This week's movie releases

Since I am working from my wife's computer, there will be no pictures this week. It's probably for the best because the Hostel ones were pretty gross.

1. Hostel Part II (2,350 Theaters): So, this movie is back for a second part. Only, this time, they are torturing women instead of men. Wonderful.

I have to say, I am not a fan of the recent trend in torture horror. I never seen a "Saw" movie and I skipped the first "Hostel". Granted, I thought that Eli Roth's "Thanksgiving" trailer was funny when I saw Grindhouse. But I am skipping this movie entirely.

2. Ocean's 13 (3,565 Theaters): Who would have thought that a remake of a Rat Pack flick would warrant two sequels. I am also amazed that the kept the original 11 together for all the films. This is the one film being released that I would most like to see, but I think for the wife that it would be a toss up between this and...

3. Surf's Up (3,528 Theaters): Yes, both the wife and I like the recent spate of computer animated movies. We haven't seen all of them, only the ones that look have way decent. And while I bemoan the fact that this flick is yet another which features penguins, I think that there might be funny parts.

So, how do I think that they will do?

1. Hostel Part II
2. Ocean's 13
3. Knocked Up
4. Surf's Up
5. Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End.

This week's new releases have something for every one. Surf's Up for the kids, Hostel Part II for teens, and Ocean's 13 for old fogeys like me. I think all three new movies could enter the top five. And even though I'd hate to admit it and it is in less theaters that the other movies, I think Hostel Part II will take the top spot. I hope that I am wrong.   

California Blogging, Volume two: Paris Hilton: Free at last!

 

Parishiltoninpokey

So, I woke up horribly this morning. The first thing I saw, THE FIRST THING, when I turned on the TV at the hotel was that Paris Hilton was released from prison. After serving, what, a whopping four days in jail. Now, I shouldn't be so harsh. The sheriff's department said she was released due to "health reasons". What were they?

Terminal richness and chronic case of celebrity.

No, no. It was that. The real reason has yet to be released, but rumor say it could be anything from a rash to a possible nervous breakdown.

Awww, isn't that so sad! She was going to have a widdle iddle nervous bweakdown. Boo hoo hoo!

I'm sure that if her name was Juan Dominquez or her net worth was under $10,000 dollars see would still be in prison. I mean, isn't the whole idea of prison to introduce a breakdown in the people who go there? Heck, she was all by herself in a cell. She had a cotton candy, ice cream prison experience. No communal showers, no threats from other inmates. And that was too tough. Wah, wah, wah.

 Los Angeles would have just been better suited not even letting her get any prison time. I mean, it was laughable when they reduced her sentence from 45 days to 23 days for "good behavior". This is downright hilarious.

The sheriff department's spokesman stressed that her sentence was simply converted to a house arrest situation. She is still being punished! By being forced to spend time in her Hollywood mansion with her pets and having her friends coming over and having parties. And heck, she could even leave the house for 48 Hours a week! She already called in her hair and makeup people so she could "forget the whole prison experience" with a new look.

There night be an optomist out there who thinks that she has finally learned her lesson. I think not. All she did was prove that while the people who operate the legal system out here might be ashamed for the rest of the world thinking they have gone light on punishing celebrities, they don't really have the guts to do anything to change that image.

Since I am out here, I was considering going to Hilton's mansion and offering a protest to her getting off light. But I would probably be arrested and sentenced to prison. And I feel I would be in there longer that just four frikkin days.     

New Guiding Lines column up.

Yeah, it's been up for two days. I'm in California. I'm sorry.

This week I cover The Black Diamond Society, New Warriors #1, Fear Agent: The Last Goodbye #1, Scalped #6, Strange Embrace 31, and the Transformers Movie Adaptation #1.

 

California Blogging, Volume One

Los Angeles at night

Yes, since I am blogging this on my wife's work computer, we are going with Vox stock photos. Sorry about that.

Well, I am in sunny Los Angeles! Actually, sunny Marina Del Rey. My wife is at a conference here today and since I made the mistake of having my foot scraped (and acid put in it, don't ask why), I am resting in our hotel room. Since that is boring as heck, I am blogging.

How was the flight out? Uh, okay I guess. You really don't realize how long 5 and a half hours is until you are in a confined space with poor ventilation for that amount of time. But it was relatively smooth and reasonably quiet. The in flight movie was Breach. How did I like it? Unfortunately, the projector in our part of the plane was not working.

When we arrived yesterday, the temperature in LA was in the 60's, about 20 degrees cooler than it was in New York. That was a nice change.

We are staying at the Ritz-Carlton Marina Del Rey. This is a luxury hotel. I feel like I am a pauper when I ride the elevator. This is how ritzy (no pun intended) this hotel is-there are cloth towels in the lobby restroom. Cloth, not paper, towels to dry your hands with. I have never seen that before.

The service was awesome. Although, since the room is in Jen's name, I was called Mr. Dogin by the staff. Yes, I know I'm a kept man, but I still like my own name.

We decided to walk along the boardwalk by Venice Beach. It wasn't too packed because it was rather gloomy. But at least I can say that I did that. We actually ate at a pretty cool bar and grill-the Venice Whaler.

I'll try to blog a little more later in the week.  

 

Weekend Box Office, How did I do?

Not very good. Here's what I picked:

1. Knocked Up
   
2. Pirates of the Carribean: At Worlds End
   
3. Shrek the Third
   
4. Waitress
   
5. Spider-Man 3

And here's how it worked out.

1. Pirates of the carribean: At World's End
2. Knocked Up
3. Shrek the Third
4. Mr. Brooks
5. Spider-Man 3.

So, I guess Film Buff Rich was right. Waitress didn't have enough to bump ahead of Spidey 3. Or stay in the top 5 when faced by the awesome power or Mr. Brooks. And I was also wrong about Knocked Up overtakeing Pirates of the Carribean. So that means that I am 2 for 5 this week, 16 for 30 over all with an average of .533. 

Movie: Knocked Up and the trailers before it.

Knockedup

I don't know if this is any indicatioon of my prediction of Knocked Up being the number one movie this week, but the 10:00 showing the wife and I saw tonight had a line extending about 20 feet into the hallway at about a half hour before the movie started. The theater was packed.

So how was it? Great. I liked it a lot.

I'm not going to compare it to 40 Year Old Virgin, because it really not all that similar to it, plot wise. Sure, Apatow portrays some of the same comedy conventions in both. But they are two different movies.

There is a mix of drug humor, gross out humor, sarcastic humor but the main thing I got from it was a sweet honest quality. The characters seemed real and acted in a believable fashion. Most of the complications that drove the plot came from the characters own foibles. People act stupid and drive people away. And it is all done in a realistic fashion.

Superstar cameos abound and the movie mentions Spider-Man 3 not once, not twice, but three times. Sony should pay the makers of Knocked Up an advertising fee.

The acting is top notch from top to bottom. The cast is composed of the Apatow Repartory Players, actors who have starred in Apatow's Freak and Geeks, Undeclared, 40 Year Old Virgin, or in more than one or all of the above. Even James Franco, who made one of his first acting appearances in F&G, makes a cameo. I love it when certain directors use the same actors over and over again. I feel usually if there is a loyalty between the cast and the creator, the performances will be better.

The one thing that I thought was odd was that Katherine Heigl, and I know I am going to sound like a pervert by saying this, went through two sex scenes and one bathtub scene without showing her breasts. Not that I was looking for her to flash me, per se. But in each circumstance--twice her na-nas were covered by a bra, once by strategically placed bubbles--it kind of took me out of the movie. The only thing I thought was "Hmm, Katherine Heigl must have a no nudity clause in her contract."

All in all, a great story with great acting and believable characters. And laugh out loud funny to boot.

Now, the trailers:

• Evan Almighty: I like this movie. It went from being the Jim Carrey-less sequel to a Jim Carrey movie to being Steve Carrell's follow up to 40 Year Old Virgin and Little Miss Sunshine.That is a nice bit of good fortune right there. I still can't figure out how he does that shaving the inside of his nostrils thing without cutting his nose wide open. Oh, and it has Lauren Graham in it, which is something all movies should shoot for.
• Superbad: Of course they would run the trailer for the movie written and starring Seth Rogen before the film he co-headlines. It's the same trailer I saw before, but it is still funny.
• License to Wed: Any movie that features Robin Williams as a priest has to be good for a laugh or two. Although, this seems to be the type of movie where if any normal person found themselves in the situations the characters are in, they run screaming in the opposite direction.
• Hairspray: A movie adaptation of the Broadway musical which was an adaptation of a movie. The should keep this going, ping ponging adaptations in each medium until the world explodes.
• Evan Almighty: No, this is not a misprint. They showed this trailer two times. I guess they thought it was so nice that they's show it twice. Or, it was a mistake in the projectionist room. Either one. But the "weirdo with a beard-o" line holds up under repeat viewings.       

This week's movie releases.

Knockedup

1. Knocked Up (2,871 theaters): This has slowly become one of my most anticipated movies of the summer. I guess you can call me a Judd Apatow fan. I loved The Ben Stiller Show when it ran on Fox. I thought it was the best sketch show of the 1990's and Apatow was a big part of it. I liked what I saw of Freaks and Geeks. I have yet to see any episodes of Undeclared.

But it was 40 Year Old Virgin that won me over. I expected to hate it, since the entire "joke" of the movie was about a comic and toy collecting adult, which is what I am. But Apatow and Steve Carrell did not make fun of the character and made him real and likeable.  

I also am a fan of Seth Rogen from that movie. It was the first time I saw him in anything (I saw Freaks and Geeks after 40YOV) and thought he had great comedic timing.

And Katherine Heigl, while not in my "top 5", is most likely in my "top 10".

And movie has a 92% fresh rating as of this writing on Rotten Tomatoes. Certainly the highest rated movie of the summer, if not the whole year.

But I still feel a sense of dread about this.

See, I'm weird about movies. Often times, I will have high hopes about a movie, and end up being disappointed (I.E. Collateral), On the other hand, there are times when I go into a movie with low expectations and I am pleasantly surprised (I.E. Fantastic Four).

So, since I am so hyped up about this movie, I'm afraid that, no matter how good it is, I will end up disappointed.

 

Mr. Brooks

2. Mr. Brooks (2,453 Theaters): This is an odd movie for me, on many levels. First, it features Kevin Costner as a serial killer. Now, I have an active enough memory to remember when that idea would not be a scary prospect. He was good in Bull Durham, Field of Dreams and The Untouchables. However, Waterworld and the Postman make any movie with his name in the title a gamble.

Second, Demi Moore continues her return from hiatus in this movie--as a police detective. This shouldn't be as bad a casting idea as my gut feels that it is. Her on-screen personality would lend itself to the gritty, hardened career police officer. But I can't help but think that the stripper from Striptease is chasing a serial killing Ray Kinsella.

Third, Dane Cook is starring and the very un-comedic wannabe apprentice to Costner's character. I kinda like Dane Cook in comedic roles, but can I put that image aside as he kills people in this movie?

But, all said, I find myself strangely wanting to see this movie. The concept is interesting--a family man who secretly a serial killer is found out by a man who blackmails Mr. Brooks into teaching him to kill. And part of me wants to see how the, in my eyes, weird casting works. Will it be successful or a train wreck?

 

Gracie

 3. Gracie (1,164 Theaters): This appears to be this year's Rocky-like film. This is a story, apparently inspired by the film's Elisabeth Shue's life, focuses on a girl who struggles to play competetive soccer with boys.  

Yes, let me see if I can predict the plot. Girl loves sport. Girl tries to play sport. Girl is discouraged on and off the field from playing sport. Girl get abuse from most teammates. Girl is inspired my another teamate and/or coach and/or family. Girl plays in pivotal game. Girl scores winning goal. Everybody cheers. The end.

Funny thing is, it will probably be something like that, But the formula works. Invinicible followed the same plot and I loved that movie.  

This movie stars both Shues, Elisabeth and brother (who apparently was under a rock since Melrose Place ended) Andrew. Besides starring in this movie, Andrew wrote it, Elisabeth produced it, and it is directed by Elisabeth's husband David Guggenheim. So it's a family film in more ways that one.

But how do I think it will do in this week's top 5? Let's take a look:

 

1. Knocked Up
2. Pirates of the Carribean: At Worlds End
3. Shrek the Third
4. Waitress
5. Spider-Man 3

No, that is not a misprint. I am going out on a limb here and saying that Pirates will drop enough in it's second week that Knocked Up will have just enough juice to take over number one. I could be wrong. But you don't live if you don't take chances.

Bill