The UBS Evening Television & Movie News 07.09.09
Posted by George H. Sirois on 07.09.2009
The “Putting On My Sally Struthers Mask” Edition...
Welcome everyone to the latest edition of the UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and despite my willingness to unleash a little bit of bile at a very deserving subject in this week's Mad Prophet of the Airwaves, a new topic suddenly came up that I would like to discuss. But if you're curious about what I was originally going to say, make sure you listen to this week's Movie Zone podcast since I was given the "Five Good Minutes" section.
If you're on Twitter, you can find me HERE! And don't forget, for all of you who are new to 411Mania.com, make sure you check out all of our zones. We have some of the best writers on the Internet right here, and we love to hear from all of you! So keep coming back to read what we have for you, make us your homepage and if you have Facebook, make sure to join our group HERE!
This past weekend, I saw a young kid in the subway with his family, and he was wearing an old-school TransFormers T-shirt. The characters on the shirt weren't from the movie, they were the Generation 1 Optimus Prime, Grimlock, Hot Rod and Bumblebee, and just like when the first film came out, I was so thrilled to see the characters I grew up with getting so much mainstream attention these days. And even though I wasn't happy with Revenge of the Fallen, I have to credit everyone involved for doing their part to make TransFormers relevant again.
And speaking of TransFormers, a recent episode of the Late Show with David Letterman featured Optimus Prime giving the list of Top Ten things that sound cool when said by a giant robot. Once again, credit goes to Michael Bay for listening to the fans and keeping Peter Cullen as the voice of Optimus. (Would have been nice if he listened to us regarding other issues, but I'll take this as a victory.) Here's Prime - and Peter Cullen - in action on Letterman...
And Valsport America was a week late, but we finally know who the big winner was in their model search. Unfortunately, it's not 411Mania's friend Reby Sky. Instead, it's Los Angeles native Donna Feldman. We here offer her congratulations and post this pic of her...
And now that this very long intro is out of the way, let's go to the news!
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
I Love You, Beth Cooper: The adventures of a geeky high school valedictorian (Paul Rust) who decides he has nothing to lose by making a play for the popular cheerleader (Hayden Panettiere) and declares his love for her during his graduation speech.
I get a kick out of the premise, and I've always had a soft spot for the "geek gets the girl" stories, but this one's not for me. If I were still in high school, this would be just fine. But I've moved on, so I doubt I'll be seeing this anytime soon.
Bruno: Flamboyant Austrian fashionista Brüno (Sacha Baron Cohen) takes his show to America.
I saw Borat. So technically, I've already seen this.
Credit: TheMovieBox.net
DVD NEWS
With the weather we have now, I'm sure Christmas is the last thing on all of your minds, but I wanted to fill you in on what Warner Home Video is preparing for Blu-Ray owners. Recently, Warners started releasing a Christmas title on Blu-ray around the holidays in a special Christmas-themed collector's box. This year is no different as a personal favorite of mine, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, is getting a re-release in a fancy tin case.
The Blu-ray itself will be the same one currently available, but will come with a Santa Hat, drink coasters, a box of fake snow, a button and a Moose figurine.
Now, how fun is this? The package will be hitting store shelves on October 27th for $39.92.
Credit: DVDReview.com
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Big Fan
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S-THE-HONEST-TRUTH-DEPARTMENT
So this will be... what... Will Forte blowing himself up every minute for an hour-and-a-half?: Will Forte's bumbling spy MacGruber is headed for the bigscreen as the latest in a long line of "Saturday Night Live" characters to make that transition.
"SNL's" Kristen Wiig will reprise her Vicki character for the feature. Val Kilmer and Ryan Phillippe are in talks to join the cast.
Forte -- who will return to "SNL" in the fall -- debuted the parody of the 1980s action-adventure series "MacGyver" in 2007. He'll co-write with "SNL's" Jorma Taccone and John Solomon; the logline's being kept under wraps. Taccone will direct.
Relativity Media topper Ryan Kavanaugh, Lorne Michaels and John Goldwyn are producing the project, which will begin shooting next month. Relativity's Tucker Tooley will exec produce along with Erin David and "SNL" head writer Seth Meyers.
"MacGruber" will be distributed under Relativity's Rogue banner, which utilizes Universal distribution.
Lorne, what the hell are you doing?
MacGruber is a guy who ends every single sketch by being blown up. Sooner or later, Michaels is going to realize that not every recurring character can be packaged for a movie. Considering its one-joke premise, this film seems like it as much of a chance for success as A Night at the Roxbury. That's not quite the heights to which Michaels should be aiming.
Credit: Variety
What can I say? The man likes to write epics: Randall Wallace has been brought aboard to rewrite "Captain Nemo: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," Disney's take on the classic Jules Verne character being directed by McG. Idealogy's Sean Bailey is producing with McG.
"Nemo" aims to tell the origin of Captain Nemo and his submarine warship, the Nautilus. Nemo is a mysterious but noble antagonist in the book, a scientific genius with a thirst for knowledge and a desire for revenge against the forces of imperialism.
In Verne's lesser-known sequel, "The Mysterious Island," Nemo is revealed as Indian Prince Dakkar, a rajah's son who took part in a failed rebellion and lost his wife and children. It is unclear how close to that back story Disney will stick, but "Nemo's" tone will be decidedly action-adventure.
The script previously was worked by Bill Marsilii and Justin Marks.
Brigham Taylor and Todd Murata are overseeing for Disney.
Wallace is squeezing in the "Nemo" writing gig before he directs "Secretariat," starring Diane Lane, for Disney. The racehorse drama is set to begin shooting in late September.
I've always found it difficult to think big when it comes to my fiction writing, so anyone who can consistently write them gets respect from me, even if one of those scripts happened to be Pearl Harbor. Still, the man wrote Braveheart, so I'm interested in seeing what Wallace has for an iconic character like Captain Nemo.
Credit: Hollywood Reporter
Here's a stretch, Patrick Dempsey playing.... a doctor!: Patrick Dempsey is not a doctor, but he plays one on TV -- and now in the movies.
Dempsey has joined the cast of New Line's romantic comedy "Valentine's Day," being directed by Garry Marshall.
The ensemble already includes Julia Roberts, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel, Jennifer Garner, Shirley MacLaine, Bradley Cooper, Ashton Kutcher, Topher Grace, Emma Roberts and Hector Elizondo.
"Valentine's," which begins shooting this week, follows five slightly interconnecting stories playing out in Los Angeles during Valentine's Day.
Dempsey will play a married obstetrician dating Garner's character on the sly, with her unaware of his status.
The sickeningly new version of New Line Cinema strikes again! And this time, the film in question is packed with stars all looking for a sure thing: A Garry Marshall-directed rom com to be likely released on Valentine's Day. In other words, it's the 2010 version of He's Just Not That Into You. Although I will say that I hope this movie's a hell of a lot better than the big ensemble flick that came out last year. My wife and I could only get through a half-hour of that piece of shit before we ejected the disc and sent it back to Netflix.
And it's looking like Dempsey's just as eager to bet on a sure thing as the rest of his cast is, since he's not only going to be part of the ensemble, but he'll be playing a doctor! Where have I seen him play one of those before? Hmm, I wonder...
1. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: $42,320,877
Total: $293,355,885
2. Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs: $41,690,382
Total: $66,732,868
3. Public Enemies: $25,271,675
Total: $40,141,080
4. The Proposal: $12,857,482
Total: $94,335,111
5. The Hangover: $11,268,413
Total: $205,038,233
6. Up: $6,521,389
Total: $264,816,694
7. My Sister's Keeper: $5,788,327
Total: $26,518,582
8. The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3: $2,534,228
Total: $58,508,070
9. Year One: $2,323,843
Total: $38,304,392
10. Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian: $2,043,288
Total: $167,706,959
ANDY CRITCHELL'S INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF WITH ANDY CRITCHELL
For a few weeks now I have been shining the spotlight on some unknown hotties, but this week I'm going to take a break from that. And in the spirit of Independence Day that just passed, I present the All-American Heather Graham.
Heather was born in Milwaukee, WI (an All-American city if I've ever heard of one) in 1970. Here is a fun fact; her dad was an FBI agent. She came to LA after high school and after a few small roles really broke on to the scene after her turn as Rollergirl in Boogie Nights. Sadly, I can't post any pics from that movie on here, but what I can show you are these:
You can currently see Heather starring in The Hangover and, if you are a red blooded American male such as myself, in your dreams.
And there you have it! Hope you enjoyed. Also, don't forget to check me out over in the wrestling zone where I write the hottest new TV Report, ECW Extreme Extracts. I'm also keeping a blog here on 411 which you can read here. Of course, if you were smart and checked out my blog, you would have already seen a picture of this week's gal. If you didn't, well keep an eye on my blog for a preview of next week's girl. Did I mention there is a prize?
MAD PROPHET OF THE AIRWAVES
There are moments in life when you see something bad happening to someone, and you immediately start thinking, "That could have been me." The circumstances surrounding the incident not only force you to count your blessings, but also to want to help the person that had it happen to them (if that makes any sense).
Here's what I mean by this. On Monday, I found out the news that a friend of two friends (formerly colleagues from when we all worked together) had a nasty fall at a party and broke her leg in three places. Their friend is going to require surgery, but here's the rub. Like me, she's still looking for work, and even more unfortunate, she has no insurance. So she's looking at some sickeningly high medical bills on top of the money she needs to pay her bills.
Once I heard this news, I immediately thanked God that my wife's office was able to set me up with her insurance so I have some kind of coverage now that my old job's coverage ended on May 31. And I also started thinking about what might have been if I had gone through June, July and the rest of the year without any coverage. Would I be involved in an accident like that? What would happen to the savings we had been holding onto then? Not having a steady full-time job since January of this year can make thoughts like these creep up, especially since this is the longest stretch I've gone through without a secure job since 1991.
When I read more of the news of their friend Liz, I found out that her friends were putting together a fundraiser – complete with a Facebook group page and PayPal link – to collect money that would help with the obvious mounting costs. Now how cool is that, guys? When you have a group of friends that are willing to set up something like that, that's when you know you're in good company. I have the same to say for my friends, who are always willing to help out with support and encouragement during my own rough period. (Lots of credit to my friend Charlie for helping me get a part-time job that got me out of the apartment for a few months.)
Obviously with our belts properly tightened, I couldn't give much to this fund. So I put in a donation of $5 and joined the Facebook group to get more details about any future fundraising parties and the book sale that should be happening soon. But I still wanted to do more, since I understood what she was going through, and that's where the UBS report comes in.
Please allow me a second to put on my Sally Struthers mask... okay, that's better.
This is the part where I ask you guys to help make a difference in someone's life. If everyone reading this would check out their group's blog page HERE or join their Facebook group HERE, you'll see a link to their PayPal page, so you too can contribute. For the mere cost of a Starbucks Iced White Chocolate Mocha with Sugar-Free Vanilla + Tax (which comes to about $5), you can be a part of Liz's hopefully speedy recovery!
If you live in any of the five boroughs, you can also help out with donating any used books you have for the group's book sale. I'll let you know when that goes down, or if there are any other types of fundraising they'll be doing. And keep in mind that Liz isn't asking for a hand-out. This whole setup is put together by her friends without her knowledge.
Give it some thought. If anything, it'll provide some great karma points for you.
And that's a wrap for Chapter 120 of The UBS Evening Movie News! For Andy Critchell, I'm George H. Sirois and we'll see you next week!
Pause the trailer for Big Fan at 1:59 seconds... Who is that woman behind Patton Oswald and his mother? Andy, I smell a future babe photo news brief if you can find out who she is.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Registered) on July 09, 2009 at 09:39 AM
Todd, her name is Serafina Fiore. A quick Google seach showed me that she is not babe photo news brief material. She has a face that could stop a clock.
Posted By: DivasRGr8 (Guest) on July 09, 2009 at 09:09 PM
Oh god you are right. She looks like Donatalla Versace.
Posted By: Todd Vote (Registered) on July 10, 2009 at 11:51 AM
Reby Sky was robbed!
Posted By: stevethegoose (Registered) on July 10, 2009 at 02:20 PM
Damn right she was robbed, Steve! You're not going to get a better sportswear model than the GiantsGirl!
Posted By: Sirois! (Registered) on July 12, 2009 at 11:45 AM
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