1. Rock Of Ages (Warner Brothers, 3,470 Theaters, 123 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Part of me wants to love this movie. I like the idea of taking pop songs from a particular era and building a musical around them. However, another part of me wishes it wasn’t done in such a pandering way as it is done here.

Granted, I have not seen the play the film is based on, but it seems callously constructed to warm the hearts of anyone who grew up in the 1980s (or after and loved the music from that decade) with less concern for good storytelling than hitting emotional notes.

I am intrigued by the cast. The film is front loaded with unknowns and newbies, with experienced actors such as Tom Cruise and Alec Baldwin providing support. Risky move for a summer blockbuster.

2. That’s My Boy! (Sony/Columbia, 3,030 Theaters, 114 Minutes, Rated R): I saw one TV ad for this film, and it told me absolutely nothing about its plot. It was basically was scene after scene of Adam Sandler acting like a moron. Which, when you think of it, is all the film really needs. It’s targeting Sandler fans because in every film he acts like a moron to some extent.

But , for those of you who like to know what the films you might see are actually about, here is the plot. Sandler play Donny, a man who impregnated one of his teachers while he was in high school. For some incredulous reason, Donny was allowed to to raise the child on his own. When his son, Todd (Andy Samberg) turns 18, he hits the ground running, leaving his father with no intention of ever looking back. Years later, as Todd is preparing to get married, Donny returns again.

I can take or leave Adam Sandler’s films, the sillier he acts or the more stupid the premise the more I want to leave it. This seems like a “leave it” kind of film for me.

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin may be heading to the big screen to star in a comedy from director Adam Shankman.

Deadline is reporting that New Line Cinema is looking to purchase a pitch being described as “Trading Places meets Grumpy Old Men.” The idea came to Shankman just a few weeks ago while watching Baldwin host the season premier of Saturday Night Live. Martin crashed Baldwin’s opening monologue to give Baldwin some good-natured grief for breaking his (Martin’s) record for most times hosting the show.

The project is in such early days it doesn’t even have a writer assigned to it yet.

This isn’t the first time that the two have comedically sparred. They were the co-hosts for the 2010 Academy Awards broadcast, which Shankman directed, and they fought for the affections of Meryl Streep in the comedy It’s Complicated.

I have to say that it has been fun watching Baldwin change his career trajectory from that of being a dramatic actor in films like Glengary Glenn Ross to consistently generating laughs on SNL and 30 Rock. The two were a lot of fun on the Oscars and on the SNL season opener. Here’s hoping they hit it out of the park with this.

Alec Baldwin has been signed to headline the next film from Woody Allen. The untitled project is set to film in Rome later on this year. Beyond the shooting location, the regular Woody Allen cloak of secrecy covers the project so that all we know is that it is a romance and Penelope Cruz is already in the cast. Reportedly Jesse Eisenberg is also up for a role.

This will be the second time t hat Baldwin will have teamed with Allen. Baldwin previously appeared in Allen’s 1990 comedy Alice, one of the director’s more forgettable films.

Recently, Baldwin has dropped hints about possibly retiring in the future. Before that happens though, we’ll see him in this, the Adam Shankman-directed New Line musical Rock Of Ages with Diego Gonzalez Boneta, Julianne Hough, Tom Cruise, Mary J. Blige and Russell Brand and at least one more season of NBC’s hit comedy 30 Rock.

Via Deadline.

The ongoing production delays for Men In Black III have caused another complication. Alec Baldwin has had to drop out of the film.

Baldwin told New York Magazine’s Vulture blog, “”I’m not doing that. I’m out of it; the schedule didn’t work out.”

This doesn’t come as much of a surprise as the filming on the Barry Levinson-directed comedy should have already commenced as per the original schedule announced when the film took a planned hiatus at the end of last year. The hiatus was planned to allow for script revisions to the section of the film set in the 1960s, which Will Smith’s character will visit thanks to some time-traveling. Baldwin was set to play the head of the Men In Black agency in the past.

Currently David Koep is working on revisions for the section of film yet to be shot. Production is now set to begin in New York at the end of the month. And meanwhile, Sony continues to throw money at the project in such a way that I continue believe will preclude them from ever showing an appreciable profit.

The Academy Awards will take a few moments during their broadcast next month to pay a special tribute to the late writer/director John Hughes, who passed away last August. It’s an unusual move for the awards show, which normally confines their honoring of filmmakers and actors who have passed away in the preceding year to a single montage segment.

The fact that both Oscar hosts Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin have worked with Hughes may have something to do with it. But it may also have to do with how Hughes’ films managed to be both rooted in the 1980s while at the same time addressing themes that transcend their decade, making them accessible to audiences of following generations.

It is not known who will be taking part in the tribute, but the possibilities are endless, from the actors who worked with him to the filmmakers who were inspired by him.

In the meantime, the latest issue of Vanity Fair has an in-depth profile of Hughes. As the director himself was fairly reclusive after he quit Hollywood in the early 1990s, it is possible that a piece this insightful could have only been written after his passing. I would recommend the online version as it contains some additional material not found in the print version.

Via Deadline Hollywood.

1. Sherlock Holmes (Warner Brothers, @3,600 Theaters, 128 Minutes, Rated PG-13): When Guy Ritchie was announced as the director of this film, you had to know that this wouldn’t be your father’s Sherlock Holmes.

Of course, no one could really expect that we would get a pit fighting Holmes either, but that’s what we get. Of course, this irks a lot of people. It’s not that they don’t like their Holmes to be physical, it’s just that they don’t want it to be at the expense of the cerebral.

There also has been some controversy if this film was adapted from an unpublished comic book or not. Early publicity made it seem it was, but there is more and more evidence that it was not. Personally, I love the fact that we have come so far that people will lie about being adapted from a graphic novel to get press. I just love that!

2. It’s Complicated (Universal, @2,800 Theaters, 118 Minutes, Rated R): Any movie whose cast that features Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin can’t be all bad. I’m just saying.

This film is about a divorced couple who hook up after years apart. Which would be good if they both weren’t already in relationships. As their affair continues, their lives get, well, complicated.

The film is done by Nancy Myers, who has carved out a little cottage industry for herself in writing and directing romantic comedies for a more mature audiences such as Something’s Got to Give and The Holiday. Which is good for her because there seems to be an audience for that kind of comedy.

3. Nine (The Weinstein Company, @1,500 Theaters, 110 Minutes, Rated PG-13): This film doesn’t only share a director in common with Chicago. Both were Broadway musicals recently revived on the Great White Way. Both feature actors you wouldn’t normally associate with a musical. The cast features Oscar winners, recording artists, and big name stars.

So, needless to say, this film has Oscar-bait written all over it. Unfortunately, I have not been hearing all that much Oscar buzz about it. It is kind of sad when a film tries so hard for award mention and doesn’t get it. Although, who knows, maybe this one will gain some steam before the nominations come out.

This film is going into wide release after being in limited release for the last week or so.

1. My Best Friend’s Girl (2,604 Theaters, 101 Minutes, Rated R): If you are trying to ask the question: is this movie a sign Dane Cook is moving up towards respectability, or a sign that Kate Hudson moving downwards toward total hackdom, you have to look at all the variables. I’ll start with the fact that the movie also stars Jason Biggs. Well, the discussion is over. Former Oscar nominee Hudson? Welcome to hackdom!

You might argue that the presence of fellow Oscar nominee Alec Baldwin might be a mitigating factor. No. That does not make up for the fact that if you star in a movie where Jason Biggs has a role larger than a cameo then you are becoming a hack.

The film is about a guy who hires himself out as a “bad date”. Men hire him to date their exes, he disgusts them with his boorish behavior, and the women then realize how good they had it. Complications ensue when his best friend hires him and he finds himself falling for his target.

2. Lakeview Terrace (2,464 Theaters, 110 Minutes, Rated PG-13): If movies were math equations, then this film would be Unlawful Entry minus Fatal Attraction plus Jungle Fever.  

Samuel L. Jackson plays a police officer who gets upset when an interracial couple moves in next door. He tries to make their lives a living hell to get them to move. Since he has the law on his side, the couple has a hard time fighting back.

Making Samuel Jackson the bigot is a unique spin on things, but it doesn’t change the fact that this film isn’t really all that original. And since the trailers play down the racist aspect, even the novelty of that is lost.

However, this film is another sign of the prevalence of comic book movies as all three leads have starred or will star in one. Samuel L. Jackson is in The Spirit (and you can probably count Unbreakable as a comic movie too), Patrick Wilson is in Watchmen, and Kerry Washington appeared in both Fantastic Four films.

3. Igor (2,339 Theaters, 87 Minutes, Rated PG): This film was one of the most prevalent at the San Diego Comic-Con. The studio was doing a the promotional version of a full-court press—booth babes wearing lab coats, a collectible pin set, and the trailer running on a constant loop. Like I wasn’t going to see it before.

John Cusack is a favorite actor of my wife and she also like computer animated films. Two plus two equals we are going.

The film also shows that you can take one concept, change the focus around a bit, and come up with a new concept. This is about as close as Hollywood comes to originality, but when it works, it works quite well.

In this one, an assistant to a mad scientist has a dream of entering a science fair himself. It’s an uphill battle because the other scientists don’t take him seriously. Does he have the strength to follow his dreams?  

4. Ghost Town (1,505 Theaters, 102 Minutes, Rated PG-13): If you’ve ever seen him in the BBC version of The Office or HBO’s Extras, then you know that Ricky Gervais is the master of uncomfortable comedy. He puts himself in awkward situations and we laugh and squirm as he deals with them.

This film seems like it might be full of those very same situations. Gervais plays a dentist who dies for a few minutes during a colonoscopy. When he comes out of it, he gains the ability to see dead people. Problem is, they all want him to wrap the loose ends from before they died.

Greg Kinnear plays a ghost who makes a deal with Gervais. Stop his (Tea Leoni) wife from marrying the wrong guy and he’ll get rid of all the rest of the ghosts. Problem is, Gervais has already met his wife and she hates him.