Are you ready to rock?

Opening in theaters on June 15th is the big screen adaptation of the smash hit Broadway musical Rock of Ages, which was directed by Adam Shankman (Hairspray). The film truly features an all-star cast that includes Julianne Hough (Footloose), Diego Boneta (Mean Girls 2), Russell Brand (Arthur), Alec Baldwin (TV's 30 Rock), Bryan Cranston (Drive), Paul Giamatti (Sideways), Malin Akerman (Watchmen), Will Forte (MacGruber), Oscar winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago), singer Mary J. Blige, and international superstar Tom Cruise (Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol). 

Rock of Ages tells the story of small town girl Sherrie (Hough) and city boy Drew (Boneta), who meet on the Sunset Strip while pursuing their Hollywood dreams. Much like the musical, the film features rock 'n' roll hits of the era from such legendary artists as Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, and White Snake. 

A new theatrical trailer for the musical Rock of Ages has docked in internet bay, by which I mean to say you can see a new trailer for Rock of Ages now.  It's got a lot of hair metal, overblown lighting that manages to be assaultive in that neon 1980s way, but without the skeezy charm of actual footage from the time.

If you've been waiting years to see a glimpse at two warring factions of Los Angelinos expressing themselves to the strains of Starship's "We Built This City" and Twisted Sister's "We're Not Gonna Take It," then you need wait not longer.  Today, Warner Bros, released the first trailer for Rock of Ages, a musical based on Chris D'Arienzio's Broadway musical of the same name, and it contains the aforementioned scene.  The film, a nostalgia-bation story set in 1987, follows Julianne Hough as a small town girl who comes to LA with hopes of being a star and finds herself in the happenings at the Bourbon Club, a venue on the Sunset Strip that is presumably uninhabitable due to hairspray fumes.  There are a whole lot of recognizable actors in the film, and the trailer puts most of the front and center, building towards the promise of a shirtless Tom Cruise doing a big musical number as rock star Stacee Jaxx. 

Comedian Greg Proops may just be The Smartest Man in the World, or at least he pretends to be on his extremely funny and popular podcast of the same name. Proops is an improvisational comedian that is best known for his work on both the UK and US versions of Whose Line is it Anyway?. But he’s also appeared on such shows as Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn, Red Eye with Greg Gutfeld, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, Chelsea Lately, Drew Carey’s Green Screen Show and Flight of the Conchords, as well as lending his voice to popular films like The Nightmare Before Christmas, and Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. But now the comedian, who is constantly on the road making appearances, has truly found his voice with his groundbreaking weekly podcast The Smartest Man in the World.

The podcast is recorded in front of a live audience each week and usually takes place during one of Proops’ sold out shows. I recently had a chance to speak with the comedian right before he took the stage in Cleveland for one of his performances. The interview was only supposed to last ten minutes but because he is such a fascinating person to talk to, and very gracious with his time, Proops and I ended up chatting together for almost an hour. It would be impossible for me to include everything we talked about in this article, but I have attached the audio below so that if you’d like to hear the entire interview, you can. We discussed an assortment of topics in addition to his podcast including stand-up comedy, politics, the Republican debates, Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Sarah Palin, The Ohio Players, the Oscars, Eddie Murphy, Ellen DeGeneres, Star Wars, George Lucas, Winter’s Bone, comic book adapted movies, romantic comedies, Judd Apatow, Wes Anderson, Zach Galifiankis, and the trappings of success.

Almost a decade ago in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow was a swishingly effeminate wild-card sidekick to the squeaky-clean romantic lead played by Orlando Bloom.  As the most popular and indispensable element of the franchise, Sparrow's prominence increased in successive entries, finally just taking over as protagonist in this summer's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.  With On Stranger Tides grossing over a billion dollars worldwide, the already-inevitable fifth and (probably) sixth installments are now even more inevitable.  A new rumor suggests that for the future of the series, Depp, who by now has a major creative role in the films, wants British comedian Russell Brand to play an even more swishingly effeminate sidekick for erstwhile supporting player Sparrow.

It's a good year to be an animated film.  If studio estimates prove accurate, then 20th Century Fox's Rio will have claimed the top spot for the second week in a row, pulling in a projected $26.8 million over the holiday weekend.  Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, meanwhile, nipped at Rio's animated heels with $25.7 million in estimated receipts.  This weekend was the second in a row that has exceeded the grosses from the same weekend last year, with another new release, Water for Elephants, adding $17.5 million to the overall box office.

At 65 years old, Dame Helen Mirren defies the showbusiness convention that women over a certain age cannot retain – or perhaps even increase – their sex appeal.  The Oscar winner is one of the most respected actors on the planet, having appeared in films such as The Queen, Gosford Park, The Madness of King George, The Mosquito Coast, and The Last Station.  Over the weekend, she hosted Saturday Night Live, and series regular Nasim Pedrad discovered that the sexy screen icon has a physical attribute with miraculous properties.  Check out the SNL digital short to see how transcendent Dame Helen's breasts can be.

It was the weekend of Russell Brand, with current studio estimates showing that films starring the British comedian occupied the number one and three spots at the box office.  Though the second week showing of Hop is undoubtedly a victory for Brand, Arthur is a mixed bag, debuting behind the action thriller Hanna.  Last weekend's Hop, in which Brand voices the Easter Bunny, retained the number one position with an estimated $21.6 million, but the new release Arthur, with Brand in the title role, came in third place with $12.3 million.

According to Deadline, Warner Bros has announced summer release dates for two of its big 2012 releases, Bryan Singer's action-fantasy Jack the Giant Killer and Adam Shankman's 80's-set musical Rock of Ages.  First, the musical starring Tom Cruise and Russell Brand will gyrate in theaters as of June 1st, 2012.  Shortly thereafter, on June 15th, the Jack the Beanstalk update starring Nicholas Hoult will lumber about epically in a theater near you.

If Miley Cyrus can host Saturday Night Live, then why can't Helen Mirren?  The 65 year-old Oscar winner will take the stage of Studio 8H on April 9th in order to promote Arthur, in which she plays sardonic nanny Hobson to Russell Brand's titular irrepressible billionaire.  Joining her on the show are musical guests the Foo Fighters.  The preceding week's show, on April 2nd, will see a British musical giant getting his sketch on, as Elton John has been set to host the first episode in April.