Pop Culture Buzz

Take a look at 2008’s “One Missed Call” movie trailer and then tell me it doesn’t look familiar! Hints of “The Ring”, “The Grudge” and “Pulse” come to my mind. This movie looks like it will be a flop in my opinion. The poster may be creepy but the trailer is weak, I mean c’mom, a cell phone ring is supposed to be scary?? Who knows, this movie could end up surprising and be good, but I doubt it. Check out the movie trailer below:

THE ORIGINAL JAPANESE FILM “ONE MISSED CALL”

“THE ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSEN”

This bright, completely original Terry Gilliam film (”12 Monkeys”, “Monty Pythons The Holy Grail”, “Brazil” and “Time Bandits”) was considered to be a huge flop when it was released in 1998 and is still thought of as one of Hollywood’s biggest fiascoes to this day. Although critics enjoyed the fantasy film (it has a terrific 86% on RottenTomatoes.com and is certified “fresh”) it tanked at the box office all across the globe.

“The Adventures of Baron Munchausen” tells the legend of an old man who has lived a fairy-tale life. Blending Oscar winning effects with witty humor and a terrific cast, “Munchausen” is a gorgeous sprawling film. The art direction, acting, set design and effects still hold up to this day. The film stars John Neville, Eric Idle and Sarah Polley with cameos by Robin Williams, Uma Thurman and Sting.

“DARK CITY”

Many people consider this 1998 film, written and directed by Alex Proyas (”The Crow”), to be the real “Matrix” movie. It stars Rufus Sewell, William Hurt, Kiefer Sutherland, and Jennifer Connelly. While not a major box office hit, it has a considerable reputation within the film industry, with film critic Roger Ebert proclaiming it to be the best film of 1998.

The movie begins with a man (Sewell) waking up in a hotel room with no memory. Right away we find out he is being sought out by police (who believe him to be a serial killer) and also by a group of mysterious men with psychokinetic powers. Furthermore, something appears to be wrong with the world at large because time, memory, and identity behave in unusual ways. This is not only a beautiful film but it is also VERY trippy, extremely thrilling and smart.

“GALAXY QUEST”

The sci-fi comedy “Galaxy Quest” was a huge surprise and a decent hit when it was released in 1999. The plot of the film follows a group of out of work actors who co-starred with eachother on a canceled T.V. show called “Galaxy Quest”. When aliens from another world receive the t.v. show’s transmissions in space, they assume that the shows content is real and travel to earth to find the transmissions crew.

The T.V. shows cast is kidnapped by the aliens at a Sci-Fi convention and taken to another galaxy to help save them from an evil alien dictator. Watching the human actors pretend to be their on screen characters will leave you in sticthces. This movie has an incredible screenplay and a spot on cast starring Tim Allen (who I normally despise), Sigourney Weaver, Allan Rickman and Sam Rockwell.

“INNERSPACE”

Navy pilot Tuck Pendleton (Dennis Quaid) is selected as a guinea pig to take place in an experimental project which will have him placed in submersible pod, miniaturized to microscopic size and injected into the body of a rabbit. Immediately after being miniaturized and put into a needle, the experiment takes a bad turn when the lab is attacked. The experiment supervisor escapes with miniaturized Pendleton he accidentally injects Quaid’s character into a unsuspecting civilian (Martin Short).

“Innerspace” won a couple of Academy Awards in 1987 and was directed by Joe Dante and produced by Steven Spielberg. It stars Dennis Quaid, Meg Ryan and Martin Short. “Innerspace” spoofs the 1966 sci-fi classic “The Fantastic Voyage”. The films blend of awesome, groundbreaking effects and Martin Short’s physical comedy are definate crowd pleasers!

“ENEMY MINE”

During a bloody battle, two warring ships crash on a barren planet, with only one survivor from each ship. At first, the human pilot and the lizard like alien “Drac” continue to fight, but the planet’s harsh climate and the need to survive force them to ally. Denis Quaid stars as the human pilot and Louis Gossett Jr. plays the alien pilot in this unique, bizarre sci-fi fantasy.

The movie has some really great set designs and Quaid and Gosset Jr. give riveting performances that will tug at your heart strings. “Enemy Mine” is a thinly masked treatise on race relations, handled well by its two lead actors. “Enemy Mine” is director Wolfgang Petersen’s first American films and it is a rare find if you have not seen it!

Variety is reporting that Warner Bros. has hired a team to bring “The Green Lantern” to the big screen in his very own film. According to a report published yesterday, the studio has tapped Greg Berlanti to write and direct “The Green Lantern” which will be released after the much hyped “Justice League of America” film that’s being directed by George Miller (”Babe”, “Mad Max”, “Happy Feet”).

Berlanti, best known for his work on TV shows such as “Dirty Sexy Money”, “Brothers & Sisters”, “Everwood”, and “Dawson’s Creek”. As Variety notes, his past work on print editions of Amazing Spider-Man, Wolverine, and Blade make him uniquely qualified for the gig.

In “The Flash” news, MTV Movies reports that Warner’s long-discussed feature-length look at “The Flash” is still on and that it’s changed directors again. David Dobkin, also known as the guy who helped bring you “Wedding Crashers” and “Fred Claus” has been tapped to direct the superhero film.

MTV reports that “The Flash” will exist in the same universe as the upcoming “Justice League of America” flick and will act “as a direct spin-off”, meaning he’s in the unusual position of waiting to see who’s cast in the “Justice League” before making many moves on his own picture.

Variety Magazine reports that the two companies are teaming up to bring Galactica’s two-hour season premiere, titled “Razor”, to theaters in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Boston, Dallas, and Seattle. The screenings will take place on November 12th at 7 P.M., and they’ll be free!!

FROM THE “VARIETY” MAGAZINE ARTICLE:

In the Los Angeles area, four theaters will participate, with each screening the episode twice, beginning at 7 p.m., to accommodate the crowds. The theaters are in Palmdale, Huntington Beach, Orange and Ventura.

“Galactica” moviegoers will have to be 17 and older because the series is rated TV-14, and Microsoft’s role-playing videogame “Mass Effect,” a sponsor of the screenings, is rated mature.

Fans that can’t make it to one of the screenings will still be able to see the unrated version of this episode (which will be released on DVD) ten days after the network cut is shown.

1.) Saw IV $32,110,000 / $32,110,000

2.) Dan in Real Life $12,081,000 / $12,081,000

3.) 30 Days of Night $6,700,000 / $27,318,00

4.) The Game Plan $6,257,000 / $77,067,000

5.) Why Did I Get Married? $5,740,000 $47,300,000

6.) Michael Clayton $5,030,000 $28,700,000

7.) Gone Baby Gone $3,900,000 / $11,310,000

8.) The Comebacks $3,450,000 / $10,004,000

9.) We Own the Night $3,400,000 / $25,070,000

10.) The Nightmare Before Christmas 3D $3,347,000 / $10,002,000

(STORY FROM ROTTENTOMATOES.COM)

After over two decades, George Miller (”Babe”) might finally be ready to take Mad Max past Beyond Thunderdome and onto Fury Road. According to an Moviehole.com insider FOX is reopening the “Mad Max 4: Fury Road” production quarters on Fox’s Sydney lot. And that isn’t all, it sounds as if Miller will be working on this film, and “Justice League” concurrently, the latter is also set up at Fox Studios, as well as “Happy Feet 2″.

DIRECTOR GEORGE MILLER

You read that right. If Moviehole’s source is correct, Miller will be juggling three high-profile projects at once and the source even goes so far as to say that development on “Mad Max 4″ is now moving so quickly, it could actually reach screens before “Justice League”. But first, the casting call: Miller recently told Moviehole that he’d be using a younger leading man for the fourth “Mad Max” and not Mel Gibson. Think he got any ideas during the recent Justice League casting sessions? Stay tuned!

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ORIGINAL STORY FROM ROTTENTOMATOES.COM

GEORGE MILLER IS CREATING A “JUSTICE LEAGUE” FILM!

“Hellboy 2: The Golden Army” is the title of the sequel to the 2004 hit “Hellboy” directed by Guillermo Del Toro. “Hellboy 2: The Golden Army” is also co-written and directed by Guillermo del Toro. Universal Pictures finances and distributes the film, which has a target release date for July 11, 2008.

I liked the first “Hellboy” film a lot, the creature effects and directing by del Toro were ingenious. The kitten loving demon “Hellboy” was brilliantly cast with Ron Perlman as the titular hero. If the first film has the same charm and creativity as the first then we are in for a nice surprise next summer.

Read the RottenTomatoes.com “Hellboy 2″ synopsis below:

With a signature blend of action, humor and character-based spectacle, the saga of the world’s toughest, kitten-loving hero from Hell continues to unfold in Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. After an ancient truce existing between humankind and the invisible realm of the fantastic is broken, hell on Earth is ready to erupt.

A ruthless leader who treads the world above and the one below defies his bloodline and awakens an unstoppable army of creatures. Now, it’s up to the planet’s toughest, roughest superhero to battle the merciless dictator and his marauders.

Currently these 3 songs are all on Yahoo Music’s top 50 “hot” music videos. And all three songs are on the billboard top 50 singles at the moment as well. My personal opinion about Britney is well known, she is talentless and trash. Period. She cannot sing and as of lately has proven she can’t dance either. Her demise has been ugly and couldn’t come any sooner!

J-Lo, well she is talented when it comes to acting (sometimes) and that even isn’t saying much because my favorite movies of hers are “Selena” (where she lip syncs) and “Anaconda” (enough said). Her back stage antics and strange demands show her true ego and prove she is just another pop poser.

Lastly, Elliott Yamin came in third place on “American Idol” and his new “look” and R&B sound are just too much for me to handle. I can put up with the females from “Idol” but the men’s music just ends up sounding way too cheesy, even for my tastes. What do you think? Watch the 3 music video’s I think “blow hard” below!

BRITNEY SPEARS - “GIMME MORE”

J-LO - “DO IT WELL”

ELLIOTT YAMIN - “WAIT FOR YOU”

Goldfrapp’s new album “Seventh Tree” will be released on February 25th, 2008 according to their band website and fan club newsletter. I was sent this official statement below via email just this morning! I am a huge Goldfrapp fan, I have seen them 2 times at the Filmore in San Francisco and have been a rabid fan of all their work since their debut album.

Alison Goldfrapp is gorgeous and she has the voice of an angel, her work with fellow band mates is revolutionary pop music. All of Goldfrapp’s remixes have been kick ass dance tracks that improve upon already brilliant material. If you have not had the chance to hear any of Goldfrapp’s music then you are in for a treat! Watch the collection of Goldfrapp music video’s at the bottom of the page. But first, check out the email notice about the new c.d. from Alison Goldfrapp below:

Howdy Deers:

PS Hello, hola, bonjour, salut to all the new members that have joined us recently. We hope that you have found a happy home here.

WATCH THE BEST OF GOLDFRAPP’S MUSIC VIDEO’S HERE:

“STRICT MACHINE”

“OOH LA LA”

“RIDE A WHITE HORSE”

“FLY ME AWAY”

“TIPTOE”

“TWIST”

“#1″

“YOU NEVER KNOW” (LIVE)

“TRAIN”

Last winter Sylvester Stallone released another “Rocky” film, which actually got really good reviews and pulled in a decent amount of money at the box office. Now Stallone is getting back into his time machine to bring us a new “Rambo” movie. Nearly 20 years after the franchises ended, Stallone is milking his past cash machines for all they are worth.

I didn’t watch “Rocky Balboa” because I am not a fan of the film series or of Sylvester Stallone for that matter. To me he represents a sad, silly, ignorant film era that has had it’s time in the spotlight but now is no longer even relevant. So you can probably guess I am not too excited for the newest “Rambo” film.

Were the American people really craving and demanding another John Rambo movie? Doesn’t his character ever get to rest? By the looks of this ridiculous trailer he has seen a few plastic surgeons and has pumped himself up on the “juice”. This whole premise is just laughable, check out the trailer below:

One of the many high-profile productions being affected by the looming writers’ strike is Angels & Demons, the follow-up to The Da Vinci Code. Variety magazine reports on the last-minute preparations behind the scenes of Angels & Demons, which will find Tom Hanks reprising his role as Robert Langdon from The Da Vinci Code, the $758 million-grossing adaptation of Dan Brown’s bestselling book.

“Angels & Demons” is scheduled to start filming in Europe next February, but with the writers’ strike coming as early as November 1, Howard’s team has to move quickly. Variety’s report goes on to note that although the “Angels & Demons” novel was written before, and takes place before “The Da Vinci Code”, the film will be a sequel.

The first film was mildly entertaining and the book was a fun read, but I am not sure that Dan Brown’s religious based thrillers are strong enough to sustain a franchise. I personally think Ron Howard is a hack, and I can’t stand most of his over produced clunkers. Here is a blurb from the Variety Magazine article:

Producers Brian Grazer and John Calley, Columbia, Howard and writer Akiva Goldsman are seeking to finalize the shooting script before next week’s deadline. Meanwhile, the “Angels” team have begun casting around Tom Hanks, who will reprise his role as Robert Langdon. Hanks’ character, a Harvard-based expert on religious symbols, this time sleuths a mystery that involves a secret society and a conspiracy that leads to Vatican City and threatens the future of the Catholic Church.

Rihanna is on a roll and I am just fine with that. Her sophomore album “Good Girl Gone Bad” has churned out one quality hit single after another. Her rumored romance with up and coming star Shia LaBeouf only furthers her status as one of Hollywood’s most glamorous people. The two look absolutely cute as hell together.

This new single is a sweet ballad with an incredible lyric and hook. I wouldn’t be surprised if they created a pulse pounding hot dance track out of this song either. Rihanna has already proved that she has the diva dance floor talent to rule the clubs. I am personally very excited that Rihanna is on the pop scene creating such great music for the masses. Watch the “Hate to Love You” musci video below:

GRADE: A

In the past few years the general public has been subjected to an onslaught of terrible or mediocre zombie films; “Land of the Dead”, “Resident Evil”, “Planet Terror”, “28 Weeks Later”, “Undead” etc. The great ones are few and far between; “Dawn of the Dead”, “28 Days Later”…and the best of the bunch has to be “Shaun of the Dead” (which is a comedy!). The genre itself has been lacking in the creative spirit which made it my favorite to begin with. This was until I watched “Fido”, a film I immediately fell in love with within the first few frames.

The Wikipedia.com plot description for “FIDO” is as follows: When the Earth passed through a cloud of space dust and the dead arose from their graves to devour the flesh of the living, it first seemed that all hope for humanity was lost. Society’s rapid slide into chaos, however, was soon halted when scientists at a company called ZomCon created a special collar that turned the rampaging animated corpses docile. Now, thanks to ZomCon, everything is under control - or is it?

I would describe “Fido” as “Pleasantville” meets “Night of the Living Dead”. But even that description doesn’t capture the brilliance of the details in this film. “Fido” not only has an ingenious premise but it crafts a tightly shrewd social commentary of the 50’s and of race relations into a comedy/zombie horror film. The film goes even further with subtle references to the women’s movement, child neglect, adultery, necrophilia, credit consumption and on, and on without being heavy handed. This movie has a compelling underlined message that just happens to be sandwiched in between gore, great performances and genius comedic dialog.

Carrie Anne Moss is captivating as the 50’s housewife Helen Robinson. Her wardrobe and her glowing classic Hollywood good looks have never been so beautifully captured onto film. Her precise movements and dead on depiction of a 50’s “super mom” will have you in stitches. Some of the more funnier moments in this film are the scenes with Moss interacting with her pet zombie “Fido”. There are some tender, touching and yes, some revolting scenes in “Fido”. If you loved “Shaun of the Dead” you must see “Fido”, it is a great companion piece to the British cult hit that stars Simon Pegg.

There are some really great performances in “Fido”. Especially by Billy Connelly as “Fido” the zombie house pet/servant. There are a lot of jokes crammed into “Fido” and I look forward to owning this movie to catch the little jokes I missed with multiple viewings. The gore is not as bad as you would think and it isn’t the focal point of the main story. I am a big fan of this new breed of zombie films my friends and I call “Zom-Com’s”. A mix of comedy and shrewd wit are always a welcome addition to my splatter flicks! “Fido” is proof that these two elements work just fine together!

WATCH THE “FIDO” MOVIE TRAILER HERE:

Chucky has become some what of a comical character within the horror genre. Much like Freddy became in the “Nightmare on Elm St.” series or even Jason Voorhees in the “Friday the 13th” franchise. Remember “Jason In Manhattan”? “Jason X (in the future!!??)”? “Freddy Vs. Jason”? Needless to say these sequels don’t have the same impact as the terrifying original.

When Chucky was first introduced to the masses in “Child’s Play” the images of that film scared the crap out of many horror fans, including myself. After seeing the movie on the big screen in 1988 I specifically remember being creeped out every time I saw one of those “My Buddy” dolls from the 80’s. The many lame sequels that followed (except “Bride of Chucky” which is a cult/camp classic) just made the franchise less effective.

Now comes news that the original first film will be remade to be even more creepy and scary than the first one. This I have to see! If this is done right horror movie fans everywhere will be pleasantly pleased. After “Poltergeist” who isn’t afraid of a creepy evil murderous doll? I hope the director and screenwriter go for gore and scares rather than gross out and cheap laughs.

But don’t just assume that because we’re well into the 21st Century that Chucky will be any sort of CG motion-captured creation. Creator and Director of “Child’s Play” David Kirschner state; “It’ll be an animatronic doll, like we do all of them, but animatronics have grown from when we did the first one 20 years ago”. Wow, has it really been 20 years??? The new Chucky will most likely hit the big screen in 2008.

Here is my list of this coming winter’s most highly anticipated films. There are a plethora of movies coming out this holiday season; a gory musical, an apocalyptic sci-fi, tense real life thrillers, classic westerns and much more! With so much to choose from, there is a little bit of something for everyone.

I think this is one of the best movie line ups of any other recent winter. Check out the return of the many brilliant directors; De Palma, The Coen Bros., P.T. Anderson and Frank Darabont (the list goes on)! This is turning out to be one seriously hot winter movie season! Watch the trailers for my picks below!

1.) STEPHEN KING’S THE MIST (NOV. 2007)
Directed by Frank Darabont (”The Shawshank Redemption”)

2.) SOUTHLAND TALES (NOV. 2007)
The follow up to “Donnie Darko”

3.) THE GOLDEN COMPASS (DEC. 2007)
The new “Lord of the Rings” or “Harry Potter”?

4.) SWEENEY TODD (DEC. 2007)
Tim Burton does musicals!

5.) WALK HARD: THE DEWEY COX STORY (DEC. 2007)
A music bio-pic farce co-written by Judd Apatow!

6.) NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (NOV. 2007)
The new Coen Brothers film!

7.) THERE WILL BE BLOOD (JAN 2008)
P.T. Anderson directs a Western starring Daniel Day Lewis!

8.) I AM LEGEND (DEC. 2007)
Will Smith in a Sci-Fi epic.

9.) BE KIND, REWIND (JAN. 2008)
Jack Black and Michel Gondry team up for a sweet comedy!

10.) REDACTED (FEB. 2008)
The most talked about film of the year, just you wait and see!