The first picture of Harrison Ford and Shia LeBeouf from the next Indiana Jones Film, scheduled to come out next summer, has surfaced and I thought I'd post it here for you guys to see.
I just finished watching Raiders of the Lost Ark (like 10 minutes ago) and personally can't wait until next summer to leave the kid with Jeri and rush off to see the new adventures of Indiana!

Labels: Indiana Jones, Shia LaBeouf, sneak peek

In a summer filled with Sequels, Threequels, adaptations of comics, short stories, and novels there is nothing more thrilling than finding a movie that comes from an original idea, except when you find a movie that's based on an original idea and is a interesting, well made film.
Kevin Costner stars as the titular Mr. Brooks, on the outside he's a normal, successful family man, so successful he's recently been named Man of the Year by the Portland Chamber of Commerce. We meet Earl Brooks in a bathroom just before he's honored with the award as he recited the Serenity Prayer that many learn in AA. We soon learn that's it's not alcohol Brooks is addicted to but rather killing. Brooks has been "sober" for over 2 years but now Marshall (William Hurt) Brooks' inner self has broken him down and convinced him that it's time to kill again. Brooks is obviously a man struggling with his addiction and we see that it takes a toll on him when he gives in to the addiction.
When Brooks finally does give in to Marshall and kills again he quickly realizes he's made a mistake, one that will come back to haunt him. Soon "Mr. Smith" (Dane Cook proving that he's wasting his talent by starring in drudge like Employee of the Month) comes to Mr. Brooks with photos that show Brooks at the murder scene, but rather than blackmailing or threatening, he tells Brooks he wants to come with him the next time he kills. It seems Smith was exhilarated by watching the murder and wants to experience it himself.
The movie masterfully intertwines three different plots each of which are entertaining and makes you yearn for more. The second plot centers on Brooks home life and shows how much he loves his wife (Marge Helgenberger) who believes her husband spends most of his time in his studio with his kiln, and his daughter who has recently returned home from school after dropping out under mysterious circumstances.
The third plot follows Detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore) a police detective going through a rough divorce while trying to catch "The Finger Print Killer" (Brooks) who she had hoped was finished killing, and trying to catch/keep from getting killed by "The Hangman" a serial killer she helped put away who has recently escaped from prison.
To say anymore would be to ruin the movie.
The movie as a whole works, it keeps you enthralled, it's a thrilling guessing game, and you don't actually feel (too) bad rooting for the killer. All said and done, a well made, well thought out, wonderfully executed bit of cinema.

Labels: Mr. Brooks, Review

First off I loved Ocean's 11, it was fun, campy and the heist was an enjoyable romp. Then came Ocean's 12, a movie whose cast promised us we'd have as much fun watching it as they did filming it, unfortunately this was a lie. The cast apparently had so much fun filming it that they forgot to come up with a plot that wasn't a contrived, over-complicated mess. So I was a little worried about seeing Ocean's 13, until I started seeing the reviews and read that director Steven Soderberg had dubbed this "Ocean's 13: The One We Should Have Made Last Time" and so I was convinced to give it a chance, and I'm glad I did.
This movie is more like the first one, it's funny, exciting, and it's truly enjoyable to watch them pull off their con. The movie involves the new owner of a casino who has double crossed Elliot Guild's Rueben. Ocean and his normal crew (minus Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta Jones from the last movie) as they try to devise a plan to milk the casino of over $500 million in a manner of minutes. In the end it's truly enjoyable and almost erases the mess that was Ocean's 12.
In the end if you liked Ocean's 11, then you will enjoy this one, and if you liked Ocean's 12, then you have no taste in movies and you'll enjoy this one as well. So if you liked either of the first to go enjoy this one.

Labels: Ocean's 13, Review

As I said in an earlier post, last week Jeri and I saw Ocean's Thirteen and an Advance Screening of Hairspray. Tomorrow I plan on seeing both 1408 (based on the Stephen King Short Story, which I just reread and which is creepy, and strange, and yet somehow scary in an indescribable way) and Evan Almighty. Which means 4 new movie reviews should be on their way to this site, just as soon as I find time to do so.
Also on Sunday Jonathan and I went to a special showing celebrating "1982: The Best Genre Year Ever" and got to see Tron in 70mm and Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn (No I'm not leaving anything out this was the original title and was only subsequently changed to Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) and hopefully I'll be bringing some info on that screening.
(If you're keeping count that's 6 movies in less than 2 weeks!)
As for now I'm gonna finish watching Pirate Master and head to bed.

Labels: Update

We saw Ocean's 13 on Monday and last night we saw a sneak peek of Hairspray, reviews coming soon.
But know that Ocean's 13 was better than 12 and almost as good as 11, so it's worth seeing.
And Hairspray was amazing, enough so that even though we saw it for free Jeri wants to go again to give them our monetary support, yes it's that good. We've been singing the songs since last night.

As I previously mentioned, thanks to the successful Save Jericho campaign fans of Veronica Mars have risen up to proclaim their love of a certain Blonde Private Detective. The campaign to to Save Veronica Mars is simple send as many Mars Bars and Marshmallows to the CW offices as we can to convince them to save the show. Not only that but the fans are planning on downloading the Season 3 Finale "The Bitch is Back" from iTunes on June 12. This will show the CW that there is still a fan base out there for the show.
If you love this show the least you can do is d/l the episode for only $1.99 it just may help bring it back!
Also if you want to help out go to the Save Veronica Mars site and find out how you can help either by donating money or ordering candy/marshmallows to send to the CW.
Here's an update from there site on what is being shipped next week to the CW offices, it's pretty impressive!
"Update, June 9, 7:15pm: As expected, the Paypal is seeing a HUGE surge– we’re now up to $2,522.16!!! That’s great, PLEASE KEEP CONTRIBUTING!!! We are now sending 1,920 MARS bars (the entire available U.S. inventory). 4,848 Mars Snickers Almond Bars. 350 pounds of marshmallows, with more on the way. That’s over 1200 pounds of shipment right there! Who would love to see us a send an actual TON here? I know I would! The more contributions, the closer we get!"

Seriously who wouldn't want to bring this Face back to TV:

Labels: Save Veronica Mars, Veronica Mars

Last Night Sci-Fi threw an all access event to celebrate Battlestar Galactica inviting all the fans and members of the press, guilds, and the Academy. For all the details of the Q&A go here because Jace does a far better job than I ever could detailing the events. (For an even more detailed story about the evening go here.)
I got in line at 11:30ish am about 8.5 hours before the event was set to begin, but to my surprise they actually had announced earlier that day (possibly the night before) that there would be a screening of the Season Finale beginning at 6:00 which meant we got to go in 2 hours earlier! Unfortunately this meant Jonathan wouldn't make it in time, since he got off work at 6, which put a kink in our plans, luckily he had his wife's SAG card and we had a back-up.
I was about 15 in line, but made friends quickly with all around me, so we kept watch over other's things and were able to leave when we needed to.
At around 1:30 the MC came out and handed everyone a "Frak Off" shirt for being there, and then began a time of trivia and impressions giving out VIP tickets and Season Sets on DVD.
I didn't get either, but that's ok. At around 5:30 Bodie Almos AKA HotDog came out and said hi to the fans and thanked everyone for coming out, I got a couple of pictures of him and Christian, the MC and one with Bodie and myself.
A little while later the Admiral himself, Edward James Olmos came out to greet the fans, thanks us for coming, and answer some questions. Much like the elusive Bigfoot of Legend, Olmos was hard to capture on film. If I had not seen him with my own eyes I would not believe he was there, or that he existed, but you'll have to take my word for it, as he evaded my lense at every turn and managed to keep me from taking a good picture. See for yourself below. (The last one is my favorite because it's blurry and he's got that Bigfoot pose going on)


We then went into the theater, Jon showed up moments before it started and thanks to his SAG card was VIP, so I quickly snuck up next to him and we sat behind Mark Sheppard (Romo Lampkin), Bodie, and Eddie Olmos. It was great sitting behind them and watching their reactions to the episode.
During the break we spoke to Robert "Bob" Young, whose directed 4 episodes among other things, he was a very kind older man and was nice enough to chat with us for about 10 minutes about making movies, television, and just stuff.
After the Q&A was over I spoke with EJO for a second just to thank him for coming out and he shook my hand, which was Frakkin' Awesome!!!!!!
But the best part of the night came after we had left the event, Jonathan and I got out parking validated and were walking to the bathroom, when I spotted Katee Sackhoff walking towards us to the VIP event. She had to members of the security team walking with her and between me and her were two guys with posters asking for autographs. The security guards said she couldn't sign anything and Katee said no problem as long as they had pens. As she walked up to me I asked if I could take a picture, and not wanting to take much of her time I was just going to take one of her. Instead she asked if I wanted to be in it and started to take the camera to take it herself, and I said Jonathan could take it for us. Below is that picture, and I have to say it was a perfect end to an amazing day!

Labels: Battlestar Galactica, Fans

Here's your chance to help save one of the best shows on TV. You can purchase a Mars bar to be sent to Dawn Ofstrof the head of the CW to show support for VM. Go here to purchase your bars and enter the code Veronica to get free shipping!
Go here to learn more from AICN!

Labels: Save Veronica Mars, Veronica Mars

That's the real question isn't it, is Knocked Up worth your time and money, and surprisingly there are two completely different answers to this question. If you are offended by crude dialogue (including a lot of cussing) and off-color jokes about sex, drugs, etc. then this movie is not for you (Read Mom & Dad!!!) If these things don't bother you and you were fans of movies such as The 40 Year Old Virgin then you'll love the movie.
I'll be upfront about this the movie is filled with the tings I mentioned above, crude dialogue, off-color jokes about sex, drugs, and more but like the aforementioned Virgin the movie is also filled with a strange sweetness. It would appear that Director Judd Apatow fills his movies with this crude humor, almost to make the sweet center that much sweeter. If we look at Virgin it focused on this sweet, likable loser, Andy, who falls in love while everyone around him is trying to force sex upon him. The more vulgar and disgusting everyone else was, the sweeter Andy appeared.
Here the movie focuses on two characters, the sweet, professional Alison (Katherine Heigl) and the vulgar, pot head Ben (Cinemaniac favorite Seth Rogen) but the again the more vulgar and crude Ben is in the beginning the more sweet his transformation over the course of the movie becomes. Apatow has a proves here that he has a knack for bringing big hearted films with a message wrapped up in a R-Rated Package.
Now on to the plot! The movie first introduces us to Ben, a fun loving pothead who spends his days screwing around with roommates, having boxing matches, smoking weed, etc, and spends his nights working with these same roommates on a website devoted to celebrity nudity in movies. Alison on the other hand is a professional, living in her sister's pool house who works as a producer for the E! News channel, before getting a promotion to On-Air reporter.
Ben and Alison met at a bar where Alison is celebrating her promotion and soon both are wasted and end up back at Alison's. Eight Weeks later Alison calls Ben to let him know that she's Knocked Up. And what should have been a one night mistake becomes a reason for these two to try and work it out as they prepare for their babies birth. But the movie doesn't just fixate on this new couple trying to find their way, Apatow also tells the story of Alison's sister Debbie (Apatow's real wife Leslie Mann) and her husband Pete (The always fabulous Paul Rudd). Debbie and Pete have two kids and seem to have lost the passion from their marriage. The contrast of their journey of finding how to make their marriage work to Alison & Ben's journey works wonderfully.
The main complaint some will have is that the movie is too long, with a run time of 2Hrs and 9Min, but Apatow keeps the emotion and humor going the whole way through, so it's a asmall complaint (And truthfully if you're paying $10 for a movie, wouldn't you rather get more for your money? I know I would!)
But seriously this movie is hilarious. Apatow and crew know how to inject humor throughout a movie and keep the emotional core. Whether it's Ryan Seacrest as himself having a breakdown on his E! News show, Ben and Pete having a conversation over dinner about Back to the Future, or just Ben and his friend goofing off, the film keeps you laughing the entire way through. Speaking of Ben's roommates Apatow has assembled an amazing group of young actors from his previous projects to play Ben's roommates. Jason Seigel & Martin Starr from Freaks & Geeks play Jason and Martin, Jay Baruchel from Undeclared plays Jay, and Jonah Hill from 40 Year Old Virgin plays Jonah. I'm almost positive that these guys all used their real names so that Apatow could keep the cameras rolling as they just messed around to get extra footage he could use, but it works wonderfully, as these 5 guys have an amazing chemistry together that shows on screen.
Rogen & Heigl have an amazing chemistry together on screen and do a great job as their respective characters, but shockingly I think the best part of the movie may be the scenes between Rudd and Rogen. These two are obviously close friends and it shows on screen, their scenes together are always hilarious and usually just entail them cracking jokes back and forth. Much like the "You know how I know your gay" scene from Virgin their scenes steal the movie & I look forward to the DVD to see what was deleted.
On a quick side note: This was the second time I've seen this movie. Jeri and I saw a (very) advanced screening way back in October and were one of the first audiences to see it. I loved it then and still love it now. I had heard a few scenes had been changed and I noticed some of it, such as the aforementioned Back to the Future scene. I don't remember what it was in the original cut but it was different. Alsothe first time I saw it there was an interview with James Franco (Another Member of the Freaks & Geeks crew) for Spider-Man 3, but when a friend of mine saw it a couple of months ago it was an interview with Orlando Bloom for Pirates 3, and in the cut I saw Wednesday night it was back to the Franco interview. So again I look forward to the DVD to see all the alternate scenes, and the stuff that never made it into the film.
All-in-All this is a hilarious movie, but it's definitely not one for everyone. If words don't offend you then you should have no problem watching the movie. (although I think there was a tiny bit of unnecessary nudity so that might deter some as well) In the end it's really just an obscenely hilarious film with a heart.
WARNING! BIG SPOILERS COMING FOR ONE SPECIFIC SCENE, BUT IT MAY BE FOR YOUR OWN GOOD! One word of warning for any who go to see the movie: Be ready to cover your eyes during the birth scene. There's a couple of shots, which we'll just say are Director Apatow's "Crowning" Achievement, if you know what I mean, and it's a bit graphic even for the 2 seconds that it entails. You've been warned!

Labels: Judd Apatow, Knocked Up, Review, Seth Rogen