DISASTER MOVIE Poster Promises Disasterous Movie

There are just some titles you shouldn't use for your film, because you are really just inviting everyone to heap abuse on you. Just ask Mel Brooks about the reception his 1991 flop Life Stinks got.

It looks like no one ever gave this advice to Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer, the two people responsible for the laugh-free comedies Meet The Spartans, Epic Movie and Date Movie. Their latest spoof film appears to set its alleged comedic sites on bloated, end-of-the-world Hollywood blockbusters like The Day After Tomorrow. Surely, naming their film simply Disaster Movie pretty much lets you know what kind of film this will be. It’s a sad state of affairs when the poster, which originated over at Cinematical, will probably be the only thing about the film to elicit a chuckle.


Disaster Movie kicks moviegoers in the groin and expects them to laugh on August 29.

I'm Ready For My Close Up, Mr. Bay

Can you walk and chew gum at the same time? Do you think you could do it while trying to stay out from underfoot giant robots?

If so, and you happen to live in the Philadelphia area, Michael Bay is looking for you!

Bay’s production of Transformers 2 is holding an extras cattle call tomorrow, Saturday June 31, at Bullies Bar at the Spectrum between 10am and 3 pm. Here’s the details from Heery Castings’ website-

Needed are union and Non-Union background men and women, ages 18-70, all ethnicities, for scenes set in Philadelphia PA, and Princeton NJ. Shooting will take place in June 2008.

Casting professionals will be seeing:

SAG actors from 10AM- 11AM (please bring your union card for admission)

Non-union men and women from 11AM to 3PM

College age men and women are especially needed. No acting experience necessary; both SAG and non-union talent will be considered. All roles are paid positions. Please bring a snapshot.

Who knows? Maybe this time next month you could be sharing a bagel with Shia LaBoeuf at the craft services table.

Get Teased By ZACK AND MIRI

Writer/director Kevin Smith premiered an internet-only teaser trailer for his upcoming comedy Zack And Miri Make A Porno last night. If you are worried that it will be like most teasers and trailers and spoil much of the good stuff in the movie, don’t worry. As Smith explains on his blog-

Don’t call it a trailer, ’cause it’s not a trailer; it’s a teaser. There ain’t a frame of footage in this puppy that’s in the actual flick, so feel free to watch it without fear of "spoilers". This is just a little something to give you a bit of a feel for the flick.

Caution- If you are at work, you might want to slip on some headphones, unless your boss encourages (as oppossed to inspires) foul language in the office.

This Week's Theatrical Releases

1. Sex and the City (3,285 Theaters, 148 Minutes, Rated R): Carrie and the girls finally hit the big screen and all I can say is, eh.

Granted, I know that I am not the target for this audience, being that I have never spent more than $50 for a pair of shoes, have never spent more than half my lunch check on alcohol, and, well, have a penis.

But still, the story line--will Carrie marry Mr. Big or not--seem like the plot line for half the episodes of the TV show's run. Why pay $10 to see that when I can see it at home as part of my basic cable package. Especially when you have to sit in the theater for over two hours.

But, like I said, I am not the target audience. The target audience is paying $19,000 for premiere tickets and then crying when they don't get in. So there is a devoted fan base. But is it big enough to make a splash at the summer box office? And will any straight man see with out being forced to by his significant other? I guess we'll see.



2. The Strangers (2,467 Theaters, 90 Minutes, Rated R): The "Rated R" film is a dying breed, quickly being replaced by the wider-audience-demographic friendly PG-13 as the rating studios shoot for. So it is odd that this week's two major releases are rated R. There is some life left in that rating yet.

The plot of this movie is remarkably similar to the recent Funny Games. A couple is terrorized by a group of home invaders. The invaders force the couple to do heinous things just to survive.

Two movies in the same vein does not a genre make. But now that the straight up torture porn genre has lost a bit of its allure with horror fans, maybe this variation on that theme would be enough to take its place.

But don't listen to me. I haven't seen the movie. But Film Buff Online head honcho Rich Drees has. If you want to find out what he thinks of this film, click here.

Funnyman Harvey Korman Has Died

Funnyman Harvey Korman passed away yesterday afternoon in Los Angeles after suffering complications from the rupture of an abdominal aortic aneurysm four months ago. He was 81.

Korman won four Emmys for his work on the long running Carol Burnett Show. But it was his role as the fiendishly plotting politician Hedley Lamarr in Mel Brooks western spoof Blazing Saddles that is probably best remembered by film fans. Saddled with keeping the running gag about his character's name's proximity to actress Hedy Lamarr alive through the film, Korman brought an energy to every joke given to him by the script, delivering laugh after laugh. It's a shame that he didn't receive the Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor that Lamarr thought he deserved.

Korman would go on to work with Brooks on several more films including the Hitchcock parody High Anxiety and History Of The World, Part 1.

Korman also had numerous television and animation voice over roles to his credit.

Reviews: THE STRANGERS And STUCK

Two thrillers go into release this weekend that come off as a bit smarter than the average genre entry. Neither film relies on excessive gore to get deliver their thrills and they both have some commentary on today's social and political climate.

The Strangers finds Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler fighting off a trio of masked home invaders in a film that plays on our own feelings of insecurity in a post 9/11 world. You can read our full review here.

Meanwhile, Stuck opens in a limited release that should expand in a few weeks, where both protagonist Stphene Rea and antognist Mena Suvari find themselves trapped in circumstances beyond their control. You can read our review here.

EVIL DEAD: THE MUSICAL Spoofs Broadway Posters

OK, I'll admit that this is only movie based is the loosest possible terms, but I'm running with it anyway.

One of the best live theater experiences I've had in the past several years was seeing Evil Dead: The Musical twice during its 2006-2007 off-Broadway run at the New World Stages. Taking the best of Sam Raimi’s Evil Dead trilogy and tossing it into a blender with some great tunes, the musical is a frothy milkshake of fun that leaves the stage and those in the first two rows covered in fake blood. If you don't believe me, take a look at the promo video for the currently running production in Toronto over on the show’s website. Since its premier run in 2004 at the Toronto Just For Laughs Festival, the show has gained legions of fans and has even had a sell out run in Korea!

The folks behind the current Toronto production certainly seem to be having fun. Not only has the show had its run extended into June, but they have recently put out a series of posters spoofing recent, well known Broadway show advertisements.




Enjoy.

Via SlashFilm via Gawker via AdWeek.

Breaking News: STAR TREK Composer Alexander Courage Has Died

Alexander Courage, the composer who wrote one of the most recognizable television theme songs ever for the series Star Trek has passed away in Palisades, California at the age of 88.

His passing on May 15th was reported late yesterday.

A composer whose career spanned radio, television and film, Courage's eight note brass fanfare that heralded the voyages of the starship Enterprise, were reprised through virtually all television and film iterations of the popular science fiction franchise.

As a composer and orchestrator, Courage worked on numerous films from the 1950s through the 1990s including Pagan Love Story (1950), Shake, Rattle & Rock! (1956), The Left Handed Gun (1958), The Poseidon Adventure (1972), Legend (1985), Hook (1991), Basic Instinct (1992), The Mummy (1999) and Hollow Man (2000). While working at MGM, he orchestrated numerous musicals including Annie Get Your Gun (1950), Show Boat (1951), Singin' In The Rain (1952), Oklahoma (1955), Gigi (1958), Hello Dolly (1969) and Fiddler On The Roof (1971).

Courage received two Academy Award nominations for his his adaptation of scores for 1963's The Pleasure Seekers and 1967's Doctor Dolittle.

Via Film Music Society.

TCM Schedules Pollack Retrospective For June 2

Turner Classic Movies will honor the recent passing of director Sydney Pollack on June 2, by preempting its evening schedule to present four of his films.

At 8pm, TCM will present Pollack's first film, The Slender Thread (1965), with Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft. Following that will be two of Pollack's seven collaborations with Robert Redford- Three Days Of The Condor (1975) at 10 pm and Jeremiah Johnson (1972) at 2 am. Nestled between the two at midnight is Pollack's comedy Tootsie (1982), in which he also appeared as Dustin Hoffman's agent.

Stuff like this is one of the reasons why I think movie fans should treasure Turner Classic Movies. Granted, they can't preempt their programming to do retrospectives every time a Hollywood figure passes. But when they are able to, they make sure that they do it right.

Brett Ratner Threatens To Make More Films: BEVERLY HILLS COP 4 & GOD OF WAR

Not content to further foul up the already bad idea of a comedic remake of the classic The Incredible Shrinking Man, Brett Ratner now has two other projects in the works that sound equally bad.

According to today's Variety, Ratner is currently in negotiations to direct Beverly Hills Cop 4, a return of the 1980s-90s action comedy trilogy that cemented Eddie Murphy's status as a box office star. Eddie Murphy is already attached to the project, but no writer has as of yet been hired. The studio hopes to have the picture in theaters for summer 2010. Ratner and Murphy are already working together on the Incredible Shrinking Man remake.

Meanwhile AdAge (via Cinematical) drops a mention that Ratner may be involved with an adaptation of the popular video game God Of War.

How much longer do we have to suffer?

Manzarek Working On Doors Documentary

Ray Manzarek, keyboardist for the seminal 60s band The Doors, has announced that a documentary about the band is currently in the works and could be released in as little as six months from now.

"This is the anti-Oliver Stone," Manzarek told The Hollywood Reporter, referring to Oliver Stone's 1991 film. "This will be the true story of the Doors." Manzarek also promised that the documentary would have plenty of rare footage of the band.

The documentary is in addition to another documentary already out on DVD called Classic Albums which features new interviews with Manzarek and his former band mates John Densmore and Robbie Krieger. Also featured are interviews with longtime Doors fans Perry Farrell of the groups Jane’s Addiction and Porno For Pyros and Henry Rollins.

Manzarek also revealed that he had several movie scripts in the works, some of which draw on his old band and its music for inspiration.

I've got four scripts. So what, who doesn't have four scripts. I've got a film script based on 'L.A. Woman,' and another one in which three UCLA film school guys go to the desert to take peyote with the Native Americans at the Native American Church. And they run into the people from the Native American Church -- the peyote church. And all the s*** that happens to them, you can imagine. Out in the desert, rednecks, psychic visions and reincarnation visions. Raymond White Eagle Daniels is the old wise man running the peyote ceremony. And that will of course never be made into a film, because it's about peyote. It's a journey into manhood.

This would not be the first time that Manzarek became involved in a script drawing inspiration from the Doors’ music. In 1990, Manzarek wrote, directed and gave himself a cameo role in the indie film Love Her Madly, which featured a Jim Morrison-like musician and which I found to be rather boring and self-involved. Here's hoping these future projects are better.

Turner Classics To Present Essentials For Kids

One of the best pieces of programming on the Turner Movie Classics channel is their Essentials series where Robert Osborne and a guest host discuss a classic film before screening the feature. Now, TCM has spun off a new version of The Essentials for younger viewers called, obviously, Essentials, Jr.

Every Sunday night at 8 pm throughout the summer, Essentials, Jr. will introduce younger viewers to one of 14 classic films. The series kicks off this Sunday, June 1 with the 1944 Mickey Rooney-Elizabeth Taylor drama National Velvet.

Replacing Osborne and guest on hosting duties are actor Chris O’Donnell and child actor Abigail Breslin. Over the course of the summer, the series will show classics as diverse as The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956), Goodbye Mr. Chips (1939), On The Town (1949), Sherlock Jr. (1924), Harvey (1950) and 20 Million Miles To Earth (1957). In addition, TCM’s website will feature information on each week’s film.

For more information and the complete schedule, check out TCM’s website.

New WATCHMEN Photo- The Minutemen!

It's a double dose of Watchmen news today. Earlier, we told you about how the graphic novel's "Tales Of The Black Freighter" segments were going to be animated and released on DVD just a few days after the movie hits theater screens next March. Now, courtesy of AintItCoolNews, we've got a new picture from the production, featuring The Minutemen, the first generation of costumed heroes in the world of Watchmen.

The Minutemen formed in 1939 and fought crooks, supervillains and Nazis for ten years before they disbanded. A generation later, two of the Minutemen, Nite Owl and Silk Spectre, will serve as the inspirations for new heroes of the same name. Another, The Comedian, would work for the government doing dirty, ultra top secret black ops missions until he is killed in 1985. His murder is the opening of the Watchmen graphic novel, and presumably the movie.

From left to right in the photo are Silhouette, Mothman, Dollar Bill, Nite Owl, Captain Metropolis, Silk Spectre, Hooded Justice and kneeling, The Comedian. Click to make bigger.


As I said before, the attention to detail that director Zack Snyder is lavishing on the film is impressive. But while looking at this picture, I was struck with a certain realization. Much like the Watchmen graphic novel deconstructed the superhero genre in comic book form, it looks as if Snyder is deconstructing the superhero movie. The costumes pictured here, while great translations of their four-color counterparts, recall the chintz, low budget look of superhero serials like Captain America and Spy Smasher from that era. The modern day Watchmen uniforms look more like the sculpted and padded outfits seen in more recent superhero movies. It should be interesting to see if Snyder has more thematic things like this up his sleeve.

Tarantino Vows Next Film For Next Year?

As the Cannes Film Festival wound down this past weekend, director Quentin Tarantino made an announcement that has us already looking towards next year's fest, just to see if his pronouncement comes true.

When asked by a French television crew what will be his next film, Tarantino replied-

The next movie I'm doing is my World War II movie. I just finished up the first draft and if all goes well, I will be here, in Cannes, in 2009 with Inglorious Bastards!

I think we can safely file this under "I'll believe it when I see it."

As much as I enjoy Tarantino's films, he tends to talk more about projects he wants to make than actually getting around to making them. For years, we heard about his proposed The Vega Brothers film, which would unite John Travolta’s Pulp Fiction character with his cinematic sibling played by Michael Madsen in Reservoir Dogs. Sadly, Tarantino talked so much about the film that too much time has passed by, making the actors too old to play the characters now.

Supposedly, Tarantino was to have launched into production on Inglorious Bastards right after he finsihed with Grindhouse, but Grindhouse has now been out for over a year and there still has been no active news on Bastards.

Given that Tarantino has stated that this film is his big epic, "men on a mission" World War Two film, I have serious doubts the even if started shooting this afternoon he would have a picture ready to screen at the Cannes festival next spring. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want him to get started on production as soon as possible anyway.

Via JoBlo.

Academy Award winner Sydney Pollack dies.

CNN is reporting that Academy Award winning director Sydney Pollack has succumbed to his battle with cancer. He was 73.

Look for a full obituary to come in the next several days.

WATCHMEN's "Tales Of The Black Freighter" To Be DVD Spin Off

Next March, comic book fans are getting even more of the gritty world created by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons in the landmark graphic novel Watchmen. In addition to the live action adaptation hitting screens on March 6, the following Tuesday will see the release on DVD of a short animated film adapting Watchmen's Tales Of The Black Freighter segments.

According to an article in the New York Times, the theatrical version of Watchmen will get a standard DVD release several months after the film has played in cineplexes. Then, director Zack Snyder will release a re-edited version of Watchmen on DVD, incorporating the Black Freighter short film back into the main movie's plotline.

In the original Watchmen graphic novel, Tales Of The Black Freighter was the name of a pirate adventure comic that a supporting character, played by Jesse Reid in the film, reads. The Black Freighter's story provides counterpoint to a specific character's story arc. Directors who had previously tried to adapt Watchmen for the silver screen have all cut the segments out, finding them too problematic.

Also on the DVD release will be a mockumentary entitled Under The Hood, which will flesh out the heroes' backstories. Under The Hood was the name of a biography written by one the original generation of superheroes in the Watchmen world. "Excerpts" of the book were featured in the graphic novel.

We had reported last February that Snyder was planning on having the animated "Black Freighter" segments as an extra on the eventual Watchmen DVD release and that Snyder's 300 star Gerard Butler is set to voice the ship's captain. Presumably, the studio was impressed enough with how that side project is turning out that they have made this move.

This is exciting news. Snyder and his crew are in the process of making this an epic film, in more ways than one. In the Times story, Snyder confirmed something I had been already told, but could not report out of protection for the source- that the film's running time is in the neighborhood of three hours. It is a length no other comic book adaptation has attempted, but considering how tightly plotted the original graphic novel is, the longer run time sounds justified, to include as much of the original as possible.

As a graphic novel, Watchmen was groundbreaking and profoundly influential. It is begining to look like the film Watchmen may be just as groundbreaking.

Tartan DVD Closes Doors

Theatrical and home video distributor Tartan USA has closed its doors.

This past week a public foreclosure sale put up for auction the company's physical assest, right down to the office furniture in addiotin to the rights to the company's 101 film library.

Tartan specialized in the release of Asian films, mostly genre fare which has a cult following here in the United States. They have been responsible for getting onto American video shelves such films as Battle Royale, Versus, R-Point, Shiri, The Happiness Of The Katakuris and Park Chan-wook's Vengeance trilogy (Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy, Sympathy For Lady Vengeance).

Tartan deserves some credit for trying to remind movie watchers that American films like The Ring and The Eye are nothing more than remakes of far better Asian films by relasing the superior originals on DVD. They also released several critically acclaimed, non-genre films including Black Book, Mister Lonely, Sping, Summer, Autumn, Winter... Spring and The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu.

I know that on my personal DVD shelf, there are several cases bearing the Tartan Video logo, so I report this with a bit of sadness. Even when I already owned a title on an imported DVD (An all Region DVD player is your best friend.) I would still pick up their release for what would be a strong transfer, invariably better subtitling and some interesting extras. I'm not all that surprised, though disappointed, by the news, though. At the best of times, it is tough for a specialty boutique like Tartan to be able to turn a healthy profit when they are marketing to such a small segment of the DVD buying public. In more recent years, shelf space in regular brick and mortar stores has become more scarce for smaller companies like Tartan. Corporate giants flood your local Best Buy with dozens of copies of their latest releases that invariably sit unsold, taking up display space that could be going towards product from Tartan and other smaller companies.

It is not known who, if anyone, purchased their library of films. Hopefully whomever has them now will show the films the same respect that Tartan did. Those are big shoes to fill.

Via Kaiju Shakedown.

This Week's Theatrical Releases

I love the early part of the summer movie season when there only one movie per week! One movie is easier to talk about than three!

1. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (4,260 Theaters, 124 Minutes, Rated PG-13): Indy is Back! Actually, he returned yesterday, so many of you might have already seen it. So, how was it, Rich?

I have yet to see it, but am definitely planning to before the weekend is over. I have a genuine excitement about this film based on the trailers. I love the fact that they are playing it in real time. Indy is not pretending to be a young man. He's a man in his sixties. He isn't fighting Nazis in the '30s and '40s anymore, he's fighting Russians in the '50s. Instead of being a tribute to the serials of the '30s and '40s, it is a tribute to the B-Movies of the '50's.

But a lot of Internet chatter about this film before hand was negative. "Harrison Ford is too old," "There's too much CGI," "Lucas is going to ruin this franchise like he ruined Star Wars!" Most of these bon mots were said while the film was still in the planning stages. Could the film be disappointing? Yes. But lets see it first before we pass judgement.

Review: INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

After almost 20 years, Harrison Ford is back as the fedora wearing, whip cracking adventuring archaeologist Indiana Jones. But was it worth the wait? Read our review to find out.

Review: MISTER FOE

If you are looking for a good way to beat the crowds who will be showing up at the local multiplexes for Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull, than you may want to check out Mister Foe. In it, Jamie Bell heads up a strong ensemble cast as a Scottish teenager in this coming of age story. FilmBuffOnLine's Michael McGonigle took a look at the film and gives us this review.

Musical Based On Bruce Lee Headed For Broadway

A musical based on the life of martial artist film star Bruce Lee is being readied for a future Broadway debut. Bruce Lee: Journey To The West is being targeted for a 2010 or 2011 premier by its producer Elephant Eye Theatrical.

Bartlett Sher, who currently has a revival of South Pacific running at the Lincoln Center Theatre, will be directing. The show’s book will be by m. Butterfly playwright David Henry Hwang with a score by The Full Monty and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels composer David Yazbeck. No cast has been chosen yet.

According to BroadwayWorld-

Bruce Lee: Journey To The West tells of the martial arts legend's difficult road to success, as figures from Chinese mythology follow his quest and The Monkey King, a beloved warrior god, becomes his heavenly ally. In a show fusing sources as diverse as martial arts, Chinese Opera, modern dance, and pop music, Bruce struggles to master his skills, purify his spirit and forge a link to unite East and West.

It definitely sounds interesting, and the theme of forging a “link to unite East and West” almost sounds like a reversal of The King And I. It should be interesting to see how they cover his film work. Perhaps in an interpretive ballet sequence? If so, I can’t wait to see their version of Lee’s Return Of The Dragon co-star Chuck Norris jete-ing across the stage.

Back To The 80s, Part Two: Columbia To Relaunch FLASH GORDON

Sony subsidiary Columbia Pictures has secured the rights to bring classic pulp hero Flash Gordon back to the big screen in the hopes of launching a new summer blockbuster franchise.

OK, I may be cheating a bit by claiming Flash Gordon as a relic of the 1980s. Alex Raymond created the original adventure comic strip back in 1934 and Flash and his friends made the transition to celluloid soon after in a series of 3 serial adventures starring Buster Crabbe. But I think it is the 1980 film that remains first and foremost in everyone’s minds when one mentions Flash. For good reason, too, as it successfully mixes elements from Raymond’s original comic strip with just a dash of camp to make for a delightfully fun film.

Although no screenwriters have been hired, the project will be directed by Sahara helmer Breck Eisner, who is also developing remakes of The Creature From The Black Lagoon and George Romero’s 1973 horror film Crazies.

The good news is that it gives us confirmation that the deal for director Stephen Sommers, he who gave us the wretched excess of Van Helsing a few years back, to make a Flash Gordon film for Universal has expired. Now let's hope that if Eisner’s version goes forward, it will wash out the exceedingly bad taste left in one’s mouth by the recent television version that aired on the Sci-Fi Channel.

Via Variety.

Back To The 80s, Part One: HIGHLANDER Remake In The Works

Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, the two scripters currently receiving praise for their screenplay of this summer's blockbuster Iron Man, have been hired to pen a remake of the 1980s genre classic Highlander for Summit Entertainment.

The original 1986 film centered on a group of immortals who battle each other through history for a vaguely defined, but powerfully, Prize that would go to the last remaining one. It starred Christopher Lambert as the titular Scottish swordsman. Although it did only average box office upon its release, the film found an audience on home video. The film also spawned a series of sequels that were not well received by fans, prompting them to take the first Highlander's oft repeated phrase "There can be only one," and change it to "There should have been only one [film]." A television series was also spun off and featured the adventures of Lambert’s character’s cousin, another immortal. It was better received by fans and ran for six seasons in syndication.

Peter Davis one of the producers of the original film, is attached to the new version as well. According to the Hollywood Reporter-

Davis said the new Highlander will not just be a remake but will incorporate more backstory elements and prequel aspects that will be fleshed out to expand the story line in a way that is inventive yet faithful to the original story. He also said romance was key to the series' popularity and would be a central theme in the new film. "I would hate to think that people viewed Highlander as a sword fighting movie because it's much more than that," he said. "The issues of an immortal falling in love with a woman and knowing she's going to grow old and die in your arms, those are very romantic issues to deal with."

Its nice to see that Davis is aware of one of the underlying themes that made the first film so good. Unfortunately, Davis seems to have not been aware of this when he was producer on a majority of the Highlander sequels, including the universally reviled Highlander II: The Quickening, which attempted to completely rewrite the first film’s backstory concerning the Immortals. Here's hoping that the "backstory elements and prequel aspects" he is referring to don't come from there.

Marcum and Holloway have their script Convoy - Yes, a remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1979 trucker movie - set up at Paramount.

The Inmates Of SUPERMAX

Back in April 2007, screenwriter David Goyer announced that he was developing what sounded like an interesting take on the superhero film- Supermax. In it, DC Comics hero Green Arrow is, wrongfully of course, arrested and sentenced to a correctional facility for super-powered criminals and must escape to prove his innocence. It certainly sounds like an exciting idea and one that at least gets us away from the same old "origin story" storyline we've come to expect every time a new costumed hero transitions to the big screen. (Our own Friday box office guy, Bill Gatevackes, has a different view on the film, though.)

In the year that has passed since Goyer first talked about the project, there has been no real news until yesterday. The folks over at Latino Review claim to have read a copy of the script and have spilled some story details, including which super villains Green Arrow will have to fight his way through to escape. Most of the names probably won't mean anything to the general public, i.e., non-comic book fans. They do mention that Batman villains the Joker and the Riddler and Superman’s nemesis Lex Luthor all make cameo appearances. But some of the names were head-scratchers for even a 25-plus year DC Comics reader like myself.

Lining up to rumble in the exercise yard with the emerald archer are Blockbuster, the plant controlling Floronic Man, Icicle, Count Vertigo, the Tattooed Man, Pied Piper, bow and arrow-wielding assassin Merlyn and criminal genius The Calculator. Some of the badguys making comics fans reach for the back issues for a refresher include the electricity-wielding assassin Shock Trauma, shape changer Gemini, teleporter Split, Mulitplex, Cascade and the Nazi-themed trio The Aryan Nation.

Latino Review's report also states that the DC Comics supersecret intelligence organization Checkmate will be involved in the plot, and its tough-as-nails head Amanda Waller will make an appearance. The prison setting also lets Goyer and the film's inevitable director to get around the problem of trying to make the hero and villain costumes resemble their comic book counterparts while not looking real world ridiculous, by having every one in color-coded prison jumpsuits.

Review: CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN

A year has passed for the four Pevensie children since their journey to Narnia, while 1300 years have passed for the magical realm. In those 13 centuries, Narnia has seen many changes and none for the better.

Now the Pevensies are summoned back to Narnia to set things right in the second adaptation of C. S. Lewis' The Chronicles of Narnia books, Prince Caspian.

Is this second film better or worse film than its predecessor, The Lion, The Witch And The Warddobe?

Read our film review here for the answer.

In Remembrance: John Phillip Law

When one thinks of the pop-art inspired psychedelic films of the 1960s, inevitably John Phillip Law comes to mind for his roles in two of the genre's best- Barbarella and Danger: Diabolik. Beyond that, Law stood out in such films as The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, Death Rides A Horse and The Golden Voyage Of Sinbad. He also had the dubious honor of appearing in director Otto Preminger's two worse films- Hurry Sundown and Skidoo.

Law passed away Tuesday, May 14 at his home in Los Angeles. He was 70.

For more on Law's career, see our In Remembrance piece here.

Poster: HELLBOY 2

While everyone seems to be excited by director Guillermo del Toro having been chosen to direct the adaptation of J R R Tolkein's The Hobbit, it seems like it has been forgotten that he has a movie coming out in just over two months- Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, the sequel to his 2004 comic book adaptation.

The folks over at Coming Soon were given first dibs on the film's new poster, which looks pretty darn cool.

When del Toro appeared at April's New York Comic Con, he previewed some of the otherworldly creatures who will appear in the film, and the designs were just fantastic.

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army stars Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and Doug Jones opens July 11.

This Week's Theatrical Releases.

Wow. An easy week for me this week.


1. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (3,929 Theaters, 147 Minutes, Rated PG): The first Chronicles of Narnia movie made over $291 Million domestically, was featured in one of my most favorite Saturday Night Live skits of all time ("Lazy Sunday"), and provided the skeleton for Epic Movie, a fact I will never forgive it for.

Since that time, studios have been scouring the kids section of Barnes & Noble looking for the next kid-lit flick to make then boatloads of money. This means we got The Golden Compass, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, The Spiderwick Chronicles, and a few more I can't remember.

Almost all of the above were a box office disappointment at best, a flat out bomb at worst.

Does Narnia have something that these others don't? Or have all these other similar movies diluted the audiences passions for the franchise?

I'm sure Disney hopes it is not the latter. They have at least $100 Million invested in this film.

This time round, the Pevensie siblings are back in Narnia, 1,000 years after the last movie. They must fight against the evil King Miraz to return the Prince Caspian to his rightful throne.

Moore To Make FAHRENHEIT 9/11 Sequel

Never one to shy away from stirring up people's emotions, Michael Moore is planning a sequel to his biggest and most controversial documentary Fahrenheit 9/11.

Paramount Vantage and Overture Films have announced today that they are going to co-finance and co-distribute the as-yet-untitled film. This marks a change for Moore, whose last two films were produced with the Weinstein Company.

Anyone who is even vaguely aware of Moore's political leanings can probably guess what direction the film will take. But with the film not going to debut until sometime next year, long after President Bush has handed over the Oval Office to whomever wins this November’s election, will people still be interested?

Vantage’s head honcho Nick Meyer, seems to think so, being quoted in today’s Variety as saying, "Clearly, we have a movie of global appeal here. Michael Moore is a very talented filmmaker, and this is a branded property."

Moore has directed three of the five top grossing documentaries of all time, so it is safe to say that he definitely carries a certain amount of cache, and baggage, when it comes to getting butts into theater seats. But part of me sort of stiffens at the idea of a "branded property." It sounds as if it is being reduced down to the level of a franchise film like the Batman or James Bond series. (And yes, I’m not forgetting Michael Apted’s Up series of documentaries, but that’s something completely different.)

Look for Moore's film to debut sometime next spring or summer. Look for the Right Wing's repudiation of it to start long before any public screenings of it are ever held.