The Weekly Reel - April 27, 2007

Here we go with another Weekly Reel.  There's lots of stuff happening this week... including my birthday!  And to celebrate it seems Hollywood has decided to release the worst line-up of films so far this year all this week.  From 'The Condemned' to 'Wind Chill' this is no doubt a horrid week for movies.  Aside from the new films coming out this week, there's a lot going on in the news.  This week I'll tell you what the Virigina Tech killer and a film called 'Old Boy' are believed to have in common, whose swinging their way onto Broadway, & what brave little soul will bear it all in 'The Simpsons'.  That's not all though, I've got the the all-new trailer for the latest in the 'Harry Potter' series, PLUS  new pictures from 'Spider-Man 3' AND another featurette of 'At Worlds End'.  All that and even more in this weeks Weekly Reel.  So how about you click that read more button say....NOW?

Cho Photo Speculated to Be Inspired by Film

One of the photographs in the package sent to NBC News from the Virginia Tech killer, Cho Seung-Hui is now being considered to be inspired by a South Korean film 'Old Boy'.  In the photo (seen on the right) Cho is holding a hammer in a pose similar to the pose seen on promotional posters for the film.  This speculation has brought up the heated debate on the effect pop culture has on such incidents as the killings last Tuesday.  The way I see it is that's merely a quick and easy explanation to a tragic event.  It's much easier to put the blame on some film that probably has no effect on anything that happened whatsoever that is to figure out what really was the cause.

Ebert Attends Festival

Just a couple months shy of one year after his cancer surgery, film critic Roger Ebert made his first public appearance Wednesday night at the opening of his annual Overlooked Film Festival.  Earlier this week in a column from the Chicago Sun-Times he replied to warnings from friends that the appearance may bring bad coverage his way by saying, "So what?  I have been sick, am getting better and this is how it looks."  His wife Chaz commented, "...I think it did him a world of good.  It helped energize him."  Ebert is currently awaiting another operation that is hoped to restore his speech.

First He Was Web-Slinging, Now He'll Be Singing?

Move over 'Rent' and 'Chicago', it's time to make way for... Spider-Man.  Yes, the superhero who's already grossed over $1.6 billion worldwide at the box office will soon be swinging onto the Broadway stage.  David Maisel, the chairman of Marvel Studios said, "We are certain this project will delight fans of Spider-Man and new audiences alike."  (I'm not too sure of that, but we'll see.)  The show will be headed by Tony award winner Julie Taymor with music by U2's Bono and The Edge with readings beginning this summer.

Streaking Simpsons

Just as almost all hype for this summer's big-screen adaptation of 'The Simpsons' had come to a dead stop, it was revealed that there will be full-frontal nudity in the film.  Who will be bearing it all?  Well it'll be none other than everyone's favorite trouble maker, Bart.  When Homer dares him to skateboard through the neighborhood naked, he does just that.  I myself can't wait to see how the MPAA reacts.  We all know they're much harder on nudity than violence and gore; but seeing as how it will animated it's kind of up in the air as to what rating will be given to the film.

Swindler Sentenced

Three years ago Nicolas Cage lost $300,000 because of a car-broker named Peter Brotman.  The guy ended up keeping some of the money made after the selling of three of Cage's Ferraris and one Cobra.  After doing the same to other people Brotman was finally sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison and $1.8 million in restitution.  His lawyer Noah Gorson blames the financial scam on "cash flow problems".  I guess with 14 fake mail and bank accounts Brotman did have cash flow problems...  I think it's great and all that he was caught, but the real crook is still out there.  That being the guy who talked Cage into doing 'The Wicker Man' and 'Next'.  Once he's brought in and punished then and only then will justice be served.

Valenti, Former Head of MPAA Dies

Jack Valenti, the former president of the MPAA and aid to the White House died yesterday in his Washington home at the age of 85.  After having a stroke in March he was hospitalized at the John Hopkins University Medical Center.  Problems from the stroke ended up leading to his death.  Barry Meyer reportedly said, "Jack Valenti was a true leader and gentleman who wit, fire and passion for our business, inspired everyone regardless of politics or opinion, background or belief."  Valenti himself once said he was "the luckiest guy in the world".

'Fracture'

'Fracture' stars Anthony Hopkins once again as a killer, only this time he's not eating his victim.  Here the performances were okay, but nothing spectacular.  The film starts really slow with it's setup and the accent Gosling gives throughout is quite annoying.  I would say the ending is obvious but from what I'm hearing, most people actually didn't predict it.  All in all, it just barely slides by as okay.  Aside from the ending, it didn't really offer anything new.

OVERALL RATING:

'Plane Dead'

First there were the snakes, now there's the undead; I kid you not.  However, it's no 'Snakes on a Plane'.  There are plenty of fun moments, but that's about it.  It doesn't explain a few things such as what the hell the deal is with the cargo that has the woman with some disease or whatnot. She appears normal upon stumbling out of the containment chamber when it breas, but then is shot to death by a guard.  It's then that she becomes a crazed zombie hungry for flesh.  Should you see it?  Only if you like zombies or airplanes...

OVERALL RATING:

'The Condemned' Starring Steve Austin and Emelia Burns 1 hr. 40 min Rated R for pervasive, strong brutal violence and language.	'The Invisible' Starring Justin Chatwin and Margarita Levieva 1 hr. 37 min. Rated PG-13 for violence, criminality, sensuality, & language - all involving teens.	'Kickin' It Old Skool' Starring Jamie Kennedy and Maria Menounos 1 hr. 47 min. Rated PG-13 for crude sexual content and language.	'Snow Cake' Starring Alan Rickman and Sigourney Weaver 1 hr. 52 min. Not rated.
'Diggers' Starring Paul Rudd and Ken Marino 1 hr. 30 min. Rated R for language, drug use, & some sexual content.	'Jindabyne' Starring Laura Linney and Leah Purcell 2 hrs. 3 min. Rated R for disturbing images, language, & some nudity.	'Next' Starring Nicolas Cage and Julianne Moore 1 hr. 36 min. PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some language.	'Wind Chill' Starring Emily Blunt and Ashton Holmes Length unknown. Rated R for some violence and disturbing images.

For more info on any of the films being released this week, just click on their poster shown.

'Spider-Man 3' Pictures New pics from the all-new Spidey flick came out earlier in the week.  (Sadly, no new ones of Venom.)  To see them in all their glory at full-size just click on them.	{jgflv file:=[images/WeeklyReel/'At Worlds End' Captain Jack Featurette - Width 320 Height 240.flv] width:=[320] height:=[240] autostart:=[false]} 'Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End' Featurette: Captain Jack Sparrow Yet another featurette for 'At World's End' came out this week.  This one specifically focuses on Johnny Depp's wild, sometimes seemingly drunk character Captain Jack.
{jgflv file:=[images/WeeklyReel/'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' Trailer.flv] width:=[320] height:=[240] autostart:=[false]} 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' Trailer Here's the all-new trailer for the fifth installment of the Harry Potter series.  Going by the trailer, it actually looks pretty good.	{jgflv file:=[images/WeeklyReel/'The Condemned' Trailer Width 320 Height 240.flv] width:=[320] height:=[240] autostart:=[false]} 'The Condemned' Trailer Starring Steve Austin 'Condemned' is looking like it will turn out as one of 2007's worst films.  Ironically it also looks to be quite entertaining.  (No, not like 'SoaP'.)  Anyways, here the trailer.
{jgflv file:=[images/WeeklyReel/'The Invisible' Featurette Width 320 Height 240.flv] width:=[320] height:=[240] autostart:=[false]} 'The Invisible' Featurette Director David S. Goyer's 'The Invisible' opens today.  In this featurette he and some of the crew who made the film talk about its plot as well as give you some behind the scenes footage of the stunts in it.	{jgflv file:=[images/WeeklyReel/''Next' Clip -Width 320 Height 145.flv width:=[320] height:=[145] autostart:=[false]} 'Next' "One Way Out of This' Clip From what is sure to be another flop for Nicolas Cage, here's a hilarious clip from 'Next' which also opens everywhere today.

Well that's it folks. As always I hope you enjoyed this weeks Weekly Reel.  For those of you wondering exactly where is this weeks episode of the Final Countdown, don't worry, it'll be here tomorrow.  Yes, tomorrow.  It wasn't ready for release in time so we had to hold off on it.  Like I said don't worry, it'll be here tomorrow.  Comments on anything are always welcome, so please don't hold back.  I'd love to hear what you guys have to say.  Well I guess that's all for now, until next week see ya.