“The Great Debaters” is coming out on the shelves May 13^th!!!

I have a copy to giveaway!!! Please post your name; I will draw the winner Wednesday. You don’t want to miss this movie - it is inspirational to the core.

“The Great Debaters” is a wonderful and provoking film written beautifully by Robert Eisele and directed very tightly by Denzel Washington who plays the lead role.

This film sets forth the traditional values and dignity the American spirit needs, once again. Even though it’s a historical story, it has everything to do with society today.

Eisele wrote the spirit of this film and Washington brought it to life with some very young and talented actors (Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker.)

Forest Whitaker also stars making this the first film were two black Oscar winners star in the same movie.

As a side note:  I had a chance to interview Robert Eisele about writing the script for “Debaters” and working with Washington.  Eisele spoke very highly of Washington’s ability to take the character to another depth, something you can only understand by watching him work on the set.

I must acknowlege Oprah Windrey for producing this film!!!

Screenhead reported that Natalie Portman was cast as the lead in adaptation of Emily Bronte’s classic novel, “Wuthering Heights.”

However, reportedly Portman has left the production per the Hollywood Reporter.  This leaves some random financial problems and other pre-production woes. 

No word yet on who will replace Portman.

Variety’s article about Karen Allen’s return to “Indiana Jones” franchise by David S. Cohen is quite charming, warm and entertaining. It’s hard to believe that 19 years has gone by since the last “Indiana Jones” movie.  Karen Allen was in the first, “Raiders of the Lost Ark,” creating a Tracy-Hepburn feel to the serial genre of Lucas and Spielberg.  At the time, no one was aware of the huge impact of the film, looking back, its quite magical.

With the May 22nd opening of “Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull,” I recommend reading this article to reflect on the formative years of “Indiana” and the new and more wise renewal of “Indiana” today.

According to Hollywood Reporter, Ron Perlman is set to play the bad guy in a hybrid martial arts movie “Bunraku,” which Guy Moshe is directing from his own script.

Japanese actors Gackt and Shun Sugata also have been cast in the international-flavored movie, which features Josh Hartnett, Demi Moore, Woody Harrelson, Scottish actor Kevin McKidd and Spanish actor Jordi Molla. Now, that is a mixure!

The film is set in a hyperstylized universe a la “Sin City” and draws from a mixed bag of genres, including puppets, origami, comic books, video games and German expressionism. It follows a drifter (Hartnett) who teams with a samurai (Gackt) to take on an Eastern European gang lord, played by Perlman (”Hellboy”).

Short Film Online Competition — Cannes 2008

Watch the best films premiering at this year’s Cannes Short Film Corner and vote for your favorites by rating them with 5 stars. The film with the best ratings will win a special award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival!

Check this site out and you get to vote for the winner. Some great little films: My favorite is “Struck.”  “Struck” all star cast includes Kelly Preston, Jenna Elfman, Nancy Cartwright and more.

You be the judge and enjoy.

For those who haven’t seen it, Donnie Darko is a strange little indie film, written and directed by newcomer Richard Kelly, and starring Jake and Maggie Gyllenhaal. It was a mix of sci-fi and teen drama, about a teenager who is visited by a giant rabbit-creature who guides him out of his house before a jet crashes into it. It didn’t particularly do well in theatres, but it became quite the success story on DVD, making it a cult classic. And for some reason, the powers that be see fit to make a sequel.

Screen Daily reported that S. Darko is already in production. It follows Donnie’s younger sister, Samantha (played by Daviegh Chase in both films), 7 years after the events of the first film. On a road trip to LA she starts having bizarre visions.

It doesn’t help that the sequel is being directed by Chris Fisher, whose three films, Nightstalker, Dirty, and Rampage: The Hillside Strangler Murders, were neither critical nor commercial successes. In fact, they were quite the opposite.

Richard Kelly is reported to have no participation in the film, and I can understand why. Donnie Darko was a nice little self-enclosed film about coming to terms with one’s place in life, and death. It’s not the kind of film that warrents more. Indeed, Kelly went on to make a director’s cut of the film, which to me felt inferior to the original, adding unnecessary elements to the enigmatic tale. So in light of that, here’s a few other pointless sequels we’ree probably be hearing about shortly:

No Country for Hit Men- If you thought No Country for Old Men was about the omnipresence of violence in human society, as a force that is beyond our control or comprehension, think again. Sherrif Bell is back on the job, for one last case. Chigurrh is back, and this time Bell’s gonna settle the score.

There Will Be No More Blood- A moving melodrama about Daniel Plainview’s attempt to deal with his problems, and try to get through each day without killing someone.

Control 2: The Eternal- If you thought the biopic of Ian Curtis ended with his suicide, think again. Raised from the dead, Curtis infiltrates the seedy world of New Wave by posing as New Order’s roadie, in an attempt to save the world from drugs and hair-spray. The villain is played by Martin Kemp.

United 94- The terrorists are back. But this time, The Rock is ready for them….

 “W,” the Oliver Stone-directed drama about the life and formative years of President Bush has been set for release on Oct. 17, giving the picture three weekends in theaters before the Nov. 4 presidential election.

Shooting begins May 12 Monday in Louisiana.

Josh Brolin stars as the title character, and the cast includes Elizabeth Banks (Laura Bush), James Cromwell (George H.W. Bush), Ellen Burstyn (Barbara Bush), Thandie Newton (Condoleezza Rice), Jeffrey Wright (Colin Powell), Scott Glenn (Donald Rumsfeld) and Ioan Gruffudd (Tony Blair). No one is set for Vice President Dick Cheney.

“We don’t really know much about Mr. Bush beyond the controlled images we’ve been allowed to see on TV. This movie’s taking a bold stab at looking behind that curtain,” Stone said in a statement about the release date.

My racquetball partner told me this is a great movie.  He doesn’t usually get too excited over movies, but he sure did with “Iron Man.”

Anyway, here is the box office score for the week. No surprises. 

This weekend should be interesting with ”Speed Racer” coming into the picture.  

WEEK BOX OFFICE FINAL
May 02 - May 08, 2008
1. Iron Man

2. Made Of Honor

3. Baby Mama

4. Harold And Kumar Escape From Guantanamo

5. Forgetting Sarah Marshall

6. Forbidden Kingdom, The

7. Nim’s Island

8. Prom Night

9. 21

10. 88 Minutes

An ancient urn chained to a coffin is unhearted by chance by some men at work along the road bordering the Viterbo’s cemetery. The urn contains an age-old tunic and some objects belonging to Mater Lacrimarum, the Third Mother (Moran Atias). The only survivor of the Three Mothers - three powerful witches who had been shedding blood and terror for aeons - Mater Lacrimarum (the Mother of Tears) has been hiding in Rome for centuries and her awakening triggers a chain of mysterious and terrible events: the Evil is back to cast its dark shadow over the city.

Sarah Mandy (Asia Argento), a young student of restoration, co-worker and love’s interest of Michael Pierce (Adam James), the curator of the Museum of Ancient Art of Rome, is involved in the escalating and increasingly frantic episodes of violence. Sarah tries to run away but she cannot: the Third Mother is looking for her and Sarah is not aware of the fact that her mother Elisa Mandy (Daria Nicolodi) was a powerful white witch brutally killed by Mater Suspiriorum, the witch from Fryeburg.

Helped by the spirit of her mother, by an eminent esoterism academic, Guglielmo De Witt (Philippe Leroy), and by the Chief Constable Marchi (Cristian Solimeno), Sarah realizes that she has no way out and that she must face the impending threat…

THE MOTHER OF TEARS awakens in theaters June 6, 2008!

Based on the current #1 New York Times Bestselling series (30 weeks and counting) with over 5.5 million books in print by Stephenie Meyer, TWILIGHT is a cultural phenomenon, with a dedicated fanbase that eagerly awaits this movie.  There are over 100 fan sites devoted to Twilight, and it has been chosen as the New York Times Editor’s Choice, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, Amazon’s “Best Book of the Decade…So Far”, Teen People’s “Hot List” Pick, The American Library Association’s “Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults” and “Top Ten Books for Reluctant Readers” and has been translated into 20 languages.   Critically acclaimed director Catherine Hardwicke brings to life this modern, visual, and visceral Romeo & Juliet story of the ultimate forbidden love affair – between vampire and mortal.