No mo Favreau for Iron Man 3

Word came down today that director Jon Favreau will not be back to direct the next Iron Man film. This is certainly disappointing news. Marvel better be careful. If their comic book movies don't do well next summer, that will have an impact on the Avengers film and could ultimately doom this franchise altogether. Here's the story about Favreau's decision from New York Magazine:

The poet Robert Browning once wrote that "a man in armor is his armor's slave." By that logic, director Jon Favreau is now a free man: Insiders tell Vulture that Favreau has just informed Marvel Studios that he won't direct a third Iron Man film.

It's unclear whether the impasse was financial or creative or both. One informed source hears that he was frustrated with Marvel's urge to stuff more of their in-house heroes into the next film in the wake of The Avengers. In a recent interview with MTV News, Favreau explained that based on his conversations with Marvel Studios executives, he had no clarity as to what a third Iron Man film would even be about. “In theory, Iron Man 3 is going to be a sequel or continuation of Thor, Hulk, Captain America and Avengers,” said Favreau at the time, “This whole world … I have no idea what it is. I don’t think they do either, from conversations I’ve had with those guys.”

Still other industry insiders look at Favreau's growing price tag and speculate that he was getting too expensive for the frugal Marvel and its equally cost-conscious parent company, Disney. In fact, one Hollywood player familiar with Marvel's playbook theorizes that the company had been pushing a confusing and packed vision of the third film as a tactic to provoke Favreau into leaving the project. Favreau, after all, is said to have received $10 million for the Iron Man sequel; it's unclear what he'd be seeking for a third film, but reps familiar with these sorts of gross participation deals tell Vulture that he likely would command $12 million to $15 million up front, plus a 15 percent percent of the gross after the film recouped. With star Robert Downey Jr. also participating in the gross (and so far it's a $1.2 billion global franchise), that's an enormous amount of cash headed out the door. Disney has got to be protective of their profits for an IM3: It bought Marvel for $4 billion in 2009, and then this October paid Paramount Pictures $115 million for the distribution rights to The Avengers and Iron Man 3 in order to reunite the titles with their parent company.

Regardless of why, we’re told that Marvel quietly began the process of finding a director to replace Favreau last night. But Marvel’s task is complicated by the fact that Downey Jr. has both contractually negotiated director approval and is currently the hottest leading man in Hollywood with first pick of dozens of "go" movies around town.

Favreau will be staying on the Disney lot, at least for now: His next project will be the studio's Magic Kingdom, about a family trapped in Disneyland and their magical encounters with all sorts of Disney attractions and rides. Marvel currently has no script for a third Iron Man, and while it has no plans to shoot the film until 2012 at the earliest, Marvel execs hope to put a director on the project to guide its development as soon as possible.

Turning the Tides

The trailers for next year's big films keep rolling in. This time it's the fourth installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, subtitled On Stranger Tides (Clearly rivaling Transformers for dumbest subtitle of the year). I certainly have enjoyed (to varying degrees) the previous Pirates films, but I wonder if this is one too many and it's time to tell this franchise to walk the plank. Take a look for yourself.

Rock solid

With awards season upon us, I'm trying to stay as up to date as possible with all the potential nominees and the film I most recently saw, 127 Hours, will for sure be involved in that discussion. The film is based on the remarkable true story of Aron Ralston (played by James Franco), a extreme sport enthusiast who accidentally gets his arm pinned under a rock while climbing in Utah. Ralston managed to survive only after amputating his own arm.

The amputation is likely going to be a determing factor in whether or not people seek out this film. There will be those with a morbid fascination of how it happened and how graphic the film depicts it. I can tell you that it is shown in gory detail - to the point that some people have vomitted while watching it and the friend who I saw it with admitted afterwards that he felt light-headed. The attention to detail will likely limit the film's audience, but if you have the stomach for it is certainly something to behold.

Thankfully there is more to this film than just the gore factor. Franco gives a terrific performance here, one that's likely to earn him a nomination. One of the tragic things about this man's story is that he was the type of person who would go on these adventures without telling a soul where he was going. It's possible that if he had informed someone, he might have been rescued before having to go to a last resort. For this type of character, Franco makes an excellent choice as he epitomizes the adventurous, free-spirit was, while also being able to exhibit the humanity that is associated with the recognition of the error of his ways. Similar to Tom Hanks' performance in Cast Away, Franco is primarily on screen by himself for the majority of the film. As he talks about his situation into the video camera he brought along with him, we see him chronicling his life in fear that he may be at death's door. These conversations are captivating and heartbreaking.

Given the lack of action in this film, a story like this could have come off as rather boring. However, director Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) infuses this film, like he does in all of his movies, with a kinetic energy and unique visual style. Boyle blends shots of the vast Utah landscape with close-up shots of the protagonist's anguished face. There are also several shots taken from the perspective of the inside of Ralston's water bottle. You can see the symbolism Boyle tries to convey by having water represent life. By watching is slowly dwindle, we recognize how close Aron is to death. At times, this style really adds character to the film. However, it also was too much at other times. Near the end of the film, Boyle opts to use a quick cut montage to wrap up the story rather than allowing the audience to relish in Ralston's reunion with his family and subsequent media hype surrounding his story. I feel like if you're going to require the audience to sit through Ralston's ordeal and experience it along with him, then we deserve a more cathartic finish. It aimed to be more inspirational rather than emotional, which I was disappointed in.

As much as I appreciated the craft and art that went into this film, it's certainly not the easiest film to watch. You want to see this story, but it's not one you would want to relive multiple times. Unlike say a film like Cast Away, which, despite how much I hate the ending of that film, I could watch repeatedly. I hope this film gets some recognition come awards season and I'd certainly recommend anyone that has an interest in it to seek it out (it's in limited release currently). However, I would not fault anyone who wouldn't want to see it. This is a beautiful looking film that does an amazing job of making you feel as if you are trapped in this spot along with Aron. While Aron was able to escape from his situation, it's unlikely that you'll be able to escape this movie for some time after watching it. The images of this heroic tale are likely to last with you for a while. Grade: B

Strange days indeed

Tonight's Video Game Awards on Spike featured trailers for several new video games and the one that had me the most interested is a game that won't even be available on the system I have. Still, Batman: Arkham Asylum was a very popular game and no doubt, this new sequel Batman: Arkham City is highly anticipated. And until the third Nolan Batman film comes out, this is going to have to keep us Bat fans satisfied.

NMR: Shrek Forever After

I, along with many people, took the third film in this animated franchise to task for coming off as tired and uninspired. Despite that, it still made plenty of money and thus, we got another entry this past summer - Shrek Forever After. This time, they tried to ground themselves a bit. They toned down the pop culture jokes and limited the screen times to some of the minor characters who had become grating as the series wore on. The end result is an improvement over the previous film, but still a far cry from the inventiveness of the original. They borrow heavily from It's a Wonderful Life here as Rumplestilskin offers Shrek the opportunity to see what his life would have been like had he not been born. The alt universe offers some interesting takes on some of the main characters, but nothing that is truly memorable. Anyone above the age of 10 will easily be able to figure out how the story will end, but the film does just enough to keep you interested in what's happening. Ultimately, it does a nice job of (hopefully) finishing off this franchise. It's happily ever after for the characters, but for the viewers, they'll just be happy that this one is not as awful as the last film. Rating: ***

Norsing around

We're all familiar with Iron Man, but now it's time to meet some of the other future Avengers. Here's the trailer for next summer's Thor. Just one of the many comic book movies that will likely be featured in my 2011 movie preview that will come in a few weeks.

Fear the mustache!

Check out the Ron Swanson Pyramid of Greatness. It truly is a thing of awesomeness! January 20th cannot come soon enough.

Apollo oh no

I may hate myself for this, but I'm a sucker for big budget films, not matter how bad they likely will be. So with that said, here's the first trailer for the new sequel featuring our favorite robots in disguise, Transformers: Dark of the Moon (BTW, what kind of title is that?) Admittedly, the trailer does pique my interest, but I have a feeling that has a lot to do with the fact that Shia LeBeouf is nowhere to be found. Too bad, the same won't be true for the actual movie.

More Soup please!

This is certainly good news. From EW.com:

Guys, it’s official. Tonight, I’m making myself some chicken tetrazzini. Why? Because EW has confirmed that guilty pleasure TV’s hero, Joel McHale, has signed on for two more years of The Soup. (Deadline first reported the news.) That means two more years of spaghetti cat, two more years of ribbing Mike Hawk, and two more years of good-natured, and well-deserved, mockery of television’s most ridiculous moments. Oh, here go hell come, TV!

Of course, McHale will continue to split his time between The Soup duties and NBC’s Thursday comedy Community, making him just one step below Seacrest (so their heights can match up, of course) when it comes to the hardest-working men in Hollywood. But Soup fans like myself haven’t been this happy since Rod Blagojevich joined The Celebrity Apprentice! And what great timing — the E! program just celebrated its 300th episode, and counted down the viewer-voted best moments. Of course, I have to disagree with their top three. My choices for the three best Soup moments:
3) Whitney Houston tells us to “Kiss my ass!”: The early moment set the tone for Joel’s tenure heading The Soup, and lead to one of the most quoteable lines in Soup history. Enjoy — the Being Bobby Brown scene remains as funny as it was about five years ago.


2) Chicken tetrazzini: I never thought I would say that Maury would make me hungry, but this clip made The Soup universe famished for more and more chicken tetrazzini. And Joel happily obliged.

1) Spaghetti Cat: Most of the time, we TV fanatics are well aware of the clips Joel showcases on The Soup. (Dancing With the Stars‘ Bruno, American Idol‘s Sanjaya, etc.) But it’s when Joel finds a hidden gem that the show really shines. (See also: Donka Doo Balls and anything with I Love Toy Trains.) And, by far, Joel’s most precious gem was spaghetti cat, featured on The Morning Show with Mike and Juliet. It truly was, as Joel said in his introduction of the clip, art.

And to help celebrate this happy news, here's a cool clip from The Soup's recent 300th episode with a 'visit' from all of their wacky friends.

Dream another dream

With the release of Inception on DVD/Blu-Ray, it seems like the right time to post yet another cool video inspired by the film. This time, it's an impressive effort to display all four dreams as they occur at the same time. Check it out for yourself.

NMR: Male bonding

Here's a pair of films from this past summer featuring guys getting together and causing trouble...

Grown Ups: It appears Adam Sandler went on vacation with his best friends and decided, hey, why not bring a camera crew with us? There's not much of a plot here, but I gather most that will be interested in seeing this really don't care about that. The film basically serves as a random collection of takes and jokes on married life and raising kids while still yearning to be a kid yourself. None of it comes off as being particularly fresh, but give the real life friendship Sandler has with Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, and David Spade, there's an added energy to the humor that makes it a bit more palatable. Grown Ups has a handful of decent laughs, which makes it worthwhile as a rental. If you are a fan of this gang, you'll likely enjoy this one. Rating: ***

The Expendables: Kudos to Sylvester Stallone for amassing quite a collection of action icons both old and new. Shame on Sylvester Stallone for not finding a more skilled director (he directed it himself) to make better use of all that testosterone. Seeing all of these guys together is initially a lot of fun, but that enjoyment only goes so far. The story isn't particularly interesting and thanks to Stallone's poor direction, the action scenes aren't as good as they could have been. It would have been nice if you would have sensed that these guys were in some kind of peril at some point in the film. I mean, if you're going to call the film, The Expendables, then have the guts and make one of them actually expendable. It would have also served them better to have a stronger villain. Eric Roberts is slimy, but he's not main villain material. Having someone on screen that the audience will really hate, makes the ridiculous violence that will be in the film regardless more enjoyable. Again, there's just enough here, particularly for those who were fans of these actors, to make this acceptable as a rental. Rating: ***

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Death becomes him

There is definitely a sense of foreboding with the arrival of the latest film in the Harry Potter franchise, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 1. This not only holds true inside the film, but for viewers as well as they come to the realization that soon there will be no more films. While we are now seeing less of the whimzy that marked the early films, it doesn't mean that the quality of this franchise has also waned. Instead, this is another excellent outing that has given its three core characters an opportunity to display the acting skills they've gained over the years.

The film gets off to a great start with a montage of everyone preparing for the battle that lies ahead, which then leads into a terrific chase sequence in one of the many attempts by the Death Eaters to capture Harry Potter so that he can be killed by Voldemort. Within the course of this first half hour we are treated to appearances from practically the entire cast of characters that we've come to know and love over the course of this entire franchise. In some ways, it feels like a class reunion. It's wonderful to see this terrific collection of actors, no matter how fleeting their time on screen is.

Things eventually settle down as the film shifts to focus primarily on Harry, Ron, and Hermione as they travel together avoiding Death Eaters and seeking the remaining horcruxes - the talismen which hold the key for killing Voldemort. For some, particularly those who have not read the books, these scenes may test your patience. Personally, I still found these engrossing as they solidify the relationships between the three characters and illustrate what a terrible situation they find themselves in.

I have given director David Yates grief in previous reviews for some of the personal liberties he took with the books in his films. However, now in his third effort he has evolved as a director and has become comfortable in how to move the story along. Given that he had the luxury of seperating this last book into two films, he was able to not only remain more faithful to the original text, he was also able to include more of the specific details associated with pivotal scenes. Of course, things still aren't perfect. For example, the introduction of characters, who had already been well established in previous books, like Bill Weasley and Mundungus Fletcher, are a bit abrupt. However, these are minor offenses and overall I had few complaints about what was and was not included here.

Keeping the same director for these past few films has also been helpful for the film's three young leads. Daniel Radcliff, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson have all grown up in front of our eyes and in this film they really shine in their scenes with each other. They've gained a familiarity with who these characters are without displaying any complacency in still playing them a decade later. Watson, in particular, has become a great young actress. She, similar to her character, has become the glue that holds things together. I'll be very interested to see how well these three can translate their fame and success into other acting jobs in the future.

If you have not heard yet where they have chosen to stop Part 1, I won't spoil it for you hear. All I will say is that I was perfectly satisfied with the spot they chose. Initially, when I heard that they were splitting this book into two films, I liked the idea but didn't have a clue as to where they would stop this first part. There was no real moment that felt like a mini victory that they could choose to close on. Instead, they opted to have this film end in a The Empire Strikes Back-esque way. The whole 'the night is always darkest before the dawn' concept. Using this method is effective and certainly will make you eager for part 2, which thankfully will come out next July.

Despite the bleaker tone and less than natural conclusion, this is still an excellent film that any Potter fan will love. It finds a nice balance between big-time action and a more intimate character study. While everyone will have their nitpicks, I think most will have difficulty finding major flaws with this latest entry. At the very least, it will do more than enough to whet your appetite for the final showdow. The battle may be between Harry and Voldemort, but the clear cut winners continue to be the fans who get to enjoy each one of these great films. Grade: A-

LIVE from Sesame Street, it's Saturday Night!

Apparently, the success of the internet campaign to get Betty White as a host on Saturday Night Live has made everyone believe that with the right promotion, they too can get a hosting job. Most are pretty frivolous, but this latest entry earned my attention. Here is Sesame Street's own, Cookie Monster making his bid for the hosting gig.

NMR: Retro-grade

Here's a handful a films that are (hard to believe) now over 20 years old...

The Abyss: I've continued to be on a James Cameron kick recently, so I wanted to check out this underwater adventure from him. From a visual standpoint, this earns a major wow from me. Back there, he was already doing things way ahead of everyone else and ended up being rewarded with the Best Visual Effects Oscar as a result of this. It's interesting to see some of elements of Avatar already seen both here and his Aliens film. The primary characters are not the most interesting, but the acting is solid enough to keep the story moving. I watched the original theatrical cut, but after reading about what was included in the extended edition, it seems like it's one of the few cases where more was needed. You get a much better sense of the the aliens' inclusion in the film with the added scenes. Regardless of which version you watch though, this is an engaging film. It's not yet available on Blu-Ray and given how strong the visuals are here, I might suggest you wait for that version to come out and then watch this if you have never seen it before. Rating: ****

Robocop: I initially wrote this off as a cheesy 80s action thriller, but once I gave it a chance, I was very impressed. The action and violence in this film is excessive, but done in a way that delivers a message with it. It's overblown in a way to make a commentary on the type of violence that is typically seen in these type of films. You also have director Paul Verhoven's signature satirical take of the media on display here. On top of all that, Robocop is a hero without being corny and the villains are evil without being cool. You're actually rooting for the protagonist and you really enjoy seeing him emerge victorious. Having watched this, I rescind my cynicism and complement everyone involved here on a very entertaining action thriller. Rating: ****

Robocop 2: After enjoying the first and seeing that this was available instantly on Netflix, I gave this sequel a shot. Sadly, this one pales in comparison to the original. What makes it more depressing is that it seemingly didn't have to be that way. This film is a mess because it keeps introducing interesing story ideas and then abandoning them halfway through. Ideas like Robocop reconnecting with his wife, the relationship between him and his partner Lewis, being controlled by the evil corporation, and a child drug dealer are all started but are not developed properly. Instead, the film builds to an uninteresting battle between Robocop and a another robot that has an apparent ending and is not set up properly to make the audience invested in the outcome. While some of Verhoven's touches remain, it's clear that he would have needed to stick around and actually direct this for it to have any chance of being good. Instead, this is just a lazy cash grab that fails on all levels. Given how far the quality dropped here, along with some reviews I've read I don't think it is even worth my effort to watch the third one in this series. This one did enough damage on its own. Rating: **

Cowboy up

Laugh at the title all you want, but a film that features James Bond and Indiana Jones guarantees I'll be checking this one out.

Immature arrival

Now that it's Thanksgiving break, I'm able to catch up on my blogging and that includes a couple of movie reviews; first up, the latest Todd Phillips' comedy, Due Date. Phillips' who's on a roll coming off the success of The Hangover, set himself up nicely for this follow up by pairing Zack Galifianakis with Robert Downey Jr. Unfortunately, it seems he felt that this dream team was enough and not enough attention was spent on the story or humor.

The film is basically a retread of Planes, Trains and Automobiles. In this case, Peter Highman (Downey) is trying to head back to L.A. from Atlanta for the birth of his first kid. However, a meeting with aspiring actor Ethan Tremblay (Galifianakis), causes him to be kicked off his plane and placed on the no-fly list. The two then decide to travel by car across the country, all the while Tremblay increasingly annoys Peter with his antics and mannerisms.

How much mileage, no pun intended, you get out of this sort of plot will vary. You have to tow the line of having the antagonist be annoying enough to justify the victim's frustration, but still sympathetic in order to prevent the audience from turning on the character too. In this case, Galfianakis doesn't quite evoke the same pathos that Candy did (a dead wife trumps a dead father in this case), but he's a strong enough comedian to make you laugh at most of what he does, rather than detest the character.

Due Date certainly has a familiar feel, but it's not just because its using a borrowed plot. I also felt like I had seen this movie already because of the volume of commercials and ads that there were for it before its release. As a result of their aggressive ad campaign, there were very few scenes in this film that I had not already seen that were also laugh out loud funny. That's a depressing feeling because you just sit there and you begin to recite the lines with the actors and also identify which scene comes next. If you feel like you have seen a lot of commercials for this film, I may recommend you pass on seeing it; you've already gotten most of the jokes for free.

The fact that most of the jokes were shown on regular television also tells you that the humor here isn't as edgy as in some of Phillips' other films. That is certainly disappointing as I felt that having this pairing of actors would have lent itself nicely to some good blue humor. That is not to say the movie doesn't have its laughs; it is just that you can't expect this to appeal to the same audience that fell in love with The Hangover, Old School, or Road Trip.

Truthfully, if this film didn't star Downey and Galifianakis, it would be a severly underwhelming film. These two, however, have both the acting chops and comedic time to milk the most out of this material. If you're being asked to go for a long drive, then you want to make sure you enjoy your passengers. These guys qualify for that and so that makes this a bit more tolerable. Still, you would have hoped that they could have given these guys more to work with instead of relying on their talents.

Due Date is not a bad film, but its certainly a flawed film. You're likely to get some laughs out of it, but not as many as you would hope. While this is not Todd Phillips' worst film (that would likely be School For Scoundrels), it falls short of being included with some of his modern classics. You may give this a look, but as we near Thanksgiving, you are probably better off revisiting Planes, Trains, and Automobiles and watch how an unlikely pair of travelers can make an uncomfortable ride a lot of fun. Grade: B-

WUPFH.com deleted scenes

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A Choo-in to stay in the U.S.A.

This is very good news for Indians fans...

Shin-Soo Choo has his gold medal. That should be enough for the Indians' star outfielder and nine of his South Korean teammates to avoid their home country's required military service.

On Friday, South Korea defeated Taiwan, 9-3, to capture the gold in the 16th Asian Games in Guangzhou, China, completing a quest to possibly become exempt from military conscription. Ten players from the team will avoid the requirement, so Choo using his bat to win gold may turn out to be a way out of the obligation.

"I am kind of dreaming right now," Choo told Korean reporters. "Honestly, if [I told you] I didn't think about the military service, I might be a liar. But it wasn't the primary reason to join in national team. I love baseball, and whenever I put the national flag on the shoulder, I am really proud of my nation and myself.

"That's why I want to play [for] this team. I am representing all the Korean baseball players."

In the gold medal game against the defending champs from Taiwan, Choo went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a stolen base. Over five games in the tournament, Cleveland's budding star hit at a .571 (8-for-14) clip with three home runs, six walks, eight runs scored and 11 RBIs for South Korea.

Along the way, South Korea went undefeated to reclaim the gold it also won in 2002 and 1998.

"I'm very happy for him," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "He is a proud man who cares a lot about winning. Now South Korea is on top of Asian baseball, and he can continue to make them proud with his accomplishments in MLB."

Indians general manager Chris Antonetti was impressed with how Choo performed, considering the very unique circumstances.

"It's hard to imagine a more presure-filled environment than playing under the circumstances Choo was playing in," Antonetti said. "It's certainly a great accomplishment for him and Team Korea to win the gold medal at a very competitive tournament and to perform exceptionally well in helping lead Team Korea to the gold."

That said, the Indians have not received an official declaration from the Korean Baseball Office concerning the status of Choo's military requirment. Antonetti said he anticipates hearing from Korean Baseball officials soon and the Tribe's GM fully expects Choo to be exempt from the mandate.

"We have not received official word from the K.B.O. that he's been granted a military exemption," Antonetti said. "But, based upon our understanding prior to the Asian Games, as well as past precedent, it's our understanding that Choo's military obligation will be waived."

According to the Korea Times, 10 players from the team will receive an exemption from 30 months of military conscription for capturing a gold medal in the Asian Games. All able-bodied South Korean men are required to serve two years in the military by the end of their 30th year.

With the gold in hand, and the possibility of Choo being fitted for a military uniform seemingly removed, attention can be turned on the Indians' attempt to sign the outfielder to a contract extension. Choo -- a client of agent Scott Boras -- is eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter, but Cleveland plans on exploring a long-term deal.

Choo, who turned 28 in July, hit .300 with 22 home runs, 90 RBIs and 22 stolen bases in 144 games. The outfielder became the only Indians player since 1901 to record a .300 average and at least 20 homers and 20 stolen bases in consecutive seasons.

Considering the Indians control Choo's contractual rights through 2013, there is no real reason to rush into a deal. The Indians are also working with a limited budget this winter. Antonetti said, however, that he plans on meeting with Boras this offseason to continue dialogue about a long-term deal.

"It's certainly something that we'll explore," Antonetti said. "I think it's important to remember that Choo is under club control for the next three years, but we'll certainly look at the opportunity to extend that relationship beyond that.

"We certainly value him and are hopeful that he'll be a Cleveland Indian for quite a long time."

Seeing Green

Now that the holidays are here, expect to see a lot of trailers for next year's big movies. Here's a pair of Green themed superhero movies that may be worth checking out:

NMR: Get Him to the Greek

British comedian Russell Brand reprises his role from Forgetting Sarah Marshall as rocker Aldous Snow, however, Jonah Hill, who was also in Marshall, plays someone different here. Needless to say it's not a conventional spinoff movie. While Brand really added something with his first portrayal of Snow, it appears it wasn't a character that deserved to be the central protagonist. The film involves Hill's character attempting to chaperone the rocker from London to LA for a comeback concert. Of course, a lot of shenanigans happen along the way that are supposed to be funny. The problem in these situations is their lack of directions. They hover in the middle ground and fail to either be crudely funny or a poignant look at the fake happiness of a rock star's life. An example of this is a scene where Snow proposes a three way with Jonah Hill and his wife. Leaving it at the suggestion would offer some depth to the characters and allow them to reevaluate their relationships. Having them go all the way with it could have been peversely hilarious. Instead, they start to go forward with it, but then puss out halfway through. The actors try their best to make the material work, but that only goes so far here. If you really enjoy the lead actors, it may be worth a rental, but most will likely be disappointed. Rating: **

Trailer deconstruction: Hall Pass

First, watch this trailer, the latest film from the Farrelly brothers...


So can anyone else see some fundamental flaws in the set-up and storytelling here? You begin with an average married guy getting caught checking out another woman. Wife gets frustrated and opts to give him a 'hall pass' so he can be with whoever he wants for a week without consequences. OK, fine. It's not the most realistic scenario, but I'm with the premise so far. We then get into the bulk of the trailer where we see how the guy uses his hall pass and it goes completely against convention. If we're to believe that a wife would get so frustrated as to offer such a pass, the guy must frequently have a wandering eye. Yet, in the scenes of him living the single life again, he hardly interacts with women and when he does, it appears he's never talked to a woman before in his life. These two things just don't add up, regardless if the scenes are funny or not, which admittedly some are.

Furthermore, let's do a reality check here. The wives of the two married guys in this film (Owen Wilson and SNL's Jason Sudekis) are The Office's Jenna Fischer and Christina Applegate. This prompts a couple of questions: 1) Why would you ever have a wandering if you were married to either one of those two smoking hot women? and 2) How did they ever marry those beautiful women in the first place given their ineptitude around women that we see them display in this trailer.

Now maybe I am being too harsh and the trailer is misleading in some way of the film's actual narrative, but I would guess not. To me, it just seems like lazy Hollywood writing that eschews reality and instead cobbles together a handful of jokes and gags without any consideration for the premise or if it reflects real life.

Recreation time!!

NBC Pulls the Trigger on Three-Hour Comedy Bloc, Puts Parks and Recreation Back on the Schedule

Happy days are here again! Parks and Recreation finally returns in January and I'm already counting down the days. I love the fact that they have scheduled it after The Office as well, hopefully giving it the best chance at decent ratings. If you aren't already watching this show, do yourself a favor and check it out once it retuns in a couple of months. As for NBC's decision to have a 3 hour comedy block, it's risky, but I hope for their sake it works out. Their network has a lot better programming than what their ratings would suggest.

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The return of Coco

So after a 9 month exile, Conan O'Brien finally made his long-awaited return to television with his new late night show, Conan, on TBS and the results were less than what I had hoped for. It seemed like Conan's vacation didn't do a whole lot to produce change. A lot of the problems that I saw with his version of the Tonight Show, still seem there in this new incarnation. I really hope Conan is not trying to be stubborn and prove that that show would work had NBC given him a chance. While I believe NBC gave Conan a raw deal, his show was not perfect and a far cry from his original Late Night, where he gained his reputation as being one of the funniest late night talk show hosts out there. One of his biggest mistake in my opinion was to stay in Los Angeles. The caliber of crowd out there is terrible and the quality of guests is subpar. New York, on the other hand, had a great energy that fed well off of Conan's humor and he had a great cadre of celebrities, both big names and local favorites who would make for entertaining chat sessions. It also didn't hurt having the SNL crew nearby to feed into the comedic energy his original 12:30 show had. Everything thus far feels pre-fabricated and over-produced. Gone is the level of absurdity that made his original show great.

Now it's certainly too early to write Conan off. It may take some time to get back into the swing of things. I certainly feel the NBC jokes will thankfully subside after a while. And it still remains to be seen how much of his old characters and bits he'll be allowed to reuse on this new show. Still, I can't shake the sense that Conan has been so blinded by NBC's ineptitude that he can't properly evaluate the quality of his own show. I certainly hope I'm wrong, because when Conan's on, he can be great. But if things don't improve, I may have to settle for watching old YouTube clips of classic starring contests, If They Mated and visits from friends like PimpBot and Triumph. Grade: B-

Spot the difference

Anyone who can tell me what the difference between these two films, both due out next year, are, aside from the actors in them, wins a prize.

NMR: Batman: Under the Red Hood

As you know, I occasionally like to check out the animated comic book movies. This direct-to-dvd entry came out a few months ago and is already available for instant viewing on Netflix. I'm a big fan of Batman and this film was really entertaining. It digs deep into the motivations of the Batman character, while also exploring the origins of one of Batman's Robins. The main story revolves around a mysterious character named the Red Hood who's trying to take over all of Gotham's mob scene. Even though the focus is on Red Hood, the movie manages to work in appearances from other classic Batman villains including the Joker, the Riddler, Ra's Al Guhl and the Black Mask. None of their appearances feels tacked on, instead they create a more rich story. The voice work here is solid, but nothing spectacular. I did enjoy Neil Patrick Harris' work as Nightwing though. This film is probably only for Batman fans, but if you're included in that category, I would definitely recommend this one. The story is great and they pack a lot into it's brief, 80 minute runtime. It will definitely help fill the void until 2012 when we finally get a new live action Batman movie. Rating: ****

Wheel skills

Check out this shocking achievement on a recent episode of Wheel of Fortune:


Personally, I still think this is the more impressive accomplishment:


Sorry about the video quality of each of these.

NMR: How To Train Your Dragon

Just as Dreamworks' other animated film, Megamind, comes out this weekend, I'm finally getting around to see their first entry from this year. This is in the vein of Kung Fu Panda as it illustrates (no pun intended) that someone other than Pixar can make a really good animated film that will please children and adult audiences alike. The strength of this film is the relationship between protagonist Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) and the dragon, Toothless. The bond that forms between these two is very well done and just as emotionally effective as the connections you see with children and pets in other live action films. In addition to Toothless, the film features a number of different types of dragons, each unique with their own personality without needing to speak. The dragons are just a part of the great look that this film has and I'm saying that based off of watching it on my simple TV. I would imagine being able to watch this on either a big screen and/or in 3D really makes this a visual spectacle. About the only thing that didn't work for me was the relationship issues between Hiccup and his father (voiced by Gerard Butler). That subplot felt very tired, especially since we've seen it a lot in other recent animated films, like Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Overall, this is an enjoyable film and worth checking out, particularly if you enjoy these computer animated efforts. Rating: ****

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Senior moment

Any concerns I may have about getting older (It's hard to phathom that I've lived for three decades now) are alleviated while watching a film like RED. I took great pleasure in seeing guys still twice my age up on the big screen continuing to kick ass and take names. Based off of a graphic novel, RED stars Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich as a group of black-ops agents who are now 'retired, but extremely dangerous'. The quartet is rounded back up together after the government tries to assassinate them.

That's really all you need to know about this film. The film makes a half-hearted attempt to provide some reasons as to why they are being hunted, but it's really inconsequential in a film like this. If you find the concept of old people furiously shooting guns and blowing stuff up, you're in for fun ride and if you don't well then you're probably more of a curmudgeon than anyone in the film.

RED offers up several big action sequences, both in the hand-to-hand and weaponry variety. Nothing about them is particularly noteworthy, but they're all successful at keeping you entertained. Of course, Bruce Willis still knows how to craft an effective fistfight, as well as properly shoot a gun. Like riding a bike, Willis knows exactly how to get right back into John McClain mode.

As for the rest of the primary cast they each bring something fun to the table. Malkovich finds a new variety of crazy to display here that is equally infuriating to both his enemies and his allies. He's like Fringe's Walter Bishop if he had better access to explosives. Mirren seems to relish in being able to blend sophistication and savagery. It's a shame her mainstream success is coming so late in her career because she has consistently shown she performs well in both popcorn and art house fare. And then you have Morgan Freeman who manages to add gravitas to any film, no matter how large of a role he plays in it. While his character doesn't offer up the same flash as the others, he does enough to make you know he's just as dangerous as the rest of them.

What's nice about this film is that they still find time to let their supporting cast shine as well. Veteran actors like Ernest Borgenine, Brian Cox (who ends up having a larger role than I expected), and Richard Dreyfus all show up and add some excitement to the story. Speaking of Dreyfus, where has he been for practically the last decade? I was so happy to see him back here hamming it up and I hope it's an indication that he'll be taking on more work again in the future.

But before you think that the cast only consists of people with their AARP card, fear not. Balancing out the age factor are Mary Louise Parker, who unknowingly gets caught up in this gunfight, as well as becomes a potential love interest for Willis' character. You also have Karl Urban (who made a name for himself last year playing Bones in the Star Trek reboot) plays foil to the old codgers as the FBI agent trying to bring them in. A role like this will mostly get overshadowed by his bigger name co-stars, but will also help him land larger roles in the future. I liked his work here and expect more from him down the road.

They say that spoof films are critic proof, because they never have any artistic merit; it just comes down to whether or not you laughed. Well RED is pretty much the action equivalent to the spoof film. It's not really fair to grade the film based on the acting or artistic direction. This is just a pumped action film that wants to take you on a ride. If you're willing to hop on, then you're in for a good time. For me, the film worked in spades. It provided a nice balance of action and comedy and never was dull.

A film like RED attempts to spit in the face of those who claim there are no good roles for anyone over the age of 55. Here, you have a number of actors, mostly playing against type, who are willing to show they still have what it takes. I'll gladly take this over any the garbage that Jason Statham or Gerard Butler tries to offer these days. Anyone can fire a gun, but its takes a special kind of person to make it look this much fun. Grade: B

Costume Party deleted scenes

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NMR: Alien quadrilogy

In the spirit of the season, I opted to check out some scary movies and decided to watch the Alien films - a franchise I had never seen before.

Alien: This one gets the series started right. The film, directed by Ridley Scott is fairly simplistic, but still offers a lot of interesting ideas. You really see the debates play out as the crew tries to determine how they will deal this creature, especially since they've never encountered anything like this before. Throw in some outside obstacles like a greedy corporation and a rouge android and you've got the makings of a solid thriller. The final sequence involving Sigourney Weaver's Ripley in her underwear dealing with this creature on her own will go down as a classic film scene. Rating: ****

Aliens: James Cameron takes over the franchise here and manages to up the ante. Many consider this just as good, if not better than the original and I agree. You can see some of Cameron's visions of space from Avatar first appear here. Weaver gives another compelling performance and it's really interesting to see the creatures evolve in their intelligence and methods of attack. I could have done without the military crew that serves as fodder for the creature and offers no interesting characters, but I liked Paul Reiser's corporate stooge character and the presence of Newt, while nothing special herself adds another dynamic to the Ripley character. Again, the film ends strong with a hell of sequence involving Ripley coming face to face with the queen. Rating: ****

Alien 3: Three films, three amazing directors. This time around it's David Fincher (The Social Network), although this was his first feature film, so it's not on par with his later work. At this point in the franchise Weaver's Ripley character is the only thing worthwhile. She gives another strong performance (without her, I'm not sure how far this franchise would have gone), and continues to find new ways to add depth to her character. Unfortunately, she's surrounded by a group of unengaging convicts who are trying to survive the aliens. The whole film is depressing rather than exhilirating, both in look and in story as they basically shit over everything that had been established in the previous film. Unlike the first two, this one crawls to a finish as there is one chase sequence too many, capped by final shot that was meant to be poetic, but instead was just unfortunate. This one felt like there were too many cooks in the kitchen all offering input and the result was a less than satisfying effort. Rating: ***

Alien: Resurrection: The first 15 minutes or so of this film showed a lot of promise. We finally get to see what happens when those who want to study this creature do once they get their hands on it. Unfortunately, the explanation for how they managed to get it is ludicrous and then they don't even do much with it. From there this turns into a typical fright fest where the creature comes out at opportune to kill off unnecessary characters. Weaver does her best to continue making the Ripley character interesting (this time around it's actually a clone of her character), but I truly question why she decided to come back for another go round. It seemed like the studio was just using the franchise name as a way to lure people in without really offering them anything new to the mythology. A disappointing effort for sure. Not even sci-fi master Joss Whedon, who wrote the script, could salvage this one. Rating: **

The Office Webisodes: The 3rd Floor

Since NBC.com didn't bother to post any deleted scenes from last week's episode, I guess I'll just have to post the latest hilarious webisode series from The Office gang instead.

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Part 3:

Wicked good

It's funny the paths our lives take. Take Ben Affleck for instance. No one could have predicted given his track record as an actor that he would develop into the talented director that he has become. Following up on his depressing, yet well-made debut, Gone Baby Gone, Affleck shows no signs of sophomore slump with his latest The Town. Using Boston as the setting once again, Affleck creates a taut thriller about a group of bank robbers.

Unlike Ben's career, the story feels a little familiar, but the way its delivered still makes the film very effective. In many ways, The Town feels more like some of the great gangster movies like Goodfellas, than it does a heist film. The themes of greed, regret, family, and redemption are all woven into the film without any of it feeling heavy-handed.

The film begins with this group of robbers led by Affleck himself and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) nearly successfully pulling off a heist. However, when they believe the alarm has been tripped, they take one of the tellers (Rebecca Hall) with them. To ensure that she didn't see anything incriminating, Affleck's character keeps tabs on her and ends up developing feelings for her. This of course does not sit well with the rest of his crew. Renner as the hot-headed second in command does a fine job of causing trouble and consistently emitting a sense of menace. You also have actors like Chris Cooper and Pete Postlethwaite around as old-time crooks reminding us all of where this type of life gets you.

While there are obviously a lot of somber, dialogue-heavy scenes the film is certainly not light on action. There are several action-filled scenes that are very well made. They amp up the intensity yet don't overstay their welcome. They are very realistic in their portrayal, which only adds to the tension. One of the best things about these action scenes is that they come of as satisfying without glorifying the bad guys. Unlike say the Ocean's films where you are rooting for the theives to get away with their caper, this film makes no bones about the fact that these are bad guys who deserved to be punished for their actions. It's also refreshing to see the film portray the FBI as being competent and level-headed. Mad Men's Jon Hamm leads the way as Agent Frawley.

If there's one complaint to be made about the film is that everything wraps up a little too tidy, but it's not a major deal. The film offers a satisfying enough conclusion to each of the major players in the film which is often more appealing than abiguity. Overall though, this is a well made, adult film that doesn't come off as outlandish or cartoony. As a director Affleck, who clearly knows and loves his hometown, does a great job of portraying the ins and outs of Boston and its inhabitants. I may not care for the accent or attitude displayed by its residents, but in this case it makes for a compelling film. I could even see this film be considered for a Best Picture nomination, although I think once all the contenders emerge it will likely be on the outside looking in. Credit Ben Affleck for transforming from mediocre actor to first-rate director. If he keeps making films like this, they may have to change Boston's nickname from Beantown to Bentown. Grade: B+

Fern notice

Zack Galifianakis is back with another installment of Between Two Ferns and this time he's got RED star Bruce Willis in studio with him. Cue the hilarity!

NMR: The Jonses

This was an little seen indie film from this past spring that drew me in due to its unique premise. David Duchovny and Demi Moore pose as a married couple that live with their two kids. The thing is, none of them are related. Instead, they are co-workers who's job it is to get everyone interested in buying all of the products they own without anyone realizing that they're actually salesmen. It's the ultimate soft sell. This idea only carries the film so far, though. The actual emotional crux of the film comes a little too late and what they offer is some typical dysfunctional family drama found in a lot of indie films. It's a shame they couldn't follow through with this idea. In a way, it seems like the concept may have worked better in a TV series than a single film, especially given how neat and tidy they tie things up here at the end. But the film is not a complete waste. The interest concept coupled with some decent acting from the leads, as well as reliable Gary Cole as one of the neighbors makes this worthwhile. It's nothing special, but it certainly will make you think twice about your own neighbors who seem to have it all. Rating: ***

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NMR: Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Man, is this film pure cheese. And leftover cheese at that considered it borrows heavily from other better films like The Mummy and National Treasure. If it had just been a rehash of those film, this might have been tolerable, but then it has to go and insult our intelligence by trying to infuse current political events into the storyline (i.e. a country is under attack for dealing weapons, there are debates about whether or not to invade a 'holy land', etc.). Nothing about this film is particularly creative and I found myself calling out plot points before they actually occured. Even when the film tries to emulate the video game that it is based off of, it's done in such a bland and uninspired way that most who have never seen or played the game before wouldn't think anything of it. The main hook of the film - the fact that a sword exists that allows the beholder to control time - is not used nearly enough. I will say that people like Jake Gyllenhaal, who plays the lead, and Alfred Molina do seem like they are having fun here; it's just too bad they had no business being cast in the film in the first place. Grade: C-

A blast from the Future

Check out this clip that will be an extra in the upcoming Blu-Ray release of the Back to the Future trilogy. For the first time ever, here is actual video footage of Eric Stoltz as Marty McFly. Director Robert Zemekis explains they were 5 weeks(!) into shooting the film before he realized that they needed to change actors. Sucks to be Stoltz, but I think we can all agree he made the right call.

Espionage a trois?

There is a new book out detailing the history of MI6, Britain's equivalent of the CIA. There's one particular secret in it that has caught the attention of a lot of people, which I've posted below. This explains so much about James Bond and his bed-hopping way. He was merely trying to send hidden messages!

A diary entry belonging to a senior member of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) has revealed that during the First World War it was discovered that the bodily fluid could act as an effective invisible ink.

In June 1915, Walter Kirke, deputy head of military intelligence at GHQ France, wrote in his diary that Mansfield Cumming, the first chief (or C) of the SIS was "making enquiries for invisible inks at the London University".

In October he noted that he "heard from C that the best invisible ink is semen", which did not react to the main methods of detection. Furthermore it had the advantage of being readily available.

A member of staff close to "C", Frank Stagg, said that he would never forget his bosses' delight when the Deputy Chief Censor said one day that one of his staff had found out that "semen would not react to iodine vapour".

Stagg noted that "we thought we had solved a great problem".

However, the discovery also led to some further problems, with the agent who had identified the novel use having to be moved from his department after becoming the butt of jokes.

In addition, at least one agent had to be reminded to use only fresh supplies of the 'ink' when correspondents began noticing an unusual smell.

The revelations are included in 'MI6: The History of the Secret Intelligence Service 1909-1949' by Professor Keith Jeffery.

Prof Jeffery, of Queen's University, Belfast, was given access to all of MI6's files between those years. The book is published on Tuesday and is being serialised in The Times.

Community effort

I pride myself on being an eagle eye viewer when watching television, but even I missed this one. Apparently on last week's episode of Community, they gave Abed a storyline that was told strictly in the background scenes. Below is a video compilation of the scenes involving Abed helping a pregnant girl deliver a baby. Very clever stuff!

Fall TV Report: New shows

I held off on this post so that I could see a couple episodes from each of the new series I gave a try. That way I could have a better assessment of their value.

The Event: This of course was the show that tried to bill itself as a replacement for Lost. Thus far, it's failed to achieve that crown. The show has a decent enough mystery for now, but its severely lacking in the character department. Most of the central figures are bland and forgettable, which makes it tough to care about their role in this mystery. Still, I'm a sucker for mythologically-driven shows and I figure I'm in for the ride at this point. If things get too crazy or ridiculous without offering sufficient answers along the way, I'll abandon it like I did FlashForward last year. Verdict: Sticking with it

Undercovers: As soon as I heard J.J. Abrams was attached, I was instantly interested. This is the first thing I've seen his name attached to that I did not immediately fall in love with. There's nothing inherently wrong with the show. It has a couple of likable leads (and credit goes to the show for putting two African-Americans in the leads) and some fun spy action. The main problem is that there was nothing here to make me come back every week. Given how loaded my TV schedule is already, I can't make time for procedurals if they offer no incentive for me to tune in every week. I wish the show luck, but I don't see me making this 'appointment tv'. Verdict: Pleasant, but skippable.

Running Wilde: This is a new sitcom on FOX that comes from the people that created Arrested Development and stars Will Arnett. I was surprised to see this get such poor reviews from critics. While this show is a far cry from the genius that was AD, I find there to be enough quirky humor here to keep me entertained. They've gotten a good cast that not only includes Arnett, but Keri Russell and David Cross. Thus far, it has not done well in the ratings, which may mean it's on life support, but I'm hopeful it can stick around. And if it doesn't well then hopefully that will just encourage Mitch Hurwitz to get back to work on that Arrested Development movie. Verdict: Enjoying it while it lasts

No Ordinary Family: Filling the hole that Heroes left, this shows provides me with my superhero fix. I still haven't gotten a great sense yet on whether or not this show will be good. At times it's a bit too light and concerned with the family elements. The fact that none of the family members' superpowers are very original is a bit disappointing too. Still the lead actors are solid and they've established some mysteries involving who else may have abilities to keep me intrigued for a while. Verdict: Hoping for a hero, but fearing the show may be merely mortal.

Smell like a monster

Check out this Sesame Street parody of the Old Spice Guy commercials. Ha!

NMR: MacGruber

MacGruber follows a long line of movies based off of Saturday Night Live skits that just can't quite make the transition from 4-minute skit to feature length film. Nestled inside this film are several funny moments, but the collective page reeks of amateur hour. The film tries too hard to have most of its humor come from paying homage to 80s action movies and not enough for its actual source material - MacGyver. I also would have liked to see the MacGruber character interact more with the real world. There is an isolated feel to the film where the characters seem very seperated from the rest of humanity. Will Forte is too likeable to totally hate this film, but I just wish they would have taken a little bit more time to develop something great instead of trying to strike while the iron was hot and rush this out there underdeveloped. MacGruber isn't a bomb, but it's certainly not da bomb either. Grade: C+

Andy's Play deleted scenes

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Pro-Social

It seems premature to do a film about the origins of Facebook and its controversial founder Mark Zuckerberg so soon after these events took place. It feels like there has not been enough passage of time to truly see what the significance of these events really are. However, given the technological age that we live in where things are constantly updating and adapting, maybe there is no better time than now to make The Social Network, lest it seem outdated.

I certainly had a vested interest in seeing this film given the amount of time I've spent investigating Facebook as part of my doctoral research. As much as I knew about the key players involved with the website, I still found this to be a wholly engrossing film that touches on a lot of human characteristics.

Directed by David Fincher, The Social Network tells the story of Mark Zuckerberg through a broken narrative flashing back and forth between the website's origins and the two seperate deposition hearings that resulted from its creation. Using the deposition hearings to set up the flashback scenes works and allows you to see how things fell apart so quickly between Zuckerberg and his partners all the while Facebook continued to thrive and grow.

This is just one of the many interesting facets about this film. As you watch Zuckerberg try to deal with the people around him, you begin to wonder how someone who displays his intellectual superiority to all who are present thus alienates everyone, including friends could create a website designed for making social connections. Credit definitely deserves to go to Jesse Eisenberg, who has played the awkward nerd before, but never with the confidence and authority that he exhibits here. He commands the screen and does a nice job of displaying the complexities of Zuckerberg.

The other fascinating aspect of this film is how well it expressed the legal uncertainties associated with the Internet. Zuckerberg and co. set out to push the boundaries of what is acceptable and/or legal with Facebook and it blew up in their face when they began to fight with each other over ownership rights. It's both captivating and hilarious as you watch the lawyers not only have to deal with the ornery nature of their respective clients, but also trying to find precedent when none existed for a case like this. Those involved with Facebook really didn't know the monster they had created.

The film is filled with a lot of solid performances including Justin Timberlake as Napster founder, Sean Parker, Andrew Garfield (who will be the new Spiderman) as Zuckerberg's friend Eduardo, and Arnie Hammer, who has the difficult role of actually playing twin Harvard students. Each of them rise up to the challenge of the dense script by Aaron Sorkin and give nuanced performances that show how they were all complicit in this mess.

I'm not sure what kind of mainstream appeal this film will have, but I think anyone who is a member of Facebook owes it to themselves to see this film. Like most benefits we have thanks to the internet, we often take for granted the freedoms it affords us and the problems it can create for others. Watching this film will give you a new appreciation for the act that is social networking. It's not about clicking 'accept' to random individuals, its about being able to connect on a certain level with someone because you have a better understanding of who they are. Networking may have eliminated some of Zuckerberg's problems, but it also would have prevented us from seeing this excellent film. Grade: A

Being Franco

I linked the teaser trailer for 127 Hours in my Fall Movie Preview posts, but here's the newly released feature trailer. This film, based on a true story, has a lot of early buzz and this trailer seems to validate it.

NMR: Repo Men

It seems like it's been forever since I've done one of these. This one has been sitting on my end table for a while and I probably should have sent it back without even watching it. I was drawn by the interesting premise - Jude Law and Forest Whitaker play men who repossess human organs when people are behind on their payments. Sadly though, this movie quickly turns into an amalgam of borrowed ideas from films such as Minority Report, The Bourne Identity, and Children of Men. On top of that, this is a bloody and morose affair that fails to generate any sympathy for its characters. The only energy comes from Liev Schriber's small role as the head of this organ repossession company. The kicker here comes from their attempt at a shock ending that isn't all that shocking given how many times they hint at it earlier in the film. In general a disappointing film that failed to live up to its potential. Grade: C

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Fall TV Report: Returning Favorites (Sunday)

The Amazing Race: The new season got some early buzz thanks to a viral video involving one of the contestants catapulting a watermelon into her face on accident. Click the link, if you haven't seen it yet. The was just one of the highlights from what looks to be another exciting season. Unlike with Survivor, there seems to be some likable contestants here and the teams that I didn't seem to care for were struggling, which hopefully means an early exit for most of them. It definitely seems like the female contestants are going to be at the forefront of this season, which should be interesting to watch since there's never been an all-female team that has won this competition. Stonehenge made for a good starting location and I'll be excited to see where else they'll travel to this season. It's too early to tell how good this season will be, but for now I'm hopeful. Now if they could just start filming this series in HD... Grade: B+

Family Guy: Speaking of HD, this show is now being done in HD and they were eager to show it off in the premiere. The murder mystery plot showed a lot of promise, but I was disappointed that they spent more time with the visual effects and tracking shots than on the actual story. Having the entire town gathered should have given everyone an easy chance to get in a good joke or too, but they kept things more serious. The characters they killed off were no great loss, so the show didn't really succeed on that end either. Based on the past few ones they've done, it seems like they would be better off sticking to half hour episodes because the hour long ones (save for the Star Wars spoofs) just don't seem to be that funny. Grade: C+

The Cleveland Show: I seemed to be one of the few people who actually found this show very funny, particularly in the later half of the season. For that reason, I was excited to have this show back, but it too disappointed me. If Family Guy was too preoccupied with its visuals, this show was too focused on its guest star - Kanye West. His 'Kenny West' character did nothing for me and with so much of the story focused around him and Cleveland's attempt to make him into a star, the rest of the characters weren't given much to do. I understand you want to draw eyeballs in and big guest stars will help with that, so I'll cut the show some slack. For now, I'll write this off as a rare miss and hope they return to form in their second episode. Grade: B-

The Simpsons: Guest stars were also featured prominently here, but that's nothing new for this show. Now in it's 22nd season, I don't expect much from this show and those lowered expectations help. I was really worried that this episode would suffer from Glee overload, based on the commercials. Instead, the guys from The Flight of the Concords got the lion's share of the screen time. The songs they developed were decent, but they also took away from the show's plot. Likewise, the B story involving Krusty getting caught in a Roman Polanski-style sting sounded good but needed more time to develop. However, while the show was far from perfect, of all the Animation Domination shows, it actually yielded the most laughs from me. They've certainly had better openers, but this was fine for what it was. Grade: B

Getting to the nitty Gritty

Here's your first look at the Coens' remake of the John Wayne classic, True Grit.