Kurt Russell

As someone who loves Kurt Russell more than I love my own wife (don’t tell her), nothing could have made me more excited for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 than the addition of Russell. Not only is Russell’s love of dim-witted characters a perfect match for the universe that director James Gunn has created, the film will also hopefully  —  and I cannot believe I’m saying this  —  introduce the actor to a generation of movie fans who have never seen iconic films like Escape From New York and, more importantly, Big Trouble in Little China.

There are a lot of fascinating, interesting and just plain cool things involved when you’re visiting the set of Guardians of the Galaxy, Vol. 2. For one, getting to hold Baby Groot. For another, getting to walk through the massive practical sets built for the film. And for another, getting to shoot the breeze with Kurt Russell.

More space battles, more Chris Pratt banter, and plenty of adorable moments with Baby Groot, all to the soundtrack of Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain.” What more could you ask for from the new trailer for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2?

Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if art house cinema had the same weird toy leaks as blockbuster movies. These days, we’re more likely to see a character’s design leak thanks to a brand new action figure than a behind-the-scenes photo; what if the same thing happened in the world of independent cinema? What if we’d encountered Moonlight spoilers thanks to a new line of beach toys? Or if La La Land’s third act was spoiled due to a fully posable Ryan Gosling action figure? Come to think of it, I’d probably buy the heck out of a Moonlight bath toy. No shame there.

Movie sets. If you’ve watched La La Land or even Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, you know they’re supposed to be glamorous. Bright lights, brighter stars, exotic locales ... So, what am I doing here in an abandoned convention center outside Atlanta?

It’s a new year, which means it’s time to get hyped for the latest batch of Marvel superhero movies hitting the multiplex in the next few months. In 2017 we’re getting the Guardians of the Galaxy sequel, which will introduce us to, among others, Kurt Russell’s Ego the Living Planet, aka Star-Lord’s long-lost dad. You might know him best as a really really big glowing head in the comics, but in the movie he’ll also have a human form. Probably a little easier on the budget.

Kurt Russell is so far the most exciting news we’ve had of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, made even more exciting by the fact that he’ll be playing Ego the Living Planet, also known as Star-Lord’s mysterious father. Russell himself might even be more excited than we are about the movie, which, according to him, is even bigger than its predecessor, expanding on the universe that the first Guardians built.

If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times: whenever you need to cast someone as a giant floating face planet, get Kurt Russell. Russell has long been one of our most self-deprecating movie stars, an immensely talented actor with movie star looks who, for some wonderful reason, always preferred to play the buffoon over the action hero. Movies like Big Trouble in Little China and even the more recent The Hateful Eight reveal that Russell is never happier than when making fun of his movie star persona.

If there's one thing that we can all agree on, surely it's the fact that we are all living in an amazing golden age of high-end movie posters. Between official releases from studios like Mondo and Phantom City Creative and the kinds of prints you can see from artists at conventions, there are so many beautiful posters out there that it's almost tempting to buy a bigger house just so that you have the wall space to display them all. And today, Grey Matter Art is releasing one of the coolest I've ever seen: Matt Ferguson's new screen-printed poster for John Carpenter's classic Escape From New York. And not only is there a standard regular version, there's also a limited variant that glows in the dark --- and a 1" United States Police Force pin that's inserted into random orders.

Breaking news: Kurt Russell is a busy guy who doesn’t have time to keep up with all these Marvel movies and superhero what’s-its. If you were Kurt Russell, aka Snake Plissken, aka Captain Ron, aka R.J. MacReady, aka Stuntman Mike, aka a Stone Cold Badass, would you make watching all the latest movies a priority? No, which is why it should not come as a shock that Russell has yet to watch Guardians of the Galaxy — even though he’s in talks for a very important role in its sequel.