Weekend movie recommendations
Submitted by David Parker on Fri, 03/21/2008 - 11:43am.It is noon on Friday and your mind is drifting from work to your weekend. Or perhaps your mind is on your March Madness office pool?
Either way, you've got options for the movies this weekend. Here's what you should go see.
Pacey Witter makes a comeback
Submitted by David Parker on Wed, 03/19/2008 - 7:05pm.Joshua Jackson played Pacey on "Dawson's Creek," the teenybopper TV drama that ran for six seasons from 1998-2003. Aside from a highly publicized brawl with a security guard at a hockey game, Jackson's profile has been pretty low for a pretty long time.
Better get used to him again. He stars in "Shutter," a horror film that opens this weekend, and is rumored to be playing Fletch in the 2009 return of the bumbling journalist first made popular by Chevy Chase in 1985. The new film will be called "Fletch Won." It will feature a young Irwin Fletcher on his first assignment. If you haven't seen "Fletch," don't visit this blog again until you have.
Anyway, if Witter's, er, Jackson's surprising resurgence is making you wonder about James Van Der Beek and the rest of the crew, the L.A. Times recently did a "where are they now" feature on the "Dawson's" cast. Check it out here.
Win "Tommy Boy" tickets
Submitted by David Parker on Mon, 03/17/2008 - 7:47am.Remember Chris Farley and David Spade in "Tommy Boy"? The 1995 movie was panned by critics but a hit at the box office. Answer these two questions (one hard, one easy) and you'll be on your way to see "Tommy Boy" at the Flashback Film Festival on Wednesday.
Is Hulu.com worth it?
Submitted by David Parker on Fri, 03/14/2008 - 10:14am.Have you checked out Hulu.com yet? The site, which is a joint venture between News Corp. and NBC Universal, offers free streams of hundreds of ad-supported TV shows, movies and clips. But is the selection and quality worth it?
Harry Potter and the Tale of the Split Finale
Submitted by David Parker on Thu, 03/13/2008 - 7:40am.Remember when the final Harry Potter book came out and sales went through the roof? Producers of the series' popular film spin-offs are hoping to cash in further on the final book by splitting "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows" into two movies to be released in November 2010 and May 2011 the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.
But those involved with the film were quick to deny that that split had anything to do with money. It's just that there's "so much ground covered" in the final book that they have to have two movies to cover everything. Sure. "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" was a longer book than "The Deathly Hollows" and it only took one movie.
The six Harry Potter movies have been popular to the tune of $4.5 billion served at the box office worldwide.
Idaho film incentive plan passes House
Submitted by David Parker on Tue, 03/11/2008 - 11:11am.An Idaho bill that cleared the House Monday would give those making films in the state a 20 percent rebate on purchases.
Let's hope the bill, which is similar to one shot down last year, will now be approved by the Senate to encourage filmmakers to come to Idaho.
Hollywood stoner of the hour Seth Rogen
Submitted by David Parker on Mon, 03/10/2008 - 3:11pm.Is it just me or did Seth Rogen go from zero to hero in a matter of months?
Sure, he had a funny turn in 2005's "The 40 Year Old Virgin," but it wasn't until last year's "Knocked Up" and then "Superbad" that he became a household name.
A movie so bad, you'll have to see it twice
Submitted by David Parker on Fri, 03/07/2008 - 11:24am.Actually, I can't really recommend going to see "College Road Trip" with Martin Lawrence, Raven-Symone and (gulp!) Donny Osmond even once. The tagline for Disney's latest is "They can't get there fast enough." It should be, "This can't get out of theaters fast enough."
In reality, "College Road Trip" will probably pull plenty of people into theaters this weekend. The big draw - and probably your best bet - will be "10,000 B.C."
Will 'Baby Mama' fall victim to the SNL curse?
Submitted by David Parker on Thu, 03/06/2008 - 8:45am.The Tribeca Film Festival just announced that it will open April 23 with the Lorne Michaels-helmed, Tina Fey/Amy Poehler comedy "Baby Mama" about a woman who uses a surrogate mother to have a child for her.
Former "Saturday Night Live" and current "30 Rock" star Fey doesn't appear to be stretching herself too far from her role as Liz Lemon on "30 Rock," but her dry humor could make for some funny moments in this one. The support of Amy Poehler, however, doesn't help much. And the movie automatically loses points for having a prominent role for Dax Shepard.
Bueller? Bueller?
Submitted by David Parker on Wed, 03/05/2008 - 5:09pm.We've got more tickets to the Flashback Film Festival if you can answer one trivia question. If you missed it in today's paper, check out Chad Dryden's story on the fest. Click through to see the question on "Ferris Bueller's Day Off."
