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October '08
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August '08
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The Buzz: 12/6/2007
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 Everyone pray every night the WGA strike ends soon before the tidal wave of reality TV shows washes over us.
Movies worth $10
Avoiding the Golden Compass juggernaut, every other release this week is limited.
 The Amateurs (release December 7, 2007; click here for preview) – This movie is also called The Moguls, and apparently came out in 2005…but abroad? Unclear. Anyways. The movie stars Jeff Bridges, along with an eclectic cast including Tim Blake Nelson, Joe Pantoliano, Ted Danson, Patrick Fugit, Lauren Graham and Alex D. Linz. The movie is about a small town who think they all can get rich if they create an amateur adult film and end up (you know the cliché is coming) “way over their head.” Real shocker there. But the movie could be good, sort of a Full Monty meets Waking Ned Devine meets I’m Reed Fish (at least you saw the Full Monty from that list). I will take no responsibility if this turns out to be an 05 movie released under a different title.
Grace is Gone (release December 7, 2007; click here for preview) – This flick stars John Cusack, doing his best to look like Mathew Broderick (he already does, doesn’t he?) in a tearjerker depicting a reality many have to deal with. Cusack plays Stanley Philips, a man who finds out his wife has died in the Iraq war. Completely lost, Cusack decides to hit the road with his two daughters. Kind of like Rushmore meets Little Miss Sunshine. Except, really more just like Broken Flowers with two little girls tagging along.
 The Bucket List (release December 25, 2007; click here for preview) – Now here is a movie most people know about and may even have seen the preview for. With two great perennial Oscar nominees in Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman, this movie might be the best on this week’s list (I mean, give me a break, they’re all indies). The movie follows a billionaire (Nicholson) who meets a mechanic (Freeman) in a hospital room where they find out they both have terminal illnesses. Because clearly a billionaire, who has half an ounce of personality like Nicholson’s prima donna, would be totally fine with going to a normal hospital and mixing with us common folk. Back to the movie. They decide to create a list of all the things they want to do before they die and then, do them, together. Of course they become unlikely friends and decipher the true meaning of life just before they kick the bucket. Expect lots of pictures of golden statues to adorn this DVD cover when it comes out.
Persepolis (release December 25, 2007; click here for preview) – This movie, likely to qualify in both Best Animated Film and also Best Foreign Film for this year’s Oscars follows a young Iranian girl growing up during the Islamic Revolution. I know I know, I put another movie on the list that has educational value. My apologies. But in all seriousness, the film has received rave reviews, and looks like it has a simple animation style that we have not yet scene in America. And in the English version a couple of famous people lend their voices, like Sean Penn.
Remember Juno, Atonement, The Golden Compass, and Revolver this weekend!
TV Buzz
This week was one of the most exciting for me despite the fact that my regular shows all took the week off. This was because I caught Tin Man, with Zooey Deschanel and Kathleen Robertson, on the Sci-Fi channel. This three part mini series is a modern take on The Wizard of Oz. It was a lot of fun, and drastically exceeded expectations. One thing they should watch though, the line they kept saying in the first part was, “it’s the O.Z.,” which could be easily confused with, “it’s the O.C.” If you want to see what I am talking about, you can check out this cool comic that is a lead in to the series’ story. And expect reruns – the Sci-Fi channel will start showing it again this Sunday. Read more about Tin Man in my article earlier this week.
Another thing at the back of my mind is that Journeyman is not out of the tunnel yet – it is not on NBC’s schedule. I hope the show makes it, as it is starting to grow on me, and I think it is getting better.
A touch of nostalgia
Again, the nostalgia is just not coming that easily to me lately. But I did catch the painful For the Love of the Game, starring Kevin Costner. Does anyone remember the guy? Sure I talked about how Hugh Grant has sunk into the woodwork, but Costner was pretty big, and now he is nowhere to be found. The guy made the same sports movie over and over again (doesn’t anyone else realize Tin Cup and Bull Durham were the SAME!?) But he also made two movies I loved – Field of Dreams and Dances With Wolves (yes, I know I am the only person who likes this movie, stop making fun of me).
What the papers say
Yahoo featured a report early this week that showed that the highest paid actress is Reese Witherspoon. Who would have thought? Guess that is what Julia Roberts gets for sitting on her ass for a few years. You can read the whole list of all of those starlets raking in the big bucks, here.
 Something that brought a smile to my face was the flurry of activity early in the week about this ‘Golden Compass religious controversy.’ Apparently the book is anti-church. I haven’t read them. They might be, or they might back. The only reason I’m bringing it up is that one of the articles quoted Catholic author Sandra Miesel echoes my view that protesting anything just gives what you are protesting more credibility. Warmed my heart that someone finally said what seemed so obvious to me. You can read about the whole controversy, here.
And, I didn’t forget to feature some Top ## lists, don’t worry. This week I found EW’s exhaustive list of the top 25 Entertainers of the year, with Clooney at the top because of Syriana and Ocean’s Thirteen. While I can’t say I agree with that – at all really, the article is totally in-depth on all 25. Poking around, I also found their list of the top rock frontmen and women of all time. Which was also interesting, and only slightly less in-depth.
Um…really???
Christian Bale is the new John Connor – does it matter? I think the bigger question is, why would he attach himself to such a questionable franchise when it is already branching out into TV. Oh, and he already stars in the best fanboy franchise. And that one comes with a bat suit and a mansion.
Katherine Heigl gave an interview pretty much bashing the hell out of Apatow’s gem, Knocked Up, which cemented Heigl as a real star, as opposed to a TV star one step away from a career ending racial faux paux. The commentary on her interview is hysterical – and true: don’t bite the hand that feeds.
Now I found this story today. Yahoo main page headline. About…how Chuck Norris’ support of Huckabee could swing the election. Yes. The article BARELY stopped short of making a comment about how roundhouse kicks get voters to the booths.
 -- 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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