Hulk

The Internet was buzzing with reports of Hulk Hogan possibly appearing at WrestleMania 25 to face either John Cena or Chris Jericho. I have no idea whether there is any truth to these rumors, but I don't want it to happen. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

    It's hard to say which is more cringe-worthy: President Barack Obama's debate performance last week or his efforts to control the damage by poking fun at himself. In Los Angeles on Sunday night, Mr. Obama recognized Stevie Wonder and Katy Perry as "incredible professionals" who "perform flawlessly night after night. " Then he added, "I can't always say the same. " Later that night, he spoke of taking his wife out the night before for a late celebration of their wedding anniversary, postponed because the debate fell on the actual anniversary date.

COLLEGE PARK -- Exree Hipp tried heavy and found heavy wasn't hip.Heavy was 230 pounds, which is what Maryland's 6-foot-8 "small" forward weighed last September in his bulk-up phase.Heavy was also 225 pounds, which is what he weighed when the Terps began drills in October.Now it's December, and Hipp is down to a more svelte 215 pounds in hopes the weight loss will shape up his errant jump shot and pump life back into his dormant game.This is a guy who's started a school-record 98 consecutive games in four years at Maryland, and he's been pressing the weight scale every year.

The Internet was buzzing with reports of Hulk Hogan possibly appearing at WrestleMania 25 to face either John Cena or Chris Jericho. I have no idea whether there is any truth to these rumors, but I don't want it to happen. ( For more, go to baltimoresun.com/ringposts)

With a budget upwards of $150 million, The Hulk may be the most expensive art film ever made. Then again, with its monster-on-the-rampage action, you could also call it a Godzilla flick for eggheads. Either way, The Hulk is a fascinating, if flawed, extravaganza. Based on the Marvel comic book, the film tells of Bruce Banner, a scientist who, after being zapped with gamma rays, turns into a green-skinned behemoth whenever he gets angry. "We're gonna have to watch that temper of yours," says David Banner, Bruce's half-crazed dad, whose role in his son's uncontrollable transformations is anything but incidental.

A BIG BUILDING full of mini-mega-stores ordinarily isn't what one would wish for a revitalization project designed to restore charm and individuality to a downtown area. But in Towson, news of the impending conversion of the old Hutzler's department store to a retail center featuring the likes of Circuit City comes as cause for celebration.The Hutzler's building has sat empty, hulking and gray for more than eight years, as efforts to find a use for it failed time and again. The problem of what to do with it becomes more acute the closer to reality Towson's $4.3 million beautification plan gets.

Although most people may have first laid eyes on Eric Bana as the human star of last summer's Hulk, it was his killer role in an Australian indie that landed him the part of Hector in Troy. The former standup comic was first noticed in Chopper, in which he plays Australian killer Mark "Chopper" Read, a criminal who wrote his autobiography while serving a murder sentence in prison. Brad Pitt saw the film and told his manager he wanted to meet the actor. Turns out, Pitt's manager lived next door to Bana's agent.

Sam Elliott gave up chasing big summer movies a long time ago. So when he was approached about playing Gen. "Thunderbolt" Ross in the adaptation of The Hulk, Elliott was thrilled. But not because his gracefully aging mug would be splashed across thousands of theaters on opening day. Or that he would finally discover what it was like to work in front of a blue screen. "It was the opportunity to work with Ang Lee," Elliott said of the Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon director who becomes the latest to bring a comic book to the cineplex.

Question: Has the Hulk always been a glaring shade of emerald green? Answer: No! Back in 1962, when the Hulk's comic appeared, he was gray. He didn't turn green until issue No. 2. Q: True or False: The Hulk's original comic book series has lasted into a fifth decade. A: False! The original comic was canceled after six issues. The Hulk was forced to share a series called Tales to Astonish with other Marvel Comics superheroes such as Giant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp for five years. His solo series was reborn in 1968.

Her Army dad wants to nuke him, but she loves the man inside The Hulk (9 p.m.-12:28 a.m., USA), with Jennifer Connelly (above).

Starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, William Hurt. Directed by Louis Leterrier Released by Universal Home Video $29.98 (blu-ray, $39.98) *** DVDS A definitive movie version of The Incredible Hulk has yet to be made, but at least this go-round, with Maryland's Edward Norton as the big guy, has it all over the existentialist exercise in what it means to be big, mean, green and angry that was Ang Lee's 2003 version. The squabbles between Norton and director Louis Leterrier are legion; apparently, Norton wanted more of a thinking-man's Hulk than Leterrier (or the folks at Marvel Comics)

Capsules by Michael Sragow or Chris Kaltenbach, unless noted. Full reviews are at baltimoresun.com/movies. Get Smart: Steve Carell's knack for sneaking humanity into broad comedy is all wrong for Maxwell Smart, the blundering yet incredible, lucky agent for the super-secret government spy agency CONTROL. In a misguided equivalent to a comic-book "origin story," the movie portrays Smart's entrance into the world of field agents as a revenge of the nerds. (He even has a couple of lovable funky-geeky sidekicks.

The Incredible Hulk is not a remake or a sequel - it's a "reboot," according to Marvel Studios. In 2003, Ang Lee's The Hulk failed to create a big-screen franchise from Marvel's feared - and beloved - green giant, the crazy misunderstood monster of comic-book superheroes. So Marvel installed a whole new team, replacing star Eric Bana with Maryland native Edward Norton and substituting The Transporter 2's Louis Leterrier for Lee. (Norton, without screen credit, also rewrote the script and served as a producer.

You wouldn't like me when I'm hungry," says Bruce Banner (Edward Norton) near the start of The Incredible Hulk, comically mangling a signature line as he tries to speak Portuguese to some menacing co-workers at a soft-drink bottling plant in Brazil. Of course, comic-book fans love the Hulk when he's angry - and love a franchise when they feel it's hungry for success, which the Hulk movie series now officially is. After sanctioning the turgid 2003 Ang Lee version of the myth (simply called The Hulk)

Superman. Batman. Spider-Man. X-Men. And now Iron Man. Big-time movie franchises all, major-league moneymakers that have their fans lining up around the block for more. But what about Wonder Woman? The Flash? Thor? Captain America? What's keeping them off the big screen? "Mainly, it's because we can only do so many at one time," offers 20th-century mythmaker supreme Stan Lee, creator of Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man and a bunch of other superhero franchises-in-waiting. Maybe. But the truth is more complicated than that, having to do with a host of factors ranging from popularity to casting, from special effects to scriptwriting, from fulfilling fans' expectations to striking while the superhero iron is hot. At the moment, superhero movies are being churned out like widgets on an assembly line.

Spider-Man 3 swings into theaters at midnight, the latest in a long line of comic-book heroes who've gone Hollywood. While the past two Spidey films have set the commercial and artistic standard for the genre, not all superheroes pack the same punch. Here are some of the strongest - and puniest (all box-office numbers are unadjusted U.S.

Spider-Man 3 swings into theaters at midnight, the latest in a long line of comic-book heroes who've gone Hollywood. While the past two Spidey films have set the commercial and artistic standard for the genre, not all superheroes pack the same punch. Here are some of the strongest - and puniest (all box-office numbers are unadjusted U.S.

Incredible Hulk: Ultimate DestructionCodename: Panzers Phase 2Death Jr.Nintendogs VU Games [PlayStation2, Xbox, GameCube] Hulk smashes things. In Ultimate Destruction, quite possibly the best comic-book adaptation to grace a video game, you spend all of your playtime as the green berserker, keeping Dr. Banner relegated to the cut scenes. While it's not the strongest story out there, the game play is frantic, addictive and very satisfying. Borrowing from the free-sprawling Grand Theft Auto series, the Hulk lays waste to almost everything he can put his chlorophyll-colored mitts on. The challenge ramps up as your smasher rumbles through the pretty explosions and destructible environments.

The procedure of transforming a quasi-celebrity into a pop singer is more akin to the bureaucratic method than the creative process. It's process that, if followed correctly, ensures a certain amount of success -- 500,000 copies, at least. Here's how it works, step by step: Lots of exposure and face time on Extra and the glossy magazine pages. Sex appeal and scandal/controversy. A big-name producer and a platinum credit card. A-list collaborators. Image reinvention and goliath publicity push.

Her Army dad wants to nuke him, but she loves the man inside The Hulk (9 p.m.-12:28 a.m., USA), with Jennifer Connelly (above).