When the Avengers assembled at Comic-Con recently, it became pretty evident that in order to play a superhero (or villain), one had to have super-human good looks. That isn’t exactly surprising, right, because who wants the day to be saved by a troll? And it’s not exactly a new trend — Christian Bale as Batman, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, and the list goes on. But considering the fervor for comic-book based films as of late and the interweaving of them as evidenced by the Avengers agenda, the power behind a square jaw and bedroom eyes becomes all the more clear, and seemingly necessary. Here’s a look at 12 recent castings that seem to prove the point.

While some actors seem to rely on being shirtless (yes, I’m talking to you Ryan Reynolds, and you True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten) others utilize it a little more sparingly. Popscorn favorite Jake Gyllenhaal definitely falls into the latter category thus far, but Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time could be a game changer. While the film’s actual quality remains to be judged – and it will be judged – stills from the filming give hope for some shirtless gems to be found in the desert. Until then, here are a couple of movies that will take you back in time to see Jake all over again.

With the summer movie season fast approaching, Tim and I racked our brains about which upcoming releases might blow up our skirt and which probably just blow. Here are 10 films that fall into each category, which are slated for release between May and August.

The best film of 2009 seems to be sliding too well under the radar. And we’re not sure why. Time to draw some attention to Tom Ford’s stunning directorial debut.

Calling 2009 a stellar year for films would be like saying you saw New Moon for the acting talents of Taylor Lautner. There were some winners, but it took some digging to come up with a Top 10 list of great films for the year.

The Washington Area Film Critics Association, of which Tim and I are members, released their picks for 2009. Take a look at the list and let us know what you think.

Out this Friday is Gentlemen Broncos, another quirky little film from Jared and Jerusha Hess, the married minds that brought us Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre. Mr. Hess was in D.C. recently and took the time to chat with Popscorn about their new, eccentric project.

These two clips were actually created earlier this year during Moon‘s premiere at the SXSW film festival. But, in honor of the film’s expanded distribution this coming weekend — to DC, in fact — I thought it’d be neat to revisit this short Q&A with Sam Rockwell and Duncan Jones. Keep in mind, you may [...]