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October '08
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August '08
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The Buzz: 12/20/2007
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 Is everyone on winter break yet? Sitting at home bored? Seeing lots of movies?
Movies worth $10
The Killing of John Lennon (release January 2, 2008; click here for preview) – This movie, which hasn’t had much buzz since it was first announced, follows John Lennon’s killer, Mark Champman, in the day leading up to the murder, as the man becomes consumed by his need to kill John. The movie could go either way – an indie monster or a colossal failure, but it has a good tagline: "I was nobody until I killed the biggest somebody on earth."
 City of Men (release January 18, 2008; click here for preview) – This movie is apparently the sequel to the foreignCity of God (the highest rated foreign film on imdb). In this "sequel", different kids raised on tough city love are featured – and not all that different than the ones in City of God. Actually, I don’t know a hell of a lot about this movie. And it’s pretty hard to find information about it – whether it is a TV series (that was a separate 2002 show), what story it follows, etcetera. And all IMDB has to offer is this, " Best buddies Acerola and Laranjinha, about to turn 18, discover things about their missing fathers' pasts which will shatter their solid friendship, in the middle of a war between rival drug gangs from Rio's favelas." But if this movie is a shred similar to the movie that comes before it, this movie will be well worth it.
Cloverfield (release January 18, 2008; click here for preview) – This movie earns it’s place on this list for less traditional reasons – it could be worth ten bucks just to find out what it is about. If I thought City of Men was vague and confusing, Cloverfield was BUILT on that confusion (you may have read the massive amount of press the movie got on it’s innovative viral marketing techniques, including this one on this site). What is the monster? Will the movie be ‘good’? Does it matter?
Be Kind Rewind (release January 25, 2008; click here for preview) – Now this movie belongs here, ie, it looks like a truly great movie. In it, Jack Black stars as a paranoid guy who decides to sabotage the local nuclear power plant because he thinks it is melting his brain. Predictably, Black fails, but the radiation fallout demagnetizes all of the tapes at a local video store (people still rent VHS tapes???) where his friend (Mos Def) works. In order to save the store’s only customer, an old lady with a few screws lose, the two friends set out to film all of the movies the lady asks for. The concept is AMAZING and Jack Black is the perfect actor to execute it.
TV Buzz
A touch of nostalgia
 Seeing Will Smith in I Am Legend, which brought in about $75 million this past weekend, made me realize how far he had come. He went from the Fresh Prince of Bel Air to that kid in Six Degrees of Separation to that Actor-rapper pumping out albums as junior high kids everywhere sang “welcome to Miami” to the radio. Remember what that album was called? Big Willie Style. Hah! Everyone won’t let Wahlberg forget his Marky Mark days, but few poke fun at Will for calling himself Big Willie.
What the papers say
I saw Thank You For Smoking the other day and read this article from Slate about how Hollywood made smoking cool. It is one of those picture slideshows, like the EW ones I used to force down your throats, but this was is really interesting. Now all we need is a space epic with Brad and Catherine where they smoke in an oxygen only element…
 After the first The Dark Night trailer debuted, attached to I Am Legend, the web was abuzz of how good the movie looked. Frankly I thought the trailer was bad-ass, but didn’t really show much of the movie besides a few lines of dialogue that might not be in the final cut and lots of explosions. Anyways, when this movie was announced most people I knew thought that no one could compete with Jack’s Joker. I had to agree – his joker was nothing short of amazing – and Jack was paid damn well for it. But this article takes a different angle, that Jack’s Joke can’t compare to the one Ledge will create, and seeing the preview, I have to agree with the latter. Check it out and see for yourself.
With Christmas coming up before the next installment of The Buzz, I have to throw out some movies for you to watch with the family. Yet another news-featurette-slide show from Slate showcases some fun non-traditional Christmas movies you could watch. You might want to come through those to get some good answers for the Trivia questions I’ve been posting. Hint hint.
 For literary folks who love the constant debate over how faithful film adaptations are to the original book, this article comparing the film adaptation of I Am Legend vs the novel might be interesting. I can’t comment much more on the issue because I haven’t read the book, but I’ve heard conflicting opinions that the movie is very faithful, that it’s not, etcetera. See for yourself.
Um…really???
 This story made Yahoo!’s frontpage, ESPN’s frontpage and apparently, warranted the attention of MSNBC: Jessica Simpson’s influence on Romo. Apparently the young QB has ditched Carrie Underwood for Jessica Simpson, who donned a pink Romo jersey for last weekends Cowboys-Eagles game. The Cowboys, and Romo, got stomped. Causing commentators to harp on the fact that last year’s game when Carrie showed up, Romo also played terribly. They conveniently overlook that both games were against the Eagles. Hmm…maybe the Cowboys’ arch rivals are preparing a little bit harder for the game. No, that can’t be it.
Meanwhile, as everyone probably knows already Britney’s kid sister is pregnant. Wonder if she’ll lose her Disney contract…Stay in school kids. Seriously.
Who am I?
I’m a Buddhist monk who has starred in 99 films.
Send your reply to saltystixtrivia@gmail.com.
 -- Written by Aaron --
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Bob’s October Movie Preview
By Bob 10/2/2008
 Now that we have gotten through the sludge of September movies, it’s time for some Oscar contenders, and movies that think they’re good but not. Halloween is also this month so there is bound to be a lot of random horror movies going on and of course a Saw film to soak in. Whatever happens though, I’m gonna guess that at least one of the following gets some nods come Oscar time. With that, my October Movie Preview:
Cops, Robbers, and Blah
10) Pride and Glory: October 24th
From the director of Miracle comes one of the most clichéd trailers of ALL TIME. Edward Norton as A COP. Colin Farrell as HIMSELF. What more could we want from a movie? I don’t know, and I will likely never find out because this is not one flick I will be seeing.
9) Max Payne: October 17th 
As I feverishly go through my mind trying to think of a video game adaptation that has actually been a good movie, I’m also reminded of all of the bad movies Marky Mark has made over the past ever (excluding The Departed and Boogie Nights of course). I would be shocked if there is anybody who is actually excited for this, as anybody who actually played the game has probably outgrown the genre.
8) Body of Lies: October 10th
Leonardo Dicaprio. Russell Crowe. Ridley Scott. Something about spies. The trailers really tell us nothing about this film except, “How am I supposed to run an operation when you’re running a side operation.” I don’t really know what that means, but Leo says it in the trailer. This film looks like another lame attempt by Ridley Scott and Russell Crowe to win Oscars. I’m not buying it.
7) Flash of Genius: October 3rd
Greg Kinnear stars as an man who invents the intermittent windshield wiper, and then has it stolen from him buy the major auto manufacturers. This just looks like a boring film that will get a lukewarm response. For some reason, however, it has been getting a huge level of marketing with television and even radio advertisements. I doubt people will buy it.
6) RocknRolla: October 10th
Guy Ritchie is back in the genre he knows best, and this appears to be an English gangster film much in the mold of Lock Stock and Snatch. We’ll see if he still has his stuff, but for now, I’ll just pop in my DVDs of the older films that I can trust, and look to be almost identical in plot to this one.
Movies that Intrigue Me
5) Changeling: October 24th 
Angelina Jolie stars in this Clint Eastwood film about a woman whose son goes missing and is returned with something different. Any film that Eastwood directs (that’s not Flags of our Fathers of course) is worth checking out, and this looks to be no different. It got solid reviews with it premiered at Cannes, and Angelina Jolie is ready for a solid role.
4) W.: October 17th
 A film that is certain to be the years most controversial, Oliver Stone directs this biopic about our current president. While I am sure Stone will exaggerate many of the details, there is no denying that he has put together an awesome cast including Josh Broling (as Bush), Elizibeth Banks (as First Lady Laura), James Cromwell (as his father H. W.), Richard Dreyfuss (as Cheney), Thadie Newton (as Condoleezza Rice) and others as the rest of his cabinet. Whatever happens in this film, it will certainly be interesting.
3) Synecdoche, New York: October 24th
A film that I have been awaiting since last year, this is Charlie Kauffman’s directorial debut. I have loved the films he has written (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Being John Malkovich, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, and Adaptation. ) and this should prove to be equally compelling. It stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a playwright who attempts to put on a production in a warehouse that includes a scale model of New York. It will probably boggle our minds, but that is Kauffman, isn’t it?
2) Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist: October 3rd
Michael Cera and Kat Dennings star as the eponymous Nick and Norah who meet each other one night in New York and have adventures. Something about the trailer really brought this movie to my attention, probably the indie style that I love. Cera is always great, and Dennings was really cool in Charlie Bartlett, so I might make my way to a cinema this week to check it out.
1) Zach and Miri Make a Porno: October 31st 
Seth Rogen and Elizibeth Banks star as two best friends who decide to make a porno together. This is Kevin Smith’s first film since Clerks 2, and I can only hope that it matches that film in hilarity. The only thing I don’t understand, is why are they releasing this film on Halloween? I guess there is probably a Saw film being released anyways.
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