The hype around the new Lionsgate movie Kick-Ass is the kind of thing studios dream about.
" 'Kick-Ass' was the most buzzed-about thing from Comic-Con last year, " panelist Holtreman said.
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People were showing up at early screenings in Kick-Ass T-shirts dressed as the various adolescent faux superheroes.
Johnson, 20, played the young John Lennon in Nowhere Boy and was seen last year in comic book movie Kick-Ass.
Based on a 2008 comic book, Kick-Ass tells the story of a group of high school vigilantes who dress up as superheroes.
Going into last weekend it looked like the new Lions Gate movie Kick-Ass was going to be a big box office winner.
Their ranks include Christopher Nolan, of The Dark Knight and Inception fame, and Matthew Vaughn, director of Kick-Ass and the upcoming X-Men: First Class.
What would happen if a gamer in this case Superbad and Kick-Ass star Christopher Mintz-Plasse was suddenly immersed in a violent video game world?
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That, and the soundtrack: Composer Hans Zimmer's score, which includes a kick-ass version of the film's signature tune, is a perfect accompaniment to Woo's visual style.
Within the past month, HTC released one of the most kick-ass phones ever: the Droid DNA. It offers screaming performance and an insanely beautiful 1080p display.
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The action-packed Blu-ray Disc and DVD are filled with kick-ass bonus features including behind-the-scenes featurettes along with audio commentary with the director, a gag reel and deleted scenes.
After this initial foray into the mainstream, Heacock observes that usage of "kick ass", "kicking ass" and "kick-ass" picked up even more frequently from roughly the year 1990 onwards.
Reflecting a growing apprehension that counterintelligence agencies have overstepped legal and ethical boundaries, "The Bourne Ultimatum" smartly affects kick-ass with a conscience by implying we've become our own worst enemy.
It's all very kick-ass, but is it, well, spiritual?
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Including "The Hangover, " five of this summer's 13 sequels are live-action comedies, such as Adam Sandler's family-oriented "Grown Ups 2" and "Kick-Ass 2" (Aug. 16), starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson as an angst-ridden high-school student turned superhero with no actual superpowers.
Furthermore, although the police have got better at the kick-ass bit of fighting terrorism, moderate Muslims and Christians agree that the government lags far behind in tackling the underlying causes, such as the spread of Islamic extremism in schools and in society generally.
The cast includes John Travolta, Salma Hayek and Benicio Del Toro, but the main characters are played by young actors Blake Lively ("Gossip Girl") and Aaron Johnson ("Kick-Ass"), plus Taylor Kitsch, seeking redemption after starring in "John Carter" and "Battleship, " both big-budget road kill earlier this year.
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The supersized staff sergeant who mans the .50 cal on our truck walked down the road to kick a little ass and get Six-Seven's recovery progress back on track.
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