Blog Posts by Adam Pockross

Willie Nelson as Gandalf. Photos courtesy of Everett Collection/Getty Images.

Ian McKellen is an amazing actor, with two Oscar nominations and two franchise-anchoring iconic roles. But he's no Willie Nelson.

Or at least that's what the country music legend lets us know at the end of his "The Hobbit 2" audition reel that dropped on Conan O'Brien's Team Coco site yesterday, April 29, one day ahead of Nelson's 80th birthday today.

Dwayne Johnson, Mark Wahlberg & Anthony Mackie in Paramount Pictures' 'Pain & Gain')

Mark Wahlberg and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson add immensity to the term "movie buff" as their new action-crime-comedy, "Pain & Gain," hits theaters this weekend.

In the Michael Bay film, Wahlberg and Johnson play body builders who hatch a meatheaded plan to extort money from rich guys in early 90s Miami Beach. When these American dreamers turn out to be nightmarish thugs, all sorts of Bayhem ensues.

We all know Wahlberg and The Rock will fill up the big screen, but here's five facts about "Pain & Gain" that you may not know.

Left to right: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson in 'Get Smart' (2008) and on the set of 'Pain & Gain'. Images from Everett/FameFlynet

The Rock Needs Food!

1. If you've ever seen The Rock throw "The People's Elbow," you may have thought he could simply walk off the wrestling mat and be ready to play a body builder on set. But that's not the case. According to USA Today, besides upping his workout regime, the 6'4" former wrestler put on "12 to 15 pounds of muscle" by going on a crazy calorie binge that amounted to seven full meals a day, topping out at over 250 pounds.. Here's how he divvied up his daily allowance of "good complex carbs

Iron Man 3, Man of Steel, The Wolverine and Kick-Ass 2

For some odd reason, superheroes seem to really like summer.

Nineteen of the 20 top-earning superhero movies of all time were released between May and August, with "The Incredibles" (released on Nov. 5, 2004) serving as the lone holdout.

At this point, we've pretty much come to expect summer superhero movies as much as we expect summer sunshine. And this year won't be an exception, as "Iron Man 3" (May 3), "Man of Steel" (June 14), "The Wolverine" (July 26), and "Kick-Ass 2" (Aug. 16) are all bringing the summer heat.

But with so many sun-splashed superhero flicks to choose from, how do you keep them all straight? To help you out, we've summarized below.

Ben Stiller and Kristen Wiig on Thursday in Las Vegas (Photo: Ethan Miller/Getty Images)We had to make sure we weren't dreaming, but after a thorough pinching, it's true: The first-look footage of Ben Stiller's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty" just may put a twinkle in everyone's eye come Christmas time.

To cap off its 2013 slate presentation at the annual CinemaCon gathering in Las Vegas, 20th Century Fox brought out the film's director and writer, Ben Stiller, along with his co-star Kristin Wiig, to present a sneak peek of "Mitty" raw footage. It is Stiller's adaptation of James Thurber's 1939 short story (which was first made into a movie in 1947), about a daydreaming photo editor at Life magazine who's never really done anything with his own life.

Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence on the set of 'American Hustle' (Photo: Splash/FAMEFLYNET PICTURES)

Sony began their CinemaCon presentation tonight by repeatedly reminding the exhibition community audience that the studio made $4.4 billion worldwide last year, making them the reigning box office champ. Then Sony put their money where their mouth is and displayed a dazzling sizzle reel that shows they don't plan on giving up that title anytime soon.

But before the footage could commence, the presentation was rudely interrupted by Trojans blaring trumpets as Adam Sandler, Salma Hayek, David Spade, and Kevin James were escorted to the stage via hand held chariots. Spade joked that they were there to promote "Twilight 4: Electric Boogaloo," but they were actually there to thank the theater owners for making "Grown Ups" (2010) such a hit, while rallying support for "Grown Ups 2" to receive the same treatment this summer.

Bradley Cooper, Zach Galifianakis & Ed Helms in Warner Bros. Pictures' 'The Hangover Part III'Spending the day watching Bradley Cooper roll around with an animatronic rooster can only mean one thing: another "Hangover."

As we watched, and cameras rolled for the better part of a full work day, Cooper wrestled said rooster, avoided a slew of actual chickens, and took more falls than a professional wrestler, even cracking his head good once or twice. All in a day's work on "The Hangover Part III" set.

Cooper (who plays Phil), wasn't the only forgetful "Hangover" vet we found clucking it up on Todd Phillips' set, which we visited late last year on day 42 of a 60 day shoot. Joining Cooper on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California were fellow Wolf Packers Zach Galifianakis (Alan) and Ed Helms (Stu), as well as the biggest trouble-maker of them all, Ken Jeong (Chow). The scene in question takes place two years after "Hangover 2," at Chow's flophouse in Tijuana, where the nefariously naked criminal has gotten into cockfighting.

As Phillips caught the scene from every possible angle, we caught up with the Wolf Packers, Jeong, screenwriter Craig Mazin, and even the busy director himself. The tight-knit group took some time out to answer our questions (as well as those from a few other select media outlets) and gave us, and consequently you, an awfully good feel for what to expect from the third installment of the blockbuster comedy franchise. Here's a hint: "a descent into madness."

Henry Cavill as Superman in Warner Bros. Pictures' 'Man of Steel'

The Coliseum Theater in Cesar's Palace has a colossal screen, but everything's bigger in Vegas, right? And it's a good thing too, because 'Man of Steel' is no small picture. Of course, "Pacific Rim," "The Hangover 3," and "The Great Gatsby" aren't exactly tiny.

Warner Bros. Pictures presented trailers and footage from those films and more this afternoon at CinemaCon 2013 in Las Vegas, Nevada, highlighting the studio's upcoming Summer movie slate and beyond.

Aside from some stuffy execs (please don't tell WB President Jeff Robinov we said so) thanking the exhibition community for their efforts, "Man of Steel" director Zack Snyder, "Pacific Rim" director Guillermo del Toro, and "Hangover" director Todd Phillips were all on hand to show off their goods. Alas, "Gatsby" director Baz Lurhmann was noticeably absent, or at least he was to Phillips, who jokingly noted it "would be nice if Baz showed up." It would have also been nice if Phillips brought any new footage to show, but only the

Robert Downey Jr. suited up in front of the Hall of Armor in Marvel Studios' 'Iron Man 3'

If you get the chance to drive Iron Man's new armor, say yes. It's so choice. And if you have the means, we highly recommend you pick a suit up.

Disney invited us to preview the Iron Man Tech Presented by Stark Industries exhibit, opening this weekend at Disneyland's Innoventions in Tomorrowland attraction. So we brought along our iPhone to Flikr, Instagram, Vine and Tweet the heck out of the experience, the results of which can be seen below.