smart-assery that distinguishes the Iron Man movies. I’m not familiar with the comics storyline to which Feige refers, but “Rescue” sounds like a very Saturday-morning-cartoon name. And that’s where this G-rated idea belongs. If the Marvel Studios is serious about putting Goop-curating Gwynnie in full-metal jacket mode, then they’ve got to surprise the audience by having her play against type. Contrary to what Feige says in this interview, Paltrow should be kicking super-villain ass Michelle Rodriguez -style to the point where Tony feels threatened by her superhero potential. Now that’s an Iron Man subplot. Feel free to contact my agent. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
Even if you didn’t watch the big game last night, you know that a) Beyonce brought the house — or was it the lights? — down, and b) six big movie trailers aired during the game: Star Trek Into Darkness , Iron Man 3 , The Lone Ranger , Oz The Great and Powerful , World War Z and Fast & Furious 6 . All were designed to whet the record-setting viewing audience’s appetite for these films. Not all of them were successful. Below, I rank the trailers from worst to best in terms of how effective they were at making me want to see the movies they were promoting. 6. World War Z I’m no demographics expert, but I’ve got to imagine that there’s a fair amount of overlap between guys who like brutal football games and guys who like violent zombie stories. So, Paramount seems to have squandered a big marketing opportunity by running a commercial that was essentially a distillation of the trailer the studio released in November . The mayhem-on-a-plane scene doesn’t add much, although, taking into account similar scenes from the Iron Man 3 and Fast & Furious 6 ads, all the hot trailers have them these days. What this spot needed was at least one memorable close-up of the zombie terror that Brad Pitt & Co. face. Instead, I’m left with the impression that the notoriously troubled World War Z production may be seriously lacking in chills and thrills when it’s released in June. 5. The Lone Ranger Johnny Depp trumps Brad Pitt in my book, so this trailer has a slight edge over World War Z , but in 2013 it’s hard to get worked up over horses and railroads and a hero ( Armie Hammer ) whose costume consists of a party mask. And despite the powerful distraction that is the dead bird on Depp’s head , I can’t help but think of Wild Wild West when I see this movie advertised. 4. Oz The Great And Powerful Although there’s not a lot of new stuff to see in this trailer, the clip does a good job of selling this Wizard of Oz prequel as an action-packed and visually trippy story. (The bubble travel scene should appeal to Flaming Lips fans.) With Sam Raimi orchestrating all those A-list witches and special effects, this movie has potential and the Super Bowl clip got that across. 3. Fast & Furious 6 I came very close to putting this trailer higher up in the ranking because it’s so much damn fun to watch. But then I thought about the Fast & Furious movies that have come before this latest installment. The scenes of a tank crushing cars on a freeway and the F&F crew bringing down a jet plane with a grappling gun and a sports car are riveting, but this has never been a weighty franchise. So, I worry this is one of those trailers that gives away all the movie’s best bits — like Michelle Rodriguez’s unlikely return, for instance. 2. Star Trek Into Darkness J.J. Abrams had a little fun at our expense with this pulse-quickening spot. He has none other than James T. Kirk ask the question Star Trek fans are dying to have answered about the character Benedict Cumberbatch plays : “Who the hell are you?” The answer, as presented in the trailer, is pretty cheeky, too. “I am better…at everything!” really does make me want to see this guy get a one-way proton torpedo ride to Mustafar. Oh wait! That’s a Star Wars planet. Then again, that scene of Spock looking like he’s about to be engulfed my molten lava sure does look like the place where Obi-wan and Anakin Skywalker had their fateful Episode III duel. But I digress. If the Benedict Cumberbatch tomfoolery makes you groan, the scenes of a seriously malfunctioning U.S.S. Enterprise crash-landing on Earth will rock you. 1. Iron Man 3 (Extended Version) Even more proof that Robert Downey Jr. is the heart and soul of the Marvel movie universe right now. Having the actor break the fourth wall with an “extensive,” as he puts it, melodramatic look was a beautiful thing, and then the trailer just got better from there. We got to see a little more of Ben Kingsley’s Mandarin character — his mouth moved! Words came out of it! — Don Cheadle in the War Machine suit, and Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan looking anything but gleeful. In fact, he’s on the floor and looking kind of wet, which is often PG-13-speak for bloody. That’s not a good sign. But what I’m really obsessing over is the trailer’s thrilling climax cliffhanger in which Iron Man has to figure out how to rescue 13 people who’ve been sucked out of a sabotaged Air Force One. As Jarvis, the Marvel equivalent of Siri, explains, Tony Stark’s superhero suit can only carry four. Do the math. That is effective marketing. Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
