THE WEEK IN REVIEW: June 26 - July 2, 2006

It's funny how your life changes when you don't have the Internet for a few weeks. You just feel lost in the world. You have to read an actual newspaper for news, go to a casino to play poker and you have to actually call people, on the phone mind you, if you want to talk to them. I know, it does sound weird, doesn't it... But the glorious internet has returned in my life, and in turn, I have returned to your lives with a new The Week in Review column. So lets get this party started with this week's Notables.

NOTABLES

"Antonio Banderas and Annette Bening to Star in Homeland Security" - Monday, June 26

Even if you ignore the really bizarre casting duo of Antonio Banderas and Annette Bening, this still sounds pretty bad. The main reason for this is the involvement of writer-director George Gallo. He has a really sketchy resume of weird flicks under his belt. And if you look on his IMDB page, I'd ignore his story credit for Bad Boys, since he originally wrote it as a starring vehicle for Dana Carvey and Jon Lovitz. Yeah, if that doesn't sound weird I don't know what does these days. Anyway, Gallo doesn't have much besides "comedy" under his belt, and I'm not sure he has the chops for a dramatic flick like this... mainly since he doesn't even do comedy that well (See: The Whole Ten Yards). Worst News of the Week Nominee.

"Orlando Bloom and Kate Bosworth to Star in Seasons Of Dust" - Monday, June 26

I've been a big fan of Tim Blake Nelson since his smashing performance in the Coen Brothers flick, O Brother, Where Art Thou?. Nelson wears many hats other than his acting hat though. He's also written, directed, produced and even edited feature films. While I haven't seen any of the few flicks he's written or directed, it's clear he's very talented and this flick sound pretty unique. Set in the Great Depression, this flick revolves around a troubled woman (Bosworth) who is running from her troubles and meets a man (Bloom) who's running as well. Sounds like a great cast, a slick story and I think this could be a very entertaining flick. Best News of the Week Nominee.

"Dimension Picks Up Parental Guidance Suggested" - Tuesday, June 27

Anything with Andy Milonakis in it is gets an automatic red flag. Besides that we get a pretty dumb cast with Jamie Kennedy, Matthew Lillard, Frankie Muniz, written by a bunch of SNL guys, and a story about the sexual misadventures of some teens. Wow, never seen a movie about that before... morons. Worst News of the Week Nominee.

"Anthony Hopkins, Meryl Streep and Paul Giamatti to Star in The Last Station" - Tuesday, June 27

This sounds like a marvelous flick that will be some surefire Oscar bait. We have a marvelous cast here in Anthony Hopkins, Meryl Streep and Paul Giamatti, but it's this amazing story that should make it an Oscar favorite. This will star Hopkins as famed Russian author Leo Tolstoy, and the intriguing journey he took in the last years of his life. Streep will play his wife, and Giamatti to play his prized pupil Vladimir Cherkov. It just sounds like a very powerful story, from how it is described here, and I think it should be a marvelous flick. Best News of the Week Nominee.

"New Line Will Enter The Redneck Games" -Wednesday, June 28

Leave it up to New Line Cinema to set the bar even lower. This sounds absolutely ridiculous, but not as ridiculous as the fact that the Redneck Games actually exist. This flick will involve a professional athlete who, of course, falls from grace and thinks competing in the Redneck Games will somehow redeem himself. Yeah, that sounds good. What better way to redeem ones self than to compete in events like the Hubcap Hurl, Armpit Serenade of, of course, the Butt-Crack Competition. New Line, why do you make my brain hurt more than any other studio.... Worst News of the Week Nominee.

BOX OFFICE CORNER

Well, Superman has indeed returned after a two-decade absence, but how much did we miss him? Apparently, not that much. Superman Returns obviously took the top spot at the box office this weekend, but not in as dominant a fashion as expected. The flick took in an esimated $52.4 million in its opening weekend, taking in an estimated $73.9 million for the 5-day holiday weekend and just over $106 million since its release last Wednesday. While these are numbers that some flicks would kill for, with the amazing amount of hype surrounding this flick... not to mention newcomer Brandon Routh's image plastered on what seemed like every product in the world, the haul is a bit of a letdown. The immense marketing campaign was to make sure no one in America didn't hear about the movie and go see it. That's pretty much what the flick needed to accomplish, actually, because the budget for this flick was an astonishing $260 million. While taking in over $100 million in 7 days is a good start, the Man of Steel and Co. will probably lose a lot of steam in its run thanks to this weekend's Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, which we've had to wait considerably less time for. If Superman doesn't drop more than 50% next weekend, I'll be impressesd. It did post some solid per-screen averages ($12,910 for the three-day, and $18,199 for the 5-day), but the expectations were so high, anything short of record-breaking seems like a let-down. Though, while it seemed to be a one-horse weekend, some of Superman's thunder was stolen by some fashionistas.

The Devil Wears Prada took a very impressive second place this weekend, earning $27.3 million for the 3-day weekend and $39.5 million for the 5-day weekend. While most flicks that share a weekend with an eagerly awaited blockbuster usually tank at the box office, Prada stood tall against the Man of Steel. Prada was shown in about 1,200 fewer theaters than Superman Returns, at 2,847, but still posted some solid per-screen averages, taking in $9,597 per screen for the 3-day period, and $13,891 per screen for the 5-day period. And, it does have one bragging right that Superman probably won't be able to claim: it's profitable. The Devil Wears Prada cost only $35 million to make, so its $4 million profit this weekend might be more than Superman Returns ever sees during its run. So Superman can only hope to fly high in the rest of its run, The Devil Wears Prada can just walk coolly down the catwalk, collecting more profit along the way.

GOING LIVE

The Nativity Story: (thenativitystory.com)
A simple little site here. All we get is a synopsis in About the Film, a Photo Gallery and a Teaser Trailer and Featurette. The featurette is pretty cool, with some behind the scenes images on the set and a nice interview with screenwriter Mike Rich on different aspects of the movie. While the featurette is pretty cool, I just wish they had more here. The Nativity Story opens on December 1.

The U.S. vs. John Lennon: (theusversusjohnlennon.com)
This is pretty weird. The site opens up to a "Grudge Report" site, that is obviously mocking the Drudge Report site, that has a bunch of little Lennon-related links on it. Click on the first one to get to the movie's site, though there isn't much there. All we get is a Trailer, a brief Synopsis, a Message Board, a link to this Nutopia thing and a link to register for updates. Pretty weird, but not heavy on content. The U.S. Vs. John Lennon opens on September 15 in limited release.

My Super Ex-Girlfriend: (mysuperex.com)
We get a nice, fun site here, full of goodies and style. Under The Film menu we get a nice Synopsis, some bios of the main players in Cast & Crew and some very nice Production Notes that go into many different aspects of the flick. X-Ray Vision is just a fancy name for a photo gallery, Distractions have a few cute little games to play, and Super Stuff is a downloads section with wallpapers and AIM Buddy icons to download, with a screensaver coming soon. Mighty Media has the trailer and TV spots, with interviews and clips coming soon and On the Go has some goodies for your celly. There are also some random links on the site to another site called bemyex.com, that gives you a bunch of tips and other breaking up stuff. This is a pretty cool little site, with some great style and decent content. My Super Ex-Girlfriend opens on July 14.

TRAILER PARK

Clerks II:
Just to warn you, this is a "red-band" trailer, that is shown only during R-rated movies so little kids and crap aren't able to watch them. But, I'm not your dad, so watch at your own risk, I guess. This is gonna be damn funny, folks. It doesn't even seem like a sequel, actually. It seems like a remake... done by the same guy who did the first one, but only updated for modern times. We get a pretty diverse cast here with Rosario Dawson, Jason Lee, Wanda Sykes and others joining director/Silent Bob Kevin Smith's cohorts Jason Mewes, Brian O'Halloran and Jeff Anderson. You can watch all the madness on July 21, and I can't f*+$in wait!

The Science of Sleep:
If you thought Gondry's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was weird, then check out his latest effort. While he doesn't have the brilliant screenwriter Charlie Kaufman at his side for this flick, it seems that Ron Nyswaner fills in aptly for Kaufman in writing this quirky little flick. This revolves around a guy who has trouble telling his dreams from reality, and the flick jumps from dream squences to reality while he tries to woo a chick. This looks like a bizarre little flick that should boggle your brain like Eternal Sunshine did. The Science of Sleep opens on September 15 in limited release.

BEST NEWS OF THE WEEK

I'm going with the wonderful everything of The Last Station. Everything sounds in place for a magnificent flick here, with an astounding cast in Hopkins, Streep and Giamatti, along with a superbly original story about a historical figure in author Leo Tolstoy. This just sounds wonderful from every aspect, folks, and I bet Oscar will come a knockin' when this is released.

WORST NEWS OF THE WEEK

It was a tough choice this week, but I'm going with the terrible everything of Redneck Games. OK, so they don't have a cast or anything yet, but I can't imagine something like Redneck Games is going to attract any A-list talent. Just give the damn movie to the Blue Collar Comedy Tour guys. They haven't made a DVD or a movie in a week or two, so they should be due... Seriously, how can this be good? There is one way, actually. They change it to a documentary and force Rafeal Palmeiro, Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi and the rest of the Steriods Clan (alledgedly, of course...) to partake in these games, thus disgracing them even more. Now, that's entertainment, baby.

Well, that's all for this week. Surf on by next week for more box office goodies, new official sites for upcoming flicks, new trailers and, of course, the best and worst news of the week. Take care, folks, and always remember: if it looks like a good time, sounds like a good time and feels like a good time... it probably isn't free.

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