10 Things I Hate About You (1999)

In 10 Things I Hate About You, Heath Ledger plays Patrick Verona, a scruffy young man who says things like, “I didn't sleep with a Spice Girl — I think.”

Patrick is goaded by Joey Donner (Andrew Keegan) to date Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles), a precocious book worm completely uninterested in romance and all its complications.

Worlds collide, followed by a verbal banter between the foolhardy Patrick and the elusive, cat-like Kat.

"I'll take you places you've never been before," says Patrick.

"Like where?" Kat wonders. "The 7/11 on Broadway?"

Although trivial and predictable, 10 Things I Hate About You struck gold with Heath Ledger. He's amusing, most especially while singing a clunky rendition of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You.”

Patrick can’t take his eyes off Kat. And Kat, try as she might, can’t help but fall for Patrick’s trailer park charm. When Kat bares her innards through poetry, 10 Things I Hate About You finally gets its groove on.

At that very moment, we're reminded how glorious and prickly high school is.

Hugh Jackman in Empire

“Hugh's a monster right now,” says actor Liev Schreiber.

Hugh Jackman beefed up for his role as Logan in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and the result is eye-popping. He looks good, and Twentieth Century-Fox is hoping the 40-year-old actor's rugged new image will translate to box-office success.

Bringing credibility and artistic clout to X-Men Origins is South African director Gavin Hood (Tsotsi) and screenplay writer David Benioff (The Kite Runner, 25th Hour). In retelling Logan's checkered past, Benioff is bringing to the fore characters like Victor Creed/Sabretooth (Liev Schreiber), Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), and Remy LeBeau/Gambit (Taylor Kitsch). Hood, meanwhile, hints of great sequences involving these characters and everyone's favorite Canadian loose cannon, Logan.

Empire ushers in the New Year by doing a feature story on X-Men Origins and putting Hugh Jackman on the cover. Considering the gloomy forecast experts are giving for 2009, Jackman's grave expression (coupled with the baleful, sinister clouds gathering in the horizon), is perfect.

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