The Weigh in 89

This week in my world:

Well, as you are about to find out, the next few articles won’t be about the Oscars. I haven’t been able to get my hands on most of the films. So I guess I will sit this year and watch the Oscars without having seen the films. Oh well, they are on my list and I’ll be sure to get to them as they come out. No use crying over spilled milk, or the inability to download Oscar screeners (kidding MPAA). This week we will jump into one of this years new features.

Actor/director/writer: Peter Berg

I first remember Peter Berg from the film Aspen Extreme. He played the dopey best bud of the ski stud who travels to Aspen to be a ski instructor. Not a memorable movie, but if you need a good dope character, in my mind, Peter Berg is your man. The completely underrated Damon Wayans/Samuel L. Jackson film
The Great White Hype didn’t do anything to help change that opinion at all. Then I saw the absolutely fantastic Very Bad Things and everything changed. Very Bad Things is the type of film where you leave the theater covered in the coke you couldn’t hold in your mouth from laughing so hard and then looking around because you feel guilty for laughing at the dead hooker and the word gimp. The film was both written and directed by… you guessed it, Peter Berg. If you haven’t seen this film you must, absolutely must, run out and pick it up. You probably shouldn’t watch it with a date though. You may just show up at work with a dead plant and a restraining order on your desk.

Peter Berg went on to write and direct the very underrated The Rundown with The Rock and Sean William Scott. Then came Friday Night Lights, the true story of the 1988 Permian Panthers high school football team. An incredibly touching film and a must see for any sports fan. He is currently working on the film “Tonight He Comes” due out later this year starring Will Smith, a film I personally am looking forward to.

While Peter Berg is currently hitting 1000 in my book with his writing and directing, I did mention that I first noticed him as an actor. Here is a list of some of the films I have since enjoyed him in that would make great additions to your Netflix list:

A Midnight Clear
Fire in the Sky
Girl 6
The Great White Hype
Copland
Collateral
Smokin’ Aces

Be sure to check out some of these films (especially his written/directed pieces). You may just become as big a fan as I am.

All the news that is fit to forget:
 
Josh Whedon is off of Wonder Woman, David Goyer is off of The Flash and now J.J. Abrams is no longer directing the Star Trek prequel. Executives at Warner Brothers have been seen scouring the parking lot of MTV buying “spec scripts” of super hero films from music video directors. In completely unrelated news, Chris Nolan has locked himself in his home and only answers the door to random unnamed women, while Bryan Singer has taken to wandering the streets in his jammies and spitting at anyone wearing a Superman T-shirt.

Norbit was number one at the box office last weekend. With this news, the Wayans Brothers are hard at work pitching a script involving a man having an affair with a miniature version of himself which promises plenty of sex and more disturbing images. It is due out this time next year.

Adrien Brody has been cast to replace Eric Bana in the Hulk sequel. To explain the different actor playing the same character in the sequel, producers are currently building a machine that will play before each screening and selectively erase the memory of the previous film from the audience. In completely separate news, you will believe a man can fly. McG is assigned to direct the new unnamed superhero film.

This weekend at your local multiplex (2/16/2007)

Ghost Rider: Action/Adventure
Nicholas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Sam Elliott, Peter Fonda
Plot: A motorcycle daredevil sells his soul to Mephistopheles and becomes Ghost Rider, a supernatural agent of vengeance.
Buzz: I have really dug all of the Ghost Rider comics I’ve read in the past. They are usually full of a little dark humor and lots of violence. From the trailer I really can’t tell what direction they took the film adaptation. But with Hollywood’s penchant for “lighter, funnier, more family friendly movies” and the fact that critics aren’t allowed to see this film in advance, I have kind of a sinking feeling.

Breach: Drama/Thriller
Chris Cooper, Ryan Phillipe, Laura Linney, Dennis Haysbert, Bruce Davison, Gary Cole
Plot: Based on the months leading to the capture of America’s most notorious spy, Robert Hansen.
Buzz: (see review later this weekend)

Bridge to Tarabithia: Family
Zooey Deschanel, Jason Hutchinson, Anna Sophia Robb
Plot: Based on the novel about two friends that create an entire world in their imaginations to rule all their own.
Buzz: I really don’t know much about this films but it does sound pretty intriguing. This may be something worth checking out.

This week on DVD (2/13/2007)

The Departed
Marie Antionette
The Quiet
School for Scoundrels
Infamous
Half Nelson
Man About Town
Zoom
13 Tzameti
The US vs John Lennon
The Tom Hanks Comedy Collection
F*CK
Infernal Affairs (se)
The Butcher Boys
The Golden Girls (season 7)
Picket Fences (season 1)
Reno 911! (uncensored)
Beauty and the Beast (season 1)
Hustle (season 2)
All in the Family (season 6)

As always, you can send me your loving adoration and hate mail to DPlace76@yahoo.com. You can read about my random musings at http://bigdpimpin.livejournal.com/ and you can read about all of the comings and goings of the Stumblebum crew at www.myspace.com/stumblebumstudios.