You can tell he's cool because the chocolate bunnies let him hang out.

Here’s the first poster for Hop (formerly “I Hop“), from the director of Alvin and the Chipmunks, starring James Marsden and the voice of Russell Brand. Russell Brand voices the Easter Bunny, but definitely not your grandpa’s Easter Bunny, with his boring old eggs and fruity pastel sweaters.  The kids today, with their rock group videos and their hippity hop music, will really go nuts for this Easter Bunny, which you can tell by his headphones, drumsticks, and short-sleeve shirt over long-sleeve shirt, and the relaxed attitude he takes towards work, as if to say, “Who cares? It’s only fashion.”

From the creators of Despicable Me comes Hop, the comic tale of Fred (James Marsden), an out-of-work slacker who accidentally injures the Easter Bunny (voiced by Russell Brand) and must take him in as he recovers. In theaters April 1, 2011! [Official Synopsis via BleedingCool]

Ha, an out-of-work slacker, classic!  But where are his sunglasses?  NOW how am I supposed to know if he’s cool?

Inevitably, someone is going to try to pass off these new Batmobile pictures as “OMG it’s the new Batmobile from Batman 3, lol!”  Much like this guy, who even went to the trouble of titling his video “Official Batman 3 Batmobile filming in Astoria.”  Never mind that this ridiculous hunk of plastic looks more like Joel Shumacher’s rejected concept art (“nope, doesn’t match the bat nipples”), or one of George Lucas’ racecar beds than anything Christopher Nolan would ever put in his movies. 

Well relax, because it’s from the set of the Russell Brand remake of Arthur, currently shooting in Astoria, Queens.   Here’s Russell Brand standing next to it.  The car almost makes his facial bone structure seem tasteful by comparison.  Anyway, my favorite shot is of the hipster standing next to it, trying to look unimpressed:

"I moved to Astoria last year. Williamsburg just got too corporate, you know?"

UPDATE: My apologies, this was the actual batmobile used in Batman Forever (the Val Kilmer one).  See? I knew it looked Shumachery.

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Get Him to the Greek opens today, and the studio has released the first five minutes of it online, which I’ve always thought is a good marketing move, provided you believe in the product you’re selling at all.  On that note, don’t hold your breath for the first five of Marmaduke or Katherine Heigl and Ashton Kutcher Fart on Each Other, though I’m sure the cast will act real excited about it in interviews.

Anyway, after watching it, I can report that despite Russell Brand’s stupid hair, annoying accent, obnoxious overbite, and puffy, vulgar nipples, it’s actually pretty funny.  It gets a little improv theater at a couple points, but the satire is reasonably sharp and it has a very Zoolander vibe.  I just wish more of Russell Brand’s jokes didn’t rely on him being a super cool, rockstar sex machine.  F*ck you, dude.  You think yer better’n me?  You know what I think?  I think you ain’t sh*t, hoss.  (*spits Skoal into Gatorade bottle, leans back against pick up truck*)

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After the jump, I’ve got the red-band trailer for Get Him to the Greek, in which Russell Brand plays a rock star.  I know, such range, it’s breathtaking.  Forgetting Sarah Marshall director Nicholas Stoller returns to direct, and the trailer actually looks pretty funny.  But then, most of the funny parts occur before Russell Brand shows up.  I’m trying really hard to be open minded, but that chimney-sweep-meets-surfer-dude accent of his is really just a hate crime waiting to happen.

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In Get Him to the Greek, Jonah Hill needs Russell Brand to bang Nia Vardalos before midnight when she turns back into a werewolf. Okay, not really. It stars Russell Brand and Jonah Hill in what’s hopefully Laverne & Shirley to Forgetting Sarah Marshall‘s Happy Days (rather than, say, Joey to FSM‘s Friends *shudder*).  FSM director Nick Stoller returns to direct in his second feature, which is good, but he also has writing credits on Fun with Dick and Jane, which scares me, because that movie wasn’t just unfunny, it was like an electromagnetic pulse that knocked out humor in a five-block radius.  

The trailer’s sorta meh. Could go either way.  And I’m still not sold on Russell Brand.  He’s moderately funny, but it seems like he’s gone far not necessarily because he’s amazingly talented, but because he’s reasonably funny and has a schtick.  Like if he was as funny as he is without the eyeliner and the stupid hair and the tight pants and all that bullsh*t, would you really be able to pick him out of 10 other guys at a comedy club?  Doubtful.  I’m not saying he won’t ever win me over, it’s just that when, say, Ricky Gervais came over from England, no one had to tell me about his book and his life and his huge stand up career to keep me from automatically wanting to kick his ass.

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