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This Week...
Summer may be taking a brief break before returning for a September curtain call (we hope) but there's lots to be sunny about this week. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is finally here; there's an extra eight minutes of Avatar somewhere on a screen near you, and we spent some of our time compiling a list of the most ridiculously over-the-top, absurdly cool movie weapons ever to grace the screens. If some of these babies don't make you laugh at their overkilling ways, nothing will. Elsewhere, we have Scott Pilgrim interviews, a look at history's most contentious director's cuts and a plea for Hollywood to kill off its 5 most overused plots. Hey, you've got to have lots to keep you busy over the Bank Holiday weekend, right? Helen O'Hara
Deputy Online Editor, Empire | | |
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|  | | | Why are you clubbing me with a platypus?
Phil objects to Ali's attempts to motivate him. | | |  | | |
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Movie Merchandising Is Growing Up
Julia Roberts' Eat, Pray, Love came out in US cinemas this week, and it's accompanied by a flood of merchandise. As reported here, you can get hold of necklaces, prayer beads, T-shirts and Make-A-Wish bracelets. There's fragrance, travel packages, special tea, more T-shirts, more jewellery. Read more. | | | |
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5 Movie Plots That Hollywood Has Officially Done To Death
A certain amount of familiarity is acceptable and maybe even desirable on film. We all expect the goodies to (mostly) win; we all want the guy to (usually) get the girl. But some storylines are officially just over, done, in serious need of wholesale replacement. The below are the most over-familiar examples, stories that we keep seeing, and keep wishing would go away. Not all the films below are bad, by any means – each of these plots has been done well a number of times – but they are now used up and wrung-out like last week's laundry. Please, Hollywood, let them go. | | |
|  | | Director's Cuts: The Good, The Bad and The Unnecessary
Undisputed masters on set, even the great directors can come off second best in a showdown over a Burbank boardroom table. The director's cut has proved a handy way of restoring jobbed theatrical cuts to their intended form. Some improve the original out of sight (Daredevil), some do the exact opposite (the 'Love Conquers All' edit of Brazil), and some just add seafood (Spartacus). But why didn't they appear in this form originally? We investigate some of the most famous examples… |
|  | | Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World Cast Interviews
Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is out today, and as a final treat before you go see it, check out the interviews we did with all the senior cast members. We've got Michael Cera (Scott Pilgrim himself), Jason Schwartzman (Evil Ex Gideon Graves), Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Ramona Flowers), Ellen Wong (Knives Chau), Anna Kendrick (Stacey Pilgrim), Kieran Culkin (Wallace Wells), Aubrey Plaza (Julie Powers) and Brandon Routh (Evil Ex Todd Ingram). Right this way for all your Pilgrim needs, pilgrim. |
|  | | Absurdly Cool Movie Weapons
Here at Empire we don't condone violence in any form. Unless your first name happens to be Chev and your last name Chelios, it rarely solves anything. Sometimes, just sometimes, though, cinematic scenarios demand a touch of the rough stuff. It's at times like that, ladies and gentlemen, that this weird and wonderful weaponfest comes in handy, gathering together the most ludicrous weapons ever wielded on screen -- and before you object, if it's just a big gun, it ain't in here. And as for the lightsaber? Well, that goes without saying... |
|  | | Movie-Con 2010: Exclusive Videos
Like the bit in Jedi when the ewoks and the Rebel Alliance team up, Empire joined forces with the BFI last weekend to put on Movie-Con III, a feast of movie magic spread across two-and-a-bit-days on the South Bank. And as 'part threes' go, it was more Bourne than Alien. There was a bumper show of surprise guests, clips and Q&As that matched Frost/Nixon for gravitas but far outstripped them for references to Loki. And it's all here for your perusal. |
|  | | Video: Tyler Perry And Janet Jackson Interview
A box-office phenomenon on the other side of the pond, Tyler Perry makes his UK screen debut with Why Did I Get Married Too? a dramedy with a difference. The difference? Janet Jackson and a set of golf clubs. The pair tell us about shooting a brutal house-wrecking scene that doubles as Jackson's audition for the US Ryder Cup team. |
|  | | Promotion
Demons
Like a bit of cult Italian horror? Then you'll be delighted to know that the Dario Argento-produced, Lamberto Bava-directed Demons and Demons 2 is finally coming to DVD. What is it? Well, it's a slice of gore-heavy, shock cinema that gives up on logic and instead throws X-Rated violence, face chewing Zombies and pounding heavy metal at the screen. Check out more - and some sequel-erific comics - over at www.cult-labs.com/demons. | | | |
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Guybrush Threepwood in cuddly voodoo doll form, from Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge. Cute AND sinister. | | | |
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|  | | | |  | |  | |  | |  | | | Pet A Rabbit While You Eat! | | Star Wars as a silent movie. | | And you thought your commute was bad... | | World's prettiest roads. |
If you have any timewasters to share, then e-mail them in to me. | | | |
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Scott Pilgrim Vs The World 
It's heartfelt, hilarious and a highly satisfying adaptation of the book. You don't have to be a geek to adore it; you just have to remember being young. But one word of caution: Hollywood, don't try to make a hundred of these. It won't work. | | | |
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Watch Video
This Week's Video Trailers And Clips
Every week, our video player will update to show trailers and clips from the week's movie releases listed above. | | |
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Lebanon
With luck The Hurt Locker's recent awards haul should draw audiences to this equally intense and actually more brilliant depiction of war. It marks the arrival of a sensational new talent behind the camera and is a debut that deserves to be seen. | | | |
Also Out
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