The Week That Was: Movies

Recap of the Weekend:

The Dark Knight took over regular and IMAX movie theaters this weekend, setting a new opening weekend record with about $155 million dollars in tickets. Christopher Nolan’s latest movie drew millions of fans from the midnight showing Thursday night till the last showing Sunday across the nation. The question that follows now is where it will finish on the all time list of movies in dollars. Coming in at a respectable second place was the counter-programmed musical, Mamma Mia! Hancock continued its strong run at 3rd, while last week’s debuts, Journey to the Center of the Earth and Hellboy II both dropped from last week.

This Weekend’s Releases:

X-Files: I Want to Believe – Mulder and Scully reunite while trying to help the FBI solve a case, while also seeing if there is any type of alien connection
Step Brothers – Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly reunite in this comedy about two men who become stepbrothers after their parents get remarried. After initially arguing and attacking each other, they finally find they have much in common and attempt to overcome challenges together

Heading north to Chicago, Lollapalooza takes over the city the weekend of August 1st-3rd. Headlined over 3 days by Radiohead, Rage Against the Machine and Nine Inch Nails, the concert will see over 100 bands perform. Other artists include Butch Walker, The Racounteurs, and Wilco. Look for Perry Farell somewhere around the festival.

The Virgin Music Festival in Baltimore, Maryland takes place the following weekend. The Offspring, Jack Johnson, Paramore, Stone Temple Pilots, Nine Inch Nails and The Foo Fighters are just some of the 40 bands playing the event. There will also be some DJs playing the event as an alternative for people who want a break from the music or Kanye West.

Finally, heading into September, we have the Austin City Limits Music Festival. With 8 stages and over 100 bands, there’s just as wide a variety of music here as there will be in Chicago and Baltimore. Austin will see the festival headlined by The Foo Fighters, and also include Vampire Weekend, Gnarls Barkley, The Raconteurs and Silversun Pickups.

June Movie Preview

The second month of summer movies bring back the male comedies in force, plus M Night Shamalyan’s latest, the latest in the Dreamworks vs. Pixar animation battle, and two more comic book movies.

June sees the return of Adam Sandler in You Don’t Mess With the Zohan. He plays an Israeli soldier who fakes his own death in order to move to New York and achieve his lifelong dream: become a hairstylist. In the tradition of a Happy Madison film, look for plenty of sexual innuendos, offensive jokes, and just plain slapstick humor.

Dreamworks returns with its first animated movie since Bee Movie with the new flick Kung Fu Panda. Jack Black voices the panda Po, the main character of the film, who must become a martial-arts master to battle the villainous snow leopard Tai Lung, voiced by Ian McShane. Other actors providing voices include Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu, Jackie Chan, and Seth Rogen.

Marvel brings The Incredible Hulk to theatres on June 13, going for a revamp from the 2003 version directed by Ang Lee. This time around, Ed Norton stars as Doctor Bruce Banner, who transforms into the green goliath. Liv Tyler will play his love interest Betty Ross, while Tim Roth will play Emil Blonsky, the main villain for the movie who undergoes a similar transformation as Banner. Look for plenty of action, CGI, fights, and even a little romance.

The Happening is the other movie coming out on June 13, and it’s the latest from thriller director M. Night Shyamalan. Mark Wahlberg stars as a teacher who goes on the run with his family to avoid a deadly, unseen force. While doing all this, he tries to work on his rocky relationship with his wife, played by Zooey Deschanel. Shyamalan is also venturing into new territory, with his first R-rated movie release.

On June 20, Mike Myers debuts a new character to add to his repertoire with The Love Guru. In it, Myers plays the Guru Pitka, who is hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs owner Jane Bullard, played by Jessica Alba, to help fix the marriage of their star player, played by Romany Malco. Unfortunately, his wife is being wooed by Jacques Grande (Justin Timberlake), a player from the rival team. The Guru Pitka most work to get Malco back with his wife, while also possibly finding love with Bullard.

Battling against Myers and company is another comedy, Get Smart, starring Steve Carrell, Anne Hathaway, Dwyane “The Rock” Johnson, and Terrance Stamp. Carrell plays bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart, who is also known as Agent 86. His partner, Agent 99 (Hathaway), and he are out to stop KAOS from taking control of the world after the identities of the CONTROL agents are compromised.

Angelina Jolie returns in the flesh on June 27 in Wanted, a big screen action thriller based on a comic book from Image Comics. Jolie plays Fox, a member of a clan of assassins, who are about to induct an average guy named Wesley (James McAvoy) into their clan, The Fraternity. The leader of The Fraternity is Sloan (Morgan Freeman), who, along with Fox, helps unlocks Wesley’s hidden powers and helps him avenge his father’s murder.

The last big release for June is Disney/Pixar’s Wall-E. Wall-E, short for Waste Allocation Load Lifter, Earth Class, is a robot who has been alone on Earth for 700 years. He finally gets company when a probe droid named EVE shows up. He tries to court her persistently, but she is soon recalled to the human race’s mother ship. Wall-E follows, and soon a mystery begins to unfold about EVE’s mission.

Fringe is a sci-fi drama from JJ Abrams dealing with three people who uncover a deadly mystery involving a seemingly random series of events, that lead them to a possibly bigger pattern that blurs the line between science fiction and technology.

Do Not Disturb stars Jerry O’Connell as half of a management team for one of the hottest hotels in New York City.

Here’s the recap and schedule for FOX:

COMING BACK: 24, ‘Til Death, Bones, Prison Break, American Idol, Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Simpsons, Kitchen Nightmares, House, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, COPS, Don’t Forget the Lyrics, American Dad, So You Think You Can Dance, Hell’s Kitchen, King of the Hill, America’s Most Wanted, The Moment of Truth, Family Guy

CANCELED: Back to You, New Amsterdam, Canterbury’s Law, K-Ville, Unhitched, Return of Jezebel James

Monday – Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Prison Break
Tuesday – House, Fringe
Wednesday – Bones/ ‘Til Death, Do Not Disturb
Thursday – The Moment of Truth, Kitchen Nightmares
Friday – Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? , Don’t Forget the Lyrics
Sunday – Simpsons/King of the Hill, Family Guy/American Dad

The Ex List stars Elizabeth Reaver as Bella Bloom, a successful business owner in her thirties, who has her fortune told by a psychic at her sister’s bachelorette party. Bella learns that she has already met her future husband and if she doesn’t find him within the next year, she’ll remain alone forever. At first cynical about the psychic, she turns to her friends and sister to help her go through all her past relationships when she see some of the other predictions come true.

Worst Week deals with Sam Briggs (Kyle Bornheimer) as a magazine editor who is getting ready to marry his girlfriend, Melanie (Erinn Hayes), and have a baby. The drawback is that he has to tell her parents about it, and whenever he is around them, he ends up causing some kind of mayhem at their house. Melanie’s parents, Dick and Angela (Kurtwood Smith, Nancy Lenehan) are trying to accept Sam into the family, every time he does something good, it ends up leading to something twice as bad.

Eleventh Hour stars Rufus Sewell as Dr. Jacob Hood, a brilliant biophysicist and special science advisor to the government. He is responsible for investigating scientific crises and oddities, as he attempts to stop those who will use scientific discoveries and new breakthroughs for their own personal gain. He is the last line of defense for the government in stopping these criminals from using science for evil motives.

Project Gary stars Jay Mohr as Gary and Paula Marshall as Allison, a couple that’s just been divorced. Gary is a painting contractor who must endure post-divorce havoc as he and his controlling ex-wife, Allison, are looking for new relationships after 15 years of marriage. He's the fun parent and she's the strict one. Together, they share custody of their two children - Louise, a politically correct and environmentally conscious 11-year-old, and Tom, their socially awkward 14-year-old son who is nervous around girls. Gary hasn't dated since the split, but finally connects with Vanessa, a single mother whose condo he was hired to paint. He dreads telling Allison about Vanessa because it doesn't adhere to her belief in their marriage counselor's book, "Rules for the Perfect Divorce." However, when Allison tells him that she's engaged to their shrink, all bets are off and Gary decides it's time to move forward.

The Mentalist stars Simon Baker as Patrick Jane, a detective and independent consultant with the California Bureau of Investigation (CBI), who has a remarkable track record for solving serious crimes by using his razor sharp skills of observation. Within the Bureau, Jane is notorious for his semi-celebrity past as a psychic medium, whose paranormal abilities he now admits he feigned. Jane's role in cracking a series of tough high-profile cases is greatly valued by his fellow agents. However, no-nonsense Senior Agent Teresa Lisbon openly resists having Jane in her unit and alternates between reluctantly acknowledging Jane's usefulness and blasting him for his theatricsLisbon's team includes agents Kimball Cho, Wayne Rigsby, and rookie member Grace Van Pelt, who all think Jane's a loose cannon but admire his charm and knack for clearing cases.

Here’s the recap and schedule for CBS:

COMING BACK: Numb3rs, CSI, How I Met Your Mother, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer, CSI Miami, The New Adventures of Old Christine, The Unit, Without a Trace, CSI: NY, Two and Half Men, Amazing Race, Survivor, The Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement, Cold Case, Big Brother

CANCELED: Moonlight, Cane, Shark, Weclome to the Captain, Viva Laughlin, Jericho, Kid Nation

Monday – Big Bang Theory/How I Met Your Mother, 2 ½ Men/Worst Week, CSI: Miami
Tuesday – NCIS, The Mentalist, Without a Trace
Wednesday – New Adventure of Old Christine/Project Gary, Criminal Minds, CSI: NY
Thursday – Survivor, CSI, Eleventh Hour
Friday – Ghost Whisperer, The Ex List, Numb3rs
Sunday – Amazing Race, Cold Case, The Unit

90210 is an updated spin-off from the 1990’s show Beverly Hills, 90210. It will star a brand new cast following in the footsteps of the original, with the Mills moving from Kansas to Beverly Hills to keep an eye on the grandmother of Harry the father. Harry becomes principal of West Beverly High School, where his daughter Annie (Shenae Grimes) and his adopted son Dixon (Tristan Wilds) attend. They will meet a variety of classmates and staff, including guidance counselor Kelly Taylor (Jennie Garth). The Mills will be in for a culture shock as they adjust to live in California.

Stylista is a reality show similar to the movie The Devil Wears Prada. On the show, 11 competitors compete to become the assistant to Elle’s Fashion News Director, Anne Slowey. Each week, the contestants must carry out an assistant task and a fashion editorial assignment to avoid elimination. Elle’s Creative Director, Joel Zee, will consult Slowey each episode about who should be the one fired from the opportunity of a lifetime.

Surviving the Filthy Rich is a new drama in the vein of Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. Megan Smith is a twenty-three-year-old Yale graduate who wants to climb to the top of the world of journalism. However, when she’s fired from a tabloid she works for, she has a chance meeting with a cosmetics mogul who hires her to be the live-in tutor of her twin granddaughters. The girls, Rose and Sage, don’t really like their new tutor, but Megan is on a mission to win them over while enjoying all the benefits of the new lifestyle she has entered. She soon meets her neighbors, including Will, who she finds quite handsome, but is dating her estranged sister Lily. Another suitor competing for Megan’s affections is her best friend Charlie, who is secretly in love with her. Despite all this, Megan is committed to making a difference in the life of her two new charges.

COMING BACK: Reaper, Smallville, Gossip Girl, America’s Next Top Model, The Game, Supernatural, One Tree Hill, Everybody Hates Chris

CANCELED: Girlfriends, Beauty and The Geek, Aliens in America, Pussycat Dolls Present, Life is Wild, CW Now, Crowned, Online Nation

MOVING to MyNetworkTV: WWE Smackdown

Monday – Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill
Tuesday – 90210, Surviving the Filthy Rich
Wednesday – America’s Next Top Model, Styista
Thursday – Smallville, Supernatural
Friday – Everybody Hates Chris, The Game, America’s Next Top Model repeats

Life on Mars is based on a BBC drama, and stars Jason O’Mara as Sam Tyler. Tyler is a modern day detective who ends up in a car crash. He inexplicably finds himself transported back to 1973, where he is still a detective. He must help solves cases from 30 years in the past while trying to figure out how to get back to present day.

Opportunity Knocks is a game show that will travel around the US, heading to different cities to play. The Asthon Kutcher-produced show will transform the neighborhoods they visit into a game show set. The family that’s picked to play will be asked trivia questions based on their lives, each other, and stuff found in and around their home in a chance to win flat screen TVs, new furniture, and big cash prizes.

Here’s the recap and schedule for ABC:

COMING BACK: Grey’s Anatomy, Boston Legal, Pushing Daisies, Brothers and Sisters, Dancing With the Stars, Desperate Housewives, Private Practice, Ugly Betty, Supernanny, Eli Stone, Dirty Sexy Money, Samanatha Who, Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Wife Swap, and The Bachelor

CANCELED: Carpoolers, Cavemen, Big Shots, Oprah’s Big Give, Women’s Murder Club, Notes From the Underbelly, October Road, Men In Trees, Miss/Guided, Cashmere Mafia

Monday – Dancing With The Stars, Samantha Who, Boston Legal
Tuesday – Opportunity Knocks, Dancing With The Stars Results Show, Eli Stone
Wednesday – Pushing Daisies, Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money
Thursday – Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, Life on Mars
Friday – Wife Swap, Supernanny, 20/20
Sunday – Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, Desperate Housewives, Brothers and Sisters

My Own Worst Enemy stars Christian Slater as a man with two personalities. Henry Spivey is an efficiency expert living a regular life with a wife and kids in the suburbs. Edward Albright is a trained killer who can speak more than 10 different languages. When the two personalities must soon learn to co-exist, Henry/Edward is put into situations that each isn’t prepared for with their backgrounds.

Kath & Kim is a remake of an Australian show and stars Molly Shannon and Selma Blair. Shannon plays Kath Day, a 40-something year old divorced mom who is finally able to search for love again. Blair plays her daughter Kim, who is separated from her husband and is used to being treated like a princess. Kim finally decides to move back home with her mom, but finds her mom isn’t going to be at her beck and call as she expects.

Knight Rider continues from the spring 2008 TV movie that aired on NBC. The real star of the show, of course, is KITT (Knight Industries Three Thousand). Justin Bruening returns as Mike Knight, son of the original KITT driver, Michael Knight, and Deanna Russo plays Sarah Graiman, daughter of KITT inventor Charles Graiman.

Finally, Crusoe is based on the legendary Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. Crusoe leaves his true love to embark on an adventure, only to get stranded on a remote island for 28 years. Crusoe must stay alive while battling the many enemies on the island and also the elements.

Since NBC has decided to only bring 4 new shows on in the fall that means that many of your favorite shows will be back, but some unfortunately did not make it. Here’s a recap , plus a look at NBC’s fall schedule:

COMING BACK: Heroes, Law & Order: SVU, The Office, My Name is Earl, Chuck, ER, Deal or No Deal, Life, 30 Rock, Lipstick Jungle, and The Biggest Loser

CANCELED: Journeyman, Bionic Woman, Las Vegas, The Singing Bee, Quarterlife,

MOVING TO ABC: Scrubs (reportedly)

SPECIALS: Thursday Night Live (SNL leading up to the election)

Monday - Chuck, Heroes, My Own Worst Enemy  
Tuesday - Biggest Loser, Kath and Kim, Law & Order SVU 
Wednesday - Knight Rider, Deal or No Deal, Lipstick Jungle 
Thursday - My Name is Earl/ 30 Rock, The Office/Thursday Night Live, ER 
Friday - Crusoe, Deal or No Deal, Life

Looking forward to this week’s big release of Iron Man? Here’s the back story on the character and what you need to know from the comic book series.

Debuting in Tales of Suspense, Anthony Stark was born to Howard and Maria Stark, and was gifted with an extremely high intelligence. He was accepted into MIT at age 15 and took over control of his father’s company, Stark Enterprises, at the age of 21, when his parents were killed in a car accident. The company is responsible for manufacturing different kinds of weapons, communications, and armor for the US military.

While visiting a transistor plant during a conflict in eastern Asia, the enemy attacks Stark’s entourage, and he is captured. While he is being held hostage, he discovers that shrapnel from the attack has lodged in his chest and is killing him. His captors demand that he create weapons to help them fight the military. While he and his fellow prisoner, Yinsen, start work, they secretly create a suit of armor, which will help them escape and return to the US.

Although Stark does escape from the kidnappers, he loses his new friend Yinsen during the breakout. On his way back to the States, he encounters James “Rhodey” Rhodes, an injured pilot. He soon finds out that he must keep on the chest plate from the armor to prevent the shrapnel from killing him. In order to prevent people from deducing that he is Iron Man, he tells the media that Iron Man is his bodyguard and the company’s mascot.

Over the years Iron Man has fought many enemies including the mystic Mandarin, the Crimson Dynamo, and Obadiah Stane, the villain for the first movie. Tony has also had to overcome alcoholism and corporate takeovers from non-super villains.

Coming up for the month of May is the start of the summer movie season. You’ll find a new superhero, an adventurer returning, 4 friends making their move from the small screen, and a cartoon adapted to live action CGI among the many premieres this month.

First out of the gate, on May 2, is IRON MAN, starring Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Terrance Howard, and Jeff Bridges. Based on the popular Marvel Comics character, this movie will show how Tony Stark (Downey) transforms from rich industrialist to armored superhero. Expect lots of action from director Jon Favreau (Elf, Swingers) as we see Iron Man fight his Afghani kidnappers and stop a plot for global domination.

The same weekend, Patrick Dempsey returns to movie theatres in MADE OF HONOR. TV’s McDreamy is able to get any girl he wants in the movie, but only after his best friend travels overseas does he realize his feelings for her. He plans on telling her when she comes back, but she ends up getting engaged while in Scotland. He is asked to be her maid of honor, but only accepts in order to show her how much he truly loves her and do whatever it takes to win her over.

Coming out May 9 is the live action take of SPEED RACER starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Matthew Fox, and Susan Sarandon. The Wachowskis’ update relies heavily on CGI and will see Speed (Hirsch) trying to win a dangerous cross-country race to stop an evil corporation from controlling all of racing and killing him.

Competing against Speed and his family in another way will be Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz in WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS…. Two strangers looking to get away from setbacks in life meet in Vegas and after a night of decadence, wake up the next morning married and sharing a jackpot won by one with the other’s money. They each think up ways to get the other to give up the money while actually falling in love.

May 16 will see the debut of THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN, the second in the series of movies based on the books of CS Lewis. The 4 princes and princesses return to Narnia a year later in their time, but that’s over 1300 years in Narnia. They must unite with Prince Caspian to take down an evil king and restore peace to the land.

Harrison Ford makes his return to the big screen with one of his most famous characters in INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL on May 22. Set 19 years from the last end of INDIANA JONES AND THE HOLY GRAIL, this movie finds Jones fighting the Russians, including Cate Blanchett, while trying to discover said kingdom and gains a new sidekick in Mutt (Shia Lebouf).

Ending the month is SEX AND THE CITY, which reunites the girls 4 years after viewers last saw them. Look for Samantha (Kim Cattrall) to return from Los Angeles, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) to work out her engagement, Charlotte (Kristen Davis) deal with her pregnancy, and Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) figure out ways to improve her marriage.

Look for more previews from future WEX Reports!