Pop Culture Buzz

Cloverfield
Release Date: January 18th 2008
Director: Matt Reeves
Cast:Mike Vogel, Lizzy Caplan, Jessica Lucas, T.J. Miller, and Michael Stahl-David
The Buzz: If anything else, the top secret JJ Abrams produced monster movie had one of the best teaser trailers of all time. Will the movie be even half as good? We have no idea. The film follows a group of friends in New York City during one January night (January 18th) when some kind of monster attacks. The whole film is shot from the perspective of a consumer video camera that the college-age group bring along for the adventure.

Teeth
Release Date: Spring 2008
Director: Mitchell Lichtenstein
Cast: Jess Weixler, Adam Wagner
The Buzz: Teeth is a black comedy horror film written and directed by Mitchell Lichtenstein. High school student Dawn works hard at suppressing her budding sexuality by being the local chastity group’s most active participant. Her task is made even more difficult by her bad boy stepbrother Ross McIntire’s increasingly provocative behavior at home. A stranger to her own body, innocent Dawn discovers she has a toothed vagina when she becomes the object of violence. As she struggles to comprehend her anatomical uniqueness, Dawn experiences both the pitfalls and the power of being a living example of the vagina dentata myth.

Jumper
Release Date: February 15th 2008
Director: Doug Liman (Go, The Bourne Identity)
Cast: Hayden Christensen, Samuel L Jackson, Diane Lane, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson
The Buzz: A feature film adaptation of the Steven Gould series of novels about a genetic anomaly that allows a young man to teleport himself anywhere. He discovers this gift has existed for centuries and finds himself in a war that has been raging for thousands of years between “Jumpers� and those who have sworn to kill them. The film has been delayed, which is usually a bad sign, but the extensive mythology behind the story has held my interest.

Be Kind Rewind
Release Date: January 23rd 2008
Writer/Director: Michel Gondy (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Science of Sleep)
Cast: Jack Black, Mos Def, Danny Glover, Melonie Diaz, Mia Farrow
The Buzz: Michel Gondry’s twisted comic tale of the magic of filmmaking. Jack Black plays Jerry, a junkyard worker who inadvertently causes his brain to become magnetized, leading to the unintentional destruction of all the movies in his friend’s (Mos Def) video rental store. In order to keep the store’s one loyal customer, an elderly lady with a tenuous grasp on reality, the pair re-create a long line of films, putting themselves and their townspeople into it. They become the biggest stars in their neighborhood. Rewind was originally scheduled for release in December 2007, but was pushed back to January. It is likely that the film was pushed back so that it can premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.

Horton Hears a Who!
Release Date: March 14th 2008
Directors: Jimmy Hayward, Steve Martino
Voice Cast: Jim Carrey, Steve Carell, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill, Dane Cook, Jaime Pressly, Isla Fisher, Will Arnett, Selena Gomez, Amy Poehler, Dan Fogler
The Buzz: Could this be the first great Dr. Suess inspired film since Chuck Jones’ The Grinch who Stole Christmas? Jim Carrey voices Horton the Elephant, who one day hears a cry from help coming from a speck of dust. Even though he can’t see anyone on the speck, he decides to help it. As it turns out, the speck of dust is home to the Whos, who live in their city of Whoville. Horton agrees to help protect the Whos and their home, but this gives him nothing but torment from his neighbors, who refuse to believe that anything could survive on the speck. Still, Horton stands by the motto that, “After all, a person is a person, no matter how small.� The computer generated animation looks top notch (almost Pixar quality even).

Harold & Kumar 2
Release Date: April 4th
Directors: Jon Hurwitz & Hayden Schlossberg (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle)
Cast: John Cho, Kal Penn, Rob Corddry, Neil Patrick Harris, Eddie Kaye Thomas
The Buzz: This stoner sequel follows the cross-country adventures of the pot-smoking duo as they try to outrun authorities who suspect them of being terrorists when they try to sneak a bong on board their flight to Amsterdam.

Speed Racer
Release Date: May 9th 2008
Director: The Wachowski Brothers
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox, John Goodman, Scott Porter
The Buzz: Based on the classic 1960’s Japanese animated series, The Wachowski Brothers (Matrix) direct the story of a young race car driver as he attempts to obtain glory, with the help of his family and the Mach 5, the advanced car created by his father. Emile Hirsch stars as Speed, Christina Ricci as Trixie, and Mathew Fox as Racer X. Even if you weren’t a fan of the tv series, all indications so far point to this being unlike anything ever seen before on the big screen. Here is a bit of trivia: Director Alfonso Cuarón was once attached to direct with Johnny Depp starring.

Iron Man
Release Date: May 2nd 2008
Director: Jon Favreau (Elf, Made)
Cast: Robert Downey, Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrance Howard
The Buzz: Jon Favreau’s big screen adaptation of the popular Marvel comic book character. Robert Downey Jr. plays Weapons designer Tony Stark, who is injured by shrapnel in his heart while in Afghanistan to introduce his new missile design. His captors order him to assemble a missile for them, giving him access to a workshop. He puts his creativity to use by assembling a bulletproof set of power armor, complete with pacemaker and flamethrowers, and uses it to free himself. Back at home, he becomes Iron Man, developing a flying suit with the red and gold scheme and advanced weapon capabilities.

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
Release Date: May 16th 2008
Director: Andrew Adamson (The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)
Cast: Liam Neeson (voice), Ben Barnes, Warwick Davis, William Moseley, Anna Popplewell
The Buzz: Okay, so the first film lacked action, but Disney has promised to up the ante with Prince Caspian. This could be the film to jump-start the Summer.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
Release Date: May 22nd 2008
Director: Steven Spielberg (Raiders, Jaws, Every great movie from your childhood)
The Buzz: Steven Spielberg directs the fourth installment of the Indiana Jones series. Harrison Ford is back, and so is Karen Allen as Marion Ravenwood. New to the production is Cate Blanchett as the bad girl, John Hurt as ??? and Shia LaBeouf as Indy’s greaser sidekick. Not much can be said about the storyline, as it is being kept tightly under wraps. George Lucas has said that Crystal Skull is more in tone with Raiders than any other film in the series.

The Sex & The City Movie
Release Date: September 19th 2008
Director: Michael Patrick King
Cast: Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Catrell, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon
The Buzz: The plot of the film revolves around the lives of the four main characters, four years after the time frame of the finale of the HBO series.

Get Smart
Release Date: June 20th 2008
Director: Peter Segal
Cast: Steve Carell, Anne Hathaway, The Rock, Alan Arkin, Terence Stamp, Masi Oka
The Buzz: Steve Carell stars as Maxwell Smart in the big screen adaptation of the classic Mel Brooks comic spy television series. Anne Hathaway plays Agent 99, Dwayne Johnson plays Agent 23, and Alan Arkin is the Chief. I think this could be the next Austin Powers if done right.

Wall-E
Release Date: June 27th 2008
Director: Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo)
The Buzz: Andrew Stanton developed WALL-E before Toy Story was made: the original idea was, “What if mankind evacuated Earth and forgot to turn off the last remaining robot?� After hundreds of lonely years of doing what he was built for, WALL•E (short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth-Class) discovers a new purpose in life (besides collecting knick-knacks) when he meets a sleek search robot named EVE. EVE comes to realize that WALL•E has inadvertently stumbled upon the key to the planet’s future, and races back to space to report her findings to the humans (who have been eagerly awaiting word that it is safe to return home).

The Dark Knight
Release Date: July 18th 2008
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Aaron Eckhart
The Buzz: Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to the highly acclaimed Batman Begins. Batman (Bale) raises the stakes in his war on crime with the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart). Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker (Ledger).

Mamma Mia!
Release Date: July 18th 2008
Director: Phyllida Lloyd
Cast: Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgård, Amanda Seyfried
The Buzz: Mamma Mia! employs the hit songs of famed pop group ABBA to tell the story of Sophie Sheridan a young girl who hopes to discover the identity of her father. On the eve of her wedding she brings three men from her mother past back to the Greek island they visited over two decades ago.

The Pineapple Express
Release Date: August 8th 2008
Director: David Gordon Green (George Washington, All the Real Girls, Snow Angels)
Cast: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Bill Hader, James Remar, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez
The Buzz: Yes, another Judd Apatow produced comedy. Superbad co-writers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg return with an action comedy about a stoner (Rogen) and his dealer (Franco) who are forced to go on the run from the police after the pothead witnesses a cop commit a murder.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
Release Date: November 21st 2008
Director: David Yates (Order of the Phoenix)
Cast: Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Jim Broadbent, Rupert Grint, Tom Felton
The Buzz: As Harry Potter begins his 6th year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, he discovers an old book marked mysteriously “This book is the property of the Half-Blood Prince� and begins to learn more about Lord Voldemort’s dark past.

Star Trek
Release Date: December 25th 2008
Director: JJ Abrams
The Buzz: JJ Abrams restarts the Trek series at the beginning. Not much is known about the film other than it will feature a young Kirk and Spock in the early days of the Enterprise. Casting of young and comedic actors has worried long time fans, but producers have stated since the beginning that they are trying to attract a new audience to the series. Zachary Quinto as Spock, Eric Bana as the villain Nero, Zoe Saldana as Uhura, Anton Yelchin as Chekov, John Cho as Sulu and possibly Chris Pine as Kirk.

The Happening
Release Date: June 13th 2008
Writer/Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, John Leguizamo
The Buzz: Say what you will about M. Night Shyamalan, but many of his detractors have admitted that The Happening is his best script since The Sixth Sense. A paranoid thriller about a family on the run from a natural crisis that presents a large-scale threat to humanity. The Happening will be released purposely on Friday the 13th.

The Incredible Hulk
Release Date: June 13th 2008
Director: Louis Leterrier and Writer: Edward Norton
Cast: Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson
The Buzz: Edward Norton stars as Bruce Banner, in a non-sequel sequel to Ang Lee’s The Hulk. The Incredible Hulk is on the run, and the action is more intense in Edward Norton’s screenplay (that’s right, Norton also wrote the screenplay).

The X-Files 2
Release Date: Fall 2008
Director: Chirs Carter
Cast: David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson
The Buzz: Due to the highly secretive nature of the project, very little is known about the movie’s plot. It is known that, unlike the first film, the plot will not focus on the series’ ongoing “mythology” and will instead be a standalone thriller/horror story, similar to many of the “monster-of-the-week” episodes that were frequently seen in the TV series.

Trailer Trash
Release Date: August 22nd 2008
Director: Eli Roth
The Buzz: An R-Rated feature film full of connected faux horror movie trailers. Eli Roth says he wants to make a film like “Monty Python and the Holy Grail,� which he considers “to be the greatest achievement in the history of cinema.� I, like many, really enjoyed the fake movie trailers which were attached to Grindhouse. And I’ve always been a fan of the short form film (ie short film) because if you don’t like it, just wait a few minutes and it will be over and another one will begin. Plus as Roth notes, you can make a trailer full of tentpole moments without all the exposition and connected story in between.

James Bond 22
Release Date: November 7th 2008
Director: Marc Forster (Stranger Than Fiction, Finding Neverland, The Kite Runner)
Cast: Daniel Craig, Goran Visnjic, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Jesper Christensen
The Buzz: It’s Bond, what more can you say? Daniel Craig returns as agent 007. Not much is known about this film as of yet. All we do know is that this movie is going to be the first ever direct sequel to another official James Bond film (Casino Royale)

Where the Wild Things Are
Release Date: October 3rd 2008
Director: Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, Adaptation)
Cast: Forest Whitaker, Michelle Williams, Catherine Keener, James Gandolfini, Catherine O’Hare
The Buzz: Every kid has read the classic illustrated Maurice Sendak book, about Max, a mischievous little boy, creates his own world - a forest in habited by fabulous wild creatures who crown Max as their ruler. Music Video turned filmmaker Spike Jonze has always created some visual and conceptual masterpieces. This is also Spike’s first feature film not written by Charlie Kaufman.

The Changeling
Release Date: November 7th 2008
Director: Clint Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby, Mystic River)
Cast: Angelina Jolie, John Malkovich, Riki Lindhome, Amy Ryan
The Buzz: Jolie plays a woman whose son is abducted but retrieved; she suspects, however, that the returned child is not hers. The woman must then confront corruption in the LAPD. The story is based on true events in 1920s Los Angeles. The film is being produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer.

The Day the Earth Stood Still
Release Date: December 12th 2008
Director: Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Hellraiser: Inferno)
Cast: Keanu Reeves (Matrix)
The Buzz: A remake of the classic 1951 sci-fi action film by Robert Wise, which is considered one of the best Science Fiction films of all time (#7 on Arthur C Clarke’s List) and was debated for it’s religious symbolism and many interpretations. Bernard Herrmann score is also notable, partly because of its use of two theremins. The film is currently ranked #187 of all time on IMDb, with a 8.1 rating. Reeves will play Klaatu, an alien who arrives on Earth accompanied by a large humanoid robot named Gort, with a warning to world leaders that their continued aggression will lead to annihilation by species watching from afar.

And the following films are in production or being rushed into production before the strike, and couple possibly be released in Fall 2008, although there are no guarantees.

Zack and Miri Make a Porno
Release Date: Fall 2008 (estimated)
Writer/Director: Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy)
Cast: Jason Mewes
The Buzz: Two friends, both in their late 20s and feeling various strains of adulthood, decide to launch an amateur porn studio — a knockout story for their upcoming high school reunion. I’m a huge fan of Kevin Smith’s work, and this sounds like a step back towards Chasing Amy, which is probably Smith’s best film to date.

Brüno: Delicious Journeys Through America for the Purpose of Making Heterosexual Males Visibly Uncomfortable in the Presence of a Gay Foreigner in a Mesh T-Shirt
Release Date: 2008??
Director: Dan Mazer (Borat)
Cast: Sacha Baron Cohen
The Buzz: The follow-up to Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, follows Cohen’s third Da Ali G Show character Brüno, a gay Austrian TV reporter who interviews unsuspecting guests about topics such as fashion, entertainment, celebrities and homosexuality, with an emphasis on the latter as each interview progresses.

The Box
Release Date: Fall 2008 (estimated)
Writer/Director: Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales)
Cast: Sean William Scott, Cameron Diaz
The Buzz: I, like many others, LOVED Kelly’s feature film debut Donnie Darko. I have yet to see his follow-up, Southland Tales, which has garnered far less acclaim. Based on the story “Button, Button� written by Richard Matheson (I Am Legend), the film surrounds a troubled married couple who find a small wooden box on their doorstep, which brings with it unforeseen fortune. Their good luck, however, comes at a price.

Australia
Release Date: Fall 2008 (estimated)
Writer/Director: Baz Luhrmann (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge!)
Cast: Hugh Jackman, Nicole Kidman, David Wenham, Bryan Brown
The Buzz: Luhrmann’s film is set in northern Australia prior to World War II and centers on an English aristocrat (Kidman) who inherits a ranch the size of Maryland. When English cattle barons plot to take her land, she reluctantly joins forces with a rough-hewn cattle driver (Jackman) to drive 2,000 head of cattle across hundreds of miles of the country’s most unforgiving land, only to still face the bombing of Darwin, Australia, by the Japanese forces that had attacked Pearl Harbor only months earlier.