This week on The Collision, we talk about Man of Steel, its strengths, its flaws, implications for the sequel, finding the core of superhero characters, how far you can stray from the comics, “Marvel movies vs. DC Films”, and much more.  As always we finish up with our recommendations.

Click here to listen to the new episode of The Collision, click here for the previous episode (“Game of Thrones“), click here to add the podcast to your RSS, and click here to find us on iTunes. To keep up to date with The Collision, you can follow us on Twitter at @MattGoldberg, @AdamChitwood, and @DrClawMD (Dave Trumbore). Hit the jump to check out the trailers for this week’s recommendations.

I’m so excited for White House Down.  Roland Emmerich doesn’t make smart movies, but he knows how to make damn entertaining ones.  2012 is like one gigantic third act, and we still talk about how a Mac brought down an alien mothership in Independence Day.  He strikes the right balance in his action movies to make them endearingly silly, and that that silliness was sorely missing from the awkwardly grim Olympus Has Fallen.  But 2013 is going to get another shot at Die-Hard-in-the-White-House, and judging by the trailer for White House Down, Emmerich is going to get it right.

I’m pleased to announce that we’re giving away passes to the Atlanta screening of White House Down.  Hit the jump to find out how you can see the movie early and for free. The film stars Channing Tatum, Jamie Foxx, Maggie Gyllenhaal, James Woods, Richard Jenkins, Joey King, Jake Weber, Lance Reddick, and Jason Clarke.  White House Down opens June 28th.

Paramount has released a new poster for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues that gives fans a face full of Burgundy.  The details for the on-going adventures of the Channel 4 News Team are still somewhat under beyond trying to triumph at New York’s 24-hour news channel, but that’s almost secondary to simply letting the actors do their thing.  This poster recalls one of the more quotable (and easily taglined) parts of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy by reminding us that he’s kind of a big deal.  I’m wondering if we’ll be seeing more character posters that play off quotes from the first movie.   I wouldn’t mind a poster that’s a close-up of Brian Fantana’s face with the tagline, “It smells like the inside of a fake leg.”

Hit the jump to check out the poster, and come back tomorrow to see a new trailer that will hopefully contain the first footage from the film.  Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues opens December 20th, and stars Will Ferrell, Christina Applegate, Paul Rudd, Steve Carell, David Koechner, Kristen Wiig, James Marsden, Dylan Baker, Meagan Good, Greg Kinnear, and Harrison Ford.

Magnolia has released the trailer and poster for Dan Mazer‘s reverse romantic-comedy, I Give It a Year.  The film stars Rose Byrne (Bridesmaids) and Rafe Spall (Prometheus) as a mismatched couple and centers on their struggle to survive their first year of marriage.  This trailer shares some of the jokes with the one we saw last year, but it’s still very funny stuff.  I really enjoyed the film when I caught it at SXSW, and this trailer makes me want to see it again.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer and poster.  The film also stars Anna Faris, Simon Baker, Stephen Merchant, Minnie Driver, Jason Flemyng, and Olivia Coleman. I Give It a Year hits VOD on July 3rd and opens in theaters on August 9th.

There’s been a lot of talk about Man of Steel‘s conclusion.  A large portion of the discussion has been around how Zod and Superman’s fight levels Metropolis, and while that makes for a great action scene, it also raises questions about Supes’ responsibility in the implicit deaths of Metropolis citizens caught in the chaos.  That climactic battle didn’t cause any disagreement among writer David S. Goyer, director Zack Snyder, and producer Christopher Nolan.  What did cause some dissent was the scene that followed.

Hit the jump for how the filmmakers talked through Superman’s difficult decision, and to read the negative reaction from Superman: Birthright author Mark Waid.  [Spoilers ahead, obviously]

Yesterday, we saw the first images from Disney’s 53rd animated feature film, Frozen.  The story centers on a young dreamer named Anna (Kristen Bell) who teams up with Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), an extreme mountain man, to find her sister Elsa, the Queen of Arrendelle (Idina Menzel) who has accidentally trapped their kingdom in eternal winter.  No one will know any of that from this teaser, which centers on Kristoff’s reindeer/steed Sven and the comic-relief snowman, Olaf (Josh Gad).  I understand that the movie isn’t out until November, and there’s plenty of time to get to the plot stuff, but it’s still not the best idea to look like you’re aping Ice Age (silent supporting characters in a cold environment comically go after an inanimate object).

Hit the jump to check out the teaser trailer.  Frozen opens in 3D on November 27th. [Update: We've added the film's poster to the article as well.]

Disney has released the first images from their upcoming animated film, Frozen.  The film features Kristen Bell as the voice of a young dreamer named Anna who teams up with Kristoff (Jonathan Groff), an extreme mountain man, to find her sister Elsa, the Queen of Arrendelle (Idina Menzel) who has accidentally trapped their kingdom in eternal winter.  Anna and Kristoff are joined on their journey by Kristoff’s trusty reindeer Sven, and a talking snowman/comic-relief, Olaf (Josh Gad).  The film will also have a bit of a love triangle between Anna, Kristoff, and the dashing Prince Hans (Santino Fontana), but the story will focus more on the relationship between Anna and Elsa.  “That’s such an important part of this,” co-director Jennifer Lee tells USA Today.  “Two sisters torn apart by a big family secret.”  Bell adds that Anna is “not a good fighter, she doesn’t have good posture, she’s not very elegant, and she’s constantly putting her foot in her mouth.  But, Bell adds, “she’s a good person and she’s utterly determined.”  That sounds a bit like Disney’s Rapunzel, but I’m sure Anna will have her own personality, and I’m particularly interested to see how she relates to Elsa, since we haven’t really seen that dynamic with a Disney princess before.

Hit the jump to check out the first images from the movie, which features music from The Book of Mormon‘s Robert Lopez.  Frozen opens in 3D on November 27th.

This Is the End has been hailed as the summer’s great R-rated comedy, but I think we have another one on the way.  After the smashing success of Bridesmaids, director Paul Feig is back with the buddy-cop action-comedy, The Heat.  The film stars Sandra Bullock as an uptight FBI agent who’s paired up with a foul-mouthed Boston cop played by Melissa McCarthy.  The red-band trailer absolutely won me over, and while the movie might not radically reinvent the buddy-cop formula, the execution could be top-notch with the dynamic between Bullock and McCarthy.

I’m pleased to announce that we’re giving away passes to the Atlanta screening of The Heat.  Hit the jump to find out how you can see the movie early and for free.  The film also stars Katilin Olson, Demian Bichir, Tony Hale, Thomas F. Wilson, Taran Killam, and Michael Rapaport.  The Heat opens on June 28th.

A new trailer has been released for the adaptation of the young adult novel, The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones.  Set in modern-day NYC, the film tells the story of Clary Fray (Lily Collins), a seemingly ordinary teenager who discovers that she is the descendant of a line of Shadowhunters, a secret organization of young half-angel warriors in an ancient battle to protect our world from demons.  I have no familiarity with the source material, so I’m more interested to know how fans are responding to this adaptation.  From an outsider’s perspective, I’m fairly indifferent since nothing in this trailer or the previous one has really grabbed at me.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Lena Headey, Robert Sheehan, Jamie Campbell Bower, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Kevin Zegers, Kevin Durand, Jared Harris, and CCH Pounder.  The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones opens on August 21st.

For all the Tom Hiddleston fans who need another Loki fix, you’re going to have to make due with Thor: The Dark World, because the baddie won’t be making a return in The Avengers 2.  Speaking to Empire on their podcast, writer-director Joss Whedon explained, “Everyone is going to be looking for the Loki-Hulk smash moment and you’ll be looking for [a quim moment]. First of all, imitating what I did before is the surest way to do it not as well. Second of all, Loki’s not there to say those terrible things. Although I do think we should bring the word back, not as an insult, it’s just a nice word.”  Obviously, he’s right—both about the dangers of repeating himself and the quality of the word.  Also, if you want to raise the stakes, it’s best to go with a villain where failure isn’t in his nature.

If you need more Hiddleston in your life, keep an eye out for his upcoming movies Only Lovers Left Alive and Close Enough.  The Avengers 2 opens May 1, 2015.

Following the announcement that Riddick would have a panel at this year’s Comic-Con, a new international trailer has been released.  Once again, Riddick (Vin Diesel) is being hunted by mercenaries, and once again, they’re hopelessly outmatched by the anti-hero who can see in the dark.  But the mercs and their bounty are forced to team up when lethal alien monsters attack.  Judging by the trailer, Riddick is the true sequel to Pitch Black.  Chronicles of Riddick was an attempt to take the character to somewhere he didn’t really fit, and I’m excited to see Richard B. Riddick going back to what he does best.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer.  The film also stars Katee Sackhoff, David Bautista, Jordi Mollà, Matt Nable, Bokeem Woodbine, Raoul Trujillo, Nolan Gerard Funk, and Karl Urban.  Riddick opens September 6th.

While you mull over whether to buy a ticket or a “mega ticket” to World War Z, Paramount has released a new clip from the movie.  The film stars Brad Pitt as a United Nations employee who traverses the globe in a race to stop a growing zombie pandemic that threatens to put an end to humanity.  But before he can save humanity, our hero first has to save his family, and in the event of a zombie apocalypse, helicopters are a sound way to travel (contrary to what this teaser poster would have us believe).

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The film also stars Mireille Enos, James Badge Dale, David Morse, and Daniella Kertesz.  World War Z opens in 2D, 3D, and IMAX 3D on Friday.

Earlier this weekend, Vin Diesel announced to his Facebook fans that his new film Riddick would be making its way to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con.  The star/producer premiered a Riddick Comic-Con poster on his page, and noted “It’s been over decade, since I’ve been to Comic-Con…”  It’s a lot more crowded, Mr. Diesel.  As for where this will fit into Comic-Con’s programming, I can’t imagine the panel will be anywhere but Hall H, and it’s possible that Universal Pictures will make  Riddick part of a larger presentation.  The studio also has the geek-friendly Kick-Ass 2 on the way (August 16th); additionally, if there’s some footage ready and the release date holds, Comic-Con wouldn’t be a bad place to debut the first look at the long-delayed fantasy action film, 47 Ronin, which is currently set for Christmas.

Hit the jump to check out the Comic-Con poster for Riddick.  The film also stars Katee Sackhoff, David Bautista, Jordi Mollà, Matt Nable, Bokeem Woodbine, Raoul Trujillo, Nolan Gerard Funk, and Karl Urban.  Riddick opens September 6th.  The 2013 San Diego Comic-Con runs from July 18 – 21st.

HBO has released character posters for the upcoming season of The Newsroom.  As we previously reported, season two will focus on the 2012 Presidential campaign, but EW reports that the season will begin on August 23, 2011 (the day Muammar Gaddafi’s Tripoli compound was captured by rebel forces) and also cover major events including “the Tea Party/American Taliban, the general election including the primaries and conventions, Trayvon Martin, the Affordable Care Act, and drones,” because Aaron Sorkin wants to throw in his two cents but use a TV series instead of a blog.  The new posters cleverly play up Sorkin’s impeccable one-liners, but also use the very serious reporters staring pensively.

Hit the jump to check out the posters.  The Newsroom returns July 14th.

When I’m in line at the supermarket, I see the covers of celebrity magazines, and I wonder, “Who buys this stuff?  What compels them to be so interested in the lives of strangers?”  We have an artificial familiarity with celebrities based on the entertainment we consume.  Today, “celebrity” has even become a profession whereas it used to be you had to have some kind of tangible skill usually relating to public performance before you were constantly in the public eye.  Even though celebrity worship has become engrained in our society arguably since Clara Bow became “The It Girl”, media saturation has brought us to critical mass.  Despite the fascinating origins of this obsession, Sofia Coppola‘s The Bling Ring skips over the interesting, unexplored aspects, and heads straight to pedestrian observations of celebrity fixation.  While it’s certainly spot-on and is peppered with humorous moments, audiences can gleam the same observations from a plot synopsis.  Moreover, Coppola’s criticisms fall flat when the existence of her film plays into the celebrity culture she aims to critique.