Chris Pine

Scarlett Johansson reportedly has another potential onstage suitor for the upcoming Broadway revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" -- this time in the form of Capt. Kirk. Chris Pine, best known for his role as the handsome head of the starship Enterprise in the 2009 film"Star Trek," is in talks to play Brick, alongside Johansson as Maggie. Pine isn't the only A-lister in line to play Johansson's husband in the Southern drama set to open this spring: Jeremy Renner , Johansson's superhero co-star in the blockbuster "The Avengers," reportedly is also being considered for the role.

In her early 20s, Elizabeth Banks filmed a commercial for the clear malt liquor Zima in which she played three different possible dates: a preppy girl, a tomboy and - once the booze started flowing - a fantasy vixen in a latex nurse's costume. Now 38, Banks has outlasted the adult beverage (it was discontinued in 2008), but the booze ad foreshadowed an acting career filled with eclectic, gung-ho characters - and she's more in demand than ever. Just consider her roles in three studio movies in the last four months: In the dystopian blockbuster "The Hunger Games,"Banks cheerfully chaperones child gladiators into the ring; in the pregnancy comedy "What to Expect When You're Expecting," she crusades for breastfeeding as the manic proprietor of a maternity boutique; and in the family drama"People Like Us," which opened over the weekend, she's a single mom navigating her father's secret history with wit and resilience.

Chris Pine, who's been a hot commodity since he starred as the young Capt. James T. Kirk in the movie "Star Trek" last year, will play an overzealous terrorist in Martin McDonagh's "The Lieutenant of Inishmore" at the Mark Taper Forum in downtown Los Angeles. The show, which will run July 11 to Aug. 8, will be directed by Wilson Milam, who received a Tony Award nomination for his staging of the 2006 Broadway production. Besides playing a cocky young Kirk in "Star Trek," Pine's other screen credits include "Bottle Shock," "Smokin' Aces" and the upcoming Tony Scott film "Unstoppable."

Crisco-slick, director and co-writer Alex Kurtzman's"People Like Us"brings up the vague-sounding but crucial question of approach, and how a filmmaker's attack on a story lives or dies with a thousand separate choices. But first, the plot, cooked up by Kurtzman and writing partner Roberto Orci, along with their friend Jody Lambert. "People Like Us" is about a monumentally selfish and closed-off character, Sam, all mouth and emotional defenses. Sam's shady sales business, which the movie bends over backward to explain in the opening scenes, keeps him hustling one step ahead of the Federal Trade Commission.

Crisco-slick, director and co-writer Alex Kurtzman's"People Like Us"brings up the vague-sounding but crucial question of approach, and how a filmmaker's attack on a story lives or dies with a thousand separate choices. But first, the plot, cooked up by Kurtzman and writing partner Roberto Orci, along with their friend Jody Lambert. "People Like Us" is about a monumentally selfish and closed-off character, Sam, all mouth and emotional defenses. Sam's shady sales business, which the movie bends over backward to explain in the opening scenes, keeps him hustling one step ahead of the Federal Trade Commission.

Chris Pine is splayed across a red restaurant banquette as if it were the throne Hollywood is offering him as one of its newly anointed male hotties. To say Pine's actual seating is not a throne would be an understatement. The star of Paramount Pictures' summer hit film "Star Trek" is perched on tattered old furnishings that would look at home in an Edward Hopper painting.

The Facebook page for the upcoming movie “People Like Us” contains the expected highlights -- photos of stars Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks, video interviews, information on advance ticket sales, and a trailer. Then there is something else -- an interactive “People Like Us Locations Map” displaying locations of the various restaurants and businesses featured in the DreamWorks Pictures/Reliance Entertainment film. Visitors can see photos of houses and neighborhoods where the characters lived, ate tacos, watched the sunset, bought groceries and even did their laundry.

While reading Betsy Sharkey's article on the boys of summer ["Some Heroes Save Us, Others Need Saving," July 5], I was waiting for the part where she addresses the grown-up version of the summer superhero male instead of Chris Pine's eyes. Many of us who came away from "Star Trek" interested in Zachary Quinto's thinking-woman's hero Spock found it interesting that brains can be part of an action hero and wondered why all the talk of Chris Pine's eyes. Amber Bryan Boston

The art of adaptation, as the rash of movies derived from plays this season attests, is never easy. The best artistic looters of all time — Shakespeare, the Greek tragedians — recognized that independent vision is everything. Borrowing didn't inhibit them in least. Their goal, of course, wasn't to duplicate but to create something autonomous. Heck, Shakespeare wasn't beyond taking a freehand with history itself. Contemporary purloiners tend to be less independent. They struggle under a self-imposed obligation of faithfulness.

"Every summer, one movie comes along that moves you unlike any other. " So goes the most recent television advertisement for "People Like Us," the family drama aimed at an adult audience that hits theaters later this month. As the TV spot indicates, the DreamWorks film is hoping to find the kind of success that "The Help" did at the box office when it was released last August, grossing nearly $170 million by the end of its theatrical run. "People Like Us" follows a young man (Chris Pine)

The Facebook page for the upcoming movie “People Like Us” contains the expected highlights -- photos of stars Chris Pine and Elizabeth Banks, video interviews, information on advance ticket sales, and a trailer. Then there is something else -- an interactive “People Like Us Locations Map” displaying locations of the various restaurants and businesses featured in the DreamWorks Pictures/Reliance Entertainment film. Visitors can see photos of houses and neighborhoods where the characters lived, ate tacos, watched the sunset, bought groceries and even did their laundry.

"Every summer, one movie comes along that moves you unlike any other. " So goes the most recent television advertisement for "People Like Us," the family drama aimed at an adult audience that hits theaters later this month. As the TV spot indicates, the DreamWorks film is hoping to find the kind of success that "The Help" did at the box office when it was released last August, grossing nearly $170 million by the end of its theatrical run. "People Like Us" follows a young man (Chris Pine)

Scarlett Johansson reportedly has another potential onstage suitor for the upcoming Broadway revival of “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" -- this time in the form of Capt. Kirk. Chris Pine, best known for his role as the handsome head of the starship Enterprise in the 2009 film"Star Trek," is in talks to play Brick, alongside Johansson as Maggie. Pine isn't the only A-lister in line to play Johansson's husband in the Southern drama set to open this spring: Jeremy Renner , Johansson's superhero co-star in the blockbuster "The Avengers," reportedly is also being considered for the role.

It's a hit-and-miss affair as CIA agents/BFFs Chris Pine and Tom Hardy launch highly targeted competing covert love-ops in "This Means War," both aiming for the heart of a consumer products tester played by Reese Witherspoon. Smart, blond, beautiful but unable to get a guy, Witherspoon's Lauren Scott is as perky and perfect as she seems, but this lovely is not what gives the movie its kick. So if you are in the mood for action, there is a whole lot of it here. If you're in the mood for love, of the swooning, weak-in-the knees sort, there's not so much.

The art of adaptation, as the rash of movies derived from plays this season attests, is never easy. The best artistic looters of all time — Shakespeare, the Greek tragedians — recognized that independent vision is everything. Borrowing didn't inhibit them in least. Their goal, of course, wasn't to duplicate but to create something autonomous. Heck, Shakespeare wasn't beyond taking a freehand with history itself. Contemporary purloiners tend to be less independent. They struggle under a self-imposed obligation of faithfulness.

Rosario Dawson has remarkable diction for someone who talks so quickly ? and, as she readily points out, someone who never formally trained in acting, a point that has shadowed her for more than a decade. "It's been the past couple of years that I thought I could say that I'm an actor," says Dawson in rapid-fire speech. She was discovered on her Manhattan stoop as a teen and cast in 1995's "Kids," but with that stroke of fortune came a haunting insecurity. "I was waiting for that Apollo [Theatre]

In her early 20s, Elizabeth Banks filmed a commercial for the clear malt liquor Zima in which she played three different possible dates: a preppy girl, a tomboy and - once the booze started flowing - a fantasy vixen in a latex nurse's costume. Now 38, Banks has outlasted the adult beverage (it was discontinued in 2008), but the booze ad foreshadowed an acting career filled with eclectic, gung-ho characters - and she's more in demand than ever. Just consider her roles in three studio movies in the last four months: In the dystopian blockbuster "The Hunger Games,"Banks cheerfully chaperones child gladiators into the ring; in the pregnancy comedy "What to Expect When You're Expecting," she crusades for breastfeeding as the manic proprietor of a maternity boutique; and in the family drama"People Like Us," which opened over the weekend, she's a single mom navigating her father's secret history with wit and resilience.

It's time to brush up on your pop culture references and talk about "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. " The genre-breaking cult hit is being released on DVD and Blu-ray. In case you're so behind on your pop culture news, a breakdown: The film, based on a graphic novel series, follows a young man's quest to fend off the seven evil exes of his lady love. Yes, lanky Michael Cera is capable of kicking some rogue butt (we're just as surprised). Oh, and there's an 8-bit Nintendo-style Universal Studios ride opening ?

Chris Pine, who's been a hot commodity since he starred as the young Capt. James T. Kirk in the movie "Star Trek" last year, will play an overzealous terrorist in Martin McDonagh's "The Lieutenant of Inishmore" at the Mark Taper Forum in downtown Los Angeles. The show, which will run July 11 to Aug. 8, will be directed by Wilson Milam, who received a Tony Award nomination for his staging of the 2006 Broadway production. Besides playing a cocky young Kirk in "Star Trek," Pine's other screen credits include "Bottle Shock," "Smokin' Aces" and the upcoming Tony Scott film "Unstoppable."