Entertainment

The film may be this summer's biggest evidence for Superhero Fatigue, but Green Lantern isn't going away, oh no. He'll star, as planned, in GREEN LANTERN: THE ANIMATED SERIES on the Cartoon Network this fall. A new trailer was just released and you can download some wallpaper. The show is produced by Bruce Timm in a 3D animated style much influenced by THE INCREDIBLES, and features Hal (Josh Keaton), Killowog (Michael Clarke Duncan) and others going up against Red Lanterns.

Current Doctor Matt Smith delighted onlookers by dressing in a Batman suit for a play.

Meanwhile, back at the box office, GREEN LANTERN debuted at #1 with $52.6 million, less than THOR and even X-MEN: FIRST CLASS. As the Times put it: "An all-hands-on-deck effort by Warner Brothers to turn “Green Lantern” into a box office superpower fizzled over the weekend." With a budget of a reported $300 million, dreadful reviews and a big Friday-to-Saturday drop-off, GL's task as the advance guard for a new generation of movies based on DC characters has been made much more difficult.

Musician Larry "Wild Man" Fischer died on June 16th at age 66. Challenged by severe mental illness his whole life, he was one of the earliest known examples of Outsider Music with his tuneless, shouted ditties that somehow still tapped into the joy of music and performance.

If you had asked me if I had wanted to see a movie about Green Lantern, I would have been neutral, but if you had asked me if I wanted to see a movie about a giant space octopus made of fear and smoldering owl fewmets busting loose from green chains, I would have said hell yes! GREEN LANTERN is probably the most comic-book comic book movie since SPIDER-MAN. All the imagery and spirit come straight from the yellowing pages of some old comic by John Broome and Gil Kane -- a boldly colored, nuance-challenged world of wonder and battle in the stars.

Shannon O"leary is back with a rundown on the week's Hollywood doings and brewings.

As the film GREEN LANTERN opens nationwide, a segment of the population, mostly male, is wildly excited because their favorite superhero is finally getting a lavish and respectful big screen treatment. Yes the reviews have been mixed, but under the watchful eye of Lantern's flamekeeper Geoff Johns, the whole mythology has been faithfully brought to the screen in expansive CGI splendor. For the Lantern fans out there—and there are many -- this is a treat. But are they really a cult within a cult, as this Onion video suggests? I admit to being completely unable to answer this question myself; I'm completely immune to the Lantern's power, and I find this highly puzzling. Everyone's life has gaps, memory holes that remain a mystery. In my case, one such example is learning to swim. One moment, I seem to recall, I was learning how to float as a tot. The next I'm a full grown adult standing on the beach and afraid of the water. Something must have happened...but what?

Can comics and extreme metal coexist in the same magazine? We'll soon find out! The August issue (on sale in July) of DECIBEL has several features of interest to the comics crowd.

Russell Crowe will attempt to banish memories of Marlon Brando as he assays the role of Jor-El, father to Superman, in Zack Snyder's MAN OF STEEL reboot. Crowe joins Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Kevin Costner, Diane Lane and Michael Shannon in the cast. THe script is by David Goyer, while Christopher Nolan instructs from the sidelines.

And what of the other BIG event this weekend? GREEN LANTERN is the movie that will either justify the creation of a whole universe of DC superheroes (akin to Disney's Marvel-verse) or....well, it won't Thus far, reviews are...unfavorable, with a 24% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. . Despite this the movie is tracking very well with young men and should easily open at #1.

The Spider-Man the Musical Saga closed another chapter of its saga last night with a star studded opening -- President Bill Clinton attended, as did Matt Dmon, Cindy Crawford, and of course, composers Bono and the Edge. Even more notably, director Julie Taymor, who got fired three months ago, showed up and took a curtain call. On the red carpet she was repeatedly asked if she missed being a part of this, to which she fired back, “I AM part of this.” At the end of the curtain call, Taymor and Bono even shared a cold, celebratory smooch.

Although right now you might want to support the valiant Stark clan with a Robb Stark T-shirt -- one of three Game of Thrones character shirts now on sale at HBO.com-- who can resist Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, the cunning, caustic, hard-living, altogether irresistible member of the scheming, incestuous house of Lannister? Plus, New Jersey-born Dinklage is one of the few US actors who can keep up with the acting chops of the largely British cast. Clan Morristown!