Entertainment Today and Beyond

Never Met a Zombi I Didn’t Like…

Warner Bros reportedly at crossroads with SUPERMAN, 90210 not screened in advance for critics and Sept is almost here for our TV favorites!

Interesting column today posted by Anne Thompson of Variety which talks about the future of SUPERMAN over at Warner Bros. According to her sources, the studio is at a crossroads deciding where to take the franchise and is not quite sure what direction to take. Personally, I think the studio will eventually move forward and do a re-boot instead of bringing back Bryan Singer and producing a sequel to his SUPERMAN RETURNS. That would leave BRANDON ROUTH as the odd man out. That’s a bit sad, as I thought he was very solid in the role, but if they go in a new direction they most likely will use a new actor. As for the direction of the Man of Steel franchise, I have no doubt whoever makes the final decision will have to rip a page out of the Chris Nolan school of filmmaking and place the concept of real terrorism into the fabric of the next story line. While I like Singer’s Superman Returns despite its flaws, he made the mistake of going backwards, as his fondness for the original Richard Donner version was a little too apparent. He never took the character or the world he inhabited into a core reality like the Nolan Batman films did. Superman is still a great character, and I truly believe there is a huge audience for him on the big screen, but you have to up the anti in terms of edginess. It’s what today’s modern audience is demanding and there’s no reason this franchise can’t take itself in that direction.

According to Access Hollywood and other media outlets, the CW network will not send out any advance preview copies of their new 90210 show which is set to premiere on Sept 2nd. While many might take this as an ominous sign, I wouldn’t read too much into it as nobody thought this would be the second coming of Shakespeare. By the way, one interesting footnote to this show, actor Joe E. Tata who played Nat, owner of the peach pit, is part of this new version of the Beverly Hill’s show.

Entourage

Entourage

Bill Maher’s REAL TIME show returns to HBO a week from this Friday. For me it’s MUST SEE TV. A few other return dates of interest: HBO’s ENTOURAGE returns Sunday September 7; Grey’s Anatomy September 25; Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters September 28.

One other bit of TV news to report – Fox’s 24 will return with a two hour TV movie November 23 to bridge the gap leading up to the new season starting in January.

August 20, 2008 Posted by | And Beyond - Trailers & News | , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

The HDNETM channel RULES! What’s in store this week at the MOVIES, an INTERESTING Ratings comparison and LOST re-works star DEALS!

I happened to catch JAWS last night on the HDNETM channel in the glorious widescreen high definition format and boy did it look great. Listen, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there was no better time for movies than the 1970′s. JAWS is one of that decades crowning achievements and, in my mind, the best film Steven Spielberg has ever made. It’s also hard to believe that out of its three stars, Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw and Richard Dreyfuss, only Dreyfuss is still with us. If you have this channel, and I can’t recommend it enough, they have some of the best movies on TV. Besides JAWS, this month they are showing PAPILLION, SUGARLAND EXPRESS, THE KARATE KID, NETWORK and much more. HERE’S A LINK TO THE SCHEDULE

As for this week’s new theatrical releases, it will be interesting to see if Rain Wilson of Office fame will be able to attract a decent crowd for his new comedy THE ROCKER. I’m also curious to see if the B-movie crowd shows up for DEATH RACE. Jason Stratham, this decade’s answer to Jean Claude Van Damn, stars.

An interesting bit of info to pass along – Saturday’s night’s NBC Olympic coverage in Beijing, which featured the record breaking 8th Gold Medal won by swimmer Michael Phelps, was witnesses by 31 million viewers. That was the best rating the network had for any program on a Saturday night since 1990 when the sitcom EMPTY NEST drew the same amount of viewers. I guess I never realized that show was so popular! AMAZING!

It’s being widely reported that MATTHEW FOX and the rest of the cast of ABC’s hit show LOST are re-negotiating their deals, with Fox getting a bump in salary to two hundred and fifty thousand an episode from one fifty. Good for him, as the show itself is not only the best thing on television but one of the greatest pieces of TV ever produced. As for Fox, since Lost, I have always envisioned him as the perfect actor to play the Rev Scott role in a direct remake of THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE. As we know now, the only similarity in the story Wolfgang Peterson’s version had with the 1972 blockbuster was the concept – not the characters. Fox has the leader role down pat! Oh Well!

August 20, 2008 Posted by | And Beyond - Trailers & News | , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment

   

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