James Franco Falling Asleep in Class, Norman Osbourne would be disappointed

James Franco (Spider-Man Trilogy and recently in Milk), was recently photographed falling asleep in class. We normally would not include this in our blog, but as fellow students we understand his predicament. Yet another reason for Norman Osbourne (played by Williem Dafoe in the Spider-Man films) to be disappointed in his son, Harry Osbourne (Franco's character in the Spider-Man films).

Back to the Future voted Greatest Movie of All Time

In an unscientific poll taken in the bedroom of one of “Inside Entertainment Today’s” writers, Back to the Future was voted Greatest Movie of All-Time. With 100% of the vote (with a +- 3% margin of error), Back to the Future swept the competition, including such classic movies as Citizen Kane, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and D2: The Mighty Ducks.

Back to the Future begins in 1985 and tells the story of Marty McFly, a slacker high school student whose goals in life are to be a musician and to bang his girlfriend by a lake. Marty lives in a ghetto area of town with his depressing family. His dad, George, is a cowardly man who is constantly picked on by his co-worker and former high school classmate, Biff Tannen. His mom, Lorraine, is a drinker and a prude who doesn’t like the idea of girls chasing after boys. His brother swears at the dinner table, and his sister is kind of a bitch as evidenced by her hate for taking phone messages for Marty.

Other than his girlfriend, Jennifer, Marty’s only other friend is an elderly eccentric scientist, Doctor Emmett Brown. Doc (as Marty calls him) one day asks Marty to meet him at a local mall in the middle of the night. Being as this is a sci-fi fantasy film, the late night meeting doesn’t lead to any kind of funny business.

Great Scott!

Instead, Doc shows Marty the time machine he has invented out of a DeLorean. While using the DeLorean to run from some Libyan nationalists that Doc ripped off in order to build his time machine, Marty is transported to the year 1955. There, the time machine breaks down, and Marty must get the 1955 version of Doc Brown to help him get back to the future. This mission is complicated by the fact that he ruined his parents’ first meeting, putting his future birth in jeopardy.

Back to the Future is fun, clever and hilarious. Add to that the fact that this movie was made in a time when saying “shit” twice, “asshole” once, and having an incestuous crush subplot only got you a PG rating, and you have the makings of the greatest movie of ALL TIME. So there you have it. BttF: GoAT.
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Fox announces no more bonus features for rental DVDs

In a recent announcement, Fox Studios announced that many of their upcoming DVDs being sold to rental companies such as Blockbuster and RedBox, will not contain any bonus features. Bonus features include such things as deleted scenes, alternate endings, or commentaries by the director/actors. Whether this is a cost cutting measure or a tactic to push consumers to purchase the film has yet to be seen.

Who watches the Watchmen? Enough people to make it $55.7 million this weekend

According to Hollywood Insider, Watchmen made approximately $55.7 million this weekend making it the number one ranked film. On a note related to a former blog post, Paul Blart: Mall Cop came in 5th place at the box office this weekend. This is impressive considering the movie has been out for almost two months. Paul Blart made $4.2 million this weekend increasing the film's total gross to $133.6 million.

Movie Review - Watchmen

(WARNING: Incoherent rambling debating Books vs. Movies ahead. Skip to next paragraph for review.) Let me start by saying that, a year ago, I read the “Watchmen” graphic novel by Alan Moore. Since then, I have been wondering how you could turn a story that complex and dense into a movie that wasn’t at least 6 hours long. It turns out that all you’d need to do is eliminate pretty much every minor subplot, and greatly trim down some of what you do decide to leave in there. That’s not to say this was a bad movie, far from it. In fact, I liked it very much. However, I just can’t shake the feeling that the graphic novel was much more complete. That’s just a nitpick, though. Books of any kind can afford to be as complete and nuanced as the author wishes it to be. It’s one of the perks of writing books as opposed to making films.

All that being said, I liked Watchmen. It’s the story of a world where costumed heroes exist, only one of whom has any real super-powers. The movie takes place in the 1980s, during the height of the Cold War and under the constant threat of nuclear holocaust, and long after those costumed heroes have been forced by the government to either retire or work for them. When Edward Blake (one of those former costumed heroes) is thrown out of his apartment window to his death, the mystery behind who did it begins to unravel a larger conspiracy.

You know he dead.

Director Zack Snyder (300) did a fantastic job making this movie look great. A lot of the shots are pretty spot on when compared to the panels of the graphic novel. The casting is pretty good too. Jackie Earle Haley is great as Rorschach (a sociopath whose moral compass has no shades of gray). Ditto Billy Crudup as Dr. Manhattan (the only character with real superpowers). The rest are good too.

Rorschach and Dr. Manhattan

Now a warning for parents: this may be a comic book movie, but it is rated R for a reason. In fact, some media watchdog groups are saying it should have been rated NC-17. Watchmen is EXTREMELY violent and there’s plenty of cussing too. Also, since Dr. Manhattan chooses not to wear clothes (as evidenced above), there are a few shots of flaccid blue penis in the film. Also, there’s a sex scene and an almost rape scene. This movie earns it’s R.

Rating: 3*** out 4****
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Seinfeld cast Reunion on Curb Your Enthusiam, Not that there is anything wrong with that

Although the date has not been confirmed, the cast of "Seinfeld" is scheduled to appear on an episode of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." It has been confirmed that the entire main cast will be reuniting, and yes, that includes Cosmo Kramer. The executive producer of "Curb Your Enthusiasm," Larry David, was also an executive producer on Seinfeld. For those of you that did not watch or do not remember "Seinfeld," the main cast was Jerry Seinfeld, Jason Alexander, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss and Michael Richards (who you may remember caused quate a controversy not long ago, when he made multiple racist remarks at a comedy club).

http://hollywoodinsider.ew.com/2009/03/seinfeld-cast-t.html?cnn=yes

Fans flock to Fallon from Ferguson

According to preliminary Nielsen ratings, the debut of Jimmy Fallon as the host of "Late Night" scored relatively high ratings in the major TV markets. Jimmy Fallon's debut as host of "Late Night" scored higher ratings than its closest competitor, CBS's "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson." Hopefully Jimmy Fallon will have more success than fellow "Saturday Night Live" cast alumni, Chevy Chase, who hosted "The Chevy Chase Show" which was canceled after six weeks. It should be noted though that Jimmy Fallon's predecessor, Conan O'Brien, was a writer for "Saturday Night Live" and although he did appear in sketches, he was not a cast member. Fallon's debut marks his entrance into the pantheon of late night talkshow hosts that includes Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, Craig Ferguson, and Jimmy Kimmel. The official ratings for the shows will be available next week.

Angels and Demons

Angels and Demons is the new film based on the Dan Brown novel of the same name and it is set to be released May 15, 2009. It is being touted as a sequel to The Da Vinci Code film when, in terms of the novels, it is actually a prequel. Bay Area native Tom Hanks returns to portray the protagonist, Robert Langdon. The film also stars Ewan McGregor (Star Wars prequels) and Stellan Skarsgard (Pirates of the Caribbean sequels).

One of the thematic elements of the film involves a uneasy alliance between the Catholic Church and Robert Langdon due to his perceived betrayal for what he did in the first film. However in the book, the events that happened in The Da Vinci Code occurred after the events of Angels and Demons.

One of the major theme areas in The Da Vinci Code involves the Louvre in Paris, France. While in Angels and Demons, one of the major theme areas involves the Vatican. The following pictures are picture I took when I went to Europe at the Louvre and the Vatican. The first picture is where the Holy Grail is hidden in the Louvre and the second picture is from the top of the Vatican.

Jimmy Fallon set to begin hosting Late Night tonight

Tonight marks the debut of Jimmy Fallon as the host of NBC "Late Night." He is the replacement to the previous host, Conan O'Brien, who is taking a break before he is set to replace Jay Leno as the host of the "Tonight Show." Jay Leno will be getting a new show called "The Jay Leno Show" that will air at 10PM on weeknights. Conan O'Brien will be replacing Jay Leno when Jay Leno ends his reign as Tonight Show host on May 29, 2009.


Late Night with Jimmy Fallon airs weeknights at 12:35AM on NBC

Arnold going Green

Arnold is going green and no he isn't going to be the next Incredible Hulk. In a recent article, our governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger was photographed riding bikes with his bodyguards. He must have been taking a break from the tiring task of running the state of California. Maybe he can go biking with President Barack Obama when he visits.

Trailer Debut : Dragonball Evolution

Dragonball Evolution is a feature film slated to debut in theaters April 8, 2009. It stars Justin Chatwin as Goku, Chow Yun-Fat as Master Rorshi and James Marsters as Piccolo. Dragonball Evolution is a live action version of the highly popular animated show "Dragonball." The story revolves around Goku, the lead of the movie, and his quest to collect the seven mystical Dragon Balls before the evil Lord Piccolo does. The movie is directed by James Wong (Final Destionation 3) and produced by Stephen Chow (Kung Fu Hustle).